#they’re blonde brunette and redhead trio

[loosesodamarble]

Who's the oc that you like and/or use the most in black clover? Asking for.... science... yeah..

Hm yes. Clearly there’s nothing suspicious going on here. A completely ordinary question to be asking./lh

So.

The BC oc of mine that gets the most attention is Josele Canty. I have��� many others. But I’ve never gotten around to expanding on them much…

Ooooh! I also adore the ocs belonging to my friends~! I wanna specifically shout out Acylla Rhine from @faewraithsworld and Mallory Demiscura from @sailor-muno!

I even got a commission of Acy and Mal with Josele because they’re such a cute trio bdhxidjdhdisjdhxu! (Cookie blew me outta the water with this but she always delivers gorgeous art!)

(Don’t mind the scars on the ladies. They’re fine. They’re perfectly okay. It’s normal for Magic Knights to defy death and come away marked.)

[whatsaudreythinkingabout]

randomly assorted scott pilgrim headcanons!

(mostly involving roxy)

(some involving future scenarios)

envy & roxy have the same weak spot behind their knee. they are also girlfriends. this is the most important headcanon & i have a whole separate thing that goes more in-detail on this but this is all you need to know

kim is a huge tegan & sara fan (she’s from canada and definitely bi so it makes sense). she likes their earlier albums (since it takes place in the mid-2000s it would probably be around the time so jealous and/or the con were released), and when heartthrob and lytd came out she tried to pretend she hated the new pop sound but she secretly loves it.

lynette lost her arm while performing a show with tcad that brought the house down. literally. the frequency of the vibrations emitted from their performance was powerful enough to cause a minor earthquake, and while the band was trying to escape the venue, her arm was crushed by falling debris.

envy is bilingual, having grown up in montreal, and speaks both english and french.

roxy & matthew are best friends. however, when they first joined the league, they absolutely could not stand each other. each thought the other was totally obnoxious, and they would constantly bicker and fight with each other. they also definitely got into the pirates vs ninjas argument on more than one occasion. eventually, after a sparring match gone wrong, they bonded over the fact that ramona had used them in some form while they were dating her (matt for his powers, roxy for her sexuality), as well as their love of too much black eye makeup, and they’ve been inseperable ever since. they definitely have a partners-in-crime dynamic, and their friendship is 80% snark and 20% chaotic dumbass.

later on, lucas gets roped into their friendship as well, and they form an unstoppable friend trio. roxy sees him as a cool older brother type. matt has such a huge repressed crush on him you don’t even KNOW and roxy teases him about it literally all the time

after the events of the series, they form a 3-piece punk band called roxy & the hooligans (title derived from a book i read when i was a kid). roxy is the lead singer and bassist (she learned how to play out of pure spite just to flex on scott & todd), matt is lead guitarist & backup vocalist, and lucas is the drummer. matt is also their special effects/pyrotechnics guy.

they’re also housemates for a little while, then matt & lucas start dating and roxy moves in with envy when they start dating. of course, this does not affect their friendship, and they have double dates frequently.

after she starts dating envy, roxy also forms another best friend group with julie powers and lisa miller. at first envy is worried roxy and julie won’t get along bc she thinks julie will be jealous of roxy for “stealing” envy’s attention, but they end up bonding over their shared hatred of scott.

lisa and roxy are identical twins who were separated at birth. (this was bc they’re both portrayed by mae whitman but i might retcon this one, idk)

meanwhile, roxy & todd actually, genuinely HATE each other. todd was always kind of a bully to her when she was in the league & she hates how much he gets on her nerves. to make up for it she loves to rub in his face how much he fumbled the bag with envy

envy was genuinely hurt by lynette going behind her back with todd bc she thought they were friends. lynette is pretty indifferent about it.

after the events of the comic, ramona starts a support group for all the women affected by gideon.

envy is a natural redhead, but started dyeing it blonde once she had her big rockstar makeover, and often alternates between the two shades.

(tentative, still figuring out whether i wanna make this a full headcanon) roxy is a natural brunette, but dyed (and maybe also cut) her hair after ramona broke up with her, as the gays™ are known to do. she also used to wear her hair in space buns instead of pigtails (whaat nooo this totally wasn’t inspired by spinel what are you talking about)

roxy doesn’t really care about the spelling of her name; she spells it with a “y” and with an “ie.” (alternate idea: she spelled it with an ie before the breakup and with a y after the breakup?)

barbie movies exist in this canon, and envy recorded “hope has wings” for the magic of pegasus when she was a teen (back when she was still going by natalie) but she’s super embarrassed about it. she has literally done everything in her power to hide it, but as soon as her friends find out about it they refuse to let her live it down.

likewise, finally out of pe exists in this verse except now it’s just part of envy’s early discography, which she wrote before she formed TCAD.

technically the events of the story happened at the same time the early barbie movies & brie’s album came out but we can afford to move the timelines around a lil bit just for funsies

kim created the maid costume herself, & she’s a closet geek/cosplayer. later on she & envy end up bonding over their secret nerdy sides.

she’s also a closet theatre kid

roxy is the kind of person that tries to put on a tough front to avoid getting hurt & being seen as weak but if you give her even one (1) single tiny bit of affection she will instantly fall apart (especially if you happen to be a pretty girl)

when gideon was messing with everybody’s memories, he ended up causing a rift in the universe that caused the timeline to branch into two separate realities (the books and the movie, respectively). when he was defeated, they merged into one again, but the characters now have memories from both realities. it’s a little confusing

wallace ends up getting together with stephen later on (maybe? they seem like they’d have a fun dynamic), and they’re happy together, but once wallace finds out about matt & lucas dating he’s so fucking salty about it bc HE HAD A CHANCE WITH LUCAS LEE THIS WHOLE TIME

ramona eventually becomes the lead singer of shatterband. scott & kim decide the two-person lineup isn’t working out for them; they need a frontman, someone with charisma to tie them all together. then they hear a voice coming from the bedroom. they go to investigate and find ramona singing softly to herself. she’s a bit hesitant to join at first bc she’s not super confident about singing in front of others, but they manage to convince her by telling her how she could totally one-up envy.

matthew is a proud, unabashed theatre kid. roxy is the kind of person who acts like she absolutely despises theatre kids (even tho she’s really just as melodramatic as matt but won’t admit it) until karaoke night rolls around & she suddenly knows all the songs

roxy is a mixed media artist & is proficient in quite a few different techniques, but her specialty is graffiti. since being a ninja takes a lot of discipline & she often got criticized for letting her emotions get the better of her, it gives her an outlet to be more uninhibited.

the twins are pretty aloof & don’t really talk to anyone else besides themselves; they just kinda do their own thing while viewing everyone else with either mutual respect or smug superiority. gideon doesn’t really give a shit about the other league members, but the twins are his “favorites” (relatively speaking) just bc of how efficient & powerful they are

scott & ramona end up in sort of a semi-throuple with kim. no one really knows what their exact situation is; whether they’re an open relationship, friends with benefits, or just officially all dating each other, but wherever they are, kim is usually also there, & they don’t question it. (honestly the more i think about it the more i like the idea of polyamorous ramona just bc there’s so many characters i ship her with)

maybe wallace also gets involved. just for funsies

in the future, roxy ends up taking knives on as her ninja protégé. as a mentor, she’s pretty no-nonsense bc she wants her to be able to reach her full potential, but she also tries to keep her temper in check & not be overly harsh on her just bc of what she went through in her own training (at the ninja academy she was looked down upon for her half-ninja status & constantly belittled for being too soft, undisciplined, emotional, etc. which caused her to push herself to the brink of total physical and mental exhaustion to prove them wrong, & that led to her parents pulling her out bc they were worried she was gonna push herself so hard it would kill her, & that whole situation is the main source of most of her insecurities). at first she’s put off by how relentlessly upbeat knives is, but then she sees how eager she is to make her proud & roxy can’t help but see a bit of herself in her. over time she comes to see her as sort of a kid sister, especially when knives eventually comes out to her, though she refuses to admit how much of a soft spot she actually has for her. she knows knives can handle herself, but she’s also grown more than a little protective of her (and scott is terrified of her for this reason)

i have a LOT of other HCs regarding specific backstories/relationship dynamics/etc that i might post later if i get the motivation for it but these are just some of my shorter ones

[ecofinisher]

Chapter 1

Note: For a better read, enter Ao3 or Wattpad.

A-Note: I forgot to share the last chapters here on Tumblr......as usual. Currently, I'm at 8, originally at 12 and I'm working myself up to the last chapter. Weirdly I've been writing this fanfic non-stop. No procrastination, nothing.....Quite rare.

A small electric minivan departed quickly away from the Sunset Vallian museum across the grass disappearing behind the home of the Frio brothers. A siren began to ring inside the museum, followed from the afar another different tune of a siren began to howl as well. Across the road by the lofts of the town, a raven-haired man walked by with his bicycle and took a look at the building to see, that the noise came from there, then observed curious the scenario to see, what was going on. Suddenly he gasped as he recognized a dark-dressed person throw with an object at the window, shrieking the pedestrian, who got up on the bicycle to bike away. 

At the museum, from the second floor, another dark-dressed person broke through the window leaving the other one back and landed on the ground gracefully. The person looked up signaling with the arms to the partner to follow. The second person jumped out to land on both feet and one fist on the ground then looked up to see the third person jump out, landing beside the second person, followed by a yelp.

“Oh shot! That didn’t go the way I planned,” Commented the male thief with green eyes.

“You’re fine, Don. Let’s get out of here,” Warned the brown-eyed person, who was notably female due to the difference by the front.

“There’s the first cop!” Warned the blue-eyed criminal, which was a man and the trio disappeared beside the museum to ran across the grass. “Why did VJ and Lisa leave so soon?” Questioned the blue-eyed man.

“I don’t know, Xander. Last time, it was quite close as they were our drivers. We were almost caught,” Commented the woman.

“Sunset Valley is kinda too small to hide a getaway car. Our only chance is hiding by ourselves or stealing a car,” Commented the green-eyed man.

“Let’s keep running. I’m sure they or Claire will help us. Claire mostly,” Mentioned the woman.

“Ayesha’s right. When someone’s helping us, it’s definitely Claire. Crazy, that coming from a single mother,” Commented Xander making Don nod.

“I would return on Claire’s place and you two know that. About VJ and Lisa…..I don’t know. They’re young. I don’t even know, how they came to us,”

“The same way Xander came,” Commented Ayesha. “Through Vita,” Added Ayesha watching Xander trip, then get up again upon racing above the wheel spurt of their heist car.

“Guys, let’s go across the beach and follow the coast. So we stay out of the police’s sight,” Suggested Xander feeling Ayesha pat his shoulder.

“Great idea,” Complimented the raven-haired woman making the man give her a thumb up.

“I got the phone, I can call Claire and tell her about it,” Commented Don taking out his smartphone to look for his friend’s number.

Meanwhile, by the museum, the first police car had arrived where a brunette police agent along with a dark-skinned police woman analyzed the broken window to see if they could find anything, that could have broken the window. A second police car arrived and a blonde police woman left the car from the driver’s side and looked at the other side to see a red-headed police agent step out to look at the hospital for a second, afterward back at the museum.

“The museum seems empty from here,” Commented the redhead, then looked at the blonde, who nodded.

“We haven’t found anything, yet,” Mentioned Hank making Blair nod, afterward the woman beside Hank whistled calling their attention, and pointed down at the broken window to show him a piece of ripped textile on the shard. “Nevermind, there’s a piece of clothing,”

“That sounds like a job for Rocky,” Commented Blair, then watched her work pal get around the car to open the door to reveal a large, gray-colored dog and remove the dog-seatbelt to let him out.

“Rocky, come here boy,” Called the redhead, followed by a whistle, and approached the shards along with the dog.

Hank chuckled upon seeing his friend with the dog, then looked at the brunette woman.

“You know since Jake’s the first one to have a dog here at the police station, I’m gaining more and more interest in getting one too,” Commented Hank watching the owner show the piece of textile on the broken glass, so the pet could smell it. Jake got down to observe his dog pick up the scent, afterward he moved his head up to recognize that the scent wasn’t old and ran forward to the side of the building.

“I will follow, Blair come with me,” Asked Jake earning a nod from the blonde, who followed the redhead, after getting around the corner she got surprised to find a spurt of a vehicle.

“We’re definitely heading in the right direction,” Commented Blair watching Rocky run down to the side of the house and Jake followed his dog to keep with him up.

The trio got around the home of the Frios to spot across the street three criminals race over the sidewalk, getting near the end of the curve past the home of the Wan-Goddard’s.

“Stop! Police!” Shouted Blair, followed by Rocky barking, which alerted the criminals. The criminals decided to split up and one ran into the beach, while the other two went up the hill.

The two criminals on the hill were Xander and Ayesha, who had in mind to get up the hill closer to the mansion of the Crumplebottoms.

“If you can jump, follow me!” Ordered Ayesha racing in front of Xander at the side passing above the rocks heading to a large gap with a few trees and the continuation of the hill. Xander analyzed the hill above them and decided to follow his love interest believing her way was better. Ayesha jumped above the gap, then grabbed herself on the branch of the tree to swing herself to the other side of the gap, making Xander drop his mouth at how quickly she did that.

“Oh crap,” Commented Xander, then stopped before reaching the gap and analyzed the situation.

“Stop right there!” Shouted a male voice causing Xander to look back to see down the road the police come closer together with their unit dog.

“Don’t think, just do it!” Shouted Ayesha watching Xander yell and head towards the gap to take a leap, managing to catch the branch of the tree. “Now jump!” Ordered Ayesha watching the brunette man slowly swing back and forth, thereafter he threw himself in the woman’s direction and landed with the upper part of his body on top of the edge. Ayesha got down quickly to help her love interest up, then rolled her eyes up and gasped upon seeing the police dog show up. She pulled Xander by the shirt, so he could quicker get up by himself and got up along with the tan-skinned woman to continue their escape. Xander took a look back as he departed to see the Cattle dog show up from the surface without any concern about the path, then jumped above the gap making Xander drop his mouth and race after Ayesha along the hill to head up to the location of the Crumplebottom’s area.

“The dog is almost on top of us!” Warned Xander watching Ayesha hop on the rocks to quickly climb up the grass, then looked back at Xander, who preferred to follow the side, and gasped as he heard the dog’s bark getting louder at the closer approach.

“Watch out!” Warned Ayesha watching Xander trip, followed by the dog snapping Xander on the leg.

“Argh!” Yelped Xander lying on the ground with the dog, making Ayesha gasp seeing that her love interest was down. The Australian Cattle dog began to bark while standing above Xander and the woman heard the voice of the police agents, then she looked down at Xander, who looked up at her.

“Get out of here, I won’t rat on you,” Promised Xander watching Ayesha jump down to help him.

“I won’t let the father of our girl back like this,” Warned Ayesha, then gazed at the police dog look at her, and bark as well. “Shush! Bad dog, let go, let go!” Ordered Ayesha stern, while the dog kept barking at her. Ayesha began to wave her arms in front of the dog, causing him to growl at the woman, while Xander slowly crawled away. The dog watched the man move and got down to bite him on the shoe, causing him to complain about the situation.

“Get off me, stupid dog!” Yelled Xander, then Ayesha tried to pull the dog by the collar away from her partner and heard another barking dog making Ayesha look around worried.

“Oh oh,” Mumbled Ayesha, then watched from the side they were trying to escape a black-brown mixed breed dog race into their direction making the raven-haired woman sigh in relief to recognize the animal. “It’s Brooklyn,” Mentioned Ayesha glad, then observed the female dog growl at the police dog, who mirrored her behavior and both began to bark at each other wildly.

“Let’s get out of here!” Ordered the woman helping the man up, then they ran up the hill and heard a gunshot ricochet on a tree, earning the duo’s attention, who looked back to see the first police officer to show up be a familiar redhead, they had encountered in their past more than one time.

“It’s him again,” Mentioned Xander, then watched the cattle dog move away from the gang dog to continue to pursue the duo. “Oh oh,” Spoke Xander and followed the path up to the top of the hill to spot the wall from the Crumplebottom lot, where they recognized by the wall a dark-dressed person stand there with a dog leash and waved at the duo to get their attention.

“That must be Lisa,” Commented Ayesha making Xander nod, continuing the rest of the path to meet up with the masked blonde, who hid behind the wall beside a tan-skinned man, who also was masked and held a net on his hand.

“Put your eyes up, VJ,” Ordered Lisa watching her boyfriend glimpse from the cut-out from the mask beside the wall to recognize the police dog come in their direction and he reversed back to make a short countdown.

“Three…...two…..one…..now!” Shouted VJ jumping out with Lisa against the dog, which stopped and both wrapped the net on the dog, making a quick knot. “Now let’s get out of here!” Ordered VJ getting up with the blonde to race down to meet up with Xander and Ayesha, who had approached a silver-colored van, that stood on the road. Ayesha had opened the side door of the vehicle to enter it along with her partner, then waited for the other duo to return and Lisa hopped into the front of the vehicle along with VJ. VJ stood at the side of the car to wait for their dog, which appeared behind the wall running towards the vehicle barking.

“Good girl! Get in here!” Exclaimed VJ waiting for the dog to arrive, soon Xander glimpsed out of the vehicle to watch the bitch come in their direction and he eyed the wrapped-up cattle dog trying to free himself, which made Xander sigh in relief, then he looked down at the mark, the dog had left on his leg. Xander looked up again, then widened his eyes as the policeman showed up and spotted them in the vehicle. “Come up here girl!” Asked VJ as the dog approached the vehicle and jumped in, followed by him helping the dog up, followed by Xander, which looked out at the policeman again who stood there looking at him with a stern face. Ayesha from behind shouted at the open window of the car to get out of there, while Xander remained looking at the police, who raised an eyebrow sensing as if he could recognize the voices of the criminals.

The driver caused the car wheels to spin and depart into the exit of the town, leaving the police agent back, who had just taken out his gun to shoot at the vehicle, but saw it wouldn’t be any useful. Jake frowned, then took out his walkie-talkie to call force.

“Here’s officer Furtado. The suspects have disappeared into a silver-colored van and are heading towards Riverview. Rocky had caught one of the culprits for a moment, but they managed to outrun him, Over,”

“Here’s Officer Hunter. I will contact the Riverviewer Police Station. Officer Goddard and Keaton are heading up there right now. Any clues?” Questioned Eugene Hunter while Jake looked at the vehicle disappearing at the end of the road behind a hill, making Jake nod his head slowly.

“By the looks and the voices of two of those culprits, they might be the ones we’ve been hunting for a long while. Since the start of my career here,” Mentioned Jake, followed by a rasp of the device. Jake got down to remove the net from his dog, which happily gave him a lick on his face making him chuckle for a second and pet the dog on the head. “Come on, the others still have a chance. Let’s go back to the others,” Announced the redhead giving the dog a cookie, before they got up to return to the road.

“Good night, dear Riverviewers. Here’s Nadine Ivanov from Radio Riverview with breaking news. The Sunset Institute of modern art in Sunset Valley was assaulted about an hour ago. The culprits are still on the run and have last been seen leaving Sunset Valley through the Redwood Parkaway. According to chief Justine Keaton the group consisted of around five members, counting the getaway driver. It’s theorized at the moment, that the gang is the same one, who broke in into the past months inside the ones in Starlight Shores and Bridgeport. All three robberies had in common the presence of at least a male and a female culprit, usually spotted together during the pursuits. Some have considered the duo to be the Bonnie and Clyde of our universe…..”

A hand had pulled the lever of the stereo down, which belonged to Don Lothario, one of the team members from the assault.

“Did you guys hear that?” Asked Don looking at the team sitting on old couches without their masks looking at the Italian man, who mostly eyed his close friend Xander Clavell. “You two are the Bonnie and Clyde from our world,” Announced the man amused watching Xander and Ayesha exchange looks. “Stealing together and escaping together. Side, by side…….” Don began singing playfully making the team members in the room laugh.

“I just hope you won’t sing about our dead,” Mentioned Xander followed by Ayesha slap her partner on the shoulder.

“If it wasn’t for Brooklyn, I’m pretty sure we would have ended up there,” Mentioned Ayesha. “You, at least,”

“The police won’t put any of us down that easy. Not the way as it is in Europe, but not as bad as people make it to be,” Commented Claire, who sat on another couch together with Marcela, who was dressed as a police officer.

“That’s only, in life-death situations. You barely have threatened anyone,” Commented Marcela, then watched VJ across the room on the other couch fake a cough.

“I hurt someone…..,” Mumbled the tan-skinned man making the blonde nod.

“Well, almost...that didn’t mean anything to you and that left a hole in the Sunset Vallian police station. It was notable during the first months. Most agents have processed the day already. It sounds hard, but that’s one sad aspect of the job. The possible loss of a work pal. He may not have had a family or children, but he meant to a few a lot,” Explained Marcela making the team nod.

“I’ve been at the police station, prior to the delivery of the coffin to the cemetery. One of the police agents, a redhead with light-blue eyes. He had set in his head to figure out, who had put his crime fight partner down,” Commented Xander’s childhood friend Tamara Donner, who was dressed in joggers and a jacket as she had come to the area a little while ago.

“That’s the guy, who was after us,” Mentioned Ayesha. “It’s been…..what…...four years ago since the murder. He’s probably still working to make justice for what happened, which is normal. Xander commented, that he had the impression the police knew us,”

“He did stare a while at us. Otherwise, he just wanted to see, if we were the ones from the other assaults or the one from said night,” Added Xander.

“With masks, you all look identical. Perhaps by eyes or voice, they might be able to recognize anyone. Unless they’re able to decipher someone from their surroundings with said details,” Commented Tamara making Xander nod.

“Yeah, well when was the last time I saw him outside of his uniform or as a civilian? Perhaps on the day, we ruined the community school? We’re living in Sunlit Tides while our real identities were considered to be in jail there,” Xander commented moving both hands up forming a V with the middle and index finger to the comment. “We’re still there and no one else from Sunset Valley or who knows us personally has seen us there,” Mentioned Xander, then watched Tamara’s phone ring inside the jacket’s pocket.

“That must be Nick, shall I put it on speaker?” Questioned the brunette watching the group nod and the woman attended the call while adjusting the voice speaker.

“Good night, Tamara. Has my team returned?” Questioned Nick Alto.

“Hi Nick!” Greeted the team member, afterward Tamara’s phone asked for a video call request, which she accepted to reveal Nick sitting in his house’s office.

“Great to see you all! I’ve heard about your escape on the radio. How did it go?” Questioned Nick watching half of the team put their thumbs up. “Nice, what did you get out of there?”

“Claire, Ayesha you two load the first vehicle and VJ along with Lisa the second one,” Mentioned Don, then Tamara moved her smartphone towards the side of Lisa and her boyfriend. Lisa got up with a smile to explain to their boss the load of their car.

“We carried from the Autumn exhibit all paintings, that were added last year to the hall. The mini statue of Liberty, the Tokyo tower inspiration, and the copper-melt statue of the founder Victor Goth,” Explained Lisa making Nick nod. “Everything is located inside the van, which we have here hidden in the warehouse,”

“Super. Tomorrow you can borrow the truck of our logistics and load it. I will just need to contact our pilot to meet us at the airport,” Commented Nick making Lisa nod, afterward Tamara turned her camera around to Claire, who exchanged looks with Ayesha.

“Add, if I forget to mention something,” Warned Claire making Ayesha nod. “We have the two-year old paintings from the winter exhibit, the igloo made of reused pearl necklaces, the piece of moon from the exhibit on the second floor…….Ayesha, what do you remember from the rest?” Questioned Claire, followed by Tamara moving her smartphone to the tan-skinned woman.

“Oh I unplugged the computer from the reception, the silver-colored hydrant, and the large Peter pen,” Added Ayesha making Nick smile.

“Good job team. I’m glad things went well in this mission,” Spoke Nick, then noticed that Xander had a bandage around his leg and looked up at him. “Did you get shot, Xander?” Questioned Nick watching Xander look down at his leg and shake his head.

“The police now have their own police dog and sent it after us. If it wasn’t for Brooklyn, Xander would have stayed back with the police dog hanging on his leg,” Mentioned Ayesha making Xander shrug his shoulders.

“I wouldn’t rat on any of you. I sent Ayesha away, but she didn’t want to leave me alone, mostly due to Kari,” Stated Xander making Nick nod.

“Your girl…….I know. I’m glad you two made it out there. At her age it would be terrifying to have her leave you if you had to go to jail,” Mentioned Nick. “Not only Kari, but also Rio or Zayn,” Nick added watching Claire nod sadly, while VJ and Lisa exchanged looks from imagining their son having to grow up in a different place.

“Two years ago things would have looked different. If one of them would end up in jail, they had nothing to lose. Now we got the kids…..” Added Don. “As someone, who’s not planning to have kids, seeing all of you happy and cherish them, knowing, that because of our deeds together things can change drastically if we fuck things up,”

“Don is right,” Confessed Tamara. “Are you sure about keeping to pull up such scenes as big as this one? You may have all made it through this one here, but what if things go wrong the next time?”

“Look, I told you all, that I was going to retire in the next few years. After we get redeem the money out of everything we have taken. I want you to take a break from this and move on with life. Work now as regular logicians as before. In the future, we can all together look about, what we can do,” Explained Nick while the team listened. “And Lisa…..” Nick spoke up earning the attention of the woman, who had been chatting with VJ and she glimpsed at the smartphone.

“Yeah, boss?”

“You know out of the group, you’re the youngest one. What do you think, if Vita and I create for you a fake diploma for business and you’ll be the head of our warehouse? You’ll have plenty of time to learn with me or Vita about the basic needs, so that in the future, when we need to do certain…..jobs, we can count on you as well,” Asked Nick earning a few clapping hands coming from Claire and Ayesha, who were proud for the blonde.

“No shit? Me as a leader of something?” Questioned Lisa making Nick nod.

“You won’t be doing the same thing as a real businesswoman, but you’re supposed to look like one from the outside. That’s what we need. I feel like that sounds for you better than any alternative job,” Commented Nick making Lisa smile and nod.

“I’ll take that chance, Mr. Alto,” Promised Lisa making the Spaniard smile.

“Glad to hear that, Lisa,” Replied Nick. “Tamara, if everything is clear, feel free to bring them all here. Kari and Zayn are fine, Vita has already given both a bottle of milk and Rio had offered us help as well,” Commented Nick with a chuckle making Claire smile from hearing that about her daughter. “Appreciate the upcoming months, my friends. Spend time with your kids. You will see with time, that the biggest treasure in this world is this one gift god gave you called life…..” Nick said making the teammates smile.

Xander smiled from now in the role of a father as well as understanding the meaning of the phrase, then felt someone grab his hand and Xander looked down to see Ayesha have her hand placed above his, seeing both of their engagement rings lay parallel from each other. Xander eyed his life partner, who smiled at him and he mirrored her facial expression.

In the early morning, the police officer Jake Furtado stood in the kitchen filling up the dog bowl with food, while his dog stood beside him waiting. Vice versa to the kitchen from the bathroom came out a blonde woman, who was the life partner of the policeman and wore a dark salmon pink hospital uniform.

“This is going to be the last shift before our trip. I have added two light jackets in case it is cold. In case you’re going to add or remove something from the suitcase make sure everything goes back into it again,” Spoke the nurse, who was known under the name Jamie Jolina.

“I will,” Responded Jake. “About Rocky, Blair promised me to take care of him, while we’re gone. Both know each other already and it makes it easier for all of us,” Mentioned the redhead moving the large bag away from the bowl and zip up the package, then watched the dog dig his snout into the bowl to eat.

Jamie approached the pet to observe him eat, then glimpsed at her husband.

“How was your night?” Questioned Jamie. “I did hear sirens last night,”

“Rocky had managed to put down one of the criminals, but they ended up escaping again,” Responded Jake leaning his back against the fridge. “We raced after them across town and behind the home of Miss Crumplebottom Rocky got thrown with a net by two other accomplices. All we know at the moment is, that the ones Rocky was after are a man and a woman, judging by their voices,”

“Is there a chance, that they’re the same group from the other assaults?”

“We don’t have many clues about them. In the videos, they’re all masked and they haven’t left any DNA spurt on the locals. I wouldn’t be surprised if all these cases were in one way connected. In all missions I went I encountered this team of five around seven times since I got here. The first time on the day Goodwin got shot down,”

“Right,” Commented Jamie. “Yet nothing has been found, that could explain who did that,”

“Four years passed and there’s nothing. Whoever was behind the issue was far away from the location. We haven’t found a gun anywhere. The culprit just made its way out of there. All we can say is, that they must have been under the same roof as the other two I were going after. By gender and body built, I’m certain, that both are the same persons,”

“They sure know, who used the gun back then. I just don’t understand, what’s the point of only putting Goodwin down. Weren’t more of you there back at that mission?”

“He had them under his control. The one who shot him just did that to spare the duo from getting arrested. If I had been faster it could have been prevented,”

“Or you would have caught the bullet,” Added Jamie making Jake nod.

“Well, that would be another option. If Rocky didn’t get under the net and I was faster, I could have snapped at least the one man. When he left I saw he and his other friends had their eyes notable through the gap of the mask. He had light blue eyes and I remember having seen them on the day Goodwin passed away. The man lied inside the pond as he was about to surrender, but before I could take him I was thrown with dirt onto the eyes. If I had just caught him a bit faster, all would have been solved,”

“That is going to get solved, don’t worry. You all at the police station have solved a lot of cases. Some take longer than others and this one of your friends just happens to be one of them,” Said the dark-blue-eyed woman. “Don’t break your head about the work. When you’re back, you can work on the case again, if you’re allowed to. Appreciate these three weeks we’re in Montpellier. My parents like the fact, that I’m married to a police agent, but they would like to get to know the guy behind the uniform as well…..they’re mainly interested in Johnny, but that’s with everyone’s parents, when they know they have their first grandchild,” Commented Jamie making Jake nod.

“Oh yes, my mother was really excited to meet him,” Confessed Jake looking into the bedroom where the baby crib of their common son was.

“I haven’t been able to feed him yet. He was still sleeping, when I came to check him out. Perhaps around 8 am eventually, you could warm up the bottle to feed him,” Suggested Jamie. “I’ll leave at 15:15, depending on how things go during the day,”

“Sure, people will need you and your team,” Commented Jake making Jamie nod.

“It will be a good day for me if I don’t have to deal with several bagatelles. I sometimes admire some of my co-workers’ patience. The other day Holly Alto had to remove a woman’s hair from the jacket’s zipper, which basically anyone on the road could do it,”

“But she had to go to the emergency station……” Added Jake shaking his head remembering hearing that story someday ago. “I’m pretty sure, it would have been cheaper for her to avoid the hospital,”

“I think Holly made an exception out of pity. I better get going,” Stated the woman leaning closer to her husband to peck him on his cheek. “See you tonight,” Said the blonde opening the door to leave her house, making her way to the sidewalk and Jake closed the door for her, then took a look at his dog, that had finished eating his food, then analyzed the ground making sure he didn’t drop any flake. Jake looked into the room, where his son lied sleeping and he made his way towards the crib to take a look into it to see the infant rest peacefully. Jake smiled enchanted from looking at the boy, which slightly reminded him of his wife due to sharing the same blonde hair as the mother, and caressed him gently on his cheek, preventing him from reacting to it. Jake placed back his arm above the lean of the crib to admire his kid sleeping and stood there for a little while appreciating the moment of silence.

[sarcasticassian]

the first time Steve sees them he hasn’t realised yet that his window opens all the way and he can crawl out onto the roof so he hears them first, Love Shack is playing loudly and when he peers out of the window he can see a horrible, beat up old Cadillac, Steve always thought they were sort of ugly but it suits the weird trio sitting in it and this weird beach town too, the roof is down and there’s a girl sat in the back, she has short hair that brushes her shoulders, her clothes like kind of grungy in a cool way and her head is currently thrown back in a loud laugh, there’s a blonde girl sat in the passenger seat, twisted around to talk to the other girl, she’s in a summer dress and it sounds like the song might’ve been her choice, it suits her, finally there’s a guy driving, he has long curly hair, he’s wearing a cropped band shirt from what Steve can see and he’s also laughing, Steve feels a stab of jealousy that they get to enjoy their day and a summer at the beach, he goes back to laying on his bed and feeling sorry for himself

the next time Steve sees them he’s figured out the window latch and he’s sat on the roof wallowing, he’s realised that his dad was being serious about his summer exile before he goes to work for him or go to college, Steve isn’t sure if he’s been accepted into any because their mail hasn’t been rerouted here, if he knew this is where he’d have ended up Steve wouldn’t have let Tommy kiss him but there’s the beat up car again, the roof still down and this time Should I Stay or Should I Go is blasting, the three from before are there again but this time there’s another girl squished into the back with them, she has dark curly hair and Steve wonders if her and the first boy are related, this time there’s another boy in the passenger seat, he has straight brown hair and a beige, plain t shirt on, Steve watches them all hop out the car and head down to the beach

the third time he sees them there’s no girls and another guy who has incredible hair, it’s long and even from the roof Steve can see that it’s soft, the new boy is wearing a bright hawaiian shirt and this time Pass the Dutchie is playing quieter than the music usually is and as they hop out the guy with the short, straight hair staggers slightly and they all start to laugh as they slowly start the walk to the beach

Call Me hails the arrival of the sad, little car next time, it’s just the curly haired pair this time, Steve thinks they’re both the most attractive of the bunch but he doesn’t have anybody to tell, the pair don’t get out of the car straight away and Steve watches the guy gesticulate wildly, the girl nods along, rolls her eyes in some parts and they talk for a little longer, then they get out the car, the guy always just hops over his door instead of opening it, Steve thinks its insanely attractive for some reason and maybe the guy takes the top spot for the best looking in this weird group of people

the next time it’s the same guy and girl again (Steve briefly wonders if they’re a couple) but this time Running Up That Hill is playing and there’s a small army of children squashed into the back seat together, all talking loudly and immediately legging it to the beach once the car stops, the guy yells and takes off after them, the girl following more slowly after she picks up a book from the car, later that day the guy with the short hair turns up in his own car and when they all come back he has his arm wrapped around the girl whilst the curly haired guy carries a redhead on his back before he dumps her into the back of his car

this carries on for a couple more weeks, usually just the ugly Cadillac and who Steve assumes is the owner, the curly haired guy, along with a rotation of seemingly random teenagers, Steve can’t figure out what they have in common, none of them have similar styles, except maybe the curly haired brunette and the small, strawberry blonde girl, the music clashes horribly from person to person and Steve is pretty sure it’s never the curly haired guys choice because he seems to grumble at the particularly poppy choices, Steve is curious but he knows he can’t leave so he watches them from a distance, he longing deep within him, he wants to laugh like that, have friends like they all seem to be, he resigns himself to a summer of people watching and hating his parents but as the summer stretches on he realises that this is just going to be his life at this point, always on the outskirts and always dissatisfied 

the next day the car pulls up, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy is cut off halfway through a chorus and he looks down to see the grungy short haired girl and the cute curly haired guy looking up at him, he lets out a squeak of embarrassment at being caught and looks away but then they’re shouting

“Hey!” “Hey you on the roof!” The girl is waving her arms frantically and the guy is grinning up at him, Steve looks around as if there is anybody else on the roof with him then waves back shyly, the girl hoots and scrambles to get out the car, the boy following her

“Come down! We see you up there all the time, come down and hang out!”

“I can’t!”

“Why not?”

“Not allowed!”

The guy takes a step back to assess the side of the house, he leans over to point something out to the girl then he’s taking a running leap at the building, he manages to haul himself up until his head is popping up over the edge of the roof and Steve quickly helps him up by grabbing his hand, it’s calloused and warm and Steve doesn’t want to let go but he does

“Come on Rob, it’s not that hard!”

“You know I can’t control my limbs!”

But she eventually clambers up and rolls onto the roof, panting and groaning but perking up once she’s face to face with Steve

“I’m Robin, this is Eddie.”

“I’m Steve.”

and suddenly Steve’s summer doesn’t look so bleak

[c-is-for-circinate]

What I love about the ladies of Vox Machina is that it seems like they should fit into an extremely classic dynamic between the three of them.  There’s a trio of ladies in this group.  They’re a redhead, a brunette, and a (used to be brunette but that was before any of US ever saw her) blonde(ish).  One of them’s gawky and awkward and likes animals more than people.  One of them’s suave and sexy and loves accumulating money.  One of them’s tiny and cherubic and the main party cleric healer.  This should be simple, right?

And then you actually get into it.  And it’s like:

Wait, which one of these ladies is constantly getting arrested, and is usually the first person to suggest day-drinking to avoid problems?  Wait, it’s the gawky awkward one?  And which one has the deep pit of boiling rage at the moral failings of the world that she tries to hide under a cheerful exterior until it pops out at inopportune times?  That’s got to be the cleric, right?  Oh, nope, it’s the awkward one again.

Well okay, sure, but the one who adopts an orphan animal and raises it as her own child, that’s got to be the awkward animal-lover who doesn’t do people too, right?  Or maybe it’s the sweet cherubic little cleric, apparently there’s a whole pattern of saving orphans, that should track.  The one who checks in on everybody else’s feelings rather than sharing her own, even after she dies, the one who actually ends the story with the perfect fairytale happily-ever-after picturebook husband and castle and five fat babies, that’s the--huh.  You’re telling me that’s the sexy one with the lockpicks and assassination skills?  Really?

And now apparently one of them wears full plate armor and goes pit-fighting for fun and has an enormous tolerance for ale, well, that doesn’t sound like any of those three, but--oh, I’m hearing that that is in fact the tiny white-haired cleric of a goddess of sun and healing?  And that while she’s always willing to talk about emotions she’s actually constantly completely unsure of what hers actually are or what she’s supposed to be doing with them, ever?

And all three of them will fuck you up with brutal lack of mercy if you mess with them and theirs?  And all three of them fall in love and their own emotions are just as important to the narrative as their male love interests’?  Are we sure that’s how this trio is supposed to work?

What I love about the ladies of the Mighty Nein, on the other hand, is that they said ‘fuck it’ to the entire trope and went, hey, our ladies be like:

furious rebellious people-punching librarian who can’t actually talk to people and sucks at sitting still;

alcoholic thief with raging anxiety issues and also zero compunctions stabbing you right now who sucks at checking for traps;

sweet adorable trickster cleric who will prank your ass, your mom’s ass, and your god’s ass and sucks at remembering to heal;

flower-collecting parent-slaughtering amazon widow with amazing quiet deadpan humor who sucks at not being terrifying

I cannot even find a pattern for these characters to map to, and it’s beautiful.

[boytouya]

what would be the reaction of class 1-a if a new student had Hisoka's peculiar style and the way they dress

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 ; gn

Warnings: None!

Words: 1k

Class 1-A had never actually seen each other out of uniform unless they were out on vacation or wearing hero costumes, so to say they were surprised when they saw you was an understatement. Of course, sometimes they modified their uniform to fit their liking (seeing as dress code wasnt that strict), but yours was something they’d never seen before.

Technically, you were wearing everything you were supposed to wear, but the grey blazer was shorter than their own. It looked like a cropped jacket without sleeves, your button up fit like an underbody suit that hugged your waist. Your pants were completely different in comparison, baggy but still comfortable, and held up with a grey belt to match your blazer.

So really, the only thing Aizawa could scold you about were your shoes.

“This is your new classmate, (Name). You know how it goes, behave.” Aizawa says, slouched over and tiredly looking around the room. With that, he moves to grab his sleeping bag before mumbling: “Today’s class is about building trust. Team up and work together.”

You watch as the man steps into the bag and zips himself up. Looking back at the class, they’re all staring at you (besides Bakugou). Midoriya gawks at your appearance with his notebook already out. He looks as though he’s about to start writing and asking questions, but before he can get up to say something, someone else starts speaking to you.

“I’m Mina! This is Jirou, Tsuyu, and Uraraka!” A girl with cotton candy pink hair and a just as pink face speaks to you like you’ve known each other for years. She looks giddy, clasping her hands together with excitement. “You look like a supermodel!”

“She just really likes your outfit,” Jirou, the girl next to her, adds as she laughs at the obnoxious display and pats Mina’s shoulder. “Sorry about her. You look cool though. Tokoyami isn’t here today, but he’d say you do too.”

That leaves Tsuyu and Ochako, the two girls by your side are smiling, one with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, and the other with a red face and brown hair. The brunette was rambling about nothing and everything at the same time, but you could tell she meant it as a compliment.

“Thank you.” You feel welcomed already, the girls smiling back make you feel safe and secure. With that, they move to start their bonding assignments, adding that if you want to join they’re happy to have you.

Midoriya finally moves to speak, along with two tall boys and a split-toned male behind him. Before you can introduce himself he’s already off the rails, speaking so fast you can barely register what he’s saying. One of the taller classmates behind him is waving his arms, telling the boy to slow down but it adds to the jumble of noise. He notes how he’s ‘class rep’ in almost every sentence, so you realize that must be Tenya Iida, as his picture is hung up outside.

The boy with split-toned hair and a neutral face somehow breaks the noise with an unwavering voice, but all he says is his name.

“Shouto.” He says, his hand moving out to give you a handshake. You accept it, wondering how he managed to shut the two of them up just by introducing himself.

“Oh, right! I’m Deku,” A green haired boy with oddly symmetrical freckles points to himself, then to the taller others on his left. “A-And this is Iida. And Shoji. I was wondering, is your uniform modified to-“

Iida cuts him off again, explaining how it’s rude to ramble to people you just met. Shouto, on the other hand, nods his head once and blinks. It’s easy to miss but he says ‘Your uniform is different’ more like an observation than a compliment. You can almost see the gears grinding in his head.

A blonde with a lightening bolt in his hair steals your attention as he wraps an arm around your shoulders. It’s as if he’s your best friend, he speaks like he’s known you since you were kids. In a way, he reminds you of Mina. His grin is toothy and youthful, and beside him is a redhead with a sharskish smile, a boy with a black mullet and rather large elbows, and a fiery blonde who doesn’t seem interested enough to look your way.

“I’m Eijirou Kirishima!” The redhead says first, his fists meeting by his chest with hardened skin. A manly approach to showing off his quirk, it’s subtle and his enthusiasm seems sweet.

“Sero,” The boy with the mullet speaks next, pulling the blonde off your shoulder, who’s whining about how he didn’t know they could modify uniforms so much. “This is Denki.”

Sero, Kirishima, and Denki turn to the blonde with red eyes, expecting him to speak next. He’s not even standing, his gaze is fixated on the window outside. Slowly, his red irises move in the trio’s direction, and he grunts at them. You have no idea what that means, if he’s dismissing you or dismissing them or about to blow up the entire school for looking at him, but the set of three beside you seems to understand perfectly.

“That’s the most we’ve gotten out of him for new students besides insults! Way to go, Bakugo!” Kirishima smiles, placing his hand on Bakugo’s shoulder. When Denki tries to do the same the other blonde shoves his hand away.

“Yeah, whatever,” Bakugo says, looking at you with narrowed eyes. “You look like earplugs and MySpace had a baby.”

You don’t know what that’s supposed to mean but it makes you laugh, the four boys in front of you laugh too (yes, even Bakugo, although his is more expelling air out of his nose as opposed to laughing).

You look around the room. There other groups inviting you into their circle or smiling at you, and with that you knew Class 1-A would feel like a second home.

[sidereal-fantasies]

Sincerely, Not You

[Choi San]

02: The Genius Writer’s Mind

WARNING(S): None

College AU in which Choi San and many others receive letters that threaten to break their already fragile hearts

“A new opinion can certainly turn the world upside down.”

Everything felt like a mistake with each passing second.

You had only taken this writing class to get one of your credit requirements out of the way, yet the thought of having to produce something not out of logic and real-world evidence has also caused a tremendous amount of stress to fall on your shoulders. You glanced back at your laptop that sat on the makeshift kitchen table, keyboard most likely still burning from the rapidfire typing you produced from earlier in the ungodly hours of the morning.  

With the sound of keys dropping on the counter, you peered up to see Yoona, your roommate, walk in with multiple envelopes in one hand and what seemed like another cup of oddly sweet coffee in the other. Knowing Yoona for quite some time now, you were surprised that her signature drink didn’t change as much as her hair color (which was currently blonde due to not knowing which color she should tackle next). You couldn’t tease her about it, though, knowing that your extremely bitter choice of straight black coffee with the tiniest bit of sugar never settled well with most.

“[Name], I picked up your mail for you,” Yoona’s voice echoed as she entered the room. You murmured a quick thanks as you gently placed your now empty mug on the tiny side table before picking up said mail. Other than the usual letter from your parents, a small envelope with only your name written clearly on the front accompanied it as well. The corners of your mouth turned down slightly as you turned the envelope every which way in hopes to find some kind of hint as to who it was from. Weird, you thought. “No return address...”

“Oh? A secret admirer? Seems a little old-fashioned, but look at you,” Yoona teased which only caused you to roll your eyes in response. “Didn’t you say you were going to have a date with some guy from the music department?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to finish up some of your classwork at the campus cafe?” Yoona called out. The blonde nearly dropped her morning beverage at the sight of you jumping to your feet suddenly.

“Thanks for reminding me, Yoona! I should get going before I lose the chance to snag a seat!” You exclaimed as you began gathering all your essentials.

Your roommate remained by the small counter as she watched you scurry about the room, quickly tossing your things in a bag without a second thought before seeing you bolt out the door without another word spoken. 

“Oh, [Name]...”

“You met [Name] last night?”

San hummed in response with a slight nod of his head. “Is there a problem?” he inquired as he stopped typing.

Yeosang shook his head before he rested a hand on the back of his neck. Of course he had no issue with it, seeing that he wasn’t exactly close with you after all. But, it didn’t ease the sudden bemusement that washed over his thoughts. He never exactly received a friendly impression of you, but perhaps he was too quick to judge a book by its cover. Then again, Yeosang had to remind himself that he was speaking with San who always viewed the world through a rather unique perspective.

“I’m just surprised, that’s all. [Name]’s always so curt with a lot of people, but here you are saying they’re much nicer than what everyone says.”

“You’re the same, hyung. When Wooyoung told me you’ve been his friend for several years, I couldn’t wrap my head around how someone as quiet as you are could be dragged into so many of Wooyoung’s schemes,” San responded.

Yeosang hummed softly. “Five years and still going,” the quiet man mumbled as he peered out the window.

Yeosang let San’s remark slide this time, acknowledging his point instead of shooting back one of his infamous retorts. He’s a writer after all, or soon-to-be one, at least. It was in his nature to dissect and characterize people in an oddly poetic manner that defined them in more ways than one. Anyone who caught San’s interest was automatically caught in his neverending story of life. To San, everyone was a character in life that was waiting to be unraveled by the genius writer himself.

“So, that’s it?”

San tore his gaze away from his computer screen as he arched an eyebrow at Yeosang. The elder sighed softly and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. Before he could utter another word, three booming voices came through, interrupting the serene morning. By the small corridor entered a teary-eyed Wooyoung who was accompanied by a beaming Song Mingi and Jeong Yunho.

Song Mingi was a force to be reckoned with at times. As co-captain of the university’s dance team and San’s dual-natured roommate, Mingi was a blazing fire, burning the image of a passionate and intimidating man into most strangers' minds, but also warming the hearts of his friends with his oddly cute side of his personality. Infuriating at some points since he likes to disagree with the group for fun? Quite so. Yet, it still caught San off guard at times to see the man he hears everyone is hesitant to approach fond over the simplest cat video he just so happened to scroll past on his social media feed. 

Jeong Yunho was very much different from the scarlet redhead despite being just as tall as him. He carried a calming aura around him, always attracting anyone and everyone and befriending with such ease due to his already gentle nature. An open-minded individual who wears his heart on his sleeve and charms everyone with his dazzling smile. A potentially hopeless romantic doomed to suffer if he isn’t careful with his glass heart in the eyes of the Genius Writer.

“San! You’re planning on hanging out with the rest of us this saturday, right?” Mingi’s voice boomed, earning a short chuckle out of the shorter male.

“Saturday’s the only day Hongjoong is ever not working,” San responded as he closed his laptop. The raven haired male casually slid the device back into his bag before he stood up and began making his way towards the door.

“Seems like San’s in a rush to leave already. Did he tell you what he was doing today, Yeosang?” Wooyoung inquired.

Yeosang shrugged his shoulders as he slumped back into the chair. “There’s a new café around the corner, so that’s one option. Or maybe he’s going to meet up with [Name].”

The trio all raised their eyebrows as they gawked at Yeosang for a moment, causing the light brunette to shift slightly in his seat as he turned his gaze away from the three. The feelings are mutual, he guessed. A miracle, perhaps, to all four of them as they contemplated over how the Genius Writer was able to befriend [Name], a fellow college student who always appeared to be much more devoted to education than socializing.

“Is there something wrong, Mingi?” Wooyoung questioned the redhead as he frowned slightly in the direction that San had walked off to.

“[Name] sounds very familiar for some reason…”

The café, as Yeosang had pointed out earlier, was not a far walk from San’s dorm. It was fairly new to the area, having only opened just a month ago, yet it was already gaining some popularity amongst the college student population. Another source of short-lived energy from drinks that most likely only contained a touch of coffee that barely broke through the uniquely flavored beverage that it was mixed in, if you will. Nevertheless, it was a café that many claimed as a spot for comfort and relaxation. The interior was brightly light by the few artificial lights that hung above café-goers as well as by the natural light that flooded through the windows that surrounded them completely, giving the area a fresh feeling of endlessness. There was comfort in the thought that the day’s weather was what encompassed the mood of the tiny café.

San slipped into the café to escape from the bustling crowd of students moving towards their first class of the day. Despite it being a little early in some ways, the café was moving just as much as San’s fellow peers outside. Popular in convenience, he supposed as he approached the counter.

The workers behind the counter did not take long and passed San’s order of a small latte. As San turned on his heel, he spotted you at one of the tables, eyebrows furrowed and a near permanent frown upon your lips, rapidly typing away with no hint of interest in your surroundings. He shook his head gently before deciding that it may be a good choice to distract you from your work for a few minutes.

“Funny seeing you here, friend” San spoke up as he slid into the seat across from you, earning a small smile in response. Judging your slightly tinted cheeks, San assumed you must have gotten here just a little earlier than him. 

“I needed to replenish my caffeine levels,” you answered sharply. “As I have found out, I still can’t type up a decent essay to save my life.” San chuckled before tapping the top of your laptop. You peered up at San with a faint frown gracing your lips, as if pleading the genius writer to bless you with the ability to forge an essay that would satisfy not only yourself, but your professor as well. “You probably don’t take the time to look at your surroundings,” San noted.

You tilted your head to the side slightly before motioning San to explain his statement. Heat brushed the dark haired male’s cheeks as he rested a hand on the back of his now burning neck. A sudden tightness in San’s throat accompanied the odd sensation he was experiencing which caused him to clear his throat before he averted his gaze away from you.

“Sometimes, when you are struggling to write, it’s because you’re set on staying within a tiny box. If you stay in that box, you miss a few details about the world around you,” San explained. He stole a quick glance at your features before he waved a hand in front of himself. “Tell me, when you look around the cafe, what do you see?”

Slowly, you let your eyes travel towards the peaceful scene of the cafe before you. It had calmed down since you first stepped in to save yourself from the bitter cold. More tables were empty, you noted, as the handful of workers slowed down and began taking their time in perfecting the orders that were coming in now. You then observed the other students as they furiously scribbled or typed away to finish an assignment that they have also procrastinated on for too long. Others chattered away with each other, basking in the glory of having their lives together. Funny, you thought. Stress plagued most students minds here, leaving nothing but an ominous feeling at the back of the mind. An impending doom from the possibility of not finishing an assignment you had all the time in the world to work on if you only had the motivation to start early. Despite that, it was evident to both San and you that you had missed a major point that San was trying to make.

“Students and baristas are working. More tables are empty- San, what are you trying to get out of this?” You grumbled out of frustration. 

San gently shook his head in slight disappointment after he stole another quick glance from you. “Like all other computer science majors, you view everything so objectively at times.”

You weren’t exactly amused with this answer until you caught a certain gleam in San’s eyes. The slight curl of the lips and the knowing gaze revealed an entire story to San. To San, the cafe’s atmosphere was placid, the natural light filtering in as if helping to chase away the anxious dark clouds that followed students too closely at times. The aroma of coffee, faintly bitter or sickenly sweet, traveled and filled every space in between, leaving only a pleasant sensation for all. Tired students remained scattered, eyes glued to the screens of laptops that most likely were burning just as much as an impatient mouth who needed to refuel on caffeine. Friends gossiped and giggled long after their mostly sugar and barely coffee drinks have gone cold. Busy, but not bustling. Scattered, but not nearly vacant. A perfect place to unleash creativity, as San would have commented.

“You need to make up a story sometimes just to achieve what you want in writing,” San stated.

“That’s easy for you to say, Genius Writer,” you countered with a huff. 

San quirked an eyebrow at your response before he let out a breathy chuckle. “Maybe so, but you somehow recognized me last night.”

“And what’s that supposed to prove?” you inquired. A soft hum left San as he placed his cup of coffee near his lips, blowing gently on it before savoring a small sip. He placed the cup down and gave a simple shrug of the shoulders. It took you a moment as you caught on to the fact that the slight simper San wore never disappeared in the first place.

“I’m not interested, if that’s what you’re implying,” you stated flatly. 

San blinked a few times, his confidence faltering slightly as if he was struggling to process the words that effortlessly slipped out of your mouth. It didn’t help his case either as he caught your gaze boring into your laptop screen again, completely ignoring San’s moment of embarrassment.

“I was gonna say you pick up on tiny details when something interests you, but thanks for friend-zoning me?” 

No response was uttered from your already slouching form, too focused on this frustrating assignment that has yet to meet your expectations of satisfaction. It didn’t sit well with you, of course. With how San sees and conveys everything as if it was a new story unfolding in front of his eyes; it was unnerving, for it seemed as if everyone was transparent as glass. But it also intrigued you. For you, who is so used to seeing the world as an endless code that continuously needs tweaks to function properly, seeing such vivid details and hearing new perspectives never crossed your mind. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why you seeked out San. Maybe, just maybe, your world would gradually expand its horizon and welcome in new experiences that you’d never expected to live in.

The time flashed in the right corner of the screen, signaling you to close your laptop with a soft sigh of defeat. “Well, I have to get to my class now. Have a fun time doing whatever future writers do,” you suddenly announced as you stood up. You quickly gathered your belongings, shoving most into your bag without a second thought before grabbing your laptop and scurrying away with only a nod of the head. Unbeknownst to you, your unopened letter had fallen out of the side pocket of your bag along with your earbuds. Having noticed this, San immediately picked up the forgotten items, but was just a second too late as he already saw you at the door.

“[N-Name]!!” 

With the chime of the bell, San slumped back into his chair as he wrapped your earbuds into a neat bundle before placing them in one of the pockets of his jacket. He then turned his attention towards the envelope before humming in amusement as the corners of lips curved upwards at the sight of the familiar penmanship that decorated the front of the envelope. Quietly shaking his head, he retrieved his own letter out of his bag before setting the two down on the table in front of him.

It seemed that you got a letter as well, [Name].

[mxliv-oftheendless]

Writer’s Month Prompts Day 12

Day 12: Eight

Another prompt picked out by me! Hope you guys enjoy!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Eight Times Heather Came Through For the Gang, and One Time They Came Through For Her

#1:

“I need to ask you something,”

Wariness traveled through Heather at Judy’s statement. “What?”

“Well, you know today’s Halloween,”

“Yeah…” How could Heather not know today was Halloween? She could never forget.

“Both Brad and I can’t take Fred trick or treating this year… Do you think you could take him?”

Heather paused, and her hand tightened slightly around the phone. On the one hand, she knew how much Fred loved Halloween. On the other hand�� she never went out of her house on Halloween night if she could help it. She just couldn’t face the night unless she was in her home, surrounded by her flowers and assured by her wind chimes and the cross made of rowan she kept on her door. She couldn’t risk it.

Judy seemed to sense her reluctance, because she quickly said, “I know you don’t like going out on Halloween night, so if you don’t want to do it I can call Uncle Bobby—”

“Your Uncle Bobby?” Heather’s nose wrinkled. Judy’s Uncle Bobby taking Fred? The one who called her a Satan worshipper and went into passionate rants about how the Democratic Party would ruin this nation and would definitely make sure Fred didn’t get the chance to enjoy his trick or treating experience? Absolutely not. “No, I’ll do it.”

“You will? But I thought—”

“I know. But your Uncle Bobby taking Fred instead of me is the worse alternative. I’ll do it.”

Judy laughed. “Okay. Thanks, Heather.”

Heather smiled a bit. “Sure, Judy.”

#2:

Heather led Daphne into the bathroom, Velma at their heels, and sat her down. “It’s okay, Daphne,” she reassured the distraught girl. “We can clean it up. It’s okay.”

“I just don’t know what happened!” Daphne said, trying to hold back tears so she wouldn’t ruin her makeup. “I shouldn’t have been holding that glass while I was walking.”

“The glass isn’t the problem, Daphne,” Velma said to her matter-of-factly. “The problem is someone tripped you.”

“I saw that too,” Heather agreed. “Velma, can you get me some towels so we can clean this up?”

She was helping to dab at the stain on the front of Daphne’s dress when the door opened and the sound of clacking heels filled the bathroom. “Daphne, oh my gosh.” They looked up to see her cousin Daisy holding napkins. “Are you okay? I got you towels. It’s horrible how someone tripped you like that.”

Heather narrowed her eyes at the girl. “How did you know someone tripped her? We barely saw anything.”

Daisy blinked, staring at her. “I’m sorry, who are you?”

“You don’t have to know.” Heather stood up. “How would you know someone tripped Daphne…” she turned to Daphne questioningly for the name.

“Daisy,”

“Daisy.” She turned back to her and crossed her arms. “Unless you were the one that did it?”

Daisy looked for a moment like a deer caught in headlights. “I…” She gave a scoff of a laugh. “Listen, lady, you’re crazy. Everyone knows I would never do that.”

“You wouldn’t…” Daphne stood up. “Unless you knew you wouldn’t get caught. You’ve been out to get me for years, Daisy, don’t even lie.”

Heather laughed. “Oh, isn’t this funny,” she turned back to Daisy, smirking. “The spiteful cousin that appears to be a perfect angel to hide how rotten she is. How predictable. I knew there was something wrong with you.”

Daisy stared at her for a moment, then an arrogant look appeared on her face. “Oh yeah? Well you think they’re going to believe you? An old lady, my ditzy cousin, and her friend? I don’t think so. Now get out of my way, old woman. I need to touch up my makeup.”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Heather’s smile turned deadly. “You aren’t as smart as you think you are.” Her hand shot out to grab Daisy’s wrist and pulled her closer. “You underestimate what I can do. If you ever try to humiliate Daphne again, you better pray to your God I don’t hear about it. Because I can and I will permanently scar that pretty face.” She smiled. “Okay?” She let go of Daisy’s wrist. “Now get out of our way, little girl.”

Daisy looked like she wanted to be defiant, but then stepped to the side so Daphne, Heather, and Velma could walk out of the bathroom. Daphne grabbed her arm. “Thanks, Heather. No one’s ever stood up to Daisy for me like that before.”

Heather smiled at her. “Anytime, Daphne.”

#3:

Velma came running towards her as she came walking down the hallway towards the group of kids. “Heather, thank goodness. We only have an hour left before we need to show off our project.”

“Okay, just show me the way so we can figure this out,” Heather left Velma spin around and run back to the Science Olympiad group.

“Guys, this is Heather, the woman I told you would help us.”

One of them, who looked like a stereotypical nerd found in a teen high school movie, eyed Heather skeptically. “She doesn’t look scientifically inclined,” he stated, looking at her leather jacket, jeans, and Motley Crue t-shirt.

Heather shrugged, smiling. “Sorry I don’t look the part. But I’m the best you’ve got, so lead the way to the broken project.”

As the group walked down the hallway to their designated classroom, Velma tugged on her sleeve. “Thank you for doing this. No one else could make it.”

“You’re welcome, Velma. I’ll help the best I can.”

#4:

Heather raised an eyebrow and looked down at the list in her hand. “I think we’ve got everything… except the marshmallow fluff,”

“Like, that shouldn’t be too hard to find!” Shaggy said cheerfully. “I know where it is, too.”

“Lead the way, my man,” Heather laughed.

The trio, consisting of Heather, Shaggy, and Scooby, headed out of the grocery store aisle and went down to the right one to get the marshmallow fluff. Why Shaggy and Scooby needed marshmallow fluff, Heather had no idea. Then again, she was usually lost when they were saying what they put in their crazy sandwiches.

Shaggy checked the shelf. “Aw, man!” he groaned. “Like, there’s no marshmallow fluff!”

Scooby’s head dropped. “Raw…”

“They have strawberry fluff,” Heather pointed to the jars on the shelf. “Why don’t we get that?”

Shaggy and Scooby looked at her with utterly appalled looks. “Like we can’t use the strawberry fluff!”

“Reah!” Scooby agreed. “Re need marshmallow ruff!”

“Excuse me,” They all turned around at the voice, and saw a grocery store employee standing behind them, looking stern. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to bring your dog outside. There are no pets allowed in the store.”

“Rog?” Scooby looked around. “Rhere?”

“But like, Scooby’s a trained dog!” Shaggy protested.

Before the employee could say anything, Heather jumped in, flashing him a smile. “He’s very well trained. And he’s a service dog.” She reached into her purse and pulled out her wallet, and took out a service dog identification card to show him.

The employee looked at the card, then sighed. “Well, we do allow service pets… Sorry about that. Carry on.”

Once he was out of earshot, Shaggy and Scooby turned to her in confusion. “But like, Scooby’s not a service dog.”

“True,” Heather said as she put the card back in her wallet, smiling. “But he doesn’t know that.” She winked at them. “C’mon, let’s go pay. I think I have some marshmallow fluff at my house.”

Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other, grinned, then followed her. “Dude,” Shaggy said to Scooby, “Heather’s like, totally awesome.”

“Reah, rawesome,”

#5:

Heather was watering her plants when a sudden rapid banging on the door made her jump. She exhaled heavily, setting down her watering can. “What the hell…?”

When she opened the door, immediately crashing through to land in a heap on her floor was… four teenagers and a Great Dane? She frowned in confusion, then raised an eyebrow when she saw a familiar blonde head in the pile. “Fred?”

Fred raised his head and smiled. “Hey, Aunt Heather! Sorry to barge in like this.”

A redhead teen girl raised her head and looked around. “Jeepers! It’s like Flower Central in here!”

“Thank you,” Heather said as they all worked to untangle themselves. “I try.” She crossed her arms. “So, care to explain why four kids and a dog just crashed into my foyer?”

“Oh, right,” Fred got up and dusted himself off. “Gang, this is my aunt, Heather McMann. Aunt Heather, this is Daphne,” the redhead, “Velma,” a brunette in an orange turtleneck, “Shaggy,” a lanky boy in a green shirt, “and Scooby Doo,” the Great Dane. “They’re my friends.”

“Sorry to barge in on you,” Velma said politely, “but Fred said you were close by and could help us hide.”

Heather raised her eyebrow. “Hide from what?”

“Like, hide from the monster!” Shaggy quivered.

“Reah! Ronster!”

Heather blinked. Did… Did Scooby Doo just talk? What? “Monster?”

“We’ll explain in a second. But we need a favor,” Fred said to her. “Can we hide out here for the night? Just for the night, I swear. The Mystery Machine’s in your driveway.”

Heather had many questions. But then again, it seemed to be urgent. So she shrugged. “Sure. You’ll have to camp out in my living room. There’s extra blankets in the closet upstairs.”

Fred smiled in relief. “Thanks, Aunt Heather.”

“No problem. Get the blankets, and I’ll go make tea.”

As she was headed down the hallway to the kitchen, she heard Fred say gleefully, “See, guys? Told you we could count on Aunt Heather.”

#6:

“… And the coconuts will launch from this catapult, setting off the hooks for the carpet, which will fall right on the freaky conquistador and capture him!”

“Great plan, Freddy,” Daphne said.

“All we need now is…”

Shaggy suddenly tapped Velma on the shoulder resignedly, stopping her from continuing. “Live bait,” he finished, sighing. “Like we’ll save you the trouble. C’mon, Scoob.”

“Good luck, guys,” Heather called as they left the room.

“Okay, everybody hide,” Fred instructed.

All too soon, the four heard screaming from the hallway, and Shaggy and Scooby came barreling through the entrance. “Like he’s coming this way!” Shaggy shouted out, before he and Scooby crashed into a wall after skidding to a stop too late.

“And 3… 2… 1!” Fred pulled on the rope to spring the trap. But nothing happened. He pulled again. “What the heck? My trap’s not working!”

Heather looked around, and spotted the knight’s armor standing on the rack in the corner. An idea popped into her head and she went to pull off one of the arms. Then she ran to the doorway and stood to the side. When the conquistador ghost came running through, snarling, she swung the arm and hit him right in the stomach, sending him to the floor groaning in pain.

She placed her boot on his back and grinned at the gang. “I got him!”

Everyone came out of their hiding places. “Good thinking, Heather,” Velma congratulated. “Now, let’s see who this conquistador ghost really is.”

#7:

“So let me get this straight, you’ve been waiting for an hour?” Heather questioned over her phone as she went to grab her purse. “Why didn’t Fred come pick you up?”

“We told him to!” Daphne insisted. “We made sure he knew to come pick us up at four!”

“I bet he forgot,” Heather heard Velma say over the phone.

Heather sighed. “Okay, I’ve got my purse and I’m heading out the door right now.”

“Thanks, Heather. You’re a lifesaver.”

When Heather pulled her car up to the mall, she sent a text to Daphne to say she was there. When they walked out of the entrance, she honked her horn and stuck her hand out the window to wave it. They ran over and pulled open the doors to get inside.

“Thanks for coming, Heather,” Velma said gratefully.

“No problem. You girls okay?”

“We’re fine,” Daphne nodded. “I texted Freddy and said you were picking us up.”

“Good decision. Call him right now so I can lecture him about remembering things.”

Laughing, Daphne pulled out her phone. “Okay,”

#8:

“What are you kids doing here?”

The gang froze at the stern voice, and turned around to see a security officer behind them with his arms crossed. “This area is for authorized personnel only!”

“But we’re here to solve the mystery,” Fred tried to explain, hoping Heather would meet up with them again soon. She seemed to have a way with authority figures. “You can ask Mr.—”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. There is no mystery to be found here, Scarf Boy.”

“It’s an ascot—”

“I don’t care!” the officer pointed to the door down the hallway. “Get your butts out of here!”

“There you are!”

The gang sighed in relief and turned to find Heather making her way towards them. “I’ve been looking all over for you! Come on, we have places to be.” She got in front of her gang and flashed a smile at the security officer. “I’m sorry I left my nephew and his friends unsupervised. But I’m sure they told you they’re allowed back here. They’re trying to solve this mystery. And you are…?”

“… Just a security officer, ma’am. You’re sure they’re allowed back here?”

“Oh yes. The head of security said so, you can ask him.”

“Well, I will. Don’t let them out of your sight.”

“You got it,”

As soon as the security officer was out of earshot, Heather’s smile disappeared and she sighed. “You know, I should just start coming along with you kids for all of your mysteries. You get into more places when I’m here somehow.”

“You’re pretty charismatic,” Velma offered. “Maybe that’s why adults listen to you.”

“Or like, maybe because she’s also like, an adult,” Shaggy guessed.

“Either way, thanks for stepping in,” Fred thanked her. “He was about to throw us out.”

Heather smiled. “Well, we can’t have that. Not when there’s a mystery to be solved. Have you found any clues?”

And with that, the mystery continued, with Heather in tow the rest of the way.

+1:

“Like, comin’ through!”

Starchild stepped to the side and raised an eyebrow as Shaggy and Scooby strode past. Shaggy had a tray of food in his hands, while Scooby was balancing one on his head. “What are you two doing?” he asked.

“Like we made some snacks for Heather while she rests,” Shaggy displayed the food tray to him. “Fred, Daphne and Velma are doing stuff for her too.”

Starchild smiled in amusement. Heather had gone with them back to Earth for an emergency situation, and had gotten banged up pretty hard in the ensuing fight. The gang had insisted on coming back to KISSteria with them to make sure she got enough rest. “That’s nice of you. I was on my way to check on her myself, mind if I join?”

“No problemo!” Scooby said cheerfully.

The three of them set off through the Temple to Heather’s bedroom. “What exactly did you make her?” Starchild asked.

“Well we knew she doesn’t like our triple decker Scooby Snack with ice cream and chocolate sauce sandwich,” Shaggy said, and Starchild didn’t even want to think about how unhealthy that probably was, “so like we made her Super Shaggy Sandwiches with less layers instead.”

“Rand riss ralls!” Scooby showed his tray to Starchild, that was laden with small oat and date balls with coconut.

“Right, Scoob, and bliss balls! Like she loves those.”

“That’s really nice of you, guys,” Starchild said, smiling.

Shaggy shrugged. “Well, like, she’d do the same for us,”

“Reah,”

When they arrived at Heather’s room, they stopped upon seeing the rope, wires, and other trap materials on the floor. Fred was standing in front of the pile, mumbling to himself. “The Van Buren Paradigm would work… but what if the person’s not an intruder and just wants to check on her…”

“Like Fred, what are you doing?” Shaggy asked.

“Oh, I’m just building a trap for Aunt Heather’s room,” Fred replied casually.

Shaggy and Scooby nodded, this clearly being a common thing to hear. But Starchild did not consider that a common thing to hear. “You’re booby-trapping her room?” he asked. “Why?”

“You know, so she stays safe while she rests,” Fred replied matter of factly. “Duh,”

“But what if someone just wants to check on her?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out right now,”

“Like, can we still get inside?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” Fred stepped aside to let them pass. “I’m just trying to look out for my aunt, that’s it.”

“No, I get that.” Starchild grinned at him. “That’s pretty nice of you, Frank.”

“It’s Fred!”

Starchild ignored him and followed Shaggy and Scooby through the door. When they entered, they found Velma sitting with Heather on her bed while Daphne was taking plants out of a cardboard box. “Like, we’re back!” Shaggy sang, setting his tray down on the table and grabbing hold of Scooby’s.

“Hey, boys,” Heather greeted. She smiled at Starchild. “Hi, Starchild. As you can see, my room’s been taken over.”

“I can see that,” Starchild laughed. “What’s going on?”

“I’m decorating this room,” Daphne informed him. “It’s too drab in here!”

“It’s simple!” Heather argued.

“It’s drab!”

Heather sighed heavily. “Fine, I don’t care,”

Starchild looked down at all the books stacked on the floor next to Heather’s bed. “Did you get those from the library?”

“Yep,” Velma nodded. “I figured I would get some reading material so she wouldn’t be bored.”  

“With this many books, I’m not going to be bored,” Heather smiled at her.

“I’m also going to brush out and braid your hair,” Daphne said over her shoulder as she hung up paper lanterns with lotus flowers painted on them. “You never do anything with it.”

“If you insist,” Heather said, sighing and shaking her head. But there was a fond smile on her face.

“Like, we made snacks!” Shaggy said proudly, displaying the two trays. “We made sandwiches and bliss balls!”

Heather perked up. “Bliss balls?”

“Ruh huh!” Scooby nodded his head. “Riss ralls!” He licked his lips.

Velma stood up. “I’ll get you a plate. You stay here.”

“I can get it myself, Velma—”

“No. I’ll get it.”

Heather sighed and sat back on her bed as Velma went to get a plate for her. But an affectionate smile soon drifted onto her face. Smiling, Starchild went over to stand next to her. “Did you know Fred’s setting up a trap outside your room?”

“Yeah, he told me before he went outside. He insisted, said he just wanted to make sure nothing happened to me.”

“They’re all looking out for you,” he remarked. “They’re good kids.”

“Yeah,” Heather smiled at the gang. “They are.”

[nyxfury]

The Big Little Merman (Part 2: The Plan is Afoot)

Rated M for swearing

Pairing: Dramione Fandom: Harry Potter / Little Mermaid

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter or Little Mermaid(Disney) franchise. This is just fanfiction and completely demonetised. Thanks to JKR and Disney for the wonderful sandboxes to let our imaginations run wild. This is also not beta-d so apologies for any mistakes and errors. They are my own.

Summary: Draco Malfoy suddenly finds himself thrust as the leading man in the gender bended wizard play adaptation of a muggle story, The Little Mermaid. How did it come to be this way and who’s slated to play the female lead? (Hint: Hermione)

Link to A03

“Ginevra Molly Weasley Potter!!” fumed Hermione Granger with her shrillest impression of a banshee as she barrelled into the redheads’ office.

“I take it you received your letter.” nodded Ginny, keeping her gaze focused on the document she was working on. With a final flourish of dotting a few more i’s and t’s, she re-slotted her quill in its’ holder, steepled her fingers together and took her sweet time shifting her gaze slowly to look at Hermione. Her expression remained stoic but her eyes held a scheming twinkle. She gestured to the guest chair, inviting Hermione to take a seat. 

Huffing at the redheads’ calm composure, Hermione closed the office door and sat on the opposite chair out of spite. She liked to indulge in being petty when she was in a mood. And she was feeling particularly irritated with the redhead right now.

Ginny rolled her eyes, ignoring the childish behaviour. She was a mother after all and Hermione was acting like her 2 year old son on a tantrum.

“What is the meaning of this?” Hermione clipped, waving the letter in the air in annoyance. Her initial fury deflated a little, simmering into mild anger. She crossed her arms and levelled a glare at the redhead.

“Well, Hermione, I imagine it would’ve been self-explanatory really. You broached the idea, I floated it to my boss, the HR Department head. He loved it, being half-blood himself. And now we’re working on making it a reality.” Ginny explained patronisingly.

“You know what I’m asking Ginny. I suggested the play because I thought it would be a hilarious consequence for the losing team. I never imagined nor wanted to be part of it!” she protested, waving her hands in emphasis. “Now explain why I’m finding myself cast as one of the leading characters and playing opposite Malfoy as his romantic interest!”

“Ah and therein lies your answer.” sing-songed Ginny, suggestively raising her eyebrows up and down.

“Ginny!”, Hermione spouted indignantly.

“Hermione!” mocked Ginny. 

“When will you finally admit that you find the man devastatingly attractive?” the redhead asked, leaning back in her chair and staring pointedly at her friend. She had a suspicion that her friend was carrying a torch for the blond scion. She’s never confronted Hermione about it until she felt sure that it was reciprocated. After observing both of them dance around each other for months, she’s grown impatient that neither was doing anything to pursue the mutual attraction.

Clarity dawned on the brightest witch of their age as she realized Ginny’s true motives. “Ginevra, if this is in any way related to you insisting on dolling me up for the pick up match, or that time you insisted I wear…I swear to Merlin that..that…” she fumbled, suddenly feeling flustered. Her lower abdomen felt like it was tying itself in endless knots. “Argh! Self care my arse.” she uncharacteristically exclaimed in frustration, throwing her arms in the air as she stood and walked towards the only window in the small office. She was feeling a little betrayed. Hermione Granger did not often feel backed into a corner. So she settled on some distance as she contemplated on the newfound perspective, completely missing Ginny’s small triumphant smile.

Finally, progress! A semblance of acknowledgement. Ginny happily sighed, patiently waiting for Hermione to process her emotions.

“I didn’t ask you to play matchmaker.” Hermione declared indignantly after a few beats of silence. The urge to escape the anxiety inducing conversation felt strong and she was on the verge of bolting.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t live vicariously through you and appreciate fine wine.” Ginny quipped.

Hermione stared at her friend. “You’re married.”

“Yes and a few years in matrimony can make life predictable.” Ginny waved her hand dismissively. “So you’re not denying it.” she stated more as a fact than a question.

“If you’ve come to that conclusion then my struggle to understand what this is must’ve been terribly obvious.” she sighed, shoulders slumped as she found her way back to her chair.

“But the self care campaign, Ginny? Really?” Hermione asked incredulously.

“It killed two birds with one stone.” the redhead shrugged, looking smug and unrepentant.

“To be perfectly candid, I don’t know what this is I have with Malfoy. Or that if there even is anything at all.” the brunette confessed. “There’s just been so much going on. He just broke off a long engagement for Merlin’s sake!“ 

“Hermione,” Ginny paused dramatically, “you’re probably the only person in this Universe who considers a year and a half as something recent.” Ginny pointed out. “Also, no one would’ve judge either of you if you started dating right after his engagement dissolved. In fact, half the Wizarding World assumed you’d be married with Malfoy’s babies by now!” the redhead exclaimed.

Hermione responded with a pointed glare.

“Ok, maybe that was a gross exaggeration.” Ginny conceded.

Before the conversation could go on, they were suddenly interrupted by another person barrelling through Ginny’s office in exasperation.

“Ginny, what the hell!?” exclaimed one very flabbergasted husband, waving a missive similar to the one the brunette flourished earlier.

“Alright, I’ve had it with everyone storming into my office today. Have all of you left your manners at home and forgot to knock like a decent person?”, declared the redhead more to herself than anyone in particular.

“Let me guess, you’ve also been casted for the play.” the brunette addressed Harry, who was still standing in askance as the door behind him was left wide open.

Noticing a few onlookers gathering and remembering where they were, Harry closed the door so as not to attract more attention.

“Well, yes. But I don’t understand why since our team won the pick up match! Hermione was supposed to be the only addition outside the losing team.” he huffed.

“Harry James Potter, please tell me that you and your wife aren’t actively trying to meddle in my love life!”, Hermione demanded, arms akimbo.

The bespectacled Auror had the decency to look chagrined as he stared at Ginny, silently begging for rescue as he realized his Freudian slip. The redhead’s only response was a wide-eyed stare, non-verbally replying that he was on his own.

Then there was silence.

Hermione sighed resignedly, “At least tell me that your scheming hasn’t gone beyond you two.” 

The married couple’s silent debate with their staring told her more than enough than she needed to know.

“Oh Merlin, who else is in this ploy and why am I only finding out now?”

~o~ 

“Malfoy, drinks are on you since it’s technically your fault we’re in a pickle right now.” declared Ronald Weasley as he plopped himself on a seat and signalled for a server. 

Draco already expected as much since he initiated the invite. But the gangly redhead chose a table for a larger group than their current party so he felt the need to clarify, “Expecting more company, Weasley?”

“Yeah, I’ve invited Harry and Dean. Apparently, my sister’s gone mental and casted them in the play! They’re out for blood. We’re all on the same team now.” he casually replied after ordering a round for everyone.

Draco is unsurprised by the development. The production will be a charity event after all and it’s only logical to include the Boy Who Died Twice and Lived to ensure that the tickets will sell out. It would also follow that the last member of the Golden Trio be included to complete the ensemble and seal the deal with the sales. Thus, he finds himself curious if she’s been casted as well.

He sipped his firewhiskey, feeling the smooth satisfying warmth of the liquid spread through his system. 

Harry Potter and Dean Thomas arrived and settled themselves. Blaise immediately declared that Potter got what he deserved after being so smug earlier that day. Everyone, excluding Malfoy, went into a heated discussion about the ridiculous stipulations included in the production.

“How can they demand us to be fit and have defined abs to play shirtless Mermen!? I’m an Auror but pushing paper doesn’t require exercise!”, Seamus tearfully exclaimed as he nursed his pint in one hand and his slight but definitely there beer belly in the other.

“Hear hear!”, Thomas chimed in support as he raised his own pint.

The conversation remained rowdy in the background as Draco stayed silent and in deep contemplation. A few more sips of his drink and he felt confident that Granger’s been casted in the play. Slowly, he found his mood shifting from dread to anticipation for the coming weeks.

Blaise never missed a beat and was perceptive enough to notice that the blonde finally put two and two together. Deciding that it was the right moment to sow the seeds, he executed his play.

“Speaking of fit, I noticed that Granger’s been looking really fit recently. Doesn’t she Draco?” he asked the blonde point blank.

Unprepared to be addressed after staying silent for most of the night, Draco decided to just nod in agreement and completely missed Blaise signalling Weasley to take his cue. 

“That she does. I blame you for losing us the match Malfoy but I don’t blame you for getting distracted. She was especially lush during the pick up match.” Weasley unexpectedly mooned.

The blonde felt confused as he bluntly questioned, “Hasn’t that ship sailed years ago, Weasley?”

“It has. But I’ve been re-thinking our relationship recently. I feel like it may be time to try again.” the redhead wolfishly replied as he polished his drink and signalled for another.

Seamus patted Weasley on the back in solidarity as Harry declared his support for the redhead’s declaration; as did everyone else in the table save for the blonde.

Draco never wore his heart on his sleeve but he was unable to mask the brief flash of hostility that overtook his features before schooling it back to nonchalance. The sudden and intense protectiveness he felt over Granger after Weasley’s declaration startled him. In his distraction, he failed to notice the silent triumphant look everyone shared. 

Blaise silently praised himself for a job well done as he watched his friend internally brood.

[polar-stars]

Shokugeki no Kimiko à la carte Series - The Extended Hand

Author’s Note:

Written for ShokugekiOCWeek, Day 7 (Prompt: Party)

You’ve reached the point where I’d to something for ShigeChi, because of course I would; or the tale of Chieko visiting a party she feels to small for. 

(As always, I’m not sure if its good or not haha)

---

Like he loved to do, Satoshi went out early in the morning so he could help his students tend to the garden.

An all-too typical everlasting smile on his face, he opened the heavy door of the dormitory to step out into the fresh, cold air. He took a deep, satisfied breath before he marched on.

Little did he expect however to hear the door opening behind him again.

And even less he expected Hideyoshi Kawashima to be the one coming out of it.

“Hideyoshi-kun?” He questioned. “You’re not on field-duty or cooking-duty today. What gives me the honor to greet you so early in the morning?” Hideyoshi was known for many things but not exactly for being an early riser.

Instead of answering, Hideyoshi only threw a “Good Morning, Satoshi-san” towards the brunette man and rushed straight up to the mail box of the dormitory.

The dorm caretaker had already turned around to walk on to the garden as he heard Hideyoshi’s loud exclaim of joy possibly waking up the last few sleeping birds in the trees. When Satoshi then looked over his shoulder, he saw the black-haired youth sprint back towards the dormitory with a bunch of letters in his hands.

A chuckle escaped Satoshi, as he lightly shook his head. “Youth.” Then he walked on.

-

When he finally came back from field work, all sweaty but filled with the highest spirits after his connecting and conversing with Mother Nature, Satoshi found all of Polar Star’s current highschool first years at their table in the dining hall, hunched together like a group of penguins.  

“Good Morning.” He warmly announced in order to get their attention. He ended up being successful as the young teens all lifted their heads with admirable synchronicity.

"Good Morn-" Was all that Hiroshi could say before his friendly greeting was drowned out by Hideyoshi's exclaim. "Satoshi-san! You're not going to believe this!" The addressed adult came closer, chuckling. "My, my, you're truly in a good mood today, Hideyoshi-kun."

"He was invited to a party." Mumbled Daisuke while staring at his omelette, some jealousy swinging in his voice. "Not a party." Hideyoshi immediately corrected and held up an envelope. "THE party." As Satoshi arrived at their table, blue eyes full of interest for what Hideyoshi was so excited over, the emcee began elaborating further. "It's Inoue Eito's party, Satoshi-san! The tenth seat!"

While Daisuke rolled his eyes and Yasu slightly shook his head Hideyoshi took over the tone of a storyteller, weaving myths and legends. "The 114th Generation is famous for their parties and Inoue-senpai is the one who throws the most acclaimed ones by far. Each and every single one of them being iconic. He's not one to invite too many underclassmen. The fact that I got invited…." He proudly puffed out his chest. "Makes me a VIP without a doubt."

"I see…" Satoshi rubbed his chin and then nodded. "I am glad to see you so happy, Hideyoshi-kun." The dorm-warden spread his arms and, as they did many times, the young teens swore to see sparkles and glitters appearing around him. "Parties are a great way to savor your youth!"

"Ever considered that these might have been some prank? Maybe by the underclassmen?" Chieko suddenly spoke up. As the heads turned towards her, Satoshi noted the white envelope in her heads. "Because I can't see why they would invite me…."

The gears in Chieko's brain had been turning ever since Hideyoshi had pushed the invitation into her hands. But all the data and knowledge that she'd stored up over several years could not provide her with an answer to the question on why her, a perfectly normal student of the 115th Generation who looked plain and nerdy, was invited to such a popular, trendy event. In her understanding her name just didn't fit in-between widely-gushed-over emcee Hideyoshi Kawashima, gorgeous Mika Aldini and the school idol's little sister Kimiko Yukihira.

"I don't really get this either. I haven't met this Inoue guy." Kimiko voiced. She had laid her letter away already, so that Hiroshi read it instead while she payed more attention to her omelette.

Hideyoshi was quick to enlighten the blonde. "Please, Yukihira. I thought you were smarter than that. Of course Inoue-senpai would want the sister of the most popular person within the 114th Generation and Totsuki as a whole to be there."

"Hiraku will be there? Yeah, I think I will pass this one." Kimiko shrugged at that and continued eating her breakfast, completely unbothered by Hideyoshi looking at her as if she had personally insulted him. Meanwhile a visible blush had been creeping on Mika's face as she quickly decided to read over invitation again, only now truly realizing that she'd get to meet a certain redhead on the party.

"Maybe it's actually for you." Chieko theorized and pushed her invitation over to Yasu. Good-looking, well-liked Yasu, who never failed to catch several eyes when walking through town wether he was aware of it or not. No way she was chosen over him.

"I don't think a guy that concerned with creating an illustrious guest list would make such a mistake, Chi-chan." He tilted his head slightly. "If you don't want to go, you don't have to." "We can play cards together instead!" Kimiko quickly brought up with a grin.

"No!" Hideyoshi huffed. "No, I'm having enough of this lack of appreciation for this flattering, distinguished chance." He pointed at Chieko. "Marui, I won't allow you to miss out on this. As your friend I can't let you shot yourself in the foot like this!"

—

Despite all of Chieko's skepticism and hesitance, she ended up standing in front of the tenth seat's mansion outside of Totsuki when the day of the rager had come through the sheer force of Hideyoshi's insistence. She even had put on make-up and one of her prettiest dresses.

She felt the house was practically shaking from the booming music that played in it. Hideyoshi next to her bounced on the balls of his feet like some 3 year old who was granted two scoops of ice cream by their mother. Mika had merely crossed her arms as she eyed the scenery in front of her with narrowed eyebrows. Around them, students kept streaming in and out of the house. Some sober, others already smash-drunk.

Chieko could tell right away: this was a very different caliber than the regular Polar Star gatherings.

The insides of the house were loud and crowded. Chatter, laughter, badly sung lyrics to whichever song was playing; those were the sounds that dominated the halls.

The trio began wandering around and inspecting the mansion's ground floor but eventually they split up, as Mika sought to find her prince charming while Hideyoshi aimed for the bar. Chieko meanwhile found herself a corner that was not occupied by some horny couple or a guy about to throw up for her to stand in.

Not many took a notice of her but occasionally she received a couple of confused looks here and there. But what did she expect? Here she had been, dressing up pretty just to stand around in the shadows.

She had just decided to search for Hideyoshi at the bar in order to drown her frustrations in a little bit of cheap wine as said classmate already appeared in front of her, yelling. “Marui! There you are!”

Before Chieko could come up with a response, her dorm mate began to make hasty gestures. “I heard Aldini made it into the upper part of the building! Can you believe it?”

Based on his tone, Chieko knew that he expected some sort of shocked surprise from her but all she gave him was calm confusion. “Huh?”

Hideyoshi gave her a long look before he groaned. “Marui, everybody knows that the real deal of Inoue-senpai’s parties is in the upper part of the mansion. This is where the A-List gathers. The most popular personalities of the school. The true Crème de la Crème!" Knowing her dorm mate and his never-ending chase for a grand social standing well enough, Chieko already feared what will follow next as she listened to his ramble. "If Aldini made it up there, we gotta get there to."

Before Chieko was even given a chance to rationally line out all the reasons on why this was probably a bad idea; she already found herself standing in front the massive staircase that lead up to Hideyoshi's personal Olymp, with Hideyoshi next to her engaging in a broad discussion with the second-year that had been tasked to keep out any mere mortals. "No, there has to be a  mistake. I am Kawashima Hideyoshi. Surely, you must have seen me host a Shokugeki already. I belong up there." "All I see is another entitled, little first-year-shrimp."

Chieko felt an immense urge to hide her face in her hands as Hideyoshi just kept on being his ever persistent, irritating self. "Just let us through! You'll thank me later." "Pffh, yeah right." The guard scoffed before crossing his arms to truly complete the image of the strict, incorruptible doorman. "Listen up, you two guppies have no business up there, understand? Now buzz off or I'll throw you out entirely."

To Chieko's sheer horror, she saw Hideyoshi opening his mouth yet again. However before any words could come out a third voice suddenly spoke up. "These two are my guests actually."

Chieko, Hideyoshi and the gatekeeper all turned their heads in surprise. The gatekeeper was the first one to greet the new participant of the discussion, as his face instantly became pale and he shrieked. "Eizan!"

Shigeo was dressed in a white shirt, a waist coat, black trousers and his infamous smirk. Behind him, one could see Umino and Yamada in full casual glory and with burning eyes directed at the gatekeeper. "Let them through." Shigeo purred, with a certain warning edge to it.

"We-Well…..if they're your guests, they should have just said so." The guard stammered in a desperate attempt to defend himself, while simultaneously taking a step to the side to symbolize their free pass.

"Wise choice." Shigeo hummed before turning to Chieko, whose eyebrows had sunken downwards in the meantime. Not imitated the slightest by her glare, Shigeo merely brought out his hand to her. "Greetings Marui. What a pleasure to see you! I am glad my plus-one showed up."

“Plu-Plus-One?!” Chieko snarled. So that's how she received an invitation. She practically heard Hideyoshi's jaw dropping behind her.

"The Boss barely ever brings a plus one!" Umino brought up with a certain gravity in his voice, most likely to make Chieko understand just oh how special and lucky she was.

"It really was not necessary." Chieko replied, not flattered but completely meaning what she had said. It left both Umino and Yamada utterly floored and Chieko could also feel Hideyoshi's disapproving gaze and his fear of his dorm mate ruining his one chance to get upstairs.

But Shigeo's smirk merely grew a bit as that certain amusement glinted in his yellow eyes. "Yet you still showed up. So I don't believe it was a wrong choice inviting you." He nodded towards the staircase. "Now let's go upstairs. What good is an invitation if I don't give you a chance to experience the true party. Not this….gathering of maggots down here."

While Chieko still made no attempt to take his held out hand, Shigeo for the first time shifted his gaze to Hideyoshi. "Your dorm mate can come too if he wants." Chieko didn't have to turn around to know that Hideyoshi's face lightened up at that, not even bothered how both Umino and Yamada made rather displeased grimaces.

A moment of silence ensued in which Chieko wagered cons and pros in her head. Ultimately the knowledge about how badly her friend wanted to hang out with the cool kids pushed a sigh out of her and a curt. "Fine." She then began walking past the hand that Shigeo still held out to her and up the grand stairs. "I suppose a glimpse can't hurt. Come on, Kawashima."

Before Hideyoshi, completely over the moon, followed he gave a quick bow towards Shigeo. "Thank you, Shigeo-senpai." He faked an unsure laugh and made a waving hand gesture. "Don't mind Marui's grumpy tone. She's always like that. I'm sure she's more than happy about your gracious-" "Listen sockpuppet, if I should ever feel the desire to chat with you I'll be sure to let you know, alright?" Shigeo's frosty tone interrupted him  and it brought back the smiles on Umino's and Yamada's faces rather quickly.

Hideyoshi gulped, made another bow and then chose to retreat back to Chieko's side. Shigeo and his two companions watched them for a couple more minutes before following as well.

Upstairs and Downstairs truly felt like two different worlds. Chieko could tell as much when she finished climbing the stairs.

The first floor was a lot less crowded and the faces she saw were all faces she recognised instantly. From 7th seat Suzume Hojo dancing alongside the president of the French RS Harumi Tsujimoto to a song, whose lyrics "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" described the entire atmosphere perfectly, to Kimiko's widely-beloved brother Hiraku sipping whiskey at a bar, much more finer-looking than the one they had down there, with 6th seat Akio Hayama close as ever to him.

Hideyoshi let out a whistle next to her. "That's what I'm talking about, Marui. This is were Totsuki's truly important people can be found." Just as he said so, the duo also spotted their lost dorm member Mika, a glass with some red drink in her hands and in a conversation with Beatrice Shiratsu.

Their reunion seemingly had to wait however as all out of the sudden a blonde upperclassman approached them, spreading his arms and true manner of a host exclaiming. "Eizan and Co! I wondered when you'd show up."

Both Chieko and Hideyoshi turned their heads and saw that Shigeo, Umino and Yamada had arrived as well. "Good evening, Inoue." Shigeo greeted while subtly raising his hand. Umino gave a nod. "Yo" while Yamada just said. "Sup'"

As the tenth seat, Eito Inoue, reached them, he observed with a bit of sorrow in his eyes. "I see Saito-senpai didn't come along this time. What a shame." Shigeo gave a shrug. "Spontaneous shopping-trip to Paris." He said with a nonchalance you'd expect a person who grew up in a world where spontaneous weekend trips to other countries were affordable and completely normal to have.

"Inoue, is Koharu-chan here already?" Umino questioned Eito before he could make any further inquiries over Kiyoko Saito's whereabouts.

"Yoshida-san?" Eito gave a nod. "Yeah, she's here." He then pointed at a large assortment of couches far away and close to a wall. There, waiting, Chieko and Hideyoshi could make out a thin, female figure with blonde hair and clothes in pastel-colors. "She's at you guy's usual spot with the usual amount of vodka."

"Hell yeah." Yamada grinned in anticipation. "Koharu-chan never fails to disappoint." Umino meanwhile turned to Shigeo. "Boss, is it okay if we join Koharu-chan already?" "Go ahead." Shigeo replied. "Tell Yoshida, I'll be there in a second."

"Aye, Boss." The two men answered simultaneously before wandering off to the couches and Koharu Yoshida with her numerous bottles of vodka.

Once they were gone, Shigeo gave Eito a command, disguised as a friendly request. "I'd like the usual brandy, Inoue."

"Sure, sure." Eito nodded. "Just a question."

After having looked over their heads for the last minutes, Eito finally let his grey eyes fall on Hideyoshi and Chieko. "Who are they?"

Before Shigeo could say anything however, Hideyoshi held out his hand and informed. "Kawashima Hideyoshi. Good evening, Inoue-senpai. I'm a large fan of your work."

It was silent for a second but then Eito's eyes grew and he exclaimed. "Oh! Of course! The Shokugeki-Host!" He playfully hit his head. "I knew something was familiar about your face! How did you get up here though?"

Hideyoshi opened his mouth again but this time Shigeo was faster. "I brought him up." It might have been Eito's party but Shigeo's tone showed absolute confidence in the belief that he could do whatever he wants and he was proven right as Eito showed no signs of an intention to call him out over acting on his own behalf.

"I see." Eito merely smiled over Shigeo's lack of respect for his neatly organized VIP-guest-list. "Lucky kid."

Then his eyes fell on Chieko. "And you are?"

Chieko tried her best to resist the urge of nervously fumbling with her skirt as she answered. "My….name is Marui Chieko."

What followed was a minute of silence and Eito just blankly staring at Chieko. With each passing second, she felt smaller and smaller and her lips began to tremble.

Finally Eito monotonously spoke. "Oh, so you're Eizan's plus-one, right?" He finally smiled again, albeit it seemed a little forced. "He told me to invite you. I hope you know that he doesn't do that very oft-" "She knows, don't worry." Shigeo suddenly cut him off, a little harshness in his tone which made Eito flinch subtly.

Chieko meanwhile looked at the floor, her face burning.

"Enjoy the party, then!" Eito exclaimed jollily. "And we'll get you a brandy." He also said towards Shigeo.

As the two upper classmen then moved away, Hideyoshi shifted his gaze to Chieko. "Marui…." He asked. "Everything alright? You've been so quiet suddenly…."

Chieko bit her lips one last time before looking up and giving Hideyoshi a little smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. I think I just need some fresh air right now." Before Hideyoshi could make any further inquires she already began pushing him into the direction of two Italian chefs. "Be a dear and tell Mika-cchi that we're here, alright? I'll be back soon."

With no more explanation left, Chieko then made her escape to the balcony.

As she stepped ousted she was immediately greeted by the cold night air and the stunning sight of Tokyo's sparkling skyscrapers in the distance. Yet she could not take much enjoyment from it as the heart in her chest was close to bursting.

Dazed from her sudden sorrow Chieko staggered to the railing for support. She felt the tears urging to come out, but kept on fighting the battle against them so she would not have to return to her friends with red eyes.

After having observed her for what must have been several minutes, Eito had only been able to recognize her as "Eizan's plus-one". And the way he had said it. 

As the memory mercilessly replayed in her head a single tear rolled over Chieko's cheek despite all of her best efforts.

Foolish as she ever was, a part of her had hoped to have fun tonight. To be someone more than the one nerdy girl from Polar Star. She hd put her efforts into dressing up for the occasion but no matter how hard she tried, she'd never be a gorgeous Mika Aldini, a noble Kaori Hayama or a interesting Kimiko Yukihira. She'd always be the girl from the library to everyone else.

"Are you upset that I invited you?"

A lightning bolt was sent through Chieko as she heard Shigeo's voice behind her. Still wide-eyed over the sudden noise, she made a half turn and found the older male standing close to the door of the balcony with crossed arms and an unreadable expression.

Once she had recovered from the initial shock, Chieko managed to press out. "I don't want to talk right now. Go away."

Shigeo however rather took a note of something else and surprise spread on his face mixed with something that seemed identical with actual concern. "Marui….have you been crying?"

Immediately Chieko turned her head away at that, cursing at herself internally. But it was too late, as Shigeo already appeared next to her after a couple of seconds. "If you really hate it around here so much, you could have said something."

Chieko pressed her lips tightly together as she kept averting his sharp gaze. "I…..It's simply that your ever great self made a mistake. I do not belong here."

As Shigeo did not reply, she kept on. "This is a group of people who instantly have all eyes on them whenever they enter a room. I don't fit into that." Her voice shivered slightly. "I'm much too dull and unexciting for that."

What followed was a long silence. But just when Chieko actually thought that Shigeo had just quietly slithered away already, he spoke up again.

"Do you mean to insult me?"

Completely taken by surprise and confusion, Chieko finally turned his head back to him and met a pair of oddly serious eyes. "Marui Chieko, do you honestly think that I, Eizan Shigeo, would waste my time and breath on a type of person you just described?"

Chieko could only blink.

"If you really think that I would even consider to bring some uninteresting bore to a party as my partner, you're a lot badder at reading people than I thought you would be." Shigeo continued.

At first Chieko was only capable of staring at him, robbed off words. But finally a few of them returned in her otherwise so eloquent brain. "I….you…."

Shigeo's solemn look disappeared and made way for a smile. But for a change it wasn't loaded with self-infatuation but rather had a hint of genuineness in it. "I invited you for two reasons, Marui: one being that I earnestly believe that you belong into these ranks given the talent that's sleeping in you. The other one being…" He made a slight pause, letting his eyes trail to Tokyo's skyline for a second before looking back at her with the city lights reflecting in his eyes. "The other one is….that I quite frankly enjoy your company."

Once again, Chieko was at a loss for words as her teal-colored eyes merely widened, her jaw dropped and the blush appeared on her cheeks.

They stood there like this for several minutes. Just staring at each other. Noises of the city on one side and loud music from the other side, but the two didn't seem to hear either of them.

Finally Chieko regained her ability to speak and additionally several facts of her speaking-partner which were about more than him just being a good-looking, charming young man. "Shigeo-senpai, I…." She looked to the side and sighed. "I don't know if I can truly trust you with your words. You're Shigeo-senpai after all." Now she was the one to take a pause before looking back at him. "But for tonight I like to believe they're true…..Thank you."

Once those words were spoken, she immediately looked down to her feet as she felt her face burning hotter and hotter with each second.

Would she come to regret what she had just said? It was impossible knowing with this man.

Another moment of quiet ensued, until it was broken by Shigeo. "May I have the pleasure of dancing with you?"

Chieko's head shot upwards again as she looked at him in disbelief. "You dance on parties?"

"Not normally." Shigeo replied and yet again brought out his hand to her, as finally after all of this uncharacteristic concern and sincerity, his well-known vain smirk appeared back on his face. "But perhaps this is a way to prove to you that you're not just some girl to me." He chuckled. "I believe we two could be quite a sight."

Chieko stared at his held out hand, thinking about wether this was the gloved palm of her Prince Charming, or the dangerous, seducing offer of some mob-boss.

She decided that today was not the night she'd try to solve this question and simply took it.

[agarserv]

Adversary | V

Word Count: 5005

There’s a moment of quiet agreement as Clementine continues. Knowing the two remembered her words as they begin working together. Their eyes all darkened within the pitch black tunnel, knowing that nightfall was a primary cause for it, and whatever walkers were nearby certainly would show their decrepit faces just as the first had. The groans of the decayed leftovers of human beings still resided further down. Their echoes becoming less and less resounding as they realized how much thinner the hall of the tunnel would become.

Almost to the point where they’d be in single files.

“Just keep going.” Clementine harshly whispers. Her voices barely a magnitude above the quiet drops of water pooling at their feet.

Violet nods, gripping her nearby cleaver slightly tighter as she can barely see the white forming on her knuckles—before her attention turns back to the white of the flashlight highlighting what must’ve been down ahead.

Clementine slightly crouches, giving the redhead more room to stand over her is  the case that she may actually need to use her revolver. Steady hands and eyes peering forward as they move together. Slower than before, but also much more silently. Listening as some groans become more apparent, just as a heaping jaw of decayed flesh tears it’s arms out at them. Skin peeling at its fingers as Clementine is nearly gripped by them, ducking under fast enough as she gets behind it, just in time for Sophie to hit it over the head with the back of her pistol with a sickening crunch.

Violet moves to finish it off as soon as Sophie gets past it, slicing her cleaver directly across its face. Watching the way the blade cuts deeply right through the faded iris of the walker, showing what dead flesh laid behind it. As decayed and disgusting as it’d been on the outside as some of the old blood gets onto the blonde’s face alongside the flesh. Her green eyes looking vibrant against the nearly black blood laid against her pale skin. Slicing at it deeper and deeper before the cleaver finally comes free, and the groans of this walker stop.

And it isn’t until she hears a gunshot does Violet realize there’s more. And more are going to come now that they’ve heard that echo through the hallway. Slicing anything else she thought she heard as Violet begins running to rejoin the others, hopping across laiden bodies of walkers and deeper puddles mixing with the blood she barely saw with the now red glinting in her flashlight. Mixing together and flickering across the bodies of her friends up ahead in an image that gave her chills.

“Keep going, there’s an opening to a wider room down the hall. We can’t let any walkers get close now that we only have like...three shots left.” Clementine mumbles, seeing the nod Sophie and Violet both give her before they run to the other room, stopping dead in their tracks and nearly colliding with each other upon entry.

It looks almost like a small entryway. Stocked with the old supplies similar to the other room as the girls look over everything. Eyeing a nearby map splayed out on a table as well as the thickening smell of blood filling the rest of the room.

They knew what that meant. All too well for that matter.

Clementine eyes the supplies momentarily before she moves back through the doorway, grabbing a nearby bottle at her side as she grips it in her hand, watching and waiting for any sort of sound that would signify a walker or a person was nearby. The smell of blood getting thicker and thicker as she finally opens the adjoining door. Her eyes glancing up in realization.

“Holy shit.” She whispers, the others soon to follow as they hadn’t exactly heard such a reaction out of her over something she saw.

Theirs weren’t very different.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Violet is quick to shout, putting her shirt over her mouth over the encroaching smell soon replacing the blood that’d previously filled the room, which is head was now resting against their boots in the gruesome crimson stains the liquid held that once dropped from the rotting body.

“And I thought walkers smelled bad.” Sophie shakes her head, cringing at the smell as she lets out a cough. While Clementine still stared at it.

The way they hung from the ceiling, their head broken in with what looked to be previous injuries.

Meaning they definitely didn’t do this themselves

The rotting skin held a black tint to it in what was already a darkened room only lit by the torch Violet had been holding and the array of lanterns across the tables—now littered in the same red crimson the rest of it had poured down and to the ground. Now in different pools that had coagulated long ago.

“Looks like his skin melted into his fucking bones.” Violet points out. Almost coughing and gagging again.

Clementine nods, venturing slightly closer. “Practically is. Must’ve been here a long time.”

“Like weeks.” Sophie adds.

“Yeah, maybe even a month.” She pauses, looking back to the room of supplies in the back before keeping her voice slightly above the harsh whisper it’d been moments ago. “I think it’s clear, we can stay here for shelter tonight.”

“What?! With monthly deadie over there? Don’t you think that’s a little-“

“It isn’t like he’s going to turn.” Clementine shrugs, opening the nearby door as violet merely placed her hands up in frustration. Following her anyway as she wasn’t going to be caught anywhere past them within the rest of the dark tunnels.

Or the dead guy.

She watches as Clementine wipes at her face, leaving small stains of blood across a diagonal line from her eyes and cheeks. Almost turning her head at how intimidating it had practically seemed, but nowhere near close to what could have been if she wasn’t exactly fond of the rest of the teen.

“So uh. That was quite the rush. But how come we’re in the tunnel of death?”

“It’ll give us shelter, and it makes our trip quicker than going down the ruins of the old skyscrapers up there. Wouldn’t want to run into any of the Coalition anyway.”

“The what now…” Sophie pauses mid bite into a candy bar, her brows raised and eyes almost fearful as she practically knew the answer.

“They  were part of the group who attacked us. And the guys who had that map from Delta were going to be deserters. They act like they’re some new hope against walkers. Like they’ll be some military for us all to look up to and have protecting us. When they’ve done anything but.”

“So some of them are good? Not just like- killers or whatever?”

“They act like it. They haven’t exactly “reformed” anything yet. They’re still killers and monsters just like the walkers…” Clementine tells them. “Just like Delta.”

“They must be at war with them.” Violet mentions. “If those guys were deserting I doubt Delta would be accepting recruits from that group otherwise.”

“Definitely. Those two haven’t gotten along as long as I used to be a part of Delta.”

“No kidding. They seem just as bad.”

“Except for the fact that they don’t force children to be child soldiers, if there’s anything I can give the Coalition credit for, is that they don’t kidnap people for recruitment...but that doesn’t mean they aren’t persuasive…”

“Something tells me this persuasion isn’t always great.”

“Not really, but nowhere near as bad as Delta was. Not to the point where they lie anyway.”

“Fun.” Violet jokes, leaning back against an old wooden chair as her green eyes glance back towards the bloodied room of the executed man. Wondering what he’s done to deserve that. As she knew she couldn’t just feel bad. There’s a lot of things he could’ve been, a lot of things he must’ve been. But now? He was spared the fate of becoming a walker. But she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he deserved to be one. Or maybe he didn’t deserve to die at all.

Morality and empathy were confusing. Especially through the amber eyes Violet finds herself glancing to now. Wondering how they saw it. Knowing it could never be as black and white as people would assume. That they themselves were bad people in their own right. That maybe one of them deserved the same fate as the man inside.

But who was to decide that now? Between those who fought wars that both sides said it was “for the good of the people”, it definitely wasn’t a simple definition. Right now there wasn’t any good for the people. They couldn’t help the lone survivors outside their own walls or at the other ends of their guns.

It was like the entire world lost the concept of trust. Of humanity and of some of the empathy that maybe they should’ve had.

But it was lost years ago to the sea of the dead, it wasn’t like they could grab it like a needle in a haystack.

Her attention is drawn back to the damp room the trio is within as she hears the sound of a bottle opening. Glancing over to Clementine as she inspects an old bottle of some type of alcohol. Having a fiery orange liquid inside among its torn up label that was practically unreadable now.

“Thank god. I feel like we deserve something to help us take the edge off.” The brunette grins, the pads of her fingers absentmindedly tapping against the sides of the glass as she turns to the others with a sneer. “Want some? I take it you lot have seen enough blood for an entire damn month.”

Sophie places her hand up, awkwardly shaking her head as she tries to be polite. “Uh...I’m good, thanks.”

“Suit yourself.” Clementine shrugs, looking over to Violet with a raised eyebrow, almost as if she was already well equipped with what the response was most likely going to be.

Either to deny it like Sophie...or maybe get her attention away from the blood filled room that was just nearby….

“Fuck it.” Violet whispers, watching the way Clementine’s brows raise in surprise, a hearty laugh coming from the girl as she lets out a smile the blonde is rather curious about.

Though this might be a bad thing…

“Well I’ll be damned. Take a swig, it’ll get your mind off of whatever troubles you’ve run into before you idiots met me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sophie asks, partially amused as Clementine didn’t even take a sip of alcohol yet and here she was already speaking her mind. Though if she was honest, she didn’t really know what else to expect.

“Considering you knocked me out with a bat and I’ve still got this bandage on my head, I think I get a pass.”

Sophie rolled her eyes amusedly, watching as Violet takes a quick sip of the drink. Handing it back just as quickly as she coughs and sputters against the liquid burning at the back of her throat.

“Damn!-“ Violet coughs, unable to see the amused look on the two girls’ faces as she rubs at her stinging eyes. “That shit burns!”

“Yeah, that’s the whole point.” Clementine grins, taking a swig herself as she has a similar initial reaction, but not to the extent of Violet’s.

“When you said it takes the edge off I didn’t expect it to literally start a fire in my throat.”

“That’s the entire point.” Clementine grins, taking another swig as her face almost contorts with regret over it...almost. “Let’s you forget about the bad because of the sweet taste it brings.”

“Sweet? Since when is the taste of pain sweet?”

Clementine merely shrugs, leaning back against an old chair as her amber eyed scan the ceiling above. Looking to the plastered and boring landscape above her as she wonders what monsters must be looking for them within the outside. Those she knows have been dead for a while, and those that need to be killed before they get a chance to get their hands across any metallic trigger. Her glance moves over to the two girls nearby as she wonders what hellscape they must’ve been through as well, especially if they deemed going out to another one for a chance to get someone they cared about back a worthy cause.

But Clementine has to admit, she knows all too well of what that was like. And while a part of her wonders if she should even be caring about these two, the other knows the pain of being able to hold out that small amount of hope for someone...only for it to end horribly.

Clementine just doesn’t know if it’ll end the same for these teens either…

“Clementine? You still with us?” Comes a voice from across her as Clementine turns back to them. Her eyes adjusting to the small amount of light as she notices the redhead looking worriedly at her. Eyeing her bandage specifically.

“I’m fine…just...thinking is all.”

“Oh.” Sophie looks on quizzically, almost as if she didn’t exactly believe that answer. “Your head doing okay.”

“Yeah...yeah.” Clementine mutters, wishing they could stop asking how she was doing for a moment. Even if it seemed sparse, she didn’t really like it in the first place.

It reminded her too much of the past. Something Clementine wanted to stray as far away as she could. Even if it was difficult. Even if she wanted to not care about any of it, even if…

Even if it simply hurt to do any of that.

“Alright.” Sophie nods, almost as if she saw through the small facade Clementine had been putting up. Choosing not to delve deeper into the shattered survivor’s mind within the eclipsing night ahead of them. Full of uncertainties. Of worries and of the unknown.

But what would their world be without that anyway? Clementine didn’t know, nor care for any of it. Knowing she was practically on a delivery mission for these two. That she’d get her blade to Lilly’s throat soon enough.

And whatever happened after? She didn’t care to plan for. She just wanted her last goal to end well. Hoping that maybe...it could.

But hope was a strong thing the brunette found herself rather incapable of bow. Remembering the last time she hoped for something it’d either been for AJ’s life...or for her own death in a moment of despair.

She couldn’t have either if that now. Not to the extremes it’d  roving her to before.

She just had to be..melancholic.

The brunette looks up as Violet‘s attention is drawn to little things around the room. Her gaze dazed and almost blurred as Clementine can’t help but snicker. Unsure if it’d been the alcohol that was supposed to help earlier or not...but it sure had to be kicking in now as she almost chuckles at the blonde’s confusion ahead of her.

“What...the fuck...was in that drink.”

“Alcohol. Dumbass.”

“No shhhit.” She slurs, catching herself amidst it as she nearly snorts at herself. Knowing she hadn’t even had that much to begin with and was practically sounding like someone who’d had an entire six pack instead. But soon she didn’t even care for that either, instead looking towards Clementine and Sophie over and over again. A confused expression on her face even if she wasn’t exactly drunk, she didn’t have the glances of someone who looked sober either, though it was quite obvious she was, maybe the lack of sleep and the intake of alcohol had made for an interesting combination.

“So...this whole grand plan of yours we already agreed with.” She pauses, almost like she was determining if maybe she should have another drink or not, or how this might just end up. “You’re just gonna...what? Up and kill Lilly?”

Sophie looks over as well, a forlorn expression across her face as she remembers some of her time at Delta as well. And how Minerva might be faring herself.

Clementine merely leans back, taking another slow and slightly regretful swig of her drink. “Yup. She’ll figure out every bit of what she’s done to me. And I’m gonna make her pay. She doesn’t deserve to be here anymore...and I should’ve known that from the beginning.”

“Like...when they found or captured you?”

“No...no.” She sighs, leaning over as she places an arm on her knee, adjusting her cap and bandage once more before looking into the green eyes ahead of her. A serious and remembrance of an expression Violet could only watch ahead. “I knew her from the beginning. The very beginning.”

Sophie nearly spits out her food, coughing momentarily as it erupts through the shelled room. Looking back with a confused and almost betrayed expression across her face.

“Wait what?! If you knew her from the beginning, why in the hell would you have gone along with her o-or went with her to Delta?!”

Clementine remains unphased by Sophie’s outburst, instead leaning back as she looks to the old knife on the desk. Her gaze not moving as she explains herself.

“When I lost AJ, I didn’t care if it was over or what would happen to me. I wasn’t thinking about the consequences when Lilly found me...only when I found out the truth about everything did it all make sense...and that changed many of my plans.”

“Why didn’t you just...you know...kill her when you first found out?”

“That wasn’t my priority then...I hated her and I was so angry...but I couldn’t take it out then. Not when I didn’t have time to think to myself or be on my own and free...now that I do? I know what I need to do...and what I want to do.”

Sophie seems to pause at that. Remembering the rules of her old military self and what she could and couldn’t do. And while she certainly has many, many questions about it...she’s content for now. Knowing that Clementine wasn’t just an escapee with her history.

But that didn’t mean she agreed with her plan. Only with the part of them possibly getting Minerva out of it all.

“Like I was saying...we were part of an old group back when this whole thing started. She was with her dad—some racist asshole, and when he died...she lost it. Killed a member of our group like she was nothing. Over something she accused her of...and it just didn’t end well. So we left her behind.”

“Sounds like she’s only gotten worse since then.” Violet adds, wary of her words as Clementine only nods, glancing back up towards the old ceiling again as she watches the way the dust falls on them. Slowly and precariously as nothing else is in the room around them. Empty from the life and the dead that’d tried to kill them just before.

As her mind roams to listen to the rain storm that still downpours as it had the previous night. She thinks back to what she’s doing. Knowing that if she couldn’t trust or believe Lee’s words anymore in a world like this...she had no one to turn to. No one but herself in her own empty sight of the world around her. How the cities were the same as the forests or the bloodied tunnels and rooms she found herself within now. Listening to the way droplets that were leaking in from the surface slowly dropped into a slightly growing puddle. Combining with the blood in a thick mixture that Clementine was too used to seeing.

Her attention is drawn from what is left as she shakily leans back again. Hoping to rid herself of such intense thoughts and reminiscents by instead falling into a dreamless and imageless slumber. Even with the two nearby open to see it, she couldn’t care less of what they might think of her apparent emotions...even if she didn’t want those to matter to herself, either.

It was all too complicated for a teen like her. To get delved into the caverns of collocation towards their possible demise like so many others before her. She just didn’t care...or didn’t want to at the very least.

Everything Lee had taught her had nearly been proven wrong. Everything he told her conflicted with Lilly. But Lilly’s teachings may have been false as well after what she’d done to AJ. To her. Her mind was in a hedge maze of teachings and lessons she couldn’t pick from. Confusing them into a worsened mixture than the blood and rain nearby. Knowing that her own mind was becoming blank, but not open for anything new. What looked to be a blank canvas was only painted in shades of gray and white that would cloud everything she’d soon come across.

Even new and kind people. Still wary of their trust in her and her trust in them...or lack thereof. While she’d shared a drink with them, it certainly didn’t stop Bonnie, Mike, or Arvo from betraying her too. Leaving an old wound through her shoulder on both the front and back. And though there were scars littered up her back now, that one indented one that’d shrapnel outwards into the ugly crater it was now certainly didn’t help her case of looking as innocent as she’d been back in the days with her Brooklyn hoodie and radio.

She only knew she’d been fucking up since the start. On a downward hill and avalanche that was waiting to collect her as well. And her latest victim was AJ...but she only hoped that would change. With either two possibilities she’d accept.

It was her or Lilly. That was the end goal. One of them would have to be caught in the rapids now. She was done with it all and wanted a conclusion. Not a new start or some midway passage she could fix like she did back at The New Frontier, but something she could collude  upon and finally get something determinant to her own testament as a force of nature.

And whether Sophie and Violet would be a part of that or would be caught in the crossfires of any of their violence they’d collide within soon? Clementine didn’t know. She didn’t know what Minerva would do with them. Or with her for that matter. Only knowing that any of them could die at any moment. And while she didn’t exactly want the two girls to, she knew that if she couldn’t prevent it, she shouldn’t guilt herself over it. But that was simply easier said than done.

She drifts off on that note, remembering those she still had picture perfect memories of. Neutral in terms instead of the good times or bad. As her memory and dream of neutrality was simply as grey as her morals, and her spirits.

It wasn’t long before a certain green eyed girl notices that slumber had fallen upon the brunette. Her gaze lingering momentarily with worry and pity she wouldn’t dare let the amber eyed girl catch her within. A look of compassion washes across her features, as she notices Sophie do the same.

There’s a soft and discontent sigh from the redhead. “What the hell has that girl been through.”

“I have no idea.” Violet says, rounding out her words with a sharp edge to them like the slick of a knife. “But it must’ve been terrifying.”

“Even before Delta...that girl’s been through the ringer. Meaning we might have to be even more careful about everything. And while I wish whatever experience she had at Delta and everything beforehand was comforting and gave me confidence for what we’re going to do? I’m just worried she’s a ticking time bomb.

Violet nods, knowing that Minerva might be worse off. And that their symbols of trust were practically gone or broken, and certainly contained some sort of worry for what would occur to them as well. But they’d already signed up for a mission like this. And Violet certainly wasn’t stupid or cowardly. Instead stubborn with a taped boot down to protect her ankles from the potential walkers that’d like to grab her foot for a treat within their mangled and decrepit jaws. Much like the ones Violet only hopes the people who hurt those she cared about would soon become.

And while she didn’t know if she could do anything like that herself, she had no doubt that Clementine—or Sophie for that matter, would if necessary. And while it was slightly reassuring, like Sophie had mentioned earlier. The two had been soldiers. Child soldiers for that matter. Betrayed and somehow escaped whatever horrors they experienced out wherever Delta truly was...and how that changed either of them? How it truly made them see the world different? Violet didn’t know. And she didn’t know if she wanted to either. For war was simply never something she’d think anyone would get involved in when the world was practically ending. But everywhere she turned people were being dragged into one.

And now she was being dragged into a coup and rescue mission towards one of the main fighters. Towards an unknown place and towards people with harsh and deadly intentions. Certainly sounded more dangerous than being out with a walker herd surrounding them or in some precarious situation out within a high school and some locker confrontation. Or being drunk at a party.

Instead, Violet was tipsy from a small shot-like sip of an unknown drink in an abandoned and bloodied room full of the dead. Those who’d died twice, and those who’d been lucky and only had to experience it once.

Yes, this was certainly better than some stupid high school drama.

Can’t wait to see how I might die. Violet jokes to herself. Gun, knife, explosion, even someone’s fucking fists. Oh! Maybe I’ll fall like I nearly did in that glass, or even get bitten by a damn walker. Might as well just smash my head with Chairles.

She almost laughs at her own joke as she notices Sophie’s amused look. The two had awkwardly drifted off from their conversation anyway, and nothing around them had even changed before Violet finds herself in the socially awkward aura that was literally anything other than where she was now.

Guess she still had the problems of an average teen

“What?” She asks, raising a brow and trying to look relatively annoyed towards the twin, who only audibly giggles as her light blue eyes seem to sparkle so much they dance around the room.

“You’re daydreaming again.”

“It isn’t daydreaming if it’s at night.”

“Well you aren’t sleeping, what else am I gonna call it?”

“I dunno, imagining?”

“Imagining.” Sophie snorts. “Like that doesn’t sound fucking stupid.”

“At least it’s better than Louis’s jokes.” Violet grins.

“Is it though? Is that really true?” Sophie teases, lingering on the end sound as Violet genuinely looks mildly offended at her comment. Wondering if maybe she was right. Something so small could definitely be one of Violet’s worst nightmares instead.

“Better fucking be.” Violet crosses her arms, almost surprised that Clementine hasn’t even stirred at the noise. Especially if she was practically a hardened soldier who’d wake at the sound of a walker or human.

Maybe she was up in general. Definitely a situation violet could imagine occurring, and a possibility it truly was occurring now. But she wasn’t going to test and check to see if the sleeping lion was awake now was she?

No, Violet isn’t that dumb anyway. She knew that. Sophie knew that. Hell, Clementine probably knew that.

Didn’t mean she didn’t think about doing it however. As she almost moved to actually do such a thing, before realizing what the very real consequences might be because of it. Which could possibly end in what? Death? At the very beginning? She wasn’t too thrilled of that being an idea when there were very real threats they’d have to encounter and get through. Dying at the start by the person who’s literally leading them there seemed ridiculous. Something she’d think Louis would do. Not her.

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t at least curious about it. Wondering that if Clementine wasn’t asleep, what she’d just thought of their conversation that’d relatively involved her, or if she even got any sleep at all. None of them looked like it at least, so it was rather hard to tell.

“Violet.” Sophie calls again. “You’re doing it again.”

“Shit, sorry. Sorry.” She grins, turning in place to curl up to keep some warmth within the room. “We should probably just get some sleep.”

“Good idea for once, blondie.” Sophie smirks, leaning back momentarily to stretch her legs out. “Have no idea when we’ll be getting up, anyway. But if we’re heading near the old bridge? Might be early because of how long of a walk that’ll be.”

“Let’s just hope we aren’t thrown off that bridge for whatever crazy idea she’s had since we found that torn up guy.”

“Yeah…we’ll watch out for each other, no matter what it is. Okay, Vi?”

“Always. At least the fact that there’s two of us helps me keep you two in line and in check.”

“In line? We’ve saved your ass more than once.” She giggles tiredly, looking to Violet and back to Clementine momentarily. “But something tells me all eyes wil need to be on her, just in case.”

Violet looks over as the conversation partially dies down. How Clementine’s assumed sleeping form hadn’t moved still as she was facing the couch. Maybe imagining some scenarios herself or some sort of route they’d end up taking soon. And all Violet could think of was everything that could possibly go wrong along the way.

“Maybe we do…”

[ajaasiopaoo]

Happy Mothers Day

Summary: A six year old Sabrina wants to give the three women in her life something special.

Sabrina’s favorite thing to do on a Saturday morning is meeting up with her best friends Roz and Susie in the park. Her Aunt Hilda is usually the one that accompanies her to the park but her aunt is busy helping Ambrose with a dead body, so today Lilith, her aunt Zelda’s girlfriend, will be coming with her.

Sabrina likes Lilith, she may be a demon (and a powerful one) but she was actually a big softie. And very very very protective over the Spellmans, especially towards Sabrina and Zelda.

As the little one’s eyes landed on her two best friends, Sabrina grinned and let go of the demon queen’s hand to rushed over to her friends.

“Brina!” The two girls exclaimed and greeted the girl with a hug. “Hi Roz, Hi Susie,” Sabrina greeted before pulling away from the hug. “Is that your mom, ‘Brina?” Susie asked while looking past the girl’s shoulder, Sabrina knows they are referring to Lilith. She turn to look at the demon queen and back at her friends, “No. That’s Lilith my auntie Zelda’s girlfriend.”

“But it’s mothers day today, aren’t you gonna celebrate it with your mom?” Sabrina gave Roz a confused look, “What’s that?” The young witch asked.

“It’s a special holiday for mommies. You give them flowers, chocolates, greeting cards to let them know that you love them,” Roz explained. “My mommy passed away with my daddy when I was still a baby,” Sabrina mumbled. Sensing their friend’s sudden change of mood, Roz and Susie changed the topic and pulled Sabrina to the slide to play.

After 40 minutes of playing, the trio said their goodbyes and parted ways. Sabrina, still distracted from the information she heard from her two best friends, made her way to Lilith who was sitting at a bench.

Lilith made Sabrina sit down besides her, “Is something wrong, Sabrina?” The demon queen asked, worried of the young witch. “Lilith, your the mother of demons right?” Sabrina glance up at the brunette. Raising an eyebrow at the sudden question, Lilith nod her head. “Yes I’am, Sabrina.”

“Do you celebrate mothers day with your babies?” Sabrina asked. Lilith stared at the young witch, trying to form an answer in her mind. Her children weren’t actually that loving and she wasn’t actually a loving mother herself so celebrating a mortal holiday is no use to demons. “Umm no, Sabrina. We don’t celebrate mothers day,” the demon queen answered with a force smile on her face.

“Why not?” Sabrina asked. “Well, I’m not a loving mother to my children and neither are them to me. So there is no use for us to celebrate a holiday like this one,” Lilith explained.

“But you’re loving to me, even though I’m not your child,” Sabrina pointed out. Lilith pulled the little girl on to her lap and gave her a small kiss on the temple. “That’s because you, my dear, are different. You are sweet, kind, bright, funny, adorable, shall I continue? Cause if I do we’ll be staying longer here in the park,” Sabrina giggled. “You are a precious gem, Sabrina, one that I’m very fond of.” Lilith smiled.

“You’re such a softie!” Lilith chuckled. “Yes, but don’t tell anyone.” The demon queen winked at the young witch.

The two made their way back home and as they got nearer to the Spellman house, they can see Zelda waiting at the front. Zelda greeted them with a smile and Sabrina gave her a small one back.

“How was the park?” Zelda asked, greeting her lover with a small peck in the lips. “It was good, Sabrina enjoyed her day with her friends and I got to read my book,” Lilith answered with a smile.

The trio entered the house, Sabrina beamed as her aunt Hilda greeted her with a hug. “Hello darling, did you have fun with your friends at the park?” Hilda pulled away and smiled at her niece.

“Yes! We played at the slide and also at the swings, I also helped Roz and Susie pick out flowers,” Sabrina’s smile disappeared as she remembered what her friends said. Hilda noticed Sabrina’s change of mood, “What is it, love?”

“Nothing auntie,” Sabrina force a smile. “Let’s go to the kitchen, I bake some of your favorite cookies.” Sabrina followed her aunt Hilda inside the kitchen, settling herself down at the kitchen table she smiled as her aunt handed her some cookies.

Hilda gave her niece a kiss on the forehead before exiting the kitchen. Sabrina sighed, “Is something wrong cousin?” Ambrose asked the young girl.

“My friends are celebrating mothers day with their mommies... I just wish that I can celebrate mothers day with my mom too,” Sabrina mumbled. “Oh cousin, I know in this mortal holiday you celebrate it with your actual mother, but you don’t need aunt Diana to celebrate. You can always celebrate mother’s day with the women that’s been with you from the day you were born, who filled the role as your mom when aunt Diana couldn’t,” Ambrose explained.

“Like aunt Hilda, aunt Zelda and Lilith!” Sabrina smiled, Ambrose chuckled and nodded. “Yes just like aunt Hilda, Aunt Zee and Lilith.”

“I think I’ll go up to my room now,” Sabrina gave her cousin a tight lipped smile. “Okay but you didn’t eat your cookies!” Ambrose yelled out to his little cousin as she ran out of the kitchen to go upstairs to her room.

Locking her bedroom door, Sabrina pulled out her jar full of coins under her bed. Aunt Hilda, aunt Zelda and Lilith are always taking care of me like a mommy should, it’s time I should thank them. Sabrina thought as she grab her jar.

Making sure that no one is around to see her sneak out, Sabrina tiptoed quietly to the door and ran out of the Spellman house.

*

“Hmmm, where should I go first—Oh!” Sabrina stumbled as she bumped into someone while walking. “I’m sorry for bumping into you,” Sabrina apologized.

The girl smiled at Sabrina, “It’s fine, sweetie. It’s my fault anyway, I wasn’t looking where I’m going.” The girl shrug her shoulders. “I’m Diane, what’s your name?” Sabrina stared at the girl in front of her. Short platinum blonde hair, emerald green eyes, light make up on her face, and a hint of pink in her cheeks. She was very pretty. “My name is Sabrina. Sabrina Spellman,” Sabrina introduced herself with a smile on her face.

“Nice to meet you Sabrina,” Diane chuckled. “So what’s a little girl like you doing here all alone? Did you run away from home or something?”

“No silly, I’m going to buy something special for my aunt Hilda, aunt Zelda and Lilith. They’re like my mommy and I want to thank them for taking care of me,” Sabrina explained. “Oh! I’m going to buy a gift for my mom too, wanna come with?” Sabrina grinned and nod her head.

Smiling at the adorable young girl, Diane held Sabrina’s hand and led the girl to a flower shop nearby.

As they arrived at their destination, the two girls entered the shop and Sabrina’s eyes twinkled with delight as her eyes landed on different kinds of flowers.

“I think I’m going to have a hard time choosing,” Sabrina said shyly, “That’s okay Sabrina, take your time.” Diane smiled.

“They also have some greeting cards here that you can buy, I can even help you with writing your letter if you want,” Sabrina eagerly nodded her head making Diane chuckle.

Meanwhile at the Spellman house, Ambrose was watching tv at the living room with Hilda. Enjoying a fictional horror movie.

Zelda came in, smoking a cigar with her holder. “Is Sabrina still in her room?” She asked before taking a long drag of her cigar. “Yes auntie Zee,” Ambrose replied.

“I think something is bothering her. She didn’t ate the cookies I baked for her,” Hilda said with a worried expression. Zelda hummed, “I’ll go talk to her.” The redhead put out her cigarette before walking upstairs towards Sabrina’s room.

Standing in front of the door, Zelda gently knock before softly calling out her niece’s name, “Sabrina?”

No answer. Zelda knocked again, “Sabrina, your aunt Hilda believes that something is bothering you. Can I talk to you for a moment?” There’s still no answer.

Turning the knob gently, Zelda entered Sabrina’s bedroom and saw no signs of Sabrina anywhere. The room started to feel like it’s closing in as possible thoughts of what happen to Sabrina came rushing into Zelda’s mind.

“Lilith!” Zelda called out to her lover, the demon queen sensing her lover’s worry came running to Zelda’s side. “What’s wrong?” She asked looking at the redhead in confusion.

“Sabrina is missing,” Zelda croaked out while slowly turning to look at her lover with tears forming in her eyes.

*

“I can’t wait to give the flowers and letter to my aunties and to Lilith,” Sabrina exclaimed. “I’m sure they’ll love it, Sabrina.” Diane smiled.

“Come on, I’ll take you home,” Diane offered, Sabrina just smiled and followed her new friend inside her car. Turning the engine on, Diane drove off to the direction Sabrina gave her.

Meanwhile, Zelda, Hilda and Lilith walked the streets of Greendale. Asking every passing person if they have seen Sabrina.

“I will never ever forgive myself if something happens to Sabrina,” Zelda muttered to herself but Lilith heard her loud and clear. She grabbed her lover’s hand and gave it a small squeeze, “Sabrina’s going to be okay, Zelda, don’t worry we’ll bring her back home.” Lilith assured her.

“She must be so scared walking the dark streets alone in the cold, Oh my baby...” Zelda choked out, trying to hold back her tears but failing as her emotions got the best of her. “Hey, hey, we will find her okay? Sabrina is a brave girl, Zelda. She’ll be fine,” Lilith wiped Zelda’s tears away.

“Now let’s continue searching, I’m sure Sabrina is out here somewhere,” Zelda nodded.

At the Spellman house, Diane stop her car infront of the house and help the little girl out of the car. “Thank you for taking me home, Diane!” Sabrina grinned, “You’re welcome Sabrina. I should get going but if you need some help you know where to call me,” Sabrina nodded her head.

Sabrina waved good bye to Diane and entered the warm house. “Sabrina!” Ambrose who was sitting on the stairs quickly rose up to his feet and hugged his little cousin. Relief to see Sabrina safe and not one scratch can be seen on her, meaning the town is safe from the demon queen’s wrath if she saw there is any bruise or scratch on her beloved little one.

“Ambrose! Look I got some flowers for aunt Hilda, aunt Zelda and Lilith. Oh and I also got them some chocolates and—“ Sabrina stopped as her cousn was looking at her with a stressed look.

“What’s wrong?” The young witch asked, “You left without the auntie’s and Lilith’s permission. We were worried sick, Sabrina.” Ambrose said gently.

Sabrina casted her eyes down, feeling guilty for making her family worry so much.

“Are you mad at me?” Sabrina whispered, Ambrose sighed and ruffled Sabrina’s hair making the young girl giggle. “I’m not mad, cousin. Come on let’s get you warm up,” Sabrina nodded and followed Ambrose to the living room.

Hilda, Zelda and Lilith gave up on their search for Sabrina and decided to go home. Entering the house, the three women took off their coats and sighed as the warmth of the house hit them.

They all made their way to the living room and gasped as their eyes landed on the little girl sitting besides Ambrose. “Sabrina!” The three women exclaimed in relief.

Sabrina stood up and ran towards her aunt Hilda to give her a hug first. Pulling away from Hilda, Zelda raised her hand. Sabrina freeze on the spot she was standing.

“Oh for Satan’s sake Sabrina, where have you been?!” Sabrina glance down at her feet, unable to meet her aunt Zelda’s eyes.

“Do you think it’s safe for a six year old girl to wander off the streets on her own? No it most certainly is not! Your behavior today will not go unpunish young lady, you got all of us worried si—“ Zelda stopped as she felt her lover’s hand on her arm. Zelda glance at Lilith and back at her niece she didn’t even notice that Sabrina was already crying.

“Let Sabrina explain, Zelda. Blowing up your temper out on the young girl won’t help,” Lilith said gently.

“I-I-I just wanted to give you, aunt Hilda and Lilith s-something special b-because it’s mothers day and you’ve been taking care of me like a mommy should do with their baby,” Zelda’s heart felt like it’s being squeezed in a bad way as more tears flowed down on her niece’s cheeks. “I-I only wanted you to know that I love you,” Sabrina added.

Zelda met her sister’s eyes who was already silently crying. Sabrina sees them as her mother, and she couldn’t be more happier.

Kneeling down in front of Sabrina, Zelda pulled the young girl on to her lap and hugged her tight letting the tears she’s been holding fall down on to her cheeks. “Oh Sabrina, we love you so much. And the thought of something bad happening to you pains us so much,” Zelda shook her head trying to get rid of the bad thoughts.

“I’m sorry for losing my temper. Please promise us you won’t do it again, we were worried sick,”

“I’m sorry aunt Zee. I promise I won’t do it again,” Sabrina promised. Zelda pulled away from the hug and wipe Sabrina’s tears away. “So what did you got us, Sabrina?” Lilith asked with a smile on her face. Sabrina’s face broke out into a smile and she got off her aunt’s lap and pulled the three women on to the couch.

Sabrina happily gave them the flowers she choose at the shop, each of their own chocolates and letter. Gone was the tears and back was the smile and laughter at the Spellman house.

[ecofinisher]

The Adventures of Super Nathan 3 - Chap 15

Chapter   15

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13531960/15/The-Adventures-of-Super-Nathan-3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23301076/chapters/57601615

https://www.wattpad.com/877062926-the-adventures-of-super-nathan-3-chapter-15

The trio walked together in the unfinished hall of the metro line passing by lamps, that belonged to the construction zone lighten the place, where the three friends were walking by.

“Those two railways there, that are crossing this space here have already been here,” Super Nathan pointed out. “That’s the same line we took when going to the concert the other day”

“Good point” Viperion mentioned. “I don’t know. Should we splitt up and check those old tunnels too or just focus on the one, we are going now?,” Viperion asked earning a nod from Super Nathan. “What do you say, Cat?” The older superhero asked watching Cat Noir stand back with a shocked face.

“Did you hear that?” Cat Noir asked seeing the two friends shake their head.

“No” Viperion and Super Nathan answered, then a honk was heard from the tunnels, that was crossing the way of the trio.

“Oh, you meant the metro, right?” Super Nathan asked watching Cat Noir’s twitch, making him tilt his head in confusion. “Or not?”

“I’m coming!” Cat Noir shouted getting down on his four crossing the railway getting into the dark area, which had fewer lights, that belonged to the construction company.

“He must have heard someone” Viperion theorized seeing his friend shrug his shoulders, afterward the two ran together over the rail following the way Cat Noir went.

Super Nathan observed during their run the many metal and wood used to keep the earth around them steady, then he looked back at their way as they were following the more experienced superhero.

“Isn’t it astounding how much work the people invest in such a tunnel?”

“Yeah. I really hope we won’t have trouble getting out of here later”

“Same” Super Nathan agreed. “Wow, I don’t remember him being that fast”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re not that bad in catching him” Viperion mentioned grabbing Super Nathan on his hand running faster behind the cat-themed superhero.

“Thanks” Super Nathan thanked the friend, then both slowed down as they saw Cat Noir stopped near a bucket excavator, then leaned his back against its wheels and looked down at a deeper path of the tunnel, where he saw a giant boring machine and a large space with a few pushcarts filled with earth. Cat Noir glanced over the whole place to spot on the side a red-dressed supervillain holding his sword against the ground like a walking stick and a few meters in front of him a mini excavator with a blue-haired woman tied on the shovel of the vehicle having her face turned down while she was sobbing over the lifeless body of a blonde man, which was bleeding from his chest. Cat Noir squinted his eyes to recognize the person and he shot his eyes up in shock as he discovered it was the body of his future civilian self, that was stabbed.

Viperion and Super Nathan approached the dark-dressed superhero, which pointed down at the supervillain and the two nodded.

“I’ve got an idea” Viperion whispered. “Nath you hide here and help me and Cat with your drawings” Viperion suggested, then Cat Noir looked down seeing the villain raise his sword holding it in front of the blue-haired woman, which turned out to be Kagami, causing Cat Noir to hiss like an actual feline and jumped down, taking his staff out landing on top of the villain, causing him to fall down.

“Take your hands off her!” Cat Noir shouted holding his staff towards the supervillain’s head, afterward smacked the sword off the villain's hand and looked down at Kagami to see her tied up on the machine with tearful eyes.

“Adrien?” Kagami whispered, then Cat Noir leaned his forehead on hers and the woman started to sob louder.

“Everything will be back as it was before,” Cat Noir said while behind him the supervillain got up and raised his sword up in the air, followed by a red fist appear from the side throwing the supervillain against a wall.

Viperion landed on the ground near the supervillain, watching him get up and ran with the sword towards Viperion, which took his sword out and deflected the attack and tried to fight him with difficulty as he wasn’t used in sword fighting.

“I need a little help” Viperion warned earning a nod from Cat Noir, which took his baton and jumped over the two, getting the attention of the cat-themed superhero, that landed behind the villain and extended the staff to use it as a sword and fought the supervillain leaving Viperion behind, which observed the two fighting.

“Viperion take his back!” Cat Noir shouted, then the supervillain turned around spinning his sword at Viperion shrieking him after that he raised his sword up to deflect the attack and Cat Noir hit the supervillain right after the attack on the head making him fall down.

“Hold him down!” Cat Noir ordered watching Viperion hold the man down by his back, while Cat did the same on his feet.

Super Nathan jumped down approaching the friends a little bewildered at their fight.

“Was that all?” Super Nathan asked.

“Tie his hands, quick!” Viperion ordered earning a nod from the redhead, which held his tablet’s camera over the villain’s hands to draw a rope around them.

“But he’s right, it went so fast” Cat Noir added watching Super Nathan tie the legs of the supervillain and got up while Viperion held the head of the supervillain down.

“This is the dragon miraculous?” Viperion asked looking at Kagami, which nodded. “What happened?”

“I didn’t have my choker on as I went for a shower” Kagami explained. “And as I left it was gone”

“And that happened weeks ago, right?” Cat Noir asked earning a nod from the blue-haired girl.

“As I found out, someone stole the miraculous to get rid of my friends I couldn’t find a solution on how to solve this situation. All this chaos in here happened, just because I left the miraculous unsafe,” Kagami explained making Cat Noir sink his ears down and approach the future version of his girlfriend.

“And how did you know, he was here?”

“Super Nathan had spotted him going here and wanted to penalize him for his deeds and while he tried to fight without any experience of sword fighting, he managed to take him down and damage his miraculous and he ran away from here and I don’t know, what happened to him afterward,”

“What about Adrien?”

“I don’t know if Nathaniel contacted him before or after he left, but he appeared here and announced he knew who was behind his mask and…..during the fight, he managed to push you…...him to the ground and remove the miraculous…..and…...he got stabbed as he tried to get the sword off his hands…..” The Japanese woman whimpered making Cat Noir feel sad.

“I’ve got the miraculous” Viperion mentioned getting up, then Cat Noir smiled at the friend and widened his eyes surprised as he saw the villain’s head covered with a box.

“Well, now that’s a way of covering his identity” Cat Noir joked earning a nod from Viperion.

“I took the chance after the removal to cover his head,” Super Nathan mentioned. “We can’t know who he is”

“Sure” Cat Noir mentioned, then a portal opened and Bunnyx looked out at the heroes, that had defeated the villain.

“Well done guys” Bunnyx complimented. “Super get them some of these nice hat-boxes”

“Sure, I can copy them without any problem” Super Nathan answered and Cat Noir helped Kagami getting up after he untied her off the shovel.

“Get ready to go boys” Bunnyx warned the trio, which stood in front of the portal along with a box in their hand, except for Super Nathan who had two instead and gave it to Cat Noir.

“We have to go,” The blonde superhero said earning a nod from the Asian woman.

“Goodbye” Kagami said waving at the superheroes, which entered into the portal.

In the present timeline, Lila sat in the living room along with Kagami on a couch drinking together tea. Rose Lavillant sat across them along with Juleka Couffaine drinking too.

“Don’t get too much into stress because of this Lila. Nathaniel will be back in full pieces. It’s just a matter of time until they get back”

“I know, I’m just angry no one could say me anything” Lila complained earning a nod from the blonde woman. “What if he dies? I don’t want to be a widow!”

“You know Bunnyx just appeared instantly and needed them right now,” Kagami added. “I just could see Adrien for short as he picked my miraculous to use it”

“Why did he need the miraculous?” Rose asked.

“I was the main referee at the basketball match and couldn’t just run out from there”

“Okay makes sense,” Rose said, then beside her, an aqua-colored portal opened making Rose jump at Juleka’s arms, then the women saw Bunnyx walk out along with the three men. “They’re here!”

“There you go, girls. All safe and sounds” Bunnyx announced followed by the superheroes taking the boxes off their head.

“Nathaniel!” Lila shouted running into the arms of Super Nathan, then started to cry. “I thought I would never see you again”

“Now that escalated quickly” Bunnyx replied as she saw the brunette hugging the husband.

Super Nathan pecked Lila on her cheek keeping his arms around the woman. “I’m glad to be reunited with you,”

“Was it worse, than the other time?” Kagami asked as Viperion transformed back, then removed the choker off his neck and handed it out to the Japanese woman.

“More, what we saw was worse, otherwise I don’t think the fight was that hard” Luka explained. “By the way, I don’t know if you take your miraculous off for showers or anything, but I suggest you to keep an eye on it in many cases,”

“Okay, I keep that in mind” Kagami answered putting her miraculous around her neck, then looked back at Cat Noir, which transformed back into Adrien Agreste, and then he took out from the interior of his jacket a piece of Camembert for his kwami to eat.

“I need a nap” Adrien mentioned yawning, then saw the girlfriend place her hand over his shoulder.

“Isn’t Raiden coming over tonight?” The Japanese girl reminded the blonde, then Adrien took his smartphone out from his pocket, then nodded.

“I almost forgot it” Adrien confessed. “I forgot to tell mom and dad about it”

“We still have two hours in front of us” Kagami mentioned. “And his visit is not that important as of the mayor or something,”

“Yeah, you’re right”

 The bell of the house rang, then Lila walked out of the living room and as she opened the door she spotted Marinette waiting there with a worried facial expression.

“Did you hear anything about Luka?” Marinette asked earning a nod from the brunette.

“He’s right here with us” Lila answered watching the blue-haired woman enter into the house to find Luka there talking with Juleka and his sister-in-law.

“Luka, why didn’t you tell me you were gone?”

“It was an emergency. Bunnyx needed us immediately” Explained the Frenchman. “I would have told you if I had the chance to”

“I just don’t want to lose you forever. I couldn’t live without you” Marinette whined placing her arms around the boyfriend, which placed his arms around her.

“So…..this are these mood swings, that women have during pregnancy?” Adrien asked looking at Kagami, which gazed at the two along with the boyfriend. Kagami smiled at their reunion, then leaned her head on Adrien’s shoulder, which smiled angelic at her move and he placed his arm around her back.

[kuro-gossips]

Splashes of Colour

Chapter 3: Shades of Orange

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Newt blearily blinks his eyes and is immediately greeted by Theseus’ and Leta’s faces, anxiety and concern plain as day on them.

“Newt!” Leta’s expressive chestnut eyes soften as he comes to as she inquires about his health. “How are you feeling?”

“W-what happened?” The former Hufflepuff questions, confusion gracing his features. He doesn’t need the other two to explain because his memories come flooding back: he remembers Theseus and himself arguing about the upcoming war, he remembers feeling lightheaded and exhausted, and then he remembers succumbing to that exhaustion.

Theseus’ brow is furrowed, his voice is quivering slightly when he speaks, “You passed out and we brought you to the Ministry’s infirmary. Have you been eating regularly and sleeping enough? I know you’re prone to forgetting these kind of things, Newt…”

The freckled wizard replies, indignantly, because for once, he has been taking proper care of himself, “I have!”

Theseus just gives him a look that says that he doesn’t believe a word coming out of his brother’s mouth. The mediwitch chooses this moment to enter the room, returning with a diagnosis on Newt’s well-being. The three of them stare expectantly at her, to which the brunette can’t help but sigh. She glances at the clipboard she is toting and starts to read from it.

“It’s not exactly clear why Mr. Scamander fainted. The most likely explanation is acute fatigue from overworking yourself.” The witch discloses and the Head Auror sends a knowing and smug expression to Newt.

“Of course I was right about this.” Leta rolls her eyes in exasperation at the Scamander brothers’ antics. These two always have a complicated relationship, no matter how old they are.

“As of now, I would advise Mr. Scamander to get some rest and to abstain from strenuous activities.” With her job done, the mediwitch excuses herself from the room.

“You heard her, now you have to join us for dinner, okay?” Theseus declares, leaving no room for argument. Newt decides it’s time to graciously admit defeat and assents. After his discharge papers are filled and filed, the trio head back to Theseus and Leta’s place in London.

Newt inquires if he can help with anything, but the other two are adamant about him being not only a guest, but on medically-advised rest, so he arbitrarily thinks about what’s going on in his life, while he is seated on their couch. The dark-haired witch moves gracefully around the kitchen, wand in hand, and casting spells to prepare a meal for them. Theseus is busy setting the table and aiding where he can with dinner. Several minutes fly by and the meal is complete. Theseus sits himself at the head of the table, leaving Newt and Leta to awkwardly face each other; although, they try their best to avoid any semblance of eye contact. The blonde Auror attempts to make small talk, but it quickly goes nowhere. Leta grabs ahold of Theseus’ hand, soothing his uneasiness, and her fiancée offers her a sweet and loving look. Theseus never ceases to be amazed with the witch’s ability to understand his underlying feelings at any given time.

The younger Scamander brother can tell that the two of them are deeply in love and he knows that it is the soulmate bond that ties them together even closer, so he has to break the silence by asking, “What is it like to be soulmates?”

Soulful brown eyes turn towards him and after a beat, she retorts, “Why, Newt, you’ve never been one to fancy hearing anything about soulmates.”

“Ah, well,” She has him there, but Newt thinks quickly on his feet, “I came across a pair of Graphorns a couple of months back -- the last breeding pair, in fact -- but it is said that they are creatures that mate only once and for life. I just wanted to see if I could draw some parallels between humans and Graphorns for the second edition of my book.”

Naturally, Newt would raise a question that pertains to his love of magical beasts. Theseus muses. The two lovers exchange a brief glance, before venturing on.

“How to explain it…” Theseus ponders, “It’s like a missing puzzle piece has finally been found or--”

“-- or you never have to voice your insecurities because your soulmate simply knows already.” Leta finishes. The engaged pair nod in agreement and continue blabbering on such niceties about being in a reciprocated soulmate relationship that Newt actually feels sick. He wonders why he couldn’t have had a less difficult soulmate -- Gellert Grindelwald of all people!

A particular portion of the conversation catches his attention, “-- we’ve noticed the strangest phenomenon recently. It feels like we’ve grown stronger, in a magical sense. And when we’re physically too far apart for too long, we can feel it dampening.”

In an abrupt realization, Newt’s dilemma regarding his health makes sense. No one knows that the world’s most infamous Dark wizard is the magizoologist’s soulmate and so undoubtedly, no one has made the connection. His deteriorating strength and weakening magical abilities can be attributed from being geographically isolated from Grindelwald. Hence, after they’ve concluded dinner, Newt makes a hasty retreat back to his house, muttering excuses about how he needs to rest, but he needs to escape from the lovesick couple and the newfound answers he’s discovered. When he’s finally in the warm embraces of his bedroom, he curls up in a fetal position and weeps. He doesn’t want this.

***

The day has just turned to evening and the sky is overcast, clouds gathering as a storm brews. Newt stumbles through the crowded streets of non-magical London. He notices that Theseus is indeed right about the Ministry assigning a tail to him. He hates the idea that not only could they prohibit him from travelling, but also to add surveillance. His innate reaction is to cross the street, just in time for line of sight of the Ministry’s employee to be cut off from him as a car rolls by, and he ducks behind the corner of a building. He peeks out and whispers, “Ventus.”

An overwhelming gust of wind propels said man back, even as he tries to resist by opening his black umbrella, garnering weird looks from Muggles passing by. Newt smiles, not quite a smirk, and feels the tap of a finger on his shoulder. When he looks in the opposite direction, he catches sight of a black leather glove waving. Then, it gestures to the top of a building, where he can see a tiny figure brandishing the top of their hat at him. Newt shakes his head as he grips the glove and is transported to the rooftop. He steadily makes his way across narrow ledges to where a middle-aged man with greying auburn hair and a full beard is waiting: Albus Dumbledore. The curly redhead presents the glove back to the Hogwarts professor as he greets him with amusement in his voice, “Dumbledore. Were the less conspicuous rooftops full, then?”

Dumbledore doesn’t turn to look at his former student from the sight before him, but he fondly states, “Well, I do enjoy a view. Nebulus.”

Fog descends over the city in front of them and the two of them Disapparate to Trafalgar Square. They stride past the landmark lions as they converse.

“How was it?” Dumbledore inquires and at this Newt frowns, before he responds.

“They’re still convinced that you sent me to New York.” He’s referring to the three wizards he had the displeasure of meeting during all five of his appeal hearings.

“You told them I didn’t?” The other retorts, but the former student seems disgruntled with his reply.

“Yes, even though you did.” The author scrutinizes his professor’s face, looking for changes in facial expressions as he continues with his deductions, “You told me where to find that trafficked Thunderbird, Dumbledore. You knew that I would take him home and you knew that I’d have to take him through a Muggle port.”

The Hogwarts teacher digresses, “Well, I’ve always felt an affinity with the great magical birds. There’s a story that’s passed down in my family: a phoenix will come to any Dumbledore in desperate need. They say my great-great-grandfather had one, but that it took flight when he died, never to return.”

Newt looks at him with incredulity, “With all due respect, I don’t believe for a minute that’s why you told me about the Thunderbird.”

There is a noise behind them as a figure of a man appears through the fog, causing the two to Disapparate away again when they spot him. When they reappear, they have relocated to a bus station and board a parked, empty bus.

“Credence is in Paris, Newt. He’s trying to trace his real family. I take it you’ve heard the rumours regarding who he really is?” Dumbledore reveals, leaning forward from his seated position. Newton is very much aware of the first part, but the rest is news to him.

“No.”

“The purebloods believe he’s the last of an important French line, a baby whom everyone thought lost…”

“Not Leta’s brother?” The younger wizard interrupts, briefly, surprise written all over his features. He hasn't heard much about the Lestrange’s long lost son, except that he was taken out of Europe in fear of his life. Not to mention, he hasn't been in close contact with any of the Lestrange family in general.

“That’s what they’re whispering. Pureblood or not, I know this: an Obscurus grows in the absence of love as a dark twin, an only friend. If Credence has a real brother or sister out there who can take its place, he might yet be saved.” A beat passes, during middle-aged man's account. “Wherever Credence is in Paris, he’s either in danger or a danger to others. We may not know who he is yet, but he needs to be found. And I rather hoped you might be the one to find him.”

Dumbledore conjures a card with a glowing golden symbol on it and the Hufflepuff examines it with confusion, “What’s that?”

“It’s an address of a very old acquaintance of mine. A safe house in Paris, reinforced with enchantments.”

“A safe house? Why would I need a safe house in Paris?” The magizoologist sputters, raising an eyebrow in question, mouth slightly agape.

“One hopes you won’t, but should things at some point go terribly wrong, it’s good to have a place to go. You know, for a cup of tea.” The wizard’s blue eyes sparkle in amusement as he says this.

“No, no, no -- absolutely not.” Newt vehemently refuses. A Muggle enters the driving compartment, forcing them to depart and they Apparate on to a bridge and Dumbledore spells the bright lights that line the bridge to darken.

“I’m banned from international travel, Dumbledore. If I leave the country, they will put me in Azkaban and throw away the key.” Newt deplores, like he can’t believe that his former Professor is asking him to do such an insane task.

“Do you know why I admire you, Newt? More, perhaps, than any man I know?” Newt is caught off guard by the flattery, but the older wizard persists nonchalantly, “You don’t seek power or popularity. You simple ask, is the thing right in itself? If it is, then I must do it, no matter the cost.”

He watches through his fringe, green eyes cautious as he counters, “That’s all very well, Dumbledore, but, forgive me for asking, why can’t you go?”

“I cannot move against Grindelwald. It has to be you.” The Hogwarts professor pauses, taking in Newt’s face. The younger’s face contorts into despondency because Dumbledore is requesting that he partakes in the fight with the rising Dark Lord. The other doesn’t realize that Grindelwald and Newt happen to be soulmates. Even if Newt hates the circumstances that are wrought upon them, he isn’t completely sure he can fight his soulmate while he feels so utterly powerless at the moment. “Well, I don’t blame you, in your shoes, I’d probably refuse too. It’s late. Good evening, Newt.”

Dumbledore disappears with a snap of magic.

“Oh, c’mon!” Newt exclaims, throwing his arms up in defeat. The older’s empty glove returns with the the business card in hand and tucks it into his breast pocket. The auburn haired man is irked to say the least and manages to grumble, “Dumbledore…”

***

The freckled man returns to his humble abode in London. After the ordeal with the escaped baby Nifflers and addressing the Kelpie’s wound, Bunty and Newt hear a crash from above the basement.

“What was that?” His assistant’s voice shakes with fear as they gaze upwards, the faint echoes of footsteps wandering around upstairs.

A pensive look on his face, the magizoologist answers, “I don’t know, but I want you to go home now, Bunty.”

“Shall I call the Ministry?”

“No, I want you to go home now. Please.” Newt sneaks up the stairs, careful not to make any undue sounds until he is able to see who has decided to drop in on his house uninvited. He’s not sure what to expect when he pushes the door leading to his living quarters open.

Jacob Kowalski and Queenie Goldstein are standing in the middle of his living room, suitcases scattered on the floor next to them. His blonde friend has an air of nervousness mixed with excitement, whereas Jacob seems to be inebriated and is currently bumbling about with the broken pieces of a vase that originally decorated a table close by.

The younger Goldstein sister is fluttering around her beloved, trying to retrieve the damaged parts so she could fix them with magic, “If you could just give it me… Just give it to me, sweetie. Just hand it over. Oh!”

The couple notice Newt’s presence as they spot his head peeking around the corner. Jacob blurts out with undisguised elation, dropping the remnants of the vase without a care, “HEY, NEWT! Get over here, you maniac!”

He flings his arms around a delighted, but surprised Newt. Queenie gives him a grin, looking sheepish at their sudden appearance.

“We hope you don’t mind, Newt? We let ourselves in; it’s raining cats and dogs out there! London’s cold.”

The redhead barely shrugs before he faces the stocky man and says, “But you were supposed to be Obliviated!”

“I know!” The Muggle says, but his features show no sign of shock or disbelief.

“So-- but--” Newt fumbles for the right words to say in a situation like this.

Jacob is quick to break the awkward conversation with his account, “It didn’t work, pal. I mean, you said it, the potion only erases bad memories. I didn’t have any. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I had some weird ones. But this angel… this angel over here, she filled me in on all the bad parts, and here we are, I guess?”

“This is wonderful!” He looks around for Tina, but doesn’t find her. “Where’s Tina?”

“Oh, it’s just us, honey. Me and Jacob.” Queenie tells him.

“I see.”

The room descends into silence before the blonde witch’s sweet voice tears through it, “Why don’t I make us some dinner, huh?”

“Yes!” Jacob shouts, loud and unruly, almost causing Newt to flinch back at the volume. The younger Goldstein observes the dark circles underneath Newt’s normally brilliant green eyes and his slightly sunken in cheeks; his face is more angular than she remembers when she last saw him in New York and it seems like his clothes don’t fit quite as well. The blonde witch notes this in the back of her mind to bring up later.

Once the woman finishes preparing a meal for three, she abruptly states, “Tina and I aren’t talking.”

“Why?” Newt glances up from his meal, making momentary eye contact with her, before looking to the right.

“Oh well, you know, she found out about Jacob and I seeing each other and she didn’t like it, ‘cause of the ‘law.’” Queenie imitates her sister’s voice, mockingly, “Not allowed to date No-Majs, not allowed to marry them. Blah, blah, blah. Well, she was all in a tizzy anyway, ‘cause of you.”

“Me? Why would she be in a tizzy over me?”

“Yeah, you, Newt. It was all over Spellbound. Here: I brought a copy for you.” She summons the magazine titled ‘Spellbound: Celebrity Secrets and Spell Tips of the Stars!’ and Newt’s face is plastered on the cover. The headline reads: ‘BEAST TAMER, NEWT, TO WED!’ The magazine flips open to a picture of Theseus, Leta, Newt, and Bunty standing side by side at his book launch. In the photo, Leta is standing close to him, a hand resting on his shoulder with a soft smile spread over her full lips. Queenie points at the magazine and reads, “‘Newt Scamander with fiancée, Leta Lestrange; brother, Theseus; and unknown woman.’”

“No, no, they got it wrong. Theseus is the one marrying Leta, not me.” He denies, still observing his non-magical friend’s odd actions.

“Oh! Oh dear… Well, see, Teenie read that and she started dating someone else. He’s an Auror. His name’s Achilles Tolliver.” Newt fails to see how Tina’s dating life is pertinent to him, but he doesn’t interrupt his female friend. Jacob and Queenie trade a look before laughing at the man’s last name. A pregnant silence ensues, but then Newt wants to talk about Jacob’s tumultuous behaviour: eating sloppily, humming to himself, and then attempting to drink from the salt shaker. Queenie quickly proceeds to cover for him, snatching it, and replacing it with a glass.

“Anyway… How have you been doing, Newt? I hope New York isn’t still haunting you. You don’t look so well, honey.” She confesses, forehead wrinkled in concern.

“I’ve been well, everything’s good.” Newt brushes off her concerns with a dismissive wave of his hand, but the blonde Legilimens is unconvinced, even if she chooses not to press. She attempts to delve into his thoughts, but they are in such a disarray that she gets a headache from trying to sort through them. Instead, she is only able to feel the most prominent emotions -- despair and confusion. Her immaculate brows pull up further, but a look from Newt tells her not to go further with her line of questioning. Queenie respects his judgment.

“Okay, well… We’re real excited to be here, Newt. This is a-- well, it’s a special trip for us. You see, Jacob and I, we’re getting married!” She showcases her engagement ring and Jacob tries to toast with this cup, but ends up pouring the beer all over his head.

“I’m marrying Jacob!” The man bellows and there is no doubt in his mind now that Queenie has managed to bewitch his friend and he levels her with a fierce glare. He knows she is capable of reading his mind and he uses this to his advantage, You’ve enchanted him, haven’t you?

“What? I have not.” She replies as she hears the first coherent thought pass through his consciousness.

“Will you stop reading my mind?” Newt says aloud, but he is still speaking to her mentally.

Queenie, you’ve brought him here against his will.

“Oh, that is an outrageous accusation. Look at him. He’s just happy. He’s so happy!” Queenie is affronted by the implications of his thoughts. He returns her statement with a disbelieving look.

Newt draws his wand out from his pocket and points it at the dark-haired male, “Then you won’t mind if I--”

Queenie jumps in front of Jacob, trying to shield him from his line of sight. “Please don’t!”

“Queenie, you’ve got nothing to fear if he wants to get married. We can just lift the enchantment and he can tell us himself.”

Several painful moments elapse and at last, she moves aside, her gaze downturned in a sense of shame.

“What you got there? Whatchu gonna do? Whatchu gonna do with that, Mr. Scamander?” Jacob teases, a grin stretching his face wide.

“Surgito.”

Jacob reacts as though a bucket of cold water has just been poured over his head, shaking, and a cloud of pink smoke forms into the shape of a heart above his head, still wet from the beer. He comes to his senses and glances around, confused.

“Congratulations on your engagement, Jacob.” Newt announces and Jacob’s wide brown eyes stare at him.

“Wait, what?”

Newt looks at Queenie and Jacob turns to see his beloved standing adjacent to him.

“Oh no.” He realizes he has been taken against his will. Slowly, he gets to his feet and she reads his mind. With a sob, she runs to close her case, but her lipstick and a fragment of torn postcard fall out. She then proceeds to flee the apartment. “Queenie!”

Jacob glances back and forth between the departing witch and his close friend, debating on who to address first, “Uh, it’s very nice to see you. Where the hell am I right now?”

“Oh, um, London.”

“Oh, I’ve always wanted to go here!” His voice carries infinite amounts of frustration, before he stomps out, chasing after Queenie with another cry of her name.

***

Queenie dashes out of Newt’s house and down the street, tears streaking her cheeks. Jacob runs after her, his face red and livid, and it colours his tone as he asks, “Queen, honey. I’m just curious, when were you going to wake me up? After we’d had five kids?”

The blonde whips around and nearly growls uncharacteristically, “Why is it wrong to want to marry you?”

“Okay--” Jacob attempts to butt in, but the woman barrels forward.

“To wanna have a family? I just want what everyone else has, that’s all.” Her eyes are shimmering with more tears, such a beautiful blue, despite the dim lighting of the street. They stare despondently at one another.

“Okay, wait. We talked about this, like, a million times. If we get married and they find out, they’re gonna throw you in jail, sweetheart. I can’t live with that. They don’t like people like me getting married to people like you. I ain’t a wizard. I’m just me.”

“They’re real progressive here in England and they’ll let us get married proper.” She is shaking as she explains how the culture and laws in Britain are not as backwards as they are in America. The man approaches her and wipes a solitary tear from her cheek.

“Sweetheart, you don’t need to enchant me. I’m already enchanted! I love you so much.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, but I can’t have you risking everything like this, you know? You’re not giving us a choice, sweetheart.” Jacob counters, almost pleading her to understand how tough this is for him as well.

“You’re not givin’ me a choice. One of us had to be brave and you-- you were being a coward!”

“I was being a coward? If I’m a coward, you’re a--” The Muggle cuts himself off, but it’s already too late because Queenie has read his mind.

“-- Crazy!”

“... I didn’t say it.”

“You didn’t have to…”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that, sweetheart.”

“Yeah…” Queenie is forlorn as she responds, “You did.”

“No!” He tries, but she has shifted away from his reach and is almost running away from him. He can hear the pain in her voice as she says her next words.

“I’m gonna go see my sister.”

“Fine, see your sister.” The mustached man is exhausted from proving his case and he gives in.

“Fine.” There is a sense of finality in her tone and Jacob instantly regrets everything he’s said as Queenie vanishes from the streets of London.

“No, wait! No, Queenie! I didn’t mean it… I didn’t say nothing…” But he is alone on the street.

***

Newt is conflicted, miserable at causing such a ruckus, but he catches sight of a torn up postcard. He crosses the room to pick it up and then mutters, “Papyrus Reparo.”

The ripped pieces come together and mend; it shows a beautiful landscape somewhere in Paris. The neat handwriting on the back says:

My dear Queenie, What a beautiful city. I’m thinking of you, Tina X

He can only imagine that the reason Tina is in Paris in the first place is because she is looking for Credence. Just like so many other people are and he can’t help but be concerned for the boy’s well-being. As soon as Jacob arrives back at his residence, the two pack up and head to Paris as well.

***

Only moments ago, Grindelwald has procured his new hideout in Paris, after killing the occupants of the house. Following the months of his imprisonment, he hasn’t felt quite up to par to his usual self, but it’s nothing that affects or worries him all that much. The pale platinum-haired man has spent much time fascinated with the seemingly weak magizoologist -- the one responsible for his capture -- but after the events in New York, he knows that appearances can be all too deceiving. An uncontrolled vision hits him as he is contemplating how to go about approaching Credence at the circus.

He Sees Newt sitting uncomfortably at a table, fumbling through a meal, with another man who resembles him in some ways and a dark-skinned female, pretty and elegant, but wholly not his definition of beautiful. He is sure this witch is known as Leta Lestrange. Grindelwald only catches the tail-end of their conversation, but he can tell that they are discussing soulmates.

“-- we’ve noticed the strangest phenomenon recently. It feels like we’ve grown stronger, in a magical sense. And when we’re physically too far apart for too long, we can feel it dampening.” Leta explains, gesturing wildly, and it is easy to put the situation Newt and himself in perspective after hearing this. There is a white flash of light, subtle and delicate, and then, his vision changes to Newt conjuring up his Patronus to send a message to someone. The thing that captivates the Dark Lord’s focus is the fact that the animal that is invoked is not some common, non-magical beast, but rather an extraordinary Kelpie. The curly haired wizard speaks in soft words, mentioning someone called ‘Bunty,’ before the Kelpie lends him a nod and bounds off to deliver the message.

Grindelwald returns to reality, slightly befuddled from the experience as he usually is. A Patronus that appears in the form of magical creature is so exceedingly rare that he thinks, How interesting this soulmate of his is.

[autumn-maple13]

Lost to Time - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Waterfall Tomb

Amara’s bed was still warm when she finally awoke, looking at the sunlight trickling through the window for only a moment before she looked around to try and find the obvious source of her comfort. Ignis sat at the foot of her bed, examining something closely and clearly unaware that she had woken up. The woman felt her heart drop when she realized it was the map Ardyn had given her.

“I ran into a hunter last night.” Her voice startled the man, who shifted to look back at her now. “He recognized my uniform and gave it to me to pass on.”

Ignis watched the redhead rub her eyes and blink at him for a moment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t go through your bag – honest- but I saw this sticking out and wanted to give it a look. I didn’t expect to find this though.”

“Mmm. I was going to let you guys know in the morning so you could catch up with Iris for a bit. Besides, if I cared about hiding it, I would’ve put it away more carefully right?” she gave him a smile, hoping he couldn’t see how nervous she was.

“Of course. However, I am a bit concerned that the hunter just handed it over to you. Did he even check to make sure you were really with us?”

“He said he recognized me from the Outpost back near Hammerhead.” She shrugged. “I didn’t think to catch his name though, so I’m not sure we could ask about him.”

“Did he mention where he got this information? As far as I knew, they hadn’t found all the tombs yet.”

“I didn’t ask, sorry.” She frowned. “I figured we could try and run them down somehow, so if he was being dishonest it wouldn’t let him know we doubted it.”

“I see.” The man carefully folded the map as he stood but surprised her when he walked over to where she was sitting on the side of the bed. “Care for breakfast?”

“Sure, why don’t you go get the guys while-“

“They’re gone, went to town with Talcott, and Iris took Noctis off for a tour of the city. It’ll just be us.”

“Ah. Okay, then I’ll meet you at the stairs.”

He gave her a smile and nod, leaving after he placed the map beside her headpiece. It was one of the first things she put on, as soon as she ran her fingers through her hair to make sure it was “fluffed” properly, before trying to figure out what she was going to wear for the day. Shorts and the white shirt from the night before were donned quickly, along with tall socks and her wrist bracers – and a new pair of almost knee-high boots that matched the ankle boots she wore last night. After making sure to grab her phone and wallet (and hotel key) she went to join Ignis but doubled back when a nagging thought made her think about the map of tombs.

She made sure to grab it and the tomb key.

Ignis was found sitting in the lobby, tapping away on his phone until he noticed her on the stairs. He seemed a bit surprised but didn’t say anything until she joined him, instead allowing her to look over his t-shirt and pants.

“Perhaps we should get you a purse while we’re out.”

“I dunno, looks like you’ve got enough room in that satchel,” she joked, poking the thing on his hip. “I guess the laundry must be on if you’re wearing this.”

“Yes, Iris went ahead and took care of it for us. She wanted something to do while she waited for Noct to wake up.” Amara waited until he had put the map and key away (as well as her wallet when she realized how stupid her pockets were) before she hooked her arm through his. “You must be hungry if you’re in such a hurry.”

“No, I just really want some coffee, and knowing you you’ve already found out where the best place in town is.”

“Courtesy of Iris.” He chuckled and led her out of the hotel towards another alley she hadn’t noticed the night before. Iris must have given him very good directions – not only did he seem to know exactly where he was going, he didn’t appear at all uncomfortable leading her to their destination through the crowd of people traversing the street. It was a little out of the way café that clearly catered more towards the locals than the tourists, with hardly anyone inside except a few people that could have easily been regulars. They only gave the duo a nod, watching Amara leave her companion’s side to claim a small table near the back while he went to place an order for them.

Joining her before too long with coffee in hand she looked up at a gentle smile as the blonde sat across from her, motioning to the cup that was clearly meant for her.

“Nothing fancy this time, but after last night I think it’s for the better.”

“What happened last night?”

“You were talking in your sleep,” that comment was enough to make her blood run cold, despite how hot it was. “Nothing I could really make out – but you did mention something about sylleblossoms.”

“Oh? Maybe I was dreaming about that necklace I saw last night then.” She did distinctly remember one, near the register at the shop she visited the night before – and it had been pricey enough to make her ignore it completely. “Might have to go buy it then.”

“Where did you see it?”

“At a shop down the other alley, didn’t really pay attention to the name though – just that it was open. Why?”

“No reason.” He had retrieved his phone now and sent a brief message before he gave her a smirk. “Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat?”

“Mmm, maybe a little something.”

“Then I’ll be just a moment.” She watched as he returned to the counter, earning a chuckle from the barista who seemed to already have something in mind. Amara watched as the man was told to wait, then as the barista walked off to the back of the café. Ignis sent her a concerned look, but waited patiently until the worker returned, holding a plate out to him. He took it carefully and exchanged a few quiet words with the woman before rejoining his companion. With a plate of some kind of mini-omelet rounds (or something), the red head was happy to turn her attention to the food instead of where her thoughts were taking her.

If you allow your guilt to continue like this, it will destroy you like as did him.

Ignis gave her a curious look when he noticed her pause mid-bite, arching his brow at her as he reached for one of the things to eat himself. “Something wrong?”

“No, I just wasn’t expecting this thing to be so good.”

“Hm.” A look crossed his face when he took a bite, no doubt the gears turning in his head as he thought about re-making it himself. “I see.”

Amara snickered quietly, continuing to nibble away on the (seriously what are they?) food until her phone chimed, prompting her to check it while Ignis stole another few of the things for himself.

“Prompto says Talcott told him and Gladio about a waterfall near here that we should check out. We should head back to the hotel.”

“Alright.”

“Here you go hon.” The duo was surprised to see the barista standing next to them with a small bag and two to-go cups of coffee. “Shouldn’t keep your friends waiting.”

“Oh, thank you!” the red head gave the other woman a smile, taking the bag to dump the rest of the egg-things into it and letting her clear the table once she had them stored away. With another thanks the companions were ducking out with their fresh coffee, heading back for the Leville to meet the others. Noctis and Iris gave them a wave, joining them on the hotel steps as they made their way over themselves.

“Hey, Amara! Missed you last night.” The young Amicitia gave the Glaive a hug, noticing her bag when she pulled away. “Oh, you tried the Discs? They’re pretty good, aren’t they?”

“That’s what they’re called? Yeah, the lady at the café gave ‘em to us to eat.”

Noctis smirked at his Advisor as he slipped over beside the older man, nudging him in the ribs to get his attention off the girls. “Enjoy your café date Iggy?”

“Enjoy your ‘morning stroll’ highness?”

The King scoffed, deciding to head into the hotel rather than tug on that string anymore. The trio followed, laughing quietly, and were happy to see Talcott and the other guys waiting in the lobby with the Amicitia butler, Jared. The old man gave the redhead a smile and a dip of his head as his grandson beamed. Prompto was grinning as well and nudged the child gently.

“Talcott, go on and tell ‘em what you told me.”

“You got it!” the kid couldn’t have hidden the excitement in his voice if he wanted to, though it earned a quiet comment from his grandfather about showing respect. “So, there’s this legend about a sword, and the sword’s supposed to be hidden behind a waterfall nearby.”

Jared looked up from his grandson and fixed the king in a serious look. “It may well be one of the lost tombs.”

Amara nodded, holding out a hand to Ignis that caught the others’ attention. The man produced the map she had given him to hold, and the others gathered around her as she carefully unfolded it. Electing to give her friends her explanation later, she looked over the marks until she found the one closest to Lestallum.

“Alright, a hunter might have found a tomb a couple miles southwest of the city. If Talcott says the sword is nearby, it may be this possible location here.” She motioned to the map before looking at Noctis. “Check it out?”

“Yeah, let’s go. Thanks for the tip Talcott.”

“You’re welcome!”

With a few parting words the group was taking off for the parking area at the edge of the city, with Amara choosing that walk to relay her story of running into a hunter the previous night, all the while ignoring the curiosity of her companions as it geared towards her outfit and her breakfast with the advisor. Ignis silenced the others with a look as he motioned for Amara to get in the front seat of the Regalia, forcing Prompto to sit rather uncomfortably between the two brunettes in the backseat.

“Amara, I trust you can navigate with that map?”

“Yeah, of course. Head west out of the city.”

Ignis did as he was told, soon pulling out onto the street and heading out of the city. It was around a curve that the far-off volcano caught her eye, the smoke billowing from the top of it distracting her from the map. Noctis brought her back to reality with a tap on her shoulder, making her turn to him.

“How’s your head doing?”

“Fine. You?”

“Fine.” He looked concerned but sat back in his seat. “Don’t suppose you know what happened?”

“No idea.” Her chest tightened up on her. “But I overheard somewhere that the earthquakes may be caused by something going on at the Disc.”

“It may be worth looking into then.” Ignis eyed the King in the mirror, then Amara from the corner of his eye. “Keep straight?”

“For a little ways, yeah.” She checked the map again to be sure. “There’s a road coming up on our right soon though. Looks like it’s the faster of the two ways to get there.”

“How far?”

“Doesn’t look too far, but it’s pretty curved.” She chose to ignore the joke Gladio muttered in her ear, swatting at him over the shoulder of her seat. The road wasn’t too far at all, and it was fairly obvious that Ignis chose to take the first, sharp, turn onto it a bit harder than usual, making the Shield grab the seat in front of him to keep from slamming into the two smaller men that had been thrown against each other from the turn. The advisor shot a look in the mirror, slowing down a little bit as he drove the Regalia around the curves of the steadily climbing road until they finally hit a tunnel – flicking on the lights as darkness encroached on them.

“Amara?”

“Take a left at the end of this road. It’s not far after that.”

And it wasn’t far at all – to the gas station the red head had him park at. The guys watched Ignis return the map to the pack on his hip as the woman went in the store, only to return a few minutes later and motion down the road.

“The waterfall is a few minutes’ walk that way. We have to use a stairway over here to get to the lower area, unless anyone feels like bridge diving.”

“Lead the way.” They watched her shrug before she started off down the side of the road, pausing a few feet away when she realized they hadn’t started to follow her yet. Down the road to a large set of concrete stairs, then down them to a path below, Amara walked a bit cautiously in her new boots across the rocky terrain.

“The guy at the station said we’ll hear it before we reach the river, but to look out for crabs.”

“Crabs?”

“Big ones.”

Only a few minutes later, after carefully climbing across a pile of moss-covered rocks to avoid a fight with a large snake-like creature Amara only identified as an “oh hell no”, they ran right into the crabs she had been warned about. A trio of shieldshears blocked their path, only to be taken down after a few expert commands from Ignis (because yes, they could still be felled like the much smaller crabs he had once made a fresh meal from back in the city). Noctis made a few jokes that were rebuffed quickly as the redhead made her way under the bridge that stretched high above them, climbing another pile of mossy rocks to look at a large blue sign.

“Callatein’s Plunge? Huh.” She looked beyond the marker to the waterfall that was roaring a few yards away, waiting until the guys joined her before she started making her way towards it.

“The legend says look behind the waterfall.” Prompto chimed, trying to be careful on the slick path beside the waters.

“What does the waterfall say?”

“I think it says, ‘come in’!”

“And look, there’s an entrance.” Noctis smirked, walking up to the cave opening but pausing at the chilly breeze that was spilling out. Shivering as she walked past him into the darkness, she felt her skin pricking with goosebumps as Ignis sidled up next to her to carefully pin a flashlight to her belt.

“Perhaps we should have had you change first.”

“Nah,” she chattered, looking at her king. “Hey Noct, do something stupid with the Armiger – maybe it’ll set me on fire again.”

“Not gonna happen.” Noctis was shivering as well, walking past her deeper into the cave until he froze, making them jump to his side when they saw the blue goo spilling up from before him. Though it proved to only be a pair of weak flan, it was enough for the guys to look towards Amara again.

“Uh, should we do like we did back at the Trench?”

“It may be beneficial.”

Amara rubbed her arms, walking carefully over to an icy drop off a few feet away. “Nope, we’re gonna have to go as a group down this first. We can decide a plan once we’re down there.”

“Down where?” Noctis had walked over to join her, but as a rogue shudder wracked him slipped on the ice and sent himself sliding – the glaive summoning Gladio’s shield to ride on as she followed. The duo landed safely at the bottom, though she was quick to shove him behind a rock when she saw the Imps that had popped up to greet them. The others were greeted by the sight of her throwing a large fireball at the creatures, only to use it as cover to quickly take out the ones that hadn’t been hit. Still shivering, she turned to look at her friends when Noctis finally managed to regain his footing enough to stand.

“We’re going together for a bit.”

They didn’t argue, following her up a path she found somewhere off behind them to another icy slope. This one proved a bit faster to get to the bottom of – though the drop-off at the end sent them nearly crashing into a frosty Arachne at the bottom. Amara shot Ignis a look as she grabbed her daggers.

“See?! Spider-lady!”

“I never doubted you.”

Thankfully, they five of them were able to dispatch it easily with some direction from Amara, who seemed content to share a moment of fearful disgust with Prompto when it was over. With a bit more caution, the group made their way across a thin ledge to another iced over portion of rock, huddling momentarily around an odd fire deposit to warm up before moving on. The guys were in a hurry, but it didn’t seem like it was just the cold causing their rush. It was at their second run-in with a group of flan that it became more evident though – as even Prompto was reacting mercilessly to their presence.

“Hey guys, is something going on?”

“Oh no, just want to hurry up and get out of here.” Noctis chimed through chattering teeth, rubbing his arms as he and Prompto stood as close to the human heater that was Gladiolus as they could.

Not buying it but also aware of the shade of blue started to peek out of her skin at her joints, Amara turned and walked on, choosing to follow the feeling pricking at the back of her mind as she had at the Trench.

Be quick, Lady Amara. The voice of a King echoed through her head as she and the guys paused at a stray lightning deposit. You’ll want to be somewhere much safer before the cost catches up to you once more.

‘So, you guys are aware of all the pain this is causing me.’

It’s not the Arms that are causing your pain. He seeks to finish what he started, and not even death will prevent it.

‘Who?’ But she once again received no answer. She was really starting to get tired of the Kings’ and their cryptic bullshit. Leading the guys once more along the ice, she groaned when yet another group of flan sprouted from beneath their feet, though she was distracted from the easily felled Daemons when a sword pierced her outstretched arm. The guys heard her scream and whipped around to face the Ronin as it pulled its over-sized katana from her. A potion was used on her as Ignis jumped to her aid, spearing it with his lance as the guys joined the fight, only to jump back when she warped straight into it and sliced the Daemon’s throat.

“Alright, I’m sick of being here. It’s too damn cold, there’s too many fucking Daemons, and whichever of your ancestors decided to put their tomb here is either a fucking asshole – or didn’t realize the frozen hell-hole this place would turn into.”

Noctis agreed, and the guys elected to follow her on a bit more quickly, right up until they reached another thin ledge. Amara eyed it with annoyance, then looked at her friends.

“I’m going to go across and see if the tomb is nearby. Wait here and try not to freeze or die.”

They didn’t try to argue, letting the red head carefully make her way across the ledge – around a corner and out of sight, though she heard their muttering pick up as soon as she got to said corner. Stepping out onto the solid ledge she picked up her pace as much as she dared, sliding every few steps until she reached a large wall of ice that she was thankful to see the Tomb off to the side of. Warping across the slick floor to its door, she was quick to unlock it and slip inside – claiming the odd sword for herself before she stepped back out.

“Guys I found it!” she called, though not as loudly as she would have if there hadn’t been icicles hanging above her head. “Be careful coming to me though, it’s really slick!”

They headed her words, taking more than a few moments to reach her. However, everyone was shocked when she suddenly slipped, a trio of Mindflayers emerging from the ice beneath her as an Imp laughed with its hands around her ankle. With a call for Noctis to go ahead and retrieve the Arm, Amara leapt into battle with her fellow Crownsguard members, ordering Prompto to take care of the few flan and Imps that were making it a bit more difficult to keep their sights on the Mindflayers.

The king soon rejoined them and got to work with the new weapon (dual swords, she realized) to aid them in taking down the Daemons. Together they made quick work of everything, pausing to take a moment before a glance at Amara’s still blue tinted skin made them decide to just go ahead and get a move on to escape. Able to make their way back out the way they came without anymore daemonic interruptions, their biggest problem proved to be the ice-slopes they had slid down – with each one costing them a fair bit of time and extra-effort to climb.

It took them nearly an hour to re-emerge from the caves, only for an earthquake to shake the ground upon their exit and sent both Amara and Noctis to their knees clutching their heads. Once more strange images flashed through her mind – a giant eye, the meteor, the Disc, before the pain ebbed, and she and her king were able to exchange a glance.

“Again?” she asked through her still chattering teeth, a bit thankful for the chill that still clung to her as it chased her headache away faster.

“Yeah,” he nodded, straightening with a grimace. “What was that?”

“The… The meteor?”

“You saw the Disc of Cauthess?” Ignis looked between the two. “Both of you?”

They nodded in unison, looking at each other for a moment before turning to their friends.

“We should head back to Lestallum right away.”

“I’ll drive since it’s so dark out now. If that’s alright with you guys, I mean.”

“As long as there are no sudden stops.”

[thehusbandmen]

Stations of Passion, I.1

The Husbandmen: Stations of Passion. Book I, Chapter 1. [Go to Next]

This is a normal PokéFic with the normal amount of psychological horror.

In the kitchen, Dinah slammed down her laptop screen. The athletic young brunette woman’s diagonal forward bob bounced as she bounded into the living room of their small shared dorm apartment. She awoke Loren by jumping over him where he had napped in the floor, slumped up between the ochre couch and the ottoman. The blond flinched up closer to the furniture, clutching at his curly mess of hair, and jutted out a broken expletive and admonition in wide-eyed exasperation. Her quarry, however, was Rabbit, who reclined across the couch leisurely reading his PokéDex. The eldest of the three, the redhead nearly got her in the face with the red device as he shielded his face with both forearms, but he couldn’t get in an objection otherwise.

“--Guys!” She didn’t understand the concept of an inside voice, grinning wildly at the long-haired boyfriend she’d pinned. “You’re going to miss the meteor shower!! You told me you’d go out into town square with me.”

“Too many people,” Loren mumbled, flopping face-down. “Everybody’s gonna go out there for it.”

“Well, have you got a better idea?” Rabbit tried to sit up a bit, but Dinah stayed fast atop him glowering down at Loren, whom she’d trapped against the base of the couch by supporting herself on one leg off the side. Rather than hem at it, Rabbit bookmarked his spot digitally and folded shut the hinged PokéDex shut, to set it against his chest with one hand. His attempt to sit up had flicked his long braided ponytail up under him, and he returned it over the arm of the couch behind him.

“If you really wanna see the sky,” Loren gauged, “I’ve been up to Mount Peal. Bellchime Trail. The view’s almost always clear.”

“Oh hell, Loren,” Dinah moaned, nearly stomping on him. “There’s no Pokémon up there for a reason. People aren’t supposed to go up there, either.”

“Then nobody’s gonna bother us.” The blond slouched on his elbows and wiped the sorry off his face. “I know the best path to get up in there, too. It’s super quiet. Nice. Let me do something nice for us? All three of us? I can take us up there. I mean, if it’s really so important to you.”

“She’s been going on about it for weeks.” Rabbit smiled slyly, leaning up to fetch a kiss from her. “I didn’t forget about it. I just wanted you to pick our vantage point. So is it gonna be town square, or rushing up the Bellchime Trail?”

She didn’t even wait before leaping up to throw on her khaki jacket over her magenta tank and khaki cutoffs.

“You know I want to be as close as possible to it.” She toed her knee-high indigo socks into her hiking boots and gave the two brothers an urging glance. “I trust you.”

“Not your first mistake, I guess.” He grunted and righted himself, then at his waist adjusted the sleeve-knot of his rolled-down dark teal jumpsuit. The younger, far shorter brother chuckled and patted down his pocket contents before heading over to the mud space for his sneakers as well.

“Dinah doesn’t make mistakes. She just learns. A lot.” The elder brother tucked his PokéDex in the back pocket of his trim jeans, donning his black leather jacket over an untucked lime dress shirt before slipping on mustard oxfords. Though he knew Loren wore jeans under the jumpsuit itself, he eyed his brother in just a tee otherwise. “It’s going to be cold up there.”

“I’m fine,” Loren shrugged. “September weather’s my favorite.”

“You know...” Dinah stepped in front of the door before anyone could leave, and she took one of Loren’s hands in both her own to meet her blue eyes with his green ones. “Erroll’s totally invited to join us. If he wants.”

Loren half-assedly tried to pull his hand away, but didn’t, and he stared at the floorboard behind her.

"Dinah...” Rabbit’s reluctance spoke for itself.

“Yeah. Sure. ...He knows.” A tired smile crept up on him, and he pushed past her to exit the third-floor apartment. Without turning back, he picked up his head and added, “He says thank you, by the way.”

Dinah and Rabbit followed about twenty feet behind Loren.

“Dinah, why’d you say that?” Rabbit whined. “You shouldn’t be encouraging him.”

The three of them got to ground level, and Dinah skipped backwards down the street to face Rabbit.

“Them,” she insisted. “Erroll’s been doing a lot better now that he’s not in the same house with your mother, and I know you agree with me. Loren’s even attending classes at Technical. Actually going. They’re managing, cohabiting, cooperating. It’s only a disorder if it’s screwing things up. If this is how... they function, then they’re functioning. You need to accept they’re both your brother, Rabbit.”

“One person, two names.” He huffed dismissively and closed the gap between them and Loren, to quash any argument.

Dinah rolled her eyes and did not rush to join them, observing from a distance.

“So how’s your field sketching class going?” the elder brother nudged.

Loren snorted in brief frustration.

“It’s all right. Keeping up with the assignments isn’t as hard as it seemed like it was going to be.”

“Fantastic! I know it’s one thing to have the professor see your work, but another entirely for just anybody to... It’s been a while since I saw any of your stuff. I’d love to see some of it, even just classwork, next time you feel like it.”

Loren put distance between them by walking faster.

“You still don’t trust me. Be transparent with me.” The blond stopped abruptly, only long enough to throw a glare at Rabbit, and snap, “I’m going to class. And doing my assignments. I swear.”

“I--”

“Drop it, Bun,” Dinah piped up, pulling him to her to walk with her. She cuddled his upper arm so she could speak quietly in his ear. “It doesn’t matter if your motive is genuine. You spent years doing surveillance on him. I know you care about him, but don’t force this.”

“Loren, I-- I’m sorry.”

The three college students spent the remainder of their time inside city walls in silence.

The dormitory apartments for Ecruteak Technical lay in the Northeast edge of the idyllic city, tucked near Clear Lake. Enveloped by the aroma of cypress, the trio skirted the small body’s southern shore and followed the high easternmost wall of the city’s shield, built into its ancient city walls. Loren indicated a narrow dirt path around the east shore of the lake, and close to the northeasternmost corner, they came upon a separation in the wall just wide enough to slip through sideways.

Outside the Ecruteak Shield, a swath of dense red-crust namesake teak, and the pressure-static of unmitigated Zone field, engulfed them. Little debris scattered the smooth forest floor, overgrown with exposed superficial roots felted level together. Loren retained his senses of purpose and direction and pushed on readily. The further out into the wooded expanse they traveled, the closer together they traveled, in a paradoxical claustrophobia. Dinah kept glancing all about her.

“How... do you know your way in the dark out here? Without a PokéGear?”

She trembled fishing out her own PokéGear from her jacket pocket, to return it to her left wrist. He knew the sound of hook-loop tape and halted, turning on his heels with a glare to snatch her wrist, watch-like device and all.

“No flashlights.” With his other hand, Loren bobbed a knowing finger at Rabbit expectantly, then let go of Dinah while still making eye contact with his brother. “I don’t. I’m just a good listener.”

Rabbit grimaced.

“If you know where you’re going,” he antagonized, “how much further before we get to the edge of the woods?”

With a thoughtful pause, Loren replied, “About five minutes, give or take.”

“Did he...” As they continued, Dinah glanced to Rabbit, brow knitting, then back to Loren. “Loren, did you just imply that Erroll has been out here enough times that he knows the way?”

“I think what he’s really implying,” Rabbit interjected, increasingly unsettled, “is that Erroll is a result of years of skipping classes to come out here in the raw Zone.”

Erroll crushed a twig underfoot for emphasis, and mused ennui.

“Bellchime and Mount Peal are a pocket in the Zone, I’ll have you know. And he and I don’t come out here to spend time in the forest. It’s secluded. Not even researchers come up here.”

“I hate that I went along with this. It was a mistake to come outside the Shield.” Rabbit scowled, recognizing the significance of the shift in his brother’s tone and demeanor. “If there’s no researchers up here, how exactly are you so certain that it’s a... pocket in the Zone?”

“Well, there’s no Pokémon up here, for one thing.” The trees thinned and gave way to a sloping unpaved path up the bald prominence which crested to the North of the city. All three of them could tell the gravity felt nearly normal now, as though the forest had contained it. “You’re not allowed to be mad at me. I was invited.”

“Called it.” When Erroll turned to make eye contact with Dinah, she put up her hands in playful defense. “You really need to, like. Say hi or something.”

“I’ve been here the entire time,” he dismissed. He tucked his hands through the pocket-openings of his folded-down jumpsuit and into the waist pockets of his jeans underneath it, and continued wandering up the hill. “It’s started, you know. The shower.”

Dinah looked up into the sky to awe at the cascade of tiny streaks of burning cosmic dust beginning to glitter the cloudless sky. Erroll seemed not in the moment, distracted, bored, or both. Rabbit kicked a rock which struck Erroll in the heel.

"What happened to us getting to spend time with my brother?”

“You get to spend time with me. And your crazy girlfriend obsessed with space jettison.”

Incredulity stuttered out of Rabbit and he shoved Erroll by the shoulders.

“She’s the crazy one? Knock it off.”

“Let it go!” Dinah growled. “Just let it go. I want this to be a peaceful night.”

“Good luck with that. What is it this time, Erroll?”

Hands broad and welcoming, Erroll gestured around them to the summit, and to the decayed ruins behind him. The blond smiled, heavy-lidded, soaking in the surroundings like he was home.

“It’s too late to be grateful, you know.”

“That’s it--”

Rabbit started to reach for one of the two PokéBalls at his belt, only to drop composure and tackle his brother to the dirt--except when he curled his fists inward to scoop two fistfuls of Erroll’s shirt, he instead scooped fistfuls of grass and dirt. His head snapped up to make sure Dinah was safe. She reached a hand out toward him, speechless and dead in the eyes. Immediately, he thought Erroll’s behavior incited her horror, but he could not locate the alter ego anywhere around them. Dinah let out half a jilted shudder behind him and he looked to her again, only to witness her vanish toe-to-head like static. If he’d blinked, he’d have missed it.

He wondered if he’d blinked when he tackled Erroll.

“...Dinah?”

It sank in that he was alone.

The worry didn’t last, subsumed by fear. Whatever had taken his brother and girlfriend took him as well, seeming to have waited to observe his reaction. Thus he dissipated into a gravitic pressure that rivaled oceanic bends.

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