#thank you toby and toby’s brother you guys are so smart

[mxmarsbars]

some colorful doodles before I go to sleep >_<

[idkwhatimdoingbutslay]

Random commentary tags they are important

CAITLYN KIRAMMAN I FREAKING LOVE YOU YOURE SO KIND AND WHOLESOME AND YOURE TRYING YOUR BEST

VI I LOVE YOU TOO SO MUCH SO SO SO MUCH YOURE TOUGH AND STRONG BUT ALSO HURTING SO BAD AND YOURE TRYING YOUR BEST

YOU GUYS ARE SO PERFECT*** AND WONDERFUL AND INTENSE AND SOLID AS INDIVIDUALS AND TOGETHER

*** not literally but like kinda

[huhustuff]

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𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐬___𝟖𝐭𝐡𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

🍂🧸💫

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Simon remembers his first-ever interactions with you. It was just a usual GTA game with his friends, but this time you were added as well. He did not think much of you at first and just enjoyed your comebacks when the other guys were tryna give you shit for being bad at the game.

The friendship between the two of you has always been mostly chill. When you both started living in the same house it took him a bit to get used to you, but that was inevitable and would be easily conquered with time. 

One of Simon’s favorite things to do with you is to jokingly go after someone else with you. It is known that he is a bit evil. But when it comes to you most people remember your kindness rather than the same mischief you possess as well.

When the both of you start tearing at someone with those goddamn smart remarks there is no escape or a way of defense for the victim. There is always a shock in the person's eyes when you join Simon cause even though you have done it so many times they still find it surprising. And Si finds it extremely amusing. 

The most often victim of the two of you would be JJ. There is a compilation on Youtube titled “Y/N and Simon gangbanging JJ for 16 minutes” that got too many views for that title alone. 

The playful beef between the two of you is nice too. The both of you know each other well enough to be aware of what topics are off-limits and know that the other will not bring them up. It is just pure fun, such a comforting simple joy to have in your life with your dear friend. 

It has also become a habit to gently annoy each other physically. So whilst Simon pinches your sides or tickles you, you flick the back of his head or rough up his hair a bit.

Little poking battles will occur even when you tell him that he should stop this kind of behavior since he is soooo old now. But Simon knows well you do not mean it and pokes you twice for calling him old.  

Simon was glad that you got along with Talia until you and her started teasing him together just like you and he did to others. He was betrayed and needed some time to recover /hj. 

He is very supportive of you. Encouraging your ideas and goals. Congratulating you on your milestones and accomplishments.

The two of you would sometimes go on late-night drives. They had no strong purpose, just to rest your minds from making content and editing. Every so often you would capture him in his driving glasses on camera knowing that it will drive the fangirls crazy.

You also helped him with being a good boyfriend sometimes. He was not doing badly on his own, but you would sometimes give small pieces of advice in aspects where he was a bit clueless. He just needed some assurance as well lol. 

So many cameos in each other’s vlogs. Mostly just fooling around or randomly jumping in the frame.

'Subscribe to Miniminter on youtube.'

'Don't, go leave a dislike instead'

'HEY!'

When you were younger you used him for his age. He got you energy drinks (no alcohol promotion on this blog) and one time he accompanied you to get a piercing which you were oh-so thankful for.

It was a condition that a parent had to be present, but you convinced the person that would do the piercing that any adult would do since you’re parents were far away. Josh and Tobi both said you were too young, but the third time was a charm and Simon agreed.

When they were getting it done Simon held your hand, but also laughed at you on the same time.

Dying his hair some kind of crazy color for a video, only for the color to not exactly fit him. (Atleast the color is even because you applied the dye instead of him-)

You have so many nice memories with the guy. Like the other brother/the brother you never had. 

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Hope you liked these headcanons and that you have a sunny day or night 🌤!!

[thehorrorsoftheblackbunnymask]

Hiiiii I came Across Your Blog and I rlly rlly Love it,The Way you Write for the Creepypasta Characters is Amazing and I'm obsessed With it.

anyway If you are willing to take requests Can I Request The School Au Creepypasta Boys Like Ben Jeff,and the Proxies w Female Reader who is on The Proxies level (Is really strong And Smart as hell) But isn't Exactly a Proxy and + She's the Most popular and Smartest girl in School.

It's okay if not,You decide Just curious ❣️

Thank you so much!

Ben is using you to the max bro. He'll have you do homework for him and beg you to give him the answers to the up and coming exam. But, he's not going to be as open about his abuse if you're popular. You're popular for your personality, looks, and smarts, while he's popular for his looks and black market dealings. He'll show you off because like, two of the most popular kids in school are dating, you're the IT couple, but boy would the entire school freak out if they find out what Ben did to you at LJ's Halloween party.

Jeff isn't really popular but more so infamous, so being with him is definitely going to kill some of your popularity. Jeff doesn't really care about your popularity, and will constantly call you a dumb bimbo despite him copying your answers more time than he can count.

EJ is pretty much the school's JD when it comes ro reputation, so they'd be mixed opinions. I can see some of the popular girls getting jealous of you because helloooo, you just pulled the school's hot mysterious guy. You absolutely love his smarts and the two of you often talk about biology and help each other study for test. He's such the perfect boyfriend, always buying you gifts, walking you home, throwing you complement after complement. Awww. He'd would never hurt you, right?

Toby loves you bro, you're fucking saving his grade. The two of you were paired up in ELA because the teacher thought you'd be a good influence on him, and also hoped you could help him with his stutter, which wasn't even that bad. You found him a little strange, but you fell for his awkwardness and attitude. He doesn't care about your popularity either, hell, he rarely cares about his own, but your smarts? Broo, he's on his fucking knees for you bro. He didn't really care much about his grades until half way through senior year when he was told he might not be able to graduate if he didn't get them up, and then the moment you came along and got him to actually understand what the hell was going on, he fell hard. He still has his issues and is still an abusive asshole, but I feel like in this situation it's a lot harder to acknowledge it because of his desperation and almost simp like behavior.

Liu wants to ruin you. He wants to absolutely destroy your reputation for his own amusement. Does he love you? Ehhhh, maybe, hopefully, probably... It honestly depends on the day. Liu is capable of love don't get me wrong, but when the two of you first got together, he didn't really love you and saw you more as a game, but he fell for you as your relationship went on. You're popularity really bothers him because not only is he known as Jeff's little brother, but now he's known as the Smart Boy/Girl's boyfriend. But aye, because of you, he gets to skip more classes.

Tim doesn't really care about your popularity. Tim likes to go for losers because they tend to be more desperate and easier to manipulate, but Tim's always been one to enjoy a challenge. Even talking to you was hard because since you have a solid foundation, you often ignore him and reject any and all advances, but through some blackmail after one of LJ'S parties, you agreed to date him. The entire school gets an off vibe about your relationship, but they ain't gonna say anything.

Brian, dear lord. With Tim, getting you was hard, with Brian, easiest thing in the world. If you read my one shot The Proxies Little Pet part 2, I showed Brian as a charming lover boy, and I still stand by that. Brian is a manipulative, deceiving, blackmailing bitch. He's similar to EJ and Liu, all three of them present themselves as pretty nice, chill, caring guys, but the moment you date them, yours trapped. EJ takes a painfully long time to shoe his true colors, Liu is average time, but Brian. The moment you agree, he's done hiding. I can see the two of you hooking up, and afterwards while you were asleep he took a shit ton of picture of you. One day, when you're sick and tired of his abuse, he'll send you all the pictures he took and ask if yall were still over. Safe to say, you didn't stop dating.

LJ is an interesting case where he doesn't use you for your grades, but instead uses you for amusement. He'll actively embarrse you because come on, hes the class clown! Everyone loves him. He's extremely apathetic towards you whenever you cry about it, and he's just a fucking dick.

[uzumak1dump]

what's ur opinion on Sasuke'a character in SHIPPUDEN?Was he in the right or wrong for u?

damn, i hope you still see this coz it's been months since you ask this, sorry for this super late answer. i'm not really good at explaining so you have to bear with me as i prattle looools

well for me, sasuke was the most misunderstood character in the shippuden series. almost everyone seem to be stuck with the image of sasuke being the legacy child, that's why when sasuke started doing all the cruel acts, everyone go ballistic. everyone wanted him caged.

i don't think sasuke was wrong but i don't think he's right either, if that make sense haha. sasuke did bad things but i cannot completely fault him for that. i know he had all the choices, he is a smart guy. but we need to remember that sasuke was fed with the most vile information about his brother, his clan and its downfall, by some of the most dangerous people that only wanted to take advantage of him, like orochimaru, danzo, tobi and the akatsuki. even itachi, his own brother, never let him forget about the uchiha massacre and his parent's assassination. then there's tobi who told him itachi's truth and then there's danzo with the uchiha eyes all over his arm. you gotta imagine how traumatic that can be for a person that just killed his own brother. and i think most of them didn't understand the desperation that came with that. so yeah, i think sasuke did some terrible things but the governing system of konoha did just the same to the uchihas.

phew! thanks for the ask anon, i hope i get my point across and sorry again coz this is really really long overdue haha xd

[animeyanderelover]

How about some headcanons for Hashirama, Tobirama and Mito sharing a darling?

I had already great fun with the Sakura and Karin sharing a darling request and I’m also excited to do the other poly!relationship request you sent me💝.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, delusions, clinginess, manipulation, sabotage

Hashirama, Tobirama and Mito sharing a darling

🌳🌊🦊I see two high possibilities for this scenario to happen over which I already wrote. The first one would be that you’re already a childhood friend of the Senju brothers, meaning that they might have already started sharing you after they came to an agreement since Hashirama loves his little brother a lot and Tobirama is fiercely loyal to his big brother and respects him. Whilst Hashirama definitely suggested the idea and Tobirama was pounding a bit on the thought, in the end both would agree.

🌳🌊🦊Mito would in that case be most likely introduced as a friend to the darling since she is close to the Senju brothers and she most likely caught on quickly to the feelings of Tobirama and Hashirama. She feels like the type who would end up growing a bit more protective because whilst she certainly trusts both of them to protect you a lot, she also knows that Hashirama can be a bit too clingy and affectionate from time to time whilst Tobirama tends to be a bit of the ‘rough love’ type. Mito still finds herself covering the small tracks, both of them might have overlooked, up, not wanting them to get caught since she respects the Senju brothers very much.

🌳🌊🦊Mito really just starts as a friend who would start comforting you and letting you talk to her if something bothers you which ends with the Uzumaki scolding one or both of the brothers if they became a bit overbearing from time to time. For Mito it’s honestly a slow burn, though she does spend a lot time with the darling to give them a balance for being somewhat forced to spend time with the two brothers. Her more visible protectiveness might play a small role as well and I feel like if she notices the darling wouldn’t want anything of this forced relationship, she would try to save them as good as she can, though Hashirama is still Hokage and Tobirama has influence as well.

🌳🌊🦊Mito is most definitely the type to realize her feelings quickly and also the type to be honest with Hashi and Tobi afterwards. As I said, she respects both of them and despite her often having to scold them for their behavior which upset the darling, she doesn’t have much to complain since she knows both would die for the s/o if it’s needed. Next to that she is also aware that Tobirama has gotten suspicious since that guy is smart and noticed the looks she was giving their darling or these small, insignificant looking acts of hers.

🌳🌊🦊Mito is in a position as well and next to that she is good friends with the brothers so their reaction wouldn’t be too extreme. Hashirama is more confused than he is angry and Tobirama...well, he feels conflicted about this. On the one hand he is not happy at all with this sudden development of things, though he might have seen it coming, but he counts Mito to someone who is close to him which is why he can’t be as mad as he could be. Not at her, his brother might get angry at him since Mito is a close friend of theirs. There is a bit of discussing needed afterwards, but I can see Hashirama bringing up the idea, though his brother needs a bit of convincing until he’s somewhat fine with it as well, he has after all mixed emotions. And Mito would be thankful, knowing that she somewhat ruined the harmony between those two by suddenly squeezing herself in, but knowing her she might even feel the need to take care of the one or another thing in this relationship. Not for egotistical reasons, more if she thinks it’ll help giving you more comfort and ends up being on a long shot good for the whole relationship.

🌳🌊🦊The second scenario would be that the darling used to be Hashirama’s and Mito’s darling. The freedom in this relationship is more limited since Mito and Hashirama would in this scenario be married to each other and would bring shame over the names of their clan if it would come out that they are in a romantic relationship with their darling. They also don’t want their darling to suffer under the consequences of this, everyone might end up turning their backs in on them and there would be a heavy punishment. So in public everyone sees them just as Mito spending time itu her best friend and Hashirama night end up making them his assistant which allows him to spend Aldo in public time with his darling.

🌳🌊🦊Tobirama surely finds out at one time, but he keeps his mouth shut and that puts Hashirama and Mito at ease. He loves his brother and respects Mito and doesn’t want to drag their names through the mood which is why he makes sure that no one finds out, even if he has to go with more harsh methods. And he also spends his time with the darling, Hashirama wants his brother and them to be friends after all. And Tobirama is somewhat wary of them, he doesn’t want them to leave his brother and Mito and next to that he’s afraid they’ll slip up and ruin them all which he makes in a more intimidating way clear before Mito steps in and scolds him for scaring their darling like this.

🌳🌊🦊Tobirama’s and Mito’s roles would be reversed in comparison to the other scenario. It isn’t like he has to step that often in, he knows that Mito is extremely responsible. But he grows protective over the darling too, most likely because he knows they would suffer the most (as long as they aren’t in a powerful position as well) if any of this would be found out and the punishment might be fatal. He grows quicker close to them since they’re Hashirama’s and Mito’s darling and once he’s sorted them into a ���protect them under all costs’ category, he certainly starts falling for them, but just like Mito it’s an extremely slow fall.

🌳🌊🦊And in here it is Mito who notices this all just as much as Tobirama himself. He starts paying more attention to what you say and you in general and also gets a bit flustered whenever you are too close and tries to hide it, but Mito notices the way he stiffens up. And Tobirama’s ends up feeling embarrassed and ashamed of himself since you’re Mito’s and Hashirama’s darling. He wouldn’t have that much problems if all of them would have fallen at the same time or if the situation would be a bit different. But that isn’t the case and that makes him feel guilty. He is aware of the difficulty of this relationship Hashirama and Mito are having with loving you and having an active relationship with you. And with him suddenly entering this picture there might be new troubles. Next to that he is a bit worried what his brother and Mito will think of him since to both he looks up and respects highly.

🌳🌊🦊Think that he tries to ignore his feelings at first or tries to get rid of them which is why he won’t tell immediately like Mito would, he wants to solve this problem alone at first. But the moment he noticed that his feelings won’t disappear, he also confesses to both of them. And here again, Hashirama is a bit more surprised and confused by this, but he can’t be angry at his bro who already looks extremely disappointed in himself. Mito knew, but kept most likely quiet at first because she knew he would tell them sooner or later and for that isn’t angry. After all she can see that he himself feels the worst about this.

🌳🌊🦊I see him surprisingly ending up apologizing to both of them for causing so much troubles and it might be the only scenario where he doesn’t see the darling as his at first, not with Hashirama and Mito who treat them very well. Mito and Hashirama would most likely agree mutually to give the poor guy a chance. No one of them is truly mad and Hashirama loves his brother whilst Mito has trust in him, though I see her being a bit more worried about his stern character than Hashi is. Tobirama needs a bit time until he’s learned to fully live with this and his brother cheers him up whilst Mito just calms his worries with a few words down. Feel like he would try to be a bit more respectful to his darling than normally due to this whole “they weren’t my darling at first” knowledge, though sometimes he can’t help himself to be a bit harsh with them.

🌳🌊🦊Thinking closely about it, it’s a terrifying trio to have. We have Hashirama, a powerful shinobi who is the Hokage, Tobirama, another extremely skilled man who is a tactical genius, and Mito, who is the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi and extremely smart. It happens rarely that someone angers them enough and whilst Tobirama is more easily to agitate, Mito and Hashirama always hold him back to do anything too extreme. But if someone seriously messes with their darling, they might as well shovel their own grave because they’ll either get politically fucked over or will die a brutal death if it is a ninja who hurt their darling fatally.

🌳🌊🦊You have pretty much from everything something in this relationship. You have the funny and affectionate guy, the stricter, but more serious guy and the calm and caring woman. I can still see Mito as the one who does most of the management because Hashirama can be a bit too blinded by obliviousness and love sometimes whilst Tobirama can sometimes let his emotions get the better of him. And since both brothers trust her and know she always thinks everything through, they won’t object in most cases if she makes a suggestion, though everyone does something for this relationship to work.

🌳🌊🦊Mito is somewhat of the perfect balance between Hashirama and Tobirama and becomes the peace maker between them. It isn’t like they get in serious arguments, it’s more like Hashirama bugging his brother, most likely when he thinks Tobi was a bit too harsh on you, with Tobirama trying to stay cool. In a way it’s more childish and Mito always puts a stop to such things. Next to that she makes sure that both give you space when needed.

🌳🌊🦊Hashirama on the other hand makes it his job to help Mito as well as Hashirama to ease up from time to time since both are extremely serious and dutiful. Tobirama can be also a bit too strict on the darling from time to time whilst Mito can intimidate them a bit with her dignified and serious aura. He helps both of them relaxing and just enjoying the time with you.

🌳🌊🦊And Tobirama is, together with Mito, the one who ensures no one finds out. All of them do, but he feels the most on edge one with this which makes him look out a bit more and everyone who does have a end, will be taken care of by him. Tobirama is the one who is the most willing to punish someone which leads Hashirama and Mito trying to hold him back or soften up the punishment a bit. But it is also his job to make sure that they don’t go too easy on people and whilst this definitely is not a pleasant role to have, he knows that he’s the only one who can do this due to Hashirama and Mito being more softhearted and not a fan of bringing harm and suffering over others. It isn’t like he is messy, he just thinks some people have to learn their lessons.

🌳🌊🦊People wouldn’t get too quickly suspicious of them if they spend time with you because they know you’re close to all of them. I think in the scenario where Mito and Hashirama are married, the clan might end up arranging a marriage between Tobirama and you since they might notice at one point too that he likes you. Whilst it might be a bit of a surprise, they might just see it as a better opportunity to make people not suspect at all when they spend time with each other. It’s after all nothing wrong with two brothers spending time with each other and their partners, right? It of course also means that Tobirama will have to get to spend more time with you and he definitely ends up growing a bit more possessive and confident because whilst he still knows that he shares, officially you’re his married to him now.

[babybluebex]

english love affair [tom holland x reader]

➽ pairing: tom holland x fem!reader ➽ word count: 2.1k ➽ summary: you attend the bronx school of science, and you’re immediately taken by the new student: ben perkins. ➽ warnings: deception ig?  ➽ a/n: PART 1! no idea how many parts this is gonna be, but stick around! (taglist link is in bio)

As soon as you stepped off the bus, you heard the chattering that only came from one occurrence. A new kid. That confused you, though. It certainly wasn’t unheard of for kids to drop in halfway through the semester, but, at your school, it was rare. The Bronx School of Science was an elite high school and it took amazing test scores and the grace of God to get in, so a new kid in the middle of the year was a rarity. 

You saw him the moment you walked into your first period chemistry class. After all, he was the only face you didn’t recognize. Dark, curly hair that was just a bit long, with rosy cheeks and wide brown eyes. He seemed nervous; as new kids usually were. He wore a red hoodie, his hands shoved deep into the front pocket, and he was looking all around the room. The seat next to him was empty and, while it wasn’t your usual place, there was no formal seating chart. “You new?” you asked, swinging your backpack to the floor. 

The boy looked at you with a keen alertness in his dark eyes, and he swallowed thickly. “Yeah,” he laughed softly. He sounded a little Queens, maybe; perhaps even Brooklyn. “Just, uh… Just moved here.” 

“Nice,” you said. “From where?” 

The boy clenched his jaw. “Queens,” he said, and you nodded. 

“Well, welcome to the Bronx,” you laughed. “I’m Y/N.”

“Ben,” he said quickly. “Ah, Ben Perkins.” 

“Ben Perkins from Queens,” you repeated. “What brings you here?”

Ben shrugged. “Parents,” he mumbled simply. Ben seemed like a guy of few words, but you didn’t mind too much. It was a welcome change from the other guys at your school who wouldn’t shut up. 

You decided to not really say much to Ben. If he didn’t feel like talking, you didn’t want to push him and make him uncomfortable. The first day at a new school was stressful. “If you need help with any classes or anything, just let me know. Getting into the routine here is hard as shit.” 

“Thanks,” Ben told you with a nod. “That’s quite nice.” 

You couldn’t place why the usage of the word “quite” tickled the back of your brain. Maybe because you had never heard anyone use it like that. “You’re quite welcome,” you replied, biting the tip of your tongue. Ben looked at you and the rosiness in his cheeks grew deeper as he smiled. 

The class started normally, until your teacher got to the Ps on the roll sheet. “Oh!” she cried. “We have a new student! Benjamin Perkins!”

Ben’s face grew red, this time not from laughter. He gave a quick two-finger to the class, and he mumbled, “Just Ben is fine, actually.” 

“Welcome to the Bronx School, Ben,” your teacher said. “I’m sure you’ll do great here.” 

About halfway through the lesson, you looked at the boy sitting beside you. He wore jeans and scuffed sneakers with the red hoodie, a dark curl bouncing along his forehead as he looked at the board and diligently copied notes. He was cute, a lot cuter than any boys you knew, and you wondered what he was like when he was in his element. His hands were big, veins popping as he gripped his pencil tightly. You took a second look at the mechanical pencil, and your heart soared. Quickly, you ripped a page out of your notebook and scribbled a quick “i like your pencil :)”, and you passed it over to Ben. 

He tore his attention away from the lecture for long enough to look at your note, then at the pencil. It was red and blue with various white spiderwebs all around it. You liked the Spiderman pencil; your dad had practically raised you on the Toby Maguire Spiderman movies, so you liked anything Spiderman. In fact, you had been Spiderman for Halloween three years in a row when you were little. Not Spiderwoman, you said, Spiderman. Ben wrote something down and gave you the paper back, and you bit your lip as you read his message. 

“spiderman’s pretty cool i guess. you like the movies?”

“yeah!! toby maguire’s awesome”

“cool. i like them too :)”

You invited Ben to sit with you at lunch, and he did. You usually sat alone, and you secretly liked having Ben there with you. You two talked about Spiderman, mostly: how Toby was a better Peter Parker but Andrew Garfield was the better Spiderman. “You know,” you started. “In the comics, Peter Parker becomes, like, an intern for Tony Stark. Tony makes him this suit and he becomes the Iron Spider.” 

“Really?” Ben said. His eyebrows went up, and he scratched at a few upturned hairs. “That sounds cool.”

“I wish they’d add Spiderman to the MCU,” you added. “I think he’d fit really well with everyone, ya know? I mean, I guess they’d have to cast the right guy, but…” You shrugged. “A girl can dream, right?” 

“Sure thing,” Ben said. “I like Robert Downey Jr. a lot, he seems really fun.” 

“Oh, definitely!” you agreed. “And Chris Evans! Man, I’d love to meet them, I would just die right there.” 

Ben smiled and nodded along with you, and he slotted his chin into his palm as he listened to you chatter about Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. There was a hint of a smile on his lips, and you stopped mid sentence when you noticed it. “I just think Elizabeth Olsen is so underrated, and-- Ben. You alright?” 

Ben blinked a few times. “Yeah,” he said. “M’all good. Just listening to you.” 

You flushed. “I’m not talking too much?” you asked, feeling the urge to sink into yourself. “I’ve been told I do that.” 

“No, not at all,” Ben said quickly. “I like it. I like how people get when they get excited about something, you know? It’s cute.” 

“Cute,” you repeated, rolling the word around your mouth. Did Ben just call you cute? Or did he call the whole concept of your dumb blathering about some movies cute? Did that still qualify as calling you cute? You raised your eyes to his and, nervously picking at a loose thread on your sweater, hazarded, “You think I’m cute?” 

Ben shrugged. “I mean, yeah,” he said, as if it was obvious. “You just seem so passionate about those movies. I would listen to you talk about them for a long time.” 

“You wouldn’t want to.”

“I do,” Ben said quickly. “I promise you, I don’t mind one bit. I’d tell you if I did.” 

You nodded again, and you scooted just a bit closer to Ben. “For the record,” you started. “I think you’re cute too.” 

Ben smiled, little dimples appearing in his cheeks. “Cool.” 

Before the day ended, Ben had given you his phone number. “I don’t have Snapchat or anything,” he said. “Strict parents, ya know? But I’d love to talk to you.” 

You liked the way that Ben texted. He used a lot of emojis and even a few goofy emoticon faces, a la 2012, and he signed every text off with xx. With texting, you felt like Ben was a little more open than at school, probably because it was just the two of you, completely private. And, man, did the boy talk. He sent two, three, four messages in a row, just spewing thoughts the second he thought them. You didn’t mind one single bit, though; but your parents did. 

Even though the sound was off and your phone was in your pocket, the entire dinner table could hear your phone buzzing. “Is someone calling you?” your dad asked. “Your phone just keeps going off.” 

“Oh, no,” you said, your face going warm. Quickly, you pulled out your phone and set it completely silent, and the buzzing ceased. “Sorry. Just texts.”

“From who?” you mom asked. 

“A boy from school,” you began, fully intent on explaining the situation, but your little brother was quicker to the uptake than you. 

“Ooh, Y/N has a boyfriend!” he squealed. 

“Shut up, you little fungus!” you hissed. Brothers of any age were unbearable, but 13 was an especially difficult age, you had come to find. 

“Don’t call your brother a fungus,” you mom sighed. “That boy’s texting you an awful lot, though, Y/N.” 

You shrugged. “He’s new,” you said. “Just asking questions about school and stuff.”

“And his name?” your dad asked. 

“Ben Perkins,” you said. “He just moved from Queens.” 

“He’s a senior?” your mom asked and, when you nodded, her eyebrows creased. “That poor boy, moving schools in the middle of his senior year. Well, good for you, making new friends. I bet he really appreciates you.” 

Tom slumped himself down on the couch. You weren’t answering his texts and, while he knew that you probably had homework or were eating dinner or any number of other things, he couldn’t help the anxiety that filled him at the thought that maybe he had scared you off. 

Tom hadn’t had a normal high school experience by any means. Sure, secondary school was a thing that was semi-normal, but normal in the sense that everyone around him was in the same boat. And he was certain that British secondary school was a hell of a lot different than American high school. Hence, the joke that had landed him here.

“It would be funny if I went to an American high school for a few days. Just to see what it’s like, ya know?” 

Apparently, Anthony and Joe Russo didn’t seem to understand his British sense of humor, because he was on a flight to New York within the week. The Russos had helped him come up with the bare bones of a backstory: Ben Perkins, originally from Queens. American. 17. Quiet. It was a far cry from Tom Holland, originally from London, British, 19, and loud. But the Russos, in their infinite wisdom, had seen through Tom’s joke and understood something that was integral to the character that had taken Tom a few days to really see. 

Peter B. Parker was a high schooler. A smart one, an unusual one, but he was still 15 and trying to understand himself and the world. Tom didn’t have that knowledge; at least, not in the way that Peter Parker would have had it. He needed to see the inside of an American high school to get to the core of his character, and even Tom understood that. The filming for Captain America: Civil War hadn’t started and the news of Spidey’s introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe hadn’t hit the airwaves yet, but Tom knew that, if his contract was to be upheld in the way that Sony and Marvel had promised, he would have plenty of time to use this high school experience to better the character. 

Tom really and truly did not intend to develop a crush on a girl. Yes, a beautiful, smart, and funny girl that shared a love for the same things he did, but he was sure that the Russos would disapprove of it. After all, he was only slated to go to the Bronx School of Science for three days. There wasn’t nearly enough time to have anything more than a crush. But you. There was something about you, something intangible. He had felt a pull in his stomach when you first walked into the room and, when he had texted Harry about it, his brother had only laughed at him and made a joke about wanting to get his dick wet. And, yes, while that thought was in Tom’s mind, you were already so much more to him than that. 

As much as Ben Perkins was a character, Tom felt like he could be himself around you. He had shared stories from growing up, mostly about his brothers pulling shenanigans, and had shown you pictures of him and Tessa when he had first gotten her. The little squeal and sigh that had left you when you saw the puppy made his heart swell. Then, he had said something that still made his stomach turn: “Maybe you can meet her soon.” 

What a great fucking thing to say to someone that he would have to abandon in three days. Sure, he could keep texting you after he left, but he would have to explain everything to you. He knew what your reaction would be, too; somewhere along the lines of laughing at him and going, “Dude, you’re fuckin’ nuts, bro.” Or, on the other end of the spectrum, getting mad at him for lying to you. He was sure that you would be more mad than amused. And, after the conversation that you two had shared about your requited love for Spiderman, he knew that trying to tell you wouldn’t land him anywhere except alone again. 

And, God. Tom was tired of being alone. 

[project-rosewood-476]

Chapter 2 part 2 Of Every Rose Has Its Thorns is out now! the AU and some of the ideas and characters belong to @creepypasta-shtick and Maplehood Creek, Rosewood, and Tabby Anderson belong to me.

TW: character death, mentions of blood and gore

She walked out the front door and waited for Toby. Toby followed her out and led her out of the building. Tabby followed him out of the building and she kept her head down low and her hands in her pockets. She didn't dare make any eye contact for too long and she was quiet.

There were already a lot of people outside. Toby heard something.

"Go after that human!"

Toby looked around and saw a small figure darting through the crowd as more and more monsters gathered to watch.

"KILL IT!" Another monster shrieked.

Toby saw the figure dart into an ally and watched a harassed looking proxy going after the human. Ah. A runt being made to chase the human down. Hm.

Tabby snapped her head up and her eyes were wide alert. Toby was facing her so she turned around and got into a fighting stance to attempt to protect him and herself. She was about ready to grab her knives that she had on her. But once she realized that it wasn't for her she let out a quiet sigh in relief. And dropped her defensive posture. But she was still alert just in case.

Toby watched the young proxy attempt to capture the human, then the crowd blocked his view. He shrugged.

"We might as well just go." He said to Tabby. "The library is a couple blocks away from here." He said. He had no interest in trying to watch.

She nodded not saying anything. It was none of her business and curiosity does indeed kill the cat from Tabby's life experiences so far. She went back to keeping her head down and putting her hands in her pockets. She quickly walked away to keep up with Toby and to get away from the scene.

Toby heard whoops in the distance, then groans. Seems like that will take awhile. He sighed.

"Humans sometimes accidentally find portals down here." He explained.

"Makes sense", she said quietly, still not looking up.

That just added on to her anxieties. What if her little brother were to accidentally show up? He was only 7. He would never survive this place nor would she want him to know what she and the others do here for a living.

Toby nodded. They soon arrived at a very tall, somewhat circular building. The door seemed somewhat disproportionate to the size of the building. Toby began to climb up the stairs. This was the library.

Tabby let out a quiet "oh" in awe. She quickly climbed up the stairs.

Toby opened the door for her. The inside of the library was cold, and it was somewhat dark.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

She scurried inside and felt a little more relaxed once the cool air hit her. She took in a deep breath and smelled the familiar smell of a library. She let out a sigh of nostalgia as her eyes got used to the darkness. She saw circular shelves of books one outside another. And they were so high that there was a ladder for those that can't reach the top. Toby followed behind her. The library was blissfully quiet. He saw a few people scattered around but none of them were bothering anyone. Secretly she was fangirling inside as this is what her dream library would be basically. She began to look around for the plant books. Looking up and around at everything practically almost breaking her neck in doing so. Toby let her look around. He saw an old friend of his so he went to go chat with him. A librarian was nearby, quietly hovering by a bookshelf. Tabby grabbed a couple of each. She grabbed two books on edible and poisonous plants. That would be good if she had missions that left her stranded in the woods somewhere. And a couple of books on the plants here and their medical uses which would be good for her since she doesn't trust doctors and would have to take care of her own serious wounds if she got injured. Then she explored a little more avoiding the people like they are the plague. There were a couple of human authors here that she liked and there were other books that she made a mental note of that she might like that she didn't know of. But she wasn't sure how many books she could take out at once. So she just stuck with the books that she planned to take out.

Toby sat next to his friend. EJ glanced up, sensing him here.

"Oh, good morning, Toby."

"Hey Jack. Whatcha up to?"

"Oh, I'm just taking a break from my work. I got Kate to cover my wing of the med bay today so I could spend some time in here."

"How are you reading the books with no eyes?" Toby asked curiously.

"I can just...feel the letters." EJ said.

Toby shook his head with a smile.

"You were always kind of weird."

"Why thank you." EJ said with a laugh.

The two continued to chat. EJ was telling him about another malus that he knew that was opening up a restaurant nearby.

Once Tabby was done looking around she went to what she assumed to be a check out counter and waited patiently. She quickly looked up to make sure that Toby didn't leave her. She saw him near by and saw that he was talking to a guy in a blue mask that appeared to have no eyes. She quickly looked down. Toby and EJ continued to chat. Toby had fond memories of EJ. EJ had been doing what he did since childhood. As a malus, he was raised in this world. EJ had taken a bit of care with Toby when Toby was new. He had shown Toby the ropes and taught him different ways to stalk people and how to get around in the pitch black effectively. He was a good dude. A tall librarian passed them, heading towards Tabby. Tabby stood up straight and shifted her weight uncomfortably. She looked up but not for too long. The librarian stopped in front of her, and pointed her to the self checkout line. You didn't need a card here. You could use your fingerprint or leave something as collateral. Tabby let out a silent 'oh'. She nodded her head and said a quiet 'thank you' to the librarian and went to try to figure out this process. She mentally cringed at herself at how godawful awkward she was being in front of Toby and his friend. It didn't matter if this was her first time it was still cringey and awkward. She figured out the process and used her fingerprint as she was now registered in the library. She held her books close to her chest and continued to look down and walked over towards Toby. Toby didn't care. He knew that it was awkward learning how to do things here. He knew other would've made fun of her but he saw no point in it. As for EJ, he was totally blind. He had no idea. Toby saw her approaching and smiled.

"Oh, hi Tabby. This is Eyeless Jack. EJ for short."

"Just Jack also works." EJ said.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you" she said politely.

She turned to Toby. "I got the books I needed"

EJ nodded and turned back to feeling the book with his fingers.

Toby smiled. "Awesome." He said.

He got up. "You probably want to leave now?"

"You can still do whatever you're doing I can wait" she said looking down.

She was referring to letting Toby finish up his conversation with EJ.

Toby thanked her, and sat back down to continue chatting with EJ.

Tabby sat down a couple of benches over not wanting to be rude and eavesdrop on the conversation. She began to read one of her books. Toby learned that EJ was about to he sent out on a largely lucrative mission. He would be set for awhile. It sounded very tempting too. It was going to be a group thing. Tabby lost herself in the book. She's always been book smart because she loved to learn everything and anything that she could that wouldn't get herself killed. Toby noted that she was pretty engrossed so he just let her read. EJ let slip that the boss was looking for a group of proxies to do it with him, since part of it was infiltrating a school and he obviously couldn't do that. Tabby continued reading. She was in her favorite reading position. Back against the corner, leaning against the wall and having her legs curled up. Toby eventually finished up his conversation and headed over to Tabby to ask if she still wanted to be shown around. Tabby nodded and closed her book and got up. Toby grinned.

"Awesome." He said.

He was honestly a little excited to show her around.

Tabby was smiling stupidly at Toby being excited but thank god he couldn't see under her mask. She followed behind him and said goodbye to the desk person and walked out the door. Toby led her out towards Tabby was honestly excited. This was the first time she's had total freedom before. Sure she was still suspicious and wary of everyone and everything around her. And she was still concerned with surviving another day in this new world. But with Toby leading her and she herself looking around her surroundings. She realized that she was having some sort of fun. And it brought a sense of peace for now. It's been a while since she's had either.

The street. Just ahead of them on the other side was what seemed to be some sort of marketplace. Toby knew that she would probably be okay as she had a mask on. No one really messed with proxies, at least, not in this public of a setting. He led her across the street and to the market place.

"This is sort of like what humans would call a farmer's market." Toby explained to Tabby.

One old, squat green woman was next to a cart of strange, berry-like orbs that pulsated and glowed. A tall creature with hulking claws and sharp teeth was next to a booth where Toby could hear meowing and barking. A proxy woman with a pale blue mask was standing next to a cart with jewelry displayed. Toby knew that woman was a member of the WPA and that that jewelry probably wasn't all that it seemed. A man with pointy ears and a long tail was obviously some type of snack vendor. There were even more booths and carts than Toby could see.

She looked at Toby. Although he did spare her life and was so nice to her. She wanted to start trusting him little by little and maybe just maybe have him considered as...a friend. She looked away and shook her head. There's no way that she could possibly move on. Not when she still has to avenge her friends and moving on equates to forgetting to her. And she promised herself that she wouldn't forget. Besides he was a killer he really shouldn't be trusted. He could easily kill her at anytime. She looked at him as he was explaining the supermarket to her. Perhaps under different circumstances and in another place in time. They would have been the best of friends. Definitely would have tied for first place with Autumn.

She nodded her head eagerly in understanding.

"it's definitely livelier than the human ones. Sometimes my mom would take me to them in the summer and falls. Since that's when they're open. She liked to look around and attempts to cook with fresh foods. I accidentally got free food from there once", Tabby explained a little excitedly.

Toby nodded and smiled. He had never been to a farmer's market as a human but Hoodie had told him what it was like. Toby continued to lead her through the stalls, pointing out things he knew. He pointed at the squat woman with the orbs.

"She's selling Tethered, which are kind of pets? I think they're more similar to familiars but I'm not sure. They're really good for neutralizing anxiety and also some will kill people who threaten you. Jeff has one named Smile”.

He pointed at another creature.

"He sells pets. Mainly just cats and dogs but I think he has a few birds. Mostly pigeons though."

They passed by the woman with the jewelry, where another sign said 'CONCEALED WEAPONRY. ASK FOR DETALS'. The snack vendor was selling some odd looking food. Toby grimaced. The monster was probably a cannibal. They passed someone selling dried plants and herbs. They passed Bloody Painter selling his art. There were tricks and laughter and even some games being played. One booth sold cursed items. Another sold weapons, but not just standard knives. One woman was selling psychic services. There were so many things to do. Toby was a little overwhelmed with it all but he did his best not to show it.

"There's clothes too I think."

Tabby looked around her anxiety was picking up. She occasionally fidgeted with her shirt before catching herself and smoothening it out before picking back up on the habit again. There was just too many people there for both of their tastes. She could tell he was getting a little anxious too since she is the queen of anxiety. There was somethings she would have liked to try and buy but she didn't want to bother Toby so she stayed silent for awhile

"There's a lot of things to do here...I can't wait until I get my own money".

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a water color painting by the bloody painter. It started out as a campfire then the embers turned into birds and then the birds turned into stars in the galaxy looking sky. Transitional paintings as Autumn would call them. What made her stopped dead in her tracks was that it was Autumns favorite medium to work with and that was exactly the tattoo she described that she wanted when she turned 18. She died before then. Tabby's eyes showed a mixture of sadness, pain and nostalgia.

Toby turned to check on her and could see that she was hurt. He decided to not push it as it was probably personal. He decided to try to just talk to her about something else.

"Jack was telling me about a long mission that he was going to go on, and that he needed proxies to go with him." He said with a shrug. "I was thinking of volunteering. Would you like to go too? It would be field training, very good pay, and a way to get to know other proxies you may work with in the future."

Tabby shook her head to get rid of the memories. She looked at Toby with a confused expression for a moment before processing what he just said. She looked at him unsurely.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea...but training has to start somewhere I guess...I won't get anywhere if I do nothing..."

"What's the mission exactly?" She looked at him suspiciously.

"It's an infiltration mission." Toby explained.

"Infiltrating a school." He said.

"It would be for about a half a year or so? But we would be given an allowance and a house to stay in while we're there. Since you and I look young, we would be the infiltrators. If we go, Masky and Hoodie probably would too. I think they might pretend to be married and our parents." Toby smiled. That would be fun.

Tabby gave him a funny weird look.

"That would make siblings...for the mission I mean" she giggled.

"I never had a decent older brother before...you'd be much better than my other one" she stopped abruptly and mentally cursed herself again that she gave out too much information. She wouldn't drag her family into this, especially her little brother Adam. She had a more serious look to her.

Wait which school?..." she hoped that it wasn't what she thought it was.

Toby smiled at her.

"I'll do my best to be a decent brother." He joked.

He thought for a bit and realized he didn't necessarily know which school it was, only that there was a target within the school.

She laughed.

"I'll think about it" she said thoughtfully.

"If the school was Rosewood or the Maplehood Creek school system. I really can't go back there as I've been missing for two days now so people are probably looking. Courtesy from the police. And that would put the team at risk and I'm not having that. However I can tell you the best ways to sneak in and out. And pointers on what to do and who you should stay away from. Even though he's a measly human compare to you I don't want to take any chances he has a way of getting into your head", she said and became more quiet after mentioning Horacio.

She really wouldn't mind if Horacio was the target. Finally the bastard has what's coming to him. All she would ask for is let her do the kill. However what if it's not? What if it's a child? Specifically her little brother. That thought spiked her anxiety as she picked back up the habit of fidgeting with her shirt again

"Hey I got a few questions".

"Well, if it is in that school district, then I'm sure we could find a way to disguise you. We have our ways." Toby smiled.

"Monsters who don't want to work with proxies have these pills that allows them to change their appearance." Toby explained.

"Though it really only works on non-mali monsters, so EJ can't use em." Toby knew EJ sold those pills however. Toby continued to walk.

"Hm?" He would answer any question to the best of his ability.

"Would it be possible to set up a bank account in the human world? Anonymously of course. Since we're getting paid for these missions. I promised myself that I would get this person out of Maplehood when they're old enough. But I'm here now so idk how that would work out and I don't want to be in trouble or drag them into my own mess. Also, would we get in trouble for killing someone on a mission when we're not ordered too? Because if it is Rosewood I know exactly who I need to go for”.

Toby looked a little confused.

"We have no real need for human money here. We earn our own currency here." He said.

"If we did, then this world would be flooded by international currencies and business is so much harder to do." He said.

"There are ways to get human money, but usually we trade in for it at our bank or we just steal cash from victims." He said.

"And no, we wouldn't get in trouble for killing if not ordered to. He said. "A lot of us go out killing for fun. It shouldn't be a problem."

"Ohh.." she said a little sadly at the first part. Then she'll just have to rely on Adam making the right choices then. "Good" she said at the second part.

"But in all actual seriousness if it is Rosewood. Stay away from Horacio at all costs if you can. Don't take anything from him, don't give anything to him, don't talk to him, and don't believe a word he says either. I don't care if he's human it's best to not take any chances. Rosewood isn't exactly a great place to be. It's a place to break your spirit and to become more broken than what a person is now." She spoke frantically but she stopped herself and took a couple of deep breaths to calm down.

Her tone became more cold and harsh "if he is the target all I ask is to leave him to me. I'll take care of him" there was like a cold anger, vicious, darker feel around her.

"However on a different note" her tone gradually left the coldness and harsher bite to it "and these are all ifs. I could show you which backroads to use to sneak around town and which spots are excellent hideouts" she added.

Toby nodded. He knew better than to fall for any sort of human nonsense. But then again. They had no idea if that school would even be Rosewood. He hoped it wouldn't be, though he assumed the school would be in a similar area. He was somewhat excited. He let EJ know over phone to contact Masky and see if they should do this mission. He never really experienced high school and would honestly love to. Tabby stayed quiet for some time. Just having time to mull over her thoughts. She took the time to observe Toby. It made her smile to see him excited about something even if it was subtle. She thought about it from his perspective. He told her that he's been homeschooled so for someone who's never been in a social school setting before she could understand why it would be exciting to him. Autumn would have loved having him around. He would have made a great addition to the dysfunctional family she used to have.

She finally spoke up "but whatever school it is. We'll figure out together as a team right?"

She sounded much more confident than she ever did or felt. And her tone had a hint of hope and optimism in it.

"Since Jane told me that proxies work in groups and it's normally with people that they work well with or semi trust" she added quickly and looked down and went back to being quiet.

"I just don't want to see you hurt and broken more than what you are...especially if it's Rosewood" she mumbled that was barely audible.

Toby nodded, eyes shining.

"Yeah! As a team." He said with a bright smile.

He liked that idea. He also figured the boss would put Tabby with their group anyways. He hadn't heard what she had mumbled. He saw a group of monster children playing on some sort of metal spiderweb. Toby suddenly felt a little anxious. Oh god. Going back to school. Would be be made fun of again? Would he be bullied again? His mind began to travel further and further down that path until he felt a sense of incredible calm wash over him. He saw, holding onto his wrist, a warm golden rope. Thread. Whatever. Seeing that he calmed down, the tendril loosened and pulled away. Toby looked around and saw The Puppeteer nearby. Ah. That was probably it.

Tabby laughed at his childishness. For a moment she had a mini flashback to when she and autumn were alone. Whether it was after school before she had to go home or when they would sneak out at night together. Tabby would go on her rants of stupidly hopeful optimistic childishness stuff. Autumn would smile and listened to her. Only with her and Toby the roles were in reverse. Tabby was playing the part of Autumn and Toby was playing the part of a younger and more hopeful version of Tabby.

She won't admit it to anyone ever especially to Toby. But her entire past and heart just melted away when he said 'yeah like a team'. The only team that she had was her friend group. She hasn't had that in a long time. Strangely enough she felt at peace with him and she had a glimmer of a future. Perhaps one with him in it?. She made another promise to herself that she would stay alive long enough to protect Toby from getting bullied at school for the mission. At whatever cost. For a moment and she made sure no one was looking she looked at him like he was the best thing in this world.

She looked over to where he was looking and saw a ghostly figure with golden strings. She then put two and two together "so that's the puppeteer" she said in thought in realization "maybe I'll go talk to him and see what's he about" she also said in thought

She spoke up after coming back from being lost in her thoughts "who was that guy with the golden strings?"

Toby smiled.

"That is The Puppeteer." He said.

The Puppeteer was pretty decent to know. Since he was a ghost, he didn't really have a home and he stayed with people, took away their negative feelings, and he was usually welcome. Toby would often see him around Bria- Hoodie. But at the moment, he was hanging around a short girl with a pale, crusty-looking mask. Oh. Kate. Kate wasn't wearing her med mask so she wasn't working. They seemed to be chatting with each other. Toby told Tabby about Kate.

"That's Kate, or the Chaser. She is a really good medic." He said. Kate was a brilliant proxy and a brilliant medic. She is one of the more prominent medics, specially trained by EJ. She keeps secrets well." He had great respect for Kate. She helped a friend of his out with a very...awkward situation.

"Interesting..." she mused to herself

"Although the idea is tempting I think I just have too much emotional baggage too the point where he can't take away all of it" she looked at Toby then at Kate distrustfully

"But I don't like doctors"

"Oh you'd be surprised how much he could take." Toby said with a laugh.

"And I know, I know. Kate doesn't treat people unless they ask or need it." Kate would refuse service too if people were assholes about it.

She gave a bitter chuckle "you don't know the half of what I've been through"

She gave a thoughtful look over to Kate "well that's good I guess"

Toby sighed.

"Pretty much everyone here who used to be human has been through some sort of hell here." He assured her.

Toby remembered a time when some monster was ranting to Kate, in her own med bay, about how useless she was. Kate had just stood up, and told him to get the hell out. Kate was very no-nonsense.

Tabby sighed and continued walking with him. The market place was getting busier and she didn't want to be left behind so she sped up her pace to catch up with him. Toby led her past carts with clothes and other things. Toby wondered if he should get some things, maybe a new coat or something. There were some things that he could use. Tabby saw and liked a lot of things but she didn't want to bother him and waste his own money. There were also free samples of food being given out. Tabby wanted to try some due to her curiosity but between her anxiety, paranoia and not knowing if the food was poisonous or not. She decided against it. Toby would have purchased her things if she would have asked. He was a good proxy after all; he wasn't broke or anything. He saw a juice sample being offered for free and thought it looked interesting so he got a free sample of it and sipped it. It was pretty good.

"Can I have a sample?", She asked shyly, "if it's not poisoned that is"

"Sure." Toby said.

He went and got her a sample as well.

"Poisons aren't really all that popular here but you can get something to test food for poison." He said.

"You can never be too safe", she said as she took the juice she sniffed it just to be sure.

"Smells good" she said in thought.

She took a sip "mmmm" she had a big smile on her face. It tasted like apples and berries.

"What is this exactly? And where can I get the food tester thing?".

Toby smiled.

"I think Nat makes the juice." He stated, finishing his sample.

"This is just juice. Non-alcoholic." He said.

"You can get the food testers at stores and some restaurants have single use ones." He said.

"This is good" she finished up the last of the juice.

"Let's go" she said excitedly ready to continue this adventure.

Toby smiled.

"Okay! Do you want to stay here or go somewhere else?" He asked.

"Let's try somewhere else", she said.

"Okay!" Toby continued to lead her along.

He was going to show her around a downtown area. Tabby stayed close to him so she wouldn't get lost. There was still enough personal space between them but with the occasional arm brushing up against the other's arm. Toby understood. It was whatever. The downtown area was much less crowded. It was very nice. There were shops, restaurants, and other places. They passed a pet shop. Tabby stopped dead in her tracks as she saw a black, white and orange kitten with a little tear in its ear. She immediately were up to the glass like she was drawn to it. The kitten was play fighting with the other kittens and then it came to playfully attack Tabby through the window but it bounced off and tumbled backwards a little. Tabby giggled. Toby smiled and let her stay and watch the cat. It was pretty cute. He knew this place treated the pets well. This place also was a vet place. He got Nugget's shots there.

She turned to him.

"I used to have an orange cat back where I used to live. Well he wasn't really mine he was a stray but he did follow me home a couple of times. But my apartment didn't allow pets. So after school I would spend time with him if my friends were too busy. His name is Mac which is short for mac and cheese."

For just a moment her eyes were full of child like wonder instead of there usual haunted, knowing, and troubled look that they usually had. For a moment she looked young and hopeful instead of her usual mature tough girl look.

Toby smiled.

"You want to go in and see the rest of the cats?" He offered.

They might as well. He knew Masky picked up shifts there when he wasn't busy. It was a nice place with decent staff and of course, lots of cute animals.

Tabby nodded excitedly "yeah!"

"That kitten in there is a rough and tumble troublemaker" she grinned.

Toby grinned, and led her inside. The place was loud, with the sounds of cats, dogs, birds, and other animals occupying the space. Tabby played and petted the puppies in their cages and talking to them before the said kitten jumped out of the display cage and padded over towards Tabby and headbutted her from behind to get her attention. She turned around "why hello there again troublemaker" she cooed at the kitten and picked it up and pet it with one hand and the puppies with the other. She was sitting down and was frantically trying to give each animal equal love and affection. Toby let her do so. He smiled. It was very nice to see her happy. He went to go check in the back where he found the old monster who ran this shop. He was a wrinkled grey creature with stringy silver hair. He had a cage with him and was examining a cat on the table. The old monster had specially made glasses for all six of his eyes. The lenses were thick. The cat was sleek and black, and seemed to be very chubby. The monster, who people just called Ed, was muttering to himself in a nasally voice as he looked over the cat. But in the end she had all of the cats on her as she was being smothered in kitty affection. She sighed in defeat.

Toby came over to check on her just as Ed brought out the new cat to put in a separate enclosure. Tabby was laying in defeat on the floors the herd of kittens were all over her. She looked up at Toby.

"I was ambushed".

Toby laughed.

"You were overwhelmed. There were too many of them."

"There's no such thing as too many. The problem here is that I don't have enough limbs"

She gently shook the kittens to get them off of her. She gently put them back in their display cage by the window.

"We could change that." Toby joked.

Ed was totally ignoring the two of them.

"You know, you could always work here between missions." He said. "For a little side cash, you know."

Tabby laughed.

"It would make multitasking easier" she joked back.

She tilted her head to the side, "I think I would like that".

Toby laughed.

"We can cut off some random human's arms and have EJ attach em to you." He joked some more.

"The only time I'll let any doctors near me" she joked back.

Toby laughed.

"Fair enough." He said.

"Where are we going now?", she asked.

"Hm. We could finish the downtown tour. I could take you to Nat's- sorry I mean Clockwork's- bar.".

"I'm old enough here to drink?" She tilted her head to the left as she often did when she was confused

"Then again I've been sneaking alcohol and playing bartender to the people I lived with since I was 12. I know how to mix drinks quite well".

Toby looked at her and laughed.

"This is literally a haven of killers, and you think there's a drinking age here?" He said.

"If you're under ten you can drink if your parents are with you, but that's the only restriction I've seen."

Tabby laughed and looked down.

"Fair enough" she shrugged her shoulders as she walked with Toby.

Toby led her down the street. It was pretty hot out. Tabby looked around at her surroundings. Although it was pretty hot out she didn't complain. Toby knew the bar was a couple of blocks down. He began to lead the way. Tabby stuck close to Toby. She kept her head down to avoid the other people. Toby understood. They passed by an alley and Toby heard the unmistakable sounds of someone getting beat up. Tabby heard the sounds too. She sucked in a breath as she physically cringed deeper into her jacket as she remembered her own beatings by her step dad and her fist fights with Horacio and others at Rosewood. Her entire body jerked as she felt the phantom pains of her past beatings. She walked quicker. Toby ignored it. This happened if you got too cocky. That was why it was good to have friends here. Masky told him to make sure everyone liked him so they wouldn't beat him. That's what Masky did and it worked. It took a couple of minutes before the phantom pain died down and a couple of more minutes for her to uncoil from her jacket and then pretended like nothing happened.

Toby soon saw the lights of the bar. Thank god. He made a beeline for the place. It was crowded but never uncomfortably so. Tabby followed him. She saw the lights and how crowded it is. She gulped as her social anxiety kicked in. It was pretty tame at the moment. Nat was tending to the bar. Others sat and talked amongst themselves. Tabby quietly looked around at her surroundings. There was still a lot of people but not as much as Tabby was expecting so her anxiety died down a little. The situation around her was pretty mellow so she didn't have to worry about either one of them getting into some sort of trouble. She relaxed a little. Toby asked her if she wanted to get a non-alcoholic drink. He figured that since it was so early, drinking alcohol wouldn't feel good. Sure some people day drank, but he didn't peg Tabby as the type to really want to. Quite a few of the patrons at the bar were drinking non-alcoholic drinks, or drinks with just a small amount.

"I'll have an alcoholic drink thank you very much", said Tabby.

Toby shrugged. Alrighty. That was fine with him. Tabby ordered some coconut rum mixed with Coca-Cola. Toby just got a soda. He didn't feel like drinking and never really drank a lot. Because Tabby is short her legs dangled off the ground as she was sitting on her bar stool. She looked around at the other people but was careful not to look for too long. Some looked normal, and others looked absolutely freakish. Their drinks were set in front of them. Toby sipped his soda. Tabby casually sipped her drink as she felt the familiar warmth rushing to her cheeks and ears. She hummed quietly as she felt somewhat content with having her a drink that reminded her of home somewhat. Toby did his best to limit his consumption of alcohol. He didn't want to end up like his dad. Nat was cleaning glasses behind the bar.

"So what do you normally do when you're not on missions and showing the new person around?", asked Tabby.

She cringed at herself internally at how awkward she was at conversation starters.

"Uh...well, I train, honestly. You really never stop learning. But when I have time for myself I do a lot of social stuff. Like come here.", said Toby awkwardly.

She tilted her head "makes sense. I like to learn a lot too. A wise person once told me that the more you know the less you have something to be afraid of. After all you can't be afraid of something if you know what that thing is" she said thoughtfully.

Toby smiled.

"Yeah, that's a good way of thinking about it." He said.

He took another sip of his drink right when his phone buzzed. Proxies had really crappy phones, usually burners, but Toby could receive texts. It was from Masky, saying that the Slenderman confirmed they could go on this mission and that they would leave in a couple of days. It would be good practice for Tabby. Tabby looked at his phone in a mixture of confusion and curiosity. Toby explained that they had been confirmed on the mission.

"So we're going then?" She asked.

She looked at herself weird "it's been awhile since I've used 'we' and 'us' terms. It's a nice change"

"Yeah, we are!" Toby said.

"And I'm guessing that since you're coming, the boss wants us in a group together." Toby seemed pretty excited at the concept.

Tabby genuinely smiled which gave a lopsided grin and gave her dimples and crinkles underneath her eyes.

"Better now than never I guess!" She was done with her drink.

Toby finished his up. He smiled. He then told her the name of the school.

"The school is called Greengrove High. It's near Rosewood, but it's not in either school district. It's a public school but has a small attendance rate."

She sighed in relief.

"Thank thy fucking lord. I know where that is, it's in Maplehood still. I'm told it's a lot like Rosewood but it's not a prestigious school. So no rich folks only problematic and semi intelligent people".

She was still thinking, "I can still show you the best ways to sneak around town and I can still get my revenge hopefully" she looked more visibly relaxed now that she thought she didn't have to protect him from Horacio.

However she still planned to keep her silent promise to protect him from bullies since she knew there were bound to be some.

She realized something.

"Hey! I don't have to wear school uniforms anymore... jesus it's been 8 years since I've been in a public school"

"Yeah! You know a lot more about the towns than we do- well I think Hoodie is pretty familiar with the town actually. I think his brother lives there. Anyways, we can meet up with them and EJ later. I think preparations are being made for us to live in a building close to the school." He said.

He laughed about the uniforms comment. "Yeah! And I won't have to wear a mask. And I can go to classes...and meet people my age..."

"But he's a doctor....I don't like doctors why are we going to see him?" she said slowly.

Some would notice and some would not but once Toby said 'meet people my age' there was a flash of jealousy on her face that quickly dissipated.

"Because he's the one who got the mission first." Toby said.

"If you tell him to back off, he will." He assured her.

Toby didn't notice. He was too caught up in his excitement. Real people! His age! And he maybe won't even have to kill them!

Tabby sighed "fair enough"

She then became more relaxed once again and spoke more softly.

"I'll be back in familiar territory again. I'll be up against people my own age who are give or take in intelligence and strength. So maybe my anxiety won't skyrocket and maybe I won't have to fight to survive another day as much"

Toby nodded.

"I don't think it will be so bad!" He sounded very optimistic about the whole situation. He couldn't wait.

Tabby gave him the same genuine lopsided grin. She absolutely adored his optimism.

Toby was excited for the whole thing.

"Plus this mission will pay super well. You would be able to afford almost anything. And...I bet the boss would pay in human cash if you wanted...".

Tabby nodded thoughtfully.

"That would definitely help me fulfill one of my promises that I made".

Toby nodded and smiled. He decided to just get a water. The soda he had gotten was already a big deviation from his regular diet. Tabby didn't order anything else one drink was enough for the day. She just quietly observed everything around her and tried to discreetly look at Toby more without making herself look more like a creep and blatantly staring. Toby finished his water. He paid for their drinks.

"So! Should we continue the tour?" He asked with a happy smile. His stomach had settled from the soda. He usually didn't drink that.

Tabby nodded her head eagerly with a smile "I'd like that very much" she slid off her bar stool to go follow him.

Toby waved bye to other people at the bar, avoiding looking at Clockwork as he led Tabby out. Tabby noticed that he avoided talking or looking at clockwork like the plague. But she quickly decided that it wasn't her place to ask questions and be privy to other people's personal information. But she made a mental note of it. She followed Toby out of the bar and into the streets. Toby led her past a couple of buildings and told her what they were.

"Oh, that's Bloody Painter's art studio. The one next to it is a med bay. The building past that is monster's only, so don't even worry about it. Next to that is BEN's 'office' area. A few shops. There's the Eastern Main Mission Center. Thankfully we're proxies so we don't use that that much. Oh, there's a training gym. You might want to head there later. It does more than train you how to fight. It's pretty cool."

She listened thoughtfully. She looked at the bloody painter's art studio. She sucked in a breath as the nostalgia of Autumn kicked in hard. Autumn would have gotten on well with the bloody painter since they were both artistic. She shook her head to clear her head.

"That's good to know. I can gain more skills and take down Horacio once and for all. The more I know and able to do the better off I am".

Toby nodded.

"Yeah! They teach you some pretty cool stuff there." He said.

"Like I learned some neat tracking tricks there."

He looked around the area. A few monsters mulled around but there were barely any proxies. Toby knew that they were close to monster territory but knew better than to take Tabby there.

She tilted her head to the right as she often did when she was being thoughtful

"That could be useful"

She noticed that there were less of...them and more of the monsters.

"I see there's less of us as we keep walking"

"Yeah, we're close to some monsters only territory." Toby said, continuing to walk and starting to speed up.

Tabby sped up with him. She kept her head down and she started to fidget with the bottom of her shirt again. She prayed that they wouldn't get into any kind of trouble. You could visibly see that she was uneasy.

"You'll be fine." Toby had noticed her unease.

"They usually don't go for proxies unless you actually step into the monsters only area. Oh look, there's Masky."

Masky was standing off to the side, chatting and laughing with some monster that Toby didn't know.

She eyed Toby suspiciously. She didn't really trust him for her own protection but she decided that her chances of survival would be better if she still stuck with him. She stood up straight and carried an emotionless expression and straightened out her shirt as she narrowed her eyes at Masky.

"Ah, the man who was about to kill me last night".

"Uh, yeah. And your new team leader." Toby said awkwardly.

They really shouldn't have any problems here as long as Tabby kept her mouth shut, which she was probably going to do until they were in a safer area. She probably knew that there wasn't much he could do if she decided to pick a fight. It would make them both seem cowardly if he intervened on her behalf again.

"Are you serious?" She said in disbelief but she kept her voice low.

She paused for a minute to asses the situation that was about to come up. Tabby was taught at a young age to know her place and keep her mouth shut. She really couldn't fight Masky since he was older and more experienced plus he had another person with him so she would be out numbered. She didn't want to drag Toby into her fights. As she specifically told him not to fight her battles for her. So she'll take the shit that Masky gives her. Tabby looked pissed but she gave Toby a look that was full of resignation and that she'll back off.

Toby nodded.

"Yeah, really." He said.

He knew that she'd be surprised when she actually talked to him later. When Masky isn't trying to kill someone, he's a really pleasant dude. He's so pleasant that sometimes Toby forgets that he's a bloodthirsty proxy.

"He'll be part of training you." Toby told her.

"And I'm sure Hoodie will help as well." He smiled awkwardly under his mouth guard.

Tabby huffed but she kept her mouth shut and crossed her arms in a defensive manner. If anything she's more passive to people that she hates that she can't beat.

"I'll learn what I can and I'll work with them but outside of that I want nothing to do with them".

"Yeah, good luck with that." Toby said with a laugh. He continued on.

"It's not funny! I'm serious!" She hissed as she ran after him to catch up.

Toby raised his eyebrows.

"It is. Just a little bit." He said good-naturedly. He slowed down a bit.

She playfully hit his arm and caught up with him. She was just fake mad at him. Toby laughed. He knew she was just teasing, and it didn't hurt anyways. Tabby was in a slightly better mood after that. So she could deal with Maskys shit a little bit easier. Toby laughed. They passed the monster's only area and were in a much safer place now. Tabby's defensiveness died down somewhat and she was semi relaxed. Toby smiled. They passed by a weird warehouse looking place. Tabby looked at the warehouse with curiosity. She realized that they have been walking for a long time now. But she didn't mind it since she was always on her feet for hours on end. Which is why she can't feel a thing the heels of her feet.

"Oh, that's where a bunch of...um...stuff goes down. You don't need to worry about it. I wouldn't advise going in there though." Toby said.

He didn't even go in there. He knew proxies who went in there and never came out.

Tabby nodded

"Well I don't plan on going in there anytime soon...or ever..." she went disturbingly quiet after that.

Toby nodded. They passed what looked like a daycare. Toby smiled a bit. He could see out in the yard. Little monster kids playing on a playground. Tabby stopped for a moment she gave a soft smile. It reminded her of when she and Adam used to go to daycare. But because Tabby was one of the older kids she would help out with the younger kids. And at the end of the day she would push Adam in his stroller on their way home if their mom was still working and if her step dad was too lazy to get them. But she didn't mind it though she enjoys taking care of Adam. Because it proves to herself that she's not a bad person contrary to what her step dad tells her. Her eyes were once again filled with a sense of nostalgia and I daresay a little bit of homesickness. Despite it not really being a good place. Toby smiled. He remembered when he first came here. He was surprised that people like them could have families here. He was under the impression that most, if not all of them, were created by their bosses. But then he learned more and learned that most proxies were born here and raised here and trained here. It was...weirdly sweet. Tabby realized that she missed her little brother and she hoped that he wouldn't be dragged into her new fucked up lifestyle. She also hoped that he would be okay without her. Well he was going to have to be whether he liked it or not. In order to take care of him she needed to take care of herself. She deemed it as a form of tough love.

"Hey Toby I have another question", she piped up.

"Yeah, what's up?" Toby asked as they passed by the daycare.

They passed a few places that looked like houses and a park-like area. He glanced around. Basically no one was outside. That was great.

"I know that relationships with other humans is ....prohibited...but would it be okay if every now and then if I were to go up to the human world and just periodically check up on...this person...just stalking in a distance no interactions whatsoever?", she asked.

Toby seemed to stare off into the distance for a bit. He looked...sad.

"Yeah...I suppose it's okay, but only if you don't tell anyone. Especially your boss."

Toby seemed to be lost in thought. In reality he was thinking about his mother.

Tabby nodded.

"Well I don't plan on telling anyone else...so yeah"

She realized that Toby was deep in thought because she does the exact same thing he does when she is deep in thought.

"Hey, are you okay?" She said slowly.

"Huh?" Toby seemed to snap out of it.

"Oh yeah, yeah I'm fine." He said. He tried to give her a reassuring smile as he checked his watch.

"Oh, damn. It's a lot later than I thought it was."

She gave him a look that said 'I don't believe you' but she let it go. She learned that in order to keep a friend you don't push shit.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No." Toby said. He furrowed his brows.

"We probably should eat something. But only if you're hungry. If you're not, we could try some training or something."

"I'm not hungry yet. We could try some training. It's either now or never" she said eagerly.

Toby looked sort of excited.

"Okay. To preface this I can't teach you everything. There's some stuff I don't know how to do. You'll have to get either Masky or Hoodie to teach you those things, okay?"

He turned and began making his way back to the gym. They could train there. Unless Tabby wanted to stay outside where it was hot enough to fry an egg on the pavement.

"Fair enough" she followed Toby to the gym.

Toby was quick, so he got there a little before Tabby did. He was kind of excited. Tabby ran to meet him there. She was actually very fast and wasn't out of breath when she caught up to him at the gym entrance. Toby opened the door for her. Air conditioning blasted through the door way. The gym smelled like a combination of heavy air freshener, sweat, and blood.

"This smells like the gym at Rosewood" said Tabby out of nowhere.

Toby laughed. "Well I mean I figure all gyms smell the same."

Tabby tilted her head to the right

"Well the gym at Maplehood elementary school smelled like fresh lemons and dirty gym socks".

"Gross." Toby wrinkled his nose but smiled.

He led her past the check in desk. That was only for if they wanted the higher tech training things or if they wanted to sign up for a class. He led her into the main room. There were quite a few people, all of whom were training. There was a small arena off to the side where two men were fighting each other rather aggressively with knives. There was a station near the middle with what seemed like flashcards and little trays of things. There was a rope course up on the ceiling, with the only access point being a climbing rope. There were weights, training dummies, and human-shaped cutouts that served as targets, all in various states of disrepair. Toby knew the better training gym was about two hours from this location, but it was still decent. If they wanted the better stuff, they had to sign in.

"So where do you want to start?" She said as she took off her jacket and set on a near by bench and tightened up her ponytail.

"Hm. Well, I'm not too good at long distance stuff. You'll have to ask Hoodie for that." Toby mused. He glanced at the rock wall, but figured that with her messed up hand, that wouldn't be too nice. A female proxy was working at the station near the middle.

"Oh, you said you wanted to learn plant stuff, right?"

Tabby nodded her head eagerly "yeah I did why?"

Toby led her to the middle station. In the little containers were different kinds of plants from the human world and from the monster world. It was a type of memory game. Tabby is awful at memory but she did recognize all of the plants from the human world due to books and growing up in the woods. She recognized a few plants from here from the book that she was currently reading. But in time she learned what the majority of plants were and their uses. After 5-6 tries. Tabby was getting quicker and better at the memory game after an hour. Toby was happy about that. He wasn't all too good with this sort of plant stuff. Tabby was satisfied when she got the hang of it and went back over to Toby.

Toby smiled.

"Cool! Er, you can choose what you want to learn next, okay?" He was new to the whole training thing.

"Well...I'm pretty good close range fighting...Although I don't really have any grace...my skills are pretty unorthodox....I'm good with weapons but they're harder to control than fists...", she was self analyzing herself.

"Well, we can work on that!" Toby said happily.

"I think I will be able to help you clean up your moves and whatnot." Toby seemed pretty excited.

"Also one of the trainers here is missing an arm. He could show you some cool stuff that I probably couldn't."

"Use every body part if you can in a fight or any blunt object you can get your hands on if it turned into that" she said with a shrug.

"Yeah, that's pretty good advice." Toby said. He had no idea where to start.

"Well at Rosewood I was a known fighter and straight A student. Other kids always tried to pick fights with me once they knew I could make Horacio turn tail. Often times it started out as fist fights, then weapons and then just dirty unfair fighting. So I learned quickly to be well rounded"

She nodded her head and turned to look at Toby.

"I know how to break someone's arm in 3 different places with one move. I could show it to you if you want" she said excitedly. Toby laughed. "Maybe later. And not on me, please. Just because I can't feel any pain doesn't mean that I can't be messed up." He grinned. He glanced over at a knife throwing station. He saw an older proxy there, a tall, very buff woman with lots of tattoos. He watched. She nailed each target with deadly accuracy. Her curly light brown, almost blonde hair was in a tight ponytail.

Tabby quickly "oh no no I'm not actually going to break your arm but I can walk you through the motions"

She looked confused when he said he couldn't feel pain

"How and why?"

"It's fine! Maybe later." Toby had responded. He didn't really feel like explaining CIPA at the moment so he just said that that was what he had and he couldn't feel pain because of it,

Tabby nodded slowly and gave him an unsure look "alrighty then" she decided to change the subject

"So who's that lady over there?" She pointed to the one throwing knives.

"That's Laura." Toby said.

"She's one of the older proxies. She's sort of like a cool aunt. She is also incredibly deadly so I wouldn't mess with her. She's pretty chill though."

"She's sounds cool" said Tabby tilted her head in thought.

"I have pretty good precision when it comes to throwing things Although my accuracy is a hit or miss more times than not"

"Nice. Laura does a lot of work with people regarding accuracy with knives and guns. She was the one that trained Hoodie on it."

She nodded and paused for a minute "would it be okay if I asked her to help me practice better?" She looked warily at the stranger.

"Yeah, it would!" Toby knew Laura was pretty decent. She had a good reputation of only beating up people who deserved it.

She gave Toby a look that said "I don't really trust you with this" she looked at the stranger with the same look. But if she wanted to learn which she did then she was going to have to push away her social anxiety and seek out the help herself. She gave Toby a curt nod and recompose herself. She stood up straight and kept her neutral expression which was a bored, slightly put upon expression. She walked up to Laura. She cleared her throat.

"Excuse me?" She said in a polite tone but still assertive enough to catch her attention. She held her breath and prayed that she wouldn't hit her or attack her in any way.

Laura turned, and glanced at her. She had the same level of suspicion, but then noticed the certain look Tabby had. A new proxy. She could tell just by looking at her and the way she stood. Her distrustful posture eased away and she offered her a smile.

"Oh. Hey. You need something?" It was instinctual. She couldn't help it.

Tabby shifted uncomfortably but still stood her ground. Her suspicion and defensive posture dropped a little as Laura's suspicion dropped too. She gave a small polite smile in return.

"Hello. My name is Tabby, I saw that you were good at throwing knives with good precision and and accuracy. I'm pretty good myself my precision is good but my accuracy is a hit or miss more often than not. I was wondering if you could give me some pointers" she looked down waiting for the rejection of 'get lost kid you're not worth my time'. She still proceeded with wary and caution during the interaction.

"Sure thing, kid." Laura said with an indulging look in her eyes.

She stepped back.

"First, let me see you throw." She said. Her voice was rough but not aggressive. Her tattoos seemed to ripple and move even when she stood perfectly still. She wasn't the type to tell people to get lost. If they were respectful, she would teach them. She handed Tabby some throwing knives.

Tabby took the knife into her right hand. She held it in the correct way to throw. She turned her head a little to get better aim. She adjusted her arm and threw the knife with a flick of her wrist. It it the bullseye due to the centripetal force from the flick of her wrist. Her voice reminded her of her mom with her gruff exterior. For a moment she had a flash of homesickness. She looked at Laura expectantly waiting for some critique. Tabby threw a few more using the same motions and her wide stance for foundation. One landed way outside of the bullseye and the other landed a couple of rings over to the left of the bullseye. She looked back a Laura apologetically.

Laura nodded slowly. She saw her problems.

"The wide stance only works if you're facing your target head on. That's why you missed the ones off to the side."

Laura then got into her own stance.

"Try this one. It's more versatile and it also allows you to react quicker to threats not coming after you head on." Laura was smiling softly.

Tabby reminded her of- no. There could be someone who could read her thoughts here. She mustn't think about that.

"Oh so you're saying if I shortened my stance a little it would work better? Like this?" She shortened her stance and threw one of the knives with a flick of her wrist. And it hit the bullseye straight on. She copied Laura's stance.

"Mhm." Laura nodded.

"It also makes it easier to do something like this-"

She pulled out a throwing knife and whipped around. The knife stabbed someone's apple, shot it out of their hands and impaled it into the wall. Laura grinned. That was a teammate of hers and they always messed around like that. He laughed, then flipped Laura off, which Laura returned before turning back to Tabby.

Tabby grinned and laughed "I'm good but I don't think I have enough coordination for that".

"You can get there. Coordination is mostly training anyways, only a bit of it is natural ability." Laura smiled at Tabby.

"Anything else?"

"Good to know" she smiled and thought about it "I think I'm good for right now. But if I think of anything else I'll let you know"

Laura nodded. She understood. She gave the girl a smile and turned back to the targets. She was glad to help. Tabby walked back over to Toby with a satisfied grin.

Toby smiled.

"Well, that went well." He said.

Tabby nodded excitedly "yeah who knew that it was all in the stance".

"Yeah! A lot of it is. Laura is also really good at showing people how to do it because she's trained a lot of people."

"Well that's good".

"I think I had enough training for now and I'm kinda hungry".

"Okay! We can go get something to eat." Toby said

Tabby nodded and began to walk out of the gym with Toby. Toby was feeling a bit peckish as well. He figured there were a few restaurants nearby. Tabby was looking around at her surroundings more being lost in thought. Toby thought he noticed someone in the shadows but ignored it. Tabby had the felt like she was being watched from someone or something in the shadows. She wasn't sure if it was her paranoia, being delusional from lack of sleep, or just the darkness of Rosewood following her. She chalked it up a mixture of all 3. However Tabby was a little more on edge as her Intuition was screaming at her to watch out. Toby felt out, feeling with his mind, trying to sense if it was another proxy as the shadow was humanoid. Proxies, for the most part, knew when other proxies were in the area. They were all connected in a sort of hivemind. When a proxy was in danger, everyone tuning in knew about it. Most experienced proxies were able to tune it out, but Toby still wasn't able to. The presence didn't feel like a proxy. Tabby quickened her pace.

"Maybe if I ignore it and out speed it. It would go away" she said in thought.

She had her arms to carry her books and her hands in opposite pockets. She had both knives in the correct position in her hands just in case.

Despite the figure keeping close to the shadows, Toby noticed that it was trying to keep out of sight. It was scared. It seemed to be shuffling, like it was hurt. But the figure wasn't heading anywhere towards a med bay. Toby remembered the scene from earlier with the human who had gotten down into this place. What if…

Tabby's paranoia was skyrocketing. She was a little bit tense and jumpy. Even though her eyes were on the ground they were darting all over the place. She didn't say anything and kept up the fast pace.

"Whoever it is is just as scared as you." Toby mumbled to Tabby.

Jane passed them on the other side of the street, an arm filled with groceries. She too looked into the alleyway, and quickly went in.

Toby sighed. "She's got it."

She snapped her head up to the point where you heard her neck crack and it probably sounded painful. She winced for a moment before narrowing her eyes at him and sounding defensive

"I'm not scared. I'm cautious there's a difference".

Toby raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

"Come on. Let's go." He said, just leading her along. There was no point in lingering.

She looked back down and continued walking. Toby knew he would ask Jane about it later. She made it a point to stay closer to him just in case. But not enough to be obnoxious about it.

"We could go back to Clockwork's bar for something or maybe go somewhere else to eat”.

"We can go somewhere else. I mean it's not like we have anything better to do" she shrugged.

Toby nodded. "I have a strict diet I need to stick to though."

"Fair enough"

Toby thought for a bit about places they could go to. Meanwhile tabby was lost in her own thoughts. On top of processing what tf happened last night, figuring out what her next move would me, surviving today, planning Horacio's death, missing her friends, mom, and little brother. She was thinking about something that she never thought that she could have. A future. Tabby was good at thinking long term for her choices. But not when it comes to herself. But looking around and seeing other establishments and older people. It made her realize that maybe she can live long enough to maybe perhaps open up her own restaurant per say. Food has always been her passion and she has experience and joy in working in a kitchen. Or maybe to just live out the rest of her life. If she lived long enough. That thought put a little seed of hope in her head and gave her a tiny bit of her will to live back. Tabby looked like she was zoned out which means that she was in deep thought. Toby found a restaurant nearby and led Tabby in. It was some random hole in the wall ran by a couple monsters. Tabby looked around at her surroundings she had a warm smile on her face from nostalgia. It reminded her of the restaurant she used to work at. Even though she was in the back of the kitchen. She always enjoyed the praise of customers when they like the food that she made. It was nice to be back in a familiar surrounding. The place smelled nice, and it was warm. The tables were somewhat crowded together and in a bit of a disarray. You would seat yourself here. Toby found a small table near the corner where they could sit. Tabby sat in the corner with her back facing the wall. That way there was no chance of anyone attacking her from behind and she can see what everyone else is doing.

"This is nice. It reminds me of where I used to work".

"Oh, cool!" Toby said with a smile. He had gotten them both menus.

Tabby nodded and looked on the menu to figure out what she wanted. Toby would probably get a salad and a water. He didn't trust much of the meat here. Especially since there was a cannibal section. Tabby would get a salad too since she really didn't trust food being made by other people unless she was watching them or if she was making it herself. But she figured that nothing can really go wrong with a salad. The place was crowded so Toby highly doubted the food would be poisoned. He also got a water and had one of the single use poison detectors with him to use just in case. He had picked one up as he got a menu. Tabby got a water too and she was quite happy to see the single use poison detectors. Toby glanced around. No one was paying much attention to them except for a little monster boy in a highchair. He was a chubby little thing with a round face and tiny nubby horns. Tabby smiled softly at the monster baby. It reminded her of her little brother who was a chubby little thing when he was born. Now he has more of a stocky build but he still has a little baby fat left. The little monster baby was babbling to what appeared to be his mother. He had a toy giraffe in his hand, or what used to look like a giraffe. It had been chewed so much. Tabby giggled and looked away. She didn't want to cause too much trouble. She was looking out the window now.

A waiter soon came to take their order. It was a ghost. Which made sense. A lot of ghosts wanted to spend eternity not being bored so a lot of em got jobs. Tabby ordered a chicken salad and a water. Toby ordered what he had planned on ordering. Tabby realized that it was a ghost as she's always been able to see the whole range of paranormal shit. She then looked sad and in thought. She knew ghosts were real. And she knew damn well that the majority of her friends didn't pass over yet since they all died a brutal death. So how come none of them tried to make contact with her to let her know that at least some of them were okay. Especially Autumn. She was sure that she would find a way to contact her. Anyway at all. But it's been a month and nothing. Tabby had her legs crossed and had her hands neatly in her lap as her leg was casually bouncing from being anxious and she was looking out the window. Toby was deep in thought. He looked out the window. He saw Jane hurriedly leading someone along. They had a placeholder mask on, which was weird because Toby could sense that they weren't a proxy.

Tabby said quietly, "isn't that the guy who was following us?".

"I think so”.

She tilted her head to the right thinking "they must be just as nerve racked as I was yesterday when I came here".

"But then again I'm always nerve racked".

Toby nodded. He had suspicions and he voiced them to Tabby. "I think whoever it is might be a human who got in here."

"What makes you say that? And why are they still here then? Can't Jane and them get into trouble?"

"Because I can't sense them. And yes, they could. They both could be killed, which is why we gotta shut up and ask them in private."

Tabby immediately closed her mouth and nodded. She looked down at her lap.

Toby nodded. "We can ask her later."

"Okay" she said quietly.

Soon their food arrived at their table. Toby tested his food and water. No poison. Awesome. Tabby waited for her turn. She eyed her food and water suspiciously. She smelled it first just in case if she could tell if something was off with the food.

Toby handed her a testing stick. "Oh-here”.

It took Tabby a couple of tries and inspecting the thing weirdly and letting out a few quiet 'oh...oh that's how it works' when her eyes light up with realization as she was figuring out how it works. Her food wasn't poisoned thank god so she was happily munching down on the salad. Toby ate his pretty quickly. He was pretty hungry honestly. As he sipped his water, he looked around. He saw the family with the little monster baby. He saw what was obviously a group of proxies about to start a mission. He saw an awkward first date. Tabby saw the same thing. Tabby scarfed down her food like she wouldn't see food ever again like a ravenous animal. Tabby realized that this is something that people would do on a first date like what she would read about and see on tv. They would go out to eat and make small talk. Which means that would make Toby her first date. She stopped functioning for a minute as she blushed a little at the thought. She held her cheek in her hand with her elbow propped onto the table as she looked out the window to hide the blush that was spreading to her ears. Tabby was done with her salad and was drinking the water in an attempt to stop her blush. Toby didn't notice. He honestly hadn't thought of it that way. He didn't watch that much TV, or even movies. He simply finished his water. Her blush died down a lot. She finished her water.

"Are you done with your food. Because I am".

"Oh yeah, I am. I just need to pay and we can leave." Toby said.

"Okay" she said quietly as she picked everything up and put it in a neat, organized pile so that way it would be easier for the servers to pick up.

Toby got up to go to the front to pay. A server came by and picked up all the plates. Tabby thanked them and walked with Toby out the door. Toby felt a lot better after eating. He was still a little curious about what had been going on earlier. He wanted to ask Jane. Tabby kept to herself and walked quietly with him. She really didn't see the point in talking unless she was spoken too or if she was really interested in something. She looked over at Toby trying to be discreet about it taking in all of his features. Toby was deep in thought. It was hard to see his face as he was wearing his mouth guard and goggles. If Jane had saved a human's life, she would be risking her own. Tabby was spacing out. Her head was empty for once. Which meant some peace and quiet for her for a little while at least. Finally. Toby had found his way back to the apartment. He was just about to open the door for them both when he noticed he had a message waiting for him. Tabby walked in and looked at the note curiously but didn't pry too much. Toby read it. It was from Masky, setting a time for when they would meet up the next day.

Tabby raised an eyebrow "does it say anything important?".

"It's just when and where we're meeting up with the rest of the group tomorrow." Toby said.

"The group being Masky, Hoodie, you, EJ, and anyone else put on this mission with us."

Tabby nodded and sighed and groaned when she heard Maskys name "ugh...him? I hate him...." She went to her room to put away her books and came back out.

Toby laughed a bit. "You might want to give him a second chance. He's actually kind of decent. A bit of a dork, actually, but don't tell him I said that."

She gave him a small smile "don't worry I ain't a snitch. Your secret is safe with me"

Toby laughed a bit. Then sighed. It was nice to be in the air conditioning.

"So now what?" She asked as she rubbed her arm awkwardly.

"Well, we could go out again and find something to do, we could go do something in the human world, or we could just chill here."

"I don't really care it's up to you".

"I got what I wanted out of today so I'm good".

"Okay, fair enough. Well if you don't care, I'm going to go talk to Jane about what we saw earlier. You can come if you want but if you don't, that's chill."

"I'll go I'm curious as well"

"Okay, awesome." Toby said.

Tabby re tightened her ponytail. "Let's go”

[mrsdobrik]

Meeting his family for the first time and you become super close with his sisters and are always talking to them and giving advice.

The Dobrik home in stood before them in all its glory. It was their first trip to Vernon Hills together and Y/n could feel her nerves increasing as they got closer. David had tried to calm her down by giving her a quick tour of his hometown, showing her his favorite stops from his childhood, but she wasn’t even listening. Her mind was thinking about every single thing that could go wrong when you meet your boyfriend’s parents.

“How do I look?” Y/n asked.

“...worried....” Dave replied with a smile. He placed his hands firmly on her arms and reassured her. “They are going to love you. Relax, baby. How could they not love you? You are kind and smart and loving and beautiful and I love you. They would be stupid not to like you.”

Y/n took a deep breath before admitting he was right and standing on her tiptoes to kiss him.

“Lets go inside” David smiled, placing his hand in the small of her back, gently pushing her towards the door.

“Palo they’re here!” They heard Christina cheer from the other side of the door before it opened suddenly. David’s mom opened her arms to hug her son before pulling Y/n in for a hug to.

“Hi Mrs. Dobrik, it’s so nice to meet you!” Y/n said overwhelmed by the warm welcome.

“Come on in! You must be freezing! David has told me so much about you” Christina replied.

“Yeah, like literally, you are all he talks about when he calls.” Esther teased, making Y/n smile.

“Hi Esther!” Y/n chuckled and the girls hugged each other.

“Wow, I kind off get why he’s been simping so hard over you, you are way to pretty for him.”

“Esther!” Christina half reprimanded half laughed.

“Hi sis, nice to see you too.” David laughed.

Dinner went great and Y/n felt incredibly comfortable among the Dobriks but it wasn’t till the next day that she really started bonding with David’s sisters. 

“Come in” Esther yelled from inside her room after Y/n knocked. She wanted to know if Esther wanted to join David and her when they went to Portillos with Sarah and Toby. Esther was, however, standing in front of a full length mirror staring at her outfit. 

“I would go with the brown ones” Y/n commented, unprompted, pointing at the boots the girl was wearing. “And switch to gold jewelry” 

“Thanks! That’s exactly what I needed!” Esther said as she made the changes suggested. 

“So... who is he? or she? not assuming.” Y/n smiled. 

“Am I that transparent?” 

“No, I just have experience with being nervous before dates.” Y/n chuckled. 

“He is a senior, his name is Peter and he’s really cute.” Esther confessed. 

“An older guy” Y/n smirked. “Maybe let’s not tell your brother about that” 

“It feels good to have another girl here to talk to” Esther smiled. 

“What about Sarah?” 

“An older girl, who is not my sister”

“Wow, I’m older now. I need to pick up an eye cream when we go back to L.A.” Y/n joked. “So, where is he taking you?”

“We are going bowling” 

“Then maybe switch the skirt for a pair of pants, less chances of a wardrobe malfunction.” Y/n suggested. 

“Right!” Esther laughed. 

“I’ll leave you to it” Y/n giggled remembering her own first date with David and how nervous she was. 

“Wait! Y/n!” Esther said as she was about to leave the room. “Thank you” 

“Anytime! And just so you know, I’m just as good at fashion advice over Facetime”

“I’ll remember that” Esther gave her one last smile before the door closed. 

[writings-of-a-daphodil]

Fire Keeper: Chapter 1

I'm trying out this fanfic/imagine thing so here goes:

Douxie x fem reader

You are Jim's older sister who is taking a break from college and has moved back home to Arcadia. You end up joining Jim and his friends on their adventures. 

Masterlist in bio!

"Here, Jim, let me do that. I don't want you to be late," you said picking up some trash and putting it into the bin.

"Thanks, Y/n. You're the best." Your little brother grabbed his bike and got on as Toby rode over.

“Hey Y/n,” Toby said then turned to Jim, “We’re late for school, Jimbo.”

They went on to talk about their lunches and whatnot. You smiled at them and checked your watch. “Hey guys, doesn’t your school start at eight?”

“Oh were going to be so late!” Jim groaned, he hopped on his bike and rode off. “Bye Y/n!” "See you later, Y/n!" Toby called out as he took off after Jim. You smiled at them as they rode away, you were very glad to be home. You turned your attention back to the trash that was scattered across your driveway and sighed. Raccoons were so annoying. It didn't take too long though and you quickly checked on your mom, grabbed the lunch Jim had made for you and locked up the house. It was a short drive to Mr. Benoit's and you arrived just as the lunch rush was about to begin. You quickly got to work and soon enough it was over. As you made your way out of the bistro you were sidetracked by an odd shadow in a nearby alley. Just as quickly as it appeared, the shadow disappeared from your sight. Normally an odd shadow wouldn't concern you, but there was something about that one. You kept your eyes glued to the alley and burst out the bistro doors. With your attention elsewhere, you hadn't bothered to check if anyone was coming inside. You collided with someone and you fell to the ground, landing hard. It would definitely leave a bruise. You looked up to see one of your coworkers, you believed his name was Douxie or something like that. You knew it was something old and English, but the two of you had rarely ever talked. "Sorry," he said in his charming accent. He offered his hand and you took it. "No, I'm sorry. I was... distracted." You turned your attention back to the alley and realized that what ever had been there was long gone by now. "Y/n, right?" He asked drawing your attention back to him. He had a lazy smirk on his face and you gave a small smile in return. "Yes, and you're Douxie?" "Yeah," he said. His lazy smirk had turned into a confused frown and you quickly realized the two of you were still holding hands. You took yours away quickly and looked at your watch. Jim was probably home already and maybe even working on dinner. You had to get going. "Well, it was nice running into you," you called to him as you left the bistro. You glanced towards the empty alley and then back at Douxie. His smirk had returned and you waved at him before getting into your car and driving away. There were no lights on in your house when you pulled into the driveway. It wasn't dark out yet, but your house didn't let in much natural light. You looked at the side of the house and saw Jim's bike in it's spot. You were still a little cautious as you walked through the unlocked door. Jim was sitting on the couch staring at his phone. There were no lights on in the living room except that from the tv. You rolled your eyes at your little brother, it wasn't like him to completely ignore life and stare at his phone like that. "Hey Jim, I'm hoooommme!" You called in a sing-song voice as you hung up your purse. He jolted and almost falling off the couch in an attempt to put his phone away. "Hey, Y/n/n, I 'll, um, get started on dinner now." You gave him a quick hug as he made his way to the kitchen. "Ugh! Raccoons!" Jim sighed. "I'll handle it." "Okay, be safe, those things are nasty. I'll heat up something quick in the microwave." He nodded and made his way towards the basement as you walked into the kitchen. You rummaged through the freezer and found frozen chicken taquitos which you popped into the oven. You set a timer on your phone and plopped down on the couch.

It felt nice to sit down after being on your feet all day. You weren't able to rest long though. A scream came from the basement and you leaped off the couch, startled. You grabbed an umbrella from the stand by the front door and held it in front of you like a weapon.

You quickly made your way down the stairs only slowing when you heard voices. You held in a scream when you saw two large beasts in your basement. One was blue and facing away from you, but it appeared to have four arms. The other was facing you and was much larger. It was gray and had green fur with sharp teeth. It looked like it could kill you with no effort.

You took a deep breath, mentally preparing yourself to attack and at least attempt to save your little brother. You would have the element of surprise on your side.

You stopped yourself though when the blue one began speaking in a refined and dignified voice. “Master Jim you have been chosen. The Amulet of Daylight challenges you to the most sacred of offices.”

“Orifices? What Orifices?” The big one asked and you got the impression that although he talked slower, he was still very smart.

“Offices. It means responsibility,” the blue one explained, then turned back to Jim. “Unbeknownst to your kind, there is a secret world, a vast civilaization of trolls lurking beneath your very feet, hidden from view. ”

“Tro… Tr-trolls?” Jim stuttered and it took all of your strength not to go save Jim that moment. But you were curious, so you stayed hidden, ready to leap out and help him if the brutes tried anything.

“Trolls. Yes, trolls! And it is now your charge to protect them. For you, Master Jim, are the Trollhunter.”

“Trollhunter,” the big one said, which didn’t do much to explain.

“This honor is yours to accept. So, what say you?” The blue one asked. Jim’s eyes widened and he fainted.

“Is that a yes?” The big one asked and even though the two beasts, or trolls, hadn’t done anything to Jim you decided to attack.

You let out a battle cry and charged at the strange creatures, umbrella raised. The two turned to face you, looks of shock and surprise on their faces. The blue one—whom you could see had six eyes, a large orange nose, and fangs of his own—moved to stand in front of Jim.

“Get. Away. From. My. Brother!” You yelled, swinging your umbrella like a sword.

“‘Brother?’ Oh dear, you are the Trollhunter’s older sister, yes?”

“Yes,” you growled breathing heavily. “And I said get away from him!”

With those words, your hand glowed an orange color and the glow traveled along the umbrella like a fire rushing to burn. The glow left the umbrella and flew at the big troll as if you had managed to throw a fireball at him.

The two of you flew back and he hit the opposite wall, making cracks appear in the cement. You hit the staircase and fell hard to the floor, if you hadn’t earned yourself bruises earlier, you had now.

You watched stunned and unable to move as the blue one got closer to you. “I am known as Blinky and this is Aaarrrgghh and I suppose now is not the best time to talk. We will speak later. Goodbye sister of Master Jim.”

The two trolls left and you sat in the nearly pitch black basement for a while, trying to process what had happened. You heard the timer on your phone go off in the distance and pulled yourself from your thoughts.

You looked over at Jim and found him to be out cold. You quickly took care of the food and somehow managed to drag Jim to the couch.

You took a seat next to him and sighed. Whatever had just happened was momentous and would definitely impact your lives in many ways. You couldn’t stop thinking about how you had let out that orange blast of what could only be described as magic. Your thoughts also were buzzing with worry for your little brother. Destiny had chosen the both of you for something and whatever it was, it was important.

****

I hope I did a good job and this is only part one of hopefully many. I hope y'all like it. :)

P.S. The title will make sense eventually

Chapter 2: https://writings-of-a-daphodil.tumblr.com/post/626946338019590144/fire-keeper-chapter-2

[fictionliv-ing]

Akatsuki in College

Deidara:

First year art major with a minor in sculpture. That guy in the back of the class who seems like he does nothing but laze around. He’s actually really talented and aces every single class he’s in. Spends majority of his time in the sculpting room, so much that his friends have to come in and bring him food, just to make sure he eats well. It comes as no surprise to other art majors to see freshman Tobi skip into the sculpting room to bring Deidara an entire meal and multiple bottles of water. Most of his sculptures resemble woodland creatures, his personal favorites being birds and spiders. Sometimes like to set them on fire in the quadrangle for no reason at all.

When he’s not working on a sculpture for class, he can be found in the dorms where he’s probably animatedly debating with his roommate Sasori over the true meaning of art. Sometimes their arguments get so boisterous and explosive that their neighbor Pein has to poke his head in and yell at them to shut up. He secretly admires Sasori’s robots, anyway.

Sasori:

Postgraduate chemical engineering major with a minor in robotics. A silent worker. Slouches in his seat a lot, so even if he’s seated in the front row, no one realizes that he’s in their class until two months into the semester. One of the smartest kids in class, but not the easiest to work with because he scares everyone else away; definitely not a team player. One of the handful of graduate students that chose to dorm on campus because he’d hate to waste time commuting home everyday. Likes to make little robot prototypes for future projects in his spare time. Has had to stop himself from slipping some poison into Deidara’s drink about 328742374 times- but in his defense, it’s not his fault that the kid believes in all the wrong views of art.

Doesn’t really have time to socialize, but he does have time to spy on his long-time enemy, university researcher and biochemistry professor Orochimaru. He will never forget the day Orochimaru gave him the only B+ he’s ever gotten in his life. Unforgiveable. Despite being rather antisocial, he’s taken a liking to his neighbor’s friend Itachi, but maybe that’s because Itachi once proved Orochimaru wrong during one of the latter’s special classes in research ethics.

Itachi:

Third year philosophy major. Campus heartthrob. Always gets teased by his friends, Hidan and Kisame, for being so popular with the ladies, even though he’d rather just study quietly in the library. Occasionally gets dragged out by Kisame to go shopping for sports equipment, or Hidan, who wants to party.

Incredibly smart and analytical. Is always at the top of every class. Gives the best presentations, writes perfect papers, fully immerses himself in lectures- professors light up when they see Itachi walk into their classroom. Has everyone wrapped around his finger, though he never abuses it. Very kind and respectful. Is the type to quietly help others out, always patiently explaining confusing concepts to his classmates and catching nearby strangers when they clumsily trip over their own feet. The only one in his friend group that doesn’t stay at the dorms; he goes home after class every day (to the disappointment of his many fangirls) and spends his evenings helping his brother with his math homework.

Kisame:

Postgraduate sports science major. Founder of the campus swimming team. He’s big and bulky and likes to coach the swim team sometimes. The freshmen are all scared of him, but he’s the reason why they end up so great. While he’s not coaching the younger students, he’s catching up on his readings, writing his papers, and convincing Itachi to accompany him in buying new swimming trunks.

Likes talking to his roommate Pein and hearing about his microbiology ideas, and is somehow always able to make a connection with his own field of study. Occasionally comes up with research topics that they can work on together, but never actually pushes through with them because of Pein’s busy schedule. Sometimes falls victim to Hidan’s shirtless horny dancing during parties, and has to help Itachi drag Hidan home.

Hidan:

Third year theology major. Not the biggest fan of studying; he’s honestly surprised to have made it this far just by borrowing notes and copying off of his classmates here and there. He’s taking theology because he wants a better understanding of the deities that rule this earth and to find someone in this universe to look up to and worship. Despite the stereotypical ‘good boy’ standard that comes with being a theology major, Hidan isn’t shy about defying the stereotype. He’s everyone’s dealer and is that guy on campus who’ll have a thermos full of alcohol instead of water. Has incredibly high alcohol tolerance, though it doesn’t take him much to start acting crazy. Always present at every party. Takes “the party don’t start ‘till I walk in” phrase quite literally. If you think you’re having fun at a party, you haven’t partied with Hidan yet. “Yet” because you’re bound to at some point.

Likes to drag Itachi around to parties because he knows that Itachi’s not the drinking type, so Hidan can rely on him to drive him home safely. Teases Itachi for being popular with the ladies and goes out of his way to steal his friend’s fangirls for himself. Likes to take off his shirt randomly (he claims it’s a flirting technique.), much to Itachi and Kisame’s dismay, but Hidan’s never shy about it because his self confidence is that high.

Kakuzu:

Former finance professor. He retired years ago, but he contributed so much to the university’s finance department that he often gets invited to hold classes and lectures. Reluctantly goes to give talks to lesser minds. Would rather be balancing his books at home instead. Still invests in stocks and bonds and that kind of shit, he’s all about making money. Wants to be buried with his money when he dies (like, with the money inside his coffin, and not just in the ground with him- he specified it in his will). Never got married, because they didn’t allow him to marry his bank account.

Pein:

Postgraduate microbiology major. Dorms with Kisame, who talks a lot about the inner workings of sports science (it actually helps him look at his field of study in a different perspective so he doesn’t mind Kisame’s blabbering). Focuses his papers on cloning and stuff like that because he wants to successfully clone humans one day. Doesn’t know why….he just finds it cool.

Close friends with Nagato and Konan, though he spends most of his time in the library or in his dorm room, always studying. Konan and Nagato like to drop by sometimes to bring food and convince him to take a break. Lives right next door to Deidara and Sasori who argue a lot, so he ends up leaving his room just to yell at them to shut up. Pein values his study time like no other- he just wants to master everything and successfully prove that his brain is better than everyone else’s.

Konan:

Postgraduate design major. The living embodiment of “Aestheticism is the only thing worth pursuing.” Has a very strong grunge aesthetic, her closet is a combination of black, grey, navy, and maroon. Likes to color her hair a lot; some days she’ll be a redhead, then the next week, she’ll have hair the color of the sky on a rainy day. Because of this, she’s developed an extensive haircare routine, so her hair is always healthy. Dorms with Nagato, as they’ve been close friends since time immemorial, and often gets mistaken for being his girlfriend. Their neighbor Hidan likes to tease them about being sexually active together, and her only response is to blush madly and hit the side of his head hard enough to make him shut up.

Spends her time creating pieces to add to her portfolio and attending art workshops. At one point, she meets Deidara and is immediately intrigued by his sculptures. He invites her to visit the sculpting room and encourages her to try her hand at the medium. She discovers she doesn’t care much for stone and marble, but has fun working with malleable pieces of clay. This sparks her interest in origami and paper art. Nagato now comes home to a dorm full of paper cranes and paper butterflies.

Nagato:

Postgraduate philosophy major with a minor in world history. He likes to think about the rights and wrongs and many faces of the world. Befriends Itachi after meeting at a lecture and have been keeping in touch since then, talking about the flaws of this world. At some point, Itachi starts asking him for feedback on his papers and he becomes Itachi’s mentor. The Reason why Itachi is absolutely slaying his classes is because he gets advice from Nagato on how to improve his papers and make them So Good that his professors give him nothing less than an A.

Is roommates with Konan, who has been his best friend ever since they were small and adorable (he still thinks she’s small and adorable, though he would never admit that out loud.). Grunts in indifference and looks away whenever Hidan teases him and Konan about being together, and it’s only thanks to his long, red hair that his burning ears stay hidden. Always has shit to say about that kid during his weekly get-togethers with Konan and Tobi.

Tobi: 

Freshman psychology major. He decided to study psychology for fun and enrolled after getting his masters in management, which is why he’s older than all of his classmates. Doesn’t stop him from acting younger than his actual age, though. Likes to follow Deidara around (Deidara has a theory that Tobi only enrolled in psychology to learn how to effectively annoy people.) and marvel at his art.

Shares a dorm with Hidan, whose reactions are really funny, so Tobi makes sure to play lost and lots of pranks on his roomie. Always forgets that Hidan can get quite explosive when angered, and ends up having to run away from his roommate’s airborne kitchen knives. Befriends Nagato, and in extension, Konan as well. They like to spend Friday nights out together, usually at a chill bar, where they drink more than the appropriate amount of sake and complain about their neighbors, Deidara, Hidan, and Sasori (Kisame’s good, Kisame’s nice, they say.).

[gotmilk5101520]

Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Watch Episode 19 Airheads (Part 2)

Part 1

“Yeah, he’s been talking to the new guidance counselor about his father-”

“Guidance counselor?”

“Yeah the one you recently brought in”

“Mr. Blinky?”

*Spit Takes in Troll*

And they did not see them at all.

“Oh, no! It’s the po-po!” “Mr. Popo?” “No the po-po-” “...” “...” “Hi” “AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!” “Bye”

“Hey, cool kids”

“What you doing there? Skipping school?”

“Oh, hello, officer”

“I’m just taking my brother, um”

“To his appointment at the hospital”

“He, uh, has a rare condition”

“I had a brother, a twin brother, in fact. He’s a security guard at the museum. I haven’t heard from him in months”

“Something real funny goin’ on around here” If turn around you’ll see it.

“I need more coffee”

“Eli is in charge”

“Hoorey!”

“Guys, please stop!”

“I don’t want ti get in trouble!” This is why everyone puts Eli in charge. He’s the most responsible.

“Claire, it’s you!“

“Toby, you drifted away! Where are the heck are you?”

“I’m right above the-”

“No, no, no, no, no!”

“Aw, come on!” Toby’s phone count: 2

“Is that Claire’s house?”

“NotEnrique! NotEnrique!”

“What the-?”

“Hey, Tons-of-Fun!”

“What you doin’ all the way up there?”

“Quick! Do something!”

“Hold on a sec!”

“NotEnrique!”

“This is priceless!”

“Whoa!”

“That’s what you did? You took a selfie?” It was well liked on Trollstagram.

“I’m not bringing you down until you admit you’ve been a butt to me all day”

“Admit it! You’ve been a total butt!”

“Okay, you’re right, i am a butt” What an odd way to say ass.

“It’s just- for so long it was the Jim and Toby show, you know?”

“And you’re the cool, smart girl”

”who’s great at everything and is really pretty”

”and now you have this super rad Shadow Staff”

“And what do i have?”

“I’ve got weight problems”

“Toby, you and Jim are the dynamic duo”

“I can never change that”

“Hoo! I was so afraid you were gonna be mad at me”

“And we were never gonna be friends again”

“And it was just all these bad things i didn’t want to think about”

“Toby, i think the curse is spreading” And they were just making up.

“What in the heck is going on?”

“Kids today” Tell me about it.

“What happened here? I heard there was a fight. Are you okay?”

“Yeah”

“Oh, thank heavens!”

“My sweet Susanna is unharmed” Who cares about the kids.

“Du bist mein schnuckiputzi”

Just a man and his truck.

“It seems we have a winner”

“Whoo! That’s right!”

“Who wins?”

“I do!”

“Look at me! I-”

“Ha! Eli is the champion of the Touch-A-Truck athon”

“What? No!” “What? Yay!” I knew this was going to happen and i was not disappointed.

“She hit me in the gronk-nuks with the Shadow Staff”

“The chubby one’s just as bad”

“Oh, no! The curse is spreading to the house!” Now how are Jim and Barbara going to get home?

“Okay, i hate to do this. Um...”

“Hey, Claire!”

”Don’t let us down, like you did with the Killstone, remember?”

“You lost it!”

“What?”

“You know, i don’t think you’re ready to be a Trollhunter”

”I really don’t”

“I saved you! I thought we were friends now. We had a bonding moment! I held you in my arms!” “Nope. Don’t remember!”

Who’s going to explain this mess?

“Awesome”

“sauce!”

“Now, we both have sweet weapons” You’ve acquired the Warhammer.

“They look pretty good”

“Any problems mailing the package?” We don’t say anything to him

“Guys, when i got home, my house was a mess!” “Oh, really?” “How did that happened?” “I don’t know. I cleaned it up- Wait. No, no” “What Jimbo?” “I know who did it” “Who?” “Strickler” “Uh, yeah. It was Strickler. Right, Toby?” “Yep! Totally Strickler”

I could go on why this is one of my favorite episode, but we be here for a while. So here’s one of the reasons: The basic summary is that Toby and Claire are fighting for Jim’s affections, only to realize Jim has two hands.

No fear. Okay, i have a lot of fears

[luxurylives]

Missing Pieces Part 6

Pairing: No pairing  

Book(s): Ride or Die: A Bad Boy Romance               

Word Count: 2,363

Rating: T (Mild language)

Summary: Ellie and Toby find Colt; Logan and Vanessa come to an agreement. 

Author’s Note: Part Six! I’ll wait to post the rest on the last day 😊 Pixelberry Studios owns the characters. The De la Cruz family is from High School Story (I chose first names for Bartholomew's parents). Thank you so much to those who read!

 Tagging: @liam-rhys @desireepow-1986 @mfackenthal @rodappreciationweek @brightpinkpeppercorn @leelee10898 @choicesarehard @client-327

A lot was riding on tonight, Logan was in trouble, Colt was up to something, and someone was after the Mercy Park Crew. The only thing Ellie felt was fear and uncertainty, lately, she had begun to wonder what her life would have been like if she never got involved with the Mercy Park Crew. However, the answer to that has remained a mystery. 

“Ximena sent me a text, she just arrived at Lilac Palm”.

Ellie snapped out of her thoughts and turned to Toby who fell into step beside her. “Good, where is this club anyway?”

“Just up ahead,” Toby said. 

Soon they arrived at a building in an alley with a few people standing around. As Toby approached the door, a man from the nearby group approached Ellie.  

“You look familiar”.

Ellie swallowed as she turned to face him, he looked identical to Detective Wallace. “I— “. 

“Did you used to bartend at the Ostrich Garage?” 

“Oh...no sorry” Ellie answered calmly. 

“My bad” the man backed away to join the group he was with earlier. 

“Ellie,” Toby said. 

Ellie turned to see Toby standing in the doorway of the club and quickly walked over to join him. As they crossed the threshold, thick, smoky air greeted them along with the sounds of upbeat Latin music. Many patrons flocked to the dance floor while others sat at their tables smoking and drinking. 

“Full house,” Ellie said as she took in the vibrant atmosphere. 

“If you think this is full, then you should see this place when Matt Rodriguez shows up, it is packed”. 

Ellie gripped Toby’s arm and motioned her head towards the bar. “Look”.

Toby averted his eyes and his eyes widened. “There’s no way…but why?”  

Both of them watched in complete shock as Vicente approached Colt. After a moment of speaking, they retreated to a back room.

“What the hell is doing?” Toby asked worriedly. 

Before Ellie could respond, she watched two burly men take their place on both sides of the door. “We’re about to find out”. 

“You can’t be serious, running off to Detroit? Especially now?”

“I know someone that I can stay with until things cool down”. 

“Just you?”

Logan sighed and shook his head. “Look, we have to split up”.

“Well, I think that is the worst thing we could do right now”.

“Vanessa, Javier knows we are in Massachusetts and for all we know, he could be in Birchport too”. 

“Logan, you cannot keep running! And I’ll be damned if I get sucked further into this black hole you and your friends created! My parents have a summer house in Nantucket, we can go there and hideout. I’ll call my Dad and tell him what is going on, we can get you a lawyer— “.

Logan shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “No”.

“Logan!”

“Vanessa, too many people are involved in this already. I can take you to Nantucket but after that, I am going to Detroit…alone”.

Vanessa stared at him, only this time, really seeing him. 

“We need to split up”.

“Aren’t you supposed to meet Ellie?”

“I’ll just have to postpone that until the dust settles”.

“And if it doesn’t?”

Logan shrugged and gazed out the window. “I’ll figure it out”.

Vanessa shook her head, there was no point in arguing with him and deep down she knew Logan was right. Javier was after him, not her so it was best if they split up now. “So when do you want to leave?”

“We’ll sneak out during the barbeque”.

“You’re going to need transportation to Detroit so keep the car, I’ll come up with something to tell my grandparents,” Vanessa said. 

Logan stared at her quizzically. “They won’t suspect anything?”

“You’re looking at the girl who went streaking on a public beach while intoxicated, they’ll draw their conclusions first and ask questions later”. 

“Alright, with that said…are you ready?”

“Now or never”.

Logan walked over to his bag and began packing while Vanessa entered the bedroom to do the same.

 “How are we going to get close to them?” 

Ellie’s eyes swept over the crowded club and towards the guarded door. “Well, there’s only two of us...maybe one of us could distract the guards?”

“Eh...” Toby’s voice trailed off as he looked at the burly men near the door. “Got any other ideas?”

Ellie turned to see the man who approached her earlier, enter the club and head towards the bar. After exchanging a few words with the bartender, he began walking in their direction. 

“Toby, forgive me”.

“What?”

Ellie mustered up all of her strength and shoved Toby, who lost his balance and collided with the man she met earlier who stumbled into a nearby group of people. 

“What the hell is the matter with you? Watch where you’re going!”

Toby stared at the man for a second but then saw the altercation caught the attention of the men guarding the door. 

“How about you watch where you’re going!”

The man stepped up to Toby and shoved him, who shoved back. Suddenly, both men guarding the door left their post to intervene. 

Ellie maneuvered around a few people and slipped through the door, only to find herself in a small hallway. 

Bzzzz bzzzzzzz

Ellie quickly answered her phone as she neared a room with the door cracked. “Hello?”

“It’s Ximena, look I’m at Lilac Palm but it's dead…that Vicente guy isn’t here…”.

“He’s at the club, whatever is going on he is in on it too”.

Ximena sighed and shook her head. “Okay, I’ll head over, it’s close by, right?”.

“Yea but hurry, I had to think fast, and I may have complicated things”.

“Got it,” Ximena said and hung up. 

Ellie crouched behind some crates and boxes nearby as she leaned towards the door. 

 Colt Kaneko casually took a sip of his beer as Vicente narrowed his eyes at him. Ever since the Mercy Park Crew had split up, he was hellbent on continuing the legacy his father created. However, doing so from scratch was no small feat. 

Luckily, he was able to track down Mona, and together they decided to infiltrate and conquer. He figured, what better way to do this than to go after the people his father had unfinished business with? He’d be making an even bigger name for himself and continue his father’s legacy. 

“I just got word from David that Logan is in Boston”.

“Good, you can thank me for tracking down Zoe and Rita and passing that information to him anytime,” Colt said. 

“Hm, we’ll see about that” Vicente took a sip of his beer and slid his phone back into his pocket. 

“Look, I want to know if we have a deal? You know where Logan is, and I gave you all the information that I have on Mona”. 

Vicente stroked his chin and gave Colt a dubious once-over. “What about Toby, Ximena, and Ellie?” 

Colt slid a folder towards them. “Still working on tracking down Ellie but here’s where I last saw both of them”.

Vicente opened the folder and began sifting through Colt’s notes. 

“Well?”

“I’m suspicious Kaneko, you aren’t like your father, not sure what to expect with you. I will wait until Ace gets here”. 

Before Colt could respond a man, a few years older than him, sauntered into the room. Colt looked up from his seat and instantly recognized him, Bartholomew “Ace” de la Cruz from the Crimson Santos. 

“Sorry got held up, Vicente your guys told me there was a fight out there”.

“I’ll check it out once we’re done here”.

Bartholomew turned his attention to Colt and gave him a quick once-over. “Teppei Kaneko’s son, in the flesh. So what do you have for us?”

“I have notes on Toby and Ximena and Vicente was just telling me Logan is in Boston”.

Vicente passed the notes to Bartholomew who began skimming the pages and eyeing the photographs. 

“Nothing on Mona?” Batholomew asked as he looked up at Colt.

“No,” Colt said. “Besides, she was working with the Brotherhood, do you want to deal with someone like that?”

Bartholomew exchanged a look with Vicente before turning his attention back to Colt. “Are you familiar with ‘Walang Wa’?”

“So you’re schooling me now?”

“I don’t think you’re in the position to be a smart-ass,” Vicente said. 

“No I want to hear this, have you heard the phrase or no?”

“No” Colt answered sharply. 

“It means no mercy,” Bartholomew said. “It is also the motto of the Crimson Santos”.

With a stoic expression, Colt simply nodded his head. “Alright”.

“And what we will show you if you are playing a game here”.

Colt shrugged and shook his head. “I just want us to work together”. 

“I think we need to recap since your memory is shit, Kaneko. Teppei stole two cars from my father years ago, which caused a lot of problems— “. 

“Couldn’t have done too much damage, I hear, Cesar and Althea are doing fine with the B&B”.

Bartholomew took a deep breath and silently counted back from ten. “As I said, your father stole the 67 Komoda and the 54 Aeon SX from us, but he didn’t stop there, he tipped off a P.I. and we ended up having a mole problem”.

Colt stared back and squared his shoulders. 

“My father was only able to do so much with that…hence why he is in Massachusetts and now I oversee things here. Now, the Mente Kings...Vicente, do you care to elaborate?”

“Sure, I guess Teppei never told you about a drifting competition in Tokyo?”

“Pop mentioned it was against some guy from Las Mente” Colt answered coolly. 

“Hm, well that guy was Felix Curbelo, my brother” Vicente said. “Your father cheated and stole fifteen thousand from us. Once Felix got back to the states, interestingly enough, we also began to have a mole problem”.

Colt’s jaw worked as he eyed both men sitting across from him. 

“Javier and Ace played soccer at Terman U. Imagine my surprise when he came home to visit and told me the Mente Kings and Crimson Santos had something in common—Teppei Kaneko and the Mercy Park Crew”. 

“I get it, you’re pissed which is why I want to resolve this. I can find Ellie and easily bring her to you and believe or not, what’s in that folder should be enough for each of your guys to find Ximena and Toby”. 

An eerie silence swept through the room as Vicente, Bartholomew, and Colt engaged in an intense stare-down. 

“And you want cars and some money to get started?”

“Yeah, do what you want with them and all three of us can work together. Run this city, who knows? Maybe takeover”. 

“Hm, as nice as it would be to inflict pain on the LAPD, I’m no longer interested,” Vicente said.

Colt bit his lip, usually, he was more confident, but now he felt backed into a corner. 

Bzzzz bzzzzzzz

“That would be me” Bartholomew pulled out his phone and immediately a smiled appeared on his face. 

“Good news?” Vicente asked.  

“My old man just confirmed Logan is at their B&B. David and Javier are heading over there now”.

“Alright, so you have Logan”.

Bartholomew bit his lip and shook his head. “Alright, Kaneko here’s what we’re going to do. I’ll have my guys follow up on Ximena and Toby”.

“And I’ll tell David, Javier, and the new girl to bring Logan in,” Vicente said. 

“But we still don’t have Mona and Ellie,” Bartholomew said as he tapped his fingers on the table. 

“As I said, I will bring Ellie to you and trust me, you do not need Mona” Colt replied. 

“I’m holding you to it” Bartholomew answered sternly. 

Colt shook his hands with both men and exited the room. As soon as he was in the main area of the club, he pulled out his phone and texted Mona.

I just spoke with Ace and Vicente. David and Javier are taking you to a B&B owned by Ace’s parents. That’s where Logan is. You know what to do. 

Within minutes Mona replied to his text. 

Got it. I hope you’re right about this. Not comfortable infiltrating the Mente Kings and screwing with that Filipino gang in the process. One of my ex-girlfriends did some work for them, they are not to be played with.

As Colt passed by the crates and boxes, he typed out a reply. 

Look it's easy, you bring Logan in. Once all of us are together we overthrow and take what is rightfully ours. I know what I am doing. 

Back in the room, an eerie silence swept through the air as Bartholomew and Vicente sat drinking their beers, both deep in thought. 

“Were you buying any of his crap?” Vicente turned to Bartholomew. “I mean this is Teppei Kaneko’s kid we’re talking about”.

Bartholomew set his bottle down and shook his head. “My thoughts exactly, I trust him about as far as I can throw him”.

Vicente took another sip and set his bottle down. “You know a few weeks ago, this chick joined the Mente Kings, goes by the name ‘Gwen’, good driver, fast and reliable…but something about her doesn’t sit right with me”.

“What does she look like?”

Vicente pulled out his phone and passed it to Bartholomew who started laughing. 

“What’s so funny?”

“That’s the chick from the Mercy Park Crew. Shaw told me about her while we were playing cards one night. I bet she and Kaneko are up to something”.

Vicente tossed his phone on the table. “Maldita sea”.

“Let me guess, you sent her to Massachusetts with Javier and David”.

Vicente silently tapped his fingers on the side of his bottle and shook his head. “Kaneko is up to something…what should we do?”

Bartholomew set his bottle and turned towards Vicente. “We kill them”. 

As soon as Ellie heard the words, she crawled out of her hiding place and scurried towards the exit, she had to find Ximena and Toby and fast. 

[kimtanathegeek]

Two Brothers, Many Paths - Ch 21

These boys are growing up so fast. Have you guys noticed that Papyrus’ vocabulary and grammar has been slowly improving over the past few weeks (or chapters, in our case)? He’s such a smart cinnamon roll! :D

Thank you for reading! :)

—

Undertale copyright Toby Fox

Story and original characters by me, Kimtana

Please do not use without both permission and credit.  

Read below, or read it on AO3 here.  

First  

Previous  

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Sans had run through several more tests of his new magic over the next couple days, his fear diminishing with each successful attempt. The horrific images and feelings no longer rushed into his mind, and he was able to go from place to place quicker each time.

After a few tries of increasing distance, Sans took his haversack and went to the darkened area. He grabbed as many mouseshroom nightlights as he could frantically stuff into his bag and returned to the shelter, ensuring that they now had enough food for the next couple weeks.

He didn’t like leaving Papyrus alone in the shelter, but he wasn’t comfortable taking his brother with him until he was confident that the trips were safe. So he made sure each trip lasted no more than a few minutes so that he could return as soon as possible.

After half a dozen trips, Sans started feeling the fatigue of his magical drain. He was reluctant to take a piece of dried fruit, since he only wanted to use them in case of an emergency. So once he started feeling the weakness affect him, he stopped traveling for the day and rested up in the shelter.

“So, what’s it like,” Sans asked as he rested against the bed on the floor. “When I...you know...go.”

Papyrus was sitting on the floor, playing with his tiny white bones. He jumped up and illustrated with gestures.

“Sas shut eyes like dis. Den, Sas walk, an big blue fiya gobble Sas up. Den Sas gone.”

Sans stared wide-eyed at his brother for a moment before blinking.

“Well, that sounds pleasant,” he gulped.

“Yeah,” Papyrus added as he went back to play with his bones. “Is cool!”

Sans blinked again, giving a false laugh. “Yeah...‘cool’.”

He was so glad he needed his eyes shut to do this new magic. Watching himself get devoured by a large blue flame was anything but ‘cool’ to him.

“Is it the same blue as our bone magic?” he asked curiously, pushing the idea of being set on fire out of his mind.

“No,” Papyrus answered, looking up at him. “Is blue like magic Mommy an Daddy make to make Sas an Pa go floatey.”

Sans furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

His parents knew how to use blue magic—darker blue than the light blue bone magic—which they used to either deaden Sans’ and Papyrus’ weights or to float them up like feathers. Sans had not seen them use it often, except in desperate situations.

Like the time Papyrus almost crawled over a cliff during a family night outing to watch the stars. Their father had made his brother’s soul turn blue, and he watched as Papyrus was lifted up and then pulled towards their father into his arms.

Then there was the time that a fierce storm broke the living room window. Their mother made their souls blue, and both Sans and Papyrus fell onto their stomachs as if their bodies were made of stone. While the boys stayed put, their mother cleaned up the glass. Once it was safe, their souls returned to their natural white color and they were able to move again.

So the magic that transported Sans to different locations was blue? Did that mean that Sans and Papyrus could do the blue magic as well as their light blue bone magic?

Sans held out his left hand at Papyrus, who was too busy playing with his bones to notice. Sans squinted his right eye so that his left eye widened, focusing on his brother’s soul deep within his chest, picturing it becoming blue in his ribcage. He tensed his fingers, gripping the air as if clutching the little skeleton’s tiny soul, and grunted deep in his chest. With great strain coursing through his left arm, holding his breath tightly in his lungs, he raised his hand to lift his brother up off the floor and into the air.

Nothing happened. Papyrus kept playing, unaware of anything that was going on around him. Sans’ arm dropped to his side as he caught his breath.

Guess not....

Sans laid his head back against the bed, looking up at the shelter’s ceiling, thinking things over as he rested, his body still tired.

Tired from having spent his last remaining ounce of magic on his return trip to the shelter a couple hours before.

 -

 The joyous expression on Papyrus’ face would not wane.

“Now, you’ve got to make sure you do not let go,” Sans said for the umpteenth time as he paced around the little skeleton.

“Yup,” Papyrus nodded.

“And don’t pull me, I need to concentrate,” he warned, sticking his hands in his pockets, then pulling them out, only to stuff them back in again.

“Yup,” Papyrus answered.

“Don’t pull away, whatever you do,” Sans instructed, sliding his hands up and down the haversack straps around his shoulders nervously.

“Yup,” Papyrus responded.

“And whatever you do,” Sans stressed, halting his pacing to stand in front of his brother. His voice was as shaky as his body. “Don’t panic!”

“Yup,” Papyrus replied.

Sans started pacing again, running his hands over his head, wiping the sweat and fear from his skull. He tried to steady his breathing as his heart raced.

This is wrong, it’s not safe, he could get hurt, what if he ends up like I did, why am I doing this, this is crazy, I shouldn’t be doing this, what was I thinking agreeing to this, we should just stay here—

“Sas!”

Sans froze, snapping out of his thoughts. He looked over at his brother—from the stressing tone in his voice, it wasn’t the first time Papyrus had called out to him just now.

“Sas, s’okay,” his brother said soothingly, smiling at his big brother. “We be okay.”

Sans looked at the confidence in his brother’s eyes and was encouraged. He sighed gratefully and nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah, we’ll be ok.”

He held out his hand for his brother, and Papyrus grabbed it tightly.

“Ready?”

“Yup!”

“Ok,” Sans said, taking a deep breath. “Here we go....”

Sans shut his eyes, pictured the darkened area, and internally stated his desire to be there with his brother. Gripping Papyrus’ hand as if his life depended on it—which it did—Sans took a step forward. The two skeletons were engulfed with a blast of sharp wind, the loud fwoosh hammering against them.

It was only a fraction of a second, but it felt like years to Sans. He opened his eyes and saw the glowing mushrooms, sparkling gems, and heard the distant running waters of the darkened area. But he didn’t care about any of that right now.

He fell down onto his knees in front of his brother in a panic. He held Papyrus’ skull in his hands as he looked up to inspect any damage.

“Are you ok?!” Sans gasped, eyes darting as they looked for cracks, fractures, or holes. “Are you hurt?!”

Papyrus put his hands over his brother’s, shut his eyes tight, and cried out.

“Dat was so much fun!”

Great relief washed over Sans as he pulled his brother to him, hugging him tightly.

The little skeleton hugged his brother back, finally answering his brother. “Pa okay, Sas, Pa not hurt. Sas did it!”

Sans stood back up on shaky knees, glad that his fears went unfounded. He took a deep, cleansing breath and blew out the last bit of anxiety. They were all right, that’s all that mattered.

“Ok,” Sans said, struggling to steady his voice. “Let’s go explore a little further, see what we can find. And once we get to a new place, I will be able to get back to it again, so I want to cover as much ground as we can before we go back.”

Papyrus nodded, clutching the little bag at his hip preparedly.

They walked forth, hand in hand, towards the particular area Sans had wanted to check out for a while—where the swaying plants were. As they neared, they were exactly what Sans hoped they would be.

Reeds.

A large reedbed stood situated in the middle of a path that ran through a small body of water. The reeds swayed in the gentle breezes as one organism, undulating like the waters it neighbored. Tall and thin, the shoots appeared to wave a welcome to the two skeletons as Sans stood there, smiling.

“This is perfect, Pap,” Sans said, squeezing his brother’s hand gently. “We can use these reeds for tons of stuff. And, if we’re lucky, we will be able to eat some of them.”

He looked down at his brother and noticed that the little skeleton was imitating the swaying motion with his own body. It appeared Papyrus was happy with their new discovery as well.

Sans pulled out the sharp stone from his pocket and wasted no time in cutting down a large number of the reeds. He tied thick bundles of them up with twine and attached them to his haversack. They were quite cumbersome, but Sans didn’t mind, for their benefits outweighed their burden. He didn’t bother digging up their roots, since they still had no way to boil them, so he let them remain in the ground.

They continued on, pushing past the remainder of the tall grasses and ventured deeper into the area.

It was considerably warmer than the snowy valley, and the maze of paths proved to be quite confusing. The darkness was broken only by the bioluminescent mushrooms and lucent gems, but Sans didn’t see a need to create a blue bone to light their way. Water was everywhere, running along most paths and pooling in small ponds. There were many short waterfalls that cascaded down the various walls, spraying them with their fine mist as they walked past them. Their shoes sank into the dark blue hydric soil, their footprints filling up with water with each step. Sans looked back, dismayed that their footprints were easily trackable, but saw no way to prevent it.

Many of the gems were scattered on the ground, loose from their confines in the rocky walls. Sans picked one up, and he and Papyrus marveled at how it lit up in his hand. It wasn’t just reflecting light—it was creating it.

“Look, Pap,” he said, watching the blue light in his brother’s eyes. “It’s just like our magic.”

Figuring they would be useful, the two brothers collected as many as they could find, stuffing them into their bags. They found multiple blue gems that shone with the same blue-white light as skeleton magic, and a few pink gems—which were not as common as the blue ones.

Many of the paths ran alongside steep cliffs, and Sans had to keep Papyrus on his other side for fear of him slipping off into the unknown. Waterways emptied out over these cliffs, creating narrow waterfalls. Sans gulped as he could hear the rushing of the waters as they poured over the side, but no splashing came from below. It was if the entire area was suspended above an enormous bottomless pit. Sans shuddered, hoping that none of the paths gave way under their feet, sending them down into nothingness.

Papyrus was in awe at the snaking paths, thin walkways, and treasure trove of glowing gems to be found. He found the area fascinating, albeit quite humid. His head panned side to side, eyes wide with wonder, not at all like his brother’s cautious, somewhat timid reaction to this new place.

After several hours of exploring paths, backtracking dead ends, and avoiding perilous drops, Sans decided to call it a day. He studied the area they were in so that he could picture it when he needed to transport back here.

In a few short moments, they were back in the snowy valley, right next to their shelter, the wintry chill sending shivers up their spines. It was a drastic change of temperature, and they had acclimated to the warmer climate in the darkened area.

“Woo!” Sans said, rubbing the sides of his upper arms. “That wind sure is bone-chilling!”

Papyrus gave a shaky giggle through chattering teeth.

They entered the shelter, warming up with the heat emanating from the ever-present magical flame. Sans took off his haversack and grabbed their soaked, muddy shoes, bringing them into the fire room. He took handfuls of snow and washed them as best he could, telling himself that they should wash them in the waters of the darkened area next time before coming heading home. Then he set them against the wall to dry.

Papyrus had emptied the lucent gems onto the floor and was lit up in blue and pink hues. He took each one into his hands and scrutinized them, turning them around this way and that. Sans smiled at his curiosity and wonderment over the gems.

Sans, however, was most excited about the reeds. He untied the bundles and sat on the floor, separating the young, edible shoots from the drier, older ones.

He heaved a sigh, remembering when his mother taught him to work with reeds she would collect at the nearby lake. Reminiscing, he felt a pang of sadness as he held them in his hands, tracing their shoots with his fingers. There was never a day that went by that he didn’t miss his mother terribly.

Blinking back tears, he set back to his task. He was mildly frustrated because he realized he wasn’t able to do too much with the reeds because of their tool limitations and his lack of skill. He did, however, know that raw young, green shoots were edible—and a little sweet, too—and that dried reeds could be made into woven items, like baskets—which they desperately needed. But he couldn’t boil them, or make flour from them, couldn’t even make those sugary sweets with them that they liked—he stopped himself from continuing the list, getting far too discouraged with what he couldn’t do, and forgetting what he could do with them.

Sighing, he stripped the leaves off to burn, and tied the older shoots in small bundles with twine at one end. He got up and went into the fire room and hung the bundles up on the warming rack bones so that they would dry out completely. He tossed the leaves and broken, useless pieces into the fire basin and watched as the flames lapped them up. He checked on the pine cones and saw that they would be fully dried out any day now, then went back to the green shoots.

There weren’t too many, and they weren’t the best food, but it was an addition to their already limited diet. And Papyrus might like them, even if they weren’t boiled like the ones they’d eaten in the past had been. He stood them up against the pantry wall and returned to his haversack.

He dumped out the gems, their amusing glow burning away the last bits of frustration he held. Papyrus was right to be in awe—they were fascinating. He’d never seen anything like these before, and he wondered if they were products of monster magic or an incredible part of the natural world. He spent some time going through them, wiping away loose stone and dirt from their edges and shining them with the snow on his pants to enhance their light.

Soon they prepared dinner—Papyrus roasting mushrooms in the fire room and Sans at the prep table tearing up half a reed shoot into smaller pieces and shaping some gem-shaped snow treats for dessert.

Sans was right, Papyrus enjoyed the sweet, crunchy reeds. They went surprisingly well with the mushrooms—Sans figured this made sense since they came from the same habitat. It was a good addition to their food supply, and Sans was happy for that.

They played together after dinner, then got ready for bed. Sans put the gems in the fire room so the light wouldn’t keep them awake as Papyrus smoothed out the fabrics that would cover them. Sans settled into bed, then raised his left hand up to make his blue bones disappear, darkening the room. Papyrus pulled up the fabrics and they settled in for a well-deserved night’s sleep.

Sans hugged his brother, nuzzling the top of his head. He sighed in gratitude that he had not only gotten better enough with his magic that he could forage again, but that his brother was safe after transporting. He hoped Papyrus would never experience the horror he had suffered, and was immensely glad his brother had been spared that pain.

The two brothers drifted off to sleep, too tired and content for dreams or nightmares play out in their minds.

 -

 It was distant. The groaning. The shouting. The creaking. It played in the recesses of Sans’ mind.

It got louder. The sounds drifted into his senses like a far-off dream.

The loud crunching sound is what woke both of them up with a start.

The two skeletons nearly jumped out of bed at the terrifying noise. If they hadn’t been in the belly of a mountain, Sans would have thought it was thunder. They sat there, confused and shaking, the sounds of their gasping breaths echoing off the shelter walls.

“Sas?” Papyrus’ whisper was tinged with a scared whine. “Wass dat?”

Before he could answer, they heard muffled shouting.

“Shh!” Sans shushed urgently, though he need not have done. Papyrus was frozen in fear, too afraid to make a sound.

Neither of them moved or breathed. Sans’ ears were straining to decipher more sounds.

Another groaning—what was that?—then more creaking. Silence followed, then another loud crash, startling them again.

Sans turned to his brother. “Papyrus, do not move, do not make a sound, do not leave here. I am going to check it out. Do not come out. If it’s danger, I will come get you, but do not leave without me.” His voice shook, betraying his panic.

Papyrus nodded, tears brimming his eyes.

Sans slipped out of the bed slowly, expecting someone to burst into the shelter at any moment. He crept to the opening, wincing as the sounds continued. Formulating escape plans for him and his brother, he crawled out the opening and dug a small hole in the entrance. Peeking through to make sure no one was outside, he then dug the rest out and cautiously poked out his head.

The sounds were louder, but came from far behind him—near the cavern. He stood up on shaky legs, making sure no one was around, and closed the entrance back up. He inched his way around the shelter, then the boulder, and looked towards the cavern.

His eyes widened as he saw the source of the noise.

The forest near the cavern had thinned out. He could see movement within the trunks, but they were too far away for him to see clearly. There was shouting, but he couldn’t make out any words. Then he heard the groaning sound again—and saw the top of one of the trees leaning. There was an aching, creaking sound as the tree fell, then all was quiet. Suddenly, the loud crash of the tree hitting the ground resonated through the valley.

The monsters were cutting down the trees. They were back out in the valley again.

Sans rushed back into the shelter. He calmly told Papyrus what was going on as he grabbed his jacket. Papyrus relaxed a little until Sans told him he was heading back out again.

“I’m going to watch them, make sure they don’t go any further than the trees. You stay here, get some more sleep, and stay safe. The moment they start heading for the shelter, I will come back here and we’ll escape to the darkened area until it’s safe to come back. But you need to stay here while I watch them. Ok?”

“Kay...,” Papyrus whimpered, fear rising in him at the thought of being caught.

Sans finished shoving on his shoes and went over to the bed and hugged his brother tightly.

“I love you, Papyrus. No matter what happens, we’ll get through this. I won’t let anything bad happen to you, ever.”

“Love you, too,” Papyrus whimpered in Sans’ chest.

Sans went back to the opening, turning to his brother one last time.

“Stay here, stay safe. I’ll be back soon.”

Sans could see his brother nodding in the dimly lit room.

Sans left, sealed the opening, stood up, and, with a step, disappeared.

[mdelpin]

Gratsu Bingo 2019 Prompt: Obsession AO3 | FF.Net

Things Aren’t Always As They Seem

Chapter 1

Gray looked around the dimly lit room with disinterest. Women were walking around in tight leather miniskirts, and bikini tops, small aprons tied around their waists with Blue Pegasus embroidered on them in blue thread identifying them as waitresses. They had a smile for everyone, and the fakeness of it all irritated Gray’s every last nerve.

Not to be outdone, the male waitstaff walked around in the typical Chippendale’s uniform, tight pants showing off their every asset, a bow tie the only decoration on their torso. Gray’s eyes lingered a bit longer on these as their expressions at least differed one from the other. Some were trying very hard to look appealing, while others seemed increasingly bored with the attention they were receiving from the patrons.

Gray could relate. Hell at this point the only thing that differentiated him from them was the sash reading Groom that was draped diagonally across his chest.

 It should have read Groomsman, but it had ripped at some point when he had unconsciously stripped, and someone had fixed it in a way that hid the rest of the word. He would have removed the offending fabric, but Lyon had demanded he keep the damn thing on, and tonight was supposed to be all about him, so Gray had relented without putting up much of a fuss. At least he was in the one place in Magnolia that wouldn’t give him shit about walking around half-naked.

If it had been up to him, he would have left hours ago instead of sitting next to Loke, who was quite busy with the girl that was gyrating oh so teasingly on his cock, her expert movements letting his friend know what could be his for the right price. She’d already mentioned the private rooms a few times. Gray almost felt sorry for her, Loke did not pay for what he could readily get for free.

Gray looked away, uncomfortable by the display. He could sit there, order a drink and try to tune them out, but he really didn’t want to watch was coming next so he made his way to the bar wondering how much longer he’d be forced to stay in this club.

He sat on one of the stools as soon as one opened up and was surprised to see someone he knew behind the bar.

“Mira?” His eyes widened in surprise as he took in the sight of his old classmate dressed in a very lowcut dress.

“Gray!” Mira squealed enthusiastically leaning over the bar to wrap him up in a friendly embrace, “You’re here for Lyon’s thing, right? I was hoping I’d get to see you. How’ve you been?”

Gray snorted as his answer, quickly taking a drink from the beer Mira had set in front of him before he could even ask.

“Oh, God, I’m so sorry!” Mira hung her head low, letting her bangs cover her eyes, “I didn’t think about the fact that you used to be with her, this must be so hard for you.”

Gray began to laugh, causing Mira to peer at him confusedly. “Trust me, it’s totally fine.”

He changed the subject, not wanting to delve into the topic. All that ever did was remind him of the real reason for his misery. “Does Elfman know you work here?”

“Yeah, of course. He does too,” Mira looked out on the floor trying to find her large brother among the other male staff. “He’s around here somewhere. He was planning on doing his dancing debut tonight but will all of you here, I rather think he won’t.”

“Elfman’s a stripper?!” Gray chuckled into his drink, and it felt good. It was a real laugh, not the fake shit he’d been dishing out lately.

Mira laughed along with him, “Well, he’s been working on it. They get paid more, plus tips. College is really expensive, you know?”

Gray could only nod at that, he’d found that out too, although he’d never considered stripping. He wondered how much it paid.

Stupid stripper

Gray shook his head, trying to get that well-loved voice out of his head, but it didn’t help. All the emotions he’d been keeping locked inside came crashing down on him from just that one innocent insult. One that he’d heard from those lips more times than he could count.

“Well, I’ve got to get back to work, I’ll check on you again in a little bit.” Mira gave him a quick peck on the cheek before moving away.

“Wait! I never paid for my beer,” Gray called after her, knowing Mira could be a bit scatterbrained sometimes.

“It’s on the house,” Mira waved at him cheerfully. She’d already moved on to another customer, and Gray noticed how her shoulders tensed uncomfortably. Gray made sure to leave a nice tip for her. He couldn’t imagine it would be much fun for her to work here.

Now that he had found Mira, Gray decided to stay at the bar. He made a cursory sweep of the room looking for his twin brother. He hoped Lyon was smart enough to not get into any trouble tonight, Juvia was forgiving, but she was also incredibly jealous. She’d wanted to have a Jack and Jill party but Yuka, Lyon’s best friend, had refused, and so the two parties had remained separate.

He found him quickly enough, looking drunk and uncomfortable in a situation not that dissimilar to Loke with Yuka and Toby cheering him on. Gray whistled, glad not to be in his shoes anymore. Juvia had a way of knowing things like that.

It was still hard for him to believe he had finally caved and dated Juvia. He sighed, not that he’d had much choice. He’d had to do something to quiet the emptiness and longing that had never quite healed after Natsu had left.

Natsu.

There was so much of Gray wrapped up in that name. He could still remember summer days spent climbing trees, lazing on the beach and challenging each other in every possible idiotic way they could think of. They had known each other most of their lives, had been friends since the moment they met. Although to anyone who didn’t know them well, they would appear anything but.

Natsu was sunshine, ice cream, wet dreams, and every other possible thing that brought him joy all wrapped up in one irritatingly loud package. He was the one who had unknowingly held his heart all through high school, and the one he let get away.

In his defense, he hadn’t actually known the idiot was leaving. They’d even enrolled in the same university so as far as Gray knew life was going to remain the same as always. No. It was going to be better because two weeks before school let out for their last summer, Natsu had confessed to Gray that he was gay and that had been all he’d needed to push him into confessing his feelings.

Except he couldn’t do it right away, Gray had waited so long he wanted to do something special. What a joke. He’d ended up getting drunk at their graduation party and kissing him. He put everything he had into that fucking kiss, there was no way Natsu could not have understood his meaning.

But Natsu had not responded, and when Gray had pulled away, there was only sadness in his best friend’s eyes. And that was the last time he’d ever seen him.

No matter how many times he’d called, no matter how many pathetic messages he’d left begging for the prick to just please talk to him, silence was the only response he ever received.

No one knew what had happened to him, or even where he’d gone. His roommate Sting said he’d just disappeared overnight with no explanation, taking all his things with him and leaving one month’s rent on the table to give him time to find another roommate. That had been two years ago, and Gray had never gotten over it.

Good things had come of it, Juvia finally wore him down, and they’d dated for a few months. It hadn’t lasted long, even her fantasies weren’t enough to make the reality of dating him bearable.

In a move that surprised everyone but him, Juvia had dumped him for his brother, and now they were getting married. Honestly, he wished them well. He’d been a dick to her, and she deserved better, and Lyon was definitely that. After the initial awkwardness, he found he really didn’t care.

He tried dating, tried having casual sex, then he tried just being alone as much as possible, and found that was what he preferred. His already surly personality deteriorated to the point only a few people could stand being around him, and that was how he liked it.

Still, his thoughts would return to his best friend. Why had he looked so sad after he kissed him? Where did he go, and why did he have to leave so suddenly? How could he have ignored Gray’s pain so blatantly after everything they’d meant to each other. Had their friendship all been in Gray’s mind?

No matter how many times he thought about it, he could never come up with an answer that satisfied him, and it pissed him off. It had become an obsession. One that he couldn’t seem to claw his way out of.

He still checked in with Sting from time to time, but he had no more clue than Gray did. Lyon had suggested he hire a private investigator. If only to put an end to his questions once and for all, but Gray wasn’t ready to do that yet. Taking that step would force him to let go of too much of himself, and he wasn’t sure he’d like what would remain.

“Gray?” Hands were shaking his shoulders, and he found himself peering into his brother’s worried eyes.

He felt the fake smile curl on his lips, but before he could say anything, Lyon had waved Mira over.

“Hey, Lyon!” Mira must have been feeling generous because she also gave Lyon a hug. “Congratulations! What can I get for you?”

“Do you guys sell any t-shirts or something?” He pointed at Gray’s naked torso, and she giggled.

“Haven’t you tortured the poor guy enough? I doubt he’d want to walk around with a shirt from this place. Let me see if I can find something in Elfman’s locker.” She walked over to a fellow bartender who took over her area as she rushed into a back room, returning a few minutes later with a black shirt that looked to be too small for her burly brother but should fit Gray just fine.

“Here I grabbed one of his muscle shirts, he won’t mind,” Mira said kindly as Lyon thanked her.

He tossed the shirt at Gray, “Put this on, and let’s get out of here before Yuka can get me into any more trouble.”

Gray felt like he should be convincing his brother to stay at his bachelor party, but then again, he wanted to get the hell out of there. He took the dreaded sash off to put on the shirt, happy to see it wasn’t a bad fit after all. He was about to toss the sash into the nearest trash receptacle when Lyon stopped him.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“You can’t be serious,” Gray whined, “I’ve worn it all night, come on have a heart.”

“Put it back on, the party isn’t over,” Lyon grinned somewhat drunkenly as he put the sash back on his brother, chuckling at his obvious discomfort, “This is my last night of freedom and I am not done yet. Let’s go get something to eat.”

Gray let Lyon lead him out of the club, stopping to breathe in the fresh air. He looked down at his watch and saw that it was still quite early, not even ten o’clock. “Alright, where do you want to eat? My treat.”

“Steak, lots of steak! Ooh, is there one of those Brazilian steakhouses around?” Lyon asked hopefully, “Juvia wants me to become a vegetarian, says it will make me live longer.”

Gray snorted at the idea, to him that was a fate worse than death.

“Uhm, dunno, lemme check,” Gray grabbed his phone and opened a search window plugging in Brazilian steakhouse near me into the text box. A few seconds later results popped up.

“You’re in luck, it looks like there’s one about a twenty-minute walk from here. Let’s go,” Gray began to walk, and Lyon followed although his steps were a bit wobbly. “Would you rather take an Uber?”

“No, I want to build up an appetite so I can eat more meat, “Lyon replied, his voice sounding almost cheerful, something Gray was definitely not used to.

Gray snickered and kept walking, keeping a loose grip on his brother’s arm.

“You were thinking about him again, weren’t you?” Lyon scolded, “You promised me, no Natsu tonight.”

“I’m sorry,” Gray hung his head, feeling sorry he’d disappointed his brother, “I tried.”

“I know,” Lyon’s voice was surprisingly gentle, something Gray was not expecting. Usually, when the topic came up, Lyon became angry.

“Where do you think he went?” It was a question Gray asked himself daily.

“If it were anyone else, I’d say he was hiding from a gambling debt or something,” Lyon shrugged, “I just can’t think of anything that would make him leave.”

“Or to treat you like that,” this last bit was muttered under his breath but Gray still heard it.

They were getting a lot of strange looks from passersby, and even some cheers and high fives and Gray finally realized that both their sashes read Groom. His mood darkened further, and he tore the sash off, ignoring Lyon’s complaints as he tossed it into the nearest trash bin and sped up his steps towards the restaurant.

Groom, he scoffed. As if he’d ever be such a thing. There was only one person he wanted, and clearly, that wasn’t going to be happening.

They lucked into a last-minute cancellation and were seated right away, both drinking heavily as they picked different items from the waiters that stopped at their table every few minutes. Lyon ate his fill of meat until he was sated, all while looking at his brother worriedly.

“Do you think I’m making a mistake?” Lyon asked suddenly, surprising Gray out of his thoughts.

“Marrying Juvia?” When Lyon nodded, Gray thought about it for a minute. “Nah man, she makes you happy. How could that be wrong?”

“It wasn’t that long ago that you were all she wanted, she could change her mind again.”

The doubt in Lyon’s face gave Gray pause, made his heart feel tight in his chest. He’d thought Lyon was long over that.

“I’m pretty sure I scared Juvia out of that idea,” Gray’s laugh sounded brittle, and he just wanted to go home, but he also wanted to be a good brother. “This might be the one time where you are the better man,” Gray deadpanned before breaking into an amused smile, “And I will forever deny saying that.”

“I wish,” Lyon began before Gray interrupted him.

“Don’t.”

“Alright,” Lyon complied, although he looked sad again and Gray could have kicked himself. “I love you.” Lyon’s eyes welled up, and Gray took that as their cue to go home. He asked for the bill.

“I know, but save your tears for the wedding,” he advised, as he squeezed his brother’s shoulder, “I’ll be fine.”

They called an Uber, and when it finally arrived, Lyon drunkenly refused to get in unless Gray wore his groom sash. He finally did just so they could get home, knowing they would have to get up early for the wedding preparations. Lyon fell asleep in the car, and Gray could only snort. His brother had always been a lightweight, more interested in his studies than partying.

Gray studied his brother’s sleeping face, smiling fondly at how the anxiety Lyon normally exuded just melted away when he was resting. Growing up, he hadn’t really enjoyed being a twin, although it had helped that they weren’t identical. But the last few years they had gotten closer.

When Gray tried to push everyone away in his grief and anger, Lyon had steadfastly ignored him, moving into his apartment and refusing to let him hide away. But after tomorrow everything would be different, and Gray was going to miss him.

He stared out the window for the remainder of the drive.

Natsu, where the hell are you?

To be continued...

A/N: This should only be a two-shot, I think. 

[animeyanderelover]

We love drama with Uchiha and Tobirama right? What if Tobi and Madara had a crush on the same reader? They can be from Yamanaka or Hyuga clan 🥺🥺

You’re yearning for a carnage, don’t you?

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessiveness, obsessiveness, paranoia, manipulation, sabotage, blackmailing, bribing, violence, mentions of kidnapping

Tobirama and Madara falling for the same darling

🌊🌑As if those two don’t already have enough reasons to not like each other. But if they would fall in love with the same darling? Yeah, they’re gonna start a war about this. Madara is someone who’s easily attracted to power and someone smart and since you’re from either the Hyuga or Yamanaka clan that means you possess already a huge amount of power. Tobirama appreciates strength, but his darling doesn’t necessarily have to be that strong since he lays his focus also on many other points. Creativity or intelligence for example.

🌊🌑I think it would be a good scenario to imagine that you’re a good friend of Tobirama, someone he’s close with and trusts greatly. He probably even held more normal romantic feelings for beforehand. But then Madara came in. Someone who Tobirama doesn’t trust in the least bit and just wants to get rid off, seeing him as a danger for his brother, you and the newly built village. And believe me when I tell you that Tobirama tried his hardest to not let Madara anywhere near you, refusing to let this guy anywhere near a person he was ready to protect with all he got.

🌊🌑He didn’t even want to mention you when with Madara, preferring if you would be kept a secret. But having Hashirama as a brother was most likely the reason why Madara found out about you in the first place. There aren’t many moments where Tobirama is really angry with his bro. But this was one of those moments. He probably raised his voice a bit too much at the beginning, but in the end he was just highly frustrated with himself for not being able to prevent Madara from finding out about you.

🌊🌑Madara has any reason to hate Tobi since he killed his brother and the only person that keeps him from murdering him is Hashirama and the other way around for Tobirama. But still, Madara takes his pleasure in pisssing Tobirama off which he already does by being Hashirama’s best friend. But he’s always up for torturing him more. So after finding out that you exists, someone who Tobirama sincerely likes and wants to protect there were malicious thoughts in his head. Why didn’t he pay you a small visit?

🌊🌑Tobirama had made all the times sure that you would never walk into that Uchiha so Madara needed some time until he was finally able to meet you. You were a bit hesitant about Madara at first and he knew that the damn Senju most likely didn’t talk about him in the highest tones. He did understand that you must be a bit hesitant around him, especially given his past. But didn’t you think you were a bit preoccupied? He had killed, but so had Tobirama. He had killed his brother. You had only heard Tobirama’s perspective of things, but never his. If you hated him for killing then you would have to hate Tobirama as well. Give him a chance and he would prove to you that Tobi had only painted him in his worst lights. But he was different. That made you feel a bit guilty in the end, his words making sense. And despite still feeling unsure you agreed. And at first Madara asked you to keep this a secret. And you didn’t need to ask him why, not being able to imagine how terrifying Tobirama’s reaction would be if he would find out Madara had even talked to you.

🌊🌑Madara had one goal in mind. Wanting to befriend you for the sake of making Tobirama mad. He wanted that Senju guy to explode. Let’s take a review of what happened when Tobirama saw you the first time taking a walk whilst chatting with Madara. Madara had informed himself about Tobirama’s schedule thanks to Hashirama and had invited you to a small walk whilst chatting a bit with you. And when Tobirama saw the both of you talking happily with each other the first thing he did was freezing in his tracks. He didn’t miss the small glance Madara was giving him, a small smirk that only he could see. Tobi knew what he was doing. He wanted to make him mad, wanted to enjoy it when seeing how pissed off Tobirama would be upon discovering that he was friends with you. He knew it too well...But fell for it. This cursed Uchiha!!!! His emotions erupted like a volcano. Anger, frustration, the intention to kill someone, betrayal, fear. He instantly stormed over and pulled you quickly away from Madara, standing protectively in front of you whilst lashing out on Madara. You had to hold him physically back or else blood might have been shedded.

🌊🌑You weren’t safe from Tobirama’s overwhelmed state of feelings as well. Didn’t he tell you to stay away from that guy?!?! Tobirama just felt too many things at that moment. Angry because you hadn’t listened to him, betrayal because you had clearly enjoyed your time with Madara. But most of all a growing fear and paranoia of losing you to Madara, who had clearly bad intentions with you. He just wanted to use you against him. Madara might hurt you. Tobirama was afraid.

🌊🌑This incident had caused some public attention because as much as Tobirama wanted to remain calm and composed in public, he had lost it the moment he had seen you and Madara together. Hashirama had to have a talk with the both of them. And the poor man felt conflicted, having his little bro and his best friend against each other. But he had to do something or else one of them might really go on the other’s throat someday. Tobirama made his Problem really clear. That bastard there was trying to get on his nerves by spending time with you and wanting to piss him off which worked. Madara on the other hand defended himself by saying that he just wanted to be a friend of yours and that he had felt offended when finding out how bad Tobirama had talked about him in front of you. He just wanted to show you that he wasn’t all that bad. Playing favorites didn’t work in here and Hashirama felt honestly torn apart. He had often seen his brother and best friend throwing threats against each other and starting heated verbal fights. But this was something completely different.

🌊🌑But it was also clear for him that only you could decided whether you wanted to spend time with someone or not. And to Tobirama’s huge horror you had started to like Madara, not being that much of an asshole as you had images him to be. He was actually really nice. Maybe a bit rough here and there, but it wasn’t like Tobirama was a huge softie either. Someone always had to hold Tobirama physically back when he saw the both of you together, Hashirama spent hours to try to somehow soothe his suffocating feelings. But it was all useless. Nothing helped Tobirama. And the teasing looks from Madara he always received as well as hearing you tell him sometimes that he was overthinking things and Madara wasn’t all that terrible led him so quickly to his breaking point, making a hatred pooling inside his core he hadn’t even thought would be possible to feel, even for an Uchiha. Firstly his brother, now you. How badly he wanted to kill that guy.

🌊🌑Tobirama had feelings for you beforehand. But the moment he had seen you with Madara was already the moment where he had started slipping into his darker thoughts. You were a person he was ready to defend with his life and knowing that you had started forming a friendship with the person he had tried to keep away from you caused a storm of emotions swirling up inside of him whenever he even thought about it. It was no wonder he let his dark and sinister feelings consume him, letting them drag him into an abyss of darkness and hatred which blossomed deeply in his heart. He would kill that guy.

🌊🌑For Madara you were at first just a reason to annoy Tobirama. But overtime he started to enjoy your company. You were really strong and he liked it to train with you, admiring it when you actually managed to hold a bit out against him. You had also, despite having a big heart, a more savage side to yourself, joking you had learned from Tobirama. He was attracted by that. You became someone he, if he could dare to say that, treasure. He became more possessive over you, even more because he knew that you were friends with the same person who had killed his little brother. That was already enough to make him go crazy. But you know what really made him snap in the end? It was when he found out that Tobirama was passionately in love with you. That’s what drove him really over the edge. And now the war was on.

🌊🌑Whatever hate and dislike both of them had against each other reached an unbelievable amount of hatred and bloodthirst after finding out that they both loved you. I’m honestly not surprised if Tobirama, after finding out that Madara has feelings for you, just wanted to kill that guy. If it wouldn’t have been for his brother, who needed to hold him with probably even his kekkai genkai back to make him calm down a bit, he would have attacked that guy. Not like Madara hadn’t already the same plan as well.

🌊🌑Now it became chaotic, both men wanting to win you for yourself and wanting to isolate you from the other guy at the same time. Tobirama would try to tell you every cruel thing Madara has ever done whilst trying at the same time to convince and manipulative your clan into not trusting that man and forbidding you to see him. Madara on the other hand would tell you every ruthless thing Tobirama had ever done, especially digging deeply into the part where he had killed his brother, tending to tell you very detailed how heartbroken and devastated he had felt after this. He knew that Tobirama tried to talk your family out of letting you merry him. So he tried to charm your family as good as he could so that they wouldn’t let this happen. Both of them wanted to make you like them more than the other and both of them enjoyed it when they could show off with you whilst the other one was watching.

🌊🌑I feel sorry for Hashirama who’s dragged into this mess because both men will try to play favorites with him. And Hashirama would be in full panic because both of them are so important for him.

🌊🌑You had to look out for dividing your time good between the two of them or else a drama would start. Another important thing was that these two shouldn’t be in the same room until your family or Hashirama was there because else there was a high risk that they could actually start to fight each other. And then there were some strong shinobi needed to be present to hold them back.

🌊🌑I can see both of them relying, the further they are breaking down, more and more on threats and blackmailing, wanting to make you stay away from the other one by doing this.

🌊🌑But the moment Madara goes rouge? That’s the moment where not even Hashirama will be able to hold them back if they should face each other again. Because then it will get brutal. No, it’ll be more than that. Something far more than that.

🌊🌑The moment Madara decides to go rogue is the moment he decides to kidnap you. And he won’t leave your side so the only good chance for Tobirama to find you will be during the Madara’s fight with Hashirama. And then he has to be fast. If he finds you then expect him to be paranoid for the rest of his days. The knowledge that Madara will come for you again makes him cling onto you more than you might expect, fearing what Madara will do to you if he ever gets his hands on you again. If Tobirama isn’t able to find you then Madara’s paranoia will be increased beyond belief as well. He knows that Tobirama will stop at nothing to take you away from him just like he took Izuna away from him. Never. Never speak the name of the other man again whilst being in the other one’s presence or else you’ll see something horrifying!!

🌊🌑Seriously, if these two should ever fall for the same person even hell will look like a playground.