#sorry hands still not quite used to new drawing device and fine details are hard

[ridragon]

My 'sona/protag Ri and @blinkpen 's Lamarr would be friends I think.....

Dragons? Hurty in general? Some sort of transformation ability as an absolute last resort? Uses they as one of their pronouns? Trauma from betrayal? Blood is kinda weird? It's all coming together...

...They must be cousins.

[imaginesandinserts]

Irreverent Pt. 56 - Calm of Night

Title: Irreverent Pt. 56 - Calm of Night

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Reader Rating: M Words: ~9K

A/N: My weekly posting schedule has become more like biweekly because of work. Sorry!

Irreverent Series Masterlist

You're seated in Pierce's office, dressed in a suit from the bag that had been dropped off by an Interpol agent a few hours back, returning your belongings that had sat in a safe house in Philadelphia the past few days. Upon receiving the bag, you'd dumped out everything and gone through your belongings with a fine tooth comb, searching for any surveillance or tampering. Knowing everything you did now about Clyde and his long and twisted history of watching you – well, it only felt appropriate. Derek had raised an eyebrow at you while Emily helped you sift through everything.

With the suspicion that Pierce was the mole, firmly in place, Garcia had been able to look over all of Pierce's properties and holdings in more detail and there was already a team, led by Derek and Rossi that was deployed to his country home, after satellite imaging revealed some odd structures in the back lot. Anderson had updated you when Pierce left his home and had alerted you that he was on his way in.

The team had already worked out the best way to confront him. Pierce wasn't privy to the day to day of Jansen's operation, however it was safe to assume that he knew of a potential connection to you. You'd only met the man personally once, and it had been entirely unremarkable at the time. In hindsight, you'd looked at his appraisal of you standing next to McKinney during a project update with new eyes, taking note of the way his eyes had brushed by you entirely in a way that, to be quite frank, you weren't used to.

You're used to unwanted attention from men. No attention, not even a casual look up and down, that was hardly cause for concern at the time. Looking back, it had stood out, however, and ultimately helped seal the deal for you when you'd concluded that he was the best fit for the profile. When you'd told the team this, they'd all agreed with you, knowing from experience that child predators were unlikely to be interested in appropriately aged women.

So here you sat, awaiting Pierce while the team watched from another room, having already set up cameras and recording devices in the room.

"Testing, confirm you can hear." Aaron's voice comes in through the comms piece in your ear, and you nod and reply in the affirmative. It felt really good to be working a case with him again. With him, you never had to worry.

From the operations room, Aaron watches the screens in front of him, John seated in the chair beside him while Reid kept a line of communication open with Dave and Morgan, working with them to oversee the mission into Pierce's other home. Reid was in prime form, easily directing Morgan towards anything that might be on interest, and Aaron notes how much more at ease he was, leading from afar. He makes a mental note to explore that with Reid during their next conversation.

On his other side, Garcia is keeping tech running for both operations, though he can tell she's far more concerned with your piece despite you still being in the building. She'd obviously felt awful for bringing up the video to you in her excitement at having you back, not having realized that you didn't know what they'd seen yet. He knows it was his fault for not warning you. Having you back, the last thing he'd wanted was to cause you any more distress, but he should've known better. Had it not been Garcia, it would've been someone else.

He could see how much of a toll watching you go through that, had on the team. Already, he'd seen how much more careful Morgan was with you. The casual jostling and elbowing – a dynamic you'd attempted to fit back into with him, was strained. Sure, he'd laughed along, but he didn't dare shove back at you, for fear that he'd hurt you. It was a long road ahead before any of them started to treat you with anything less than kid gloves.

Prentiss and JJ are standing and watching the other cameras, awaiting any sign of Pierce. For him, it should feel like a regular day walking into the office. They both have their headsets on and are leaned back, waiting for Garcia to alert them to Pierce's entrance into the building.

Beside him, John appears far more at home amongst the team than any detective they've worked with over the years. He has a headset on as well, eyes trained on you on the screen in front. From what he's been able to glean thus far, John appears to be a D.A. from the same mold as him – incredibly hands on. He hasn't hesitated or been thrown by any of the research or surveillance activities that the team has embarked on, showing an easy familiarity with the terminology and procedure.

"He just badged in," Garcia alerts them, Prentiss and JJ both turning to their screens as they watched Pierce go through the gates and then to the elevators towards his office.

On the screen, you start, following along to JJ's play by play of Pierce's location. With a moment's beat, you stand up from the chair you'd been sat in across from his and smooth out your suit.

"What is she doing?" Prentiss asks from behind, as they all watch you walk around the desk, and then place a hand on Pierce's chair to swivel it around to face the back wall. You find one of the cameras that was in the room and throw a quick wink towards them that has Aaron shaking his head as he realizes what you're doing. You sit down in Pierce's own chair facing the back wall, awaiting his arrival.

From beside him, John mutters, "You always have to be dramatic, don't you?", rolling his eyes.

His words have your mouth twisting into a smirk, eyes shining with mirth. "Admit it, you'd be bored if I wasn't."

John shakes his head, his mouth unwillingly turning up into a fond smile as he watches you settle in and cross one leg over the other, tugging at your suit jacket until it sits in place. He's aware of Aaron next to him, and there's a part of him that's nearly waiting for things to be awkward or uncomfortable with you three. John's been around jealous boyfriends before and Aaron is nothing like those guys. Those guys would be rankled by their girlfriends' ex teasing them. They'd be bothered by how easily you and him move around one another, hands grazing casually – soft and familiar touches that come naturally to you both. Without being told, John knows that you and Aaron had some sort of deep understanding when it came to him, because Aaron is entirely unphased despite seeing and noticing everything.

"Incoming." JJ's crackles onto the mic right as you hear the door open to Pierce's office.

You hear footsteps and you can feel someone else in the room as Pierce enters and then shuts the door behind him, not having noticed your presence yet. On the screen, the team sees him turn and walk towards the desk, the high back of his chair preventing him from seeing you immediately.

It's then that you turn, the chair swiveling around slowly to face him, your face set – emotionless and unyielding.

"Hello Alexander."

The hint of a Russian accent seeps into your voice as you greet him, hard eyes trained on the man in front of you, who had startled at your movement, his briefcase nearly falling from his grasp before his hand goes to his gun holster and then pauses as he sees who it is. Eyes widening, he withdraws his hand from the holster and walks closer to the desk, watching you apprehensively as you sit in his chair like its your throne.

"Have a seat."

Your voice left no room for argument as Pierce lowers himself cautiously into one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. You give him a moment to draw his wits about him. Pierce wasn't stupid. He had to know – or at least think he knew – why you were here.

From the room, Aaron watches, enraptured as he always is when you go undercover or into an interrogation room. You're a wonderful profiler, no doubt. However there is something about you when you're confronting someone that plays to your strengths in the best of ways. You thrive on knowing the power you hold, leaning into your role. It's never quite Good Cop/Bad Cop with you. No, you do best when you merely play yourself – compelling, mysterious, alluring. Unsubs – especially men – lower their guard around you without meaning to. The darkening eyes and curve of your mouth as you smile at them with an all-knowing regard. You draw out a near primal need to perform for you, please you, show off for you.

Aaron can see it here now as Pierce sits straight in the chair across from you, the shock of walking into his office with you waiting for him starting to wear off. He adjusts and unbuttons the bottom button on his jacket, easing into the chair as though he hadn't nearly wet his pants at the sight of you mere seconds prior.

"How can I help you?" he asks, the hint of cockiness bleeding into his tone. This was a man who had actively provided information on intelligence agents in exchange for children. The thought alone was enough to draw revulsion.

You appraise him quietly, allowing the seconds to tick by. In the surveillance room, no one breathes, allowing you your silence. After a few seconds have ticked by, there's the flicker of uncertainty that passes over Pierce's face. That's what you'd been waiting for.

"I spoke with Jansen," you say, the barest hint of a smile on your face. "You'll be reporting directly to me, from here on out." You're banking on Pierce being removed enough from the day to day operations, as to not know that Jansen had a bullet in his head, courtesy of a certain unit chief. The goal was simple: get him to admit to it all.

Pierce appears to think for a moment before speaking. "Is there any particular reason for the change in procedure?" he asks, trying to maintain an air of casual ease.

"I've decided to take on a more active role within the organization." You don't offer any further explanation. Simply wait for Pierce to nod that he understands, before you continue. "Obviously, I can't have anything traced back to me. I've invested a significant amount of time and effort into this cover," you tell him with a motion towards your own badge. Most everyone also knows that you're with Aaron - the dissolution agreement was strictly on paper alone and hadn't had enough time to become anything more. Strauss was many things, but she certainly was not a gossip.

"What is your current process for delivering the intel?" you ask, your tone all business. "I might want to make modifications."

"I obtain the information into the program from Eric Seaborn, the Marshalls' liaison," Pierce tells you, being far more forthcoming than you would've been in his position. He'd already provided you another name to go after. In your ear, you can hear Aaron directing Garcia to look into Seaborn and put out a warrant for him to be brought in immediately. With any luck, he'd be the root of the leak. "I then contact Jansen via the online forum and we set up a time and place for the drop."

You nod at his explanation, making a show of thinking it over. "What about the payment?"

At this, Pierce pauses and looks at you critically. Jansen might have given into his payment requirements. You – well, you might not be as accommodating. "Will that be a problem?" he asks, being purposefully vague.

You shake your head slowly. "No. I merely wish to ensure that we are both satisfied with the arrangement. To that end, packages should continue uninterrupted," you assure him, being just as vague as he was.

"We need him to admit to the kids," Aaron reminds you, sharing a look at Prentiss, the two of them knowing that without proof of the kids at Pierce's country home, a full on confession was the only thing that would get him convicted. That, and possibly anything Seaborn would cop to.

Knowing that Pierce might be just a little uncomfortable with you – a woman – than he was with Jansen, you loosen up a little, dropping your shoulders and settling into the chair just a little more as you allow an easy smile to appear on your face. "I have to say," you start, your eyes fixed on Pierce, "I definitely appreciated that we don't have to worry about a paper trail with you. I cannot tell you how much of a pain that can be, especially with agencies like the Bureau getting better and better with tracking down the finances," you share, with the hope that confiding in Pierce and making some small talk will force him to mimic your demeanor around the subject.

He eyes you carefully for a moment before mirroring your stance and smile. "Well, lets just say that this is a mutually beneficial arrangement," he offers, his words and tone drawing a shiver through you that you force yourself to suppress. In the comms channel you can hear Garcia and JJ both commenting on how entirely creepy Pierce sounded.

You give it a beat, before you decide to stand, making as if you were done and wanted to leave. Pierce stands with you and watches as you come around the table. On a whim, you smile and walk up to him carefully, mindful to make sure that the mic underneath his desk would catch your next words.

"Out of curiosity, what do you do with them?" you ask, betting on the one piece of the predator profile that was the most debated amongst the team. Predators like to show off. They like other people to know what they do to their victims. It gives them a power rush. However, it was a 50/50 when it came down to it – some of them act ashamed given how their actions are perceived in society. However, due to how blatant Pierce is regarding his proclivities, you reckon he is anything but shameful. He'll take pride it. Brag.

"I take care of them," he answers. "Little girls need someone to care for them and I ensure that they are – taken care of."

From the comms line, you hear Aaron's voice. "We have enough."

"You mean, you rape them. Is that how you take care of them?" you press, ignoring Aaron.

Pierce's eyes flash angrily at your accusation.

Before he can say anything in response, you continue. "Did you know, that if you are being charged for treason, they pretty much do away with due process?"

"What do you mean?" he asks, despite your severe face leaving nothing to question. You hadn't stuttered.

Your mouth twists into a dark sneer as you respond. "I mean, if you think they don't like child predators in prison, you can only imagine what they do with them in Gitmo."

At that, the door to Pierce's office opens once more and you see Aaron and Emily entering, not giving Pierce the opportunity to respond or retaliate as you walk past him, your heels clicking against the floor.

*------------*

There was seemingly no end to the confidentiality paperwork the Bureau was insisting John sign due to his involvement with everything. You were sat in the bullpen with the team, while John and Aaron went through it all upstairs in Aaron's office.

"So, Hawthorne," Emily begins, the curl of her lips hinting at how much she'd likely held back all of her choice commentary on John and Aaron and you – that whole dynamic. The fact that, out of everyone, she's still the only one calling John by his last name, does not escape your notice. You file that away to explore with her at a later date.

You bite your lip to prevent the smile that threatened to break at her predictability as the rest of them moved in closer as though Aaron or John might overhear from all the way upstairs.

At your nod, she continues. "I am going to charitably bypass the freakish similarities between the two of them," she says, smirking at you while Penelope nods along eagerly, "and focus on the fact that he is way more than just some guy I used to see." Emily's allusion to how you'd initially described John way back when has a grin appearing on Derek's face too, while both JJ and Spencer sport matching teasing smiles.

You shrug. There wasn't much to really say. Of course you had been friends with them all back then, but that didn't mean you were about to disclose your entire relationship to the team on the way back from a case. You didn't talk about John. It had been easier to not talk about him.

"We like him," Derek admits in the wake of your silence. "Guy dropped everything and came as soon as Hotch called him." Anyone who'd do that for you was alright in his book.

"Not to mention the fact that he's a total babe!" Penelope gushes, her voice breaking into a squeal that has Derek scowling in distaste.

You chuckle at his reaction. "Oh come on Derek. You know you're still her number one."

He shakes his head at you, though his mouth moves into a small smile despite himself.

"Yeah, you're still my favorite hunk of chocolate," she reassures him with a caress of his bicep, before turning back to you excitedly. "But really though, that's still the best ass I've ever seen."

"Squats," you respond sagely, remembering the number of times John managed to drag you with him to his far too long gym sessions. You'd end up collapsing on the side halfway through and just watch him finish up on his own. He did always buy you ice cream after to make up for it, though.

"Huh," she comments, an almost dreamy look on her voice before she continues on, her voice taking on a comically floaty quality. "You know, if we all got together – entirely objectively – as like, a country, and voted on best ass, I think he'd win. We can't all agree on one guy for president but that ass – that ass is America's ass."

The laughter around you felt like you'd never left. Emily and JJ were supporting each other from falling over, both of them clutching their stomachs as they watched Derek and Penelope debate the semantics of the entire country voting on some guy's ass, while Spencer chimed in with possible logistical solutions to get around the current voting technology being behind the times when it came to properly allowing voters to compare the merits of one ass versus another.

As you wipe a tear that has escaped you as your giggles subsided, you all see Anderson making his way towards you.

"Pierce is finished being processed," he informs you as he approaches. Everyone nods at Anderson. They'd all been surprised at how much you'd leveraged Anderson on the ground, as he'd never once made it seem like he was too busy to help the rest of them or hinted that he was on the special assignment with you.

"Thank you," you nod at him, watching as he goes to his desk to grab his stuff before making his way back to you. "I told them they can wait for your signature on the paperwork till Monday. Pierce can hang out in holding till then."

You smile at that before nodding once again. Anderson hesitates slightly, as though there was something more. "What else?" you prompt, figuring you might as well hear it all.

"Agent Easter also sent a request for on the ground support from the Bureau to help with the clean up of your base of operations outside of Philadelphia, now that Interpol has retracted all of its support. I took the liberty of informing him that the Bureau was far too overextended to be of much assistance to him. Now or at anytime in the future."

It was clear to see that Anderson's stoically calm words hid the fury of a thousand suns behind them when it came to Easter. You felt your heart clench ever so slightly at that, not having expected this protective streak from him.

"Thank you Grant."

He nods at you a soft smile on his face, pausing slightly with some hesitation, before leaning down and brushing a quick kiss to your cheek, pulling back quickly. "I'll see you all on Monday," he says to the group, slightly flustered, before making his way to the elevators.

"So Interpol already backed away from Easter, huh?"

You look up at Derek with a shrug. "Sure seems like it."

"Good."

From behind you, you hear a throat being cleared and turn to see both John and Aaron standing at the landing.

Aaron meets your eyes, and behind them you can see the sheer exhaustion that has caught up with him. "Let's go home."

*------------*

You, John, and Aaron were sat at the dining table with the remnants of a pizza in the middle. Mrs. Avery had had to drop Jack off with Jessica due to a preplanned family event that she was attending. While you'd been disappointed to come home to find he was gone, Aaron had reasoned that it might be best if you slept a little bit and were able to cover up some of the bruises and scrapes before you saw Jack. Unfortunately, he wasn't entirely wrong about that.

John had indeed kept a ledger of every single one of his and Julian's bets and you'd been forced to write him a check for the amount, which had amused Aaron to no end. You and John had just finished telling him the story behind another bet in the book – one which had ended with both John and Julian being picked up by the local sheriff's office for drowning the Dean's vintage Jaguar to the bottom of the school pool. Suffice to say, neither of your parents had been amused at having to write the Dean a hefty check in recompense.

As the three of you sober up, you see John look up oddly and try to catch Aaron's attention, the two of them having a nonverbal exchange that you weren't privy to, before they both turn to you, the mood significantly more somber than a moment prior.

"What's up?" you ask them both apprehensively, taking another bite of the slice of pizza in front of you. It was getting cold fast, the dough and cheese felt like a lump in your mouth, but you force yourself to swallow knowing that Aaron wanted to be sure you ate something at least.

It appeared they'd decided that John would ask, because he's the one to speak up. "What's the deal with you and Richards?" he inquires, Aaron nodding along to the question, his hair flopping down onto his forehead.

You roll your eyes good naturedly, surprised they'd gone even this long without bringing it up. Though, given that interaction between them just then, they'd obviously discussed it with another.

"Remember the Peterson Accords?" you ask Aaron, who had just taken another bite of his own, so he nods in response.

The Peterson Accords had been a snafu the CIA had been involved in a year or so ago. One that was entirely avoidable, had they been more forthcoming with information with other agencies.

"Well, when I first started working with McKinney, he had me tag along to a meeting at Langley. Somehow, the accords came up and I ended up offering Richards an entirely unsolicited opinion on it."

Aaron chokes slightly, realizing the implication of what you meant. At John's confused look, he takes a drink of water, washing down the bite before explaining. "The Agency messed up and there was a big PR issue with the Peterson Accords. Mostly the Bureau just avoids talking about it even though we all know that had the CIA just been upfront, the entire problem wouldn't have happened at all."

John snorts. "Let me guess, you told him as much?"

"Yeah," you admit, coloring ever so slightly at the memory of your nervous outburst. "McKinney wasn't thrilled. But Richards thought I had balls. A week later he asked me to drinks. It was the same day that Jack fell and broke his wrist," you tell Aaron, effectively explaining why mentioning this to him had slipped your mind. You'd been thoroughly panicked – if Aaron had thought you were overbearing when he'd been in the hospital, that had been nothing in comparison to how you'd been when it was Jack.

"I thought that would be it. Drinks only lasted like forty minutes before I got the call about Jack. But then a couple months ago, he caught up with me in Paris and asked me to dinner. Said he wanted to mentor me and help me develop further – offered me the job."

"Will you tell McKinney that?" Aaron asks, appraising you carefully from above the rim of the can of soda that's half way to his mouth.

You shake your head. "No. If he wants to fire me, let him. I'm not going to influence that decision with this. I'd rather not work for him if the only reason he keeps me is to prevent me from working for Richards instead."

"Where did he take you to dinner?" John asks, having caught something when you'd quickly mentioned Richards asking you to dinner in Paris.

Your eyes flash up at him, as you silently curse the fact that he knows you far too well and sometimes it was simply annoying.

"Benoit."

John snorts while Aaron merely looks puzzled.

"Benoit is like the most expensive and romantic Parisian restaurant," John explains in response to Aaron's raised eyebrow. "It took me six months to get a reservation there for Cece's birthday. Of course the Director of the CIA can just waltz in," he grouches, an amused expression catching him midway as Aaron processes Richards having taken you out to Benoit – the man had been trying to woo you in the most impressive of ways.

"Should I be threatened?" Aaron asks, a light teasing note in his voice as he looks back at you, finding the thought of the CIA Director taking you out for what – on the surface – reads as a romantic dinner date, highly amusing and frankly, not at all out of character. The man should be so lucky.

You smile, shaking your head once more. "We have a dinner invite with Director and Mrs. Richards whenever we're both next available. He's eager to meet you as well."

*------------*

You've just finished getting ready for bed, both John and Aaron having insisted on cleaning up what little mess there was. You'd agreed, if only because you'd missed the water pressure in the shower at home. After exiting the shower, you're quick to pull on pajamas and head back to the bedroom, allowing yourself to finally slip fully into the comfort of being home.

You're still reeling somewhat from the turn of events of the last two days, Clyde's betrayal still fresh in your mind. However, despite Clyde's accusations and Pierce's involvement, the most staggering thing is still the bizarrely civil – almost friendly – manner in which both John and Aaron seem to comport themselves around one another. Emily had commented on it briefly, filling you in on how the two of them had worked incredibly well together. How quickly Aaron had called John in, not wasting a second when he realized that would be the best way forward.

Sitting up on the bed, you grab the lotion from the nightstand drawer and start to slowly work it into your skin, the muscles aching still despite the hot water earlier. Dinner had been surprisingly nice. Rossi had offered to cook for everyone at his place, and while you'd appreciated the offer, Aaron could tell you just wanted to go home and had politely declined on your behalf.  

You hear a shuffling at the door and look up to see John, walking up to the entrance, having already changed into pajamas. From outside, you can hear the rattling of the garbage cans as Aaron makes to move them to the curb, no doubt. At least one of you had remembered that tomorrow was trash day.

"Hey," you smile and beckon John in, scooching inwards to the bed and patting the spot next to you.

He walks in, settling down at the edge, his nose crinkling at the familiar scent of lavender – you'd brought him the same lotion back when he'd been having trouble falling asleep and while he'd been skeptical at first, gingerly rubbing it into his hands that first night, he'd slept like a baby and been a convert ever since.

"So," he starts, leaning forward and grabbing some of the lotion for himself, "you actually gonna marry this one?"

You roll your eyes lightly, used to this question from pretty much everyone. Penelope couldn't wait to see you and Aaron properly hitched as she put it. "What makes you think he's even going to ask?" you counter.

"I think I'm uniquely qualified to know what a man looks like when he wants to marry you," he quips back, the hint of a tease in his voice letting you know that he was mostly joking.

You laugh lightly, handing him the container of lotion to set on the nightstand beside him. You suppose he would be uniquely qualified for that. He'd been there for Matthew's proposal, and while you had no concrete evidence, you'd also spent an afternoon with Aunt Vivian, going through her vault of Hawthorne family jewels, as she had you try on every ring imaginable, paying extra close attention to the ones you liked and fit you well.

You sigh, settling in against the pillows propped up in front of the headboard. "I don't know."

John's brow furrows at your expression. "Why?"

You sigh once more, unsure how to quite explain this feeling you had. You're never able to articulate it very well and thus you've stopped trying, letting most people simply think what they may. "He's…been there…done that. It didn't work out," you tell him, the hint of sadness seeping into your voice before you can catch it. "Don't get me wrong, I think if I asked, he'd say yes," you're quick to assure him. Aaron wouldn't deny you anything, especially not if he knew how badly you wanted it.

"So why don't you?" John asks. You were hardly a stranger to going after what you want.

You know why you don't bring it up, despite everything. It's the one thing you've never broached with him. Planning a future together, talking about kids, being Jack's guardian in the event something happens to him – all things the two of you have talked about fairly easily. However, marriage, somehow you've skipped over that entirely. You know why, really. On some level it feels like a foregone conclusion. The two of you are as good as married. You've bought real estate with the man. Signing a piece of paper with your names side by side wasn't exactly a foreign concept to the two of you. But, how can you explain to John that you don't truly care to marry Aaron just for the sake of marrying him. Because of course you'd love to marry Aaron but as it stands, marriage – a government document stating that he was yours and you were his, till death do you part – it would hardly change anything for the two of you. It would, however, change things with Jack. Make things easier. Being married to Aaron would mean you no longer would have to introduce yourself to Jack's teachers as his father's girlfriend. All they saw when you told them that was a tarted up younger woman, poaching one of the few hot single dads. They thought you were temporary. You still remember the time Jack's teacher had called Aaron regarding a permission slip that you'd signed, saying she was calling to verify, because typically they only allow parents to sign those. Aaron had brushed it off, and not that you'd ever admit it to him, but it had stung. You'd made sure that Jack only ever got his father to sign forms after that.

You can feel John watching you while you think through what exactly you should say to him. You look up, meeting his deep blue eyes, filled with so much love and concern, it was nearly suffocating to maintain eye contact with him. "Because," you mumble, fidgeting with the corner of the pillowcase, "I want him to marry me, because it's what he wants. Not because he thinks it's what will make me happy."

John looks at you, and you know he's suppressing some choice words before deciding on his next ones. "Tell me this," he starts, shifting to better face you, "You were engaged before and that didn't work out. Will that really keep you from saying yes to him when he asks?"

You feel your throat fill with emotion, your heartstrings tightening painfully at the thought – the image – of Aaron bent down on one knee in front of you. You ignore John's lack of use of the hypothetical – when he asks. Not if. When.

"No, of course not."

John smiles at your heavier voice and gently drags your hand into his, weaving your fingers together. "Exactly. Just because it didn't work out with one person, doesn't stop you from believing it'll work out with him. Plus, I don't really know the guy all that well but he's pretty gone for you. Don't think I saw him crack a single smile till after we got you back. I was just glad he knew how."

You release a small breath of a laugh, tucking yourself closer to him. You can feel yourself get lighter, the longer he's around. "I forget you're actually smart sometimes," you joke, poking at his stomach.

"You know what, Harvard…," the rest of his sentence is lost in your combined laughter.

*------------*

Aaron finishes cleaning up the downstairs, and after putting the garbage cans outside for trash collection, heads upstairs to go to bed. He's glad that John had decided to stick around for a bit once everything had wrapped up, if only to keep an eye on you a little while longer. You seem softer around him, more playful. He knows that you're far more serious with him than you are with everyone else, but it was nice to see John bring out the younger, more fun side of you that he gets only glimpses of here and there. Even John had commented on it, in a roundabout way. How you seem like you've grown up quite a bit in the past few years.

As he arrives to the entrance to the bedroom, he can see John half laid back against the headboard, legs splayed out in front of him. You're tucked into his side, with a death grip on his arm, eyes closed shut. You look peaceful for the first time since he'd got you back.

At Aaron's arrival, John starts slightly, careful to not move too suddenly for fear of waking you. He mouths a quick apology at Aaron, then makes to extract himself from your hold. As he tries to delicately remove your fingers from where they're clutching at his arm, you begin to shift, grumbling lightly in your sleep, and Aaron is quick to halt John, shaking his head to stop him.

John looks at him quizzically as Aaron warily makes his way past the bed and into the bathroom. When Aaron reemerges, having changed into his pajamas as well, John is waiting for him, eyes fixed on the door where Aaron stands.

Aaron can see how entirely peaceful you seem – untroubled, tucked in your own bed once more. He looks up from you, to meet John's puzzled look, both men at a loss at what to do next without disturbing you. Neither one of them wanted to be the one to wake you. Not after everything.

While Aaron hadn't thoroughly thought through signaling John to stay, he was now forced to contend with it. He wasn't going to ask John to move for fear of waking you. On the other hand, he wasn't about to leave and go sleep in the guest bedroom while John slept in your bed beside you. It was out of the question. With minimal options available, he quietly walks over to the other side of the bed, merely shaking his head at John's continued perplexed countenance as he cautiously pulls the blankets over himself. Without speaking, he reaches for the remote on the nightstand by his side of the bed, flipping the television on to some late night infomercial at a low volume.

You're still tucked into John, nearly hanging off of him like a koala bear. Aaron's waiting – waiting for that flicker of jealousy. The tight clench of his heart that he feels whenever someone flirts with you, touches you. He's self aware enough to know that he hasn't evolved past jealousy. He's been waiting for it pretty much since the moment you and John were first reunited. It hadn't come then, and he'd chalked it up to the external circumstances of the moment, with Garcia accidentally spilling that they'd all seen the video. There had been more pressing matters than your ex lover hugging you. Then, however, he's seen the two of you joke and do that teasing thing that feels friendly rather than flirty, but if he were being honest with himself, that had never kept him from feeling a flare of envy here and there when you and Morgan bantered with one another in the same manner. He'd spent a dinner with just you and John, without the rest of the team there as a buffer, while John poured you a glass of water and you handed him a napkin to get the bit of sauce at the corner of his mouth. Nothing. Now, here you were, practically straddling the man, and yet, while he hadn't quite felt comfortable simply leaving the two of you alone in the room all night, he's not jealous per se. No, instead he thinks you look quite adorable and it's the first time he's seen John look calm since the moment he'd arrived.

So yeah, maybe it was weird. He knows it is weird. If it wasn't, him and John would talk instead of facing the television, the both of them pretending to be fascinated by the many capabilities of the NutriBullet. Yet, as you sleepily mumble something, Aaron can't help but feel the barest of smiles upon his face as he settles in further into the pillows. He doesn't have to look over to know that John has a similar expression on his face.

*------------*

You wake to the sound of voices as your head is tucked against Aaron's chest, arms wrapped around his waist, the smell of Irish Spring surrounding you. The sun is beginning to peak in through the curtains, casting the room in a golden glow. You don't want to get up yet. This is the most rested you've felt in what must be months. You don't want to get up. Not yet. Now if only he could be quiet and let you sleep.

At your softly slurred shut up you feel Aaron's chest rumble against you, his large hand leaving your back to come play with your hair, his attempt at lulling you back into sleep. You let him, relishing in the feel of his fingers brushing through you hair, his warmth all around you. Your mind begins to drift once more, eyes still shut tight as you press your lips to his chest in thanks. You're just on the verge of falling back asleep, when something stops you. You'd heard voices. Not just Aaron. It had certainly not been the television, unless Aaron had begun having conversations with Oprah to keep himself entertained. No…

You're suddenly very aware that the legs which you've got yours tangled with – the legs you'd thought were Aaron's – are not in front of you where he is, but behind you. Which meant that there was someone –

You blink awake, barely suppressing a moan at the feel of Aaron's fingers dancing through your hair, turning in his arms, and meeting exceedingly sparkly blue eyes, peering over at you and growing wider as they meet yours.

He'd stayed.

He'd stayed to make sure you were alright.

He'd stayed – in your bed. With Aaron, also in your bed. Aaron had…let him stay.

"Hey." His voice is still cloudy with sleep as he blinks at you from across the way.

You can't help how your eyes fill up at the sight. At his voice.

You'd missed John. You'd missed him.

"Hey," you respond, your own voice coming out rough as you clear your throat, shifting so that your legs move away from him and you and Aaron are both on your side, facing John, with your body half propped up against Aaron's as he wraps an arm around your waist. You're quick to drape your arm over his own, both of your hands coming to rest across your stomach, fingers intertwined together.

You're still warm and sweet, the haze of early morning floating around you. You reach out with your other and find John's arm, needing some form of confirmation that he's really there.

It's quiet, the only sound coming from the birds starting to wake, chirping outside. The house settles around you, the groan of nineteenth century wood beams shifting awake with the dawn.

You close your eyes, trying to savor this. You can feel Aaron, solid as ever behind you, holding up half your weight as though it were nothing. Your fingers, woven together with his, the drag of his thumb against your skin, moving back and forth soothingly. You know your dreams had been less than pleasant during the night by the way his arm keeps you close to him, you know he's already aware of the terror you will face for many more nights to come. John stays laid on his back, arm stretched out towards you. Through the fabric of his shirt, you can feel the heat coming off of him, the slight twitch of his muscle under your hand, his head turned towards you. The blanket still covers all three of you, and nestled in your bed with both of them there, you can feel a sense of calm wash over you. You already know this will never happen again.

You're the one to break the silence, knowing that they were waiting for you to speak. "What time is Jack's game?" you ask Aaron after clearing your throat to remove some of the fullness there.

You feel him squeeze you painstakingly tenderly. He's been incredibly careful with you. He still hasn't said anything about the bruises he'd undoubtedly seen, spanning your entire body while the two of you had showered together, merely helping you get clean as gently as he could. You can sense his hesitation, that slight pause he has before he puts a hand on you, an arm across you. You've had to initiate every kiss. If he'd really seen that entire video, part of you understands. The other part tries to quell the small fear that he'd heard something, learned something, that now gave him some amount of pause. Some little barrier that maybe now existed after he'd learned about –

"At eleven," he answers, lips brushing the shell of your ear, causing a flutter in your stomach.

You nod, nearly forgetting that John was still there, reminded only by the sight of him in front of you, a small, knowing smile on his face.

"You should meet Jack," you tell him. You want him to stay.

He nods, allowing the three of you to fall back into a fuzzy silence.

You're trying to decide how odd this is. You wager Aaron feels at least somewhat awkward. John too. Now that you're starting to emerge from the fog of sleep, you find it more amusing than anything else. You've woken up between the boys before. Ambrose didn't consider a night out successful unless it resulted in either him bedding someone, or in the four of you passed out in one bed together, far too gone to make it back to your individual apartments. But John and Aaron – you would've never bet on waking up between the two of them. For a guy that didn't share…well, you'd have to ask him later on how exactly this happened. Last thing you remembered was sitting up in bed while John talked about his move to the DA's office.

John can see the small grin gracing your face, the humor dancing in your eyes as you slowly come to terms that this was indeed how you'd woken up that morning.

"What?" he asks, narrowing his eyes and already groaning internally because he regrets asking. He doesn't have to hear what you're going to say. The look in your eyes had said it all.

You hum, the small grin breaking out into a full faced one as your nose crinkles with amusement at the situation. "Oh nothing," you say, your voice laced with that sing song quality that has Aaron paying closer attention. "Just that, pretty sure I've had a dream like this before," you joke, your eyes flitting from Aaron to John and back again, the intention behind your words incredibly clear.

"Aaaand that's my cue."

You watch, the giggles overtaking you as John hauls himself out of bed and walks out the door without a look back, shaking his head and muttering something that sounded suspiciously like you just had to ask.

You turn to face Aaron, his brow scrunched, pulling his forehead together, an entirely unamused expression on his face, in stark contrast to the wide smirk adorning yours.

"A dream?" His tone implies that he didn't find the notion nearly as funny as you did.

Luckily, you had a solution for that as you move in closer, covering his lips with your own, any thoughts regarding you and him and John in a bed together, dream or reality, long forgotten.

*------------*

By the time you and Aaron shower and get dressed, John was already downstairs in the kitchen, having made himself useful by making breakfast. The smell of chocolate chip pancakes wafts through the air as the two of you enter to John flipping the last of the stack onto a plate.

"You have no food in this house," he informs you, pointing his spatula in your direction. "You expect to keep a man with an unstocked pantry?"

"Looks like you managed to make do," you retort, grabbing plates for all three of you while John settles into a chair at the island and Aaron heads over to grab coffees for you and him. John already had a mug in his hand.

You take a seat at the chair kitty corner to John while Aaron grabs the seat on his other side after placing your mug in front of you. Breakfast was a relatively quiet affair while you all ate, the TV playing the news with a report of the findings from the Philadelphia investigation. You share a look with Aaron, knowing that's something you'll no doubt be dragged into the second you're back at work. There would be some PR spin about the Bureau catching the parties responsible, ensuring the safety of the republic once more.

"Why don't you go with Aaron and grab Jack," you ask John, grabbing all of your plates despite their protests. They'd cleaned up yesterday. "I'll run to the grocery store. Make sure I can manage to keep a man." While you might have wanted to go grab Jack yourself, you're still figuring out how this thing with the three of you works. You weren't sure groceries was a two man job and a part of you felt slightly odd about Aaron going to get Jack by himself while you ran to the store with John. You want to play this right.

With a chuckle, John nods, going upstairs to grab a jacket, leaving you and Aaron to share a quick kiss goodbye as he points you to the grocery list you'd written last time you'd been home. You grab the list, quietly wondering what it was still doing there, before adding a few more items to the end.

*------------*

It was a long drive to Aaron's sister-in-law's place, the beginning of which had gone by fairly quickly, with the two of them chatting about Jack and what positions he liked to play on the soccer team.

"I'm thinking I might coach next season," Aaron reveals, a tender sort of smile on his face that reminds John of his own father. His father might not have coached the soccer team, but growing up he'd always been present for all of his games, which was a far cry from Julian's parents. It was only as an adult that John had a true appreciation for how much more his parents had been around compared to yours.

"I think that's a good idea," John agrees. "I know I always liked having parents that were involved more. Makes more of a difference than we think it does."

Aaron nods, allowing the conversation to fall into a comfortable silence while he fidgets with the CD player. A familiar song comes on, one that John faintly recalls blaring from your room many a time while he'd been over to hang out with Julian.  

Clearing his throat, John gets Aaron's attention, who looks at him briefly before facing the road once more. There's the latent hesitation that lingers in the back of his mind lending credence to his doubts about voicing this, however, steeling himself, he barrels on. He can't not ask and this might be one of his last few chances. "What video was Penelope talking about?"

Aaron's knuckles go white around the steering wheel, his jaw tightening and John almost regrets asking. Almost.

Nearly thirty seconds pass in silence while John watches Aaron work through exactly how to answer him. He can see the turmoil his question had caused, no doubt bringing to surface the memory of what that video had been exactly. John has a hint – Penelope had mentioned Easter and waterboarding and torture and you. He knows it was bad. He needs to know how bad, because he's not sure that letting Easter just get away as easily as you had, was good enough.

After a while, Aaron explains from the beginning. How they'd all stumbled across the video in their search for you. How Easter's lackeys had hurt you, tortured you, beat you. John can tell he's getting the CliffsNotes version, Aaron being careful to not be too graphic or too detailed and John resists the urge to ask for everything.

"She was pregnant." The whispered words leaving Aaron's mouth have his heart in his throat. You'd been pregnant.

"She'd miscarried before – before they took her."

John can hear the conflict in Aaron's voice – the dissonance between grief and anger, both wrapped together tightly with the strings of love that were so very evident to anyone who saw you and Aaron together.

"She's not going to want to talk about it," he infers, knowing that if past experience is anything to go by, you'll do your best to pretend it never happened, while simultaneously blaming yourself.

Aaron nods. He knows you just as well, if not better in many capacities.

"Don't let her get away with that. It might work for the time being, but it'll mess with her later. You're allowed to grieve too. She owes you that."

Aaron looks briefly over at him once more – for the first time since he'd begun to explain everything that had transpired in that video – and John can see the sheen of unshed tears in his eyes. A quick, curt nod. That was it.

"Did you know about van Doren?" Aaron asks, his eyes trained fast on the road ahead.

"Not for sure. She'd never confirm it. But I had an idea."

Aaron nods once more. He doesn't have to ask John to not say anything to you about this. It goes unsaid.

As he pulls into the driveway, John can see a beautiful blond haired boy bounding out the door. Aaron parks quickly, getting out of the car and grabbing Jack into a hug before bringing him around to John.

"Jack, this is Uncle John."

John's widen slightly at how easily Aaron bestowed him the title. He feels his stomach flip as he kneels down to get to Jack's eye level.

"How's it going dude?" He offers up his fist and Jack is quick to bump it with his own, paired with a smile that feels awfully like yours.

*------------*

The drive back to your home was quick enough, Jack chattering in the back about the upcoming field trip, where he wanted to go for lunch after the game, and asking John who his favorite Avenger was. They both decided that Captain America was obviously the best one. First is best.

They walk into the house to see you putting away the groceries, and Jack breaks into a run towards you. John watches as you drop down to your knees, immediately swooping the little boy into your arms and hugging tight.

"Oh I missed you baby." Your words are lost against Jack's ear as you hold his little body close to yours. You can feel your heart beating rapidly in your chest. There had been a very real part of you that had feared you might never see him again. His mumbled I missed you too settles into your ribs and feeds your soul.

"Alright, let's get you ready to kick some butt at the game, huh?"

John watches as you keep Jack in your arms and he allows you to baby him a little, wrapping himself around you as the two of you make your way upstairs, laughing all the way up the stairs. He'd always known you'd be a good mother, but it was a whole another thing to see it manifested in front of his eyes. He's heard both you and Aaron refer to Jack as your kid, but seeing it live was something else altogether. There was no doubting anymore – you were that kid's mom.

As he settles into the couch with Aaron, awaiting your return, he can't help but be in some awe at his surroundings. The house, adorned with some of the last of Julian's water color series. The man seated beside him, whose eyes shone only when you were in the room. The kid whose excited voice trailed all the way downstairs. This was your home. This was your life. It was real. It was yours.

[a-n-conrad]

Blue (Shoto Todoroki x Reader)

[Summary: Until you meet your soulmate, you can only see one color. The rest of the world is in black and white. But as soon as you touch your soulmate for the first time, the world is full of color. You’re a support student in UA, and as you start to get a little closer to one of the top students in hero class 1-A. Maybe you’ll finally get to see more colors. (They/Them pronouns)

Warnings: technical terms that I know nothing about, open ending

Request: From my request survey (https://forms.gle/D9rsJtkERoBPaKvv8)]

It was hard to do support work when you could only see one color. The heroes and hero students wanted their new support items to match their costumes. Unless their costumes were all blue there was really no way for you color check them by yourself. You had to consult one of the people in your class that had already met their soulmates. 

You were surprised how many people met their soulmates as children, meeting their soulmate through play-fighting or bumping into each other in the school hallways. They always seemed to have a dramatic story that they loved to tell. Over and over. Sometimes you were a little jealous. But you were sure that you’d find your soulmate eventually. Until then, you’d have to be satisfied with the color blue. At least you could see the sky.

“(Y/n),” Your teacher called you over. The hero class students were taking an exam pretty soon, so a lot of them were getting new support gear. Which was sort of like an exam for you, “This is Todoroki from hero class 1-A. He needs some new support gear. Think you could help make him something?”

As the boy turned, you noticed that his eyes were different colors. You couldn’t see the color of one of them, but one was the most stunning blue color you had seen in a long time. An icy blue, that somehow looked as though it had captured fire in it. You didn’t even notice the scar around it right away.

“Sure, I’m sure I can work something out,” You reply. Working with the 1-A kids was a privilege, and you weren’t going to pass up a chance to get to know this boy with the beautiful blue eye.

“Thank you,” He says to you before turning to Todoroki, “They should be able to make you some pretty good stuff. Even Aizawa won’t be able to fail you with the gear they’ll make you.”

You always enjoyed a bit of praise. Especially when it meant that you were getting talked up to this boy that made your heart flutter or some reason. You guided him over to your work table and pulled out your sketch pad. You liked to draw out your creations before you actually got to the tinkering stage. “Do you have your hero costume with you?” You asked. You liked to use the hero costumes as the base of your designs. That way your designed look good with the look of their costume as it was.

He nodded, pulling a large clump of dark blue fabric out of his bag, and setting it onto your work table. It was almost entirely blue, with a few details that you were pretty sure were white.

“Blue?” You asked. 

“It’s the only color I can see,” He states, with no further explanation. He saw blue as well. It wasn’t a rare color to see, but your heart fluttered a little more at the realization that the blue-eyed boy with hair that seemed to split perfectly down the middle saw the same color as you. That it was even a little possible that he could be your soulmate.

“Nice, I see blue too, so I won’t have to ask for help with picking colors,” You say, trying your best to sound casual, “So what exactly do you need?”

“Well, there’s this classmate of mine with an invisibility quirk, and I almost froze her a couple times on accident,” You think that he sounds a little embarrassed, but he’s a little hard to read, “I realized that there are probably other people I’d run into with that quirk too, so maybe I should get something that helped me see where they were before I accidently froze them.”

It was sweet of him to consider his teammates. That wasn’t always something the pro heroes did, “So you have an ice quirk?”

“And fire.”

Oh. That made things a little more complicated. You’d have to make sure that whatever device you made wouldn’t melt or freeze. And since you figured a temperature sensor would be useful, you’d have to make sure that the temperature changes from Todoroki’s quirk wouldn’t interfere with the readings.

You opened a drawer in you desk, pulling out a thermometer, “Alright, I just need a few readings. How hot does your fire go?”

“Not sure.”

“Alright, make some fire as hot as you can,” You instruct, pointing the thermometer at the flame he creates. The fire comes from his left side. The side with the blue eye. And then, as you instructed him to create some ice, you noticed that it came from the other side. So his quirk was split down the middle. It was interesting. 

You looked at his costume again, using your quirk to instantly create a drawing of it on the paper in front of you, and adding the readings you had gotten from the thermometer. You’d want to make sure that it could handle those temperatures, and more, just in case his quirk ended up going colder or hotter than it did now. 

“Alright,” You stated, “I’ll try my best to have this done by tomorrow.”

- - - - -

It was a little hard to figure out, but eventually you got the device to what you thought was perfect. A pair of goggles, similar to working goggles, with a visual matrix in the lenses, plugged into a program that would run both visual and thermal data, and would highlight anything that had a thermal signature, but no visual one. Things like Todoroki’s invisible classmate should appear as a silhouette. 

The design should look fine with his hero costume. It’s pretty compact, and mostly clear, aside from the little pieces that go over his ears. Those, you made the same shade of blue as his hero costume. 

As soon as you had finally got it built and fine-tuned the program, it was already time for Todoroki to pick them up. He had to have time to test the goggles out before his exam started, so you were a little rushed. But the missing sleep was worth it.

Todorkoi seemed a bit more nervous than the last time you had seen him. He walked in with a few friends, and it looked as though they had been teasing him a little. You were curious what they were teasing him about, but you were sure that you weren’t close enough friends with him to really ask.

“How’s the training going?” You asked him, as Todoroki took a seat at your work station. 

“Well enough, I suppose,” He said, “Midorya has started making new moves to himself. They’re pretty cool. He’s just still really nervous about the exam,” He paused for a second, “Wait, I’m sorry, you probably don’t know who Midoriya is.”

“Not really,” You admit. You didn’t really keep track of the hero students, “But I assume he’s a friend of yours?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m glad that his new moves are going well. I’m sure figuring powerful quirks like the ones a lot of you hero students have can be complicated,” You say. Your quirk wasn’t much help in a fight, so you were impressed at the abilities a lot of the students in the hero course had.

The two of you sat and talked for a while longer. You needed to make a few adjustments to make the goggles fit him better. And you didn’t want to sit in silence. He wasn’t super talkative, but when he did talk, it was good conversation. He was a little awkward, but you thought it was kind of cute.

As you were carefully adjusting the goggles on his face, one of his friends came over, a boy with light hair and a black lightning bolt. He was loud, and quite energetic, so you really weren’t surprised when he bumped directly into Todoroki. What you were surprised by was the flash of colors you had never seen before, the second you hand brushed against his face.

You both froze for a moment, looking around at the newly colorful world around you, before looking back at each other. All you could think to say was, “Your hair is red.”

[A/N: Thank you guys for all the responses to my request survey! I’m hoping to be able to get a lot more writing out in the future! BTW, I did add a few more theme options to the survey.]

[in-love-with-darth-vader]

Star Wars as if it were like the Office! (Also i need a title, so if anyone has any ideas for that or any suggestions in general, let me know.

Also, sorry if this sucks. I don’t write very often nor have I ever written a screenplay type of thing before. I honestly just did this for fun!

PART 1

“Anakin, what are you doing?”

“I’m standing on the edge of this balcony.”

“Yes, I can see that. Why are you standing on the edge of that balcony?”

*pan to the chaos of Coruscant below; ships speeding in traffic, huge buildings, and an insanely long drop. Obi-Wan is standing behind Anakin on the part of the balcony that’s made to be stood on; Anakin is on the edge of the railing*

“Uh, well, some of the clones said there was no way that I could jump and land in one of the ships flying through the city, and I told them I definitely could, so here I am.”

*Obi-Wan looks to the camera in annoyance and disbelief; camera pans down to Anakin’s end point where Fives, Echo, and Jesse wave up to his position*

“Absolutely not. Get down from there right this instant!”

“Sorry, Master!”

*he jumps, and he is flying through the air for about two seconds when he suddenly freezes. Obi-Wan is looking down at him as he holds him mid air with the Force, slowly raising him back up to eye level*

“Anakin, you are twenty years old. Could you maybe start acting like it?”

*he drops him onto the floor; Anakin gets up and sulkingly follows Obi-Wan out of the room*

*this would be where the theme song and title card would go*

In the background: “yeah, so Obi-Wan refused to let me jump, so I had to come back here. Sorry you all waited for nothing”

*Obi-Wan turns to the camera*

So, does Anakin do this sort of thing frequently?

“Oh, yes. He doesn’t seem to care about safety or his own well-being. That’s the third time this month I’ve had to stop the Balcony Jump. And clearly I’m the only one who thinks these are bad ideas, so I’m always the one who has to step in. I swear I already have a few grey hairs from having to stop Anakin from doing something stupid so often.”

*back to normal scene*

“Alright, everyone gather around, we have a new mission to discuss.”

*anakin, ahsoka, and many of the clones from the 501st and 212th gather around Obi-Wan*

“The chancellor seems to think it’s a good idea for us to go investigate a possible takeover on Ryloth….” *fades out as we zoom in on Anakin clearly bored and not listening*

“I hate debriefings. When Obi-Wan does them he talks for forever. They’re too long, so I just tune him out and pretend like I know what I’m doing on the actual mission. When I tell the others what we’ve been assigned, I take 2 minutes tops. Master Obi-Wan stretches it into at least 10.”

*now to ahsoka*

“Yeah, Master Kenobi goes over every single detail in the mission log every single time. I’ve had to slap Anakin awake in the middle of a meeting too many times to count.”

*back to obi wan speaking to them all*

“So, we need to go in and investigate the distress signal’s purpose, mainly to see if it’s a separatist attack. Anakin, you’ll be positioned here and you’ll direct your troops to-Anakin?? Are you listening to me?”

*obi wan turns away from his whiteboard where he’s drawing out strategy to see Anakin staring slightly up at the ceiling. Anyone else wouldn’t have noticed, but Obi wan knows his past-padawan turned Jedi Knight too well*

“What? Oh, yeah, of course I am.”

*interview with obi wan*

“Anakin is a terrible liar. You’ll soon find that out.”

*switch to interview with Anakin*

“Luckily for me, I’m an amazing liar, so I’m not worried.”

*back to the scene. Obi-Wan has his hands on his hips in his judgmental pose™️ facing Anakin*

“Oh really? Then what did I just tell you to do?”

“Uhhh I have to hold my position, lead the 501st, all that jazz”

“Mhm and where is this all going down?”

“Uh, Iridonia of course.”

“You literally could not be more incorrect.”

*obi wan int.*

“Told you so.”

*anakin int.*

“Okay, in my defense, there’s thousands of planets. I had like a 1% chance of guessing correctly.”

*back to the scene*

“Ryloth, Anakin. Ryloth is where we’re going. A distress call was detected coming from the planet, and since the Separatists have a history of meddling with the peace of Ryloth and its citizens, we were instructed to go inspect. I will not repeat myself again. That is all, everyone get ready. You’re dismissed.”

*interview with Rex; clones preparing armor and weapons in the background*

So, are you kind of like the leader of the clones around here?

“Uh, I’m the captain of the 501st Battalion under General Skywalker’s command. I follow his orders and then lead my brothers to execute those orders. We’re one of the most successful groups of clones, so I take great pride in-“

*rex is interrupted as the camera switches focus to the background where Jesse Kix and Fox are all at each other’s throats. They’re stealing each other’s helmets and tossing them around. Rex turns to look*

(Sigh) “as I was saying…I take great pride in our success and professionalism.”

“Rex!”

“Sorry, gotta go do my job now.”

*they board the ships and head off to Ryloth*

*camera switches to Anakin on Ryloth*

“Can we please leave now?”

“Absolutely not, Anakin. We still aren’t quite certain what set off the alarm.”

“It was probably just an accident. There’s nothing here, Master. Ahsoka, back me up.”

*ahsoka is looking down at and messing with a data pad clearly not listening to Anakin*

“What? Oh, uh, yeah. Totally.”

“Were you even listening to me?! I was speaking to you, Ahsoka. Can I get a little bit of respect please?”

*obi wan looks at the camera like ‘are you fucking kidding me’*

“Listen, Master, I started to tune you out like an hour ago. All you’ve done is complain.”

“Because there’s nothing here! I want to go home!”

“You just want to get back to Coruscant in time to go to that party for the senators.”

“What??????!?!?? That’s absurd, master. Absolutely preposterous. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

*cut to Anakin*

“Okay, I know exactly what he’s talking about, but I can’t admit it! There’s this politician gathering tonight and normally I wouldn’t be one to willingly seek out social gatherings-especially one full of politicians-but Padme is going and she asked if I would come. So of course I said yes. Also, they usually have those little cocktail weenies, so no way I’m missing that.”

*cut to obi wan*

“Anakin is terrible at hiding things, especially from me. He clearly wants to get back so he can go to the party tonight with Senator Amidala.”

Any reason why he’d want to go with her so bad?

“Oh, yes, you see my former Padawan thinks he’s sly, but as we all know he’s a terrible liar. He’s been pining after the senator since he was a boy. I assumed it would pass by now, but clearly he’s still infatuated with her. They’re very good friends but he still has his teenage crush on her. It’s very unprofessional.”

Will you be attending it as well?

“Oh, no. I’m not one for politics.”

*back to the scene*

“What? Master why are you going to that stupid thing? You hate those types of parties! Plus, last I checked, you are not a politician.”

*cut to Anakin*

“So I’ve never actually told Ahsoka about my secret relationship with Padmé…”

*back to the scene*

“Uhhhhh because I’m good friends with the Chancellor, obviously. He would like me there to….to talk about strategies. Yes. Strategies for the Republic.”

“At a formal gathering for politicians? That doesn’t even make any sense!”

“...you’re asking way too many questions, Snips. We have a mission to focus on! You’re better than this!”

*ahsoka looks suspiciously at him as obi wan shakes his head at the two of them*

“Now that you’re done bickering, will you two please go explore the blocked off caverns for any possible signs of life?”

*both, simultaneously and clearly annoyed*

“Yes, Master.”

——-

“You know, there’s nothing in these caves. He just wanted us out of his hair. He’s just keeping us busy.”

“How can you know for sure?”

“Because I don’t sense anything. There’s nothing in here.”

“Master Kenobi told us to do it, so that’s what we’re gonna do.”

“So you listen to all of his orders but not mine?”

“Well, Obi-Wan doesn’t lie to me, so yes.”

“Psh. Pssshh. I’m not lying to you...that’s ridiculous.”

“It’s not. Tell me the real reason you’re going to that party! I know that you’re lying!”

“I’m absolutely telling the truth. I don’t know why you’re so adamant about this. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Oh please. Whenever you lie you start using big words and you talk faster than normal. Just tell me the truth!”

“Fine. My friend Senator Amidala was allowed to bring someone and since we’re friends she asked me if I would like to come along too. So I said yes.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it? Makes sense why you’re so anxious about it.”

“Whatta you mean?”

“Oh, nothing, it’s just that you’re going to a party as the Senator’s plus one which she asked you to. It’s definitely a date.”

“Whaaaaaaaatt. It’s not a date. That’s ludicrous! We’re just friends. Plus, I’m a Jedi. We can’t go on dates!”

“Right, and you don’t have a crush on her.”

“I don’t have a crush on her! We’re friends! It’s extremely platonic.”

*int. With Anakin*

“Okay, so it’s not platonic. But I don’t have a crush on her because I’m married to her! If I tell her that I willingly break the Jedi Code whenever I want, then maybe she will too! And then what kind of Master would I be?!?!”

I thought you technically weren’t a Jedi Master.

*zooms in on anakin’s ‘I will fuckin kill you’ face”

*back to the scene*

“Right, and I don’t secretly steal your jackets when you’re sleeping when I’m cold.”

“What?”

“What?!”

“.....look, can we just get back to the mission?”

“Sure thing, Skyguy. Wait till Master Kenobi hears about this.”

*under his breath* “pretty sure he already knows...”

*scene switch to obi wan, he’s with Cody and many other clones. They’re in a room in one of the government buildings on Ryloth surrounding a beacon device. It’s a distress signal activator.*

“And you’re sure you didn’t do this, Mr. Syndulla?”

“No, Master Kenobi. I only use the distress beacon for serious emergencies. I have no clue as to who did this. There aren’t many people that have access, and it’s not something that just anyone can do by accident. You must enter a code and confirm multiple times.”

“Thank you for the information. Will you let us inspect the fortress for any intruders?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Thank you. Cody, take Waxer, Boil, and Gearshift to the west wing. Gregor, you and your troops take the left. Myself and Crys will start here. Report back if you find anything.”

“Sir yes sir!”

*we see Obi-Wan and Crys searching first. They stayed in the room where the beacon is kept. Obi-Wan is looking through digital records as Crys is underneath it looking at its internal parts like those scenes where someone is laying on a skateboard to fix a car*

“This is strange. There’s no trace of tampering with the records or files. Nothing was wiped. This doesn’t seem like sabotage or a distraction for something bigger. Crys, do you have anything?”

*crys rolls out from under the beacon*

“No, sir. Everything is wired and hooked up properly. No signs of sabotage or demolition.”

“Hmm.”

*Int. With Crys*

“I’m really good with robots and droids, so that’s probably why General Kenobi wanted me to tag along with him. Usually he takes Cody, but this is more of my field of expertise.”

*back to the scene*

“This is trivial indeed.” *he’s doing his beard stroke* “I wonder if the others have found anything.”

*switch over to gregor and his troops. They’re searching the left wing of the fortress. They’ve been interviewing many citizens of Ryloth. They’re not very successful*

“I don’t see the point in talking to anyone else. I doubt they’re gonna know anything. We should report back to the general.”

*int with Gregor*

So, Gregor, can you give us a little summary of what you do around here?

“Yeah, sure thing. Uh, I’m kind of like third in command here. I’m a captain in the 212th Battalion and that’s pretty much all there is to it.”

Your helmet is very interesting. It’s pretty unique compared to the rest of your brothers.

“Oh, this? Some clones have tallies, but these represent stitches.” *he points to em* “It’s basically just showing how many injuries I’d have and how many stitches I would’ve gotten if I didn’t have the helmet. I think it’s pretty cool.”

*back to the scene. They’ve found nothing*

“Yeah, I’ll comm the general.”

*gregor taps into his comms and contacts Obi-Wan*

“Gregor, have you found anything?”

“No, general, I called to report that we’ve found nothing out of place. The twi’leks we’ve interviewed seem like they know nothing. How about you?”

“No, sadly we’ve come across nothing either. The beacon hasn’t been tampered with whatsoever.”

“We’ll keep looking around. I’ll keep you updated.”

*he hangs up the comm*

“Alright, boys, let’s keep going!”

*we now cut to Waxer and Boil being lead by Cody. They’re going door to door in the right wing where the rooms are located asking questions*

“This is leading us nowhere, Commander.”

“I know, Boil, but General Kenobi told us to inspect the entire right wing. We only have three more rooms to do. Let’s go.”

“Fine.”

*they knock at the next door*

“Hello?”

“Hello, ma’am. My name is Commander Cody of the 212th Attack Battalion. We’re on a mission here from the Jedi council. The distress beacon gave off a signal earlier today and we were wondering if you knew anything about it.”

“I’m very sorry I can’t be of any help to you, Commander, but I know nothing.”

*suddenly, a small child comes running down the hallway laughing. She trips and falls and scrapes her knee.*

“hey, are you okay?”

“Waxer you know that’s not how you talk to a child!”

“I’m sorry! You know I get awkward around kids. Why do we always find a runaway child when we’re on Ryloth? Like, how has this actually happened twice?”

*boil ignores him and kneels down to the kid*

“Hey there. My name is Boil. Are you okay? Do you need help?”

*she looks a bit frightened still. Boil realizes he still has his helmet on so he takes it off.*

“Sorry about that. Is it okay if I patch up your knee? I keep bandages on me, you can even pick the color if you want.”

“...okay. Blue please.”

“Blue it is. So, why were you running so fast? Is anything chasing you?”

“No. I was just looking for my papa. And I’m bored. I played with his fun machine today.”

“His machine, huh?”

*the three clones look at each other with a look™️ and Cody comms obi wan*

“General? I think we found your culprit”

——————

“‘Wow Anakin, you’re such a genius. It’s almost as if you were right all along!’ ‘Why thank you, Master. I knew I was right, and now we can go home even though we could’ve earlier.’ ‘Yes, you’re so right. We should’ve listened to you the whole time-“

“Anakin, are you finished?”

“‘we should make you a master on the council. I admire you.’ Now I’m finished.”

“Oh, give it a rest, Master. We get it, you’re right, now let’s get you home for your date.”

*anakin freezes and turns slowly. They’ve been walking up the ramp to board their ship when ahsoka said that. Anakin is now very red in the face*

“....what. What are you talking about snips??!! I don’t have a date. I don’t date. I’m just attending a senator party with the Chancellor. A date. Psh. Psh.”

“But you told me-“

“LETS GET ON THE SHIP, AHSOKA!”

*obi wan just rolls his eyes as they board the ship*

*We’re back to Coruscant!*

“Finally, we’re home. I’m so tired from all the nothing we did.”

“Oh, Anakin, you are such a drama queen. We did our mission like we were supposed to. Now, can I please speak to you in private?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Even though you have complained a lot today, I still care about you Anakin, and I know you made a promise to someone else already. So, I will go inform the Jedi Council that this was a false alarm by myself. Maybe I’ll take your Padawan. But you, my friend, should go get ready for your senator party.”

*anakin hugs obi wan*

“Thank you, Obi-Wan. I owe you one.”

*anakin goes up to his apartment on Coruscant where Padme is; she’s on their couch reading something and already dressed when anakin comes in*

“I’m back! I’m finally back!”

“Hello to you too Anakin. I was hoping they’d let you out. You’re cutting it close this time.”

“I’m so sorry. We had to go to Ryloth for no reason and Obi-Wan wouldn’t let me leave until we knew for sure what happened.”

“Well, I’m glad you made it in time.”

“Me too. Obi-Wan is letting me skip the debriefing for this.”

*he goes to change into his formal clothes for the party. Padme is already wearing one of her super rad fancy senator outfits. Anakin has an all black suit cause you know he’s that guy™️.

*int with Padme*

“Anakin has missed a lot of these outings with me due to Jedi business, so I wasn’t expecting him to actually be here for this one. I’m glad he is. I don’t see him as often as I wish I did.”

Do you ever think of asking him to leave the Jedi Order then?

“Oh, no. Absolutely not. I would never ask him to give up his life like that. And I don’t want that either. He’s a great Jedi and he loves what he does. I would never try to take that away from him.”

*back to scene. Now they’re walking down the halls of the senate building on their way to the party*

“So, get this, Ahsoka is convinced that I have a crush on you and that this is a date.”

“I mean, she’s not exactly wrong, is she?”

“Well, no, but I don’t really have a crush on you since, you know, we’re married. And she meant date as in ‘you invited me to this thing but we’re not together but in her eyes, it’s a date’ kind of thing.”

“Hmm so she still doesn’t know?”

“No. I can’t bring myself to tell her. I love her, but I don’t want to taint her mind and views of the Jedi Code and council. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“A very good point. You’re a good Master, Anakin.”

“Thanks.”

*they then enter the party. Many political figures from across the galaxy are there already. Its purpose is unknown to us, but it is clear that it’s important but also not too serious. They speak with many different people included Palpatine. We have yet to actually speak to him yet. Anakin is eventually over near the snack table, a drink in his hand and another one being handed off to Padme*

“Here you go. It’s your favorite.”

“Thank you. So, are you having fun yet?”

“Well, I don’t think I’ll ever have fun hanging around any politicians but you, but it’s not so bad. Plus, these snacks are really good.”

*padme rolls her eyes but laughs at him*

“It’s nice for us all to get together like this. It’s important for the Republic.”

“Mm, indeed.”

*they continue chatting until Anakin notices someone across the room. Fancy blue outfit. Blonde hair up in a bun. He doesn’t notice who it really is until she comes a bit closer. He does the pikachu face and drops his drink, luckily catching it midair with the force as he apologizes to those around him*

“Anakin?? Are you okay? What was that for?”

“You didn’t tell me she was going to be here!”

“Who?”

*he points to her by nudging his head in her direction hoping Padme will see who he’s talking about*

“Her? That’s my friend Satine. She’s the Duchess of Mandalore. She’s-wait a minute, how do you know her??!?”

“Nothing bad, I assure you. I’m actually quite fond of her. I just wish I knew sooner!”

“Why?”

“Because that, my love, is Obi-Wan’s girlfriend.”

END of this part.

Part2

——

[jesuiscalmedammit]

Blackmail – (7) Goodbye || [Alejandro Gillick x reader x Matt Graver]

Out of nowhere someone grabbed your arm and began to pull you away from the staff member you were talking to. You soon noticed it was Matt and based on the look on his face whatever he wanted to talk about was serious. Steve had already mentioned the order they received about cutting ties with Alejandro so you assumed it would be about that.

Once you entered an empty room and he made sure no one was listening, Matt spoke up. “I talked to Alejandro and told him about the order. He’s on his own, I can’t protect him anymore.” He kept a short pause while he let out a frustrated sigh. “Do you want to talk to him? This would be your last chance before–”

“You’ll listen to my phone calls and monitor every message I send from now on, right?”

Matt nodded. “You’re his girlfriend so you might be able to lead us to him. Unless, of course,” he added before he stopped and gave you a meaningful look instead of finishing the sentence. “Give him a warning, Y/N. And say goodbye.”

You took the phone and the piece of paper with the number on it from him then sank to the floor to make the call. Just when you thought Matt would eventually stay there with you, he cleared his throat and left. It took quite long for Alejandro to answer the phone and you were beginning to think he would ignore it, after all, he and Matt had already discussed everything.

“Did you forge–”

“It’s me,” you interrupted him, biting on your lower lip to stop yourself from crying. “Matt told me what happened and he wanted me to talk to you one last time.”

You heard him draw in a deep breath on the other end of the line. “They will try to track me down through you as well,” he stated quietly. “I’m sorry they dragged you into this.”

“Hey, don’t worry about this now. Just promise me you’ll stay safe. If anyone can get away from them it’s you,” you added, a smile appearing on your lips.

“I’ll contact you as soon as I can.”

“Then we’ll find a way I can go after you.” Alejandro remained silent but you heard him let out a troubled sigh. “I’m serious. I don’t want to lose you. If it means I’ll have to stay under the radar for the rest of my life, so be it. I’m ready and it’s worth it.”

Once again silence followed your words and you began to wonder what it meant. Could it be that he didn’t want you to go after him? If so, why? Did he simply not want to put you in danger or could it mean that he didn’t love you enough? Then again, you reminded yourself, he had taken off his wedding ring for you. That was a huge thing.

“Alright, fine. Pay attention to every little detail, Y/N,” he told you eventually. “I won’t call you myself but you’ll know when I’m the one behind it.”

“Noted.” A short pause followed your words before you spoke up again, trying to fight back your tears. “Hey, be careful out there. And I love you.”

“I love you too.” You heard someone speak in the background before he went on. “Look, I have to go now, but I’ll contact you the moment I can, okay?”

You nodded, even though you knew he couldn’t see it. “I’ll be waiting,” you said quietly.

He ended the call and for several minutes you stayed where you were, staring at a random spot ahead of you. Even though Alejandro promised to contact you, you knew it was a promise he couldn’t guarantee to keep. You had a really bad feeling about the whole thing and no matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t get the idea out of your head.

“You okay?”

When you looked up, Steve flashed a small, understanding smile at you then sat down next to you. “What if he dies? What will I do if he dies, Steve?” you asked, feeling the tears already filling your eyes. “We were… I wanted to quit. I was planning to move to Colombia and start a new life with him. A life as normal as possible.”

Steve let out a heavy sigh and leaned the back of his head against the wall as he looked up at the ceiling of the hangar. They had no idea you were planning to do that. Of course, he and Matt both noticed how close the two of you were and even wondered over a beer where it could lead but neither of them expected this with Alejandro’s background. They both assumed it was a more casual relationship, after all, it was a well-known fact that he still lived his late wife. Well, the man was certainly good at keeping his secrets.

“Knowing him, he’s gonna be fine. And I have a feeling Matt will do everything he can to buy him some time without Cynthia noticing,” he assured you.

It wasn’t even a lie since he knew his boss well enough to see how upset he was about the situation. Matt and Alejandro were–in their own, unique way–good friends. This is probably why he let you call him to say goodbye, and also why he decided to keep you safe, no matter what happens in the following days.

Suddenly you handed him the phone and left. You needed space, just a few minutes to get away from everyone who was involved in this. They were effective, so unless Matt figured out a way to save Alejandro, he was doomed and you knew that. The thought of losing him was suffocating. You wished it wasn’t true, you wished you were only a pessimist. But at the bottom of your heart, you knew Alejandro would be dead in a matter of hours and there was nothing you could do about it.

And just as you thought, a few hours later one of the guys in the control room spoke up. “Signal was activated at 19:39, heading northeast of Reynosa.”

You looked at Steve, then you both turned to look at Matt. This was probably the first time you saw him having trouble keeping his emotions under control. All his movements screamed of anxiety and you weren’t the only ones who noticed it.

“I’m sending another team to finish this,” Cynthia told him.

But Matt only shook his head. “No. I’ll do it. ‘Cause if I don’t, he’ll probably come and kill you.”

With that he left the room and Steve began to follow him without thinking, putting his hand on the small of your back to make sure you weren’t staying behind either. You were glad he was so thoughtful because knowing that woman you were sure she would have made some comments about the situation. Comments you probably would have reacted to by making a scene in front of everyone.

While the team got ready to move out, you sat on the ground outside with your back resting against the metal wall of the hangar. When you closed your eyes and took a deep breath, you thought about your last day in Bogotá: the romantic dinner at the restaurant which was carefully hidden so only the locals would know of its existence, the best cup of coffee you had ever tasted on the way home and–Home. You let out a short, desperate laugh at the thought. You were already thinking about his apartment as home.

But it wasn’t your home. And based on how things were going it wasn’t about to become your home in the future either. That apartment was already gone, and its memory was nothing more but a painful reminder of what you couldn’t have anymore. Just when he decided to finally start a new life, they had to take him away from you. It wasn’t fair. Especially not the way it was happening.

“I’ll send you a text to let you know what happened, okay?”

You looked up and saw Matt standing there, looking down at you with an almost apologetic expression on his face. “Yeah, thanks,” you replied quietly.

The hours following their departure passed painfully slowly. You could have sworn you had seen Cynthia and Alicia checking on you every now and then but you weren’t sure and you didn’t even care to be honest. There was only one thing you truly cared about and that was your phone. The phone and the text Matt had promised to send you.

And then your phone finally beeped. It was a short message so you didn’t even have to unlock the device to read the whole thing.

“I’m sorry.”

This was all it said and it was more than enough for now. He was gone. He was really gone. While you had already known this was how this chase would end, the reality of losing Alejandro only began to crush you right then. You couldn’t even tell yourself he was safe and alive, hiding somewhere so the CIA wouldn’t find him. He was dead. But at least thanks to Matt you could say goodbye and you could also tell him you loved him. Not like that could make you feel any better.

At one point, before the team returned, you decided to leave. You had to get away from that hangar and the people inside, especially Cynthia. You needed something to help you forget but you knew in this situation alcohol itself wouldn’t cut it. You needed something else, something stronger. Well, so much for being clean, but what did you have to lose? Alejandro was gone and you weren’t planning to stick around so Matt or Cynthia would definitely make sure your medical license would be gone for good.

The least you could do was trying to forget. With your leather jacket and bag in hand, you began to walk out of the building but someone called after you. “Where are you going, doctor?”

You stopped, your back still to her as you took a deep breath. There's usually a filter between a person’s brain and mouth and you really needed to use it right now. Then again, you wanted to quit anyway. So why not telling Cynthia what you really thought about this situation?

“My boyfriend’s probably dead by now,” you told her eventually as you turned around to face her, deliberately making it sound like you didn’t know for sure. “I'm gonna get something to drink.”

She raised a finger and shook her head in response. “Not until they get back. Once you say they're all okay, you can go.”

“I quit. Find someone else to patch them up if they need it.”

note: Oh, boy, it took me a little too long, huh? And get ready for the Matt x reader chapters... until Alejandro shows up again that is. 

taglist: @lainternettuale @lennonlane @anbanananna @moonchild-stuff

[crystalninjaphoenix]

MerMay Day Ten Beach Day

The boardwalk was wildly busy that morning. Tourists were bustling about, ooing and awing at the open ocean and the boats lined up along the docks. They’d take pictures of themselves standing in front of the stores, buying souvenirs and eating treats. The locals in their boats were well-used to this, and went about their business.

Nobody noticed two heads poke out of the water at the end of the pier.

“They’re not looking this way,” Chase said. He grinned. “C’mon.” He ducked back under the water, swimming closer.

“Chase! Hey!” Jackie hurried to catch up. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Of course!” Chase nodded enthusiastically. “The only ones who’d be looking directly down at the water are kids, and the adults aren’t gonna believe them.”

Jackie didn’t quite look convinced. “What if they think we’re big fish? What if my dorsal sticks out of the water? I’d freak them out, wouldn’t I? They’d think there was a shark, and who knows what they’d do when they’re scared?”

“Just stay down a bit, it’ll be fine,” Chase said reassuringly. They’d arrived at the end of the pier, and he was now circling around one of the dock’s supports. “I’ve been people-watching for a while, it’s not too hard to avoid them.” He smiled. “C’mon. You wanted to do something fun. This is what you get for letting me choose.”

Jackie sighed. He peeked out of the water, eyes scanning the boardwalk. “What’re they doing?”

Chase poked his head out as well. “I think some of them are on vacation.”

“Vacation?”

“Yeah, they take a break from work and go see places they’ve never seen before, to do new things. Some of these guys must live further inland, so they’re coming to see the ocean.”

“Ohhhh.” Jackie nodded. That he could understand. “So we just watch them?”

“And listen.” Chase watched the tourists stroll across the dock. “I like to guess what they’re talking about, where they’re from, what they do…” He dropped a bit lower in the water. “That’s not...creepy, is it?”

“I don’t think so. I mean, what else are you gonna do, watch the fish instead? At least you can understand these guys.” Jackie backed up a bit, looking at the pier. “Besides, some of these guys are doing that anyway.” He pointed out groups of people sitting on benches, clearly watching the other passerbys.

Chase looked a little reassured for that, regaining his enthusiasm. “Alright, if they’re doing it.” He bolted, swimming along the bottom of the pier. “Oh! You can see their shadows under here!” 

Jackie laughed, easily catching up. It was nice to see Chase so happy, even if he didn’t quite understand why.

The day passed. The two merms darted about the water, hiding in the shadows under the dock. Chase would tell Jackie the names of the human stuff he seemed curious about, and they’d make up stories about the humans passing on the boardwalk. Occasionally one would toss bits of food in the water, trying to attract fish, and once they’d lost interest, the two merms would snatch it up, (though Chase always said it tasted better dry.)

But still, Jackie wasn’t the type of person to stay idle for very long. He grew restless, and started playing a game with himself. Hover on the surface of the water just behind a human who was looking away, and then duck back down just in time to dodge their gaze. Over time, he got more bold, sneaking up closer to the docks, splashing about to draw their attention just before vanishing underwater. 

Chase noticed this when Jackie decided to pull himself halfway out of the water, practically half-climbing up one of the dock’s support pillars. “Jackie!” he hissed, poking his head out of the water. “What’re you doing?”

“Dude, they’re totally oblivious,” Jackie chuckled.

“I mean, yeah, but they have cameras!” Chase said.

“They have what?”

“They’re these little devices that can take a photo—which is, like, a drawing that’s super real and captures all the details.” Chase glanced up onto the boardwalk. “They’re getting smaller, I think they started to combine them with cell phones so now everyone has one.”

“Combine them with what?” Jackie shook his head. “Look, I’m being careful.”

“Are you?” Chase asked. His eyes darted about. “Because I don’t think you—” He turned around. And immediately froze. “...fuck.”

Jackie looked behind him as well. There was a boat drifting in the water, a name written on its side in human lettering. And peering over the side of the white boat was a human, who was very clearly staring at them and gaping.

“Abandon ship!” Chase gasped, ducking under the water.

“What?” Jackie looked down at him, then up at the human, then started to follow Chase.

The human shook their head. “Wait!”

Like an idiot, Jackie paused. He looked back up at the human.

“I-I’m sorry, I just—oh my god, i-is this some publicity stunt?” The human laughed. “Like, are you going to be putting on a show later? Or…?”

The words were confusing Jackie, and he froze as he tried to process them. He knew a few human languages, but there were a few weird words in those questions, and he couldn’t quite grasp their meaning. But he understood that the human wasn’t being hostile. They seemed more confused than anything. Curious, and perhaps being a bit too bold, Jackie swam closer to the side of the boat.

“Oh my god…” The human gasped. They leaned back, running a hand through their curly blonde hair. “No way. No fucking way. You...you’re really a…? Oh my god.”

Jackie felt a tugging on his tail. He looked down to see Chase trying—and failing—to pull him underwater. He flicked his tail, easily shaking him off. And then he reached down and pulled Chase to the surface by his arm. Chase yelped. “Chase, c’mon, don’t be a guppy.”

“Shut up, I’m the one that introduced you to that phrase,” Chase muttered. He tried to dive back under, but Jackie pulled him back up. “What are you doing?! Seriously! We need to get out of here before he tells someone!”

“I think if they—I mean, if he was gonna do that, he’d be doing that already.” Jackie looked back up at the human. “He’s just kinda staring at us.”

“He’s in shock, let it kick in. Then he’ll start screaming.”

“You don’t know that! She didn’t start screaming, did she?”

Chase stopped trying to go back under. He glared at Jackie wordlessly.

“...sorry, low blow, I know,” Jackie admitted. “But my point stands. They don’t all freak out. Why are you so worried? You speak human.”

“I’m out of practice,” Chase muttered.

“Hey, um…” The human cleared his throat. “This is...kind of a lot to take in, I won’t lie. And I, uh, can’t understand your weird fish language.” He laughed nervously. “Can...you understand me?”

Jackie nodded. Chase shook his head.

“...both of those answer my question. Anyway, hi, I’m Ollie. I, uh…” The human—Ollie—looked behind him, grabbing something. “I was supposed to meet my...my friend, um, Isabelle, here...but…she cancelled on me just now. But I got her this.” He held up a small plastic bowl full of some kind of food, a plastic spoon shoved in it as well. “I don’t like vanilla, so I was just gonna throw it away, but do you guys want it or something?”

Chase’s eyes widened. “Nevermind, we are staying.”

Jackie laughed. “Sucker for food, huh?”

“Bro, take it. Try it. You’ll understand.”

Jackie shrugged, and reached up out of the water. Ollie leaned forward awkwardly, and passed him the plastic bowl. Jackie looked it over, holding it in both hands as he treaded water. He pulled the spoon out, and looked at Chase, who made a scooping motion. Catching on, Jackie scooped up some of the food with the spoon, taking a bite. His eyes lit up. “Oh my gods…”

“I know, right?” Chase grinned. “It’s called ice cream, it’s literally the best thing in the world. One of the things these guys do right is the food.”

“You guys like it?” Ollie asked. Jackie and Chase nodded in unison, and he, strangely enough, relaxed. “Alright then. You guys can chill here, I won’t bother you.” He backed away from the edge of the boat, sitting down.

Jackie and Chase, meanwhile, swam back underneath the pier, taking turns finishing the ice cream. Once they were done, Jackie swam back over to the boat and tossed the bowl and spoon back onto the deck. He heard a noise of surprise from Ollie, who looked back over the edge of the boat in confusion. Jackie laughed, backing away. Ollie shook his head, smiling, and returned to his seat.

“Still so eager to leave, Chase?” Jackie asked.

Chase considered this, though not for very long. “Nah. He’s cool.” He glared at Jackie again. “No more trying to get spotted, though.”

“Aw, alright.”

They hung around the boardwalk until the afternoon, and went home smiling and laughing. Somehow, they didn’t think anyone would be finding out about them today.

[mymoodwriting]

The Choice Is Yours

F!Reader x Vampire!Yuta

Genre: Vampire Dystopia

Warning: Blood, Fingering, Non-Con, Aggression, Fangs

Words: 2.6K

Chapters:

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Epilogue

Prompt: Good behavior goes a long way when a new world order is established within hours and humans wind up at the bottom of the food chain. As luck would have it you were claimed by a vampire named Yuta, so you’re saved in a sense. Many would say you’re in a rather unique situation, and despite its perks it wasn’t really something you asked for.

    You woke up alone, which you didn’t mind at all. You were actually relieved that you didn’t have to worry about Yuta the second you opened your eyes. The room was so big and empty, the quiet actually making you a bit uncomfortable. You heard voices outside and went over to the window, looking out at the backyard, which was huge.

    You could see others, the house servants, working in the field. There was the flower garden as well as a little farm area. You really didn’t like this freeloading lifestyle you were given, but then again you’d be paying for it in blood. After a moment some servants came in with a cart, the smell of food filling the air. Then YangYang followed.

“Good morning, Yuta apologizes for not being here with you this morning, he had work to attend to.”

“Uh… that’s okay…”

“Breakfast is here for you, so please enjoy.”

“Right, thank you.”

    You ate your fill, knowing anything less would upset Yuta. Once you were done the leftovers were taken away and YangYang approached, grabbing your arm and pricking your finger. He took a drop of blood and checked it with some device.

“What’s that…”

“Just checking to make sure there aren’t any drugs in your system.”

“Right… so… now what do I do?”

“Anything you want, you have free range of the house. Although, I will be accompanying you to look after you.”

“Of course.”

    You were quite afraid to leave the room, not sure of what you would even want to do. In the end you decided you wanted to go outside, wanting to see the garden. If YangYang had any suspicions he didn’t voice them, simply helping you navigate the house and letting you out to the backyard.

    You got a few stares from the others but you did your best to ignore them. There was a nice stone road but you wanted to go beyond, curious about how far you could go before you hit the fence. There were a lot of trees surrounding the property, felt like you were near the mountains or something, which brought up a lot of questions. You didn’t live anywhere near wildlife, so you wondered how far from home you really were.

    It was impossible to miss the fence, seeing the tall black coated metal. The idea never crossed your mind but YangYang informed you that the fence was electric and touching it would set off an alarm, so trying to climb in any sense would be pointless. All the surrounding trees were also stripped of their lower branches, so climbing the trees also wasn’t an option.

    This really created an atmosphere of helplessness for you and anyone else in the house. You wondered if all vampires were like that, keeping humans in these huge cages. You hadn’t noticed your own tears, every moment that passed just made the world all the scarier.

“Excuse me.” YangYang interrupted. “There is something I must attend to and would prefer it if you spend your time inside.”

“Okay…���

    You made your way back, quickly wiping away your tears. You could always go back out but you didn’t feel like trying your luck so you assured YangYang you’d be staying in the library. It was pretty big for a house library, but there were some books you hoped to find. If you were living with a vampire it was best to educate yourself. There were some books you found further in the back, not myth, but it seemed to be history books. They were rather old and a little hard to understand but just what you had been looking for, kinda.

    From what you read, it was just going into detail about things you already knew. There was nothing about how a vampire came to be, or a halfbreed, or how to kill them. It was frustrating, those creatures couldn’t truly be immortal, there wasn’t even anything about some kinda weakness. One of those books had to have some new information, but you doubt you’d find it.

    The book you had was suddenly taken out of your hands. You looked up to see Yuta, the vamp kissing your head and examining the book you were reading. He laughed, flipping through some pages and then putting it back. You had stayed seated, starting to think maybe you should have been more secretive about what you were reading.

“Did you actually understand it?”

“Yes… a bit difficult but not too much.”

“Trying to learn our secrets? Find a weakness?”

“Maybe… but I didn’t find anything new.”

“I see.”

“Just curious about where you came from…”

“Hm, well, for starters there are seven original vampires.”

“Se… seven?”

“Yup, every other vampire and halfbreed falls into one of those bloodlines.”

“So… how did those seven come to be?”

Yuta chuckled. “Maybe some other time, come on now.”

    He took your hand and you followed him out of the library. At least you got something out of him, but that knowledge didn’t make you feel any better. It raised more questions, and scared you a bit considering their kind took over in a day.

    Yuta took you into a room that appeared to be his study. He had you sit down and then took a seat at his desk, looking over papers. You looked around, not knowing what to expect, but you couldn’t stand Yuta’s silence.

“So… why am I here?”

“Hm?”

“Is there something I’m supposed to do?”

“No, I have work and wanted you with me. You can find something to read if you want, or I’ll give you paper to draw with.”

“Oh… okay.”

    You got up and looked around. He was surrounded by books, every wall practically lined with full bookshelves, a picture frame of some foreign landscape up as well. You browsed the books, curious as to what they were about.

“Sorry about leaving you alone in the morning. I had things to take care of.”

“It’s fine… so what do you do? How does the world even work now if your kind run everything.”

“Not much has changed, you still need to eat and my boss is pretty much in charge of agriculture worldwide. Certain things are still necessary and have someone running them.”

“Let me guess, the first seven ultimately run everything.”

“Correct, and they’re all very good friends so don’t think we’ll start a war.”

“Yeah, more sophisticated than us and what not.”

“Exactly.”

    You found a book that did keep up with his story. Actually a lot of the books were about agriculture and wildlife.

“Why do you care so much? You could just feed us the bare minimum, or some weird paste that gives us all the nutrients we need.”

“If we provide you with the best then you’ll be at your best. We’re not cruel and you forget half-breeds still need normal food as part of their diet, and it’s a nice luxury for the rest of us. Besides there’s beauty in nature and we’d like to preserve that.”

“That’s good… you won’t destroy the planet.”

“We’re doing the opposite love, and looking after your species.”

“Do… are we really so childish in your eyes?”

“Very.”

“Alright then, I’ll stop talking.”

    He made no comment on your words, seeming to silently agree and focusing on whatever he did as work. You grabbed one of the books on the shelf, sitting back down to read. Given that it was about plants it was kinda boring, but you didn’t know what else to do. Yuta just wanted you around, which was creepy to say the least.

    The book was a bit interesting, every couple of pages, and since you didn’t pay attention to the time, it flew by. The knock at the door caught your attention, lunch time already. You were a bit nervous, thinking that you were on the menu, but that wasn’t the case, thankfully. You hadn’t really worked up an appetite but ate anyway. Afterwards Yuta gave you a lollipop, a sweet little treat. It was good, with an interesting taste you couldn’t quite figure out.

“You enjoying the sweets?”

“Yeah… guess it makes my blood sweeter?”

“It does, but it also has medicinal qualities.”

“What?”

“Our blood can heal minor human injuries.”

“Wait… so that taste… was your…”

    You started to feel sick. You wanted to throw up but Yuta was suddenly at your side, hand over your mouth, holding your head back.

“Ah, ah, ah, easy now, don’t want to throw up your lunch.”

    You whimpered, a few tears slipping down your cheeks. Yuta didn’t let you go until you had calmed down, bringing you over so you could sit in his lap. That was certainly weirder than the silence, making it clear he saw you as a child. You still felt sick over the candy, making a mental note not to have anymore ever again if it could be avoided.

    Yuta rested his head on your shoulder. You really didn’t want to know what he was doing, but when you saw his notes. They were written like the books you had looked at earlier, you could understand the writing, vaguely, but didn’t want to snoop. Yuta suddenly was kissing at your neck, making you squirm. His grip on you just tightened and you jumped when you felt his fangs.

“Sh, I’m not going to do anything yet, but I do want to take a break.”

    Before you could say anything he pinned you down on the desk. You hit your head a bit, reeling from the pain, but your attention was quickly on him. You whimpered, not sure of what awaited you next. He suddenly kissed you, and it was very sweet, but you couldn’t let yourself get swept up in that. You felt his hands trailing down your body, and you knew exactly where they were going.

“Wait, no, Yuta… please…”

“Hush, we’ll have a little fun.”

    You whimpered, feeling his cold hand slipping into your pants. You squirmed but knew better than to try to fight him again. Whenever his lips were near your neck you whined, scared that at any moment he’d bite you. He said it would feel good, but you didn’t know if he was being honest. Regardless you didn’t want it to happen.

“Yuta… oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Of course not.” Yuta groaned, and then whispered in your ear. “Be quiet.”

“I would come back later but-”

“Speak.”

    Yuta kissed your cheek before standing up, looking at Xiaojun who just let himself in. You didn’t know why he told you to be quiet, you had no intention to talk, but then you realized what he meant. He hadn’t moved his hand, and had no issue pushing a finger into you. Your hand shot up to cover your mouth, not wanting to go against his orders.

“Taeyong is on the phone for you. There was a report of an incident in some of the southern farms.”

“Incident? It’s only been a few days and we already have a resistance, how cute.” Yuta looked down at you. “You humans can be so troublesome.”

    You were biting your lip, holding back your moans. He hadn’t let up during his conversation, if anything getting more aggressive, now having three fingers in you. Xiaojun was obviously aware of what was happening but he made no comment, and he clearly wasn’t bothered. Even if you were distracted the conversation caught your attention a bit, the idea of a human resistance hadn’t crossed your mind.

“I’ll take it in a second.”

“Very well then.”

    Xiaojun left the room, but you kept your hand over your mouth. Yuta chuckled, having enjoyed you squirming in silence beneath him, although he was cruel. He pulled his hand out before making orgasm, moving your own hand and shoving his finger into your mouth. You did nothing at first but quickly realized what he wanted you to do. It was a strange taste, strange situation, but you had no choice. You sucked on his fingers until he pulled them away with a pop. You stared at him, not sure what he wanted from you next.

“Go clean up, and then come back.”

“Ah… okay…” 

    You slowly sat up, cautiously moving away and leaving the room. Once you were out you took a breath, glad to be out. He may have told you, but you also wanted to clean up. You didn’t know the house well but eventually found the bathroom, locking the door behind you and taking another moment for yourself. You did your best to clean up, kinda annoyed he didn’t actually get you off, but you didn’t want to finish either, he’d probably expect you to.

    He wanted you to go back to the office, but you didn’t want to. Being there was already uncomfortable and you didn’t know what he had planned next. You sat on the floor, thinking about what Xiaojun said. When you thought about it, the resistance, it made sense. People away from civilization probably weren’t found, others actually managing to hide and avoid the collecting, fighting back and winning, maybe some were even immune to whatever was released into the air. Such a thing hadn’t crossed your mind, and it kind of gave you hope.

    You were snapped out of your thoughts when the door suddenly opened. You had locked it, but that didn’t seem to be an issue for Yuta. He glared at you, making you crawl back and hug your knees to your chest. He walked in, standing over you, arms crossed. You whimpered, scared about being yelled at.

“I told you to come back.”

“I…”

“I was trying to make this a nice day, but fuck it.”

“Wa-”

    Yuta grabbed your arm and yanked you to your feet, dragging you along. You weren’t sure what was happening but you knew he was taking you to his room. He threw you on the bed, pinning you down. You were still confused but when he showed you his fangs you knew what was happening next. You started fighting then.

“No! No, wait, I’m sorry, I won’t-”

    He clearly didn’t care, digging his teeth into your neck in the blink of an eye. You screamed, eyes going wide, but the pain was quick to disappear. Somehow the bite started to feel good. His grip on you loosened and you wrapped your arms around him, letting out a little moan. He pulled you up, having you sitting in his lap. Your grip grew weak and your arms fell to your side, your vision fading. 

    Yuta pulled away, catching his breath. He smiled, looking at you, seeing a cute little smile adorning your lips. He peppered your face with bloody kisses, licking them away a moment later. Everything was a blur, your neck feeling a bit sore. You leaned heavily against Yuta, barely able to move, and very pale. He craddled you in his arms, rocking you to the sides.

“You taste wonderfully.”

“… why… why me…”

Yuta sighed. “I was told that you were a good girl, I wanted to see just how good. And you have not disappointed.”

    You gently cuddled against him, far too weak to move properly. A bit of your clothes was stained red with your blood, as well as some of the sheets. Yuta called out to YangYang, telling him to get some servants to change the sheets and bring you a change of clothes.

“I guess you’ll be going to bed early sweetheart.”

“Hm…”

“Sh, just take it easy love, I’m here, I got you. There’s nothing to worry about.”

[tessatechaitea]

Cerebus #16 (1980)

Cerebus is going up the stairs while Lord Julius is going down them. In the same direction.

Cerebus is often touted as the greatest independent comic book of all time (for various reasons) but I'd like to point out that Elfquest told an incredible story with beautiful art in just 20 issues as opposed to 300. Plus it had an elf orgy. Also, I know it continued on after the first 20 issue story arc but we can ignore the rest of the story because there was never another elf orgy and also the rest of the series concentrated too much on Skywise's fear of dying which was totally valid but was often used as a foil to make Cutter seem braver and more loyal to his wolf roots but really just showed he was stubborn and dumb and totally didn't fuck as many elf maidens as Skywise did. Cerebus does have some sex in his comic book but since the first sex he has is when he rapes Astoria, I don't think anybody was really clamoring for any more of that. I mean, sure, some people were! I didn't mean to erase the sickos and perverts out there. Sorry, jerks! I'm sure the "A Note from the Publisher" bit by Deni seemed like a good idea when starting out on a harrowing self-publishing journey like that of Cerebus. But it quickly became a space where Deni just says, "Self-publishing is fraught with hardships and also this is a really good issue! I won't spoil it! Goodbye!" I won't be sad to see the divorce happen! That's an okay thing to say because it already happened, right? It's not like my wishing for the end of their marriage in 2020 somehow brought about the end of their marriage in the early 80s. Is it? I never took a college course on cause and effect so who the fuck knows? Unless that Critical Literary Theory class was about that?! Oh my God! I think I understand it now! Dave's finale to the "Swords of Cerebus" essay that has been broken up over the last three issues describes how he was consciously drawing the Eye of the Pyramid cult leader's gigantic penis while drawing the snake. Sorry to report, though, that he's being sarcastic. Apparently Dave is above using phallic imagery to make a point about patriarchal themes. Only fucking hacks do shit like that! Take that, whoever wrote fucking Beowulf!

Even if Sim can't see the humor in everybody assuming he made a giant snake dick joke on purpose, he can still be extraordinarily funny with the least of materials.

This issue takes Cerebus to his first fancy dress party (that's a costume party for all of you people who aren't British (which is also me but only because I was born a citizen of the United States of America who didn't have a choice but knew it was a huge mistake as I was learning about Monty Python's Flying Circus and Dave Allen at Large in elementary school and The Young Ones in junior high and Red Dwarf in college)). Cerebus changes out of his vest and puts on his costume: a furry black jumper (that's sweater for all of you people who aren't British (which is also me but only because I was forced to watch mostly American popular entertainment until the advent of YouTube and now I mostly just watch Taskmaster over and over (by the way, is Taskmaster as good for people who don't know all of the "contestants" or do I enjoy it more because I recognize and like almost all of the people on the show?)). Lord Julius is dressed as an, um, a, uh, Estarcion matador? I have no context in which to guess what he is.

Certain people like Cerebus because he says what's on his mind. I purposefully used the passive voice here so you can't prove one of those people is me.

Lord Julius has a follow-up joke that leaves the reader thinking, "I guess all Pavrovians are fat?" That's Dave Sim continuing his work on Estarcion continuity! Remember how Pavrovians are the, um, you knows of Estarcion! You know the nationality I'm thinking of! The ones that are all the things people usually find insulting! Come on, you know who I'm talking about. The dumb fat arrogant stupid naive gullible ones! Yes, that's it! Americans! Try to remember Dave is Canadian. You have to think of Americans through Canadian eyes (which are the equivalent of smart, cynical Americans)! E'lass and Turg have gotten tickets to The Festival of Petunias so they can steal the Wyndmel Diamond. They're the duo composed of a giant muscular man and a little bitty shrimpy guy who last encountered (and were beaten by) Cerebus in Issue #6. E'lass is dressed like some kind of small dirt dwelling creature so I hope Cerebus gets offended by his costume and stabs him in the throat. There isn't enough random slaughter in this book about barbarians.

I haven't wanted to fuck a fish this badly since The Littler Mermaid.

I suppose I could have said "since Splash" in that last caption to seem more normal and less perverted but then you'd know I was lying. The assassins make a move on Lord Julius but Cerebus comes up with a plan to stop them that involves inducing the Palnu elite to throw herring-and-onion dip at them. Is that a parodied scene from Duck Soup or Conan the Barbarian? In the confusion, the lead assassin slips out through a secret door and E'lass, having just stolen the diamond and becoming increasingly paranoid that somebody saw him, slips through it as well. Cerebus and Lord Julius follow, having noticed the assassin but not E'lass. Most of the pursuit's tension comes from E'lass believing Cerebus remembers him and is now going to use the excuse of this new crime to murder him. It's more tense than I've even described because I really need Cerebus to murder somebody in this Swords & Sorcery book already. Reading this book waiting for a murder is like firing up a porn video on your laptop with your dick in your hands and realizing after five minutes that the video is almost over and was just a teaser for a pay porn site. Cerebus threatens to quit his job just before battling the assassin so he can negotiate a term of 8 bags of gold and a horse in exchange for killing the assassin as a pension before he goes. Julius agrees and Cerebus takes out the assassin with a rock to the head. I mean, I guess it's a murder so yay? But I was really hoping for some stabbing. Meanwhile E'lass lives through the cliché of the criminal whose paranoia gets the better of him and he tosses the diamond into a huge pit so he doesn't get caught only to discover that they never knew he took it anyway. Everything is wrapped up quickly and thoroughly with Cerebus given money and motivation to move on from Palnu. Dave complained about his heavy use of cliché in this Palnu trilogy and I have to say I agree with Dave. But I only agree with Dave on this point! Don't take that out of context and start raving on Twitter that Grunion Guy agrees with Dave's Issue #186 rant about girlfriends being illogical which is also secretly a rant about a guy who needs to get laid so badly he puts up with partners he probably wouldn't even be friends with and then finally just decides orgasms are evil and religion is super awesome but only if you smash all three People of The Book religions into one bland mash paste of ancient dogma. In the epilogue, Lord Julius receives a letter from his niece Jaka in which she expresses delight in possibly seeing Cerebus again. I guess Dave learned from Howard the Duck that comic book nerds really love for their anthropomorphic heroes to be fucking statuesque women. Perhaps every guy develops a fetish of being with a woman whose breasts are at head level due to being hugged constantly by their female relatives when they're ten years old. Deni's brother Michael's first installment of the "Aardvarkian Age" essays appears in this issue. It gives more details to the various nations of Estarcion and their inhabitants' culture, ruling styles, and brutality of their armies. I thought I'd be more interested in this than I actually wound up being. Maybe I thought it would be funnier? Instead, it's just a bunch of facts about made-up kingdoms to make them sound more believable by making them more like European countries in the Middle Ages. If this entire bit were just lifted from a history of Europe with the names of actual countries replaced by Estarcion countries, I wouldn't even notice. Mostly because I know nothing about European history. As I've always said, "Those who know about European history are doomed to repeat it, boring every single other person at the cocktail party." Dave apologizes for the quarter price increase of the comic book in the Aardvark Comments pages. Why, I hadn't even noticed! Probably because this is the Biweekly reprint issue and I purchased it as a collection off of eBay. Some people write in and discuss how Cerebus is a very fine and funny comic book. I nodded along in agreement as I read the letters. I only touched my private area twice while reading and neither time was for pleasure. The most surprising thing about "The Single Page" is that it clearly states who the comic was authored by: Kent Featherly. I don't know why so many of these single page comics aren't more clearly labeled. Isn't part of the reason for having them exposure for the artists drawing and writing them?! Not putting an effort to let a large audience know who you are and how they can read more of your work just sounds like something I would do. By the way, you should play this game I wrote, Starship Troopers: The Game. You can find it on the hard drive of my laptop. Cerebus #16 Rating: B. Look, it was funny and well drawn and all that. But even Dave said it relied too heavily on cliché plot devices. I've got to lower the grade when even the author points out some of the story's flaws! And I'd probably have come to the same conclusion without having been influenced by Dave Sim because I'm like the best Internet comic book critic who isn't a critic and isn't actually reviewing comic books. Also I almost forgot this evidence: I'm a Grandmaster Comic Book Reviewer! Nobody else can make that claim and if they do, they're plagiarizing me and I'd like you to point them out to me so I can send them a threatening email in which I pretend to be my own lawyer who is really good at suing dumb-dumbs.

[iffeelscouldkill]

Adjusting [Part 2: Park]

A/N: Here’s Part 2! Many thanks to @dragonsthough101 for beta reading this and for the lovely, encouraging feedback💖💖💖

If you haven’t read it or want to re-read, here’s a link to Part 1!

Summary: It turns out that there isn’t a blueprint for quitting your job, turning your back on the organisation that you’d built your life around, committing treason and abandoning your friends and family to go travel across the galaxy with a band of wanted criminals. Fortunately, RJ now knows some people who have been there.

Or: Five times that RJ McCabe shares a late-night drink with someone on the Iris 2.

Read on AO3

About a week later, RJ is feeling slightly more at home on the Iris. It helps that it’s a new ship for the rest of the crew, too, and so everyone’s a bit at sea, missing things they used to take for granted and sometimes finding themselves unexpectedly at a loose end.

One of the things that RJ finds hard to get used to is how chatty the crew of the Rumor is. They knew about this from listening to the recordings, but knowing about something and being on the receiving end of it are two very different things. In the IGR, supervisors tended to frown on idle chatter (everything was about maximising productivity, after all) and people were cautious about volunteering details of their personal lives, never quite sure who might be trying to inform on them or get them written up for having a hobby that wasn’t quite above-board. You couldn’t exactly enjoy a conversation with someone when you were constantly watching your words.

But here on the Iris, everyone talks so much, about anything and everything. RJ isn’t used to people honestly trying to get to know them, or to the level of genuine interest that many of the crew have taken in their past, their hobbies, their thoughts, and their likes and dislikes.

RJ knows that Krejjh and Brian mean well, and that Sana cares about every member of her crew (the idea that RJ is included in that category already is still hard to wrap their head around), but it can still be a little much sometimes. They prefer to spend time around Violet, who is more tactful; Park, who is familiar; or Arkady, who is mostly silent except when she’s cracking some honestly hilarious sarcastic jokes.

Nights are still hard, and RJ has more or less become used to taking hours to get to sleep, or waking up in the middle of the night from confused and anxious dreams, but they’re finding things to do with the extra time. Park, who is an incurable bookworm, gifted RJ with a truly staggering number of audiobook files that he’s been keeping on a jailbroken telecomm (a sort of souped-up comm device that Republic employees are issued as standard). RJ has learned things about their former boss’s tastes that they never expected.

(“Park! You know a jailbroken telecomm is considered a Class E banned item, right?” RJ says when Park shows it to them.

“Oh no,” Park replies, deadpan. “Do you think I’ll get in trouble for it?”)

Even more unexpected, though, are the downloads that RJ was given by Krejjh and Brian after they expressed curiosity towards something called ‘Sh’th Hremreh’ that the two were always discussing. Krejjh’s eyes lit up and they immediately began to wax lyrical about the plot and the acting, Brian chipping in with relevant details. Before they knew what was happening, RJ found themself in possession of two whole seasons of a Dwarnian soap opera.

(RJ doesn’t speak Dwarnian, of course, but Brian has a solution for that. “I’ve created my own fansubs,” he says happily. “It’s been a good exercise for my translation skills – don’t want them to get rusty – and it helped Krejjh with their English, back when they were still learning. I upload them to a Dwarnian video site under a pseudonym.”

“They’re very popular!” Krejjh adds proudly.)

So, between audiobooks and Dwarnian soap opera episodes – which are oddly engrossing – RJ has a few ways to take their mind off things, but sometimes it still isn’t enough. On nights like these, RJ makes their way to the kitchen. The crew had made a brief stop-off at an extremely sketchy and borderline lawless moon where a heavily disguised Sana and Arkady did a run for basic supplies, so the tea stocks are replenished – although it’s not great tea. (Apparently, one night of quality herbal tea was enough to turn RJ into a bit of a tea snob).

What they don’t expect is to run into Park, sitting in the darkened kitchen at two o’clock in the morning. The lights flicker on as RJ enters, which means that Park must have been sitting still long enough for the motion sensors to deactivate.

“Oh – McCabe,” he says, looking up. “I mean… RJ, sorry.”

“You can still call me McCabe,” RJ tells him as they pull out the stepping stool, carry it over to the cupboard, and climb up to reach the highest shelf. Park watches in bemusement. “I mean, I still call you Park, unless you’d prefer-”

“No, just Park is fine,” Park assures them. “What are you doing?”

“You’ll see.”

RJ pulls down the little cardboard box, sets it on the table, and opens it to reveal an orderly collection of teabags in rows. “We’re running low on camomile, but I think the peppermint is caffeine-free.”

“What if I want caffeine?” Park asks, eyeing the collection of teabags warily. He looks terrible, with dishevelled hair and dark circles under his eyes.

“That’s too bad, because you’re not getting any,” RJ tells him primly, and takes a bag of peppermint tea out of the box. Park laughs as though it’s been startled out of him.

“Fine.”

As they wait for the water to boil, RJ surveys Park out of the corner of their eye. They realise that they’d subconsciously been thinking of Park as ‘further ahead’ than they were with adjusting to life as an outlaw, given that he’d turned against the Republic first, and actively worked with the crew of the Rumor to carry out the plan on New Jupiter. During the day, he puts up a good front, but RJ can see now how much of that is a front. This hasn’t been easy for Park either.

RJ pours out the tea into two dinged-up tin mugs and hands one to Park. For a while, neither of them says anything.

RJ and Park haven’t talked about the Republic much since leaving New Jupiter. RJ has made the odd quip about working with Agent Goodman, or referenced things that happened in their shared office, and both of them have been providing intel that Sana relays to the resistance movement via the other Violet Liu, but they haven’t had a real conversation about what – and who – both of them left behind. Park seems disinclined to talk about his time in Zone Z, and RJ had convinced themself that the best way to adjust to their new life on the Iris was to draw a line under everything that came before it. There was no point in bringing up old memories.

Except that now, they’re struck by how much they want to talk about it.

“Park,” RJ says in a rush. “Do you… ever miss… being back on New Jupiter? I-I don’t mean the last… part of your time on New Jupiter,” they add hurriedly when Park looks at them. “But… is there anything that you miss about… before?”

Park frowns in consideration. “I miss the amenities, for sure,” he says slowly. “I don’t care what Sana says – the water pressure is not the same in vacuum.” RJ snorts in amusement at that. “And the food was better down there.

“Maybe I miss being on the right side of the law, or thinking I was on the right side of the law – being able to safely move across IGR territory, being able to use my real name and identity. The kinds of things you just take for granted until you can’t do them anymore.” Park pauses, seeming to weigh his next words.

“But the thing is… I never felt safe under the IGR either. You remember what it was like.” Park looks at RJ, and there’s a darkness in his eyes that RJ has only seen there once before: shortly after Park’s return from Zone Z, when they had asked about what happened to his eye. At the time, it had been quickly suppressed, leaving RJ with a vaguely unsettled feeling that they couldn’t pinpoint the source of.

“Everyone constantly trying to inform on everyone else. People disappearing one day without a trace. Wondering if it would be you next. Constantly watching what you said, analysing what you did, looking over your shoulder.” Park gazes off into the middle distance, remembering things that RJ can only guess at. They unconsciously hold their breath, afraid to do or say anything to break Park’s reverie.

“When Major General Frederick came to take me away… there was a part of me that wasn’t surprised. I think I’d almost been waiting for it. The investigation wasn’t going well, and they were looking for someone to scapegoat. It was only a matter of time. Under a regime like the IGR-”

RJ manages to suppress their instinctive flinch at hearing Park describe the Republic in those terms, but only just. In spite of everything they now know to be true about the IGR, it isn’t easy to alter a lifetime of thinking a certain way. Or of not being allowed to think a certain way.

“-you never know when the ground is going to shift beneath your feet. You might cross the wrong person, or do something that you know to be the right thing, and still wind up ‘disappearing’.” Park pronounces the last word with an uncharacteristic bitterness. “So no, I don’t really miss how things were on New Jupiter.”

“Yeah,” RJ says shakily. “You, uh, you make some good points. Hadn’t… hadn’t thought of that.”

Park blinks, and immediately looks stricken. “McCabe– I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t have – I don’t know why I said all of that. I know it wasn’t what you were asking. I’ve just been carrying a lot of-”

“Park, it’s fine. You don’t need to apologise,” RJ says over him. “And you don’t need to try and sugarcoat anything for me. I was a naïve kid when I joined the investigation, but I’m not now. I saw you get taken away, and other people as well. I was terrified. But I found ways to justify it in my head, because I didn’t know what else to do.”

They say this last part, quietly, to the tabletop.

Park rubs his good eye. “I never wanted you to have to go through that.”

“But that wasn’t your fault,” RJ tells him. “It was theirs.”

Silence descends for a few moments, and RJ casts about for a change of subject. “So, uh, have you… heard from Shelley?”

Park shakes his head. “I asked the other Violet to get a message to her, because I wanted her to hear the truth from me and not whatever lies the Regime has decided to put out, but she warned me that it could take a while. I’m not sure if or how Shelley will be able to reply.”

RJ nods, their mouth twisting in sympathy. Shelley is Park’s twin sister, and the two are extremely close. Park hasn’t shared many details about his family life, but RJ has inferred that their parents aren’t around anymore, and that Park and Shelley are each the only family the other has left. It must be incredibly hard for him to be away from her – maybe the hardest thing of all.

“What about, uh… Have you thought of getting in touch with yours?” Park asks, his voice rough. RJ shakes their head.

“No. It would just be…”

RJ hunts for the right words for a long moment, and finally says, “It wouldn’t make much of a difference. To them, the truth would be just as bad.”

Park looks troubled, but he nods. “Okay.” He drains the last of the peppermint tea and smiles a little. “All right, I’ll admit it – the tea has helped. I didn’t even know there was a stash in here.”

“I split the cost with Violet and Arkady,” says RJ. “But it’s meant to be for emergencies only.” When Park quirks an eyebrow, RJ adds, “Insomnia counts as an emergency.”

Park gives that small smile again. “Fair enough. I appreciate it, anyway. You using up your emergency tea on me.”

RJ considers pointing out that they’d been going to make a cup anyway, but decides not to ruin the sentiment. “You’re welcome.”

“I guess I should head back to…” Park plants his hands on the table and levers himself up, wincing like he’s aggravating old injuries. Maybe he is. RJ still has no idea what the IGR did to him in Zone Z, besides the… eyeball thing.

“Park,” they blurt out, and Park looks at them, his face open and concerned. There are a lot of things that RJ didn’t realise were unique about Park until he was gone. The fact that he genuinely cared about RJ, and looked out for them, was one of those.

In many ways, Park is a different man since he came back from Zone Z. But that much hasn’t changed.

“Is…” RJ hesitates, not wanting to give voice to the nagging fear that lurks at the back of their mind – and increasingly, at the front.

“Is there going to be another war?”

Park hesitates, but he doesn’t try to offer up platitudes or empty reassurances. “Not if we can help it,” he tells them.

[transcendence-au]

The Manor of Alcor (10/10)

Also on ff.net and AO3

The police and ambulance came an hour later. After intensive questioning, they had to spend the remainder of the day and night at the hospital. Or at least Orrie and Mr. Goodman had to. Dipper (unsurprisingly, Orrie thought to himself with a tiny snort) didn’t have any injuries whatsoever to need a room, and Belle’s were mild enough that the doctors let her leave the same evening after thorough treatment. So it was just him and Mr. Goodman who would have to stay behind. For Orrie it was to heal his broken arm. He’d be continued to be looked after until his parents arrived the next morning. Mr. Goodman, on the other hand, was quite old, so the staff wanted to make certain he was fit enough before discharging him.

Orrie let out a tired sigh, staring at his arm. He was so glad magic technology was becoming more widely used in hospitals; injuries and broken bones could heal nearly twice as fast than they could normally. But the magitech cast had to be worn at all times, and so it was a bit difficult trying to fall asleep with it on and its constant low humming.

He leaned back, trying to get comfortable on the hospital bed. He stared out the window. The moon and stars were remarkably bright tonight; Orrie wondered if Belle and Dipper were looking at them now. He wondered how they were coping. Was this normal for them? Maybe– they did speak a lot about their earlier adventures before. But they had been just as scared as he was confronting the cultists, just as pained and outraged to see innocents die. Orrie choked momentarily thinking about Flynn. He…he never wanted to go through something like that ever again.

A knock on the door disturbed him from his darkening thoughts. “Do you need anything for the night?” the nurse asked with a smile. Orrie shook his head.

“No thank you. I’m good.”

“Alright. Will the cast make it hard for you to get some rest?”

“Um…yeah, actually.” She nodded understandingly, turning to the tablet in her hand.

“This should help. We understand these devices can be quite noisy, so they have built in therapeutic charms to ease with sleeping.” She drew some sort of design on the tablet, which activated the cast into glowing a soft green. Orrie could feel the calming effects immediately. “Better?” “Much.” She bade him goodnight, and Orrie soon after drifted into blissful slumber.

After a morning breakfast and one final check-up, Orrie found himself sitting in the front lobby. He felt self-conscious of the fact he was a boy with a broken arm sitting by himself in a surprisingly busy lobby. Correction: a teenager with a broken arm sitting by himself. Fortunately, most of the people passing were nurses and doctors coming in for their morning shift and not patients in dire need, but he could still feel their curious glances toward him. He kept his eyes averted, staring as best he could out the giant window panel.

The seat cushion sank a bit as someone sat beside him. Orrie looked up. “Mr. Goodman. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’ll be fine,” the old man answered, resting his arms in his lap. Orrie felt the edges of his lips twitch, but he couldn’t bring himself to give a genial smile. They sat in silence. “…And you?” Mr. Goodman asked eventually. Orrie jerked, caught off guard since he thought the conversation had stopped.

“Uh, fine. Just…just waiting for my parents.” He leaned back on one arm to make it look like he was totally indifferent about waiting for them, not at all like he was feeling awkward being around the man. Not that Mr. Goodman was a bad person—at least, Orrie was pretty sure about that; Terry had been holding him hostage as well—but…what do you say to the person who just lost his business in a single night? What do you say to the person who, through no ill intent whatsoever, nearly caused you to die and did get several others killed? What do you say to—

“I don’t think Neil ever intended one of his descendants to experience the horrors he had.” Orrie looked up.

“What?”

Mr. Goodman gave him a small, sad smile. “Neil Gogh. My ancestor. I don’t think he ever wanted this to happen.” He stared at his hands. “He realized too late after killing his dear friends what absolute power can do to the mind and soul. It corrupts you, twists you to the point that you might as well be a different person entirely. They were on the verge of capturing one of the most powerful entities in existence and make him bend to their will. In the end he gained no power, lost all his closest allies, and had to go into hiding just to remain free.”

Mr. Goodman exhaled deeply. “I think it was the news report that was the final nail on the coffin for him. To read in full detail the murders of his friends, killed by his own selfish doings. He settled down in a large city miles away. He adopted a new identity. He tried to live the rest of his life as a generous, law-abiding citizen. He used all the powers and knowledge he had to bring happiness instead of heartache to others. He wrote all of this down in his journal, a journal that’s been passed down as a dark heirloom for many generations. I suppose he was trying to atone for his sins.” Orrie let his gaze fall, staring at the floor. He could hear Mr. Goodman’s voice tighten as he continued. “He died believing himself wholly unrepentable. But his newfound desire to help others was passed on to his children, and his children’s children, and all the generations after. I too inherited that desire. So I wanted to reopen the manor to the public. Of course, the murder mystery would be the main draw, but I wished to hold other events and activities to enjoy. Soon the mansion that had housed tragedy and betrayal so long ago became a mansion full of fun and creating happy memories for people of all walks of life. And for years I was living in a dream come true.”

He brought his hands up, gingerly wiping the tears from his eyes before they could fall. “Susie…Ms. Wheatly…was a dear friend of mine. Sue and I met many years ago, and she supported me from the very beginning, back when opening the family home to the public was just an inkling of an idea. It was all her idea to use nursery rhymes as hints, you know. Made all of them herself.” Mr. Goodman sniffled. Before he realized what he was doing, Orrie patted the old man on the shoulder.

“I’m…I’m so sorry for your loss.” Mr. Goodman sniffed again.

“It’s okay, Orrie. I accept what has happened. And we’ll recover from it one day.” Orrie didn’t miss his use of the inclusive term. But he couldn’t speak of the matter for long; Orrie’s parents had arrived and hurried quickly to the receptionist’s desk. “Those are your folks?”

“Yes.” He stood. He paused. He looked back. “What about you? Do you have anyone to pick you up?”

“I’ll be fine,” Mr. Goodman said, smiling softly. “My business won’t, though. I’m shutting down the Manor of Alcor once I get home. Too much death has transpired inside it. Maybe I’ll sell it after I remove all the runes lacing it, or perhaps I’ll have it demolished. Maybe I’ll start another attraction elsewhere. Who knows what the future holds.” He stood up himself, patting Orrie gently on the shoulder. “Goodbye Orrie, and be safe. And tell your folks all the expenses were paid for and then some. Half a million some. It’s the least I can do.”

Orrie couldn’t reply right away. “Thank you, Mr. Goodman,” he at last said. “And good luck with everything. Take care.” The old man shook his hand briefly before heading out the front doors. Orrie watched him leave as his parents sprinted over to him and nearly crushed him in their tight, protective embraces.

Orrie stared at the blank plaster that was his bedroom ceiling. He’d been doing that a lot the last two weeks since he returned home from the hospital. Just lie on his bed and stare into space, contemplating. He hadn’t touched his sketchbook in ages. He didn’t want to. Not so much because of what it reminded him of (as if he could ever forget that anyway) but more so because he didn’t wish to upset his parents even further. For them to see their son still interested in the demon who caused all this, albeit inadvertently? They’d probably go into a panic thinking he was possessed or brainwashed or something.

They were being a bit too overprotective, though, he long since realized. Walking with him practically everywhere he went except to school, texting him every thirty minutes whenever he was away to see if he was fine, peeking into his room when they thought he wouldn’t notice. Orrie sighed. He loved his parents. But no matter how often he told them he was alright, they’d just nod their heads as if they understood and put on a fake smile that clearly said they weren’t listening. Perhaps once the cast was finally removed they’d see he was fine and give him his space.

Orrie inhaled then exhaled deeply before rolling onto his side. His eyes settled on the sketchbook resting on his dresser. He looked away, convincing himself that he didn’t need to worry about them. That they were alright. That they probably weren’t even thinking of him as often as he was of them. His gaze returned to the book. Yeah, he hadn’t been very good at lying to himself lately. Why shouldn’t he make sure everything was fine with the Sterlings? They were his friends now. His parents’ worry for him could wait.

Quietly, Orrie slipped off the bed and crept toward his bedroom door. It was very late at night; he could hear his father’s soft snores coming from down the hall. Still, to be safe, he locked his door so no one could intrude. He was sorely underprepared what with this being a last-minute idea, but maybe an exception could be made. And it wouldn’t be for long anyway. Orrie walked over to his sketchbook and tore out a blank page, placing it on the floor. Grabbing a marker, he expertly drew the summoning circle on the paper, referencing his notes multiple times to make certain nothing was amiss. He then went to his backpack and pulled out the sympathy chocolate bar one of his teachers at school gave him after his first day back from the hospital and placed it just outside the circle. Taking a shuddering breath to calm himself, he took out a tiny switchblade and cut thinly across his finger, letting a few bloody drops fall onto the circle.

He whispered the incantation quietly but clearly.

The lights in his room flickered before taking on an unearthly bright blue shade. Smoke unfurled from the center of the circle, expanding rapidly until it took the shape of a certain demon floating cross-legged above it, not even bothering to contain himself within its small circumference. His gaze was initially on the paper, disdain obvious as he leered at the crude method of summoning, lack of candles, and meager offering. But when he looked up and spotted who his summoner was, his contempt shifted quickly into mild disbelief.

“Orrie?” The boy, however, said nothing. Instead, he reactively backed away closer to his door, fear flashing in his eyes at the sight of the deceptively young adult human male. The demon blinked before realizing the problem. “Oh, right. How’s this?” In an instant, Alcor regressed in apparent age, being now the even younger and much more familiar Dipper Sterling…clothes and demonic features notwithstanding. Orrie relaxed a bit.

“Hey there, uh…” He probably should have figured out what to call him before summoning him. “Di…Alcor?”

“Is there anyone who can eavesdrop?” Alcor asked. Orrie shook his head. “Then call me Dipper.”

A small, internal sigh. “Hey Dipper. It’s been a while. I just, um, I just wanted to know how you and Belle were doing.” He played with his fingers nervously. Even if this was his friend, this was still his first time alone with a demon, particularly one known for being unpredictable. Without his sister to keep him in check, what was Dipper really like? Would he find this summons a complete waste of his time?

Dipper paused for a brief second. “That’s it? You just want to know how we’re doing?” He stared deeper at Orrie. “Is that really all?”

The boy shuddered slightly under the intense gaze, but he refused to look away from the golden irises. “Yes. I…” Dare he admit it? “I really do wonder how you’re both doing. Are you okay? Is Belle? She did get hurt even though the doctors let her go that same day. I know you’ve been through danger like that before, but you’re still kids. Well, Belle is, and you’re acting like one. Wait, don’t take that the wrong way! I just—” He took a deep breath. “I was worried about you guys. But since I didn’t hear anything from you I just assumed you were doing well. And had moved on. But I just needed to be sure, and so…” He gestured vaguely to the lame ritual preparations.

Dipper chuckled. “So you decided to summon me just to check up on us?” His eyes seemed to brighten as he looked around the room once more. “You do know it’s not a good idea to summon the most dangerous demon known on a whim, right?” Orrie smiled sheepishly, remembering.

“I’m sorry. I only wanted to make sure, even if you forgot about me.”

“Forgot?” Dipper was quick to question, much to Orrie’s surprise. “Why would we forget about you? You’re our friend, Orrie. At least I thought we were.”

“We are! I mean, we are, right? I want to be. You, me, Belle– I didn’t think everything we’d done would lead to nothing between us. But like I said, when I didn’t hear anything from you I thought you’d gotten over everything. And it’s not like I didn’t try to call you or contact you, but I couldn’t find your numbers or anything.” “Well, we don’t exactly put that information out in the open for just anyone to find,” smirked Dipper. “But I see how you came to this decision. I have no excuse for not being able to contact you; Belle wanted to check up on you right after we came home from the hospital, but I convinced her to give you your space. I figured sooner or later you’d come around to telling us you were fine.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “The days passed, and you never did. I popped in every once in a while to see you myself. But when I saw you actively keeping your distance from your sketchbook, I assumed you wanted nothing more to do with us.”

Orrie’s eyes widened at the admission. “What? No, I was keeping my distance so I wouldn’t worry mom and dad. I didn’t think…oh wow, this has been a huge misunderstanding.” He laughed, careful to keep his volume controlled and not loud enough to wake his parents. He looked at Dipper, smile still plastered on his face. “I’m fine. My arm is healing well; I’ll get the cast off in about a week. And my parents have me going to counseling, which is going alright. I haven’t had nearly as many nightmares since starting at least. And we donated most of the prize money I got to charity; only a small bit we’re keeping for my college savings and the therapy.”

Dipper nodded. “That’s good. Belle and I are doing just fine, and she’ll be excited to hear you’re doing well too. We didn’t need the money either, so we gave it to some family friends of ours. Our lives have pretty much gotten back to normal, or what passes as normal for us. Despite how exciting as our lives can get, this isn’t exactly something that happens every other Tuesday. We really were worried about you.” To hear that from the demon in person made Orrie speechless for a moment.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, looking down. After a brief moment he looked back up, meeting Dipper’s gaze again, a spark of hope in his eyes. “So summer vacation is about to start, and I was wondering, if you and Belle had nothing better to do, we could…hang out? Catch up on things? Solve our own, less dangerous mysteries? Maybe even at Gravity Falls? My parents have kinda been planning a trip there for ages now. And it’d be cool if we had some people who knew the place well enough to give us a tour.” He gave the demon his best winning smile.

Dipper only laughed at the silent plea. “We’ll see. Then again, what better way is there to spend a summer holiday than with friends, right?”

[solei28]

Coffee, Pie, You- Chapter 8

James went to the living room to wait for you. It took more effort to get out of the tub on your own, but you did it. You went through the draws and found a wonderful variety of bras and panties. They were lined up by size so easily found your fit.

You opened the closet to find it packed with a wide variety of clothes. They were lined up by size as well. You chose a simple pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt. There were boxes of shoes and sneakers stacked on the bottom of the closet. You pulled out a black pair of kicks.

Looking at yourself in the mirror, you laughed. I really do wear a lot of black, huh?”  James was sitting on the couch next to Steve. They were looking over some files when you walked in.

“Hey, Y/N. How are you feeling?” Steve asked.

“In pain, but I’ll be alright.” You looked at the file on the table. There was a small picture of Sandra clipped to it. “Any luck finding her yet?” James shook his head. “Not yet. Don’t worry, we’ll get her soon enough.” He closed the file and stood up. “Ready to go to the Med Bay?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid I may have made things worse,” you said worriedly.

“We should hurry, then. Come on,” James reached out a hand to you.

You walked over and grabbed his hand. Steve got up and grabbed the file. The three of you made your way to the elevator.

“I’ll be in conference room B if you need me. I’ll comb over the file with FRIDAY's help,” Steve said to James.  

“Sure thing. Just keep me posted if you find anything.” James looked at you smirking. “Are you ready to meet another Avenger? In the Avengers Tower.”

“Are you making fun of me, Buchanan?” you said shocked.

He chuckled softly and gave your hand a squeeze. “Just a little.”

“I cannot believe you would do such a thing when I’m in such a state, Sir,” you said with mock disappointment.

“Sorry, I couldn’t help it. You’re really adorable when you’re starstruck,” he told you with that lopsided grin you were falling for.

Your heart fluttered at being called adorable. Despite all you had been through over the past week, this beautiful man made you giddy. You knew you were falling hard and you didn’t care. You could see in the way he looked at you that he was falling too.

The elevator stopped. “I’ll catch you 2 love birds later,” Steve said smiling while walking out of the elevator.

“Later, punk,” James said rolling his eyes when Steve winked at him before the doors closed.

“The 2 of you have the best friendship,” you commented.

“You think so?” James asked intrigued.

You nodded happily. “Yeah. Even as old men, you guys are still really close.”

An eyebrow shot up. “Old men?”

You snickered. “You are like 100, right?”

“That’s cold, doll,” James said pouting.

You giggled and shook your head. “It’s ok. I like older men.” You stood up on your tiptoes and kissed him.

James hummed when you pulled away. He put his forehead on yours, looking into your eyes. Cupping your face in his hand he ran his thumb across your jaw. “Doll, when you’re better and we put Sandra away, would you go out to dinner with me?”

Your face lit up and made his breath catch in his throat. “I would love to, Buchanan.”

He smiled brightly and kissed you once more. Your mouth still tastes like pizza and he can’t get enough. He nibbles at your bottom lip pulling a giggle from you.

“Ahem.”

You both jump and look at the elevator door. Bruce Banner is standing next to Tony Stark. Bruce has a shy smile on his face while Tony has a shit eating grin in his.

You quickly look down, crimson making its way up to your neck and cheeks. You hear James clears his throat.

“Banner, this is Y/N,” James says quickly.

“Hi,” you squeaked out.

“Hello,” Bruce said.

“Can you check her injuries. She, um hurt herself, in the, um, shower.” James rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, eyes darting around.

“Yes, of course. Come on,” Bruce said.

“Thank you,” you said following him out of the elevator.

“So, I see you 2 have finally taken the next step in your relationship,” Tony whispered to James as they walk down the hall.

James gave him an irritated look. “Yeah, what of it, Stark?”

Tony threw his hands up in surrender. “Hey, don’t get so defensive. I’m happy for you, Terminator. It’s about time.”

James looked at him suspiciously but gave him a small smile after a moment. “Thanks.”

You all walked into a room that looked just like where you had been in the emergency room at Kings County. It smelled like a hospital, too. You sat down on the bed in the middle of the room Bruce gestured to.

“I’m sorry we had to meet like this, Y/N,” Bruce said kindly. “I’ve heard a lot about you from the team and was hoping to meet you at your kiosk.”

“That would’ve been great. But, it would seem life had other plans.” You were trying to stay positive through everything, but there was a part of you deep down that just wanted to break. You wanted to just shut yourself away so you could cry and scream and just get it all out. However, you also knew that it wouldn’t change anything. Besides, you had Buchanan to look after you, now. That did help immensely.

“So, tell me exactly what happened in the shower.” Bruce looked a bit embarrassed but he needed to know so he knew what to look for.

You explained that you had fallen asleep in the tub and awoke from a nightmare thrashing around. He didn’t ask for details about the nightmare, thank goodness. You really couldn’t get through having to say that out loud again.

After using some seriously high tech devices to check your injuries, (you had never seen anything like it.), Bruce had assured you that you didn’t reinjure yourself. He did give you a booster shot to help speed up your recovery. He explained that it was perfectly safe for regular people and superhumans alike. When he gave it to you, it sent a tingling sensation through your whole body. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was definitely odd.

“Ok, Y/N. You are good to go. By this time next week, you should be healed up due to the shot. Just get plenty of rest.” Bruce smiled at you then furrowed his eyebrows. “Oh, and your appetite will increase quite a bit. It's normal, so don’t worry about it. Your body is going to need the extra calories since you’re healing at a faster rate.”

You stood up from the bed and nodded. “Good to know, Doc. Thank you, again.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. I’m happy to help,” Bruce said.

You looked at James and tilted his head with a smile. He looked at Bruce and nodded in thanks as he grabbed your hand.

“Come on. You need to get some rest.” James led you out of the room.

Tony came around to your side, sandwiching you between the 2 of them. “So, dear. How do you like your new place?”

You beamed. “It’s incredible, Tony. Thank you so much.”

“Sir, Sergeant Barnes. Captain Rogers requests you come immediately to the conference room,” FRIDAY said.

“What does Capsical need now?” Tony asked rolling his eyes.

“It would seem there has been a development on Sandra’s whereabouts,” the A.I. explained.

“About damn time.” Tony looked at James. “Do you want to meet us there after you take Y/N back?”

“It’s fine. I can make it on my own. This is more important,” you insisted.

James looked at you seriously. “Are you sure. I can take you.”

“Sweety, I’m more than capable of getting there on my own. Besides, if I get lost, I’m sure FRIDAY can help. Right?” You looked up.

“You are correct,” she answered.

“Ok, doll.” James smiled at you as the elevator doors opened. You all stepped in and he gave her hand a squeeze as the metal box made its way up. “If you need anything, just let FRIDAY know.”

“I will. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. I’m in the Avengers Tower, after all,” you sang.

The elevator stopped on the floor Steve had gotten off on. Tony stepped out first to give you 2 a moment. He waved with a “See ya later,” as he made his way to the conference room.  

James leaned over and kissed you. “I’ll see you later, doll.”

“See you later, sweety.” You watch him get off the elevator. Before the elevator doors close, he looks back and winks at you. Your heart skipped a beat and you smiled stupidly as the elevator went up to your floor.

You made your way back to your room and decided to check out the kitchen much more thoroughly this time.

⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻

James walked into the conference room after Tony. Sam, Clint, and Natasha were there with Steve.

Steve looked at James. “How’s Y/N?” he asked seriously.

“She’s fine. Banner gave her a booster shot,” said as the door opened to the room again as Bruce made his way in.

Steve looked relieved. “That’s good to hear.” He turned his gaze to the T.V. and went into full Captain America mode. “Fury has located where Sandra is hiding. He sent us these.” He pointed at the screen that was displaying a warehouse. “She's hold up in an abandoned warehouse by the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. She’s alone from what we can see.  

“Fury has eyes on her so the minute she moves, we’ll know. I don’t want to give her that chance, however. We’ll surround the building and catch her off guard. Tony and Sam will stay in the air and cut off her escape if she gets past us. Nat will take the west side entrance and I’ll take the east. Bucky will come in the front door. Bruce, you’ll be on standby in case things go south. Do not underestimate her. She is faster and stronger than us,” he gestured to himself and James.

“Why is Bucky coming in through the front door?” Clint asked.

“She seems to have some personal vendetta against him. I’m hoping it will distract her long enough for the rest of us to get in position and make our move,” Steve explained.  

“Makes sense,” Clint nodded.

“Now, I’d rather not kill her. At the end of the day, she is a victim of HYDRA. Stark and Banner have developed stronger tranquilizers that should bring her down faster than last time. We’ll use those first.”

“Will SHIELD be in on this, too? James asked.

“They’ll be on standby, also. Their main purpose is to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t escape,” Steve confirmed. “If she gets past us, they have orders to kill on sight. I don’t like it, but it’s not my call from there. That’s Fury’s decision and I understand why he made that call. She’s too dangerous to let roam free.” Everyone seemed to be in agreement. “Alright, if there aren’t any more questions, suit up. Wheels up in an hour.”

⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻⇻

You were in love with the kitchen and everything in it. The fridge, freezer, and cabinets were jam-packed with food. You found machines that you had never even heard of. It was like stepping into wonderland.

Your stomach began to growl and you knew the shot was taking effect. Hmmm, what should I make? You wandered to yourself as you rummaged through the fridge. You found some cut up chicken quarters in the fridge.

You figured you could just season them and throw them in the oven. There were some russet potatoes in a bowl on the counter and a light bulb went off in your head. You’d make baked potatoes on the side with a simple salad. You knew it would be difficult to cut anything up with a broken wrist. You saw there were grape tomatoes in the fridge with baby spinach, so you didn’t have to worry there.

Once you gathered the seasonings and ingredients, you put the oven on and got to work. About a half an hour later there was a knock on your door. You opened it to find James standing there with a small frown.

“Hey, is everything alright?” you asked worriedly.

“Yeah, I just came to check up on you.” He lifted his head up and sniffed the air. “What are you making? It smells delicious.”

You laughed. “Chicken with potatoes. You hungry?”

He smiled sheepishly. “I am, but I can’t. We’re leaving in soon. We’ve found Sandra.”

You nodded understandingly. “That’s good. I wish you had more time. It would’ve been nice to eat with someone.” You looked down, sadness taking over your features.    

James reached his hand out and grabbed your jaw between his thumb and index finger. He gently lifted your face up so he could look into your eyes. “I know, doll. I’d love to sit down and have a meal with you right now. Let us take care of this first and I promise we will.”

You bit your lip and nodded. “I know. I’m sorry-”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. You have every right to feel the way that you do. Once this is over, I’ll make sure you don’t have to feel like this alone. Ok?”

You stared into those intensely blue eyes of his. Sandra was right. He adored you and you read it in his eyes. You grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him to you, crashing your lips into his. You kissed him fervently making sure he knew how much you cared for him.

Finally breaking away to catch your breath, you looked deep into his eyes. “Please, be careful. I’ll be waiting for you so you better come back to me. Ok, Buchanan?”

He felt his heart burst in his chest and warmth flood his veins. The way you were looking at him and what you said made him feel like he could take on the world. It was clear how deeply you cared for him and that was enough to keep him going.

“I’ll come right back to you, Y/N. I promise.” He captured your lips again in a searing kiss. How he wished it didn’t have to end.

Tony, Nat, Clint, Sam and Steve watching James and Y/N kiss on a monitor: Tony: Oh, man they are so in love! Sam: Seriously. When do you think the wedding will be? Nat: Next summer in Central Park. Clint: Yay. (Claps hands together like an idiot.) I can't wait! Steve: Can we give them some privacy?

@babygurl8840

[imagine-loki]

Monster and Magic

TITLE: Monsters and Magic

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 23/?

AUTHOR: nekoamamori

ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you’re a vampire who helps the Avengers defeat an evil seethe of other vampires, and Loki befriends you after you end up in their custody

RATING: T (so far)

NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 click here

     /I can see where you get your snark and sarcasm from/ you quipped to Loki telepathically while you continued to devour all of the Asgardian healing knowledge you could get her hands on because… well, that’s what you did when left to your own devices. You were also pretending to ignore their conversation since Frigga had made her wish for privacy clear.

    “I am not quite sure how to explain this properly, Mother,” Loki finally replied, his voice hesitant as he searched for the right words. “Her heart no longer needs to beat, exactly. She is… immortal in a sense,”

    /I get quite a lot from my mother. However, I could use your assistance in this matter/ he replied to you telepathically while Frigga looked confused.

    /Fine, I’ll bail you out, silver-tongued noodle/ you teased him and tore yourself away from the massive amount of new shiny things to learn about and stepped back over to Loki and Frigga.

    You turned to Frigga and put on your best polite voice and focused on the words you needed. “Your majesty, please do not worry on my account,” you bid her extremely politely, though a bit slowly, in Asgardian. You knew the language well from reading, but speaking it was a slower more difficult task. “It is a medical affliction, but not one that can be healed, even by Asgardian methods. My heart does not beat and I do not need to breathe, but it does not harm me. Loki knows all the details, and still loves me despite the affliction,” you explained to the best of your ability.

    /Thank you for the assistance, kitten/

    Loki looked over at Frigga after he kisses the top of your head. “See, Mother? She is just fine. There is nothing we can do to change her affliction, but I would not change a thing about my darling. There is no need to worry,”

    “Your lady is full of surprises, to learn our language so quickly,” Frigga commented a little dryly, but extremely impressed. You blushed at her praise. You hadn’t meant to keep surprising people around here. It just kept happening. Frigga began to ask Loki about his adventures on Midgard. You kissed Loki’s cheek and stepped away, letting him catch up with his mother in privacy.

    So you investigated the soulforge in more detail and the scanners that went with them. By the time they had finished their catching up and turned their attention back to you, you had connected your Jarvis-tech phone to one of the soulforge scanners and upgraded it to work faster and more effectively. Loki should have known better to let you get bored with technology around. 

    “Kitten, what did you just do? Or should I just ask why?” He asked when he realized you had wandered off and potentially gotten yourself in trouble. He was looking like he was going to scramble to fix whatever you’d done and get you out of trouble.

    “I fixed it…” you replied extremely innocently, but flushed when you realized that you probably should not have upgraded their tech without even bothering to ask. So in your nervousness you proceeded to go into a very detailed explanation about the technology involved and how it could have been improved upon and therefore you’d done the thing and improved it so it would be faster and give a more detailed scan.

    Loki sighed and chuckled as he placed a long finger against your lips. “We get that you’re a genius, dearheart. There is no need to show off so much to impress my mother,” he told you lightly while Frigga smiles warmly at how adorable her son was with you.

    “I’m not showing off,” you grumped at him, protesting his accusation. “You were busy and the healing tech needed the upgrade…”

    “Of course it did, darling,” he replied and you saw him try so very hard to avoid rolling his eyes at you. 

    “D-did she just advance our technology in here by five years of research in the course of twenty minutes?” Frigga asks her son with a clear air of disbelief. You flushed over all the attention. That wasn’t what you’d been going for.

    Loki smiled down at you warmly, lovingly. “My lady never ceases to amaze me,” he told his mother and kissed the top of your head.

    Your focus was on Frigga’s shocked expression. “I think I scared your mother…” you informed Loki dryly, worried that you were making a terrible impression on not only his mother, but the queen of the realm you were visiting.

    Loki just laughed in reply. “Give her a minute, sweetheart. She is just trying to comprehend how a little kitten from Midgard managed to upgrade Asgardian technology. It should be quite impossible, you know,”

    You shrugged. “What? I was bored. Besides, I just needed to re-calibrate-”

    He cut you off. “I love you dearly, darling, but this isn’t my area of expertise. I will take your word on it, especially since the healers seem pleased,”

    You got shy again when you realized that everyone was staring at you, the tiny Midgardian, in shock and awe, most especially the healers once they realized what you’d done. “Sorry…” you mumbled sheepishly.

    Loki chuckled again. “Oh, dearheart,” he told you warmly and pulled you into a hug, still laughing.

    You sighed heavily. “And now you’re laughing at me. That’s never a good sign…” you told him dryly.

    “You’re just too adorable sometimes, kitten,” he told you warmly and kissed your cheek.

    That interaction seemed to finally put Frigga back on familiar ground, seemed to get her through the whirlwind of revelations about Loki’s tiny Midgardian. “It is wonderful to see you so happy, my darling,” she told Loki warmly.

    He smiled warmly at Frigga in reply. “There is nothing in all of the nine realms that could make me happier,” he told her.

    She gave him such a warm bright smile that it warmed your heart as well to see him so well loved. “That is wonderful to hear, darling. Though surely you have other sights you would like to show your lady than simply the healing wing and your inconsequential mother.” Her voice is warm with a hint of teasing.

    Loki smirked in reply. “You are nowhere near inconsequential, Mother. You’re the only being here that makes living in this palace bearable. But I do have a few things to show my darling before we are called before Father,” he admitted.

        “Then you best get to it, darling. You know your father will not delay for long,” Frigga bid him warmly. She turned her attention to where you were trying not to draw even more attention to yourself. “Enjoy your time in Asgard, dear. You are more than welcome back here if you find yourself bored again,” she added with slight teasing to you, making you blush even more. She turned to Loki again. “If you see your brother, kindly remind him that his mother wishes to see him.” Her voice had the tone that this was a common request.

    “Of course, Mother,” he replied automatically, confirming your suspicion that the request was common. He kissed Frigga on the cheek before he came back to you and offered you his arm. You took it and headed out of the healing wing with him.

    “So do we want to find the oaf quickly, or did you have other plans?” you asked him brightly, enjoying just the beauty of the palace and time with your Loki.

    He gave you a warm smile in reply. “Let’s find my oaf of a brother so we can continue with the tour in peace,” he suggested, sounding like it was a chore to go find Thor, which it was, so you didn’t fault him on that.

    You pulled your phone from the pocket of your dress and held it up, spinning in a circle so you could scan the palace. You held the phone in your hand screen up and a map of the palace appeared as a little holograph above the phone.“Jarvis? Where’s Point Break?” you asked. His functions were limited without the net, but he could handle this. A little dot appeared on the map. “Looks like he’s there,” you told Loki, not knowing where there was, especially in regards to where you were, but Loki would since he had grown up in the palace.

    Loki groaned and you could hear the annoyance in his tone. “It seems we must head to the lounge Thor and his idiot warrior friends frequent,” he sighed. “I’m sure they are already quite drunk by now too…”

    You sighed and put your phone back in your pocket. “Of course we do. And they’re going to whine about the tiny annoying Midgardian.” You’d already met them on the bridge and they already knew you were strange and had picked up their language.

    Loki stopped in the hallway and turned to face you. You looked up at him confused and he captured your chin in his hand, forcing you to meet his eyes. “You are not annoying. You are an extremely intelligent and youthful creature that always manages to put a smile on my face,” he told you firmly. He didn’t much care for self-deprecating talk, especially when it was true.

    You rolled your eyes in reply. “Sure I am, Lokes. I’ve managed to freak out every single person I’ve met here and probably made a horrible impression on your mother with that stunt…” you admitted that last part softly, knowing that you shouldn’t have gone to fix the soulforge, but it had been too tempting to pass up. You also shouldn’t be so bubbly and annoying around the Asgardians. You already drew enough attention by being Midgardian. And dead. You really didn’t need to draw any more attention.

    “Kitten, there’s nothing to be so worried about. Mother absolutely adores you and not just because she’s happy I finally have someone that supports and loves me. You are amazing. Stop fretting so much,” he told you firmly, trying to reassure you. You weren’t entirely convinced, but nodded and kissed him.

    “Fine, but can I kick Thor’s idiot friends if they start going on about my heart not beating again?” you asked, knowing they were going to harp on that again.

    “By all means,” he told you warmly, with a mischievous smirk. He summoned a dagger with a shing. “I’ll help,”

    You drew your own blade with a grin. “They’ll never see that coming from the ‘tiny mortal’,” you informed him and made the air quotes with your fingers.

    “They’ll have no clue what hit them. Though you might have a bit of a challenge with Sif,” he told you warmly as you continued on your way to Thor and his silly warrior friends.

    “She does seem to be the least stupid of Thor’s idiot friends,” you commented, trying to get more information on these people you were likely going to have to interact with, resheathing your blade for now, until you needed it.

      “She is,” Loki admitted grudgingly. “Out of all of his friends, she’s the only one I believe to be competent and worth anything. The others are about as big of oafs as my brother.” He was much happier being able to call the warrior boys oafs than he was admitting that Sif had any competencies.

        “That’s fairly high condemnation for the warrior boys, coming from you,” you teased with a grin. “The blond one seems like too much of a flirt for my taste. The rest…” you shrugged. “Dimwitted at best,”

    “Too true, dearest. Fandral always believes he’s a gift to women. Idiotic. The others irk me near as much as Thor does,”

    “If Fandral flirts with me, I get to stab him, right?” you confirmed, not feeling like dealing with flirtatious males, or idiots upsetting Loki. “And you only put up with Thor because he’s related to you, so I’m going to be bored of of my skull…” you huffed in exasperation, already dreading the warrior boys.

     “You don’t have to bother with them. We will only be visiting them long enough to get Thor away from them. However, you are perfectly welcome to stab Fandral if he dares make a move on you,” his voice was light in amusement. “And I only put up with Thor because I have very little choice not to since he always manages to find me wherever I go…”

    You gave him an incredulous look. “You really think the idiots are going to let you go into their lair and not insist you stay for a drink? Or twenty?” you asked him disbelieving.

    He groaned in reply. “I never said it was going to be easy to get Thor. His friends always try to get me drunk with them,” he whined. You noted people in the hall watching you, noting the prince’s relaxed behavior around his little mortal.

    You giggled in reply. “Well, that sounds entertaining at least. I’ve never actually seen you drunk, Midgardian alcohol being too weak for you and all,” you stuck your tongue out at him, teasing.

    He shook his head in exasperation. “Magic and alcohol never mix well. And Midgardian alcohol is close to water to us,” he smirked. “Besides, for now, we have other things to do before we must meet the Allfather and I don’t want to try and give you a tour of my home while being intoxicated,”

     You gave that a moment of consideration. “Fair enough. I’ll protect the big scary god from his brother’s idiot friends,” you teased as you neared the lair of the morons. It was easy to tell since you could hear them from down the hall. They sounded drunk.

    He snickered. “The kitten has claws,” he teased.

    “And they won’t expect it, noodle,” you teased right back.

    He sighed heavily. “Are you ever going to give up that nickname?” he groaned.

    “Highly unlikely,” you told him with a grin.

    He rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath: “Curse you, Stark,”

    That just made you laugh harder. You bounced ahead of him, took his hands, and dragged him a couple of steps to where the morons can clearly be heard from the hall you were in. “Come on, Lokes. The sooner we get this chore done to sooner we can go do something fun,”

    He laughed as he let you drag him along. “Alright, alright! Calm down, kitten!”

    You were still laughing when you took his arm again. “I take it that’s the lair of the morons?” You asked, gesturing to the room where the loud drunken sounding moronic voices were coming from.

    “You would be correct, dearheart,” he sighed heavily. “Time to enter the lion’s den,” he added with a groan.

    “IS THAT A LOKI I HEAR?” Boomed one of the warrior boys and suddenly you and Loki were hauled into the room and huge mugs of ale forced into your hands. “Sit and talk with us. the little lady too!~~” Demanded Thor’s drunk friends.

[banalitywars]

Seamless Loading In BWC

I'd like to take a moment to explain how I achieved the single most significant effect in Banality Wars Carridin. I'm of course talking about the instant loading. The effect where you tap on a map and the camera seamlessly zooms in. As I write this I'm realizing this comes off as bragging but I am really proud of this.

Not to say it's actually that amazing. It really puts into context how much work goes into achieving certain transitions in movies because they likely employ similar techniques. This is probably child's play to them. "Oh, you did the cool transition once? We did it like 36 times in this 2 hour motion picture. Only ours were done in the real world where we couldn't control every pixel on the screen and we had to juggle various visual and practical effects."

Well... Well... It's impressive to me!

The Thinking

The main menu didn't always have instant loading. I don't have any earlier images but it originally worked a bit like the Advance Wars Days of Ruin map loading (pictured above), as that's what this game is based on. So you have this 2D grid of map icons and you select one, it fades to black, and you enter into the map.

Now this is all fine and dandy. Except if you're the developer. I think when you're the developer of a game the small problems are magnified like 100x. You may see a perfectly acceptable loading screen. After all, all games have loading screens. And as a developer I'm like, "Why is this transition 5 seconds!?! Wholly unacceptable." So, yeah, the loading screens really bothered me.

Also Unity is really bad at loading new scenes for some reason. There is always a stutter. You might have seen loading screens that are animated. They'll play like a little animation while the next level loads. Yeah, not possible in Unity. There will always be a very noticable stutter which was driving me even crazier.

The Idea

So Banality Wars Carridin was through and through a mobile game. So I took some queues from Android. Android had recently gotten a new WebOS-inspired multitasking menu joining a long line of devices to rip off WebOS multitasking including iOS and Blackberry's QNX.

I actually think the old multitasking method in Android with the cards is superior. Anyways that's not the point. I was using this multitasking menu and I was like, "Hey, I could do that. Just tap on a map and instead of loading it would just zoom right in."

And then I was immediately like, "No I couldn't, it's too complicated. I could never load in data that fast. Just the spawning of gameobjects alone would take forever."

Enter ECS

ECS stands for Entity Component System. It means different things to different people. Some may use ECS as a way of structuring data so that it is 'cache friendly'. Some may use ECS to organize data so it is easier to add to without making spaghetti code. And still others, like me, use ECS to instantly load content.

Here's the video I saw that pitched me on the idea:

The creation of a new object (like a player or a tile or an obstacle or whatever) is called instantiation. And as this video shows it takes quite some time to instantiate objects with the old system. Around 0.07ms per object according to the video. Which is fine if you're just spawning one or two. But the instant load system would require thousands to be spawned very quickly.

Looking back on it maybe I could have gotten away with the old system. Just hide all the loading behind an initial loading screen that's a few seconds longer than it had to be.

Anyways, I did some experimenting. It seemed the cost of spawning a new item is the same as creating a new Matrix4x4 (a block of 16 numbers). That is to say, basically instant. And the more I thought this instant loading thing was a really bad idea, the more I started to think maybe it could actually work.

Saving

So I had the basic framework of the system. In the editor (that is the Unity program that actually makes the game) I have to press the play button. Upon doing so the system will save a copy of the map (using a tool called Easy Save) to the Resources folder. This is the folder that is accessible after building.

Once this is done I could load the map from anywhere in the game. Of course this would require me to overhaul my system to support saving. Every object would have to be saved. Well, not every object. Just the important ones. I always intended to do this eventually, but I didn't expect to have to do it so soon.

Saving is actually surprisingly difficult. Unity uses C#, an Object Oriented Language. And one of the benefits of an Object Oriented Language is that you get to do inheritance. Basically a trick that allows you to share code between objects like units. But you can't use inheritance when doing saving so I had to rewrite a lot of stuff and 'flatten the inheritance hierarchy' as the kids say.

But this also helped in another way. Now I could use this same code to save a game in progress. Which is pretty useful. This also allows the game to display not the map we saved earlier in Resources but display the map in progress. Pretty trivially to. All we have to do is tell the game to 'load the map from our local folder, not resources'.

This is how the map appears from resources:

This is how the map appears when not loading from resources:

The Actual Hand-Off

I considered getting a more zoomed in shot but this is good enough to illustrate the point. This is being recorded from Unity's Scene View. Basically a second camera you can use to view things the player won't be able to see.

The first thing you can see is things not in the view frustum (basically the area the player can see) appears as generic black boxes (it's a bit hard to see). This is an optimization step. It's called culling. It should be handled by the GPU but for whatever reason it's not. Maybe it's a problem with ECS. Oh well.

Anyways so let's break it down.

Tap on the map

Zoom in while dragging UI components away from the visible area (this is because if we didn't do this they'd suddenly disappear on the final frame which looks weird)

Load the rest of the fucking map

Sorry. Couldn't resist. But the process to load the map is quite complex. Well, actually no, it's not that complex. Just spawn all the tiles, the buildings, the roads, the units, and then use some trigonometry to figure out where the camera should be.

And unloading the map is done similarly. Just in reverse. The only real hard part is to find the initial camera position. This actually has to be saved to a file otherwise we must use a crude approximation of the location.

The Results

So as you can see the final result is quite impressive.

Too impressive maybe.

The Future

To be honest I'm not exactly happy with how it turned out. "Why?" you ask. Well, it's all about performance. I'm not convinced that this ECS system is very performant. Oh, here's a secret: on Android the sprites are rendered using GPU instancing while on iOS they are not because iOS apparently doesn't support this. So on iOS the ECS sprite rendering method is actually slower than the traditional method. Android should be faster but I'm not 100% sure as having this many sprites has resulted in some workarounds like the culling technique earlier.

I'm always super jealous of those games that can run on a potato while my monstrosity barely hits 60 FPS on a modern mid-range device. I don't know, maybe the grass is always greener on the other side.

Also there is the aliasing problem. Aliasing is when there's super small details that appear to flicker. You can see a lot of aliasing in the map previews.

To fix this I should probably use lower resolution versions of the tiles. But then I might as well just load the maps normally. Which I could do. Also the campaign maps will sometimes have intro dialog. I could just do it like WarGroove and have a little window that pops up with the dialog.

Well, one things for sure: I have a lot of work ahead of me.

If you want to see how it works currently you can download the latest build on my Patreon.