#the kids were flocking to and around him all night to see the magic trick (their words not his)

[blindlov3fix]

Your Biggest Fan

Hypno and GN!Reader

Warnings: Platonic, kind of a mentor - mentee fic, Fluff

A/N: My first real post! I wanted the first to be more of a heartwarming fluff story so I decided to make this one platonic. But there's sure to be other fics for different characters with different genres so make sure to stick around for that! <3

···························₊˚ ੈ✩༺☆༻✩ ੈ·₊˚·························

Tonight was a big night for you. A very big night. You even marked it on your calendar out of excitement the day you bought your ticket to the show at the magic townhouse. Tonight, instead of the simple museum days, they planned to host a show with your favorite magician of all time!

No, it wasn’t Houdini brought back from the dead (though that would have been the show of a lifetime). It wasn’t Sir John the Kaiser. It wasn’t even that Noah Sheck kid that was pretty good at magic too.

It was Hypnopotamus, the newest magician in the city who had taken all of Manhattan by storm with his incredible acts. Besides the fact that he was a mutant, let alone a former criminal according to the news stations, everyone who was as crazy for magic as you or just looking for some good entertainment had to admit: he was amazing.

And tonight was the night you would actually meet him in person at the meet and greet after the show!

You couldn’t wait but you didn't want to just simply meet the guy. See, you had been practicing your own little trick yourself and looking up card tricks for months now. Bugging your friends to help you practice so you wouldn’t screw it up.

Now, after countless trial and error, you were finally ready, just in time for the show.

Unfortunately, you spent a lot of your savings on that ticket so you couldn’t dress as nice as you wanted in your own dressy suit so you just wore the only one you had. Sure, it had a few tears (which you meant to sew eventually, you just never got a chance to do that), but it was perfectly fine! Probably. Maybe. Hopefully.

You opened your closet, reaching the top shelf to grab the top hat sitting in the corner. You brushed off the top, blowing off the dust that collected from sitting in the closet for so long and gently placed it on top of your head.

You walk over to the mirror, checking over yourself and giving one last spin to make sure your outfit was at least decent. You nodded, feeling confident enough that you wouldn’t get laughed out the second you stepped foot in the townhouse.

With a deep breath and a quick adjustment of your top hat, you grab your ticket, stuff it in your pocket and run out of the house.

Getting into the townhouse was a piece of cake (considering you already paid for your entry months ago) and you explored the place since you had a few minutes to spare before the show started. And eventually, you and all of the other guests piled into the auditorium and the show started.

Seeing videos online did not do this man justice. He lit up the room when he talked (literally, he managed to shoot fireworks out of his mouth!). His acts were nothing like you’ve never seen before and there was no way there was a wire anywhere in sight. It was incredible. This whole show was just…magical.

But all good things must come to an end and the show was over an hour later. But that was the best hour of your life. So far anyway.

And the fun of the night wasn’t over yet either! There was still the amazing chance to actually meet Hypno, face to face. To say you ran to the exit doors when the house lights came on would be an understatement.

You and the other guests all made your way to the next room over where Hypnopotamus himself was waiting in all his hippo glory, a cardboard backdrop with his name on it in big bold letters stood behind him for anyone interested in photos. A velvet rope was shut in front of him, making a narrow path in front of him.

“Hello all you beautiful people! Thanks for coming out tonight!” He started, raising his arms out in the air as people flocked in with each other. “I hope you all enjoyed the show!”

He gets a group cheer from everyone, chuckling. “Alright, well, I’m guessing you��re all here for the meet ‘n greet! Unless you’re looking for the dunny, that’s down the hall to your left.” He jokes. A few people laugh at the joke but soon everyone gets in a single file line in front of velvet rope. That was the one thing separating the fans from the hippo’s cage and that was quickly unclipped by Hypno himself.

You got stuck close to somewhat of the end of the line. You definitely would have been closer to the front but you just got a bit nervous and froze up a bit, getting an even closer look at your idol. And you did get shoved a bit so others could get higher in the line so you couldn’t be picky, you’d still meet him. Just a bit later than you would have hoped.

You decided to pass the time by rehearsing your lines for your trick, muttering under your breath. It was a great distraction for the twisting in your stomach as you slowly moved closer to him.

Before you knew it, a majority of the people in front of you had disappeared, leaving only a handful left. You could see Hypno even better this close.

He was practically glowing. I mean, there he was, mere feet away from you. And you were about to really meet him. You would get to shake his hand and talk to him about how he made it as a pro magic guy- er mutant. Maybe as for some tips? But a magician never reveals his secrets so that was probably a hard no—

But you shook your head, shaking away the thoughts starting to flood your mind. You were here for a different reason. Focus.

But god, you were shitting yourself as you got closer to the front of the line.

Just three people in front of you. Seconds pass and the line gets shorter. Less than a minute later and you’re standing in front of him. Due to the fact that he was a giant hippo, he practically towered over you, which was just a tad bit intimidating, you couldn’t lie.

Waving goodbye to the last fan that he was just chatting with, Hypno’s eyes widen just a bit when he sees you walk up, with a rather worn down suit and top hat to match. Well, this was new. Perhaps you were one of those costume people? He could never remember that funny little name people on the internet used (forgive him for being a bit more old school).

“Well, what have we here then? Are you dressed up as your’s truly?” He asked, keeping a dramatic flair to still entertain the others waiting in line for their time to talk to him but he was intrigued when you shook your head. “No, actually.” You started, taking off your top hat and nervously fiddling with the hem. “I um…I’m kind of a magician too. I wanted to show you my- my card trick.” You stutter, keeping your eyes down.

“Your very own card trick, huh?” Hypno chuckles, putting a finger on his chin and pretending to think about it for a second. “Hm…alright then! Why not? Always happy to see tricks from fellow magicians!” He says, putting his hands on his hips.

“Whenever you’re ready.” He reassured, a small smile cracking through your expression. You took a small breath, putting your hat back on. Alright, just like you practiced.

You pull a deck of cards out from inside your jacket, spreading them out in front of you. “Pick a card, any card.” You muttered but you were surprised to see Hypno somewhat frowning.

Fuck, did you already mess up?? Is a card trick too basic for him? How did you screw up already?!

But thankfully, Hypno is quick to stop you from spiraling as he explains himself. “Nah, come on. Where’s your charisma? Your confidence?” He questioned, tilting his head. “You gotta be bold! Grab my attention and don’t let go, not for a second!” He straightens his back and gives you a small wink. “Try it again. More energy this time.”

You feel the sudden sting in your eyes of tears threatening to show up but you quickly shut that down by blinking them away. It was the confidence boost you desperately needed. And with your idol being so supportive in the short time you met him, you might as well put on a show for him.

With another deep breath, you hold out the deck to him once again. “Pick a card! Any card!” This time, your voice had the energy Hypno was looking for, nothing like the little whisper you started with the first time. It even managed to draw the attention of the other’s around you, all gathering around to watch. “Yeah! There ya go!” Hypno laughed, his smile growing.

He takes a card from somewhere in the middle of the deck. “Now, be sure to remember which card you have.” You reminded him, covering your eyes with one hand. “You can even show it to the audience if you want. But don’t worry, I’m not peeking.” You lowered your hand for a second, peeking one eye out. “Or am I?” You joked, pulling a few chuckles out of the audience before covering your eyes once again.

Hypno flipped the card around for everyone to see. It was the three of spades. “Now, turn that card back around so only you can see it.”

He obliges and you lower your hand again. “All you have to do is hold that card and watch my hands and I’ll try to guess which card you have.” You say, starting to shuffle the cards in your hands.

Hypno watches, wanting to see how this will go since he’s holding the card. There’s no way to change it with some neat shuffling if he has it in his own possession.

Your shuffling suddenly stops. “Now, what I didn’t tell you is there is a double of every card in this deck. There’s a twin for each one.” You pull a card from the top, flipping it around so he could see. “Is this your card’s twin?” You ask.

In your hand was a seven of hearts. Hypno sighs a bit. “Sorry, mate. That wasn’t it.” He says, shaking his head slightly. It was heartbreaking at that moment. He remembered his first time messing up a trick in public. The embarrassment almost made him want to quit magic entirely. He hoped you wouldn’t end up doing the same. With how nervous you were to even come up to him, he didn’t want to be the one who ended up crushing your magic dreams.

But your smile never faltered.

“Sure it is. Look at your card.” You chuckled, idly shuffling the deck again. Hypno raises a brow, his eyes landing on the card in his fingers. Lo and behold, he was holding a seven of hearts. He smiles in surprise, turning his card around for the crowd to see.

Their gasps and exclaims were enough to make your smile even bigger, along with your confidence. “But that wasn’t your original card, was it, Mr. Hypno?” You continue.

“No, it was not.” He chuckles. You hold your hand out to take the card back and he hands it to you. “Your original card and its twin are actually nowhere in this deck!” You spread the deck out so every card is visible, slowly spinning so the whole crowd can see as well.

“Then, where is my card, little magician?” Hypno asks, putting his hands on his hips, watching how you grabbed the audience’s attention. Just like he told you to. He could tell you were having so much fun.

You fold the deck together again, putting them back in your jacket. “Check your back pocket.”

Hypno stares at you for a second before quirking a brow at you, smiling like an idiot. He reaches a hand into his back pocket, revealing his original three of spades and sliding it through his fingers to reveal the copy of that exact card right behind it.

The crowd all yelled out in shock and excitement, starting to applaud you. It felt good, you had to admit. But the dam broke when Hypno of all people joined in on the applause. You could die right then and there and be happy.

But to save your own ego and not ruin this amazing moment, you took a deep breath to try and calm your racing heart and bowed, like any good magician would after a show.

Hypno patted you on the back, moving his hand to rest on your shoulder. “The ol’ sleight of hand. You really are something. From one magician to another, I’m truly impressed.”

You smiled up at him, feeling your throat tighten. It was taking everything in your power not to cry on the spot, or worse, hug him right there. “Thank you.” You croaked, rubbing your eyes free of tears.

He smiles and nods. “You know, a magician like you deserves a much better wardrobe, don’t you think?” He chuckles. “I don’t think the worn down look suits you very well, no offense.”

Before you could even ask what he meant by that, he was standing behind you, gently tugging on the cloth of your blouse sleeves. “Do you mind?” He asked, leaning over to make sure the contact was alright with you.

You didn’t have a clue what he was going to do but you just shrugged. “Uh..sure? Go ahead.”

He smiled and pulled back on your jacket and you thought he had actually ripped the damn thing off of your shoulders like some tear away pants or something. There was even some shiny confetti that appeared around you as he did it. You panicked for a split second and the sudden cheer from the crowd again didn't help your worry. But you were rendered speechless when you looked down and realized.

He just did a costume change. On you.

Gone was the tattered and bland suit and top hat, now replaced with a chic black suit and bowtie, covered in golden accents and accessories. Both hands were perfectly fitted with white gloves. And your hat was pristine, pretty much brand new and was fitted with a gemstone that shimmered and shined in the light. It was like a dream.

Yeah, this time, you couldn’t stop the tears. You literally started sobbing on the spot, which is bound to keep you up at night some time in the future. Hypno tried to offer you a handkerchief to clean yourself up, apologizing profusely which some of the crowd audibly ‘awwed’ (and laughed a little).

But this truly was the best night of your life.

[lost-at-hacketts-quarry]

Dylan Headcanon 9

Dylan absolutely let his Nerd Knowledge™ slip one time and showed his campers the cool "trick" that happens with Wint O Green Lifesavers when in the dark, and they absolutely loved it.

[rottingflovver]

Nikolai and fyodor with a female s/o who has a child and the father like left them- like how would they react and take care of them- idk if that made sense but if you somehow end up doing this thank you wjbskqhq 💖💓💞💞💛💞

PLEASE THIS IS SUCH A CUTE ASK

I misunderstood for the first half and thought you wanted an s/o that left the boys alone with a child like 💀 I thought you had a death wish or something geez, but this is way cuter and way more precious!!!

Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs

Characters: Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor M. Dostoevsky

Format: headcanons

Tw: minor blood mention

A/N: dbejdhs this is very wholesome but my mind hit a blank with most of it

A child, huh?

Nikolai literally loves children so much

"You have a child?? Can I see can I see can I see can I-"

I'm so sorry, you don't exist anymore, he will just be a doting mother to the kid now, it's like you evaporated out of existence

He's doing every trick he knows 一 from pulling a bunny out of a magicians hat to making his hand appear at a random place, disconnected from his body, he's going all out

If possible (and if you allow him) he's going to teach basic magic to the kid

He's also making sure they have enough to eat and get enough rest every night, it's very important after all

Although...he can be just a tad bit frightening

Sometimes he gets so excited to come home to the two of you again, he'll barge into the house covered in blood head to toe

Horrifying

"Oops! I'm so sorry my little doves... I'll go clean up right away."

You tell your kid it's ketchup

They don't believe you

Even though he's the absolute sweetest and super ecstatic to spend time with the kid, please, never leave them alone with one another

Nikolai has strange philosophies, and he wouldn't be opposed to making others adapt it, especially little children with how easy to influence they are

He also has no filter, and will start talking about anything in front of them

By that point it's best to cover his mouth, but be careful, he can bite

Being around a child constantly has awoken his inner playfulness, a genuine one, and he definitely enjoys every minute of it

He would offer to kill the guy for you

It's not a problem for him; a simple few hours spent typing away at his laptop and he will know everything there is to know about the guy: name, last name, address, embarrassing child secrets, you name it

If you agree to it, well, the man that left you will no longer roam this earth

But if you refuse, Fyodor will understand, but don't expect him to be completely docile about this. He'll send a member of the Rats to mess with the man's life in one way or another

He's not...the friendliest towards children

Aka he doesn't know how to act in front of them 一 he treats them like tiny adults, which is hilarious, but Fyodor please, a five year old can't drink coffee and discuss philosophy with you

Somehow though, since he's very still, if your child is a baby he's very gentle when holding them

+ will probably fall asleep, along with the baby

It's very precious

He claims to not like children, but they somehow flock to him

Your child will immediately adopt to Fyodor being their father, with little or no complaints

However, all of the actual caretaking, save for babysitting, will have to be taken care of by you

He doesn't know what children eat? How could he? Plus he's not washing them, that's gross

If you do complain about wanting more help regarding them, he can always ask Ivan to help out; he's a butler after all (essentially)

Also, for some strange reason, he always seems to finish his work earlier more frequently 一 coupled with going on fewer dangerous missions. A genuine smile can be found on his lips, if you look at him while he thinks he's alone. He can try as he might, but it's obvious that both you and the child have significantly grown on him (almost as if the three of you were a real family)

🥺🥺🥺

[doodleimprovement]

CSAU :: Moonie Jericho and the Mysterious Case of the Moon-Jumper Mask

At long last, It is finished! Happy Halloween! 

Below the line is a lighthearted fic taking place in the “Coffee Shop” AU (( @doodledrawsthings​ ))with Magic! Family fun! Low stakes! And a gratuitous cameo by my OC because of course Nell is here 

Seriously though this fic is about as lighthearted as it gets. At the end of the fic are a few sketches I drew but didn’t end up coloring. 

((There’s going to be an alternate ending posted separately at a later date, but its not relevant to the fic)) 

Enjoy! 

--

Fall in Subcon Forest came in gently as always, and by the time Halloween rolled around, everyone was firmly in their sweaters and beanies and thick leggings and hiking boots that were only occasionally used for hiking. The leaves of the trees and the shining sun framed the town in such lovely muted colors that it looked like a picture right out of a magazine.

Not that anyone in the Horizon was looking out the window to see it - the curtains were closed in an attempt to not blind the employees and clientele.

It was that time between the end of school but before trick or treating, which meant that all of the teachers and parents were coming into the Horizon with their kids to get the new specialty drinks - well decorated and tasty, and more importantly, not hilariously overpriced. The kids in particular seemed to love the “Ghoulishly White Hot Chocolate”, and the teens flocked to the “Jack-O-Spices Frozen Pumpkin Latte”

Luka was almost certain that the pumpkin spice smell would burn itself so deep into his nose he’d never be able to un-smell it. A small price to pay for the rise in business, he supposed.

“Luka, Two Snatcher-ccinos!” Clover called from the cash register.

“I still hate that!” He responded with a light tone

“Too bad, make ‘em!” She teased back with a light laugh.

“Don’t get all testy, you two! We’re only open for another hour!” MJ called, grinning before turning back to the coffee machine, where they were effortlessly making yet another latte.

“Too long!” Clover argued, grabbing a muffin for a customer from the bakery display

“You’re telling me, and I still have to take Bow and Hattie trick or treating” Luka huffed, finishing up one of the “Snatcher-ccinos” and moving onto the next one.

“WE are!” MJ corrected. Luka just playfully rolled his eyes.

The conversation ended up dying rather quickly as the business went through its last rush, and, at long last, 4 o’clock came, and the store shut down. The three employees did a rather quickly clean up this night around - they were all eager to be anywhere but work that spooky night.

Once in the back of the store, Luka seemed to almost melt in relief, leaning further and further into the wall.

“Ugh, my limbs feel like Jelly” he commented as his voice gained its echo

“For all we know, they are,” Clover teased. “We’re meeting at MJs in an hour, right?” She stretched.

“Yeah.” Luka nodded “Have they already run off?”

“Yup. They’re excited” She chuckled “You gonna get home alright?”

“Yeah, thanks. See you later”

“Later!”

0o0o0o0o0

That stupid, cursed thing of a mask had not moved in weeks since he’d found it, and its stupid grin had started haunting the corner of his vision when ever he was in his studio.

It seems like it's decided that sitting on the desk in his art studio was its happy place. At least it was out of the way, and in a place he didn’t frequent often.

Though its eyes definitely still moved, which gave MJ hives like you would not believe. Why he kept it in his studio he wasn’t sure.

Tim had told him that the thing was mostly harmless, that it just seemed a bit… off, which wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Timmy even said that he got “good vibes” off of it, which was a strange phrase to use on something that felt at the very least mildly cursed.

Finishing with the caplet for his costume, gently clasping it, he looked in the mirror and gave himself a smile.

It was obscure, sure, but he’d put a lot of work into it! The legend of the “Lonely Man” was well known in these parts, maybe someone would get it. Someone had to.

Whether or not anyone got it, he was still happy with the tattered thing. That faux old age took forever to get right.

As he straightened out his clothes, his eyes caught the mask once more.

His hand picked it up off his desk, and his thumb rubbed on the odd surface. He couldn’t really tell what it was made of, but it was… oddly smooth, he thought. His brow furrowed as he looked at its eyes, a single pupil in its left eye, and a cascade of diamonds in the other. It was certainly an interesting and eye-catching design. He also liked the blue and reds, and that weirdly off-putting grin.

Such an odd thing.

He held it up with one hand over his face - not putting it on, but getting a look in the mirror at how it would look with the outfit.

He found it utterly bizarre that he could see clearly through the eyes despite what seemed like thick paint over it.

The mask itself wasn’t actually that scary when taken all at once. Oddly enough, it seemed to match with his outfit - at least, color wise. It didn’t even seem evil or anything. It seemed… kind.

That was an odd word to use. MJ tended to flip flop on how he feels about the damned thing

Before he could think any more about it, his doorbell rang, and the mask was left on his desk, forgotten the moment company arrived.

“Who is it?” He asked as he approached the door

“The Dread Pirate Roberts!” A little voice announced as the oak opened up.

To his absolute delight, Harriet was dressed indeed the Dread Pirate Roberts, missing nothing but the mask (The town doesn’t allow masks on minors, for some reason. A weird little policy). Next to her stood an excited Bow, grinning from ear to ear. He knew exactly who she was, but still asked-

“And who are you?”

“My name is Inigo Montoya” She said with all the faux-seriousness she could muster, holding up a foam sword “You killed my father, prepare to die!”

“Oh, goodness, the finest swordsperson in the world and The Dread Pirate Roberts have come to my home, I don’t stand a chance!” He moved out of his way as the kids ran into the apartment, and their father walked up behind him.

When his eyes went to Luka, he let out a snort. The man was dressed in a slightly silly looking prince outfit dyed almost completely purple, and his form was mostly purple as well - an energy-saving tactic if ever there was one.

“And you are?”

“He’s the ghost of prince Humperdink” Bow grinned. “This was the best costume we could find for it”

“I honestly think he shoulda died at the end of the movie so I'm cool with it.” Harriet commented as MJ moved to the side and let the group in “Is Clover here yet?”

“Not yet, I’m sure she’ll be here any minute and we can get right along with trick or treating!” MJ announced

“Yay!” the girls responded in unison, taking their place on MJs couch and turning on his old television for a brief moment of entertainment

Mj looked at Luka and grinned “Well, you’re lookin’ spooky, Luka”

“You kind of do too… what do you look like?”

MJ snorted “I’m the ‘Lonely Man of Subcon forest’. Heard of it?”

“Nope, don’t think I’ve been here long enough” Luka shrugged “Does look nice though. Very zombie-ish.”

The two chatted for a bit before there was another ring barely 10 minutes later.

“That must be Clo” MJ pushed himself off of the wall. “Can you get that? I want to grab my wallet so we can get the kids some ice cream before they go running around”

Luka nodded, giving him a grateful smile before turning to the door to greet the final member of the trio

MJ popped back into his studio, grabbing his wallet… and looking again at the mask.

He pocketed his wallet, and picked the mask up again. His thumbs rubbing against the strange texture of the mask’s sides.

He couldn’t help but admit that he was tempted.  Maybe, he could just see what it’d look like, just for a moment. Who knows? Maybe this has all been anxiety for nothing and the mask is just… weird.

He looked back into the mirror, and placed the mask on his face.

There was a moment where he stared amusedly at his reflection - it added a certain air to his outfit. Maybe wearing it out wouldn't be so b-

And then his body seized

He couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe. He trembled and a pain started from his head and traveled down his spine. It was like the worst shiver from the cold he’d ever experienced. Like ice was pressed directly against his skin. It dispersed like a fog, freezing freezing, and, suddenly-

It stopped.

Panting heavily, MJ pulled themselves back up to a standing position - when had they bent over like that? - and lifted their head, making eye contact with themselves in the mirror.

“GAH?!”

They were - blue! And - and the mask was very much not a mask!!!

When they blinked, it blinked. When they moved, it moved. When they grimaced, the mouth moved along to create the expression. their eyes scanned over the crescent shape, past their neck and then landed on their-

“H-hands!” They stared - they were missing a finger and - had claws?? They clenched their fists in disbelief, eyes catching on a glinting just under their sleeve.

.. Where had the chains come from?

“MJ? MJ are you okay?”

Clover

“D-don’t come in, its fine!!” They panicked, “I’m uh, just, finishing up and stuff with my costume!”

“It looked finished to me” Luka commented “Did something rip?”

“Y-yes?? yes! Something totally ripped“

“They’re lying!” Hattie pointed out

“Sounds like their lying voice” Bow added.

Curse these adorable, smart little girls!

“I-I’m fine!” They yelled out “Totally fine, just fine”

“... MJ I’m opening the door, be decent”

“No, Clover, I - “

But the door opened anyway

And Clover - dressed up as “Generic princess” - looked in, and … stared.

“.... MJ?”

“.... H-hi, Clover.”

“Clover, what are-” Luka cut himself off “Uh….”

“It’s me! Its MJ, I uh - “ They tried to come up with a succinct explanation for the situation, despite not having any real idea.

“The mask” Luka quickly concluded, recognizing the face after MJs unfortunately previous run-ins.

“I … yes” MJ’s shoulders slumped a bit.

“Hey, at least you still have feet” Luka commented, causing MJ to look down and see that he did in fact still have his shoes on. Thank heaven for small mercies.

“What happened, what is it?!” Harriet pushed her way through, her eyes wide as saucers once they landed on the recently transformed adult “... Whoa”

“I … I put on the mask. I was curious and - and it..” They looked back down at the pale, blue hands, nervously moving the fingers and claws. “I felt like I was freezing, my whole body and then…” They trailed off.

“Whoa..” Harriet approached him slowly “It's like, Majora’s Mask!”

Lukas put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from jumping - now really was not the time “... I suppose that's one way to describe it.” He gave a deliberate, thoughtful face towards his transformed friend.

Bow was very firmly behind the adults, staring rather intently and slightly bewildered. Sure, she had been getting used to Mr. Princeton as a parent but.. This was somehow very different.

“... We need to talk to Tim.” Clover concluded

“Tim’s out of town” Luka reminded the group with a grimace “He and Timmy had some kind of meeting thing with other magical people. We don’t…” Luka huffed, his hair fluffing up a bit “We don’t know anyone else whose adept at magic like they are”

Harriet furrowed her brow a bit, looking at the discomfort that MJ was experiencing, rubbing their hands together. Could they be stuck like that? She wanted to think that maybe this really was like the Zelda game, but who could tell? It's not like they knew anyone….

“Yes we do!” She snapped her fingers“I kinda hate that Mu was right, but there is a witch in town!”

“What?” Lukas’ brow furrowed “Who?”

0o0o0o0o0

Getting to the edge of town was… novel, to put it simply. The group was rather lucky that Luka was used to doing this sort of thing. And he was about 4 times larger than the group, so that helped in flying them around.

With the sun kissing the earth, red rays crawling into the darker sky, they didn’t have too much time, but followed Harriet and Bow as they got past the town center, and led them down to-

“Wait, why are we at Nell’s place?” Clover stared ahead at the Mint-green home, succulents hanging from pots and a radio sitting on the edge of the porch.

“Because Nurse Nell is a witch!” Harriet announced walking up the two steps of the porch.

“What- Harriet!” Luka startled.

“Its true!” Bow defended as Hattie knocked on the door.

“Kids, we’ve known Nell for a long time, she’s not-”

“She is!” Hattie argued “We saw it!”

“She made us promise to keep it a secret!” Bow added.

Said nurse opened the door as MJ tried to speak up

“I wasn’t expecting trick-or treaters,” She greeted before looking out the door, “But I do-” She paused as her eyes landed on the strange group at her front porch.

There was a rather awkward, extended silence as her eyes scanned MJ through her thick lenses with a gaze that conveyed a strange kind of surprise.

“.... Inside, now” She pulled the door open further, leaving no room for argument.

The adults shared a glance, but did as she said, entering her small living room. She greeted them with a nod as they entered, and shut the door behind them, motioning for MJ to approach her.

She didn’t say a word as they did so, and very slowly lifted her hands to their face, holding it steady as she scrutinized. “What happened? Less than 3 sentences” She half asked/half demanded. Her tone wasn’t harsh, but it was serious.

“Uh, I put on a cursed mask and it uh… did this” They tried to sum up.

“Where did you get the mask?”

“I found it in the forest. I thought it was abandoned from the spirit festival”

“And why did you pick up an abandoned mask in the forest?”

They awkwardly didn’t respond. She sighed

“I get it, hun” She responded, resigned. “Stay still”

“I am”

��Stiller”

Clover and Luka watched her with some skepticism, seeing the woman take a deep breath, and as she exhaled, her hands suddenly glowed dimly, tapping at the side of MJs head.

“Hah! See! Told you!” Hattie pointed, jumping slightly

“Shhhhhhhh!” Bow shook her “She’s doin’ magic stuff!”

“Hm…” She masterfully ignored the yelling children “Well, good news is that the magic isn’t very strong, Just… aggressive.” Nell announced. “And it's not malevolent” She let go of their face.

“... I… How can you tell?” MJ asked, their own hand tapping their blue cheek.

“.. Let's say it's a feeling” She summed up. “You can sit down. I need to grab something from my library”

And she left the room

“.... I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nell that serious” Clover spoke out “Also the uh, glowing hands? Didn’t know she could do that”

“How did you not know she had magic?” Luka asked with a rather incredulous tone

“It never came up!” Clover retorted

“How did it never come up?”

“Its cool!” Harriet jumped into the conversation

“It think its cool too” Bow agreed “I always wondered how my paper cuts at school always healed so fast…”

MJ had sat themselves down, hand staying on their head, feeling the strange curve of their forehead with a certain fascination. Nell’s words - said with so much affirmation- did make them feel better about the situation.

The nurse returned, her expression still relatively serious, but calmer as she carried an old, thick book with a rather overly ornate cover in a faded blue.

“You’re lucky I collect these old things” She commented for a moment, sitting down next to MJ. She flipped through the pages, finding a two-page spread with a plain mask listed on it, and text printed so small that MJ just could not read it. “Here we are.”

Harriet climbed up next to her “What's it say? That’s a lot of words!”

Nell chuckled a bit at her eagerness “It is, but... “ she hand rested on the book for a moment, and then she lifted it, and the text glowed, lifting and circling around her hand like a ring.

“Whoa…. It's like the unknown from the Pokémon movie!” Bow jumped, causing Nell to laugh more.

“A little, I suppose” Nell responded, and she looked over at the other two adults, mostly at Clover, whose bewildered stare caused her to laugh again “You okay there?”

“... How did I not know this about you?”

“Never came up, dear. Don’t think too hard about it. You too, “Snatcher”” The woman gave a smirk. Luka cleared his throat. “Now…”

A simple flick of her hand, and the letters were floating around MJ’s head, and some of them glowed just a little bit brighter “Hm….. Alrightie, that's a good sign” She snapped, and the letters, very suddenly disappeared as if popping a bubble. “Well, Give until dawn, and then you should be able to take off the mask. If you can’t, come to me. I don’t work tomorrow”

“Oh… Well, that uh, wasn’t so bad. I’ll be okay?”

“Of course” Nell nodded, shutting the book “I’d’ve called the Kagai’s the moment I let go of your face if I thought otherwise”

“The who?” Hat questioned.

“Another time, Hattie, another time” Nell placated. “Now….” she exhaled, putting the book on her coffee table and clasping her hands together “I just realized I haven’t even said hello to any of you”

Something about that sentence finally broke the tension, getting a laugh out of Clover and Luka, and a snicker out of MJ.

The next ten minutes consisted of Nell reassuring the group that MJ would be fine, and reiterating that they needed to come to her if the mask did not come off by sunrise.

“There’s a lot of magic in this that I can sense. So uh, just be careful.” She warned. “I don’t know a lot about that, so you’ll have to ask Tim”

MJ nodded “Uh, thank you, Nell”

She gave them a kind smile “Don’t mention it. Next time you need me though, have Clover send me a message or just call me, alright?” She looked passed them to Harriet, who gave her a sheepish smile.

“Got it” The transformed barista nodded.

“Oh and, don’t be too worried about people seeing you. Just say it's a costume” She recommended as they walked out with their family waiting just beyond the porch. “Happy Halloween!” She called before abruptly shutting the door

“So……” Bow started

“Can we go trick or treating now??” Hattie finished.

Luka looked up to MJ, who seemed much calmer than before, despite continuing to lift their hand to their weirdly shaped head.

“.. Yeah, yeah i think we can” they gave Luka a grin “And thanks for getting us the help, Hattie” MJ reached down and picked her up “Who knew the Dread Pirate Roberts could be such a help!”

The girl giggled before being put back down “Then let’s go!!”

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

MJ was initially a bit tittered when they entered the town, but the moment anyone noticed them, the compliments rolled in.

“Wow! You look like a spooky zombie!”

“What game is that cosplay from?”

“How did you get the prosthetic to look like that, damn!”

“Wow, that is a really cool idea for the Lonely Man!”

MJ was beaming at the semi-undeserved praised as they took the kids from neighborhood to neighborhood, filling their pillow cases close to brimming with so much candy that Luka kept making a face and seemed to be mentally preparing to hide all of it, whispering to Clover and MJ about taking some of the candy so that it wasn’t all in his apartment.

“Seriously, all that candy?? They’re going to get cavities and I cannot pay for dental work like that.” The father aggressed. MJ just laughed a bit, looking ahead at the two girls who were trying to run ahead to the next house.

And then Bow’s foot caught a crack.

“Ah, Bow!” MJ startled, hand reaching out - but there was no way they’d reach her before she fell-

And then, she just stopped falling, stuck in midair as if floating.. But she wasn’t.

Upon closer examination, she was held up by a variety of red strings, connected to MJ’s clawed fingers

“... Uh”

“Whoaaaa” Hattie gaped “Magic! Cool!”

Bow pulled himself up to a standing position, and MJ put their hand down, the strings disappeared

“.. Thanks” Bow cleared her throat “That was really cool”

“It kind of was... “ They commented, looking down at their hands “I’m gonna be having a heck of a long talk with Tim when he gets back from wherever he is”

“Yeah, definitely” Luka nodded in agreement.

Lucky for the group the rest of the night went without incident, with MJ joining Luka at home and the two of them staying up until the sun started showing through the windows.

“Ready?” Luka asked him, the being no longer human shaped, as he’d finally reached his limit

“Yeah.. I think so” MJ took in a breath “She said it can just… come off like how I put it on…”

“Alright….” Luka’s voice trailed off as MJ reached their hands up to their face, thumbs by their cheeks, but then - wait! The edge, the mask! They felt it.

Barely bothering to breath, they mentally counted… 1… 2… 3!

they pulled it off and gasped as that icy feeling went through them even faster than last time, trembling and nearly falling over as Luka kept them up with their tail.

“Hey, hey! You okay MJ?”

MJ looked up, nodding “Yeah, uh, how do I..?”

“You’re back to a nerd, if that's what you’re asking” Luka lightly teased

Their hands went back up to their face, and gasped when they felt their regular skin, and their glasses (Where had they gone? Didn’t matter)

“Oh, thank god” The tired barista flopped onto their partner, “That was exhausting. Thank goodness the Horizon is closed today…”

“Hah, ready to sleep?”

“Oh, definitely” MJ commented, looking down at the mask still in their hand, its smile seeming not nearly as spooky than before.. “Hm..”

“What?”

“.. Why’d it choose me, I wonder” They muttered, sitting up and placing the mask by the window sill “But… we’ll see about finding out more, hm?”

“.. Yeah, we will” Luka confirmed.

MJ gave him a smile, hugging his partner with a slight nuzzle “Come on, we need to sleep. Hattie and Bow-”

“Oh, don’t remind me. We’re in for a hell of an afternoon” Luka groaned, but he was still smiling.

Saying that things were “back to normal” was never correct with this group, but things were still pretty okay. Maybe better, even.

Moonie figured they’d just have to wait and see.

--

BONUS:: 

Costumes! I wasn’t able to finish these in time, but I hope they suffice! 

[word-scribbless]

Smile Again Part 2

Masterlist

X female reader

Series masterlist

Summary: JJ’s cousin Y/N has been through a lot in her 37 years of life. She’s moved to Virginia to start to move on with her life,until meeting Aaron Hotchner throws a wrench in her plans in the best way.

Y/N meets the team!

————————-

The day after Y/N and Jack’s talk, she got a call from JJ telling her that they would be home in about an hour. Y/N asked if she could bring the boys to meet them at the office. She knew it would be easier for Hotch if Jack was already there, and she also wouldn’t mind seeing where JJ worked. Her cousin loved that idea and called Garcia to tell her to be ready for them.

Y/N had packed up the boys and went to wait, and was becoming quick friends with Penelope, at the BAU. When the team got back the boys all ran to their respective parents. Y/N watched Hotch scoop Jack up and nuzzle his face asking how his week was. She knew she had to catch him before they left. When the kids all ran watch Uncle Spencer do some magic tricks Y/N caught up with Aaron.

“Agent Hotchner can I talk to you for a minute?” She asked shyly.

“Of course Y/N and call me Aaron, please.” He said as he led her so she can sit at JJ’s desk while he leaned against the side of it.

“I just wanted to let you know that Jack opened up to me a bit about his Mom the other night.” She admitted looking up to see Hotch watching her intently.  “I didn’t pry, he just started talking to me and I told him that I know what it’s like to lose people. I gave him some advice that has helped me and he just started talking I hope that’s okay.” She said nervously, playing with her fingers.

Hotch reached out to cover her nervous hands with his gently. She couldn’t deny the way his hand on hers immediately calmed her. Hotch was also surprised by how much he enjoyed the way he felt her nervous hands calm in his. 

“Of course it’s okay. I’m glad you got a long so well. I wish I had the chance to get to know you too. You know, now that you’re my son’s best friend.” He laughed as Jack came running into the bullpen to hug her, causing Aaron to quickly pull he hand away from hers. They looked up to see the rest of the team filing in.

“We’d all like to get to know the great Y/N,” Rossi said, coming over to shake her hand. “How about family dinner tomorrow night and we all get to meet her properly?”

The team all cheered and began chatting with Y/N before heading their own directions.

“I see you’ve been accepted by my flock?” JJ asked as she starts to wrangle her boys to head out.

“I see I have, that okay with you Jayjee?” She asked

“Like you have to ask! I’ll pick you up at 6, Rossi 6:30 like usual?”

“Yup” Rossi nods

“Jj you don’t have to pick me up you’ve got the boys to wrangle, just send me the address.” She said before hearing Hotch’s deep voice behind them.

“Where do you live” He asked as he peered at her over a sleepy Jack’s head, his BAU aunts and uncles always have a way of tiring him out.

Y/N tells Hotch what street her apartment was one, which happens to be right down the road from the Hotchner’s.

“Jack and I can give you a ride, I mean you are his new best friend forever” he smirked.

"If you’re sure" Y/N said after receiving a nod from JJ.

"I am" Hotch answered, "We are" He corrected after jack woke up enough to cut a look at him.

Hotch and Jack had headed up to his office to gather his paper work, leaving Y/N and JJ to finish getting the boys ready to head out.

“I’ll give you a lift since I don’t think your knight in shining armor is leaving just yet” JJ joked to her cousin as they finished packing up. 

“Stop!” Y/N huffed.

“I approve” JJ continued as they got in the car and JJ pulled onto the road. 

“Ughhh”

“Come on you’re not interested?” JJ asked with a skeptical look.

“I’m not even going to try to lie because, you’re… you, so yes I am interested! But I’m not going to do anything about it. Between us we have enough baggage and dead spouses to really throw things off. He needs someone... I don’t know, someone who’s not me.” She answered looking down sadly.

“ Y/N,” JJ said stopping to look at her as they came to park outside the Jereau-Lemontague house.

“He needs someone kind and loving who loves his son and will be understanding of his job and what he’s been through.”

“I don’t know J” Y/N sighed.

“Why?”

“Him and jack deserve perfect and I’m…”

“You’re better than perfect love!” JJ said cutting her off.

“Ugh you have to say that you’re my cousin!” Y/N whined. 

“Penelope is already convinced you need to marry him” JJ laughed.

“She just met me!” She said as she scooped Michael up and followed JJ and Henry into the house.

“Yeah but you’re easy to love and she saw the way you were with Jack. We all want them to be happy. And I want you to be happy.” JJ said honestly, causing her cousin to smile and ask.

“And how do you know we’ll make each other happy?”

“Just a hunch” JJ laughed.

The next evening, at the BAU after most of the team had left, Rossi entered Hotch’s office where he was sitting and completing a large pile of paper work. Hotch sensed his old friend’s presence but didn’t look up from his papers.

“Hey Dave, what’s up?”

“Oh nothing. Just haven’t had a chance to stop by to let you know that I approve.” Rossi answered with a smirk.

“What?” Hotch finally looked up.

“Y/N” Rossi clarified as he moved to sit in front of Hotch’s desk.”

“Oh stop!” Hotch cut him off. “She’s nice to my kid, and JJ’s cousin. That’s it, nothing is going on.”

“Oh come on Aaron.”

“Nope” he shook his head.

“Whatever you say, all I’m saying is to give it a chance, I think she’s good for you.” Rossi said as he stood to leave his friend to think about what he said.

Aaron knew he was right, of course he was interested but he didn’t want to get his hopes up. There’s no way she’d feel the same way...right?

Hotch finished up his paperwork and headed out to pick Jack up from Jessica’s. 

As they were driving to Y/N’s to pick her up for Rossi’s dinner, Jack’s voice caught his attention from the back seat.

“Daddy, I like y/n” He said.

“Yeah me too bud” Aaron answered honestly.

“Are you gonna go out with her?” Jack asked innocently”

“Not you too buddy!” His father responded with a grunt

“Huh?” the boy grunted back

“Nothing, uncle Dave asked me that too but we just met buddy, she’s very nice-“

“Very nice! And very pretty” Jack said cutting Hotch off.

“And very pretty” Aaron laughed.

“And she knows what it’s like to be sad too but said she still believes there is always someone out there to make you smile! Maybe you’re hers, and she’s ours!” Jack told him thoughtfully.

“Maybe...” Aaron said thinking about Y/N “but I barely know her jack, what if we don’t get a long? Or she actually hates Disney movies and cookies?” He Joked.

“DADDY!” Jack yelled. “ She knew all the words to Mulan and made us chocolate chips!’

This made Aaron let out a loud laugh “ I know buddy, I’m just saying well have to see, just because she’s nice doesn’t mean we have to date, we can still spend time with her.’

“But I think you’ll like her” Jack insisted.

“Me too bud but we’ll see, now lets put on some Mulan music we’re almost at Y/N’s” he said switching the CD and pulling up to her house.

The car ride over consisted of laughing and singing loudly and Hotch couldn’t deny he liked the feeling of hearing Y/N and his son laughing and carrying on. When they arrived at the Rossi mansion Y/N helped Jack out of his car seat and he quickly grabbed her hand in one of his and waited for his dad to come around to hold the other. Rossi opened the door with a smirk earning a glare from Aaron that said ‘don’t even think about saying anything’.

“There’s the girl of the hour, and the handsome Hotchner man, and Aaron.” Rossi laughed

“Hi Agent Rossi” Y/N giggled.

“Hi Uncle Dave!” Jack said as he ran in the house.

“Please my dear call me Dave, now come on in everyone is excited to meet you.

Y/N and Aaron walked further into the house. Y/n was quickly wept away by the girls, who asked her a million questions about herself and enjoyed her and JJ’s stories about their youth.

“So, how was watching Jack?” Emily asked.

“it was fine, he’s a great kid.’

“...and he loves you! Takes after his dad.” He joked and Penelope nodded behind her.

“Ugh not you guys too!” Y/N whined.

“I already told her that he was interested but she doesn’t believe me.” JJ sighed

“Oh then you’re blind” Penelope said. “ plus, you cant deny that he’s a hottie”

“Oh I’m not denying that!” Y/N laughed.

The girls continued chatting and she loved how quickly she was getting along with her cousins’ friends. Across the room Hotch was having a very similar conversation with the men of the BAU. While he changed the subject much more quickly, using his ‘boss man voice’. Spencer and Morgan dropped the subject, knowing that Rossi would push the subject later, if her hadn’t already.

Y/N walked into the back yard to take a look around the beautiful scenery and weather while everyone else was drinking and talking in the living room. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see the handsome face of the BAU unit chief.

“Hi” she greeted.

“Hey” he responded, walking up to sit beside her on the bench Rossi had along the garden.

“Listen I’m sorry if the team has been kind of...” he trailed off trying to think of a way to say ‘pushy, overbearing, and probably trying to convince you to date me’ with out scaring her.

“Enthusiastic?” she finished for him.

He chuckled and responded “Enthusiastic is a great way to put it.” Causing her to laugh as well.

‘They mean well’ she offered as she turned her glance from the stars to look at him.

“They sure do... but they can be a lot.” He admitted, maintaining eye contact.

“They love you! And Jack, but it’s very hard not too” she said, catching herself and adding “he’s an amazing little man.”

“He is, and he loves you.” He smiled softly.

“He talks about you a lot you know?”

“You too” he countered

“That’s because I’m new, you’re his hero Aaron:” She said while placing a warm hand over his that was resting on his knee.

“I think I might have competition though”. He laughed flipping his hand over to hold hers lightly.

Y/N laughed lightly and shook her head. Man she loved the way his hand felt in hers, she cleared her throat and pushed that thought down. 

“Hey, thank you again for taking care of him, you are really good with him.” He told her honestly.

“Thanks. I loved getting to know him. The way he talked about you I feel like I’d known you forever.” She said, causing herself to blush lightly.

“Yeah same here, I’ve been hearing all about how awesome y/n is all week.” He smirked, causing her face to flush even more.

“We should probably get in there before we start more rumors.” She laughed shyly.

“I’m sure it’s already too late.” He agreed as he stood up before using the hand already holding hers to help her up.

‘It’ll blow over’

‘You don’t know my team very well.” He chuckled as he walked her towards the door, keeping his hand in hers until the last minute.

“Nah, They’ll just realize you deserve more.” She said under her breath with a sad smile, dropping his hand.

Aaron paused his walking and gently pulled her wrist to turn her back to face him, “Y/n that’s not...”

She looked down away from him before they were interrupted by Rossi opening the back door.

“There she is!” Rossi yelled out motioning to Y/N. “Come, Come, we aren’t done getting to know you my dear. “

She let herself be pulled away, happy to not have to face Aaron’s reaction to what she had just said. Aaron stood in the yard, reluctantly following after them, wishing he could take away whatever made her feel that way about herself, because he already knew she was more than good enough for him, too good even.

[kaiju-z]

“Moonlight Tryst Under The Eclipse”

Right! So! A little clarification is in order! Um. So like. There’s this D&D show called “Role With Me”/”The Ties That Bind”. And the party have recently reached a high-tech Elven city and are learning all kinds of things about the society there. Including that they found fucking God fan fiction. Fan fiction written about Arkanos, God of Magic, who is also the elves’ God. And of Solomon, the God of Undeath. Who is basically enemy to all elven kind, after he convinced a group of them to worship him, in exchange for “immortality”, which is the secret origin of the drow in that world.

So like. It’s them. As like. A ship. They found shipfics and were reading them.

So this is basically inspired by that. And it’s a fic, “as written” by a writer in that world, that city. That internet. So yeah. It’s a fic, within a fic. ó ____ ó;;; That’s it. That’s the joke.

Also yes, you should watch Role WIth Me. Very Dark Souls/Witcher-ish. With a flavor of Bloodborne. Also lots of funnies between the rough stuff that our heroes go through.

An Arkanos/Solomon fanfic by RainbowRunner899

It was meant to be a distraction. A simple. Basic. Get your mind off the ear-splitting screams and wails distraction. A honest to yourself one. And yet here you were. Hours after the fact, still locked in an embrace with the long eared boy scout!

Arms around your body, you can easily feel his fingers trace every smooth pattern and ridge of your back as the stars shimmer and shake under his dexterous touch. Unlike your dark dealings in your domain beyond mortal comprehension, here you are incapable of hiding your intents and secrets. Or at least, the ones you can gesticulate.

Damn him! Damn this know-it-all paragon that bewitched you with his soft voice and alluring eyes! His words, his face, his everything! It drives you to madness! Like that’d mean anything to you, anyways. You were already unhinged. By some slight you yourself perceive as such. You blame your makers for it and have stated it as such to him, many a nights.

Many, upon many, for centuries, long since after he took his foolish followers and ran off into parts unknown, leaving you with your defiled flock of sycophants! You hate them, for they fell so easily and thus, you send them to do all sorts of cruelties. Just to test how far they’ll go for you. When they’d snap. Break. You figure that is why he had come out of hiding the first time, since your conflict. And confronted you.

The two of you had fought for dominance, throwing stars and supernovas at one another, frightening the populace around you. And, had it not been for his quick thinking and raised defenses, you two surely would have exterminated all life in the vicinity.

‘Damn him.’ you think, your face flushing as his hands move to your front, caressing the 8 pack. Damn him for seeing through your ruse that night. Through to the very core of who you were and why you did what you did! All that cruelty and anger! All of it, creating a Seeming of unseen proportions, hiding the broken man in need of help underneath.

Only he saw it! Neither Vanderen, nor Fleetfoot. Nor the old man and the revelry wench got even the slightest idea you had this secret pain! They were too stupid, too blind to see. But not Arkanos. He knew and he punished your body so with the palms of his hands. Your breathing growing heavy to his actions and you contemplate evasive maneuvers.

He reaches for your pa-aaand you grab his wrist. “No.” you go, hissing at him with a glare of pure death. Or undead. As is your aspect.

He looks at you with those gentle eyes. Those honest and wise eyes. “No?” he repeats, questioning you with his pretty little face. You’d bite your lip, if you had one. Then shake your head.

“No.” And you’d get up and try to make way out of the room, specifically by him, to protect you both from prying eyes. “I’m leaving. Going back, I-I have work to do. Monsters to raise. Many dark biddings to be made, Arkanos.” You growled, pitifully to show aggression. But he’s unmoving, unperturbed by your behavior as you struggle to put your robe back on. Damn thing! Did you start putting it with the wrong sleeve forward?! You’d struggle and huff and puff as you forced your head through a familiar opening and then flinch backwards, bumping into the wall.

“You’re having those thoughts again, aren’t you, Sol?” he asks you directly, his voice peaceful, like a river during summer. Disgusting. And beautiful, damn it! So beautiful! You think that as he had been standing right to face you once you put your head through the clothing. “Don’t lie to me. My eyes cannot be tricked, my ears cannot be lied to… and my heart- And he’d reach for his chest, tapping the left peck, before reaching over to tap your own.

You had no pulse. Not that it mattered. You were a god and who honestly cared about pulses, when you would live forever! Or unlive. Or-aaah, fuck it! You’d look away, scowling a boney scowl. “This game ends here, Arkanos. You’ve seduced me many a times before, but this ends now. You know you could never beat me in a fair fight and I know that you can’t backstab me like some mortal rogue under the pale moon light.” you scoffed, grabbing the door handle.

Twisting it, turning it. Opening the entrance and, in your case, the exit from his awkward situation. But right before you’d leave, the door would shut, without you even taking a full step ahead. You flinch, step backwards and bump into his frame. Then you have to straighten yourself as you attempt to prevent flushing of the cheeks. Straightening yourself and your clothing, you scoff. “Of course, right. Your wards.”

“Yes, Sol.” He’d smile a little smile your way and you feel your spine shiver. That cute smile that drove you crazy. After everything you did. All the people you killed and brought back as your meat and soul puppets! And he has the gall to smile at you like that.

“Well, undo it!” you try to regain footing. To find your equilibrium and tower over him, make yourself bigger, like one of those bear things that roam Fleetfoot’s forests. But intimidation does not work on him and you know it. He’s too brave. TOO STUPID, you try to think, but you know he’s too smart for you. Of all of them, even you, with all your dark and vile magicks, he was always the superior intellect.

He’d sigh a light sigh and glance over to the nearby window. It had been darkened off with the Darkness spell, which you made sure to cast, in case one of your flunkies or one of his randomly popped their head through. And he’d walk over to it, tapping it gently with a finger, dispelling. The sky appeared an odd mix of colors. It was familiar. Reminded you of your many birthdays. Yes, even the one good one you had all those millennia ago.

He’d wave a hand to you to step on over and join him at the glass separating you two from the outside. No words were needed. He had prepared the right set of movements, didn’t he?! A pregnant pause. And you go over, though you dare not look upwards at what the sky would be like. You just look down, no head in the clouds. Only down towards the muck.

“There is no shame in what you feel, Sol. You know that, right?” he’d say, side-glancing you every now and then as he faced the sky, while you watched the passerby folk, well, pass by. Wordlessly, you listen to him. And then have to find yourself blinking as the silence became deafening. Like he wanted a direct answer from you.

You’d grimace and cant your head some in a direction of your choosing. “I’ve killed and converted and had them kill… so many people. And you’re trying to psychoanalyze me, Arkanos. Don’t you find the flaw in that?!” he’d sneer. “The daddy of the elves meeting with the step dad of your little traitors. In secret and for centuries now. Isn’t that a little-Don’t you think that’s kind of fucked up?!” he’d not even raise a brow over your foul mouth. He was used to it.

He was used to keeping it occupied, too. Hmph!

“Is it really so crazy, Sol? Is it, though?” he’d smile again, resting a hand on your shoulder. “You. And I. Have such a history, spanning many a lifetimes of many a people. From the short-lived to the ancient. Friends. To rivals. To enemies. To friends…” he’d giggle and your face would change shades. It was a whole galactic party on your features. “To so much more.”

“Fuckbuddies.” he scoffed at your phrasing. He was used to the cussing, but that sort of direct crassness gave you a bit of an advantage… every now and then.

“Call it as you want, Sol. But I know the truth. I peered through your actions and your thoughts and I saw the real you… And I saw the broken pieces. They were there, inside you. Calling, screaming to be reshaped.” He spoke to you with such determination and passion. You’d mistake him for one of those new-fangled “bards”. “Is it honestly that big of a surprise that once you reached out as you did, I would reach back in turn?”

You look away. “After everything I put you and your kids through, how is that a surprise, Ark-“he has a hand on your cheekbone, slowly turning your face in his direction, as you sought to glance away in your shame and woe. “I-I mean-“

No time to finish the sentence. He pecks your face with his lips. Quick and focused. Your spine shivers at his advance. But you don’t really fight it, though you hate him pulling away.

“You are a lonely man, shrouded in a darkness of your own making. Unwilling to show the pain to those around you, fearing their response.” He’d say softly. “But I saw and I felt and I knew that day…”

“You knew…?” you asked.

He’d nod to you with a, well, knowing smile, his cheeks turning pink. It really didn’t take you that much to figure out what he meant.

“O-oh. Oh!”

“Yes.”

“Ohhhhh…” it was all you could say, while he glanced back out the window and you followed his gaze to the sky above. Where the moon had gone before the sun, creating a rare masterpiece that the mortals found fascinating as all hell. But to you? To you this was your birthday. Again, damn it, you’d bite your lip if you had that.

You feel his hand on your person. Fingers entangling with your own. You look to them. And you look to him. His eyes took that “look” again. A familiar one that the two of you would act upon  whenever the opportunity struck.

He walked back. And headed to the bed that faced the door, light step after light step, pulling you along. One knee on the bed. A creeking sound. His other knee on the mattress. A repeat. Shifting of weight as he pulled you on over.

You’d open your mouth to speak. “I-“

And he’d answer. “I know.”

Wordlessly, the two of you would lock faces and commiserate as he helped you take off the robe again. This time much slower and to the point than in a simple moment of passion. There was more feeling there.

As he’d undress you and you him, a thought would crawl into your mind.

Perhaps it was possible. Perhaps it was, yes, that the shattered insides of your soul could be put together again. Perhaps he could do it.

To Be Continued.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author’s notes: WONDERCRAK! Thank you, dear readers, for all the well wishes and kind words about the last story! Even you, KnuckleTucker3000. I appreciate the criticism on my grammar and took it to heart o w o! Wow, like, wow! So like, I was really excited to get to this part of the story, ‘cause, obviously I finally got to reveal what kinda day Solomon was born on u w u Next week’s continuation’s gonna get extra spicy, tho, so I have to bring back the reminder >8( This one’s for the grown-ups and it’s gonna be tagged NSFW! Don’t read if a Lemon Fic isn’t your thing! I’ll drop the hidden lore bits I’ll be putting in that one!

Stay tuned u w u, RainbowRunner899 out!

[glitching-desert-snake]

“Last time I ask you for a favor!” with some venom sibs! :^)

It 'tis done! 3k worth of venom siblings and some lovely StarParty for ya. Hope you like it!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31265705

(appologies if the read more doesn't work smh)

:readmore:

"Order up! Can we get two blue plates and a Destroya special, hold the cactus!" Party called from the booth they're waiting to Ghoul and Kobra in the kitchen.

"On it!" Ghoul called back.

"Hey," a voice said from behind them, tapping them on the shoulder. Poison turned around to see Jet Star and their cheeks flush.

"Did you um need something Star?" They asked

"It's noon so Venom's are off, I can take it from here."

"Right" They hand him their notepad and pen, "Oh the girls over there want just one milkshake to share so make sure Ghoul puts extra in it."

"Got it, have a nice break." Jet smiled and they try not to beam right back, a small wave and they are hanging up their apron and heading outside.

"Heyy, Party Poison." A killjoy was at their heels as soon as they exit the swinging doors.

"And who might you be?" They pause and lean on one leg as the 'joy caught up to them.

"The name's Band Saw, and well- you don't happen to like roller skating do you?" It took Party a moment to hide their curiosity. They didn't care for tricks or anything but you could find them rolling around. Not like Show Pony who was on quads 24/7. But they did know a certain blue haired someone who was dying to learn to skate.

"Say I did,"

"Well would'jya maybe want to come with me to the rink party Pony's holding this weekend?" Party Poison looked up with intrigue but quickly hid it with a long eyeroll, "I would sooner go with you than get my finger stuck in a band saw." The joy recoiled and took a deep sigh, "Oh ok um, nevermind then." they scurried off. Poison felt a twinge of regret but then happily didn't as they looked up to see Kobra Kid leaning on the back wall smirking.

"Don't they know the first rule of The Diner is no flirting with the waitstaff." He chuckled, "I made the rule to get rid of goonies like that."

"Eh, they technically weren't in The Diner when they asked." They noted as the two walked out to the fields.

"I guess. Here, slap up the sun's nice today." Kobra handed them some sunscreen and went to find a spot in the dry grasses to lie down. "Ghoul said Helibomb is going to come by on Sunday to see about the warm water not working."

"Oh the gal who wears heelys everywhere? I didn't realize she did more than just well work."

"Yep, they say she can even roll on her heelys up hill."

"Seems like just a frequency static rumor to me."

"If it's true then I'm taking one from her book for my bike. I don't care if it's magic or what, I want a piece."

"I'm sure you do. Hey Kobra, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Did you hear about Show Pony's gig this weekend?"

"The partner skate? Sure I have, but I'm not planning on going on account of too many love birds in one flock."

Party swallowed and went red even though they knew better.

"Well duh, I know you're not going. That'd be like me walking into the bathrooms at Hyperthrust during a party." They both laughed and fake gagged.

"But man, for all that I'm supposedly talk of the town, apparently I'm also the last to hear about major events." They threw up their hands. "Anyways, think you could be a messenger pigeon?"

Kobra grinned, "Party,"

"Look- I can't go asking myself, I have an image to uphold!"

"A damn bitchy one" Kobra quipped, chewing his lip. "But no, I get it. Who's the lucky 'joy?" he looked sharply into Party's eyes and they quickly looked down.

"You're going to hate me for this." They said with a flush creeping onto their cheeks.

"I'm not gonna be mad Pois, you know that." he said, hugging his knees and looking at them.

"It's Jet Star." They say with a gulp.

"Party fuckin Poison, what to say." Kobra was grinning and shaking his head as he spoke in a sing song drawl, "You pick good ones. Aesthetics? Top game."

"Shut up!" Poison giggles

"And yes, of course I can do the honors for you- but it better be at The Nest because we all remember the last time drama happened while at work."

"Yeah, bacon and avocado do not belong on the ceiling." Party shook their head and smiled. Their face is still hot but they stand up and shake twigs from their jacket. "Thank you for this, Kid, really."

"Oh I wasn't done-" Kobra said, standing up and pointing a finger at them. "Because I want a favor in return."

"Alright shoot,"

"I don't know what it is yet," he said as they began "It all depends how much of a chaotic disaster the ask winds up being." He laughed and the sun glinted on his braces.

"Of course," Party said with a chuckle but they can't help their mind racing with every dismal possibly that could happen.

"So we only sold five milkshakes today on account of the machine breaking, big deal! Helibomb is coming Sunday afternoon, don't stress it Ghoul." Jet was leaning on the table and poking through music to put on.

"You know they're are biggest seller when it's hot out." Ghoul reasoned as he reached for a brush from the couch and worked on undoing his braids.

"Pst, Poison get over here." Kobra tapped his sibling on the shoulder. "I'm not being your wingman if you're just going to hide in the kitchen." Poison gulped and reluctantly drifted into the living room and stuck to the side of the wall. Kobra looked back at them and smiled and then walked over to Jet who was putting Earthling into the cassette player.

"Hey Jet, I've got a proposition for ya." Kobra grins as Little Wonder came on intermixed with static.

"Oh yeah?" Jet tucked a curl behind his ear. Party cringed at The Kid being so formal but couldn't look away.

"Party Poison here wants to go to the skate party at Pony's rink tomorrow night. And they want to know, if you'd do them the honors of being their date." Kobra put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and rests a contented look on his face. Jet for his part looked astonished.

"Really?" He asked, with a smile creeping over his face, looking from Kobra to Party and back.

"Yeah- but like, only if you want." Party said. They got themself off the wall and managed to stay standing despite harboring no trust in their legs to function.

"No I'd like that, sound's rad. It's just- man I don't even know how to roller skate."

"Oh"

"But I'd love it if you showed me how." Jet finished and Party beamed

"Hey you should pick some skates from the shoe pile, I think TCM dropped off some that might fit you."

"Oh yeah!" Jet bobbed his head and smiled.

He left to the nest and Party followed after him but not before siding up next to Kobra to mutter, "Thank you," with a breathy sigh.

"'Course" The Kid chuckled, "But remember, you owe me."

"Yeah yeah." Poison smiled as they exchanged their secret hand shake. Poison bounded down the hallway after Jet.

"Hi." Star said, quickly turning around. He brushed his hair back for like the fifth time that day and Poison couldn't help but notice all the freckles that had come out from being in the sun on the walk home from The Diner where Kobra's whispered heckling and teasing just made Party more giddy than they already were.

"Hi" They repeated. They knew enough to not think that something like What's your shoe size? was a deemable conversation but were lost of what to say instead.

"Did you really mean me?" Jet was asking.

"What?" Poison looks at him with concern as they pull out the pile of shoes and start handing skates to Jet.

"I mean like, you really want to go on a date date with me, not just like as friends?"

"I- yes." they swallow and look away, "Jet if you don't want to go that's fine. Just tell me now so I can sort out my feelings in peace."

"What? No no I'm not breaking up with you- I mean I'm not- I'm pastel for you too, Party." It's Jet's turn to look away but Poison drops a skate in their lap to stare at him. "I didn't think you felt any way for me, I mean you're Party 'I insult everyone' Poison, I never thought you'd like someone like-"

"I don't insult every one." They interject with a sigh. "You and Kobra both on top of me over this." They shake their head, Ghoul understood the need to cover everything up and keep things safe with a shell of spite but Kobra and Jet would just zip shut over anything touchy. Well, or punch your lights out if it was Jet.

"Wait a minute, what were you going to say?"

Jet turned  slightly towards them, "I didn't think you'd like someone all well, quiet n' stuff. Man, I come home from work and then just work on my bots whiles you off partying the lights away."

"Pff Star, you think I go to parties to pick up 'joys to date?"

"I mean, yeah?" Jet looks at them confused as he puts on another skate, "Think these fit." he said absent mindedly, still looking intently at Party.

"Star, I go to parties for the music, for the friends, and yeah maybe sometimes to blow off some adrenaline without a raygun, but I-" they stuck out their tongue slightly as they slipped the lace into an eyelet, I don't take people home from parties and I'd never fuck anyone, ever they want to say but instead just mutter, "I don't go to the club for crushes. And besides, I didn't think you liked me. Whyd'ja think I sent The Kid to ask for me."

"Party what do you mean! How could I not be pastel for your smiles and when you wear tank tops while tagging up the radio station, or skirts out to parties, and the way you get all nervous before reading."

"Okay now that's just not fair. You're so cute when you're covered in motor oil and showing me your bots, not to mention how sharp of a shot you are both at darts and dracs. But also you know you make the best milkshakes this side of the radiation pools."

"Stoop now you makin me all melted." Star shoves them and laughs,

"Not before you did!" Party retorts and they dissolve into a fit of laughter.

The following night Party and Jet rode down to the rink. The lights were bright and the pizza was pretty shitty but it was ok. Jet told them about his plans to try to make a drone while Party tied his skates for him. They stepped out on the rink and skated in a small circle then rolled back to the edge where Jet was still standing on the carpet. On other days they would stare at the black and bright colored carpet wanting to look like it but they knew Jet was just scared.

"If you fall, I've got you." They whispered in his ear and he looked up. Poison hadn't seen Star actually scared, not since ray blasts streaked the sky. He stepped onto the rink and diligently kept his feet exactly parallel.

"Here see, you skate like this." Party kicked off and skated a few feet, then turned and slid back to Jet.

"Here goes nothing." Star said and tried to put his feet into a V like theirs. He started to pick up his foot but fell off-balanced onto Party who hit the rink on their wrist guard. Star was mortified but his body was so close, Party reminded themself to breathe. They ran their hand along his arm.

"Hi" they breathed

"I suck at this for real." Jet groaned and then took their hand. Party got onto their feet and pulled Jet up to standing.

They spent most of the night very close to the nice friendly padded wall. Party showed Jet how to get comfortable on his skates and every once in a while left him on the shore of the rink to practice a spin or skating backwards.

"Now you're just showing off." Jet laughed as Party vogued to the song playing.

"C'mon you can at least do this." They insisted and rolled their wrist against their neck. Jet was much better at voguing than skating, shaping his face square and sweeping circles in the air. Party watched with a quiet smile intently trained on Jet, watching him slowly get more confident until the fear from the beginning of the night melted away.

Eventually Jet did manage to skate without holding onto anything, only to realize he didn't know how to stop. Veering towards Party, he pressed them up to the wall. Poison just laughed.

"Can I kiss you Star?" Party asked

"Only if you show me how to stop after." Jet smiled and Party pressed a kiss to his cheek. Jet held onto the wall as Party kicked off into a simple forwards skate.

"Point your toes and bring your legs together." Party half shouts over the music. Jet takes a couple of tries but eventually gets the hang of it. He skates up to Party and stops right in front of them. They hold his hands and he kisses them. Poison flips up to stand on their heel stops and leans into him. When they finish skating Jet's legs are shaking. He thinks it's on account of it being his first time skating. Party can't tell if it's from skating or being on a date with Jet. But really it's all three mixed into a wavering walk home bubbling with laughter and then dying down to quiet murmurs on the wind.

"So, what's your revenge against my innocent little ask?" Party said with their hand on their hips and a sarcastic lilt in their voice.

"You know how little Mr. Tommy Chow Mein's got that one spot on the back shelf that damn no body supposed to touch?"

"Oh noo, what about it."

"Well, I've been peeping this helmet he's got up there, right? And I think it'd be perfect to go with my wheels now that I have some races under my belt as Lucky No. 27 this dinky BLI helmet got nothing on the other guys. I want you, with all that charisma you got packed away in there, to get it in my hands."

"Oh come on Kid, it's TCM! I can't just walk up to our used-to-be-dad and ask him to sell me contra!"

"It's not actually contraband though, red." Jet Star chimes in from where he's listening bemusedly to the venom siblings. "Hand me a hair tie would you Ghoul?" he asks Ghoul, who's patiently getting his hair braided by Jet.

"I got 50 carbons you can use for bartering."

"Oh sure that'll help but it's still the no sells shelf. And TCM isn't pastel for you like Mx. Propulsion here." Ghoul said with a smirk and Jet flicks hair in his face.

"Alright alright, I'll try but no promises alright Kobra."

"What? Just try, that's BS."

"Hey I didn't know if I'd be getting a joyfriend or not out of your favor, I don't know if you'll be off with a helmet or not."

"Fine." Kobra said in a drawn out whine.

Poison grabbed the ring of carbons and Ghoul tossed Jet the keys to the Trans Am.

"You're coming too?" Party asks as Jet leaves with them

"You know I want to see how this plays out." He said with a laugh and Party rolls their eyes.

"Make sure they're putting in effort, I want that helmet next sunrise race!" Kobra called as they left.

"Heyy Tommy C! How's it hanging?" Party said

"It's hanging like a plastic bag in a 'crow's nest- what do you want Party?" Tommy shuts off whatever audio drama he'd been listening to and leaned on the counter looking down at Party.

"Jus' wanna talk, that so bad?" Tommy just rolled his eyes.

"Look are you buying something or just here to make me change the station. I've heard enough of your rants, I'm not turning on the radio my books are just fine."

"So listen, I was just wondering about that helmet you got over there. It's pretty bonus track and a uh, associate of mine was looking into it."

"This is not the helmet you're looking for." TCM said and a wave of calm washed over Party. They were immediately confused, they were never this calm. There was something they needed but it wasn't here. Wait of course it was. Jet wouldn't be standing in the corner watching the whole scene amused if it hadn't been for Kobra. What was it about Kobra? He wanted the helmet right. It took half of Party's effort just to remember this but then he was at it again.

"Where'd you get it anyways?"

"A long time ago. It's very old, your sibling doesn't want it."

"Oh yeah?" That pang hit their thoughts again but they kept going. "Where'd you get it?"

"No where near here, a galaxy far far away, you could say."

"Well look, since you already know it's The Kid who's trying to get his hands on it what do you even have against him?'

"Yeah, Jet pipes up- me and Ghoul were the ones always pulling pranks on you. He didn't do nothing to you."

"Let me do this, it's not your trade." Party said, putting their hand on Jet's chest.

"Fine." Jet sighed and went back to browsing the zine rack.

"The Kobra Kid can't have my helmet, and no one else can either."

"Ok but what if I gave you 50 Cs?" Party asked, stifling the blow to their train of thought.

"Agh! Why don't these work on you rascal?" Tommy threw down his sunglasses in annoyance. "Fine you want to know about this helmet. I got this helmet pod racing until my rival decided to blow out my hyperdrive frequency and led me to crash land by ship on this measly planet. And then what? Jammed radios from a certain somebody meant I couldn't fly anymore. Set up shop instead, an the rest's history.

"But you know what? If it's useless to me, it's just as useless to you and yours." Tommy sighed and took the carabiners of 25 carbons each and slid them onto the rods in his cash register and begrudgingly passed the helmet down to Party.

"Kobra! We're home!"

"Did they get my helmet?" Kobra asks as he runs into the nest.

"Sure did! Diligently and without help from yours truly." Jet reported back and kissed Party quickly on the cheek to the return of a grin on their face.

Kobra ran over and took the helmet from Poison and immediately put it on.

"Uh Party?" He waved his arms around

"Do you like it?"

"Pois, I can't see a thing." Kobra took the helmet back off and examined the front, realizing that not only was GOOD LUCK painted across the entire screen but the inside was also painted black.

"What the-" Party grabbed it from him and put it on, only to find completely darkness and if they crossed their eyes, a bit of shine to the paint.

"Man you get a joyfriend and I get a fuckin useless helmet!? Last time I ask you for a favor!" He pouces onto Poison and they topple onto the couch, wrestling each other until it dissolves into a pillow fight.

[nukyster-blog]

Changing Course Chapter 29) Bird of nightmare

.-.-.

“I am the youngest offspring of Ragnar Lothbrok, the most famous Viking who ever lived,” Ivar spoke, pressing the back of his head against the board that separated the boxes. After his disgraceful meltdown, he felt the need to overcompensate and in all honesty, his royal blood seemed like his last resort. 

Piglet paused her knitting, she’d been trying to patch the destroyed potato sacks together, giving him a long bug-eyed look that she eventually broke off to continue  her work. 

Ivar couldn’t tell if she believed him or not, but she wasn’t mocking him yet, so he continued: “he was a king, a legend. And I was destined to be at his side, to die, by his side-” he paused and let out a long deep sign, “-but I failed to do so. It displeased the Gods, so now I’m here. With you, enslaved and ruled out of dying with dignity. Which means I will either die an unworthy death, or of old age, which I highly doubt. Doesn’t matter though, both won’t grant me access to Valhalla. Which means I will never see my father, nor my brothers and mother, again.”

In the shimmer of twilight, it was hard to see, but Piglet’s eyes slowly welled up with tears and although she furiously rubbed her face, it was evident she’d been touched by his revelation. 

It again brought Ivar back to the great puzzle that was Piglet, the still nameless slave maiden who time after time surprised him with the tricks up her sleeves. 

But before Ivar could reminisce about Piglet’s past, the maiden jolted up and dropped the bags.

“UTSTOTT!” She exclaimed, and hastily started to move her hands through the blanket of hay. Ivar could feel the color drain from his face and cursed himself for not thinking about the tiny white raven sooner. 

Piglet hurried to pick up her broom and started sweeping the shed, while Ivar scanned every inch of his box with his eyes and hands. He checked everywhere, inside his trough, underneath the loose planks of the floorboard, and clenched his jaw when he noticed all the ripped pieces of potato bag. What if, during his fit of rage, he’d ripped off the hatchling’s wings as easily as he’d destroyed the tough fabric? 

“Seek upstairs!” Ivar ordered with a voice that skipped a few beats, when Piglet returned empty handed from her search. 

What if he stomped it? What if he killed it? 

Ivar swept away hay and scraped his palms over the sandy floor until his box was empty. 

“He vanished”, Piglet mumbled sorrowfully, as her search upstairs had been fruitless as well, “maybe you scared him off and he escaped?” 

Ivar threw her an annoyed glance and motioned to the door, “we’re locked up, he’s small, but not small enough to pass through the door’s lock!” 

Ivar shoved his trough aside, turned over a bucket that lay in reach and checked the floorboards again all while Piglet pushed and pulled herself through cattle.

A soft caw made both of them freeze, the sound was almost inaudible and sounded from far, far away. But it was there, dull and muffled, as if there was a thick wall in between them. 

Ivar covered his ears, trying to locate the side the sound was coming from. A caw echoed from the attic, but the moment Ivar wanted to scold Piglet for being such a lousy seeker, the sound stopped and traveled downstairs, over the boxes and ended underneath Ivar’s floorboard.

  Ivar’s mouth dropped; because that featherless chick could in no way possible travel so fast on his own. He’d seen it wobble through the shed, there was no way those naked feathers could carry his weight. 

Piglet must have realised that too, because the slave maiden glanced around the corner of Ivar’s box with huge eyes, shock written all over her face. 

Ivar didn’t know what held him back and eventually decided it could not be fright when he pulled up the plank of the floorboard. Expecting Utstott to be seated on top of his humble treasury; woodcarvings, nails, the knife and sling, Ivar’s face went completely blank when the baby bird wasn’t there. 

A caw came from up close and Piglet let out a petrified shriek, hastily moving down at Ivar’s side. Casting anxious skyward glances, she pinched Ivar’s shoulder and huddled close to him.

“Voodoo!” she whimpered and cried out when a high pitched caw blared right over their heads. Ivar froze and could feel the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He recalled his first weeks inside the shed; how he’d battled fever and the mare riding his chest. He also recalled vividly how he’d witnessed his father being devoured by a flock of ravens. 

When he regained strength, he simply brushed it off as feverish dreams intensified by the mare. Yet, during the feverish days, he’d been staring into the shadows, petrified to register tarred feathers and beaks inside the darkness of the shed. 

A gust of cold night’s air made the pair duck their heads down, instinctively Ivar shoved Piglet down to the floor and reached for the knife, although he highly doubted it would do any damage. 

The cawing continued and it started to frighten the animals inside, for they could sense the unnatural atmosphere. 

To make matters worse, Piglet’s body went completely limp, only to abruptly shoot into a series of spasms. 

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me”, Ivar hissed through his teeth and hastily dragged the young woman onto her side so she wouldn’t choke on her own tongue. Her eyes were all white while her limbs convulsed in quick and odd motions. 

Piglet’s unconsciousness made Ivar feel utterly alone and exposed. Raising the knife in his fist, he held his breath- all while holding onto Piglet’s chin to prevent her from banging her face into the floor. 

Another caw cackled through the shed; it didn’t come from one side, no- it seemed to twirl in circles. 

It was then and there that Ivar realised he could either whimper as a coward or face the unknown abomination hiding inside the shadows. 

“SHOW YOURSELF!” Ivar roared, rising up to his knees and puffing his chest out. 

‘What are the odds of survival?’ Ivar asked himself. He was in chains, crippled, and his only ally lay in a seizure down on the floor. 

As an answer, the cawing evaporated and all went quiet inside the shed, aside from the soft frightened noises of the animals. 

Ivar’s eyes darted through the room, scanning all shadows and dark corners. Surely, this couldn’t be the end of it? 

A small beak appeared from around the corner of his box, causing Ivar to withdraw and land on his arse. To keep a slice of his dignity, he struggled back onto his knees and watched the tiny hatchling hop over Piglet’s makeshift line. There was a bit of smugness in his strutt as he blinked a couple of times; one eye glazed and milky white, the other a vibrant blue. 

“What are you?” Ivar whispered, pulling Piglet close and keeping the knife raised above his head. 

Utstott tilted his head, puffing up his humble feathers as he hopped toward Ivar. Like a half naked, fluffy ball, Utstott inched closer and closer. For some reason, Ivar sensed that the bird knew he’d be able to kill it, yet that  didn’t stop him. Utstott didn’t fear Ivar. 

Inch for inch, Ivar lowered the knife until he placed it down onto the floor and reached his hand out to the hatchling. 

Contentment seemed to beam from the tiny creature as it seated itself into the palm of Ivar’s hand. 

“What are you?”, Ivar wondered, calmer this time as he watched the bird peck at its own feathers, “what are you?”.

.-.-.

Piglet and Ivar did not see eye to eye; the slave maiden was convinced Utstott was ‘black magic’, an evil creature summoned from Jahannam, a place of blazing fire and the final destination of sinners. 

Despite  Piglet’s conviction, Ivar still couldn't put his finger on what Utstott actually was, and decided to keep him. 

Utstott sided with Ivar, with a raspy caw the bird sat on his shoulder and refused to leave that spot. 

“Fine”, Piglet eventually settled, “but you lock it up!” 

So, Ivar forced a deeply insulted Utstott inside a crate and placed his trough on top of it. He highly doubted the bird would remain inside of the makeshift cage, but it calmed Piglet’s fear.

Another day of scrubbing started and with that, rain started to pour down. Usually the task was pointless, now it was simply a joke. Ivar spent the first few hours of dawn soaking wet; his hair became one with his face, wetly draping over his bone structure. Muddy water splashed up everytime someone hastily passed him, hurried to find shelter inside. 

Oh, but Ivar continued his pointless task, gritting his teeth as the Giant watched him from the doorway. The large man stood with  crossed arms, contently watching his slave from up high and dry. 

Another dreadful and overall wet day ended and Ivar’s knees soaked the hay as he was returned to his shackles. The moment the Giant left, Ivar plucked at the cuff of his tunic and hastily peeled it off; he wasn’t cold per se, spring had been kind to him today. But removing the soaked fabric from his skin felt like a blessing. 

Piglet silently picked up his clothes and hung them out. Throwing a few blankets to his side, she paced around the shed for a few moments before casually mentioning:

“I think Utstott died”, as she watched how Ivar’s face fell, she quickly added: “he didn’t make any sound all day”. 

Ivar’s eyes shot to the crate and he crawled toward it, picking it up, he shook the wooden box. He didn’t hear the sound of Utstott’s aggravated caws, nor did he hear a tiny limp body toss and turn. 

“He vanished again”, Ivar explained as he showed Piglet the empty crate, “see?”. 

“By Allah…”, Piglet’s voice faded as she stared in shock at the emptiness inside the crate. She faltered down onto her knees and started a prayer: “Bismillaahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem . Qul 'a'oothu birabbin-naas . Malikin-naas . 'Ilaahin-naas . Min sharril-waswaasil-khannaas. Allathee yuwaswisu fee sudoorin-naas. Minal-jinnati wannaas”. 

Ivar simply rolled his eyes and pulled the blankets up around his shoulders: “don’t be such a wimp Piglet, he did not do anything harmful to us”. 

“That’s easy for you to say!” Piglet snapped through her prayer, “you’re Viking, you’re religion is an interplay of wickedness and bloodshed. The place you call ‘hell’ is a simple wasteland for the weak. My version of hell is an endless circle of pain and suffering and I will not put my soul on the line for your demonic bird!”.

Perfectly on cue, Utstott came teettering from underneath Piglets skirts, causing the slave maiden to scream bloody murder. Jumping onto the tips of her toes, she tried to kick the little hatchling.

Utstott managed to avoid Piglet’s toes and quickly ran toward Ivar for safety. He made one final jump, flapped his little wings, and landed onto Ivar’s lap. 

“Hamar! Idiot! Thick-head!” Piglet cursed him, as Ivar clapped his hands and started laughing. “You’re damming yourself! I won’t be a part of this!” 

Ivar continued laughing and shook his head as Piglet barged up the stairs to the attic. Petting the tiny bird, he watched Utstott puff up his feathers and close his beady eyes in content. Later that night, Piglet eventually moved to Ivar’s side, instead of remaining upstairs. The fear of the danger that lingered outside of the walls of their shed victored over the fear she held for the little white raven. 

.-.-.

A/N: For those of you who’d like to be refreshed, I highly suggest you re-read chapter 5; ‘Eaten Alive’, that’s the chapter where Ivar’s fever gets the best of him and he sees his father being devoured by ravens. 

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I’m very curious how you feel about Utstott.

Xoxox Nukyster

The kickass beta: @sarahh-jane The tagged ones:@youbloodymadgenius​ @xbellaxcarolinax @saldelys​ @shannygoatgruff@pieces-by-me@apenas-mais-uma-pessoa@readsalot73@lauraan182 @conaionaru@sarahh-jane@peachybonelessIf you’d liked to be tagged, please let me know:)

[rat-father]

Part 1 of my new series! Clown whumper :)) it’s mainly gonna be whump with a hint of comfort here and there.

This is more an introduction to the characters and showing what they do, with some whump near the end

Most of this was written at 3 am so excuse the bad quality

I have some neat plans for the next parts which I’m excited to write

Tagging; @jordanstrophe

-- tw;; captivity/slave whump, intimate whumper, non con kiss, beating mention --

Mynci was trying out his new outfit in his personal tent. A red collared crop top with a fluffy white coat to go with it, the outfit matched perfectly with the big bow and blindfold he always wore. Some nice make-up and he would be all set to go. Even though he was a clown, he enjoyed dressing in fancy clothes with, to be unique and stand out from the crowd.

It was the start of October, so naturally, the circus would be all Halloween themed. But Mynci didn’t want to go for just black and orange, he wanted to do more, stand out from the crowd like he always did. He had practiced the art of visual magic for years, and he used that to his advantage during shows, even more so during festive months. The creatures he was able to bring to life never failed to amaze people, year and year again.

The show would begin in an hour, he had to make sure everything was set up and ready to go. He fixed his bow one last time and headed out towards the show tent, where his slave Pora had been working all day. His pointy ears twitched as he listened for where his slave could be. They were rummaging in the back, looking for something. Shortly after they came out walking in a fast pace, but as soon as they saw Mynci they dropped to their knees with a small thud.

“Is everything ready to go?” He crossed his arms and slowly walked over to them.

“A..Almost sir.”

A firm kick to the chest was enough to make the slave double over and whine in pain.

“Rule 5. No stuttering.”

They had to take a moment to regain their breath. “I’m sorry sir.”

Mynci scoffed and walked back out the tent, listening to the slave getting up to continue their tasks. He was going to have to punish him properly for breaking a rule later, for now, it was time to check on his friends. 2 of his childhood friends had been working with him for years, making a great trio together.

Val never spoke but her big wings, long flowy hair and round brown eyes combined with her flying abilities were always a big hit. She made a new outfit each month, all being loose and extravagant. Most of her stunts consists of ballerina dancing and flying around, showing off her tricks.

Kins, on the other hand was a total chatterbox. He worked as a jester and mainly helped Mynci with his stunts while adding jokes and music. During his own shows he also worked a lot with animals, rodents more specifically, and him pulling pranks on people with said rodents wasn’t uncommon.

They were hanging out in the tent they shared as always. Val carefully doing the jester’s make-up as he rambled on about different types of rats and which ones he wanted to get for his upcoming show.

“I wonder if their curls get in the way of- oh hi Mynci!”

“Hey! you guys ready for the show?”

”Excited as ever! The people will definitely love this one, I know it!”

Val smiled and nodded. Halloween wasn’t her favorite, but during the holidays more people from around the world came to watch, and she couldn’t deny she loved the praise she got every day.

“Amazing. I’ll be waiting for you guys, let’s make this show something wonderful.”

Everything was set up, everyone was ready, people were flooding in. The show tent was dark for the most part, small lamps dimly lighting up the seats. Playing with fire was something Mynci specialized in, and that was exactly what he would do for the show.

After his usual opening speech came the fun part, making animals out of flames. A flock of birds flying by with feathers being left behind, a bunny hopping around, then a wolf coming by and ripped them to shreds, with a lion roaring in the back.

The animals distracted the audience long enough for Val to swiftly move into the middle and create a gust of wind with her wings, effectively making all the flames disappear. All the attention turned to her as she flew up to the tight rope, and danced across it like it was nothing. Her movements were fluid and very captivating, white wings contrasting with the pitch black darkness surrounding her.

Lights turned back on one by one, revealing horses galloping around the stage, with the jester at the lead holding a riding crop and Val dancing between them. It would be enjoyable to watch for Pora, if they weren’t stuck backstage knowing torture was inevitable.

They’ve been there for long enough to know that even if they did behave well, they would always end up getting hurt, that was their only purpose. If there was a show going on then that at least meant they could take a break.

During the holidays Mynci would work outside the tent and entertain kids. On one hand they enjoyed it because it meant they wouldn’t get hurt for a while longer, but on the other he always came back tired and frustrated, meaning a worse punishment for them. They hugged their knees and stared at the curtains, hoping someone would be curious enough to go in and find them. That’s how they ended up in this predicament themselves, curiosity, which they instantly regretted once they got caught.

When the curtains did open it wasn’t some random person, it was Mynci. He was wearing a sweater and leggings, usually meaning he would be going to bed soon. They could only hope he was too tired to make the punishment long. But of course luck wasn’t on his side. He grabbed them by the hair and pushed them down to their knees

“Rule 1. Kneel when your owner is around.”

Shit. They forgot.

“Really breaking rules today are we now?” Mynci asked, amusement in his tone.

”I’m sorry sir. I didn’t mean to.”

He walked past them to the storage closet, where he kept all his tools. Humming thoughtfully he turned back to his slave on the floor.

“I think I know the perfect punishment so you can remember your place,” he walked over and crouched in front of them, cupping their face with his hands. “Have you ever done acrobats?”

Their eyes widened and shook their head, they could already see where this was going. They didn’t want to be part of the show, part of the entertainment. Mynci smiled at them, their signature smile, and leaned in close.

“I guess I’ll have to teach you then, even more reasons to spend time with my favorite little dog! Just make sure the audience is entertained and maybe I’ll leave you alone for one night.”

He gave them a long kiss on the lips while stroking their cheeks with his thumbs. They hated it, wanted to pull away, but they knew he would do something worse to them if they did. They had learned their lesson last time. He finally stopped and left the room, winking at them before he closed the curtains again.

Pora crawled over to their usual corner, they wanted to cry and just give up, but they couldn’t, that meant Mynci had won. Even after months of being there, getting beaten and tortured for fun, they refused to give up.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Love of my life; Ahkmenrah x reader

*Author’s note*

I promised you guys didn’t I? Well here is Part 2 to History comes to life In this chapter there is nothing but FLUFFY PINING, some hints of flirting(?), but above all LOVING. And a bit of makeout (but it’s all PG). I also couldn’t help myself with this fic by adding a certain band in this and joking around with the fact that Rami played both these characters/people so I hope you all enjoy the little fun poke I do in this fic. Enjoy my lovelies :) 

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural​

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@ixchel-9275​

@dancingcoolcat​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@queendeakyy​

@simonedk​

@geek-and-proud​

@kairosfreddie​

________________________________________________________

It was five months after the whole Save the museum fiasco.  And even though my internship ended, thanks to Larry I was still able to come anytime whether to do additional research or just to spend time with my new friends. Teddy was an excellent historian and it was amazing to hear some of the stories that only the real Teddy Roosevelt would know.

Sacagawea was great female company to have around when the men got to be a bit too much.  She told me about her story and she even taught me how to shoot a real Native American bow and arrow.  Even though I couldn’t quite understand him, Attila was fun to be around, he and the rest of his Huns always wanted me to tell them stories and see if I could perform any tricks for them (thankfully I still remember some of the close up magic card tricks I used to do for Nicky when he was younger).

Then there was Jed and Octavius.  Those two—they are something I’ll give you that. They especially like to watch funny cat videos on Youtube.  

Of course they still have their moments where they butt heads but either I or Larry are there to set them straight before they’re once again besties.

And of course I can’t forget, the pharaoh himself, Ahkmenrah.  Every night he and I would spend the most time together.  From learning each other’s life story, to dancing along to some of my favorite songs or showing him my favorite artists/bands.

Throughout all the time that Ahkmen and I have spent together, my feelings for him slowly began to grow.  I tried to hide it but every time I tried to ignore it, my feelings for the millennia’s old pharaoh just kept growing and growing.  The way his light blue eyes would stare into mine just felt like he was piercing my soul.  

They made you feel not only insecure because they held such regalness to them, but they made you feel safe because even with him being probably the highest authority in history he’d never make you feel like you were inferior to him.

His smile was like—literally looking into the sun because it made you feel so warm inside.  And when he touches your hand—it could damn well just make you melt.

The two of us were currently in the Hall of African mammals sitting up along the lion’s perch.  Ahkmenrah was currently stroking the top of the male lion whom he’s named Maahes, while I had the female leopard I named Seshat with her head on my lap, her deep purring sounding off as I stroked her head.

“So is it really true you knew the Guardian of Brooklyn before he took his post?”

“Yeah, the Daley’s and I go way back to when I was in high school. Nicky was probably the best kid I ever babysat. He never spoke back to me and he wasn’t spoiled. He’s—really become like my little brother.”

“Consider yourself lucky to not have any other sibling.” He said trailing off.  I noticed the somber look on his face and I knew Maahes saw it too.  The king of the beasts actually nuzzled against Ahkmenrah letting out a gentle roar.  “Thank you my friend.” Ahkmenrah thanked him as the king of the beasts suddenly turned into a kitten right before my eyes as he lay right across Akhmen’s lap.

“Now I know that you saw cats as link to the gods, did you ever go so far as to actually owning big cats such as these Maahes and Seshat?”

“My father did once own a lion of his very own. Unfortunately he got a little too rough with Kahmunrah and father was forced to get rid of him. My only real exotic pet would’ve been Horus, my falcon. He was such a reliable companion.”

“You must’ve trained him well.”

“He was a clever bird. Sharp as a whip and as clever as any man.” He reminisced.  Just before I could respond, I felt Seshat leave my lap and her ears twitched about.  Maahes reacted the same way as he hopped off the perch and joined alongside Seshat.

The two big cats soon crouched down into a hunting position as they both slowly stalked out of the hall right towards the door.

Ahkmen and I looked at each other confused before the two big cats took off like a shot before roaring out and we both heard two very familiar screams.

“Octavius!”

“Jed!” the two of us cried out as we raced out of the room and down the hall.  As we reached the end of the hallway we saw the two big cats crouched over with their front paws outward.

“Oh Ahkmenrah, lady (y/n). we are sorry to intrude on your time together…..” Octavius said from between Maahes’ paws.

“It’s alright, Octavius. Maahes, release him!” Ahkmenrah first started off calmly before going into his kingly tone.  That low and demanding tone that just made me want to bow before him and do whatever he wished.

Maahes grumbled before obeying and released Octavius. But that’s when I remembered that there was also a second voice that screamed.

“Where’s Jed?”

‘Bout time someone remembered me!’ oh dear god not again!

“Seshat! Drop him!” She looked up at me with those kitten eyes of hers but I scolded the young leopardess. “Right now!” she then spat out Jedidiah and he soon came tumbling out covered in cat spit.  Ahkmen and I both made a face of disgust as Jed brushed himself off.

“Stupid cat!” he called up at Seshat.  She hissed down at Jed.

“Steady my friend, she’s a young kitten after all. She still doesn’t know any better.” Octavius said.  I took out a tissue and ripped a portion of it and handed it to Jed.

“Not that we’re not happy to see you both but why have you come all the way over here without the racecar? You know it’s dangerous for you both to be here, especially with Maahes and Seshat.” I said to him.

“That dangum monkey stirred up some trouble once again. He opened up the hallway window near our exhibit and before we knew it, we were attacked by giant birds.” Jed proclaimed as he cleaned himself off.

“Oh great, the onetime Larry gets sick leaving me to take care of the museum and already Dexter is making things difficult for me.” I whined.

“I’m sure it isn’t that bad.” Ahkmen tried to comfort me.

“Uhh yeah right. No offense your highness but this is probably the worst thing to ever strike our exhibits since we were at war with each other.” Jed laughed.

“It’s probably best we show you both what we are dealing with.” I knelt down and extended my hand and allowed the two miniature leaders to climb aboard before we all headed to the Hall of miniatures.

When we got there, we were definitely not expecting what Jed and Octavius had told us.  The entire room was surrounded by dozens hell maybe even almost 100 pigeons.

“Oh my god.”

“You see what I mean! Birds everywhere!”

“How could there be so many?” Ahkmen asked.

“Apparently Dexter also had some food in hand when he allowed these pigeons in the museum.” We walked inside stepping over the birds. Of course when they suddenly took off, I couldn’t help but shriek and grab onto Akhmen’s arm.  

I set the boys down in Jed’s territory which seemed to be the worst case.

“Jed, Octavius. We’ve tried every single weapon we got but all it’s done is caused these birds to leave more of their crap behind.” Said one of Jed’s loyal cowboy friends.

“Oh god that’s gross.”

“Okay so dynamite won’t work, neither will the arrows.” Octavius pondered.  It was then I saw him look behind both Ahkmen and I, right towards Maahes and Seshat. “Wait, I’ve got an idea!”

“Lay it on my Octi.” Said Jed.

“What if the cats help?”

“That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. What else you got?”

“No, no, no Jedidiah listen my friend. Lions have one of the most powerful voices in all the big cats. If we can get Maahes to roar, then the birds should scatter.”

“Uhh Octavius lions aren’t the only ones with a powerful roar you know.” I told him.

“Ohhh I wouldn’t say that.” Ahkmen said wearily. I turned to him aghast.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean no harm when I say this but Seshat is a young leopard. Maahes is a fully grown lion and his roar is mature enough to scare these pigeons away.” He gently tried to assure me.  I crossed my arms over my chest and said.

“Bullshit!”

“Oh-ho-ho-ho. Looks like we got ourselves a competition ladies and gents.” Jed laughed.

“You hear this baby girl? Ahkmenrah thinks your roar’s not powerful enough.” She lowered her head angrily and let out a snarl as her ears bent back. “Show them what you got baby girl!” she then reared her head back as she opened her mouth and let out a fearsome leopard roar, which sent most of the pigeons out of the miniature wing.

“YEE-HAW!! Come on do it again! Do it again!” Ahkmenrah looked at my cockily before turning to Maahes and said.

“Show these ladies why you’re known as the God of war Maahes.” Maahes then reared his head and let out a loud lion’s roar which sent the rest of the flock right on out.

“WOO-WHO!!! Adios birdbrains!” Jed proclaimed as Maahes and Seshat then proceeded to pounce after the pigeons all over the room.  The birds soon took off flying out of the room trying to find a way out of the building.

“Why not make a little wager?” Ahkmenrah said.

“On what grounds?”

“If Maahes can manage to get the pigeons out, you must sing a song for me.” I tried to hide my blush and I countered.

“Fine, but if Seshat wins, then you have to watch both the Mummy and the Mummy returns, no questions or complaints.”

“Deal.” We shook on it and followed behind the two big cats.

Throughout the museum, Seshat and Maahes continued to chase after the pigeons roaring and swatting at them.  Jed and Octavius were now driving in their racecar catching up to the big cats wanting to get in on the action, cheering loudly at our two big cats.

Meanwhile Ahkmen and I raced behind cheering for both our cats in trying to get as many pigeons as they could.

“You know it’s never too late to back out!” Ahkmen laughed.

“Oh you wish we’re about to show you what girl power is all about!” I sassed at him.  We raced on ahead down the second hall, passing the other exhibits who dodged our path.  

The six of us just having a joy of chasing these pigeons all around the museum.  Nothing could ruin this fun now.

But it was when we turned at one point of the museum that some of the pigeons were on top of the herd of rhinos and African water buffalo.

We all skidded to a stop right before the herd and I couldn’t help but say.

“Ohhhh shit.” One of the water buffalo’s snorted aggressively while a rhino let out a bellow.

At this point all of us including Seshat and Maahes took off running back the other way with the stampede following behind us.  Seshat soon bumped into me and the next thing I knew I was riding on top of her back as she ran faster down the hall.  I turned to see the Ahkmen was riding on top of Maahes’ back.

Both big cats did a sharp turn to the left towards the invertebrate wing while Jed and Octavius were just shortly behind us in the car.  I then noticed a small closet just ahead and I cried out to them.

“Guys in there!” Seshat soon noticed the door and I quickly got off her back and opened the door and soon everyone piled inside. I quickly shut the door and the next thing we heard was the thundering stampede passing by us.

When the thundering of hooves and giant feet stopped, for some reason Ahkmen, Jed, Octavius and I soon just started laughing. I don’t know whether it was the adrenaline of nearly cheating (well in a sense) death, or just for the hell of it but we were all bursting out laughing in the tight closet space.

“That was even more thrilling than the chariot chases I used to do when I was a child.” Ahkmen said.

“Boy you said it Ahk. That there was truly a wild rodeo!” Jed cheered.

“Okay guys, since they’re gone I’d say it’s safe for us to go out.” I told them as I opened the door back up.  And of course due to the tight space with me, an old pharaoh, two big cats and a ford mustang racecar, it was a tight squeeze to try and get out.

As Maahes and Seshat tried to get out, Ahkmen and I were jostled around for a bit, up until the point where our noses touched each other and our lips just barely grazed one another’s.  The two of us chuckled nervously as we couldn’t look away from each other.  

We were so caught up in the moment that we didn’t realize that we were now the only ones left in the closet.

“You both just gonna stand there all googly eyed or are you finally gonna wring up your saddle and kiss each other already?” we heard Jed proclaim.  We both looked away and apologized over each other as we both tried to get out at the same time, only to bump shoulder to shoulder again.

Finally Ahkmen allowed me to exit the closet first before he was the last to leave.

“I swear you two are as about as crazy in love as two turtledoves in winter.” Jed said again.

“Shut it Jed, less you wanna go back into Seshat’s mouth and maybe even this time see the inside of her stomach.” I threatened.

“No thank you! Thanks for the help you guys see yah!” the car soon quickly drove off leaving Ahkmen and I alone with our big cats.  I looked down at my watch and said.

“It’s an hour till sunrise. You should—”

“Yes. Care to walk me back?”

“Sure.” We first big goodbye to Seshat and Maahes and the two of them walked back towards the hall of African mammals which allowed me to escort Ahkmenrah back to his exhibit.

After helping Ahkmen back into his sarcophagus he then told me.

“Don’t forget, you have to sing for me tonight.”

“What do you mean?”

“Our bet. I’ve been keeping score and Maahes managed to get the most pigeons out of the museum.” I shook my head and rather than argue with him due to time I accepted it.

“Okay. But just know I’m not the best singer.”

“Not according to young Nicky. He said you’d always sing him to sleep, and he’d always talk about how beautiful you sounded.” I tried to hide my blushing face and I said to him.

“Have a good morning sleep Ahkmen. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Yeah. See you tonight.” He said solemnly as his eyes went somber and he lowered himself back into his sarcophagus and I closed it up.  I internally groaned and thought to myself.

‘Damnit why did I have to hurt him like that?’ with that I left Ahkmenrah’s tomb and went off to handle any remaining birds that were still in the museum and clean up the mess before either Dr. McPhee or Rebecca came in.

Later that night I arrived at Ahkmenrah’s tomb with my laptop ready to give into his deal that we had made last night.  After getting him out of his sarcophagus we sat there along the floor while I opened up my playlist.

“So any hints as to what song you shall be singing for me?”

“Uhh no. You may have gotten me to sing for you, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be telling you exactly what that song will be.” I sassed playfully.  He grinned at me while I went back to scrolling through my playlist.

“Have you found it yet?”

“Keep your tunic on your highness.” I then clicked on the playlist to highlight the song and I said. “Okay; now this song was written by one of my favorite bands in the start of their early career. This was also the song I used to sing to Nicky whenever he had a bad dream whenever I babysat him.” I double clicked on the song and soon through the speakers, “White Queen (As it begins)” played through the speakers.

I took a gentle inhale in before exhaling and waited for Freddie’s soft voice to come through the speakers before finally singing along to the track.

I sang along softly not quite trusting my voice (also cause I didn’t want to crack in front of my crush) but slowly my voice got a bit more confident when Freddie’s voice crescendo.

*Ahkmenrah’s POV*

Oh almighty Horus and Ra above, she—she had the voice of only a true goddess.  It was so soft yet passionate that it just…..she really was like the Queen in this song.  I have imagined stars in (y/n)’s hair and she was an ethereal of beauty in not just her looks but her kind heart and gentle but fiercely protective nature.

I couldn’t help but fall under the spell of her siren-like voice and just admire her.  Her eyes shining through the faint light that came into my exhibit, the way her medium length hair waved down like the Nile river.  She was everything and more.  By the end of her song, she clicked a key on her laptop and turned to me.

“How was that?”

“Beautiful.” I said in awe. “You—Nicky didn’t even come close to describing the true ethereal of your singing.” She looked away from me shyly and nervously laughed.

Even her laugh, shy or not, was always adorable.  The way her eyes would scrunch up at the corners, when her smile would go ear to ear.  A smile like that really showed me that she was truly happy.  And the way her eyes would sparkle…..it was like seeing the stars in the sky.

“Was it that bad?” she asked me.

“Quite the opposite actually. You sung beautifully.” I told her as I gently took her hand in mine.

*My POV*

As soon as Ahkmen took my hand, my heart went boom.

“Thank you.”

“Tell me what was that song?”

“It’s called White Queen. It’s by my all-time favorite band called Queen.”

“They sounded beautifully.”

“Yeah they do. I love almost all of their songs.”

“Could you show me more?” I nodded and he sat closer to me so that I could scroll through more of my Queen Playlist.  I shared with him some facts that I knew about Queen and showed him some pictures of the band in the past.

“You know Ahkmen, if you grew a mustache or just grew out your hair down to your shoulders and had four additional incisors, you could pass off as Freddie Mercury.”

“You really think so?” he asked me.

“Yeah I could see it.”

“Was he of Egyptian blood?”

“No. His family is Indian Parsi. Freddie was born in Zanzibar.”

“Well regardless. This Freddie Mercury would’ve been revered as a god amongst us. He truly does command his audience like a king.”

“He just knew how to make everyone apart of the show. Even the people in the balconies or in the very far backrow became involved. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any rockstar make everyone feel so comfortable during a concert. God I wish I could’ve seen them live with all four of them in person.”

“He will be remembered as a God and is watching over all of his people. Including the ones who come in later in life.” He comforted me as he placed a hand to my shoulder.

“Yeah.” I sighed softly.  Things got quiet before Ahkmenrah took my laptop and clicked on a random song and soon enough “Good old fashioned lover boy” started playing through my speakers.

“Would you care to dance?” he said as he stood up and held his hand out to me.  I looked up at him and I said.

“I told you I’m not a very good dancer, especially in slow dancing.”

“Well, lucky for you I was forced into taking all those slow dance lessons in my time as Prince. Do you trust me?” I looked up into those soft light blue eyes and along with Freddie’s serenading voice of the opening song, I was literally melting but couldn’t help as I took his hand and answered softly.

“Yes.” He helped me up and right as the chorus began, Ahkmen had us be in position one as his right hand holding my left and his other hand gently wrapping around my waist.

I shivered slightly and looked down at our feet before I felt his finger lift my chin back up.

“Eyes on me. Now just follow me lead.” He then began to lead me into a slow waltz.  Of course it was clumsy at first with me stepping on his foot the first several times.  I softly apologized profusely every time I stepped on his feet but he assured me it was all fine.

The song continued to play and while staring into Akhmen’s eyes I couldn’t help but think just what kind of lover boy he would’ve been.  Would he be like what the song stated? Or was it something else? God why did fate have to be so cruel? The one guy I take an extreme interest in and he has to be a 4000 year old mummy.

It was then I heard the song end and a new song (just to rub salt into an open wound) began playing, and that song was “Love of my Life”.

“(Y/n)?” I looked up at him slightly startled.

“Yeah?” He soon became shy as he spoke.

“These—these past couple of months have been…..well they’ve been the most fun I’ve ever had in 4000 years.”

“I’m glad.”

“You’ve been the one true friend I’ve had ever since I was freed from my prison.” Oh god please tell me I’m not gonna get friend-zoned.  “Unfortunately, I—I cannot deny what I must tell you.”

“What-what exactly are you saying Ahkmen?”

“I—I……” he trailed off trying to look down and hide his shyness.  He genuinely looked conflicted with what he was about to say.

“Ahkmenrah,” I cupped the side of his face. “Whatever you have to say, I won’t get mad.” He didn’t say a word, in fact he leaned closer to my face until his lips captured mine.

It was a shy kiss at first.  He was testing the boundaries of this to see if I would push him away or kiss him back.  I was shocked at first but as soon as my heart hammered in my ears and I fell under the spell of the kiss, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and pressed my lips to his.

Seeing how I accepted the kiss, he wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me closer which deepened the kiss.  The anxiety and worries we both had melted away as I heard him let out a soft hum which made me softly moan.

We separated for air but kept in close proximity of each other.  Our noses gently touching each other’s.  I let out a soft choked laugh as I couldn’t make my heart calm down.

“I—” I softly spoke.  I licked my lips softly.  “I love you too, Ahkmenrah. I mean call me crazy but excluding the fact that I’ve known so much about you since the start of my college career. But spending these past couple months with you has been a dream come true. I’ve always wished and dreamed that I could meet you and just talk to you and—” he pressed his finger to my lips stopping my rambling.

“You talk too much my love.”

“You’re right sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You’re cute when you do that. It shows you’re passionate.” He tucked a strand of my hair out of my face and continued in a teasing tone, “So you’ve dreamed about me?” I giggled.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No. I’m honored. I’m honored that I have gained the affections of the only goddess on Earth.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. But I really like you too Ahkmen.” He smiled at me and asked.

“Can I—kiss you again?”

“What do you think?” I said as I leaned in towards him and kissed him now, but this time with more passion just as the song was ending.

[webrokethe4thwall]

Venus in the City

A request from @rottmntrulesall for their Little Sister Venus AU. I highly recommend you check their blog out!

After begging and pleading with Splinter, the Turtles and April had finally convinced him to let them take Venus for a ride in the Turtle Tank. Venus fussed only a little as Donnie strapped her into a car seat that he had made especially for her before squealing in delight as the tank roared into life. Her older siblings smiled fondly at the happy noises she made.

“You like that, Venus?” Raph asked, carefully driving through traffic. “You like riding in the Turtle Tank?”

“Yeah!” April cheered in a high pitched voice, waving both of Venus’s arms in the air and pulling a giggle out of the Indian Tent turtle.

Venus’s eyes shone happily. The buildings were moving so fast, and her chair would bump and rattle in the most fun way! This was great!

“Wait, was that—” Donnie started as he squinted out the window.

Suddenly, the Turtle tank swerved as the Foot Lieutenant, Foot Brute, and Foot Recruit landed on the hood.

“Turtles!” Foot Lieutenant rasped. “Prepare for defeat!”

“Oh, come on!” Leo groaned. “Can’t we go for one drive without some bozos ruining everything? How’re we gonna deal with these guys with Venus here?!”

“Like this!” Donnie flipped a switch, and Venus was pulled into the back of the tank and encased by a clear dome. “That bubble is made of a highly damage-resistant material that will keep Venus safe while we deal with these jerks.”

“Don’t worry, Venus,” Mikey comforted the confused baby as their siblings rushed out of the tank. “We’ll be back soon. Just sit tight!”

And like that, Venus was alone in a bubble in the Turtle Tank as the teenagers battled the Foot Clan just out of her sight. The baby chewed on her teal ribbon tail for a little while before growing bored. Venus didn’t want to be in her chair anymore. She wanted out!

A moment later, Venus felt herself slipping free of her car seat, out of the bubble, and through the Turtle Tank’s floor. Her brothers and sister were still in heavy combat though, and the baby didn’t like how loud they were being. Closing her eyes and crawling forward, Venus slipped through dimensions to get to someplace quieter until her siblings were done fighting.

“That didn’t take very long at all,” April said as she and the Turtles climbed back into the Turtle Tank.

“I guess they didn’t restock their paper from the last time we fought them,” Raph gloated, hefting himself back into the driver’s chair.

“Let me put Venus back in her spot, then we can get rolling again,” Donnie said. Flipping another switch, the protective bubble pulled away, and the car seat returned to its original position. “Ready to go, Ve-ven-oooh, boy.”

When they all saw the empty car seat, their stress levels skyrocketed, but it could’ve just been Venus messing with them. April swiped her hand through the air just to be sure. They all shared a look and started freaking out.

“Where did Venus go?!” Mikey screamed. “She’s just a baby! What’s going to happen to our sister?!”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Where’d yous come from?” Venus blinked her eyes open to find Repo-Mantis staring down at her. She had traveled all the way to the junkyard. “You lost or somethin’, kid? I’m not a fan of turtles runnin’ around my junkyard.”

“Baah! Puh!” Venus babbled, crawling between Repo’s legs and disappearing further into the junkyard.

“Where d’ya think your off’ta?” Repo asked, ducking to follow the baby turtle’s travel. But she was gone. She had literally disappeared. “Wha?”

Not wanting a baby mutant wandering around his place of business, Repo went to look for her. He soon found her in his electromagnet. She managed to swing the heavy machine to hang over the school bus plugging Mrs. Nubbins’ den.

“Wait, no, no, no, no!” Repo shouted, rushing towards Venus. “Not that scrapheap, kid! Stop!” Too late. The bus pulled free, and the cat-mantis was unleashed. Repo immediately about-faced and ran away from his beloved pet.

Growing bored of the purple bugman and the machinery, Venus slipped out of the electromagnet and crawled out of the junkyard. She quickly caught wind of something that smelled delicious! A yellow van topped with a T-bone steak was parked across the street. What was over there that smelled so good?

“My, my, what have we here?” Venus was lifted up by metal hands that brought her face-to-face with a smug Meat Sweats. “You’re just the ingredient I needed for my latest recipe! How fortuitous for me.”

He plopped the baby turtle into the broth heating up on the stovetop, scrapped in some chopped up veggies, and sorted out the seasonings that would “unleash the flavor” within Venus. The Indian tent turtle gurgled delightedly in what she thought was tasty-smelling bathwater. She munched on a carrot piece, splashing in the broth, when pepper suddenly dusted her snout.

“That should do it,” Meat Sweats said. As he cleared away his spices, he noticed Venus scrunching up her face. “What’s that look for? My seasoning is perfectly balanced.”

He drew closer to the pot just as Venus unleashed a powerful sneeze. The sneeze was followed by spikes shooting out of her shell, flying all over the food truck’s kitchen. Meat Sweats squealed in horror. He knocked the pan off the stovetop and out of his truck, baby turtle and all, as the spikes pinned him by his apron to the cabinets.

“Oh, rubbish,” Meat Sweats grumbled.

Venus continued to chew on the veggies remained in the pot with her after the tumble when the she was lifted up once again. This time it was orange crab pinchers that carried her into an alleyway. So many new people in one night!

“Hey, Carl, check it out! It’s one of those turtle mutants that we hate, but littler!” The crabman without pinched Venus’s cheeks. She whined in displeasure and swatted his pincher away. “This one would be way easier to eat, and she’s already in some soup!”

The crabman with hair poked Venus’s cheek and felt his heart melt like butter when she sucked on his claw. “Pass, Ben. That’d be messed up. Maybe if she was bigger.”

“Bah?” Venus questioned, releasing the claw from her jaws. Bigger? What did that “bigger” mean? Steadily, the pot she was sitting in started getting tighter. Venus’s line of sight climbed, higher than when she sat on Raph’s head! The crabmen seemed to begin to panic. The baby turtle giggled and clapped her hands as the crabmen did a silly dance in front of her.

“This is not what I meant!” Carl shouted, swinging his arms wildly as the baby turtle quickly grew to double his and his brother’s size. Ben and Carl ran in wild circles for a moment before crashing into each other hard. The shock from the impact and panic from the giant infant knocked the duo unconscious.

Venus stared at the still crabmen before shrinking down to her normal size. They weren’t doing much more than breathe at this point, and the Indian tent turtle wanted something more entertaining than that. She crawled away and soon heard the laughter of children at a playground. All those colors and kids looked fun! Venus was all set to join them when something flopped onto her head and over her eyes.

“Turtle! Prepare to taste defeat at the hands of your greatest foe, Warren Stone!” The long pink thing in a purple jacket rolled into a dramatic offensive pose before the Indian tent turtle. “I won’t hold back just because you’re a ba-argh!”

Venus gripped the worm mutant by his throat and pulled his stretchy body as far as she could. This was a great toy! She whipped Warren around like a lasso and laughed brightly at the way he yelled. He made really funny noises, too! A white dove then flew into Venus’s line of sight and made her think of the cartoons she and Mikey would watch where birds would flock around the worm and beat them up. Attention drawn away, the baby mutant dropped the mutant in her hands and followed the dove.

“Where are you going?!” Warren shouted after her. “I’m not done with you yet!” He was then surrounded by a flock of large pigeons that had materialized out of thin air. “Or maybe I am.” The flock proceeded to attack the worm mutant. “Aaagh!”

Venus followed the dove for a few blocks, watching it land on the broad purple shoulder of Hypno-Potamus.

“There you are! Back in the hat you go,” Hypno said. He placed the dove back in his magic hat, poofing the accessory away, and caught sight of the baby turtle. She clapped at the sight of the hat disappearing, eyes wide with wonder. “You like that trick, little lady? Wait a tic, where is your family?” He glanced up and down the empty street then shrugged. “How about a little magic show until they come along?”

At the baby’s impartial gurgling, Hypno started performing tricks for Venus. She was delighted by the multicolor hanky rope the magic hippo pulled out of nowhere. Hypno clapped his hands together, and the hanky rope had transformed into a rainbow of cards floating between his palms as he drew them apart. Hypno flinched back at how high-pitched Venus’s surprised shriek was.

Where’d the rope go?! How’d the cards fly in the air like that? Was he magic like Leo and his portals? Was she magic? She looked at her own hands, clapped them together, and opened them herself. Cards floated between her palms, just like Hypno! She was magic!

“How’d you do that?” Hypno asked, just as surprised as Venus. He smirked and snapped his cards away. “Let’s see you copy this then!” He conjured up his top hat once more, and doves rocketed out from its depths.

Venus unleashed amazed laughter. Her cards disappeared as she waved her hands towards the birds flying up into the air. However, her happiness turned to fear once the flock of doves changed directions and flew straight at the baby turtle. Scared and confused, Venus screamed at the doves and the unfortunate magic hippo behind them as well.

“Argh!” Hypno cried out. He pressed his hands onto his ears, but the baby turtle’s scream was too strong. He squeezed his eyes shut against the birds that swarmed past him, missing Venus scramble away. All he was left with was ringing ears and a sense of confusion.

Venus blinked around tearfully at the fancy hotel she somehow entered. She crawled around the front desk and sat down. She liked birds, but those had gotten way too close way too fast.

“Hey, who’s kid is this?” A bellhop asked as he rounded the desk. “She doesn’t have a cloaking broach.”

“Take her to the yokai floors,” another bellhop said. He sniffed the air around her. “And see that she gets cleaned up. She must’ve gotten into the kitchen and lost her broach somewhere along the way if her scent is anything to go by.”

“All right, little one, let’s go.”

Venus let the bellhop carry her into the elevator and was happy to get a bath for once. The broth from earlier was starting to make her scales itch. She also liked the gentle attention the funny creatures in the red suits gave her. They were almost as good as her big brothers and big sister!

“Oh, she’s so pretty in that shade of teal!” The octopus yokai who had given her a bath said, carefully bouncing her in front of the other bellhops.

“Is she one of our guests?” A fox yokai bellhop asked, letting Venus fiddle with his hand. “I don’t recall any turtle yokai staying with us. And that mask kinda reminds me of those other turtles who keep breaking in.”

“What seems to be the piddly-problem here?” A sickeningly sweet asked from behind employees.

“Big Mama!” The octopus yokai spun to face the powerful spider yokai. “We seem to have a lost guest in our midst!”

Big Mama bent down to get a better look at Venus. She was stare was intense and unwavering. The yokai holding the baby and the bellhop were starting to sweat from how long Big Mama was locking eyes with the Indian tent turtle. Then, the disguised spider yokai squealed in delight, sweeping Venus into her arms and cuddling the baby close.

“Oh, what a splendiferously precious, teedly tiny turtlely-boo!” Big Mama cooed, rubbing her cheek against Venus’s. Venus laughed as Big Mama’s hair tickled her neck. “Such sprinkly-sparkly eyes! A fantampulous giggle as lovely as her ribbon!” She pulled back and considered the child in her arms once more. “Come! Big Mama will take care of you.”

Venus burbled contentedly in the purple lady’s arms. She reminded the baby of her daddy with how she talked.

“But Big Mama, what about her family?” the bellhop asked. “Won’t they be worried about her?”

Big Mama gave the bellhop a scathing look. “If her family truly loved her, she wouldn’t be lost and causing such a fizzywinkle among my on-the-clock employees! I shall deal with this doodlie-bug’s family if they ever show up.”

Venus chewed at the end of Big Mama’s cravat, watching the other yokai shrink away from the pretty purple lady. She must’ve been tough like April and Donnie for everyone to be so scared of her. Venus loved how much attention this “Big Mama” was giving her, but she was starting to want her brothers, sister, and father the longer the lady held her. Maybe everyone was done being loud by now? She should go back to her car seat. Venus started fussing and struggling to get to the floor.

“Oh, what’s wrong, cutie-doodle?” Big Mama asked. “Don’t fuss.”

When Big Mama lifted her higher and started walking away from the other yokai, Venus began to struggle in earnest. She didn’t want to be in this fancy building anymore! She wanted her family! Put her down! She slipped, quite literally, through Big Mama’s fingers and crawled as fast as she could towards the elevator.

“What?!” Big Mama shrieked. “Catch her!”

Suddenly, bellhops galore blocked Venus’s path. The baby didn’t stop for a second before she was crawling up the walls and onto the ceiling. All of the bellhops stared up in shock at her. However, the owl bellhop shook off his surprise, leapt up, and pulled the baby mutant into his arms. The unfortunate bellhop soon found his hands full of many Venus’s piling one on top of the other until he toppled over. Each bellhop and even Big Mama caught a duplicate before she hit the ground.

“Well,” Big Mama said, obviously ruffled. “That was unexpected. Are you quite done, turtle-boo?”

That’s when the acid vomit started shooting out of every Venus’s mouth.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Why doesn’t she have a tracker on her?” Leo yelled at Donnie. “You put a tracker on everything.”

“I wanted to!” Donnie yelled back. “But you all thought it was too extreme to put a tracker on a five-month-old!”

“Since when did you listen to us about where to put your trackers?!” Raph yelled.

This fighting was getting them nowhere. The Turtle Tank tore through the streets as the worried siblings searched for their missing little sister. They had chased of the Foot after five minutes max of combat. They had locked the tank door. Where could Venus have gone? Who could’ve been able to take her?! If it hadn’t been for sporadic dust clouds shooting up from Repo-Mantis’s Junkyard, they wouldn’t have had a clue where to start.

“Return our sister, you fiend!” Mikey demanded.

His family jumped out of the tank, armed and ready, only to see Repo dodging and running away from Mrs. Nubbins. Well… they weren’t expecting that. Repo was pretty good at keeping his beloved murder cat contained.

“Do we help him?” Leo asked slowly.

“No,” Donnie said. “This is a waste of time!��

“He might know something about Venus, though,” April countered.

“Alright, Mad Dogs,” Raph said. “Get that cat-mantis!”

One determined sibling fight later, Repo found himself on the business end of Leo’s odachi.

“Hey, bug-man,” Leo greeted. “You see a baby turtle mutant pass by?”

“That little thing was with yous guys?!” Repo yelled.

“And don’t even think about lyin—what?” Donnie asked. “You’ve seen our baby sister?!”

“Yeah,” Repo said, head lulled back. He may as well tell the kids what they wanted; they had saved his life after all. “She must’ve crawled off after letting Mrs. Nubbins out a minute ago. Came outta nowhere, that kid. Left outta nowhere, too.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” April demanded.

Muffled shouting from across the street drew the teenagers’ attention away from Repo, who took this opportunity to slip away. With their initial target gone, they went to investigate where the shouts had come from. April was the first to see the familiar food truck parked across the street. Something pointy stuck out at several spots on the outside of the truck.

“Meat Sweats!” she yelled, throwing the ajar backdoor open wide.

“Not you lot!” Meat Sweats groaned from where he hung on the wall. “One turtle disaster was enough!”

“Give us our sister!” Raph said, pulling the pig mutant free and dangling him in the air.

“That little terror is your sister?!” Meat Sweats roared. “Does the big one here shoot spikes, too?!”

“What? No,” Raph denied, lifting Meat Sweats higher. “Where’s our sister?”

“I threw her out, pot and all, when the spikes came flying at me,” Meat Sweats explained.

“We’re coming, Venus!” Leo yelled, tearing out of the food truck with his other siblings as Raph continued to hold Meat Sweats.

“Stop. Trying. To eat. My. Family!” Raph snarled in the pig mutants face before going to join the others.

Leo and Donnie were on the rooftops, looking in every direction for a hint of teal of their bubbly baby sister; Mikey and April scourged the alleys and streets for signs of Venus; and Raph patrolled in the Turtle Tank. A few moments later, the three groups converged where scraps of metal and two mutant crabmen lay uselessly in an alleyway.

Donnie prodded the mutants with his tech bo, saying, “What happened to you guys? Wait. Let me guess—you found a little turtle and she beat you up?”

The crabman with hair opened one eyestalk, saw the frustrated and near-feral teenagers looming over him and his brother, and shook his head.

“No, she got big, and my bro and I freaked out so much we knocked each other out. I thought she was gonna eat us.”

“Okay.” Donnie crouched down to look the crabman in the eyes. “First of all, she’s just a baby. Worst thing she can do to you right now is bite your exoskeletons. Second, where is she?” The crabman without hair raised a claw and wordlessly pointed towards the park across the street. “Thank you, gentlemen. You will not be eviscerated today.”

The Sando brothers cowered away from the determined children and slunk into the sewers as they crossed the street. The park was empty at the moment, so April wasn’t worried about anyone seeing the giant mutant turtles wadding through the bushes.

“Venus!” April and the others called in intervals, tearing the park upside down for their baby. “C’mon sis, where are you?”

“You guys looking for a baby turtle?” Warren Stone asked. He was chilling on a park bench, sipping a smoothie.

“Warren Stone!” April squealed. She ran up to her news anchor idol. “Do you know where our sister is? She’s got a teal mask and a pretty defined shell.”

“Yeah, she crawled that a-ways about ten minutes ago,” Warren said waving in the general direction. “Chasing a bird or something. No respect for the laws of mortal foe combat.”

“Thanks Warren! Stone-head for life!” April ran off to get her brothers. “I got a lead! Venus isn’t here anymore, but I know where she went!”

“Lead on, April!” Leo said.

April led them in the direction Warren Stone had waved in, and they soon came across Hypno. He was shouting and swinging a top hat at a flock of doves swarming over his head.

“Hypno!” Mikey shouted, wrapping the chain of his kusari-fundo around the hippo mutant. “Where’s our sister?”

“What?” Hypno shouted. “I don’t know anything about a ‘blister.’”

“I said sis-ter,” Mikey yelled. “Baby turtle mutant. Teal mask. Where?”

“Never met one,” Hypno shouted. “Why would a lady turban merchant need a flask? Speak up! I can’t really hear at the moment.”

The teenagers groaned. This was getting them nowhere!

“Did you lot happen to lose a baby turtle?” Hypno asked. “One passed by a minute ago. I gave her a magic show, but the doves scared her off.”

“Where’d our baby sister go?” Mikey yelled as clearly as he could. Hope shined in the box turtle’s eyes.

Hypno seemed to wilt from the question. “I don’t know. She let out a killer scream that took out my doves and my hearing. I didn’t see where she went.”

“That would explain the screaming-match,” Leo grumbled. “Mikey, let him go. Venus isn’t here.” But she has been causing some top-tier mischief.

Raph brought the Turtle Tank around for everyone to pile in and regroup. Now what? Hypno was their last lead to finding Venus, and he didn’t know where she crawled off to. How did her screaming make the hippo mutant go that hard of hearing anyway? Sure, the baby had a loud voice but not loud enough to make someone go near-deaf. Right?

“Now what, team?” Raph asked. “Where do we look next?”

“Well,” Donnie started. Then explosions erupted from the Nexus Hotel in the distance.

“FOLLOW THE CHAOS!!!” April shouted.

Moments later, the Turtle fam burst into Big Mama’s hotel, weapons drawn and ready to take on the spider yokai. The sight that greeted them was not what they expected from the usually put-together criminal boss. Small fires lit up parts of the lobby and stairs, yokai and humans alike were either flopped over broken furniture unconscious or shaking in absolute terror. A yokai ran from one end of the room to the other screaming his head off.

“What happened here?” Leo asked, lowering his sword.

“I don’t know,” Donnie said, looking at his wrist scanner and typing on it. “I’ll hack into the security feeds; you guys keep an eye open for—”

Big Mama chose that moment to leave the elevator in giant yokai spider form. The first thing the Turtle fam did was pull into a tighter circle, defending Donnie as he reviewed the hacked feeds. They noted how she looked, well, battered, bruised, and burned. Big Mama looked at the teenagers with six tired eyes, down at her thick arms, then back at the teenagers. She slowly walked towards them.

“Does this belong to you?” she asked, voice wavering from exhaustion.

Extending her arms, Venus dangled from her hands.

“Venus!” They all cried.

Raph carefully took Venus into his arms and backed his entire family as far away from Big Mama as he could. His siblings launched themselves onto his arms, kissing and cooing at the baby turtle warbling happily back at them. Before they could interrogate the spider yokai about how she got her claws on their precious baby sister, Big Mama passed out less than gracefully in her lobby.

Raph quickly carried his family back to the Turtle Tank where they continued to fawn over their baby sister, relieved to have her back and taking turns holding her close. Donnie held Venus very carefully. She had somehow gotten out of one of his inventions specially designed to protect her, and he took it personally. How had it happened?

“Let’s see how you got into Big Mama’s hands, shall we?” Donnie said, passing Venus off to April and hooking up his gauntlet to the tank’s display screen.

As the security feed played out, the Turtle fam watched with increasing shock as their baby sister all but destroyed the Nexus Hotel. From the very moment that she went intangible in Big Mama’s arms, to crawling up onto the ceiling, duplicating, and puking up acid, the teens couldn’t look away. Then things really got weird.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Venus screamed in the arms of every bellhop that held her, causing them to drop the duplicates to cover their ears. Big Mama wasn’t so lucky. She held the original baby turtle. Big Mama had to transform into her yokai form in order to cover her ears and not drop the baby.

“Hush, cutie-doodle!” Big Mama tried to soothe the child.

No! Venus didn’t want the spider lady anymore. Maybe if they couldn’t see her, they’d leave her alone. Leo played peekaboo with her all the time. Maybe the same rules applied? Venus covered her eyes and held as still as possible. She heard a gasp of surprise and suddenly felt her bottom hit the ground.

“Where’d she go?” a bellhop asked.

“I don’t know,” Big Mama replied. “She was right here! Find her!”

Venus crawled away as the bellhops and Big Mama waved the air around the ground searching for her. She made it to the elevator right as it was closing before becoming visible again.

“There she is! How’d she get in the elevator?!” a yokai yelled out.

The crowd tried to get to the baby turtle, but the doors had already closed. Venus blinked. She looked around the box-like room she was in. How did these things work again? She spotted the shiny panel of buttons and made grabby hands at them. They were too high up! The Indian tent turtle’s line of sight was soon above the panel of buttons. She could totally reach them now! Venus slapped the panel happily. The room felt like it was moving.

When the doors opened again, there were bellhops waiting. They, unfortunately, were not expecting the little baby to have grown to be bigger than their employer. Venus mowed them down as she crawled into the hallway. She found a stairwell and wandered her way down a few flights before shrinking down again.

The door was too heavy for her small body to open. However, she didn’t hesitate to crawl right through the wall to the other side, which just so happened to be a fish tank. Venus loved swimming! She followed the exotic fish in the tank for a minute or two, completely missing the looks of horror guests and employees alike gave her for how long she was in there. What? It wasn’t like she was gonna run out of air. She did this all the time at home.

“There you are!” Big Mama cheered, scooping the baby turtle out of the water tank. “Oh, now you’re all sobbled! Come, dear, let Big Mama dry you off.”

Oh, not this lady again! Venus huffed and puffed, struggling to get out of the gentle but firm grip. Then, she felt something shoot out of her shell. Screaming rang out around her, and Big Mama gasped. Venus looked around and saw several spikes impaling pillars and pining people to the walls. The baby clapped, clearly enjoying the silly poses the yokai had struck to avoid the spikes.

“That’s quite enough of that,” Big Mama admonished. Neither yokai nor baby noticed the pillar behind them starting to fall over. “I’ve had enough fizzywinkles in my hotel today, thank you.”

The pillar groaned and slammed on top of the two females. The bellhops rushed to lift the pillar from Big Mama, who was banged and bruised from its weight, but Venus was perfectly fine. Her scales had formed into a silver armor, leaving a baby turtle shaped hole in the raised column.

Then, a fire started from one of the spikes slicing through an electrical outlet. Everyone started screaming and running. Venus started crawling away again. And—

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Donnie shut of the video feed. He, Raph, Leo, Mikey, and April stared at Venus in shock. Raph quickly drove them home. After the teens all gathered in the living room, they collapsed into a heap of exhaustion, stress, and disbelief. Splinter walked in to see Venus sucking her thumb on top of Donnie’s chest as the soft-shell gently patted her head.

“Ah, there’s my precious little girl!” Splinter smiled. “Come to Daddy, Venus.” He lifted Venus to his hip and rubbed his nose to her beak. “So, how was her first ride in the Turtle Tank?”

Splinter raised an eyebrow in confusion at the way the teens groaned and sunk even further into their sibling pile.

Mikey shot up from the pile and shouted, “VENUS HAS POWERS,” then sunk back to his place between his brothers and April.

What a chaotically long day.

[thebookkeeperslibrary]

Lost Time: Ch. 7

Fandom: Time Warp Trio

Author: The_Bookkeeper_96

Rating: T

Summary: Another summer at Horae Manor begins, but before Joe and Tessa get the chance to train, they are sent out on a mission to explore the magic capital of the universe, Mancika. Rumors of illegal magic conversion spread throughout the city, and Joe and Tessa need to locate those responsible. But after the events of last summer, Joe isn't eager to work with his Aether partner, and the two are struggling more with each other than with their enemies.

A/N: Sorry for the delay. A lot of big life-changes have been happening for me lately. Anyway, enjoy! And as always, please let me know what you think by leaving a review!

Read on AO3

----------------------

"I simply cannot save the world on an empty stomach." - Dawne Lisle, Thirteenth Warp Wizard

When I wake up the next morning, I'm no longer physically exhausted. But I still feel drained, like my soul is exhausted. My magic definitely hasn't returned yet.

It's easy enough to get out of bed and get dressed for the day. I throw on a pair of jeans and a hoodie, hoping that this will be acceptable enough for whatever Cassius and Rowena have in store for me and Tessa today. But just what did they have planned? They didn't give us any details last night. Hopefully, they’ll reveal a bit more at breakfast.

I mentally check the time. Even in a world between worlds, I can still pinpoint the exact time, seven forty-eight. Breakfast would be starting soon, so I make my way to the dining hall.

Surprisingly, and unfortunately, I'm not the first one there. Tessa sits at her usual spot, twirling her sabre, a far-off look in her eyes. She doesn't even notice me until I take my seat directly across from her.

"Oh!" She fumbles with her sword, quickly flipping it closed and putting it away. "S-sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

I sit back in my chair and say nothing. Something's off with her this morning, but why? I don't think I've ever heard her stutter before. Where is her normally cool and confident self? Did last night in the gym really throw her off that much?

Her eyes search mine. I don't know what she's hoping to find, but I do my best to not give her anything. "Did you, uh, sleep well last night?"

"Like a rock."

She nods and looks down. "That's good."

I take a closer look at her face. Dark circles hang under her eyes. Had she not been able to sleep last night? I shake my head and turn away. Whatever, it's not like I care about her sleeping habits. One restless night wouldn't kill her. And besides, it was probably some form of karma anyway.

I keep studying her face. She did seem genuinely upset last night. Devastated actually. Her reaction had been a little over the top given the situation. Is there something else bothering her? Besides the whole 'save the entire space-time continuum' thing. But I mean, that's practically nothing.

I press my lips together. We couldn't keep going like this. We were stuck together and who knows what Cas and Ro are planning for us today.

It's not easy, but I manage to say, "Listen, I don't blame you for what happened last night. You heard Cas. It was my fault."

She waves me off and rests her head on her hand. "No, it's fine. It's not the first time. I always mess things up."

Before I can ask her what she means by that, Sam hurries into the room. He crashes into the chair next to me, nearly pushing me out of mine. "Joe! Thank goodness you're here. I need to talk to you. Last night, in the library…" he stops, panting heavily.

Tessa and I both lean forward. "What?" we ask together.

"There- I saw- we saw," he continues to huff, "a ghost!"

"A ghost?" I ask. I can’t help the doubt that creeps into my voice. Okay, so Sam's not adjusting well…

"Who's we?" Tessa adds. Any traces of her earlier self-doubt or depression are gone. Her usual mask of over-confidence and sassy attitude reappears.

"Juniper and I." Sam rearranged himself to properly sit in his chair. "And yes a ghost." He glares pointedly at me.

"Are you sure?" I ask, at the same time Tessa says, "What did it look like?"

I raise an eyebrow at her. She didn't really believe him, right? But she ignored me, her full focus on Sam and his story.

He nods eagerly and starts talking a mile a minute, "Yes, ask Juniper. She was with me. She was reading these weird books and promised to teach me about magic. Oh! Speaking of weird books-"

"Wait, wait, wait." Tessa cuts him off. She places her hands on the table in front of her. "Did you say June was reading? But she-"

"Doesn't like books, I know." Sam finishes her sentence.

Between the two of them, I don't know if any sentence will be finished. We're definitely not going to get the whole story this way. Part of me wondered if we should even be talking about this right now. Wouldn't it be better to wait for everyone else to arrive? At the very least, Cas and Ro should hear this.

"Okay, Sam," I offer, "let's assume you did see a ghost. Why don't you take a second to breathe and calm down? Then, when everyone else gets here, you can tell us what happened."

He frowns at me, knowing I don't believe him. To be fair, it wasn't like Sam to just make up some wild story like this. Fred, sure, but not him. We had seen some crazy stuff over the years. I guess seeing a ghost inside a magic school isn't too out of the ordinary for us.

"That's not a bad idea. I have a few questions for June anyway." Tessa sits back in her chair and folds her arms across her chest.

I smile to myself. Maybe there's hope for our little motley group yet.

Of course, that thought gets ruined as soon as I think it.

"For the last time, no." Arwen growls and stomps into the room.

Fred trails in behind her, whining, "Oh, come on, why not?"

"Because I said no. I really can't simplify that any more." She plants herself in the chair next to Tessa with a huff.

"Please? Aren’t we friends now? Why can’t I-"

"Shut up!" Arwen stabs her knife into the table. It vibrates in place, barely an inch away from Fred's fingers.

I jump back, staring wide-eyed at the knife. Just how bad did Fred piss her off? It's only eight in the morning. Sure, Fred can be annoying, but that is excessive.

Fred recoils. "I just thought we really bonded last night."

"Sounds like you two had a lot of fun," Tessa says with a smirk. "I'd love to hear more about this bonding experience."

Arwen glares at her. "You can shut up too."

She rolls her eyes in response and offers Fred a pitiful smile. "Don't take it personally. Ari’s not a morning person, and she really struggles with anger management."

Juniper giggles as she enters the dining hall and joins us at the table. "I'll say. Remember that time she lost it on those kids in the park because they hit her with one of their water balloons?"

"That was completely justifiable."

"They were, like, eight."

Arwen groans and buries her head in her hands. "Okay, everyone can officially shut up. It's too early for this."

"Too early for what?" Our final two members finally walk into the room and take their seats at the head of the table. "I hope you're not ready to go back to bed. You kids have a big day ahead of you."

We all perk up at that. "We do?"

Cas nods. "Oh yes, but first, we must eat." He waves his hand. Green mist hovers over the table and vanishes just as quickly, leaving behind a full breakfast buffet.

Easily distracted by the food, I load my plate with a stack of pancakes and begin drowning them in syrup.

I distantly hear Sam cough next to me, and judging by the pointed look he's giving me, it's not the first time he's done it. He looks from me to Juniper, to Cas and Ro. I almost wish I didn't understand his hint.

Setting down my fork, I sigh. Why does he have to be so dramatic? "Can't we eat first? I'm starving."

"Not surprising considering the surge of magic you let out last night," Cas says, eyeing me closely. "We should look you over before we leave today."

I wave him off, hoping my exhaustion doesn't show too much. "I feel fine. Really."

Cas and Ro both give me a look letting me know they don't believe me for one second. Well, it was worth a shot. I don't want to have to go to the infirmary. I was hoping to avoid it this summer. My nose twinges at the memory of last year's injury.

"Anyway," I say, eager to change the subject. I point to Sam. "Sam claims he saw a ghost last night."

I can't help but notice Juniper tense up. Her hair is covering her face, so I can't read her expression. Sam had said she'd been there last night too. But she’s acting much too casual for someone who saw a ghost the night before.

Sam nods so hard, his glasses almost fall off. "It- he looked sort of like an old monk. He didn't feel nice."

Fred snorts. "He didn't feel nice?"

Sam throws his hands in the air. "I don't know how else to describe it. It felt like he wanted to hurt us. And he sort of did. Somehow, he pressurized the whole room. I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head." He stares at all of us. No one looks entertained by his story, let alone like we believe him. He rubs his hand down his face and glares at Juniper. "A little help here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Juniper says, joining the conversation for the first time. She pushes her hair out of her face. "It must have been some trick of the light combined with all that old dust in the library."

"The library?" Cas hums, stroking his chin. "Did this ghost have a really thick beard? And was it wearing heavy robes?"

"Yes!" Sam slams his hands down, practically jumping on the table.

Cas lets out a light laugh. "Oh, that's just old Flamel. He's harmless. In fact, he helped me find my way out of the library when I got lost in there as a kid. Good to know he's still floating around.

Sam's mouth drops open. "Good to know? You knew there were ghosts here and you didn't say anything?"

Rowena shrugs. "We really never had the time or need to tell you."

"Oh, that reminds me." Cas clasps his hands together. "There's a flock of pixies in one of the old classrooms. So, please don't enter any locked rooms. Those things are a pain to catch."

"It took us three weeks to find them all last time," Ro adds, as if this is a perfectly normal conversation to be having.

I blink, a thousand questions running through my mind. Mainly, what are pixies? But also, how often did they get out? Is that something Tessa and I would be doing every month? A heavy sigh escapes my lungs, and I stare at the ceiling. No, Tessa and I have much bigger things on our plate. The universe isn't going to save itself.

"I think we figured out mythic creatures were real last summer when we met the Drake," I point out to everyone. In hindsight, ghosts and pixies, whatever those are, don't seem so strange. Our lives were like a fairy tale, better to swallow that large pill now and move on. "Speaking of summer adventures, you mentioned we had a big day ahead of us?" I turn the conversation to my mentors, hoping they'll give us more information. And that they'll talk enough so I can finish my breakfast in peace. I shove some toast in my mouth before they even have a chance to deflect the conversation back to me.

Rowena frowns at my poor table manners. "Yes, well, today Cassius and I have to go to Mancika. An emergency council meeting has been called, and we can't miss it."

"I thought you two were in charge of the council." Tessa leans across the table to have a better view. "Can't you just reschedule?"

"That's the thing with emergency meetings, they tend to be time sensitive. So, no." Cas replies.

Rowena continues, "While we're gone, we can't simply leave you all to your own devices. So you'll be coming with us."

I nearly choke on my toast. Mancika? As in, the capital of the magic world? I'd seen in it pictures in some of the books Cas gave me to read last year. I probably should have done more than stare at the pictures, but it looked really cool. However, being there, sitting in on a meeting all day didn’t sound very fun. Even if it was for a magic council.

Like she's reading my thoughts, Tessa asks, "You're bringing us to Mancika so we can watch a council session?"

Rowena snorts. "Hardly. Even if you're potential future Great Wizards, council sessions are private, with very few exceptions. We have something else in mind for you."

"Going head to head with magical criminals?"

"Spying on your enemies?"

"Infiltrate an evil dark magic syndicate?"

"What? No," Rowena groans as Cassius chuckles at our responses. She elbows him in the side. "Don't encourage them." He merely rolls his eyes in response.

Their back and forth is kind of a shock. It's the first time I've seen them actually act like siblings. I didn't realize it when I first met them, but in hindsight, I was blind. The two are obviously twins. Other than their eyes, they’re identical. I wonder how that affects their work. I know I couldn't be stuck with Anna like that forever. We'd kill each other. I take a quick glimpse at Tessa out of the corner of my eye. Then again, we aren't exactly off to a great start either. I almost wish my sister was here instead, but she can't do magic.

With a sigh, Rowena explains what we're actually doing today. "We just need you to do some research for us."

A collective groan rises from everyone. They were sending us to the biggest magical city and making us do research? It seems almost cruel to send us there and then just stick us in a library all day. This is definitely busy work to keep us occupied while they get to do the important stuff.

"Now, hold on. We haven't told you what you'll be researching. I promise it's important, and it actually relates to our council meeting today. So it will be useful and valuable information." Cas's hands begin to glow and a cloud of green smoke appears above the table. Slowly a vision starts forming, becoming clearer and clearer until it reveals a news reporter standing in front of a museum. "No doubt you have heard about the recent artifact robberies occurring at several museums and private collections across the world."

Everyone nods. This had been all over the news recently, but it started over a year ago. It’s nothing new.

Tessa and I lock eyes across the table, and I'm sure we’re thinking the same thing. Are they about to tell everyone about the time decay and our role in it? I'm not sure I want that. And why would they pull us out yesterday to tell us about the doomsday countdown clock in private if they were just going to tell everyone about it today? Did they really think a day was long enough for us to adjust to that kind of news?

I chew on my bottom lip and let Cas continue. Tessa taps her fingers on the table, clearly just as anxious as me.

"We need you to sneak around Mancika and see what information you can find as to why this is happening." The vision he'd created changes to an eagle-eye view of a city, presumably Mancika.

The city is laid out in a circle, with clear roads (or are those walls?) that divide it into nine parts. The center of Mancika is an isolated smaller circle housing a few very large buildings. I didn't need to read anything about the place to understand that's the most important part, and no doubt where Cas and Ro are going for their meeting.

"So we are going on a secret mission!" Fred practically jumps up and down in his seat.

"Of a sort. If thinking that way helps you focus on the task at hand, then fine,” Ro says with a sigh. “Welcome to your first official secret mission debriefing."

We all sit up a little straighter at that. Saying it that way made this much more exciting.

Cas clears his throat in a very dramatic sort of way, making his sister roll her eyes. “Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to discover any and all information pertaining to the disappearance of these artifacts and the corruption of the time periods they come from.

“For some reason, certain periods of time have become unstable and thus parts of history are vanishing. This may be due to natural causes in the space-time continuum, but we have reason to believe that someone or a group of people is causing this chaos and destruction, but we don’t know who.”

Ro picks up where he left off. “That’s where you kids come in. Cas and I are far too well-known and recognizable in Mancika. No one will be willing to tell us any information without fear of getting in trouble themselves. But you all are strangers and will be able to blend in with the locals and listen to any rumors relating to this issue.

“For this to work, you must maintain a low-profile. So no showing off with magic.” She gives me a pointed look. I flinch away. Last night had been an accident. Besides, I don’t think I could summon up that much magic right now even if I wanted to.

“Time is of the essence. As soon as we can put a stop to this, the better. Any questions?”

Um, yeah. About a hundred. My mouth stays shut though, and we all shake our heads.

“Perfect. Joe and Tessa, we have a few more things for you. Everyone else is dismissed. Go pack any items you think you’ll need, but keep it light. If all goes well, we’ll all be back here tonight just in time for dinner.”

All our friends get up and leave the room, chatting excitedly with each other. All the previous tension between them seems to be gone for the moment. I wonder how long that will last.

“That was a very censored version of what’s actually happening.” Tessa leans back and kicks her feet up on the table.

“That’s the point.” Ro flicks her wrist and a gust of magic sweeps Tessa’s legs back to the floor. She frantically grabs for the table, trying not to fall over, and I have to suppress a laugh. “If you want to tell them the truth, that’s a decision you two need to make. Together.”

My laughter dies in my throat. “So this whole mission is just a team building exercise?

“It has multiple purposes. We do need information on the time decay, but you two need to work on your teamwork and leadership skills.”

“Excuse you, I am a great leader.” Tessa puffs out her chest. “You saw how smoothly the Egypt operation went with me, Ari, and June.”

“Yes, but now you have more people to lead and a co-leader to collaborate with.”

I resist the urge to look at Tessa. It figures she would already have more experience than me with magic missions. I don’t know what the “Egypt operation” is, but it sounds like it went smoother than the time Fred, Sam, and I warped there. And it wasn’t even our skills that got us out. It was a cat and some luck.

“So what do you want us to do?” I ask.

Cas’ lips move into a half-smile. “It’s entirely up to you two. We’ve given you a goal, now work together to figure out the best way to achieve it.”

Tessa frowns and looks back and forth between our mentors. “You’re not going to give us any tips or advise?”

“None at all. You have an hour to prepare. Use your time wisely.”

[beck-a-leck]

Oh, this looks so fun! For the winter prompts how about 15. Ringing in the New Year and 17. Waiting Up All Night for Harvest Moon?

Okay, so I said I was gonna write ficlets, and instead it got a little out of control (as like, all my short fics do, so are we even surprised at this point?)

Anywho, I split the prompts, and since the first one got a little long, I’m gonna post it now and the second one will come soon. Fully story beneath the Read More Line, and no, I didn’t beta this at all so there’s probably typos galore.

Leave Me A Winter/Holiday Prompt! Just pick the characters or fandom or it’s gonna be a surprise.

Read the fic on AO3!

First thing’s first: Waiting Up All Night feat. Trio of Towns. I only ust remembered the cute af part of the Starry Night festival in the game where you get to play Santa for the kids around the towns and I couldn’t not write the story after remembering that!

Six kids scheme to finally do it, they’re finally going to catch a glimpse of Santa when he makes his annual visit on the Starry Night Festival. Santa can’t possibly be crafty enough to escape their ingenious plans. Or is he?

“Okay!” Noel said in her most serious tone, “If we all do our best, one of us is bound to catch him this year.”

The other children gathered around her responded with a chorus of affirmations and nods.

“We’re all a whole year older,” Shalk added with confidence. “I know I can stay up so much later that last year. He’s not getting away from us this year!”

“Yeah!” Alma chirped.

“We have a plan to wake us up, even if we do fall asleep,” Tatsumi said with a sly grin. Beside him, Yaichi nodded enthusiastically if silently.

Colin was the only one at the table to look uneasy with the night’s plan, “I don’t know, you guys… isn’t staying up past our bedtimes and setting up traps the kind of thing that would put us on the naughty list?”

Colin’s worries gave them pause, until Noel continued briskly, “Not at all. He can’t take us off the Nice List for something we haven’t done yet, and by the time we do it tomorrow it will be too late for him to swap out our presents for coal.”

Her sound logic eased Colin’s worry. “You sure?”

“Absolutely.” She turned to Tatsumi and Yaichi, “Tell us about your plan.”

The children bent their heads close while the brothers from Tsuyukusa laid out their plan for an alarm system in low voices. They didn’t want to be overheard by their parents or the other adults around any more than the adults did. Each group had their different conspiracies to keep close to the vest while the Starry Night Festival was fast approaching.

Tomorrow was the festival. And tomorrow night was the night of consensual breaking-and-entering, while the young adults of the three towns delivered specially selected presents to the children. As usual, Santa got all the credit, but the adults didn’t mind. They loved keeping the magic alive in the younger kids a little longer. Already Tigre and Sumomo had aged out of believing in Santa, but they had been roped into the other side of the conspiracy now and happily acted as double agents when the adults needed to know what the younger children were planning.

Each household of children had a plan.

Tatsumi and Yaichi had been surreptitiously putting together an elaborate alarm system; creating a precarious stack of books and toys in an innocuous corner of their room. All that was left to do was set up the carefully laid trip wire before bed. They had, of course, warned their parents about it, because once the alarm was tripped it couldn’t be set up again in time to try and catch Santa and they absolutely did not want a false alarm.

Shizu had warned them that Santa was far trickier than that, and he had his means of sneaking around the house, but she also baited the trap with a snack for Santa. Ittetsu had supervised his sons’ careful set-up of the trip line, and made sure the cat was kept securely in their bedroom before chasing his boys off to bed.

The brothers had utmost confidence in their trap. Santa, magical or not, couldn’t possibly see the black string in the dark room, and with it between him and his snacks (set far away from any doors, windows, or the chimney), the boys knew they would catch a glimpse of him before he had a chance to bolt. So it was with utmost faith in their contraption that Tatsumi and Yaichi settled into bed. They whispered in the darkness, wondering what kind of presents they would get. And Tatsumi couldn’t wait to gloat to the others tomorrow when he got to inform them his alarm system worked like a dream.

 Shalk and Alma had a different plan. They suspected their parents were in on the Santa racket – making sure he got in and out of the house unseen every year, the lousy accomplices. Caolila in particular was very strict about absolutely No Santa Traps, because Santa didn’t like to be tricked, and she was in close personal contact with him. They knew she was, because any time they did something naughty she got that look in her eye and lilt in her voice and liked to say, “I guess Santa will be hearing about this one too, huh?”

And Zahau wasn’t any better. In fact the whole village of grown-ups seemed to have a direct line to Santa! It wasn’t fair! Even Mithra claimed to know him – and Shalk believed her the most, because she had traveled so many places, and even she, whi didn’t know how to tell any jokes took Santa seriously.

So tricks and traps were out of the question. They would have to catch Santa the old fashioned way. Shalk and Alma, at least, were lucky to have each other and share a bedroom, because they could take turns staying awake and listening for the slightest sound of Santa in the house. And whoever was awake would wake the other and as silent as shadows, they would sneak out to catch a peek at him. It was foolproof. Taking turns sleeping meant that neither of them would be too sleepy to stay awake and listen, and without any noisy alarms or traps, Santa wouldn’t suspect a thing, so he wouldn’t run away until after they had seen him and he delivered their presents.

And of course, once they saw Santa and got a peek at their presents, they would sneak back to bed and wait until the morning to open their presents again. Because thy both knew that if their mom and dad found out they had stayed up all night and snuck out of bed, they’d be on the Naughty list until they were thirty. Caolila had been very clear about the consequences of breaking the Santa Rules, but what their mother didn’t know couldn’t hurt them.

Shalk took the first watch, sitting bolt up in bed and waiting silently in the dark while Alma slept. It was two hours before his parents even went to bed. He listened intently as the house settled into quiet. Every little sound made his heart leap. Was that Santa? No, just some villagers walking past outside and talking lowly. A creak of the floorboards! Oh, not, just the dog making a lap around the house. Shalk rested his chin on his drawn up knees as he thought sourly how even the pets were in on the Santa thing, because their dog never barked at him. The darkness and the silence pressed in around him. If he strained his ears he could hear some insects singing outside, and the very distant crash of waves on the beach, he could hear night birds chirping. He heard a lone set of footsteps in the sand, and he sat up again, heart hammering, it was him! Shalk held his breath as he listened, but Santa wasn’t being particularly sneaky ad he struck up a conversation with a flock of birds sitting in a nearby tree. Shalk sighed heavily and flopped back against his pillow, it was just Woofio, not Santa.

His eyes were tired, and his pillow felt so nice. Shalk checked the time. It would be Alma’s turn to watch in an hour, he just had to make it that long, and then he could take his turn sleeping. His eyes slid closed, he was just going to rest them for a minute.

 Colin didn’t have much of a plan, and truth be told, he wasn’t all that interested in catching Santa. He liked the surprise of waking up and finding presents and well… he wouldn’t dare way it out loud, but he wasn’t all that certain Santa had that much magic power in the first place. Sure he snuck in and out of houses without a sound, and he always brought Colin something amazing, but he never really brought Colin what he really wanted. Never ever, and he asked and prayed for it every year. But, Colin supposed, there were some gifts even Santa couldn’t deliver.

Still, he wasn’t going to be the only one of his friends to not try and catch Santa. And he had the best plan of all to prove Santa’s existence. He had been given a polaroid camera for his birthday this year, and it would be absolutely perfect for catching photographic evidence of the mystery gift-bringer. He just had to set himself up in the perfect place to snap a clear picture, and he knew just the hiding spot.

Colin dutifully went to bed without complaint. He kissed his Pa and Grandma goodnight, and listened through Megan’s Starry Night bedtime story, all the while resting his head on his camera beneath his pillow. When the story was done, Megan gave him a final kiss goodnight and tucked him in and closed the bedroom door behind her. Colin waited quietly, knowing his Pa and Grandma would be going to bed on their own shortly thereafter. Farmers didn’t get to sleep in ever, even on holidays, so they went to bed early too. He heard Megan go to bed, and then Hector shortly after, and once he was certain the adults were closed in their own bedrooms he slipped from bed and tiptoed out of his room and downstairs. Santa had always left his presents by the fireplace in previous years, so Colin hid himself behind the sofa. It faced the fireplace, and would provide a sturdy enough base to set the camera on. He took a moment to get everything in frame, there would be no time to aim carefully when Santa arrived, but with the camera in position, all he would have to do was push the button and capture his evidence.

Now all there was to do was wait. Colin didn’t know how long he might have to wait, but he suspected it would be a while. So he sat on the floor behind the couch, and curled up tight. It was a little chilly downstairs with no fire in the fireplace and all the night turned off. He wished he had remembered to slip on his slippers before sneaking down, but he didn’t want to risk going back upstairs for them. He pulled a crocheted afghan off the back of the couch and huddled up beneath it, tucking it around his cold feet. It wasn’t a very comfortable position, but he dozed anyway, snapping awake at the slightest noise.

He stirred fully awake when the clock struck midnight, last he checked it had been just after ten. Panicked, he peeked over the back of the couch, but there were still no presents. He hadn’t missed Santa. Relieved and also a little disappointed that he couldn’t go back to bed yet, he pulled the afghan around him again and prepared to wait some more.

There was a creak above him. Footsteps on the roof? Colin threw off the afghan and prepared himself and the camera, checking the view one last time. It was still perfect. He waited with bated breath for the sound of someone sliding down the chimney. There were more creaks, more footsteps.

Then the light above the stairs flashed on, and Colin recognized the heavy footsteps troding down the stairs. That hadn’t been Santa, it was his Pa. Colin sighed and pulled his camera off the back of the couch and into his lap. It had always been Pa, hadn’t it? There wasn’t a Santa at all, but his father or grandmother sneaking around the house while he was fast asleep.

Colin quickly wiped away the disappointed tears that were gathering in his eyes as Hector’s foot reached the bottom step. “Colin?” his voice was gruff, “What’re you doing down here at this hour? You’re supposed to be in bed.”

The living room light flicked on. Colin stood up, showing his Pa the camera. “I was trying to wait up for Santa.”

Hector frowned at his son for a moment before sighing. “Santa don’t come if he knows someone’s watching. He’s smarter than that. And you won’t catch him on camera either.”

Colin sniffed quietly and looked at Hector, he wasn’t carrying any presents or hiding anything behind his back, he was just standing there in his pajamas and bathrobe and slippers. Hector gestured Colin over to the couch, and he sat down and pulled his son into his lap. His rough thumb brushed gently across Colin’s cheek, where one tear had managed to escape. “What’s the matter, son? What’re you crying for?”

Colin fiddled with his camera for a moment, he almost didn’t want to ask. Whether the answer was ‘yes’ or ‘no’ they were both equally scary options. But he had to be brave, so he sucked in a breath and asked, “Pa, is there such a thing as Santa?”

Hector was silent for a moment, before saying, “Of course there is.”

“So you’re not the one who brings me presents?”

“I most certainly am not.” Hector was smiling now, and Colin smiled too.

“Really?”

“Really. But, if you’re not in bed and asleep, Santa’s bound to try and skip you this year. He’s a busy man after all, and he doesn’t have all night to wait for just you to go to bed so he can bring your presents.”

Colin felt a strike of alarm. “Is it too late?!”

“Not at all, not if you go back to bed now and try your hardest to fall asleep. And,” Hector took the camera from his son’s hands, “I’m going to hold onto this, in case you get tempted.”

Colin leapt to his feet, “I gotta go then!”

“Quietly!” Hector warned in a whisper. “Don’t wake your grandma, she’s good friends with Santa.”

Colin made a show of zipping his lips and then tiptoes as quickly and quietly as he could back to bed. Hector watched him go and waited to hear his bedroom door close. That was a close one. She checked to make sure the front door was unlocked and flicked on the porch light. Santa, when he got around to their house, would know it was safe to enter.

 Noel was absolutely certain, bound and determined, and perfectly confident in her ability to stay awake all night. She had purposefully drank a lot of sugary drinks, because her mom always said they made her hyper, and when she was hyper she was never sleepy. She was practically bouncing off the walls as she brushed her teeth and put on her special Starry Night pajamas.

“Alright,” Miranda said briskly, ushering her daughter from the bathroom into her bedroom. “Go pick the story you want to read to your grandparents, we gotta call them soon before it gets too late.”

This was another Starry Night tradition. Noel and Miranda always called her Grandmas, and in the past, Noel’s grandmothers would read her a bedtime story, but this year, Noel wanted to surprise them with her newly learned reading prowess and read them a story for a change. She already knew what story she was going to read them. She had rehearsed the tale so much she practically had it memorized, special voices and funny sound effects and all. They would love it.

“Okay, phone in my room, let’s go.”

Noel ran from her bedroom to her mother’s bouncing on her big bed while Miranda dialed the phone. The line rang for a moment before it picked up and Noel hear the voiced of her two most favorite old ladies in the whole world. There was a lot of the usual back-and-forth “Hello Mimi. Hello Noel. Hello Nanna. Hello Noel.” and Miranda catching up quickly with her moms, and Noel telling her grandmas all about her life. They were a talkative family, but they all came by it honestly. Finally, after much anticipation, Noel announced that she was going to read the story tonight, something that surprised and pleased her grandmothers.

“Whenever you’re ready, baby girl,” Mimi said encouragingly.

Miranda set the phone receiver on the bedside table. “I think I left the shop light on, you go ahead and read, Noel, and remember to speak clearly so they can hear you through the phone.” She pecked her daughter on the head and scurried from the room.

Noel opened her storybook, cleared her throat, and began reading in a rather loud voice.

“And they lived happily ever after! The End.” Noel snapped her book shut amidst a chorus of applause over the phone line.

“That was wonderful, dear!” Nanna cheered. “I think we might have another performer in our family.”

“Indeed we do,” Miranda chuckled. “Next time y’all visit, she’ll have a special song for you. But now, it’s time for a certain little girl to be in bed. Otherwise Santa won’t be able to come.”

“Well now, we don’t want to miss out on Santa,” Mimi agreed.

They exchanged a great many ‘goodnights’ and ‘goodbyes’ and ‘I love yous’ until finally Miranda returned the phone to the cradle. “Alright, missy, time for bed.”

Noel dragged her feet. “I’m not sleepy.”

“Well, you still gotta be in bed in the dark. You know the rules.”

She groaned. “I’m thirsty.”

“I got you a cup of water when I went to turn off the shop light. It’s waiting on your bedside table.”

She sighed and cast a glance to the still-lit family room. “Can I check and see if Santa came?”

Miranda tutted impatiently, “You haven’t even gone to sleep yet, silly child, how could he possibly have come into the house while you were wide awake?”

Noel was out of excuses. Miranda tucked her into bed and sang her a lullaby and kissed her goodnight. As she left, she turned on the radio so it would softly sing Noel to sleep, then she turned off the light and closed the door.

Noel tossed and turned under her blankets, her strategy to stay awake was, if she didn’t lie too still she wouldn’t get comfy and fall asleep. It was hard though, as her earlier energy had all seemed to disappear and now she felt heavy and tired, and the soft music wasn’t helping much either. But she was determined to stay awake all night. She had to hear Santa arrive.

And she did it! She really did. She stayed awake all night… even if maybe there were a couple times when she rested her eyes and suddenly hours had passed, she knew she didn’t once sleep deep enough to miss hearing Santa on the rooftop. And yet, in the morning, her presents were there and she still had no idea how he possibly could have done it.

[hpfluff-fest]

🧁 HP Fluff Fest Week Four Round Up 🧁

All good things must eventually come to an end. This is our last round-up post for the HP Fluff Fest 2020. The masterlist will be posted tomorrow. 

Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter

ART

🌻K is for Kiss by Pinkelephant42 || @pinkelephant42, Digital Art (G)

Harry escapes the spotlight to teach young magical kids. Draco is charmed by his son's new teacher.

FIC

🌻darling, your kisses are sweeter than honey by unicorninthelibrary || @unicorn-in-the-library, 1k (T)

No matter how many years have passed, waking up next to Draco is Harry’s favorite thing in life. 

🌻 Duck And Cover by Drarrymadhatter || @drarrymadhatterstuff, 12.5k (T)

Draco is struggling with eighth year, until he’s forced to adopt a flock of ducklings. Harry, convinced his old nemesis is up to his old tricks, decided to find out what he’s up to. When he discovers his fluffy secret, he decides to have some fun with it. However, along the way, he starts to realise how much Malfoy has changed.

🌻Just Like Potions by vivi1138 || @penguinanimagus, 2.3k (E)

Kreacher is on holidays. Draco thinks he can cook because he's so good at Potions. Hint: he can't.

🌻They were Once Young by acupforslytherin || @acupforslytherin, 6.4k (T)

Draco nervously expected for the worst when Harry invited him to Godric’s Hollow for the summer holidays. Little did he know, he was in for a delightful French dinner, two generations of embarrassing Potters, and a fascinating story of how Harry’s parents got together.

🌻Whiskers and Kisses by MotherBooker || @motherbookerao3​, 1.5k (G)

When rabbits trust and care about a person, they can be very loving and affectionate creatures.

Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger

FIC

🌻Stranded Apart by In_Dreams || @indreamsink, 10.5k (T)

Lost in the wilderness without their wands, Hermione and Draco will need to learn to work together if they want to make it out in one piece.

🌻The Heart of Healing by niffizzle || @niffizzle, 5.1k (T)

Spending her Saturday volunteering at St. Mungo's was Hermione Granger’s favourite part of the week. Nothing would ruin that, not even Draco Malfoy showing up to complete his community service hours.

Harry Potter/Severus Snape

FIC

🌻How to See Without a Camera by RoonilWazlibMalfoy  || @evenmyzefronposter, 11.7k (E)

Having returned to Hogwarts after his training to take over for Madam Pomfrey, Harry was just happy to be back home. He didn't even mind it when he realized he'd have to work closely with Severus Snape.  One Kiss Cam incident at a Quidditch Match, however, left him wondering just how close he could get to the man. 

Hermione Granger/Pansy Parkinson

FIC

🌻Exodus by cdav || @cdav, 6.6k (T)

After the war, Hermione finds herself drawn to Pansy Parkinson for reasons she can't quite explain. Parkinson is adamant that they won't work out. Hermione's determined to prove otherwise.

James Sirius Potter/Teddy Lupin

FIC

🌻The Waiting (Is The Hardest Part) by Ladderofyears || @clemandben, 1.1k (E)

Teddy is waiting to give Jamie a performance. 

Remus Lupin/Sirius Black

FIC

🌻A Purrfect Match by captainegg || @im-captain-egg​, 1.7k (G)

When Remus walked into the shelter that day, he expected to leave with a new furry companion and not meet the love of his life.

🌻Here comes the sun by PollyDarton || @polly-darton, 5.5k (M)

Honestly, screw the sun. For all I care the world revolves around you.

🌻Moonlit Reflections by MoonCat457 || @mooncat457writing, 6.4k (T) 

Sirius has been pining for Remus for far too long and James is sick of it. So, when it’s James’ turn to go on a late-night scouting mission with Remus on the grounds to work on the Marauder’s Map, he sends Sirius instead with instructions to finally just admit his feelings.

[galadrieljones]

that he may hold me by the hand: chapter 2

Pairing: Arthur Morgan x Albert Mason  

Rating: Mature (Adult Themes, Violence, and Sexual Content)

Summary: After saving Albert from stumbling off a cliff in the Heartlands, Arthur invites him to Valentine for a drink. What ensues after that is a quiet love story, in which both men find themselves completely undone.

Masterpost | AO3 | Epigraph

Chapter 2: We don’t have to talk.

Arthur showed up to Strawberry a couple of days early. He played a bunch of blackjack in the speakeasy and won the pot so many times he began to piss people off. He knew how to cheat and calculate cards. He never made for sleight of hand anymore, though he used to. He chewed on coccaine gum at the speakeasy counter on the night before he was set to meet Albert and struck up conversation with a widow who boarded in an apartment in town. Her name was Wanda Eugene, and she had once been married to a rustler named Cody and claimed to have lived in Texas for most of her life.

“I ain’t met a lot of women married to rustlers no more,” said Arthur.

“Well, he’s dead,” said Wanda. “So.”

They were drinking whiskey. “You miss Texas?”

“Most days.”

“What’s keeping you from going back?”

She had wide, tired eyes, but she was mild-looking. Pretty in a plain sort of way. She was probably about Arthur’s age with a tight braid down her back and wearing blue jeans. She said that she could not go back to Texas. She said that every time she even thought about going back, she was met with nightmares of the way her late husband had died. “Shot by a Ranger,” she said. “Three times in the back. They thought he was somebody else. Fucking two-bit assholes.”

“Jesus Christ,” said Arthur.

“Jesus was not there that day, I can assure you. I hate lawmen. I wish they’d all die.”

She openly asked him to spend the night with her then. She said he seemed big and rough, and she missed that sort of man. She was sick of the soft-handed. Arthur found himself oddly flattered. “I ain’t much for temptation, Mrs. Eugene. If I was, you might just be it.”

“Is that a No then?”

“It is.”

She sighed. “Good grief. I’m just so goddam lonely. I’m starting to forget what it is to feel.” She finished her whiskey and ordered another from the bartender who was missing a front tooth. “One for my friend here, too,” she said.

Arthur knew the feeling of which she spoke. He missed the human body. He often wished he still got the inclination to sleep with strangers. And when it came to working girls, he had lost his interest. He felt beyond their wiles, as he could tell that they were all so deadened to touch, they hardly noticed their own needs, and this was not what he wanted. He just wanted something warm, something that would react to him. For a moment, he reconsidered her offer, but ultimately, he just smiled.

“You got a wife, I bet,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” he lied. It was easier to lie.

The next day, Arthur woke up late with a headache. He had some oatmeal in the lounge. The proprietor of the hotel in Strawberry was annoying. He spoke regularly of the town as if it were the center of the universe. Arthur wanted to tell him to shut the fuck up and take a vacation. But he didn’t.

He waited and read the newspaper. The front page went on about Valentine and all that had gone down there. SHOOTOUT IN VALENTINE. A whole lot of shit. Arthur sighed, folded the paper in half and set it away. He wore his hat and sat in a chair by the window and smoked, thinking of anything else. People went in and out of the door. He didn’t see Wanda again.

Albert arrived about half-past noon, looking dead beat and like hadn’t slept in days.

“Mr. Mason,” said Arthur, rising to meet him.

Albert sneezed and refused a hand shake.

“What’s going on?” said Arthur. “You sick?”

“I am,” said Albert, blowing his nose into a handkerchief. “I caught a terrible cold a few days back. Truth be told, I thought it would have subsided by now.”

“That ain’t no good.”

“No sir. However, it is good to see you.” He straightened up and removed his hat. He smiled, his kind eyes. He didn’t look so bad upon further inspection. A little puffy maybe.

“It’s good to see you, too,” said Arthur. He took Albert’s bag, told him to take a seat. “You know, we can postpone our journey, if you wanna rest up a bit.”

“No, no,” said Albert. “I’d prefer not to. I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“As have I, but I don’t want you to get any sicker.”

“You are a true gentleman, Arthur. But I assure you, I’ll be fine.”

They left about an hour later, packed up their horses and rode northwest. Albert sneezed most of the way but kept up. He was a better rider than Arthur had realized. It was easy to underestimate him. He made a mental note not to do that anymore.

They followed the river. When they got to the heart of Big Valley, Albert slowed his horse and shouted for Arthur to hold up a second. They were in the middle of a huge, purple field of lavender. The breeze was coming through, rustling the plants. There was a flock of sheep nearby, and a young man shepherd on horseback. Whitetail everywhere. “My lord,” said Albert. He got off of his horse, took a few steps and looked around. “Do you see all this?”

“Yes, sir,” said Arthur. He leaned forward to pat Amelia on the main. “It sure is majestic. I knew you’d like it.”

“Like it?” said Albert. “It’s magnificent.” He looked at Arthur, serious, no longer sneezing, just full of reverence. “Thank you for taking me here. I’ve already forgotten why we’ve come, but I am quite certain I never want to leave. It is truly Arcadia.”

Arthur smiled, very pleased. He dusted his hands together and hopped right off his horse. “To find the bear, we gotta go out to the edges of the valley,” he said. “It’s a little more dangerous out there. Kind of barbed territory. There’s cougar and boar. It ain’t friendly. But here, here I reckon we’re pretty safe.”

“If you say so,” said Albert. “I’d like to get a few shots of all this, if you don’t mind. The fields. They smell so darn good. I wish I could capture that in a photo.”

“Only way to do that is in writing, I expect.”

“Absolutely,” said Albert. Then, “Do you write, Arthur?”

The question took Arthur by surprise. He glanced up to the sky. A couple of sparrows took off, whipping up out of the foliage. “Sometimes,” he said. He hooked his hands over his belt in a casual fashion. “I have been known to write a little.”

Albert smiled. “I should like to read it someday, your writing.”

“Oh, no,” said Arthur. “I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a journal,” said Arthur. “It’s just ramblings. Sketches here and there. It ain’t really intended for an audience.”

“You’re an artist?”

He blushed. “Well, I—”

“Say no more,” said Albert, still effusive but seeming to catch his drift. “I’ll quit prying.”

“That’s okay.”

Albert assembled his camera, his tripod. He took many pictures of the fields. He took pictures of the sheep and the shepherd, the little dog with two different colored eyes that herded the sheep. Arthur watched. He ate a can of strawberries with a little tin spoon, smoked four cigarettes. He and Albert talked of stuff he would later forget about, idle things. Arthur managed to get a few sketches in—one of the dog, one of Albert photographing the dog. They fed the horses and before long, the sun was losing steam and the light growing long and lost across the valley. The bubbling streams filled with herbivores, coming to drink. Albert put away his camera with the loss of the light, and with this, it was too late to go looking for bear. They decided to make camp.

They washed their faces in the creek, set up a couple tents. Arthur caught a fish for their dinner while Albert sat by the fire, rolling cigarettes. He had a particular talent for this. His tobacco product was very neat and looked expensive.

Arthur cleaned and cooked the fish. After dinner, he poured some whiskey into a flask, and night fell. They sat, warming themselves by the fire. Albert gave him one of the cigarettes, struck a match, lit it, and then lit his own. Albert’s cold seemed to be clearing with the fresh air, but now it was getting chilly, and he had grown tired. Arthur rolled some more cigarettes. His were looser than Albert’s, not quite as meticulously sealed.

They sat and smoked for a while, existing. Arthur had a flask of whiskey, which they began to pass. At some point, Albert cleared his throat and sat up to speak. “So, Arthur.”

“Yes, sir.”

“How has everything been going, since I saw you last?”

Arthur glanced at him. He plucked a big old piece of grass from the earth, the cigarette hitched to the corner of his mouth. “Fine,” he said. “Just fine.”

“Are you still living in the Heartlands?”

“No,” he said, shredding that piece of grass between his fingers.

“Oh?” said Albert. “Where have you moved?”

“Further south,” said Arthur, laying the pieces of grass side by side. “Near a big old lake.”

“Flat Iron Lake?”

“That might be the one.”

“Good fishing, or so I hear.”

“That, it is.”

The fire crackled and sparked. It was like molten lava. Albert smoked and blew the smoke and flicked the ashes to the earth. He could tell that Arthur didn’t really want to talk about it. His head was a little stuffy. He blinked, took a drag.

“How you feeling?” said Arthur. “Your cold.”

“Better,” said Albert. “A little tired, but no worse for the wear.”

Arthur picked up a pebble then, tossed it into the fire. Albert took a drink from the flask and watched as Arthur picked up another pebble, held it in his palm, and then he absentmindedly closed it in his fist. He turned his fist over, sort of shook it, and when he opened his hand again, the pebble was gone. It was a marvelous surprise.

Albert laughed and set the flask down between them. “You know magic?”

Arthur seemed to have surprised himself. “A little,” he said, smiling. “I learned sleight of hand when I was kid, for cheating cards. My dad taught me, before he died. And I know a magician, too. He’s taught me a couple of things here and there. We’ve traded tricks over the years.”

“Your father, what did he do?”

“Rob banks mostly.”

“I see.”

“Anyway,” said Arthur.

“I must say,” said Albert. “I’m impressed. Is there anything you can’t do?”

Arthur turned red—like a fast, hot streak in which he seemed to vibrate, but only for a moment. “You flatter me.”

“Maybe you can show me how to do that. It’s a great parlor trick.”

“Do you hang out in many parlors, Albert?”

Albert found this to be funny. He laughed. “Oh, no. Not anymore. Perhaps a long time ago. Back in Pennsylvania, when I was a teenager. But I’ve done with all that.”

"All what.”

“The social circus. What have you.”

“Ah.”

“My interest in photography came about precisely so that I could have an excuse to get out of the house. I suppose that it took, though I am quite dreadful. Still, I try. I enjoy it a great deal.”

“You’re not dreadful, Albert. Quit talking about yourself that way.”

Albert knew that he was right. He was gratified. He took another drink from the flask, passed it. Arthur was a big man beside him. He’d never really sat next to him before. He was taller than Albert, though not a great deal—just enough, and his width, his wingspan, it could intimidate. Albert was not intimidated. He looked down, finished his cigarette, tossed it into the fire. The air was cold, and he shifted toward Arthur a little, almost absentmindedly.

“Hey,” said Arthur after a little while, swigging from the flask.

Albert jumped. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I was just gonna ask, how did that meeting go with the gallery owner?”

“Oh,” said Albert, scratching at his beard a little. “It went well. Thank you for asking. I have another meeting in a few weeks. I’ve promised more material. From the Big Valley, of course.”

“That’s real good, I expect?”

“Yes, sir. It is.”

Arthur stared at him. He seemed a little sad, but it was way in the back somewhere. He took a drink of his whiskey and then looked back at the fire. “Good.”

“Arthur,” said Albert.

“Yep.”

“Thank you for taking me here,” he said. Arthur looked back, genuine. “I’m very fond of the terrain.” Albert took a deep breath. “I’m fond of you. I’m glad you’re with me.”

Arthur looked down at his hands. “Yeah, me, too,” he said, then he looked up and smiled, warm. He had little scars on his face. They were like little pieces taken away, or dents. Here and there. His hands were big and worn. Albert watched as he reached into his front pocket, took out a couple more cigarettes. He held one out for Albert. Albert took it. Their fingers touched. Something kicked up between them, but it was momentary.

“I think I’ll save this.” Albert smiled. “For now, I should be off to sleep. I’m still under the weather. I’d like to be fresh for tomorrow.”

“Good idea,” said Arthur, lighting the cigarette. “I’m gonna keep watch, just for a little while. There’s cougars around here. Sometimes they’re drawn to the smell of a campfire.”

Albert stood up, dusted off his pants. “It’s chilly,” he said. “Don’t stay up too late, and be careful.”

“Don’t worry about me. You get some sleep now, Mr. Mason.”

“Goodnight, Arthur,” said Albert.

“Goodnight.”

Back in his tent, Albert removed his boots and his hat. He scrubbed his scalp a little. He smoothed his beard, looked down at his fingers where he held the cigarette. Then he tucked it into the band of his hat. He lay back and closed his eyes. He could smell the smoke from Arthur’s cigarette, coming in through the tent flaps. Arthur’s tobacco was fresh and cut with a little bit of sweetness. He couldn’t tell what, but he could tell that Arthur had dried and treated it himself. It was not store-bought. Albert felt disoriented all of a sudden, like he was coming apart a little. He turned onto his side to go to sleep.

Meanwhile, Arthur fell asleep next to the fire, hardened into the dirt as a root. He hadn’t meant to drift, but the night was peaceful, and he’d got woozy from the booze and it made his eyes droop. He rarely dreamed in those days. It was almost as if he was too locked down, too unwilling to look behind the curtain of his own subconscious, for fear of what he might find there. But that night, he had a dream. It was a very simple dream. He dreamed that a pretty buck had come down into the valley while he slept. The sky was a cold and lonely mountain, far away, and he was beneath it, waiting. The buck had twelve points. It entered the moonlight, emerging from a shallow den of trees on the edge of the lavender field. He wanted badly to sketch it, but he knew that he was sleeping, and it would be gone by the time he woke. He dreamed that the buck came over to sniff around the campfire. It sniffed around his face. Its cold nose was on his ear. He tried to make sense of the feeling. He awoke.

What he awoke to was nothing so peaceful. He felt that cold touch on his ear, but it was no buck. It was the mouth of a gun, pressing on his face. It was nudging him into consciousness.

“It’s him,” said a voice.

Arthur opened his eyes. It was dawn. He saw a young man—maybe twenty-four or twenty-five years old—a ruffian with missing teeth in the front wearing a long black coat. He looked serious. He was holding a shotgun to Arthur’s head.

Arthur felt the adrenaline, sucking into his chest and yanking him from the dream. Like being plunged into ice cold water, and it near on made him nauseous. He eased his hands over his head, turned onto his back. “Easy,” he said. “Easy, boy.”

“Shoot him,” said another voice.

“Colm said bring him to Hanging Dog alive,” said the boy.

Arthur was suddenly terrified. He glanced to the tent. He saw that it had been roughed up. Then he saw the other guy—he had Albert by the throat with a pistol to the head, and Albert looked white with fear and a little queasy. He was ragged, unnatural with his hands up like that. It triggered something in Arthur. He initially made to lunge, but he caught a boot to the gut for that, sending him to his side curled up like a goddam snail. The sound he’d made was ugly. He felt bludgeoned with regret, as he knew what he was going to have to do. “You’re making a mistake,” he said.

“You’re coming with us,” said the boy. “You go quiet, and we’ll let your friend here live.”

“Yeah, I don’t really believe you.”

“Arthur?” said Albert. “Arthur, are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” said Arthur. “Try not to talk too much, Mr. Mason.”

“If you say so.”

“Get up,” said the boy, nudging Arthur with the gun.

“You nudge me with that gun one more time, boy, things ain’t gonna pan out too smooth for you in the end.”

“Get up.” He nudged him again, this time too hard.

It went by in an instant after that. Arthur was fast when he wanted to be, ruthless. He grabbed the barrel of the gun with both hands, shoved it up, hard, cracking straight into the kid’s dumbass face. It sort of exploded on impact, his nose neatly broken as he stumbled backward, allowing Arthur to usurp the weapon and shove the boy into the dirt and shoot him dead. Arthur then pointed the gun at the second man, the one who had Albert. He was a young man as well, even younger by the looks of it, and Arthur felt terrible inside, like he was looking in a mirror. “Let him go, or I do you up, too,” he said.

The boy sent Albert forward to his hands and knees with little hesitation. Then he stared at Arthur in abject horror for a moment before picking up and running as fast as he could in the other direction. Arthur lowered the gun, let him go. He went to Albert who coughed and beat his fists into the dirt a couple times. He seemed to have got the wind knocked out of him. Arthur hauled him to his feet and steadied him hard. “You okay?” he said, dusting off his vest. “Albert? Talk to me.”

Albert was out of breath, his shirt untucked but he did have his boots on. “Good heavens,” he said. He lurched forward a little with his hands on his knees. “Is that man dead?”

Arthur patted him on the back. “I’m afraid he is. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“Better him than me.”

“They ambush you in your tent or something?”

“No,” said Albert, popping up now, wiping his face with the yellow handkerchief from his pocket. “I went down to the creek, to get some water. They ambushed me there.” He sneezed.

“You went down to the creek alone?”

“I thought I could handle a few whitetail,” he said. “Those men showed up, asked me who you were. I wouldn’t tell them, so the one grabbed me, dragged me back here, and then the next thing you know, you’re shooting people, and my entire life is flashing before my eyes.” He sneezed again.

Arthur straightened up and sighed. “Bless you.”

“Thank you,” said Albert. He took a deep breath. “Boy I’ve got some luck, don’t I.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” said Arthur. “But we do need to get the hell out of here.”

“I couldn’t agree more. You know, I think the shots I got yesterday, of the lavender fields and the herd of sheep, those are better than anything I’ve gotten so far? No black bear, but bears be damned. I’m through with predators.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I am.” He turned to Arthur then, slowly, finally catching his breath. “Thank you. For saving me.”

“Of course. I wasn’t gonna let them kill you,” said Arthur. “And I sure as hell wasn’t going with them.”

“Did you know who they were?”

“Not really,” said Arthur, scratching his head. He looked around, making sure nobody else was coming up the horizon. “I mean—I know there’s rough stuff around these parts. I should’ve been more careful. I thought we was safe.”

“With you, I am always safe,” said Albert. “I just wish I were a little more aware of my surroundings. It’s always been a problem for me. As you well know. When I was a boy, my father used to shout at me to get my head out of the clouds. Told me to quit chasing the damned butterflies. That was before the cholera got him, of course.”

Arthur threw the shotgun over his shoulder by the strap, studied Albert. “Cholera, huh?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Well, don’t be too down on yourself. You held your own back there.”

“I beg your pardon.”

“You didn’t give in to those men. That’s very brave.”

Albert smiled in spite of himself. Then, he stumbled forward, just a little. Arthur caught him by the shoulders. “My word,” said Albert. “I guess I’m still a little dizzy.”

“Just try to breathe. In through your nose, out your mouth.”

“You’re kind, Mr. Morgan.”

Arthur cleared his throat. “I ain’t kind, Mr. Mason.”

“Well, to me, you are kind.” Albert smiled and took a deep breath. He seemed to blink many times as if to acclimate his vision. “Now, if you don’t mind, let’s please go.”

They packed up their camp, stowed the bedrolls and the tents and all of their earthly goods upon their horses. Arthur let Albert hang onto the canteen. They then mounted up and began riding back toward Strawberry at a pleasant trot. Arthur did not think about how that man he had killed back there, the man trying to abduct him, was an O'Driscoll. He tossed Albert an apple and then shined one up for himself.

“What are your plans now?” said Arthur as they came around the curve. The rocks, the terrain in these parts was beautiful, but treacherous. “You heading back right away?”

“I thought I’d stay the night at the hotel,” said Albert. “Take the train back to St. Denis in the morning.”

“Sounds good,” said Arthur. “Maybe I’ll go with you.”

“Oh?”

“Sure,” he said, biting into that apple. “Where I’m camped, on Flat Iron Lake, it ain’t far from Rhodes.”

“Rhodes?” said Albert. “My, what a dreadful little town.”

“You’re telling me.”

“You know I stopped through there once,” said Albert, “just looking for a drink at the parlor house they've got. Four different men asked me where I stood on the War of Northern Aggression. Of course, they were all neanderthals, and far be it from me to correct them on the fact that it’s 1899. I thought I’d keep my front teeth.”

Arthur laughed out loud at this, tossed the apple core to the weeds. “You still make me laugh, Mr. Mason, the way you talk sometimes.”

“Well,” said Albert, a little bashful for this. He trotted up alongside him. “I certainly do try.”

[madscientistjournal]

Fiction: Tempo Rubato

An essay by an unnamed musician, as provided by Jonathan Danz Art by Errow Collens

Tonight, backstage is too hot, too dark, too much like some high-ceilinged mausoleum straight out of one of those old Friday night TV horror shows. The strap of my dinged-up Telecaster bites into my shoulder. Tonight, like most nights in recent memory, this guitar is like my very own stone of Sisyphus. Truth be told, I don’t know if I can roll it up the mountain one more fucking time. I don’t know if I can go out on stage yet again and pretend I’m me.

Vegas–swarm cams, drinkbots, holo-betting, omni-feeds, every last bit of it–can go to hell. The guy on stage now, the Buddy Holly impersonator, even with his bitglam in effect, comes off more like an impersonator of a Buddy Holly impersonator. He’s opening with “Peggy Sue.” Poor bastard. There’s nowhere to go from there but downhill.

Everyone’s an entertainer these days, what with voice plugins, appearance modifiers, movement enhancer neuro-mods, and every other trick. There’s no work at the art anymore, just show up and let the tech do the work.

Me and my new band, we’re the only completely analog performers in Vegas. Re-Invaded And It Feels So Good, that’s our act. Real clever stuff. The crowds eat it up. It’s fresh, in a manner of speaking, especially after seeing a hundred enhanced shows in a hundred casinos. After a while, it all blurs together.

I know, I know, that’s what they said when we were all flooding into the U.S. during the British Invasion. I’m a connoisseur of irony. But when something stands out from the pop-star one-offs and Rat Pack 3.0 crooners, people take notice. People don’t know they’re craving something different until they get it.

These Vegas performers could stand a lesson in “less is more,” but instead they’re all in on everything. All that tech must seem like magic to these fools, but tech ain’t magic. Believe me, I know from magic. Not like this Buddy Holly guy.

Look, I liked Buddy Holly back in the day–we all did–but that sound aged about as well as a bottle of piss. When you hear it, you know exactly when it came out. It never evolved. Sometimes I wonder what would’ve happened if his plane hadn’t crashed.

Sometimes I wonder if Buddy wasn’t the lucky one.

~

It was the 1960s, and the Beatles exploded out of Liverpool with us right on their heels, and the British Invasion was on. The money began rolling in free and easy like juice through a Marshall stack. In a move that would become the hallmark of making it in rock and roll, I bought a posh estate in the English countryside.

That’s where we were between tours in ’70. One night, December 11–Christ, you’d think I’d forget after so long, but the memory is like tough old scar tissue that’ll never go away–anyway, we were in the studio, turning a three minute song into something epic. I dove into my solo, weaving amplified heat through drums and base and rhythm guitar, stitching it all together at first. Then I began teasing strands out into the dark corners of sound. My fingers slipped and slid high on the fretboard. My guitar wailed and moaned with an urgency I could feel. I raced out ahead of the rhythm, then eased back into the mix by turns. I scooped time from some measures and poured it into others. The world around me wobbled and shimmered.

By the time the cops barged in, I was fully lost in the solo. It was as if someone had accidentally stuck a needle in my artery and my life was spraying out everywhere. It wasn’t blood, though, dig? I swear it was life itself flowing from me, streaming into my mates. Everyone was higher than an old vicar’s waistband. The cops’ shouting tore it all down and the music collapsed. I was wasted, could barely stand.

The cops’ arrival probably saved me, but all they saw was some weed, some pills, and whatever, and that’s all they needed to know. They grabbed their headlines for busting some punk kids who’ve risen far too high, and I grabbed some jail time. Prison was no great shakes, but there was something about the monotony of the routine. It freed up time to think. And I had a lot to think about.

~

Vegas Buddy Holly slides smoothly into “Rollercoaster.” It’s a checklist for him: hit this note, do that hiccup thing, take three steps. Technically, it’s perfect, but there’s no love for the music, no heat. Choosing to impersonate Buddy Holly is purely mercenary. He’s found a niche and it pays. It’s calculated. And I’ve got to tell you, hearing exactly the same thing done exactly the same way night after night gets tiresome.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the music itself; I feel like I could play forever. It’s everything else. Some might say the world has passed me by, but I’d argue it’s the people who flock to this place on the regular who are being passed by. Was a time when people would spend hours parsing song lyrics or album cover art. Now everything wheels by like startled birds, gone in an instant, replaced by the latest streaming shows or VR episode or vending machine stimdrugs. We’re so fixated on what’s coming next, we can’t enjoy whatever it is we’re consuming right then and there.

The marketers’ll tell you their latest con expands the mind and taps into unexplored landscapes of the imagination. Rubbish. It’s about making money. It’s always about making money. Just ask ol’ Buddy Holly on stage there.

The guys in my band are no different. Sure, they tolerate the analog sets, occasionally even enjoy themselves when they’re not thinking about it. But they’re just gigging with me to pay the bills while they seek online stardom. That’s where the real money is, even if the odds are so long they stretch well beyond the horizon. They just need one video to virus out, and they’ll have it made.

I hear you, telling me to fuck right the hell off. I made my money, so why shouldn’t they make theirs, right? I say, have at it. There’s no magic there. You want magic? Strip it all down, get rid of the enhancements. Focus on the music, the guitar strings beneath your fingers, the vibrations of your vocal cords, the buzz of a packed venue. If you let yourself fall deep enough, you’ll find the space between it all.

You’d think songs almost a hundred years old would lose their luster, but that ain’t so. There’s that quote about not being the same person who crossed the river the first time or some shit. There’s truth there. Songs are like rivers, always changing, waiting to show you something new, if you’re willing to look. That’s why I hang around, every single day and twice on Saturdays.

~

After the bust, I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened at that rehearsal. I needed to know what that was. As a band, we were looking forward, working on new songs, planning new tours, finding new ways to spend our windfall. But as an individual, I’d decided to look backwards as well.

I searched for answers in the deep, slippery roots of music, looking for the faintest whiff of anything even remotely like what happened the night of the bust. Whenever we hit a new city, I scoured libraries and bookstores and pored over rare tomes, letters, and sheet music for something like magic.

Then I found tempo rubato.

Now, I know you’re thinking of that Styx song about the robot. That was Japanese. Tempo rubato is Italian, mate.

The definition of tempo rubato in music texts refers to, and I quote, “the slight speeding up and then slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor to be more expressive.”

But here’s the thing, Tempo rubato isn’t just an Italian term on some sheet music like sotto voce or fortissimo or any of that lot. Now I had no idea if the concept originated in Italy or not, but the Italians nailed the naming of whatever this phenomenon is.

In Italian, tempo rubato means stolen time.

As a musical cue, that was all fine and well, but I was positive there was more to it than that. Slowing down, speeding up, everything I’d been doing that night, it was all there.

I began playing around on stage, messing around in subtle ways with what almost killed me the night of the bust, learning, refining. I did it carefully until I unpacked tempo rubato and put it to work for me. I pilfered small bits of time so as not to cause harm and, as much as we played, the stolen time accumulated like the juice on a mob loan.

~

We’re a long way from Vegas, now, aren’t we? What does this have fuckall to do with tech enhancements and swarm bots and flash androgynous technicians? Well, hang tight, bruv, I’m getting to that. Besides, Buddy Holly’s got one more song yet.

He launches into “That’ll Be the Day.” When he hits the chorus, like he does every night, I can’t help but think that maybe in some alternate universe I’m dead, and he’s here in Vegas in real life, the original watching some mercenary performer imitate me.

“That’ll be the day that I die,” Buddy sings. Well, the real Buddy Holly boarded a plane that flew him right into his grave at the tender age of 22. And, despite the booze, the drugs, and other depredations of the body, here I am still going strong well beyond my expiration date. Is it fair? That’s not for me to say, but I’m fully aware of the irony.

The ubiquitous “they” insist everything that’s old is new again and I’m inclined to agree. Maybe that’s true, but it’s a cycle, ain’t it, which bloody well means everything that’s new becomes old again as well.

I think about all those musicians who hung around too long. I’d need more fingers than I’ve got to count everyone who couldn’t let it go, guys who wished they headed out at the top of their game, leaving the fans wanting more.

But damn if every time I hit that first chord on stage, I’m not transported back to our first live gig in Coogan’s Pub in Dartford. Now there’s a magic all its own, you know? Throw in the fans and the applause, and small wonder musicians can’t let it go.

What I miss, though, what has me in this funk, is that I’ve got no one to share any of this with. Everyone’s gone. What’s the use of hanging around as long as I have if you can’t share the honest-to-god artistry?

There are days I’m aware the only person I’m really playing for is myself, searching the music for ghosts of the long-gone boys who crossed the Atlantic and got rich with me. There are days I wonder if stealing time during all those tours with them might have hastened their respective ends. Shit, we were all getting older. People just age differently, right?

I search through the music. Maybe some combination of sound will bring them back, but inevitably the ghosts are always just out of reach. I’ve seen musicians wind up searching elsewhere, the needle or the booze or something just as deadly even though we know whatever it is we need isn’t there at all. And sometimes you don’t even know you need anything at all until you’re shown otherwise.

~

Inside some nondescript sound studio in Memphis in the late ’20s, I was waiting to record an interview for some classic rock retrospective podcast. At least I think they were still calling what we did way back when “classic.” The host was explaining to an angsty lad on the sound crew what vibe he needed and who I was.

But damn if every time I hit that first chord on stage, I’m not transported back to our first live gig in Coogan’s Pub in Dartford.

“Seriously?” the angsty lad asked. “I thought that guy died years ago.” No embarrassment. No apology. Just a statement of fact with perhaps the smallest hint of a question or accusation in his tone. That’s when I realized I couldn’t keep on as myself forever. No matter how good I felt, no matter how I looked, someone would do the math and start asking questions I had no intention of answering.

And so I did the only thing that made sense: I disappeared to sort things out. For a few decades, I traveled to places where people had no idea who I was. For a while, it wasn’t so bad, the newness of it, you know. I tried out things I couldn’t do when we were touring, things like gardening and painting and woodworking, whatever struck my fancy.

Even as I did these things, in the need was always there, waiting. I told myself it was just the music I needed, just the feel of the guitar in my hands, the heat of the stage lights, the cheering crowds. I mean, the music was definitely part of it, but I missed what I was able to do with the music even more. I needed tempo rubato.

What better place to resurface than Vegas, the impersonator capital of the world? If I couldn’t be me, at least I could pretend to be me. I mean, I had me down pretty good.

~

Buddy Holly wraps up with a deep cut, one of his b-sides that has surprising layers. Something about this song appeals to Buddy. I can tell, because he loses himself in it. He’s so close to touching the music and doesn’t even know. The crowd applauds just enough to encourage Buddy Holly to do an encore.

Buddy Holly launches into a respectable version of “Not Fade Away.” Huh. Normally he trots out a tired medley of songs that roll into that other song that’s not by Buddy Holly but about Buddy Holly, when his plane crashed, and the music died, and all that. Tonight, Buddy Holly’s veering off script.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

One more song to figure out how I’m going to break it to the band. Since I returned to Vegas–what has it been, 30, 40 years?–I’ve asked myself why I keep going so many times it feels like a vocation unto itself. If there’s an answer to that question, I’ll be damned if I know what it is. Now’s as good a time as any to call it quits.

“Hey, Billy,” I say to my bassist.

He turns to me and raises his eyebrows in question.

Time to tell the crew tonight is the night I stop, but the words die in my throat just as Buddy Holly strums the last chord of his encore.

The applause for Buddy Holly packs more punch this time around, there’s real enthusiasm behind it. Buddy comes off stage. His bitglam distorts and winks off. Bruv looks tired, but he’s smiling.

We nod at each other.

That simple gesture is like a smack upside my head. It’s straight out of those days right before the British Invasion, back when we were just one of a hundred bands were trying to make it. Yeah, we hated each other, but there was some measure of respect for the fact we were all chasing the same thing. There’s a camaraderie that comes from mutual suffering.

Maybe I’ve been too hard on ol’ Buddy.

Then the host is announcing us to the crowd. Cheers and stomping feet shake the building. The crowd is as amped as I’ve ever heard it. That sound … that sweet, goddamned sound washes over us. The hair on my arms and the back of my neck stands at attention, expectant. My heart thrills and prances inside my chest. A smile spreads of its own accord across my face.

Billy smiles the same me. He’s feeling it too. “What were you going to say?”

My guitar feels lighter, and the only thing on my mind is strumming that first chord. “Forget it,” I say.

Billy’s no longer the fresh-faced kid I brought in to hold down the beat a few months ago, but that’s what the business does to a musician, isn’t it? The pull of the stage and the lights are like an old friend’s arm around my shoulder, warm and comforting.

A British Invasion musician learns the secret to rock on for evermore, but after outliving his mates and winding up as an impersonator of himself in Vegas, he wonders if it’s time to hang it up.

Jonathan Danz is a speculative fiction writer living in West Virginia with his wife, daughter, and cat, all of whom are artists in their own right. He attended Viable Paradise 21 and narrates for various science fiction, fantasy, and horror podcasts. He likes books, bikes, and beer.

Errow is a comic artist and illustrator with a predilection towards mashing the surreal with the familiar. They pay their time to developing worlds not quite like our own with their fiancee and pushing the queer agenda. They probably left a candle burning somewhere. More of their work can be found at errowcollins.wix.com/portfolio.

“Tempo Rubato” is © 2019 Jonathan Danz Art accompanying story is © 2019 Errow Collins

Fiction: Tempo Rubato was originally published on Mad Scientist Journal