#the project that's too complicated to do away from your computer with many references

[chthonicathenean]

I was originally going to say 6-8 for yarn specifically and then realized that I have 6 active yarn projects on the shelf next to my desk (with more on my "sewing" table upstairs as well as a plastic tub with many "hibernating" projects). When considering sewing, I have two huge plastic tubs full of clothing and housegoods to mend, so easily 20+.

[jazy3]

Free Guy Review

!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

If you haven’t seen the movie Free Guy (2021) stop reading right now! Drop what you’re doing and go get yourself a ticket! You’ll thank me later!

I loved this movie! I saw it this weekend for the second time because it’s that good! I first saw the trailer on YouTube a while back and then when theatres reopened a few weeks ago I saw the trailer again and my interest was piqued. I had high hopes for this movie based on the fun looking trailer, the premise, the cast, and the sense of fun and escapism that the movie seemed to embody and it did not disappoint. It’s always nice when you have high hopes for something and it meets or exceeds your expectations.

Free Guy is just such a fun and joyous movie. Never taking itself too seriously, packed with lots of heart, cool cameos, full of gaming and pop culture references, and it’s fueled by a unique concept that is well executed. There are just so many things I loved about this movie! It was a ton of fun to watch and the actors clearly had a blast making it. During the movie I kept trying to figure out where I knew most of the actors from but couldn’t place them. When I got home, I googled it and I instantly realized why. The roles are just so different and the actors embody their characters so completely you lose yourself in the film and get completely sucked in. I was honestly so surprised when I figured out what I knew most of the actors from because the roles that they’re known for are so different from their characters in the movie. Their appearances, established ages, and even the accents are so different that I literally did a double take, but that’s what makes the movie so good! Because the main actors obviously didn’t need the paycheque they were just there to have fun and it shows. I think if the situation had been different and the actors involved had been desperate for money or took the role for some other reason it wouldn’t have worked. The film would have come off as cheesy, forced, cringeworthy, or just plain bad. Free Guy is none of those things. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as ‘Guy’ a bank teller in a video game called Free City, Jodie Comer whose best known for playing Villanelle in Killing Eve as programmer Millie Rusk and her avatar Molotov Girl, Joe Keery whose best known for playing Steve Harrington in Stranger Things as programmer Walter ‘Keys’ McKey, and Taika Waititi whose best known for playing Viago in What We Do in the Shadows as the Head of Soonami Studios and the film’s main antagonist and villain Antwan. Rounding out the cast are Utkarsh Ambudka as programmer Mouser and Lil Rel Howery as Guy’s best friend and bank security guard Buddy. In a nutshell, Free Guy is about a bank teller named Guy who finds out he’s a non-playable background character (NPC) in an open-world Grand Theft Auto style video game called Free City. Guy becomes the hero of his own story after meeting Millie, the girl of his dreams, and winning fans all over the world by racking up points by being the good guy and helping others. After leveling up and helping Millie escape a dangerous situation in the game, Guy wins her over and she falls for him thinking that he’s another player. But when the world that Guy knows and all of the people in it are threatened, he teams up with Millie to save his friends before it’s too late. In the real world, Millie enlists the help of her former programming partner and best friend Keys in a race against time to stop their code and all of the sentient characters from Free City from being deleted by Antwan the developer who stole their code when the game’s sequel launches. I love that the movie had a unique premise and didn’t overcomplicate things. There are so many movies that I’ve gone to see over the last few years with such excitement only to be disappointed. For example, I loved Wreck It Ralph, but was so disappointed by its sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet. The trailers made it seem like it would take the premise of the first movie and move things into the online gaming world, and I was excited for that. Instead, the sequel left the premise of the first movie behind entirely and way over complicated the plot and the end result was extremely cheesy and disappointing. Free Guy’s strength is that it’s a self-aware movie made by self-aware people who are excellent at what they do. The movie doesn't take itself too seriously, nor should it, and that allows the story to flow and the characters to feel real and genuine. The movie achieves that perfect balance between being entertaining and telling a cohesive and important story because while the movie never takes itself too seriously the people behind it are serious about what they do. This was very clearly a passion project for all involved, especially Ryan Reynolds, and it shows! As he’s spoken about in interviews and on Twitter, Reynolds called on a lot of his friends to be in Free Guy and help him out and the end result was fantastic! I loved all of the cameos! The Chris Evans cameo was by far the funniest and the Alex Trebek cameo got me right in the feels. When I saw the movie in theatres me and everyone else in the theatre gave a collective “awww” when he appeared on screen. Enlisting real YouTubers to show up as fictional versions of themselves to talk about Blue Shirt Guy’s popularity was a nice touch and you’ve also got blink and you miss it voice cameos by John Krasinski, Dwyane The Rock Johnson, Hugh Jackman, and Tina Fey. Channing Tatum appears as the avatar of player Revenjamin Buttons which for the most part was hilarious. One of my few criticisms of the film is that they went a bit overboard the avatar’s antics as Guy and Buddy are attempting to leave and it got bit a cringeworthy. But I know other people found it hilarious so to each their own. I love all of the little details and references in the movie. Just listing them all would be a post in itself. If you’re someone that loves pop culture references and Easter Eggs this is the movie for you. The characters are fun and believable, and you get attached to them quickly. The actors commit completely to their roles which is makes the humour, romance, and heartfelt emotion of the film work. You buy it. 100%. Something that I absolutely loved was that the characters felt realistic and that the dialogue, attire, and settings for each character really felt authentic. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched a movie or TV show and walked away thinking, “The person who wrote that clearly never meet a kid, teenager, or twenty something in their life! That was so unrealistic.” The slang’s all wrong. The dialogue is so eloquent everyone sounds like they did Shakespeare in the Park last summer. You walk away thinking, “What the hell was that? No one talks that way!” What I loved about the characters in Free Guy is that they felt like real people you could actually run into or walk past on the street. I’ve read in interviews that in addition to the written dialogue the cast did a lot of ad-libbing and improvisation and the end result is both hilarious and relatable. The dialogue feels real because it is. The big exception to this of course is Antwan who is altogether off the wall and ridiculous. Antwan is such an outrageous, absurd, vulgar, and cartoonish character. He’s so fun to watch and the actors clearly had a lot of fun with his scenes! I’ve read that a lot of his lines with Keys and Mouser were improvised and I believe it. When he goes all Jack Nicholson on the servers? Lord. He’s such a great villain to watch. The characters that are established to be in their twenties like Millie, Keys, Mouser, and the other employees at Soonami Studios talk, act, and dress like they’re in their twenties. The actors that are in their forties are styled to look like they’re in their thirties and honestly, they’re in such great shape it works! I mean I was honestly shocked to find out Taika Waititi’s real age. I love how the costuming really fits each character and allows you to learn more about them. Keys’ clothing is your typical gamer chic which makes because as we learn from his interview with Millie coding is his life and what gets him up in the morning. From Mouser’s clothing we learn that he’s a sports fan, but also isn’t afraid to take risks like with that blazer ensemble he wears in his final scene at Millie’s apartment.

Millie’s clothing shows the contrast between her and her avatar Molotov Girl, and Antwan’s ridiculous coat enhances the overall wackiness of his character. Guy’s clothing tells us something too. He wears the same thing every day until he meets Millie in the game at which point, he starts deviated from his Free City programming and chooses a different blue shirt. I also really love that they put thought into why Keys needs to wear glasses. Something I noticed on rewatch is that Keys is far sighted which is why he has his glasses on when he’s looking at his laptop or computer and sometimes when’s talking to other people, but not when he goes to see Millie at her apartment or when he goes to get them coffee at the end of the movie. Another interesting aspect of Keys’ character that I noticed on rewatch is self-confidence is really something he struggles with in contrast to Millie and Mouser who are very confident. Millie is a genius programmer and Mouser is excellent at what he does, and they are both very confident in their coding abilities, but Keys isn’t despite being every bit the genius that Millie is. At the beginning of the movie when they first notice the issue with Guy Mouser jokes that Keys needs to be better at his job. In response Keys meekly says he thinks he’s pretty good at his job and trails off at the end. Mouser is just joking around, but because Keys lacks self-confidence comments like that hit him hard. Mouser is moving towards his own desk as he talks so he doesn’t notice how self-deprecating and uneasy Keys’ response is. In the interview from the indie games conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment, he brushes off the interviewers comment that he’s a genius and says Millie is the real genius because she created the AI engine and he just wrote the code to make it work. Later on, when Keys helps Millie get into the stash house, she calls him a genius and he tells her that as he’s currently sitting on a toilet stealing user code he doesn’t exactly feel like one. Millie responds offhandedly that he never does, but luckily, she knows better. When Keys realizes that Millie was right, and that Antwan did steal their code and their game worked he tells Millie they need to celebrate because once everyone sees their build she’ll be celebrated and she could win a noble prize. Both Millie and Keys are geniuses in their own right. The game wouldn’t have worked without both of their skills and Guy wouldn’t have come to life without both of them working together. Millie’s AI engine made his sentience possible, but Keys is the one who gave him hopes and dreams so that when he met Millie in the game, he came alive. When done right the settings we see tell the story just as much as the characters do and I love how realistic the settings in Free Guy look. The floor at Soonami Studios where Keys and Mouser work looks like a real office and I love that the desks have clutter and personal effects on them like real cubicles do and that they show Keys taking a box of his stuff with him as he leaves. The lobby with the moving water videos and Antwan’s massive but largely empty office fits perfectly with the obnoxious, zany, and over the top character that he is. I also love the contrast between Keys and Millie’s apartments and how those settings tell us a lot about each character and where they are in their lives when the film starts. When Keys comes home from work to find that Millie has broken in, we see that he lives in a stylish one bedroom apartment with an open concept kitchen full of stainless steel appliances, a large living room centred around an expensive wall mounted TV and entertainment system, with his computer and gaming station set up in the corner. On the walls we see artful clusters of black picture frames, through a partially open door we see a bedroom off to the side, the apartment is full of black and white furniture including a plush couch and nice lamps, and features a textured silver accent wall. All of which makes the fact that Millie managed to break in even more impressive because it is clearly an expensive apartment in a nice building. Keys’ style is minimalist and upper scale and based on what we learn about the events that took place before the start of the movie this indicates that Keys got the apartment and all of the nice stuff in it using the money he received when Antwan bought his and Millie’s game. In contrast, Millie lives in a bachelor apartment and spends her time in coffee shops ordering one single black coffee over four hours. This tells us that she kept her original apartment that she had from before the game was sold and is living off the money she got from the sale while she spends all of her time trying to find the proof she needs to win her lawsuit. When we see Millie’s place, we find that it’s cozy, full of plants, throw rugs, quilts, and comfy furniture. She’s got a bike in the corner, you can see her bed from the centre of the room where she’s got her computer and gaming station set up adjacent to the coffee table and the rest of the living room furniture. Her kitchen is smaller and full of wooden cabinets and her bathroom door has DIY multicoloured square panels on it. Keys and Millie’s apartments are very different and through these settings we see the contrast between where these characters are in their lives, their wealth, and their personal style. The song ‘Fantasy’ by Mariah Carey is featured heavily in the film and is guaranteed to get stuck in your head in the best way! Jodie Comer’s cover of it is amazing! It fits the moment where Guy makes it to the island that is Millie and Keys’ original build and shows it to the world perfectly. This movie made me appreciate Mariah Carey’s music in a whole new way and I can’t be the only way. After watching the movie, I went looking for the song on Apple Music, wound up listening to the Mariah Carey Essentials Playlist, and I’ve become obsessed. I knew some of her hits, but after listening to her music more I get why people love her so much. Her five octave vocal range is amazing, and her music is just so fun to listen to. The film has a really great soundtrack overall and I’ve had many of its song on repeat since I saw it. Something I really loved about this movie and the reveal at the end that Keys is in love with Millie and is desperate for her to notice, but she’s been oblivious the whole time is that they don’t do the supposedly nice nerdy guy whose really a jerk trope. So many movies do this where you have a nerdy male character whose unluckily love, looked over, or his love is unrequited, and we’re supposed to root for him because he’s a quote “nice guy”. But really, he’s not. He’s a jerk who feels slighted because a woman in his life doesn’t love him back or notice him and he feels as if she owes him something. The scene at Millie’s place where Millie tells Keys he looks cute when he brags, and Mouser encourages him to tell Millie how he feels is super frustrating to watch but it’s so important to Keys’ character. He asks Millie out for coffee and when she turns him down to jump back into the game, he doesn’t make a big deal about it even though Mouser wants him to. Instead he gets up and goes and gets her a coffee anyway. She goes to tell him her order, oblivious to the fact that he’s memorized it, he tells her he remembers, and goes to get the coffee anyway much to Mouser’s and the audience’s dismay. This is big because Keys clearly doesn’t want to be walking down the street by himself to get coffee. He wants to be getting coffee with Millie so that he can tell her how he feels to see if she might feel the same way, but when she turns him down he goes and gets the coffee anyway because he truly loves and cares about her and he values their friendship enough to put his own feelings aside and suffer in silence rather than lose her and what they’ve built. So, he takes the opportunity to get some air rather than continue to sit there in disappointment. Which is why he’s so confused when Millie runs after him and calls out to him from across the street. He doesn’t understand what she’s doing there. She turned down his offer to get a coffee and he already knows her order so why is she there? I love that they chose to make that scene non-verbal. I think if Millie had come out and made some big declaration of love it would have felt cheesy and overdone. But her running after him and silently communicating through her smile and body language that she understood and that she felt the same way was perfect. It was subtle and beautiful and perfectly acted. It also felt realistic to the characters because in real life when you’ve known someone a really long time and you’ve spent a lot of time with them you don’t always need words to convey what you mean. What Millie wanted to express in that scene was so big and so all-encompassing she couldn’t find the words to say everything that she wanted to say so she didn’t. She just stood there and smiled knowing that being the genius that he is he would understand. It’s like Keys says in their interview, words will fail you, but code never does. His coding worked and now she understands so rather than try and say it all and fail she just looks at him and smiles to show him that she finally gets it. She finally understands what he’s been trying to say to her all this time. And you can see the exact moment Keys realizes why she’s there. The moment where he goes from being confused as to what she wants to realizing that she saw the video and she knows how he feels and that she wouldn’t be standing there smiling at him like that if she didn’t feel the same way. When I watched the scene the first time around, I was anxiously clutching my nachos the entire time because when Keys ran towards her my immediate thought was, “Oh my god he’s gonna get hit by a car and they’re never gonna get to be together! Oh my god!” But then he didn’t get hit by a car and Millie ran out to meet him and for the first time in their relationship she met him halfway and they kissed and it was beautiful! I think because Free City had so much violence in it that’s where my mind went and I’m very glad they didn’t go that route. One of my only criticisms about the movie is that I wish they had stayed on Millie and Keys just a little bit longer. They kiss and embrace and then very quickly they cut to black. I wish they’d linger on that moment just a little bit longer because I love those characters so much and in the scene that follows where Guy and Buddy are reunited we see them hug and then walk away together to start their new lives and I wish we’d gotten just a bit more time with Millie and Keys. I also really loved the parallel between the different kinds of relationships within the movie and how platonic relationships are just as important as romantic ones. The reveal at the end about Guy being Keys’ creation and a love letter to Millie and her realizing she’s been loving Keys vicariously through Guy and them finally coming together and being on the same page is beautiful because from the very beginning the movie is full of clues, hints, and foreshadowing that all comes together at the end. Meanwhile, we see the friendship between Guy and Buddy and how important that friendship is to him because it’s something that he created on his own. His love for Millie is born out of the programming that Keys gave him, but his friendship with Buddy is something that Guy created all on his own of his own volition. Which is part of what makes Buddy’s death on the bridge so tragic. I cried when Buddy disappeared. Reynolds and Howery play their characters with such sincerity that his death pacts an emotional punch you don’t expect. I love that the security guards at Soonami are so moved by Buddy’s heroism and are so captivated by what’s happening with the live stream that Millie is able to sneak past them into the server room and stop Antwan from destroying what’s left of the game. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that during the final battle after Millie gets booted from the game and Guy has to fight Dude on his own the glasses he’s wearing are very similar to the ones Keys wears in the movie which I thought was a cool nod to Guy being Keys’ creation. This really is a movie in which you find something new every time you watch it. For instance, the second time around I noticed that the foreshadowing that Keys is in love with Millie, but she’s oblivious to it because she’s so focused on the game was really well done. In the video from the indie game conference that Millie plays for Keys at his apartment when asked by the interviewer about their chemistry Millie responds first and says that their friends, their relationship is completely platonic, and laughs off the idea that they have chemistry. In contrast Keys falters and is silent and then eventually says meekly that they’re just friends. Millie is looking ahead at the interviewer and to the side away from Keys as she’s laughing and so she doesn’t see Keys’ reaction. At the end of the apartment scene after Millie breaks in to ask Keys for his help, he tells Millie he cares about her and he almost says something else. It feels like he’s about to say, ‘I love you’ but then he catches himself and instead tells her that she needs to leave. When Keys visits Millie’s apartment to tell her that she was right and they’re sitting on the couch he reaches out and puts his hand on her knee and then snatches it back when he realizes he’s gotten too close. He wants so desperately to be closer to her and in his excitement, he gets closer than he normally would before realizing that putting his hand on her knee in that close proximity is not a platonic gesture. Millie is so caught up in the realization that Guy, the person she’s fallen in love with, is an AI and not a real person that she doesn’t notice. My heart broke for Keys in that scene as he realized that Millie had fallen for Guy and kissed him and was so upset about it and meanwhile, he was right in front of her desperate for her to see how much he cares. It must have just wrecked him to go home that night and realize that Guy was based on the lovelorn character he created and that Millie had fallen in love with his creation while at the same time being so oblivious to his real world affection for her. In the scene at Millie’s apartment after they’ve gotten the server from Antwan and Mouser encourages Keys to say something, I noticed on rewatch just how weak and meager Keys’ attempt to ask Millie out is. He stumbles his way through asking her to get a coffee and trails off at the end so it’s no wonder Millie doesn’t clue in that he’s trying to ask her out. And in Keys’ defence he sent her a whole video confessing his feelings for her and all of the little things he loves about her and then told her to watch it and he has no idea if she did or not. We the audience know that Millie only saw half of it, but Keys has no idea if she saw none of it, part of it, or all of it. He knows she got Guy to remember, but she’s also sending him mixed messages. One minute she’s saying he’s cute when he brags and the next, she’s turning him down for coffee to talk to Guy. From the outside it’s so obvious that Keys is in love with Millie, but she doesn’t see it because she’s always looking the other way, not paying attention, so caught up in the game, and too focused on their work to see what’s right in front of her. On rewatch one of the big things I noticed is that Keys is always on the edge of telling Millie how he really feels but he always stops himself because she brushes him or the idea off and because he’s scared of what will become of their work and their friendship if she doesn’t feel the same way. It’s a huge leap. If Millie doesn’t feel the same way it’s going to make their relationship incredibly awkward and could potentially destroy their partnership so Keys decides it’s better not to say anything or only hint at how he feels rather than run the risk of ruining everything. Something else I noticed on rewatch is that in the interview they give Keys says he thinks of himself as an author and that code is what gets him up in the morning and that he loves the ones and zeros of binary because words can fail you and let you down but code never does. At the end of the movie when Millie goes to talk to Guy in Free Life he tells her that he loves her and while he knows that’s his programming he’s realized that he’s a love letter to her and that somewhere out there in the real world is the author. Such a great callback. All in all, I can definitely say that Free Guy has been my favourite movie so far this year! Definitely my favourite movie of the summer. I went to see it twice in theatres and I’ve never done that for any other movie before. I’ll rewatch them at home sure, but I’ve never actually paid money to see something twice on my own. I’m very excited to see the sequel and my hope is that it will be just as good as the first.  Until next time.

[queenofnohr]

Twisted Wonderland: Malleus Scary Outfit (SR) - Voice Lines + Personal Story

Voice Lines

Summoning Line: Halloween is a festival that can be enjoyed by those of all races and species, whether living or dead. You, too, should enjoy it to your heart’s content. Groovy: I blow a mere puff of flame and everyone trembles in fear. Watch. Set Home: This costume is not of a dragon. It is a Long. Home Idle 1: The other Diasomnia students seemed to like the costume. They all cheered in happiness. It was worth troubling myself over. Home Idle 2: Lilia is familiar with how Halloween is celebrated in many different countries. Long ago, rather than singing a lullaby, he would tuck me in with stories of such traditions. Home Idle 3: I saw two pumpkin knights on campus. The smaller one was floating, so I assume they were the Shroud brothers. Home Login: I’ve experienced Halloween many a time, but it seems this year is going to be more boisterous than usual. Home Idle Groovy: Trick or treat. How was that? If you don’t give me sweets, I’ll play a trick on you. Whatever will you do? Home Tap 1: The red Long, that hails from the Far East and serves as inspiration for our costumes, can play folk instruments. Hmmm…… they just get more and more interesting. Home Tap 2: I saw al-Asim practicing howling like a wolf. It lacked power, but was charming nonetheless. Fufu. Home Tap 3: Halloween in the Valley of Thorns is exceptionally magnificent. It’s a bit different than how other countries celebrate, but…… I do hope you’ll come to see it someday. It’s very beautiful. Home Tap 4: Even if you hear a strange noise, it would be jumping to conclusions to assume it was the work of a ghost. Fae love mischief year-round, after all. Home Tap 5: My tail? It isn’t part of the costume, it’s real. Even if it interests you, don’t get too close. If you bump into it carelessly, I’ll send you flying. Home Tap Groovy: I’ll bestow flame appropriate of a Long unto those that would try to harm your dormitory. I happen to be fond of that place.

Personal Story

That Certainly is……Interesting : Chapter 1

-Diasomnia Dorm - Lounge-

Lilia: ……So you were here, Malleus. I was looking for you. Malleus: Lilia, what is it? Lilia: Actually, I have something to ask of you. Will you choose Diasomnia’s costume for this year? Malleus: Me? Why? You’ve chosen it for the past two years, Lilia. Lilia: I’m especially busy this year with Organization Committee work. I can’t even turn up for club activities. Malleus: But I don’t know what to do. I think there are others more suitable than me…… Lilia: No, it must be you. Deciding on a costume means deciding on Diasomnia’s theme for this year. It’s an important decision that affects the dignity of our dorm……. Because of that, if not me, then our Dorm Leader must decide. Malleus: Is that truly your reason for turning over the costume selection to me, even though you’re the one who looks forward to Halloween the most every year? Lilia: Kufufu…… No, there’s another reason. It’s boring if I choose the costumes every year. But if you, the next king of the Valley of Thorns, chooses all our students will take a keen interest in it. Of course that includes me as well. So what do you say? Will you do it? Malleus: ......Okay. If you want me to, I’ll choose. Each dorm dresses in ghost costumes with various monster motifs. I’ll go to the library to search for any books that might be useful.

-Library-

Malleus: ……Now, just what kind of costume should it be? The chosen motif must embody Diasomnia. Something with a noble existence would be preferable...... If I suggest a dragon, Lilia will complain and say I should think harder about it. It should be a creature that even I, myself, have never seen. If so, we’d be able to set ourselves apart from the other dorms. If I research local legends, they may contain information on monsters even I don’t know about. However, searching for such books would be incredibly difficult. I’ve heard that you can use the computers in the library to search for the book you need...... …….No, those machines work in complicated and mysterious ways. I’ll be upfront and have a look around the bookshelves directly.

Some time passes……

Malleus: ......98...... 99...... And that makes 100 books. There can’t be 100 books related to local legends in this library….... Ortho: Wow~! That’s a huge amount of books! Malleus: You are…… the small Shroud. Ortho: Oh! Malleus Draconia! What are you doing with such a huge pile of books around you? Malleus: It falls to me to decide this year’s Halloween costume. I was gathering reference material, but before I realized it I was surrounded by this many books. Ortho: Hmmmm. Maybe I can help you look? I’m able to access a much larger database than just the books in the library. Also, if you use the Olympus search engine, you can perform a semantic search that takes into consideration the user’s purpose and intentions. How does that sound? Malleus: In brief………… what does all of that mean? Ortho: Basically, it will identify what you, Malleus Draconia, wants to find out. Malleus: Hmmm…… I understand. Ortho: Activating voice recognition functionality. Begin semantic search. Malleus: ............ Ortho: ......U- Um? Malleus: What is it? Ortho: Errr…… Even if it’s fragmentary, could you tell me what you want to search for? Malleus: Me? Ortho: Of course. Malleus: Then……What I’m searching for is information on monsters to use as motifs in Halloween costumes…… Ortho: Searching…… Malleus: Well? Ortho: Can you tell me again without being so concerned with your wording? Malleus: ……Understood. What I want is information on a noble creature that suits Diasomnia.………… Ortho: Search completed. I found something, Malleus Draconia. I’ll project it onto the wall right away! Malleus: Hou. That certainly is……interesting.

That Certainly is...... Interesting : Chapter 2

-Library-

Ortho: Is this the monster you were searching for, Malleus Draconia? Malleus: Hmmm…… So this is the king who presides over the demons of Bald Mountain. Ortho: He has a giant jet-black body and huge wings. And besides that, his pointed gaze…… is really cool! There shouldn’t be any costumes with this motif in the history of Night Raven College. Malleus: He certainly does have a noble existence…… But if the body is all black, it won’t stand out. Lilia will probably complain that it’s too plain. Ortho: Refining search…… Search completed. Take a look at this. It’s a headless knight, dashing through the valley at night. He’s swinging his sword while his horse sprints forth! His red cloak is also cool, isn’t it? Malleus: ......No, we can’t. Ortho: Huh! Why not? Malleus: The costume becomes too complicated when it comes to replicating its headlessness. Aside from that, it would be difficult to obtain horses for all our students. Ortho: I see…… Taking your previous comments into account, the next image is of…… this! Malleus: ……Hm? It’s quite small, but the red one…… is it a dragon? Ortho: Huh? You’ve already seen dragons before, so they should’ve been omitted from the search…… Oh! This isn’t a dragon. It’s a Long. Malleus: A Long…… It seems to be a creature that inhabits the Far East, which humans sanctify. Embodying both strength elegance...... it is a noble existence, similar to a dragon…… Any more than anything, it’s a creature I have never seen before…… Alright, it’s decided. Diasomnia’s costume will be a Long. I need detailed information about the Long in order to create a costume for my dorm. May I request that? Ortho: Yes! Leave it to me!

-Ramshackle Dorm-

Malleus: ……I’ve kept you waiting. This is the Halloween costume Diasomnia students will dress up in this year. Sebek: Y…… Young Master! What a dignified figure you cut! Silver: It suits you well. Malleus: What do you think, Lilia? I want to hear your opinion. Lilia: Even though it’s a sophisticated design, it’s also very colorful…… I like it! It seems like I was correct in having you decide on what our costumes should be, Malleus. There’s no way I would’ve thought of using a dragon from the Far East as a motif…… Malleus: It’s not a dragon. From the presence or lack thereof of wings or beards, shape of the horns, and abilities, despite their similarities, dragons and Long are very different creatures. Lilia: Wah ha ha! It’s certainly as you say. You did a lot of research in a short amount of time. You always were prone to throwing yourself wholeheartedly into things. Malleus: It’s thanks to the small Shroud. He did a good job. The method he used…… I didn’t understand it at all. Lilia: Well, the costumes are perfect. Let’s distribute them to the students immediately. Malleus: Let’s. This Halloween, we’ll provide more horror than usual.

The day of Halloween—

Malleus: Trick or treat......! Fufu…… We shall burn the majestic image of the Long into your memory……!

-

*The references were pretty obvious, I think, but just in case! The first thing Ortho suggests to Malleus is Chernabog from Disney’s Fantasia. The second is the Headless Horseman from Sleepy Hollow. Which leads me to believe...... especially from Malleus’s “small” comment, that the red-scaled Long in question is Mushu, from Mulan.

[liums]

Malleus Draconia SR Halloween “Scary Outfit” Personal Story-This is...interesting

Part 1

Diasomnia Dorm- Lounge

Lilia- ....Here you are Malleus. I was looking for you.

Malleus- Lilia. What happened?

Lilia- There’s something I want to ask for.

Lilia- Would you decide on the disguise for Diasomnia this Halloween?

Malleus- Me? Why? Lilia did chosen it last year and 2 years ago.

Lilia- This year, in particular, I’m working as a steering committe member. I have to show up in the club activities .

Malleus- However, I don’t know what to do. I think there are more suitable people...

Lilia- No, only our Lord.

Lilia- Choosing a disguise means deciding Diasomnia theme for year.

Lilia- if its such an important thing...in my opinion, then I, or the dorm learder must decide.

Malleus- Does Lilia, who looks forward to halloween every year, decides the outfits for that reason?

Lilia- Kufufufu...Well, there is another reason.

Lilia- Its boring that I get to decide a costume every year.

Lilia- However, if the next king of the Valley of Thorns chooses, all diasomnia students will be curious.

Lilia- Of couse, I am too. How is it? Will you do it?

Malleus- ....All right. If Lilia says so, I will choose.

Malleus- Certainly, I will choose a ghost costume with various monsters caracteristics (Didn’t understand well,its literally translated as- Certainly, I was dressed in a ghost costume with various monsters as mortifs from each dorm)

Malleus- I will go to the library and try to find useful books.

-Library

Malleus- ....Well, what kind of disguise should I wear?

Malleus- Even if I choose a theme, it needs to be relatable with Diasomnia.

Malleus- A high-rank being is desirable, but....

Malleus- If I choose the dragon, Lilia will complain I should deviate a little more.

Malleus- It should be a creature that I myself has never seen. If I do that, It will be possible to make a difference to the other Dorms.

Malleus- If I look up local folklore from diferent regions, I may find information about creatures that you can’t find regularly.

Malleus- However, it will be hard to find those books.

Maleus- I’ve heard that you can search for the book you need by using a computer in the library....

Malleus- .....No, it’s complicated to use them.(poor Malleus ｡T ω T｡) .Let’s go around and looks for a book.

...*some time passes i think*

Malleus- ...98.....99....this is the 100th book.

Malleus- No way, there are about 100 folklore books in this library...

Ortho- Wow! So many books!

Malleus- You are....the youngest Shroud.

Ortho- Malleus Draconia!

Ortho- What happened to be stacking a lot of books around?

Malleus- I have to decide on a Halloween costume.

Malleus- I was gathering books, but when I noticed, I was surrounded by a lot of  books.

Ortho- Hmm. Can I help you if you are looking for something?

Ortho- If you are interessed, you can use a database instead of the books in the library.

Ortho- And if you use the ”Olympus” search engine

Ortho- You can also do a semantic search that uses the user intentions and purposes. How about?

Malleus- In other words....what do you mean? (why is this cute)

Ortho- It identifies what Malleus Draconia wants to find out. (also Ortho deserves best brother award)

Malleus- Hmm....I understand.

Ortho- “Activate voice recognition function. Start the semantic search”.

Malleus- ......................

Ortho- ....Oh, so?

Malleus- what?

Ortho- Um...Can you tell me what you want to look up, even if its fragmented?

Malleus- Can I?

Ortho- Of course.

Malleus- Then...I am looking for information on creatures used as inspiration in halloween costumes...

Ortho- “Searching...”

Malleus- What happened?

Ortho- Don’t worry, can you tell me more?

Malleus- ....Alright.

Malleus- I would like to consider a high-ranking creature suitable for Diasomnia.....

.....

Ortho-”Search complete”

Ortho- I found it, Malleus Draconia. I’ll project the image on the wall right away!

Malleus- Oh, This is.....Interesting.

                                                    Part 1 end

Part 2

-.Library

Ortho- Is this the creature that Malleus were looking for?

Malleus- Hmm...The King who dominates the demons on Bald Montain.

Ortho- It has a big pitch black body and huge wings. And its penetrating eyes....so cool!

Ortho- I’m certain there was never a costume with this concept in the history of Night Raven College before.

Malleus- Certainly he is a high-ranking being....

Malleus- However, if the body is all black, it will not stand out. Lilia would likely complain that it’s too plain.

Ortho- “Researching.....search completed”

Ortho- If that’s the case, then look. A headless horseman who rides trough the valley at night!

Ortho- A galloping horse swinging a sword! The red cloak stands out, dosen’t it?

Malleus- ....No, its no good.

Ortho- Eh!? Why?

Malleus- When it comes to reproducing its appearence that has no neck, The costume becomes too complicated.

Malleus- Besides, it would be difficult to prepare horses for all the students.

Ortho- I see....

Ortho- Reflecting the current information, the next image is...This!

Malleus- .....Oh? It’s quite small but, is this red being is.....a dragon?

Ortho- Oh? Dragon should have been omitted from the search since we looked it up before....Oh!

Ortho- This is not a dragon. (doragon is what they said, they mean the english version of dragons, lthe classics like maleficent one) Its a dragon! (”Ryuu” wich means dragon in japanese, they are refering to oriental dragons, like the one in Ramshackle dorm and the one from Dragon ball Z, chinese dragons basically)

Malleus- A dragon(ryuu)....A being that lives in the Far east and is sanctified by humans.

Malleus- It combines both strenghth and grace.....A dragon-like high ranking being....

Malleus- Above all, a being that I have never seen myself...

Malleus- Alrigh, I decided. The costume of Diasomnia will be a dragon (ryuu)

Malleus- Detailed information is needed create the costumes. Can you search for it?

Ortho- Yeah! Leave it to me!

.....

Ramshacle Dorm

Malleus- ....Sorry I kept you waiting.

Malleus- This will be the halloween costume for Diasomnia this year.

Sebek- Young....Young master! Such a dignified figure! (hes crying.. 0.0)

Silver- It really suits you.

Malleus- How is it Lilia? I want to hear your opinion.

Lilia- Its has such a sophisticated design, but its really collorful....I like it!

Lilia- Looks like it was the right choice, leaving you decidde the costumes.

Lilia- I would have never guessed you would use a Far eastern dragon as a motif...

Malleus- Its not a dragon.

Malleus -Dragons and dragons are different, from appearence to abilities, the kind of horns and the lack of wings....they only look similar on the surface.

Lilia- Hahahah wow! Its like how you said. You managed to do so susch a good  research in a short period of time. You are such a prefecionist

Malleus- It was thanks to the yougest shroud. He did a good job

Malleus- Though...I didn’t understand at all how he did it. (*pat pat* its alright, its alright, u are perfect just like that)

Lilia- Well, the costumes are perfect, lets give them to the dorm members.

Malleus- Ah. This year’s halloween we’ll bring more fear than before.

 -Halloween day-

Malleus- Trick or threat! (my lips are sweet, does that count??)

Malleus- Fufu... The majesty of this dragon, Ill burn it in your eyes...!

     END

So as I suspected, that tail is REAL ,Malleus confirms it in one of his lines.

Also XD when Sebek and Silver were little they’d wet the bed on the halloween because Lilia would always scare them, Diasomnia is one big family and I just love it

Add me if you want uwu

-Please don´t post it anywhere else, just redirect them here

disclaimer- I do not own Twisted Wonderland or any of its characters

[kintatsujo]

any advise for someone putting together a webcomic?

Oh boy oh boy anon I don’t happy flap often but you better believe I have advice XD

For people new here: I’ve been doing my main webcomic, The Law of Purple, since 2004, also was doing a different webcomic, Alien Revenant, for several years before having to hiatus indefinitely, have done a number of fancomics, including one that ran weekly for a number of years, and I’m in the midst of rebooting another original called Eclipse Knight.  That’s why I’m someone you might consider asking about doing webcomics.  That and I take an actual philosophy to this stuff.

Onward to my Advice, born of blood and toil!!

Make a palette and stick to it

This does keep the art of your comic looking consistent but the REAL reason is because you’re not going to be spending a bunch of time deciding on colors because bam, I have ten specific colors for different shades of wood and I’m gonna pick from those.  Note how I phrased that!  I’m not telling you to make a 500 page comic using Gameboy Classic colors or something-- I’m telling you to make a palette based on the colors you’re going to want for your project.  I personally tend to prefer to work from “master��� palettes where ALL the colors are coming from but you can also make pools of palettes so that, for example, individual characters have their own personal colors.

Also: Don’t bother with too many different shades of red.  A lot of people can’t see the difference between more than a handful, so why make more work for yourself?

The more backups the better

I know that probably sounds obvious but you’d be surprised how many webcomics go on hiatus because of things like “I lost half my files.”  Alien Revenant’s rocky years started because it uses conlang heavily and my glossaries weren’t as up to date on all my backups when a certain pen drive got borked.  Even after that you’d think I’d have learned my lesson and I STILL ended up having to recover some colors from LOP’s master palette that I’d added between computers when our one desktop crashed.

Don’t feel guilty for using shortcuts that work for you, and use whatever kind of references you need

I’ve made perspective references by setting up toys and a bunch of rulers and furniture and taking pictures with my phone.  I’ve made perspective references using computer programs.  I own a model Harley motorcycle because it’s the one I wanted Blue to ride.  Use free floorplan programs.  Use the Sims.  I have straight up traced pictures of buildings I’d drawn in the past and in the LOP page I’m working on there’s about fourteen characters that are just the same guy copy pasted over and over.  (They’re going to be obscured by effects so why kill myself over it?)  I’ve also copy-pasted the lineart for backgrounds from one panel to the next when I wanted the same angle, and sometimes I just copy paste the sketch layer when a character’s going to be mostly in the same pose and adjust from there.  

(Copy-paste isn’t a sin and if you’re clever it’s barely even noticeable.)

Also a full-turnaround sheet for every character is HELPFUL but like, don’t actually feel like you HAVE to do it, either, especially if you realize it’s actually stalling you out.  Reference sheets are usually most important for things like somebody having complicated tattoos, or the furniture and architecture of the main character’s house, or uniforms, things like that.

Set aside Specific Comic Work Time if possible

I’m currently doing better at keeping up with my own schedule entirely because there’s time each week that I have nothing to do but work on my comic, which is Sunday mornings while I’m sitting in my office waiting for people to go away so I can wipe down the light switches and lock the doors.  When I was at my most productive as a webcomicker, I had a full set of college courses crammed into two or three days and nothing else to do once my homework was done but sit around the school lounge areas and draw.

Time yourself doing pages and try to base your schedule on that

Even if you start off with a decent buffer, no schedule buffer lasts forever.

Don’t pick a coloring style that takes you more than four hours per page

oh my god, no amount of painterly coolness or smooth airbrushing is worth that.  I should know because I did an airbrushing style for a chapter of LOP when I first started coloring on the computer and chapters of LOP are generally between 100 and 200 pages long, and I wanted to fuck off and live in the woods or something by the time I was done.  

Not even because of how much time it took-- Once I was good at it, it looked beautiful, but airbrushing the same two dudes having a Serious Conversation for fifteen pages makes you contemplate killing them both off randomly by the end and one of them was the main character.  On that note--

Style testing will save you a lot of time and tears

There’s a number of ways to style test; do a bunch of memes with your characters, do a short five page thing, just do a series of standalone pieces.  It’ll give you a much better idea of what will work for you and what won’t.

That said if you wanted to do a different art style for every page of your comic because that’s what scratches your id, go right ahead and do it because doing webcomics should be fun if you ask me.

Pick a legible font

I had a rant about this not too very long ago.  Go to Blambot and get yourself some legible fonts.  I’m dyslexic.

Try out batching your pages

When I talk about “batching” LoP pages, I mean that I sketched four or five of them, then I went through and inked all of those, then I went through and colored all of them.  This isn’t necessarily something that works for everyone but when I have consistent Work On Comics time and a buffer it’s something that usually works pretty well for me.  

Don’t pick a website for hosting that you think is ugly

Because the website your comic is on will inform a lot of your experience.  I’m currently on ComicFury and I’m very happy there, and he’s got a set of templates you can choose from and modify the colors of.  Also personally I don’t actually trust Tapastic as a hosting site, not to go into detail but someone I read had some very bad experiences with them basically trying to legalese the rights to her webcomic out from under her.  I can direct to a post of the Twitter thread if anyone wants it but you can also find it by searching “Tapastic” on my blog.

And finally, if you stop having fun it’s time for a break.

One of the things about doing consistent webcomic schedules is they don’t always allow for that “breathing in” part of the creative cycle.  It’s okay to do things like taking a break for a month to just... binge watch three different anime or something.  I thoroughly encourage a schedule that lets you enjoy other media while you’re actively working (sometimes literally; I sometimes listen to podcasts when I color) but sometimes you just straight up need a Real Vacation from your webcomic.  Definitely consider taking at least two weeks off between discrete chapters if that’s something your comic has.  Some artists do filler, some invite in guest artists, but it’s fine to just say “see you in October.”  

Good luck, Anon, and let me know when I can read it!

[wegoingsofthours]

Hiiiiii, can you write a Jisung SKZ x Reader where Jisung and the Reader hate each other, and one day when they are arguing again, Jisung just kisses her and then it gets heated to where Jisung and readers shirt come off but nothing further, then Bang Chan walks in on them but they don't notice, and then tells the rest of the group, and Jisung finally admits his feelings for Reader

How Long  ♡ Han Jisung

Warnings: I think the request says it all

Member: Han Jisung

Genre: Angst, Enemies To Lovers AU, Heated/ Suggestive

Summary: In which you find out the secret behind the one person you've hated for most of your life.

Word Count: 1765

A/N: This was fun to write so thanks to the anon that requested it

You rushed through the crowded hallway, only coming to a halt when you collided with a person's shoulder, causing your body to decline onto the floor in a swift motion.

"Watch where you're going"

This comment had come from the relentless Han Jisung. There had been something about him that had caused the two of you to never get along. You couldn't tell whether it had been his obnoxious personality towards you or the difference in your character's to make you not get along. But whatever it had been, you had come to the conclusion that the two of you had no hope in even attempting to sort out the tension between you.

Unfortunately for you, you and Jisung had been involved in the same group of friends, meaning your encounters with each other had been consistent. Yet each time you had met it irked you to be in the same room as he had been. Not a day had gone where the two of you had not lashed out on each other. It could have been something as petty as who was to get the last slice of pizza yet you both has always resorted to arguing to get your point across. Although it hadn't been your initial intention, it had been an unwritten rule between the two of you that disagreements were the main solution.

"Hey. Why are you on the floor?" Chan asked helping you up by holding onto your hands.

Chan had been the member of your friend group that had been neutral in his stance between you and Jisung. Although he had never understood the reason behind the argument, he had just accepted it and moved passed it. You had met Chan in the past when you were both of a younger age, therefore making him one of the people closest to you. Since then you had been introduced to his other friends who thankfully had been less irritating than Jisung had been.

"It was him again wasn't it" he asked and without even stating a name, you both instantly knew who he was referring to "You guys really need to sort this out between you. Because this isn't working out at all"

"I'm going to" you rebutted but the disapproval on Chan's face showed a different approach.

"When. You say this all the time and never do"

"Can you help me?" you asked accepting your failure.

"You already know I can't. I've already tried but it's not worked out" he replied. You responded with a sigh as you reigned hopeless in your attempt.

"But will you be free to meet at my place after school"

"Sure. I'll be there" you replied knowing it had been a common occurrence to meet up there at the end of the day.

"Look who decided to show up" Minho said opening the door widely for you to step inside. "We've been waiting for you"

"It sounds creepy when you say it like that. Am I really that late?"

"Not at all. But you're the last one to show up. Where were you?" he asked as you generally had been one of the earliest in meeting up after school.

"Just had to hand in one of my projects which took a while"

You made your way to the front room where the other boys had been seated, scattered all around the room considering there had been eight of them in total, most of the space had been occupied. You took your seat next to Seungmin as that had been the only space that was vacant.

"Hey guys. What are we doing" you said enthusiastically to gain their attention and looking at how everyone had been arranged as they were crowded around a table, focused on what had been happening.

"Hey. Right now they're trying to order a pizza. But no one knows what to order" Seungmin said also watching the majority of them arguing over the toppings to get. One of the downfalls of having this many people together was decisions were harder than usual, also with their stubborn personalities they had made everything more complicated than usual.

"This is going to take a while" you whispered to yourself but it was still coherent to Seungmin.

"Tell me about it" he replied "Can you get the computer from Chan's room. We might as well watch a movie to pass the time here" Seungmin said, to which you immediately got up to get it.

Chan's house in itself had been familiar to you as you had spent most of your time here, so you had been able to direct yourself to the room in a matter of seconds with it being the first door after a flight of stairs. What you hadn't expected was the presence of someone else in the room when you had gotten there.

Jisung.

You counted yourself unlucky having met him twice in the same day. Both clearly negative as he held a look of distaste when you had walked in. He had been seated on the edge of the bed in the middle of the room, presumably scrolling through his phone.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a monotone voice.

"I needed to get the laptop" you said pointing to where it had been positioned. Although you had wanted to get out of the room as soon as possible, one thought had lingered on your mind "Why do you hate me so much?" you finally got out making this the first time you confronted him about this.

He looked up from his phone once you said it as you went closer to him to gain his attention. He placed his phone in his pocket and stood up in front of you.

"Why are you asking me this? It's not like you've not hated me too" he scoffed.

"You're the one that pushed me over this morning. At least apologise for it like a normal civilised person"

"You were in my way. If anyone should apologise it should be you" Jisung remarked stepping just a bit more closer where you were.

"I'm not apologising for that. Have you noticed how petty our arguments are? You're the only person that does this"

“Stop talking” he stated anger present in his tone.

“What do you me-” you started but he cut you off by leaning forward for your lips to meet his. Although shocked at first you melted into the kiss instinctively wrapping your arms around his neck.

"What was that?" you asked surprised by the sudden contact.

"I didn't mean to do that" Jisung replied, speaking rather quickly, a light pink tinge colouring his cheeks.

"So. How long for?" you questioned out of curiosity. He instantly knew the answer behind your vague question.

"A few weeks now. I'm going to need you to say no if you don’t like me. Otherwise I won’t be able to refrain myself" Jisung said hesitant in his next approach.

"I like you too Jisung" you whispered almost too softly to be perceived but you could tell he had known what you said as he pushed you backwards onto the bed, his lips hastily finding your own as he hovered over you.

During the time, his hands ran up and down your sides as he managed to discard your shirt in the process. You managed to do the same with his. Your fingers tugged at his hair as you kissed him fervently whilst you had been pushed up against the headboard of the bed.

The door clicked open yet the both of you didn't realise being too preoccupied with each other. Upon noticing what had happened Chan retreated out of the room, locking the door simultaneously, sparing both of you the embarrassment of being walked in on for this moment in time.

"Jisung. Stop" you said pulling away recollecting why you had gotten into this situation in the first place "the others are still downstairs"

"Damn. I forgot about them” 

“We can't let them know just yet" you said, knowing it would be rather strange to bring it up for the two of you, taking into consideration they would never believe the two of you to even get along, forget having feelings for each other.

“I have an idea” he replied as it would look suspicious for the two of you to leave the room together. He grabbed his shirt from the floor, using his hand in a vain attempt to remove any creases from it.

"I'll go downstairs first. Just say you couldn't find the laptop when you come down"

You listened to what he said as you neatened up your appearance, using your fingers to straighten up your hair back to it's original state. Only time would be able to tell what would happen between the two of you.

"You've finally decided to come down" Changbin said glancing at Jisung.

"I wasn't upstairs for that long" he replied casually as he took a seat next to Chan and taking a sip of one of the drinks that had been placed on the table. The other boys in the room intently watched him, readily noting down any unusual responses from Jisung.

"Don't act innocent. We know what the two of you got up to upstairs" Chan said causing Jisung to start choking on his drink fighting back his coughs. 

"What do you mean?"

"I saw what happened. Next time get a room that's not mine" Chan replied disappointed in his expression "but admit it. You like her don't you"

He knew he had to leave his act behind as it had proven useless to hide anything else, knowing that he had been caught red-handed. Although part of him didn’t ant to admit it, he knew that the truth would be displayed sooner or later as he had been rendered hopeless at this point.

"Fine. I like her a lot" he said failing to maintain eye contact with anyone, keeping his gaze fixed on his can of soda so that his speech didn’t falter in the slightest. 

"Finally. We knew you two liked each other for a while. The two of you are just clueless enough to argue all the time to hide it" Hyunjin stated.

“Whatever you do. Please don’t tell her you guys know about this” Jisung said as a precaution, knowing the talkative personalities behind all of the boys, which is what had gotten him into this scenario in the first place.

“Whatever you want” Chan said with a smirk “But I don’t think it’ll be long till we ‘find out’ again” 

Masterlist

[alarawriting]

52 Project #9: The Timeless Tunnels of Crystal Station

Three people come down from the ships docked at Crystal Station. Hundreds of others do the same, but these are important. Focus on them--

Stepping down from a two-man ship, which is a shuttle from the starship Rhiannon, are the captain of Rhiannon and his best friend, Rhiannon's computer engineer. Matt Pison, human, terratype, Martian, is the captain. He is tall, blond, muscular from his life in the Martian colonies but pale from little sunlight, brown-eyed. Next to him is D'mir Colotho, draine, Bcoilica. He is short, corded muscle unusual for a draine, dark hair, dark eyes and brown draine skin. They are at Crystal Station, outside the boundaries of the Web of Eyes but still within the Alliance, to relax, refuel and restock. Nobody ever told them about Crystal Station.

Wardra knows. She comes down from her one-person cruise craft. Wardra Gyuunyushiligni, farla, Evstarb, with pale green skin, an upsweep of pink hair, lavender eyes. She is tall, thin, but more powerful-looking than the usual farla, with muscles in slender cords and the electric scent of power about her. Wardra knows the dangers of Crystal Station, but she has something to prove.

Crystal Station Central is a place bustling with people. It's a huge room, with milky crystal walls and twelve doorways leading from it. They all look identical, with opaque tracker fields hiding what they conceal behind, but for numbers over their doors. Eleven doorways lead to rest and recreation areas, stores, other such things. The things that people come to Crystal Station for, braving the dangers outside the Web because Crystal Station's prices are so much cheaper than anyone else's. One doorway leads to the mazes around Crystal Station, and that's why the prices are so cheap.

If the powerful ones in the Web of Eyes or the GalConfed knew of this link, Crystal Station would be destroyed. But they don't. No one listens to the mystic Evstarb farlae. And no one else who knows can speak.

***

Matt and D'mir head for a glowing information booth. Matt asks, "Information?"

"Yes," the booth answers.

"Where can I go to get my ship refueled?"

The correct answer is Doorway 12. Random numbers in the computer juggle. Not many have gone through Doorway 9 lately. Does this weigh the decision? No way to tell.

"Doorway 9," the Information Booth tells them. It has no face to keep straight. The faceless are the best liars.

Matt and D'mir go toward Doorway 9 with their fueling schedule as Wardra approaches another glowing information booth. She asks, "C'lianp?" She is about to ask the same thing as Matt. It's a different booth, but the same computer controls them all.

"Ad," the booth acknowledges.

"Hafar eszgi tram l'notla ofir?"

Random numbers in the computer juggle. Wardra is an Evstarb farla. Does this weigh the decision? No way to tell.

"Alfi 9," the C'lianp Inl tells her. It has no mind, and gives off no psionic telltales to be read by a mystic.

Wardra feels a tiny thrill of excitement. She has come here, despite the danger, to prove that she is not a coward. 1 chance out of 12, and if her gamble is successful she will get fuel cheap enough to see her into the Web-controlled territory, despite her limited funds. She will finally be free of Evstar, once and for all. But if her gamble fails... Shaking with excitement and more than a bit of fear, she heads for Doorway 9.

As she steps through the opaque tracker field that covers the door, an arrow of pain stabs through her mind, and she staggers and falls to her knees. Terror overwhelms her. Her gamble has failed.

Somebody pulls her to her feet. She looks up at Matt.

"Are you all right?" Matt asks. "What's wrong?"

He speaks GalConfed Standard. Though Evstar is outside the GalConfed, Wardra had always hoped to go to a world inside its domains, and so she learned Standard, though she speaks it with an accent. "I'm-- all right," she says, getting her balance. "I'm an Evstarb farla. That should explain it."

"I'm afraid it doesn't," Matt says, frowning. "I don't know much about farla, except for those in the GalConfed. D'mir?"

"Evstarb farlae are mystics," D'mir says. "They tend to have powerful psionic abilities. Most likely she sensed something unpleasant. What was it?" he asks her.

"You don't know?" Wardra asks. "That was the Barrier. Now that we've gone through the Barrier, we'll never be allowed to leave."

"What are you talking about?" Matt asks.

D'mir, being a draine, is quicker on the uptake. He presses a hand against the doorway. "It won't reopen," he says. His voice is calm, but then draine voices are almost always calm. "Does it block psionic transmission as well?"

"Yes." Wardra is shaking. On her homeworld they called her Jliga, coward, because she would not bear children. She left Evstar to prove she wasn't-- or to avoid the pressure to risk childbearing? Perhaps she is a coward after all?

"What are the two of you talking about?" Matt asks again.

"We can't get back," D'mir says. "The doorway is locked from this side."

"That's ridiculous! Why?"

Wardra takes a deep breath. "This place, Crystal Station, runs on the psionic output of-- things, creatures that feed on humanoids. They don't put out emanations if they're not well-fed. Crystal Station doesn't pay for fueling costs-- that's why everything is so cheap. Everyone who comes here pays in risk-- one out of every five hundred gets misdirected through this doorway. And those who get caught, like we did, pay in blood. There's a maze around Crystal Station, populated with these creatures. That's where we are."

"That-- they can't possibly get away with this," Matt says. "The Web of Eyes would‑‑"

"Crystal Station is outside the Web's range," D'mir reminds him.

"But-- we'd hear something. All those people disappearing--"

"People disappear from stations outside the Web all the time-- they're hotbeds for vice and crime. Unfortunately, if Crystal Station polices itself reasonably well, they can keep their disappearance rate under the average, even if one out of five hundred disappear." D'mir presses himself against the Barrier again. "There must be a way to bypass this," he murmurs.

"They get away with it because there's no proof. Nobody who disappears ever comes back out," Wardra says.

"So how did you know?"

"The Evstarb mystics can talk to the dead, sometimes."

"So why'd you come here? Why did you go through the doorway?"

"I didn't know what doorway it was, any more than you."

"Why don't the Evstarb mystics tell someone?"

Wardra smiles, bitterly. "Who believes farlae?"

"She's right, unfortunately," D'mir says. "All the other humanitypes, such as us draines, are genetically close enough to pure humaniform that we treat each other as if we're reasonably close to the same species. Farlae are usually treated as true aliens, and farlae from worlds like Evstar, that don't even make an attempt to fit in, are heavily stigmatized."

"Still, someone would listen," Matt says. "Did your people even try?"

"My people are narrow, short-sighted fools. And I am one of them. I didn't even think to warn anyone about Crystal Station."

There's not really anything Matt can say, in the face of her self-directed fury. "Well, there'll be investigations when D'mir and I don't come back. We're very important men-- I'm a starship captain, for god's sake. They'll have to investigate. My crew will tear this place apart looking for us."

"They won't find anything," Wardra says dully. "The computers are probably programmed to erase references to Doorway 9 from their banks."

"Then anyone I trained will wonder why no one ever goes through Doorway 9, and try to find out what it is," D'mir says.

"I'm sure they've thought of everything," Wardra says despondently.

"Hey! Don't give up hope so soon," Matt says, trying to cheer her. "D'mir, any luck with the door?"

"I could bypass it, but I don't have the tools."

"Can you jury-rig something?"

"I don't have the tools," D'mir repeats patiently.

"Is there any chance we can find the tools, somewhere in the maze?"

"I don't know what we're likely to find in the maze. I don't think it likely, but anything's possible."

"Well then. We've still got some hope. And we've both got weapons. We'll beat this yet. Come on."

"Come on where?" Wardra asks, fear in her face. "Where is there to go?"

"If we stand around like sitting ducks, something's sure to nail us sooner or later. We need to set up a secure base of operations, something we can defend, and start scoping out the place. I'm Captain Matt Pison of the starship Rhiannon. This is D'mir Colotho, our chief computer man, a draine from Bcoilo. And you?"

"Wardra Gyuunyushiligni. I have an independent cruiser-- I was trying to get into the GalConfed. That's why I came here, even though I knew about the risk-- I didn't have much money."

"Farlae outside the GalConfed aren't known for wanting to get in," D'mir says. "Why did you decide to leave Evstar and head for the GalConfed in the first place?"

"That, conv'ril, is a story too complicated and personal to discuss now."

Matt looks around. "I don't like being exposed like this. Let's go into the maze, see if we can find food, shelter, the works. They've got to feed us, or we'll die before we can feed their creatures."

And so they go. The halls are grayish-white in and of themselves, but the lights that shine on them are dim and faintly reddish, single bulbs poking out of the ceiling. Dust is everywhere, thick on the ground, turning the air musty and old. They pass alcoves with food dispensers, and Matt discovers that they can get packet rations-- tasteless chalky things, but nutritious-- from them. Finally they find a room with a lockable door, a water tap, and supplies all around, such as blankets and aged empty packets. There is a makeshift bed in the corner.

"This looks like someone made a shelter for themselves, left to get supplies, and never came back," D'mir pronounces, examining everything with sharp draine intellect. "Good."

"Good?" Wardra asks disbelievingly.

"There's no sign of a struggle in this room, and no filled packet rations. It looks like whoever it was was safe while they were here, and weren't attacked by the creatures until they left. I do have to say that I've seen no spoor-- no droppings or animal tracks."

"Maybe this isn't near where they live," Matt says hopefully.

"That doesn't make sense, unfortunately. This is near the doorway-- if the humanoids who come through that doorway are the only victims, and the only food, they'll have to forage out this far."

"Why couldn't we find a shelter nearer one of the food dispensers?" Wardra asks. "If it's dangerous to leave the shelter--"

"Did you see any rooms near the food dispenser?" Matt asks.

"No." Wardra shakes her head apologetically. "I'm sorry-- I don't mean to whine. It's the tension. How do we want to work this, then? Safety in numbers? Do we stick together when we go out?"

"Yes, at least for now," Matt says. "I can't think of a better way to do it."

***

They set up a makeshift camp, making three beds out of the spare blankets and depositing the food packets Matt had collected. Then they go out to explore, map out emergency routes, and try to find the tools D'mir will need.

As they pass by a food alcove, a thing screeches in. It is a flying beast, and yet it has no wings. It is like a huge black tube with rotating silver teeth. Set into its head is an eye, bright purple. Wardra drops to one knee, pulls out a gun, and blasts at it. The thing flips backwards, but keeps coming. It aims itself at D'mir. D'mir and Matt shoot lasers at it, but the thing keeps coming. Wardra's missiles hit it in its mouth and eye, repeatedly, and eventually it drops.

"That's an iver," D'mir says. "It's highly psionic, but slightly repelled by psi sources-- it prefers null-psi meals."

"Like you," Matt says.

"Yes. Like me." D'mir has gone gray and bloodless, but shows no other sign of the fear he must have felt. "Thank you, Wardra."

"What'd you hit it with?" Matt asks.

Wardra shows him her gun, an ancient projectile weapon. "Our technology isn't as advanced on Evstar," she says. "Does that mean you're psionic?"

"Not really," Matt says. "Most terratype humans have a slight psi rating, though, and draines typically don't have any. They're true nulls. Let me see that?"

He examines her gun, and hands it to D'mir. "What do you make of it?"

"The creature might be an energy-eater, capable of absorbing the lasers without damage. This would tear through its flesh."

"I also put push behind it," Wardra says.

"Push? What do you mean?"

"I-- called to it, mind to mind. I told it to die. I didn't put my full effort into it-- I didn't need to. But I think it helped."

"Told it to die?" Matt stares at her. "Could you have killed that thing with just your mind?"

"I don't think so-- and it'd cripple me to try, so I'm not going to unless it's an emergency."

"Do you have enough ammunition to kill another one without trying to kill it with your mind?"

Wardra examines her ammunition clip. "No." She puts it back. “I could kill it by feeding myself to it, but I think you’ll understand if I’d rather not.”

Matt laughs. “Of course not.”

“Farlae are poisonous to ivers?” D’mir asks.

“I didn’t know that was an iver until D’mir said so, but yes, that’s what we’re taught. It won’t save our lives – the things may be psionic, but they’re too stupid to know we’re poisonous. But if it makes a meal out of me, at least I’ll be avenged.”

“I’m not going to let it come to that,” Matt said. “We’re all in this together.”

***

The days pass without distinction, an endless river of unchanging time. Occasionally a scream is heard. There is nothing to focus on-- everything is the same.

They explore, sometimes, searching for weapons or tools. They find dead bodies, and plenty of energy weapons, and money and valuables, but no weapons they can use against the ivers, and no living people. Carefully they avoid running into the creatures, as best they can. When they're tired, they go to their room and talk.

Matt is convinced that the crew of the Rhiannon must be looking for him and D’mir, but how could they possibly guess the true nature of Crystal Station to even begin to look in the correct places? D’mir, bluntly, suggests that their crew probably think they are dead and spaced, or kidnapped and taken into slavery, somewhere far from the station.

They encounter another creature, not an iver. D’mir identifies this one as a neskelly. Imagine a crab, with octopus tentacles that it walks on, crab-like. Now imagine it the height of the average human. This one is more interested in Wardra than the human or the draine, and the venom in its tentacles disrupts her psi. Matt fires at it from a distance, but it seems to be bothered by that as little as the iver was. It ignores D’mir, so he is able to get in close enough to batter its head with the butt of his energy weapon, and when its mouth gapes open to bite him, he shoots it in the mouth. That actually works.

“Did we try shooting the iver in the mouth?” Matt asks.

“We hardly shot it anywhere else,” D’mir says dryly. “I suspected a thing like this would exist.”

“A giant crab-octopus thing?”

“A thing that would prey chiefly on beings with psi, rather than beings with none. If ivers were the only creatures in here, the Crystal Station algorithms would have never sent a farla in here.”

“I should have realized that,” Wardra says. “How many kinds of creatures do you think there are in here?”

“No way to guess,” D’mir says. “But we’ve seen a type that prefer psionic victims, and a type that prefer null-psi. I imagine there may be types that prefer low psi, like humans, or are completely indifferent to the level of psi their target has. A balanced ecosystem.” His voice doesn’t change, but a subtle shift in his face tells Matt, at least, that he is making the draine equivalent of a joke.

“We’ll have to be even more careful,” Matt says.

***

Time passes, and Wardra tells them finally of why she fled Evstar. When childbirth kills 1 out of 3 farla women, the remainder are pressured to bear all the more. It is her duty to her species to risk her life in childbirth. Wardra chose not to, and so they called her coward, and drove her from her homeworld.

Time passes, and Matt tells stories of his adventures, faring the spaceroutes of the galaxy, traveling amidst the GalConfed and the Zermiloni Demesne and the Ananranjan Net, all the worlds of the Orlon Alliance.

Time passes, and D'mir tells how he came to leave Bcoilo, where he would have had a promising career in the sciences, because he had a desire for adventure that the stolid, practical draines frowned on. And as the endless days and nights go past, it seems as if they have known each other eternities. As if they are soulmates, born to each other.

Then they find a dead engineer, with tools he obviously hadn't been able to use. As one, they recognize this as their chance. As one, they turn and run down the corridors, heading back for the Barrier.

***

As they approach closely, they begin to walk, unwilling to attract unnecessary attention. Before, they were in iver territory, and there it was necessary to move quickly. Here, those few marauding ivers still around will tune in on the sound of running feet more readily than in the deep areas of the maze, where more victims are to be found, searching hopelessly for a way out. They walk down the timeless tunnels of Crystal Station, tense and wary, watching for anything. There is hope in all their eyes, but fear as well-- because if this doesn't work, they are all doomed, sooner or later.

Wardra and Matt stand guard as D’Mir takes the wall apart, looking for anything that ties into the controls. “I wouldn’t expect to find the actual control board on this side of the barrier,” D’mir says. “They’d want it to be accessible to them, without risking being eaten, and they don’t want us to be able to access it.”

“So what are you going to do about that?” Wardra asks.

“The power conduits run through all the walls of the station, including these. The lights and the food dispensers wouldn’t work without them.” He locates a power conduit. “In addition, the engineers who need to perform maintenance over here would want to make absolutely certain they couldn’t accidentally be trapped, so there is a manual release for this barrier, somewhere. Controlled by a passcode, or perhaps even by removing a panel and completing a circuit, but wherever that is… either I’ll find a bundle of control wires passing through to the board on the outside, or it’s going to tap into the power conduits and provide a means of shutting the power down briefly.”

“Which way’s going to be faster to get the door open?” Matt asks.

“Whichever one I encounter sooner, which likely depends on exactly how they implemented it,” D’mir says.

“Well, take your time. No big rush,” Matt says, joking.

A third type of creature, which looks like a rolling ball with short spikes that flatten as they approach the ground and pop back up again as they roll off the floor and upward, attacks them. It’s not immune to energy weapons like the other two they’ve encountered, so Matt is able to make short work of it. Wardra saves what little ammunition is left in her clip in case another iver or neskelly or something else resistant to energy weapons comes.

The lights flicker and then turn off. “Now,” D’mir says, and Matt grabs Wardra’s hand and pulls her through the now nonexistent barrier, D’mir right behind him. The barrier flickers back on with the lights only seconds after they’re all through.

An alarm shrills.

“Let’s go!” Matt shouts, and runs, D’mir and Wardra right behind him, heading for the docking bay.

Crystal Station looks much like a wheel, from outside the station. There’s a circular central hub. 12 spokes come from this hub. Each, ostensibly, connects to the outer ring. Each also connects to a second hub-like layer, “above” the first in the orientation of the main gravity panels… though only one of the spokes uses that connection. From the central hub, there are staircases and elevators and person-movers and escalators leading “down”, below the hub’s floor, to the docking area, which sticks out of the base of the hub like the bottom of a muffin. So there are 12 doorways visitors can take when seeking the food, shops, hospitality and fuel sales kiosks in the outer ring – though one of those 12 will never reach that area. But the docking area is all one area, large and divided more by markings on the floor than anything more substantial. Matt and D’mir’s shuttle and Wardra’s single-person craft are both located there.

The fastest way to go is to take the escalator and run down it, but silver robots swarm all over the hub and cut them off from the escalator. These robots have wheels; they won’t be able to handle stairs, so Matt, Wardra and D’mir end up taking the stairs. It won’t save them from the robots in the long run; the robots can easily take the people-mover. But the goal is to get to their ships before the robots stop them.

D’mir stops at a computer terminal, removes an object from his pocket, and inserts it into a slot in the terminal. An image like a sphere appears, the color slowly draining from it as it spins.

Wardra’s ship has a fingerprint lock. She places her hand against the door. It does not open.

“Matt! D’mir! They may have overridden the locks on our ships!” she yells, and sees the robots come down off the people-movers.

“Of course,” Matt pants. “They can’t let us get away, knowing their secret.” He fires his energy weapon at one of the robots. It drops. There are people milling around, though, boarding or disembarking from docked ships, doing maintenance work, refueling ships, and Matt can’t get a clear shot at the other robots as they weave in and out of the crowd.

D’mir’s sphere has turned translucent and he’s typing frantically, the characters spelling out nothing that would make sense to anyone accustomed to the friendly interfaces of the computers. Bubbles appear all around him with additional information, and every so often he quickly glances at them and then returns to his typing.

Wardra can’t risk firing her gun when there’s so many people around, either. She bangs on her ship’s hatch. It still doesn’t open. Robots come rolling toward her, so she runs, knocking people in her way aside, but the bay is full of the robots and the outcome’s never really in doubt. She’s still got a wrench in her hand from the engineer’s tools D’mir used to take the wall apart, and she bashes one of the robots in its delicate light sensors, smashing its ability to see. But then the next one is behind her, wrapping long silver arms around her. She shrieks and curses and thrashes. None of this matters to the robot; it rolls into a faint green beam of light and follows the beam back to the people-mover, rolling back up toward the hub. Toward Doorway 9 and the monsters and the barrier.

The robots have now detected D’mir; presumably the fact that he wasn’t trying to get to a ship delayed them from recognizing him as one of their targets. He finishes typing, and the spinning sphere starts filling with color. Then he turns around, takes a step, and is immediately hugged by a silver robot. It, too, rolls toward the people-mover.

Matt manages to reach his ship, and shoots a couple of robots that get close enough to him that there’s no one in the way. He sees large docking clamps holding it in place, which hadn’t been there when he’d docked, and realizes – without D’mir to make the computer release the clamps, he won’t be able to get the ship to lift off even if he gets through the door. Still, if he can get inside, he can barricade the robots out and he can call Rhiannon for backup. There’s an emergency manual override for the lock, but as he flips the panel that hides it open, a robot grabs his arm and pulls him toward itself, wrapping the other arm around him as it does.

It rolls him upstairs on the people-mover, and toward Doorway 9. He shouts, the whole time. “Listen, all you people! Don’t take Doorway 9! Crystal Station is a trap! It’ll kill you! Tell the GalConfed, tell the Web of Eyes, somebody! Tell someone, it’s a trap! Don’t go beyond Doorway 9—”

Then it deposits him past the barrier, which flares blue, and now no one in the hub can hear him anymore.

The people who run Crystal Station are annoyed. It’s a good bit of work to mix up the doorways, and now they’ll have to do it again.

***

The three reconnoiter at the sanctuary they’d established. It looks no different than it did before their abortive escape. For D’mir, this is entirely expected, but for Matt and Wardra, it seems strange, as if they left far longer ago than this morning.

Wardra is angry at herself. “The Evstarbs were right all along. I am a coward.”

Matt blinks. “Exactly how do you figure that?”

“Did you hear how I screamed when that thing grabbed me?” Wardra complains. “Like a child. I should have shot it.”

“It was wise of you not to try,” D’mir said. “You would probably have hit one of the people, and at best you’d only have taken out one of the robots. There were too many for us to realistically fight. As for screaming… I’m a draine. I’ve been raised since infancy to be stoic and accept the things I cannot change. And I was tempted to scream when it grabbed me.”

“But you didn’t actually do it,” Wardra said.

“Wardra. Screaming because you’ve been attacked by a thing that might kill you, and does, in fact, take you back to a place where you have to face monsters to survive, is not cowardice by any stretch of the imagination,” Matt says. “It really doesn’t help you or anyone else to beat yourself up over something so trivial. You fought as hard as you could. That’s hardly cowardice.”

“It’s not particularly relevant in any case,” D’mir says. “What’s more important is that I believe I may have succeeded in convincing the computer systems to release our ships and the barrier in somewhere between 2 and 4 hours.”

“Really!” Matt says. “That’s excellent news!”

“Why not immediately?” Wardra asks.

“There is a power cycle,” D’mir explains. “I wasn’t able to determine exactly when the cycle should take place, but it’ll be somewhere between 2 to 4 hours from now. We’ll know exactly when it’s happening if the lights flicker. Power will fluctuate and weaken for five to ten minutes and then drop, because I believe I’ve delayed the cycle from beginning after the end of the previous one. We may have as long as fifteen minutes or as little as five to get through the barrier and get to our ships.”

“What about the robots?” Wardra is nervous. The robots plainly frighten her.

“If I can get to the computer before they get loose and intercept us, I can override the subroutine that sends out the robots. We’ll have to be ready to move the moment the barrier goes down.”

“Which means we’re going to have to be out there, in the open, waiting for the power outage,” Matt says solemnly. “Down between 2 and 4 hours from now means we’re going to be exposed for up to 2 hours, because we’re not going to have enough time if we’re here when it goes down.”

“It’s not ideal,” D’mir says.

“It’s actually awful!” Wardra says. “D’mir, I don’t have enough ammo to take down another iver.”

“That is a concern,” D’mir says, “but I wasn’t able to narrow down the window beyond 2.5 to 3.5 hours. So it’s actually only one hour, not two, that we’re going to be exposed.”

“But what do we do if an iver shows up?” Wardra asks.

“Whatever we can,” Matt says. “If D’mir is killed, he’s not going to be able to stop the robots.” He takes a deep breath. “We’ve been out for as long as an hour before without being attacked. We’re just going to have to hope luck is with us this time.”

***

They pass the time by telling stories about their lives, the same as they’ve done for the past – how long has it been? Two weeks? A month? Three months?

When it’s time, they head toward the barrier. They’re careful, never stepping around a corner until they’re sure it’s clear. They reach the barrier without problems, but now, they have to wait. Anytime within the next hour, the barrier might go down. Anytime within the next hour, they might be attacked by a creature.

It actually happens half an hour later.

An iver sails around the corner of the corridor, up ahead, cutting them off from any escape route. They’re up against the barrier and unless it goes down right now, the iver is going to reach them.

The barrier does not go down right now.

Both Matt and D’mir fire their energy weapons at the iver, knowing it’s not going to do a lot of good, but there’s not much else they can do. The shots affect it very little. Wardra empties her own gun into the iver, four shots. It bleeds and slows down, but it doesn’t stop. Cursing, Wardra runs toward the iver, holding her gun to use it as a blunt instrument, the way D’mir used his energy weapon against the neskelly.

The iver is much bigger than the neskelly was.

Matt runs at it with his own weapon, firing it directly into the thing’s mouth. “I’m going to try to hit the thing in the head with this!” he yells, brandishing the gun.

“Don’t be dumb, the iver’s much too big! My gun’s heavier!” Wardra reaches the back of the thing and tries to leap up on its back. The iver flicks its tail, smacking into her and throwing her into the wall.

D’mir manages to hit the iver in its eyes with the energy weapon. It blinks and cringes, but doesn’t seem to react beyond what an unpleasantly bright light would do.

Matt grabs one of the thing’s fin-like protrubances and pulls himself up, onto the iver. He bashes the back of its head with his gun, once, twice, three times. Then the iver flips upside down, dumping him on the ground, and then reverts to its previous orientation. Matt’s plainly stunned.

D’mir’s firing into the thing’s eyes over and over, but it doesn’t slow much. In another ten seconds he’ll be dead. Matt is trying to get to his feet but there’s no way he can get to D’mir in time.

Wardra’s had a chance to recover from being hit. She’s running toward D’mir and the iver, with farla speed, long legs covering the distance in moments. “You ne’harfda!” she screams at the iver. “Look at me!”

She flings her gun, and it hits the thing in the head. It turns, its mouth open wide, to face the threat it just detected, and she throws herself at its mouth.

D’mir rolls away. The iver crashes to the ground, its levitation gone, and it begins to convulse. It spits up a green broken thing covered with holes and white farla blood, a thing that used to be their friend.

It is obvious that nothing can be done to help Wardra. The logical, intelligent thing to do, the draine thing to do, would be to run from the convulsing creature, to ensure that Wardra’s sacrifice wasn’t in vain. Instead, D’mir waits for his moment, when the creature’s violent spasms have turned its head away from Wardra’s body. He charges in, grabs her body and throws it over his shoulder.

Matt reaches him. It’s been seconds. “Can we save her?” he asks.

“If the field goes down right now. If we get back to the ship and get her to the medical ward within ten minutes.”

The field does not go down right now.

The iver finally dies, poisoned by the parts of Wardra’s flesh it managed to tear off and swallow. D’mir and Matt sit with her body. Matt tears off his clothing to bandage her. D’mir does not. He’s already done something supremely stupid by draine standards, out of hope rather than logic. From his perspective, there is no longer any hope.

Eventually the field does go down, and they run. Matt carries Wardra’s body, drawing stares from the passersby at Crystal Station. D’mir’s going to need his hands free.

The robots get loose just as D’mir spoofs the credentials he needs to get into the system. They’re within meters of D’mir and Matt when D’mir manages to shut down the routine that commands them, and they roll back to the alcoves they came from.

The lock on their shuttle is released. Matt and D’mir climb into the shuttle and do not file a flight plan. Wardra’s body is strapped into a chair as if she’s riding with them. Matt pilots, D’mir watching the instruments as a second line of warning if Matt misses anything, because he’s on full automatic with no clearance from the station.

The station actually fires on them. Matt expected that they would when he first got into the shuttle. He releases chaff to draw the fire as D’mir raises shields to maximum. GalConfed ships, and shuttles, are designed for defense in a hostile universe. Crystal Station is unable to stop them as they shoot outward, toward Rhiannon.

***

Rhiannon is where they left it. The crew hadn’t been willing to move on before they’d completed their investigation into the disappearance of their captain and chief technologist.

D’mir asks the doctor if she can keep Wardra’s body preserved and restore it cosmetically – stop the bleeding, seal the wounds. Matt informs the GalConfed about Crystal Station. Rhiannon does not refuel there; they proceed to another station, more expensive.

That night, Matt does not sleep. This morning, he was a prisoner on Crystal Station, desperately looking for a way to escape, and Wardra was alive. Three weeks ago, he didn’t even know Wardra. Amazing how quickly everything can change.

He’s been staring at the walls, the ceiling, the clock slowly changing, for hours. He doesn’t think he’s asleep yet, but Wardra is there, sitting on the edge of his bed.

“I’m dreaming, aren’t I?” he says, and then is angry with himself, because telling himself he’s dreaming seems likely to wake him up.

“Yes,” Wardra says, “but I’m actually here. You’re not psionic enough to see me as long as your mind is taking in inputs from the real world; I had to wait until you had just fallen asleep to make you see me.”

“How?” Matt asks.

“Farlae can leave our bodies,” she says. “You’re seeing my spirit. I can’t show myself to D’mir; he’s got no psi at all. I need you to talk to him.”

“About what?”

There are tears on her face. “I am a coward. I didn’t want to die. I still don’t want to be dead. But what he’s doing won’t work. He can’t save me.”

Matt sits up, staring at her. “First of all, you just gave your life to save a friend. That, by definition, makes you not a coward.”

“But I was so afraid,” she whispers.

“Of course you were. Who wouldn’t be? Being afraid just proves you had a sense of self-preservation, not cowardice. You let that iver eat you to save D’mir.”

“And he’s consumed with guilt about it.”

Matt shakes his head. “He’s a draine. He knows it’s not reasonable to feel guilt because of the choice you made. He didn’t ask you to do what you did.”

“He’s trying to save me,” Wardra says, “and he can’t. And I don’t want him to try, because I can’t read his mind and he keeps his feelings off his face but I know he’s doing this because he feels guilt. Because it’s burning him up that I died to save him. Tell him it was my choice, tell him he has to let me go.”

“What is he doing?” Matt asks, and then realizes he is awake, the sound of his own voice still ringing in his ears, and Wardra’s not there anymore.

He gets dressed and goes to find D’mir. ***

D’mir is in sickbay. Wardra’s body lies cold on a table, in a sterile field.

“What are you doing?” Matt asks.

D’mir turns. He’s calm, no sign of emotion on his face, but he’s a draine. Matt knows better than to look at his face to see his feelings. His hands on his tools are the stark pale color of tightly clenched muscles cutting the blood circulation to the skin. “I’m trying to repair Wardra’s body.”

“Repair?”

D’mir nods. “I did some research. Farlae can create a psionic construct to house their consciousness and memories – they describe this in somewhat fanciful terms, claiming their spirits can leave their bodies, but it’s a fairly concrete and documented fact.”

“Do you think you can bring her back to life?”

D’mir turns back to his work. “Well, the problem with a psionic construct is that after the brain that created it is destroyed, it has no means of replenishing its energy. It’ll fade. Farlae traditionally cast their ‘spirits’, for lack of a more precise term, out of their bodies at the moment of death if they feel they have something they need to accomplish before that energy runs out – very similar to the human legends of ghosts that continue after death because of unfinished business in life, but I’m not sure any human has sufficient psionic energy to create one of these constructs in the first place.”

“That’s not what I asked, D’mir.”

D’mir does not face him. “Assuming that she created such a construct, and that the construct followed us onto the ship, and that I can successfully get enough of her body repaired with cybernetics that I can restart her heart and lungs, repair any brain damage, and prepare the body for the psionic construct to return to it… yes. Yes, there’s a small but non-zero chance that I can save her life.”

“You can’t save something that’s gone. You’re not talking about saving her life, you’re talking about restoring it.”

“It’s hardly some sort of fictional necromancy,” D’mir says. “If she didn’t, in fact, create a psionic construct before she died, there’ll be nothing I can do.”

Matt takes a deep breath. “She did. She spoke to me, while I was asleep.”

Now D’mir looks at him, startled. “Are you sure it wasn’t a dream?”

“Since she explained to me exactly what you just did… no, it wasn’t a dream. Apparently I’m just psionic enough that she can appear to me while I’m asleep. But she says that you won’t succeed at this, and that trying will just hurt you.”

“I cannot imagine a circumstance in which giving up on a friend causes less pain than trying to save them and failing,” D’mir says. “But if it’s possible, I’d like to know why she doesn’t think it will work.” He turns back to his work. “It’s the brain damage that needs to be repaired, primarily. A great deal of her body was damaged, but most of that can be replaced with cybernetics, and could even be replaced after she’s alive again. I’ve gotten her heart and lungs restarted; Dr. Pryhh can repair her gastrointestinal tract, and we can replace her damaged limbs easily enough. I’m optimistic about the restoration of her physical brain, and if her brain is restored and she still exists as a psionic construct… she should be able to return to her body and live. If she knows something about why that might not work…”

“I don’t know how to ask,” Matt says. “I can’t see her now; I was only able to see her because I was asleep. And while it’s still the middle of the night, I don’t think I’m getting to sleep anytime soon.”

“It’s theoretically possible that a state of meditation will allow Wardra to appear to you. The sensory data you’re getting from the world around you will drown out anything your rudimentary psi can show you, which is why she needed to wait until you were asleep. But if you were enter a state of deep relaxation and quiet your mind, she might be able to manifest to you.”

Matt does not know how to explain to D’mir that the vast majority of humans cannot possibly enter a state of deep relaxation and quiet mind if they’ve just been woken by the ghost of a dead friend, and have found out that their other friend is attempting to resurrect their dead friend as a cyborg. “I’m not sure I can do that right now,” he says diplomatically.

“Perhaps Dr. Pryhh can help.”

“It’s third shift, D’mir. Dr. Pryhh and everyone else on first shift is likely asleep.”

“Hmm. So it is. I hadn’t noticed.”

“D’mir, draines need sleep just like humans do.”

“True, but I can consciously choose to put off the need for another thirty hours if I need to. And what I’m doing is extremely time-sensitive. Even in the cold field, decay and apoptosis are continuing to do damage.”

Matt sighs. “I doubt I can stop you.” He could order D’mir to stop, but he doubts that would have any effect but to drive a wedge between him and his friend. Besides, what if D’mir can succeed?

***

When he sleeps again, Wardra appears.

“Why won’t it work?” he asks her, before she speaks.

“My body is dead,” Wardra says.

“I know, but he thinks he can resuscitate it. You.”

“You don’t understand. A dead body radiates no psionic field. I can’t just force myself into a body willy-nilly. The body has to have a psionic field for me to be able to merge with it.”

“He restarted your heart and lungs; can he restart your psionic field? I assume it doesn’t require that you be conscious and in control of your body, or it would disappear when you sleep, and that doesn’t sound healthy.”

“I don’t think he can.” She looks as if she’s crying, but there are no sounds. She doesn’t breathe, so there are no sobs. All there are, are the tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Can he at least try, Wardra? Or would that cause you suffering?”

She shakes her head. “It doesn’t hurt me, what he does to my body. It hurts to see him hoping, and trying, and I wish his plan would work, but I know it can’t.”

“Let him try, if you can,” Matt says. “He won’t forgive himself if he doesn’t try.”

“It won’t work,” Wardra says. “But he can try.”

***

In the morning D’mir is still working. “I believe I have most of the issues resolved,” he says. “Within the next hour, I’ll try running a low-level current through the brain to see if I can, in effect, restart it.”

“I spoke to Wardra again last night.”

“Did she clarify anything for you?”

Matt nods. “She says this can’t work because she needs the body to have a psionic field. Without starting up the body’s psionic field, she can’t merge herself with it, but she doesn’t think you can make her body produce a psionic field if she’s not in it.”

“That’s a complication,” D’mir says. “Captain. There are psionic enhancers. I don’t have any psi to enhance, but you do. If you were willing, we could set things so that you could speak to her while awake.”

“Do you think that will help?”

“If she can give me advice in real time, it might.”

And so they prevailed on Dr. Pryhh, who was awake now, to give Matt psionic enhancers. He could tell when they had taken effect, because he could see Wardra.

“I’m glad you can see me,” she says to Matt. “I won’t exist for very much longer. I’m sorry D’mir can’t see me.”

“Why won’t you exist for very much longer?” Matt asks. “Aren’t spirits eternal?”

“In your mythology, but farla spirits are real. We’re limited by thermodynamics just as everything else in this universe. There’s only so much psionic energy in this construct; without a body to anchor myself to, I’ll run out.”

D’mir had said something about that. “How long?”

“No more than a day, I think,” Wardra says.

He relays the information to D’mir. “I’ll know within a few minutes if this will work or not,” D’mir says.

He runs the current through the body. Nothing happens.

Another time. Nothing happens.

“It won’t work,” Wardra says. “A brain has to be alive to generate a psionic field.”

“Why do your people do this then?” Matt asks. “What’s the point of leaving your body when your body’s about to die, if there’s no way to return?”

“It’s not for living on after you’ve died; it’s for solving any problems that you were unable to resolve before you died.” She closes her eyes. “I shouldn’t have done it. I won’t exist long enough to see Crystal Station destroyed.”

“That’s what you wanted? To live on for?”

Wardra looks at him. “I’m a coward,” she whispers. “I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to end. I still don’t.”

“That doesn’t make you a coward. That’s normal. No one wants to die.” Matt reaches his hand out toward Wardra. “You don’t sound like someone who’s resigned to nonexistence. Tell me what we need to do to save you.”

“There isn’t—”

“A living mind produces a psionic field, right?”

“Some minds do. Farlae. Some humans. Draines don’t.”

In the real world, D’mir tries activating Wardra’s brain again. It still doesn’t work.

“You said you can’t enter your own body because it’s not generating a psionic field. But my mind is generating a psionic field.”

D’mir can hear Matt’s side of the conversation. He turns. “Captain, no.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Wardra says. “Your body is yours. Your brain is yours.”

“But you could. If you chose to.”

“I could enter your brain and merge this psionic construct with you, yes. And either I’d overwrite you, or I’d disappear into you, or we’d merge into a new being. There’s no way it could work to leave us both individual and safe.”

Matt shakes his head. “That’s probably true of farlae, but are you familiar with some of the strangeness of human brains? We can support multiple egos in the same brain. With access to different memories, different personalities, different skills. Some of us spontaneously create such egos, and live that way, multiple minds in the same body.”

D’mir says, “Wardra. If you can hear me, the captain is telling the truth, but that doesn’t mean what he’s suggesting will work.”

“D’mir. Stop,” Matt says. “This is my decision, and Wardra’s. Don’t try to talk her out of it.”

“I’m not going to do it!” Wardra cries. “I’m not going to be such a coward as to take your body and your life – even if we both could co-exist in your body, what kind of life would that be for the both of us?”

“Captain, if you sacrifice yourself—”

“D’mir.” Matt puts his hand on D’mir’s shoulder. “I know you want it to be you. I know you want to be the one to save her, because she died to save you. But you’re my friend, and so is she. If I could have sacrificed myself for you, I might have, but human flesh wouldn’t poison an iver.” He shakes his head. “But after everything we’ve all been through together…”

“Tell him I won’t do it. Don’t let him think I want to be this selfish,” Wardra says.

“She doesn’t want to do it because she thinks it’s selfish, and that she’s a coward,” Matt says to D’mir. “But she’s wrong.” He turns back to Wardra. “D’mir’s a draine. He can live with failing to save you, as long as he knows he tried. But humans are more emotional. I’m a starship captain; I should have had a better plan. I should have had some strategy for protecting us while we were waiting for the barrier to fall. I should have saved you.” He reaches toward her again. “If I know that now, I could save you, and I fail, again… how will I live with myself? You were afraid of D’mir destroying himself in trying to save you – but you’ve admitted that this could possibly work. You’re just more afraid of being thought of as selfish and cowardly than you are of dying.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” she says.

“I don’t think you will.” He comes closer to where her spirit stands.

“Have you thought this through, Captain?” D’mir says, and Matt hears emotion in his voice. Torn between saving the woman who died to save him, and protecting his captain, D’mir is starting to crack. “What if Wardra accepts, and the two of you do merge into one? Or her mind overrides yours? Or yours, hers? We don’t know what happens to a human brain when a farla psionic construct merges with it.”

“No, we don’t,” Matt says. “But I’m willing to take the risk.”

Wardra is crying. “Please stop. Please don’t offer me what I want if it’ll destroy you. I don’t want to be selfish.”

“You’re not,” he says. “You’re the most unselfish person I’ve met. I can only hope to achieve a tiny fraction of what you are.”

D’mir lowers his head. “Wardra, if you can hear me… he is correct. You are not selfish. You are not a coward. And if the captain is this determined to offer his body to you, so that you can live – refuse, if you wish, because you don’t want to live sharing a body with a human, or a man, or another person at all, perhaps. But don’t refuse because you think it would be selfish to accept.”

She squeezes her eyes closed, but it doesn’t stop the manifestation of tears. They aren’t real, after all. Imaginary eyelids cannot hold back imaginary tears.

“Please, Wardra,” Matt says, and she finally takes his hand.

***

Crystal Station still exists, but it’s been annexed into the Web of Eyes. Everyone who was previously employed there is gone, as are the creatures. The people who once ran Crystal Station may be in prison, or dead. Matt and Wardra don’t particularly care which.

They speak in different accents, they have different body language. D’mir has been able to tell the difference since the day Wardra took Matt’s hand. Other crew members found it hard to tell, at first. D’mir expresses amazement; how is it not obvious?

There are issues. Wardra finds it painful to be no longer farla. Having different genitalia and a different build doesn’t disturb her nearly as much as not being a farla. Her psionic senses are mostly gone; the drugs that let Matt be psionic enough to sense her are dangerous to humans if overused, so mostly she is limited to the very, very dull psionic ability of a human. She has never been comfortable around other people, and now her body is a starship captain’s, and she is surrounded by other people all the time, and she occupies a brain alongside another person.

Matt does not regret his decision, because it was the only way Wardra could live. But it bothers him as well, having to let another person who lives inside his head take control of his body sometimes.

It’s hard to live as one of two minds inside the same body, only able to interact with the world and be heard outside of one’s own head when the other permits. They try to be fair with each other. Wardra recognizes that she is a guest and defers to Matt; Matt doesn’t want to steal Wardra’s life from her after working so hard to give it back. But there is no denying that it is painful for both of them.

Wardra’s body is frozen in cold storage. D’mir hasn’t given up hope of getting the body working and somehow transferring her mind into it, someday. His friends are suffering and he wants to fix it, but there are things beyond the reach of anyone, draine, human or farla. He has brought up the possibility of talking to farlae – not Evstarb farlae, as Wardra would never tolerate asking them for help – but so far, she is uncomfortable with the idea and Matt won’t push her.

But there are those who lost loved ones to Crystal Station, who never knew what had happened, who have closure now. There are those who made the calculated decision to murder innocent people at random for the sake of greater wealth, and they have been brought to justice. And life is hard, but wasn’t it always? It’s harder now, but there are things to see and discover, people to help, acts to accomplish. Friends to talk to. It’s better than death and better than grieving and better than survivor’s guilt.

Space is dangerous and no one expects happy endings. The best anyone expects is the ending that lets you go on, after the story ends.

[sunaddicted]

Me, Myself and... You (00q)

Q shifted uncomfortably on his chair as the silence between himself and James stretched, filling the office with the kind of atmosphere that made the air almost unbreathable - how much longer could it take the man to fill in a stupid piece of paperwork? Suddenly, Q was regretting very much having bullied James into sitting down, brandishing a pen and, for once in his career, actually fill in the form for the equipment he had lost on his last mission; really, if it hadn’t been another car lost to James’ recklessness, Q would have closed both of his eyes and let the paperwork pile up in a dusty corner, in the hopes that one day the agent would be bored enough to pick some of it up and actually do the boring part of the job.

He crossed and uncrossed his legs, well aware of the fact that James was taking in every single movement and twitch of a muscle, categorizing it all away for future reference and reflexion; the other’s focus had always made Q feel… strange - torn between discomfort and pleasure at the idea of being seen so clearly by those azure eyes.

In that moment, it was the most negative of the two emotions that prevailed.

Q blamed it on the row they had had a few days prior and from which they hadn’t exactly recovered yet - kind of hard to, when James spent more time in MI6 training rooms and Q himself did his damn best to avoid the man. Was it childish? Probably. Yes. But as long as work wasn’t put in jeopardy because of their personal problems, Q knew that nobody actually would come and tell them to get their act together and act like the adults they were supposed to be - and even if someone dared to, Q already had a sharp retort tucked away in the corner of his mouth, ready to slide down his tongue like a poisonous dart.

It really wasn’t anyone’s business, whether he and Bond were on speaking terms outside of the comms.

“Are you quite done?”

James didn’t even raise his eyes from the sheet of paper in front of him, pen purposefully running along every single word as he took his sweet time reading them “You were the one who asked me to do this”

“ Ordered ”

“You were the one who ordered me to do this, then”

Q repressed a huff and crossed his arms, forcing himself not to rub at his eyes: he didn’t want James to know yet just how tired he was - tired with the situation, with the bickering, with the lack of communication that seemed to speak in bigger volumes than words ever could. And of course, on top of all that, there was the fact that he currently was on his 30th hour of a three-day long shift and he was quite ready to get back home where he could take a bath, drink a glass of wine and cuddle with his cats until he inevitably fell asleep before dinnertime.

“Can you please just… speed it up?”

“Why, are you busy?”

“You know very well that I am”

Fair, James knew that: afterall, Q hadn’t been home in days and he had been left alone to fend off the cats who seemed to be perfectly alright with taking any food he dished out but when it came to James trying to pet them for a little comfort, the only result he got ws a generous dose of scratching and biting - not that he was going to complain about that to Q, though: the younger man always was on the beasts’ side anyway “I want to do this only once so, I’m taking my time to do it right”

“It’s not that complicated”

It really wasn’t but James had never claimed he couldn’t be petty.

He hummed in answer and just made himself even more comfortable on the chair, despite how hard it was to do that: he wasn’t sure if the choice to pick the most uncomfortable furniture possible for visitors had been intentional on Q’s part in order to cut his meetings short, the only thing he knew was that the metal was digging into muscle and bone, slowly torturing him with the kind of dull ache that spread numbness across your body.

James had been sat on plenty devices of torture, he could recognise one instinctively when his ass came in contact with it.

Maybe he should have grabbed the paperwork and sprawled on the couch pressed up against the wall; it was a little busted by Q spending far too many nights in the office but at least he wouldn’t have gotten up from it with every single muscle in his body screaming for sweet, sweet relief.

Plus, it would have probably annoyed Q even more.

Which, thinking about it, was the exact reason why James hadn’t opted for it: he might have been pissed at his partner, but he didn’t have any intentions of making the situation worse than it already was.

Suddenly, the lights briefly turned down to let a red one above the door shine brighter and a buzzing sound filled the air, making James’ hair stand up in alert on his forearms “What’s that?” he inquired, hand sliding under the lapel of his jacket to take a hold of the gun resting comfortably beneath his armpit “Q?”

“I-Im checking” Q stammered, pushing his glasses up his nose as he turned to look at his computers - only to be faced by a rather loud and bright alert “Oh, fuck ”

(Continues on ao3)

[dustedmagazine]

Cara Neir — Phase Out (Self-released)

Phase Out by Cara Neir

Cara Neir has always been somewhat anomalous, a multigenre hybrid before hybridizing was so current and cool. The band’s music is a little blackened, a little crusty and a whole lot of other stuff, by turns grindcore and post-rock and punk. Sometimes it works; for a recent example, see their 2016 LP Perpetual Despair Is the Human Condition, a sublimely bummed-out record. And sometimes it doesn’t, like the when the band’s interest in skramz asserts itself a little too enthusiastically. In all cases, Cara Neir’s restlessness has kept the project interesting and vital over twelve years of releasing music at a prodigious clip. Their latest record isn’t just restless — it’s hyperactive. On Phase Out, the two dudes in Cara Neir (Garry Brents and Chris Francis) imagine themselves into an 8-bit videogame’s landscape, thus finding themselves subject to all sorts of digitized mayhem. In a number of ways, this reviewer is far from the ideal audience for Phase Out: zero interest in gaming or the history of videogames, less than zero interest in chiptune music or glitch. But the absolutely bonkers sensibility of Phase Out and Cara Neir’s wide-open exploration of the possibilities of sound make the record an engaging — if occasionally irritating and meta- for meta-‘s sake — musical experience.

Opening track “The Trimjrtle Sanction” (please don’t ask about “Trimjrtle,” a term from the record’s “game lore”) announces some of the dominant tones of Phase Out. There’s some narrative scene-setting, with “Player One” and “Player Two” being zapped into the game, accompanied by a little Casiotone-quality ditty. But the playfulness is summarily swept under a wave of crusty animosity worthy of Totalitär. Double-time, blistering riffing rages away, and there’s a more than slightly fried quality to the sound. One hesitates to use the word “atmosphere,” given everything that term tends to signal in metal — but the song conjures an atmosphere, thick and strange, with the smell of burning electronics. Listen more closely: interspersed among the tremolo guitar lines are bursts of digitized noise, keyboard blips and cascades. Not enough to distract, but just enough to notice. The gesture clearly seeks to integrate the song into the record’s ongoing story, constructing the game as a psychological environment. In the second half of “The Trimjrtle Sanction,” the sound begins to tip more strongly toward the gaming noises, but the increase is measured. One can admire the compositional logic, even if the noises themselves are a bit silly.  

The remainder of the record follows that logic. “Valkyrie” might be the best and most integrated song, its blackened elements interacting with fizzy electronics and weirdly distended beeps and boops. Eventually the song bottoms out into near silence, gaming noises barely discernable out near a distant horizon. An anxious bassline begins to thud, drawing things toward the nighttime sounds of clubland. But the beeps and boops interpose, clubland’s cool gets complicated by geeky glitch. It’s weird, and weirdly effective. You don’t notice Francis screaming until he can’t be ignored — but maybe he’s been doing it for some time, also lost somewhere out on that horizon line, or deep in a monitor’s glow. Some similar moves on Phase Out are less successful, like when “Hypogelum” flirts a little too earnestly with the hypnogogic before shifting gears into a top-speed freakout reminiscent of Devo. Chiptune goofiness attempts to evoke the digitally saturated consciousness of the gamer (that’s how this reviewer, with no experience in gaming, understands what’s going on). But it’s too goofy. Francis sings, “Acquiring tinder of marvel and splendor / This will light the fire.” For this listener, the fire has gone out, snuffed by too many layers of multimedia cleverness.  

Closing song “Legacy of Gnax” does all that stuff, the good and the bad, faster and louder and more tunefully. It’s boisterous, manic, at once vexing and compelling. The song title could easily be the name of a videogame, and the record’s meta-gaming narrative reaches a focused peak. Francis sings, “The Paths, they never end / […] And when we’ve bested your leader, what’s next to expect? / Final stage!” Even this reviewer knows the convention of the Final Boss fight. Some gaming worlds might seem endless, but they’re all code, their appearance of “paths” created by real electronic energies and circuits that exist somewhere, owned and operated by someone. So who’s the boss? Gnax? Phase Out gets more interesting here, a bit less inbent and screenbound. At least a few hits on a google search for the term reveal that GNAX was an acronym used by Global Net Access, a management system for cloud-based computing activity that was in business about a decade ago. The references are old, and some of the reviews of GNAX’s services are negative. The digital world is temporary, bound to material processes in the lifeworld. They die, too. At its best, Phase Out marks a lively point of interface, between real instruments and voices, screams and strums, and their electronic counterparts. And even when the record misfires, you can feel the energy and imagination of Cara Neir, furiously, lividly at work. That stuff is for real.  

Jonathan Shaw

[jimlingss]

Jungle Park [16]

Chapter 15 - Chapter 16 - Chapter 17

➜ Words: 5.4k

➜ Genres: Fluff, Light Humour (?), Slice of Life, Workplace Romance!AU

➜ Summary: The equation is simple. Hoseok needs to hire someone. You need a job. Except like any actual equation, it’s not fucking simple at all! Not when you have to add the fact that he was forced to hire someone he doesn’t want in his office, he has little respect for your job in general, and oh yeah...once upon a time you might have—*CENSORED*.

The invitation came by email.   Your first thought was to refuse and you had even begun typing up an apology. But before you could write the second line, someone else had sent you a message. It was like she had a sixth sense and maybe she did because she asked if you were going to come. Then she guilt tripped you that it’s been so long, tried to convince you that it would be fun, do everything in her power to persuade you otherwise, as if she was part of a pyramid scheme and was trying to get you to join.   Hani has always been fearfully persuasive and that’s how you find yourself dragging your feet towards Hoseok’s office.   You knock three times and there’s a muffled— “What.”   “It’s me.” The door cracks open and at the sound of your voice, Hoseok puts down his pen and looks up at you.   The corner of his lips pull into a smile, scowl disappearing. “Oh, Y/N.”   “Are you busy? I can come back…”   “No, it’s fine.” His smile widens while you step into his office. “What do you need?”   “No, um, it’s just, I know we’re supposed to come in this weekend.”   “Oh, that doesn’t really apply to you.” Hoseok’s hands are clasped and you begin to break a sweat by how he gives you his full attention and his stare is more intense than usual. “You don’t need to come in.”   “Oh...okay…”   “Why? What was the matter?”   “No...” It’s excruciating how much you’re beating around the bush, but you don’t really want to spill what’s going on. Still, you decide to say it rather than making it sound more suspicious. “There’s this stupid reunion thing I was invited to. It’s on the weekend and I was thinking of going.”   “A reunion?”   “Yeah, to celebrate eleven years.” Your head lolls to your shoulder and you ramble on, not making a big deal out of it. “Apparently, they were supposed to have one for ten years, but it got delayed. It’s kind of dumb but…”   “I don’t think I received an invitation,” Hoseok suddenly comments, quirking his head to one side as well. His brows knit together and he inhales a sharp breath. “We went to the same university for our undergraduate, right?”   “Yeah, uh, everyone sort of lost contact with you after you left for law school. No one knows how to contact you even if they wanted to…” Like you, many of the others had no clue that he opened up his own firm.    “Huh.” He nods and then resumes his work, typing on his computer and casting you a mere glance when you’re still standing there. “Well, have fun and make sure you’re back on Monday.”   “Sounds good.” Your feet linger for a moment, body not listening to your brain. But eventually, you get a grip on yourself and step out of his office.   A school reunion trip would be expensive — luckily, your efforts of driving the taxi for twenty nights in a month was paying off….literally. You had quite a bit of savings, enough to pack your bags for a weekend trip. In all honesty, as nervous as you were to be seeing old faces again, you were also excited. It’s been a long time since you’ve seen Taeyeon, Hani, and the others. They would argue it’s been too long.   Everyone has gone their separate ways, abroad for work or busy in their families and with their children. You were especially distant from them after you moved all those years ago. But it would be nice to see them again, to mend back old friendships and remind yourself that you aren’t alone.   And it turns out that it only takes two buses and one train ride, a total of six hours and twenty minutes, to reconnect with old friends. It’s not as difficult as you thought it would be. You’re out of the city in the blink of an eye, at the one next door, waiting at the station for your ride.   As you check your phone for the fifth time, you’re startled when there’s a loud honk. Someone’s pulling in with their maroon car and you immediately recognize the girl in the driver seat. She rolls down the window and tugs her sunglasses to the bridge of her nose, peering above the frames at you.   “Hey, loser! Get in! We’re going shopping!”   You grin at her reference, dragging your luggage over and throwing it in the backseat. “Some things never change, do they?”   “Get over here.” Before you can even fully situate yourself in the passenger seat, she’s already leaning over the console to hug you, making laughter bubble from your chest. She really hasn’t changed one bit, from being extroverted and charming. Her long black hair is unchanging, features that seem sharper than they did years ago, cat-like eyes that are intimidating and cute when she smiles. She’s in shorts and a simple tee-shirt, summer-like attire in the chilly weather. “Ugh, I missed your ass so much.”   You squeeze her back, savouring the hug that reminds you too much of another embrace that felt like eons ago. “Missed you too.”   “Taeyeon’s staying with us in the hotel.” Hani shifts the gear and pulls away from the curb. “She’s there, still freaking out about leaving the kids with her husband.”   You smile at the thought and look at her. “How are you?”   “Good. Same old, pretty much. Work is tiring, but I really like it. I’ve been working on a project for the later half of this year and it’s almost finished, so I got that going for me. How are you?”   “Things are good for me too.”   “Where have you been working?”   “Oh, I’m an HR rep for a law firm,” you explain in a boring tone, not wanting to discuss it too much. “I like it a lot.”   “Oh my god! That’s so great, Y/N!” There’s a red light and Hani glances at you with a beaming smile, remembering you telling her that you were having trouble finding a job a few months ago. “I’m so glad you found a good place.”   “Thanks.”   “Have you been seeing anyone?”   “No, not really. Just...haven’t found the time.” You move on, changing the subject. “How’s Daehwi?”   A long sigh leaves from her pink lips. “An idiot as usual, but what’s new?”   Your cheeks ache from your grin. “Has he popped the question yet?”   “He said he was going to do it before my birthday, so I guess we’ll see what happens.”   “That’s amazing.” And you really mean it. Rather than feeling envious, you feel happy and proud for your friends. Most of them have their lives together and it’s nice to see them progress, even when you feel like you’ve been stagnant, stuck at a standstill for so long. “You guys are great together.”   “Yeah...I really do love that idiot.” A soft smile appears on her visage as she admits it. “If we get married, we’ll probably have kids soon after. We already talked about it and my eggs are dying, you know? And my nieces are just too cute. They always give me baby fever. But Daehwi wants it more than I do.” She laughs and you notice how her skin is practically glowing in bliss. “He wants five kids and a set of twins or something and I told him there was no way I was going to give birth to an entire football team for him.”   Another laugh streams from your chest. “Sounds like Daehwi.”   Hani hums and nods. “But things have been okay for you?”   “Yeah. I’m pretty happy these days and I really enjoy my work.”   Hani takes a glance at you. “I’m glad, Y/N.”   Once you arrive at the hotel room, you can already hear Taeyeon face-timing her husband. She gives you the biggest bear hug imaginable and you say hello to her toddler and five-year old, making you a bit sad when they don’t remember you at all. But it’s good to be back and even better to meet up with friends that make you feel as if time created no distance at all.   “Do you know who else is coming?”   “I think most people are.” Hani momentary pauses scrolling through her phone and shrugs. “I checked the facebook page and a lot of them said yes. Probably because the university’s paying for a lot of the expenses.”   Daehwi, who’s cuddling your best friend, smiles. “Our alumni is so nice.”   Taeyeon scoffs. “More like we’re their backdrop so they can take a thousand photos and post them to their website and promote their institution. They’ve been pushing to reel in younger, naive kids and rob them of their money before giving them a piece of paper that says good job.”   You grin as another thought flickers in your mind. “Is Changsub coming?”   “He’s coming tomorrow morning.” The strawberry blonde female falls down onto the soft sofa, lounging on it. “He booked it last minute. I think he’s still on the plane right now.”   “I can’t remember the last time we all met up,” Daehwi notes, looking out the glass window towards the city and feeling sentimental about the moment. “We’re only missing one person now.” Hani shoulder checks him and the male lets out a painful, “Ow! What! Can I not talk about Hoseok?”   “It’s fine, you guys,” you placate both Hani and Taeyeon when they look at you in concern. “It’s not a big deal...I actually….talked to him recently.”   Hani blinks with her wide eyes. “You did?!”   “You did?!” Taeyeon repeats after her like a parrot, both of friends stunned.   “Yeah...it’s...uh..complicated, but we’re good.” There’s a long silence, all three people staring at you, and you divert your eyes out the window. “So, what time is the official reunion tomorrow?”   //   The rest of the day is spent eating and catching up. Taeyeon talks about her kids, what giving birth is like and simultaneously putting the fear into Hani and Daehwi as they listen and you laugh at their expressions. The pair of them also talk about their traveling adventures, what countries they’ve visited recently and are planning to visit in the future. There’s not much that’s changed for you, so you only discuss your job and what you kind of do day to day.   All four of you play uno like back then, gossiping about acquaintances while having a few drinks in the hotel room but nothing to get wasted on, only slightly tipsy. You can’t remember the last time you had such a good time. By morning, everybody wakes up a bit later in the day, grabbing brunch before getting ready to go. You pick out a dark blue modest dress to wear, sharing the bathroom alongside Hani who worries about her makeup and Taeyeon who does her hair. It reminds you of years ago when you used to dress up to go clubbing or out to the bar. It’s nostalgic and you feel young again, even when you’re sure age has made its mark on you.   “You know, it would’ve made a lot more sense to have our reunion on campus and not at a hotel conference hall,” Hani points out while sipping on a glass of champagne, looking around at the place lit by chandeliers.   You smile. “Now that I think about it, you’re right.”   Taeyeon shakes her head, staring at the intricate patterns of the velvet carpet. “I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be at a fancy hotel than a shitty gymnasium on our shitty campus.”   “Okay, touché.”   “They have an after-party there,” Daehwi pipes up. “It’s pretty close. We should go.”   “I don’t understand why there’s an after-party for the reunion.”   “Different backgrounds create different pictures to put on their website,” Taeyeon tells Hani while she rolls her eyes in disapproval.   You quip to the both of them while lingering at the back of the hall, “That’s a crazy conspiracy.”   “Oh my god. Jiyong! Jiyong!” Daehwi puts down his drink, running off towards another man who yells out his name as well without looking back. They fist bump each other before going on a talking barrage to catch up and Hani appears even more exhausted than before, letting out a huge sigh.   “Dear lord, if I have to talk to all of his frat members, I’m going to need another five hundred drinks.”   The blonde beside her laughs. “Well, you should get ready because I think I see Seungri.”   “Taeyeon.” Another female has stopped in front of you three. She’s staring straight at your friend, ogling at her from head to toe. “Is that you?!”   “Oh my gosh. Minzy?” Taeyeon hands her glass of champagne to you, walking off. “It’s been forever!”   “I know!” she shrieks in excitement.   In the giant hall, you recognize many and once in a while, they stop to make small talk with you. It’s easy to get whiplash at all the familiar faces. You’re brought back to a decade ago, and an odd feeling begins to plague you. It’s as if all the regrets you had in the past fix themselves into place again, that the people you had forgotten about and that were so far away, are now in your reach.   Eventually, you become overwhelmed and fade into the background. You hang around in the back, taking in all the decorations, the old photos, the surrounding people. Hani tells you that she’s going to the washroom and you nod, keeping an eye on her drink while sipping on yours. It awakens your memories of house parties where you were more of a wallflower than the life of the party, where you spent your time observing behaviour and actions, where it was much quieter.   “Man...how do I not recognize anyone?”   You nearly spit out your drink, but you end up choking instead. You’re hacking your lungs out unattractively, coughing and beating your chest like a wild gorilla. Maybe you’re so delusional that you’re beginning to hear and see things because you swear to god…..Jung Hoseok is standing right beside you.   His head is tipped to one side, black hair left natural and unstyled, full bangs covering his forehead. He’s wearing sneakers, black jeans and a grey hoodie, too casual for an event like this. More importantly, he’s staring at you in amusement. It’s probably your imagination. You just miss him and your mind is coping….   But then he opens his mouth and talks.   “Y/N?”   “What are you doing here?!” Your mouth falls open comically, words spilling out in the harshest manner and you’re suddenly very, very worried. There are a million things that can go wrong in your life, but this situation was definitely in your current top ten. The corner of his mouth pulls and the lawyer rolls his shoulders. “Well, turns out you don’t need to be directly invited by someone. I checked the website and sure enough, I just had to sign up with my old student identification number to come.”   “Wh-wh...but why?”   Hoseok’s smile stays on his lips, but his brows furrow in confusion. “What do you mean why? I can’t come to my own school reunion?”   “Th-th-that’s not what I mean.” Your head shakes and your eyes do a quick sweep of your surroundings before settling on him again.   “You told me I lost contact with everyone when I went to law school, so I figured this would be a good time to reconnect with people. I didn’t expect to run into you so soon, though.” Jung Hoseok flashes the brightest of beaming grins, looking like the epitome of sunshine or someone from pleasantville. You begin envisioning throwing yourself against the wall hard enough where you could pass out and perhaps the ambulance would be called and you could escape this insanity.   You might be a little over-dramatic at the moment…..but the logical part of your brain disagrees.   This is perfectly rational.   “I—”   “Oh my god.” The interruption comes from your former best friend, Hani. Alongside her is Taeyeon who almost spills her new drink when she abruptly halts and her eyes grow wide at the sight beside you.   Your worst nightmare is beginning to unfold right in front of your eyes.   “Jung Hoseok?!”   The lawyer frowns, staring at both women and he takes a long second before recognition begins to settle in. “Uh...Heeyeon and...Kim Taeyeon...right?” He glances at you for approval, and you don’t say anything nor do you even cast a single glance of approval.   Taeyeon marches over and in five strides, she’s giving him a humongous hug. “Where have you been, bastard? I never thought I’d see you again.” In the meanwhile, Hani is boring her eyes into you as if asking if you’re okay, and you give a slight nod.   “I’ve been busy.” Hoseok’s memory starts to jog again. He only has a handful of memories, all of them vague and blurry like they’re from an old tape he’s watching back, but he feels at ease for at least remembering them….even if he doesn’t have a single memory of you.   “You didn’t even think to call, bitch?”   His lips tug into a slight heart shape, eyes crinkling. “...Sorry?”   Hani offers a more reserved and meek smile. She stands at a distance away, beside you. Her arms are crossed defensively, and she doesn’t spare any embraces or even a handshake. “It’s good to see you again, Jung.”   “Thanks, Heeyeon.”   Hani’s brow raises, wondering why he’s calling her by her legal name and not the nickname she goes by, but she brushes it off. “I see you’ve become acquainted with Y/N here. Maybe a bit too comfortable?”   “Well, I’m sure this is fine.” His smile becomes lopsided as he peeks at you. “It’s not during working hours.”   The female doesn’t quite understand, but she never once backs down. “Working hours or not, I think you should back off a bit. Have some human decency, Jung.”   “Hani!” You’re cringing to death, ready to be lowered into your grave with your toes curling. Your mind races, though you’re rendered too speechless to know what to say or know how to address the situation. If you wished you were invisible enough, maybe it’ll actually work.   “Is there a problem?” Hoseok is genuinely bewildered and baffled by her bizarre attitude, deciding to challenge the rude woman. “Or are you her boss too?”   Taeyeon repeats him, equally confused. “Too?”   “You didn’t tell them?” Hoseok shifts to you, trying to be caught up to speed. His head is already swirling with old memories slowly coming back to life. He wonders if you didn’t say you worked for him because it was somehow embarrassing to be working for someone you went to school with. But he knows you’re not the type to be shameful about such a trivial thing, especially when you loved your job so much.   “Tell us what?” Taeyeon asks, spinning around to soak in your exchange of expressions. Then, her eyes almost fall out from their sockets and her jaw drops to the carpet. “Wait. Don’t tell me. Holy shit. Oh my god. You’re back together?!”   “NO!” You shout, startling other folks and people turn around to shoot dirty looks. But you pay no mind, too preoccupied with nipping the crazy thought in the bud. “I work for Hoseok! At his firm!”   “You…” Hani gives you a skeptical look. “...you’re working for him?”   “Holy shit! Are my eyes seeing what they’re really seeing, right now? Or am I high?” From the noise, Daehwi had pulled away from the crowd of frat guys to see what the commotion was. Of course, now he was running towards you again, eyes pinned on Hoseok. “Dude! How’s it going?!”   Their handshake morphs into a fist bump. “Why are you talking like you’re a nineteen year old dumbass again?” Hani rolls her eyes, but doesn’t dwell when she’s more upset at the current situation. She informs her partner of the news, “Y/N’s working for Hoseok at his firm.”   “Wait. Really?”   “Why is that so surprising?” Hoseok inquires, still perplexed at all their reactions. “There’s nothing wrong with Y/N working for me. That doesn’t make her job any less important. She actually runs her own department as HR manager. And she’s exceptionally good at her job.”   “No, that’s not the issue. I’m just surprised, because—”   “Hoseok doesn’t remember!”   The shout echoes, straining your vocal cords, shocking your old friends. Everyone turns, necks craning over slowly like their bones are made from old mechanical rods. “What?”   The situation is getting out of control. You’re losing your grasp on what you want Hoseok to know. The mess is beginning to unravel and you’re doing everything in your power to spool it back together, keep it hidden, in the dark, where only you know, where you can feign ignorance and live your little happy life without having to confront the past.   Daehwi frowns. “What do you mean?”   Your heart cracks for the hundredth time.   And it’s because of Hoseok. Again.   “He just….doesn't remember.”   “Is there something going on here?” He asks right when Taeyeon was about to speak the same question, wholly puzzled at the circumstances. Their gazes are too intense for you to hold up by yourself. You’re barely holding it together and you’re too afraid you’ll begin to crack from the outside as well, let them see what you really feel, how damaged you are on the inside.   “Hoseok has memory problems,” you calmly say, spilling secrets even when it’s not your place to, “he was in a car accident.”   All three shift, waiting for his confirmation. He gives a single nod.   “Oh shit.” Daehwi’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline. “That’s horrible.”   The blonde female steps closer to him. “What happened?”   “Hit a lamppost. Like seven years ago. But I don’t have any ‘memory issues’.” Hoseok quotes you before laying his eyes on your visage. He cocks an eyebrow before looking at everyone else. “Just have some spots where I can’t quite remember. Am I missing something here?”   “Nope.” You force a smile, talking past the lump in your throat. The urge to distance yourself from this is too overwhelming and you’re suddenly reminded of why you avoided reuniting yourself with old friends. It’s too painful, too messy to remember. Once again, you wish you were in Hoseok’s position where you didn’t know a thing. “The past is the past. Best to leave it behind. Anyways, you should probably get a drink. I can get you one.”   “I can get it myself.”   “No.” Your hands fly out, wanting him to stay where he is, wanting to get yourself away. At any moment now, you were going to break. “I insist, I insist.”   “Let me come with you,” Hani asserts and you decide having a good friend beside you would be the least of your troubles, so you let out an ‘alright’.   The two of you march through the crowd. The dark-haired female stares at your profile, her mouth opening, ready to fire out her many questions. But when you give a glance, she sighs and decides not to press on or pry. Hani doesn’t say anything, granting you mercy for the time being.   In the meanwhile, Daehwi and Hoseok catch up with one another. As time goes by and more small talk is made, the latter’s memory jogs, though it seems as if your existence has been deleted from his recollection completely. But he doesn’t dwell when his focus is on socializing.   “So, you’re a hot shot lawyer now?” The brunette grins. “Your sister always said that.”   “I don’t think I’m a hot shot or anything, far from it, but yeah, I run my own firm. It’s kind of small and it’s nothing much yet. Still a work in progress.”   “Damn, still, you’re probably filthy rich, dude. I’m jealous. Do you have a yacht?”   “No.” Hoseok laughs. “I don’t have a yacht.”   Taeyeon has an indignant expression. “Hoseok’s afraid of the ocean, remember?”   “Rightttt.”   The lawyer in question sulks slightly, not enjoying how his fears are being broadcasted aloud. “I’m only afraid when I can’t see the bottom.”   “So he’s afraid of the entire ocean then,” Taeyeon reiterates with a laugh.   “Guess so.” Daehwi teases the man and smiles with his teeth. He pats his friend on the shoulder. “It’s good to have you back, Hope. Now we’re just waiting for one more person before we have the whole gang back together.”   “Speaking of the devil…” Taeyeon motions with her chin and both males whirl around.   “Yeon! Dae!” Changsub is walking towards them, dragging his feet over as he exhales in exhaustion. “God, my plane got delayed and I literally just got here and threw my luggage upstairs. I’m so tired! My sleeping schedule is going to be so fucked. It’s supposed to be midnight right now. I swear—….”   “Hey.”   Hoseok gives a polite wave, smiling, and the guy has his eyes plastered all over him, starstruck, like he’s looking at a celebrity. Changsub blinks hard, appearing comical as he does so. “Jung fucking Hoseok?!”   Daehwi chuckles. “Trust me, I didn’t believe it either.”   “Dude!” Changsub gives him the most gripping hug, arms cradling his entire frame. “What the fucking hell are you actually doing here?! What the fuck.”   “I’m here for the reunion,” he quips. “You?”   “Same. God.” His hand runs into his hair, shock firing into his body. Changsub quickly looks around. “Does Y/N know you’re here?”   Once more, Hoseok’s confusion returns. “Yes…?”   At the reminder, Taeyeon glances around the premise, standing on the tips of her toes. She inhales a sharp breath, humming a note. “Let me go get Hani and Y/N. They’ve been gone for a while. We should get a picture together before things get more hectic around here.” The female dismisses herself, going into the crowd of people to grab you both, disappearing from sight.   Changsub shakes his head, still staring at Hoseok and unable to trust his eyes even when he blinks hard. “Dude, man, it’s been so goddamn long.”   “I know.”   “How have you been? What have you been up to?”   “I’m good. Just working as a lawyer these days at a divorce firm. You?”   “Awesome. God, wow. Yeah, I’ve been travelling for work.” Changsub is at a loss for words. “You look great.”   “Thanks.” Hoseok grins at him. “You too.”   The male shakes his head, mouth drawing open. “And Y/N knows you’re here and shit?”   “Yeah.” He wonders why he’s being mentioned with you so much, why people are so confused that he’s made a reappearance. It can’t be that weird. “Why?”   Daehwi pipes up, interrupting the conversation, “They actually work together.”   “No shit! Really?” Changsub is noisy, nosy, and a tad obnoxious. He’s slow to pick on things and a bit hyperactive, gathering attention from the surrounding people, but he’s still good natured and warm hearted enough not to cause real trouble. Yet. “So, you came with Y/N today?”   “....uh...kind of? Not really.”   “Are you guys back together?”   “No.”   Daehwi’s smile at once becomes stiff. He looks around as if searching for help, but when no one comes to the rescue, he pokes him and mumbles, “uh...Changsub...you might want to cool it.”   He doesn’t hear him. “Yeah, I didn't think so. When it’s that bad of a split, it’s usually not good to get back together. I know I tried to get back with Sooyoung and it turned out even worse. She took the kids and all and that fucking sucked ass.”   “Oh.” Hoseok quirks his head to the side, frowning. The lawyer is both perceptive and smart enough to catch on. Everyone knew something — what it was Hoseok was unsure of. But while they decided not to divulge any information and continue to speak in code, Changsub was his opportunity, the person to spill whatever was going on. “Was it a bad split? I mean, we only had two dates…..?”   “What are you talking about? Two dates?!” A bark of laughter comes from the pits of his stomach, streaming out from his mouth in disbelief.   Daehwi’s teeth grit. “Chang...shut up..”   “You guys dated for like four years.”   There’s silence. Hoseok stares at him. His smile immediately falls.   “....Excuse me…..what?”   Daehwi sighs his entire lungs out. He shuts his eyes tight and pinches the bridge of his nose. At this rate, his head was going to be shaved bald by his precious girlfriend, just because this dumbass was straight out ignoring him. Despite not being aware of what your relationship is with Hoseok, Daehwi’s sure he won’t be able to look at you in the eye after this. Guilt would eat him alive since you were obviously keeping Hoseok in the dark for a reason. “Chang...dude…”   “You guys even got engaged.”   Hoseok is lost. “....What?”   Without you even knowing, your entire world collapses.   It’s ironic that your feigned ignorance of history turned to real ignorance of the present situation. You can’t even mourn for your loss when you don’t even know that it occurred.   “Changsub!” Daehwi steps on his foot and the male cries out in pain.   “Ow! What the hell, dude?! I’m trying to talk to Hope!”   “Yeah, well you need to fucking stop. Shut up. Seriously.”   The man rolls his eyes. “I get that no one wants to talk about bad breakups, but it was like, what, eight years ago? It’s not that big of a deal. The past is the past. We can’t just keep beating around the bush or skirting around the issue and pretend it never happened.”   Daehwi groans like it physically pains him to interact with his old friend. “You...are the biggest dumbass I have ever met.”   “Hani! Y/N!” When the pair of you come into sight, Changsub grins and walks over like nothing had just happened. In a way, nothing really did happen. He was just talking about old memories, things that have no meaning anymore...or at least that’s what he thought.   “Hey, Chang. Oh, I got your drink.” You pass it to Hoseok and he takes it lifelessly. His expression is strangely blank, glossed over, neither bright and energetic or serious and stern.   Jung Hoseok is unreadable.   “Did something happen?” Taeyeon asks with pouty lips, glancing at the three male individuals.   “No…” Daehwi sighs and glances at Hoseok. “Not really.”   Changsub shrugs. “My flight got delayed and I rushed over here from the airport, threw my luggage in the room upstairs and ran here. Barely made it too. Also, I’m super tired and my whole body is delayed like twelve hours. So, I might be a bit slower. Anyways, I’m glad you’re finally here, Y/N.”   “Happy to be here,” you answer with a smile.   “Took you long enough,” he playfully quips back and it’s true. You were avoiding them since they brought back memories you didn’t want to remember. But now that you were standing here with all your friends again, it wasn’t so bad…..   “Yeah.” You give another smile.   “We need a picture of this.” Hani digs into the small purse slung across her body. “I don’t know the next time we’re going to be all together again.”   The small crowd gathers to take the photo. Hani has her arm around you, Taeyeon right in front with Daehwi and Changsub huddling on Hoseok’s side. You and Hoseok stand beside each other in the center, posing with cracking smiles as the camera snaps the shot, capturing the moment in time forever.   There’s more meaningless small talk, more catching up. When the music plays, the official reunion begins and everyone finds their seats as the speaker takes the center stage and the slideshow at the back begins.   You steal a glimpse of Hoseok when you feel the pressure of his eyes on you. “Hey...are you okay?”   His gaze softens, eyes full of confusion. You don’t know what’s going on. And your fixation on denial blinds you silly, never once giving you an inkling at the potential possibilities.   His turmoil is a tsunami, crashing down inside his chest, rushing into his stomach and drowning the butterflies that have migrated there, making him uncomfortable and sick. He is conflicted. Confused. Angry. Petrified. Sad. He doesn’t know why you would hide it from him. He doesn’t know what happened. He doesn’t know why he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know who you are.   Hoseok gives you the most honest answer he can muster—   “I don’t know.”

[thestorytellerofkpop]

The Steps in Finding Love; Trust

Title: The Steps in Finding Love; Trust

Word Count: 7.8k+

Rating: T with eventual M

Genre: Realistic fiction, slice of life, drama, fluff with eventual smut

Warnings: Established member x member relationship, bad made up makeup names and references, a desert fantasy, Jungkook is soft, this is part three of a four part series

Pairings: Female Reader x BTS members, Jimin x Jungkook (Jikook)

Summary: “The third step to finding love was trust, and I didn’t know what that truly meant until I got to experience it again.”

1, 2, 3, 4 (finale, coming August 23rd)

You didn’t know what time it was, nor did you seem to care as your fingers diligently typed away at the computer in front of you. The blue haze was your only source of light as you worked in the darkness of your office, besides the faint white light that shined through the glass walls from the end of the hallway. Your eyes were glazed over and your back was bent, leaning towards the screen almost as if that would make you work faster and quicker. But you knew that it was moot. Nothing was working. According to your sales charts and collective data, nothing you would produce would live up to the hype that was Cake. Sure, Taehyung’s creative visions were produced and marketed, as well as the occasional idea from Jimin and Jungkook, and they did well! Don’t confuse yourself, because those sales were great and profitable. But they didn’t reach the numbers that Cake did. None of these ideas that were pitched two days ago would either, according to your analysis. And you were panicking. Sales were steady for now, but were projected to drop off in the next year if you and your team didn’t get something out soon. You refused to be ‘The Proclaimers’ of the makeup industry, only having one huge one-hit wonder then retire after a crappy attempt at a second album (in your case, makeup line). This was your newest dilemma, and oh were you stressed. 

You sighed, running a hand down your face to try and wake yourself up, but it was to no avail. You plopped your head down onto your desk, repeatedly banging your forehead against the cool glass. A soft tapping sound made you look up from your fit, and like an angel descending from the gates of heaven was Taehyung. His manicured nails tapped against the door again, looking at you through the glass with the softest expression you’ve ever seen him have. You tilted your head, and Taehyung entered, pulling along one of the chairs in your office so he could sit with you. Once he plopped down next to you, you sighed, looking up into his eyes.

“Hi,” you mumbled guiltily.

“Hi.” Taehyung’s lips pulled up into a smile, but you could tell from his eyes he wasn’t exactly happy with you. “You know it’s 4 a.m. right?”

“No,” you admitted. “I wasn’t keeping track of the time.”

Taehyung sighed, leaning across the desk to turn on the little lamp there, basking the room into a soft golden glow. He gently closed the laptop in front of you, forcing you to focus only on him. 

He looked beautiful. He always did. White-washed jeans, white t-shirt, round glasses, and his shaggy grey hair really did make him look angelic. He was actually dressed down today. There was no elaborate makeup like usual, only a simple coverup and a swipe of something glossy on his lips. And his jewelry was barren, only simple silver studs were in his ears and a silver band around his pointer finger. This made your eyes crinkle.

“What’s wrong?” you asked him. Taehyung pursed his lips.

“Why would something be wrong?”

“Because you haven’t dressed this simply since high school.” you argued, and this made Taehyung smile.

“Can’t I dress down every once in a while?” he countered.

“Without eyeshadow and contouring?” your eyes studied his face carefully, the corners of your lips twitching in amusement. “Bitch, please.”

This made Taehyung laugh, long and hearty, and you couldn’t help but join him.

“Okay, fine, I resent.” Taehyung said through his dying giggles. “It’s the boys.” you furrowed your brows at his words, shifting to look at him more clearly.

“What’s wrong? Are they okay?” Taehyung sighed, idly picking through the papers on your desk.

“I had to take them into emergency care this morning.”

“What!?” you gasped, watching Taehyung’s face contort into one of despair. You took his hand into yours, scooting closer so that your knees were touching underneath the desk. 

“Both of them?” Taehyung nodded, and with that you pulled him in for a hug, practically pulling the larger male into your lap as he sighed against your neck.

“Will they be okay though?” you mumbled, and you felt Taehyung nod against your skin.

“They’ll be stuck at the hospital for a while though.”

“Hey, look at me,” you guided Taehyung’s head up so you could look at him. “Yeontan and V are the strongest boys I know, they’ll be okay, I promise.”

“It was V that was having complications this morning, and you know how Yeontannie is. He didn’t want to leave his big brother so I had no choice but to leave him with V at the emergency vet center. They’ll be there for the rest of the week.” Taehyung lips pulled into a frown. 

“I was lonely without my fluffy boys, I couldn’t sleep without them in bed with me so that’s why I came to the office. Only to find the second most important girl in my life here looking like a hermit slouched over her computer. So now it’s your turn. What’s wrong?”

“Who’s the most important girl in your life?” you asked curiously.

“My mother.” Taehyung giggled. 

“Fair enough.” you chuckled as Taehyung moved back into his chair. 

“So what’s up Y/N? It’s not like you to stay and work overnight.”

“I know,” you sighed, looking down at the remnants of your work clothes. You had taken off your blouse and changed into one of the BeauV Cosmetics t-shirts that were left in the stock room, the letters curly and bright blue against the black background. You still wore your shorts, opting for the denim instead of your usual work pants since you didn’t have any meetings today. And your heels were in the corner, sparkling and golden. “I’ve been running projections all night.”

“And?” Taehyung asked. You sighed, opening your laptop. Taehyung peered over your shoulder as you pulled up multiple screens and analysis. 

“We’ll be steady for a year before sales will start to exponentially go down. We need another constant. We need another Cake. Another V line, another PJM or JJK. Because everything newer is okay, don’t get me wrong. We have sales and everything. But it’s nothing compared to our first stuff. We’ve been playing too safe recently and until we come up with something amazing, by this time next year we might be forgotten.”

“You know the fans wouldn’t let that happen,” Taehyung tried to reassure you. You knew he was right. You had a loyal fanbase. But…

“Yeah I know. But we’re no James Charles or Jeffree Star. We have fans, sure, but our following isn’t as large.” Taehyung sighed, grabbing your hand just like how you grabbed his.

“You’re right babe, we don’t have as many fans as they do. But y’know what? We aren’t them. We’re us. We’re BeauV. We’re Y/N, Jimin, Jungkook, and Taehyung. And I wouldn’t change it for the world. We’re amazing, we’re beautiful, and we’re gonna get through this. We just…need a creative spark to boost us up is all.” Taehyung smiled as you contemplated his words.

“And how do you suggest we do that?”

~*~

You crossed your arms as you watched your three friends run around the parking lot, admiring and drooling over the vintage cars. Taehyung had flown you all out to America, Arizona to be exact, for a well needed vacation. He said taking a break and getting out of the country would help get the creative juices flowing. Why he had picked Arizona of all places you didn’t know, but you had to admit you loved the desert. The bright orange Rockies and clear blue skies were visually stunning. 

“Y/N! Y/N!” Jungkook ran up to you, his eyes shinning with child-like glee. “Come look at the car we picked out!” he grabbed your hand, tugging you through the hot, dry air to meet Jimin and Taehyung.

“Oh,” you gasped, gently running the tips of your fingers over the hot, red metal. It was like stepping into every 1950′s movie you watched as a child, the old school Chevy was cherry red, and it’s white top was down, showing off the red leather. The whitewall tires were to die for and you instantly had a craving for Coca-Cola. 

“Beautiful, right?” Jimin chuckled, jumping into the backseat. “She’s ours for the next two weeks!”

“How expensive-”

“Hush,” Taehyung shushed you, placing a finger over your lips. “It’s fine Y/N. Money is but an object.”

“But the business-”

“Y/N,” Jungkook whined, his lips pulling into a pout as he joined Jimin in the back. “This vacation is supposed to take our minds off work, just relax. It’s fine.”

“He’s right. We have savings sweetie, it’s okay, just enjoy yourself.” Jimin coaxed you with a gentle smile. 

“C’mon,” Taehyung opened the passenger door for you, allowing you to sit against the warm leather seats. He closed the door, quickly running to the drivers side before starting the car. The engine purred to life and it’s rumble made your heart beat faster. 

Taehyung drove out of the lot with a squeal of the tires and out into the Arizona sun. The wind whipped through your hair and in between your fingers as you stared in awe at the mountains and cactuses and the long, dusty asphalt roads. Taehyung blared music through the radio, classic rock ringing through your ears with the sounds of the whipping wind. You could hear Jimin and Jungkook singing behind you, and you turned around to sneak a peak at them. 

Their hair was wild, whipping through the wind like yours, but their smiles were radiant, taking in the sun and music as you all drove deeper into the desert. They looked so happy and carefree, so beautiful and so loved that it made your heart clench. They put on each other’s sunglasses and when Jungkook caught you staring he just giggled, pulling an extra pair from his bag and shoving them up your nose, the bright, neon colors becoming a little muted. He bopped your nose, making you smile as you turned to Taehyung. 

He had his sunglasses on too, the wired ones with the pink lenses in them. His smile didn’t waver, weaving the car through twists and turns that caused you all to laugh from the speed. He caught your eye, sending you a sly wink when he grabbed your hand, pulling them up into the wind flying by. You laughed at his antics, throwing up your other hand and for the first time in a long while, you finally felt free. Free from the work, free from the stress. 

You were finally able to just let go.  

You screamed in joy, joining the boys singing in the backseat and you felt like you were home. You could feel the love your boys had for you and each other, and you hoped that they could feel your love for them too. You felt two other hands join yours and Taehyungs in the air, and when you looked and saw all your boys smiling at you, all of you holding each other’s hands, you knew you’d rather be no where else but here underneath the Arizona sun. 

The afternoon went on, the music never stopping and the wind always blowing. The sun soon began to set, and when you stopped for gas you all changed positions as you stretched your legs. Now Jimin was driving; Taehyung joined him up front as you and Jungkook lounged in the backseat. Jimin was slower in his driving, barely going over 30 mph, taking the backroads so that you all could cruise and watch the sunset. 

You were laying against Jungkook, your back pressed up against his chest as both your legs tangled across the length of the seat, Jungkook’s feet touching the other side of the car. You were idly taking pictures of the sunset with your phone, capturing the shades of orange, pink and purple while Jimin and Taehyung sang soft tunes in the front seats, their voices calming as the light breeze traveled around you. Jungkook’s arms were wrapped around you, the fabric of his hoodie soft and comforting. You snuggled further into his embrace, taking your final pictures before dropping your phone to the floor of the car, turning to hide your face into his chest. Jungkook chuckled, nudging his nose against the curve of your cheek gently, his wispy hair tickling your skin.

“Comfortable, sweetheart?” he hummed, his hands gently rubbing circles into your stomach. You nodded, gently grabbing one of Jungkook’s hands as you closed your eyes, feeling Jungkook’s smile against your skin.

“Aww, how cute.” Taehyung cooed from the front seat. You heard Jimin laugh, and could imagine him shaking his head in disbelief. 

“It is pretty cute, the two of them all wrapped up together like that.” Jimin admitted, a light giggle falling past his lips. You heard the shutter of a camera and Taehyung giggling.

“Adorable, especially with the sunset around them,” Jimin cooed, “You really do love cuddling with women, huh Kookie?” Jimin teased, and you could feel Jungkook laugh into your hair.

“I love cuddling with Y/N,” he corrected, “Besides, she lets me be the big spoon.”

Taehyung laughed at this, teasing Jimin for being the big spoon when Jungkook clearly had a good few inches on him.

“Women are just better cuddlers,” Taehyung admitted with a wistful sigh. “They’re so soft, and warm. Plus their boobs dude, they’re like little pillows.”

You giggled into Jungkook’s chest, and if only you could see the bright smile he gave you, his teeth poking out behind his lips as he giggled too.

“Don’t worry babe, you’re still an amazing cuddler.” Jungkook reassured his husband, his fingers gently squeezing your own. “But sometimes you just want a woman’s touch.”

“As long as it’s consensual I don’t care,” Jimin rolled his eyes playfully, a flirtatious glint etched in them. “Besides, I know you’ll always be back in my bed at the end of the day. You can’t resist this ass.” Jimin blew him a kiss and Taehyung laughed so hard that tears pooled into his eyes. 

The sky soon became dark, the stars shining in more amounts than you’ve ever seen, and you all stared in awe at the mass amount of them without the city lights around you.

“We need to find a place for the night.” Jimin said.

“Just keep going down this road, take the right fork back to the main road and go down a couple miles, I found a little place to stay at before we left.” Taehyung told Jimin.

“Jungkookie?”

“Hmm?”

“Where’re we going? What’s our final destination?” Jungkook just smiled, placing a peck into the palm of your hand.

“The beauty of spontaneity Y/N, is that you never really know. But just enjoy the adventure, Taehyung knows what he’s doing.” he whispered to you.

After another fifteen minutes you were all pulling up to an adobe styled hotel, with a central plaza and all. You all took your luggage from the trunk, admiring the clay walls and oil paintings as the hotel keeper showed you all to your rooms. You were with Taehyung again, to save money he said, but really you knew he was lonely without his fluffy dogs to keep him warm at night. Your suspicions were confirmed when you were met with only one, king-sized bed (Jimin and Jungkook later telling you that they both had one as well). The room was tan and beautiful, traditional art and rugs of the region were scattered about and the tiles of the floor were white and pristine. 

You were allowed five minutes to freshen up before the boys pulled you out to hunt for food, finding yourself in a saloon-esque building in another ten. There was a bar on one wall and tables with hungry patrons against the other, but the stage is what caught your eye the most. You knew the building had to have been a strip club at one point, the long cat-walk isle down the center of the room made that obvious. It was unoccupied however, the band of the evening opting to stay on the main stage instead. There were people dancing to the music as well, making you smile and think of the last time you danced with Yoongi under the moonlight. You wondered how he was doing and decided to text him later, after all, he was watching your houseplants for you.

Once your bellies were full of stew and dirty rice, you and Taehyung watched Jimin and Jungkook dance all around the wooden floors as you both nursed glasses of local whiskey. Taehyung hummed low in his throat and you figured now would be as good a time as any to bring up something that was pestering in your mind.

“Tae?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you tell Yoongi about our kiss?” you asked softly. No one knew about that fact except you three, not even Jimin or Jungkook who’ve been with you both for years. Taehyung sighed, groaning softly when he pulled his arms up in a stretch. 

“Confidant?” he said easily, rolling his eyes playfully when he saw your serious expression. “Okay fine. I told him about it as a tipoff.”

“A tipoff for what?” you questioned.

“After Art Walk, Yoongi called me and asked about you. He was whipped for you, extremely so. But that look you had in your eyes after we all left the elevator the night of the Cake launch, I knew you weren’t going to fall in love with him. You were pursuing him after a bad breakup Y/N, it was obvious you were drawn to Yoongi for his comforting words and wisdom. But he was persistent, so then I started talking about us, our friendship, and the kiss was mentioned in passing as a way just to get it over with. A friend trusting a friend. I think that gave him the tipoff that you were only seeing him as some sort of sanctuary. Yoongi knew it too, but he really wanted another’s opinion. And when it comes to you, who knows you better than me?” Taehyung shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. 

“So it was really you that prevented me and Yoongi from getting together.” you huffed, your lips pulling up. “You conniving little shit.” you smacked his arm and he just chuckled.

“Are you mad?”

“No,” you paused, tilting your head in thought. “If you would’ve told me that a few months ago, yes. But I’m kinda glad you did. I don’t want to be in a relationship based on false emotions. I was rushing to find love, but now I know good things come to those who wait.”

“Amen to that.” Taehyung raised his glass, clinking it with yours as you both downed the rest of your whiskey. “Come dance,” he ushered you out of your seat when a slower song started playing. He pressed his chest to your back as he guided you into a slow sway, his arms draped across your waist. You rolled your eyes, allowing your hands to grip onto his biceps.

“You’ve been working out.” you commented.

“Mmhmm.” he hummed into your hair.

“Who’re you trying to impress?” you teased.

“You,” he winked and he took your slap in stride. “What? I’m serious.”

“And so am I. We’ve already talked about this.”

“Blah, blah, blah.” Taehyung mocked you, placing a kiss on your cheek. “You know you want me.”

“Only if neither of us are married by thirty-five.”

“Hey, it was thirty last time, you keep changing our contract.” Taehyung whined.

“Ugh, fine. Thirty then. Now for real, who’s the lucky person?”

“There’s a cute newbie working with the scientists,” he mumbled and you could feel the warmth of his blush rise. “He’s extremely sweet and endearing, a total fitness junkie. Him and Kookie workout sometimes. But I think he finds me intimidating and weird.”

“Is it the clothes, the elaborate makeup, or the flamboyantness do you think?” you teased and Taehyung whined behind you. “Okay, okay. Honestly, just talk to him Tae? If he doesn’t like you, your fishnets and crop-tops, your heels or your makeup then he doesn’t deserve someone as wonderful as you.”

“You’re too sweet,” Taehyung cooed, “But thank you.”

You hummed in acknowledgement, continuing to sway in place as you watched Jimin and Jungkook across the dance floor. They were entangled together, light staccato kisses being pressed between their lips as they held each other close. Your heart clenched; they looked so in love it was almost sickening, and no matter how much they teased each other or joked about having threesomes (honestly though, with Jungkook being Jungkook, you wouldn’t doubt it to be very real between them) they always ended up back together in each other’s arms. You guessed that’s what marriage entailed; always wanting to come back to the one you loved the most, the one you’d want to spend the rest of your life with. 

“Well I’ll be damned.” a voice broke you out of your stupor. “Y/N L/S, is that really you?”

You looked up and you gasped, easily breaking out of Taehyung’s grasp as you both looked at the person who spoke in shock. 

~*~

“Hoseok?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think we’ll ever see each other again?”

“I’m moving to L.A., not to the moon.” the boy laying next to you chuckled, leaning over to place a tender kiss against your cheek.

“I know, but it’s still so far away, and I’ll miss you.” you admitted, a soft sigh expelling from your lips.

“Hey, look at me,” Hoseok cooed, taking one of your hands. You glanced over at him.

“I promise I’ll call, hell I’ll even write if I have to. Trust me, I’m not going to forget you Y/N.” he smiled, radiant and bright. “And after I graduate high school, I’m going to work and make enough money to move back home to be with you.”

~*~

You thought Hoseok had forgotten you. After he had left with his family, he did call, almost everyday. But as the months went on, after he had graduated, the calls came less and less, and eventually they just stopped. Oh, how you remember the longing for him to call you back, to return just one call, but he never did. It didn’t really “hurt”, after all, you both had left each other on good terms and it was a fleeting high school relationship. One filled with shy kisses and passing notes in class. You knew Hoseok must’ve been busy, making a living in America would certainly be a good enough excuse to forget to call. But he was still your first love, and his actions and loss in a promise made you guard the promises you chose to make, keeping those words tight and close until you knew you could trust another to not break them like Hoseok had. Even when Seokjin came along, the first man you were with after Hoseok, you still kept your guard up, albeit less than before. 

But of all things, you didn’t expect to see him standing in front of you, in a musty saloon in the middle of nowhere in Arizona, many years later. 

“Hoseok?” you questioned, carefully taking a step forward. 

He looked completely different from what you’ve remembered him to be. You always saw the eighteen year-old in your mind whenever you thought of him; mousey brown hair, scattered acne, gangly limbs, bright eyes and a smile to match. The man in front of you had dark red hair, matching the mountains of the desert. His face was tan, smooth, clear, and his arms and legs were taut with muscle and a few scattered scars. But you knew that smile anywhere, and those bright eyes haven’t aged a day, but still, you didn’t want to believe it was him. 

“Who’s my favorite Backstreet Boy?” you asked suddenly and Taehyung giggled behind you. Hoseok rolled his eyes.

“Really, the security question Y/N? C’mon, it’s me.” he tried again, taking a step closer to you.

“Then the answer should be easy.” you challenged.

“Y/N,” Taehyung shook his head with a chuckle, moving in front of you to give your friend a hug. Hoseok chuckled as Taehyung bounded into his arms, holding him close.

“Good to see you too Tae.” he ruffled the younger’s hair, looking at you expectantly. “Don’t I get a hug from you, Y/N?”

“Not until you answer the question.” you were persistent, and you must’ve spoken a little too loud, because Jimin and Jungkook came wandering over.

“Is there a problem here?” Jungkook asked defensively, wrapping a protective arm around your shoulder. Hoseok’s eyes followed Jungkook’s grip, a dark flash of something passing through them before they turned bright again.

“Stand down lover boy,” Taehyung chuckled. “This is Hoseok, a childhood friend from high school.”

“Oh! Nice to meet you!” Jimin, the ever loving man that he was, held out his hand and Hoseok took it with a smile.

“Y/N, this is ridiculous-”

“The security questions weren’t ridiculous in high school.” you countered. 

“That was eight years ago!” Hoseok laughed, shaking his head. “And us three made those up in case a zombie apocalypse broke out and someone was trying to impersonate us.”

“If you could remember all that you should know the answer.” you raised your eyebrow and Hoseok sighed, pursing his lips as he stared at Jungkook’s hand again, the boy’s arm still wrapped around you protectively. 

“Your favorite Backstreet Boy is Nick Carter, because he could dance really well. You used to tease me about him being a better dancer than me just to rile me up.” Hoseok smirked and you sighed in defeat

“Now c’mere,” Hoseok held his arms open and you moved into him, allowing his arms to wrap around you.

Damnit, he was warm, and he smelled so good. You relaxed in hold involuntarily, your guard dropping.

“I’ve missed you. So, so much.” he whispered into your ear. You pulled away from him with a small smile.

“I’ve missed you too, but you have a lot of explaining to do.”

~*~

“You have every right to be upset-”

“Damn right I do.” you agreed, watching as the boys danced around while you and Hoseok took refuge at the table. Taehyung ushered the other two out to dance, knowing you’d want to talk with Hoseok alone and after a few shots, they were more than willing to do so as more party-goers came out to dance to the country twang as the night grew darker.

“You broke your promise.” you continued, your voice a little softer this time. “You, sir, are the cause of a lot of trust issues.”

“Guilty,” Hoseok chuckled, and his laugh was contagious. “After graduation, I knew I didn’t want to stay in L.A.”

“Why’s that?”

“It was too artificial, too showy. But I loved the desert, I loved the mountains.” Hoseok eyes lit up. “I taught dance while I was there though, saved money and bought my own car and I just drove and drove until the car broke down at a Native American reservation about fifty miles from here, over the river.” he paused, biting his lip.

“Hobi?” you questioned, and the corners of his lips turned up at the use of your old nickname.

“Most of the money I saved was originally going towards a plane ticket, to go back home to Korea. To see you.” he admitted. “But something called me here. I couldn’t let it go, so I took the risk and I’ve never been happier. The population is less than 5,000, quiet and local. And I work as a river guide, taking groups down the rapids for hours at a time. I even do multi day excursions, just exploring the flora and fauna and meeting wonderful people as we camp under the stars.”

“Well, that explains the muscles.” you chuckled. Hoseok sighed, reaching out to take your hand in his.

“There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by where I didn’t think about calling you. About calling your parents or Taehyung when one day your number just didn’t go through anymore. It’s hard out here though, signal’s are always going out.”

“When it was in though, why didn’t you?” you asked. “I missed you, Hoseok. You were my first love, but more than that, you were my friend too.”

“I don’t know why,” he answered honestly. “But I can tell you I missed you too. So much. I saw you in the cactus flowers, the stars in the sky, but none of them compare to you now. You’re so much more beautiful than I remembered you to be.” you chuckled, shaking your head at him.

“You still have your way with words.” you teased.

“No, I genuinely mean it Y/N.” he gripped your hand tighter. “You look more…relaxed, more glowing and bright. It’s gorgeous, you’re gorgeous.”

“Oh, stop.” you blushed, avoiding his gaze.

“I won’t, I have seven years of complimenting to catch up on. I know I’ve broken my promise of coming back, but I never stopped thinking about you in the corner of my mind. Can you forgive me for hurting you? For breaking your trust?” you’ve never heard Hoseok beg before, but you guessed this would as close as you can get to it. He looked so hopeful. You sighed, picking up your drink and taking a tentative sip as Hoseok was practically falling off the edge of his seat. 

“I’ll forgive, but I won’t forget Mr. Jung.” you smirked and Hoseok’s smile permeated your heart and warmth spread through your belly, but you blamed the whiskey for that. 

“I’ll take what I can get.” Hoseok chuckled, his thumb gently rubbing over the back of your hand. “So, what’ve you been doing on the other side of the world while I’ve been scaling the white waters?”

“Well, remember Tae and I’s dream of having our own company?”

“Nah, shut up. You guys didn’t.” Hoseok exclaimed, his smile growing as you pulled up your company’s website on your phone, showing him the PR photos of you and the three boys posing with the Cake palette, each one’s eyeshadows depicting a different look with a mirage of colors. 

“We did.” you giggled as Hoseok scrolled through the products with awe in his eyes.

“I can’t believe it, I’m so proud!” he said, pushing your phone back to you. “Was that Taehyung’s idea? The whole food/cake thing?”

“Actually, it was mine. Our top seller too. These were Tae’s. And Jungkook’s and Jimin’s.” you puffed your chest out with pride, pointing at all of the products. 

“Well I’ll be damned then. It’s beautiful.” Hoseok gave you a thumbs up. “But why is that the only thing you’ve created? Clearly you have the talent.”

“I’ve been having a lot of stress lately. With the marketing, the projections, worrying about finances with Kookie and promotional and social media with Jimin, and allowing Taehyung to experiment and create at his own free will, I guess I lost my creative spark.” you admitted with a sigh. “That’s why we’re all here. Taehyung booked us this vacation to help us relax and get the creativity flowing again, because if we don’t have another sale like Cake, we’re slowly going to go under.”

Hoseok hummed softly in understanding. 

“I guess there’s also the ‘second project’ syndrome that’s messing with my mind too. I’m afraid that whatever I design and produce with the boys won’t live up to the Cake palette’s hype. Cake sold out completely in Korea in two days, and two weeks later they were sold out internationally. Our workers were doing overtime to keep up with sales.” you continued. “I just feel stuck. Even though this place makes me feel free, I know I’ll have to return to that limbo when it’s done, and that scares me.”

“Y’know what you need?” Hoseok told you.

“What?”

“A sense of freedom.”

~*~

That’s what prompted you and the boys to stay in Hoseok’s house for the remainder of your vacation. His house was comfy enough for the five of you, and the homey touches did make you feel better than staying in an artificial hotel. 

Hoseok helped you all let go. 

Hoseok took you all to see the secrets of the mountains and canyons, the river guiding you down trails of adrenaline and clarity. The hiking brought you beautiful horizons, the cactuses providing nourishment from the source, and the river brought you splashing wars and chicken fights, of gentle floating in ravines and laying out on the red sandbars, but it also brought you adventure as the rapids licked your cheeks and flew you over rocks and mini waterfalls. And the rocks aided you all, providing stepping stones, glimpses into the wildlife’s habitat, and great heights to fall into deep pockets of water. Jimin documented it all, only posting the best pictures of your vacation to your SMS, much to Taehyung’s dissatisfaction (”Hyung! I don’t have makeup on, you can’t post that!” “But Taehyung, none of us are, we’re all barefaced.” “Yeah but you guys actually look good without makeup.”).

As Hoseok took you out more and more, your trust in him began to grow again. He showed you friendship, he showed you consistency, he showed you attentiveness and honesty, giving you his everything and anything. He jumped off the cliffs with you into the waters below, he showed you the scorpions and lizards with careful hands, gave you prickly pears and their juice when there wasn’t enough for the five of you, and he fought with you in the water against the other boys, comradery and unity forming between you both again. You both fell back into the friendship you thought you lost, and Hoseok made your heart feel light. You trusted him, from his reoccurring actions and signs of love and clarity. And you had forgiven him, understanding now how easy it would be to isolate yourself into the land of red rocks and sand, living without a care in the world as the sun stroked your back and dried your hair into knots and waves. 

The two weeks seemed to go by too fast, but you knew it happened from the looks of your sun-kissed skin and water-logged locks. A few scars and bruises also joined your skin, caused by falling out of the raft on the rapids and landing on hidden rocks beneath the water. You found yourself and the boys lounging out poolside on the last night of your vacation while Hoseok cleaned up the dinner of smoked barbeque and margaritas. You were laying out on one of Hoseok’s pool chairs with your sketch book, drawing the mountains and setting sun while watching Taehyung and Jungkook fight in the pool. Jimin sat next to you, flipping through the pictures he took that day.

“Y/N?” Jimin called. You looked up at him over the edge of your sunglasses before you heard him snap a picture. He smiled, looking up at you with sweet eyes.

“Beautiful.” he told you, showing you the picture. Your sunglasses and floppy sun hat blocked half of your face, but the edge of a smile laced your lips as Jimin captured your natural expression. You could see the base colors on your sketch pad, your coverup only barely revealing the bikini top you wore with your shorts and flip flops. Your hair was wavy from the chlorinated water you were swimming in earlier, and your cheeks were pink and speckled with sun freckles.

“You really are talented with a camera Jiminie.” you complimented him.

“It’s all you sweetie, just an au-natural Y/N. Beautiful in her natural state.” Jimin’s words made you blush, normally he wasn’t this foreword with you, his flirtation usually just reserved for Jungkook. “I’m so posting this as a teaser that we’re working creatively again.”

“Go ahead Jimin, I won’t whine about it like some people.” you said with a chuckle.

“Heard that!” Taehyung yelled before he was shoved underneath the water again by Jungkook.

“I agree with Jimin.” Hoseok was suddenly behind you, making you jump in surprise. “You look beautiful with Arizona written all over you.”

When Hoseok told you that he would be catching up on his compliments he wasn’t kidding, giving you at least one every day. You didn’t know if it was because he felt guilty or really just wanted you to feel beautiful. Whatever it was though, you appreciated it immensely, his words doing wonders to your ego and self confidence.

“I wanna show you something.” Hoseok told you. His eyes had that spark in them, and you could tell he was eager to drag you out for the rest of the night.

“Okay.”

Hoseok grinned, grabbing your hand and dragging you out the back gate of his home, taking you up the side of the mountain in his backyard. You giggled when he became too excited, almost falling off the side of the red rock with a sheepish smile, heading your advice to go just a little slower. You hiked up the path until the sun had set, following Hoseok until he pulled you away from the main path, following the curves of the rocks until he led you to a tunnel.

“Hoseok…”

“Hmm? Are you scared?” Hoseok teased, playfully pinching your sides.

“It’s really dark,” you said hesitantly, peering into the hole in the rock formation.

“C’mon, it’s safe enough, it’s like a slide.” he smiled, sitting down on the sandy gravel. “I’ll even hold you if you want. Please? It’ll be so worth it.” he held his hand out to you, the other patting the open space between his legs. You bit your lip, your eyes flickering between his expectant stare and the darkness of the tunnel. With a huff you joined him on the ground, grabbing his arms and wrapping them around you like a safety belt.

“If I die tonight, I’m blaming you Jung Hoseok.”

He chuckled, inching you both forward until you were at the mouth of the tunnel.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready.” you nodded. Suddenly, you were sliding down an endless tunnel. You could hear Hoseok’s joyful laughter over your screams of shock and then as soon as you started, you stopped, your eyes bulging at what you saw.

You were in some sort of crater in the middle of the mountain, because you could see the sky and the stars above you, creating a ceiling for the tall rock that surrounded you. But there was an oasis in the crater. It couldn’t have been more than fifteen feet wide, but around it’s bank there were little sprouts and cactuses growing, and an old blanket laying across the ground.

“Worth it?” Hoseok asked and you could hear the smugness in his voice.

“I don’t know, I think I bruised my butt on the slide down.” you joked, standing and brushing the dirt off your clothes. You moved closer to the oasis, gently running your fingers over the surface of the water; it was warmer than you thought it’d be.

“A lot of frogs breed here, honestly I think it’s the only place the tadpoles can survive in in a twenty mile radius.” Hoseok commented, crouching down next to you.

“How’d you find this place?” you asked.

“Hiking accident,” he winked. “I fell down the tunnel, slipped on some loose rock and ended up here. It was pretty in the day, but at night, you can see everything. C’mon.”

He took you to the blanket, stretching out and laying against it with his hands supporting his head. You laid down next to him, looking up at the amounts of stars shining above you. The moon added a glow to your vision, the entire little room basking a light blue haze around you both. 

“You can see everything. There’s the North star, and the Little Dipper connecting off of it,” Hoseok pointed to the sky and you followed his finger as he named every constellation you could see. You just watched him with love in your eyes; his passion was evident in the way he spoke about the stars and the region and you honestly couldn’t imagine him being anywhere else but here in this small desert town. When his voice grew silent you focused back on him and saw he was staring at you now, just like how you were absentmindedly staring at him. You blushed, chuckling softly but you didn’t look away.

“You were staring.” Hoseok pointed out.

“I know.”

“Are you still infatuated with my good looks?” he teased, turning onto his side to better face you. You turned onto your side too, making the tips of your noises almost touch. 

“Yeah, you wish.” you giggled. Hoseok gave you a half-hearted chuckle in return, his lips falling into a frown.

“I’ve been thinking a lot these past few days.” Hoseok admitted.

“About?”

“About us.” he said easily. “About what we would’ve become if I hadn’t moved. About what we would’ve been if you came out here. About what would’ve happened if we somehow, someway, stayed together.”

“Hoseok…”

“I don’t regret my actions, not at all. But sometimes I wonder what we could’ve been. Haven’t you?”

You squirmed, playing with your hands as you thought. Sure, you’ve missed Hoseok, immensely so. But you never thought about what could’ve been. The thought didn’t cross your mind after building the business and dealing with love in pain and love in patience back-to-back.

“You’re hesitating,” Hoseok chuckled, stopping your fidgeting movements so you could focus entirely on him. “Why?”

“I guess I have some issues when it comes to talking about romantic relationships now.” you chuckled. “I’ve had two complicated relationships with two different people in the past year and a half, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Y/N, it’s just me, I’m not going to get hurt by what you say. Just be honest. Don’t you trust me enough to do that? I feel offended.” Hoseok laughed and you shook your head quickly.

“No! No that’s not it! After these past weeks, I’ve grown to trust you again Hoseok. Completely with all my heart. If I’m being honest…I hadn’t really thought about us and what could’ve been. I was too busy with the business and the past love complications. I’m sorry.” you sighed. Hoseok just smiled, taking your hand in his.

“Thank you for being honest, and I’m not that surprised really. It’s been seven long years of growth for the both of us. I wouldn’t expect you to think about me that way anymore, but a guy can hope sometimes,” Hoseok laughed and the air around you both still seemed light, and for that you were grateful.

“But still, why so hesitant when talking about love? Honesty should always be the forefront, and that shouldn’t make you uneasy.” Hoseok pestered on.

“I guess I don’t trust myself enough to admit my feelings to myself or others for that matter. Really, I just want to know I actually love a person first before I start trusting myself and my emotions with them. Y’know?”

“Oh Y/N,” Hoseok chuckled, his smile lighting up your soul. “Trust is always built first to allow love to grow. I trust you…so much. You’re honest, you’re reliable, and your heart is so open for love and friendship that it makes mine pound. When you say you love someone or something, you show it to your full capacity. I can see it in the way you look at Taehyung, Jimin, Jungkook, and with me. And that’s worth everything to me, even more so that the actual feeling of love. And if I can see that, then everyone else can too. So allow yourself to trust and be honest with the people you care about, because they can see the truth within you too and will appreciate you more for talking about it.” Hoseok spewed, his eyes light and understanding.

You smiled, realizing the true extent of what Hoseok’s words meant. How trust was built for love, and how his trust equated to his love for you. You suddenly brought him in for hug, making him chuckle.

“Aww, Y/N.” Hoseok cooed, hugging you close to him.

“I love you.” you told him, pulling back to see his reaction. Hoseok’s smile just grew and he placed a gentle kiss on your forehead.

“And I love you.” he giggled. 

“Thank you, for making this trip even more amazing than it already was.” Hoseok waved his hand absentmindedly.

“It was my pleasure. Besides, giving up a moment to hang out with you and Tae again? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” 

“It’s just sad we have to leave you behind.” you pouted.

“You’re not, not really. I’ll always be here.” he said, placing his hand on your chest over where your heart was. You smiled, placing your hand over his chest as well.

“And I’ll be here with you too.” Hoseok smiled, placing a light kiss against your lips. 

It wasn’t more than a peck, like how a mother would kiss her child, but it held so much for you. So much love and understanding and light that you allowed Hoseok to do it again, and again. Until the pecks turned into a full kiss, your lips sliding together as you kissed under the lights of the stars. Hoseok pulled you close, holding you like you were the most precious thing in the world to him. His hands gripped your hips, firm and steady to keep you from physically swooning. You giggled when Hoseok bit your lip, pulling away from you with his signature heart-shaped smile. 

“Just like old times, right?” he teased and you giggled, nodding your head.

“Just like old times.”

“Maybe I’ll come out one day and visit. I can’t leave this place though, the desert is my home now.” Hoseok said, the tips of his fingers running over the top hem of your shorts, occasionally brushing the skin of your back. 

“Please? We missed you more than you know.” you chuckled.

“I promise,” he said, placing a parting kiss on your cheeks. “You’re going to make someone feel very loved someday Y/N. And you’re going to get that same love back, tenfold.”

“It’s nice of you to think so.” you laughed, playfully shoving his shoulder. 

“I know so,” he countered, his eyes growing a little wider as he spoke. “My mom always told me this whenever I mentioned love; ‘The people who trust the most, always love the most, therefore, they will always find someone who loves like they do. Because the ones who love the most, deserve someone who can keep up with them and their love for the world.’.” Hoseok paused, allowing his eyes to roam over your face, to stare into your eyes one more time before he let you go. “And honey, you deserve that kind of loving.”

[drink-n-watch]

Hello everyone. Please bear with me this week. I am still in the midst of a huge cold and even watching Psycho Pass was a bit of a challenge. Matt, I’m going to have to rely on you for the deep insight even more than usual this week. Oh and if I say anything that makes no sense, please assume it’s the cold medicine talking.

Oh boy, this oughta be a fun one! Strap in guys and gals!

First let me say that to my eye, it seems as if last week was a blip. This week’s episode was largely back to normal regarding character model consistency and art quality. I really didn’t notice anything off. Of course there’s no way I trust myself in my current state to make that assertion so Matt, what did you think of the visuals?

Much improved, not sure if that was because they were a bit smarter with shot composition in this episode–favouring still frames and off-camera dialogue over low quality mid and long shots–but whatever it was worked well for the visual fidelity of the episode.

I thought the episode would have mostly concentrated on the undercover infiltration of Heaven’s Leap and I was excited about it. So it was a bit disappointing to me to have the narrative swing back to Arata and the rest of division one that quickly.

This episode was jumping around a lot, in spite of what people may have thought this episode would be, I’ll elaborate on that later though…

Although I was amused by how sly Kei is. He’s like an ogre, the boy has layers, and it’s slowly winning me over.

A ‘Shrek’ reference? In 2019? For shame, Irina…

The story does indeed seem to be continuing its exploration of the plight of immigrants in a Sybil controlled society and the plot is thickening on all sides. A deep conspiracy is going on with most of our key players missing for unknown reasons and still no explanation for the acts of terrorism all pointing back to the church.

It does appear that a powerful organization is using immigrants to reap chaos and perhaps in other ways as well but so far, I haven’t gotten a handle on why. I’m not sure if it hasn’t been revealed yet or I just missed it, but the end goal is still fuzzy as far as I’m concerned.

From what I can gather, Bifrost (the three people who talk cryptically in that extremely detailed 3D room) are all ‘congressmen’ who have power on par with the Sybil system and can drastically affect anything going on in Japan; from the allocation of public funds to different projects to the plotting of needlessly complicated conspiracies involving religions, kidnappings, and all manner of mischief. Basically, they are demi-gods, playing with pawns in the shadow of the absolute god that is the Sybil system.

Well yeah – I mean I got the basics down, I’m not that sick. I just don’t quite know yet the point of holding Roundrobin games. Is it a purge tactic, simple entertainment, modern day gladiator games? Bifrost is like an evil Sybil computer right? Why is it holding the games in the first place?

Because ambitious people will always want to have power over others and Bifrost is the end goal for such ambitions maybe?

One thing I would love to get more information about, is the larger context of Japan on the international level. I know I say that a lot simply because I think it’s really interesting to see how Psycho Pass’ specific version of authoritarianism would play out when confronted with other governments. However, in this particular case, I think it could help us appreciate the story more as well.

I’m sure they’d get along fine with the US in its current political state. Ohhh~ spicy!

Like I mentioned earlier this season, I was pretty surprised there even is enough immigration into Japan for the possibility of racial/cultural tensions to rise. I would have thought it would be too chaotic and unpredictable a situation for Sybil to allow.

Regardless of how Sybil feels about it, I’m also super curious why anyone would want to immigrate to Japan. It’s an island country so it’s not mere convenience. These people went through effort to go there specifically. That’s a bit unusual especially in the case of hue compromised immigrants which seem to be not uncommon.

What is happening in the rest of the world to make Japan that attractive?

It’s gotta be the secret porn doujin underground, right? I mean that’d be enough to make me risk a clouded hue to live in a Sybil-controlled Japan!

You may have chosen the wrong show to watch Matt…What I mean is considering the danger, why would someone chose Japan? I know Kei mentioned fighting in his home country but his home country is Russia. They aren’t exactly strangers to warfare in our world…. Do you know anything about this?

Do I know anything about what? About Russia, or about Kei being Russian? Or about Kei fighting in Russia? Or warfare in general? Because as far as I know, war… war never changes…

Did season 2 give us any glimpse about the state of international matters?

I try to block season 2 out of my memories… but no I don’t think it did.

Another aspect that would actually change things quite a bit is the emigration policy which I don’t think they’ve discussed yet. For instance, let’s say that Hue determination is based on some super secret set of calculations (like the google algorithm) and no one can know their own hues until Sybil assesses them. Can you show up in Japan, find out that your one quarter stuck in the bubblegum machine away from becoming a latent criminal and just decide to leave? Is there anything keeping you there outside the financial burden of travelling?

If Japan is letting so many people in you figure they would be letting some out as well to avoid overpopulation but we never really see that. In fact, most people don’t seem to have even travelled outside of Japan (which would make sense) so how does that work?

I think you’re trying to apply too much logic to a show (and by extension its writer) who just wanted to tack on some buzz-worthy topics like ‘immigrants’ and ‘housing crisis’, etc to the world of ‘Psycho Pass’ without you thinking too much about the nitty gritty details. Or maybe the writer is a genius and he’ll answer all your questions in time for the finale!

I don’t know. The writer is probably smarter than me. Besides what I do know of this franchise has always been very nicely constructed. None of these things are essential to understanding the story of course. I just think they’re interesting concepts and would add some nice world building to a season that’s been mostly plot driven.

As the episode came to a close, things were looking pretty dire for Kei. Just as I was starting to like the guy too. And I mean very dire. It strikes me that Psycho Pass may be the type of show that does not shy away from killing off main cast members and now I’m really worries. I will personally be bummed if anything happens to Kei. Maria will be devastated and I don’t know if Arata would even survive it….

Matt, tell me it’s going to be ok!

I mean, Maria got kidnapped to, things are going from bad to worse before our eyes, Irina!

Oh also, Bifrost is deeply involved with Heaven’s Leap. Of course. I don’t even know why I felt the need to throw in a spoiler like that…

Well I mean corrupt religions and corrupt politics go hand in hand, just look at the US… Oh! There I go again being ~spicy~!

So Matt, what did you think of this episode. Is last week still your least favourite?

This episode felt needlessly, almost combatively confusing, presenting itself in a fractured narrative that cut between story beats and flashbacks in such a way to keep itself ahead of the audience as if obfuscation passes for complexity. There was nothing specifically I disliked about this episode, there were some great scenes but they were presented so hurriedly and so disjointedly that on the whole it was hard to fully enjoy the experience. Even though this was a 45 minute episode, not only did it feel like a bunch of plots and subplots were simultaneously emerging, converging and diverting but it also felt like it was rushing for the sake of being compelling but instead ended up just confusing. This’ll be the new least favourite episode (so far). What about you Irina, can you blow past your cold and give us your verdict on it? 

I’m neutral on it. I found it less confusing than past episodes in that motivations were much clearer and I have no issues with intertwining narratives, in fact I often like them. However to me here are a lot of interesting themes being laid out but they are presented in a fairly dull way, in my opinion. So it evens out?

Psycho Pass s3 ep6 – Friends and Strangers Hello everyone. Please bear with me this week. I am still in the midst of a huge cold and even watching Psycho Pass was a bit of a challenge.

[renaroo]

Some Times (Time and Time Again) (1/8)

Disclaimer: Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and associated characters are the creative property of DC Comics.  Warnings: Canon shaken not stirred, Heavy canon references to Booster Gold (2009-2011) and Blue Beetle (2016-2018) Pairings: Boostle Rating: T Synopsis: Booster Gold and the rest of the Time Masters are still straightening up things in the wake of the most recent universal Rebirth. But Rip Hunter is still missing in the aftermath, leaving Booster in charge with Skeets, Michelle, and Rani. But there’s a distraction for Booster, one he can’t keep himself from ignoring. 

Ted Kord, miraculously, is still alive. And that makes everything more complicated than Michael could have ever imagined. 

A/N: I’ve been toying around with this idea for what feels like forever, at least since the Rebirth books got launched over at DC, and I finally got time to really sit down and work it out. I’m really excited for this fic and hope it’s decent enough for some of you out there!

Blue Beetle

Life without an assistant, as it turns out, is shockingly compressed on time.

Jaime doesn’t need much help on his progress as the Blue Beetle, but so long as he is the Blue Beetle, Ted has no interest in slacking on the kid’s training. Assistant or no assistant.

With his laptop balancing precariously on his knee, and himself balancing precariously on the sloping hood of the Beetle, Ted is attempting to keep track of company stocks, a slack chat with members of his board, an incoming tech report from some computer analyst he hired out of Jaime’s high school last week, and not waste too much of his bagel in the process.

Despite the distractions, however, Ted’s real concentration is still on Jaime’s blaster as it destroys thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours of equipment in the simulation fight.

It’s what Ted built it for, but still…

“Seriously, Mister Kord, I have to go meet my mom in, like, fifteen minutes,” Jaime shouts out over the sounds of debris dinging against the lab’s metal floors. He’s not even looking in Ted’s direction as he wastes another AI dummy that is gunning for him.

Feeling himself sliding a bit, Ted kicks back against the Beetle some to get back on his perch, his computer bobbing with the jarring, bagel bits flying. He wonders if an assistant would have helped with the bagel parts. And then he plays back the memory of Jaime’s highly pitched complaints.

“Hey, hey! How many times do I have to tell you, it’s not Mister Kord, kid, it’s Ted,” he argues on the important part.

Jaime’s suit unites his hand blasters into a single canon and blasts through more expensive equipment. He then looks over his shoulder and squints his large, buggy yellow eyes at Ted. “Maybe you should stop calling me kid then, Ted! Also, you’re missing the part where I’m warning you about a very angry Missus Reyes.”

Ted answers an email by holding the remains of his bagel between his teeth. Then he tilts his head back and swallows what he can, choking a bit, and accidentally sending a string of keyboard smashes to his company’s board of executives in response to a question about why so much money is being poured into Extraneous Funding. Bits of extraneous funded superhero training material flies toward Ted and the Beetle and if Ted didn’t know any better, he’d think Jaime was aiming in spite.

“Watch it, Jaime! I just buffed out the last dent in the Bug,” Ted warns, using his not-free-but-freer hand to rub the glistening hood to his side.

There’s a keening noise coming from the scarab on Jaime’s back that is only matched in annoyance by the groaning that Jaime’s doing on top of it. “Mister Kord!”

“Ted!”

“Ted! My mom! Ten minutes!”

Stock prices do dip, there’s another email update from this needy El Paso kid-slash-computer-genius, the board is up in arms at the insufficient response, Ted feels his stomach churning either in response to the million nasty things happening or to his bagel. And it all culminates in a tremor through his lower spine.

Despite or because of everything happening, Ted slips more from his spot, his body shifting and sliding right off the nose of the Bug. He, and all of his things, hit the floor in a clatter that manages to get Jaime to turn away from his training simulation entirely.

“Whoa! Ted, are you okay?” he asks just before getting hit by a blaster from behind.

“See! Never let your guard down!” Ted manages to yell before rolling over onto his back and laying in his mess of a lab and mess of a life. “Not even for your great and mighty mentor.”

He continues to lie on the floor, noting mentally that it’s surprisingly comfortable given that everything exploding in the lab eventually ends up there. It’s only when his vision is obscured by Jaime — no longer in his suit — staring down at him that he centers himself at least enough to be responsible for the teenager that he’s totally responsible for.

“Are you okay, Mister Kord?” Jaime asks, brows knitted in a little bit more genuine concern than what he usually offers Ted.

“I thought about it,” Ted answers with a harrowing breath. He releases the breath and melts into the floor a bit more. “And no. But who, at thirty-six, can truthfully say yes to that question.”

Jaime looks at him like he has three heads.

“Talk to me again in twenty years and we’ll laugh about it,” Ted promises him. “Get out of here, I don’t need a scary-angry Missus Reyes and you deserve a break. What’d’ya say?”

“Okay cool,” Jaime says, immediately walking away.

“You cold offer to help me up!” Ted yells after him.

“Do you want up?” Jaime asks from the doorway.

Ted stares at the ceiling and considers it. “Get out of here kid, I need to find a new assistant.”

“See you later, Mister Kord,” Jaime calls, closing the door behind himself and the last laugh.

“Kids,” Ted huffs to himself. “I need an assistant my age. No. Ten years younger. So I can watch the hope and youthful naivety die. That should sustain me. Think like a corporate CEO. Socioipathy. Hating kittens and… breathable oxygen or something.”

There’s a long silence in the lab, just Ted with himself and his thoughts. And when those turn scary he finally manages to get himself up, gather his things, and to start working on the next project.

Finding his new personal assistant.

There has been a stack of portfolios on his desk for a while, now, a few days at least. And he should be going through them for review but he hasn’t.

They all look the same on paper. Even the one written in German.

There isn’t enough time, and he’s only getting shorter on time the longer he goes without a personal assistant who is literally a speedster.

Time’s a funny thing that way.

Ted finds ways to waste more time without fully committing to any project or any responsibility in a way that matters before giving up in defeat and burying his head into the paperwork on his desk. There aren’t as many pings from his computers and he could probably rewire some of the broken lab equipment sooner than later, but he’s not really doing anything by the time his bagel fullness has subsided into the ache of needing a lunch break.

Which, on a normal day, is when Ted can finally get a hold of everything and pick a direction. He doesn’t really get the opportunity, though.

His head is still on the desk when an unfamiliar, radiant light picks up somewhere in the center of the lab, sending out a subtle heat that dies down with the light itself.

It hasn’t been that long since lizard people attacked so it doesn’t automatically raise Ted’s hackles the way it probably should, but it does at least get him to look up from his desk and see that the light was from some sort of transportation used to enter his lab.

And the one who used the transportation was none other than his best-friend-then-gone, and oddly out of touch, for years.

Booster Gold stares at him from the center of the room, his goggles resting up on his hairline rather than on his nose, letting Ted see the way Booster’s eyebrows ruffle together. They then raise in almost shock as he continues staring Ted’s way.

Ted blinks a few times. “Mikey?”

There’s a deep breath from Booster before he even blinks. Then he shakes his head, as if trying to parse reality, before finally looking at Ted again. “Beetle!” he blurts out, like it’s something he hasn’t gotten to shout in years.

Which, who knows, maybe he hasn’t.

“Did you just teleport into my office-slash-laboratory?” Ted tries to figure out.

“Of course I did!” Booster shouts again, laughing forcefully. He almost seems hoarse already.

“That’s… weird. Since when could you teleport?” Ted continues to question. “Also why? And. Uh. Hello. Been a while.”

“It has been. It’s been… way too long,” Booster continues, seeming breathless. “Wow. Okay. Cool.”

He seems so incredibly happy and relieved and just all these other emotions that Booster doesn’t wear comfortably.

And Ted, well, he’s growing impatient the more the confusion lingers.

“Yeah, it’s like the last time I saw you was in a car commercial,” Ted says flatly.

“Ha, yeah,” Booster replies without any weight to it.

“Probably because it was,” Ted leans in.

That, at least, seems to bring down the thousand watt smile to something closer to a nine hundred. “Oh.”

The air becomes stale unbelievably quickly.

“Yeah,” is all Ted can manage to say.

Booster continues to stare at him, some of the disbelief finally fading into mild concern. Which, Ted kind of hates because only Booster could make him feel like the bad guy for pointing out the truth.

Well, maybe other people, like a well paid assistant someday in the near future.

“Did we leave off on bad terms?” Booster asks, obviously fishing.

“I don’t know,” Ted answers honestly. “Did we?”

With that, Booster’s brows furrow again and he tilts his chin down, running his hand through the back of his hair nervously. “Hell, I don’t know. I.. There’s been a lot, y’know. Just. A lot. And… I didn’t know I could… if you…”

There is something to Booster’s words and actions that feels disconnected. He’s holding back a lot, which is weird. Because it’s Booster.

But the sentiment, well, Ted knows it all too well.

“Yeah, I get it. Me, too,” Ted huffs. “I guess… I mean. There’s not a whole lot to hang out about when, well, I’m retired and you’re… not? I guess. I don’t know where you even live anymore.”

“I can’t… really retire from the current gig,” Booster announces, again with that veiled subject. But he’s quick to change topic. “And there’s every reason to hang out with you. In fact, I’m glad you’re retired. Fuck, man, you better be retired and…” He stops himself short, pinches the bridge between his eyes, and then comes back to focus. “I came to ask if you… if you wanna get some drinks?”

“You teleported into my office-slash-laboratory to ask if we could get drinks before noon on a Tuesday?” Ted asks incredulously.

Booster blinks, looks around the mess of a lab, and then looks at Ted again. “Uh. Yeah?”

Ted considers it only for a second before sighing and coming to his feet. “Okay, fine, you’ve convinced me.”

“Wow, that took… no work whatsoever,” Booster says in vacant surprise.

“It’s been a hell of a morning and I want to figure out what’s different with you,” Ted announces. “I mean, again, last time I saw you was a car commercial—“

“Did I look good in it?” Booster asks almost mindlessly, his gaze a thousand yards past Ted at the time.

“No, the whole thing was on your bad side. You know. Where your chin looks bad,” Ted responds sarcastically, looking Booster over. “Seriously, what’s up?”

“Just drinks,” Booster promises, holding up his hands.

Ted squints at him. “Drinks and… mole people? Time eating octopus? A heist for J’onn’s Chocos?”

“Do you really think so little of me?” Booster asks, actually looking at Ted again. He seems… strangely earnest about it all. In a raw, painful kind of way.

Ted leans back, worried. “Uh. Did someone die?”

“No,” Booster laughs. Only, it’s not just a laugh, it’s an uproarious joyful kind of noise from the back of Booster’s throat. “Isn’t that the greatest thing you’ve ever heard? Isn’t that the best news I’ve ever given you? No one’s… Everyone’s… Wow. I sound like I’ve lost my mind.”

Booster walks past Ted and all but collapses into Ted’s desk chair, crumbling like a fallen tower, until his head has fallen between his knees.

Ted is stunned. And worried. Mostly stunned.

“Jesus, Michael,” Ted manages to get out as he approaches his friend. He looks around his desk, grabbing for the menus he knows are somewhere among the rubbish. “We’ll just order and have something delivered here for lunch. How’s that sound?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Booster continues hoarsely. “That sounds… Yeah, that’s an amazing idea, Teddy.”

At the sound of his old nickname, Ted has to pause looking through low sodium options and instead really looks at his friend. He’s pale and has bags under his eyes. There’s a certain unkempt nature to his hair and it’s sticking up behind his ears like it hasn’t been trimmed in a while. He’s clean shaven, but there’s the dusting of five o’clock shadow on his left cheek from an uneven shave.

It’s the worst Michael has looked to his knowledge. At least short of any life-or-death situations.

“What aren’t you telling me?” Ted not so much as asks as he demands.

“A lot,” Booster answers.

That’s not good enough and it explains nothing. And normally Ted wouldn’t think twice about saying as much. But for the moment, in that uniquely personal and miserably resigned way, Ted gives a gentler “Okay” instead.

When the air grows stale again, Ted tries a different approach.

“Is there anything you can tell me?”

Booster smiles just enough that his dimples make themselves known. “You’ll never have any idea how happy I am to see you again, Ted.”

Despite his confusion and concern, Ted can’t help the no-doubt dorky smile that comes to his face. “Right back at you,” he says, and it’s so truthful it hangs heavy in his voice. He offers up, in a mousy way, his fist. “Blue and Gold?”

There’s a brittle honesty to the expression of relief and appreciation in Booster’s face as he takes his own fist and bumps his knuckles against Ted’s. “Blue and Gold,” he says back almost reverently.

For a moment, Ted wonders how this is going to end, if it will be too soon or too long. He’s just strangely concerned and glad all at once that it exists at all.

So, of course, predictably, it ends too soon.

There’s a flash in the center of the laboratory, just like before, only this time both Ted and Michael are looking in its direction before it’s even over.

Booster manages to voice his surprise before Ted even has the chance.

“Skeets?” Booster’s voice strains.

“Michael, you’re needed for…” Skeets’ synthesized voice hesitates, if such a thing is possible for an AI, and the shiny robotic body shifts into Ted’s direction for a moment. “Hello, Blue Beetle.”

“Hey, I have a secret identity,” Ted jokes, waving to his Blue Beetle themed tee and the Bug.

Skeets, ever the comedic one, does not even acknowledge the detectable sarcasm in Ted’s voice before turning back to Booster. “Sir, you have an… appointment. With Rani.”

Ted can’t help his eyebrow raising and he looks toward Booster for clarification. He’s never heard the name Rani before, at least that he can think of. And he definitely hasn’t heard the name in connection to Booster.

But there is immediate recognition in Booster’s eyes. His body tenses up and he seems immediately more put together than he has appeared since teleporting right back into Ted’s life. He doesn’t even seem to realize that Ted is looking directly at him.

“Is she okay? I mean, does it have to be right now or…” Booster trails off, looking to Ted.

“I have been sent after you, Michael,” Skeets deadpans.

“Can’t you reschedule?” Ted asks, a little put off by all of this rather sudden and unexpected developments.

“It’s not that kind of date,” Booster says, getting to his feet and then flinching at his own words. “It’s… not a date at all it’s…” He seems uncomfortable in his own skin for a moment, scratching at his chin. “You…uh… I guess we should catch up. Soon. Like, really soon. You don’t know Rani? Really? Damn. I mean…”

“No,” Ted says flatly, crossing his arms as he sits back on his desk. “I guess we should catch up soon. Like over a lunch or something.”

“Okay, great,” Booster says, walking forward.

“I’d say pop in any time, but that seems to be the assumption—“ Ted begins to snark, but he’s cut off almost immediately by the tight embrace of Booster. It’s so tight it nearly knocks the air out of him.

Booster’s been working out since they last got into shenanigans together, it feels like he’s cutting off Ted’s circulation almost just through the hug. It’s warm, though, and it feels like the sort of emotional explosion that Ted would expect after years. Without the random teleportations and promises of lunch left thus far unfulfilled.

After a moment of the hug, Ted is finally able to gather himself enough to hug back, too, patting Booster’s shoulder as he does so.

“I miss you, too, buddy,” Ted says.

“It won’t be long, I’ll… I can promise that,” Booster says, finally letting go, holding Ted’s shoulders at arms length. “There’s just… some really hard stuff to explain going on right now.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Ted jokes as Booster lets him go. “It’s… uh. Well it’s good to see you again. And will be again. Soon. Ish? Right?”

“Definitely,” Booster promises, getting close to where Skeets is in the center of the lab. “I’m… It’s great to see you again, Ted.”

“Uh, yeah,” Ted responds, waving just as the flash of light from before happens again, disappearing along with his best friend and his best friend’s robot from the future.

He remains where he is, leaned back on his desk, and tilts his head to the side.

“So how do I explain any of this in my log today,” he wonders out loud. After a long moment, he shrugs and runs a hand through his hair. “Blue and Gold Nonsense it is then.”

[warlordess]

An Alternate Journey (Pokeshipping; part three)

Authors - @warlordess and @miyatoriaka

 Notes – Here be chapter two/part three of my joint project with Miya. I decided to post this one a bit early due to Valentine’s Day. It’s also Leaf’s introduction, which was a little harder for me to write because I don’t know much of anything about Leaf as a character. I mean, in the games, she’s the avatar of the player’s whim (should they choose a female character) and I’ve barely read the Adventures manga, nor have I seen Origins (and I have no clue if she’s even in it). So I threw a bit of info together from the game and gave her a bit of Gary’s mean streak from early canon… but also tried to write her as a bit more complicated than your average rival/bully, which eventually shows through between this chapter and the next.

Anyway, read on and please review/comment/reblog! Unless you’re one of those derpy anonymous trolls. If you’re one of those then you can go choke.

You can find the prologue here.

You can find chapter one here.

OoO

 Title - “An Alternate Journey”

 Summary - Eleven year old novice trainer Misty starts her Pokemon adventure, best friends Gary and Ash by her side. But will she withstand every test her travels throw at her and become the greatest master trainer of all time? Fic co-crafted with famous fan-artist, Miyatoriaka!

 Ages - Misty and Leaf are eleven years old, Ash and Gary are thirteen, and the adults are adult-aged so who cares about ‘em? Lol.

 Chapter Two - Rival

 OoOoO

 The cotton candy sunrise came and went while the three trainers snoozed, making up for their disrupted sleep from the night before. The sun had fully risen by the time they did wake, all of them eating a light breakfast of bread, jam, and fresh fruit before Misty released Gastly so he could direct them towards their next destination: Pewter City.

 “Wow, we got here much quicker than I thought we would considering how many days we were stuck in Viridian Forest,” Gary noted, his hand saluted against his brow as he took in the sights. He hadn’t visited this staple city recently since his gym and familial locations were settled in the more southern areas of Kanto.

 “It’s all thanks to Gastly!” Misty responded proudly, “Because of him, Eevee and I will face off against the gym leader here right after a quick trip to the PokeCenter!”

 “Ah, well, maybe you should pace yourself,” Ash warned her cryptically.

 “Wha’d’ya mean?”

 “It’s just… You’ve been a trainer for all of - what? - two weeks, almost half the time of which was spent stuck in one place, and now you wanna march straight up to the nearest gym to demand a battle? Much better prepared trainers than you have set themselves up for major loss because of that kinda recklessness.”

 “Okaaay… so do you two know anything about the gym? You both are part of the league yourselves, right? There must be something you can tell me.”

 “Hm, well, like much of the architecture here alludes, the gym utilizes rock-type Pokemon. Unfortunately, there was an upset a few years ago so the trainer in charge has alternated a couple times. Even the representative at league events has varied. Because of that, I dunno what their skill level is or what specific Pokemon they’re likely to use. I can say,” Gary paused to release a huff as the group of three humans and one ground-traversing Pokemon carefully ambled over some particularly uneven terrain leading from the plateau that divided Viridian Forest and Pewter City, “that, due to this gym being the first stop for most new trainers, the league challenge presented is kept at a moderate level.”

[read more]

“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t expect a good fight though,” Ash began next, almost losing his footing and having to take a moment to regain his step. “The challenge level might be maintained for new trainers but there’s basically no Pokemon you can catch around here that has an advantage against rock-types. You either have to force the advantage yourself by picking a starter that can measure up or you have to get really lucky.”

 “Well, let’s just get to the PokeCenter first,” Misty mumbled, her formerly impressive ego vastly reduced by the information that had been offered.

 “Yeah, and maybe we’ll walk around town while you come up with a strategy. We’ll still need to stock up on potions and food and stuff. There might be some interesting sights to see too.”

 The group finally made it into town, catching sight of the PokeCenter’s great red roof even from their distance and making a Beedrill line for it. Misty withdrew Gastly back to his Pokeball with a word of gratitude, picked Eevee up into her arms, and approached the front desk where a young woman with a pink uniform and even brighter pink hair was waiting with a cheery grin to greet them.

 “Welcome to our PokeCenter, here to heal your Pokemon’s every woe! I’m Nurse Joy and I’ll be registering your Pokemon in our database so they can be admitted for healing or check-ups.”

 “Hey, wait, didn’t we meet her in…?”

 “Oh, yeah, you don’t know, Misty, but every Center is run by a relative of the samy family. The same holds true for the police force,” Ash informed her.

 “Relatives…?” the redhead replied with a brow quirked in suspicion. “You sure they aren’t clones?”

 She had said such a thing offhandedly, meaning it as a joke, but when she next returned her gaze to the aforementioned woman, that originally sweet smile was suddenly looking a little strained.

 “My aunts, nieces, sisters, and cousins are all just as human as I am, just as we all share the same passion for caring about Pokemon.”

 Next moment, any residual malice had vanished - though Misty retained her apologetic expression for a few seconds longer - and Nurse Joy held out a tray with six empty Pokeball slots on it.

 “Please deposit your Pokemon for me here and my assistant Chansey will escort them to their room after admission. Will your friends be leaving theirs as well?”

 “Yeah, might as well,” Gary relented, and he and Ash both began to remove the round miniature devices from their belts while Joy placed two more trays on the counter and scanned Misty’s with an electronic reader, then typed a few things into her computer.

 Before she could follow suit with Ash and Gary’s Pokemon, Misty took the opportunity to place Eevee on the counter as well.

 “Um, she’s one of mine too. Do I…? I’m hoping I won’t have to force her into her Pokeball. I didn’t before.”

 “Oh, my, a trainer who travels with their Pokemon outside of a Pokeball? And this Eevee doesn’t seem to be an infant either. But it’s absolutely no problem! We have plenty of patients who are more like companions and visit just like this.”

 Nurse Joy accepted the fox-like Pokemon into her arms, giving her a comforting pat along her back, then turned and placed her on a timely delivered stretcher that Chansey had rolled up. She finished scanning and entering Ash and Gary’s Pokemon IDs into the computer, added their trays to the stretcher as well, and Chansey rolled everyone to the back area of the Center.

 Afterwards, the three trainers reserved a room and left to take in the sights around town, including the PokeMart and a couple of specialty stores. When they’d finished with lunch, they headed back to the PokeCenter to retrieve their Pokemon, Gary taking the opportunity to check their funds and make a budget for their supply costs.

 “So TMs are…?” Misty was asking him in the meantime as the whole lot of them waited for Chansey to grab their Pokeballs.

 “Well, they’re short for ‘technical machine’ but, as for what they do, they’re used to teach Pokemon moves they wouldn’t ordinarily learn through training and natural growth. There are some real powerful ones available.”

 “Thanks,” Ash said in reference to the nearly always smiling Nurse Joy handing over their Pokemon. “Are we heading back out?” he asked this time to his friends.

 “Ah, about that… I was wondering if it’s possible to go visit Pewter Gym?” Misty began, picking Eevee up into her arms with a kiss to her forehead before allowing the Pokemon to climb over her shoulder. “You know, like I used to do back in Cerulean City with you, Ash. I figure this is the only way I can prepare myself more for my own gym battle. Unless you wanna let me battle you. You never replied to me when I asked yesterday.”

 “Well, it’s true that most gyms have open hours for spectators to come watch but we’ll have to go check and see what hours those are…” Gary replied to her, nudging Ash into prolonged silence before he could come up with a retort.

 In fact, the raven-haired trainer was going to respond anyway to Misty’s commentary about him supposedly never answering to her challenge the night before but he was interrupted by yet another person as soon as they’d made it out the sliding double doors of the PokeCenter.

 “Oho! My goodness, if it isn’t the late bloomer of Cerulean City!”

 Misty’s expression immediately darkened as she stopped in her tracks, already apparently knowing who the voice belonged to without turning to see for herself.

 “Oh, no.”

 “I’m sorry, what was that?” asked the girl with long brown hair, a black high collar sleeveless dress, and white trainer gloves, leaning in close and smirking, prodding Misty in the cheek.

 Ash had to blink in wonder, curious as to how she’d moved in so quickly (and who she was for that matter).

 “I said, hi, Leaf, how’ve you been since you left Pallet Town?” the redhead rephrased, stiff plastic smile on her face as she made a half-hearted attempt to swat the other girl’s hand away.

 “Oh, well, thanks so much for asking! Everything’s been going so perfectly! I’ve gotten six badges, I’ve made so much money and fame that it’s almost unnecessary for me to even compete in the league and become the Pokemon Master! But of course I still will,” the snarky preteen added in afterthought, “And lastly, of course, is that I’ve caught the perfect little team of Pokemon! They’re all so cute!

 “But silly me! You shouldn’t let me talk about myself all day! So what about you, Misty dear? Still a late bloomer as always, I see! It looks like you’ve barely started out! So… when did you finally leave home, hmm? And when were you planning on introducing me to your handsome companions?”

 It had felt like every sharp word spilled from this girl’s lips in a single cunning breath. Her passive-aggressive jabs and flaunting self-promotion were enough to make Misty’s blood boil. But then again, Leaf had always had a way of crawling under her skin, ever since they were youngsters in school together.

 “Uh, anyway, Ash and Gary, this is Leaf. She’s my…” What? The only term Misty could think of to describe her was ‘bane of my existence’ but the redhead couldn’t help thinking she needed to say something more subtle. “... I’ve known her most of my life. Leaf, this is Ash,” she paused to point him out, “and this is Gary. They’re traveling with me.”

 “Oh, that’s so sweet! You have yourself a couple of babysit - I mean, training coaches!” The slip-up did not go unnoticed. “You’re just so lucky! Most of us have to accept the burden of traveling independently, taking full responsibility for our own goals and struggles, but having others take up your slack sometimes works too, I suppose. In fact, it even suits someone like you!

 “Anyway, boys, the pleasure is all yours, I’m sure. I hope you both are taking good care of Cerulean City’s late bloomer.”

 Misty couldn’t help the slight twitch of her tightly hunched shoulders every time she was called that. And her subdued fury only doubled when she saw Ash mouth the words over to himself as he and Leaf shook hands, clearly confused but knowing better than to ask at the moment.

 Leaf shook hands with an oddly tongue-tied Gary too and then swung back towards her old friend with a sly grin, taking in the sight of Eevee for the first time and bending down to greet her.

 “Why, hello there, cutie! I didn’t notice you before! I apologize for that! How could I miss such a sweet baby?” the brunette cooed genuinely with sparkling eyes, reaching out to stroke Eevee’s fluffy mane and seeming the slightest bit perturbed when the Pokemon didn’t respond to her earnest enthusiasm in kind. Rather, the normal-type Pokemon curled herself around her trainer’s ankles as if trying to disappear from view.

 “So where did you catch her? Eevee are really rare in the wild, you know. You usually have to breed one. I should know; I’ve been looking for one for myself for months now.”

 “Actually Eevee and I are partners because of Gary. He’s Professor Oak’s grandson. He was able to talk the professor into letting me breed an Eevee from an egg two of theirs managed to make. See, Eevee wasn’t caught. She’s my first Pokemon. That’s why I had to wait so much longer than everyone else to start my journey.”

 Because she and I were especially meant to be together! So there! she couldn’t help but add internally at the ever-so-slightly faltering smile on the other girl’s face. It sure felt good to come out on top!

 Indeed, her rival seemed quite put out by the reveal of such details but shook off her envy within seconds and reached her full height once more.

 “Well, Misty dear, that just gave me a marvelous idea! Why don’t we have a battle now that you’re finally a Pokemon trainer too? Just a little one-on-one practice. I know how hard it can be for you when you’re just starting out! You could probably use the experience and money. How about we battle starter against starter? Since I’m sure you don’t have much of a team yet. And it seems like fate had us meet each other here today.”

 “Actually, Misty has caught herself six Pokemon already!” Ash blurted out from the background, retreating and regrouping when his redheaded friend glared at him. “Though Eevee is definitely your strongest option at this point,” he clarified finally.

 “You know what, Leaf?! You’re on! Let’s do this, right now!”

 “Well, that’s great then, isn’t it? We even have an audience for our first ever official battle! Now, c’mon, there’s a practice field over there we can use…” And then, at the sight of Misty looking quite suddenly embarrassed, “... Or did you forget we’re standing right in front of the PokeCenter in the middle of a busy street?”

 “I, uh, I - of course not! Let’s go, Eevee!” the redhead huffed aloud, turning up her nose and stomping in the direction of their aforementioned battleground, the rest of their group following after them.

 “This is a one-on-one battle between Misty and Leaf, starter Pokemon only, no items allowed during the match. If these terms are agreeable to both trainers,” Gary paused here during his impromptu referee speech so that any complaints could be voiced if they existed before continuing, “then you may call out your Pokemon and begin!”

 “I call Eevee!”

 “Woo! Go, Misty!” Ash shouted from his place on the sidelines, pumping a fist into the air.

 The redhead offered him a grateful smile for his camaraderie before turning a determined and scrutinizing gaze on her opponent, waiting to see what challenge she and Eevee would have to face.

 Leaf had almost an entire year up on her experience-wise, and it wasn’t until this moment that the novice Pokemon trainer realized how remiss it was of her to not have paid attention to what Pokemon the other girl had chosen for the start of her own journey that fateful day all that time ago. And no matter which starter she’d picked, it had probably evolved by now, perhaps even more than once.

 “Come on out, Squirtle!” the female trainer shouted, elegantly tossing a Pokeball forward, where it snapped open and unveiled an all-too-familiar beam of scarlet light which morphed into the outline of a small turtle-like Pokemon Misty had learned much about back when she wasn’t sure which Pokemon she should choose as her first.

 Still, back to the present, she wasn’t quite sure if she was more relieved or disappointed by the sight of this particular opponent.

 “I hope you don’t mind us making the first move while you’re busy thinking? Squirtle, tackle!”

 The water-type Pokemon gave a firm nod before running bipedal in Eevee’s direction.

 “Ah!” Misty gasped, collecting herself and responding by instinct, “Eevee, dodge it and use your sand attack!”

 The fox-like Pokemon leapt out of the way and then u-turned as Squirtle careened past, digging his stubby feet into the ground to try and keep himself from going too far beyond his original goal. Unfortunately he wasn’t quick enough to avoid his adversary’s follow-up attack and was punished by an onslaught of dirt in his eyes, momentarily blinding him.

 “Use your water gun to wash your eyes out!” Leaf commanded.

 “I hope you don’t mind us continuing to battle while Squirtle is busy with that,” Misty commented smartly, barely able to conceal her condescending and prideful tone as she mimicked her rival’s statement from barely more than a minute ago.

 Leaf’s facial features tightened into a restrained grimace, clearly catching on but choosing to refrain from commentary and instead redoubling her efforts in the rest of their battle.

 “Eevee, tackle!”

 “Counter with withdraw!”

Squirtle paused in the middle of washing out his eyes, curling all appendages within his shell just in time for Eevee to smash into him. The normal-type squealed in pain and recoiled but shook it off rather quickly otherwise.

 “Try your tail whip and then use quick attack, Eevee!”

 “Use rapid spin!”

 The fox Pokemon wagged her tail in Squirtle’s direction just as he’d unfurled from his withdrawal but, while quick attack was an accelerated move, rapid spin was much faster. By the time Eevee had jumped from all fours to launch her weight at him, Squirtle was already curled up and swerving out of the way. But the relentless speed didn’t stop there as the water-type glided circles around his opponent before lunging at her, smacking her to the ground and flying a solid ten or so feet away before popping out of his shell again and landing gracefully on his hind legs.

 “Ah! Eevee, you can get up, right? We can still…” No sooner had Misty spoken these words than her Pokemon stumbled to her paws, looking the worse for wear in every regard but not wanting to let her trainer down. “Yeah, we can still do this! We can still win if we just keep attacking! Use your bite!”

 “Iron defense!”

 Squirtle withdrew into his shell once more, with the added effect of it shimmering a glossy white, just in time for Eevee to clamp down with her fangs, which proved to be quite the mistake. She whimpered as she pulled back, mouth clearly sore after such a folly.

 “Water pulse!”

 “Dodge--”

 But there was no time. A jet stream of high-powered water shot towards Eevee, making contact less than three seconds after the order was given. The already wounded Pokemon was thrust that much further towards the side of the field, hitting the ground hard and rolling limply a few times before coming to a stop, struggling to get back up even after such a beating.

 But Leaf wasn’t finished quite yet, and she no longer seemed interested in playing her games either.

 “Now finish it with your skull bash!”

 “Wait, what?”

 Misty’s head drew a blank at the confident utterance that was Leaf’s command. Skull bash was Squirtle’s signature move, one of the most powerful techniques he could learn. Compared to that, there was nothing in hers and Eevee’s arsenal that could compare. If this next attack made contact…

 “Eevee, lower Squirtle’s strength with your growl! Or at least get out of there if you can!”

 It was no use, everything was over so very soon. Squirtle had started dashing at her precious Pokemon but that trot had turned into a mad sprint, during which the water-type was moving so quickly that his feet, then his stubbly legs, and then his body as a whole were powerful white blurs of agility and power.

 Eevee successfully growled but it seemed to have no effect on the incoming threat so she attempted to follow through with Misty’s secondary command... However there wasn’t enough time.

 Squirtle’s hardened skull smashed into Eevee and sent the normal-type flying through the air before she hit the ground and wrenched round a few times in the dirt, coming to a stop in the left-hand corner of the field on her trainer’s side.

 Speechless and distraught, the redhead couldn’t wait for Gary’s official call to the end of the battle and began cautiously stumbling towards her unconscious Pokemon, but her half-hearted gait gained traction with every step until she was full-on running, her breath stolen from her throat, eyes both somehow watering and burning dry at the same time, her skin cold and heart hammering with fear.

 Pokemon fainted and lost battles every single day, she knew that, but… not her Pokemon. Not her Eevee. Never before this moment.

 “Misty--,” Ash began, on his feet in an instant and ready to support her in her time of need but he was interrupted by the somewhat restrained sound of Gary’s voice.

 “Eevee is unable to battle, which makes the winners of the match Squirtle and Leaf!”

 “Great job, Squirtle, come here!” Leaf called out, her Pokemon responding obediently with enthusiasm and waddling towards her. She fondly patted him on the head, kneeling down and granting him a soft kiss on the cheek before calling him back to his Pokeball and regaining her full height once more.

 “Do you see now, Misty dear? Pokemon come in all sizes, types, and strengths. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter that your Eevee was bred especially for you or that your friends gave up their time to help you on your journey. What matters to you most - or what should matter - is the bond you share with your Pokemon and the time you’ve put in together.

 “Squirtle and I have been together for almost a full year. We’ve won six badges together, earned a living and survived and thrived together. We’ve built a team together too.

 “Nothing can replace or replicate the bond I have with my Pokemon or the time we’ve spent working towards our goals. Even a novice like you who just started out will have to work at it if your dream is to truly become the greatest Pokemon Master ever.”

 “Hey, Misty, you okay…?” Ash asked, kneeling down beside her as she sat in the grass, cradling her unconscious Pokemon in her arms. “You know, once we get Eevee back to the PokeCenter for awhile, she’ll be good as new in no time!”

 Gary walked up to them both as Misty, still dispirited, managed a nod.

 “But, then again, I’ll have already finished collecting badges and challenging the league long before you, which means that I’ll naturally become a Master class trainer first. And it seems pretty clear to me from the battle we just had that you’ll never be a match against me anyway, will you, Misty dear?” Leaf goaded more shallowly now, drawing a hand through her long brown hair and hmphing with a mild smirk adorning her face. “After all, once a late bloomer, always a late bloomer, am I ri--”

 “--Hey!” Ash shouted, on his feet in an instant and staring her down from a considerable distance, quite fed up with her condescending attitude. “What makes you think you can talk to my friend like this?! Just ‘cause you’re a stronger trainer and just ‘cause--”

 Gary laid a hand on his shoulder, averting his gaze slightly under Ash’s increased ire, though the raven-haired trainer was also effectively silenced by his friend’s maneuver.

 “I don’t think that’s it.”

 “Wha’d’ya mean?”

 “I think… I’m just saying…” And Gary dropped his tone to such a lower murmur that Ash had to strain to hear what he was saying, meaning Misty probably couldn’t hear it at all (which was probably the point), “... that she needs to learn this lesson too.”

 “Yeah, well, that doesn’t mean that she,” Ash paused long enough to jack his thumb in Leaf’s direction, “should be the one to teach it! But it’s fine! If she wants to talk about bonds made and time spent with Pokemon then I’ll gladly match her! After all, Bulbasaur and I have been together for years! And Weepinbell too! And--”

 “--No, Ash!” a strained voice rang out from the ground, and the two young men faltered amid their discussion as Misty vigilantly rose to her feet, still holding Eevee just as closely and tenderly as ever. “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me. I don’t… I don’t really get what you guys were saying but I just wanna say one thing! Eevee and I are a great team! Whatever we may be missing now we’re gonna find and master! Do you hear me, Leaf? The next time you and I battle, we’re gonna be the ones who best you!”

 Leaf threw her hands up in a casual shrug, her lips curling upward so faintly that none of the others could even see it.

 “Whatever you say… little miss late bloomer,” she replied aloofly, turning on her heel and marching proudly away. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date with an ancient Pokemon exhibit.”

 “What was her problem?” Ash begged aloud as soon as she was gone. “Misty, are you okay? You shouldn’t listen to Leaf just ‘cause she beat you in a battle, okay? You and Eevee are plenty close and plenty strong, right, Gary?”

 There was an edgy pressure to his tone that not so subtly demanded Gary had better agree but the Viridian gym trainer was still staring after Leaf with awkwardly flushed cheeks and sharp eyes.

 “Yeah… Ash is right, I guess…”

 “You guess?!” the raven-haired trainer yelped, though his expression darkened as he looked his old friend over with pursed lips and furrowed brows, apparently catching on to something he’d missed earlier on. “Are you just saying that ‘cause you’re--”

 “--I’m just saying that because, even though Leaf came on strong,” the burgundy-haired trainer countered, pointedly interrupting what he had a feeling was going to be a very embarrassing and very accurate accusation, “she made a good point… and a strong impression,” he added.

 “C’mon, Ash, like I said before, Misty was going to have to face this moment sooner or later. You gotta remember that we’re here to help her when it’s needed and give her advice here and there but… there are just some things it can’t be our responsibility to teach her.

 “I mean, isn’t that why you blew off her requests for a Pokemon battle? Because you were worried you’d accidentally end up playing the role Leaf did?”

 “... You’re too smart for your own good, ya know that?” Ash begrudgingly admitted, blushing.

 “Guys…” Misty’s voice rang out from behind them, and both boys jumped nearly a foot in the air, having basically forgotten during their heated discussion that she was present to hear their every word. “Guys, it’s okay. And thank you. I… don’t really know what happened or like how it happened but I’ll get stronger from this and we’ll win the next battle against Leaf, just like I told her.”

 Perhaps Ash was imagining it but he couldn’t help thinking that the expression on the redhead’s face was more affectionate than it should have been as she stared wistfully in the direction Leaf had vanished in, considering what had transpired between them during their match. Huh. Maybe there was more to the girls’ relationship than he could comprehend at present.

 “Anyway, can we get Eevee back to the PokeCenter now?”

 “Sounds like a good idea to me,” Gary responded with a rare warm grin, perhaps feeling that one of his sarcastic or blunt quips would be better saved for another time.

 A couple of hours later, after Eevee had received both a good nap and some decent first aid from the talented and dedicated Nurse Joy and her assistant Chansey, the group of three trainers left to pay a visit to the Pewter City Gym and see about its open hours, which they’d unfortunately missed for the day, so they went out to grab dinner instead.

 Misty, who’d been sitting on the question since that afternoon, finally got around to asking Ash and Gary about the odd event that Leaf had mentioned in passing earlier.

 “Ancient Pokemon exhibit, hmm…?” Ash replied first, staring into the distance as if deep in thought for a few seconds before deadpanning, “I’ve got no clue. Oh well!”

 “I think she was talking about Pewter’s Museum of Science and Natural History. They have a department dedicated to the excavation and research of ancient Pokemon species. Rumor is they’ve even been involved in potential resurrection or cloning with the use of DNA,” Gary rattled off informatively.

 “Wow… I don’t really understand it but that sounds pretty amazing! Can we go check it out?”

 Misty smiled down at her perfectly healed Eevee, suppressing the guilt that bubbled up in the back of her mind at the sight of the Pokemon. It still stung some to think back to their battle earlier with Leaf, still bothered the redhead some to remember the harsh lesson she’d learned. The first thing she’d done for her Pokemon after Eevee had woken up was apologize profusely for letting her down, but of course Eevee had just licked her hand and nudged affectionately against her fact, not quite understanding but wanting to make her trainer feel better.

 Misty and friends made their way up the few blocks to one of the bus stops on Main Street, which would take them the rest of the way northeast where the museum was apparently located.

 After the ten minute commute, their group found themselves standing in front of a massive four story complex, facing a magnificent courtyard and stately architecture built out of the same slate gray stone that seemed to be the main source material used in most of Pewter City’s historical builds.

 “C’mon guys!” Misty called out, perfectly carefree if the way she was skipping excitedly towards the main entrance was any indication.

 Just as she’d opened one of the double doors, she and the others heard a distraught and irate shout from inside the building.

 “Wait! Thief! Stop them please!”

 A tall figure in black sprinted through the door Misty was holding, so strong and reckless that they inadvertently collided into her and caused her to tumble to the ground.

 “Hey, what’s the…” she began angrily in response to this transgression but faltered at the sinister expression and demeanor of the man before her as he glared icily before remembering he needed to be on his way.

 As soon as he was gone, many things happened in succession. Ash was checking to make sure she was okay while Gary was staring suspiciously after the man in black, followed immediately by the front door bursting open again and a whole slew of people appearing all at once, including a few in blue security uniforms, a fair number of curious bystanders, and two people sporting white lab coats.

 “Oh - oh no, are you alright, honey?” the first one, female with a rather meek and neurotic personality, simpered, giving Misty a once over, bouncing on the balls of her feet and pacing to and fro in clear distress. “Oh no, oh my, but there’s no time, we have to hurry! Oh, I can’t believe this happened! How could it - how will we ever find--”

 “--Penelope, calm down please,” her coworker attempted to cajole her authoritatively, having just apparently finished a phone call because he was placing his cell in his pocket. “I just contacted the police and Sergeant Jenny will be here soon. There’s nothing else we can do for now without potentially risking our safety. You three,” he motioned towards the group of trainers, “I’m sorry to approach you like this but we’re in the middle of an emergency situation. We’ve just had a very valuable fossil stolen from one of our exhibits by someone wearing a black jumpsuit. Did you happen to notice anything we might be able to report to the police when they arrive?”

 “No, how could we when--?”

 But Ash was cut off before he could say anymore.

 “The guy looked middle-aged, had black hair but there were gray streaks on the sides, gray eyes. He looked at least six feet tall. He exited through the gate and took a left. It seemed like he was trying to u-turn around the museum campus and escape into the northern woods,” Gary recited and, after catching sight of Misty and Ash’s bemused expressions, he added, “I was watching him go just in case it might help.”

 “Thanks, son, that was very smart of you. You three!” And the male scientist turned to face the security officers. “Go around back, fan out with your Pokemon and chase the thief down. Don’t do anything to risk damage to that fossil. If you can safely stall until Sergeant Jenny and her officers show up then do so, otherwise send someone back here so they can lead the police in the right direction when they arrive.”

 The trio of security personnel nodded in affirmation of this instruction and ran off instantly afterwards. Misty finally got back to her feet and watched them go, feeling mysteriously equal parts excited and frustrated over how she’d let the criminal get away. Still, to think someone had been able to steal an artifact from a well-guarded museum in (mostly) broad daylight…

 The thought had barely even crossed her mind when a more familiar figure, smaller in stature with long brown hair and wearing a black turtle-collared skater dress, dashed by them all in a blur of tricolor, out the gate and circling the campus in an instant, following the security guards.

 “Wait, was that…?” Ash started tapering off towards the end of his perturbed comment.

 “I think… it was…” Gary replied, his tone somewhat more admirable. “Wait, Misty!”

 For the redheaded novice trainer had already taken off as fast as her legs would allow, Eevee ever loyal at her side. The two boys had no choice but to pursue their reckless friend, ignoring the shouts from the administrative scientist and his more panicked assistant.

 “Grr… those kids better not cause any damage to this operation!”

 “I just pray everyone will be alright. With Team Rocket behind this, we can’t… always be sure, can we…?” Penelope responded cryptically in a somber tone, immediately sobering her superior up, his expression softening into shame and concern.

 “Yes, you’re quite right.”

 OoOoO

 Notes - And thus ends this chapter with a somewhat unintended cliffhanger. Miya wasn’t able to guess what went down in the next chapter so I wonder if anyone else will be able to? Lol. It’s not that special to be honest. Also coming in the next chapter is Misty’s first gym battle! And, oh… is Ash jealous…?

Next chapter will be posted around the end of March.

Likes, comments, reviews, whatever is available from the reader’s end is really invaluable to a writer’s interest in continuation!

[viborgsejersen77-blog]

" Primary" Players As well as F2P Energy Equipment Don't Mix Points out Developer Of 'Twelve o'clock at night Superstar'.

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