#toya fuck you for having two spellings

[lyn-ne]

shoutout to this post

[komiloves]

CHAT, WHY IS THERE BARELY ANYTHING IN THIS PERSON'S MASTERLIST?!?!?!!

time to change that.

i would like to request shiraishi an, and kohane azusawa x reader who loves to fall asleep on their partner, especially in public? thank 👍

♡ FALLING ASLEEP || Shiraishi An, Azusawa Kohane x Reader

Note: I am very sorry for the late respond, I have been very busy lately with school works and exams! I will try to be more active in responding next time 😭 EXPECT SOME GRAMMAR / SPELLING ERROR BECAUSE ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE !

Let's start with how An absolute adores your sleeping face. Oh you drool? You snore? You sleep like the bed is YOUR bed? All of that ain't matter nuthing to her.

Believe it or not, An definitely has some small amount of selfies of her and you sleeping on the couch.

Overall, this girl adores you very much no matter what you do, even sleeping. The shock and awe in her face when she sees you falling asleep on her are priceless.

You were cheering so hard on her live event shows that you fell asleep on the way home with her. If the rest of VBS is with you, she will definitely ask them to be quieter because you're sleeping.

"Shhh, guys, my love is sleeping. Aren't they cute?" "Why do they sleep like that-" "Akito shut the fuck up."

An definitely doodles on your face with those non-permanent markers, making you look like a cat, or some tiny hearts and stars on your cheeks.

An would take her jacket off and put it over your back so it can act as a blanket, and seeing you shift comfortably in it only adds to her internal screaming.

If you two are on a train, An would pull you close to her with her arm, before falling asleep on top of you.

BONUS: She would VBS pictures and selfies of you sleeping (even set it as her lock screen wallpaper)

Kohane, the type of lover who would be so confused on how she should react to you sleeping on her. She wants to be in awe to your adorable sleeping face, but she also feels so flustered now that her dear is sleeping on her shoulder! (or head if you're taller than her lol)

Kohane first saw your sleeping face when you visited over at her place and falls asleep on her desk. She would never admit it to you out of sheer embarrassment, but when she first saw that, she took a picture of your sleeping face with her camera with the most gorgeous angle ever.

For some reason, this girl barely gets tired at all even if her schedule is so tight for the entire day! You followed her along through her tight and busy schedule of the day and that's when you fell asleep on her on the way home.

Kohane would stare at you in awe after getting over her temporary embarrassment before nuzzling you softly like a hamster.

If VBS is with her, she would do the same like An; tell them to be quieter.

"Guys, my partner is sleeping.. Can we please be quieter?"

When you two are now the sleepy lover, alias Kohane falls asleep on you too, An would gush about how cute the two of you looks like to Toya and Akito and take a picture of the two of you sleeping with her phone.

When you wake up, you'd find a humanized hamster in your arms all snuggled up to you <33

BONUS: Toya and An sends Akito glares when he tease the two of you.

[dysfunctionallygrey]

Who the fuck was gonna tell me how gay all the units in pjsk are?!???

I got bored over the summer and decided to download pjsekai again (there's a story behind that but it's too long.) Before this, I knew like 3 things about it: 1. Its a rhythm game, 2. Also a gacha game 3. Emu Ootori. I haven't heard much of people talking about the story, but I did know a few ships (Ruikasa) and that a number of them would have queer ships. (what are you gonna do it's fandom)

I was not however, prepared for the sheer MAGNITUDE of ships and ship material.

Prepare for a long ass post underneath because if theres one thing I enjoy it's yappering. Also spoilers for a few main stories ig.

Jesus Christ what the hell miku why are you turning all the units gay.

I'm not much of a shipper but God, are homosexual tendencies like a requirement for a sekai?????? My god these bitches gay, good for them. And this is coming from someone who hasn't finished all the stories.

First of all More More Jump.

I'm not that big of a fan of Idol Groups but the Sapphic squad™ has really captured me.

I had to rub my eyes in disbelief for a moment everytime they interacted because

The MOMENT Shizuku and Airi walked in and opened their mouths my immediate reaction was: oh?

And then as the story went on i was like: Oh!

OH.

Suddenly my favorite Vocaloid song is Romeo and Cinderella.

THE WAY AIRI SAID HER NAME I CAN'T. THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER SM "You're my Idol." IS THAT SLANG FOR I WANNA GET MARRIED TO YOU AND RUN OFF TO THE COUNTRYSIDE WITH TWO CATS THESE TWO ARE KILLING ME.

I was rendered speechless.

The only consisyent thing to come out of my mouth was "Oh."

Oh spelled backwards is Ho which is one half of Homo therefore the other half is Minori and Haruka.

And dont let me get STARTED on them.

I ddid a quick deep dive into both Shizuairi and MinoHaru.

Let me just say that Haruka was probably Minori's awakening. Actually that is my hc now Haruka was Minori's awakening thank you all goodnight I will be expecting my Nobel Prize tomorrow.

There is so much ship material between these two it is actually insane, PLUS all their cards????

I saw some clips of some event stories and damn. I know these aren't meant to be ship fodder but it is so damn easy to put this stuff through a shipping lens.

Speaking of Len

Vivid BAD Squad???

Not a single het person in sight.

I already had the AnHane tag open on a separate tab halfway through but the way I JUMPED to open the AkiToya one and I hate to invoke the lord's name thrice but Jesus H. Christ what in the hell

I had to open my phone and text my friend if I just witnessed a gay divorce in front of my very own eyes and she confirmed.

I couldn't even make a "girls are fightinggh" joke because my mouth was AGAPE.

OPEN.

AJAR.

The fly nearby was too distracted to come into my mouth because of what it just witnessed.

And Toya's Backstory.

Their Bond???

THEIR RECONCILIATION?????

It only needed to be outside and raining and I would've been SOLD.

The music. The emotion. The words. Akito's speech. GOD. It legitimately made me tear up.

And that marks number 4. I'm not religious anymore but there's smth about these gays that make me start shaking aggressively as if ridden with rabies.

Anyways

This iis getting too long.

I was originally gonna write smth abt AnHane too but that took also a hell ton of words.

And of course I had a few words to say about everyone's favorite gay clowns and no I'm not talking about your friend group I'm talking about Wonderland x Showtime.

I have yet to finish the n25 story. But judging from the overall tone and the look I feel like it's smth I would love.

Insert sentence about Leo/Need here.

Jk I actually love those girls Saki is one of my favs and I am in LOVE with Shiho's cover of Lost ones Weeping.

Part 2 sometime in the future

[thesakuragarnet]

The Limo Scandal (A Pro Hero Dabi X Hawks X Mirko Prequel)

Summary: After a messy breakup with Mount Lady, Pro Hero Dabi finds himself in a crossfaded friends with benefits situation with Hawks and Mirko. (A prequel oneshot for my Playing With Fire AU)

THIS WORK IS 18+ ONLY! S3XUAL TAGS WILL BE HIDDEN BELOW THE KEEP READING BUTTON!

Non-Spicy Tags: Pro Hero Dabi, Hollywood-esque HPSC AU, making out, swearing, smvt

Word Count: 1,326 words

AO3 link

Main fic

Spicy Tags: $ubstance use, s3ggsual activity under the !nfluence, 0ral s3x, vag!nal s3x, bl0wjobs, handj0bs, t!tf*cking, thr33some, friends with benefits, p0rn without plot, t0p Mirko, switch DabiHawks, car s3x, voy3urism, ma$turbat!on

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The limo ride to the Pro Hero red carpet event was a full hour, and the limo service made the mistake of stocking it with alcohol. Hawks, Dabi, and Mirko had already pre-gamed the event at Hawks’ penthouse, and now they were all thoroughly crossfaded. It was the first event Toya would attend since he dumped Mount Lady. Their whirlwind relationship lasted only six days, and they were the worst six days of Toya’s life. The sex was amazing…until he found out she’d been double-dealing with Kamui Woods the entire time. He’d ripped up and burned their contract right in front of her and tossed her bags out his window. Still…the alcohol wasn’t helping his need for physical touch. Pro Hero Dabi’s nerves feel like they’re on fire; he can’t remember the last time he was this horny or crossfaded. The three of them always tended to end up making out with each other whenever they got this wasted, but…something else was in the air in the back of the limo. If he was sober, he wouldn’t have agreed to what would soon conspire. 

“Come on, firefuck. I know you’re sad because of Yu, but let’s have fun tonight,” Rumi giggles as she crawls over the seats to Dabi. Hawks sits at the other end of the seats, looking out the window as if he’s hallucinating. Mirko sits on Dabi’s lap, putting her hands on his shoulders, and he thinks she’s going in for a kiss. However, she suddenly sinks her teeth into his neck, and breath hisses through Toya’s clenched teeth. His jaw slacks as the rabbit girl starts passionately sucking on his neck, her tongue dancing along his skin as she peppers his flesh with hickeys. Toya practically melts under her spell, and he tilts his chin up ever so slightly to accommodate her as she moves around; he’s wordlessly begging for her to keep going. Finally, she stops, and Toya looks down at her, only to find himself staring at her tits. He’s practically salivating, but he can’t help it. He’s too far gone. None of them have any real romantic feelings toward one another, but, right now, they’re full of carnal, instinctual lust; Toya’s inhibitions are completely erased. Mirko follows his stare and shifts, feeling him get hard beneath her as she puts her elbows together, pushing up her already plump breasts. 

“You want me to help you out with that little problem I can feel?” She sneers drunkenly, shifting her weight slightly, ripping a moan from Toya’s throat. The noise catches Keigo’s attention. 

“You two just gonna make me watch? That’s not fair,” Hawks whines. 

“You’ll get your turn, sweetheart. Mama wants to play with fire for a bit,” Mirko coos as she traces Toya’s jawline with her fingertip in an impossibly seductive manner. He hates being submissive, but, with Rumi, it’s so easy. 

“I’ll use these that you seem to be so fixated on,” Mirko murmurs as she hops off Dabi’s lap, sitting up tall on the floor on her knees in front of him as she zips out of her glittery silver dress. She wasn’t even wearing anything underneath. Toya blinks drunkenly as she unzips his pants, pulling out his cock. She positions herself in such a way that forces his length between her tits, and he leans his head back, Dabi’s eyelids fluttering shut as he puts an arm over his eyes like he’s embarrassed. 

“Fuck,” He sighs, relishing in the friction between Mirko’s breasts as she forces them up and down. A fleeting, warm and wet sensation at his tip sends a bolt of pleasure through his body as Mirko teasingly licks it. Toya squirms beneath her, trying to restrict himself from thrusting, but he wants to so desperately. Suddenly, he feels the embrace of her tits disappear, but it is quickly replaced by her mouth as she starts sucking him off. 

“ God , Rumi,” The horny plea escapes his lips, eliciting an egotistical laugh from the rabbit girl. 

“Better than that blonde bitch, huh?” She sneers before she begins deepthroating until her eyes water, her waterproof mascara and fake eyelashes holding strong as she bats them up at Dabi. 

“ Fuck yes, ” He cries out breathlessly, reaching down to run his fingers through her hair in appreciation. 

“Plenty of other girls out there better than her, Dabs. You dodged a bullet,” Rumi murmurs encouragement as she pulls back briefly, wiping the tears out from under her eyes.

“How much longer?” Hawks chides impatiently, and Rumi sniffs, pulling back and leaving Toya right at the edge before wiping the mix of drool and pre from her mouth. 

“Get over here, Birdbrain,” Mirko orders, cracking her knuckles as Toya twitches. Hawks’ half-lidded eyes widen, and he scoots over to sit slightly apart from Toya. Rumi climbs into the space that separates them, wrapping a hand around Toya’s length as she begins planting intense kisses on Keigo’s lips. 

“We will be arriving at the venue in ten minutes!” The limo driver’s voice announces through the speaker. He can’t hear or see anything that’s going on in the backseat. Rumi’s hands find their way to Keigo’s pants, and she immediately starts taking out his half-hard cock. She shifts, releasing Toya from her grip as she splays herself out between them, slowly lowering her cunt down on Toya’s pulsing length while she leans forward to wrap her mouth around Keigo’s. 

Keigo and Toya’s voices come out as sensual groans in a beautiful harmony as the lewd sounds overtake the limo. The boys’ faces are red and sweaty, and, when they make eye contact, it sets something off. 

“Come here,” Dabi practically moans as he and Hawks grab each other, passionately kissing as Mirko moans between them, sucking the life out of Hawks while throwing it back on Dabi’s cock. 

“Feels so fucking good,” Toya slurs between wet, sloppy kisses as he runs his fingers through Keigo’s hair. The Pro Hero’s wings twitch as his best friend’s hands find their way to his feathers, heating up his fingertips to stimulate him. Keigo’s hands dart to Rumi, and he holds her hair back so she can focus her attention on the two of them. Dabi bucks his hips against Mirko’s, eliciting surprised, pleasured hums from her that vibrate around Keigo. Hawks slips his tongue into Dabi’s mouth, who immediately leans further into the kiss. All three of them are breathing heavily, obnoxious, muffled moans emanating from their throats as they coax each other to climax. 

“Almost there, guys!” The limo driver announces through the speaker, and a laugh bubbles up in Hawks’ throat at the unintentional double entendre. Dabi groans as he feels Mirko clenching up around him, and the two men feel the blood surging from their brains. It happens all at once. Rumi’s eyes roll back into her head as she swallows Hawks’ load, practically jumping off of Dabi’s dick as her insides spasm uncontrollably, and he gives in to the pleasure. Suddenly, the limo comes to a stop, and the three crossfaded Pros panic through their pleasure-induced brain fog. Hawks tries to smear the come off of Dabi’s pants as the fire-Quirk user attempts to help Rumi back into her dress. The two men readjust, zipping themselves up as Rumi finishes dressing, and she opens the door. 

…

Rumi staggers out of the limo first, her dress shimmering off of the flashing paparazzi lights. Her hair is a mess, her dress is wrinkled, and a thin trail of translucent white spit peeks out of the corner of her mouth. It’s amazing that she doesn’t trip in her stilettos. Dabi hobbles out next, his top two shirt buttons unbuttoned, his neck covered in bite marks and hickeys, and his face beet red. Hawks brings up the rear with a dumb smile, his feathers completely fluffed and on edge. The press would be eating up the story for the next few months.

[thotsforvillainrights]

hii!! how’re you doing?? i hope you’re doing well, if it’s not too much trouble, can i please request a smut scenario for which setsuno falls in love with a pro hero who’s been undercover in the shie hassaikai who also loves him back but knows how risky it is and confides in him telling him that they’re a hero and from there, things eventually escalate to doing the do in the base without trying to get caught?? sorry if it’s too specific, if it’s too confusing or if you need me to clarify anything then that’s fine!! ❤️

(Honestly if someone were to take this and turn it into a full on fanfic, I’d read the chapters like crazy)

~Risky~

-Toya Setsuno smut-

Risky- full of the possibility of danger, failure, or loss

Neither of you knew what you were doing but you both knew this had to be love. However, you got to this point from the wrong end of things. You were a pro and should’ve known better, but how could you let him go now? Going undercover to track the Hassaikai’s behaviors, being placed on his team, and getting to know everything about him first? It certainly didn’t help keeping you focused on work. Setsuno had went from being your first target, to your coworker, to your friend, to somewhat of a love interest but let’s be honest, you were partners now. For him, well he’d long since realized you were a spy by the way you interacted with him within the first 2 weeks of joining the yakuza. He was trained to root out any traitors (well him and Nemoto of course). He was going to sell you out until he had felt himself falling for you. This was a shocker on his end considering he figured his walls built around his heart were strong. The walls weren’t strong enough to withstand your laugh or your smile, or even the way you scoffed in annoyance sometimes at his awful jokes. When you finally revealed to him that you were a hero, he went ahead and fessed up that he already knew. From that point you figured you’d either leave and lie about any info you got on the Hassaikai, or he’d leave and sell out his own friends. None of that was going to happen so you were both stuck contemplating leaving together and starting a new life.

“Have I ever told you how beautiful your eyes are. I could get pretty lost in those (e/c) orbs of yours, y’know?” You rolled your eyes at his compliment and continued to work. “What trashy movie did you get that line from.” You teased while organizing some files. “Toya shouldn’t you be off on a mission today with Tabe and Hojo anyway?” You turned to watch him smirk and blush a bit. “Yeah well...” he paused to lock the door and slowly approached your desk. “I kinda stuck around for you. Do you think you could pay me back with a kiss?” He leaned down to your chair height and smiled sweetly. “If all you wanted was a kiss, why’d you lock the door?” You teased him as you leaned across the desk to meet his lips. When pulling away and mumbled quietly ‘privacy sake’.

“Privacy sake huh? I’ve known you long enough now and I can tell you’ve never been this bold with me before. If there’s something else you want then you should say it.” You smirked before standing up and moving to meet him on the other end of the desk. He smiled, stood up, and handed you a piece of paper from his pocket. “Go on, read it.” You tilted your head in confusion and unfolded the paper to begin reading. When finished, you gasped and looked at him. He was smiling widely with teary eyes by now. “I put in my 2 weeks notice a few days ago and I’ve been waiting to tell you. Maybe you should wait a while until after I leave before you put yours in. That way it won’t look fishy to the boss. Y/N, I really don’t know what kinda magic spell you put on me, but I’ll do anything to be by your side from now on...even if that means leaving all this behind.” Before he could say anything else, you pulled him into a pretty passionate kiss. A kiss that would warrant the door being locked right now. Just because his group was gone on a mission it doesn’t mean the other groups weren’t here. “Maybe a outta take this back to the apartment.” He tried to speak between breaths. “With 4 hours left before we can clock out? You try justifying leaving work this early.” You replied as you began buttoning down his shirt and loosening his tie. “Y/N you make a mess out of me.” He proceeded to take your clothes off as well. “Me make a mess out of you? You’re the one that pranced in her and started it first. You teased him a bit more. He smirked and gripped your shoulders to lead you until your backside hit the desk, forcing you to lean backward and lay atop your unfinished paper work. For someone a skinny as him, his strength wasn’t too bad!

“Condom???” He nodded at you and reached into his back pocket. “How long have you had that on you today? Did you plan this, Toya?” You loved teasing him because it was cute watching try to keep his composure when his face was extremely pink. “Hush, would you?” He mumbled as he started opening the small packet. 

Once all that was taken care of, he settled himself between your legs, gripping each leg and folding your knees into you as comfortably as he could without hurting you. He looked up at you and waited for consent to keep going. Once you nodded your head at him and gave him that caring smile, he slowly entered tip first. Inch by agonizingly slow inch, he pushed himself into you. He wasn’t even thrusting yet, but he already felt like he was nearly out of breath from the pleasure. Trying to keep someone as vocal as himself from moaning out or whining was a difficult task, but he somehow managed for now. “Y/N I’m...why are you so tight?” He whispered in disbelief. “Please oh my God Y/N, tell me I can move now. I’m begging you~” He begged silently with watery eyes. “Yes Toya~” That was all it took for him to pull all the way out slowly before slamming back into you once. He leaned down to bite at your neck and keep from moaning out. It wasn’t just difficult on is end either...You were also struggling with being quiet so you two wouldn’t be caught. His cock had a way with making you sing the most delicious of moans, so you needed to take your own precautions by biting the inside of your cheek in desperation to keep quiet. 

For a while he continued to pull out all the way and keep slamming back into you at once because the pace was preventing him just barely from whining, but eventually he couldn’t handle it any longer and neither could you. He finally stayed in, thrusting at a moderately fast pace and listening to the sound of skin slapping against skin in the dim office. Little moans, whispered, and whining bouncing off the walls as he brought the two of you closer and closer to each respective orgasm. “Y/N, pleeeeaaase~” You could tell he was close by the way he began to beg for release as if you were controlling the pace. “Please, please, please, ple-fuck pleeease I’m~” He quickly leaned back down to bite harshly at your neck before filling you nearly to the brim with his seed. Meanwhile you’d taken to biting his shoulder with the same harshness. 

Once everything had calmed down and the two of you caught your breath, he removed himself and started tidying up the sex mess you two created. You decided to do the same, and scurried to gather the papers that fell off the desk during your activities. “C’mon look...”You playfully glared at him as you pointed to the bite mark on your neck. “Ah that’ll fill out. It’s just a little indent. Besides, you did the same to me too y’know.” He pointed at his shoulder. “Uh yeah, but you can cover your mark with clothes. I can’t wear a scarf right now. It’s burning up down here!” He laughed at you and moved to place a loving kiss on your forehead. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out, hero.” He teased you, but there was nothing but love in those eyes making you even more eager to see what the future would hold for you two.

»—————————–———————————————————–✄

Instagram: @pastelbattydraws & @pastelbattystore

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRNMJH7vHL7APNobUykhK4w?view_as=subscriber

[fivegoldpieces]

okay let’s get this late liveblog post started

marisha and travis wearing those glasses while sitting right next to each other is honestly killing me right now please im so weak

what is this ad oh my god 

SAD SANDPAPER

how the hell do they have time to do this im

LAURA BURSTING OUT LAUGHING AND MATT’S PERPLEXED FACE IS ME EVERY WEEK

HAPPY PRIDE HELL YEAH HELL YEAH

JESTER DISGUISING HERSELF AS A LEAF I LOVE HER SO GD MUCH

LEAF COSTUME IM LOSING MY MIND

rotting meat fjord, i don’t know how much that will help but okay

“can i like swim back to the tree” MARISHA THAT’S WHAT YOU SAID LAST CAMPAIGN TOO AND IT DIDN’T WORK

JESTER COULD HAVE GONE INVISIBLE IM FUCKNSKFL CRYING

Beau: “Everyone is fucking bailing on me, and I ain’t got shit” 

Jester: “I’m a leaf! I’m a leaf but I’m still with you”

THE WAY IM FUCKING HOLLERING RIGHT NOW OH MY GODDD I LOVE. THEM!

MARISHA MIMING BEAU REACHING OUT TO JESTER IM AJLKDJALSJFSADF

beaujester held hands i am perFecTLY FINE this is FINE IM FINE this is okay im good im good imajfdklasjdfasjkfk HANDS

Fjord is a bottom Confirmed

DIMENSION DOOR IS BEAUJESTER SHIPPERS FRIEND

UGH THAT POLYMORPH COULDVE BEEN SO GOOD

FJORD RIDING THE ROC LIKE VM DID I THINK

YES JESTER POLYMORPH BUT ALSO OH NO FJORD

the image of 6ft caduceus holding onto an eagle is fuckn amazing

i have to say the sound of matt shaking the dice as fjord falls sounds ominous as fuck

YAY FJORD IS STILL ALIVE

caduceus talking to fjord on the ground reminds me of the skyrim scene for some reason

can beau saying “i follow jester” be a thing

jester saying sorry to fjord 😭

KEEP THE BAT AWAY DON’T TOUCH IT JUST PUT IT IN THE BAG OF HOLDING

beau and caleb going to the nest to get loot together hell yeah

AWW BABY ROC

BEAU TRYING TO SCRITCH THE BABY ROC LMFAOO

THE BALL BEARINGS RETURN LMFAO

oh damn that’s a lot of gold in a nest

beau getting the silk clothes for jester

“c’mon man get back in the cloak”

beau arguing with caleb as an eagle fucking sends

LMFAO LAURA HIT THE MIC

OH SHIT POLYMORPH DROPPED

omg bless that one spell slot

damn jester really loves using command

this tense atmosphere with the roc omfg

HUT COMPLETED

 im not saying beau is married to jester now because of the rings but she definitely is

LMAO THE BOX IS TRAPPED THE ONE TIME NOTT DOESN’T CHECK FOR TRAPS

FIREBALL TRAP NOTT WHAT THE FUCK

nott is drunk i can tell

omg jester trying to snatch the flask and putting it into the haversack

beau proposed to yasha with that ring omg rights for beauyasha shippers

IM SORRY BUT MARISHA ACCIDENTALLY FUCKING WITH LIAM’S INJURED SHOULDER AS BEAU SENDS

LMFAO JESTER TRYING TO WINGMAN

omg beau and yasha are married ugh wlw rights

AH FUCK ORCS

HELL YEAH FIREBALL

i wonder how fjord feels about the orcs they’re fighting

FUCKING HELLO BEES GOD I LOVE JESTER

marisha really works those sunglasses ugh someone draw beau in them

their true rivals are toya and the roc

awww poor jester is exhausted

LET’S GO BAZOZZAN

i don’t trust that tower at all

o fuck it’s a xhorhasian hupperdook but without the fun civilians

persuasion checks scare the crap out of me ngl

“be quiet, do your work, and leave” honestly applies to a lot of places

beau, to jester: “you were pretty awesome actually”

me: fucking dead on the ground because of these two blue gfs

omg pls the leaf costume

things escape from the tower? a prison?

oh fuck temples to betrayer gods

DOORWAYS TO THE ABYSS??

this is some grey warden darkspawn shit omg

THE FUCKING DANCE MOVES

JESTER SMART TIEF LOVE HER

oh fuck THE ABYSS?? DEMONS

OH HELL OH HOW FUN

marion read jester a book about demons as a child lmfao

oh god what’s jester gonna do to that sign

bless on beau and fjord and jester ugh i love my og trio crumbs

ARE YOU STILL IN YOUR LEAF COSTUME

the traveler’s voice being described as disembodied honestly creeps me out

oban wan kenobi

omfg what is up with that incense lmao

oh the joys of haggling i cant do that lol

HOW MUCH MONEY DOES CAD HAVE

SHARE BEDS PLEASE

FLASK IS GONE AND NOTT IS FREAKING

omg not at nott thinking yasha did it

ok but nott and her alcoholism is gonna be the new spice

nott possibly fusing with frumpkin sends

i love cats ah

FJORD OPENING UP LET’S GO LET’S GO

let fjord and caduceus be goddess buddies

praying to the wildmother is literally a way to deal with anxiety attacks

fjord’s fixation on the fact that the dream with the wildmother felt good says a lot

SHUT UP HE’S ANXIOUS TO FEEL THAT GOOD AGAIN IM GONNA FUCKING SOB

mountain with no snow in front of a salt flat? oh my

god i fuckn love fjord and caduceus talking

it’s the fuckn ocean im gonna fucking cry im 

HE GOES TO SLEEP VERY WELL THAT NIGHT IM LITERALLY GONNA SOB

omg let’s go three wlws bc bi/closeted lesbian jester is Real and no one can take that away from me

jester trying to wingman so hard lmfao

LMFAO YASHA STANDING OVER THEM

WAKEY

THE SCRY FAILED UGH

jester saying “that’s what i’m here for” rings a bell in my mind but i don’t know what exactly - something about her view of her worth in the group which would be interesting to explore

omg nott about to confront yasha

and fjord now oh and caduceus

TRAVIS JUST ENDED SAM’S CAREER HOLY FUCK

oh boy cold turkey is not gonna be fun

ANGRY YASHA OMFG

omg m9 please don’t enable the alcoholism

45 GOLD FOR FIRE WHISKEY OMG

maybe use that bottle to wean her off 

everyone calls jester jessie now ugh thank you nott for starting it and beau for always using it

god i love brjeaus so much

SECRET TUNNELLLLL SECRET TUNNELLLLLL THROUGH THE MOUNTAINSSSSSS

lmfao fjord tryna be buff

oh god what is this sending gonna sound like

WHAT IF I JUST GO DDU DU DDU DU DDU DDU DDU

IM FUKVMKSNF LLOSING IT NO SHE DID IT IMF FJA

how is she supposed to look for the hidden entrance if it’s hidden

oh god they’re gonna go down the tunnel aren’t they

the way travis and marisha burst into song fuckn nerds

no plans we die like adventurers

YASHA HONEY YOU ARE NOT A FREAK

i can be a freak i can i can be a freak every day of every week

o fuck yea goggles are cool

SHE’S UNDERAGE LMFAOO

holy fuck 25 gold BUT HE DOES IT ANYWAY

fjord just one black coffee-ed nott lmfao

huh nothing for locate creature but locate object worked

FUCK YEAH CELESTIAL BUDS

uh “until the world ends”?? that does not sound good 

FJORD JUST GOES IN DUDE

oban is floating i know

JESTER HOLDING YASHA’S HANDS

SHFSFIA THE FUKD FK AF JESTER TELLING YASHA THE M9 IS BEHIND HER AND WILL SUPPORT HER

WE CAN BE YOUR NEW ONE

WE CAN BE YOUR NEW ONE

WE CAN BE YOUR NEW ONE

hol on i  need several moments

WE LOVE YOU VERY MUCH YASHA NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS

FUCKJFKSJFDAKJDF MY FUCKNS TEARS

oh? an idea?

ROCK HARP LMFAO

the way yasha prays to the stormlord is kind of endearing in a way to me

ashley is so nervous omg like travis was

TWO MILES???? THAT’S SO MUCH WALKING

this tunnel mad creepy i don’t like this

okay but i wonder if that tunnel collapsed because of someone 

beau and jester keeping track of the wall ugh my crumb

MM I DON’T TRUST OBELISKS

OOOH SYMBOLS ON PAPER

omfg fjord you can’t just eldritch blast in a tunnel that’s had a cave in before just shake him

oh it’s abyssal? defaced by celestial creatures?

UH UH THAT SOUNDS FOREBODING

god they’re such musical nerds

oh boy they’re sending nott in i hope she doesn’t get hurt

angel sculptures?

UM WEEPING ANGELS NO THANKS

THEY’RE CRYING BLOOD? NOPE GET OUT GET OUT

NOTT NO OMFG

ugh cats should have darkvisio

oh my god this is so creepy it’s like 4am matthew please

BROKEN SWORD??

THEY’RE GOING IN FUCK

LMFAO NOTT SEARCHING YASHA’S POCKETS

this place is so gd creepy matt please end it oh my god

the music is not helping at all

TWO DAYS OLD?? UH NOPE NOPE NOPE

THIS SOME SACRIFICIAL SHIT

NUH UH THIS IS REMINDING ME OF THE WHITESTONE ARC AND ZIGGURATS FUCK THIS OMFG

DON’T FUCKING PULL THE SKELETON FJORD JFC

oh god the fact that the statues were sitting is even creepier

i really don’t like this omg it’s so creepy

DOES NO ONE HAVE DETECT GOOD AND EVIL

AH FUCK THE STATUES ARE MAGICAL TOO

oh god she touched it

oh god they both touched it

oh i really do not like this omfg

what if someone dragged a body in oh god this is terrifying

IT’S MUSIC

WAIT DOESN’T CELESTIAL SOUND LIKE SINGING

METAL HARP LMFAO

break one open lol

UH SHE’S STANDING IN FRONT OF THE DOOR H

oh geez they really are gonna go in

earthy rotten sulfuric smell does not sound good at all

“you guys know what to do” oh boy

oh three yashas are a dream

WELL HELL LMFAO

closing it off with yasha as annie amazing

UGH CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK

[sockablock]

Something New for Me and You

• (start) (prev) (next) (Read on AO3) •

Chapter 6: The Still-Hanging Spotlight

Yasha leaned against a stone column outside the front entrance, facing east and idly watching boats bob up and down along the Eistus River. The arrival of winter meant fishing season was over now, but the few brightly-colored vessels still on the nighttime waters left her with a sense of serene, floating ease.

And then suddenly, the doors burst open behind her. A wild stream of people poured out, all well-dressed but looking very harried, roughly shoving past each other and heading straight for the sidewalks. Strangely enough, there were also two tiny gnomes flanking the horde, shouting over the noise and doing their best to direct the flow as smoothly as possible.

Thanks to her formidable stature, Yasha was able to wade through this onslaught with relative ease. She caught fragments of frantic conversation as she moved—what on earth was that; I can’t believe it; horrifying, so horrifying; my lawyer will head of this; poor old Brinjay—and while none of it actually made any sense, all of it was extremely worrying.

“What happened?” she asked when she reached the entrance. “What’s going on?”

The gnome to her left, a tiny brown-haired man, spoke first.

“A guy in the audience went insane,” he explained. “Started writhing and screaming and attacking, it looked like he changed into some kind of monster! Is that something that happens, usually?”

“Knock it off, dear,” sighed the other gnome. “That’s not helpful. Miss, you should stay put,” she added, looking up at the massive woman next to her. “It’s not safe in there anymore.”

Yasha glanced through the doors, watched panicked guests tumble down the stairs.

She met the gnome’s concerned gaze and shook her head. “I cannot do that,” she said. “My friends are still in there. I need to go.”

And then she pushed a handful of guests aside, and headed in.

•

Caleb’s chair flew back as he leapt to his feet, the flames in his hands shedding a low orange glow over the tablecloth, over Jester’s frantic expression, over Nott’s wide and fearful eyes. With only the stage spotlight and the moon leaking in through cracks in the curtains to illuminate the area, he could barely make out anything worthwhile—just snatches of a lumbering silhouette behind the mad shifting of fleeing audience members. From what he could tell, whatever the man had become was massive. It stretched taller than any human could, was wide as a bear and made furious swipes with rake-like claws at anything and everything that moved.

Then it roared a low, wet, wretched roar.

“What is that thing?” Jester cried, whipping around to face him. “What the fuck?!”

“I-I don’t know!” he shouted back. “I’ve never seen anything like it before! We need to get out of here, it is too dangerous!”

“But what about the others?” she demanded. “What about Molly and the performers and everybody downstairs?”

Nott squinted, and pointed at the stage. “There are still people there too!” she said. “I think I see Desmond, the lizard-man, and…and Toya.”

Sure enough, perched twenty feet in the air on her small wooden platform, the little dwarf girl was now backing up, raising her hands and trembling. She spoke too quietly for anybody to hear, but her eyes were filled with terror and her shoulders quivered. And then suddenly, she took a step too wide, placed her foot too far, felt the wind rush past and saw the ground fly up to meet her—

“Kylre!” Desmond screamed, “catch her!”

A massive shape rose through the darkness. It glinted for just a moment in the moonlight, reached out its arms, and landed back onto the stage with a resounding thud.

“Thank the gods,” Desmond breathed as Kylre turned to him, cradling Toya in his grasp. “Quick, get her out of here, get yourselves somewhere safe. This isn’t going to end well, friend.”

The lizard-man immediately took off behind the curtains. Back down on the carpeted floor, Jester, Caleb, and Nott’s attention returned to the strange, rampaging creature. The area around it had cleared out as patrons ran away, and it had switched to crushing tables under its girth, throwing vases against the walls. It shattered a window with a chair and punched an ashen fist against the ground and then—only then—did it notice their trio: the only ones not moving to escape.

It gave that cry again, a mix of pitiful and terrifying. It advanced.

“Oh, shit,” said Nott, “oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, are we going to have to fight?”

Caleb glanced around wildly, saw the outline of a stampeding horde blocking the exits and a sea of debris blocking the stage. He looked down at his palms, still crackling and ablaze.

“Er,” he began, “I, fuck, I don’t—”

Jester cut him off. “Let’s goooo!” she yelled brightly. clapping her hands together. Immediately, snapping into reality before all of their eyes, came a giant, shimmering purple lollipop. It immediately swung into the creature’s head, eliciting a roar of anger. The monster clutched its skull in agony, then looked up and locked onto Jester.

“Whoops,” she said. Her arms were outstretched and glowing faintly. “I think maybe I just made it mad.”

Caleb prevented himself from anxiously combing his fingers through his hair and setting it on fire. He turned to Nott and asked, urgently, “Did you bring your spell components?”

She quickly nodded.

“Good,” he said. “Hurry, send a message downstairs to alert Fjord and Beau what is happening. We need them to evacuate people and send backup. We will not be able to fight this thing alone.”

“Alright, Caleb!” She shoved a fist into her coat, rummaged around, and yanked out a copper wire. And as she began murmuring the commands for a Message Spell, Caleb took a deep breath, pulled deep into himself to draw upon all the knowledge he still possessed. Suddenly, the air around them turned blistering and dry and a sphere of flame coalesced around his hands, grew scorching, and he sent three blasts of burning fire towards the grotesque creature as it roared and drew ever closer.

•

Despite being on the clock, Fjord eventually gave up on sobriety and joined Beau in having a small drink.

“It’s just been a shitty few days,” she muttered gloomily. “Something happened that really pissed me off.”

“Wanna tell me about it?” he asked. “I promise I won’t judge.”

She sighed. “It’s stupid. You’re gonna judge me anyways, but basically, yesterday in the mail I got—”

FJORD TOUGH—STOP—THIS IS NOTT—STOP—I HAVE AN URGENT MESSAGE—STOP—THINGS ARE FUCKED—STOP

Beau leaned over the counter and watched Fjord get up from the ground. He looked around in bewilderment and kicked a few shards of broken glass aside. A couple other curious bar patrons also glanced over, though they seemed too intoxicated to really care.

“Whoa there,” said Beau. “You good? You look like your bean just got freaked. Did you fall on any glass?”

He rubbed his temples. “Nah,” he muttered, “nah, I think I’m okay. Did you, uh, did you just…hear something?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Uh…no? Are you sure you’re okay?”

He sighed and gestured at the bottle on the table. “Maybe we should’ve picked something weaker to start with,” he shrugged. “Or maybe I’m more of a lightweight than I thought, because—”

FJORD TOUGH—STOP—THIS IS NOTT AGAIN—STOP—SOMETHING ATTACKED US—STOP—DURING THE SHOW—STOP—YOU NEED TO EVACUATE FLETCH—STOP—AND THEN COME UP AND HELP US—STOP—ALSO THIS IS PROBABLY NEW FOR YOU—STOP—IT’S A MAGIC SPELL—STOP—AND YOU CAN REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE—STOP

This time Beau punched him in the arm. “Seriously dude,” she said, “open your eyes, are you sure you’re g—”

“Something’s happened,” he frowned. “I…I’m not sure what exactly, but I just got a message from Nott, I think? She says there’s been an attack in the Moondrop. She says she wants us to get everybody out, down here.”

Beau’s eyes went wide. “What? Are you serious? Is…is she serious? How do you know it’s not a prank, or something?”

“I don’t,” he agreed, “but she sounded pretty urgent. And you know how thick the soundproofing is, something really could’ve happened and we wouldn’t’ve noticed. Maybe…maybe it’s better to be safe than sorry?”

She shook her head, and then shrugged. “Sure, whatever, man. What do we do?”

He glanced around. “I’m gonna to ask the customers to clear out,” he said. “I’ll need your help guiding them safely and making sure they don’t panic. Sound good?”

“Gotcha.”

“Okay,” Fjord said. “In that case—”

FJORD TOUGH—STOP—I NOTE THAT YOU DID NOT REPLY—STOP—ARE YOU OKAY—STOP—DO YOU REQUIRE ASSISTANCE—STOP—BECAUSE WE CAN’T REALLY GIVE YOU THAT NOW THINGS ARE SUPER BAD HERE—STOP—LIKE REALLY REALLY BAD—STOP—PLEASE HURRY—STOP—I’M NOT KIDDING—STOP—AND YOU CAN REPLY TO THIS—

“Yes, godsdammit, Nott!” he shouted at the ceiling. “I heard you, loud and clear! We’ll be up as soon. Is that alright?”

There were a few seconds of silence.

YEAH OKAY SURE

Fjord sighed and rubbed his forehead. Then he slid Beau’s drink aside and climbed up onto the counter.

“Ladies and gentlemen and other welcomed guests,” he called as calmly as possible, “excuse me, but I have an important announcement to make.”

When the crowd did not quiet down, Beau rolled her eyes, grabbed two bottles of liquor off the shelves, and smashed them as aggressively as she could against the floor. Everybody’s heads instantly turned towards her.

“Listen up!” She yelled. “Your bartender has something fuckin’ important to say! And if you all wanna live, then you’d better pay attention.”

•

Gustav lowered his tablet, which had suddenly gone dark, and tapped on his headset. “Hello?”

He glanced over at Ornna, Molly, and the Knot Sisters, standing around him behind the large curtains, securely offstage. They all shrugged.

“Desmond?” he tried. “Hello, Des? Your connection stopped, what was that scream? Is everything—”

Then there came a mighty roar, and muffled shouting. That would have been fine, almost expected given the scene, but then…then…

Kylre exploded through the curtains, Toya in his arms, followed closely behind Bosun and Desmond and a trail of chains clattering in their wake. He didn’t even stop—just barreled past the rest of the group and vanished down the hall.

There was a brief pause, punctuated by another scream from beyond the stage.

“What the fuck,” said Ornna. “What—”

“No time!” Desmond yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders. “Something’s attacking us! There was…there was…”

“Someone in the audience just turned into a fuckin’ monster of some kind,” Bosun said. His eyes were wide and his breath short. “We’ve gotta get out of here now, go hide somewhere or get to safety. Everyone’s running, Gustav, and we should do the same.”

Gustav’s eyes darted around. Molly could see a war tearing him apart—protect the Moondrop, or protect his troupe.

After a few seconds of turmoil he turned to them and nodded decisively. “Alright then,” he said quickly. “Okay. Everybody, to the back exit. Come on, come on, time to go.”

•

“I don’t see why you had to do that,” Fjord said as they pushed the last of the patrons onto the sidewalk and handed over control to Yan, the other bouncer. “Those were expensive bottles.”

“Cry me a river,” Beau huffed. “Besides, they were technically 25% off tonight.”

Fjord rolled his eyes and began heading up the outdoor stairs leading to the Moondrop. “So when you pay it back, you can pay it back cheaper.”

“Sure.” Beau rolled her eyes behind him. “Because I’ll definitely be paying for those.”

He nodded, ignoring her sarcasm. “Let’s see what it was that Nott was going on about now,” he said, reaching for his keys.

“I really hope that was worth it,” Beau muttered. “Otherwise we just ruined an entire bar’s evening, and those two bottles of liquor.”

Fjord tugged on the handle. “I can’t imagine it’s that—”

Typically, warm lighting and the cheerful hum of behind-the-scenes life would greet them past the open door. But now, instead, the lights were completely off. The air was tomb-silent and cold, save for a low and distant commotion somewhere beyond the main stage. And then came that long-off scream, and that hushed roar.

“Well fuck,” said Beau. “I guess...I guess that’s what she was talkin’ about, huh?”

“What the hell was that?” Fjord whispered. “Some kinda monster? Is that what we’re supposed to fight?”

“You’ve got magic, don’t you?” she returned. “You’re probably more equipped than I am for this kinda thing.”

He immediately shook his head. “No way. I barely know what I’m doing magic-wise. At least you can punch shit real hard. Didn’t you used to go to school with monks, or somethin’?”

Beau shrugged. “Yeah, maybe,” she said, “but I don’t really think that’s gonna help. This is fucked.”

They both stared down the hallway for a few moments. Then they turned back to one another.

“Runnin’ seems pretty good right now,” he admitted. “I’m not sure we could even help, in this situation.”

Beau nodded. “I like that plan. Maybe we can—”

Then there was another sound. Shrill, muffled by distance and barely audible, but what Fjord and Beau managed to catch was:

“EAT SHIT, YOU STUPID ZOMBIE THING!”

Their eyes immediately widened.

“Was that—”

“No way, is—”

“Aw fuck,” they both said at exactly the same time.

Fjord ran a hand through his hair, and Beau shook her head.

“So…we’re going in, then,” she said. It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah,” Fjord said. “Yeah. Let’s…let’s…fuck it, man. Just...just fuck it.”

•

Molly’s head whipped around towards the stage. From where they stood he could only make out a tiny sliver of the performance hall beyond, shrouded in darkness, with occasional flickers of movement. Unfortunately, there was nothing to indicate whether or not—

“But it sounded exactly like Jester,” he said with a frown. “Fuck, I have to—”

Gustav grabbed his wrist and shook his head. The other members of their troupe were already fleeing down the hall.

“We need to get out of here,” he said urgently.

“Are you kidding me?” Molly hissed back. “There’s something loose in our home and I think, gods, I think my friends are fighting it now!”

“But what could you possibly do?” Gustav pressed. “Please, Mollymauk, please, come with the rest of us. Don’t worry about the bar, worry about yourself.”

Molly looked over his shoulder, heard a distant whoosh of air, a heavy impact, and more panicked screams. He glanced down at his sides, where two prop scimitars were strapped against his hips. He met Gustav’s worried gaze.

“I’m going out there,” he said firmly. “I can’t just sit back and—”

And then Beau and Fjord rounded the corner, out of breath and looking determined. They came to a halt just in front of Molly and Gustav. For a second, both pairs just stared at each other.

Beau spoke first. “We’re, uh, here,” she said. “To help.”

“Nott says something is out there attacking audience members,” Fjord explained. “And right now she and Jes and Caleb are tryin’ to fight it. We’re, well, I guess we’re also—”

Molly immediately held up a hand, and they paused. “You’re coming to fight too?” he asked.

Beau and Fjord exchanged glances.

“Uh…” Fjord said, “I guess?”

Molly nodded. He unsheathed one of his swords, which wobbled slightly as it moved through the air. But his grip was resolute. He took a deep breath and looked at Gustav once more.

“I’m going.” His voice was soft. “Please,” he added.

Gustav’s shoulders relaxed just slightly as he gave in. “Okay,” he said. “Alright. But…but be safe, son.”

Molly gave him a small smile. Then he raised an eyebrow at Beau and Fjord. “Well then?” he asked. “Are we getting in there, or what?”

•

In the corner of his vision, under the glow of the still-hanging spotlight, Caleb saw three shapes emerge from backstage. One was lithe, one slightly stockier, and one with large, curling horns.

“Oh good!” he called, calling more fire from nothing. “The cavalry is here now!”

“Took you long enough!” Nott screamed. She had produced a crossbow from…from somewhere, and was crouched behind an overturned table for cover. Her eyes, though still light blue and disguised, were manic with anxiousness and adrenaline. “Fjord, you suck at replying!”

“Talk later!” Jester yelled, and punched her fist, and her spectral lollipop swept down to bludgeon the creature. “Fight now!”

Beau immediately leapt off the stage, grabbed a fallen chair, screamed as she barreled towards her target. Fjord stayed in place, either immobile from fear or taking a moment to assess the situation. Apparently it was the latter, because after a few seconds he thrust his hands out and murmured a few strange words and a cold green blast of energy flung outwards, rocketed through the air and collided with the monster’s skull. Caleb was so distracted by this peculiar arcane display—what was that, it didn’t look like a normal spell—that he almost didn’t notice the other flash of light just under the stage.

Mollymauk had jumped off as well, was now advancing with two scimitars in his hands. One was surrounded by a bright, radiant glow that illuminated the second blade, which was coated in a thin layer of hard, crackling ice.

Well okay then, Caleb thought. Perhaps he was not the only one with a strange and magical past.

Part of him almost wanted to laugh at how familiar this all felt, taking something down with a group at his side, reveling in the heat that left his fingers and admiring the skills of his friends. But then the creature roared again, and his attention snapped back to the battle.

Now, under the fury of the group’s assault, it was beginning to look rough. Blasts of green light exploded against its ashy hide, pockmarked with crossbow bolts and lollipop-dents and slashes from Molly’s swords, singed and sporting chair splinters like porcupine quills, that were scattered along its unnatural, protruding skeleton. Its malformed head whipped around violently, overwhelmed by the relentless onslaught and unable to focus on one target. Its body jerked, spasmed, and with no other options something inside it, deep and buried and survival-driven, took control.

Its instincts said: run away.

It saw the grand door leading outside, where the last of the guests had just vanished out of sight.

It saw a direct path, littered with broken furniture and bent silverware.

And then it saw Beau step in the way, advancing with half a table swinging in her grasp.

Another flash of fire exploded across its back, it felt the wind of a downward scimitar-strike and it roared again, made up its mind, started to flee. It barreled towards Beauregard and then her eyes immediately went wide with panic and terror, as the realization sunk in that she wouldn’t be able to escape before it hit, that she wouldn’t have time to dodge, that all she could do was brace herself and tuck in her elbows and hope that its jagged spikes wouldn’t tear her to bits—

—and just as she was about to be bulldozed over, another massive shape burst past her in a flurry of feathers, screaming a deep, enraged cry. It tackled the monster at gut-height, and Molly just barely danced out of the way as Yasha and the creature went soaring ten feet back, her shoulder buried in its stomach and her eyes glowing in the darkness.

They collided with the floor. Yasha on top, the monster beneath her dragging a disgusting trail of ash and slime and shards of bone against the wood.

They both came to a stop. For a moment or two, the creature just lay there and gurgled faintly.

And then it went still. And silent.

Yasha stood up and tried to wipe the ooze off her shawl. It sort of worked.

“Is that what everybody was running from?” she asked calmly, and prodded the grotesque, grey slough on the ground with her boot. “Are we done, then?”

They all stared at her. Beau had stars in her eyes. Fjord sighed, and started making his way down from the stage.

Then the house lights came to life. Four Crownsguard in full riot gear burst into the performance hall, trailed by a dwarf woman in jeans and a leather jacket.

They all looked at the dead monster. They looked at the motley crew of guests and employees standing around it. Everybody just sort of stood there for a few long, quiet seconds.

“Well then,” the woman said eventually, gesturing to the creature lying at Yasha’s feet. “I see you all have taken care of the immediate threat. I’ll remember that, in case we end up arresting you.”

And then, before anybody could say another word, she turned around and stuck her head back out the doorway. “Grenn!” She shouted. “Go tell the posh folk to go home! And get me those performers from out back. I think it’s time we all had a little chat.”

And then, she faced their group again and crossed her arms. As she shifted, her jacket nudged to the side and revealed a silver chain hanging around her neck, ending in a gold badge shaped like a shield. It shone in the light, before vanishing again back under her clothing.

“I’m Detective-Sergeant Norda,” she said. “Find me some chairs that aren’t broken, will you? This could take a while, and I’d like to sit down.”

•

“No way,” said Molly, shooting to his feet. “You can’t do that.”

“Mollymauk,” Gustav said firmly, “don’t argue this.”

“But he’s innocent!” Molly said. “I know he is, he—”

“And where’s your proof?” Norda demanded. “How do you know?”

They were all gathered at the far left of the hall now, clustered around one of the only undamaged tables remaining. Norda leaned forwards on her elbows, glaring at the group amassed before her. Gustav and most of the troupe were seated, Molly angrily pounding a fist against the tablecloth, Yasha standing in the back with her arms crossed next to Bosun and the non-Moondrop stragglers. Nott had ducked behind Caleb and emerged a moment later with a fresh Disguise Self, and Jester was scribbling away in a notebook she had produced from her purse. Six more Crownsguard had also entered the building, four splitting off to investigate and dispose of the creature, the other two joining the rest in unsubtly watching over the proceedings.

It was unnerving, to be sure.

Norda shook her head at Molly. “I appreciate your loyalty to your employer,” she said coolly, “but I would more appreciate it if you would calm down. You’re lucky I’m letting you all off.”

“You saw the security footage,” Beau said. “You have to.”

“I don’t have to do shit, kid,” Norda said immediately. “Especially not what you tell me to do. My decision is final, based on what I’ve seen and what I’ve been told. I’m taking Mr. Fletching here, noting his cooperation in the matter, and I’ll release him once we get indisputable evidence of his innocence. And all of you are on thin fucking ice, too. Right now you’re in the peaceful waters of my good graces. Ensure that you stay that way. You performers, depending on how this goes, we may need to question you. So don’t even think about leaving this city tonight.”

She leaned back and sighed. “Go get your things and go home, alright? Hurry up, so you don’t look too suspicious. If we see anything out of place, that turns up in your possession, I’ll drag you to jail myself. We’ll update you further as things develop.”

She gave a short nod and pushed her chair back. “Good evening,” she said. “Thank you for your cooperation.”

She stood up, waved a hand at her officers, and turned around. They all scrambled to follow her, leading Gustav along with them as they did.

And then a minute later, they were all gone.

In the ensuing quiet, Molly put his forehead against the tabletop. Nobody spoke for a bit.

Then Desmond sighed and put a hand on the tiefling’s back. “It’ll be okay,” he said. “Gustav’s innocent, they’ll see that and then let him go.”

Bosun scoffed. “Will they?” he asked. “Are you sure? A man died tonight, they’re going to want someone to blame.”

“What if...what if Gustav is guilty?” Ornna asked, and quickly raised her hands when a number of outraged faces swiveled towards her. “I’m just saying,” she sighed. “We all love him, yeah, but...it’s possible. It’s not like he tells us everything, and sometimes he can be a little shady.”

“We’re all shady,” Molly grumbled through the tablecloth. “That’s what makes us so delightful.”

“It is also why the law does not like us,” Yasha reminded him gently.

“Gustav had to work damn hard to get the money and respect he needed to run this place,” Yuli agreed. “We all did.”

“And now it’s gone,” Desmond nodded. “Or, at least, it seems like it. But we can’t let this break us apart, right? We all need each other more than ever, now. We need to stick together.”

Beau cleared her throat. “Speaking of sticking together,” she said, “uh...wasn’t there another one of you in the troupe? Giant and scaly, carried around a dwarf kid, answers to the name of ‘Kylre’ and ran off just after the fight started?”

There was a moment’s pause.

“He was trying to keep Toya safe,” said Ornna slowly. “I think he went to hide backstage, right?”

“He wasn’t outside with the rest of us,” Mona said, “so he must still be there.”

Fjord shrugged. “Beau and I ran through a few rooms on the way to the fight,” he said, “but I didn’t see ‘im. Though he could’ve hunkered down somewhere out of sight,” he added.

“We could go look for him and Toya and tell them the coast is clear, if you’d like?” Jester volunteered. “So you all can get your things.”

“That would be...very kind of you,” Bosun said. “If you all aren’t opposed…?”

Nott opened her mouth and Jester immediately kicked her in the leg. “Not a problem at all! It’s the least we can do.”

Molly stood up and sighed. “I’ll come with you,” he said. “You’ll probably need someone to make sure you don’t get lost, and to talk to them once we find them.”

“I will come also,” said Yasha. “I do not have any things here to retrieve.”

“C’mon then, you guys,” Molly said, waving the group on forwards. “The sooner we find them, the better, probably.”

•

“Okay,” said Fjord as he and Jester returned to the green room. “I swear, we searched our area a thousand times up and down, and nothing. Not even a smidge of slime or a strand of blonde hair.”

Molly rubbed his face and shook his head. He was pacing across the carpet now, the rest of the group sitting on the couch and watching him with expressions ranging from concern (Yasha, Jester, Fjord, Caleb) to amusement (Nott and Beau).

“I don’t get it,” he said. “It’s not like they should be hard to spot. For the gods’ sake, Kylre is probably eight feet tall.”

“Probably more,” said Jester. “He’s super big.”

“Right, sure,” Molly conceded. “But my point is, I don’t think we would have overlooked him if he was still in here. So the question is—”

“Where did he go?!” Nott jumped up. “That’s what you were going to say, eh?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Well, yes.”

“Hell yes!” Nott punched a fist into the air. “This means that we’ve got a mystery on our hands! And you know what that means!”

Jester immediately shoved Fjord to the side and ran over to stand next to Nott. “It means that Brave and Lavore are on the case! There’s no puzzle we can’t uncover, no crime we can’t decipher, no code we can’t solve!”

Beau frowned. “Shouldn’t it be ‘solve’ for the puzzle, ‘decipher’ for the code, and ‘uncover’ for the crime?”

Nott shrugged. “We’re open to constructive criticism,” she said, “but not right now. Right now, we’re on the case! Mollymauk, when was the last time you saw this Kylre of yours?”

Molly rolled his eyes. “Onstage, Nott. Where else?”

She nodded slowly. “I see…I see…well then, what was he doing when you saw him?”

Molly shook his head. “He was running away. Gods, is this really going to help?”

Jester immediately nodded. “Definitely,” she said. “It’s a practiced art, detective-ing.”

“I am a very big fan of you both,” Caleb said carefully, “but are you sure that this is the best way to go about searching for them? I feel like this has something to do with the Labenda Mysteries series we watched last week. Not to cast aspersions.”

“I don’t know that spell,” Nott said, “so I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

As Beau had a small fit in the background and Yasha clapped her on the back, the others returned to the situation at hand.

“I guess we could look around in the alleys and stuff,” Molly suggested with a shrug.

“Do they live around here?” Jester asked. “They could have just gone home.”

Yasha shook her head. “They both reside in the Moondrop,” she said. “In an old dressing room. It is...difficult for folks like them to find apartments and such in a city like this.”

Nott gave a glum nod of understanding.

Caleb tapped his chin slowly. “Perhaps this is a silly idea,” he said, “but I could send Frumpkin out to skitter around the rooftops, see if he can see anything outside from above. Maybe they did leave, and just went to hide somewhere.”

Fjord nodded. “Sounds like a good idea to me,” he said. “In the meantime, we can make our way out too and take a look around. I don’t want to be in here for too much longer, to avoid drawin’ suspicion from the authorities.”

“You mean the sheriff?” Nott asked immediately.

Fjord gave her a puzzled frown. “No? I’m pretty sure she said she was a Detective-Sergeant.”

Beau coughed a few times. “Can we just go?” she asked. “Before I literally have an aneurysm.”

“I will need someone to hold my hand,” Caleb said. “And guide me. When I look into Frumpkin’s eyes, I cannot see or hear.”

Jester instantly volunteered. “Ooh, ooh, I can do it!” she cried. “I love holding people’s hands.”

Molly gave her a small smile. “Great,” he said. “Now we have the affectionate leading the deaf and blind.”

•

“This is kind of freaky,” Fjord said. “Is it always like this?”

“Probably?” Nott guessed. “He doesn’t really do it that much, but it has been so far.”

“It looks like we can almost see what Frumpkin is seeing also,” Yasha noted. “Flashing in his eyes.”

They were all outside now, standing just under the alley stairs that led up to the Moondrop. At this point, the city had completely melted into night, dark clouds overhead and the flicker of streetlamps all around them. Cars still inched along the roads out front but back here, behind the building, it was relatively quiet. The far-off sound of a flowing river leaked past the brick and concrete around them. Light snowfall was beginning to drift down, and they all pulled their jackets in tighter except for Caleb, who was distracted, and Jester, who didn’t seem to mind.

“Do you see anything yet?” she asked the wizard. “Have you found them?”

There was no response.

“He can’t hear you,” Beau said with a tone that suggested this was her fourth reminder in the last ten minutes.

“Let’s just wait, dear,” Molly said gently. “I’m sure the moment he does get something, he’ll let us know.”

“It’s really cold out here,” Nott grumbled.

“You should put on a coat then,” Jester said. “So that you don’t get sick.”

“I’m wearing a coat,” Nott sighed. “It’s just under my gnome disguise.”

“You know,” Fjord nodded, “I was gonna ask about that.”

“I’m magic. Not as magic as Caleb, but still magic.”

“Got any spells for makin’ fire, then?” he asked conversationally. “Somethin’ to keep you warm?”

“No. I wish I did, though, ‘cause I hate this. It never got so cold where I used to live.”

“Oh? Where was that?”

“Felderwin. South.”

Fjord smiled. “Hey, me too! Southwest, but still south.”

“Really?” Nott asked. “Were there goblins where you were? ‘Cause if yes, then—”

Caleb suddenly thrust a hand forward and grabbed blindly at the first thing in front of him, which was Yasha’s shawl, and tugged urgently. “I see something,” he said. “Something very large. A...a shadow, of some kind. It just ducked into the building, and the door is very loud behind it.”

“What kind of building?” Jester asked. “What kind of shadow?”

“He still can’t hear you,” Beau moaned.

“It is gone now,” Caleb sighed. He was still staring off into the distance. “But it was quite large. Large enough to be Kylre, I think. And Frumpkin is only a block or two away, so it is not impossible that our missing friends took off a short distance, just to be safe.”

Then he blinked, and shook his head, and the light faded from his eyes. They were back to their usual, non-glowing blue. He blushed faintly and released Yasha’s shawl.

“Sorry,” he said. “I got nervous.”

She shook her head. “It is fine. Now say again, where was this?”

“And what kind of building?” Jester demanded again. “Like a restaurant, or an apartment building, or a shoe store, or a bookstore, or a jewelry store, or a candy store, or a—”

“I am not entirely sure,” Caleb sighed before they could lose their minds any further. “It was very large, though, and wide, and right along the water. In the marina.”

Fjord rubbed his chin. “Is it a shipping warehouse?” he asked. “I think that’d be the most likely.”

Caleb shrugged. “Perhaps?”

“Can you lead us there?” Beau asked. “Do you remember where it is?”

“Caleb has a perfect memory!” Nott said immediately. “He remembers where everything is.”

“Really?” Molly asked. “Fascinating.”

Caleb rubbed the back of his neck. “That description is not entirely true,” he said, “but it is sufficient in this specific case. Come on, everybody. I can take us there.”

They took off at a decent walking pace, mildly bantering the whole way as Caleb led them down two blocks and through a few alleys, following the path of a tiny cat fifty feet in the air as best as they could on foot. Eventually, after untangling Molly’s scarlet costume coat from the broken corner of a dumpster and waiting for Beau to scrape the gum on her shoe off against a brick wall, they arrived at the opening to the streets. And the sidewalks, and the iron gates leading to the docks. They crossed, avoided a lone driver, and walked up to the gate.

It was chained shut, and locked for the night.

“How do we get in?” Jester asked. “You can’t turn us all into cats or magic the fence open, can you?”

That last part was directed at Caleb, who shook his head. “I cannot do the cats thing,” he said. “And I already used up quite a bit of magic during our fight with the strange grey creature.”

“That’s a weird thing to call it,” Beau said.

“Was? Why?”

She shrugged. “Well, I mean, ‘grey’ wasn’t really a defining feature, you know? I was more worried about the jagged bony spikes and horrible glowing eyes and the fact that it had no skin.”

“Tomayto, tomahto.”

“No, I really don’t think that—”

There was a faint click. They both looked down.

Nott was kneeling on the ground, holding the large rusted lock in one of her hands. In the other, some sort of thin metal tool. There was small piece of black canvas next to her leg on the sidewalk, with more tools on it.

Caleb immediately smiled. “Excellent job, spatz,” he said, and leaned down to ruffle her hair.

“Aw, it was nothing,” she grinned back. “Shall we go?”

Beau threw her hands up into the air in a why-the-hell-not gesture. Fjord looked at Molly, who shrugged.

Fjord turned back to Nott. “What the hell?” he asked. “How did...what was...where were you keeping those?”

“She also has a crossbow,” Jester said helpfully.

“Where?” Molly asked.

Nott snorted. “This is an illusion, remember? I’m wearing a whole belt of stuff over my real dress. And a hoodie. It’s cold out.”

“So you said, earlier.”

“Come on now,” Caleb sighed, pushing the fence open. “So that after this, we can go home and get somewhere warm.”

They all slipped through, and entered the Eistus Marina.

It was essentially a long series of docks and wharfs, connected by walkways over the water and framed with warehouses and smaller shacks. Boats bobbed up and down along the river, and the moon was low overhead through the clouds. The snow had caught up to them now, blanketing the wooden planks under their feet in a faint white dusting.

“That way,” Caleb said, pointing to their right. “That is where Frumpkin saw the shape.”

They followed his path down the main dock, and stopped in front of massive building with a flat roof, tiny windows high up, and a rusted sign with a picture of a flying bird out front. Its doors were styled like a garage’s, one massive sheet of metal lifted up from the bottom.

It was slightly dented, and hung about an inch off the ground.

“This is it,” Caleb said. “He went in through there.”

Fjord nodded slowly. “It is a shipping warehouse,” he said. “That bird, it’s the wandering albatross. It’s the symbol of the Menagerie Merchant Company.

“How do you know that?” Nott asked.

He shrugged. “I used to work for ‘em. C’mon, Yasha, wanna give me a hand getting through?”

She nodded, and followed him to the front.

“Alright,” he said, crouching down. “This could be heavy. It always took a few of us to do, so if we can’t get it to work on the first try, then—”

Yasha leaned over, grabbed the handle with both hands, and with a mighty heave, yanked. The door rattled at first, then shook, then screamed a song of grinding rust and metal until it rested just above her head.

She turned and looked at the rest. The stars were back in Beau’s eyes. Jester clapped.

Fjord stood up, and dusted his legs off. “Well alright then,” he said with only mild embarrassment. “In that case...uh...after y—”

Something shot out of the darkness, something thick and pink and slimy and long, and immediately wrapped itself around Fjord’s waist.

There was a split second where all of them just stared at it, Fjord looking down and saying, “What the f—”

And then he was yanked under the door, shouting all the while and completely, appropriately, bewildered and afraid.

Molly recovered first, immediately shooting below Yasha’s arm and screaming, “Kylre! Kylre, it’s us, it’s us! Stop it, let him go!”

The rest watched him vanish.

They all stared at one another and waited for their brains to process what had just happened.

Then they scrambled to follow him inside, all ducking under one by one.

The warehouse was enormous, filled with crates and boxes and stacks and stacks of random merchandise all waiting to be shipped away or picked up in the morning. It was quite hard to see inside, given the lack of any electrical lighting and only the moon filtering in through tiny windows high above. Fortunately, most of the group wasn’t too inhibited by this—Caleb and Beau were the only ones struggling to see.

Of course, they didn’t need really darkvision to notice Fjord; he was still screaming and pounding against the slick, scaly hide of Kylre as he stood atop a mountain of metal containers. He had the thrashing half-orc in one hand, tongue now freed, and was staring down with gleaming red eyes to where they all stood at the entrance of the storage complex, door whining down behind them.

“Get out!” he bellowed. “Take your friend and go.” He thrust Fjord forwards in his large webbed hand like a child’s toy. The half-orc glared, and stopped yelling.

“Of course,” Molly said slowly, “of course we will. But you’re coming too, right?”

Kylre’s eyes glittered. “No,” he said. His voice was a low tremor. “I will leave.”

Yasha’s brow furrowed as she glanced around them. “Where...where is Toya?” she asked.

“Coming with me,” Kylre said. “We are leaving together.”

“Now, hang on a moment,” Molly said.. His voice was still cautious, but a sharp edge was beginning to creep in. “Why the sudden decision to run off? And why take Toya with you?”

The lizard-man shifted slightly. The crate underneath him quivered. “Danger,” he said. “We are in danger.”

“Now, that just ain’t true,” Fjord said. “Not you, anyways.”

“There is no more danger,” Caleb called. “We destroyed the monster.”

Kylre shifted again. This time his beady eyes narrowed. “Destroyed? You destroyed?”

“Yes,” Caleb said. “So there is no need to worry.”

Now Kylre was backing up, his head darting around and gaze lingering on the windows, on the large door behind the group. “There is need,” he rumbled. “There is great need. I will go now, take your friend, I will go now, and run away, take Toya—”

“Excuse me,” Fjord said, “excuse me, I’m still in your hands—”

“You can’t just take her,” Beau yelled. “She belongs with us.”

“I will take her,” Kylre repeated. His tone was growing more and more agitated, his motions more frantic. “I will take her, and I will go, and you all will leave us—”

“I sure would like to!” Fjord said very loudly. His feet were dragging against the top of the crate.

“Kylre, Kylre, please,” Molly said gently with a worried look at Fjord. “Please, let’s just talk about this calmly. Can we do that? We are friends, after all, yes?”

There was a pause. Caleb felt his heart retreat into his stomach as he heard the achingly familiar call of a Friends spell.

And then his stomach fell as he saw Kylre begin to nod, begin to settle, then suddenly jerk his head forwards and shake his whole body as he realized what had happened, as he swiveled his gaze to lock onto Molly and open his massive maw and roar, “NO. WE ARE NOT.”

Molly’s eyes went wide with confusion. And then they went wider, because Kylre drew back the fist that was clenching Fjord and with a terrible thrust, launched the half-orc across the room and directly into the opposite wall, where he impacted with a sickening crunch.

Many things happened at once. Kylre began backing up, tensing to leap away as pure instinct took over. Nott whipped her crossbow out of its invisible hiding spot and trained it on the lizard-man. Beau balled her fists up and Yasha’s stance went aggressive and Caleb started preparing himself to hide behind the nearest large object. But over all of that, in the shocked silence, as Fjord tumbled down the wall and crumbled against the ground, Jester saw, and watched, and eyes went wide.

Then she screamed. It was not with fear, or grief, or shock.

It was with rage. Absolute, pure and unfiltered fury.

A bolt of holy fire slammed down from the heavens and blasted into Kylre, enveloping him in searing white flame. The crate beneath him exploded into shrapnel. Jester immediately spun around, darted over to Fjord’s side. Molly re-drew his two scimitars and Caleb, with nothing else left to do, set his hands ablaze.

And then they all froze, as the faint sound of someone singing spun into the air.

Caleb felt the music creep along his ear, sneak through his iron-like paranoia and caress his cheeks. It was a warm sound, that felt like the sunlight through the trees or the feeling of a cat purring under his hands. Despite the tense scene before him, he suddenly wanted to lie down, to close his eyes, to relax and just drink in this warm song. All around him, he saw the others do the same, pause in their movements and sway with the melody. Even Jester, who was bent over Fjord’s quiet body and pouring healing magic into his chest, hesitated.

Suddenly, something else happened. The song abruptly turned sour, turned angry, and Caleb felt a horrible discordant note slam into his skull. It stabbed into his mind and twisted hard, dragged out dusty pictures that he had tried to bury, images of a pair of warm smiles, of a fields of endless grain, of a cold hand and icy pride and quiet night and the sharp hiss of straw catching fire—

—it was almost too much. He almost collapsed on the spot. But something else was running through his hearing now, something deeper than these memories and carved into his bones. It was a voice. It was familiar. It said:

Concentrate. This is not real. This is all in the mind, and the mind is a mage’s greatest weapon.

Caleb shrugged off the terror threatening to swallow him. He saw that the rest had too, in their own way somehow, and were shaking their heads, clearing their minds, pushing off the sound of the music—though he noticed that Beau looked worst of them all.

And then Kylre stood. He looked somewhat singed, and the debris around him glowed from Jester’s fire. He looked up at the windows, within reach but too small to fit through. His gaze turned to the only other exit in the warehouse, a large metal door currently being blocked by two humans, a goblin, and his former coworkers.

He made a choice. He leapt forward, broad, muscular arms swinging out in a desperate, enraged attack.

And he met Yasha and Beau, both ready with a flurry of blows, Yasha’s slow but powerful and Beau making sharp, rapid jabs. Molly, despite having his swords at the ready, seemed too reluctant to actually make any swipes, instead started shouting at Kylre with harsh, guttural words. Nott had no such reservations, instead scrambling onto a crate and beginning to fire as many bolts as she could. And sighing, with nothing else to do, Caleb pointed a finger at Kylre and sent a spout of flame in the lizard-man’s direction, doing his best not to burn any of his friends.

For the second time in only a few hours, the group came together. They weren’t actually going for a kill this time—Kylre was Molly and Yasha’s friend, for the gods’ sake. But as the lizard-man made his intentions clear, that he would do his best to eliminate every single one of them and flee, they cracked down. Caleb’s spells missed more often than not now, left with only cantrips, and Beau didn’t have the advantage of table-pieces to use as weapons, but they were still a formidable bunch.

The only problem was the singing. Every few seconds, they had to pause and clap their hands against their ears, wincing with pain. It was impossible to avoid, and Kylre would manage to land a rough strike whenever Beau or Yasha or Molly heard the song.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Caleb saw a tiny shape huddled behind one of the crates. It was Toya, crouched in a pool of moonlight, trembling as she sang.

Caleb believed he was a loyal friend to Nott. He believed he was a decent companion for Frumpkin.

But he also believed, over everything else, that he was a complete and utter piece of trash.

“Beauregard!” he yelled, pointing at Toya’s tiny figure. “Make her stop! End the song!”

Beau, bless her heart, only needed a second to understand. “Got it!” she yelled. She immediately broke away from the melee, leapt over crates and pushed boxes aside and launched herself at the little dwarf girl, who immediately yelped with terror and tried to back away. But Beau was too fast, and succeeded in pinning her to the ground.

She was screaming her song now, tears spilling down her cheeks, and Beau looked back at Caleb in confusion. “What do I do?!” she yelled.

“Scheiss, Beau, just knock her out!”

Beau seemed more puzzled than anything else. Then she just shook her head, wound her fist back, and hit Toya in the head.

The child went limp.

And with that, and a final, brutal strike from Yasha’s elbow against his skull, Kylre went down with a mighty thump and the battle ended.

“Ow,” said Fjord in the resounding silence, and struggled to sit up. He winced, and put a hand against his side. “Fuck,” he added.

Molly lowered his swords. They were glowing and icy again, but as he relaxed his shoulders the light faded and the ice started to melt away.

“How are you feeling, there?” he called. His voice was strained, and couldn’t seem to make himself look away from Kylre’s fallen form.

“Alright, I think?” Fjord said. “But I also think my ribs are broken.”

“They were broken,” Jester informed him. “Now they are just bruised.”

“Well then,” he said. “Uh...thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

Beau stood up also, a small blonde girl in her arms. “I’ve got a kid,” she said. “I mean, uh, the kid.”

“Great,” Molly said. “This is...a situation.”

Nott climbed down from her crate and made her way over, Beau doing the same and carrying Toya. Caleb sighed, and his hands went out.

“Now what?” he asked. “What do we do about...all this?”

“We’re gonna have to move him somehow,” Fjord said. “People might come here in the morning.”

“Agreed,” Molly said. “I just don’t understand...why would he attack us like that? Why would he do that? We’re friends!”

“Apparently not as good of friends as you thought,” Yasha said. “I think—”

In the distance, soft but growing louder, a high-pitched wail.

Police sirens.

They all looked at each other.

“Was that a—”

“Fuck, what do—”

“No way, could—”

“Gods, this is—”

Fjord, with Jester’s help, managed to stand. “We gotta get out of here,” he said. “Now.”

“I agree,” Beau said immediately. “I don’t wanna be around for any cops.”

“But what about Kylre?” Molly asked. “We can’t drag him, and they won’t react well to seeing him here.”

“There is nothing else we can do,” Yasha said gently. “And he attacked us. And tried to kidnap Toya.”

“They were friends, though,” Jester said quietly. “I think he really was trying to help her.”

The sirens were getting closer.

“We need to go now,” Fjord said. “We gotta leave him behind.”

“Fuck!” Molly yelled. “I don’t...I can’t...he was my friend!”

Caleb put a hand on his shoulder.

“There is nothing we can do for him,” he said firmly. “And he attacked us first. We have to go.”

“Where can we hide?” Nott asked.

Fjord spoke first. “Molly and I live not too far from here,” he said. “If we can slip outta this marina, we can hole up in our place until everything calms down.”

They all considered Kylre’s unconscious form. They all looked at Molly.

“Fine,” he said angrily. “Fucking...fucking fine.” he sighed, and shook his head. “Come on, then,” he nodded to the group. “Let’s...let’s just go.”

•

💚 ☕ ☕ 💚

[lostsometime]

CR C2 reference

E1 - Curious Beginnings

20:04 - Introducing Caleb and Nott

31:05 - Introducing Jester, Beau, and Fjord

45:00 - Introducing Molly and Yasha

48:43 - Molly “reads” Jester’s fortune.

58:29 - “Caleb, are you going to go to the academy?” “That’s silly.”

1:18:18 - “Yeah, I’m sticking with this fucking accent for the next two years.”

1:24:57 - Matt voices Frumpkin’s meow.  Liam, delighted: Oh, yes! Matt’s gotta make cat sounds now!

1:56:50 - Discussing Beau’s staff & Yasha’s strong arms

2:03:37 - Yasha and Molly think Jester is adorable.

2:23:28 - First fight!

2:23:37 - “Yasha? We’re going to need those weapons back.”

E2 - A Show of Scrutiny

12:08 - Caleb speaks up for Molly.

30:03 - “Well, technically, he wasn’t part of the performance, technically he was saving everyone.Technically.”

32:10 - “We’re a group, you guys!”

34:25 - “Thank you. For the record, I don’t owe any of you anything, but thank you.”

35:20 - “Help. Help help help. Help help. Help help help.”

48:08 - Molly doesn’t remember ever being in this town.  Matt: You’ve been through once, but that was a while back and you weren’t really paying attention.”

49:42 - Caleb and Nott discuss whether to stay with the group of “lunatics.”

55:54 - “I would like to buy a round for all these terrible people.”

57:09 - “I’ve seen a lot of dicks.”

59:30 - Molly: Mother always told me to never give a story away for free.  

           Jester: My mother said don’t give away other things for free.

           Molly: I already like your mother.

1:00:45 - Nott’s bit on “sticky fingers” and collecting things.

1:25:50 - “I’m lying like a motherfucker.”

1:30:24 - “I’m really good at makeup.”... “I’m really shit at makeup.”

2:00:31 - A local directs some Fantastic Racism at Molly. Molly takes it in stride, but Beau gets angry.

3:05:15 - Nott: Best part is, it doesn’t alert him when I sneak in or out.                                 Caleb: That you know of.

3:19:25 - Caleb and Nott stage a fight to fool the Crownsguard. He then immediately apologizes for having to hit her in order to sell it and fusses over her teeth.

3:49:54 - Jester and Nott talk to Toya, and she’s adorable. Also, she tells them how she and Molly “found their voices together.”

3:56:43 - Mollymauk headkisses for the twins!

4:05:05 - “You guys know he’s a fiend, right?”

E3 - The Midnight Chase

9:20 - The start of the second fight! This one against the 2 zombie Crownsguard.

           13:49 - “Rewind!” A retcon to the tune of Hamilton’s Satisfied.

           20:00 - Molly has Beau’s back! Killing the first zombie with a Nat 20!

           24:04 - Jester casts Sacred Flame while whispering “Frumpkin, come                   here, let me pet you!”

            27:59 - Out of spell slots, Caleb uses Firebolt for the first time

          30:28 - The other zombie crits against Molly, then hits him again. Molly                goes down - first KO of the campaign.

          32:41 - HDYWTDT goes to Nott.

33:31 - Matt describes how the zombie burns; Caleb goes distant and quiet and spaces out. 

35:00 - “You have a six-pack of doughnuts but you don’t have a healer’s kit in there? And you’re the cleric?”

45:29 - “I saved your life. You should be really grateful.” “I can do that! I can do that.”

51:33 - Matt establishes that there are two moons in Exandria.

58:38 - Jester sings, “Go to sleep little tiefling” while patting Molly.  Molly: Ow. Ow. Ow.

1:18:30 - Nott wants to keep the platinum flask; she gives Caleb the gold he needs instead. Caleb gets super excited and is adorable. Head-ruffles. “That’s a good deal!”

1:34:13 - Beau: You should pick better words next time that are slightly more clear.

1:34:35 - “I could also– here’s the thing about my cat. He’s a cat, definitely a cat, but is also a fey creature. If I have an hour, he doesn’t have to be a cat. He can temporarily be a bird.”

1:39:50 - The gang meets sparrow!Frumpkin.

1:46:34 - Jester braids Caleb’s hair while he’s in Frumpkin-vision.

1:54:45 - Circus folk are weird!

2:42:27 - “It’s a full hut with a witch inside, Matt.”  “You want me to put a witch in this? You want me to throw a witch in this? There can be a witch, Sam!”

2:45:49 - Boss Battle - Fighting Kylrie!

                2:56:13 - First in-depth description of Fjord’s hexblade.

                 3:11:55 - “Seeing Caleb surrounded, Nott will leap on to the beast’s                    face and stab it in the neck.”

                3:14:48 - Travis: I’ve got a spell save DC, y’all!

                3:16:39 - Caleb goes down

                3:26:27 - Nott covers Caleb’s body with her own

               3:27:38 - Fjord gets the HDYWTDT

               3:29:52 - Fjord gets KO’d by an imp. An imp!

               3:40:15 - Nott stabilizes an unconscious Caleb and brings him back to                 consciousness with a Nat 20 medicine check.

3:47:38 - Nott steals a ring from Jester; Jester is proud; they are adorable friends.

[animebw]

Binge-Watching: Cardcaptor Sakura, Day 8, Episodes 47-49

It’s time for the final third of Cardcaptor Sakura to begin! In which the show’s structure changes drastically, a new enemy appears, and I worry that one of my least favorite tropes is rearing its ugly head.

The Asshole Triad

We’re only three episodes in to Cardcaptor Sakura’s Act 3, and already things feel very different. The driving goal of “collect all the cards” created a very structured framework for the show to operate in for the past 40-odd episodes, not just in the Monster of the Week episode template, but in the sense that there was a defined goal we were always progressing towards, however slowly. Now, all that’s been blown open. The show’s structure feels looser, the characters more reactive, and the future less clear. None of those are criticisms, I should clarify; it’s an observation. What used to be a show about our protagonists acting on their own, driving toward one big Thing, has now become a clash of forces, our heroes facing an external threat that has taken over the driving action of the plot.

Thus, enter The Asshole Triad, a trio of mysterious figures who use their magical talents to send new and destructive dangers after Sakura and her friends. And while the show hasn’t revealed their identities yet, it’s blisteringly obvious who they are. There’s Eriol, the mysterious transfer student who may or may not be the reincarnation of Clow Reed. There’s the Glomphy Lady who’s making Toya’s life miserable (just for the record, I fucking love her). And there’s the flying panther, who I’m guessing is the cat from the new OP. So far, we know nothing about their goals or intentions, other than they’re here to stir shit up something fierce.

Magic the Gathering

And stir shit up they do, as their magic pits Sakura against a new kind of challenge: learning to be her own mage and carry on Clow’s work on her own terms. Now that she’s obtained her own magic power, she can’t work the same magic she always has. She needs a new incantation to summon her staff, and to transform every Clow Card into her own Sweet Sakura Card (Tomoyo, you are a master of nomenclature) to use it. And the effort of doing so takes a toll on her, sapping her energy until she has to sleep for hours. With just that one change, the stakes suddenly feel much higher. Sakura can’t rely on Clow’s magic to carry her through; she can only rely on her own strength. That means every spell she casts matters a thousand times more; she can’t afford to make mistakes, or the effort of the mistake will leave her incapacitated. Over the course of this show, Sakura’s been learning to trust in her own strength and figure out her own course through this magical madness, and her development here continues that trend. Taking her first unaided steps is gonna be a challenge, but she’ll come out the other end stronger for it.

In other news, it’s not just Sakura’s magic that feels substantially different. Both Kero and Yue flit back and forth between their earthbound and true forms, meaning we pretty much have a couple of godlings hanging around Sakura constantly. This can be funny- the sight of a majestic moon angel looking helplessly cramped in Sakura’s pastel room had me in stitches- but it’s also a little disquieting. The mere fact that Yuktio is still hanging around with no memory that he’s nothing but the mortal skin of a divine entity, and Sakura trying to figure out how to discern between them, if she can at all, is weird as heck, in a good way. Sakura no longer exists in her relatively normal world: magic and monsters are tied into the fabric of her very existence. From now on, there really is no going back.

Please No Love Triangle

All that’s well and good, but there’s something concerning me about the new direction the show’s taking: it looks like it’s setting up an honest-to-god love triangle, after so successfully holding off for the past two “seasons”. And if you’ve read, well, pretty much any of my binge-watches up to this point, you know that I looooooooathe love triangles. They’re so often annoying, unnecessary diversions, making the plot screech to a halt for obnoxious will-they-won’t-they bullshit without fleshing out themes or characters. So far, Cardcaptor has avoided this trap, despite its many romantic tangles, by not pretending like any of the would-be “side bitches” (which I use to describe both male and female players) actually have a chance at being canon. Let’s be real, we all knew from the word Go that Sakura and Yukito would never be a thing, that it was just a puppy love crush, and the show didn’t try to force them together. Ditto Meiling, who’s love for Li is never treated as a potential endgame. It’s helped keep the romantic fumbling endearing as opposed to frustrating, because it’s all based in how the characters interact with and learn from each other rather than trying to set up pointless ship wars. In other words, good storytelling and character-building.

But now, I’m worried. Eriol’s scenes with Sakura are all underscored with romantic music, framed with soft, glowing cinematography. If I was watching those scenes completely on their own, I would absolutely peg them as romantic in nature. Between that and Li’s obvious jealousy, it’s clear they’re trying to set-up a conflict between the two boys, a question over who Sakura should end up with. Problem is, I already KNOW the answer, because even if I didn’t know that Eriol was part of the Asshole Triad and possibly Clow Reed as well, there’s no way a story would supplant such an obvious OTP in Li and Sakura this late in the series. Anyone with a basic storytelling knowledge could tell you that. Heck, even if I was watching this as a kid, I could tell you that. There’s no investment here, because I already know how it’s going to play out. So all it can do is spin its wheels for however long it goes on, setting up would-be “which boy do I like” non-starters without developing the characters in interesting ways. And for a show that’s been so comfortably above all that nonsense up till now... yeah, that’s really frustrating. Carcpator Sakura is better than that.

And I hope I’m wrong. I hope that Sakura finds out his secret soon and brings this subplot to an end quickly. I want to believe in this show. It’s been doing everything so well. Please, don’t fail me now.

Odds and Ends

-Oh my god Sakura you can’t just pawn your math homework off on Kero

-”No matter how much i eat, I’m still hungry.” Same.

-Sakura singing to herself, not realizing Li was in the room with her and hearing every bit of it? Adorable.

-Truly, Tomoyo not being able to film Sakura in action anymore is the greatest tragedy of all.

-aksjdhaslkdj what the dick Toya you can’t just steal a man’s popsicle like that

-See, when she doesn’t react to the “kaiju” comment, Toya knows something’s up.

-NOT THE TIME TAKESHI

-I still don’t get how fire beats water.

-Alright look Yukito I know you’re also eating for the angel who lives in your flesh but even I think that’s a little excessive.

-I’ll give Eriol bastard this, he plays a mean piano. Shame he had to Mario 64 it.

And with that, the final chapter has begun. Are we really 70% of the way through this show already? I never want it to end. See you next time!

[nochiquinn]

campaign 2 episode 3: the full wizard experience

"show us your mouuuuuth hoooooles"

laura and sam's dice fucking each other over is on brand, honestly

this is starting well

the way these are lit always makes me think they're in front of a green screen even though I know they're not

that whole attack description was in vax voice

"MAKE UP FOR OUR SHORTCOMINGS TALIESIN"

dervish entity

"doesn't make me trust you any more. kinda less, actually."

discord: blood mollydict

he's so shocked

jester is me

hearing them still trying to settle into the voices is great

except travis sounds like a prospector right now

CLICKERS

"I'LL FIGHT YOU IN THE ANUS" travis what

MOLLY DOWN MOLLY DOWN

REZ CANTRIP

"she has a pastry kit"

"I'm THE cleric?!"

"there's no vanilla extract or sprinkles"

throw it in the lake

I'm so glad travis is smart now

hellfart

laura is so fucking cute

no. travis no.

I love taliesin's shirt

"you hop on your mustang" "shelby" traVIS NO

"this is definitely not going to backfire let's go"

"I arrange the bodies like they were having a romantic tryst" me playing skyrim

"she's all about shady shit"

I am very attached to the way caleb says beau's name.

okay I'm a big nerd BUT with the size of that thing and how far it jumps wouldn't it have like. ditches for footprints? just huge impressions where it shoved its weight off?

if you've been awake for less than two hours it's still morning

is this like grog hiding money in the bag of holding

"I shove the book down near my dick where she won't want to go after it" "I'm not afraid of dicks."

"she's not your sister anymore"

can. can jester not read?

"CALEEEEB we're BORED, tell us a STORY"

travis' FACE

"so it's all in the delivery of the seamen, is what you're saying"

"I mosey away"

I have a vague idea that jester can't read. or at least not well.

also laura's hair is really cute

make a roll to metagame

rocks fall from the sky, land only on caleb somehow

"she's eaten him twice"

real friends crowdfund your wizardry

they killed matt game's over

"you look like a princess" GUYS YOU CAN'T DATE IN EVERY GAME

"there's that bullshit again"

"can he tell who did it?" "no" "that's wonderful"

"you can't make me vax again, it won't work"

"playdoh! we've got playdoh!"

caleb, the Smelly Alchemist

I want that in my hair so baaaaad but I can't braaaaid

(I have basically beau's exact hairstyle)

"that's SO offensive"

"fucking anime actors" okay GAARA

"then why were you with the carnival?!" "because I'm WEIRD"

"AS AM I" five people at once: uhhhhhhhhh

"it's a nordic seven"

fuck that guard in particular

me going grocery shopping for my parents

NOAH matt no

"no aerator?"  my favorite running joke

marisha's angry noises at her roll

what did sam SAY

tbf nighttime is the only time I would go to the beach

travis' choked little "kentucky"

mirelurks

NERDS

beau startled the witch!

at 12:45 matt really

"that's why we're holding hands?" like you need a reason

DON'T YOU GASLIGHT THAT BABY

light!

CHILDREN AND OLD PEOPLE

"if I move I am dicked"

el toad from hell-o

travis is so happy about having a spell dc

twice in one episode!

"you're a bard? what the fuck?"

I know I've said this before but if the roll matches the AC then it shouldn't count as a hit. it matched the armor class. the armor is performing as intended.

cool clerics don't look at explosions

"I cover caleb's body with mine" I'm not crying you're crying

marisha and travis are becoming my favorite table buddies

he fires it out of the pommel that's so fucking cool

blubberous

IMPS FALL EVERYONE DIES

"GIT"

matt stop fondling talisen's snitch

beau knocks the girl back out

"there's a convention around the imp right now"

caleb, waking up to nott's rescue breaths: put me back

I have three different molly-based emotions right now

1. "thank you, you did the right thing"

2. protecting toya

3. like he's holding a baby

jester don't give nott a panic attack

I can't wait for them to drag the fucking dead fiend back to that poor guy's boat

CUTES

marisha's face at being denied a level up

[sockablock]

• (start) (prev) (next) •

Chapter 8: The Long, Looping Scrawl

TUSK LOVE 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO Today 9:08AM

Lavender Thunder: soooooooo good news and bad news Lavender Thunder: the GOOD news is that gustav isn’t arrested and the cops have cooled off and nobody else is dead Seaman: that is pretty good news Lavender Thunder: yeah well Lavender Thunder: the bad news is that kylre isn’t going to be around anymore Lavender Thunder: and that I think we might need to find some new jobs Lavender Thunder: the Moondrop is gonna be out of commission for like Lavender Thunder: kind of a while

•

Jester, from where she stood next to the couch with her hands over Fjord’s ribs, watched Molly make his way through the front door and into the living room. “What does ‘a while’ mean?” she asked as he approached. “Like…how long is that, exactly?”

Molly collapsed onto the sofa opposite them and shrugged. “My best guess? Probably over half a year,” he said glumly. “It’s mostly to raise funding. Gustav says that he’s got to pay off a heavy fine to the city for all the endangerment his ‘employee’ caused before he’s even allowed to start rebuilding, and then there’s the cost of repairs and the cost of new furniture and the cost of new equipment. Not to mention how long it’ll take to actually fix everything. You should keep an eye out too, Fjord,” he added with a nod to the half-orc, “word on the street is that Fletch will also be closed in the meantime. Gustav or Desmond will probably send out some kind of notice later on today.”

Fjord sighed. “Yeah, I figured something like that might happen.”

“What are you going to do in the meantime, then?” Jester asked. “And what’s everybody else doing?”

“I’m not sure about myself yet,” Molly shrugged. “I know Gustav and Desmond are going to stick around and oversee reconstruction. Everyone else is taking time off to travel and visit family. The Sisters are going back to Felderwin for a bit, and Bosun says he’s going to go backpacking through the countryside. Yasha also took off to do…whatever it is she always does. And Ornna’s taking care of Toya now, though I’m not entirely sure what that entails.”

“I take it that Kylre’s out of the picture, then?” Fjord asked.

“Yeah, what exactly happened to him, anyways?” Jester asked. “You need should be less vague over text.”

Molly’s expression immediately went dark. “It’s…not great, dear. Kylre…well, after the authorities determined that he was a fiend, they elected to…to…”

Fjord sat up as best as he could. “What, Molly? What did they do?”

Molly’s shoulders sagged. “They took him to the Zauber Spire,” he said. “They’re banishing him to the Nine Hells.”

“What?!” Jester shouted. “What do you mean, banishing?”

“I mean that they’re going to send him there for good,” Molly mumbled. “According to what Gustav told us, the police decided that because he’s a fiend, he should be sent back to where ‘his kind’ reside. Whatever the fuck that means.”

Fjord reached out a hand as if to comfort him, and then thought better of it.

“Fuck, Mol,” he said instead. “I’m…I’m sorry."

Mollymauk shrugged listlessly. “It’s no fault of yours,” he said. “It was just…shitty. Complete horseshite.”

They sat there in silence for a few more moments. The distant sound of cars honking drifted up from the streets and through the window.

“Well…” Jester tried eventually, “…at least everybody else is okay?”

Molly snorted. “Yeah,” he said, “yeah, at least there’s that. I guess…I don’t know, I guess in a weird way, life will go on. Just without one of the troupe now, and with a lot of dumb financial problems.”

“Fuck…yeah,” Fjord sighed. “This means I gotta find a new place to work. For the time being, anyhow.”

Jester’s eyes went wide. “Oh, shit!” she said. “Does that…does that still mean we can move in? Or are we going to have to wait a bit, now? I mean,” she added hastily, “it’s okay if we do, totally cool—”

Fjord reached for her hand, and she relaxed.

“It’ll be fine,” he said gently. “As soon as my damn ribs get better, I’ll ask around and see what’s available. Maybe there’ll be something I can pick up at the Leaky Tap, or somethin’, and we can go from there. But…Molly, will you be alright?”

Molly hesitated. He thought for a moment about his bank account, and then considered how tired he was.

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “Maybe?”

Jester, despite the mood, giggled. “That doesn’t sound very responsible of you,” she said.

He gave her a half-smile. “We managed to negotiate the rent down for this year, and I’ve got plenty saved up. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t actually spend that much money.”

“It’s true,” Fjord agreed. “He eats at the Moondrop all the time and gets people to buy him stuff that he sells.”

Molly grinned. “I’m a financial wizard,” he nodded. Then he paused, and added, “but maybe I should look into finding a roommate. If you two decide to go ahead with the apartment plan, that is.”

“We’ll see,” they both said at the same time.

“Alright, you two, alright,” Molly laughed. “Keep me posted. I’m gonna need time if I’m gonna scout someone out that snores less than Fjord. Honestly, I don’t envy you, Jester.”

She started giggling again. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll make Caleb find me a silence spell that I can cast on him every night.”

“Hey!” Fjord protested, and then winced. He settled for sinking back down onto the cushions and pouting. “It’s not that bad, is it?”

“It’s really bad,” said Molly. “It’s literally the loudest sound in the entire world.”

•

“That can’t be enough,” Nott commented as she peered over Caleb’s shoulder. “Look at how much water there is! That little cup is nothing.”

“It’s the right amount,” Caleb sighed and turned around to face her. “Believe me, I have done this hundreds of times before.”

“How come?” she asked. “Did you go camping a lot as a kid?”

They were both kneeling in the bathroom, positioned on the tiled floor next to the edge of a very full bathtub. Caleb had begrudgingly dipped into the month’s budgeted water usage, telling himself that he’d take less showers, and after heating the bath with a few magic spells, they were both currently blanketed by a thick layer of steam.

That smelled, rather strongly, of vinegar.

“Not exactly campfires,” Caleb said lightly, “but I suppose that works. Anyways, this is the best way to remove ashy smells from our clothing. I feel terrible, ruining them like this in battle. Especially since your dress was brand new, Nott.”

The little goblin shrugged. “It’s fine,” she said, “I don’t really think they’re ruined.”

“I am sure that you do not, though others may have differing opinions.”

“They always do,” she said solemnly. “I always ignore them.”

They finished hanging up their fancy attire on the neck of the showerhead, then left the bathroom and shut the door tightly behind them. Caleb moved towards his bed, flopped down and buried his face into the pillow. He felt a light weight sink into the mattress near the space by his foot, and he shifted slightly to give Nott more room.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Bitte. Gods, I am exhausted.”

“Me too,” she said. “I don’t even feel like doing anything today.”

“What a night that was, eh?” he asked, muffled but with a mild chuckle. “Certainly more than what I was expecting.”

“I don’t think anyone could have predicted a giant toad monster would turn a guy into a zombie and then fight us in an abandoned warehouse,” said Nott.

There was a beat of silence.

“Ja okay,” he said. “Point taken.”

There was a longer silence after that, in which Nott sprawled upside-down off the edge of the bed and closed her eyes. Caleb shoved his face further into the pillow, and tried to think of a happy place. Or at least, a sleep-inducing one.

Then:

“Those were some pretty good pancakes, though.”

Caleb turned his head. “What?” he asked.

“Those pancakes,” Nott repeated. “That Molly made us. Those were really good.”

He blinked. “Er…yes,” he agreed hesitantly. “They were rather nice, yes.”

“And it was really nice of him to let us use his bathroom,” she said. “And it was nice that he gave us clothes, and blankets, and made us tea. Even if it was creepy tea.”

Caleb nodded slowly. “Yes?” he said. “That is…true. Er…is there something you have to say about all that?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “There is. Last night was just…really nice. I liked it.”

“Despite the death and monster and fighting?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She nodded. “Yeah. To be honest, I don’t think that stuff really matter too much.”

“Was? Why is that?”

Nott smiled. “Because we have friends now,” she said. “A lot of them.”

Caleb rolled over onto his back and stared up at the chipped ceiling. He considered this.

“Ja…I suppose we do.”

Nott’s smile widened. “I like them,” she said. “It was fun before, with just the girls, but after everything we all went through together, it sort of feels like…I guess it sort of feels like this whole group is a family.”

Caleb felt something flicker in his chest. He tamped it down immediately.

“I see,” he said eventually.

Nott giggled. “It’s okay if you don’t want to agree with me. I know the truth, anyhow.”

“Do you? What is that?” he asked, almost dreading the answer.

Nott closed her eyes again. “You like them too,” she said.

For a long, long while, Caleb thought of something to say.

And then, when nothing came, he closed his eyes as well and eventually fell back asleep.

•

“Beauregard!” Jester shouted, bursting into their apartment, “are you awake?! I am home! And ready to…”

She trailed off and looked around the empty kitchen. The lights were off, and the windows drawn shut, leaving only thin trails of light creeping in around the curtains. She dropped her purse, and the plastic bag that held her dress onto the floor, and took a few steps forward.

“Beau?” she called, quieter this time. “…Beau…? Are you there?”

Almost immediately, something began to stir at the back of her mind. Something heavy, and unbidden, and unnerving, and old. She felt her hand unconsciously reach into her pocket, and clutch a small metal object on a thick leather cord. She traced her fingers along its smooth surface, and relaxed slightly as a familiar warmth washed over her.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax further, and had just recovered her signature cheery smile when her eyes caught a single piece of paper lying on the kitchen table.

She ran towards it quicker than she probably would have liked. She immediately began to read the long, looping scrawl across its surface.

Jes—

I went to take care of some shit. I’ll be back tonight, but I’m not sure if I’ll be ready to talk to you about it ‘til later. I trust you more than any of these other assholes we call friends, so please don’t be upset if I don’t say shit when I return, alright? And please, please don’t ask any questions. I promise that the second I’m ready, I’ll tell you everything.

See you later,

Drunkmonk

She stared at the frustratingly short letter for a few more seconds. She flipped it around, saw nothing, then flipped it back over.

“Beau will be back tonight,” she whispered. She took another deep breath, and nodded. She carefully folded the page and slid it into her pocket.

“Did you hear that, Traveler?” she asked the air in front of her. “Beau is fine! She’s just running errands. And, and she said that she trusts me! Isn’t that cool?”

Jester was still, and silent for a moment. Her ears twitched as if listening to a far-off song.

“I agree,” she said eventually. “Also, thanks for helping out earlier with Fjord! I’m really glad he’s okay. And I’m really glad you were there for us.”

Another pause. Another strange, silent hum.

And then she laughed and nodded brightly. “That’s a great idea! Come on, I think I remember where I put it. We were on chapter nine, right?”

And then she skipped into her bedroom, leaving the door wide open behind her.

•

TUSK LOVE 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO Today 6:19PM

Seaman: good news yall! Seaman: Wessick says that the Tap’s looking for an evening bartender, and he says ive got the job! Seaman: which ALSO means yall get a friends and family discount for karaoke Seaman: probably Lavender Thunder: HECK YEAH Lavender Thunder: THAT’S AWESOME FJORD Lavender Thunder: why didnt you tell me that to my face though we live in the same house Seaman: i wanted to spread the happy news all at once Molly Seaman: also I still cant move and you went into your bedroom Seaman: sue me (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: that’s AWESOME (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: FJORD IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU Seaman: thank you Jester NottSoBrave: fjord you need to respond more energetically than that NottSoBrave: you shouldnt leave a lady wanting NottSoBrave: otherwise someone could snatch her up Lavender Thunder: oh and what do you know about women? NottSoBrave: i happen to BE a WOMEN NottSoBrave: woman NottSoBrave: whatever NottSoBrave: oh also Caleb says congratulations Seaman: thank you Caleb Seaman: and thanks for the relationship advice, i think? Seaman: don’t mention it Seaman: hey beau and yasha, what’re you going to do? (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: beaus busy right now (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: but im sure she’ll answer later! Lavender Thunder: ditto for yasha Lavender Thunder: that’s just how she do NottSoBrave: how mysterious NottSoBrave: why are they gone? NottSoBrave: is yasha a spy? is Beau a spy Lavender Thunder: yes Lavender Thunder: theyre spies

Nott looked up from her phone screen, stared at Frumpkin dead in his clear blue eyes.

“Hear that?” she said. “I knew it.”

“Spatz!” Caleb called from the kitchen. “Come on, your noodles are getting cold!”

“Coming!” she yelled back. She gave Frumpkin one last solemn nod, then tossed her cell onto the covers and scuttled out of the bedroom.

•

Beau arrived home that night well after sunset. She shut the front door behind her as quietly as she could, but frowned and looked around suspiciously when she noticed that all the lights were still on. Then she saw the living room couch, and her gaze softened.

Jester was laid out on the cushions, fully dressed and fast asleep. There was a tray on the coffee table in front of her, piled high with pastries and sporting a now-chilly cup of hot chocolate. A note next to the tray read:

For Beau!

She sighed. “You little weirdo,” she said, “you didn’t have to wait for me.”

She slid her backpack onto the carpet and carefully lifted Jester into her arms, bridal-style. She made it all the way to Jester’s extravagant canopy bed, and was almost done tucking her in, when she stirred awake.

Jester’s eyes slowly peeked open. Her irises glowed in the darkness.

“Beau?” she mumbled. “Is that you?”

“Yeah, Jes,” she said. “I’m back.”

Jester’s brow furrowed slightly. “You…your face is messed up.”

Beau reached up, felt the tender skin around her bruised eye and split lip. She shrugged and gave Jester a faint smile. “It’s nothing,” she said. “I fell.”

“That’s a lie,” Jester murmured, and closed her eyes. “But it’s okay. You said you trust me, and I trust you too. You can tell me whenever you’re ready.”

Beau was silent for a moment. Then she sighed. “…thanks, Jes,” she said eventually.

“I’m glad you’re home,” came the sleepy response. “I’m glad you came back to me.”

Beau scoffed. “Of course I did,” she said. “Why the fuck wouldn’t I?”

There was no answer. After a moment, Beau pulled the blankets up to Jester’s shoulder, turned around, and went back to her room.

•

And then, after that, life more-or-less returned to whatever semblance of normalcy it had once held, for most of them.

For most of them.

•

TUSK LOVE 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO Today 10:22AM

Lavender Thunder: guysssss Lavender Thunder: whos around??!!?? Lavender Thunder: im bored out of my goddamn mind Lavender Thunder: and yashas still gone (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: ughhhh sorry mollyyyy I have class now (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: and Fjord too right now Lavender Thunder: ah its arlight dear Lavender Thunder: anybody else? Drunkmonk: i hate you, so no Drunkmonk: but actually im also doing stuff right now Lavender Thunder: fuck off Lavender Thunder: nott and Caleb? NottSoBrave: calebs working at the library toady NottSoBrave: and I don’t want to hang out with you Lavender Thunder: wow alright then (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*: Nott!! Apologize to Molly!! NottSoBrave: sorry Lavender Thunder: gee thanks Lavender Thunder: anyways have fun doing your stuff yall Lavender Thunder: i guess ill ,, read a book or something

Molly lowered his phone.

He was seated on his bed, wrapped up in his silk pajamas, staring out the window at the bright and bustling city landscape beyond.

This was a strange feeling. Here he was warm, and comfortable, and the sunlight gently caressed his skin with its soothing morning rays.

But today he should have been at the Moondrop. Today he should have been in the dark backstage performer’s lounge, helping the sisters with their makeup, or watching Desmond tune his instruments, or failing to stack crates as high as Yasha could, or riffing with Bo or giving Toya piggy-back-rides or pestering Ornna or chatting lazily with Kylre or learning about sound equipment from Gustav or even bemoaning the lack of proper lighting above his dresser mirror as he tried to apply his favorite glittering eyeshadow before the afternoon shows began.

Instead, he was here.

For the first time in his entire, extraordinarily short life, Mollymauk Tealeaf felt alone.

And he realized now, with rising dread, that he had absolutely no idea what to do about it.

• • •

hey guys! Just letting you know, I’m going on a short hiatus now that Arc 1 is complete! Updates will definitely be coming, as I take time to sort out my other WIPs and adjust to college and the UK. Thank you so much for reading!!!

💚 ☕ ☕ 💚