#trail. but i don't think the government can have as easy of a time making a law that effects what people say online

[mejomonster]

i'm stressed for the day the govt decides to make pronouns illegal, by which the law will actually be implemented as "if someone decides you don't look like the gender THEY think you are, you will be charged with a crime"

and how in some workplaces like mine, where people show their preferred pronouns in work emails, that'll result in many people with digital email trails that could get them arrested (which of course means trans people in the workplace get charged, people who look cis and use he/him and she/her in their emails to be supportive probably will just be told to stop putting it in their emails)

and like. i know i probably can't do anything, except maybe stay in the closet. i know the workplace is not guaranteed to fucking warn their employees to maybe remove the digital proof of their pronouns if there's a law at risk of existing soon. and i know people's gender identity is really personal and important to a lot of people, including cis people. But i kind of wish there was a widespread trend in these workplace situations of EVERY (or at least a majority) of cis people putting "they/them/their" in their email signatures. The cis people (particularly those who look very gender conforming) will be the ones in the least danger of being charged with a crime. They are at very low risk of being charged with a crime, so they're the perfect people to break the law by saying their preferred pronouns are "they/them" and then taking the law to court if such a law restricting preferred pronouns passes. And if a trans employee is charged with a crime, the cis employees all using they/them can say their trans coworker is only doing EXACTLY THE SAME THING ALL THESE CIS PEOPLE ARE (using a pronoun someone thinks doesn't align with the gender they're assumed to be), and then saying either ALL employees need to be charged with a crime (which can then go to court) or none of them should be. Yeah that would require solidarity... I know I can't convince a bunch of cis people to start putting "they" as a pronoun in their emails (or some other pronoun that would result in them breaking the same 'preferred pronoun' type of law like "ze/zim"). But god, I wish I could.

I think about this because in the last few years, my state tried to make a law against using preferred pronouns in schools and government jobs (you know... which likely won't charge any cis person using the pronouns that match their gender even though that's a preferred pronoun too). And now that my state govt is a majority republican, they'll probably try to pass it again. I worry about all my coworkers with massive email trails, because they were TOLD to tell people their preferred pronouns, because the workplace said it would respect them, but I doubt the workplace will Protect them if it's no longer legal. My workplace had the shittiest answer when I raised my concerns, they said "don't worry about it until it happens"... once it happens, a bunch of trans people will be breaking the law by existing, and they will not have had the chance to protect themselves in advance (and their workplace will have done nothing in advance to protect them - such as warn them not to leave proof of their preferred identity after X date, and promising the workplace won't consider any pronouns said before X date to be breaking the law as far as reporting goes).

[lovingjingyuan]

Hey, it’s me again. I want request Sunday with Foxian reader this time, please.

Sunday met reader when he was still a child, and he promised that when he grow up, he will marry Foxian reader.

Reader being old lady, just chuckle and accept it. Thinking that he’s joking, which he doesn’t.

P/s: Foxian reader is 200 years old when she met child Sunday.

Sunday name is --- cause we don't his name. I'll update it if we find out

I wanna make Masterlist but I'm lazy

Sunday x Foxian Reader

𓆪♡𓆩 - Sunday 𓆪(´◡`)𓆩

After two centuries in life you have secured an office desk position in the Sky-Faring Commission. It was assumed to be an impressive standard as being 200 years old and earning a position in the commission wasn’t exactly easy. By most Xianzhou standards, you were still quite young for a position in a commission such as the Sky-Farring.

Yukong had announced that day that a class of elementary students from Penacony would be visiting the Luofu on a field trip to observe and explore the different types of planetary governments. With the recent surge of traffic and reckless driving, the workload has become too much of a pain, causing you to ditch the responsibility to tour guide these kids around.

“Miss?” a soft voice interrupted your train of thought, followed by a soft gentle touch on your tail. Turning around you spot a kid who's clearly not a Xianzhou local, hugging your soft tail and stroking it as if it were a pet. “I can’t find my sister.”

His eyes reflected with worry while explaining that he was separated from the group when he promised to retrieve his sister’s stuffed bunny. You knelt down to his level and looked at him in the eyes expressing a deep sense of worry.

“They’re with Madam Yukong… Do you know her by any chance?” You carefully brush your tail away from his hands seemingly disappointed as you do so.

“I heard of her only. Miss Foxian can you please help me find her?” The child pleading eyes tugged at your heartstrings. Those wings by his ears fluttered. How adorable! You only heard of Halovians but never in your two centuries of life have you seen one!

“Of course. What’s your name?” You questioned the child with a tenderful smile who could be no older than eight.

His eyes sparkled with the sweetest yet sheepish smile. He was not entirely comfortable around adults. “My name is —-,” he answered, his gaze lingering on top of your head with those soft fox ears and then towards your tail. Sunday could just imagine snuggling his small body against that cozy tail of yours! “Miss Foxian I’ve never seen your kind before if you don’t mind…” his voice trails off, his cheeks flustered, too embarrassed to finish his words.

You understood exactly what he meant! He wanted to pet you. You reassured him, “I’ve never seen a Halovian before. You are truly angelic and adorable!” You pinched his cheeks softly with a gleaming smile. You can if I get to touch those wings.”

His hands immediately lung forward towards your ears. His small soft hand wandered around your head and tail petting you down like a dog. “Foxian are truly gorgeous,” he remarked.

You couldn’t help but heave out a soft chuckle ruffling his head. Slowly, reaching your hands to his wings. You pitched them between your fingers. His gaze remains on you admiring your beauty. He knew right there you were his dream girl. Even if it might be a silly little childish crush you were too kind and gorgeous.

In the end you found out his elementary was on the whole other side of the Luofu. You couldn’t leave your station you had to remain here and work! You attempted to slove this by handing Sunday to the cloudknights so they can bring him back to the group. Yet whenever you bring Sunday towards them his small arms clung around your shoulders refusing to let you hand him over to them.

He would cry on your shoulders when you did. Maybe he was just shy as he claimed but truth to be told Sunday wanted to spend more time with you!

When he had to leave he was sobbing. It broke your warm big heart! His sister held Sunday’s hands trying to comfort him. It was a rare sight to see him cry according to his sister and classmate.

“Miss next time we meet! I promise we’ll get married!” Sunday delacred with a mix of sincerity and childish innocence. He wiped his tears before reluctantly getting escorted away by his teacher.

You chuckled at his pouting and whining being carried away by his teacher.

To you those words were nothing more than a childish promise. A broken promise that you will never remember. Would you even remember him? You know you could not defy the ethics of this universe. Long life species should never love a short life.

Many years later you've looked at your office desk. You managed to climb the rankings just slightly. A letter sitting innocently on your desk waiting to be opened.

An invitation from The Family? Surprised The Family will personally invite you. You thought they would invite someone like Fu Xuan or Jing Yuan but you? Was there a catch?

Nevertheless you gladly accept it because many with spend their savings to visit. You're visiting for free and you get a VIP room. Extra special VIP! And it was personally written by Representative Sunday. The man managing the festival! How nice. Do you even remember him? He felt like a distant memory.

You immediately step foot into Penacony from your private transportation provided from The Family. How generous The Family always treats their guests so well!

“Oh the important guest Mr. Sunday mentioned! It's an honor to meet an important guest of Mr. Sunday,” the receptionist charmed in with a gleeful smile.

You stood there confused. Did the Luofu Sky-Faring Commission have an important affairs you never knew of or an important meeting? You thought to yourself. You've only heard of Sunday and seen him in the news, yet you felt like you knew him before. Even if you did it be when he was a child.

“Someone will escort you right up ahead,” the receptionist spoke to you in such great manner.

Members from the Bloodhound escorted you with great caution. So much it intimidated you slightly. Suddenly they paused in their steps at a door. This was the hotel room? So different from the others.

You stepped inside once they told you to.

“Greetings Miss Foxian it's been a while,” a calm voice came in front of you. A man sitting on a chair leg crossed staring at the many TV screens flashing in front of him and you.

He stood up and turned facing towards you waiting for you to inch closer.

“Mr. Sunday? Is there something important we need to discuss?”

“No happy smile? Oh no this just can't do. You don't remember me don't you?” He stood towering over you. “Don't tell me you erased our special memories together. That promise.”

A frown replaced the calm smile. It was a custom for the Xianzhou to erase painful or parts of their memories to prevent Mara.

“Why those memories?” He whispered in your ears tenderly stroking your fluffy ears on your head. That touch felt familiar. He smiled again. Something about the smile was unsettling. “No worries The Family is experts when it comes to regaining lost memories.”

Memories came flashing in you. This was all confusing yet familiar. Too much you passed out. Sunday swiftly got hold of your body putting you in the dreamscape.

You opened your eyes. Your body felt weird almost like you were in a dream.

“How are you my little Fox?” He kissed your cheeks. He held you on his lap. His lips formed a smirk.

“See I kept my promise til the end,” his hands traced up your thighs keeping a firm grip on your waist.

He lifted you off his lap, setting you to sit on his fancy chair. He got on one knee eyeing you as he presented a ring in a white and golden box with a beautiful shiny diamond ring in the middle! The diamond ring has angel wings on it like his to show ownership towards you.

“Will you marry me my dear Fox?”

It was more of a demand than a question. Sunday wasn't the young boy you knew before. He always kept his words even if they were a childish dream. But he lived in a dream, the dreamscape so anything is possible.

He puts the cold ring on your ring finger, leaned in and kissed you lips. Sweet and short.

[lilith-vodkaaunt-of-demons]

In an unmarked laboratory in North Eastern Kansas.

Breathing heavily, Cass stood up and took a look at her handy work, swiping copper curls away from her eyes. It had taken some effort, creativity, and lots and lots of cursing, but the room was finally finished. Mere months ago it had been a vague image of a dream of an idea, but now it was finally complete. Her friends and colleagues all laughed at her. Her parents had even gone back on their word to fund her Graduate School, telling her they had agreed to fund her schooling for a career, not a dead end obsession. But look at her now! In a laboratory! With real equipment! And funding! It didn't matter that she'd never heard of the government department those two bozos in their ridiculous white monkey suits claimed to be from, they'd handed her a functionally bottomless grant, all the equipment and time she needed, and told her only one thing.

"Report everything to us. No matter how miniscule you think it is, no matter how insignificant. If your coffee tastes different after an experiment, report it." What a bunch of weirdos.

"Ha...haha...hahaha hahaha! Finally! Now that the room is finished, all I need to do is start the process!" Cass crowed gleefully, giddy with excitement and anticipation. She once again looked at her work. She had to admit...it looked like the room of a person suffering from unmedicated schizophrenia. In the center of the 15x15 room was a circle, about 4 feet in diameter, inside the circle were symbols, sigils, and diagrams from Alchemy to the Zodiac. Just outside that circle was a ring of solidified salt, pressed into an impression on the floor. Spreading out from that across the floor, up the walls, and even on the ceilings were words in every language from Aztec to Sumerian, and religious iconography from every religion from Christianity to Zunism.

Cass had spent years preparing for this. Using every cent, every favor, every resource and scrap of goodwill she could find in preparation for this. She was finally going to prove to everyone that she wasn't some obsessed lunatic. She was going to prove the existence of Higher Beings. And to do it, she was going to summon a demon. Now all she had to do was start the process.

It was easy. She stepped up to the center of the circle. The focal point of the entire array of binding spells, prays, and words of power she'd inscribed in every surface of the room save for this cirlce, the one clean spot. She pulled out a scalpel and sliced the inside of her forearm, letting the blood bead up, then drip down and pool on the floor. She'd never understood the idea of cutting your hand. You used those. This was much easier to take care of, and you still had the use of both hands. After a few moments of letting the blood collect, Cass wrapped her arm in a towel, pressing down to make the bleeding slow, and stepped back out of the salt circle.

She briefly left the room, going to the first aid kit she left just outside the door to see to the minor laceration. After all, she didn't want dripping blood to ruin her sigils and protection charms. Once the bleed stopped, she returned to the room, a notebook in hand. She opened the notebook and began to chant.

400 miles away, at the Kent's Farm...

A young man, not dissimilar to Clark Kent when he was younger, was helping Pa Kent fix up the old tractor while Ma Kent tended to the animals. It seemed the pair had figured out what was wrong with it, but it was in a particularly hard to reach place.

"Sounds like we're gonna need to pull the whole engine out to fix this." Pa Kent said, a bit of disappointment in his voice, "That's gonna be pricey. Might have to wait a while." He mumbled to himself, one hand rubbing his jaw, leaving a trail of oil along his face, "Gonna be tough getting the crop in without ol' Bessie."

"Naaaah, don't worry about a thing. I can patch her up well enough to get the harvest in, then we can take out the engine over the winter." Danny said, his hand turning opaque. He then slid his hand through the chassi of the tractor, "Hold on," He continued, his face suddenly turned similarly opaque, "Better see what I'm doing here." He said as he shoved his face into the chassi of the tractor as well, "Yup! We were right! Duct busted. I can patch it up nicely, should last until the harvest is brought in!" He called from inside the tractor.

Pa Kent shook his head and chuckled, "Even with everything Clark did, I don't think I'll ever get use to that. Go ahead and patch her up. Then we can head in for lunch before tackling the field." He said, giving Danny a pat on the back. Suddenly a bright green glow emenates from the inside of the tractor before Danny pulled his head and hand back out.

"Let it cool, and it should be good an' patched." He said proudly, soot and oil covering his entire face and one hand.

"You uh, got somethin' on your face, Danny."

"Oh? Where?"

"Uh. there." Pa Kent said, pointing to the entirety of Danny's face before tossing him a rag, and turning to head into the house. Danny began to wipe his face off, then started coughing a bit, "Yeah, that oil can taste somethin' awful if it gets in your mouth." Pa said, thinking Danny had just tasted some of the oil, but Danny kept coughing, and the coughing got worse until Pa turned around to see Danny on his knees, one hand over his mouth, another around his throat like he was choking. Black frost and steam poured from Danny's mouth like he'd just run a mile on a freezing December morning, but it was the middle of the day in early September, nearly 90 degrees out in an open field. Pa ran over to Danny, and knelt down in front of him, "You okay, boy?" He asked, worry plain on his face.

Danny shook his head and gasped, "Something!...Big!...Coming!" Was all he could get out before, in a flash of light, he'd transformed into his alter-ego, Danny Phantom, and in a streak of green, blasted off into the sky, soon followed by the telltale boom of super sonic flight.

Danny was already about a mile above the ground, still coughing up what he could only describe as frost mixed with soot and rotten eggs. It was like his Ghost Sense had gone into overdrive, and happened to run through a Coal Mine and a Landfill on it's way out. Even Pariah Dark hadn't made his Ghost Sense react like that, especially not at this distance. Whatever it was, he needed to get there yesterday, because it, whatever it was, was absolutely massive and even from there, Danny could feel the hostility radiating from it. Bad News didn't even begin to cover whatever this thing was.

Meanwhile, back at the Laboratory...

Cassi began chanting the invocation she'd pieced together. It had been like figuring out a puzzles who's pieces had been hidden all over the world. Words from disparate languages that fit together to make an ancient call to those Outside. But Cass had managed to find the words and put them together. She hoped she'd put them together in the correct order, otherwise who knew what she was calling out to.

At first, it didn't seem to be working. No crack in the ground or air appeared. No red skinned, horned imp appeared in a puff of crimson smoke. The lights didn't even flicker as she read the incantation. Cass was about to stop when she saw a ripple run across the surface of the pool of her blood in the center of the inner circle. First a small ripple, like a drop of water hitting the surface of a puddle. Cass continued chanting. Then another ripple, from left to right, like something skimming the surface. Cass continued chanting. Then it seemed to stop.

Cass chanted for a minute or two, spurred on by the unusual behavior of the blood. Right as her throat was beginning to ache, a hand burst through the surface of the blood, pale skin stained red and rivulets of blood ran down the arm that followed. The hand gripped the edge of the pool of blood like it was much deeper than it could possibly be. Then another hand burst forth, also followed by a pale arm.

Cass stopped chanting, what she had called had obviously already broken through, and was now simply pulling itself out. She watched in fascination that slowly mixed with a bit of fear as she realized that the being that was pulling itself out of a pool of her blood looked exactly like her, save for it's eyes, with black sclera and yellow iris. Cass watched with matched Fascination and Fear as the being continued to pull itself from the pool, and she realized that the more of the doppleganger that was out of the blood, the less blood there appeared to be.

Cass also noticed, with some surprise, that while she had initially the creature to be naked, it (she?) was in facted, clothed. She wore a strapless, low-cut black ball gown that clung to her (Cass's?) body in all the right places to accentuate her feminine form in ways Cass rarely did.

Once the woman (demon?) had completely pulled itself through, and the puddle of blood completely disappeared, she stood up, smiling at Cass in what she assumed was it's purposefully unnerving way. She had to admit, this is not what she had expected. In truth, she hadn't really known what to expect, but this wasn't it. She had thought there might be a chance that whatever she summoned might try to imitate her form, but in a more threatening manner. Boils, pustules, sores, and lacerations, things to make her terrified, or perhaps a more perfect version of herself, with the things she considered defects or unattractive about herself washed away.

She was not prepared for a rather normal looking, though perhaps less desheveled and better dressed, version of herself. She was actually so distracted by the pure mundanity of the entity before her that she jumped and screamed when the creature spoke.

"D̷̺̉o̷͍̎ ̵̥̏y̸͔͗o̸̡̾u̵̹͠ ̶̟̀k̵͎͌n̴͙͗ȯ̶̟ẅ̴́͜ ̶͚̀w̵̭͘h̵̻͝y̶͓̌ ̵͎́p̴͍̿e̸̮͛o̵̠͝p̶̩̓l̶̡̃è̵̮ ̵͖̈́ȃ̵̳l̶̹̂w̵̞̋a̸͛ͅy̷͉͒ş̷̇ ̴̪͐s̶̥̉u̶̞̅m̵̻͑m̷̢͒ò̸̤n̵̬̏ ̸̨̈ǘ̸̳ș̷̃ ̵͙͌b̸͙͑y̵̹͆ ̴̣͐ǩ̷͎i̷͖͒l̶̺͛l̴͎͛ị̴͂n̷̞͗g̵̮̍ ̴̌͜a̷̮͠n̶͕̚ ̷̩͝a̶̧͐n̵̽͜i̴̥̽m̶͉̑a̸͓͌l̴̤̓?̶̼̂" It asked, it's voice like a thousand people speaking almost in unison, making it a bit hard to understand.

Cass, after screaming and jumping so hard she almost fell over, took a deep breath and reoriented herself, "I...What?" She asked, between the synchronicity and her being startled, she hadn't processed the question.

The creature repeated itself, this time the effect is lessened a bit, "D̷o̵ ̴y̶o̵u̶ ̶k̶n̵o̷w̸ ̷w̶h̷y̴ ̴p̵e̵o̸p̸l̵e̶ ̷a̸l̶w̵a̷y̶s̶ ̶s̶u̴m̴m̴o̶n̵ ̵u̶s̵ ̵b̵y̴ ̵k̵i̶l̶l̵i̶n̴g̷ ̶a̷n̷ ̴a̵n̴i̷m̸a̸l̸ i̵n̷s̸t̷e̵a̶d̷ ̶o̶f̸ ̶o̵f̶f̴e̵r̸i̸n̴g̵ ̸h̸u̵m̵a̸n̸ ̸b̶l̷o̴o̵d̶?̷" As it asked the question, it lightly stepped to the edge of the circle, lightly touching something unseen with one of Cass's fingers.

Cass blinked, then looked down at her notebook. She flipped through a few pages before looking back at the woman with her face, "Um...No. Why?" Cass asked. This wasn't what she was expecting at all. Something felt...off. Like maybe she'd made a mistake that she wasn't quite aware of. But whatever that may have been, she was sure she was right about the sigils, the protective charms, the binding spells. There was no way the entity could escape.

Almost as if it could read Cass's mind, it grinned, "Connection. A Goat. A Lamb. A fowl of some sort." Now the entity was speaking in Cass's voice, which only served to cause her more discomfort, "They cut it's throat, release it's....delicious life blood, and summon us. Giving us Horns. Hooves. Wings....mmmmflesh." It purred, running it's hands up and down it's, Cass's, body, "Giving us...Connection."

"Connection to here? To Earth?" Cass asked. She was having trouble following. Her brain was being sluggish for some reason. She couldn't seem to put thoughts together in her head, and the entity wasn't making any sense.

"The smarter ones leave the sacrifice dead in the circle. The less smart ones kill but leave the body out of the circle, and dead bodies are so easy to manipulate." The Entity explained, stepping over the edge of the circle, "But it's the Smartest ones that make the same mistake over and over, because you don't want money, or power, or anything like the rest of them. You just want answers." It continued as it walked up to Cass, wrapping an arm around her waist. Cass, meanwhile, felt a pang of fear jolt through her, but she couldn't quite remember why. Something about words and circles. Boundaries? "In the end, it's your pacifism, your mercy that kills you. Had you just beheaded a chicken, or disembowled some livestock, you might have lived to tell others not to seek these answers." It whispered to Cass, "But you've handed me the keys to your body, and oh, I am going to make myself right at home."

"My...blood...." Was all Cass could say. Demon, Devil, whatever it was, it was exerting some kind of anesthetic influence on her, slowing her body and her mind, but she was still able to make the connection. The sigils, the symbols, the protection charms and spells. None of them had worked because Cass had used her own blood. Whatever it was, it had bypassed them all because Cass was outside the barrier.

Not Cass giggled delightedly, "It makes it all the sweeter that you figured out what you did wrong too little too-"BOOM! Not Cass began to say, but was interrupted by the sound of something that had been moving very fast hitting a Warded Steel Wall. Slowly, as if reaching through thick mud, a white-gloved hand slid through the wall, then another, and a boot, then another. Finally, a very red, very unhappy face slid through after it.

"What in the fu-Whoa!" Danny said, his ghost form flickering, half reverting him to human, "What is up with this room? First, it acts like a non-newtonian liquid despite me being intangible, and now this? What's going WHOA!" Danny shouted, just noticing the pair inside with him. His vision flickered between two women and a woman and some kind of vile chimera beast starting to overshadow the woman.

The Not Woman smiles as she looked Danny up and down, "Well, aren't you an interes-OOF!" It started to say before getting interrupted by Danny tackling it, separating it from the woman it was trying to overshadow. "My, you're stronger than you look, Ghostling!" It cackled, "Maybe we can have some fun!" It struck out at Danny, the human fist reinforced by the power of the beast hiding behind it. It wasn't the hardest Danny had ever been hit, but it certainly wasn't a Box Ghost Punch either.

"Look Lady, I don't know what your whole deal is, but around here, we don't just overshadow people for shits and giggles. And we certainly don't let people with your kind of vibes just hang around, either!" Danny said, wrapping the beast in ecto-energy while fending off the Not Woman. Something not dissimilar to a Ghost Portal was still open on the floor, but Danny could feel from just looking at it that whatever was on the otherside was nothing like the Ghost Zone.

"Oh ho! You really are impressive!" The Not Woman growled, a grin on her face, but it was clear that she was struggling with the ecto-shield he'd wrapped around her true body, "But you don't know what you're meddling with, Daniel. Beings such as yourself are easy to influence!" She said, sucking the strange creature into her body, freeing her from the ecto-shield he'd wrapped around it. She launched herself at Danny, and opened her mouth, a vile, black sludge ejecting all over Danny's face.

"How-Eugh! Forget it, I don't even want to know how you know my name! I've had more than enough of you! Time. To. Go. Home!" Danny roared, wrapping the Not Woman in a bear hug as she continued to vomit the black sludge on him. Then he spun towards the portal, and used all of his might to slam her down into it, knocking her off of him and into the portal. Using his portal powers, he grabbed the edges of the tear, and began to force it shut.

As he's closing the portal, black hands reached through and pull him against the half-closed portal, and a screeching voice shrieked, "You and I are not finished, Child of Thanatos! Descendant of Azrael! You will seek me out soon enough!" It screeched, grabbing at Danny as he struggled to close the portal.

Danny eyes briefly flashed red and he growled back, "Enough! I don't know who you are, but go back to where you came from!" He shouted, slamming the portal shut with all his strength. The entity gone, the portal shut, Danny was suddenly overcome with a wave of exhaustion, his Ghost Form fully reverting back. He fell to his knees, he head swimming as the effects of the room finally began to effect him. Only then did he notice the searing pain from the left half of his face, where the Not Woman had vomited the nasty black sludge on him. Knowing what was coming next, Danny reached into his pocket and pressed the emergency button on his phone before passing out.

Somewhere...

Danny floated in a black void. It wasn't the first time he'd had a dream like this, though he couldn't rightly recall the first time he'd had one. It was actually somewhat of a relief, since most of his dreams had to do with a cavalcade of rogues from his rogues gallery. Or so he'd thought. Something was different this time. This time, it didn't feel like he was alone in the black void. He could hear movement, whispers, feel eyes on him. Something was there with him. He goes to rub his eyes, and feels scale-like skin on his face. Suddenly he's looking at his own face, except half of it isn't his, it's monsterous.

"I TOLD YOU I WASN'T FINISHED WITH YOU, GHOSTLING!" A familiar, shrill voice screeched and cackled. Danny screamed, and sat up from the hospital bed he was in, his heart, ususally much slower than normal, nearly beating out of his chest. He looked around, and quickly recognized the medical floor of the JL Watchtower. His emergency call must have gone through. He sighed with relief, and laid back in the hospital bed. He attempted to relax, but that dream continued to bug him.

Soon enough, a doctor came in, "Well, given your...unique biology, we can't say anything for certain, but now that you've stabilized, you should be fine." The doctor said, looking through some chart, "Though, there is one thing we should probably look into..."

"Hold on." Danny said, holding up a hand, "Stabilized? I passed out because of the funky stuff in the weird room, what do you mean Stabilized?"

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous gesture, "Well, Daniel...when the WatchTower emergency crew found you, you seemed to be having some sort of...episode? You kept changing into a ghost and back to your human form. In fact, you were doing it the entire time you were unconscious, and only stopped shortly before you woke up." The doctor explained, "And then there's..."

"And then there's....what, doc? What's going on." Danny asked, a bit exasperated.

"It might be better for you to see it."

"See. What. Doctor." Danny ground out. The Doctor held out a mirror. At first Danny hesitated, the dream coming back to him briefly, but then he grabbed the mirror from the doctor and held it up and...nothing. He looked completely normal, black hair, blue eyes. Skin was fine, "I look fine."

"Transform, Daniel."

Danny did as he was told, and transformed, then gasped and dropped the mirror, his hands flying to his face. It wasn't the same as the nightmare, exactly, but it wasn't good, either. Starting at about the half-way point across his forehead, the skin of his forehead began to turn black and hard, pulling up until it all came together in an unmistakable black horn coming out from his left temple. The Sclera of his eye partially black, highlighting the neon green even moreso. Whatever that thing was, it had done this to him, whatever this was. And it had been right, that wasn't going to be the last time they saw each other.

[featherwingfae]

Gonna try to make this a "Quick post".

(warning some light swearing)

Maybe, just maybe one of the reasons we're seeing so many new Therians nowadays is because humans have fucked up the earth so bad that the universe just went fuck it and threw in a bunch of nature brains to balance things out. People who wouldn't just be able to look at the devastation of wildlife and their homes and just move on like nothing happened. Because they can see themselves in those creatures, and it hurts them to know that they are suffering. And maybe if there's enough nature brains, seeing themselves in the withering world around them, then more and more people might stand up and say this isn't right. We need to fix this. And maybe in a human world where one of the most lovely traits of humanity is being able to work together a bunch of nature brains with human faces can make a difference. They say animals can't speak human. Well they can, and are. Maybe Therians are the voices of nature coming out from the wilds, to places and bodies where they're not comfortable, where the air is heavy with pollution and trash litters the ground. And they have to learn weird shit like math, and work exhausting jobs that are often just to pay the bills that allow them to keep surviving. All so that they can see the damage from the other side and better understand the problem and together find solutions to stop it.

I'm not saying humans (and others) can't and/or dont do anything. I'm saying it's harder to do nothing when you look at creatures suffering and see yourself. Empathy is a beautiful thing. It helps connect us. But in a world where almost no one can afford the barest minimum just to survive. Where finding happiness feels like a struggle because you're constantly grinding and pushing yourself beyond your mental, emotional and/or physical boundaries, how easy is it to just shut yourself off. To put on the blinders because you're stuck yourself and you don't feel like there's anything you can do, so why upset yourself further by caring. It's sad. Terribly sad. Soul crushingly, heart wrenchingly sad.

Most people nowadays suffer from anxiety, depression or some other mental illness. And yes those illnesses are more known and understood now, and are more easily diagnosed. But I think the reason we see them everywhere now, is as simple as everyone is suffering. The human world in its current state, is not a healthy place. Fun times are often merely distraction from the crushing reality around us. It hurts to accept how much hurt there is right now.

I'm not saying it's all on the shoulders of Therians. I'm not saying you have to quit your job or your school and run off into the wild picking up every piece of litter and chaining yourself to trees. That's not what this post is about.

This post is about the increase of Therians and my personal hypothesis as to why there's so many now. And it's as simple as this. One Therian does not shoulder all the burden of the earth. Just as one human does not. But if there are Therians in schools, going "hey look at this little/big guy isn't he cute/cool" showing their friends and classmates"it's so sad he's going extinct because his home is being destroyed" , Therians on trails, streets, beaches seeing litter and using just a little bit of their time to remove at least some of it. Therians in stores refusing to buy certain products because of animal cruelty/testing, Therians manifesting/praying to help even if it's just a little bit, Therians on the Internet/TV spreading awareness, Therians in government actually trying to do what's best for the environment and the people, instead of just what's best for their bank account etc etc.

In reference to that horrible math stuff, a million ones together doesn't equal nothing. No matter how small an act it still adds up to something. Therians everywhere means more people who can't forget, who can't move on, who can't just shutdown and hope for the best. People who feel like they have to do something. So they don't eventually see themselves disappear (go extinct).

The universe and the earth can sometimes have a funny way of balancing things out. Maybe Therians are one way to at least try regaining that balance.

I'm overjoyed to see more Therians. Because I feel like more Therians means more voices for nature, and more chances to save this beautiful planet ☺️✨🌍🌎🌏💚

Anyway that's my two cents. Sorry this post ended up being longer than I intended 😅

And now my fascinating and fantastic creatures, great and small, furry, feathered, scaled or whatever-ed, and all others of open mind who took time to read my ramblings, I wish upon you a most glorious day/night. May we all follow our hearts/souls to do what we feel we can for this magnificent planet. ✨

👁️🪽✨🌟🌱❄️🪻🍀🌎🍄🌹💚🌍🌵🌈⛈️🌠🦊🐁💙

Till next time

[wolven91]

A Coiled Mind

"Desh? Can I speak to you for a moment?" asked the human on the ssypno’s door step.

"Ah Daniel, of course you can; please come in!"

The human known as Daniel was a diligent worker, but even Desh had noticed a marked change in their demeanour recently, one that had worried her. Very new to the galactic scene, the humans were industrious and quick to pick up new tasks once shown, but thanks to the chaos of a few months ago, Desh considered them fragile. 

As his direct controller, she wanted to make sure she was available for him, but hadn't pressured him to speak in case he hadn't wanted to. She wasn’t a psychologist, she had no formal training and had to rely on the official government therapy sessions given to the humans that they would be enough or catch any pent up emotions. 

He stepped into her home and stood there awkwardly for a moment, scratching at his arm. It took a moment to twig that something was seriously wrong as she made her way to get him a drink from the kitchen area. 

She stopped her short journey across the room and looked back at him, frowning and returning to the man. The large serpent lowered herself down to his level. Her length was immense and trailed lazily round the room, but she pulled herself into a tight knit of a roiling mass of scales to give the smaller human more space in her home. He had worked with her a while now, so she assumed he was fine with her, but was aware that she could still be intimidating at the best of times.

"Daniel? Is everything... okay?" She reached out a hand, but hesitated. She so desperately wanted to touch him, but was unsure if she was allowed to at this moment. Humans were one of the races to be warm blooded, but were the only one without a dense layer of fur. Thanks to this lack of insulation, they were walking, talking heat lamps to her kind. It would be so easy to hold on to them and never let go, but she mustn't, she had to give them space lest she scare him off, they were significantly smaller after all at only six foot tall compared to her forty five feet on length.

"I... I just.. it-" he cut himself off as a sob broke forth. She made the call to surge forward and pull him into a tight hug against herself. Two of her arms, the lower set grasping his back while her upper set; one hand found the back of his neck and her fourth and final hand slid through his short brown fur that topped his head. Her muscular lower body, a single thick tube of scales and muscles wound around his legs and raised him up into the air so she could hold him without stooping low.

"Hey! Heeeey, come on now... it's okay... it's okay now.. " She said, continuing to whisper sweet nothings into his ear as she propelled herself backwards into her home. To an outsider, it would appear as if she were a predator with a successful hunt within her clutches. 

She weaved and wrapped him thoroughly against herself as he quaked and sobbed against her.

Eventually he did begin to settle and started to apologise for his 'outburst'. Desh was shocked and sickened to think that he thought the need to apologise for something as natural as his reactions.

His home world was lost, he was part of an endangered species, he had every right to be upset and yet he had soldiered on for two months since the catastrophic events of the Sol System.

"Human Daniel, do not ever apologise to me for seeking me out to unwind. If you need to cry, you cry to me. If you don't want anyone else to know, then no one will know my friend... okay?"

He nodded his head, trying to wipe his eyes with hands already wet with his tears.

"If your kind are half as strong as you, then you will all be alright friend-Daniel, but I think today will be spent here, if that is alright?" He nodded again and whispered; 

"I'd like that Desh... thank you..."

Her tail began to wind and spool around his shorter legs bringing them together before it wound up further curling around his hips and stomach. She gave him the option to have his arms down or up, to which he placed his arms against himself. Her tail finished by sinching around the tiny neck that all humans had.

Feeling bold, she grasped his head in either of her hands, the deep blue scales standing in stark contrast to his skin.

"Look into my eyes dear.. look how they swirl with colours, do you see?"

His tense body within her coils started to ease. In the primitive times, this would be where she would tighten and squeeze her prey before devouring it whole.

But for now, she would luxuriate in the waves of heat he gave off. She would let him rest and sooth, while she was paid in the most intimate spar treatment she had ever felt.

No wonder she was banned from touching Humans normally, nothing would ever get done if it felt like this...

[equalidran]

just gonna come out and say this now super super ahead of the curve

if miracle of miracles happens and we still have elections in four years and we get a democratic president. it doesn't matter if it's white guy centrist number 3000 or we actually manage to switch it up again. if we get a democratic president they are going to be promising the moon on the campaign trail. but i NEED you all to understand the consequences of this presidency first.

it doesn't matter what progressive promises they make. i am telling you now that this trump presidency is going to strip everything so far back that we aren't going to have much room for progressive policies. that president is going to fight for their life to return to where we are right now under biden and will be blamed for not doing anything at all. you need to understand this. even if you aren't directly affected in the coming years you need to understand how bad this is.

trump has a trifecta. do you understand this? he has not only a majority in the senate but in the supreme court as well as the presidency. there's a very real possibility he'll win the house too. this means he will have a very, very easy time to pass anything and everything he wants. read the project 2025 outline. that's what he wants.

and im telling you right now. unless there's some magical swing in the electorate, the next democratic president is going to barely scrape into office by the skin of their teeth. i have no hope in getting congress. the supreme court is lost to us. so im TELLING you. the next democratic president is going to fight for their life to achieve anything at all. the president cannot unilaterally decide to do anything. trump probably will, because he's a dictatorial idiot and he has a trifecta and they won't stop him. but the next democrat down the line? they would be lucky to even propose an idea of a bill.

worst case scenario here is it's gridlock entirely. this current congress (not the newly elected one) is known as the least effective in history, and some things are still getting passed. it could be that a hostile congress flat out refuses to do anything the new president says. and that's not good at all and they look like a failure and im telling you now that they are and always will be working within the bounds of our system and are trying their best.

"the system is rotten so just tear it down! then we'll get something done!" forgive me for not putting any faith in your revolution here. that one tweet about not voting in favor of firebombing a walmart and then never firebombing a walmart. anyway back to the way things actually work.

even if they're able to pass things, the democratic president will be starting from so much further back than harris would have if she'd won. do you know how bad things were when trump was president the first time? not only the big, obvious things, but the tiny problems he caused that the layperson would never think about.

did you know he fired nearly the entire appointed staff of the state department (not entirely out of the question for a new administration who wants to put their own people in positions, but it's usually not the ENTIRE staff, only higher level diplomats) and then never refilled so many of those positions? did you know part of project 2025 calls for the dismissal of every unloyal staff member in government and replacing them with loyal members?

these are the kinds of things the new president will be facing. with a hostile congress and a hostile staff, they have to start small by pure necessity. they will fight to bring the us back to where it was in 2024 and it will look like they've done nothing and you will not understand the work it takes to even get that far. so im telling you that now.

if there's somehow a democratic supermajority things would look a lot different. but i don't have any hope for that. best i can reasonably hope for is retaking congress in 2026 so things don't go too bad. worst case scenario there is no 2026.

the solution here, the way to see actual progress, is to vote democrat ALL the way down the ballot in every election forever. independents do not have a chance at the presidency in the two party system, but they do have a chance in congress, provided of course you know they're going to win. and when there's democratic victory after democratic victory, then we can safely move on to progressives. im telling you now that this is a strategy not morality. maga and the tea party and the heritage foundation did this over the course of fifty years; it will take at least that much to do it our way. but we need to work together and we need to be smart about this.

so when the next democrat shows up and doesn't seem to be doing anything at all despite the shiny promises they made on the trail, look closer. see what's holding them back. and get rid of it. and THEN yell at them for not using the unobstructed path.

[the-bar-sinister]

Deicide: Onigashima Aftermath (66368 words) by VickytheSnake, thesavagesabretooth Chapters: 17/17

Summary: In the aftermath of the raid on Onigashima everything changes. The path to the One Piece is a course that can only be charted by those who agree to join together as friends and fight without taking the easy way out.

catch up here.

-

Mihawk sat on the deck of the ship, carefully cleaning Yoru with a reverent and practiced hand. Under the broad parasol he’d insisted they install, he watched the sea beyond them as his fingers and his cloth trailed over Yoru’s shining black blade.

“Daz. Do you think the tea is steeped?”

The blood of the marines who hadn’t yielded was still fresh in his mind, the thrill of the short but interesting battle and its resolution of a whole cadre of new crew and executives for their little organization still buzzing distantly behind his sharp and canny eyes.

Cross Guild had devoured two of the Navy’s finest. Welcomed them, and their powerful underlings, into the fold. It was a victory… and now they moved on to the next step in their plan to whittle the Marine’s strength to nothing.

"Should be," Daz nodded as he eyeballed the teacup on the tray.

“Thank you,” he glanced back at him with a subtle smile as he held his blade up to the light. Bergamot tea, steeped strong…he trusted Daz to make it correctly. “What do you think of our new friends, the former Marines.” 

Daz was the man that Crocodile had brought from his adventures in Alabasta. Mihawk's own man– Wallace– was with Perona, currently.

"As long as they don't stick a knife in our backs, I think they'll be great." Daz handed him the cup of tea. From the smell of it, he'd gotten it right.

MIhawk took a deep breath, inhaling the fragrance before taking a long sip. “They seem to have impressed Crocodile…and he is not a man who trusts easy.” 

"Sure isn't," Daz agreed. Mihawk knew that he was well aware. Apparently, Daz had been working officially for Sir Crocodile and Rain Dinners for quite some time, while working unofficially for "Mr. Zero" and Baroque Works without knowing that the two were one and the same.

“But he seems to have put quite a bit into that crew— I’m not a trusting man, myself…but if he trusts them I will endeavor to do the same.” 

Daz nodded. "Spent some time with a couple of them last night. They seem alright. I hope it won't kick the captain in the teeth."

Mihawk looked up at him with a thin smile. “If it does, I’ll simply have to hang their heads from the prow. But let us hope it’s as good as it seems.

He liked Daz…it was a comfort and a relief to know that Crocodile had had someone looking out for him in the years when they couldn’t meet under the watchful eye of the World Government.

Once, and once again in a way, he had been Crocodile’s right hand. HIs first mate and swordsman. He and Daz were still settling out exactly what that meant for the two of them– Daz having occupied the spot that he had vacated for so long– but it didn't seem to be a real problem.

"If you need a hand with that, let me know."

MIhawk chuckled as he sipped his tea again “I might need a hand with it, should push come to shove. I–” 

"Hawkie!" Crocodile snapped sharply as he stomped up from below deck. He was dragging Buggy with him, a bottle of alcohol in the clown's hands. Mihawk could already tell something was up.

Mihawk leaned over the back of his chair, teacup by his side and Yoru over his lap. His keen eyes scanned the bottle of alcohol as his lips drew into a tense frown.

“Crocodile. Bad news? Have the marine recruits betrayed us?” 

"Nothing as simple as that," Crocodile growled around his cigar. "Got a report, didn't we, Bug?"

Daz shot an apprehensive glance toward Mihawk, clearly picking up on the same 'bad news' feeling that he was.

Buggy slid over with the bottle in his hands, grinning a smile that wasn’t at all reassuring as he wiggled the bottle his way. 

“How about we have a drink. Huh? The boys said they saw uh…they saw a ship off the coast of Wano.”

Mihawk raised his eyebrow at him with a low hum “and…?”

Crocodile put his arm around Mihawk's shoulders. "And it's Shank's ship, Hawkie."

Mihawk’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

Red Haired Shanks. The two of them had a long and storied history. Meeting during a grand adventure, becoming rivals— the clash of wills and sword that reverberated around the world— and Shank’s injury bringing with it distance and the World Government’s interference as Mihawk became a proper Warlord of the Sea.

“What brings him to Wano, I wonder.” He stood smoothly, and lifted Yoru to place upon his shoulder with a glower at the island in the distance “...bring us around to him. I’d like a duel.” 

"You're kidding me," Crocodile growled. "Now you wanna duel him? Hawk, I brought Buggy over for you to talk some fucking sense into. We can't roll up to Shanks with one god damn ship and a handful of hungover marines!"

“You think he’ll simply kill us then?” Mihawk glanced over his shoulder at Crocodile as Buggy laughed nervously and popped open the bottle to take a long sip. 

"Hell if I know!" Crocodile snapped. "All I know is he fucked both the two of you up— emotionally!--- man was always a wildcard. All I hear about is him decimating crews all over the grand line– do you two think he wants to have a fucking nice little duel and a chat?"

Daz quietly walked over and put a hand on Croc's shoulder. "Easy there, captain."

“What if he wants to say he’s sorry to me?” Buggy asked with a sniff as he hugged the bottle to his chest “He’s got a lot to make up for, that bastard!”

Mihawk huffed sharply, his arms crossed over his chest. “...his legend has been growing, but it isn’t as if I have stopped my rise either. If you don’t want to face him, Crocodile…I can go on one of the lifeboats.” 

"Like hell you will!" Crocodile barked. "Like hell I'm letting you go off alone."

Daz raised his hand. "If I may?"

Buggy flopped against Crocodile again, his hand detaching and bringing the bottle to Mihawk.

He took it with a nod and had a long swig. “...I’m listening.” 

"Why don't we send a messenger and see if he wants to talk and or duel," Daz offered, scratching the back of his head. "It's not like that would be hard to do."

Crocodile– standing with one arm around Mihawk and one around Buggy– gave each of them a speculative look. "Well? Daz has a point."

Mihawk leaned against him with an affection most never picked up on, huffing a long sigh. “...it’s a good point, Daz. I suppose it would come across as less of an act of war that way.”

Buggy poked his fingers together “...can I write the letter?” 

"Not without a second pair of eyes on it, Bug," Crocodile grumbled. "But with approval– yes."

Buggy looped an arm around him with a wide grin “I promise Croccy. You’re not gonna regret this!”

Mihawk wasn’t so sure…but as he stared out at Wano with narrowing eyes he knew something for certain.

He rested his shoulder against Crocodile’s, jaw set as he reckoned it.

It was long past due to face the ghosts of the past. 

Kid had just finished addressing the whole crew, and as everyone started to break up for their individual tasks, the captain beckoned O-Kiku over to speak with him privately.

She wandered over to him with a small smile and a wave of her hand.

Wano was a distant dream now; close enough to return, but far enough that she finally felt free of its magnetic pull. It was surreal, strange even. Wano was a closed country for so long, cloistered behind its walls and separated from everything that made the wider world so strange and dangerous. But now she could see the sea twisting beyond her, feel the wind in her hair as they sailed into a world Wano had long not been a part of.

It was terrifying, it was new…she already felt the pang of nostalgia and distance when she thought of the old tea-house she’d taken to working at. Yet…she couldn’t deny the rush of freedom and excitement as she leaned down to better meet her new Captain’s eyes, one hand hooked into her brother’s gun belt by the thumb.

“Yes, my captain?” 

"I see you took care of your sword problem," he said gruffly, gesturing to her hip.

O-Kiku smiled broadly and nodded before she stood back up and drew her sword, its shining blade catching the light and emphasizing the angular pattern down its blade. 

 “...I took a stop to the warrior’s cemetery and asked if anyone wanted a piece of them to live beyond Wano’s walls…and Ritsu answered. This is the Yuki-onna, the snow woman.” 

"The snow woman. Hmmph." Kid glanced at the sword keenly, and she felt it tug softly in her hand under the captain's power– though he didn't tug it out of her grip. "It suits you, then."

She let her muscles slack enough for him to gently move the sword and her arm around. She bowed her head, happily smiling. “Isn’t it lovely? You truly think it suits this one? This is the blade of a rogue…a folk hero who defied the rule of Wano.” 

"Sounds like you're describing yourself, then," Kid chuckled. "Rogue, pirate. Same difference."

O-Kiku gently spun the sword in her hand before sheathing it with a soft chuckle. 

“...they’re the same, save for one key difference, Captain Kid.” 

"And what the fuck difference is that?" he asked with a grin.

She leaned down to meet his eyes again, her hair half falling against her cheek. 

“A pirate can go anywhere they please. A rogue is bound to the shores of Wano~.” Her hand pat the sword by her side “Ritsu and this one are rogues no longer.” 

Kid laughed. "I'll give you that. Welcome to freedom, O-Kiku. Welcome to piracy."

She laughed with him, easier than she’d ever laughed on Wano. It lingered in the air as she leaned instead on the bannister of the ship.

Was this how Izou felt when he’d been accepted onto that pirate’s ship? When he first saw the yawning expanse of the sea with men he could grow to care for…a crew to become one with?

The way her fingers clenched with anticipation against the railing, she had to imagine it was. 

“I’ll make the best of it, Captain. I give you my word on that.” 

Otama was still marveling at the size of the ship when Speed had come to see her. They were hours out from Wano by this point, and Otama couldn’t even identify her home anymore as it turned into an ever vanishing speck.

The giant skull figurehead, the great sails— she’d already fallen in love with it all by the time Speed came out of the ship’s hold to find her sitting on the figurehead and practicing her ninjitsu.

“Hey Otama!” Speed called out as she hurried onto the deck on two legs. It still took a bit of getting used to, but she looked…honestly pretty good.

“Hey Speed!” she waved as she spun around to lean on her hands, still sitting on the top of the skeletal figurehead.

Killer tracked quietly behind Speed as she ran up, his pace never changing. The masked first mate was as intimidating as ever— which wasn't that much, honestly, once you got to know him.

Otama hopped up and down from the figurehead back onto the deck on nimble footing before she gave Speed a squeezing hug, and looked up to Killer with the silent promise to get him in one too.

“Killer, I can’t believe this ship! It’s huge!” In all the 18 years that Otama had been alive…she’d never gotten to see anything like it. Even the treasure ships that traveled the rivers of Wano were dwarfed by this monstrosity manned by her new crewmates.

Speed rustled her hair with a wide grin…somehow, even when the effects of the SMILE wore off…the older woman never left. In fact, she seemed happy to be around Otama with the promise that nothing would split them apart.

“It’s pretty damn impressive,” she agreed, “like something my old man would have worked on back home.” 

"She's a hell of a ship," Killer agreed, his arms crossed as he drew up beside them. "We're real proud of her. Glad you fuckin' approve, eh?"

Otama disengaged from Speed before she threw the full…admittedly slight…weight of her body into a hug against Killer with a wide smile.

“I’m pretty proud to be a part of its crew, I’d say!” Otama cooed. “Hey, are you guys feeling better now that you’re not …you know…”

“Cursed with the SMILE fruits?” Speed grinned widely at her “yeah, I’m over the moon.”

"I'm feeling a lot worse," Killer drawled with obvious amusement. "Which is frankly fucking fantastic."

Otama gave him a squeeze before she danced back, her deep purple hair bouncing over her face as she folded her hands behind herself. “back to normal then! Are you guys gonna….”

“Actually!” Speed snapped her fingers “I got somethin’ to show you, hon.” 

"Yeah I'm not the type of guy who waits around." Killer gestured to Speed. "And funny enough neither is a girl named 'Speed'."t

“One of the reasons Kaidou didn’t off me is he could tell I liked to live fast,” Speed laughed as she put her hand on her hip.

Otama looked between them. The only explanation she could come up with was… that they’d each picked up a new jutsu— a new ‘devil fruit’ as everyone from outside called it. “Really? Already??” 

"Stole some treasure offa Kaidou before we bounced," Killer nodded. "Speed and I split it up. Wanna see?"

“Absolutely!” Otama clapped her hands together “Please?”

“You wanna go first, or should I, Killer?” Speed leaned on his shoulder to ask.

Killer slipped his arm around her, and put his hand on her back. He pushed her forward. "Go for it. You have more to show off, in my opinion."

Speed stumbled forward with a playful and almost equine huff. 

“Fine, fine. Hey, Otama!”

She flashed her biggest smile before she asked “Didja like having a horse girl around?”

Otama tilted her head to the side. “Well, I mean…it was pretty great to ride you around, and you looked real good! But I know it wasn’t exactly comfortable. So…”

Speed held up her hands. “hold that thought.” 

Killer flourished his arm in front of Speed. "Otama– Get a load of the dog and pony show. Minus the dog."

“Minus the dog,” Speed smirked “he’s on another ship!”

She seemed to concentrate for a moment before her form shimmered and shifted…Otama watched with wide eyed excitement as two legs turned to four…and white and black fur overtook Speed’s haunches as she shifted.

In the blink of an eye, she was a centaur again…only something was different. Not just the color of her fur, but the massive and feathered wings that folded in around herself, and the long and spiraled horn that rose just under her glasses through the part of her hair in glossy , shimmering monochrome.

Otama’s breath caught in her throat, and for a moment she was too stunned to speak…especially as Speed shifted further into a full wing and horn-clad equine form…

Equine, but not a horse— she was something much more breathtaking, much more beautiful— and Otama didn’t even have the word to describe it…

"Now there's somethin' you don't see every day, eh?" Killer grunted amusedly. "A real horse of a different color."

“I’d…I’d say!” Otama took to circling Speed with wide eyes., looking her over with a broad grin as she reached out to gently brush a wing “you’re beautiful, Speed!” Speed seemed flustered, clopping a hoof on the ground before she shifted slowly back to that mid-point form again, her ears flicking in embarrassment. “you’re makin’ me blush, Otama. It’s an ‘alicorn’...there were stories about ‘em back home. People used to put them as figureheads.” 

"She's a beaut, ain't she? KIller teased, smacking Speed's haunch, playfully. "A real fine example of horseflesh."

Speed flushed even more, and her wings, pearlescent as they caught the light, ruffled by her sides, even as she grinned. “yeah, I’m the prettiest damn horse you’ll ever see.”

Otama fidgeted before she hopped up to smoothly land on her back, just like before on Wano, only now careful of her wings. “You don’t mind, right?” she asked, the eagerness leaking into her voice.

Killer stood back, watching for a moment, while he slipped off his mask.

“Course I don’t, Otama” Speed laughed reaching around to grab her hand. “See? I got a better deal…and we didn’t even have to lose this!”

Otama nuzzled her back with a quiet laugh. “I’m glad…I really enjoyed riding with you, Speed. And it’ll be even better to fly together!”

Speed blinked, as if she hadn’t even considered it. “...well hot damn, that’s right…”

“Uh huh,” Otama grinned before glancing at Killer. “so…did you get an animal one too?” 

"Sure did. Wanna see?" 

He didn't wait for an answer. Tusks slid out of his mouth as his body shifted, his hair taking on a shaggy mohawk-like mane appearance and his ears growing as his body bulked.

“OooHHH!!!”

Otama propped herself up against Speed’s back, her chin nuzzled in her hair as she grinned widely “A boar! Right? You got a boar jutsu?” 

"S'right," Killer grunted, sounding pleased. He ran his hand– with hoof-like nails— over his long, wicked looking tusk. "Pretty cool, right?"

“I’d say!” Otama leaned on her hands as Speed’s ears flicked under her, half leaned to see past her horn “Lookit those tusks! You could probably gore someone to death like that! Heck, the both of you could!”

Speed laughed under her. “You ain’t wrong. But these are good devil fruits, Otama. We lucked out.” 

"Damn right we did," Killer agreed. "As for goring somebody to death with the tusks— I'm kinda looking forward to it."

Speed’s hoofs clicked against the deck again. “You know, I bet you are…and I ain’t gonna lie, I’m a little excited too.”

Otama nuzzled the top of her head, grinning fondly. 

“You two are going to be really terrifying!” Back in Wano, she was kept from violence and strife while she trained. Maybe they were worried exposing her to the darkness in the world would make her go down the same path that Orochi had due to her ‘cursed blood’...

They trained her for battle for 18 years, but set her up for a life of weaving hats in the forest. Maybe it’d disappoint them to know that the fire of combat already smoldered inside her, despite her communion with beasts, and her warm smile, she was looking forward to their next fight too.

“So I’m going to do what I can to be just as terrifying as you.” 

It was unclear whose idea it has been to start throwing that ball around the deck of the ship. Zoro suspected, but couldn't prove, that it had been Robin. Whoever it was, now there was a ruckus game of catch happening, and Yamato was chasing the ball in his enormous dog form.

Yamato was absolutely overjoyed, his tail wagging as he bolted back and forth across the deck. He seemed wreathed in a sort of divine , shimmering flame that caught the long and shaggy white and blue locks of his canine form…and yet the ‘divinity’ of the image was somewhat impacted by his eager panting and running about.

He leapt as the ball passed overhead, and caught it in his fang-filled jaws before landing deftly by Robin’s feet.

Robin smiled down at him, leaning on her hand with clear amusement. “I’ve always wanted a dog.” she said idly towards Zoro. 

Zoro huffed and rubbed his chin. He was sitting peacefully on the deck with his back up against the wall just watching the chaos, as usual.

"Well, looks like the captain found one for ya, huh?"

Luffy of course looked absolutely delighted— running around with just as much doggish excitement as their new crew member.

Yamato tossed the ball up before batting it with the end of his snout, sending it hurtling towards Nami, who had to leap to catch it with a sharp huff of breath.

Robin chuckled. “looks like, and still he defies my expectations.”

Vivi was near Zoro, leaned against the bannister as she watched the ball fly around the deck “Luffy always does…and so do the people he invites along. I remember when YOU were the weirdest pull he’d ever made for a crewmate, Robin.” 

Zoro looked over and grinned at her. "She's right, Robin. You were definitely weirder than Chopper."

“Me, weirder than Chopper?” She looked over to see the very man grow to his burly arm point form to catch the ball before it flew over the edge of the ship “...”

A hand bloomed from the top of his head and swatted the ball back onto the deck in time for Yamato to leap and grab it again with a little flip, rolling on the grass and into Luffy’s legs.

“You’re right, of course.” 

Zoro laughed and shook his head. "What can I say? You're all weird. Buncha pirates."

Vivi laughed softly into her hand. “You’re included in that too, Zoro. I’ll be honest, you might be the weirdest of all!”

Yamato trotted over, and dropped the slightly damp ball onto Zoro’s foot. 

Zoro looked down at the ball, and up at Yamato. And over at Vivi. He crossed his arms behind his head. "Yeah, I don't think so."

"Hey! Hey Zoro, throw it over here!" Luffy called, raising his arms and stretching them impossibly high, waving for his attention.

Zoro sighed and picked up the damp ball. 

"Okay maybe you have a point," he muttered to Vivi.

Yamato’s tail was wagging excitedly, his uncanny eyes watching the movement of the ball as Zoro picked it up.

Vivi laughed, her hand over her mouth “I told you, Zoro.”

“She’s got you there, my friend.” Robin mused with a smile. “Hurry, before the captain tries to catch the ball out of your hand with his teeth.” 

Zoro made a choked noise, and felt his face get hot at the thought. He hurled the ball as hard as he could, and the only reason it didn't go sailing out into the sea was because the captain caught it before it got out of his range.

THAT made Robin break down into a low and amused laugh, covering her mouth with her hand to hide her huge grin.

Nami pressed her hand through her hair with a huff. “Geeze! Throw it harder and we’re going to lose either the Captain or the new recruit to the sea when they try an’ catch it!”

Yamato in fact had briefly taken off to follow it until he saw Luffy leap to grab it…and instead ran in an excited circle for a moment before jumping…forming into his anthropomorphic form, and dropping to the ground with a laugh of his own.

“I’ve never had this much fun in my life!” 

Zoro sighed again and shook his head, but he was sure he was smiling. The captain had gotten another one. Yamato definitely belonged with the Straw Hats.

Zoro wasn't going to pretend that he didn't, too.

[wiredaughter]

Outbreak

××

allison cameron×robert chase ☆ zombie apocalypse ☆ 1008 words ☆ ao3

@augustwritingchallenge day 4: zombie apocalypse @aug-kissed week 1: blow a kiss

Doctor Allison Cameron squints at the whiteboard in House's office. Extending ecchymosis, low grade fever, rash. It doesn't entirely seem like a case but House is, if to be believed, consulting with the federal government; which makes it a case. Of course, he's not around to explain why the patient is at PPTH instead of some blacksite if that's the truth. She exits the room, it's not her job to know why anymore.

The ER pulls her from her job trajectory considerations easily, there seems to have been a highway wreck involving at least six vehicles and she spends the morning up to her elbows on life altering injuries and advanced life support. She doesn't think about the diagnostics team again until she chats with Foreman in the lift to the cafeteria and learns the patient went after a phlebotomist with teeth and nails, making House wonder whether they should add aggressiveness to the list or the patient is just a bit of a prick.

She thinks about it, vaguely, during her lunch with Chase but ultimately doesn't bring it up until they're walking back to their respective stations. Good choice too, going by his general disinterest in the matter.

‘It's irregular, is all, to have the patient here, don't you think?

There's resignation mixed with admiration in the look her boyfriend gives her, and a hint of selfdeprecation in his smile. ‘How is a government consult meant to compel me more than a gun to his head, again?’

Cameron shrugs, stops to kiss him quickly. ‘It just seemed interesting. I’ll see you later.’

As she walks away, she turns in time to see him blowing her a kiss. Yes, her life's changed ever since resigning from the diagnostics department and it hasn't always been easy, but she's excited to let someone in again. Doesn't mean everything's got to change, she thinks, back in House’s office, this time with most of the team assembled. There's more symptoms now, hyperpyrexia, necrosis, erythrocytosis, battle sign. Transmissible = BITES is underlined several times. They've quarantined the floor the patient is being held in, and have anyone who's been in direct contact with him in isolation.

‘Polycythemia vera,’ she suggests, more to get the ball rolling than as a real answer, being that she hasn't seen the patient at all.

‘No hypertension,’ Kutner objects. ‘It's dropping steadily, actually.’

‘How's his spleen?’

‘We're waiting on the test, but palpation suggested no abnormalities.’

‘How about a different neoplasm. Essential thrombocythaemia?’ Thirteen checks the file. ‘Plateletes were high too.’

‘It could fit, but there's no cyanosis…’

She trails off when House looks ready to rule on it, but the door opens before he can, to reveal a harassed looking Chase, still on OR scrubs holding his pager up. ‘You can't page me, House, you're not my boss.’

Instead of answering, House raises a brow as he feels for something on his desk. On cue, Chase's pager goes off. Cameron exchanges a look with Foreman, who looks ready to go back to the differential. Following their cue, Chase looks at the board, almost involuntarily, frowns at what's written there. ‘If you have to page me, can it be for something other than Resident Evil roleplay?’

‘That's your diagnosis?’ House sounds exasperated. ‘Our patient is a zombie?’

‘It's how it always starts, the outbreak. Fever, necrosis, head trauma… Biting.’

‘Thank you, for illustrating exactly why I fired you.’

Chase gives Cameron a look that questions her willingness to listen to this before setting his pager down on House's desk and making for the door. Later, she mouths, and he gives a short nod before exiting. He's back before anyone can comment, wide eyed oh shit expression replacing his previous eyeroll in progress. ‘Tell me Taub is in on the joke?’

‘He went in for an NCV, I told you there's no jo-'

House's words get drowned by gunfire. Cameron moves to where Chase stands, pulling him out of the most direct line from the door to House, guessing whatever this is it's probably House-related. Again. The uniformed men that barge in after a blood splattered Taub don't shoot at anyone, though. The leader pulls down his mask.

‘Doctor House?’ It's not really a question, as he continues speaking directly at him without giving him the chance to direct his attention anywhere else. ‘Your assistance is required on site now, until the situation is handled. This your team?’

House nods, eyes burning holes through Chase’s head like he's jinxed him somehow. The man, who still hasn't introduced himself, talks into his comm to coordinate an extraction as his men exit. Cameron takes the chance to peek out the door, to see twitching, bloodied bodies strewn across the floor. She steps back, horrified, to take Chase's hand. The words zombie outbreak play on her head in his voice.

‘So,’ House leans forward on his cane, holding Chase’s pager up looking entirely too satisfied for someone who just dismissed what seems to be the working theory. ‘In the team, or out?'

Chase squeezes her hand, gives House an unimpressed look and snatches it back. ‘Unless you know someone else with over sixty hours in Deadly Silence, in.’

‘I have 100% completion in Deadly Silence’ Cameron lets her calf slide against Chase's in the chopper after an incredibly short briefing by phone, her words made private by the noise around them.

‘Your government is actually bioengineering zombies and your move is proving my expendability?’ He holds his chest in an exaggerated fashion, pressing their knees together.

‘Competition breeds progress.’ Her tone is too affectionate for her words to have any meaning.

Chase leans in, like he's going to kiss her but thinks better of it, considering their surroundings and the ongoing ‘situation’ that spans half the continental states if the information hasn't changed since they took off. Instead, he settles for an air-kiss. Not her, not now. She pulls him by his improbable tie, locking their lips for what might be the last time if the zombies are really at the gates.

[the-firebird69]

Disney to invest up to $17B in Florida after fight with DeSantis appointees | AP News

We're going to do this project and it's around that price with buildings are not that expensive and rides even one ride is about a billion dollars and that would be like the Chevy ride which is expensive there's really not much to it it's a small building I know a lot about these analogies but I didn't know this one it's pretty brave of him to put it out there and he says not really he says I'm going to get paid the max are going to force it and people need to know it's the max and that's why I'm saying is brave for Christ's sake and he's living with these people all around me can't do anything else and there are a few other factors about the park the place is wonderful there's a nice place to go and visit it's a wonderful place to stay there's really no real easy way to get around and what he said is you can have ebike rentals and you can rent them for the week or the day or you can go station to station feels like a rental car you can decide what you want to do for a rental and have a e bike path and you go you can lock it up at the evike stations in the facility and they make sure nobody takes your e-bike that you rented and it's a simple way not renting out a bike that's already rented and then you come back in the evening and your bike your way home and you avoid the crowds the lines the fuss the months is a nice nature trail and over Bridges and walkways security and then you said you could make this Johnny peg regular bike and you can have 49cc bikes and rent them out there at the beach and people with licenses can rent them I thought about it they probably have an accidents but they wouldn't be that bad cuz they wouldn't be going too fast they put a limiter on it so you go 45 miles an hour and if we started these I'll be involved him and you make huge factories and you tell him it makes like 200 million a year and you'd still get like 10 million dollars that's who else is a joke but what's happening here is kind of making him laugh so I get that but still it's better than doing nothing and we don't have any game and it's all the empire and that's a horrific game. And they're going to start cleaning June 15th then they're lining up all the ducks. So Dave did it before and he's doing it again beyond the grave and his brothers being made to do it so sad position but he's helpful. And this Johnny pack that his wife wants to get up and go is really a great bike and he wants the Jersey girl to do it and she says she kind of looked like that and she did she's dressed as a man and it's a great idea he says and he's just guessing that it's a look of a biker and she gets it and figure out bigger pretty kind of tough she says this he's helping me with the math cuz he couldn't talk to her back then. They wouldn't let him. It's really hard he didn't get to try the crabs he didn't have enough money it was pretty bad.. so he should have done it instead of drinking but here we go this is going to happen now it's coming up it just days as she poked around behind the Sun and we think it's this stipend and it's coming right around the same time from Biden and then there are several more things he had really like 10 things over the next month it is getting like things no he had money a few checks from the government and it was not reimbursement money and they are not telling the truth so we're starting to understand what you were saying yeah we're helping out

Mac daddy

Yeah I guess they're getting reamed

Michael tew

And you can stop that no I can't yes you can I think so good well it looks like I might have a little bit easier of a Time less stress in one area and I get that but it's more stress in another but it will take care of itself since they had to try like hell and watch it like a hawk so I feel better because you're saying that.

That was the two and they just put it there but this is outstanding and I did a great job today and they say it and it's a thank you that's what a lot of stress it really is he's got to grow his hair back

Thor Freya

Olympus

[captainkurosolaire]

Prompt #11 ~ Reclaimed Living

♫Overpowered♫

Another cleansing of the soul came with reinvigorated steps loudly revisiting a place of his bearings. His latest and most formidable enemy awakened him from a ghostly remnant he served. He wasn't the same. The last Crew finding them behind his follow weren't the same that collapsed, or buried with his old ship. The rover returned to a rancid pub front-steps. In a dead and remote location, where used to be celebration, came to cease. Now it was just nesting drunken sailors who held no direction. Majority of the Crew that served a Captain were family members, other associates, all drowned and dead brought by his endeavors, curses, afflictions. It was never easy to confront a past, but proper healing cannot begin without it, that's where his wisdom had found of recent date. It was the most despicable and deplorable thing a feeling could present in a leader. The people under your helm perished but the Captain didn't go with his ship and men. Although all held belief he remained deceased, this would be soon uncovered in a twist. He unstrapped his holstered revolver. Swallowed nerves. Then proceeded. Inside were grievers those at the bottom of bottles, they felt too. Sapped of motivation. Chained, jailed, life had no meaning. The peers that died, killed them too. Outsiders didn't come to this enclosed location. So as creaking old planks of wood were heard they drew alert. Until a stoppage. A shadow between the doors. Even in their rancid and intoxicated states they drew arms. The two loose doors flung open as the perished ghost became alive. In a series of insurmountable clicks and aim's hundreds of trained gun's re-positioned. Dirks, brass knuckles, a plethora of last resistance shown. If they were to be raided, they'd go with bangs.

"Minfilia's oversized tits, blimey o' bastard... I don't believe it. Ye chose a poor choice t' ruse us n' appearance." They didn't follow a leader. Each of their voices left were who seized first in their mass. The interloper had them cautiously on standby. "Nay. It b' me." The Seeker discarded his only means of defense and slid a kick over. They had the right to take their shots. Tension was stacked in disbelieving soaring heights. Each still felt a beguile footman who stood at their gate. "Ye inconceivable fool. T'is a reason why, Dead men tell no tales..." Cocking mechanisms of flintlocks surged. Another chimed in when Captain went to peace. "Best ye tell a helluva' tale. Of what ye live..." This served a code, a message in a bottle, but parchment became waterlogged, useless. If there was ever a moment etched within his time, to become unspoken, now was it. He would be a preaching to a choir. Chewing and clacking his gums, he'd lower the tricorne to his heart. A ferocity lit in his hues, rebellious. "From conception we're met with opposition. There ain't a single-choice upon what we calls origins being dealt, whether by some invisible puppeteer, deemed an author, or some putrid sack ov' excuse-spinner." Revving up, "Educated, groomed, taught t' be the same way, that results t' a history never ending but repeats, wondering why we live under th' same shadows ov' all our dated descendants who fell. Constantly wishing or reflecting back, things were simpler, better, desiring do-overs. No-one looks forward t' a clock, only backwards when bloomed." The fulfillment of dreaming in youth, gets devoured, in due age, later when matured. What could've been, spawns. He took brash steps even while being trained on with blunderbusses. "Thrust into environments where eating metal, doing whatever it takes to survive! --- They call us problems." Speaking out to the rebellious that still swelled, "Sentence t' unexplained diseases, festering rot n' us. We start giving into instability, alongside insecurities, it racks us into a trail of bottomless failures, believing we've nothing of importance... Told by our closest endearing whispers, who mutter the same air of our doubting thoughts... It encourages demons, t' vices, to a point, a visit only ov' ferryman can accept us." He registered and conveyed a lot of personal emotion. "Bein' pirate everyone thinks our take ov' freedom means pure unadulterated chaos, anarchy, destruction. To be feared... Truth it means we're standing against what governs us all, growing bone's where they've gone missing." Showing teeth and taking a stand on top of a tavern table between, the disheartened. "Authority, Order! These things are presented as principal things that are required to function, n' keep peace... But it's artificially made-up. Think to yourselves! How many label's have been created to categorize yourself? To try separating you from being an individual, just so someone can stand-out against on a perch! you don't even know how t' stand anymore! ...Thinking by being on your two-legs that's all? You b' so far drowned, you cannot impose those who wear their crowns, cause you accept it as all-purpose... O' if a mass-herd flocks, it's natural to' fall in that line and try to be included at all costs, thinking it'll grant you an audience, notice, give you validation." His speech began boiling up, resonating something in a few, they became domesticated too. "Words, like 'martyr', 'rebel', thrown around. Placed to maintain control, they subjugate, they'll bend rules, whatever it takes! They'll use their fancy speeches t' rile you into a false-sense to stay kneeled over, stating it's a 'we' or 'us', ignoring really they're out their own business." He presented as their so called pirate king was faceless, removed, abandoned all the free-spirited left. That continued with the powers in place. "Same almighty forces that are throwing us into forgotten. Trying to remove us, are the some who were us, once..." The red-coats weren't someone to be all idolized. Innocent's rain rampant on

those, it was not-self sacrificial, they were govern. "Free. Isn't exclusive. It's within us all, a lifestyle, something that any are capable of taking with zero discrimination, no hierarchy, or diversities preventing you at some barrier for entry! Reach down! Battle against your illnesses, wounds, oppressors! Wobble on your soles and fight to stand against what you disagree with, crawl even, gnarl at that hilt! Die fer passion, what makes you feel who, who gives you it! That's what actual breathing looks like! This IS yer rightful treasure, yer CLAIM. Get it back into your hands and you'll know this is a world you own!" Climatically blew through in his renegade passion. The very air he exhaled into these words weren't laced, they came from personal, raw emotion! Casting away not only to his own liberation but his former folks. "This is living's meaning!" Reaching down grabbing a bottle and smashing it against his arm into a tearing cut, bloodied arms formed outwardly, like wings he threw his arms. Drops of resolve and armed weapons fell in unity. 'The Captain ov' the Five Seas' approached them, and said, I am alive, but so are all those who died, they're in me! I haven't lost this War, It's only getting started. Waves, winds, change, so I've adapted. Here, I am.'

The lawless bellowed out an uproar outcry and jolly, shooting their guns into the ceilings. Smashing and slugging each other with haymakers, drinking and thrusting into debauchery, they were free, once again! Label's no more! Defined, never again! Each saw their passion, the moment was seen! What went obscured. Captain leapt into the brawl, of celebration, he was home, alive! The storms were still remaining but he found many places to call shelter when they came.

[icarianed]

john notices the way abigail looks away as she speaks and it almost makes him reach for her in instinct. he wants to comfort her as he had so many times before. he hates this rift between them and hates to think he caused it even more. she stands so close to him now, their proximity practically making his breath hitch, but he doesn't know where they stand or if she would welcome his touch at all, so he pulls back his hand before it can reach for hers. “air it out you did. but i guess i might've deserved some of that.” all of that, if john was being honest with himself.

“i was a fool to think it was all over. don’t know why for a second i thought those honorless government fools would honor our terms…” he trails off, his heart heavy thinking the last memory she had of him must've been the sight of his dead body riddled with bullet holes. “it wasn't right widowing you, i know that. i'm sorry, abigail, i really am. but they weren’t gonna give us peace till i was dead. i could’ve ran but we would’ve been runnin’ for the rest of our lives, always lookin' behind our backs, never knowin’ nothin’ normal. that ain’t no way to live. i didn’t want that for you or for jack.” he sighs, misliking every part of this conversation. “there was no other way.”

the law will always win. he knows she's right. he's proof of it now, and it still sickens him to think he died on his knees, at the mercy of the law at last. “guess they did win out in the end. and now our time is done.” just as dutch had said the last time he ever saw him. the final bit of wisdom his former mentor ever imparted to him.

her next words are a pleasant surprise, one that gets a laugh leaving his lips. “i ain’t no sweet-talker, darlin’, just an honest man,” john teases. her smile, however brief, doesn't slip past his notice, and it finally gives him the courage to take her hand. “i know i don’t make it easy for you- all this business of livin' normal, raising jack and lovin' me… i spent a lotta time wishin' things was different. but i guess things is different now and maybe i still don't know what the hell this place is, but if it means i get another chance of doin' right by you, then i'll take it.” a flicker of uncertainty passes over his eyes. maybe it's the weight of his wife's gaze making him so damn nervous. “if you'll have me, that is.”

"Well, I ain't ever thought I'd get the chance to actually talk to you again John." She looked down to the ground for a moment, her eyes burning at the statement. She willed her tears to stay in, to not betray her in this moment. "So yeah, figured it was best to air it all outright." She scuffed at his fair comment, taking a step towards him to close the distance between them. Her nose twitching a bit as his familiar scent filtered in. A scent she clung to on the remnants of their life after she buried him. "You left me a widow, John." Abigail shot back with a huff, "So don't go on about what's fair or not fair.. Cause you weren't the one left standing when the dust settled." There it was the source of her pain that she tried to keep locked up behind her metaphorical walls. John and her had hit many a rough patch in their short lives, but he had always come back. He was never supposed to leave her alone. "There hasn't been an us for some time because the law will always win." She admitted. Shifting her weight to the side, a slight smile on her face as he did confirm missing her. The smile only last for a brief second before she scrunched her nose up and looked away. John's charm was Abigail's kryptonite. Often times all it took was a smile or one sweet word from John to get her to crumble. She didn't want to give in so easily. "Go on then." she motioned with her hand. "Continue sweet talking me, if you missed me so much." She took another deliberate step forward. "Might earn you a few brownie points at the very least."

[eryiss]

Chapter Five -  The Cut

Summary: Freed and Laxus live incredibly different lives. Freed is a corporate lawyer in the capital city, and Laxus works as a handyman in a countryside hotel. Despite their differences, their lives collide when Freed inherits a house in Laxus’ village, and hires him to make the derelict building liveable. But the closer they get, the more they seem to offer each other. [Fraxus Multi-Chapter]

This was written as my admission for Fraxus Day 2020, hosted by @fuckyeahfraxus​. Hope you enjoy it. Also, this chapter has mentions of bullying and descriptions of blood,

You can read this under the cut, on Fanfiction, or on Archive of Our Own. You can find the chapter masterpost here.

Chapter Five – The Cut

Melancholy wasn't the word. It wasn't.

Freed wasn't the type of person to get melancholy, he had never been governed by his emotions at all. He didn't look back on things fondly, nor did he feel a sense of sadness when parts of his life were over. Yes, of course things did make him emotional, but he was by no means the type of person to feel sad because something was over. Life moved on quickly, and so must he. It was the rational way to live his life.

It was a mantra he found himself repeating over and over again, as he walked through the house.

The nearly finished house.

The place was by no means a model home, but it worked as it needed to. Windows had been fixed, plumbing and electricals repaired, and structure reinforced. Walls were still stripped with remnants of old-fashioned wallpaper sticking to it, and the floorboards were bare, but it was a house again. It needed love, attention, and upgrading for anyone to actually want it. But it was liveable. Exactly what Freed had wanted. So, following the logic he lived his life by, he should want to sell the place instantly and get back to Era and work on his next case. It was the next logical step, and exactly what he should be doing.

Of course, he wasn't. Because despite it being in contrast with how he'd always lived, Freed felt an odd sense of reluctance to leave. He found himself more than once hovering over the call button on Gildarts' phone number, only to return his phone to his pocket with a muttered complaint of annoyance at himself.

It was pathetic really.

He tried to rationalise it, give his feeling a pragmatic explanation. He said it was because the house was an achievement for him. Something he had done with his hands. A practical achievement that stood out to him because most of his notable work was with the mind. And why would he want to leave something like that? It was a monument to what he could do when he put his mind to it, and he was proud.

But that was a lie, he knew that. The real reason he didn't want to sell the house was because it was the only thing tying him to Magnolia. And he wasn't ready to leave it yet.

Yes, of course he didn't need to own a house to visit the town. He had gained a solid friendship with Laxus, and had gained acquaintances with Laxus' own friends, and so he could justify visiting them from time to time. But the issue lay in that he didn't really want to come back from time to time. He'd gotten used to visiting for the weekends, and he didn't want to stop.

And he couldn't do that now. Not without everyone in the gossiping village knowing why he returned. Because they would, they'd see through it like glass, and Freed wasn't able to deal with that.

He wasn't good at being embarrassed. Never had been.

There were few situations in his life where he had actually been embarrassed, something that happened by design. There had been a few unfortunate instances in his teenage years that find themselves replaying in his head on random nights. So he had made a conscious effort to avoid any situation where embarrassment might occur. It was working well, all in all, and yet this village had this effect on him that made him question the choices that had kept him sane so far.

Freed shook his head. He wasn't getting melancholy, and he certainly wasn't getting self-reflective.

It did nobody any good.

He took a small sponge and slowly wiped down the table in Albion House's kitchen. It had been there when Freed had inherited it, and after Laxus had sanded it down and polished it, it was as workable as the rest of the house. Tonight was the first time the table was going to be used for its actual purpose. He and Laxus were going to have a meal together.

That didn't help the situation.

Because, clearly there was something more. Magnolia was a nice town, and the people in it were good to Freed, but nobody got that sentimental over a collection of buildings. People did, unfortunately, get sentimental about other people.

And annoyingly, Laxus was a good person. He was snarky, and had a bite to him, and he could challenge Freed without blinking. But he was also kind, and helpful, and when he was teaching Freed how to wire a socket or plumb in a toilet, he was patient and made sure to keep the mood light; particularly when Freed was on the edge of smashing the porcelain bastard with the wrench. He was a good man, and seemed to know how to handle Freed in whatever situation he was in.

Also, he was beautiful. Freed had withheld that admission for a while, but since they would likely part ways soon he wanted to be honest. Broad shoulders, a thin waist, striking blonde hair and bright eyes. Evergreen had been right; he was an Adonis.

It didn't help he had a rustic charm that attracted Freed more than it should.

Perhaps it was for the best that they wouldn't see much of each other. Freed wasn't the romantic type, he had more important things to do. And his attraction was born out of proximity. Laxus was an attractive man, but he was just a man. In one years' time, Freed would have forgotten about him, and his life would be normal again.

And hopefully those occasional dreams would pass too. Be them the disgustingly sweet, or the more… intense ones.

"Hey," A voice snapped Freed out of his thoughts. "I think it's clean."

Freed frowned, then looked down to the table he was cleaning. One particular part of the table in particular was shining more than others. Freed's hackles rose slightly at the teasing tone in Laxus' words, but he scolded himself in his head. Laxus hadn't known what he was thinking about, all he'd seen was Freed washing a table for far too long.

"Out of interest," Freed said, cautiously. "How long have you been here?"

"Fifteen minutes," Laxus grinned, raising the two pots of Chinese food. "Food might be cold."

"Fifteen minutes!" Freed exclaimed, almost horrified.

"It was like half a minute, moron," Laxus smirked, walking to the table, and placing their take-out on the table. "What were you thinkin' about that hard?"

"A case," Freed lied. He didn't have an active case at the moment, but he was probably going to be helping with one soon. When he went back to the city. Permanently. "It's nothing too troubling, really. It's actually quite an easy case really, but our client is high profile, and they might use our services again should they need it. So we need to be litigious and cordial."

"Can't imagine you enjoy being cordial," Laxus smirked. "Probably out of practice."

"And for that, I don't think I'll pay for my half of this," Freed said, reaching over and taking the pot of food from Laxus' hand.

"Kinda proving my point there, ain't ya?"

Freed smiled a little as he brought the chopsticks to his lips. They were having a meal together as a sort of goodbye evening – not helping with Freed's refusal to be melancholy about the situation. Because not only did it force him to confront the fact he's leaving, he has to do so with the man who's making it a lot harder to do so. Worse still, Laxus had looked so damn charming with a tediously honest smile when he'd suggested they eat together. It had sent a little jolt through Freed.

Bastard. Maybe he was doing it on purpose.

"I saw Cana while I was waiting for the food," Laxus spoke again, garnering Freed's attention again. "She mentioned that her dad's looking forward to seeing what we've done with the place, apparently he's been excited about it."

"Is he interested in buying it?" Freed asked, frowning.

"He's your estate agent, Freed," Laxus said in a deadpan voice, though he was clearly fighting a smile. "You should know that. It worries me that you don't know that."

"Gildarts is Cana's father?" Freed frowned further. "They have different surnames?"

"Fuck, sometimes I forget you ain't from here," Laxus laughed loudly, leaning back in his chair and grinning. "There's a hell of a lot you don't know, isn't there? Well, guess the best place to start is with Gildarts, ain't it. Or I guess a more accurate name is Gildarts, Man-Whore Extraordinaire."

And thus, Laxus began to tell the rumours and stories about what Gildarts was like when he was younger – he really did seem to earn the title Laxus had given him – before trailing off to the other stories about Magnolia. He spoke about his hometown with a level of enthusiasm that Freed enjoyed watching, and found himself getting enveloped in the worlds that Laxus was describing. Though he might not be quite as eloquent as Freed was, he certainly made up for it with boisterous laughter and an odd amount of glee at exposing his friends embarrassing stories.

It was almost enough to distract Freed from what Laxus had said. 'I forget you ain't from here.' It was a little sentence, probably a throwaway thought to Laxus, but it made Freed feel oddly comforted. As if he had been accepted into this little community.

A ridiculous idea, really.

He blinked to stop that train of thought, and focused on the story about Elfman. Apparently he had been dragged into some comic book convention by his sisters and had been forced to dress as a monster from a book series. He apparently hated every moment of it, and Laxus had spent the years following showing the pictures of him in the costume at every opportunity he could. To prove his point, Laxus had pulled out his phone and showed Freed.

It was a better costume that Freed expected. But it revealed far too much for the shy, younger version of Elfman that Laxus had described.

Freed did find himself distracted by Laxus, thankfully. But it wasn't quite enough, because as he listened, he absently lowered his left hand under the table and started to swirl his finger against the palm of his hand. Perhaps he wouldn't have noticed the return of his nervous tick, had it not been for the raised scar that he grazed lightly.

It was new, and when he touched it and thought back to its origin, any lie about not being melancholic was shattered.

~~~

"Shit. Fuck. Fuck."

Freed hissed, pain splitting from his left hand up into his arm. He stepped back slightly, eyes flickering to the large gash that he'd just given himself, along with the thick blood that was fighting to get from it. It was a nasty looking cut, and Freed found himself unable to look away from it.

Laxus, who had been crouching down and pushing new floorboards into place, glanced towards Freed with a slight grin. The expression fell when he saw blood drip onto the floor, and he stood up quickly and walked to Freed's side. He took Freed's injured hand in his own, and let out a small hiss of sympathy as he saw the cut. Ridiculously, Freed couldn't help but note that Laxus was holding his hand for the first time.

"That's pretty nasty," Laxus commented.

"Is it," Freed muttered. "I thought it was a papercut."

"Good, if you can be a dick then it ain't that bad," Laxus smiled. "Come on, we need to wash it."

Not removing his hand from Freed's wrist, he dragged the lawyer from the cottage's sitting room and into the kitchen. Freed didn't fight it, instead focusing on catching the droplets of blood rather than letting them land on the carpet and stain it. It was a good enough distraction from both the stinging pain that was running through him, and the presence of Laxus being so close.

It wasn't a distraction from the embarrassment of the situation. Because after being successful at almost every task Laxus had given him, he cut himself sawing off the edge of a floorboard. Out of all the tools he's used, he was bested by a sawblade.

"This ain't gonna hurt a bit," Laxus promised as he opened the faucet and dragged Freed's hand under the stream of water.

Laxus Dreyar was a lying bag of shit.

"Mother fucking crap-whore!" Freed practically yelled. There was a moment of silence, Freed almost panting with pain, and Laxus biting his lip. A second later, a loud, unabashed, raucous laughter filled the room. Laxus actually doubled over he was laughing so much, resting his hands on his thighs while Freed glared at him from the sink. "I'm glad you're enjoying this so much."

"I'm sorry," Laxus grinned, something almost akin to a giggle slipping out. "I really am."

"No you're not."

"I'm not," Laxus agreed. "It was fucking funny, man. I ain't ever seen ya acting like that. Just caught me off guard," He glanced up, met Freed's glare, and burst into laughter again. "I'll get a bandage. I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Freed muttered. "And try not to fall, impale yourself on a spike and die. That would be awful."

"Don't worry. Only an idiot could get hurt in this place," Laxus laughed again, and if Freed had something in reach, he would have thrown it at the bastard's head.

When Laxus returned to the kitchen, he was holding the first aid kit that he had insisted they keep in the house; no doubt when the humour of Freed's injury and subsequent cussing died down, Laxus would gloat about how right he was with demanding the first aid kit. He carefully guided Freed's hand out from under the stream of water, and patted it dry softly with a towel. Freed winced a little at the pressure on his cut, but didn't say anything.

Slowly, with careful and practiced movements, Laxus wrapped the bandage around his hand. He managed to avoid trapping any of his fingers. Though the white fabric did get stained slightly, it seemed to trap the blood from pouring out too badly. The pain was subsiding slightly now, too.

It allowed him to appreciate how gentle Laxus was being. He wasn't used to thinking of Laxus being gentle.

"How do you know how to do this?" Freed asked, sitting at the kitchen table.

"I used to have to do it all the time," Laxus sighed a little as he spoke, removing his hands from the bandage and inspecting his handywork. He looked up to Freed, who was frowning at him slightly. "I had a lot going on when I was a teenager, got into a lot of fights. Well, that's how I saw it. Turns out I was kind of a bully."

Freed frowned deeper. "You were?"

"Yeah. Didn't think I was, at the time, but I went to therapy for a while and she called me out on it," Laxus shrugged. "But yeah, a couple times a month I'd fight some kid. Had a superiority complex or some shit, wanted everyone to worship me and do what I want. Cringey teenager shit and a lot of aggression, bad mix. Eventually, when the guys started to fight back, I needed to learn some basic first aid."

When Laxus looked up, Freed had an expression of curiosity on his face. It clearly wasn't what Laxus had expected.

"Was it the therapy that made you stop, then?" Freed asked, and Laxus seemed blind sighted for a moment.

"Er, no. Not exactly," Laxus shook his head. "There were two kids that pissed me off more than most, don't know why. So when things were getting bad, I kinda… targeted them more than anyone else. Natsu and Gajeel, you might have met them at some point. Fireman and mechanic. But they got pissed at me for taking things too far, jumped me, beat the shit out of me, then went to the principal and told him all the shit I've done. Got suspended, thought about myself, and started meetin' with Porlyusica; she's my therapist. She basically listed all the shit I've done and made me be better."

Freed took a moment to think through what he'd just heard. It was the best thing to do, he'd found out. Sometimes people let out their biggest, darkest secrets to him – the curse of being a lawyer – and your first thoughts on the matter were often unhelpful. So he took some time, and eventually asked the question that seemed most prudent.

"Your principal suspended you without evidence?" Freed asked.

"Oh he had plenty of evidence," Laxus laughed. "Hard to get shit past the guy when he's your grandfather."

"Makarov?" Freed frowned.

"Yeah, used to be in charge of the school. Only retired because the school board forced him to," Laxus grinned. "He started working at the hotel because he found retirement boring," Laxus smiled for a moment at the memory of his grandfather's sudden proclamation he was buying the hotel, before looking back to Freed, smile drooping slightly. "I just admitted to beating up kids and being a bully, why doesn't that bother you?"

"Some of my clients intentionally lower their workers' wages to increase their own paycheque, and then laugh about it," Freed shrugged. But Laxus nudged him, sensing there was more. "Nobody was there best in high school, I certainly wasn't."

"You were a bully too huh?" Laxus laughed, joking.

"Well, not exactly, but I wasn't the most kind," Freed leant back in his chair. "I was the smartest person there and wanted people to know it. I would start discussions on test results just so I could make sure everyone knew I'd gotten one hundred percent. And there was one boy, he wasn't the smartest, who sat beside me in most classes. Alphabetised seating plans and all. I could be rather… patronising to him. I think I had a crush on him, in retrospect. It was probably a twisted way of trying to deal with it."

"You don't seem like that now," Laxus commented. "Other than when you're joking, but I know that ain't serious. What changed?"

"Evergreen and Bickslow essentially told me that if I didn't get over myself, they'd stop being my friends," Freed smiled. "Other than them, I only had my parents. I couldn't lose them."

They sat in silence, Freed thinking back to the person he was in high school, Laxus perhaps doing the same thing. It was an odd feeling, sitting with someone who somewhat understood what it was like being ashamed of the person you used to be, but knowing you've grown past them. Most people, if they did feel like that, didn't talk about it. It was nice to know that, in Laxus, he had someone he could relate to.

It was also nice to know that he had just come out to Laxus and the blonde hadn't so much as blinked.

"I would have kicked your ass if we went to school together," Laxus declared, smirking.

"You would have tried," Freed corrected, allowing the mood to be lifted. "But, as a child I was also an award-winning fencer. I would have stabbed you before you could hurt me."

"Hard to stab someone when you've been knocked out," Laxus grinned cockily, making a fist. This had the unfortunate side effect of making his bicep flex, and therefore Freed had to avert his gaze.

They chuckled together, enjoying their joke that wasn't particularly funny. It was relaxing to be around with Laxus, and Freed felt as though he could be honest with him in a way that he couldn't be with others. Perhaps that was because he was the first person Freed had gotten to know deeply since his time in school. But that didn't matter, really. Because the important thing was that he enjoyed Laxus.

"Come on," Laxus spoke again. "I don't trust my bandage work. Let's go to the doctors, make sure you ain't gonna get infected or some shit."

And stupidly, Freed's heart fluttered at that.

~~~

"You really are distracted, ain't ya?"

Freed looked up from his hand, which he had placed on the table and was fiddling with, and towards Laxus. The blonde had an expression unknown to Freed, something between being amused and contemplative. Freed frowned.

"I suppose I am," Freed agreed. "I'm sorry. You wanted to do this and I'm being terrible company. What were you saying?"

"It ain't important," Laxus gave a half shrug. "You wanna tell me what's bothering you?"

"As I said, I've got an upcoming case that could be very good for my company," Freed quickly lied, because the truth was now completely untellable. "It's getting to me a little, but it's not as bad as you might think. I just need to rationalise everything."

"Right. So when I texted Evergreen a second ago and she said you don't have anything planned at work, she was lying?" Laxus crossed his arms, and Freed's eyes narrowed.

"You and Evergreen talk?"

"You can bullshit me all you want, but I'm gonna be able to see through it," Laxus said, ignoring Freed's question. "And you don't have to tell me what's actually bothering you, because if it ain't my business then it ain't my business."

Freed wanted to snipe at him. Ask him why, if he believed his words, was he still talking?

"I'm just gonna say this," Laxus continued. "Nothing has to be done if you don't want it to be."

And, in a way, there was the reality that Freed had been hiding from. Because, as much as he didn't want to leave Magnolia behind, he also didn't want to let himself think he could stay. The hard line he had always drawn with the house was that, once it was functional and sellable, he would sell it and get back to his normal life. Not only was it a goal for him to achieve, but it had also turned into a rule he had to follow.

Because his fondness for both the town and Laxus had been gradual, and it hadn't gone unnoticed by Freed. He told himself he had to leave the place behind at some point, and doing that once the house was sold was a way of holding himself accountable. Once the building work had been completed, there was nothing else for him to do in Magnolia.

But that was a lie.

And the only person keeping him true to the rule was himself.

"I always said that I would sell it once everything was fixed," Freed stated, voice flickering into the lawyer tone he denied having.

"Then say something else," Laxus retorted, as if Freed could do that. "Look, I don't know what your life is like when you're in the city. But I know you seem to like being here. So why don't you just keep coming?"

"I-" Freed paused. He needed to think. "My real life is in the city. I can't-"

"Who says that your real life is just in the city? You've been coming here every weekend for months now, it's as much a part of your life as anything," Laxus stated, and his smile made Freed's resolve crumble slightly.

"I told myself that once the house-"

"This isn't about the house" Laxus insisted. "This is about you, fucking idiot. I think being here makes you happy. And if something makes you happy, why stop because of some bullshit rule you set yourself? That ain't smart."

Freed thought, for a moment.

It was almost nauseating to hear Laxus speaking like this, and Freed couldn't explain why. Well, perhaps he could, but the explanation wasn't something he was willing to entertain. Because the only real reason Laxus would be so insistent on Freed returning to Magnolia as he had been doing was because he wanted to keep seeing Freed. He wanted Freed to stop coming as much as Freed wanted to.

But Freed couldn't allow himself to accept that. Because if he did, he'd start wondering why. And then maybe he'd trick himself into thinking that his silly crush was reciprocated. He couldn't.

"There is… more work I could do," Freed spoke without thinking.

"I guess there is," Laxus nodded. "So you're sticking around? For the house"

"For the house."

It wasn't for the house. They both knew it.

[starwalker03]

the absolute tragedy that is Conner not being allowed to make fun off Dick at all. heartbreaking.

Absolutely yes, all meetings with Luthor are at minimum business casual, but Slade would go business formal for the most part cause he's just Like That.

I think Slade would mostly have explained Dick's presense as 'bring your kid to work day'. Maybe when someone asks why he suddenly has the kid with him a lot as opposed to before then when he never had the kid, he's like 'Oh my wife left me :( so now I take my kid with me everywhere I go' or something like that. very easy explanation that is also a little personal so no one would want to pry further.

Disguises I think is drastic. He's gone to great efforts in the span of his career to remove evidence that would make it clear he's Deathstroke. the heroes know and there's probably some government agencies that know but don't have adequate proof. and they could never pin him down to arrest him anyway, and they know attempting to contain him isn't a risk worth taking. So whatever fake business he has to make working with Luithor easier probably has his real name attached to it. Like he'd set this up not just for Luthor, it also can be used as a cover for all kinds of other things in his line of work.

That said, Dick is legally dead and until he's a bit older he's recognisable, so Dick would be wearing contacts at the least. No one is really looking for him in these places, though, so they probably just stick some sunglasses on him to get around most facial recognition software, and once he's inside LexCorp they don't need to worry because the leaguers aren't going to be looking for him in Luthor's security footage, if they ever got a hold of it at all.

Oh my god. Lois seeing Slade out and about.

I mean there's no way Luthor let's Clark Kent into LexCorp under journalist guise. He's not that cocky. But he may allow Lois. And she'd know enough to recognise Slade.

ohhhhhhhhhh boy. what a fucking time. her absolutely boiling over with anger and having to contain it.

man... what if she was the first person who allowed the league to catch on to Slade having an apprentice? purely cause she sees him toting around some kid. it's like almost four years later and Dick's grown enough that she doesn't recognise him with the way he's dressed and the contacts and she's not exactly in a situation where her mind is going to pair his appearance with Robin's.

what a thought.

Also yeah lmao Conner just being sent to greet some guy and bam. Deathstroke. You're right, he may not even recognise him out of costume. The eye patch would tip him off but it's not till he sees Dick trailing behind him that he realises oh shit.

Conner watching Dick change is such a thought because he's seeing him with the perfect regularity. like it's not enough that the changes are small, there's enough time between each moment that he can see the difference. But it's also not enough time for it to be too drastic. it's just close enough that it's a process.

Not to mention Dick was so young that, unlike the rest of them, he actually has a decent amount of growth and change to go through. Especially compared to Conner, who is stuck looking like a sixteen year old forever.

Man. very good thoughts mine friend, delicious.

Did WMLP Slade or Dick ever take jobs from Lex Luthor in person? Have they been in his office in Metropolis?

oh yeah for sure.

Lex is someone Slade would mostly deal with in person, because he's such a frequent customer he is worthy of that level of respect. Plus, sometimes Lex has certain appearances to keep up because he's so high profile, so if money is just going to faceless account it gets suspicious. But if you physically have some guy coming in doing business with him it's easier to hand wave. "Oh that's Mr. Wilson, Luthor pays him for security stuff" or whatever, y'know? so yeah they've been in his office.

[d-noona]

AERO

Chaper 6: The Search

"If I'd just gotten my ass kicked by a size three. I might be inclined to mind my own business." - Im Jaebeom

At his computer console, Jaebeom fast-forwards through a video surveillance tape from the previous day, freezing on Seven as she approaches the adjacent building with a delivery. He blows up the image until Seven's face fills the screen, her eyes looking right into the surveillance camera, right at him. He studies the picture for a long contemplative moment.

Ruben enters the room and looks over his boss and studies the photo his boss seems to be engrossed at "Glad you're getting your money's worth outta that tape. Had to grease the guard a hundred for it."

But with this Jaebeom doesn't hear him. He's utterly lost in the image of the young woman on the screen. Ruben teases him "You trying to ID the perp or a new girlfriend?"

Jaebeom snaps out of it and responds "If I'd just gotten my ass kicked by a size three. I might be inclined to mind my own business."

With this Jaebeom gets up from his seat, grabs his wallet and a 9mm out of his drawer. Heads straight out of his apartment to his SUV and drives off for the day.

Jaebeom arrives at JYPE X-press, he enters and looks around at the motley assortment of messengers, then crosses to the dispatch counter where JYP barks out an order to his not so merry men. "Pick-up at four-eleven going to Gangnam" He tosses out the package to Mark who catches the parcel with ease accompanied by the boys Youngjae and Jackson with deliveries on each of her hands.

Jaebeom approaches the boss "I'm looking for a lady who works here"

Not giving the young man the time of day Jyp arranges the packages for the next deliveries and responds "Ladies would be elsewhere."

With this Jaebeom flashes the picture of Seven which was lifted from the surveillance video. He slides it up to the stubby man "Know where I can find her?"

The man scans and surveys the photo and smirks at Jaebeom.

"You don't want to. Listen brother, she may be easy on the eyes but she's trouble trust me." Then Jyp leaves the station with packages on his arm and calls out for his messengers "Hot run two-oh-two Sansome" the old man kept passing on the packages to his workers with Jaebeom trailing behind him not giving him the peace he needed for work.

"I need to talk to her" says Jaebeom. He feels the patience leaving his body as the old man continues to ignore him. Jaebeom then has had enough, he pulls out an envelope with large sums of money and extends it to him.

"How about you give me her name and address?"

Jyp eyes the money and pockets it. "Seven something. I got no clue where she stays. But she normally hangs out after work with a bunch of these losers at a place called The Crash."

Jaebeom tilts his head and purses his lips. He salutes the man and leaves the building. Putting the coordinates of the place on his GPS. The GPS advises him that it's ready to go, he drives off the night headed to look for the beautiful thief.

As Jaebeom enters the bar, he sees Seven and a friend playing a game of eight ball. He purposely observed her from afar at first. She was wearing nothing but simple black sleeveless shirt, black pants, black gloves and black rubber boots. She had no make-up on yet her skin is tanned and flawless. Her eyes were intense and brown as she concentrates on beating her friend at a game. Black hair flowing beautifully from her back as it sways showing markings on her skin. Tattoos as he scans her carefully. She has a tattoo of an angel on her back with cherry blossom edging on both her left and right shoulder. From a front another tattoo catches his attention on her upper left chest just right below her collar bone. Some sort of an ECG reading.

She seems to be having fun tonight...

As Jaebeom surveys her. There's something about the way she smiles. Her body is relaxed but her eyes are weary, as if she was hiding a secret from everyone else. Jaebeom decides to approach Seven while she was speaking to her friend. Whilst walking towards her Seven looks up and sees him approaching.

"So this guy walks into a bar and says..." as Seven intensely gazing upon Jaebeom's eyes without blinking, he swore when a flash of light from the bar swept by her it looked as if he was staring in to a cat's eye.

He smiled at her and responded "We didn't get a chance to finish our conversation the other night." Without taking her off Jaebeom, he felt compelled to stare into her eyes as well.

Seven unmoving speaks at her friend who seems confused "Summer, say hi to my good friend..." the man cuts her off "Im Jaebeom" he says as he hands his hand to shake the hand of Seven's friend.

Summer being an ever loyal friend just looked at Jaebeom and gave him a brief respond "Hey."

But Seven and Jaebeom just stood there still looking at each other. Sensing that it's time to make herself scarce, Summer looks at her watch "Xena's on", then she splits.

"Sorry about your window" as Seven breaks her gaze upon the handsome man. Jaebeom does the same "Can we go somewhere and talk?" the two then heads out of the bar.

The two walk in silence for a moment, an easy affinity between them. After a moment Seven slightly gave Jaebeom a glance "So...How'd you find me?"

Jaebeom stared at her features ever so softly there was something about her that's enchanting him to no end. Obnoxiously he gave her a smile "It wasn't that hard."

She stops dead at her tracks, eyeing the man who was standing before her "Am I supposed to be flattered by all the attention?" As she snickers at him and walks a bit faster making Jaebeom speed up his pace.

"Well, now you know who I am, where I live. I figured I better find out who I'm dealing with in case you were looking to hurt me." He answers her earnestly.

They continued conversing whilst walking through a forgotten and condemned park. Surrounding them are old rusted rides all long forgotten. Seven sits on one of the old swings as Jaebeom followed the urge to push her slightly. She then turns to her side only seeing the Jaebeom's peripherals.

"So? Now you tracked me. What do you think?" as she continues to just sit by the swing.

Jaebeom moves to her side sitting on the empty space on her right. He looks at her "Hmmm...Too early to tell."

Seven giggles at him, catching the man by surprise. It's hard to think that this girl sitting beside him giggling over nothing actually took down Ruben and broke his window.

She then continues on "How does Mrs. Informant Net like being married to a guy on everyone's hit list?" she asks with a very innocent but serious look on her face. Flustered by her straightforward question he blushes, then she laughs at him obviously catching the man off guard.

"Aww, he blushes, how adorable. For someone who does cyber hacking I must say this is a surprise." As she continues to laugh on her own.

"Janna is not my wife." He replies to her.

"Girlfriend?" she quirks up an eyebrow on him.

"No. Janna Reid is the wife of James Reid. Her husband was murdered. She's one of my sources." As he intently looks at Seven's face to see if he can catch any type of emotion. To his dismay she never changed facade and stood up from where she was sitting as she continued to walk around the park.

"Tell me Im Jaebeom, what's your shot in all this? Being a famous underground pirate slash cyber journalist can't be much of a pay day."

He follows her as she walks around "Fortunately, my needs are met in that department" he says.

"So what, you just like the sound of your own voice?" Seven mocks him.

Jaebeom smiled in amusement. "Look around at all this Seven. This place was built by people till the pandemic and bomb happened on 2020. They blinked and overnight the government, the police, everything intended to protect the people had been turned against them."

Seven stops and turns at Jaebeom "You miss the good old days. Even though there were still poor people who died from diseases when they didn't have to...and rich people spent obscene amounts of money redecorating their houses to match the cat. Those good old days?"

Jaebeom sighs "Well at least people had a choice, even if they took it for granted. And now they obviously don't."

Nonchalantly the girl continues to walk "So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Something..." As Jaebeom answers, they continued to walk in silence for a beat.

Then to break the silence Jaebeom decides to speak up again. "That was a pretty extraordinary display of athleticism the other night. In fact, a little too extra ordinary. You wanna tell me how?" But he looks up at her and she's gone.

Jaebeom was left all alone on an empty park, looking for Seven who seems to have vanished in to thin air. 

At his computer console, Jaebeom fast-forwards through a video surveillance tape from the previous day, freezing on Seven as she approaches the adjacent building with a delivery. He blows up the image until Seven's face fills the screen, her eyes looking right into the surveillance camera, right at him. He studies the picture for a long contemplative moment.

Ruben enters the room and looks over his boss and studies the photo his boss seems to be engrossed at "Glad you're getting your money's worth outta that tape. Had to grease the guard a hundred for it."

But with this Jaebeom doesn't hear him. He's utterly lost in the image of the young woman on the screen. Ruben teases him "You trying to ID the perp or a new girlfriend?"

Jaebeom snaps out of it and responds "If I'd just gotten my ass kicked by a size three. I might be inclined to mind my own business."

With this Jaebeom gets up from his seat, grabs his wallet and a 9mm out of his drawer. Heads straight out of his apartment to his SUV and drives off for the day.

Jaebeom arrives at JYPE X-press, he enters and looks around at the motley assortment of messengers, then crosses to the dispatch counter where JYP barks out an order to his not so merry men. "Pick-up at four-eleven going to Gangnam" He tosses out the package to Mark who catches the parcel with ease accompanied by the boys Youngjae and Jackson with deliveries on each of her hands.

Jaebeom approaches the boss "I'm looking for a lady who works here"

Not giving the young man the time of day Jyp arranges the packages for the next deliveries and responds "Ladies would be elsewhere."

With this Jaebeom flashes the picture of Seven which was lifted from the surveillance video. He slides it up to the stubby man "Know where I can find her?"

The man scans and surveys the photo and smirks at Jaebeom.

"You don't want to. Listen brother, she may be easy on the eyes but she's trouble trust me." Then Jyp leaves the station with packages on his arm and calls out for his messengers "Hot run two-oh-two Sansome" the old man kept passing on the packages to his workers with Jaebeom trailing behind him not giving him the peace he needed for work.

"I need to talk to her" says Jaebeom. He feels the patience leaving his body as the old man continues to ignore him. Jaebeom then has had enough, he pulls out an envelope with large sums of money and extends it to him.

"How about you give me her name and address?"

Jyp eyes the money and pockets it. "Seven something. I got no clue where she stays. But she normally hangs out after work with a bunch of these losers at a place called The Crash."

Jaebeom tilts his head and purses his lips. He salutes the man and leaves the building. Putting the coordinates of the place on his GPS. The GPS advises him that it's ready to go, he drives off the night headed to look for the beautiful thief.

As Jaebeom enters the bar, he sees Seven and a friend playing a game of eight ball. He purposely observed her from afar at first. She was wearing nothing but simple black sleeveless shirt, black pants, black gloves and black rubber boots. She had no make-up on yet her skin is tanned and flawless. Her eyes were intense and brown as she concentrates on beating her friend at a game. Black hair flowing beautifully from her back as it sways showing markings on her skin. Tattoos as he scans her carefully. She has a tattoo of an angel on her back with cherry blossom edging on both her left and right shoulder. From a front another tattoo catches his attention on her upper left chest just right below her collar bone. Some sort of an ECG reading.

She seems to be having fun tonight...

As Jaebeom surveys her. There's something about the way she smiles. Her body is relaxed but her eyes are weary, as if she was hiding a secret from everyone else. Jaebeom decides to approach Seven while she was speaking to her friend. Whilst walking towards her Seven looks up and sees him approaching.

"So this guy walks into a bar and says..." as Seven intensely gazing upon Jaebeom's eyes without blinking, he swore when a flash of light from the bar swept by her it looked as if he was staring in to a cat's eye.

He smiled at her and responded "We didn't get a chance to finish our conversation the other night." Without taking her off Jaebeom, he felt compelled to stare into her eyes as well.

Seven unmoving speaks at her friend who seems confused "Summer, say hi to my good friend..." the man cuts her off "Im Jaebeom" he says as he hands his hand to shake the hand of Seven's friend.

Summer being an ever loyal friend just looked at Jaebeom and gave him a brief respond "Hey."

But Seven and Jaebeom just stood there still looking at each other. Sensing that it's time to make herself scarce, Summer looks at her watch "Xena's on", then she splits.

"Sorry about your window" as Seven breaks her gaze upon the handsome man. Jaebeom does the same "Can we go somewhere and talk?" the two then heads out of the bar.

The two walk in silence for a moment, an easy affinity between them. After a moment Seven slightly gave Jaebeom a glance "So...How'd you find me?"

Jaebeom stared at her features ever so softly there was something about her that's enchanting him to no end. Obnoxiously he gave her a smile "It wasn't that hard."

She stops dead at her tracks, eyeing the man who was standing before her "Am I supposed to be flattered by all the attention?" As she snickers at him and walks a bit faster making Jaebeom speed up his pace.

"Well, now you know who I am, where I live. I figured I better find out who I'm dealing with in case you were looking to hurt me." He answers her earnestly.

They continued conversing whilst walking through a forgotten and condemned park. Surrounding them are old rusted rides all long forgotten. Seven sits on one of the old swings as Jaebeom followed the urge to push her slightly. She then turns to her side only seeing the Jaebeom's peripherals.

"So? Now you tracked me. What do you think?" as she continues to just sit by the swing.

Jaebeom moves to her side sitting on the empty space on her right. He looks at her "Hmmm...Too early to tell."

Seven giggles at him, catching the man by surprise. It's hard to think that this girl sitting beside him giggling over nothing actually took down Ruben and broke his window.

She then continues on "How does Mrs. Informant Net like being married to a guy on everyone's hit list?" she asks with a very innocent but serious look on her face. Flustered by her straightforward question he blushes, then she laughs at him obviously catching the man off guard.

"Aww, he blushes, how adorable. For someone who does cyber hacking I must say this is a surprise." As she continues to laugh on her own.

"Janna is not my wife." He replies to her.

"Girlfriend?" she quirks up an eyebrow on him.

"No. Janna Reid is the wife of James Reid. Her husband was murdered. She's one of my sources." As he intently looks at Seven's face to see if he can catch any type of emotion. To his dismay she never changed facade and stood up from where she was sitting as she continued to walk around the park.

"Tell me Im Jaebeom, what's your shot in all this? Being a famous underground pirate slash cyber journalist can't be much of a pay day."

He follows her as she walks around "Fortunately, my needs are met in that department" he says.

"So what, you just like the sound of your own voice?" Seven mocks him.

Jaebeom smiled in amusement. "Look around at all this Seven. This place was built by people till the pandemic and bomb happened on 2020. They blinked and overnight the government, the police, everything intended to protect the people had been turned against them."

Seven stops and turns at Jaebeom "You miss the good old days. Even though there were still poor people who died from diseases when they didn't have to...and rich people spent obscene amounts of money redecorating their houses to match the cat. Those good old days?"

Jaebeom sighs "Well at least people had a choice, even if they took it for granted. And now they obviously don't."

Nonchalantly the girl continues to walk "So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Something..." As Jaebeom answers, they continued to walk in silence for a beat.

Then to break the silence Jaebeom decides to speak up again. "That was a pretty extraordinary display of athleticism the other night. In fact, a little too extra ordinary. You wanna tell me how?" But he looks up at her and she's gone.

Jaebeom was left all alone on an empty park, looking for Seven who seems to have vanished in to thin air. 

[fandom-blog-blog]

The Dragon Prince & The Cycle of War.

I'm loving how this show is going into the cycle of war. The truth is its complicated especially in this show. The backstory behind all of this is that only elves had magic so humans discovered a way to use magical creatures to obtain magic themselves in a form called dark magic. The Dragons and elves so disgusted and horrified by this decided to exile every human from their lands in a way the writers called very much similar to the Trail Of Tears. If you don't know what that is in America in the 1800s the US government forced every Native American at gunpoint to march hundreds of miles without supplies and barely any time to pack anything. Tens of thousands died by exposure, starvation and disease. The Elves based off the sins of the few punished every human in a way that is very much a humanitarian crime. Which is how the lands were split into two between elves and humans. This has fostered prejudice and hatred amongst the two races. And the thing is its still there. We see it in season 1 when Rayla is genuinely hurt by the prejudice and portrayals Callum had painted about her in order for them to escape their Aunt Amaya. We also see it in how Rayla in her impression of a human explicitly said that humans loved to wage war. And we are starting to see more of it. The Dragon intimidates the town so Soren and the town attacks the dragon. The dragon then starts to breathe fire onto the town and the townsfolk. Soren with his sister Claudia then attack back and wound the dragon terribly. The dragon chose to intimidate the town and subsequently to attack innocents. Just as Soren chose to attack the dragon. We have a situation where since one side hurts the other the other side feels justified in hurting them back. The problem with this is that it creates a cycle of war. Hello Future Me a youtuber I listen to puts it pretty succinctly. Violence begets loss. Loss begets Vengeance. Vengeance begets Violence. And so on and so forth until someone breaks the cycle. To King Harrow this cycle is much a part of him and his history as it is for every participant in the war. When they are getting the Titans Heart by trespassing onto Elf land the Dragon King murders his wife. I believe it is hinted at that in response he let Viren use Dark Magic to murder the Dragon King. He is bound by the chains of history and his past and so is forced into a cycle he cannot stop. Which is why to him it can't be simplified the way Callum puts it. Callum sees this cycle and thinks why does it have to be this way? No one wants to die so why do they fight? He understands that this cycle keeps continuing until someone stops it. Which is reinforced by his letter from his father King Harrow where he tells Callum to shed the chains of history and forge a new path. A path that isn't dictated by the sins of the past. Callum also inspires Rayla to act to save the dragon because she learned from a certain someone that the cycle doesn't end until people put the effort into ending it. The truth about their mission is that its not a guarantee for success. Even if they return the Dragon Prince it doesn't mean there won't be issues between the two races. There's still a lot of bloodshed and grudges that they will hold over one another. The difference I think is that its not a solution that will fix it all but the first step into bringing peace. And if the themes we have about the easy way is not always the right way concerning dark magic then I think we have a possibility where they can achieve peace with that first step and then seriously work towards making that peace a reality over the course of a long and hard path.

Anyways here's the video I referenced which actually has Avatar the Last Airbender as a great example.

[tartaricing]

Doctarded: Act 5 - Cleaning It Up

Doc enters a long and somewhat funny road to redemption. It was definitely a large project all and all but I was glad I was able to step out of my comfort zone and create some content that I usually don't create. I hope all of you enjoy it and leave any comments!

Doc emerged from the office, swallowing thickly. He was no longer in his scrubs and lab coat, but in a pair of overalls and a sweater with the sleeves rolled up. With a heavy sigh, he went to the cafeteria.

Tachanka, Lion, and Blitz were already in the kitchen. Tachanka was hauling government beef while Lion and Blitz were cleaning stoves. Lion stopped to see Doc, who was already with a mop and bucket.

"And here is the man of the hour!" Lion sarcastically raised his arms for a hug, only to hug himself and walk away.

"Now you will taste the life of a common man!" Blitz sneered, kicking the bucket away from Doc.

"Very mature, Elias. Oliver," Doc turned to both of them, deadpan, "Let's get this done like adults, shall we?" Blitz and Lion burst out in laughter as Doc started to clean the floor.

However, cleaning the floor when everyone's pissed at you was no easy feat. Blitz and Lion proceeded to play soccer with the rolling bucket. Doc swiftly recaptured it, but it wasn't for long.

After many conflicts with the bucket and an eventual spillover, Doc was able to mop the whole kitchen. He wiped his brow and whistled low in a prayer for an easier task, but Tachanka presented him an entire bag of frozen hamburger beef patties.

"You make hamburger. I clean tables," Tachanka dropped it on his hands as he casually walked over to the cafeteria tables. He sat down on a table and called Finka. Doc grunted in frustration, taking the nutrition primer and reading the directions on making a hamburger. He put the bag down on the counter to let the patties thaw, then he heated up the grill and squirted on some liquid butter alternative. While waiting, he turned to Lion and Blitz and asked:

"Can you men please help me with the burgers?"

"Why?" Bandit raised his hands up in indifference, "You helped yourself to my boyfriend."

"Adultery is a sin, you know," Lion added, "I'll get the lettuce."

"Don't be so petty. We're having hamburgers tonight," Doc sighed, "I thought you liked hamburgers."

"We do," Blitz corrected him, "We just don't want to help."

"Bah, we've no choice to help our fellow brother here," Lion corrected the German, "Get the onions, mon ami." Blitz growled and took out the onions and madly chopped them.

"Where's Mute and Bandit anyway?" Doc asked, opening the bag of hamburgers.

"They're bathroom duty. Mute's done though so he'll be here," Blitz answered through tears. With Doc grilling the hamburgers, Lion and Blitz put together the vegetables. Mute came in heated the buns on Doc's grill, occasionally pushing a patty. Bandit came in next, setting up the stations. People started to file into the cafeteria, causing a long line to snake around the room. Tachanka came first though.

"You sat and talked to Finka while we did everything else. Why are you first?" Doc was flabbergasted at the large Russian's audacity to cut in line.

"Doesn't matter, give me burger," Tachanka spat his answer, "Double cheese, no vegetables!" Doc rolled his eyes as he assembled the burger and set it on the rack. The other man took it wordlessly. Dinner went on silently between the six until everyone was served. When truly done, Doc dispersed to his own table, eating a burger with all the vegetables.

"Doc!" Someone called out to him.

"What grievance do you have this time?" Doc muttered between bites.

The voice approached him, revealing the owner to be Montagne. Montagne was smiling this time, a rare sight since the trial.

"Gilles?" Doc swallowed a large bite of his burger.

"Holy shit, that burger was good!" Montagne squealed, "It had nothing but the basics, but mon dieu that tasted so good. I didn't know you could cook!"

"Well grilling beef patties according to a nutrition primer isn't all that hard…" His eyes shifted sideways.

"Well I'm glad you could make so many, because I had seconds! I was even considering a third," Montagne laughed.

"…I'm glad you enjoyed them. At least I didn't fuck it up. But seriously two are enough."

"Don't take my word for it, everyone else liked them too!"

Doc put away his trash to see Blitz glaring angrily at him. IQ just criticized his onions and praised Doc's patties. He chuckled nervously as he went back into the kitchen to clean the place up.

Bouncing between kitchen duty, bathroom duty, and his medical duties, Gustave was run ragged. He couldn't indulge in his most private desires nor could act like a complete degenerate to anyone or anything. The medic that was sent to watch him was a man with a doctorate in Psychology, which made it harder to shrug off any of his issues.

"Gustave, you can't, again reconcile with someone without sexualizing them," The medic sighed, "They will be uncomfortable."

"But I'm not, Mercutio!" Doc countered him, hopping into his overalls, "Rook isn't my boyfriend, but my best friend."

"When a best friend sexualizes another, it is creepy," Mercutio added, "Situation be damned!"

"Well I feel like shit now," Doc yelled over the curtains, "Be right back, I've been called to clean the bathroom."

"Enjoy! Manual labor is indeed a cleansing experience!"

"…You wouldn't say that after the stuff I've cleaned…"

Blitz shoved the bin of supplies wordlessly to Doc. He glared at him, sulking. "Just because you haven't fucked anything up doesn't mean you're free in my book. I took the women's wing. I don't want any rape in my team, you creepy fuck. It's going to take a lot more to convince me. Get the fuck out of my sight." He walked away with his own bin of supplies.

Doc frowned in shame but pushed the bin into the men's communal restroom and went to work. He was well-aware of how disgusting a human can be, but this experience redefined it. Clogged toilets, smeared feces, clogged sinks… He knew humans as a collective were absolutely disgusting now. He started with putting Lysol on the sink and squeegeeing the mirrors. He then wiped the stalls with a dilute bleach solution and cleaned the toilets. He did this stall by stall, realizing how nice manual labor was for him. It was purposeful, productive, and it kept his mind busy. Mercutio had a point.

What broke him out of his trance was a familiar voice in another stall. It was a panicked voice. "Is… anyone in there? Hello?"

"Gustave here, cleaning the bathrooms, like the piece of shit I am," Doc called out, lazily wiping the stall.

"Oh… Hi Gus," The voice slowed down, now warm with the mention of his name.

"…Julien?" Doc's wiping came to a stop, "What's going on?"

"…I broke it off with Blitz," Rook's voice started to break, "I love him, but with what I did with you…"

"No, I should apologize," Doc started, suppressing his emotion, "I was being selfish and creepy. I wasn't thinking rationally. I used you when I shouldn't have, Julien."

"But you didn't use me, Gus. I usually prevent these things."

"Don't be such an apologist, Julien!" Doc punched the stall, "I abused your trust and I'm incredibly sorry. I've fucked up so much and I don't want to lose you. You're one of my best friends and that's why I couldn't face you these past few days. Why didn't you even throw me off when I kissed you?"

"Because…" Rook's voice trailed off for a moment, digging into his conscience, "I don't want to lose you either. I felt not only your stress when you kissed me, but your latent feelings. Yes, I'm aware of the shit you've done, but at the same time, you're still my best friend too. Yet I think what I feel for you is beyond that… I won't deny you're a silver fox, though. I just felt uncomfortable being with Blitz after that. He's a great man with plenty of wisdom and fun but he deserves better."

"No, you deserve better."

"But I want you. That's why I was willing to let you use my body. That's why I don't consider myself used…"

"Julien-"

"Not in the traditional way of course. You do and go through so much for us, it's amazing. I can't comprehend what you've seen and done. You just don't… stop. You keep going and going and going, and that's what's killing you, Gustave. Blitz is like that too, willing to forgo sleep just to fix his shield. It's admirable. I put up with cheating with you because I thought it would make you stop. I thought if I the body you oh-so like on the line, it would make you understand the importance of resting."

"…I guess you were able to put yourself together the way Mercutio put me together. Well done."

"I'm a hypocrite. I should've gone to Mercutio for this shit," Rook scoffed at himself, "I just downplay it because you made me feel good, plain and simple."

"What the fuck are we even now, Julien?"

"We're still best friends, right?" Doc was now sitting on a closed toilet.

"Yes."

"What are you going to do with Blitz, me, and everyone else?"

"Well, I'll let Blitz find whoever but I'm still going to be a friend to everyone. It's like how you're still generous after dealing with our crap. Sorry to say, though, I'm in no fucking shape for a relationship after this shitshow."

"Me too. I guess we're two birds of a feather, huh?"

"Yeah," Rook chuckled, voice filled with mirth, "I've missed you, Gus."

"I missed you Julien."

The weeks have come and gone, with Doc on his last two days of house arrest. People have slowly warmed up to Doc again. Doc and Rook had started talking regularly again. Finka had let Doc know more about herself again. Smoke and Lesion had started to observe his orders more closely. The boy in the green hat sent him stationary and a bottle of Chianti. The SAS were even more respectful of him now.

Doc and Finka were in the laboratory working on Finka's nanomachines. They were recording dendrite lengths only to see her rapidly recording numbers.

"Slow down, Finka!" Doc gasped, "You usually don't write this fast, what's going on here?"

"I'm sorry Gustave, but I have to leave soon," Finka apologized as she recorded some more numbers.

"Why?"

"The UN consortium is in town and Tachanka and the others took it upon themselves to go," Finka spoke fast, "I told him not to, but he's still going to do it anyway."

"And what is wrong with that?" Doc was incredulous.

"The UN is planning to cut funding to the Spetznaz. Tachanka and the others set up a plan to appeal to them."

"What is wrong with Tachanka's plan?"

"They're planning to fake having Tourette's to appeal to them to not cut their funding!"

"That's dishonest!"

"That's why I told him not too, but he won't listen. Really, I have to go." Finka packed up her bag and ran out of the lab. A ball of disgust formed in the bottom of Doc's stomach. He followed Finka immediately after.

"What the hell are you doing?" Doc stopped in his tracks, seeing Six bracing herself in front of the door.

"I was going to help Lera, ma'am," Doc answered, saluting her.

"Unfortunately, you're still under house arrest. I cannot let you go outside. If you have to help her, you must do so from here."

"Six, ma'am, I want to speak with you about something. I want you to make an exception"

"Do tell…"

They went to Six's office, with Doc presenting his case to her.

"PRE-MEDIDTATED FRAUD?" Six bellowed in shock, eyes wide.

"Believe me, Lera gave me a throughout account of what the Spetznaz men are planning to do."

"But do you have evidence of this?" Six calmed herself down, "I want to a concrete reason to let you out."

"Indeed I have," Doc pulled out a USB stick and put it in her laptop. He opened a file. The sounds of the Spetznaz men yelling curse words, the explicit plans of fooling the UN, and Finka's protest was enough to convince her. "Only someone like me can tell they're frauds."

"GO, FUCKING GO!" Six screamed.

The Spetznaz men were teetering on the edge of the front row seats. The UN consortium was packed with the brim with CTU's from around the world. The judges were analyzing each CTU's appeal to not have their sweet, sweet funding taken away. Some were laughed off stage, some wept with them, some were immediately booed. Next to them were the Scotland Yard, which was only two people. One of them was a tall, string bean of an Irish man, with wild puffy dark hair. The other was a taller, broader man. He looked like Sledge but softer and had a dark auburn faux-hawk.

The Irish man whispered to Glaz, "Your leader looks like he's full of shit,"

"Language, O'Daly!" The Scottish man admonished him, "Also that's incredibly rude."

"Just saying what I feel, Kiernan, gosh!" O'Daly fired back, crossing his arms.

"Will the Spetznaz come up? Spetznaz?" The announcer droned on. Many repeated her, but in different languages. The Russian men got up and walked up to the stage from the back end.

"Remember what we rehearsed," Tachanka reminded them, "Let's give them a show. I love you all."

One of the judges, an old man in a suit and glasses, looked at the four men. His lips curled up in intrigue and asked, "You men are Spetznaz, yes?"

"Indeed we are, sir," Glaz replied, "Please listen to our plea. We still need funding."

"Can you please list the reasons that we need funding, sirs?"

Tachanka stepped forward, "I will, sir. Russia, despite its big economy- ASS LICKER!"

"Sir, this is not a game. If you're going to shout curses at us, please leave the stage."

"We are completely serious. I have Tourette's Syndrome. So do the rest of us- SHIT!" Tachanka continued, motioning towards a shaking and blubbering Fuze, "Still has heavy amounts of poverty in rural areas. This thins out- ASS! Our forces. While we do get plenty of funding from our home country, it's not enough-"

"TITTY SPRINKLES!" Kapkan had an outburst, seizing up on his shoulder, "Our weaponry and equipment are showing wear. They can only last so much against the snow. SHIT!"

"WASHCLOTH!" Fuze blubbered and shook his head, "While the Spetznaz is still for counter-terrorism, we decided to ramp up our efforts- HAMBURGERS! Towards peacetime. That means delivering care packages to those impoverished and war-torn and funding for survival supplies to us and civilians. SHIT!"

"Boop," Glaz made it soft but high-pitched and snapped his fingers. He was doing it consistently but no one really heard him after Fuze stopped talking.

"ASSHOLE!" Tachanka had another outburst, "In conclusion, to take away our funding is not only hindering the peacetime efforts of our country, but spitting on the face of the differently-abled that chose to serve their country. FISHSTICKS!"

"Mhmmm…." The old man mulled over his response, "Anything to champion to differently-abled and the efforts of those who bring peace. Perhaps we were wrong to underestimate the progressiveness of the Spetznaz…" He took a pen out and signed a few papers, "You keep your funding." The Russians gathered in a circle and cheered quietly amongst themselves. Just as they walked off the stage, the back door burst open.

"THEY ARE FAKING IT!"

The crowd gasped and whispered amongst themselves. The old man picked up his pen and fixed his glasses, and roared, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"

"I may not be part of the Spetznaz, but I am their medic," Doc descended down the stairs, towards the stage. His white lab coat was trailing behind him, but instead of scrubs underneath, he wore his GIGN armor, "I have never diagnosed any of them with Tourette's Syndrome."

"BULLSHIT!" Tachanka roared, "He is lying. I AM IN LOVE WITH RUSLANA! AT NIGHT I DREAM ABOUT KISSING RUSLANA-AAAAAAAH!" He hopped back, eyes wide, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Finka told me everything. None of you went to me about this and I can tell by looking you're just abusing the symptoms," Doc continued.

"That bitch!" Tachanka cursed, "KAPKAN AND I TOUCHED WIENERS. I mean, winter is a very cold time of year!" The crowd went from awestruck silence to speaking amongst themselves.

"Do you have any definitive proof of this, medic?" The old man asked.

"Don't mind if I do," Doc tossed a USB stick at the table, "The video should tell you it's all pre-meditated."

"Bylat!" Tachanka cursed once more, running off stage and out through the back door. The Spetznaz followed him. Doc followed them too.

The Russians ran through an alley and that's where Doc followed them to. They emerged to an Asda, where Thatcher and Sledge were shopping. "Bloody hell, I've never seen Russians going inside an Asda!" Thatcher spat. Sledge shrugged his shoulders.

They went from aisle to aisle, with Fuze accidentally bumping into Mute, who was enjoying his donuts. Mourning the fallen donuts, Mute took after Fuze. After sneaking around the store, the Spetznaz burst out and ran across the street. Doc and Mute ran after them. The next destination was an ice cream shop.

"Aizawa is best man and anyone who disagrees can suck my dick!" Hibana claimed over a scoop of butter pecan.

"No, Endeavor is best man!" Frost slammed the table and got into the other woman's face, jumping her scoop of Pumpkin Spice.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Present. Mic." Ying tersely ate her Neapolitan scoop.

"Ying, I'm glad you were able to find this ice cream shop but get out of here with that trash," Frost got into her face too.

Confused at the discussion, the men ran out of the shop. Doc secretly got a pint of Cheese ice cream. They then ran across the street once more, finding themselves in a Starbucks. The men realized they wanted some coffee so they waited in line and waited more for their drinks.

"Ever took a shit so good you sit on the toilet for a few minutes afterwards?" Valkyrie asked, clutching her Pumpkin Spice latte. Ash, Ela, and Zofia agreed elatedly over their Pumpkin Spice lattes.

The men shuddered in disgust and chugged down their coffees and went on their ways. So the Russians ran across the street again. Tachanka bumped into Kiernan, who was holding O'Daly on his shoulders. The men cursed loudly and pursued Tachanka. And so they went…

To the salon, where Fuze got a haircut…

To the bank…

To the pet store…

To Blick's, where everyone cursed at O'Daly, Kiernan, and Glaz for taking so long…

"Long time no see, Glaz," Kiernan held his copics up to him.

"Kiernan! O'Daly! My animating comrades!" Glaz hugged them both, covered in oil paints.

"Well, we still need a background painter," O'Daly greeted.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" Tachanka shooed then out, continuing the chase. They set out on the street again, where Kapkan ran over Lion.

"Mon dieu!" Lion yelled as he brushed himself up, "Wanna get some coffee with me, mon Cheri?" Rook looked at him distastefully, arms crossed.

"Non." Rook tossed a cup of water at his face and walked away.

Their chase ended up in McDonald's, which was a few clicks near the base. Everyone ran past except Tachanka, who went up to the cashier and said, "I'll have two Number 9's, a Number 9 Large, a Number 6 with extra Dip, a Number 7, Two Number 45's, one with Cheese, and a large Soda." Just as he paid, the whole order was in a bag and he ran out with it. It now went back to base with them weaving in and out of various rooms.

"You trying to burn the place down, O'Daly?" Clash popped out to see the Irish and Scottish men running around the dormitories, "…And O'Daly wrangler, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Hi Morowa!" O'Daly greeted.

"Hi Morowa," Kiernan greeted, "We went to the UN consortium. We could've been in Team Rainbow with you, a pity."

"Scotland Yard needs you, Kiernan. O'Daly would burn everything if he doesn't have you," Clash agreed.

"Speaking of trouble, there you are!" He grabbed the collar of Tachanka's shirt and pulled him towards him and O'Daly, "Weren't you taught not to bump into people?"

"Cyka bylat!" Tachanka yelled, "That's my McDonald's!"

Mute shook his fist towards Fuze. Fuze gave Mute a number 9 and then they shook hands.

Six came into the room, livid, "Tachanka, Fuze, Kapkan, And Glaz! I saw what you did on CNN and you are all SUSPENDED!" She saw Kiernan holding Tachanka and O'Daly and let the former off his hands, "Thank you Kiernan, as good as you are, Scotland Yard wouldn't be same without you."

"No offense taken, ma'am," Kiernan replied, "Let's go home, O'Daly." The two left the base without a word. Two entered the base, debating while walking the dogs.

"So if you had to share a room between Doc and Tachanka, who would it be?" Buck asked, giving a dog a treat.

"I mean if I gotta choose between a closet pervert and a douchey con artist, I'd take Tachanka. At least he won't touch me at night," Echo answered.

"I respect Doc for what he does, but I'm glad I'm old, grouchy, and ugly. But I don't want Tachanka conning me either," Buck replied. Six yelled at the Russian men as she called in some helicopters to take them away. Everyone filed in to see the mess unfold, some even coming back from going out. The men scowled or hung their heads in shame as they left the compound. Six made a short statement but after that everyone still stayed. Doc pulled out a pint of cheese ice cream and gave it to Rook.

Doc then separated himself from the crowd, and then said, "You know, I learned something from these past few weeks. Yes, humanity is cruel and disgusting at times but at the same time humanity is amazing and progressive. No one is perfect, and this is big coming from me. Yet in all my years of service, you have to hit rock bottom to really learn how to a better human. Yes war is hell, but it doesn't excuse you from making the mistakes I or the Spetznaz made. And yes, we at Team Rainbow aren't perfect, but we can learn to make a better world for all."

"Yeah," Rook said, digging into his ice cream, "Speaking of trust you shouldn't start a relationship with someone just because they touch you down there."