#sometimes one must make the post floating in one's head (and not leaving dammit) before one can fall asleep properly

[chaoscuddleslut]

laid down to sleep and remembered a tickly dream i had a night or two ago - one abt someone that was a mix of people i knew/know in a way that's happened before.

it focused on holding that someone from behind, and the soft squish between my arms and legs as i held them, and putting my chin over their shoulder and tickling over their belly with both my hands as they were squirming and laughing and hmmngnnmmg it was Adorable

probably somewhat less adorable and more horny was the focus it turned towards of her bellybutton and specifically tickling there, esp since she got increasingly flaily and yelpy in between the giggles. i don't remember anything past that, i think i woke up, but it sure did leave me in a Mood....

[bungou-stray-dingus]

Now What?

Pairing : Michizo Tachihara x fem!Reader

A/N : First fiction for our underrated best boy Tachihara! Hope you enjoy this Angst!

T/W : Angst! Just a bunch of angst.

Word Count : 2.0K

Angstember Day 2

You had first seen him when you joined the Port. Gin was walking you down the long halls, he was walking in the opposite direction but he had caught your eye. There was something about him, you couldn't put your finger on it at the time, but you knew that you wanted him, that you wanted to be with him. You weren't sure how you would make that happen, but you knew it had to happen anyway.

You rolled over and saw his beautiful auburn hair shining a brilliant copper in the rising sun. He was already awake, staring at the ceiling with his arms folded behind his head. You could tell that he was in deep thought, something was on his mind, his lips turned down in a scowl that would put anyone else off, but you thought he looked adorable. You craned your neck to press a swift kiss to his cheek before pulling the blankets off and scooting out of the bed.

"You want anything for breakfast, babe?" You asked, standing at the end of the bed, leaning over the post as you stared at him.

"Nah, I'm fine. Probably gonna try to go back to sleep for a little bit before work. Wake me up when you're done eating though." You nodded, heading out of the room and quietly shutting the door behind you.

Something must have really been bothering him, he wasn't the type to skip out on breakfast. You wouldn't pry though, he was a "suffer in silence" type of person, he hated being questioned. If he really wanted to talk about it, if it was something that was really eating away at him, he knew that he could come to you and talk about it. You would make your breakfast and eat, and hopefully he would be feeling a little better by the time you were finished.

The eggs were frying in one pan, the bacon sizzling in another filled the silence that hung in the air. You heard the bedroom door open, and when you looked up from the stove you saw him emerge, fully dressed, ready to head out. "Did they call you in early?" You weren't used to him leaving without you, but you knew that sometimes he was needed in earlier than you were, but he also usually waited for you.

"Hm? Yeah, I didn't want to take you away from your breakfast, so I'll just meet you there." His response was dry, his amber eyes were distant, staring past you out the large kitchen window behind you. He didn't kiss you goodbye, he didn't hug you, he went straight for the door and walked out. It hurt, it didn't feel right, but you didn't want to bother him, so you went back to working on your breakfast.

You ate quickly, burning your mouth in the process. The way that he left had bothered you, it wasn't like him to act like that. You needed to know what was going on, help him figure it out so that you could have back your Tachihara.

You hurried around the kitchen, cleaning all the pots and plates you had used, making sure that everything would be perfect for when the two of you returned home from work. When you finished with the kitchen you ran to the room that you shared with him, making the bed before changing into your work clothes. You would get to the bottom of whatever it was that had him acting this way.

The bus ride to work felt strange, he wasn't next to you, his arm wasn't wrapped around you to held keep you steady whenever the bus jerked to a stop. He would sometimes rest his chin on your shoulder, kissing the back of your ear as he pulled you closer against his chest. He was always so gentle with you, making sure that you felt safe, and there was nothing that made you feel more secure than having his arms around you.

You pulled the rope to stop the bus a street away from the headquarters, stumbling forward when the driver slammed on the brakes a little too hard. You sighed, feeling your body heat up with embarrassment as you stepped off the bus, making your way quickly to the building so you could forget about what had just happened. The only thing you wanted right now was to see him, to make sure he was okay.

"Good morning Y/L/N." The secretary at the front of the building greeted you with a smile and you nodded to acknowledge her as you walked straight to the elevator that would carry you up to the floor where he usually was. You didn't want to pester him, you didn't want to seem overbearing, it's just that things didn't feel right.

When you got off the elevator you saw him walking down the hallway with Hirotsu, the smoke from his cigarette rising up into the air from in front of him. You quickened your pace so that you could meet up with them, and you could tell something was totally off when Hirotsu was the only one to offer you a smile as a greeting. You could have stopped him, grabbed his arm to get him to look at you and tell you what was wrong, but you didn't want to embarrass him, so you decided against it. "Good morning Hirotsu. Have you seen Gin?" You asked, deciding that you would keep your mind busy with training. Whatever it was could be dealt with later when you and Tachihara were alone.

You were in the middle of training with Gin, both of your knives wielded, ready to slice through the open space between the two of you as you both circled around each other. That's when your eyes caught the silhouette in the doorway, the auburn hair alerted you to who it was immediately, you had lost track for only a split second and she had your knife on the floor and hers against your throat. "Dammit, you got me." You sighed as she pulled the knife away. "Did you plan this?" You asked, looking over to Tachihara.

"No, I think he needs to talk to you though. He seemed on edge when he came in. I don't know what his problem is." She said, shaking her head as you both were now looking at him. His arms were folded against his chest, his back leaning against the frame of the door. You could tell that he was looking at you, you could feel his eyes on your face, and for some reason that made you slightly nervous, a little uncomfortable even.

You sheathed your knife in your back belt loop and walked over to him, it felt like your shoes were filled with lead. You didn't understand why you felt so scared, he was your boyfriend, you knew that he would never lay a finger on you, but something in your gut was telling you that something wasn't right, that something was terribly wrong. When you finally reached him, he didn't say anything, nothing at all. He slipped his arm around your waist and practically pulled you to the elevator. It didn't feel normal, it wasn't the feeling that you usually got when he wrapped his arm around you, everything just felt wrong.

"What is going on?" The elevator doors had shut and as soon as they did he had pulled away from you, he was on the complete other side of the elevator. You could see it in his eyes, they were darker, he was planning something and you wouldn't like the outcome of it. Your brain seemed to already know what was going to happen, but your heart refused to believe what your mind was saying.

"Wait until we get somewhere private. You're so impatient sometimes, you know that?" He grumbled, you weren't used to him using that tone with you. Had you done something wrong? You tried to think back, tried to find any reason that he would be this way towards you, but you came up blank. There was no reason for it, not on your end anyway.

"Michi..." You whispered his name, taking a step closer to him just as the doors opened. He rolled his eyes and stepped out, leaving you in the elevator, trying to understand what was going on.

"Will you hurry up? And, don't call me that here. God, that's embarrassing." You weren't about to cry, nope. You could keep telling yourself that, but you felt your chest tighten up, the lump rising in your throat, and the sudden urge to throw up. He never seemed bothered that you called him that before, you had used that name for him many times at work. He would usually come up and kiss you on your cheek when you did so. Now he was yelling at you, scolding you for it. What had caused the sudden shift?

You followed him to an empty room on the top floor, the ray of sun shining through the window showed the disturbed dust particles floating around freely. You had never been on the top floors, there was never a need for it. The rooms had been empty for a while, undisturbed and unneeded, but now you were here with him, and at this point you felt like you knew what was coming.

"How long were you planning on doing this, Michizo?" You tried to make yourself sound strong, unbothered by what was about to happen, but inside it felt like you were dying. It felt like your heart was breaking into pieces with each passing second, it felt like your airways were closing up more and more as you waited for him to say it.

"It's nothing you did wrong. It's not your fault Y/N."

"Oh don't give me that shit. It's not you, it's me... right? Right?! Save it!"

"I just don't want to be tied down right now. It's not good for me, it's not good for you."

"How do you know what's good for me?" You scoffed at him, at this point you were more angry than upset. You knew this speech, you knew what it meant. It would have been better if he had just said that he was leaving you because you weren't compatible, some bullshit like that would have been easier to stomach. Not this though, this felt like someone had stabbed you, and every time he spoke it was like someone was twisting the blade.

"Y/N... I- I've found someone else." You heard him clench his teeth as he waited for your response. How were you supposed to respond to that though? Were you supposed to congratulate him for cheating on you? Tell him "good job" for being unfaithful?

"So that's it... this is it for us? This is how it ends? That's great, that's fucking fantastic. Thank you. Really, thank you for this."

"Y/N."

"Don't... don't say my name. I- I hate you... I hate you so much." You felt like you couldn't breathe, it was like your entire world came crumbling down around you. You could barely hold yourself up.

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry? You're sorry?! God, people like you make me so fucking sick!"

"It's not like I don't love you... I just... I need to figure things out." You were on your way out of the room, but his words had made you freeze. Figure things out? His words had you seeing red, you turned on your heel to face him. "I know that sounds wrong, but-"

"You need to figure things out?! What does that even mean? You want to be able to sleep around with whoever you want while you keep me on the back burner? You want to keep stringing me along by saying you still love me? For what? What's the reason Tachihara?"

"It's complicated, Y/N."

"Do what you want, I don't care. But know this, I'm not going to be there when you decide to come back after you figured things out."

You walked out of the room, slamming the door behind you. The rage you felt, the anger and sadness, the pure heartache, you would use it to make you stronger.

He stood in the dusty room, his hands shoved in his pockets as he stared at the door you had just walked out of. It felt wrong, but he knew that he done the right thing. With everything that was going on, he knew it would be better to break your heart now rather than later. Maybe one day he'd be able to meet up with you again, he would tell you the truth about why he had done this, and maybe you'd understand. You'd know that that's the reason why he couldn't bring himself to say he didn't love you anymore, because as much as he wanted to lie to you, he couldn't lie about that. He loved you, and that's why he needed to make you leave.

[king-finnigan]

I Found Something In The Woods Somewhere - Chapter 1

Pairing: Geralt x Jaskier

Genre/Warnings: Angst with a happy ending, tw: suicide mention in chapter 3 (minor character, not graphic), Cursed Jaskier

Words: 3,000 per chapter, 3 chapters

Summary: After getting wounded by a particularly nasty Kikimora, Geralt spends a week in the woods, fighting an infection and ailing. When he finally wakes up, a scream rings through the forest. He finds the source: a wounded fox. But as he approaches the creature, he can't help but notice the bright blue eyes, and how familiar they seem.

A/n: Special thanks to @panlesters for being my beta! This fic, and especially the first chapter, is heavily inspired by In The Woods Somewhere by Hozier. This is chapter 1 of 3, and I will post the next 2 chapters sometime this week as well. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy, and don’t hesitate to leave a like and a comment if you feel like it!

You can also read this on AO3! Masterlist here.

Faces floated in front of his eyes as he tried to keep them open, his vision fading out and reappearing every few seconds. The world swayed around him, sweat dripping from his brow. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to fight the dizziness washing over him. Behind closed eyelids, he saw the face of his mother, her red hair and kind eyes treacherous. Yennefer appeared next to her, all raven curls and snarky expressions.

He groaned and lifted a heavy hand to swat the visions away, and they disappeared like smoke, the colours blending into each other to form one last face. Brown hair framing blue eyes, the lips forming words he couldn’t hear, the hurt in his features apparent and painful.

Geralt’s voice was hoarse, and his throat parched, the words barely able to leave his mouth. “I’m sorry, Jaskier.” He opened his eyes again, the world around him different shades of grey and brown, the shapes blurred. Somewhere, in the outskirts of his mind, he could feel the cool night air on his warm skin, sweat dripping from his forehead. The dirt underneath him fell away, and he was falling, falling, into the abyss. I’m sorry - his last thought before he went unconscious once again.

҉   ҉   ҉

He awoke with a start, blinking furiously to clear the haze in front of his eyes. Dirt was digging in his cheek, and he could smell the iron of blood, both old and fresh. He tried to push himself up with his left arm from his foetal position on the forest floor, but his shoulder screamed in agony, and he dropped back into the mud with a groan.

Instead, he waited until the pain subsided, then used his right arm to lift himself up, slowly but surely, until he was sat upright, his back against an old oak tree. His lungs were heaving, and he had to fight the dark spots that were swimming across his vision, determined to stay awake this time.

He was in the woods, large canopies above his head filtering the light, making everything beneath the orange leaves dim and grey. About twenty yards to his right, he saw a large, dark shape on the ground. He frowned, struggling to regain his memory.

His mind offered no clues as to why he was here, so instead, he focused on the most pressing matter at hand: the wound on his shoulder. He lifted his hand up with great effort, shifting the armour and shirt away from his left arm. A large gash adorned his shoulder, barely healed, the edges coated in dried blood. The skin around it was a violent red. An infection.

He dropped the clothes back, wincing as pain flared up again, and he let his head fall back against the bark of the oak tree. Possibilities of what could have happened crossed his mind, eventually jogging his memory.

He lolled his head to the right, regarding the dark shape, inhaling the sharp scent that the thing emanated. A kikimora, dead for about a week. His mind flashed back.

҉   ҉   ҉

The water of the small, murky pond sloshed at his ankles as the Kikimora fell down in front of him, the water around it turning dark with blood. He pushed the thing with his foot, turning the large body to its side. He lowered himself on his knees and pushed a hand into the wound in the monster’s neck, cringing slightly at the wet sound it made, and the feeling of warm blood running over his lower arm as he pressed deeper.

His fingers eventually closed around the hilt of his dagger, and he grasped it tightly, gathering all his strength to pull it out, a fresh wave of blood leaving the Kikimora’s neck after his hand.

He shook out his arm, droplets of blood falling off his clothes and the dagger, onto the ground below. He stretched his back out, and rolled his head from side to side, to fight the familiar soreness emerging in his muscles. This Kikimora had been a particularly nasty one, and had managed to disarm the Witcher, which had forced him to resort to driving a dagger deep into the monster’s throat.

He groaned, and rolled his shoulders as he walked over to his sword, where it was sticking from the ground, hilt up, a dozen or so feet away. He stopped dead in his tracks, as he felt pain flare up in his left shoulder, and he groaned again, this time in annoyance.

He pushed away the fabric and armour above the wound, and found a large gash underneath. It wasn’t life-threatening, but it needed care anyways, as the monster blood and murky water he was covered in might cause the wound to infect.

He sighed, and continued walking to his sword, pulling it from the mud and sheathing it. He would have to clean his weapons later, but for now, he had to tend to his shoulder. He looked around, trying to find his bag, frowning when he couldn’t locate it. It must have been flung away during the struggle. For the tenth time that day, he wished Roach was there with him. He’d had to leave her behind in the town at the foot of the hill, as the path up was too treacherous for her.

He turned round and round, eyes scanning the area for his pack, eventually finding it next to an old oak tree. He walked over to it, and lowered himself on the ground, rummaging through his things for a healing potion, uncorking it with his teeth and downing it. He sat back against the bark, and closed his eyes for a second, as he waited for the magic to start working.

Tiredness weighed his limbs down, and he found himself drifting into sleep. He usually didn’t sleep right after a fight, and he still had to clean his wound, but the Kikimora had caught him by surprise. The townspeople had miscalculate its location, and the monster itself had been smarter than average, so it had managed to sneak up on him.

He tried to get up, but sleep overtook him easily, and he sagged down on the ground, laying on his right side in the fallen leaves.

The next time he woke up, he was ailing. He would be for the next seven days, until his fever finally broke.

҉   ҉   ҉

He blinked slowly, once, twice, as the memories flooded through him. He frowned, realizing he had been lying on the forest floor for a week, waiting for his body to beat the infection. Surely, the townspeople must think him dead after all this time, and he clenched his fists as he thought of what they might have done with Roach in his absence.

He groaned as he pushed himself upwards, holding on to low-hanging branches of the oak tree for support. The mud made a wet sound beneath his feet, the dirt having been wetted by his blood while he was lying there, unconscious. Slinging his bag over his non-wounded shoulder was hard, walking was harder, and he staggered from tree to tree.

Looking up, he only saw leaves and branches, grey spots of sky in between. He had no idea what time it was, with the absence of the sun, but he knew which way to go, as the village lay at the bottom of the hill. He started down the slope, feet slipping away a few times over the fallen leaves.  It was at least a day’s walk to the town, even if he was in any good shape. It would probably take longer now, as his legs were unsteady and his mind barely clear of fog.

He looked down at the forest floor, deciding to focus on his feet, and putting one in front of the other, over and over, slipping, regaining balance, walking on.

Slowly the darkness grew around him, and his limbs were tired and heavy. He found an old willow tree, and laid his bedroll underneath it, shielded from hostile eyes by the many branches. He laid down on his back, staring at the few leaves still on the tree, seeing bits of night sky between them. His eyelids drooped down, and he fell into a deep sleep.

҉   ҉   ҉

“Dammit, Jaskier, why is it whenever I find myself in a pile of shit these days, it’s you, shovelling it?” Rage coursed through his veins like fire. He could not keep the words from rising out of his chest, into the Bard’s stunned face. Geralt’d had enough. He’d just lost Yennefer due to some stupid decision he had made years ago, and the hurt was too new, too fresh, sharp edges cutting away at the inside of his chest.

Jaskier had been right there, ready to cheer him up – except Geralt didn’t want that right now. What he wanted was some peace and quiet, and a chance to hurt in solitude.

He tried to ignore the way the Bard seemed to hesitate for what could possibly be the first time in his life and could not stop another outburst of the anger raging in his blood. “The Child Surprise, the djinn- all of it!” Truly, the only constant throughout all of his misery, all of his problems, had been Jaskier. He had been there to drag Geralt to the betrothal feast. He had been there to ruin his wishes for the djinn. He was there at the moment to act like nothing happened, even though Yennefer had just left.

A small voice in the back of his head told him that Jaskier had also been there to clean up his reputation, to hold him company, to help and cheer him up when Geralt needed it the most. Yet, that tiny part of him was soon buried under a new wave of rage as purple eyes danced across his vision.

“If life could give me one blessing, it would be to take you off my hands!” Some sick, twisted part in him was overjoyed at the expression of pure hurt on the Bard’s face, was glad to see that Geralt wasn’t the only one suffering. Yet, again, a small voice in the back of his head warned him he would come to regret his words.

He ignored it, and turned around, walking to the cliff’s edge. He stood there, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, eyes staring unseeing over the landscape in front of him. He heard Jaskier mumble something behind him, but the pained voice was lost in the sound of his blood rushing in his ears, his own slow heartbeat deafening him.

The part of him that regretted his words grew as he slowly, but surely, came to his senses, and realized the full weight of what he had said. Eventually, he couldn’t take the guilt growing in his stomach anymore, and he turned around, only finding air where Jaskier had been standing, his familiar scent long faded.

He was gone.

҉   ҉   ҉

He awoke with a start as a scream ripped through the forest, a few birds taking flight from the branches of the willow tree Geralt was lying under, startled by the noise. He pushed himself up with a quiet groan, hand on the hilt of his sword, dried flakes of blood falling off the metal as he touched it.

He stood up quickly, head moving from side to side as he inspected the surrounding woods intently, yellow eyes focused. He listened, and startled a bit when another cry rang between the trees. It sounded as though a woman was being murdered, and without hesitation, he flung his bag over his shoulder, taking his sword in his hand.

He started in the direction of the sound. The canopy and many trees had bounced the scream around, which would’ve made it hard to pinpoint the source, if he didn’t have a supernatural sense of hearing. He moved quietly, swiftly, through the forest, footsteps light but determined over the fallen leaves.

It wasn’t long until he got to a small clearing in the trees, a rare view of the grey sky above him, as the branches gave way. He stayed at the edge, knowing he would make himself a target as soon as he stepped in the middle. The light, however dim, was still brighter than the forest around him, and he would not be able to see any potential enemies lurking behind the trees.

A small, pained sound drew his attention, and his eyes caught a glimpse of red. In the clearing, a little off-centre, lay a fox. Geralt regarded the edges of the forest one last time, before relaxing and walking over to the animal, lowering his sword as he did so.

The fox’s head lay on the fallen leaves, and it breathed quickly, shallowly. It didn’t look up as the Witcher approached, and Geralt couldn’t help but feel pity at the animal’s dejectedness. He kneeled next to it, eyes falling on a long gash in the fox’s hind leg. The stark white of bone shone through the darkness of the blood, dripping from the wound.

He sighed, as he realized he had rushed into action too quickly. An old lesson from Kaer Morhen resurfaced in the back of his mind: “A fox’s scream sounds like that of a woman, keep that in mind, Geralt. Do not judge a situation too quickly. Observe, listen, wait.” He shook his head to clear it from unwanted memories, as he laid a hand softly against the heaving side of the wounded animal. He observed the wound, deep and long, and wondered what could have caused it.

He cursed as the hairs at the back of his neck stood up. “Do not neglect your rationality in favour of your heart, Geralt.” Vesemir’s voice rang through his head, before he tightened the fingers of both hands around the hilt of his sword, swivelling around, moving the blade up.

A Hydra head clamped it’s teeth over his sword, and pulled. Geralt managed to hold on to it, but his shoulder groaned in protest, barely healed tissue threatening to tear at the force. He moved down to evade another one of the beast’s heads, dragging his sword with him, cutting the lower jaw off of the first head.

The monster screamed in pain, staggering back, which gave the Witcher an opportunity to cut off its third head, swiftly casting Igni to cauterize the wound, preventing two more heads from growing in its place.

A claw swiped down, burying itself into the dirt as he rolled to his right, the monster screaming in agony and rage. An Aard sign pushed the second head back, its teeth only mere inches away from his face. Another roll, this time to the left, gave him the perfect angle to cut the first, jawless head off, once again cauterizing the wound.

He stood up, swaying on his feet, sword in both hands. Exhaustion dragged at his limbs, but he refused to give in. It was just him against the middle head. A small voice in the back of his mind notified him that he had gotten lucky, as this was a young Hydra, the presence of only three heads indicating it had not seen serious battle yet.

The teeth lunged at him, and he moved to the side, cutting through the neck with ease, burning it shut. The ground under his feet shook a bit as the body fell down, and Geralt felt himself relax a bit.

He closed his eyes, tiredness weighing him down, and he considered climbing a tree and sleeping in it, when he heard a small, pained noise behind him. He had forgotten about the fox.

He turned around, sheathing his bloodied sword, and walked over to where the creature was still laying on the fallen leaves. He kneeled down next to it, hand resting against the side, right above its quick heartbeat, fingers threading through the soft fur. He regarded the wound in its hind leg, still seeping blood, bone exposed. He could only imagine the pain it was in.

Slowly, quietly, he unsheathed his dagger. It was still dirty, dried flakes of week-old Kikimora blood clinging to the blade, but it would do the job of releasing the animal from its suffering well enough. He sighed. “I’m sorry it had to go like this, you deserved better.”

He raised the knife, pressing the sharp tip against the pelt poking out beneath his fingers, still curled in the soft fur. The heaving ribcage threatened to impale itself, and the fox made a pained sound. Geralt looked to its head, his yellow eyes meeting those of a striking colour, like the sky on a clear summer’s day, like the ocean in the south, like cornflowers in a spring field. It was a blue he had only ever seen once before.

His grip on the blade faltered, and it fell on the ground with a soft thud. He bent down, moving closer to the fox, staring into its eyes as he narrowed his. The creature lifted its head, wet, black nose nearly touching the Witcher, before the fox grew tired again, laying back on the fallen leaves.

Geralt was frozen in place, his heart thrumming in his chest wildly. It couldn’t be. Yet, he couldn’t deny the familiar scent in the fox’s fur, half-buried beneath the iron smell of blood and the earthiness of the forest. He noticed the hand that was still laying on the fox’s side was shaking, and he looked down to where the blade had been pressed between the small ribs just seconds before.

The fox moved its head up again, yellow eyes meeting cornflower ones, the familiar scent tingling in Geralt’s nose again. Cinnamon and blueberries…

His voice was hoarse, barely more than a whisper. “Jaskier?”

[butwhatifyouwrite]

Comfort at the Castle

Okay here we go. One final post for @whumptober2020. This one is a continuation of Lila’s Story. 

This one is pretty mild. But don’t worry shit is going to hit the fan for Lila real soon. That being said cw: discussion of war, discussion of death of a loved one

If I missed anything please let me know. And just let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from a tag list. 

Comfort at the Castle

The queen’s presence is obvious the moment she walks into the large throne room that Lila and Nova are lead into. She’s young for a queen, Lila notices. Maybe a few years older than Lila, but certainly no more than that.

 Their horses have been taken to the stables to be cared for. The queen has promised them shelter and safety until they are ready to continue their journey. Whatever that means. 

“Nova. You’ve made it.” The queen says as she sits.

“Yes your majesty.” Nova replies, bowing clumsily. He looks exhausted. Well he has been awake for like five fucking days.

Lila takes Nova’s cue and attempts a curtsy, nearing tripping over her own two feet and winding up on the floor in the process. She straightens up and smiles, hoping the queen didn’t notice her clumsiness.

“This is Lila uh…” He pauses for a moment, looking at Lila. “Lila, your majesty.”

“Thank you Nova. And there is no one else around, you don’t have to end every sentence with your majesty. I think we know each other well enough for that now.” The queen says lightly. A smile dances across her face and it is warm and soft and Lila thinks her heart might have stopped beating at the sight of it. “Now Lila, what’s your family name?”

“My…. Uh… my family name? Your majesty.” Lila adds the title hastily, not wanting to offend the queen. “Oh… oh uh you mean my last name?” She laughs nervously.

“Yes, your last name.” The word seems slightly foreign in the queens mouth, but she smiles kindly.

“Uh, James, my, my last name is James. Your Majesty.” Lila stammers. Dammit, why the hell am I having so much trouble talking?

“Lila James, that’s a good name. And please, call me Alya.” Alya replies. 

A blush spreads across Lila’s face. “Thank you, yo-“ Lila cuts herself off. “Thank you Alya.” She curtsies again, slightly more gracefully this time. 

“Now, you two must be exhausted after your journey. I’ll have someone show you to your chambers so you can get some rest.” Alya says, standing and turning to leave. 

“Thank you, Alya.” Lila says, hastily.

“You’re welcome, Lila.” Alya says kindly. She turns and takes her leave and Lila and Nova are left standing alone in the large room. A few second later two servants enter the room motioning for Lila and Nova to follow them, and they are both led away to their quarters.

Lila’s quarters are more elegant than any thing she has ever seen before. The large four poster bed, a window that looks over the gardens and other plush furniture and soft blankets and pillows. A bath has been prepared as well and the large tub sits steaming in the middle of the room. Oh my god yes. 

“Can I get you anything else my lady?” The servant asks.

Lila turns to look at them before speaking. “Uh, no, no thank you.”

“Okay, food will be brought up in a short while. Let us know if we can get you anything else to make you more comfortable.”

“Thank you.”

The servant turns and leaves, leaving Lila alone for the first time in five days. She takes a moment to survey the room and then begins stripping off her clothes. She sees that a change of clothes has been provided for her as well and sits neatly folded on the bed.

The warm water envelops her tired body and she sighs at the welcome warmth, closing her eyes. She sits there in the water for a while, washing off the dirt from the five days travel. Finally, she drags herself out of the tub, instinctively reaching out for a towel then noticing one sitting on a small stool a few steps away. She grabs it, wrapping it around herself and making her way over to the clothes on the bed. A silk nightgown lays there, more luxurious than anything she had ever owned herself. Hell I usually just throw on comfy shorts and a t-shirt. Have I ever even owned a nightgown?

She sets the towel aside and slips the silk over her head. It’s smooth and cool and so soft against her skin. She runs her hand across the bedspread, feeling the soft fabric beneath her fingers as she looks around again in awe.

There is a soft knock at the door. That must be the food. “Come in.” Lila calls lightly. 

The door opens quietly and Lila turns to see Queen Alya standing in the doorway, a tray of food in her hands. She has changed from the gown she was in earlier and now stands in a simple robe. Her hair is now undone and hangs floating around her shoulders.

 “You- Alya�� Hi. Um…” Lila stops herself and rushes forwards reaching for the tray of food. “Here let me take that your majesty, Alya… Um… please come in.”

Lila grabs the tray of food, looking around frantically for a place to set it down. She spots a small table off to the side and sets the tray of food down, turning back around and curtsying quickly.

“How-how can I help you?” Lila asks. The words come out in a rush.

“No need to make such a fuss, Lila. I just wanted to see how you were doing. All of this must be quite the shock.” Alya says kindly. “Please, let’s sit and eat.” She motions towards where Lila sat the food down, making her way over to the small couch and sitting down. Lila follows her over, taking a seat next to her, careful to leave enough space to be respectful. 

Lila grabs the tray off the little table and sets it on the couch between the two of them, lifting the cover off of the top. The smell that hits Lila’s nostrils is unlike anything. It smells decadent and her stomach rumbles, reminding her just how hungry she is. 

“Please help your self.” Alya says with a small smile. 

“Th-thank you. For everything.” Lila says. 

They eat in silence for a while. Lila trying not to stare at Alya, so tempted to break the silence and yet wanting to sit in the silence. There is something so peaceful about it. Slowly both women relax, eating, making small talk here and there. 

Soon, it no longer feels like Lila is talking to a queen, more like she is talking to an old friend. 

“This is nice.” Alya says quietly, after another moments silence.

“What is?” Lila asks softly.

“Feeling normal again.” Alya pauses and Lila stays silent. She can tell there is more that Alya wants to say. “I wasn’t born into royalty. Not even close. I grew up on one of the farms in a nearby village. Life was quiet and contained, and sometimes very boring. But it was predictable. I knew where I fit and I knew what to expect. Then one day all of that changed.” Alya trails off, looking distant.

“May I ask what happened?” Lila says softly. “I don’t-”

“Of course.” Alya responds. She pauses for another moment, gathering her thoughts. “The prince rode by one day. He was coming back from an army encampment right after the war with Jale had begun. We offered him shelter for the night and…. We fell for each other in that night. It was a feeling I had never felt before. Or since. And I was so surprised that he could even like me. Who was I to a prince? His father gave the blessing and soon after we were married. I moved into the castle. My family moved to a large property near by. Not long after we were married, the king was killed in battle. My husband was now the king and I had no idea how to be a queen. Six months after that, my husband was killed as well.”

“I’m so sorry.” Lila says hushed. What else do you say? 

“It was a long time ago. And though advisors have pressured me through the last few years, I haven’t taken a new partner. It just didn’t feel right.” Alya finishes, her eyes look distant. Lila gives her a moment of silence.

“Can I ask what his name was?” Lila almost whispers.

“Anthony. His name was Anthony.” Tears shine is Alya’s eyes now.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.” Lil says.

“It’s okay. It honestly feels good to talk about it.” Alya replies, a sad, quiet smile breaking across her lips. She pauses for a moment and then changes the subject. “I’m glad you and Nova made it here safely. He’s a good man. A bit impulsive at times, but good.”

“Ye-yeah he is.” Lila’s voice cracks slightly as she answers. She is still wrapped up in the emotion of the moment before. “I’m not sure I could have taken another night on the road with him though. He just wouldn’t sleep. Refused to let me keep watch.”

“He’s careful, especially when he is put in charge in any way.” 

“I was so worried he was gonna collapse before we got here.” Lila admits.

“He’s lucky, his fae blood makes him stronger than the average man. He can pull from the life energy of the world around him. He’s still young and inexperienced and he’s been hesitant about what he learns since a mistake early on. But no one can deny, he has power.”

Lila is quiet for a moment as she takes this in. “This is all just so crazy.”

“It must be a lot for you to take in.” Alya says with a smile. Something about her smile sets Lila’s face into a fiery blush.

A small laugh escapes Lila’s mouth and she looks down towards the ground. “That might be an understatement.” And then suddenly all of the emotion Lila had been holding back for the last five days, maybe longer, breaks over her like a wave. Her face crumples and tears begin to pour down her face.

Alya moves the tray back to the small table quickly, moving closer to Lila. “Can I touch you?” She asks.

Lila nods, not able to form words. Alya pulls her carefully into her arms, letting her cry for a while. Her embrace is warm and soft and safe and Lila sinks into it.

 “Do you want to talk about it?” Alya asks after a while.

“I-I do-don’t even kn-know what I would s-say.” Lila says brokenly.

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.” Alya says softly, her fingers card gently through Lila’s hair. The motion is as soothing to her as it is to Lila. 

“I-I was packing u-up my grandma’s things. A-and then a-all of a sudden… all of a sudden th-there were strange men f-fighting in the l-living room. H-he tried to t-t-take me. I-I think h-he want-ted t-to h-hurt me.”

“Who-” Alya starts.

“Jale.” Lila wails, letting emotions crash over her as she buries herself further into Alya’s warm embrace. 

“There there… you’re safe now… nice and safe.” Alya says softly, continuing to run soothing fingers through Lila’s hair and letting the other woman cry.

Finally, Lila’s tears begin to dry. She sniffles, sitting up slightly and moving back to look at Alya. “I-I’m so sorry to dump all of this on you.” She says.

“No, no don’t apologize.” Alya pulls a handkerchief from the pocket of her robe and hands it to Lila. 

“Thanks.” Lila takes it gratefully, drying her eyes. She holds the handkerchief tightly in her hands, looking down at them. 

Alya pulls back from Lila some, gently grabbing her shoulders. “You have more strength than you could ever know.” She says with a kind smile. “I should let you rest.” She stands to leave, but Lila catches her hand.

“Please- please don’t leave yet.” Lila says, not even daring to make eye contact.

Alya pauses for a moment, looking down at Lila’s tearstained face. “Okay.”

[fanfic-scribbles]

One Lump Or Two

Fandom: Supernatural

Summary: You find out Gabriel is your soulmate. You have…issues with this.

Quick facts: Romance – Gabriel/Reader – Nondescript Reader

Warnings: Fluff, Soulmate trope (the first words you say to your soulmate are like a tattoo on your skin)

Words: 1888

A/N: Written for @gabriel-monthly-challenge (and so tagging: @archangelgabriellives , @archangel-with-a-shotgun, @archangelsanonymous,  @ttttrickster, @warlockwriter, and @revwinchester) first off the trope/au prompt ‘turned into a corgi�� but I think I used more of the aesthetic prompt since the ‘turned into a corgi portion’ is so short. But it’s there! I’m still on my soulmate bs, sorry not sorry, and…I don’t really have much else to say actually; this is short and sweet and straightforward. Please enjoy. EDIT: I think this is post-S9 of some alternate timeline; apologies, I keep writing like the Loki/Asmodeus thing never happened.

     “So who’s the new sugarlump?”

You freeze at the voice. More accurately: at the words. It can’t be possible, but no one else has ever called you ‘sugarlump.’ You had no idea what kind of person would call you ‘sugarlump.’

Apparently it’s a guy with tousled finger-brushed hair and a mischievously hooked smirk. Not what you had imagined, but it seems to suit the type of person who would saddle you with that particular word on your skin all your life.  You’re about to open your mouth, hopefully to give him an equally ridiculous greeting, when Dean, exasperated, says, “This is Gabriel. Gabriel, this is…”

Dean introduces you but your mind whites out for a few moments as you process that your supposed soulmate is an angel. An archangel. It leaves you unable to speak– you know, in theory, he’s a friend and ally, like Castiel, but you don’t know him. And…an angel with a soulmate? Did angels have souls? Judging by the ones you’ve met, you’d say ‘no.’

Gabriel looks at you curiously. You clench your jaw tight and give him a polite nod before you look down at your book, even though your attention is still primarily on him. There’s a moment of silence before Gabriel says, “Uh, what did I–”

Dean yanks him out of the room and you breathe a little easier. Dean will tell him about the grigori, and the other angel that was angry about the fall and eager to take it out on the first hunter they crossed, and you hope that Gabriel will be so bored and uninterested that he’ll leave you alone. Sure, from what you’ve heard he seems to like harassing Sam and Dean, but if you don’t give him the time of day he won’t bother you.

You hope.

~

A fist slams on your door three times. You’re so used to it now that you don’t even shift until Dean shouts, “You’re up!”

You shut your laptop and hop up to grab your towel and clothes. Despite having room for more than one in the showers, you, Sam, and Dean are not keen on using the room at the same time. Sam virulently so after a surprise dye job. You don’t think he looked so bad as a blond, but you can understand the upset. And you’re not willing to take the risk yourself.

As soon as you open the door to the showers, though, all thoughts of a peaceful twenty minutes with nothing but the soothing sound and feel of hot running water are ruined by what appears to be a…rave?

Neon lights flash across the walls, disco balls turn, and you think even in the chaos you can see fountains going off, though you’re not sure if they’re actually fountains or if Gabriel just repurposed shower heads. Gabriel, because he’s there, singing karaoke into something that’s not actually a microphone, dressed only in a towel that hangs dangerously low on his hips.

Then he appears in front of you suddenly, singing, “Just like a dream, you are not what you seem!” and then he holds the hairbrush (thankfully bereft of any actual hair) up to your mouth for the next line.

The musical imitation plays on in the background as water sloshes around in festive hues. You clear your throat, take several slow steps back, and shut the door on the whole scene.

You’ll just…go to the gym in town.

~

“Heeeeeey bug-a-boo!”

Your mouth is full of cereal so you just give Gabriel a glance and a nod.

He proceeds to lie all along the table on his side, arm bent so he can rest his head on his fist. “So. Angels. Pretty sore subject?”

You shrug one shoulder. You are definitely not talking about that.

“Right, right. I get that,” he says, in a way that makes you squint. He sounds so…honest. He pulls up his shirt to show a red scar. It’s small, so you figure you must have missed it in the showers; it had been hard to see. …And you were trying really hard not to ogle. You try to be as respectful now, though you really want to poke the little tuft of pudge on Gabriel’s lower abdomen. Until he, thankfully, drops the fabric. “I kept it,” he admits. “It’s a good reminder.”

There’s a lot in those few words. Even if you wanted to talk to him, you don’t know what you’d say. You hold up the box of cereal and shake it, jolting him out of whatever dark place he’s going to. “It’s good?” he asks and takes the box to look at. His face lights up. “Ooo, marshmallows; don’t mind if I do.” He pours himself a bowl and sits next to you, but he gives you half a body of space in between. “Thanks.”

You nod, and the two of you eat in relative silence.

Mostly.

Gabriel crunches loudly and then starts singing the cereal commercial jingle. Then, inexplicably, or perhaps for reasons known only to him, he starts musically barking to it. Like a dog. You shake your head but laugh silently into your bowl. Out of the corner of your eye you see Castiel stare for a few seconds before he, very slowly, very awkwardly, walks backwards until he is no longer in sight. Given the look on his face, you think he’s no longer in the same hemisphere.

It’s sort of comforting to know Gabriel is weird even by angelic standards.

~

“Hey pumpernickel!”

“What’s up peanut?”

“Looking good, honey bun!”

“Research again, dumpling?”

You don’t lift your head but you do aim your eyes all the way up so you can at least look at him, because you know he can do better than that.

“Gabriel,” Dean says tensely. “Why are you flirting with them?”

“Why not?” Gabriel says. And winks at you.

Wait. What?

You look back down at words that suddenly don’t make any sense. He can’t be serious.

…Can he?

“Does it bother you?”

Gabriel is, in fact, serious. So serious that you look up for real, but you barely have to think about it before you shake your head. He hasn’t hurt anyone that you’ve seen and even Sam and Dean seem to be warming up to him even despite the undisclosed bad blood. Gabriel’s an angel, but he’s an angel like Castiel– almost human.

“Do you have any idea what you’re getting into?” Dean asks you.

You look at Dean, straight on, full eye contact– and slowly shake your head. You’re not stupid.

Castiel clears his throat. “Gabriel. A word?” But he doesn’t wait for Gabriel to acquiesce so much as he grabs Gabriel’s arm and disappears with him.

In the silence after, Sam pulls away from his own book to look at you. “Why don’t you ever talk when Gabriel’s around?”

You shrug. “It bugs him and I find it kind of funny.” It’s half a truth– it is funny sometimes. But Sam looks at Dean, who rolls his eyes, and you feel your hackles start to rise. “What?”

“Good luck,” Dean says and Sam snorts.

~

Gabriel is driving you bonkers.

A few days ago you had all gone to hunt a small coven. Two angels and three hunters made it a cakewalk, of course, but the last witch standing had aimed a spell at you that Gabriel had, calmly and without fanfare, stepped in front of. It had…interesting effects.

“Arf arf!”

You take a deep breath. The act had been appreciated, of course– even in Gabriel’s weakened, recovering state, it obviously affects him less than you. For instance, the wings currently listlessly flapping as the corgi-ized archangel floats right in front of your face. As Gabriel stops and turns to wiggle his butt, you let your head fall back. Castiel had said this won’t be forever, and you try to find peace in that thought.

“Arf arf!”

It won’t be forever.

“Arf arf arf!”

It won’t be forever.

“Arf! Arf!”

It won’t–

“ARF AR–”

“God dammit Gabriel stop barking!”

In a flash, Gabriel turns back into his smug, human-looking self, falls onto the desk and points at you. “Ah HA!”

You freeze.

Shit.

Shit.

Shit.

~

You’re still hunkered in your angel-proof room over an hour later, coming down from a panic and trying to reason with yourself. With mixed results. On one hand, it’s possible Gabriel was just crowing about getting you to open your mouth. But you doubt it. He had looked entirely too triumphant. Too…

Someone knocks on your door. Not hard enough to be Dean, not soft enough to be Sam, and not stilted enough to be Castiel.

You…maybe need to get out more often.

Gabriel knocks again and you groan into your pillow. After a second your phone alerts you to a text, and the name of the sender puts you right back into a panic.

Soulmate Sugar Pie: Can we talk?

So he knows. Of course. However the more you stare at your phone, the more annoyed you become with the whole situation, until you get up, open the door, and shove the screen in Gabriel’s face. “Really?!”

He blinks, then slowly smiles. “Which part?”

You put your phone back in your pocket. “The message is completely reasonable, rational– very adult. Then there’s ‘Sugar Pie?’”

He grins. “You can always edit it to a pet name of your liking.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I notice you’re not arguing the first part.”

You sigh and lean against the door. “I thought angels didn’t have souls.”

“Strictly speaking, no. But grace is…” Gabriel tilts his hand from side to side. “Ish. It’s not the same exactly, but we’ll be nitpicking if I try to describe it.” He cocks his head to one side. “You knew though.”

“Not a lot of people call me ‘sugarlump,’” you admit.

He bobs his head but his smile is slowly leaving. “Is it the angel thing?”

“It was at first,” you say. “Mostly I just…didn’t know how to handle it.” You gesture uselessly at yourself and then at your room. “Obviously.”

Gabriel huffs. “You’re telling me.” He pulls up his sleeve to show you the words on his shoulder. “Do you have any idea the kinds of translations I’ve gotten through the years on this, just waiting for current English to be a thing?”

That startles you to a laugh. Gabriel flashes a smirk, but then his lips settle back down and he starts to fidget. He looks away, and then steals glances at you. “So. The angel thing: dealbreaker?”

It almost takes you aback, to see and hear Gabriel so uncertain. Normally he nopes on out of any sincere moment. But here he is. Letting you see this. He’s giving you a chance, and maybe…maybe you can do the same.

“I always worried, after I became a hunter, that my soulmate would be a liability; someone who couldn’t defend themself. Someone I would lose.” You look him up and down. “A trickster archangel who can wiggle his way out of certain death seems like a pretty good deal, actually.”

Gabriel grins again. Then he brings out a tiny spray bottle, spritzes a faintly minty-smelling mist into his mouth, and waggles his eyebrows at you.

You crook your finger, and allow him closer.

[foxyninjabear]

A Hacker’s Tale -  Chapter 1

Hello all! I’ve got something to show ya! I’m making a HermitCraft fanfic... if you couldn’t tell by the tags. If not, I have no clue how the heck you found this post xD But either way, welcome! This story idea has been floating around in my head for awhile, but I finally have it up and ready to roll! So without further delay, here’s my introductory chapter to my pride and joy of a nerdy story, A Hacker’s Tale!

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!: This fic is rated as PG-14+, so read at your own risk! There's swearsies, suggestive references, and LOTS of blood and gore! Be aware! 

_________________________________________

???

Seventeen minutes. That was how long she had been waiting at their planned meeting spot. Same time, same place, every single week.

Of course he was late.

The creeper lifted herself away from the wall she was leaning against. “C’mon, where are ya…” She muttered, before glancing around at the dozens upon dozens of people walking by in the hall. Her coal black eyes shifted from person to person, and she searched for a head of fiery red hair, to no avail. She groaned in annoyance, gritting her teeth. “Ugh…”

“Did you miss me that much?”

The green scaled woman heard the familiar voice behind her, and her shoulders stiffened. “Synth… you’re late. Again.” She stated, not turning around.

The male voice chuckled. “Hey, you know me, Coda. I like pushing your buttons.”

Coda rolled her eyes, turned around, and saw that apparently nobody was there in the first place. Her lips pressed into a firm line, and her brows furrowed. “...okay, dude, c’mon.” She said, clearly feeling bothered. “Just show yourself so we can get this over with.” She then pulled out a small stack of plastic, multicolored cards from a back pocket on her jumpsuit. “I lost the bet and I owe ya.”

Before her eyes, a taller man with fair skin and long red hair tied back into a ponytail appeared out of thin air in a flash of pixels. Like her, he wore a black and gray uniform with red accents, a pair of black boots to match. His piercing grey eyes locked with hers, a sly grin on his lips. 

"About time I get my deck back." He chuckled, taking the cards out of her hands. "Good thing you suck at poker."

Coda laughed and shoved Synth at the comment. "That's cuz ya cheat, you fucker," She laughed.

The ginger winked. "Hey, I don't cheat… I just find loopholes."

"Yeah… sure," The creeper replied sarcastically, chuckling. “You elegantly… expertly… carefully dupe everyone into giving you their shit.”

Synth let out a laugh. “Now that’s ridiculous.” He insisted. He was about to continue his sentence, only to be interrupted by a small ping. “Hmm?” He lifted his arm to look at his wrist, where what resembled a watch resided. On its small screen, an icon of a bell was ringing back and forth, signalling that a brand new message was there for him to read.

Coda raised a brow at the beep. “What’s that about? Is it that crazy ex of yours again? I told ya that if ya needed me to shut’er up, I would.”

A confused frown formed on the redhead’s face as he read the message. “Apparently we’ve got a mission… World hijack. Block A, Floor Seven, at eight thirty.”

Coda eyes went wider in disbelief. “A mission? Today? But it's our day off…”

Synth frowned even more. “There’s no one else available…” He stated, before turning off his communicator and sighed.

The creeper’s brows furrowed. “You gotta be kidding me...” Her shoulders then sagged, and she let out an irritated groan. “Dammit... I gotta cancel my date now…”

Synth���s eyes widened slightly in interest. “A date? With who?”

“A hot tub.”

The redhead smirked. "That sounds more like a party."

Coda rolled her eyes. "You're so not invited."

“Awww!” Synth chuckled, before clearing his throat. “But hey, think about it. This could be your opportunity to finally get promoted. Show that you have what it takes to be a Sergeant.”

Coda thought for a moment, pursing her lips. “...you have a fair point...” She replied. After a few seconds of silence, she then pushed herself off the wall and stood up with confidence. “Y’know what, fuck it, I’ll show ‘em!” Determined, she began to march off down the hallway. 

The redhead chuckled and looked on at the creeper as she strolled away. "What're ya waiting for, a red carpet?" Coda asked, turning around to face her friend. "C'mon, we're gonna be late!"

“Don’t worry, I’m coming,” Synth answered, shifting away from his spot on the wall and beginning to follow the creeper. “And we still have half an hour. It’s only eight o’ clock, after all.”

“The Hive has over a hundred floors, dude!” Coda stated, gesturing around her with her arms to emphasize her point. “And the floors are enormous!”

Fort Oblivion, or the Hive, as it was commonly called, was the Shadowbyte Army’s base of operations. It had been ever since the military faction was founded hundreds of years prior by Ecryptos, a hacker said to have unspeakable power. With over one hundred floors, countless amounts of soldiers flowed in and out of the fortress like bees, loyally serving their queen, or in this case, king.

“That’s what hacks are for.” Synth replied, before pointing over to a mechanical sliding door. “And elevators.”

The green creeper glanced over at the elevator. “...you’re lucky I like you.” She said as the mechanical doors slid open. “You’re such a smartass sometimes…”

The human just smirked as he and his friend got into the empty lift. “You’re one to talk,” He teased, pressing a button on the elevator's control panel. 

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Coda shoved Synth and laughed, crossing her arms as the elevator closed and began to descend.

A few moments of silence passed after the descent started. It was then that another soft ding came from Synth’s communicator. He lifted his wrist to check it, and he let out a small groan of annoyance as he did.

Coda tilted her head to look up at her taller friend. “Now is it Vinnie?”

“Yeah…” He replied, a frown on his face.

“She’s still pissed at ya, huh?”

The redhead nodded. “Mhmm…” His lips were pressed into a firm line, obviously fed up with the situation.

Coda gritted her teeth at the thought of Synth’s ex girlfriend. “Bitch…” She muttered. “Why can’t she just leave ya be? You came outta the closet almost a damn month ago.”

“Correction: you dragged me out of the closet.” Synth pointed out as the elevator stopped and opened its doors.

The two friends stepped out of the elevator and into another bustling hallway of Shadowbyte soldiers and personnel. “That’s cuz ya needed a polite shove in the right direction.” She stated back as they walked side by side. “You couldn’t hide your secret forever, y’know. Eventually ya would’ve broke.”

“She would have been angry either way,” Synth said.

“Who fucking cares if she’s mad?!” Coda snapped, eyes angry and full of protective rage. “She’s just some self-centered lil’ bitch who can’t handle the fact that the hottest guy she ever dated turned out to be ace!”

Synth blinked at the outburst, but then he chuckled. “You think I’m hot?” He asked.

“No shit! Look at yourself dude!” Coda gestured to him dramatically. “You’re hot as hell!”

“I thought you said that to everyone…” The redhead tightened his ponytail as he let out another laugh.

“That’s cuz I don’t give a fuck who I hook up with,” The green creeper stated. “Y’know I’m fine with every gender of the fucking rainbow.”

A grin tugged at the corners of Synth’s lips. “So… if you could, would you hook up with me?”

Coda immediately stopped in her tracks. “What? Ew, fuck no!” She answered. “Dude, I’ve known you for years! Even before you came out, the thought of hooking up with ya was just…” She shivered in disgust. “Uggghh…”

Her reaction make Synth smile wider and burst out laughing. “Pffft!” He had to lean himself against the wall and clutch his stomach, he was cackleing so hard. 

“Dude, I’m serious!” Coda stated.

It took a moment for him to catch his breath, and once he did, he cleared his throat. “Hey, like I said before; I love pushing your buttons...!” A sly smile formed on the redhead’s pale face.

"Yeah, yeah,” Coda said, before she noticed a set of large metal doors. Above it read a single sign in bold lettering. Block Seven A. “Wait, we’re here?”

Synth stepped up to the door. “See? I told you we wouldn’t be late.” He said, and pushed open the door to walk in. 

The room was rather large, giving plenty of space for soldiers to work. A raised platform was at the end of the expansive space, giving access to a large monitor, currently blank and dark. On one side of the room, long racks of all sorts of weapons and armor ran along the walls, displaying everything from assault rifles to gas masks to swords. Massive sparring mats were conveniently spaced out evenly along the perimeter of the racks, allowing easy access to the large amount of hardware. On the other side of the room, a row of pixelated targets and training dummies lined the wall, waiting to be used.

Synth brushed off a bit of dust from his shoulder. “You think the Hive is so large now?”

Coda rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, shut up.” She said, surveying her surroundings. For a moment, she thought that she and Synth were the only people present. But then her gaze landed on a figure near the sparring mats. A short, pudgy girl with long brown hair sat cross legged on the floor, surrounded by countless papers with what appeared to be blueprints. She had a pencil grasped between her milky fingers, and was writing down on one of the sheets.

A that moment, the curvy girl glanced away from her papers and caught sight of Coda and Synth. Her thin brown eyes lit up, and she grinned, standing up to happily greet the new arrivals. "Ooo, you must be the Infantry soldiers!" She said as she pranced over to them, gesturing to their red-accented Shadowbyte uniforms. "My name's Sakura."

Coda looked the girl up and down. She appeared… almost too cheerful and peppy at that moment. Especially since missions were never exactly a happy time. "You… don't look like you're a soldier, not gonna lie." She said.

Instead of being offended, the brunette shrugged and laughed. "I know. I'm not exactly a soldier anyway." She then tapped a small cloth badge in the shape of a cog sewn onto her uniform. "I'm more of a hired nerd than anything."

Synth raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Ah, you're in the Engineering department. You operate mechs?"

Sakura nodded. "Mhmm!" She answered. "I operate mechs, make cybernetics, design machines, the whole nine yards." She counted off each thing she said by holding out a finger for each one. It was at that moment that one thing was very apparent to Coda and Synth; the short woman had a prosthetic left arm, intricate lines of redstone wiring spread throughout the whole limb.

Synth kept his gaze on her arm for a moment, before lifting his head up to look her straight on. "So do you know any of the other two people here?"

The brunette gave him another nod. "Oh yeah!" She pointed to a corner of the room, where two guys sat. One had bright blue hair and eyes, and the other had blonde hair and a pair of welding goggles. "The blonde one is Lucky, he's part of the Cyber division. He's going to be our go-to for information. The one next to him is Jazz, part of Special Ops."

Coda nodded. "So we're still waiting on three more people…" She said to herself.

"Yes, three," Sakura replied. "As far as I know, I'm the only mechanic, and we should be getting at least one medic. Not sure about the rest though-" She then fell silent, and leaned to the side to look past the two Infantry soldiers. Her signature wide smile reappeared on her face. "Oh, nevermind!"

The two friends glanced over their shoulders, and sure enough, there were two new arrivals in the block. A man with greyish-white hair and faded blue eyes had entered, closely tailed by a taller but younger male with dark brown eyes and black hair. Both had the typical Shadowbyte jumpsuit on, as everyone else did, but instead of them being mostly made of black fabric, they were a clean white tone accented with shades of red and grey. It was very apparent that those two were part of the Medical division of the Army. And Coda immediately recognized one of them.

The creeper flashed a smile towards the two medics. "Hey, old man!" She called, waving to the white-haired medic and getting his attention. "Still kickin' huh?"

The older man chuckled and waved back as he approached, the younger medic in tow. "It's gonna take a lot more than a zombie hoard to kill me, Coda." He called and held up his arm, which was wrapped in some bandages.

Synth glanced at his friend, then the man, and then back to his friend. “Wait… this is Grey, right?” He asked her. “You said that he was your mentor when you first enlisted.”

Coda nodded. “Yeah, he was. I was still in the Medical Division back then. Eventually I got transferred to Infantry.”

“That’s because she has zero patience,” Grey said. At this point, him and the other medic had reached Coda, Synth, and Sakura. “Staff Sergeant Grey, at your service,” He held out a hand for the trio of soldiers to shake.

Sakura was the first one to shake his hand. “Sakura. Sergeant for the Engineering Division.” She said, giving him a warm smile.

Synth was next as soon as the brunette let go. “Master Sergeant Synth. Infantry.” He introduced himself. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Coda.”

“Good things, I hope?”

The redhead shrugged and chuckled. “Eh, healthy mix of both good and bad.”

Coda elbowed her friend at the answer. “Hey, I don’t say that much bad stuff ‘bout him!” She stated, crossing her arms and pouting. “He was just-”

“Not letting you have any fun?” Grey finished, a half smile on his wrinkled face.

The creeper fell silent, and let out a frustrated huff. “Fuck you, Grey.”

“Missed you too, Coda.”

Sakura then spoke up. “Excuse me, sir…?” She asked. “Who is that with you…” She gestured to the other medic next to Grey.

“Oh, yeah, him,” Grey gestured to the quiet boy next to him. “This is Nix,” He said. “He… doesn’t say much, but he’s one of the finest kids I’ve ever mentored.”

The two Infantry soldiers glanced over at the medic. A small smile formed on his lips, and he gave a small wave, but no words came from him as a greeting. 

Coda nodded, tilting her head slightly. "Aight then…Word of advice though." She took a step closer to Nix, grinning slyly. "Don't forget to pay attention. If ya don't, you'll be coming back here in a body bag." She then walked away chuckling, leaving the teen's eyes wide and skin draining of its warm umber tone. His scrawny figure shrunk back in fear. He opened his mouth to say something, but only a single squeak sounded out.

Grey shook his head, pressing his palm against his forehead. "Some things never change..." He muttered to himself. “Ignore her, Nix. She’s always been like that.” He assured his pupil, making the color slightly return to the student's bronzed skin.

After leaving Nix absolutely terrified and walking some distance away from the group, Coda leaned up against the wall, arms crossed. Next to her, also up against the wall, was the guy with bright blue hair and eyes that Sakura had pointed out before, heavily focused on a small device in his hands.

“So you’re Jazz right? Special Ops?” She asked, glancing over at the soldier.

The blue-eyed man nodded, his gaze fixed on the gadget in his hands. “Mhmm.” He said. “You?”

“Coda. Infantry.” She answered. A small ding then sounded from her communicator, and she glanced at her wrist. The time was eight thirty; exactly when the meeting was supposed to start. And there were still only seven people of the byte present.

Coda frowned, feeling annoyance bubble in her chest. “There’s only seven here… we’re missing the damn leader.” She growled. “If anything, they should at least be on time.”

“Don’t worry,” Jazz spoke up, not removing his focus from his game. “She’ll be here soon.”

The creeper raised a brow at the Special Ops soldier. “She? Who’s comin-”

The blue eyed gamer cut her off, holding up a finger. “Ah, hold on! I’m almost at the next level!”

“Jazz-”

“Shhh!” More beeps and boops and blasts from the gaming device.

Coda’s patience was wearing thin. “Oh, for fuck’s sake!” But before she could rip the gadget out of Jazz’s hands, she felt two hands wrap around her arms and pull her away.

“Okay, come on.” Synth said, calmly dragging his angered friend across the tiled floor, away from the current object of her rage.

The creeper glared up at the redhead. “Synth, c’mon man!” She squirmed violently to try and get out of his grasp. “Get off me!”

The soldier shook his head. “Not until you calm down, man,” He stated back. “Your temper gets you into trouble. You know that, right?”

Coda huffed, and gave up trying to escape her friend’s grip. “Yeah… I know.” She answered reluctantly. “...you can let me go now.”

Synth chuckled, and removed his hands from her arm. “There you are, m’lady.” He joked, brushing his hand off on his red and black uniform.

The green-scaled woman rolled her black eyes, turning away from him and crossing her arms. “Yeah, yeah.” She said, obviously salty. She glanced over at Jazz, who was too wrapped up in his game to have a single care. “Is Jazz ever gonna put that brick down?” She asked after a moment of quiet.

The redhead snickered and shrugged, shifting his focus to the blue eyed soldier leaning against the wall. “I don’t think he will, no,” He laughed. “That thing might just be the death of him one day.”

Coda burst out laughing, but tried to hold it back. “Pffft!” Her attempt to try and stop her chuckle only worked for a moment, and she then let it sound from her mouth. “Probably, yeah.” She said while laughing. The funniest part to the two of them was that Jazz was so absorbed into his game that he didn’t even hear the two talking about him.

A few moments later, their giggles died down into silence between them. “...have you heard of the name Nightingale?” Synth suddenly asked his friend.

Immediately, Coda recognized the name. According to word spread around the Hive, Nightingale was one of, if not the best Special Ops soldier in the whole Shadowbyte Army. She was especially known for her reputation as an incredibly skilled sniper, which explained her high ranking of Sergeant Major. But outside of missions she was put on, she was rarely ever seen. In fact, most of her existence was shrouded in mystery.

The creeper shrugged, but nodded. "Yeah, sorta." She answered. "All I know is that she's like a ghost around here. Why you ask?"

"I'm quite certain that she's the one we're missing."

Coda blinked. "...wait, what? You sure?"

Synth nodded. "Mhmm."

"...you wanna bet on it?"

The redhead raised a brow, but he grinned. "What did you have in mind?"

The green creeper smirked back. "Whoever's right has to buy the other person lunch when we get back." She then held out her hand and spat on it, before holding it out for him to shake. "Deal?"

Synth laughed. "Deal." He then spat in his own palm, before firmly grasping his friend's hand and shaking it. "And you know you're gross, right?" He let go and pulled a silk handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his hand off.

Coda raised an eyebrow, her smirk turning mischievous. “What, y’mean like this?” Before Synth could respond, she then disappeared in an array of static, only to instantly reappear latched onto him as if he were giving her a piggyback ride. She snickered and dragged her tongue across his freckled cheek, immediately letting out a cackle as her friend shrieked in disgust.

“Coda! Get off!” He scrambled to get her off his back, but the creeper only laughed more and latched on tighter. After drawing the attention of almost everybody else in the room, Synth eventually teleported a few feet away, causing Coda to fall to the floor with a loud thunk.

Coda groaned and leapt to her feet. “Oh c’mon!" She lunged to where Synth was, only to grasp at open air as he activated an invisibility hack and disappeared. She heard him let out a relieved chuckle behind her. "You mother-"

“I presume everyone’s here?”

Everyone in the room turned to face where the new voice came from. A tall woman with ebony skin and black curls stood in the doorway, donning a standard black and grey Shadowbyte jumpsuit with purple accents, signifying her position as a Special Ops soldier. A long, jagged scar stretched across one of her dark eyes, most of it hidden from sight with the leather eyepatch she wore. But with or without her nasty battle wound, her respectable title, or her surprising height, her gaze alone was cold and intimidating enough to make anyone stop in their tracks.

Synth, who had now reappeared, let out a chuckle and nudged his friend with his elbow. "I guess I won the bet." He said.

Coda tore her widened gaze from the woman as she strode into the room. “Wait… that’s Nightingale?!” The creeper whispered harshly to Synth.

“Mhmm. That’s her.” He replied. “What, are you surprised? Jazz and I told you she was a woman...”

“Ya didn’t tell me she was smokin’ hot, though!”

Synth covered his lips with a single finger. "Hush now, Coda. You wouldn't want her hearing that, would you?" He teased. "Besides, she's coming this way." He nodded his head in the sniper's direction, and indeed, she had her dark eyes set on Synth and Coda.

The redhead gave the woman a nod in respect as she approached. “Ma’am,” He greeted, holding out his hand for her to shake. “Good to see you again.”

Nightingale returned the gesture and shook his hand. “You too, Synth," She said. "And please, Angel will do just fine.”

The taller male chuckled, still holding the woman's palm. "But how would I be a gentleman then, ma'am?" He asked playfully, before lifting her hand up to press a kiss against her knuckles.

Angel rolled her eyes, letting out a small laugh in return. "Charmer as always, Synth," She pulled her hand away and rested it on her hip. "And I'm guessing the one next to you is Coda?"

As the creeper felt her heart skip a beat, her taller friend nodded, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Yes ma'am. This is her, in the flesh."

The ebony woman turned herself to face Coda, and she gave her a nod. "Synth says that you're pretty skilled at hand to hand combat. One of the best in your rank. Specialist, if my memory serves me correct?"

Coda, as flustered as she felt, put on a sharp-toothed smile and nodded. "Yes ma'am. That's me." She answered.

The corners of Angel's lips pulled up into a slight grin. "Well, let's hope you live up to your reputation." She turned to Synth and smiled wider, although not much. "That goes for you too, Synth."

The redhead chuckled. "Yes, ma'am." He responded, and watched the woman walk away, presumably to inform the rest of the byte about the mission.

Coda then slowly craned her neck upwards to face Synth as soon as the woman was out of earshot. “Since when did you and her know each other?” She whispered, demanding an explanation.

“I’ve worked with her before on many occasions,” The redhead stated simply. “Mostly on World hijacks. As stern as she is, she’s damn good at what she does.”

The creeper glanced back at Angel, who was striding up to the front of the room. “She sure is good… I can agree with that.” She still couldn’t get over how attractive she thought the woman was, even if she appeared to be in her late thirties, maybe even her early forties. A well-toned body, pretty face, full lips. It was as if she were the embodiment of a beautiful night itself-

“You thirsty again?” Synth’s chuckle snapped Coda out of her thoughts and made her cheeks heat up. However, as he opened his mouth to speak again, Coda bent her elbow and jammed it into his gut. "Ow! …alright, I deserved that."

"Ya think?"

"Okay everyone, listen up!" Angel stated loud enough to capture everyone's attention as she stepped onto the raised platform at the front of the room. "Our job today is to capture the target World, right here!" She gestured her hand to the massive screen, which had now turned on and had an expansive view of a single World, encased in several large translucent blue spheres. Firewalls. "Now, who's the Cyber soldier here?"

Almost everyone's gazes shifted to Lucky, who's figure went from already timid to extremely nervous. He gulped, and shyly raised his hand. "M-m-me, ma'am…" He squeaked.

His meek reply was only just enough to get the sniper's attention. "Alright. Can you pull up the information on this World? Anything you can find."

"Y-yes ma'am." Lucky nodded, and slowly left his corner to step up and onto the platform with Angel. He tapped the screen a few times, and a translucent keyboard appeared before him. The blonde them typed away at his console, glancing between that and the monitor. "Okay… s-so this World has received the latest known Update. And it's been around for a little over a month now."

Angel nodded slowly. “And its name?”

“Uh...” Lucky tapped away some more, eyes darting back and forth. “It doesn’t have a registered name, but it has an admin authority listed. Which is…” He then blinked a couple times, before biting his lip. "Uh oh…”

Coda raised an eyebrow. "What? What is it?" She demanded.

The shorter male timidly looked back at the creeper now eyeing him expectantly. "Th-the admin authority is listed as W.E.S." He gulped. “W-World Exploration Society.”

Almost every other member of the group grimaced at the name. The World Exploration Society was the bane of the Army’s World hijack operations. If a World had W.E.S. as its admin authority, it meant that it had at least twenty inhabitants working fulltime to make that World eventually livable and safe for the general public. Which also meant that there was at least twenty more ways that the mission could possibly go wrong.

“...well shit.” Coda said, pressing her lips into a firm line. “This is great. Just fuckin’ great.”

Sakura’s dark brown eyes shifted to the creeper. “Well… it could be worse.” She replied, trying to be optimistic.

“How the fuck could this be any worse?”

The brunette flinched slightly at Coda’s response, but she continued. “We… we could be going on a suicide mission...?”

“As far as we know, this is a suicide mission.” She retorted, leaning her face closer to Sakura’s, an irritated sneer on her lips.

“Hey, ladies,” Angel asserted, getting the pair’s attention with her stern and annoyed tone. “Work together here instead of going at each other’s throats.”

A new voice then spoke up. “M-ma’am…?”

Everyone turned to see who it was, and Lucky had his hand raised. “M-maybe if we try to figure out who’s in that World… w-we could make a plan of attack easier.”

Coda locked her jet black eyes with the blonde’s. “And how would that make anythin’ easier?”

"Well… we would want to know who we're going to encounter, right?" Sakura explained. "We could get an advantage if we knew who we're up against."

Angel pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed in irritation. “Alright… Just get the list of names for the group members assigned to the World. Understood?”

The blonde nodded rapidly and saluted. “Y-yes ma’am! I-I will!” He squeaked, before heading over to his corner to type away once again, pulling up holographic screens and monitors.

The Special Ops soldier turned to face the rest of the party under her command. “Until he gets the information we need, you all can go to your own devices.” She gave them all a strong salute, standing tall. “You’re dismissed.”

Everyone else gave her a salute back, before dispersing around the room. Coda looked over at the large sparring rings, and she shrugged. She figured that while they waited for Lucky to finish his research, practicing combat wouldn’t be so bad. Plus, she had heard rumors that there were some new weapons to test out.

“Hey, dude,” She said to get Synth’s attention onto her. “Wanna spar?”

The redhead looked over his shoulder to face his friend, and his grey eyes lit up in interest. “Yeah, sure,” He answered. “Real or fake weapons?”

Coda let out a chuckle. “Do I look like a wimp to you?”

“Don’t you remember the last time we used real ones?” Synth asked. “You nearly took my head off with that mace you had.”

“Oh, c’mon man!” She whined. “I won’t send you to the infirmary this time!”

“That’s what you said last time… and the time before that. And the time before-”

Coda huffed and raised her hands. “Aight, aight, keep ya pants on!” She stated. “But I’m still gonna get weapons for the mission, cuz right now I got nothing. And I suggest you do the same unless ya wanna be beaten to a pulp.”

Synth grinned a bit and gave a single nod. “Then shall we?” He gestured to the massive array of weapons and armor on the wall next to the sparring mats, and jokingly held out his arm for his friend to grasp.

The green creeper rolled her eyes and smiled, before wrapping her arm around his. “You’re so proper, it’s borderline annoying.” She chuckled as they walked arm in arm across the room.

“What can I say? A fine lady such as yourself needs to be treated with the greatest amount of respect.” The redhead winked at his fellow soldier.

She let out a snort of laughter. “You got the fine part right.” As soon as the two got to the massive wall of weapons and artillery, they let go of each other and went off on their own to find their desired gear.

Coda gazed at the variety of melee weapons as she slowly walked past them. Spears, daggers, staves, maces, swords. But a wide grin formed on her lips once she saw a beautiful and shining battle axe made of dark steel perched on the rack. Bold red accents ran along the edges of its two large blades and long handle, making the heavy weapon much more menacing. Just how she liked it.

“Oh hell yeah!” She eagerly made her way to the battle axe and ran her fingers along the cold metal, before grasping it with both hands and lifting it off the rack. “Come to Mama!” She turned to glance over at Synth. "What'cha picking out?"

The redhead carefully slid a long, elegant black steel sword off its perch on the wall. "This," He answered, holding it up for her to see. "You getting a gun?"

The green creeper pursed her lips in thought. "I probably should…" She said back, before lifting her heavy weapon over her shoulder with one hand and beginning to browse the next section of artillery, mostly consisting of firearms and miscellaneous weaponry, like smoke bombs or garrote wires. After a few moments, she shrugged and decided on a couple of pistols. They weren’t the most powerful guns, but they would do in a pinch.

She knelt down and tucked one of the handguns in the side of her boot. “Hey, while you're over with the training weapons, grab me one of the axes, will ya?” She called out to her friend as she concealed her weapon with the hem of her jumpsuit pant leg.

“I’m way ahead of you,” Coda heard Synth answer. When she looked up, she saw that he was already holding two synthetic weapons in his hands; a battle axe for his friend, and a longsword for himself. “Now, think fast.”

Before she could respond, the redhead sheathed his fake blade and then threw the fake axe, sending it spiraling in Coda’s direction. “GAH!” The creeper jumped to her feet in surprise, and instinctively held her hand up. Right as the large weapon was about to smack her in the face, the axe came to a sudden halt in midair and remained there floating.

“Synth, what the hell?!” The creeper cursed out her friend, demanding an explanation.

Synth only grinned and laughed. “I’m just testing your reflexes, that’s all,” He cooed, striding over to one of the sparring mats. “Making sure that you’ve actually been practicing telekinetic hacks.”

Coda huffed and gritted her teeth as she grasped the hovering axe. “Fuck you, man,” She lifted her weapon up over her shoulder, and she walked over to the opposite side of the large mat. “Anyway… Ya ready?”

Synth twirled his sword in his hand, standing tall. “Ready,”

Coda’s grip on her training axe tightened, and she grinned. “On my count.” She stated. “One…”

Both friends adjusted their stances, preparing for the brawl about to ensue.

“Two...”

The creeper felt her heart pumping, loving the adrenaline rush through her body. Her sharp-toothed smile grew wider at the feeling. It was a feeling that thought she was timeless. And she couldn’t wait to actually go out and fight in the field head on against the enemy.

“Three!”

The two soldiers then rushed at each other, weapons poised and ready to strike. Coda was the first to make a move, swinging her large axe in a large arc at Synth’s torso. Though Synth quickly leaned to the side and dodged the attempted blow, before making a quick swing of his own with his sword.

They kept swinging back and forth, dodging and blocking each other’s strikes, using teleportation and speed hacks to their advantage. As violent and hasty as it appeared, it was almost graceful. The two had gotten sparring down to almost an art form, after all. Maybe training side by side for years was starting to take its toll; actually landing a hit on one another was proving to be more and more difficult with each fight.

It wasn’t until after several long, neverending moments that one managed to land a blow on the other. Coda and Synth’s weapons clashed against each other, and the creeper managed to send the human’s sword flying out of his hand and across the mat. Seeing her chance, she swung her axe at his feet and knocked him onto the floor.

Coda pressed her boot against his chest, resting the edge of her synthetic weapon on his neck. A mischievous but tired smile danced on her lips. "I...I think I won." She said in between labored breaths.

Synth coughed, but grinned back as his friend moved the axe away from him and lifted her foot off of his torso. "About time." He said, before sitting up and holding out a hand, which Coda properly grasped to help him up. “You’ve gotten pretty decent with that handling that axe. I remember when you could barely hold one of those.”

The creeper rolled her eyes, managing to finally catch her breath. “That was when I first met ya, dude,” She chuckled. “Almost ten years ago! I was still a twig back then! Now I literally bench press you like it’s nothin’!” She lifted the training axe over her shoulder. “Plus these things are a lot lighter than the actual weapons.”

“His point still stands.” Angel’s voice caught the two friends off guard. They turned, and saw that she stood a few yards away, with a familiar blank expression on her face. “You did good.”

Coda felt her cheeks heat up a bit, and she gave the woman a nod, clearing her throat. “Thank you, ma’am.”

A small moment of silence passed, and then the creeper felt a hand on her shoulder. “I… think I’ll leave you two alone for a bit.” Synth said, making his friend look up at him in confusion. “Get to know each other a bit more.” He winked, a playful glint in his eye. At that moment, she immediately knew what he was trying to pull.

Coda gritted her teeth in irritation as he walked off, presumably to interact with the rest of the team. She glanced back at Angel, who’s expression remained pretty much the same. “Uh… so you’ve heard ‘bout me? From Synth?” She asked, in an attempt to try and make conversation. Internally, she was growing frustrated; normally this wouldn’t have affected her so much. Why did Angel have to be so pretty?

The ebony woman nodded as a response to her question. “I have. He talks about you quite a bit, actually.” She said. “I’m presuming that you’ve known each other for some time?”

The creeper internally sighed in relief at how the feeling of butterflies in her stomach began to fade. “Yes, we have,” She answered. “We met a little after I finished my training and officially became enlisted. About ten years ago.”

Angel raised an eyebrow slightly. “So you’re about twenty eight?” She questioned. “That’s quite young to be a Specialist. Most reach that title in their thirties.”

Coda chuckled. “I’m not most people,” She replied. “And neither are you. There’s so many rumors about ya I can barely keep track of which ones are legit and which aren’t.”

"Oh?" The sniper tilted her head a bit. "And what would these rumors contain?"

The creeper let out another laugh. "Well… people say that you can empty a clip in the blink of an eye. Don't know how that started."

To Coda's surprise, something new glinted in Angel's dark gaze, though she couldn't tell what it was. "You don't trust the rumors?" She asked.

"Not really," She stated. "I know you're a good shot, but I doubt you can shoot that quick-"

Angel suddenly drew a gun off of her belt and aimed at three targets all the way across the room. Three loud shots sounded out, and the trio of targets exploded in a bright array of red pixels, before flashing white and returning to their original, untouched state. The sniper stood strong for a moment with her arm raised and smoking pistol poised, before calmly holstering it on her hip. “You believe the rumors now?” She asked.

Coda’s eyes were wide at what just occurred, feeling absolutely flabbergasted. “H...h-heh…” Her face began to feel hot as she blushed. She couldn’t even see the woman fire each individual shot, she was that quick. How could she have fired three bullets in the blink of an eye and have each one meet its mark perfectly? Aimbot? Speed? Haste? The creeper thought and thought, and drew nothing but a blank.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Angel snapped Coda out of her thoughts, before striding away and leaving the creeper flustered and shocked.

This woman would be the death of her.

"I take it the chat went a bit south?" Synth's voice sounded next to the green creeper, though this time it didn't make her jump. Her focus was still fixed on her superior's figure as she walked off.

"...how is she such a badass…?" Coda mumbled.

"I ask myself every day, Coda," The human replied, before patting her shoulder a couple of times. "Come on. I think maybe getting your focus on something else will snap you back to your old asshat self." He then led his friend across the room after wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Sakura! Is that thing of yours almost done?"

Sakura was near Jazz, Nix, and Grey, who had gathered around her to see what she was up to. "Almost!" She called, her back facing Coda and Synth.

The closer the pair got to the mechanic, the more curious she became. "What are ya doing…?" Coda asked as she and Synth were close enough to see what she was apparently working on.

The short brunette's thin eyes lit up, and she gave a warm smile. "I've been working on…" She then turned around to proudly hold up what appeared to be a small metal box with a single button on top. "This!" She stated proudly, before setting the box on the ground.

The green creeper eyed the gadget curiously. “Uh...What’s that…?” She looked back up at the brunette who set it on the floor.

"Just watch," Sakura said, before she pressed the button on the device. As she took several steps away, the metallic contraption began to unfold and expand with whirrs and clicks and hums. In a matter of moments, the final parts shifted into place, making a massive and powerful mech that towered over everybody else in the room.

Jazz's eyes widened in awe. "Woah…" A wide grin formed on his face, and he turned to Sakura. "Can I try it?! Please!!" He asked, repeatedly bouncing up and down where he stood.

Before the mechanic could respond, Angel calmly spoke up. "If you let’em in that thing, he’ll blow us up in five minutes." She called from across the room, soon approaching. "Don't let him near it."

The blue-haired soldier frowned. "Aww, please?" He begged his superior. "I promise I'll be caref-"

Only one quick glare at him was enough to silence Jazz. All of the color drained from his cheeks in a matter of seconds. "Y...yes ma'am…" He uttered.

Coda snorted as she held back a laugh. Even though she had known Angel for less than an hour, she was already growing a liking to her, and not just for her good looks or the fact that her heart skipped beats when she spoke to her. To her, the older woman was very admirable.

The ebony woman then shifted her gaze back to Sakura. "You can get back to testing your mech, Sergeant." She stated.

The mechanic blinked, but then smiled, before stepping up to the back of her creation and pulling two levers simultaneously to open what appeared to be the cockpit. Pulling herself up and into the mech, she laid down in the snug chamber and pressed a few buttons, and the machine whirred to life, a control panel with dozens of buttons and dials and levers lighting up as a result.

Grey's faded blue eyes widened slightly, impressed at the complex and beautiful piece of machinery. "I'll be damned…" He said, before looking through the windshield of the mech and at Sakura. "You made this by yourself?"

The girl nodded. "Yup!" She answered, her voice slightly muffled. "This is the latest model of what I call the Redstone Operated Shadowbyte Automaton. Or R.O.S.A. for short." The brunette patted the side of the cockpit. "Takes a lot to maintain her, but she's a beauty."

Synth eyed the mech with interest, specifically the guns. “Do you mind showing us it works?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not,” Sakura replied. “I’ve got to make sure the firing mechanisms work anyway, so I can show you those. Just don’t get in front of me when I do.”

The brunette grasped two lever-like controllers on her console, outfitted with several buttons and triggers. She pushed them both forward, and the mech swiftly moved across the floor to the small firing range, making soft stomps with every step. "Now, stand back!" Sakura called out as the automaton's two machine gun arms lifted. The submachine guns soon spun and whirred to life, and before anybody could say anything, a bright display of red hot plasma charges flew across the room towards the targets and obliterated them in an instant.

Jazz’s eyes lit up at the sight, and his jaw dropped. “Holy shit! That’s awesome!!” He exclaimed as the gunfire slowly ceased, and the mech’s operator exited.

A light blush spread across Sakura’s face at the praise. “Aw, it was nothing...” She answered, smiling shyly.

Angel then spoke up. “Don’t sell yourself short,” She stated. “You have a great piece of machinery here-”

Her sentence was cut off as she felt a tap on her shoulder and heard Lucky’s voice. "M-ma'am, I've got it…"

The sniper raised an eyebrow, and shifted her focus to the timid blonde now next to her. "What was that?"

"I-I've got it… I've got the names of the group members." He repeated.

Coda's eyes widened in interest. "Well, what're ya waiting for? Show us!"

With the seven other soldier’s eyes focused on him, Lucky began to sweat. “Y-yes, of course!” He answered, and rushed to the front of the room where the massive screen hung. After tapping on it a few times, the empty monitor then lit up brightly once he made a final tap on his wrist communicator. On the screen, over two dozen photos of different people popped up, each with their own sets of information and data pouring in.

Sakura’s jaw dropped at the sight. “Oh my goodness…” She said. “All of those people are in that one World?”

“P-possibly,” Lucky replied, and swiped his hand across the screen. The portraits then enlarged to show only one at a time, with their personal details next to the images. Both slowly scrolled by, displaying each member for a moment before moving onto the next. “But most likely… yes. They’ll likely all be on at the same time…”

Coda let out a huff. “Aw, shit… great.” She grumbled. “Now we’ve got more witnesses to take care of…”

Synth turned to the creeper next to him. “Unless we have the element of surprise.” He countered. “Even if there is that many people, they’re bound to be spread quite thin.”

“He’s right,” Angel agreed, stepping up next to the two friends. “We’ll need to be stealthy about this. As long as we stay below the radar, these guys won’t suspect a thing.” She kept her gaze on the profiles continuously scrolling by. “Besides, think about it... if we don’t kill them, we’ll have more possible soldiers to take in.”

The blonde Cyber soldier lifted his head up to face the sniper. “U-uhh… n-not to be rude, ma’am, but… a-are you sure they’d want to join…?”

“Like I said. Possible soldiers.” The woman repeated. “If some join, great. If not… that’s more for us to clean up.”

Grey's face contorted into a frown. "Being a cleaner isn't part of my job description. Or Nix's." He gestured to his student, who stood next to him awkwardly.

"Ya deal with blood and guts all the time, old man," Coda countered. "You have been for years."

"Exactly my point. I don't want to deal with any more than I already do."

The creeper huffed, crossing her arms. "It isn't that bad-"

"Hey," Angel stated forcefully, interrupting the two's debate. "Another day."

While the older male fell silent and nodded, Coda only got more defiant, even if she did respect the woman as her superior. "Why the hell not? Ya already-"

The team's leader flicked a finger in the soldier's direction, and a small burst of pixels erupted from the tip. No more sound then came out of Coda's mouth, although her lips kept moving as if she were still talking. Angel muted her.

"That's better," The sniper said, before turning her attention back to the other six members of the byte, completely ignoring Coda's silent bout of anger and frustration. "Now, where were we?"

Lucky hesitantly raised his hand. "W-we were talking about how we could get possible recruits from this World...?" He answered.

Angel nodded in the blonde's direction. "Good. You were paying attention." She said, and then turned to face Coda. “Unlike some people.”

The creeper could only respond by scowling and crossing her arms, appearing to have let out a frustrated grumble.

The ebony woman continued. "Anyway… with the amount of people residing in the World, there's bound to be someone who has some sort of hacking experience." She gestured to the massive screen of scrolling profiles. "If we can get more than one, then that's most definitely an added bonus."

Sakura raised her hand. "Ma'am, if I may ask… isn't there a way for us to tell if any of those members are a possible threat…? If they have any record of hacking in their files?" She asked.

Angel tapped her chin. "I suppose there could be a way to find out." She shifted her dark gaze to Lucky. "Hey, you able to check each of their backgrounds for anything iffy? Filter out which ones we need to look out for?"

The short blonde nodded. "Yes ma'am," He tapped the large screen, and a large translucent keyboard pixelated before him. His fingers flew across the console, tapping keys left and right. After a moment, the photos on the screen stopped scrolling, and zoomed out to show all two dozen profiles again. "Anything in particular you want me to search?"

"Check to see if any of them have military records, combat experience, maybe even records of hacking." She answered, shifting her gaze back to the group of profiles on the wall. "We shouldn't leave anything to chance."

Lucky gave another nod and set to work. Text spread across the screen as he typed, before disappearing as quickly as it appeared. Over half a dozen of the profile pictures then flashed a bright green, and expanded to only present themselves on the giant monitor.

"The first one is listed as Biffa2001…" Lucky started, expanding the photo furthest to the left; a man that appeared to be more machine than alive. The only flesh visible was his face, which was covered in countless scars. "He used to be a bomb tech in his home World's army, but was honorably discharged after…" Lucky then visibly cringed at what he read next, eyes wide. "L-losing over fifty percent of his body when trying to disable an IED… He had to get a specialized suit and prosthetics so he could walk again..."

Sakura blinked and bit her nails. "Oh gosh…" She muttered. “Please tell me it only gets better from here…”

Lucky shrugged, appearing uncertain. “I-I… I have no clue.” He replied, before typing once again and moving onto the profile next to Biffa’s. "Okay… This guy here is DocM77." Lucky enlarged the photograph on the monitor, giving a more detailed look at a creeper with visible metal cybernetics on his face. "Used to be a military scientist and mechanic before becoming an employee for W.E.S." The blonde blinked. "Nothing much else in his file other than that one of his experiments went wrong and he had to have a bunch of his body replaced with cybernetics."

Jazz, although not looking up at the monitor, spoke up as he continued to play his game. “You think that these guys would be more careful with their bodies,” He said.

Grey chuckled and nodded. “Good point, kid. Looks like the rest’ve had better luck though.”

"Next up… FalseSymmetry." The focus on Doc's photo shifted to the profile of the blonde woman next to him. "Former military commander, dozens of awards for valor and bravery. Left a few years ago to become apart of W.E.S." He tapped a few more times on his keyboard. "It doesn't say why she left though… as far as it looks, she was better off where she was."

"Everyone has their reasons," Angel stated. "But I doubt she's forgotten how to defend herself. Who's next?"

The Cyber soldier immediately followed her order and scrolled to the next member in question, a man with spiky brown hair and a missing eye, replaced with a mechanical one. "His name is Iskall85, according to his file." He answered. "Another military guy… Ooo, ouch…" He cringed at the line of text he was reading. "Discharged honorably after getting his eye shot out by a sniper. He literally never saw it coming, pun int-"

Angel interrupted him. "Lucky… next one." She said.

Lucky gulped and nodded nervously. "Y-yes, of course!" He then tapped his keyboard, making the view on Iskall's photograph shift to the next person. "This one is listed as… Mumbo Jumbo." He stated, gesturing to the photo of a thin man with black hair and a moustache to match. "Famous redstone engineer turned W.E.S. employee. He's pretty young, too… only twenty-three years old."

"He looks like a pipe cleaner with eyes," Coda's snicker caught the rest of the group off guard. Most turned to face her, and she had a smirk on her lips. "And yeah, the mute wore off finally. Ya can't shut me up forever." She then pulled out a small pack of gum from her back pocket and tossed a piece in her mouth, proceeding to chew and blow a pink bubble with it.

Synth raised an eyebrow at his friend, but decided against saying anything and looked back at the younger blonde. "But how is he a threat? Like she said… he doesn't appear to be that tough."

"He has a military record… s-sort of." Lucky answered. "Apparently a few years ago, he designed redstone machines and weaponry for a war going on in his home World. And they must've been pretty good, because he got a significant amount of compensation for making them."

"How much did he get?" Sakura questioned.

"Umm…" The blonde scrolled through the information next to Mumbo's photograph, before a single line of text highlighted and kept blinking on and off. "Woah… He got hundreds of millions of bits for the inventions he made!"

Coda's gum bubble burst loudly the moment Lucky finished his sentence. "Wait, what?" She asked, showing genuine surprise. "He's a multimillionaire? Why would he even be employed?"

Lucky blinked. "Wh...what do you mean?"

The creeper held her hand up and rubbed her fingers and thumb together. "Well, he has over a million reasons to not risk having his ass kicked in some untamed World. He has enough bits to retire and kick back."

Lucky shrugged. "I… I guess you have a point." He then cleared his throat, before moving along to the next member, a creeper with coal black eyes and ruby red scales. "A-anyhow, this is PythonGB, a former military soldier. A decorated one, too; a lot of awards for bravery and skill, even some of the highest honors you can get. Left a few years ago to join W.E.S." Lucky then blinked in surprise. "Huh… and it says he's only in his early twenties, too. How did me manage to become so talented so young…?"

"Doesn't matter." Angel stated. "All that matters is that he has skills. And a lot of 'em."

The Cyber soldier nodded, slightly nervous. "T-true, ma'am…" He scrolled over to the next profile, of a blonde man decked out in an almost medieval style of iron armor. "N-next up is Welsknight. Also former military… he's a bit older though. Nothing much other than that in his file…"

"What about the last one? On the right here?" Synth asked, gesturing to the photo of a man in green armor, his face hidden by a massive helmet covering his whole head.

"Uhh…" Lucky tapped the monitor a few times, expanding the profile picture so it was the only photo on the screen. "Okay, this guy is…" He blinked at the name next to the image. "Eye-sumavoid? Egg-sumavoid? Ex-sumavoid?" After a moment, he just shook his head. "Nevermind… A-anyway, there isn't much on him, either, but it does say that he has a lot of experience with putting up firewalls around Worlds. And by the reviews he has, they're pretty good at keeping malware out."

Coda then took a step closer to the screen, arms crossed. "So… In total, we've got a scrawny redstone genius, two badass blondies, a wannabe turtle, a military child prodigy, and three cyborgs…" Her gaze was fixed on the monitor for a moment, before she turned away. "All of 'em with some sort of background that could make the whole mission fall apart… Great."

Grey's eyes focused on the eight photos. "Geez, with that many people with that kind of combat experience, that group sounds more like a rogue militia than anything else."

"Umm… I don't think they're exactly called that." Lucky corrected shyly. "A-as far as I know, each group hired by W.E.S. has the option to choose their own name. To make it easier to identify them."

The older medic raised an eyebrow. "Well… what do they call themselves?"

Lucky turned to the screen and zoomed it outwards, so all of the images could be shown at once like they had moments before. A single name in bold lettering was at the top of the cluster of photographs.

HermitCraft.

[ashphoenix06]

The Magic Show... Part One (jse ego universe)

“Uuuuhhhhhh..... Marv? I don’t thing you should be messing with that... it doesn’t look.... normal.”

Jackie sat crossed leg on on of the chairs, watching Marvin pour himself into another magician’s book he had found in an old resale shop. Marvin took a quick glance up and huffed.

“Relax, Jackie.... I know what I’m doing...”

“Really,” Jackie said sarcastically, bending his head slightly to see the cover, “because I’m almost certain that that’s Latin and it looks omnious to me...”

Marvin lowered the book down to give Jackie a criticizing look. Yeah, he loved Jackie like a brother, but sometimes, he could be a little.... ditzy.

“Since when do you know Latin,” Marvin asked.

Jackie shot back from his leaning perch, his cheek’s glowing red with embarrassment.

“I said it looks like Latin,” he retorted. “I never said I could... Shut the fuck up, Marv!”

Marvin lost it and started laughing. This just made Jackie lower himself into the chair and brood. Marvin hadn’t meant to hurt Jackie’s feelings, it was just always hilarious how he reacted whenever he was caught nor knowing something.

“I’m sorry, dude,” Marvin giggled, wiping tears from his left eye. “Leave the magic to me, k? You just worry about you ‘Spidey’ patrol.”

“Hey,” Jackie exclaimed, pointing a finger right up at him. “Being a vigilante with no powers isn’t as easy as it sounds.”

“I’m sure,” Marvin smirked, burying his head back into the book. Thats why they got along so well together, Marvin thought to himself. They were the only two... ‘eccentric ones’ out of the group. Chase did his extreme videos, though after Stacey left him, that started to dwindle down some. Schneep was a doctor, which was self explanatory. And JJ... JJ really didn’t do much but stay at home, considering he was a mute.

Marvin and Jackie were the only two that were more... out of the box, of that was the term for it. Jackie always wanted to help others as much as he could, but not like Schneep did as a doctor. Jackie was more opened about his emotions and a little bit eccentric; calling others out that he saw doing wrong in public. Eventually, he got tired of really doing nothing to help the people he saw in trouble, so he decided to become a vigilante. The others weren’t too happy with his decision, considering he tend to come home most nights beaten and bruised. Schneep was the one, besides Marvin, that fussed at him most about it. But his resolve was never wavered and he would go back out that very night.

Marvin, on the other hand, fell in love with the art of magic and conjuring from as far back as he could remember. He would read up on tricks and allusions constantly; going to the others after to perform them with perfect accuracy. The others would be thoroughly impressed with his feats, minus Schneep, who would huff and always make a comment on it not being real. In fact, Marvin took his passion for magic so seriously, that he started performing for audiences and would pour himself over studies and historical documents concerning the magical arts. That’s how he came across this particular book of spells. He was rummaging around a resale shop that had just opened up and found this gem among other tattered and broken books. He had recognized some of the symbols within and immediately made his purchase.

As soon as he got home, he went out to the backyard to his makeshift little theater that he practiced in and started studying. Jackie wandered outside to start his patrol a bit earlier that day and caught Marvin studying his new book. He had plopped down in one of the six chairs and had kept Marvin company ever since. They were always there for one another like like that.

Jackie looked around for a bit, scratching at his beard when Marvin found a perfect spell to try out. He was able to translate ‘levitation’ from the Latin and sprang into action, jump scaring Jackie right out of his chair.

“Dammit, Marv,” Jackie spat out, rubbing his backside as he stood up from the grass, “Can you say something next time before you give me a fucking heart attack!”

Marvin ignored him as he ran to his outside truck, a plastic bin to prevent the elements from ruining everything. He opened the lid and rummage through the things inside until he came back with a Spider-Man glass.

“Hey, that’s mine,” Jackie pointed out but Marvin waved him off, going back into the book to see what he had to do to make the cup float.

“Huh... I can’t make out any instructions on any wires or clear string,” he murmured, holding his hand out towards the cup as he kept reading. “All that’s here is an incantation...”

His brow furrowed as he murmured what was written in the book, oblivious to everything else around him. He almost didn’t register Jackie’s shocked stammering.

“M.... Marv? H... h... hey, MARVIN?”

“What, Jackie,” Marvin hissed as he looked up but words left him as he saw what Jackie was pointing at. The Spider-Man cup was floating right in front of him, green flames flickering from his hand and under the cup...

Marvin jerked his hand away and stared at as the cup feel to the ground, breaking into big, jagged pieces.

“My cup....” Jackie whispered, a little bewildered over what had just happened. Marvin just kept staring at his hand, flexing it into a fist, releasing and then flexing it again. He looked up into the distance, completely frozen at what he had just done. He felt Jackie squatting down next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey... Marv. Come on, man... say something! Are you okay?”

Jackie’s light shakes brought Marvin back from his frozen state and he turned to look at him. He tried to form words, but they just wouldn’t come up.

“Marv.... Hey! Okay, that’s it! I’m getting rid of this book and getting Schneep to come take a look at you!”

Jackie had gotten up and was heading towards the book. Marvin realized that he must of tossed the book away from him at some point and began to panic.... he... he needed to read more!

“Jackie, stop,” he yelped out, tackling Jackie down by his legs. His friend looked down in surprise before he stumbled and fell hard into the grass. Marvin took the opportunity to leap over the stunned vigilante and grab the book, running to the far corner of his prop stage and desperately combing through the pages. He didn’t know how to explain what had happened but he had never felt more powerful in all his life, and he wanted more!

“Marv...” Jackie groan, moving around and coming out of his daze. Marvin glared at him like a wild animal before going back to the book, flipping page after page, trying to find one particular spell he had only ever read about.

There it was! At the end of the book! Marvin was able to make out the translation... “Gift of Magical Abilities”.........

“Marvin,” Jackie gasped, struggling to get to his feet. Marvin ignored him as his ambitions got the better of him. There it was... right in front of him... his ticket to actual magical abilities... something he’d always dreamed of.

Reading the spell with quick speed, he started mummering the incantation as Jackie stumbled over to him, arm outstretched. Marvin pulled out a pocket knife from his pocket and grabbed it with his right hand, slicing his hand right down the middle. He barely registered the pain as he dug his other hands fingers in the wound, usuing his own blood to paint out a mystical pattern onto the floor.

Closing his eyes, he muttered the last part of the spell; slapping his bloodied hand right in the middle of the symbol. Instantly, he was hit with a boiling heat shooting throughout his body, his eyes snapping open yet unable to see. He barely heard Jackie as he felt the transition taking over him, burning his body inside out as well as sending chilling icy blood throughout his body. He could barely breathe, the impact of his dna morphing causing everything in his body to halt. He felt a burst of energy explode from inside him and then as quickly be absorbed back in as he fell to the ground, the world darkening with his decent. He was out before he hit the ground.

When Marvin woke next, it was way into nighttime, the sky a inky purplish-black. He looked into the sky for a minute, feeling that something was off with what he was staring at. It took him a minute to see through his blinding headache that there were no stars in the sky.

Startled, he turned to his side and propped himself on his one elbow. As he gazed around his surroundings, he felt his heart drop. This was his backyard, but it was off; like one of Picasso’s paintings. Things seemed blurred and smeared, nothing in his field of vision sharp and dignified... except for...

“Jackie,” Marvin stammered, focusing on the one thing that wasn’t blurred. His friend laid a little ways away, completely still... Jackie was never still.

“Jackie? .... JACKIE?”

Marvin crawled as fast as he could to his friend and shook him violently, causing Jackie’s still form to fall onto his back. Marvin choked on his words as tears fell into his eyes. What... what had he done?

Jackie was looking up into the sky, eyes lifeless and dull. Blood leaked in a little stream down the side of his mouth. Protruding from his chest was a big, jagged sliver of the broken cup.

“No... no.... fuck, fuck, fuck! JACKIE!”

Marvin shook Jackie’s body as hard as he could, but his friend never responded. Marvin shook his head, unwilling to accept what he saw before him. Sorrowful cries escaped from his throat as he buried his face into Jackie’s still chest, muffling his cries.

Why? Why did he have to do it? He shouldn’t of been too absorbed! He should of noticed Jackie! He should of gone for Schneep.

As his mind raced with all the what if’s he could come up with, he felt himself bristle as a small, darkened entity formed behind him and his dead brother.

“You can save him.... Marvin the MAGNIFICENT....”

This is prompt 3 of 4 @glitchbicth asked me to write. This one is going to be in two parts. The second one will be posted tomorrow. And yes, this does take place way before ‘Pinky Promise’ and ‘Swe Dreams.’

I hope you guys enjoy. 💚💚💚

[18thandfairfax]

Things I less than love in FFXV

note: this isn’t a post about hate, this is mostly about my failings as a gamer/human.

Every time a mob steals from me they take a Catoblepas Brisket

When you're fighting a giant on the road and you air step right over the guard rail, off the road, and in to the wilds of the night

I'll leave my chocobo in town so I can grind voretooths for AP and the needy baby will slowly make his way to me just to dance for me and show off his kicks. I love your dancing, but you're eating up my time bonus

I fell off the side of a fairly high bridge immediately after initiating a link-strike combo.  Every time I hit the button for the next link Noct would float back up to the bridge and mime hitting the giant from a distance then fall back to earth. He finally stood on the edge of the bridge for the final flourish and I thought he'd stay there, but nooo, he just rudely fell back down

Gladio once spent a couple of days passionately telling me about love. Turns out he was just talking about cup noodles

I have, on more than one occasion, spent an embarrassing amount of time awkwardly jumping up on a chocobo, looking for the mount option, only to realize it's not my chocobo

When I've camped in preparation for an in-game day of voretooth AP grinding and it begins to rain so all the beast whistle summons is disturbingly large frog tongue

Although I'm greatly disturbed by the premise of Totomostro, I will spend days farming medals.

Listening to FFVII songs while driving make me want to run off and play it again, but I'm *already* playing a game I love, dammit. Also, the streamlined battles make me rather impatient with old school load start/end tally style

Despite hearing it approximately 2000 times, my husband still laughs every time Prompto says "Rock and roll!" when I pick up ore

Sometimes when I'm driving at night I'll see a blue glint on the roadside and think, "oh, item, better stop and get it!"  But I'm not in game, I'm driving for real.  Please stop doing this.

Wherever I am, whatever I'm doing, there's a 70% chance of "I want to ride my chocobo all day!" beginning to play in my head

I am forever conflicted between my desire to camp and my need to accumulate as much xp as possible before sleeping at Galdin Quay. This is not about the gil, this is about seeing how many times the bar goes around the circle to level up

I need *at least* 20 more color options for the Regalia

Unwilling to learn any lesson, ever, I continue to drag Prompto places to take photos for Vyv, only to get there after the sun has set

Nah, I don't need to change my line yet....accidentally hook a giant, struggling fish.

Aranea, with 16 hp while fighting Quetzalcoatl: Mind if I finish this one off? Me, vastly overleveled due to a sidequest obsession: suuure, go for it, please, show me how it's done...

Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto: Want to stay close to Noct to guard him and keep him on track.  Noct: Feels the need to reach out and push his friends out of his way, making them grunt and startle. Me: feels guilty for needing to turn around, thus instigating this rudeness

I sometimes have to deny Prompto when he wants to stay overnight in town because "the demons will be coming out any minute!" and it makes me feel terrible.

Bonus Favorites: 

Pranking your friends by jumping on an elevator without them and leaving them behind.  Marvel at their talent as they appear behind you.

No matter how many demons and monsters I kill, nothing makes me feel like I'm contributing to the net good of the world like handing over a repair kit to a broken down motorist.  I don't know what's in those things, but they must be magic.  They fit in the palm of the hand and can fix any car.

When you stay the night somewhere and everyone is scattered around and you can go find each of them and tell them, "morning."

Oh man, I can't believe someone just left their car in the middle of the road, causing a traffic jam, just so they could run pick some vegetables.

The Regalia is so magic it can do a swift, smooth u-turn in a tunnel.

Noct: Camp's not going to cut it tonight.  Me: Adorable that you think I'm going to let you sleep at all

[themadlostgirl]

Not Dead Yet (Part 45)

*Okay kitties I really like this chapter! I have read and reread it about a dozen times making minor tweaks here and there and I am excited for you to read it. I hope you like it and please do not be shy to leave a comment. They make me smile and motivate me to write more. That’s all. Love ya!*

Pairing: Reader x Peter Pan

Warnings: language

“Good morning, pet.” Peter plunked himself down on the branch above me the next morning. I was sitting in his Thinking Tree enjoying the morning silence before training. “What brings you here?”

“Just relaxing.” I pulled myself up so we were sitting on the same branch, “Where’d you go last night?”

“Was scouting another town looking for the Truest Believer. Now that the curse has slowed down I can finally get back to finding him myself. I feel renewed. I have a feeling we are going to find him soon.”

“Well that is a relief.” I reached out and brushed a blush of dirt off his face. “Now that you have your strength back to normal you’re just going to have to take me flying like you promised. You didn’t forget, right?”

“Me? Forget?” he plucked a leaf from my hair and tickled it under my nose, “Never.”

I blew the leaf out of his hand and watched as it floated down to the ground far below. Peter gave a mock frown before pulling me closer and threading his fingers through my hair. He had certainly gotten into the habit of playing with my hair whenever we were sat close together. I didn’t mind. It had kept him placid when the worries of his curse got to be too much.

It looks like he cares about you more than just as a friend or lover...

Tigerlily’s words reverberated through me. Why had I let her get in my head? Peter and I are friends and lovers but to think that this murderous codfish could care about someone more than himself was expecting way too much of the git.

“We should be getting back to camp.” I dropped from the branch to the one below away from Peter’s arms.

“What’s the rush?” he followed after me grabbing my hand and holding up a vial of pixie dust. “We could go for that flight right now. What do you say?”

“Maybe another time. We shouldn’t be wasting pixie dust so frivolously anyways.” I detached my hand from his and kept climbing down. Peter followed right after me usually teleporting just inches from me so he was almost always touching me.

“Is something wrong, pet?” he asked about halfway down.

“No. Why?”

“You’re acting like I have the plague. What’s wrong? Did I do something to offend you again?” he raised an eyebrow at me.

“No. Nothing like that.” I leaned myself away from him as far as I could without it being obvious, “It just seems silly to use up such a valuable resource on something that doesn’t need to be done.”

“But I want to.” he leaned forward the more I backed away, “It’s like riding but instead of mounting a horse you’re riding the very wind. I know you’d love it, so why are you so reluctant all of the sudden? You were the one that reminded me.”

“I already said--”

“Is it because you’d be so high up? You know I’d be right there to catch you. I would never let my Lost Girl fall.” he smirked and my heart gave a wild flip in my chest.

“I know…” My desire to close the space between us and kiss him was rivaled only by the sudden desperate urge to jump out of the tree altogether.

“Y/N,” he moved in to kiss me and I pushed his face away.

“I’m hungry. Let’s go get some breakfast.” I rushed the words out faster than I was moving down the tree. A pit of shame and regret resting uncomfortably in my stomach.

~~~

What had that been about? Peter watched Y/N stumble clumsily down the tree in a haste that was much faster than just that of a hunger fixation.

“Waiting for an invitation, Pan?” she called up when she must have noticed he hadn’t moved. He blinked down to the base of the tree and waited for Y/N to catch up.

Had he done something to her recently? Said something? He couldn’t think of anything that would warrant this. Perhaps he was just reading too much into it. She was allowed to be strange once in awhile. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t nearly be as fun. He found himself smiling once more by the time she made it to the bottom of the tree. They walked back to camp in a less than comfortable silence. If something was wrong she was bound to tell him sooner or later.

It wasn’t until well after they got back to camp that it hit him. Did she call him Pan earlier?

~~~

“Hey Y/N, I uh, I wanted to give you this.” Isaac held up a silver necklace with a small gem of sorts about the size of a coin hanging off it.

After training that morning I had gone down to the pond to wash away the sweat and grime along with some of the other boys. Isaac had followed the group but hadn’t jumped in the water like the others. Unlike Devin and the rest I doubted he was used to girls walking around naked without any shame so he had stayed off to the side staring down at the ground the entire time. The other boys heckled him for being embarrassed but I thought it was kinda sweet. The boy had some sense of propriety in him that he wasn’t as comfortable or perverted to blatantly ogle me in my nude glory. He only approached me well after I had put my clothes back on.

“I remembered you mentioning that you lost your old necklace and thought that you would like another to replace it.” Even though I was fully clothed he still refused to look at me. He’d get used to the rather uncouth happenings of the island soon enough.

“Thank you,” I took the necklace gratefully, “Where did you get this?”

“I found it. I suppose it must have fallen out of a treasure chest or something.” he shrugged.

“Well we lug it around to hide often enough I wouldn’t be surprised.” I clasped it around my neck. The precious metal was much colder than I was used to from my old leather string pearl necklace. “It’s great. Now I’ll have something to fidget with again.”

“I’m glad you like it.” he scratched at the back of his neck. A small pink blush coming up to cover his face once more. “I should go. Some of the boys said they’d take me out hunting. See ya.” He bolted away and I let out a short laugh as he did. He’s a bit of a naive kid but I still stand by my choice. He has promise. I can’t figure out what it is about him but he’s different from the other boys in a way. There’s some real potential under all that stammering and blushing. We just needed to fish it out.

Later that night I was laying in Peter’s tent pleasantly basking in the post-coital afterglow. The worries from this morning just a distant memory. Why had I been so freaked out before? Stupid Tigerlily messing with my mind. That’s all it was.

“Where did this new bauble come from?” Peter pointed to the necklace resting against my sternum. “I thought you didn’t like pretty trinkets like these.”

“Normally no I wouldn’t but it was a gift from Isaac. He wanted to replace the one I lost.” I rolled off the cot and started to collect my clothes from the ground.  Ever since he put the silencing charm over our tents we hadn’t needed to go out of camp for our fun. Still it was strange to think that the boys were only a couple feet from us. Strange but also kind of exhilarating in a dangerous/naughty kind of way. As nice as it was though there was always the matter of leaving. Having to shift around the tent grabbing clothes and shimmying them on while the other watches was weird.

“Another wide-eyed simpleton following you around like a dopey pup? How is it you have such influence on my boys?”

“He isn’t a pup. He’s my brother now and I’m his sister. It was just a kind gesture.” I bent over to pick up my shirt when it disappeared before me. I turned around to see it in Peter’s hand.

“I am not leaving here topless. Hand it over.” I reached to snag it from him.

“You know I never pegged you as the sort that was satisfied with just one round. I thought my Lost Girl had more stamina than that.” he tossed the shirt aside and grabbed me before I could dash for it.

“I have plenty but you get tuckered out so quickly.” I tweaked his nose, “I rather thought it was you that didn’t have enough energy for more.”

“Still so naive.” he pinned me beneath him once more, “Perhaps I should demonstrate my actual prowess.”

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.” I latched onto him again and after what had to be hours more we fell asleep completely satisfied and lying in each other’s arms.

~~~

“Hm?” I squinted my eyes open. Why am I awake?

I looked next to me and saw that I was in fact still in Peter’s tent with him asleep next to me. Dammit. How could I be so careless?

I shifted to leave and one of his hands snapped out to grab me. I held back my surprise when I saw he was still sleeping. But it didn’t seem to be soundly. His face was tensed and he was muttering things under his breath.

Peter Pan has nightmares.

The hand holding my arm was shaking so slightly and his breathing was becoming erratic. Carefully I touched my fingers to his brow and his jaw locked. I ran them through his hair and his breathing became easier as I continued to pet him. “Shh.” I whispered, “It’s alright, it’s just a bad dream.”

He let go of my arm, his face relaxing once more. I kept whispering soothing words until his breathing evened out completely. I looked towards the tent flap before staring back at the boy who had rolled closer into me. “To hell with it.” I mumbled under my breath as I laid back down and wrapped my arms around his torso. “Sweet dreams.”

~~~

I didn’t bring up what happened last night, not that he would have remembered anyways. I doubt it could have made the morning when we woke up any less awkward. We were used to each other naked and leaving each other's tents but not like this. At least I wasn’t.

“You know you have to leave sometime.” Peter said.

“Yeah, I know. I was just planning on doing it sometime tonight when the boys are all asleep.” I shrugged.

“You knew this was gonna happen when you stayed last night.”

“Well it wasn’t exactly on my mind when I agreed to.”

“Oh really?”

“Shut it. I’ll go in a minute.”

“Whatever. Do what you like.” He left the tent leaving me alone. I really am going to have to leave sometime.

Why was I acting so worried about this to begin with? It was almost common knowledge that Peter and I were sleeping together. But we had made it such a point to keep that part separate from our lives with the boys that to leave like this was cementing every rumour. There’s a lot of new blood that doesn’t respect me like the others do. How can I possibly prove to them that I am a girl to be respected and feared if they thought the only reason I was here was because I was sleeping with the leader?

But that’s not true. I have been here for years. Worked like hell to make my body a lethal weapon and brought down anyone who dared to stand in my way. I am the girl who outsmarted an entire ship of pirates. I’m the girl who spoke out against Peter when he was being unjust. I am the girl that commanded his respect and made him earn mine! I was a forced to be reckoned with and some puny little maggots that couldn’t bruise a peach were not going to make me feel inferior. They were not!

With a sudden surge of confidence I left the tent. I was feeling good and no one was saying anything. Maybe I really was freaking out over nothing. No one probably even saw me leave the tent, much less cared that I did.

I saw Nick staring off into the distance and decided to scare him. I crept up behind him and jumped on his back. “Nicky!”

“AH!” he staggered on his feet. “Y/N, really?”

“You know you love me.” I jumped off his back. “Bored?”

“What gave it away?”

“The thousand yard stare. Let’s go play.”

“As the lady wishes.” he smirked and made a ridiculous show of proffering up his arm.

“You’re such a dork.”

“You know you love me.”

“I believe that’s my line.” I took the arm and we went to find something to do. “Can we stop at my tent for a second? I forgot my dagger.”

“Sure.” we walked back to the outskirt of the camp where my tent was located. When we got there though things were far from how I left them last night. My entire tent was just gone leaving only the cot in its place.

“My tent! My clothes! My club! Everything is gone!”

“Who would take your stuff?” Nick asked.

“I don’t know. Everyone knows better than to touch my stuff.” Most do at least. “Nick, things are about to get bloody.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he pulled me back “Whoa, whoa! Think you may be overreacting a little? It’s just a harmless prank.”

“No. I don’t think it is and I’d much rather prefer to nip this in the bud.” I marched into the center of the camp, stealing a spear off of one of the boys that I passed. I must have looked downright terrifying because I had one boy jump out of my way at the sight of me.

“Listen up!” I shouted to the camp and all eyes that weren’t on me already shot to me. “Someone here has taken my tent and all its contents. Hand it over now and there won’t be any problems. Got it?”

The camp was filled with mutterings but no one said anything of importance. “Okay, let me make this more clear.” I hurled the spear where it dug into the trunk of a tree without slipping. “Where are my things?”

The mutterings simmered down into silence. Then I heard it. A small, quiet chuckle. Everyone turned towards the noise where one of the newer Lost Boys stood with a crooked shit-eating smile. He made eye contact with me and didn’t so much as flinch when I glared at him.

Him. What was his name? Verne or something stupid like that. It had to be him that took my things. Him and the others that were sniggering behind him.

“Something funny?” I snapped at him. I was not going to deal with Slightly Part Two.

“Yes,” he sighed as he got nose to nose with me. “You say that you want your things but why do you even need them?”

“Because they are mine and I kind of need them. How would you like it if I took your things?”

“Again, I think you’re mixing up needing and wanting.” he said, “You want your things because it makes you look like you belong here. We left what you really need.”

“A cot?”

“Well spending all that time on your back probably isn’t as comfortable on the bare ground.”

Crack!

I nailed him hard in the face. He spiraled back clutching his bleeding nose. I wiped the blood off my hand. “Son of a…” he groaned in pain.

“Someone has quite the temperament.” one of his friends laughed, “Bet it took quite some smooth talking to finally get you to open your legs.”

The others laughed and I felt my ears burn with anger. I couldn’t believe this. I just decked a boy so hard that his nose broke and they were laughing. They were laughing at me! The other Lost Boys were not as stupid and backed away slowly from the laughing boys. Smart move.

“Come on, sweetheart. What is it about you that Pan finds so endearing?” one of them smacked my ass. I swung to elbow him but someone else beat me to it.

An invisible force blew my harassers back against the ground. Peter strode up to them with a hand outstretched threateningly. The camp grew silent at the appearance of their leader. “I say you all mind your own business because it is no loss to me if I have to kill you. Understand?”

The boys nodded terrified. “Good, now get out of here.” The boys rushed to their feet and ran.

I looked to Peter but he turned away without meeting my eyes. “Devin!” I called and he was at my side in a second. “Get Nick and Ben, give those newbies hell for me will you? Normally I would but I’m a little busy at the moment, you understand.”

“Already on it.” he whistled and Nick followed after him with Ben in tow.

I backed away into the jungle and was soon met with Peter. “You handled that well.”

“I agree.” I twisted the necklace at my throat, “I was doing just fine until you came in. What was that about?”

“You just sent your own little posse to rough up some new boys and you’re questioning my motives? I ended it didn’t I?”

“You didn’t need to! How am I supposed to look those boys in the eye after your little stunt? I don’t care if they know we’re fucking but I don’t want them thinking that you’re giving me special treatment for that, Pan!”

“Y/N!” he snapped and I bit my tongue to keep from snapping back at him. He regarded me for a moment before letting out a long sigh. “Would it make you feel better if I explained?”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure what that look before was about but decided not to dwell. Peter is an unusual sort, who could tell why he did anything?

“I don’t like seeing them touch you like that.” he whispered, “I know that you could have and would have handled the situation your own way but I felt like I needed to step in. You are my...Lost Girl and they shouldn’t feel like they could get away with such disgusting behaviour. They’re lucky I just threatened them. Part of me wanted to chop off their hands.”

The confession caused my heart to spasm in way that was both pleasant and disturbing. I swallowed back any nerves and flashed him a smug smirk. “Is someone jealous?”

“Jealous? No. Jealousy is for saps that are scared they’ll lose something. I’m merely territorial.”

“Territorial?”

“I protect what’s already mine.”

Again my heart spasmed.

“I belong to myself. Not you.”

“Yes but you’re also mine.”

“What did I just say?”

“Never heard of sharing?”

“You are such a--”

“Imp? Codfish? Pain in neck?”

“How about all of the above?”

“Sticks and stones, pet.” he pulled me close so our noses touched, “Don’t worry, I’m just as much yours too.” And with that my heart stopped completely. I had barely grazed his lips when we were interrupted.

“Y/N? Y/N!” I pulled my face back as Isaac stumbled across us. His pale face turned crimson upon spotting us. “Oh, I um--I’m sorry! I wasn’t--I mean I was just--uh…”

“Spit it out already.” Peter snapped at him. He made no move to let me go or even pull back so I was still pressed flat against him as he stared daggers at Isaac.

“I saw what happened back at the camp and I…” Isaac’s words trailed off and he stared down at the ground, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay, Y/N.”

“I’m fine. Not the first time I’ve dealt with pigs like them and it won’t be the last. Thank you for your concern.”

“Of course.” He glanced back up giving me a small smile. He peered back at Peter and dropped his gaze again. “I’ll just be going now.”

“Good.” Peter grumbled.

Isaac took off back the way he came. “Do you have to be so short with them?” I turned my attention back to Peter.

“I was in the middle of something and he interrupted. Anyone would be upset with that.” he lifted me up by my bum and I wrapped my legs around him on instinct. “Now where were we?”

“I believe you were saying you were mine.” I whispered against his lips. The thought more pleasant than alarming now that I had caught my breath.

“Anytime you want, precious.” His mouth overtook mine leaving my thoughts scattered.

~~~

She took the necklace?

“Yes mother.”

Good. Very good.

“Mother?”

Yes my son?

“Do we have to…do we have to hurt her?”

Yes! She is the focal point of my plan. Her pain is your revenge. Do not be fooled by her outward behaviour. She would kill you without regret if told. Do not fail me as the last one did.

“I won’t. I’m sorry.” Isaac sniffed back tears.

Do not snivel my child. Our time grows near. You will have all that you have wanted in no time at all. Now smile and return to your games.

(First) (Previous) (Next)

[ilovethings-somuch]

Private Lessons (2/10)

Dad!Chris Evans/first person OFC (Elaina)

A/N: Hello friends! This was supposed to be posted earlier but I really like procrastinating 🤷 sorry!! So this is like fluff, I guess. No warnings other than swearing (I’m sorry I can’t help it)

Synopsis: Elaina is teaching swimming lessons to a little boy named Lukas when she discovers that he is the son of Chris Evans. When Chris approaches Elaina to do private lessons with Lukas at the Evans’ home will things heat up? Will Elaina turn into a homewrecker that she never wanted to be?

I spent (too much) of my weekend arguing with myself about how to back out of my arrangement with Chris. It went something like this:

It wouldn’t be that hard to back out. I could just tell him that my boss didn’t want me teaching private lessons outside of our facility. But that’s not true, and lord knows I can’t lie to save my soul. There’s no real reason I can come up with for why I can’t teach Lukas privately. I mean, other than the whole, Chris FUCKING Evans thing. But it’ll be fine. You can be cool, Elaina, just remember deep breaths, he’s just a normal person. You’re doing this for Lukas, not Chris. Hell for all I know Chris won’t even be there when I’m teaching, Lukas probably has a nanny. Or, oh god, what if Chris’ wife is there. Does anyone even know who she is? *googles for 3 hours* Why the fuck is google not helping? Okay, tumblr time, the fandom HAS to know right? *searches tumblr for 5 hours (I may have gotten sidetracked)* WHY DOES NOBODY KNOW WHO SHE IS?! Wait. Maybe she’s not in the picture, oh god, I hope she’s still alive.

All in all, the weekend went by too quickly and before I knew it, it was Tuesday and time for swimming lessons. Class went smoothly, I got everyone to go underwater again and there were 0 tears. Eva and Liam were a piece of cake, and when Lukas got scared all I had to do was remind him how proud his dad was going to be when he went under again. Worked like a charm; plus, waving at Chris with Lukas may have given me an excuse to look at Chris during the lesson.

Afterwards, Eva’s mom wanted to talk to me so I avoided an awkward moment with Chris then, and I was somehow able to get my belongings and leave before he had gotten Lukas changed so I avoided him again. I have mixed feelings about whether or not I’m happy about that. I mean, it was the goal; but maybe a small part of me wanted him to talk to me.

Thursday is the last day of the session, which means it’s a fun day. For the older kids that means playing Sharks and Minnows and going off the diving board. For the little kids, it means spending the class playing with water toys and jumping off the side. Near the end I take my kids over to the deep end to try jumping off the diving board. They all get a life jacket and I swim near the end of the board to catch them when they jump in. I tell them they all have to jump once, and if they want to they can go twice. Liam is very excited, he even tells me not to catch him. Eva wants me to catch her, but other than that she doesn’t hesitate. Lukas, on the other hand, needs a little help. He is completely against jumping, I even try to coax him by giving him a noodle for “extra help floating” but he doesn’t budge.

“Lukas, you gotta try once. If you don’t like it then you never have to go again, but I want you to try one time”

“I don’t wanna” he whines once again, his eyes brimming with tears. I got him to walk to the end of the board and talked to him from the water. I give Kenna, the lifeguard on duty, a signal that he’s going to need help.

“How about if the lifeguard helps you bud” at this point Kenna is already on the board behind Lukas and is about to pick him up to set him into my waiting arms. The tears overflow as she sets him in the water, but as soon as he realizes that he’s in my arms they stop. “Good job Lukas! Look at that, you didn’t even go underwater! I bet your daddy is going to be really impressed”

“I did it! I went off the jumping board!”

“You did! You did so good” I assure him while swimming to the side with him. “Do you think you want to try again all by yourself?” His face drops with my suggestion so I back track quickly. “You don’t have to bud, only if you want. Or you can stay here by the wall okay?”

“I wanna stay here”

“Okay, just keep your hands on the wall while I help Liam and Eva”

Liam and Eva both jump again before class is over. When they get their towels on I give each of them their report card and a piece of candy before walking them over to their parents. I’m not exactly sure how, but somehow I was left alone with Lukas and Chris again.

“Good job today buddy!”

“Did you see me go on the jumping board?”

“Of course I did! You were so brave”

“That’s what Miss Lainie told me too” Lukas tells him with a proud smile.

“Well Miss Lainie is a very smart lady” Chris says, looking at me with a smirk. I can’t help but blush at hearing him use my nickname.

“Well it’s always good to know who the bravest little boys are” I tease back, tickling Lukas’ sides.

“So, uh, tomorrow at 9:30 right?”

“Yeah, you still have to send me the address” I remind him.

“Oh shit, thanks for reminding me!” He immediately pulls out his phone and starts typing.

“Daddy!” Lukas whines while hitting Chris’ shoulder. “No bad words”

“I’m sorry buddy, you’re right. No bad words” he repeats before looking at me with a smirk. Goddamn that smile is going to be the death of me. It’s quiet for a few moments and I’m about to make my exit when Chris finishes typing and looks back up at me. “I just sent it to you”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll, um, see you tomorrow then”

“See you then” I give him a small wave before retreating into the office to grab my stuff. All my coworkers are already in there and someone is taking a shower in the room where my keys are, so it looks like I’ll be stuck here for a little longer. I spend the time looking through my phone, making sure to save the address Chris sent me, and talking to my coworkers. Thankfully no one asked me about what took me so long.

When I get home it’s already 7 and my plan to go for a run goes out the window. Instead take a shower before I pull out my laptop and fool around on the internet while eating my dinner. I end up facetiming with my best friend from back home before going to bed, simply so that I can express my excitement about befriending (yeah, that’s what we’re going to call it) Chris with someone who hasn’t actually met him. She’s equally if not more excited than I am, which makes me feel slightly more at ease in the sense that at least I’m normal, but also more anxious because I don’t want to mess it up.

My body finally allows me to fall asleep sometime around midnight, leaving me around 7 hours of sleep. My alarm going off is a cruel awakening, but at least it’s sunny outside. I finally roll out of bed around 7:45, only to discover that my hair is an absolute mess and going to take awhile to tame. I want to make a good impression on Chris. Even though we’ve already met, he’s never really seen me..dry. I want to prove that I can clean up nicely, even if I’m not exactly sure why I feel the need to prove that. Dammit, Elaina it’s not a date!

I end up having to straighten my hair to get all the kinks out, which takes close to half an hour. A half an hour that I didn’t plan for. Thankfully I had a mental idea of what to wear and it didn’t end up looking awful when I put it on. Makeup was another issue. Listen, when you’re working in a wet environment, makeup isn’t something that happens often. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking, “do you ever go out Elaina?” the answer to that is, not as much as I should. And I used to, but when I decided to take a break from trying to act the people I had befriended when I first moved here kind of ditched me. It was probably for the best, that lifestyle wasn’t really me.

I finally get my makeup to not look like a 5-year old did it and make it out of my apartment around 9:10. Which is 10 minutes later than I planned on leaving. The coffee shop is supposedly only 15 minutes away, but you never know when it comes to California traffic. Today proves to be no different, thankfully I make it to the shop only 2 minutes late; and let me tell you, my heart is pounding. I can’t tell you the last time I went on a date. Wait, fuck, Elaina it’s not a damn date! Either way, I can’t tell you the last time I met with someone at a coffee shop. Do I find him and sit down first? Do I order? Who knows! But I thank the lucky stars above when I see Chris walking towards the shop coming from the opposite direction as me. He seems to spot me at the same time I see him and give me a big grin. He can wear whatever glasses and hat he wants, there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize that smile. We reach the door at about the same time and he holds it open for me to enter first. I stand just inside, waiting for him to make a move towards a table or to a line. He heads towards the line and I follow slightly behind.

“Hi, the regular?” the barista asks him when it’s his turn.

“Yeah and whatever she’s having” he sounds so casual about it that I think my heart stops.

“No, Chris you don’t have to pay for me”

“It’s just a coffee, relax” he chuckles.

“Um okay, I’ll just have whatever he’s getting” The barista gives me a small nod before moving to make the drinks. I follow Chris to a table while we wait for our drinks.

“So, where’s Lukas?” I ask, not that I expected him to be here, but it’s weird being around Chris without Lukas.

“He’s at home, with the nanny for a couple hours while I take care of a few things”

I nod, thankful for our drinks arriving to give me something to do. Nanny means his wife must be busy, or not around? God Elaina you’re insufferable, give it a rest.

“He gets really upset when I have to leave, it’s going to be hard when school starts and I have to leave him everyday”

“Yeah, I bet. How does that work with you filming and such?”

“Um, I don’t know yet” he chuckles. “I’m still trying to figure it out. I really want him to go to a normal school. I mean, maybe a private school but definity one where he just goes 8 to 3 like a normal kid and gets to hang out with friends. As much as I would love to just have him home schooled so that he can go with me everywhere, I can’t take away his childhood like that”

“I get what you mean. It would be a pretty incredible childhood to grow up on movie sets though” I suggest with a smile. “But I get it, you want him to be a normal kid, that makes sense”

“Right, he’s had a pretty normal childhood so far. I try to get him outside as much as I can and with kids his age”

“Does he go to daycare?”

“No, I’m usually home with him or I have a really great nanny who comes over when I have things to do. We have regular play dates with some neighborhood families regularly though and he always has fun.”

“Yeah, he’s really sociable! The first day of lessons he was really shy, but by the second class he was telling me all about what he did that day and he was always trying to make games with the other kids”

“He loves to make up games” he says fondly.

“He’s a really smart kid. When ever I was explaining something new it was like I could see the gears turning in his head while he tried to figure it out. Maybe smart to a fault, he tends overthinks things and get scared”

“He’s definitely like his father” Chris mumbles before giving me a smirk.

“Maybe so, but clearly you’ve faced fears and he has too. So it’s alright, it’s definitely not a bad thing for him to be like you”

“Thank you, Elaina, that means a lot” he touches my hand while he’s talking, giving it a light squeeze before moving his hand back to his coffee. I can feel my face heating up and I’m not sure my makeup is covering it up. I try to change the subject casually, but my voice sounds flustered.

“So, um, do you have an idea of what days and times work for you? I’m usually open Monday, Wednesday, Friday after 3 and Tuesday, Thursday after 6 and then totally free on weekends”

“Well my schedule is not that consistent. I can do Monday, Wednesday, Friday at say, 4 this week. But they the week after I’m only around on the weekend, and then the week after I’ll be home Tuesday and Thursday”

“Okay, well as long as the times work with what I wrote here” I pause, pointing to the note I wrote, “I can do whatever. I’ll just let my boss know that she can’t schedule me outside of these times so I’ll be free”

“Really? That would be amazing”

“Yeah, of course. So are you thinking half hour, hour?”

“Whatever you think is best”

“Well if I can keep up his progress I think we could get a lot done in an hour. But it also depends on the setup of your pool. I won’t know everything I can do until I see that, but I think an hour would be the best”

“That’s fine with me. Um so how much do you charge?”

“Fifteen dollars per lesson. But you don’t have to pay me like everyday, we can do it weekly or whatever works for you”

“Fifteen dollars? That’s it?”

“Yes? I wouldn’t say that’s cheap..” I trail off, unsure.

“In hollywood, that’s cheap” he assures me.

“Well you can feel free to pay me more, but that’s my baseline” I say with a chuckle. He doesn’t give me an actual answer, just laughs heavily. The conversation turns to a lighter topic and keeps flowing with a few more casual touches. This is, until Chris notices the time and realizes that he has to go.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize it was so late. I told the nanny I would be back by now and I haven’t even made my other stops yet” he tells me quickly, while picking up his notes and empty coffee cup.

“No, it’s totally fine. I’m sorry for keeping you” I stand along with him and follow him towards the exit.

“I’ll see you Monday at 4 then? I’ll text you my address”

“Yep, don’t forget” I tease.

“You might need to remind me” he says honestly.

“I’ll remind you tonight” I assure him

“Great! I’ll see you Monday” he calls while walking backwards away from me.

“Bye, Chris”

When I get in my car I take a few moments to just sit and process everything. Why did that feel so much like a date? It wasn’t supposed to take that long but somehow it’s already 1 o’clock in the afternoon. When I finally get my bearing I make my home, stopping first at the grocery store to restock my kitchen. I decide to stop at a sandwich shop on the way home, knowing I won’t feel like making dinner after putting all my groceries away.

I’m finally getting settled into my couch when my phone chimes from my purse in the kitchen. I groan slightly before getting up to retrieve it.

Chris: I think someone forgot to remind me of something 🤔  *address attached*

Me: wow look who remembered something all on their own! Someone’s growing up☺️

Chris: Was that sass I detected from you, Elaina? I’m appalled, maybe I don’t want Lukas spending time with you

Me: Trust me, that boy had enough sass before I met him. (I think he gets it from his father)

Chris: Take that back now!

Me: can’t make me 🤷

Chris: hahaha yeah okay.

Chris: I had a really nice time with you today

Me: I had a nice time too, sorry for making you late. Hopefully you didn’t get in too much trouble.

Chris: No worries! Thankfully the nanny is very understanding.

Chris: I gotta go make dinner for Lukas, I’ll talk to you soon!

Me: Bye Chris, say hi to Lukas for me!

[fallenyetstillup]

So close, yet so far

Here’s the one-shot that took me so long to finish, I’m so sorry.  I hope you enjoy your gift @doublepasse.  You are such an amazing person, and I wish you the best of luck with your school.  --- It started right after the war against Alvarez...against Zeref was over.  They won, but not without sacrifice.  They lost their Master, many returned with new physical scars, and many will be haunted by emotional demons that will plague their memories for the foreseeable future.  Especially for one in particular... “Natsu...I'm...so...tired...” She watched as her partner fell to the ground none too gently.  By the time Natsu reached the exhausted celestial mage, she was out cold.  And would be...for sometime.   --- "Time heals all wounds Natsu, we'll have to be patient."  Erza's tone was firm, but not harsh.  "Mental trauma can take a very long time to even begin to recover, as much as I wish it were easy to just give her medicine or physical snap her out of it,"  She let out a sigh before continiuing.  "it's just out of our hands.  All we can do is give her support on this side while Lucy fights to come back." "But-!"  Natsu stops as Erza reminds her that they're waiting in the hallway as oppose to being inside Lucy's apartment.  As Erza brings her finger down from her lips, Natsu continues.  "It's been almost a week, and she's still asleep.  We can't just sit back and do nothing!  Everyday that passes, we're losing her dammit."  The dragonslayer could feel her still bruised banaged hands shake in anger. "But she's not alone, the very first day she collasped, Loke and Virgo came on their own immediately and have since been watching over her.  Let's not forget her other spirits too have been lending their support, I believe they have their physic link.  They'll have better luck reaching her there than us."  Natsu expression turned a bit sour at that.  She'd always known the kind of bond Lucy had with her spirits, but even so... "This isn't fair."  She gritted her sharp teeth. "None of this is, or was ever fair to begin with.  We must hold our heads high to provide strength to those who need now more than ever."  Erza lightly ruffled Natsu with her good hand before pulling Natsu in for a one arm hug. "Her heart's broken...isn't it?"  Natsu asked quietly.  Erza stayed quiet for a moment before finally answering. "Since we've all experience that kind of pain, she'll know she can count on us when she wakes up."  Erza was about to pull back when Natsu begins to lean on her, emotional drained of the week they've endured.  Being mindful of Erza's bad arm, she hugged her tightly. "Lucy's strong."  She stated as if reminding herself. "Indeed.  More than perhaps we'll ever know."  The requip mage replied sadly. On that same day, they discovered Aquarius' broken key, and all Loke said in regards was to ask Lucy herself.  With only that to go on, it left alot of unsettling theories floating in their heads. The door opened, revealing Wendy, Gray, and Juvia.  Gray's eyes met Natsu before looking off to Erza.  Tension between the two rivals had slowly been depleting, but it was still there nonetheless. "No dice."  He let out a sigh as he shut the door behind them. "Even with my sky magic, and Porlyusica's help, Lucy hasn't shown any changes as far recovering from the shock coma she's in."  Wendy hugged a tired Carla to her chest. "Loke said something about a lack of 'light' so to speak is missing from her once fighting spirit.  It's something Lucy will have to find on her own again."  Juvia looked back at the door, as if she could still she her sleeping friend trapped in her slumber.  No one said anything, taking in all the information that's been shared.  Then, ever so slightly they heard someone singing from within the cozy apartment. "I think it's Lyra, probably the best time for her to show up too."  Gray said as he leaned against the door. "Why's that?"  Natsu spoke again, attempting to lock her gaze with his reluctant eyes. "She was starting to have another 'nightmare episode'."  That alone was enough to drive the urge of barging back into the apartment so bad, that Erza already put her good hand in front the enraged dragonslayer.   "We're all tired Natsu, let Lucy's spirits handled this for the night, I'm sure by then they'll want their rest." "You can sure as hell bet on it."  A new voice chimed in, bringing everyone's attention to the approaching individual at the bottom of the stairs. "I assume you'll take it from here."  Erza nodded towards her tired comrade. "Yes."  His voice lacking the usual upbeat flirty tone. "Guess that means we'll be on our way."  Gray and Juvia began to walked past Loke, but Juvia stopped. "Please...could you let us know if anything changes?  Good or bad?"  Juvia kept her voice low, but her determined eyes did not lie on the deliverance on the hidden meaning. "Of course."  He nodded. "Thank you."  Gray waited for Juvia, holding the door open for her, with one last look regarding his friends and then disappearing into the night.  Wendy yawned, causing Carla to break her silence. "Come along Wendy,"  Carla said gently.  She changed into her human form, grabbing the sky dragonslayer by the arm to also lead her down the stairs.  "We can't be of help if we don't take care of our health.  We'll check in with her tomorrow, good-night everyone." "Allow me to accompany you, it is getting rather late."  Erza gave Natsu one last pat, ruffling a tired Happy's head then left with the girls. "Any luck?"  Natsu asked just as Loke made it to the top.  The lion spirit said nothing nor did anything for a moment, though a tired sigh escaped his lips. "Think of it this way, her mental state is like a bleak ocean.  She's already gone under, and all she's doing is watching the light above the surface go dimmer, and fade away.  She can barely make-out our voices, but she can still hear us.  She's too tired to swim to the surface, so she settles for floating in the abyss.  It's kind of similar to when she merged with the infinity clock."  Loke said nothing more.  Opening the door, and slowly walking in, preparing himself for a long night. Natsu caught the glimpse of the sleeping blonde, barely registering Happy's paw applying pressure to get a better look for himself.  Needless to say, they both felt helpless. "Natsu is Lucy..."  The poor exceed couldn't even finish before a sob escaped his throat followed by tears spilling from his eyes. "I'm not giving up."  Natsu turned away, walking out of the building to stare at Lucy's window.  Fighting the tears back, not wanting to trigger another possible night of staining anything with her tears.  A sleepless night for that matter. "When is she coming back?"  Happy clutched onto the head, sobs continue to echoed out into the night though not bothering Natsu. "We're not waiting, that's for damn sure, tomorrow we're done sitting down doing nothing." --- That night, after a long debate with Virgo, she finally got the maiden spirit to go back to the celestial world in order to rest.  She filled her in on what's been going on during the nights, even letting it slip that a certain mermaid spirit had came to visit her. “She'll often get restless, kick and sometimes talk in her sleep.  It isn't unusual for her to cry for a while, princess calls out for those she has lost in the past.  I ask that you not get frustrated with her.” Natsu sat next Lucy, watching her partner's facial expression for any sign of discomfort. But no matter what, never forget that she can still in fact hear you. “Thanks Virgo.”  Natsu touched Lucy's forehead, pushing her partner's hair back with a sigh.  She wasn't one for deep thinking, so she can only imagine what is going through Lucy's head.  The girl worried too much for her own good, but that's one of the reasons the dragonslayer had come to care for her greatly.   I had already changed her bandages once more before I leave.  Please be aware that I left her in only her underwear as I believe she's been battling an on/off fever.  Don't be afraid to do what's necessary to help Princess throughout the night. "Hey Happy, I've got an idea."  She declared as she stood up.  Happy flew over to the bed post with a clear worried look.   "What is it?" "We're going to try what you guys did for me back when the war was going on, and I was dying."  Her eyes locked with the blue exceed's. "But Natsu, that was different." "No it's not.  We're slowly losing her, and we're not gona sit by and watch it happen!  We're getting her back."  Her statement left no room for argument.   --- "Come on Lucy, it's already been two days.  I think you've gotten enough sleep."  A bitter laugh escaped her throat.  Though nothing was funny about this situation.  "Hey, why didn't you tell me?  Why didn't you tell me about Aquarius?"  Her hands fisted into her bandaged knees.  "You'd probably get angry at me for asking, then get quiet.  And then you take a moment to sigh before turning to me with that sad smile for letting your temper get to you.  I wouldn't know what to say.  That's fine.  I'd let you say whatever it is you needed to say.  She was...very important to you.  In a way, she was your second mom."   With a sigh, she reached for Lucy's cool hand.  "And that's why you gotta wake-up.  How else are you ever going to see her again?  What about your future self's wish to go on more adventures.  I fought for that, we both did.  Don't throw that away, don't shut the world out and your family.  I'm still here dammit."  Ever so slightly tighten the grip on her partner's hand."I know you can hear me, and I want you to actually listen to me.  Come back you werido." --- "I will save you Lucy, but you gotta help yourself too."   "Natsu, what are you doing?" Happy watched as the dragonslayer slowly removed clothing piece by piece. When Happy received no immediate response, he too began to untie his little backpack off. "You're probably gona get pissed at me for this," She spoke to no one in particular as she stood only covered in her bandages, and her panties. "you'll scream, yell at me for sneaking in your bed again." She pulled back the sheets, being mindfully of the celestial beauty that too only laid bare in nothing but her panties, and smaller bandages of her own. "But I'll take it all, just please...come back." With that last declaration, she slid into the bed, and clutched tightly her partner to her body.After all, it's always fun when they're together.Happy follow suit afterwards, he hugged her arm, letting Natsu take the lead on trying to reach their comatose.  Natsu waited, wanting to see if tonight it'll happen, considering it has been occuring at random.  Those nightmare episodes. "Natsu, what if we can't-" "Don't say that, we're not giving up on her.  If we don't stay strong, how we expect her to rely on us?"  Her arms rested on either side of Lucy, lifting her head from resting next to Lucy's.  Her eyes locked in with Happy, giving the blue exceed a determine look to hopefully encourage him not to give up.  However, before anything could be said... "N-No!  Stop!"  Lucy began to thrash about, causing the two aware companions to attempt to hold her down.  “Don’t!  Don’t die!  Wait!”  She move her hands as if to reach out to someone.  "Come on Lucy, you got to pull it together now."  Natsu wrapped her arms around Lucy all while poor Happy held onto her flailing limb. "I don't think it's working!"  Happy cried. "We can't give up, it'll never be the same without her."  She lifted her her head before resting it on the troubled girl's own forehead.  "Don't you quit on me, how many times are you going to slip away before you realize I'll always come for you.  You're not alone, I don't know what happened, but dammit I promise I'll never let you go through this again.  Just please come back."   Slowly the thrashing stopped, evidently somehow Natsu got through to her, perhaps not completely but enough to give her a sign.  Happy took this opportunity to lay most of his weight on the now limp arm should another attack occur once more. "You weirdo, what a handful you are.  Still, I wouldn't have it any other way.  I wish you could see how much you mean to me."  She felt Lucy attempt to move again, but didn't get very far.  "You're going to be okay.  But we won't be if you stay asleep.  How can we keep going on adventures if you don't open your eyes?"  She rolled them to the side, allowing her to pull the girl closer to her, and tuck the celestial wizard under her chin.  Happy still held onto Lucy's arm, but made himself more comfortable by nuzzling into her back. "Please wake soon, we need you Lucy, we love you."  Happy wept quietly. "Yeah, more than you'll ever know."  Using one hand to hold onto the blonde, she moved the other under to thread her fingers through the long hair.  "My precious weirdo."  They stayed like that for some time, every so often Natsu attempting to say something encouraging.  At this point, Happy had fallen asleep but she couldn't blame him.  It was really late into the night.   "You know, I've always wanted to hear your stories.  You write to your mom about us, and I know you write about our adventures..."  She sliently cursed her luck with never being good with words.  "I just,"  She let out a tired sigh.  "I wana hear your words again."   Lucy let out a few mumbles here and there, but never truly responding to anything Natsu said. "We're supposed to always be a family, a team, and anything that may come our way...I know everyone needs a break, don't forget we'll be right here waiting for you.  But please, don't keep making me wait.  It's so lonely without you."  She had to stop, feeling the tears coming, but the desperation was becoming greater.  Her vision began to fade out, giving her best friend a few more head pats before decided to give into maybe falling into slumber.   "Hurry home soon...Lu...cy."  With one final hope she left behind as exhaustion took over, she brought Lucy close enough so that she may continue to hear her heartbeat.  Anything, to let her precious best friend know that she's still here. --- In the wake of the morning, the three of them laid there, the sunlight pouring in to add to the warmth already shared.  Fresh tears fell from closed eyelids as they slowly opened again.  Even Natsu's strong hearing didn't catch her tired words as she felt so many emotions from awakening. "I'm home." --- I may or may not write one from Lucy’s POV.  It’s been so long since I’ve written anything, I hope you enjoyed it.