#to the research facility and such I was like mm….. that can’t be good

[designernishiki]

oh baby I knew it from the fuckin moment the addc was introduced that there’s just no damn way they DIDNT have some legally sketchy shit going on with the alzheimers/dementia patients and unethical clinical trials. I feel so vindicated right now

[gameo-archive]

"I asked them to send an encouraging word or two for those of us in helping professions."

First of all, so glad you two are doing this cameo event. George's cameo fundraiser brought such joy to our community. [pause for applause] I am a social worker, who works in a pediatric a&e, intervening and supporting kids and families in crisis situations and bearing direct witness to a lot of suffering. DBD is such an emotionally intelligent show that my colleagues and I discussed each episode as we saw it from our clinical perspective. Months later, this show still means so much to me. A hazard of this job is a high risk of developing PTSD. This autumn has been full of hard cases at our hospital."

Jayden shares some of his character prep for Charles' abusive back story.

Jayden: And we got you. No matter what. So you can always fall back on this and listen to us two idiots talking rubbish.

George: And we're just a mirror away.

Edited to add transcript:

J: Hi, Erin! It is Jayden and George here from G: Dead— J: The Dead Boy Detectives. Did you think we were going to say that in unison G: [nods] [J&G laugh] G: He’s already forgotten about! J: So, you have said—I’ll read this out: “First of all, so grateful that you two are doing this Cameo event. George’s Cameo fundraiser brought such joy to our community—“ [Claps.] G: Aww! J: “I am a social worker who works at a paediatric A&E, intervening and supporting kids and families in crisis situations and bearing direct witness to a lot of suffering—“ G: Wow… J: “DBD is such an emotionally intelligent show that my colleagues and I discussed each episode as we saw it from our clinical perspective.” That’s really, really interesting. “Months later, the show still means so much to me. A hazard of this job is high risk of developing PTSD. This autumn has been full of hard cases at our hospital. Can you give me/helpers some words of encouragement?” J: Well, first of all, the fact that you guys can come together and, you know, discuss some of the themes of the show and relate it to your personal life was kinda the whole reason we kind of took on these characters, and that was the aim. You know, we wanted people to be able to take, you know, the-the things that Edwin and Charles go through and put them into their real-life situations, so, yes, thank you so much for that. J: Um, you said here that you intervene and support kids and families in crisis situations. I think that really relates to Charles’s story. I remember when I was doing my research for-for Charles, I actually spoke to people that do the same job you do and they kind of spoke me through how people, you know, act in them kind of environments, and how, you know, they—the different coping mechanisms and stuff like that, so I have massive, massive respect for what you do, and I really hope that, you know, continue to do it and be a positive light for everybody, and… yeah. G: Mm. J: I hope that’s a good-enough few words of encouragement. G: That’s a lovely few words. J: George? G: I would say, just to add to that, I-I would just say, you know, I think you’re no better than anyone else. You can’t control, like, how many hard cases there are at a time at a facility like yours, but, I’m sure the winter isn’t helping, so we’re nearly at the end of the year, um, it’s been a tough year for for everyone, um, I would say to you and your coworkers and your helpers, lean on each other, because, you know, I speak on behalf of me, Jayden, and the cast, like, having, having a core group that you can lean on in times of difficulty and strife is-is really, um, the most powerful thing, cos it makes you feel like you can overcome anything. So keep doing that, but it sounds like you already are. Um, and have, I hope you have a less heavy week, um, but even if it is heavy, you clearly have capacity for it—your helpers have capacity for it. Keep looking after yourself. And, um, thanks again for [???] J: And we got you. No matter what, so, you can always fall back on this and listen to us two idiots talking rubbish— G: And we’re just a mirror away!

[chuckepisodes]

Chuck vs. The Lethal Weapon Part 2

Sarah took Cole into the interrogation room as he was fixing himself up while you, Chuck and Casey were watching and listening in from the other side. "After that, it was eight, maybe nine guys until the door." Cole told Sarah, explaining to her how he escaped.

" Oh, come one. We're supposed to believe that he took out nine guys and escaped a FULCRUM holding facility all by himself?" Chuck asked. "Please, I don't think we can trust this guy." "I've done nine before." Casey said, turning to look at you both. " You've taken out nine guys?" you asked. " Just saying it's doable."

"So when they questioned you about the Intersect..." Sarah began. " I didn't tell them anything. It's not my first dance, Walker. If I talked, then Chuck, Y/N, Casey, you... are all in the crosshairs. Not an option." " Why come back here after you escaped?" " I wanted to make sure you were safe."

"I still kinda ship this." you quietly said to Chuck, leaning over a bit. Chuck smirked and put his arm around you.

You later all gathered around the screen to get more info from Beckman. "Thanks to information provided by Mr. Barker, we now know that FULCRUM is protecting a man that goes by the code name "Perseus. " " Beckman began. "Perseus is the head scientist behind FULCRUM's effort to build their own Intersect." Cole said, placing a file in front of you and Chuck to look at. "Anything, guys?" Sarah asked, hoping one of you flashed on it. You just both shook your heads no. " I spent the past year undercover trying to get close to him, but only the inner circle is ever allowed contact with the man." Cole told you all. "Intel tells us Perseus is attending a formal event tonight at the Swiss Consul's office. The State Department has arranged invitations for the two of you." Beckman said. " Um, the two, the two of who?" Chuck asked. " Agent Walker and Agent Casey." " Are you sure, General? I'd be happy to accompany Agent Walker." Cole said. " I bet you would." you said with a smirk. "Chuck and I'd be happy to go, too." " Oh, aren't you two popular?" Casey said. "I mean, you know, we are, we are the Intersects and everything." Chuck added. " Neither Agent Barker nor Bartowski and L/N will be going on this mission. FULCRUM is still actively searching for the three of you. You will all stay in Castle and monitor by remote feed. If you recognize anyone, you'll have radio." Beckman explained. "Well, at least no one's telling us to... " you started, leaning closer to Chuck. "You heard the General. You two stay in the bunker." Casey said. "And there it is." Chuck said, turning his head to look at you. "Mm-hm."

Sarah and Casey were all dressed up and arriving at the party while you, Chuck and Cole were down in Castle, doing surveillance. "Video check. Do we have a signal?" Sarah asked.

" Yep, we got you. And you look fantastic. Sarah, is that dress CIA issue, or do you just make everything look that good?" Cole asked, still trying to flirt with her. "Cole? Can we leave the flirting for another time?" you asked. "Oh like you and Chuck never flirt on a mission." "Not the point. Let's get back to business." Chuck said. "Okay, too many cooks in the kitchen. Chuck, you get in Casey's ear, I'll get in Sarah's." Cole said. "And me?" "You just keep a lookout and make sure we don't miss anything." "Sure." you said, not that excited. "Okay, you two, split up. Sarah, you've got an unsecured exit at 2:00. The guy in the bad suit standing in front of the Swiss flag is packing." Cole began. " Casey, you got a bogey." Chuck warned. "Honey it's a tray of crab cakes coming in." you said, looking at him and giving him a funny look. "I'm just trying to be helpful, okay? Works up an appetite on missions." You just smiled and shook your head. "Sarah, the Italian minister for trade is headed your way. Now he can get a little handsy." Cole told her.

"Hello. I'm Paolo Giordano. I saw you arrive and couldn't help but admire your beauty." The man said as he took Sarah's hand and kissed it.

"His wife's name is Isabella and he has three little bambinos." Cole told her.

" Thank you. How are Isabella and the children?" Sarah asked. "Senorina." The man told her as he left awkwardly.

You and Chuck let out a soft laugh. " Nicely done." you said.

"Thank you." "Who else haven't we seen?" Casey asked.

"I don't know, look at the people by that ice goose thing." Chuck suggested. As Casey walked over, you and Chuck saw this one man and you both flashed on him. " Oh, okay, I just flashed." you and Chuck said at the same time. "The shorter balding gentleman in the sweater wearing the glasses-- that has got to be Perseus." Chuck told them.

" I have a visual. Moving in." Casey said.

"His name is Howard Busgang. He's a research scientist with the Department of Defense." you informed.

"Good job, Y/N and Chuck." Sarah said.

"Hey... Just you know...Doing what we do." you said as you looked at Cole. "So nine guys, huh? Really, you're not fudging that number? Not even a little bit?" Chuck asked Cole. " Sounds harder than it is. Always go for the knee." " You mean like sweep the leg?"

As Sarah and Casey were heading into the room, they accidentally ran into a man. "Ooh. Ooh, I'm sorry. Excuse me." The man apologized.

" That's him." Cole said, pointing at the man. "Well, yeah. You're a little late to the party. We just flashed." Chuck told him. " No, not Busgang, him. He was the guy who was torturing me. He's Fulcrum." All of a sudden, all the cameras went down and it was just static on all the screens. "Where'd they go? Where'd they go? Where'd they go? " you asked, panicking a little. "My guess is that Fulcrum made them, and they just jammed the signal." Cole explained.

Cole left for a sec and came back in with a case and pulled out a gun. "Your friends are in trouble." " Yeah we've gathered that. We have to call General Beckman." you said. " For what?" " So she can tell us what to do next." " I'll tell you what we do next. We go to the consulate and we save them." Cole told you as he got the gun ready. "No, no, no, no. Sarah and Casey specifically said for us to stay here." Chuck told him as the two of you quickly got up to join Cole. "Yeah, well, sometimes things don't always go according to plan, Chuck. You have to improvise." " Look, you can't just go run off and be the hero all the time." " It's not about wanting to be a hero, Chuck. It's about needing to be." Cole then took out another gun to make sure it was ready to go as well. "Two guns, huh? Oh, you really are a badass." " No, Chuck, one gun. One for you and this one...for Y/N." Cole explained handing you two the guns. You both hesitantly grabbed them. Cole then pulled out another gun for him. You and Chuck took a deep breath and looked at each other a little nervous. "Let's go." Cole said as he clapped you both on the shoulder and walked out. You and Chuck were absolutely not ready for this.

[hiinnys]

orange and blue

they’re eighteen and she’s sitting next to him in his car that barely works these days.

“you can get a new one, you know that right?” she says, all snark with no real bite. she’s worried about him these days. he’s worried about everyone and she’s worried about him but they’ve always been like that. he’s looking at the forest and she thinks he’s the only tree in the world.

“nah, i can't,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. and it used to be. he would say things and she would understand, his heart on his sleeve and her mind on him. her mind’s the same, but she hasn’t seen his heart in a while. maybe he dropped in the library, forgot about it like he forgot the wrench.

“why?” she draws it out, like it’s theatre. like they’re actors on a stage, playing make believe, and this isn’t their lives, and they haven’t watched their friends die, and he didn’t leave his wrench (his heart) in the library.

he looks at her, just for a moment, but damn she wishes he wouldn’t. his eyes leave bruises on her skin and they’re all she’ll be able to focus on in class tomorrow. (they’re not the same bruises jackson left on her. those were black and purple and these are orange and blue. those were pain, hidden behind concealer and these are honey, wrapping her in warmth.)

“it was my mom’s,” he whispers it, but she sees his heart again and how could she not see it before? it’s right there. sitting on his sleeve, leaking blood all over his seat, all over him. her heart breaks and his long fingers grip the clutch and her hand moves over his before she can really think. her fingers spread into the spaces between his and his shoulders relax and she sees his heart beating the same as hers. (sometimes she thinks it’s better when she doesn’t think around him. only around him. only him.)

they don’t speak and he keeps driving and she keeps feeling. he does this almost every night now, drags her out of bed, insists that there’s something. she hates it, wants to sleep and not drive around the hell they call their home. but he’s restless and losing faith in himself and she only has faith in him and this is the only way she knows how to show it. (she can never quite come up with the words to tell him, but she’s never been good at words so she doesn’t bother.)

they’re twenty-two and she’s sleeping, but she can’t feel him next to her.

her eyes open faster than they should, fearing the worst, a habit she can’t quite shake. she finds him instantly, standing in the middle of the room, not dying because of course he isn’t. (thank god he isn’t.) he’s stringing something up to his crime board. his new one. the one he has now that he’s in dc, in a three bedroom he shares with the friends he made in college. (all three in criminology, of course. all three in the fbi program he did that summer, when she wanted him to be safe and as far away as possible. stiles knows nothing if not how to stick with his people.)

she likes them. his friends from college that he shares the three bedroom with. and she likes his new crime board. and she likes his room and his bed and his shirt that she’s sleeping in and his naked back. (she loves him, though.)

“are you seriously gonna tell me a serial killer’s more interesting than me?” he jumps when she speaks and she can’t help the smile on her face. she can never help it when it comes to him. it’s been years and she still can’t figure out that hold he has on her. the one that makes it impossible to be anything but exactly who she is around him.

“jesus christ,” but it’s stiles, so it’s more JESus christ, and lydia’s smile is wider than it was a second ago. he sees it, the smile, and she’s caught. “it’s not gonna be so funny when you actually give me a heart attack, you know that right?”

“it’d have to take a lot more than that to give you an actual heart attack,” she throws back easily. “scientifically speaking.”

he squints his eyes, nods his head, in that way he does before turning back to the board. “no, a serial killer is not more interesting than you,” he’s mumbling around the marker in his mouth but she understands (always does), “but i couldn’t get this thing about the call logs chief pulled out of my head.” she smiles again, softer this time, because this is her boy. the one who’s on an elite investigative unit in the fbi at twenty-two because even the hot-shots couldn’t ignore his brain. (she doesn’t understand it now. how she ever managed to ignore her boy.)

“lead anywhere?” it’s offhand, her eyes closed in the bed she barely sleeps in because he’s in dc and she’s still living in massachusetts (they weren’t meant to be long distance for this long, honestly. but she got offered a full-time position at mit’s research facility straight out of college and stiles wouldn’t let her turn it down. she remembers the phone call, remembers every moment with him, never wants to forget any of it again.

“lydia, come on, you’re always talking about how amazing the team is.”

“yeah, stiles, it’s great, it’s amazing, but mit isn’t dc. what happened to the ‘great post-college’ plan?”

“lydia, forget the plan! take the job! It’s uh-mazing, we both know you want it, and we both know you’d kill it.”

“i just-” a pause, a blue car in the school’s lot she can’t remember getting into, doesn’t know how she did, she’s never seen the car before, let alone has the keys to it. “i hate being away from you.”

“yeah, i hate it too,” he whispers, like it’s all their secret. “but….we’re orange and blue, we’re the perfect combination.” she bites her lips to keep the laugh in.

“i hate you,” all snark, no bite, like always.

“love you too,” and she can see the smile, warms her heart with the mental image of it. “take the job, please.”)

“uh, maybe? i’m working on it,” he responds, turning back to her. her eyes flutter open and, just for a moment, it’s green on brown and nothing else exists, and he smiles. it’s a delicate one, the smile he keeps for her, makes her sink deeper into his shirt, into his smell. “i’ll tell you in the morning. go back to sleep, martin.”

“mm. don’t be awake all night, you need your beauty sleep, stilinski.” she can see his face in her head again. of course she can, he’s painted on every inch of her brain.

“rude,” is all he mumbles, letting her fall back asleep. (she falls asleep to him, though. to the sound of him mumbling under his breath, working through the case, to the sound of his fingers riffling the call logs.) (she wakes up to him, too.)

[cheerfulmelancholies]

Medical Mechanical Ch. 8

As soon as the door latched behind her, Diana dialed Ethan's number. "You were right," she said when he answered. "It is getting worse." She forced herself to keep her breathing steady. Her shaking hands didn't allow her as much control.

Ethan was on high alert instantly. "What happened?"

"I don't know, he was just really out of it. I didn't even know he was home at first. I just went looking for something in the garage and saw him standing there next to his car. It was like he didn't know I existed; he just kept staring at the thing. I think he might've been doing that for a while. Then he just stumbled over to his workbench. He kept mumbling but I couldn't understand it."

"He stumbled? Was he hurt?"

Diana shook her head even though he couldn't see it. "No. Aside from the lapse in memory, he was fine."

"What else did he do?"

"Anyone who knows my dad knows he can work on cars. He was so confused he grabbed the wrong tool and didn't even know how to use it. Every time I tried to say something he either didn't hear me or blew me off. He kept saying he was fine even though he obviously wasn't, and next thing I know he's on the ground trying to pull the front tire off with his hands. Then he just sort of... woke up." She chanced a peek out her bedroom door and heard him snoring lightly. At least he seemed better now.

"That's... I have no idea how to respond to that," Ethan said, brow creased. Though his mother had been unusually chipper these past few days, she was still herself. Much of his interactions with her had been the same as always, albeit on a much more cheerful note. Daniel Ryder's sudden memory lapse was far more troubling and spoke volumes for what little they could unearth about Medical Mechanical.

Diana sighed and sat on her bed. "This is so sudden," she admitted, picking at a hangnail. "Aside from the headaches and being out late, he was fine. Now, all of a sudden, he loses his shit? You should have seen him. I was worried I'd have to take him to one of MM's clinics." If they discovered that whatever they'd been doing to her father had taken effect like this, she might lose him for good.

"Let's not panic, okay? If he's fine now then it just means it was something temporary. Maybe they gave him something, like my mom. Or maybe it's just stress." He knew she would never believe such a terrible excuse but he wanted to ease her worry.

"There's no way you could get amnesia from stress, Ethan. They definitely did something to him."

"I know. And we're working on figuring it out, so don't go rushing in halfcocked. We need to get more info first."

They hadn't gotten much out of any locals aside from the usual conspiracy theories and paranoia-driven nonsense. The only people who knew anything had either left or were working for the enemy. It wouldn't be easy, but they were going to have to get closer to MM themselves if they wanted to find out what was going on.

Diana hummed in thought. "I think I might have an idea."

"Shoot."

"I can try asking my mom," she said, still deciding if it was a good call.

Ethan didn't know how much of the things he'd heard about Keana Ryder were true, so he settled on being neutral. "If you think she'll know anything."

"She might?" Why did she sound so unsure? Of course her mom would know something. She was still in the medical industry, what little of it there was that Medical Mechanical didn't own. Not to mention, she’d had her fair share of their shenanigans before. "I'm sure she's got some kind of insider knowledge." Whether or not she'd have to relay her dad's lapse in memory to get said knowledge had yet to be seen.

He shrugged, trying to remain indifferent. "Sounds good. Let me know if you find out anything."

"Will do. Bye." She hung up and her finger hovered over the image of her mother. She spent a couple of minutes steeling herself and going over what she wanted to say before calling.

Her call was answered on the third ring.

"Diana, long time no chat." Keana closed the laptop's lid and leaned back in her chair. She was surprised to hear from her daughter again so soon, but also relieved.

"Hey, Mom. How's stuff been?" She thought a casual approach would be her best bet.

"Oh, frustrating as always. You know how it is." She heard Diana hum. "Is everything alright there?"

"Yeah, everything's good. I just wanted to talk some more. Unless you're busy, that is. I know that's why you couldn't come over so soon." She felt horrible for playing her mother like this, using her wounded daughter act to get her to talk. She just didn't want to use the alternative.

"No, no, of course not, honey. I'm always here for you. Anything new at school?"

She hadn't been planning on revealing Ethan so soon, but then she realized it would be the perfect opportunity to bring up her father. "Well, not really," she said, injecting just enough insecurity into her tone.

"Not really?" Keana parroted, not missing the awkward phrasing.

"Well, ok, I guess I'll tell you. There's this project I've been doing and, uh, I've got a partner on it. His name's Ethan. You're not allowed to tell Dad though; he's already caught on and he's giving me flak over it." She wasn't lying, she told herself.

"Aw, sounds like you've got a crush."

"Mom..." Though she had known it was coming she was still embarrassed. "I mean it. This is between us, got it?"

"Any reason why you're keeping your father out of the loop?" Diana was just as close to Daniel as her. Sometimes she wondered if they weren't closer because of how little she saw them.

Here went nothing. Diana took in a silent breath before speaking. "He's just been... kinda distant lately. He's always so tired now. All he does is work and sleep."

Keana was silent for several moments.

"Mom?" She thought she'd gotten disconnected when her mother finally spoke.

"Just how much does he work?"

The question took her by surprise and she couldn't think of a response right away. "Um, a lot," she said finally.

"A lot of what? Days? Nights? Hours?"

"All three, if I'm being honest. But he's always worked like crazy." As she said it, she was questioning if it was true. Her father had always thrown himself at his work--so much that it had cost him his marriage--but had he always lived for it? How long had this been going on for? The complete one-eighty on his views of MM was bad enough, but had he really always worked this hard for them?

"Doesn't he get any time off? He used to have weekends, remember?" Keana asked, cutting into Diana’s daze.

Diana blinked. He did used to have the weekend off. Occasionally he'd get called in but that was normal. Now that she thought about it, he'd once taken a week off in an attempt to fix his and Keana's relationship. It hadn't worked and he'd gone back the following Monday in a mood so foul they sent him home for another four days.

"When was the last time he had a day off?"

Despite this being the conversation she wanted to have, the seriousness in her mother's tone coupled with what had just transpired in the garage made her mouth go dry. "I don't remember. He usually goes in before I'm even up for school and sometimes he doesn't come home till late night." The way her tongue stuck as she spoke grated her nerves.

"How late?" The Daniel she knew never would've been that devoted to his job. He certainly never was with her.

"Sometimes around nine, six if he's really lucky, but a lot of the time he doesn't get off till way later. I'm either in bed or leaving for school." The silence on the other end gave her goosebumps. Her mother definitely knew something. "It's... It's weird, isn't it? He never used to work so much. I think he's at that facility more than he's at home. I have no idea why; he won't tell me."

"I'm not sure myself, honey. It was bad enough then. This is something else entirely."

"Did he ever tell you what he does there? He could be a janitor for all I know. I can't get anything out of him." Silence. "Please, Mom? I just wonder." She almost said worry.

"Research," came the response. "He was hired in for research. They offered me the same thing."

"Research on what?" She was so close.

"They wouldn't say unless we agreed. You know I can't stand them, so I told them to buzz off, but your father..." She sighed. "He was just as against it as me, but then they approached him with some sort of offer. I don't know what it was about, but whatever they said to Daniel put starts in his eyes like I'd never seen. He was hell-bent on taking the offer. I told him it was a terrible idea and that we should stick to our guns, but he ignored me. He said he needed the job. Wouldn't tell me why though. Just that it was important."

"I didn't know that." Her parents had never made her privy to the real reason behind their separation. Sure, her dad's workaholic nature and sudden trust in a company he'd previously hated hadn't helped, and her mother's stubbornness only added fuel to the fire. She knew deep down that it was something more though. Something more than the fights, the failed private practice and even MM themselves. Something within one of her parents caused a divide between them.

"I've got no clue what sort of research they needed him to do," Keana was saying. "Daniel was never one for the medical business. I always assumed it was something machine related. The man loves to tinker."

"But... I thought..." Diana took a moment to compose herself. "It's Medical Mechanical. I mean, yeah, mechanical is in the name but they've never put out health care robots or anything." And thank goodness for that. The last thing she needed was to imagine the sight of humanoid robots going rogue and tearing into people for the sake of 'science.'

"I used to think they would, back when they first started here. I figured that was what had Daniel so intrigued. With what you've told me, I'm not so sure now. With him on board, they would've had at least three generations worth of mechanical assistants by now."

"So what else could it be? Dad's not a nurse but I'm sure he can-"

"No, honey, you don't understand. You know your father's never even seen med school, right?" Her phone notified her of another call and she pulled it away from her ear to look. Cursing, she brought it back. "Listen, baby girl, I have to go but I'll call you back as soon as I can. I've been waiting all day for this call."

"Wait, Mom-"

"I love you."

Diana stared at the screen, at a loss. She had more questions than ever now, all pertaining to her father and his devotion to MM. The one that bothered her the most? Why had they hired him? He had a degree in engineering, nothing more. She hadn't put much thought into it before but it was odd. Here was Daniel Ryder, a man ill-equipped to be a nurse, let alone a leading researcher for a medical firm, and yet they seemed to rely on him for almost everything. And it was apparently mutual. He had wanted--desperately--whatever they had offered him. He had deemed it to be worth his family and mental well-being.

Her mother had left her with quite the revelation.

[razielwriter]

Lockdown - A short horror/thriller story

Recording date not found. Author Unknown. Located in the Chainwell Tor Research Facility Database. Log 1.

M: So… It looks like we’re in here for the long haul…

(Pause)

M: I think I heard somewhere that, to avoid going crazy on submarines, sailors get themselves into routines. It’s been nearly two weeks since… Well, it couldn’t hurt, I guess.

M: I started out slow. Ease myself into it, you know? Having breakfast, getting in some exercise, checking the security monitors. Still nothing. Not even cats. And cats get fucking everywhere. You know how long it’s been since I’ve seen a pigeon? Fucking… ages man. I mean not ages, but like… It’s crazy.

M: I did find a rat, though. Found him in a box of shreddies. He kept making this horrible scratching noise. It’s okay though. I fucking hate shreddies. I’ve decided to name him Jason, for obvious reasons. He now lives in a little cell I managed to rig together. He seems happy. Still likes to bite me, bloody nuisance.

M: I started going through the boxes. Some of the stuff was… Weird. I’ll say it, it was weird. I mean, who packs a Furby? In an emergency bunker? I mean who looks at Gods mistake of a children’s toy and thinks “yes, this will get me through the end of the world”. Its fucking creepy, is what it is. I’ve left it in a corner, next to the toaster. If it turns around, I’m out.

M: And now I’m talking to you. Like you’re a person. Like you care about any of this. Like you won’t outlive me by a decade, assuming, you know, the electricity stays on and nothing springs a leak.

M: But… that’s it. That’s my day. Fucking bollocks, that.

~~~

Recording date not found. Author Unknown. Located in the Chainwell Tor Research Facility Database. Log 9.

M: I decided to go exploring today. Started making a map of this place. Goes on forever. Found some cool shit, though. Greenhouse. Supply room. Hell, even found someone’s stash of porn. Truly, the essentials.

M: Coolest thing, though. I found a radio. Not one of the digital ones. Like, 80’s to 90’s shit. Looks like it was used to broadcast. Bit old school, but I think I can get it set up again. I’m hoping someone, out there, might have had the same idea. Maybe they’ll come rescue me.

M: Anyway, my day. Yes, that’s what you really want to know about. Um… Had breakfast, did exercise. Fed Jason. I swear, he’s getting fat. Picked out a book to read. “Lord of the Flies”, cheery I know. But it only seemed appropriate, given the circumstances.

(Sigh)

M: God, I sound like a dating profile. I mean, dating a computer wouldn’t be that bad but, I hate to say it, I just don’t think you’re my type. We can still be friends though. Get a pint from time to time, smile awkwardly at parties. Then you and your boyfriend will have a fight one night, and you’ll call, just wanting a friend, but we both know it’s more than that. We have one drunken night of passionate love making. But we never talk about it.

M: Ooh, that’s the timer. My steak and kidney pies ready.

~~~

Recording date not found. Author Unknown. Located in the Chainwell Tor Research Facility Database. Log 15.

M: God, that Ralphs a nark. All that “… eyes that proclaimed no evil” shit. He’s so preachy. I bet, if he had access to the internet, he’d be just as “innocent” as every other boy his age. Then we’ll see who’s so golden.

(Chuckles)

M: Same as usual. Breakfast, exercise, security cameras, tended to the greenhouse. The potatoes are coming along nicely, and the sunflowers. I’m surprised. I thought they’d need more, you know, sunlight. But halogen will have to do. I can’t exactly go and clean the windows from the outside.

M: Then I went to feed Jason… I don’t know if I should call her that anymore. Turns out he is a she. And she had babies. Tiny little pink bodies, all squirming and squeaking. Their eyes aren’t even open. Never seen a baby rat before. They’re kind of gross, but also kind of cute.

M: Went to check on the radio for a few hours. Calm my nerves a bit. It’s not every day you become a dad to five little rat shaped testicles. Thought I heard something at around seven, but it turned out to be nothing. I think it was just, like, a World War Two radio play, or something. Shooting and shouting, you know the sort.

M: But that’s it for today. Now for some good old-fashioned alone time… As if I haven’t got anything else.

~~~

Recording date not found. Author Unknown. Located in the Chainwell Tor Research Facility Database. Log 26.

M: Okay, lets get this shit over with.  Woke up a little earlier than I would have liked. Damn scratching. I think Jason might be getting some cell mates soon, if I find the culprit. Had breakfast, did exercise, all that good stuff. Fed Jason and the Ratgonauts. Their skin has gone darker, so that’s good… I think… I don’t actually know. God, I wish I could ask someone. Anyway, tended to the greenhouse. Then I went to check on the radio. And, fucking hell, that’s when the interesting shit kicked in.

M: I heard someone. Out there. I’m sure of it this time. I wrote down the words. Hold on… Mm…

(Paper rustling)

M: Fuck, where is it? AH! Here. The signal was a bit shit, so I didn’t get all of it, but this is what I’ve got.

M: To anyone out there… Please… Keep… My name is Sophie. I’m in… To anyone still out there, if anyone is still out there, I am here. I am still alive. But I don’t know how long I can last. Please, if you can hear me, my frequency is… That’s where it cut out.

M: I knew it. I fucking knew it! I knew I couldn’t be the only one left. And if I’m picking up on her signal, Sophie can’t be that far away! I guess I’ll have to keep flicking through the radio signals until I find her again. But I’m gonna make dinner first.

~~~

Recording date not found. Author Unknown. Located in the Chainwell Tor Research Facility Database. Log 31.

M: She… She fucking ate them. I… I can’t…

(Pause)

M: It was normal. Breakfast, exercise, all that bollocks…

(Pause)

M: I thought it was quiet. I thought that was a bit weird. Usually, when its feeding time, Jason starts squeaking and running around… Fuck. Maybe I wasn’t feeding her enough. Maybe I needed to let her loose from time to time but… She ate them. They were gone when I looked in and I only realised when I found the tail… All five…

M: Anyway, yeah, did some gardening… Checked the radio… Nothing…

(Pause)

M: I don’t know why I’m fucking crying over rats. I kind of wanted to… But she’s the only other living thing here, except me…

~~~

Recording date not found. Author Unknown. Located in the Chainwell Tor Research Facility Database. Log 39.

M: It’s quiet without the babies. Fucking little bastards waking me up at three in the morning with their scratching but...

(Pause)

M: Got breakfast, did exercise. It’s weird. Never thought I would have, like, muscle and shit. I’m more beer belly and pork scratchings. Who would have thought it?

M: My sunflowers are doing really well. Never thought I’d like courgettes, but, you know what? They’re not that bad.

M: I think Jason got out in the night. Or maybe it was someone else that ate the rest of my lasagne. Yeah I’m looking at you, baby eater.

M: The Furby woke up today. I was just making some coffee and it fucking laughed at me, this demonic screeching noise and wiggled its fucking ears. So I did what any other self-respecting person would do. Took it and chucked it at the wall. It broke. I still have no idea how it did that. Couldn’t find a battery or anything. Gives me the creeps just thinking about it.

M: That’s… that’s not the only thing though. Fuck, I really have been out here too long. I… well, I woke up at about 1 am. Nightmares, nothing new there. I went to get myself a drink and… I think I saw something. Outside. It was sort of like a shadow, but not really. Too solid for that. And… teeth. At least, I think they were teeth. They looked like teeth.

(Sigh)

M: Fuck, I need a drink. I found a bunch of booze in the back. I know I promised… but he’s gone now. Who cares about soberness anymore, right?

~~~

Recording date not found. Author Unknown. Located in the Chainwell Tor Research Facility Database. Log 40.

M: The scratching. I think Jason’s getting kind of frustrated in the night. I keep waking up to the sound of scratching.

M: Ah… yeah, sorry. Day, yes. Um… Breakfast, exercise, feeding Jason. Sorry, I haven’t slept… at all, really. That damn scratching and… God, what was in those booze? Feels like my brain is being squeezed by an angry nun.

M: Anyway, that’s about…

(The radio is heard)

Prof S Taylor: Hello? Can anyone hear me?

M: What…? Holy shit… Um… Hello? I mean, fuck, yes! Me. I’m here! I can hear you!

Prof S Taylor: Oh my God. Finally. Hi.

M: Hello.

Prof S Taylor: I… Um… Right, no time for the gushy stuff. I’m Sophie. Professor Taylor, I should say, with the research team. Is Sargent Foster there?

M: Sargent Foster?

Prof S Taylor: You are in the bunker, right?

M: Yeah but, um, I’m not Foster and… Its just me here. No one else.

Prof S Taylor: What? Who are you, then? Name and rank, soldier.

M: Easy there, mate. I’m not a soldier. Its… It’s a little complicated.

Prof S Taylor: Whatever. We’ll talk about it more when I get there. You have supplies?

M: Yeah, sure. But not much.

Prof S Taylor: Fair enough. The higherups probably closed the whole valley in case... Has anyone attempted to contact you?

M: Nope. Only you so far.

Prof S Taylor: And its just you there? What happened to the others?

M: I… I have no idea. I thought you could tell me.

Prof S Taylor: Humm… Still, I’m on the other side of the valley. I’ll be stopping off halfway. There’s another bunker, there should be a few others there. I think their radios defective, though. Haven’t been able to get in contact. I should be with you by the end of Tuesday.

M: Wow, days still exist then? Wonder what else I’ve forgotten? Tell me, do people still shake hands anymore, or do we spit in each other’s general direction, or something?

Prof S Taylor: Oh, so you’re a comedian. That’s… something, I suppose. Listen, just sit tight. I’ll be there soon.

M: Okay. My names Matt by the way.

Prof S Taylor: That’s good to know. Nice to meet you Matt. I’ll be there soon.

(Radio is turned off)

M: … Wow. Just… Fucking wow… I should probably tidy up a bit.

~~~

Recording date not found. Author Unknown. Located in the Chainwell Tor Research Facility Database. Log 45.

M: Okay, I’m sure somethings wrong now. Jason… She’s gone missing. And that… I saw it again. I… I fucking saw it! I know I did! I’m not going crazy, right? I can’t be?

M: Jason got out. I was looking for her and… The window. I saw it out the window. Its jaw was huge, large enough to eat a German shepherd whole. And its teeth were wet and glistening. It looked like… like a cartoon skull. No lips. No nose. Just black, rubbery skin pulled back over that massive jaw and tiny skull. And the body was thin. I could see every rib and organ through the skin. And skinny legs. The arms were fucking crazy, though. Like, long and muscly. I think it walked on them…

(The radio is heard)

Prof S Taylor: Matt? Matt, you there?

M: Shit. Ugh, yeah, yeah I’m here. Where are you?

Prof S Taylor: At the other bunker. Matt… I’m not gonna make it.

M: What do you mean?

Prof S Taylor: They… They’re all dead. And I know it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have trusted it to behave. I should have stopped it.

M: What? Sophie… Are you talking about the thing with the teeth? And the weird arms?

Prof S Taylor: You’ve seen it then. The Scratcher. That’s what the office wits liked calling it. Stupid name. But… I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. My suggestion is get out while you can. I’ll stay here, draw it to me. That should buy you some time.

M: Sophie... How far away are you? I’m sure I could reach you…

Prof S Taylor: There’s no time for that. I can see it through the trees. It shouldn’t be long now.

M: No…

Prof S Taylor: Just… Promise me one thing. If you get out, find Roshni Laghari. She’s a teacher in London. She… Tell her I loved her to. I never told her, but I did. Will you do that for me Matt? Please?

M: Y-Yes. I’ll do that.

Prof S Taylor: Thank you Matt. Thank you.

(Radio is turned off)

M: … Shit. I should never have come here. I… I really shouldn’t have… Where’s my bag?

~~~

Recording date not found. Author Unknown. Located in the Chainwell Tor Research Facility Database. Log 98.

M: I hear him. I hear him. He whispers to me at night, like the prophecies of an angry God. But I have not lost my way yet. I see him for what he is. A pig’s head. And I am the flies. I am the flies.

M: I found her today. He threw her through the greenhouse glass. My Jason. Poor Jason. I’ll tell you something, though. She was tasty. Can of beans and some whisky. Got to be careful. Don’t have too much left…

M: For fuck sake will you quiet. I hear you. I hear you all the fucking time you grinning bastard. I hear you when I sleep. When I wake up. Stop… Stop laughing at me! How you like it if I did it to you?

(Proceeds to laugh for one minute and thirty-two seconds)

M: See, I laugh at you devil. Scum. See how you like it. Because I’m not opening that door. Not for anything. Not for…

M: No. You… You can’t say that. It was… It was an accident. IT WAS AN ACIDENT! I couldn’t stop it. It wasn’t my fault. If anything, it was yours. All your fault, poor, pathetic monster. You’re the reason! You’re the reason they’re dead, not me!

M: What… What’s that?

(Gun shots)

M: Ha, they’ve come for me. They’re here for me. Yes! Take that fucker!

(The door is blown)

M: Yes! Aw man, you have no idea how good it is-

(Gun shots)

Unknown: All clear. Witness neutralised. Send in the clean up team. And send in the roundup team outside.

 ~~~

 End of transcript. Report compiled by T. R. Fisher.

Professional recommendation that these files remained closed to public consumption for the foreseeable future under paragraph W, subsection 26 of the DPA of 1927.

Files not to be removed from The Vault without express permission, upon fear of grievous bodily harm or legal prosecution.

[solartranslations]

VF Jolly Chapter 1: Change

Her vision is shrouded by darkness. She can’t sense anyone around her, and remains full of tension…

~*Scene: VF Sitting Room Deck 3*~

Felicita: …!

(*grip)

>I can’t move…

>It’s pitch black…

Felicita: !

Felicita: …

(*grip)

Felicita: !

>It hurts…

>I can’t…speak

Felicita: !

Felicita: !

Jolly: Just be a good girl

Jolly: I thought you’d know it was me right away though…

Jolly: I’m trying to protect you for once…but you keep struggling

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be having fun

Place: I thought she’d notice my scent

Person: She reacted just as I thought

Daily: I’ll tease her a bit

Jolly: You’re so difficult

Felicita: !

Jolly: Fel…you have no tolerance to this at all, do you?

Felicita: *blush*

Jolly: *chuckle*…You didn’t know it was me? How cold of you. I thought you would recognize my scent

Jolly: Well, no matter. This isn’t the time for nonsense

Jolly: Do you remember? Once the fog covered the deck…we all got separated

~*Flashback: VF Deck*~

Nova: …Alright. I’ll use my powers. You…

Liberta: Hehe, got it! While you do that, I’ll slice them…huh, what!?

Felicita: !

Pace: Huh? Where is everyone? Debito, you didn’t use your powers, did you!?

Debito: Don’t be stupid, Pace. I wouldn’t use them…what is this…

Luca: This is…

Jolly: …Secure Ojou-sama

Dante: Something’s coming!

Liberta: What!?

??? (Joshua?): Welcome, my brethren…I hope you enjoy yourselves

~*End Flashback*~

Jolly: So you remember. I didn’t sense anyone make a move to carry out my order though

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems concerned

Place: First we analyze the situation

Arcana: I have Ojou-sama…now for the Tarocco

Person: Of course I would take care of you

Jolly: So I secured you myself

Felicita: Yeah

Jolly: …Mm. Now that you understand the situation, let’s see where we are exactly

Jolly: One of the cabins…so it seems

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems as usual

Pleasure: It’s worth investigating

Place: Skeletons…which means lives were lost here?

Food: Apple cores…

Felicita: !?

Jolly: …What?

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems concerned

Person: That expression is…now what to do

Place: She’s more scared of these bones than my laboratory…

Daily: There are some traces of life but not many

>…Those are…

(+15 Amore)

>Jolly…

(+30 Amore)

>We should go somewhere else…

(No Amore)

Jolly: They appear to be bones…You remembered to observe your surroundings. Good

Jolly: But, since you’re shaking…I can tell that this place scares you

Jolly: Then try thinking of this ship as my vacation home

Felicita: …

Jolly: Hmph…I’m glad that you appear to have regained your composure

Jolly: What, are you scared?

Jolly: You weren’t scared when you first came to my laboratory…how is this different?

Felicita: …

Jolly: …Because they’re human bones…I see…

Jolly: How cute of you. Ojou-sama, I’ll have you know

Jolly: My alchemy research facilities are far worse than this room

Felicita: !

Jolly: *chuckle*…I look forward to your reactions the next time you visit me

Felicita: *blush*

Jolly: I shouldn’t be teasing you but…no matter

Jolly: I see…You want to stay away from those

Jolly: But we must gather information in order to understand the situation

Jolly: If you don’t want to be here, will you jump into the sea by yourself then? That’s the best thing you can do to ease your mind

Felicita: …

Jolly: …This won’t take long. Just wait there

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems concerned ❤≪Jolly≫ Seems concerned ❤≪Jolly≫ Seems concerned

Person: She won’t stop shaking even though I’m holding her…

Place: Then I’ll distract her

Daily: There are some traces of life but not many

Person: Her foolishness is adorable too, I suppose

Place: She’s happier not knowing then

Daily: There are some traces of life but not many

Place: So she wants to leave even if it means abandoning her duty

Daily: Just wait for a bit

Daily: There are some traces of life but not many

Jolly: Hm……

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems as usual

Person: Then I shall finish this quickly since Ojou-sama is oh so frightened

Person: Accommodating for others sure is tiring…

Place: We won’t be able to gain much here

Jolly: No signs of movement…

Jolly: Hah…!!

(*crash!)

Jolly: Hm…?

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems concerned

Daily: Just wait

Place: …I’ve found a lead

Jolly: This is…

Jolly: I found something

Felicita: ?

Jolly: It’s hair from an animal…and from the length…it’s not from any creature that inhabits Regalo

Jolly: I heard you were carried off by a tiger when you were taken from the mansion

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems as usual

Person: The situation would have been different if Ojou-sama had been conscious

Daily: It wasn’t just any tiger. There were complex thoughts behind its actions

Place: …We’re finished here

Felicita: …

Jolly: …You don’t remember? Then you were already on the ship when you woke up?

Jolly: This hair is likely from that tiger

Jolly: …We should get moving. Based on the length of this hair, it must be huge. One bite from its jaws would send us to the heavens

Jolly: It may be wandering the ship. We are at a disadvantage in the dark here where we can’t see

Felicita: Okay

Jolly: …There doesn’t seem to be anything else we could learn here either

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be having fun

Place: We should find a place to rest

Person: The situation is what it is

Jolly: Now, shall we go somewhere else as you wished?

Jolly: Fel, your hand please

>Why did you take off your sunglasses?

(+30 Amore)

>…You’re so kind, Jolly

(+20 Amore)

>Don’t let go, okay?

(No Amore)

Jolly: ……Because I can’t see

Felicita: ?

Jolly: If it’s this dark, I won’t be able to see if I don’t take them off

Jolly: …Don’t ask about something so obvious

Jolly: For some reason, it seems that you don’t like being treated kindly

Jolly: In that case, I’ll let go of your hand then

Felicita: !

Jolly: Hmph…I’m joking. I’m always kind, am I not?

Jolly: Now, let’s go

(Skip the next dialogue choice box)

Jolly: If you tell me not to let go, I’ll start wanting to

Felicita: !

Jolly: *chuckling*…I’m just saying that you shouldn’t let go. Right?

Felicita: Okay

(Skip the next dialogue choice box)

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be mocking ❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be teasing ❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be teasing

Person: This girl…

Place: She’s quite obedient

Daily: …I didn’t think she would go along with it

Daily: Occasionally…

Person: But it isn’t like me

Daily: *chuckling*…

Daily: But it’s the truth

Daily: What now?

Daily: Don’t take it seriously

>You look handsome

(+10 Amore)

>So cute

(-10 Amore)

Jolly: Hm…thank you

Jolly: Since you’re praising me, I won’t disappoint as your escort

Jolly: Let’s go

Jolly: ………I see

Jolly: I’ll say one thing

Jolly: I like teasing people, but I don’t like being teased

Jolly: …We’re going

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be having fun ❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be teasing

Pleasure: Goodness…

Person: It’s hard to believe she was shaking in fear earlier

Daily: How interesting

Pleasure: Don’t make fun of me

Person: It’s hard to believe she was shaking in fear earlier

Pain: She looks…serious

~*Scene: VF Hallway*~

~*Scene: VF Cabin*~

~*Scene: VF Hallway*~

~*Scene: VF Cabin Deck 3*~

Jolly: All of these cabins look the same…

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems as usual

Person: It’s odd that we didn’t run into anyone while moving around so much

Place: We can find information in these rooms too

Place: …What a strange ship

Jolly: Well, let’s rest here

Jolly: …There shouldn’t be any problems

Felicita: ?

Jolly: It’s farthest away from the room that appeared to be used

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems concerned

Person: What does that face mean?

Place: This room should be alright

Daily: We’ll sort out this situation

Jolly: What were you looking at?

>Your face

(+20 Amore)

>I thought I’d leave that to you, Jolly

(No Amore)

Jolly: I see. It can’t be helped then

Jolly: I must have looked quite impressive while investigating the rooms

(*smirk) Jolly: Then, can I ask which part of my face that you enjoyed?

Felicita: *blush* !

Jolly: Hmph…I thought you’d be able to answer that immediately

Jolly: I see

Jolly: It makes sense. It’s more efficient to let me do something that you are not good with

Jolly: Is that what you mean?

Felicita: …

Jolly: I’ll have to live up to your expectations then

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be teasing ❤≪Jolly≫ Seems concerned

Person: I look forward to her retort

Daily: She sure is carefree

Link: I’ll take that to mean she trusts me

Daily: So in a way, she wasn’t being useless

Person: Such a strange girl

Daily: I’ll take that to mean she trusts me

Jolly: …

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems concerned

Place: That’s from outside…

Place: Was it just a matter of time before we ran into someone?

Person: Are they hostile?

(*creak creak)

Jolly: That confirms it then. It sounds unrealistic, but this appears to be a ghost ship

Felicita: !

Jolly: Do you doubt my conclusion, or are you just surprised that I would say the word “ghost”…

Jolly: Take a look into the hallway and see it with your own eyes

Felicita: *peek*

Felicita: !

Jolly: Well, the night is commonly considered the realm of the dead. And while I do have a principle of accepting what I see before me

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems concerned

Place: They don’t appear to be hallucinations

Person: Well, Ojou-sama appears frightened

It can’t be helped then…

Jolly: …Hm…You appear to be taking it so seriously that it’s frightening you

(*smirk) Jolly: Then, shall we block off the door with that shelf while we sleep?

Jolly: *grunt*…

(*heave)

Jolly: It’s crude, but we’ll know right away if there are any intruders

Jolly: Then we can react without delay. It will slow them down as well

Jolly: *blows smoke*…

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems as usual

Daily: If you’ve calmed down, then sleep

Daily: I’m somewhat tired

Place: And now…

Jolly: It’s a bit dusty, but you should be able to sleep

Jolly: And you know it will be the same wherever we go, right?

Felicita: *sigh*

Jolly: I’ll go over our situation then

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems as usual

Person: Don’t give me that look

Daily: How troublesome

Jolly: After you were taken hostage, you were knocked unconscious by your abductor and taken to this ship

Jolly: The man we faced when we first arrived at this ship is the culprit

Jolly: That exchange occurred outside the captain’s cabin

Jolly: We’ll monitor the situation, and if it looks safe, we should be able to search the captain’s cabin

Jolly: If you understand that then get some sleep so you’ll be rested for the day…I will continue to gather my thoughts

Jolly: ……

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be plotting

Arcana: Tomorrow, we will start by searching for the Tarocco

Place: We should be able to use this ship to return, but I will need to confirm that

Person: There’s no problem with keeping Ojou-sama close to me

Felicita: …

Felicita: *glance*

Jolly: ……?

Jolly: What? You can’t sleep?

Felicita: !

Jolly: ……What is it?

>…Were you always this reliable…?

(+20 Amore)

>…Nothing…

(+10 Amore)

>…There’s no way I can sleep…

(No Amore)

Jolly: …Huh…Can you tell me exactly what kind of person you saw me as then?

Jolly: You can take your time answering…the night is long

Jolly: If you fall asleep while choosing your words, I also don’t mind. …If you can sleep, that is

Jolly: I will just wait for your answer…

Jolly: ………

Jolly: Hah…….

Jolly: *chuckling*…

Jolly: …With that face?

Jolly: If you’ve fallen for me even more, you can just say it

Jolly: There’s no point in teasing you if you just agree

Jolly: …Just sleep for now

Jolly: …

Jolly: Stop complaining. I won’t have you be a burden

Jolly: Listen to what I say…Fel

❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be plotting ❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be teasing ❤≪Jolly≫ Seems to be having fun

Person: Now, the rest depends on your answer

Daily: I can’t ignore that

Daily: I’m reliable…huh?

Person: I can’t read your heart

Daily: But that is quite the passionate gaze

Daily: Now, what will you do?

Person: What Ojou-sama can do right now is to get some rest

Daily: I won’t let her argue

Jolly: Feel better now? Then sleep…

Jolly: …*kiss*…

Jolly: Good night…and sweet dreams

~*End of Scene*~

Special Voice obtained. It can be heard in the Profile section

(Continue to Jolly Chapter 2)

(Back to Directory)

[nexstrik]

circa Regna tonat

Summary:  [It thunders around the kingdom.] Ruby, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren are on a mission to rebuild Penny. The last piece of the puzzle is in an abandoned factory far outside the kingdom walls. Pyrrha would do anything to atone for her actions that led to Penny’s death, and protect Ruby from future harm.

Ships: Ruby/Pyrrha, Ruby/Penny, nearly all of it unrequited

Warnings: None! Enjoy this safe-for-work story.

You can also read this story on AO3. 

The cliff face appeared without warning. According to all their maps, this part of the forest stretched on indefinitely; the darkest part of the wilds that neither humanity nor faunus had tried to brave yet. Ruby ran ahead. Something on the wind made her nose twitch (and she faintly remembered Blake always stroked the top of her head and teased that maybe she was part faunus herself).

Then Ruby found herself pushing past a bit of scrub with a casual swipe from Crescent, and she was on the edge.

It was as wide as a village, a hole bored into the ground. Some greedy god might as well have carved it out with a giant ice cream scoop, leaving the earth hollowed out. It was wide and smooth and unnatural, and Ruby teetered on the edge with her arms windmilling until she lost her balance and fell.

"Yaghh!"

She lashed out with Crescent, burying it deep onto the edge of the hole in the ground. Instinct stuck the landing and she swung there by one hand, gazing out at miles of black glass.

On the other end of the crater, the factory loomed up. Steel and rust, grown over with moss and vines. It was ugly as a bruise on the horizon, ragged columns jutting up into the sky, and broken walls exposing a darkness so deep that she wasn't sure their lanterns would cut it. Something had happened here, she knew. A Dust explosion, one so hazardous that the factory needed to evacuate with little warning. It was one of the few left behind from Dr. Polendina's research, and within it lay their only hope to revive her best friend.

"We found you," she breathed, a little in awe.

Then there was a pull at her belt buckle, and her bracers and her kneepads and the joint that replaced her right elbow. Relaxing into the familiar touch, Ruby let Pyrrha pick her up by her metal bits and deposit her safely back on solid ground.

"Are you okay?" Pyrrha asked, fussing over her, but Ruby's eyes were still focused on the factory in the distance. "When I saw you fall, I..."

Realizing she was being ignored, Pyrrha followed Ruby's gaze to the crumbling ruins. The softness in her face fell away, replaced by determination, and something exhausted and hard-edged.

Pyrrha's hand rested on Ruby's shoulder, and Ruby covered it with her own palm. They both needed the comfort of touch, right then. "That's it, isn't it?" Pyrrha said.

"Mhm."

Storm clouds gathered overhead as Ren and Nora caught up to them. With a warning hand, Pyrrha kept them back from the abrupt drop. Shading her eyes against the setting sun, Nora squinted at their destination. "How is it still standing?" Nora wondered. "Holy moly, the lights are still on! You see it too, don't you, Ren?"

Twilight approached, darkness falling faster when aided by the clouds overhead. And from far away, the little factory lit up from every window. Even from this distance they could hear the hum of Dust generators, and a low pulsing of gears.

"I wasn't there for this part of the lecture," Nora said. "Can somebody fill me in?"

"Dr. Polendina said it would still be operational." Pyrrha pulled her notebook out, flipping past pages of sketches and scribbles to the instructions they were left behind. "When the accident happened, they hit the self-destruct function before abandoning the facility.” 

"Oh yeah," Ren said, "Totally non-sketchy protocol."

"But the signal didn't go through," Ruby said. "It's just sending out a distress signal, like, it's saying What do we do? What do we do? Everything is broken. What do we do? over and over and over again, but there's no response. So the final step isn't working. So the factory keeps running like it always did, kinda."

Nora wrung her hands nervously. "It won't blow up with us inside, right?"

"Not if you keep your scroll off," Pyrrha warned her. "You did turn your scroll off, right?" It wasn't a sure thing, but Dr. Polendina had warned them of the possibility. The self-destruct message might piggyback off the signal their scrolls sent out, and then the countdown would begin.

She nodded. "Miles ago! Ages ago! I did it the second you told me to!" 

"Right after finishing the last row in her game of Rocks Blocks," Ren said.

That earned him a hard punch to the shoulder. "Snitch. You're just mad I'm beating you."

"You cheat," he returned. "You bought all those bombs to clear the last level."

"It's not cheating! It's a function of the game!" Nora lifted both hands to the sky. "Embrace the microtransactions, Ren!"

"Never!"

Ruby just rolled her eyes as the tragic love story between her two friends played out in the usual steps. Standing a little closer to Pyrrha, she wrapped an arm around her waist and turned them both towards the factory.

"So what stopped people from coming back?" Ruby wondered softly, seeing the factory lights flutter. "It's still running. It hasn't exploded. Like why didn't anybody come back to fix it, or at least finish the job and make it all go boom?"

The storm clouds overhead grew thicker than ever, and then, as if answering her, struck the entire building in a seizure of lightning bolts. One after the other, so fast and so blinding that all four of them hit the deck on instinct. Green and blue lightning flashed and stormed, raging with a fury so potent that Ruby could feel it in her soul. There were few things that made Ruby Rose flinch in fear, but the display before them left her trembling faintly, in awe at the pure power on display. When she dared to look up again, she saw several smaller craters had opened up around the main impact site.

"I see," Pyrrha said.

"Wow." Ruby snuck a glance at Nora. "I wonder if..."

"Mmm-mm." Nora shook her head. "Nope. Nope. Nuh-uh."

Ruby quickly retracted it. "You're right. I shouldn't have said anything."

"...We've never tried green lightning," Ren said.

Nora got up to her knees, rising before any of the others dared to. "And we never will!"

They all retreated further back into the forest as another volley of strikes rained down on the crater and the factory. Ruby pulled a schematic from her backpack, unrolling it and listening carefully to the storm. She counted off each booming thunderclap until the sky was quiet again. Using that number, she applied it to the formulas Dr. Polendina gave them.

"It's not random," she said. "But this next storm is likely to keep going for another few days, at least."

Nora punched her fist into one palm. "So we wait for an opening and then we bust into the joint. Sounds good to me."

Nodding once, Ruby rolled up all the papers and schematics strewn about, and they made camp.

That night, Pyrrha came into her tent. She was still awake, staring at the roof of canvas over her head, and didn't say a word when Pyrrha slowly stretched out next to her. There was a careful amount of space between them, until Ruby turned onto her side and met Pyrrha's gaze.

All the blood had drained from Pyrrha’s face. Even though their eyes met, Ruby got the distinct feeling Pyrrha was staring somewhere else, somewhere miles away, where no one else could ever reach.

"Can't sleep?" Ruby asked quietly.

Pyrrha tightly shook her head no.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Quicker this time, Pyrrha shook her head no again. "You've got your own burdens, Ruby. I don't mean to saddle you with mine." 

"Then you should scoot in here," Ruby suggested, opening up her bedding a bit and letting Pyrrha snuggle closer to her. She knew Pyrrha was only a few years older than her, and just as vulnerable— maybe more so, despite it all. But when she was wrapped up in Pyrrha's arms she felt so safe and protected, and she always fell asleep faster. Pyrrha seemed to like it, too. They'd been sharing the same tent for months now. She wondered why they even bothered the pretense of setting up two separate tents at night.

These days they were all less afraid to ask for what they needed. Once upon a time it would have been embarrassing to admit they hungered for touch and to be held and coddled. It felt like something a kid asked for. But there wasn't any room for that now. Now they all knew exactly how young and how fragile they really were.

When she woke up the tent was empty, and Pyrrha was out taking guard shift while Ren caught some sleep. This wasn't Grimm territory but none of them were naive enough to believe that would protect them for long.

"Let's move," Ren suggested once he woke up. "We can't linger too long in one spot."

"Yeah, let's not make it any easier for Grimm to sniff us out."

Cracking a grin, Ruby flexed at them. As always, her right elbow clicked a little. The metal joint was always audible to her, and she wondered if others could hear it and know about the injury, even if the rest of her was still meat and bone. "Well if they do, you know Pyrrha and I can always give them the silver and gold combo."

Pyrrha paused in the middle of rolling up her own unused tent, just to give Ruby the driest look imaginable.

"I'm kidding," Ruby said.

"Jokes are supposed to be funny," Pyrrha responded, mildly.

They all knew Pyrrha wouldn't use her Maiden powers. Not if she could help it. Not against a Grimm, at least.

Every so often the storm would erupt again, just close enough to make them all flinch. But by the end of the second day they were completely unphased by the noise, ignoring it as they played a game of dominos around the campfire. They had moved further along the rim of the impact point, as close to the factory as they could get before the lightning bolts threatened them, as well.

"I wish I could talk to Penny and tell her how close we are to completing the mission," Ruby lamented. The last time she got the chance, they were still miles from the impact point.

It was Pyrrha's turn. She looked at her hand, hesitating over the smooth white tiles.

Lying out on her stomach, Nora propped her chin in both hands. "Awww. Don't worry, Ruby. Soon we'll be able to use our scrolls again and you'll get to chat with your girlfriend and I'll be able to demolish Ren at Rocks Blocks."

Pyrrha paused mid-move, head tilted to Ruby, carefully listening.

Ruby's face burned bright scarlet. "Penny's not my girlfriend! How do you even have a robot voice as a... listen, she's my best friend."

Sitting up straighter, Nora gasped in offense. "I thought we were your best friends?"

Pyrrha finished her turn and then it was Ren's move.

"You are." Ruby waggled one finger, admonishing her. "It's an honorary distinction you know. And it's not competition."

Nora squinted, tilting her hands back and forth as if she were trying to balance something out. "Okay, but like, if it was... where would I rank? Top ten? Top five? Out of curiosity."

"I'm not gonna rank my friends!" Ruby stopped to think about it. "Wait. I don't think I even have ten friends."

"Yes! That means I'm in the top ten by default!"

They squabbled, light-hearted, wondering where Blake and Weiss and Yang fit on the pyramid since two of them were teammates and one of them was Ruby's sister. It all felt comfortable as trying on old shoes, the kind so built to your feet you could just slip them right on. It felt like being back at Beacon; it was cozy and warm.

When the rain picked up again they all scattered back to their tents, ignoring the booming thunder in the impact site next to them.

Ruby waited for a few hours, staring at the roof of her tent before becoming impatient. The cold was making her right elbow hurt. She pulled her blanket over her head to cover herself from the rain before sliding open Pyrrha's tent.

"Hey," she said, "You awake?"

In the darkness, she could see Pyrrha's long outline under her own blankets, shifting subtly. "Mmhmm."

"Can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Of course," she said. "I just didn't want to bother you..."

Before Pyrrha could even finish her sentence, Ruby was wrapped around her, sighing deeply. "You never bother me." 

Maybe those rough, calloused hands should have frightened her. They were killer's hands, after all. They belonged to something that wasn't entirely human anymore, that glowed gold Dust and yoked the elements of the earth to her will, stronger than any storm. But when Pyrrha angled those hands up Ruby's cheeks, knuckles brushing against her hair, fingertips stroking over the shell of her ear, Ruby could forget.

It was just Pyrrha. Her best friend.

"Are you nervous?" Pyrrha wondered, thumb stroking just under her eye.

Warmth spread out from wherever her body was pressed to Pyrrha's. It made her drowsy, and the last thing she wanted was to think about things that made her nervous. But Pyrrha was so rarely in a chatty mood, she wanted to indulge her. "About what?"

"When the storms die down and we head in there. What if we don't find what we're looking for?" 

"Don't worry about it."

Evidently, that wasn't the right thing to say. Pyrrha stopped stroking her face, her soft body feeling tense, hard. "What do you mean, don't worry about it?"

"I mean exactly what I said." Ruby drew away, just far enough to look up at her. "Things don't always work out the way we want. Sometimes bad things just happen."

"Of course I— obviously I know things don't always—" Pyrrha started to stammer, tripping over her own words. "I'm not an—"

Ruby took both of her hands when Pyrrha made to push her away further. "I meant we'll do what we can. If it doesn't work out, then we try something else. But being nervous doesn't really serve us right now."

"But there might not be anything else. This might be our only chance." Clearly tormented, Pyrrha tried to pull her hands free, tugging futilely. "Don't you think I know— don't you think I've prayed for— I have to fix this, Ruby! I have to pay for what I did!"

Sad realization fell down like a stone into the pit of her stomach.

"...Oh, Pyrrha. Pyrrha, that was an accident." She stressed it, harder. "It was an accident. It wasn't your fault. You can't still think anyone believes you meant to hurt Penny."

"And Cinder was an accident?" Pyrrha suddenly returned her grip, iron-hard. "And Jaune?"

Ruby didn't immediately respond, even though she was the only one who could answer. This was something only they shared. That night on the roof of Beacon's tower, when Pyrrha became the Fall Maiden. The price she paid, and the earth-shaking power she wielded, and how in the end none of it changed anything at all.

"Yes," Ruby said firmly. "It was all an accident. I'll say it as many times as you need to hear it. I'll do anything you need." She didn't retreat, even when Pyrrha's grip started to hurt. "Please, just tell me. If it's anything I have, I'll give it to you, Pyrrha. And that's a promise."

And Pyrrha crushed their lips together in a searing kiss.

Of course she knew what a kiss was. But Ruby had always figured it was just something couples did because...reasons. The same reason you shake hands when you meet someone new. She didn't think it would feel like being drenched in hot, sticky strawberry syrup. She didn't think it was like submerging in a warm bath and being set on fire at the same time. She didn't think it would feel so good.

Her eyes flew wide open, a shocked noise escaping her.

"—Shit."

She'd never heard Pyrrha swear before, but tonight seemed like it was made for firsts. Pyrrha retreated all the way to the far side of the tent, the canvas threatening to buckle. Both hands covered her face, and she gasped in rapid, shuddering exhales.

"I'm so sorry," Pyrrha started. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I'm just... I don't know why I can't— I don't know why I always do this!" her voice raised sharply in anger, but not at Ruby. At herself, as always. "I always go for someone who isn't available and then when it's too late I act like a complete fool."

Honestly Ruby was still reeling too much from the kiss to try and unpack any of that. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No!" The little tent sparked with light, amber and golden. It was just for a flash, but Pyrrha's eyes still burned for a while longer. Even when Ruby closed her eyes she could see after images, the stamp of Maiden power.

"Then..." Ruby hedged. "Do you... do you need... me?"

The question lingered, heavy as her tongue in her mouth. Ruby dared a little closer, curious about this, about the things that Pyrrha had left unsaid for evidently a very long time.

"I don't know what that means."

"Do you need me to kiss you again?" Ruby clarified, less nervous now.

"But Penny—"

"Penny is just my friend," Ruby insisted, but this time when she said it, it hurt. And there was no reason to keep pretending it didn't hurt.

"But you love her." The glow in Pyrrha's green eyes waned from confusion. "Don't you?"

"I don't know if she feels the same way." She was too afraid to ask. She was afraid of the answer. So maybe she was still a child after all. Because she knew firsthand what it was like to lose Penny, to regret everything unsaid, but now that she was granted the miracle of a second chance, she couldn't spit it out. 

Musing silence, for a while. "I guess we're in the same boat then."

Pyrrha's fingertips brushed over her lips, the touch like spark to kindling.

Ruby kissed her, this time. Then she lost track of who was kissing who. There were more important things to think about, like who was kissing where. Pyrrha covered her entire face in needy kisses. Some of them felt as docile and warm as those nights spent sleeping in her arms, and some made Ruby feel achingly and uncomfortably awake.

Somehow, gentler was worse. She felt every centimeter of Pyrrha's lips on her neck, and she hadn't realized lips could be so soft. Every time she thought she'd reached a peak, that she couldn't take any more, Pyrrha kissed her again and took her even higher, until she was squirming, mind white-hot and blank. She wanted to scream, honestly. She almost did when Pyrrha rolled on top of her, reaching under Ruby's shirt to stroke her bare stomach.

It was like a hunger, but one that only grew sharper the more it was indulged. Pangs of pain, longing so deep it hurt, were only soothed by Pyrrha straining even closer, closer. She needed her closer to be satisfied. She wanted this, all of this, directly in her bloodstream. She wanted it—

Inside, she realized, with the spark of something close an epiphany. Inside, inside.  

Inside, her body chanted, like a starving little beast. Inside my heart, inside my soul. Even if she had no idea what to ask for she knew Pyrrha could give it to her, could fill that aching need. All she could hear was the thundering of her own heart and Pyrrha's voice, raising every hair on the back of her neck.

Then Ruby stopped, suddenly alert. "Whoa! Brakes! Hold on." Shushing Pyrrha in the middle of another apology, Ruby cocked her head to the side and listened. "I don't hear the storm anymore. Do you?"

They both listened, waiting for the lightning to start up again. She'd covered Pyrrha's mouth with one hand, and hadn't moved it, so Pyrrha could only shake her head no. Then the two of them were scrambling to put their gear on, waking up Ren and bringing Nora up to speed as she kept watch over their camp.

Pulling her hood up was an act of instinct rather than any real need. The rain had already stopped, and the skies cleared up to reveal an expanse of twinkling stars. In the distance, the factory was dead and dark, no lights shining, no generators humming.  "Okay everyone. We talked about this, you know the plan."

"Don't die!" Nora said cheerfully, and they split up into pairs.

There were enough broken walls to make entry easy. Less easy was the sense that they had stepped into a graveyard. All around them, stacked fifty feet high, were dead bodies. They all looked different, had different shapes and sizes and functions, but they were all like Penny. All of them were built to house a soul, and none of them ever would.

"If there are any security bots, I'll handle them." Black energy curled around Ruby, the force of Pyrrha's semblance as familiar and comforting as a hand on her shoulder. "Though I think they turned off with the rest of the facility."

"Let's hope so."

As they ventured further in, the source of the weather anomaly became clear. Miles of Dust crystals lay dormant on rows of machinery, too complex and alien for them to parse out. They flickered every now and then, cracked and shattered and broken beyond repair. Green and blue sparks sputtered and then died, waiting for something that would never come.

She wasn't entirely sure of the correlation but it seemed that whenever the factory went dark, the lightning storms did, too.

"What happened here?" Pyrrha wondered, pausing in front of another lifeless doll. She reached out and took its hand, curling the jointed fingers. When she let it go, it dropped, heavy and empty. "What triggered the first explosions?"

"Dunno. Didn't ask." Ruby was only half paying attention. She wanted to find the main console and get out of here as soon as possible. After cracking open a rusted door that lead to one of the control rooms, Ruby and Pyrrha finally found what they were looking for. They compared the console to the sketches they both had in their notebook, glad for the lessons they'd learned in Beacon about proper field notes. Resisting the temptation of relying on their scrolls for too much had turned out to be a boon after all.

"Keep guard," Ruby said, and made sure the long-distance signals on her scroll was turned off before she used it to boot up the main system. A few lights flickered on, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she requested permission for what they needed. Using Dr. Polendina's password, they found its location.

The chip. The spark of life.

Ruby turned off her scroll again and waited, breath held. But the countdown didn't start. They hadn't been sure if turning off the long-distance communication function of their scrolls would work, so keeping them entirely shut down was the only way to be safe. This risk might not have worked.

But it did. Thankfully.

Another quick run through mazes of mannequins and dull glass eyes lead them to their goal. A safebox with all of Penny's code and backup files, everything needed to build her again and fuse her to a new body.  Every single body in this building had one, and theoretically they could have been reverse-engineered for Penny. But the easiest would be to use Penny's, and here it was, right in the palm of her hand.

Casting a glance around them, Pyrrha said, "Do you think we should take one home for her?"

Another series of clicks from her right elbow as she stretched. Ruby took a second to think it over, rubbing the aching joint. All around her were bodies, empty. Any one of them could have served their purpose. "Doesn't seem right to pick without consulting Penny, first." 

"None of us were consulted when we received our bodies," Pyrrha pointed out, unable to keep the low humor out of her voice. "I would have asked to be a little taller."

"You're already plenty tall as it is. Anyway, all we need is this." Ruby pocketed the chip, heart hammering. "Let's get out of here."

A loud crack made them both flinch, fear lighting them up from the inside. But it wasn't a thunderclap. It was a flare.

It was Nora's distress signal.

"I'll catch up!" Pyrrha said, seconds before Ruby activated her semblance and rushed out of the facility, streaming like arterial blood. She skidded to a halt outside on the edge of the crater, rose petals swarming around her as she sought out Nora and Ren.

Clouds were gathering in the sky. Not good.

A swarm of Grimm were gathered around the facility. Extra not good.

The first one pounced with a shriek, claws gleaming white. Spinning Crescent Rose out, Ruby pulled it into scythe form and let inertia work against the Grimm. She stepped to the side, holding the staff firm and the blade wide, catching the creature mid-leap and slicing it in half.

Rain began pelting down, the clouds growing thicker overhead. Shaking herself like a wet dog, Ruby snarled at the approaching Grimm, firing off a bullet to keep them at bay. "Okay, Silver Eye Power, now is a good time to go!"

It didn't work, and the Grimm rushed her. She spun and kicked, using Crescent Rose as a shield, as a brace, as a balancing beam. She slashed and fired, a one-woman army as another distress flare rose up from the other end of the facility. Once she had cleared a path, she held her breath and flew. Streaming out with the power of her semblance again, she arrived next to Ren and Nora just as she was about to light another flare.

"Buzz off!"

The tip of Crescent Rose sunk into thick skull plating, cracking a Grimm's head in half. Nora gave her a smile of relief, her face sticky with blood and pitch.

"Thanks, backup! Where's Pyrrha?" Nora asked. 

"On her way." She shifted Crescent partially, just enough to fire off another round. "We got what we needed."

"Oh, good." Ren fired off another flare to let Pyrrha know where they were headed. The rain pelted down even harder, sparks of green and blue already lighting up around the impact site. The facility was streaming with light, every system online. The storms would resume soon, and she didn't want to be here when they did.

She wondered briefly what the broken factory looked like when it was occupied and maintained. With people in it, doing their job, living their life. She wondered what messages it was sending out now in its afterlife, over and over again.

What do we do? What do we do? Everything is broken. What do we do?

"Okay, Silver Eye Power," Ruby said, spinning Crescent one more time. "Now is a good time to go!"

It didn't work (again, the damn thing never worked when she needed it to) and a Nevermore dropped from the sky like a bolt of lightning itself. Covered in misshapen growths, it could barely fly, swollen and riddled with veins of pure green Dust.

It opened its maw at them, rattled all its feathers, and shot out a blast of electricity directly at Ruby. She'd never been electrocuted before and to be perfectly frank, she did not care to have it happen ever again. For an instant there was nothing except pain, white lights erupting behind her eyelids. She swore she saw every vein in her eyes coursing with that light, and then she was outside her own body, looking down at herself convulsing on the ground.

She could see herself, map out her entire nervous system. Alive for now, and bright... with the exception of the dull metal in her right elbow, her clicky joint. All of it could be snuffed out in an instant.

The Nevermore puffed itself up, rattling again in preparation for another strike.

"Watch out!"

Nora leaped in front of her, taking the blow. Grounding herself, Nora buzzed with the excess energy even as she tried to let some of it seep into the earth. Then the sky opened up, pouring rain down over all of them as the storm began to reach its peak once more. Ren dragged Ruby away as Nora redirected the power right back at the Nevermore. It screamed, and then screamed again when she vaulted herself up and struck it over the head.

"I'm fine," Ruby said before he could even ask, stumbling to her feet.

"Why isn't Pyrrha here yet?" Ren shouted over the resulting din. Rumbles sounded, thunderous drums, like a giant in the clouds blowing its warhorn in preparation for battle. "We need to get out of here!"

"I don't know! She should have been right behind me!" Drenched all the way to her skin, Ruby shouted again. "I'll be right back. Watch after each other!"

Nora turned a jagged smile at Ruby, lightning coiling on the curve of her tongue. "He always does!"

With another snap of fabric she billowed out towards the facility. Lightning struck her footsteps, the clouds sparking and hissing. When she found Pyrrha she was surrounded by a mass of dissolving Grimm bodies, covered in pitch. Another wave was rushing her, and without thought Ruby ran to join her. There were so many, swarming and howling, and no matter how many they cut down, there were always more. Finally, two other giant Nevermore dropped from the sky, trembling and twitching with Dust mutations. The first one opened its beak, striking Pyrrha the way Ruby had been struck, while the other grabbed Pyrrha in its claws and—

And Ruby screamed, shrill, rippling with uncontrollable power. A blast of silver erupted from her, knocking the Nevermore aside. One of them went up in smoke, the other managed to dodge just enough that she only managed to clip its wing. Ruby swung forward, chasing the limping Grimm, but it opened its maw and fired right back at her. Green and blue surged in her direction.

Staggering from being electrocuted once, Pyrrha knocked Ruby to the side. The second blast hit her.

Bracing herself, Pyrrha caught the bolt of lightning with her bare hands.

It crackled, twisting and zapping like a living thing, but Pyrrha wielded it until it became solid. Golden light erupted from her, chasing away the sickly green, and the gust of wind blowing from her knocked Ruby down onto the earth.

Lightning struck down. Once, twice, three times in a row. Each time it hit Pyrrha, as if targeting her. But golden light swirled around her, coating her as she caught every bolt. The misshapen lightning bolts stayed around her, hovering in her Aura until she seemed like an ancient Grimm herself, covered in the ruined weapons of everything that had failed to kill her.

Her eyes glowed, and she flung out with one hand, all the lightning formed into a row of crackling spears. Every single lightning bolt struck the Nevermore at the same time, and, overwhelmed, it splattered into a fine black mist.

Ruby didn't even have time to feel relief before the assault began again. 

The sky was in chaos. The storm was coming. Pyrrha grabbed Ruby, standing over her with her shield held up. The white material expanded, three golden arcs of protection faintly visible over its scarred surface. The lightning struck, again and again, each one sounding like something between crashing cymbals and a dying animal, and each time Pyrrha's protective energy batted it aside.

"Pyrrha—" Ruby started, shouting in fear, but when Pyrrha glared down sharply at her, the words died in her throat. Ruby was staring at a stranger. Something inhuman, not her best friend. Yellow light poured from her eyes, from her gasping mouth, billowing from her in golden coils of steam. Her expression frozen in a grimace, lined like a bronze mask. Blood red leaves whipped around them, the winds alternating muggy hot and bitter cold, Autumn refusing to relent to neither Summer nor Winter. The scent of rot hung heavy in the air, layers of pine needles and animal bones, buried things, detritus, offal.

The Maiden. She'd only ever seen her once before, held aloft on wings of fire and lightning. Elemental magic. Raw.

Pyrrha gripped her by the hood, leaving Ruby feeling like a kitten being hauled by the scruff as she took her to safety. It was slow travel, the Dust storm focusing them as the only upright figured on the scorched earth. Even when they hit the shelter of the trees, the freak lightning followed, splintering wood into matchsticks. Ruby squealed, hiding her face against Pyrrha's shoulder as she was half guided, half dragged out of the blast zone and then dumped onto the forest floor.

When they were finally out of range, Pyrrha let the Maiden power drop from her. She stood upright for a while longer, shivering and twitching, and then her eyes rolled back into her skull and she collapsed. 

Scrambling over to her, Ruby gingerly lifted her up onto her lap. "Hey. Hey!"

She tapped her cheeks lightly, urging her over and over again. When Pyrrha didn't even stir, and the rain began to pelt down harder, Ruby took her emergency flare out and let it fly. Even if it drew Grimm to her, at least it would also let Ren and Nora know where they were.

Pyrrha flinched at the noise, twitching with a flash of semblance. Her spear and Jaune's shield flew to her hands, ready to fight, but there was no foe to be found. Just Ruby grinning down at her wanly.

"Hi. I'm glad that woke you up."

"Did we win?" Pyrrha said, looking bleary.

"Aaaand I think you took too many zaps to the head." 

Ruby helped her sit up, stroking her wet hair out of her face. Pyrrha slowly regained her focus, and nearby, the storm raged on. Blue and green flashed in regular intervals, and Ruby began to count them. This storm would last a lot longer than the first, if her mental math was correct.

"That thing hit me," Pyrrha mumbled, rubbing her forehead. "I got electrocuted."

"Me too. I think my scroll must be fried at this point.

Then, jolted by the fear of sudden realization, she checked her satchel for Penny's chip.

She retrieved it. And its charred, blackened husk crumbled in her hands.

Holding her breath, Ruby fought hard not to cry. This wasn't the end. There were still dozens of robot bodies inside the facility. They just had to try again, that was all. After a moment, Pyrrha's gaze sharpened on the smoldering ash in her hands, watching the rain wash gray rivulets down Ruby's bare wrist. 

"Oh, Ruby..." she said. "I'm so..."

"Don't." Ruby let the burnt chip fall, rubbing her eyes. "Don't apologize."

"You shouldn't have come back for me. This is all my fault."

"The Grimm might've gotten you." She inhaled sharply, not even wanting to bring up the fact that the Nevermore had shocked her once already before she'd gone back to check on Pyrrha. "I thought you were right behind me. When you didn't show up I got so scared."

"I would have been fine, I can handle a few Grimm."

"Well I couldn't take that chance." Ruby's eyes burned. But she refused to cry, even if that would have been a good time for it, because with the rain washing down her face she could have pretended she wasn't crying. It wouldn't have fooled Pyrrha, probably, but she could have pretended anyway. "I can't. And I don't want you to tell me that was the wrong decision."

"Okay. I won't." Pyrrha held her tight. The rain pounded harder than ever, shockingly cold. If Pyrrha were more in control of her powers, maybe she could make it all go away. Maybe she could turn it into a warm summer shower. Maybe Ruby could blast the clouds into nothing but wisps with her silver eyes, if she knew how to use them. But they didn't know how to use their powers, or even where to begin learning how. They didn't know anything and they didn't have anyone except each other, and nobody else knew how much it cost them to be special, to be powerful, to be something out of a legend. "It's okay. I'm sorry. It's all going to be okay. We're still here, we're still together."

They squeezed each other tight until a loud rustle in the treeline made them both leap apart, weapons brandished. But it was Ren, and behind him Nora— carrying someone? An injured person, Ruby thought at first, until she came a little closer and used the person's hand to wave at them.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully, half of a robot strapped to her back. "Look, I killed the Grimm and found a friend! Settle a bet for me. Doesn't this one look just like Coco? She does, right?"

Ruby almost dropped Crescent in shock. Running up to Nora, she pushed her hand out of the way and searched the robot, feeling around for the hinge on the back of her neck. If this one was the same as all the others...

She cracked it open, finding the blue chip inside. They could use it. Reverse engineer it. Scavenge what they need to bring Penny back.

And for a moment she hesitated, looking down at the unfamiliar face, wondering, Is this okay? Is this looting from the dead? If we hooked her up, would she come alive?

She closed the hinge, letting Nora piggyback the body for now. "Let's keep the chip inside the body. That might protect it better than my pocket would, anyway."

"Huh?" Nora blinked a few times, taken aback. "Keep it? What, the broken robot? Ew!" 

Ruby ran a hand down her face, wondering just where to start in order to explain what had just happened.

  It took about a week to find civilization again. The first thing Ruby did was turn on long-distance signal and call Penny. Pacing anxiously in her hotel room, she smiled in relief when Penny picked up and answered. "Salutations!" 

"Penny." She sighed, sitting down on the edge of her bed. Two other mattresses were squished up to it, but for now, she had some privacy. "We did it."

A crackle of joy. "You did? You retrieved the memory core?"

"Kind of. We hijacked it from another broken bot. But that should work, right? It didn't have to be yours?"

"Yes, that should work. If the unit hasn't been activated, then it's just a blank slate." Penny made a few noises of thought. "It might take more time to etch my memories onto it, but a blank core should work just fine. You did excellently."

A little hologram of Penny hovered over her scroll. She looked much like she did that last day together, not aging a day while the years changed everyone else. Ruby stretched, her right elbow clicking. In a few months Ruby wouldn't even be a teenager anymore. Filling Penny in on everything that happened, Ruby ended it all with, "I missed you so much. It drove me crazy, not being able to talk to you every night."

"I missed you too. I hope the others kept you entertained." 

Briefly, Ruby remembered that kiss, just before the storm broke. Neither of them had spoken of it, and Pyrrha hadn't entered her tent again since. "They definitely... were something."

Pyrrha had been green and gold and red. She still burned in Ruby's mind, every time she closed her eyes. 

She didn't want to think about Pyrrha. She wanted to talk and think about anything else. "Hey, Penny. Do you have a new body all set up?"

"I do! Would you like to see what I'll look like once I'm repaired?"

Ruby nodded, and the hologram changed. Startled, Ruby stared at a brand new face, everything different from the style of dress to her hair. "I thought I'd go for long black hair," Penny explained. "Long and beautiful, like Blake and Weiss and Pyrrha."

Pyrrha. Pyrrha was very beautiful. "You look great, Penny. Are you excited?"

"Mostly excited to have you back home," she confessed, swapping back to her usual avatar. "It's been so long since I held your hand. I can't wait to do it again. I can't wait to hug you!"

"Me neither!" Relaxing onto the bed, she felt her whole heart soften at the idea. "I miss you, Penny. Even when I'm talking to you like this. I miss you all the time."

Another crackle. Static. The image of Penny fluttered, and for a second Ruby worried they had lost signal.

"You there?"

"Yes." Penny said. "Just... listening to you."

"Well, I don't have much more to say." Ruby glanced out the window. "It's getting dark. I should try and turn in early, so we can be ready for tomorrow."

"Then I won't keep you." Another long pause. "Will you call me again tomorrow night?"

"Of course. Every night I can, I will. Just like I promised."

Penny smiled, and said goodbye, and the line went dead.

Lying back on her mattress, Ruby stared at the ceiling and rubbed her sore arm, wishing she had said more.

But the words were never there.

   The journey home was always ten times easier than the initial quest out. No matter where they ventured, that always remained true. Maybe it was just hope giving wings to their feet, or maybe they were just more familiar with the terrain and didn't need to be more careful. From foot, to rail, to plane, they made their way to Atlas.

And every night she called Penny, whenever she was alone. Even if it was just for fifteen minutes, she needed to talk to her.

A few times, Pyrrha walked in on her mid-conversation. She'd stop, staring at her, and then smile and apologize and leave. And afterwards Ruby would always gaze at the spot where she'd stood, and worry, and wonder.

Finally, she decided there was only one course of action.

She had to talk to her best friend.

"Pyrrha kissed me."

The lengthy silence couldn't mean a disconnect, this time. They were in the heart of Atlas, with some of the best signal money could buy. Penny was in stunned silence, digesting what Ruby told her. "What, right now?" 

She shook her head. "About a month ago. She just grabbed me and we started making out."

"...For no reason?"

Flushing to her roots, Ruby went to the window. Outside it was snowing thick and heavy, and the cold made every single one of her scars and joints ache. Not just the metal one. "We were stressed out. I told her if I could comfort her in any way, I'd do it. And she responded like that." Blushing again, she rubbed her scalp, tracing over the familiar lines of old sutures. Like so many other hunters before her, the job had taken its toll, and taken chunks of her with it. Even Aura and advanced healing could only repair so much. "I think she was lonely."

"Hmm." When Ruby checked to see what the hologram was doing then, she was surprised to see Penny hiding a very big grin. "Do you want her to do it again?"

"Penny."

"What? It's what happens," Penny said. "Kissing makes the heart beat faster. It makes you all warm and tingly. And then you want to do it over and over again."

Her throat tightened a bit. "I thought I didn't. You know. Do feelings like that. I kind of thought everyone else was exaggerating or joking a little." Then her face twisted up. "Wait, how do you know about all this?"

"Research," Penny said.

"...Oh?"

"Secret research," she stressed, sternly, letting Ruby know not to continue any questions down that line.

"Well it sucks," Ruby said, just as firm. "I don't know. I love her, I really do. I love all my friends." A little shyness. She bullied past it. "And you. I love you, Penny."

Penny didn't even hesitate. Of course she didn't. "I love you, too."

As a friend? As a girlfriend? She didn't know. But it was strong, this connection between them both. Comfortable silence, then. The snow fell, all the roads blocked for now. When the paths cleared, Ruby and her friends would find Dr. Polendina.

Then the real work would begin.

Written for my friend Cal. Thanks so much for everything!

[stained-carmine]

‘Come on, it’ll be fun!’

‘W-well, I’m not so sure...’

‘Trust me!’

...

‘Admittedly, I’m a little scared...but, if you’re by my side, then I don’t need to be afraid.’

‘Something like that...being a part of it? It’s like we’re pioneers in a new chapter of history...isn’t that exciting?’

‘As long as you’re here with me, holding my hand, I have the courage to face anything.’

“...ey”

‘Today’s the day! Are you ready to change the world?’

‘I-I won’t lie, I’m a little nervous...my heart won’t stop pounding...I’m afraid it might burst...but...I’m also excited, it’s so overwhelming...’

“Hey...”

‘Wait...Something doesn’t feel right...What’s going—’

‘AAAAAAAAH—’

‘It hurts...It hurts so much...I don’t want to die...! I’m scared! Where are you? I can’t...see you...anymore......Where are you...?! Please...don’t leave me....Don’t let me die here...Please...!’

‘BLAIRE!’

“Hey!”

A sudden touch brought you back to the present, and away from the nightmares of your past. You looked up to the individual who had shaken you from your trance. Before you stood the bartender, gazing at you with concern.

“Are you alright there?”

You stared at him blankly for a moment, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, then it dawned on you that he has asked you a question.

“Ah....N-no, I’m fine.“ You responded sheepishly.

The bartender frowned at you, unconvinced, but let out a sigh as he shook his head. “If you say so...” And with that he sauntered off, seeing to the needs of the other patrons.

As the man walked away, you lowered your gaze to the glass of whiskey you’d been nursing for the past hour or so. The ice cubes had all but melted away by now, leaving you with a mix of alcohol and water. It’s not as if you had your heart set on drinking the whole thing, but it was a little disheartening nonetheless.

Letting out a soft sigh, you pushed the glass aside. You thoughts wandered back to earlier that day, when you had told told Marcel you were leaving. Of course, he objected to it, saying you hadn’t full healed yet and that he could do more to help you recover—to help return you to your former self—at least physically.

You glanced down to your right arm, which was resting on the bar. The right side of your body had suffered quite a bit of damage from the fire, with scars extending from your neck, all the way to your ankles. While Marcel had told you that with skin grafts, you would be able to reduce the amount of scar tissue that covered your body, letting you return to the way you looked before, you weren’t ready for that. You weren’t ready to let go of the past, to forget what happened, to move on from your loss...

It was then that you heard something that caught your attention. The television in the corner of the room, anchored to the ceiling, had been set to a new broadcast since you entered the bar. It had mostly been local news, recent events and crimes, nothing of interest to you really—until now that is.

“It’s been six months since the tragedy that claimed the lives of over a hundred people in Hycasal, yet authorities are still no closer to finding the perpetrator.” On the screen were the remnants of a burned building, half collapsed in on itself, like someone had detonated a bomb in the building. “The man responsible for the disaster is Shin Kiromura, age 25, the former head of research and development at Alistarias Pharmaceuticals.” A photo of a man is brought up on the screen as the newscaster gives a verbal description of his appearance. A hateful glare replaces your sorrowful visage as you lay eyes upon that man, clenching your teeth as you scowled at his likeness. “He was conducting research into the effects of a drug his team was developing. Kiromura failed to report the possible dangers of a compound used in the creation of the drug to his supervisors, ignoring the risks and possible dangers this could pose to human health. With government funding, a clinical trial was carried out late summer of last year under the Caristalian Military’s watch. During clinical testing, an explosion occurred at the military facility located on the edge of Hycasal, causing a fire to break out in the lab. All 30 participants in the clinical trial died during the explosion along with 10 researchers who were in the lab monitoring the vitals of the participants. During the evacuation, the structural integrity of the building became compromised and the building collapsed, killing 73 more people, 16 of which were first responders. Eye witness reports from a survivor state that Kiromura fled the scene with the remainder of the highly volatile compound used in the manufacturing process of the drug. Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest and began a manhunt following the disaster, but have been unable to locate him.”

The screen displayed a series of shots, focusing on the building and the surrounding area, one of which caught your eye. At the main entrance to the building, a memorial had been erected in order to honor all the lives lost that day. You bit your lip slightly as you felt a twinge of pain in your heart. So many dead...and all for what? Some scientist’s hubris? A man who thought himself above the risks? Who didn’t care about how his choices would affect others? And to think that the police hadn’t caught him. For such a man to be free, to go unpunished for his heinous crimes, to still be out there with that reactive material, allowing him to create yet another tragedy if he so desired. It was infuriating.

“Kiromura is wanted for 113 counts of second degree murder, criminal negligence, and terrorism. This man is believed to be highly dangerous, and in possession of high explosives. If you see this man, contact authorities immediately, do not approach him. If you have any information regarding this man’s whereabouts, please contact—”

“Terrible, isn’t it?”

You flinched at the sudden voice coming from behind you, causing you to spin around swiftly. A man had sat down next to you at the bar, waving the bartender over to order his drink. You eyed the man with suspicion, ready to fight back should he have malicious intent, but he just gave you a friendly smile in return. “You seemed really focused on that broadcast, did you lose someone in that disaster?” He asked, raising the beer he had ordered to his lips.

You were hesitant to answer him. You didn’t know this man, you couldn’t tell if he had ulterior motives behind this idle conversation. Giving him another once over with your eyes, you didn’t see anything that would indicate he was armed. He also didn’t look like an officer, either of the police force or the military. Everything about him seemed ordinary, from the clothes he wore, to the way he carried himself. With a lingering doubt in your mind, you opened your mouth to answer him.

“...Yeah, yeah I did...” You replied, turning your gaze from him and lowering your head.

“Sorry to hear that...” The man’s smile faded, replaced with a concerned frown. “Can’t believe they haven’t caught the guy yet. You figure finding one man would be easy when his face is on every news station in the country.” The stranger took another swig from his glass before turning towards you. “You know, I heard that the military are offering a reward for his capture. Those meatheads and gun nuts can’t stand to have their pride sullied. Way I figure, they think if they can catch the guy, they can earn back the trust of the people. Like we could ever trust that shady general after that though. The military was supposed to be overseeing that trial right? How could they have missed that psycho hiding right under their noses?”

You had to mentally reel yourself in to stop yourself from snapping back at the man. Keeping a calm facade, you responded. “Is that so? How much are they offering?”

The man shrugged, downing the rest of what was in his glass before calling the bartender over for a refill. “Mm, not sure myself. Only heard about it from a friend you see. Don’t even know if it’s true.” Thanking the bartender, he raised the glass to his lips before pausing. “Though if it is, they’re awfully desperate. You’d figure they’d start by interrogating all the survivors first before offering rewards to the public.”

“They probably did already. Usually that’s the first thing they do in an investigation. Question witnesses, bring in the people that knew the culprit.” You had to catch yourself so as to not give away your former occupation. “...Or at least that’s what they do in police dramas.” If they hadn’t caught that man by now, interrogations probably turned up no leads. You felt your heart sink a bit. If you were going to go through with this plan of yours, that would have been your first course of action. You scowled slightly from beneath your hood, you might need to rethink your plan at this rate.

“My cousin’s friend was employed at the facility, and was in the building that day.” The voice came from across the bar, from the bartender who seemed to have overheard our conversation. After serving up some mixed drinks to a group a friends who had come into the bar to celebrate, the bartender wandered back over to the two of us. “Said the guy had been in a coma ever since.” Noticing the drink I had sat aside with no intention of finishing, the bartender took the glass and poured it out, washing and rinsing the glass out for a future customer to use. “Just the other day I heard the guy had just woke up for the first time in six months. My cousin was ecstatic. He was actually going to go visit him today actually.”

A spark lit up in your mind as this opportunity presented itself. “That’s great. Will your cousin be coming here to celebrate after?”

The bartender laughed in response. “You kidding me? He wouldn’t be caught dead in here. Too shabby of a place for him. If anything, he’d probably hit up one of the bars in the city.”

“Ah, your cousin is one of those guys. Too good for a small place like this. Needs one of those fancy restaurants where you buy a whole bottle of wine to go with your meal.”

“Well, I can’t deny that but still...” The bartender frowned at the man who had just finished his second beer, and was now demanding a third, garnering an eye roll from the man behind the counter. With a sigh he took the man’s glass and began to pour him another. “What about you? Did you want another drink?”

“Ah no, I’ve spent long enough sitting here, it’s about time I left. I have things to take care of.” You said, rising from you seat and waving the notion off.

“Is that right? Well, take care then. Thanks for the patronage.” The bartender said as he handed the man his third beer.

With a nod and a slight wave, you departed, making your way out of the building. One outside, the friendly smile you were wearing vanished, replaced by a stern frown.

With resolve in your heart, you stepped forward, away from all that tied you to this small town to the east of Hycasal. Taking what would be the first steps in a long journey, you pressed on, with goal in mind and a drive in your soul.

That broadcast, there was something off about it. The details didn’t add up. Memories of brief interactions with that man, with Shin Kiromura, flashed in your mind. He had seemed like a rather hopeful individual to you...so why would he suddenly sabotage his own experiment? It didn’t make sense.

You wanted answers—no, you needed them. If there was any hope of you being able to move forward, to accept the death of your dear friend and overcome the tragedy that befell you that day, you had to know why it all happened.

That was another thing the news had wrong, that no participants had survived that catastrophe. No, there was one participant that did survive.

You.

The burns that marred your flesh, the haunting memories of that day, and that feeling you had felt in the moments before the blast. All proof that you were there. That you survived. Against all the odds, you, and only you, had made it out of that room alive.

Out of the fires of hell you rose. Determined to get answers. And if one thing was for sure.

You weren’t going to stop until you found them.

[sugoi-writes]

Could your write something about choromatsu taking his s/o to get their 1st tattoo & him passing out before it even happens & he wakes up & sees they got a little frog tattoo

(Okay I said I was gonna go in order but this Choro ask was so cute! I couldn’t resist! Here you go, Anon!)

Today had been the day. Choromatsu waited by his front door anxiously, checking his watch feverishly.

“S/o should be here already… I hope she’s alright! Her appointment is in—“

Before Choromatsu could finish his rambling, the sliding door opened, revealing you, clad in loose summer wear. You smiled warmly to your nervous boyfriend, as he instantly jumped with a start.

“A-Ah! Y-You’re here!” he stammered, reaching out to grasp your hand in both of his, rubbing it nervously,” Are you… you’re… well, are you… still sure about… g-getting a tattoo, S/o?”

You appreciated the sentiment that Choromatsu had offered you, chuckling as you grasp his hands with your free one, squeezing.

“I’m absolutely sure, Choromatsu,” you reply, instantly making Choro’s shoulders relax. He had been worried sick about the whole process. For starters, he initially said that it could be dangerous, because what if you got a staff infection? Ink poisoning? He did some research, and—

Oh! No! Even worse! The places in Akatsuka! Some of them were very shady parlors (one of which being a money trap, set up by none other than Iyami-san). There was NO WAY that he would let you go near those places! They’re filled with shady people, thugs, YAKUZA?! NEED HE SAY MORE?!

His thoughts were interrupted by you, tugging at him gently,” Put on your shoes, Choro-kun. We can go ahead and head out.”

Of course, with that sincere smile of yours, who was he to say no?

Once he was donned in his loafers, the two of you were off. Luckily, the place that Choromatsu had staked out for you was a small walk from the house… and NOT ran by Iyami. 

Choromatsu gripped your hand protectively, being sure to stay close to you as the two of you walked. You had always found it amusing when he got like this, considering that he could barely be in the same room as you not long ago… As you reminisced about your precious boyfriend, he glanced over to you, having noticed your soft gaze on him. 

“So… you did decide on your tattoo, right?” 

You nodded gingerly, smiling to yourself. It was going to be a surprise, you mused to yourself. 

“Mm-hmm! It’s going to be special! So I’m not really that nervous about it!”

Choromatsu couldn’t help but smile, his cheeks being dusted with an innocent pink,” That’s good… are you still keeping it secret?”

This earned him your snicker, as you bump him with your hip. When he stumbles over your simple action, you laugh, getting closer to you. Playfully, you looped your arms around one of his. 

“Yep~ You won’t know until after it happens!” you practically sing. You were brimming with excitement, which did unnerve the nervous boyfriend of yours a bit. But nonetheless, he had made it known that he would support you in all of your endeavors. And now: there you were!

In no time, the two of you stood outside of a quant tattoo parlor, and Choromatsu was relieved that the facility was just as neat and clean looking as it was online. He spent a lot of time in the public library trying to find this place…

With a childish glee, you practically dragged Choromatsu in, who was still immensely nervous for you. His mind began to race again, his heart thumping quietly. What if the tattoo artist messed up? This would be something that’d be hard to remove. Actually, almost IMPOSSIBLE to, considering your financial status. You were lucky to save up the money between the two of you! 

It didn’t help that you were going on FRIDAY THE 13TH?!?! Tattoos had seemed to be cheaper due to the holiday, but that just made Choromatsu all the more paranoid. 

Would your tattoo be something involving with a 13? Is that your lucky number? Was this going to hurt you? Gosh, how was he supposed to take care of you? There was a vending machine in the building, he knew that, so maybe he could get you water! WATER! Yes, that’s right! 

Amidst his shaking and troubling thoughts, you had already checked into your appointment, and signed your waver to be tattooed. You were just in the process of getting your ID back when Choromatsu snapped out of it. His blood ran cold when he began hearing the loud buzzing of a tattoo gun… the one that was going to be used on you, more than likely. 

Sweat started to bead on his forehead, and he gently tugged you back, making you turn to him.

“S-S/o, maybe— just MAYBE— this isn’t a good idea! I know! We could get you a pack of temporary tattoos from the conveneince store! I know they aren’t very customizable, but it is much easier to correct and forget than a—“

“Choromatsu!” you finally manage to cut in, making Choro squeak shrilly. He looked to you with wide eyes, his hand grasping yours very tightly. 

You take both of his hands into yours, and smile at your boyfriend genuinely; no teasing, no smirking.

“I promise everything is going to be okay… like you said. This place has great reviews, and the people here are very nice and courteous, from what I can tell. So relax. This won’t even take that long! We can get in, get out, and maybe go get some food afterwards? My treat.”

The prospect of food did not sound great to him right now, because he felt nauseous with worry. Despite this, he nodded and allowed you to lead the way to the back room, where your tattoo artist had been waiting. After knocking on the door frame, you were welcomed in, and you sat in the parlor chair. Meanwhile, Choromatsu sat close by, forcing himself to sit on his hands to keep him from fidgetting.

“So, I see that everything checks out… you said you had wanted this one on the back of your shoulder, right?”

You nodded as the tattoo artist asked you the question, gesturing to the spot,” About right here, though it’s going to be fairly small.”

The artist smiled and nodded,” Excellent spot! It’ll be very easy to cover, and you’ll be able to see it well in the summer!” 

You agreed with him, and the two of you started to idly chat about the process: what pain to expect, what lotion to use, how long to keep the tattoo covered, etc.

Choromatsu, meanwhile… was a mess. He could hardly listen in on the conversation, his eyes trained on the tattoo gun. He usually wasn’t very squeamish at all. Quite the opposite, actually… but knowing that there were several risks involved with tattooing, this made him just as nervous as before. 

He could already hear the buzzing of the gun in his head, making his ears feel like they were ringing. He couldn’t stand the thought of you getting hurt by all of this. 

He hadn’t notice the tattoo artist sketching your tattoo, and transferring the finished line art to your skin. When he held up the mirror for you to examine it, you were thrilled with the job, and said that this would be perfect. 

And so, you laid on your back, and removed the sleeve of your shirt on that side, giving the tattoo artist room to work with you. And then… Choro’s fear came to life. The buzzing began. Choro’s hand never snapped out that quickly. He snatched your hand, gripping it for dear life. 

But, before Choro could ramble to you and ask that you reconsider, the gun already made contact with your skin. You flinched softly, but didn’t do anything overly dramatic. You lightly squeezed his hand, uttering a weak,” C-Choro… are you okay?”

“…I…I’m great, great… juuuuust great…,” was all he managed to get out, before he saw a trickle of your blood. This sent him over the edge, and he slouched over in his chair, falling completely unconscious. For a moment, you try to stop the process, wanting to comfort Choromatsu, before the tattoo artist stops you.

“Let him rest… I could tell he was nervous the whole time. He was sweating bullets for you. Nothing a bit of water and some snacks can’t help… He’s breathing, so he may have just stressed himself out too much.”

At the comforting words, you nod, still holding Choromatsu’s hand,” O-Okay… hopefully we can finish before he wakes up.”

Your tattoo artist smiles, winking,” This happens all the time~ We shouldn’t be at this for too long!” You smile, and nod in appreciation, letting the tattoo artist continue his bidding, the dull sound of the gun becoming white noise to you.

~

When Choromatsu woke up, you were at his side, holding his hand tenderly. You smiled, beaming down at him,” I’m glad you’re awake! We’ve been done for a little bit, and… I ran to the store to get you something.”

You hold out a small bag with some goodies, making Choro blink at you in confusion. You continue on, dotingly,”Eat a little bit. I think your blood sugar was a little low…”

Choromatsu looks to you with confusion, before eyeing the snacks dizzily,” You… you said you finished…? With your tattoo?” He sits up, yawning a little and smacking his lips.

Once the weight of your words hit him, he snapped his head towards you, eyes wide as dinner plates,” Y-YOU WENT THROUGH WITH IT???” He practiced shrieked, covering his mouth nervously. 

Though he was groggy and still dizzy, the thoughts of how everything went made his adrenaline spike dramatically. But here you were, laughing heartily at his reaction. You take his wrists and remove them from his mouth.

“Hey, I told you it wouldn’t take long! It isn’t my fault you passed out on me~ But now that you’re awake, I can finally show you what I got!” you chimed.

Choromatsu was still fairly worked up, but… surely if you went through it all, it wouldn’t hurt to see it now? Choro sat up a little straighter, clearing his throat.

“Well… what is it?”

You smile back at him, and turn away from him, revealing your plastic-wrapped shoulder. Choro squinted, and behind the cellophane, he could see a small green… thing…

He asked you to come closer so he could see it, and upon inspection, he saw a small, green frog. It was in the style of something familiar; he was a character called Keroppi. When he saw this, he instantly flushed bright red, looking to you quickly.

“Y…You didn’t get this for me specifically… did you?” he asked gently. You had referred to him by Kero-kun as a pet name, due to his smile and natural expression. It had been a little joke that had been going on for years… and now, it was coming full circle.

You giggled and turned around, kissing your green-clad matsu on the cheek,” That’s why it was a surprise~ What do you think?”

Choromatsu smiled through his nerves and slight fluster, holding his head,” That was… really sweet, but… Ahh, I feel light headed again…”

You laugh and had Choromatsu lean back, rubbing his hands and smooching his cheek once more.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’, you like it~” 

Choromatsu laughed along with you quietly, looping his arms around you. Were you reckless sometimes? Absolutely. Did you do things that drove him crazy or made him worry? DEFINITELY.

But your sentiment was just too adorable for him to handle. Oh, he knew that you got that tattoo with innocent, adorable intent. And this made his heart soar, knowing that you thought of him so admirably. 

He would be sure to treasure that sweet affection, and would definitely admire your tattoo for years to come. 

“It’s adorable… just like you.” 

You snorted when Choro uttered this, squeezing him close as you two bask in heat of each other’s embrace. 

(Thanks for reading! I personally haven’t gotten a tattoo, but I hope this was an okay read! Thanks for your request, dear! >3

[chuckling-chemist]

Fancestor Week: Serendipity Prompt

((Inspired by this prompt to make this, which is funny seeing as the only ancestor I’m posting is Aluala, and yet here I am doing this for Dontoc’s ancestors. Ah well. Literally just wrote it and posted it since it’s a prompt thing, so I went with whims as opposed to anything else. So yeah. Enjoy!))

Nieche Leiniz stared at the blank wooden wall. In his rampant imagination, he admitted that being taken prisoner by ravaging pirates seemed more exciting after the fact than it was. He got to watch scores of lowbloods - and a purpleblood? Did he see a purpleblood or was that his imagination? - overtake the military vessel he happened to have passage on. Writers learn best with experience after all, and there was no better way to write the adventure novel questioning everything commonly accepted about the military without knowing exactly how the military functioned. He hadn’t forgotten piracy was seriously starting to pop-up in the waters seadwellers didn’t keep in a tight stranglehold, but he wrote it off. They were just barbarian midbloods trying to act like royalty. Nothing less, nothing more.

Then The Empress’ Majesty became overwhelmed by the singular ship to fear. The Seadweller’s Curse. The one ship even Nieche, glorified violetblooded hermit that he was, recognized and feared. Everyone knew about the terrifying Lady-O-War, even if they never saw her by face. One by one, as a yellowblood and purpleblood offered quarter to the soldiers, they lashed out. One by one, the yellowblood and purpleblood killed them. But he didn’t. He accepted becoming their prisoner, offered his arms freely to become bound, let the pirates gleefully strip him of his weapons and now sat in a miniscule empty room with wet wooden walls. Alone.

The door opened. Nieche’s gaze flitted over, watching as a tall brownblood in a long, decorated coat striped in reds and purples and fitted swashbuckler hat covered in dyed brown feathers sauntered in. She shut the door behind her, leaning on it with a cocky grin.

He didn’t know much about pirates, but there weren’t many others aside from the captain who dressed like that.

Nieche cocked his head in curiosity. “Wasn’t expecting the Lady-o-War to be a gutterblood,” he remarked. “I heard she was...what was it? Olive? Teal?”

The brownblood seemed unfazed. She shrugged helplessly. “I can’t help it you’re slow to the uptake. Nor can I help that somehow a violetblood like yourself apparently is worthless for ransom.”

Nieche gasped. “Inconceivable!”

Not that he really thought it was inconceivable. Well-established writer or not, he wasn’t much for promotion. He hadn’t even so much as shown his face in the past thirty sweeps since his first book. Nor did he write with his real name or symbol. He wished establish credibility without his status, not because of it.

“Please save the fake drama for later. I don’t have time for it. Because now, I have the singular royal fish on my ship who’s useless to me. So I’ve got a conundrum here. Cull you, or find a purpose for you. Which I’ll be fair, someone else with classic booksmarts and a pretty way of talking works well for a ship filled with escaped slaves.” She crossed her arms. “So what’s it gonna be, fish boy? Choice is yours. Death... or piracy?”

***

Inaeis Leiniz stared at the blank wooden wall. There wasn’t much else he could do, not really. Not anymore. Where once a glorious research facility stood, now only broken glass and bent metal existed in its wake. Ashes, all of them from books he once burned collected like grains of sand on the beach around the counters and medical equipment. He could still hear the screams as trolls got murdered. Still could see the vicious look on Fospha’s face as she was held down and violetnly culled. Could still smell the blood spilled and the distinct scent of charred paper that he never could wash out of his clothing. Once upon a time, this was his fault. But that was a hundred sweeps ago.

And in all those sweeps, nothing changed.

Aluala smacked him on the head, dragging him out of his thoughts. “Hey! Alternia to chumbucket, you dragged me to your fuckup so you wouldn’t be alone in this place. You don’t get to go all 1000 yard stare and force me to do all the heavy lifting.”

Inaeis blinked harshly, her mental voice reverberating loudly in her head. He’d never truly get used to such a mental power. “Excuse me, this was your idea after I briefly mentioned I had a fling with an actual scientist.”

“You call your fifteen sweep kismesis with a tealblood you murdered a fling? Fucking hell, what’s that make me, a casual hatetoy who you only pail because it pisses off your matesprit?”

“I don’t have to answer that question,” he sneered.

“You do if you want any help finding these books.” She scowled, letting out a guttural groan. “And how do I know you’re not just fucking with us? How do I know these books even exist?”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know! I don’t know if they really do. But whenever I started my...relations...with Carica, Fospha got insistent I was making a mistake,” he said. Inaeis shoved a hand in his suit pocket, pulling out a crinkled note written in impecable teal handwriting. Aluala snatched it out of his hand, hurriedly scanning over the thing with an increasingly large smirk on her face.

“Oh she is absolutely delightful. Shame I couldn’t meet her. Did she wink when you culled her? Please tell me she did.”

“You are finding far too much joy in this,” Inaeis said grimly. “So are you going to help or not?”

Aluala shrugged, dropping the note on the floor as she made her way out of the lab room. “I’ll think about it. Feel like I’m honoring her legacy more leaving them here instead of finding them.” She turned around swiftly on her heel, dress twirling as if its own beast, and gives a small princess-like wave. “Good luck Inaeis! I feel like you’ll need it!”

***

Dontoc Leiniz stared at the blank wooden wall. He seemed uncaring about the troll sitting against his back, head lolled onto his shoulder and antler-like horns right in next to his face. Her wrists were bound - he had done it himself, however loosely - and he could only describe her slight shaking and unsteady breath as distress, but hadn’t told him to stop yet. He trusted Valeba. He trusted she might also end up pushing herself too far, but they had been moirails for a few sweeps now. If she threw herself into a panic attack, he knew how to deal with it.

Still, checking up wasn’t a bad idea.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

She nodded. “I’m okay. How long has it been?” she said breathlessly.

“At least four minutes.” He frowned. “Are you sure you are okay? You sound stressed.”

“Oh I’m most definitely stressed,” she said. Her voice sounded strained, more so than before. “This is still freaking me out pretty badly. But at least four minutes without throwing myself into a PTSD-fueled panic attack is a huge improvement from last time.”

He sighed. “Valeba…”

He knew her well enough to know she threw him a grin that was partly to convince himself and mostly to convince herself, though the extended pause in her speak told him otherwise. “I got this.” She swallowed thickly. “I...I…”

That was all he needed. In an instant, he broke away from Valeba, using the knife she gave him earlier to cut away at the ropes. She turned around herself, throwing him in a tight embrace. He could feel his the shirt of his suit go damp from her tears and could feel her body shake, but no tears came out. He let a hand go up into her hair, petting it as gently as he could.

“It is okay,” he said softly. “You are just with me, alive and well. No one else. And it was not a seadweller who did those things to you.”

He felt her nod. “I know.”

“And you said it yourself, you improved.”

She sighed as she looked up at him, eyes glassy. “Not well enough.”

He shook his head, moving the hand from her hair straight to her cheek. She shuddered again, violently, before her whole body calmed. “Valeba, you are doing fine. Some would never try to work past this.”

“Still…”

“You are being too hard on yourself. Think of it this way. Last time, we only made it a minute or so, and I did not catch you until you started to return to your trauma. We are both improving.”

“Mm. That’s fair. Thanks for that.”

“Valeba, you are my moirail. And certainly, you have pulled me out of more panic attacks than I can think. Doing something like this is only the natural course of events.” His fins twitched and he stroked her cheek. If it were someone else, someone who didn’t have a fear of being restrained, he might initiate the hug. But not now. Not with her. “But I suppose, if you are looking for it, a ‘your welcome’ works just as well.”

[wyrdsistersofthedas]

Stars and Guarders: Random Thought Blog #6

One of our recent posts had an interesting response from @thereallonelyagain​ .  I was thinking quite a bit about it this week and, naturally, I had to share the results of that thinking.  

I read quite a bit about navigation and astronomy instruments, including astrolabes, while I was in high school and in my early college years.  I was writing fanfiction for a very different fandom at that time that I felt required knowledge of 16th century sailing.  I did notice that the globes in the Brecilian ruins resembled an orrery under glass and the orbs I jokingly called “weird ass whirligigs” do bear a resemblance to a dioptra or an armillary sphere.  So could they be used for astronomy?  

In order to prove a connection to Thedosian astronomy, we should expect to find similar traits to an observatory in our world.  We should find star charts and writings that describe the heavens and the movement of celestial bodies around Thedas (murals, paintings, or starry images would be a start), multiple instruments that can be used to make observations of such things, and an unobstructed view of the sky.  I can’t definitely find any of these things in the Brecilian Forest ruins, but there is a case to be made for all of them being present in the Western Approach, specifically at Coracavus and the Still Ruins.  Items and evidence found there suggests there could also be a connection between the Fade, Time Magic, and Thedas astronomy...maybe.

Here is what I’ve got:

This object looks a lot like an orrery, perhaps showing Thedas and its two moons.  

At least one of these scrolls seems to show a star chart or a map of constellations around Thedas.

Here’s a close up of the chart.  It looks a lot like constellations,especially when you compare it with other Thedosian star charts.  (I haven’t been able to make a match between these and the constellations marked by the astrariums and in World of Thedas, but I’ll keep at it.)

You know...come to think of it, Coracavus and the Still Ruins are hosting some shady shit!  “Prison” my ass!  No “prison” has green marble walls, richly decorated rooms, and a teeny tiny cells for a dozen-ish people at most.  All the evidence points to Coracavus being a well appointed research facility, whose occupants conducted some nasty experiments, fueled by lyrium and their prisoners’ blood, all of which resulted in a Veil breach that required time magic to contain ages before “the Breach” we deal with in Inquisition.  Could astronomy be part of the magic that alters time?  No clue, but it would be interesting to be able to talk with Dorian about his work with Alexius more.

The clearest connection between magic and astronomy is seen in the astrariums scattered across Southern Thedas and the codex entries associated with them.  

It’s pretty clear that armillary spheres inspired the design of the astrariums and suggested their purpose, i.e. mapping the locations of various star clusters. Thedas has the added twist of them being used to magically seal away treasures from an ancient Tevinter cult that seemed a bit obsessed with constellations.

Could these be related to the globes in the Brecilian Forest?  Maybe.  

As you can see in this picture from the basement in Kinloch Hold, there are spheres and planes that resemble the parts of a dioptra and look a lot like a medieval armillary sphere.  Since we have never seen these objects used, however, all we can do is speculate about their purpose.  They do bear a resemblance to an astrarium, but I can’t say for certain that they are related or not.

It is worth noting that the Western Approach does have something in common with the Brecilian Forest; the Veil is very thin in both places.  The book Asunder talks about how thin the Veil is near Adamant as does this codex found at the Ritual Tower where the Inquisitor first confront Erimond.

“Many Tevinter structures litter the wastelands of southwestern Orlais. In the age before the First Blight, the Imperium expanded through the South at an incredible rate, and the lands farthest from Minrathous became home to a great many sites dedicated to magical experimentation, taking advantage of natural weaknesses in the Veil as well as the distance from the Archon's oversight to try ever more dangerous fields of study. As with Aeonar in Ferelden, the laboratories of Orlais were set upon by the followers of Andraste during the uprising, and little remains of them now save crumbled stone.”

-An excerpt from Empire and Imperium by Sister Petrine, Chantry scholar

There are also aspects about the Western Approach, the Brecilian Forest Ruins, and the Old Temple in the Frostback Basin that are similar.  Tevinter may have conducted magical experiments in all three places, two of which definitely went very wrong.

So let’s get back to the original point: Could the weird ass whirligigs and the ancient elven tree ornaments be astronomy instruments like an astrolabe, orrery, or armillary sphere?  Well, we have seen the Brecilian Forest whirligigs in use in Awakening.  Twice.  Once in a modern context, the other in an ancient one.  

Here’s the modern use.  The Architect was using four whirligigs in his experiments in the Silverite Mine.

They are definitely magical tools of some sort, perhaps serving as conduits and/or collectors of energy.  Turning the apparatus off also releases the magical door lock the Architect put in place to keep the unwanted out (and the wanted in?).  I assumed up to this point that the Architect’s experiments focused on the Blight and individuals who are naturally resistant to it, but this particular experiment doesn’t seem to have much to do with the Blight.  Perhaps the whirligigs themselves may have been the experiment, the unlocking effect merely a side effect of the apparatus being turned off once the room safe to enter.  (A good question to ponder is if the Architect brought the orbs to the room or if they were part of the original construction of the Silverite Mines.)

The other time we see a whirligig used in during the battle with the Dark Theurge.

In this case, even more than with the Architect, we are probably seeing the original purpose for the whirligigs, which I guess we could now call the “Strange Apparatus”.  The Strange Apparatus activates when the Dark Theurge is about to be defeated.  Why is a whole other matter.  It is likely that the whirligig’s strange apparatus’ energy is part of what kept the Dark Theurge from escaping his Deep Roads prison.  By turning it off, we seem to have unleashed it. Hopefully its sorry ass was sent back to the Fade after the Warden-Commander defeated the Avvar lord corpses it raised.  My Warden-Commander doesn’t love the idea of having to deal with that nasty bastard every time the wardens need a turnip from the root cellar.

The elvhen orbs seem to serve a similar purpose.  They also seem to channel energy, such as we can see in the elvhen shrine under the Dead Hand and with the energy “trees” in the Vir Dirthara.

Given the energy associated with all of these artifacts, I still suggest the “strange apparatus” whirligigs have more to do with directing power than they do with astronomy. 

Make of all of this what you will.  :)

-MM 

PS - We actually have seen astrolabes in Dragon Age before or rather, their navigational cousin, the sextant.  In our post about non-magical technology in Thedas, we pointed out that the Warden-Commander can give one to Nathaniel Howe in Awakening.

[zrtranscripts]

Season 6, Mission 18: 99 Red Balloons

Appearances can be deceptive

SAM YAO: Right, that's Brent Valmont, the billionaire even Amelia's afraid of. And you're in his actual... lair!

JANINE DE LUCA: [whispers] Runner Five, I have a plan. When I say run, run!

BRENT VALMONT: Are you planning to escape? That's exactly what I'd expect of you! I bet you've got an incredible plan, Janine! Course you do, you're an incredible woman. You need a nickname. Brains! Five, I'm calling you Speedy Gonzales, because of the running. Sam! Is Sam on comms with you?

ANNIE: Mr. Valmont, would you like me to patch Sam Yao through the speakers to you?

SAM YAO: No, wait! Wait, wait! No, don't – [over speaker] don't do that. [sighs] Oh, you've done it, haven't you? This feels weird. Like I'm naked. Can you all hear me?

JANINE DE LUCA: We can, Mr. Yao. Mr. Valmont, what is it you want with us?

BRENT VALMONT: All right, listen. I could turn you over to Sigrid now for your various crimes – trespassing, stealing, impersonating a chef – I'm sure at least one of those carries the death penalty in her gray new world.

JANINE DE LUCA: But you're not going to do that.

BRENT VALMONT: No! Never would I ever do that to you, Brains! Never. And I mean, obviously, I could just tell ANNIE to kill you here and now, and no one would be any the wiser.

ANNIE: Would you like me to fill the chamber with deadly neurotoxin now, Mr. Valmont?

BRENT VALMONT: Belay that order, ANNIE.

SAM YAO: Are you not going to do that, either? What is it you want?

BRENT VALMONT: Look, just come with me. I've got something to show you, and it can't wait. Come on, run!

SAM YAO: Is this what you had to show us that couldn't wait?

BRENT VALMONT: Yup!

SAM YAO: Okay. So yeah, it's the bridge from the Battlestar Galactica! If I had that, it couldn't wait either, but... what do you want?

BRENT VALMONT: [sighs] I just wanted you to know that I'm a bit like you. Geeky! I know Amelia's probably told you terrible things about me. Breakups are the worst, and she did take some things from me I really would rather she hadn't, and I'm sure she thinks I'm still angry, but I'm not all bad. And Sigrid's such a killjoy. All that order is so boring! I've been hoping to meet you. I want to help you.

SAM YAO: You don't.

BRENT VALMONT: I do!

SAM YAO: Hmm. We've had these conversations before. Even if you're not loyal to Sigrid, she's delving out anti-zombie serum. You're taking it from her. And if we try and explain where it comes from, you wouldn't believe us.

BRENT VALMONT: It's from babies.

SAM YAO: You know?

BRENT VALMONT: I do.

JANINE DE LUCA: You know, and you support her?

BRENT VALMONT: I support her up to a point. The point is the point at which she knows about it. Cards on the table: you're looking for Selma, the woman who's run away from Sigrid and has half a dozen bounty hunters after her. I can't help you publicly, but I can get you – what is it you need to find her, ANNIE?

ANNIE: A sample of DNA, Mr. Valmont.

BRENT VALMONT: Oh yeah, we can get that no sweat. Plus, I hear on the grapevine that Amelia wants to save those babies, and if she wants it, I want it. So, you need some DNA from this Selma. I can get it for you. Come with me.

SAM YAO: Is this a trap?

JANINE DE LUCA: If it is, it's a very puzzling one.

BRENT VALMONT: Follow me to the transport at the back door! ANNIE, rustle me up one of those nifty headsets. I'll send for Paula and Peter. Come on, run!

PAULA COHEN: Where are you taking us?

BRENT VALMONT: There's a little pocket state on the far side of Jay-Jay Nation where Sigrid keeps a collection of personal possessions of immune people, for research, I think. They're all carefully labeled, and I have access to the facility, so we should find what we need there.

JANINE DE LUCA: Jay-Jay? Hmm, yes, I see. We'll find a path through Clover Meadows. They're peaceful. Then up via the pass at the undercroft. Quick and safe.

BRENT VALMONT: Mm, no. I don't think that's our best route. Sigrid's installed new cameras in the undercroft in exchange for vaccine supplies.

JANINE DE LUCA: I didn't know that.

BRENT VALMONT: It only happened yesterday, Brains, don't doubt yourself!

JANINE DE LUCA: I wasn't doubting myself.

BRENT VALMONT: That's that spirit! [parks vehicle] Anyway, I have a better route. [opens vehicle door] We'll go in on foot, and we'd better speed up. Paula, I need you out of breath when we get there.

PAULA COHEN: Uh, what?

BRENT VALMONT: Run!

[cow moos]

PETER LYNNE: Oh, I know this place. It's, uh, one of those farms that's declared itself an autonomous city-state, isn't it?

PAULA COHEN: A city-state whose citizens are mostly sheep and cows?

BRENT VALMONT: Save your breath, Paula. Here comes trouble.

FARMER: What are you doing here? Get off my land?

BRENT VALMONT: Ah, wonderful. Great to see you. I, uh, I live in Goldmont, over the other side of this field.

FARMER: I haven't seen you in Goldmont.

BRENT VALMONT: We've just moved in. We're sort of a family, you know. Post-apocalypse, banded together. We do just need to cross this field.

FARMER: No one crosses my field. That's the law. My own private property.

BRENT VALMONT: Yes, yes. I do see. Property is nine-tenths of the law, but you see, my wife, my darling wife, Paula, is having an asthma attack.

PAULA COHEN: [wheezes] I'm... I'm... having... an... an asthma attack!

BRENT VALMONT: You may not know, asthma medication is very scarce. There's only one inhaler in the whole of Goldmont, and I really must get her home. You wouldn't endanger this poor woman's life, would you?

FARMER: Hmm. As it happens, I have asthma myself. Go on, get on with you, and don't tell nobody you came this way.

BRENT VALMONT: Oh, thank you! Thank you! Come on, family. Run!

SAM YAO: How did you know that farmer had asthma?

BRENT VALMONT: He had a very distinctive semi-circular mark at the corner of his lip. Jury-rigged asthma inhalers are often made from Comansys rebreathers, which leave that mark on the face. That, coupled with the envelope in his pocket from the pharmaceuticals dump in [?] suggested he'd be susceptible to asthma-based persuasion.

PAULA COHEN: But you told me to start running before we saw the farmer.

BRENT VALMONT: Oh yes, that's right. No, no, I had intel on that farmer. I have intel on everyone. [sighs] I miss the old way of doing this, cold reading and so on. Shame. There's practically nothing ANNIE can't tell me with a bit of time.

JANINE DE LUCA: Really? Is she privy to the Minister's secret plans?

BRENT VALMONT: Oh, you want to bypass all this and find out where those babies are? No, even ANNIE doesn't know that. Sigrid keeps it all on paper and files on her private system, not connected to any network.

And I'll tell you what else I've got nowhere with: ANNIE's been trying to knock up a cure to the zombie plague for years for me. Got nowhere. Your Veronica hasn't gotten anywhere with it, has she? No, don't worry. I know she hasn't.

[zombies growls] Anyway, look, uh, there's a zombie. I think the idiot farmer was using it as a scarecrow, but it's worked loose. Come on, run!

BRENT VALMONT: Oh, this is exciting! Thrill of the chase! I miss it. You know, from the old days.

PETER LYNNE: Are you telling us you ran away from zombies in the old days?

BRENT VALMONT: No, no, no. I was a grifter, like Amelia. That's one of the things that drew us together. [sighs] Eventually, I grifted my way into owning a technology company, Xia-Hifa. I was only supposed to hold onto it for six months, then dump the stock, take the profits, off to Honolulu, but I found that my particular brand of economy with the truth worked terrifically well in the business world. I spun bigger and bigger lies about what my company would do, then the employees read my interviews and made it happen! They called me -

PAULA COHEN: A technological visionary who can see the future. I remember.

BRENT VALMONT: I've missed the hands-on stuff, though, even in the apocalypse. I think I've kept myself too safe. Anyway, here we are, at the border of Goldmont. None of you have any weapons, do you? Good. There's a gangland funeral today. Two rival clans have been invited as part of a truce]. They'll each assume we're with the other, so stick with me. Come on, we don't want to be late for the funeral. Run!

MOURNER: And now, Scorpion Fang will give a eulogy for her beloved brother. Scorpion Fang?

SAM YAO: Oh my God. Scorpion Fang's brother. Didn't Amelia get him killed so she could take over New Canton?

BRENT VALMONT: Did she really? What's she like? God, I miss her. You know where I made my mistake with her? Tried to get her to go straight. Showed her my technology company, thought she'd be impressed by the money.

PAULA COHEN: Wasn't she?

BRENT VALMONT: No. It was always the achievement for her. Money's just the way you prove you're winning. No point if you stop playing the game. She took it all when she left. Am I heartbroken? Yes. Am I angry? Only with that old devil called love. I can't deny it. I still hold a torch for that woman. All right. Let me do this thing.

PETER LYNNE: What thing?

BRENT VALMONT: This thing. [shouts] Eagle Fang was a member of the Star Militia. [whispers] He wasn't. [shouts] Truth! The people demand the truth!

PETER LYNNE: Valmont, what are you doing?

BRENT VALMONT: Just look like you're with me.

PAULA COHEN: There are some very large guards coming over to us now, Valmont. They don't look happy.

BRENT VALMONT: That's good. Keep talking to me.

JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Valmont, we are going to get pounded to a pulp.

BRENT VALMONT: Oh no, definitely not. Not at a funeral. Honor amongst thieves.

GUARD: You are all disturbing the peace at this sacred event.

BRENT VALMONT: Oh, really? Very sorry. I thought it was something else. Uh, a party.

GUARD: All of you, with me.

BRENT VALMONT: No, no! Don't throw us into Jay-Jay Nation! They told me they'd kill me if I ever went back there!

GUARD: Oh, yes. There is no passage from Goldmont to Jay-Jay, but for you, I will make an exception.

BRENT VALMONT: No, no, no! Not Jay-Jay! Please! [chains jingle] No, you monsters! Oh, you heartless, cruel monsters!

[gate clangs shut]

JANINE DE LUCA: Mr. Valmont, that was... I must say, I'm afraid that was very impressive.

BRENT VALMONT: Really? Thanks. Plenty more where that came from, Brains. Look, the facility's just over there. Speedy Gonzales, you run with me. Let's finish this job in style!

[keyboard clicks, printer whirs, paper rustles]

BRENT VALMONT: There. The box containing the file on Selma Stein is #133. Open the third drawer down, Five.

[drawer opens]

PAULA COHEN: That's creepy. They've got a hairbrush with her hair on it. Some clothing, jewelry. It's like a museum of the immune.

BRENT VALMONT: And if I take one of those hairs, put it into my mini DNA sampler -

[device beeps]

ANNIE: DNA isolated. Mr. Valmont, would you like me to initiate DNA search now?

BRENT VALMONT: I mean, yes. What else did we come all this way for?

ANNIE: Information, Mr. Valmont. Reinstating DNA search functions will re-enable Project Glass.

SAM YAO: Project Glass? That very deadly thing you're trying to do to Five?

BRENT VALMONT: Ah, yes. That's a bugger. Tell you the truth, I never fully understood what Project Glass was. [?] beavering away never bothered me about anything until it was salable. I thought we took the chips that'd let you do it out of the backup mainframe a few years ago. Oh, well, can't be helped now. ANNIE, Project Glass – how likely is it to be deadly, and how soon?

ANNIE: Not immediately deadly.

BRENT VALMONT: Oh, well, that's fine then! Authorization granted. We'll figure something out.

SAM YAO: No, no, no! Hold on a second. You can't just set something up that's going to kill Runner Five -

[device beeps]

ANNIE: Process complete. Target located in biosphere sigma alpha, Paradise Project.

JANINE DE LUCA: Oh Lord, that poor woman.

[door opens]

DOCENT: It's through here.

BRENT VALMONT: Someone's coming. Quick, behind those filing cabinets, all of you. Hurry!

DOCENT: You're the fourth one to come for this box today. We're running out of objects to give people.

BOUNTY HUNTER: The Minister's bounty is very attractive.

[drawer opens]

DOCENT: Here you go. Hairbrush?

BOUNTY HUNTER: Yes. My bloodhound will get a good scent for this Selma from that. I'll find her, and she won't be causing any more trouble.

[northelypark]

For the character ask, Clive, Emmy and Don Paolo B)

Whoops, this went a little long ;)

Clive

First impression - Aww, what a brave gentleman battling da evil gangsters to save Steam Punk London :) :) ;) So cute and witty. Daw, he can solve puzzles. Baww, his tie is crooked :D I hope nothing bad happens to him :‘0

Impression now - 

Favorite moment - The bullet-dodging flip he does at the casino.

Idea for a story - Um, like he attends this really sketchy boarding school and has all kinds of fun times with his nerd friends doing totally not illegal stuff like riding skateboards.

Lamplight Letters aside, I’d love to write about his time as a journalist, investigating the time machine incident. Maybe someday if I ever finish my current fic…

Unpopular opinion - I was gonna say that Bill Hawks is 5x better than him, but maybe I’d better let that one die before I’m crushed by the Mobile Fortress. Repeatedly.

Favorite relationship - Too many. I can’t choose. Canonically, his father-son bond with Layton and his friendship with Spring, Cogg, and Shipley. Headcanonically, his special friendship with Amelia Ruth, which I made up because hello I like suffering. And of course him being an overprotective, dork father to Justine ;)

Favorite headcanon - Too many involving my fic, so I’ll just list a small, specific one: it’s possible that he became a reporter simply to find answers concerning his parents’ death, but I like to think he was interested in writing and journalism from a young age. Clive enjoys writing fiction on the side, but doesn’t think he’s very good and considers non-fiction his strong suit. He also likes wordplay and riddles and sometimes puns, but that is not an interest that should be encouraged in any way.

Emmy

First impression - She seemed like a refreshing, intriguing character when I first saw her design. I thought she fit with Layton and Luke so well, like she’d always been part of the team. 

Impression now - She’s one of my favorite characters in the series. I wish her backstory could have been more fleshed out, but other than that she’s a really likable, fun character with a lot of different sides to her personality. I love how spirited she is, her many skills (ze butt-kicking skills, plane-flying skills, cooking skills, photography, riding horses, singing is there anything this woman cannot do)  and the energy and humor she adds to the prequel trilogy.

Favorite moment - Tie between coming to Luke’s rescue in Eternal Diva and hugging Layton goodbye in Azran Legacy.

Idea for a story - I’d like to explore her backstory, starting from when she was adopted by Bronev and focusing on her relationship with him, as well as her Targent training. Her past has so much potential.

Unpopular opinion - Not sure if this is unpopular per say, but she’s a tad grating in Miracle Mask. In Last Specter and Eternal Diva it seemed like she had a friendly working relationship with Grosky and you could tell they respected each other, but suddenly in MM she’s practically calling him stupid to his face. It was supposed to be funny, but it just came across as mean-spirited and out of character to me. 

Favorite relationship- Her friendship/sibling rivalry with Luke. The banter between the two in Eternal Diva is so adorable. And how she acts like a big sister to Aurora, especially in the scene where they’re shopping together. 

Favorite headcanon - Like Layton, Emmy’s parents were researchers who were kidnapped by Targent and forced to work for the organization. They died trying to escape and so Emmy grew up on the streets of the Nest, fending for herself until Bronev, still trying to work towards his own freedom, took her in and raised her. 

Don Paolo

First impression - Cliché mustache-twirling arch nemesis with trademark laugh and dorky flyingmobile. His design kind of creeped me out in CV, but a lot of the designs in that game were unnerving. 

Impression now - I like him a lot better than I did mostly because of his development in UF. He played the part of the reluctant anti-hero really well. It was also fun seeing him team up with Layton and co. and how he interacted with everyone. I’m a sucker for the reformed villain trope, especially when the villain’s sarcasm and cynicism remain intact. 

Favorite moment - When he’s sneaking into the Research Facility with the gang and just the little random, dorky things he says when you tap stuff. 

Idea for a story - Umm, maybe it would interesting to write about his childhood. Or really weird. I’ve also thought about writing a humorous oneshot of that one cutscene of him spying on Layton and Claire from his perspective. 

Unpopular opinion - He’s way cooler than Descole. 

Favorite relationship - His rivalry, then eventual team-up with Layton. It was amusing seeing them try to get along (Layton acting civil, but slightly frustrated and DP just openly insulting him all the time).

Favorite headcanon - I’d like to think he eventually gives up villainy and Flora persuades him to help take care of St. Mystere. He seemed really intrigued by the robots in the village and in UF his changed attitude towards Flora implied he felt guilty for destroying her home/kidnapping her/etc. etc. and wanted to make it up to her somehow. 

Either that or he gets rich selling his inventions and becomes this eccentric billionaire recluse ala Scrooge McDuck.

Thanks for asking, my friend :D

[reizno-roblox]

Entity #010, “Kid Faux” this entity dresses in all black, with a diamond plate ninja mask. The entity looks to be around █ - ██ years old, with a height of █’█. The entity carries a ‘Colt Single Action Army’ Revolver [Or so it claims.] accompanied with a knife similar to the one often seen in the “Murder Mystery” franchise.

The entity has a noticeably high IQ. Being able to exploit almost any electronical device except ██████████. The entity refuses to remove it’s mask or shades, although it will pull its hood down, revealing light brown hair.. This entity came to RETRIX’ attention when players within a popular ROBLOX game known as “Fencing” by StickmasterLuke, a ROBLOX Moderator. 

RETRIX had went in when players started reporting that Stickmasteluke had stolen an older version of “Murder Mystery” [Sure, there were multiple copies of MM out there, but for SML to take one and place it his own game? We find that highly unlikely especially him being a ROBLOX Mod. Although it would’ve made for a great ‘exposure video’. - 3iC Redro] by Nikilis and incorporated it into his game.

When two of our field agents entered the server, they found that it looked almost exactly like the retro ‘Murder Mystery’ except that the tools and color scheme of the area was different. The tools were left as Fencing swords, but the guns were replaced with the “Galatic Laser Gun” Gear. 

The two agents had confronted the exploiter of the server, causing the entity to reveal itself and claim that it was ███████. After that it murdered the two agents, who failed to respawn in the main lobby. Their whereabouts are still currently unknown. [Along with everyone else he murdered. - 2ic Elizabeth

RETRIX had moved in after not getting any connection back from the two agents, shutting the server down and moving the entity back to the facility where it was placed in solitary confinement.

Appendix: On 1█/17/20██

On 1█/17/20██ “Kid Faux” (#010) was interviewed to find out where the missing agents were sent and why he had exploited the server.

[Researcher ███ enters the room.]

Researcher ███: “Good afternoon 010,”

010: “That’s not my name.”

Researcher ███: “It’s your designation number. It’s what we will be referring you as in this facility.”

010: “Why am I here?”

Researcher ███: “You’re here because we need to find out where our agents went. Along with everyone else you killed in that server.”

010: “I don’t know.”

Researcher ███: “So you say,”

010: “Really. I don’t know.”

Researcher ███: “That knife you wield in combat. Is it taken off of any games on ROBLOX?”

010: “Yeah. The Mad Murderer. The second one I think.”

Researcher ███: “Why did you take it from that game?”

010: “I didn’t ‘take’ it. I just copied it. Two very different meanings.”

Researcher ███: “....Right. Moving on. You seem to have the ability to access and encrypted or otherwise unaccessible database. Care to explain how?”

010: “Magic.”

Researcher ███: “Please answer the question truthfully, 010.”

010: “No really it’s magic.That’s as honest as I can get.”

Researcher ███: “I’ll repeat myself again, answer the question truthfully, 010.”

010: [Remains Silent]

Researcher ███: [To the guard.] “Get it out of here.”

010 was escorted out of the room and taken back to it’s containment cell.

Additional Notes

“So we’re chaining up children now? That’s about all of ROBLOX.” - Researcher █████

“Well it’s not really a child but an entity with devastatingly unique abilities. Imagine if he went to other ROBLOX games with that knife of his. So many people would lose their accounts.” - Researcher ██

“They could always make new accounts.” - Researcher ███

“Each account is it’s own life. Even if you could make a ‘new’. You’d still be subjecting it to the torture of the entities/glitches/abnormalities that reside within ROBLOX. Child or not it still causes bad things to happen.

Even with the knife taken away from the subject, he still has the intellect to create this weapon and use it. Until we can wipe that information or somehow prevent it from exploiting this the entity has to stay within RETRIX, where it can’t cause any trouble.” - Researcher ██

“We also need to worry about it getting into our systems. If anything, put some time into figuring how that works.” - Technician G███

[katharaya]

By Any Other Name (1/1)

Hello @silksieve! I’m your Holiday Harbinger for the @masseffectholidaycheer​ this year! As per your request, here’s your Sentinel!Shakarian with a bit of Tali and EDI thrown in. I hope you like it!

I’ve also posted this over at AO3 for your convenience! :)

By Any Other Name

---

Sometimes showcases of affection  – and pet names – don’t translate perfectly across species.

---

It starts one artificial morning on the Normandy, with Garrus in Shepard’s bed, the warmth of her body still lingering on the sheets, waking up slowly to the sound of safety implied by the softly humming engines and the quiet clinking of metal as Shepard tinkers at her work bench.

Garrus cracks open an eye and watches her fiddle with her armor’s shield capacitors, her tongue sticking out a bit as she concentrates.

She’s so fascinating to watch when she’s tinkering. She’d told him once that machines were her first love; if she hadn’t been a biotic she’d have happily spent her life just creating new inventions, maybe in some R&D facility instead of firing guns out in space.

“What,” he’d said, “and miss out on this turian bad boy experience?”

She had laughed and knocked him off his feet with her biotics, pinning him to the bed. “The only thing that made this worth it, honestly,” she’d said, and kissed him.

Garrus chuckles softly at the memory, and Shepard’s head whips around, alert as always. She smiles when she sees he’s awake.

“Morning, baby,” she says, setting down her tools. “Sorry, did I wake you?”

And Garrus has never been a particularly coherent person during mornings, so when he hears her it takes several seconds to process her words.

Ba… by…?

Was that… was that an insult? Did Shepard just call him names?

“What?” he says, voice rough with sleep and subvocals thrumming with vague, still-not-quite-awake annoyance.

Shepard just laughs, rolling out of her chair to kiss him good morning, before she straightens up and starts to gather the rest of her clothes scattered on the floor.

“I’m gonna take a shower,” she continues. “And no, that wasn’t an invitation. I do really intend to shower.” She flashes him a grin – a quick, there-and-gone thing – but the fact that he’s allowed to see it is honor enough, he knows. “I’ll meet you in the mess for breakfast, okay?”

And then the sliding door to the bathroom closes with a pneumatic hiss, and Garrus is left on the bed, confused as hell, before he finds his voice and calls out, “Shepard, what did you just call me?”

He thinks he hears her laugh, but the spray of water starts and drowns out any other sound.

---

“Maybe it’s a translation error?” Tali offers helpfully as they stand in the airlock of the geth dreadnought, waiting for Shepard to cross the docking tube and let them in.

Garrus shifts uneasily on his feet, the steady thump-thump of Shepard's mag boots over the comm doing little to abate his uneasiness.

“Maybe. I hope so. I mean, I’m no baby,” Garrus says petulantly, and huffs when Tali snorts behind her mask.

“You cried when Shepard got back from Aratoht,” Tali snickers.

“I did not,” Garrus says, affronted.

“Yeah you did. EDI let me hack into the Normandy’s security cameras after Joker unshackled her. I saw you sniffling in the battery, you big softie.”

“I—” he says, losing all plausible deniability. “I was stressed,” he says instead, defensive. He kicks a stray bit of metal littering the airlock. “She could’ve died on that mission and you know it.”

“She could die on any mission,” Tali counters. “We all could.”

“You know what I mean,” Garrus grumbles. “And anyway, showing concern for my girlfriend’s safety by crying doesn't make me a baby.”

“It kinda does,” Tali says, and he can hear her smile behind her mask.

“Does not.”

“It does a little bit.”

Garrus glares. “Does not,” he mumbles under his breath.

“If you say so,” Tali says, the grin evident in her voice.

Shepard is still walking across the docking tube. Garrus’ visor informs him that his heart rate is going up. Spirits, what’s taking her so long?

“Hey,” Tali says, pressing two fingers gently against his wrist. “She’s gonna be fine.”

“Yeah,” he croaks out. “Yeah. It's just— she’s got this thing with open space, you know?”

“I know,” Tali whispers. “I was there.”

“I— yeah. Right.”

They hear the hiss of a door opening over the comm, the steady thumping of Shepard’s boots turning into her usual quick pace.

"But see?” Tali says, brightening. “I told you she'd be fine.”

Garrus lets out a sigh of relief. “Yeah.”

“So no need to be a baby about it.”

“What?” he says indignantly as the door in front of them slides open.

Tali just laughs, already running across the walkway.

---

He probably should’ve just asked Shepard, but between all the missions and meetings and frantic, clandestine make-out sessions there’s not a whole lot of time, and next thing he knows he’s on a shuttle headed to Cronos Station with Shepard and EDI.

It’s almost too easy to get into the swing of things; he’s been fighting with Shepard for what feels like forever, and it’s almost as natural as their tango on the Citadel.

Scratch that, it’s better than their tango on the Citadel, because firefights have guns.

Shepard biotically throws the Atlas pilot across the room before he can fully get into the cockpit, and Garrus follows up with a well-placed concussive shot that takes him out of the fight permanently.

Garrus takes a half-second to celebrate, which he really shouldn’t have, in hindsight, because suddenly he’s flat on his back behind cover, shields down, with a massive crack on his chest plate and what feels like a bruised rib or three.

“Garrus!”

He hears Shepard call to him over the alarms from his visor, her usually calm voice laced with panic. There’s the sound of an overload chain activating, followed by a round of rapid gunfire, before Shepard is dropping to his side, already fiddling with her omni-tool.

It takes a moment for him to register the notice from his visor that the area is already clear. He’d be pretty damn impressed if it was anyone but Shepard, but as it is, well. He’s gotten used to it.

“Garrus,” she’s saying, calling up the medi-gel dispensation program on her omni-tool. “Talk to me. You can’t die on me here, baby.”

“I will not,” Garrus coughs out indignantly, “die with last thing I hear is you calling me a baby.”

“I— excuse me?”

“I said I will not— urgk—!” Garrus winces as he twists a little bit the wrong way and oh spirits, that’s painful. “Shepard, I’m bleeding over here. Slap some medi-gel on your manly turian boyfriend, why don’t you?”

“Ah— right,” Shepard says, and a rush of relief washes over Garrus as the medi-gel kicks in.

“Thanks,” he says.

“Sure thing, baby,” Shepard says, grinning.

“And about that—”

“I hate to interrupt,” EDI says, very much interrupting, “but my sensors indicate that this station’s hangar venting protocols are about to activate in approximately sixty seconds.”

They make the mad dash to the control panel, with Garrus wincing at his still-sore ribs and a helpful countdown courtesy of EDI along the way. Shepard hacks into the terminal with seconds to spare, rolling her shoulders as she draws her pistol again and pops the heat sink.

“Right,” Garrus says, checking his rifle as they start moving forward again, “about this ‘baby’ thing—”

“What about it?”

“My research indicates that it is what humans refer to as ‘pet names,’ typically used between lovers or between parents and children to signify the closeness of their relationship,” EDI chimes in helpfully from behind them.

“You mean she says that because she likes me?”

“Given the length of your courtship, I hardly think you should be this surprised, Garrus,” EDI comments.

Shepard chuckles softly, sliding into cover as Garrus’ face turns a light shade of blue.

“Don't turians have anything like that, Garrus?” Shepard whispers, lining up her shot.

“Not really,” he says, peering through his scope at a Cerberus guardian patrolling the end of the hallway. “Turian relationship distinctions are all in the subvocals, mostly."

“That is correct,” EDI says cheerfully, stunning an engineer with an overload before Shepard takes him out. “My research indicates that the tone of Garrus’ subvocals when speaking to Shepard match the tone typically reserved for talking to one’s spouse—”

“Anyway,” Garrus cuts her off with the sharp cracking fire of his rifle, followed by the thud of a body falling onto the metal floor. “I can understand using ‘baby’ for a child, but for your lover?”

“I can only postulate that it is meant to signify the desire to care for one’s partner, in the same way one feels compelled to care for a child,” EDI muses, before announcing that the area is clear, prompting Shepard to move up to the next room and start hacking the fighter jet controls.

“Still weird though,” Garrus says, sweeping the room for anything useful. “Hey, EDI, did your research turn up any other alternatives?”

“A vast number. There is, in no particular order: honey, sweetie pie, pumpkin, cupcake, muffin, sugar—”

“Er,” he says, mildly perturbed. “Those are all foodstuffs, aren’t they?”

“Correct.”

“Are there any that don't invoke – er, edibility?”

“There is the phrase ‘moon of my life,’ popularized in the early 21st Earth-century by human author—”

“Mm, closer, but isn’t there anything short and sweet?”

“There is the term ‘bae,’ also popularized in the early 21st Earth-century. Contrary to what some humans thought, ‘bae’ was not a shortening of ‘babe’ or ‘baby,’ but rather an acronym that stood for ‘before anyone else.’”

Garrus hums thoughtfully. “Bae,” he says, rolling the unfamiliar word in his mouth. “Hm. Short, to the point. I like it.”

“No,” Shepard says, eyes still on the terminal as she worked.

“Bae, did you remember to bring spare thermal clips?”

“Garrus, no.”

“Oh, you didn’t? You can have some of mine. Don’t want my bae getting caught without a heat sink in a firefight.”

“Ugh,” Shepard grumbles. “This is your fault,” she says, glaring at EDI.

“I accept accountability,” EDI says evenly, the ghost of a real smile on her perfect chrome mouth.

---

They stand, looking out at the ruins of London, hand-in-hand in the face of uncertainty.

Anderson is mobilizing the troops a little ways off, and behind them Tali and EDI are linking their omni-tools and exchanging the codes for the targeting program they’ll be needing before EDI heads back to the Normandy with the others.

He and Shepard watch, silent, as a burning fighter jet streaks across the sky and crashes in the distance.

Garrus’ heart is thudding in his chest; his hands feel clammy in his gloves, but Shepard gives his hand a comforting squeeze and throws him a sideways smile.

“Ready?” she asks, the ghost of resignation and defeat lingering in the corners of her eyes.

He smiles, letting his old bravado leak through, and says, “You know I’m right behind you… bae.”

And Shepard looks at him, and blinks – once, twice – before her face morphs into something between trying to hold back a smile and looking like she’d eaten something incredibly sour.

"Something wrong, bae?"

And Shepard starts shaking, before she lets out an indelicate “Pfft—”

And then she laughs, happy and whole-bodied and free, and Garrus thinks that if he can make her laugh like this – here, in the middle of a dilapidated city on a broken planet, with Reapers raining down hell from the sky – then maybe… maybe everything just might come out alright.