#uh going to leave my answer blank since your shit ton of asks can pretty much be stand alones

[finiffy]

Like yeah, if Glass actually knows the truth, it's kind of a mental torture for him to observe Gears in that state of soundless remorse. And, like, Gears is a man of logic, once again. He might as well notice during one of the therapy sessions, that at the very previous day Iceberg was fine, even happy, and never ever planned any sort of suicide. Yet Glass can't confirm that theory thanks to rules, and instead he goes with all the same cliched speech of "suiciders often feel happy when about to commit their plan, due to which such acts may seem out of sudden bla-bla-blah". He is damn psychologist, he probably knows some tricks to make person believe what they say.

Ah, and should I mention the chain reaction of: Gears acts odd and seems depressed >> That puts some worry to his chaldhood friend Bright >> And to Glass as well, cus now he has to work with two depressed people, both he knows well yet to both he can't tell the truth.

Pain.

.

[hockeyownsmyass13]

Second Chances/Mat Barzal

Description: As All-Star Weekend drew close you couldn’t help but wonder if Mat would remember you. It was less than a year ago when you two had met in NYC. Now you were on your way towards your dream job as a sports journalist. And with this gig at the NHL’s ASG, the last thing you needed was to be distracted by Mat. 

Word Count: 1.7K

Warnings: A few swear words

Author’s Note: I have a lot of Barzy feelings so I hope you guys like it. I have an idea for a part two might include smut if I’m feeling bold so please lmk what you think! Thanks for reading loves ☺️

Flashback

“How does this all work again?” you asked your best friend while putting on your makeup at her Manhattan apartment. 

“I’m going to text Isaac when we get there and he’s coming to meet us and take us in. Usually they sit us at a table with a bunch of other girls and bring a bottle or two to start. From there it’s pretty much up to us, we can do whatever we want.”

This whole VIP clubbing experience was completely out of your element. Izzy, your former teammate in college and close friend had become a model since moving to the city. She knew guys like Isaac who were big time club promoters and could hook her up with pretty much anything NYC nightlife had to offer. You just tagged along for the ride. 

Since you arrived at the club however you’d been able to relax. All Izzy’s friends were super nice and fun to be around. Between all the drinks and dancing however there was a group of guys who kept catching your eye. Izzy warned you that 1 Oak often had celebs but you weren’t quite sure if you’d seen them before. While the girls were dancing you took a break to rest your feet (heels hurt sometimes) and sat down at the table for another drink. That was when he approached you. You honestly didn’t even remember the first words he said. It was as if your brain had paused for a moment, wondering why a guy this attractive had come up to you. 

“Mat” He said. You gave him your name, unsure if you should shake his hand or not. How do people greet at clubs anyways, you thought to yourself.

“Are you from here or just visiting?” 

“I live in Boston, well Cambridge technically. I’m in my last year at harvard” 

“Damn smart girl I see” Mat said. He seemed like he was flirting but also genuinely impressed at that name drop.

“I got a soccer scholarship, I’m not really that smart” you laughed back. “Izzy lives here, she was my teammate the last 3 years” you gestured towards her and the others dancing. 

At first it was a little awkward but quickly you figured out how much you had in common.Talking about favorite foods, music, TV, and of course sports. The last subject was interesting. He seemed so excited at first yet turned around, seeming a little shy to give any details. .

After a little more conversation you followed him back to his table to grab a few more drinks, and that’s when you figured it out. The slight hint of a Canadian accent along with his friends all looking young and very in shape gave it away. This guy was definitely a professional athlete. You guessed hockey but didn’t want him to think you secretly knew who he was so you hid that guess.

“What sport do you play?” A little smirk dancing across your lips. 

“How’d you know?”

“Educated guess” 

“Hockey, we all play for the Islanders” He looked a little shy, running his fingers through his hair. 

Internally you were freaking out just a bit. Growing up near Boston the Bruins were like a religion in your hometown. The NHL playoffs had always been your favorite time for any sport. There was just a level of intensity and excitement that couldn’t be matched. But on the outside you kept your cool...somehow. And after a little more chatting he pulled you over to the dance floor. 

Eventually Mat’s friends were ready to head home and so were yours. He lived with an older teammate since it was his rookie season and you were crashing at Izzy’s place, so that small part of you who wanted to go home with him (even though you really don’t leave places with boys you’d never met before) was out of luck. 

“I’d ask for your number but my phone died” He said, the cute shyness from when he confessed his job was back. 

“Give me yours” you said, handing him your phone. Alcohol was certainly not a negative when it came to confidence. 

But the next morning you woke up. And the insecure part of your brain convinced yourself he probably had lots of girls texting him every day and it wasn’t worth the possible embarrassment.  Plus it was nearing the end of your trip to NYC and it was almost time to head back to school for senior fall; aka the last season of your college sports career. 

So you never texted him, figuring he would forget soon enough and you could save yourself the heartbreak of falling for him just to find out you were only a number on his list. It wasn’t easy. Boys like that didn’t come around often. You looked at his name countless times in your phone, debating on calling. But the longer you waited the more it seemed weird to reach out. Would he ask why it took so long? Would he even remember you? 

All star weekend 

St. Louis was the perfect place to host. After winning the cup the city was buzzing with excitement over hockey. While you were a little nervous to be at such a big event, this wasn’t your first reporting experience. You’d done tons of interviews with other D1 athletes around campus and even filled in for a week as the rinkside reporter with the Bruins.

When you first entered the locker room on Friday it was impossible not to scan around for him. When Mat wasn’t there you couldn’t decide whether it was a relief or a dissapointment. There wasn’t a lot of time to dwell on things however, interviews needed to get done. It was mostly just fluff, funny questions for some social media content, You were talking to Sid, the usual polite yet unrevealing way of avoiding his private life, when someone entering the room immediately grabbed your attention. Mat had walked in. You could feel your heart start to beat faster. It could be the nervous anticipation of a potential awkward encounter. Thankfully your brain still worked and it quickly brought your attention back to Sid. 

“And Conor McDavid comes up short. Mat Barzal is your new NHL All-Star fastest skater” The announcement rang loudly throughout the arena. 

Mat won. Mat just won. It kept repeating in your mind like an echo. Because you knew what that meant. You had to interview him. He was laughing with some of the other guys as you watched the producer approach him. Chatting with the cameraman seemed a good option to avoid looking like you were starring in his direction. As he walked towards you his expression was blank. 

“Congratulations on winning the first event of day one. How does it feel to know you dethroned a three time winner?” 

Silence. Your eyes widened, hoping to provoke an answer.

“Um yeah it’s pretty cool. Conor’s a really fast skater so I feel a little lucky.”

“I know you guys don’t get much time to warm up. Is the crowd a big energizing factor in something like this?”

“Sure” Silence again. 

“Uh I mean we’re here because of the fans. So uh yeah we want to do our best and give them a good show” 

The rest of the interview went about the same. You were sure the others watching could feel the awkwardness in the air. Although he didn’t show any signs of recognizing you, Mat wasn’t known for being cold towards reporters. Something must have been your fault for the less than stellar interview which thankfully was over. 

“Y/N” 

It wasn’t a question but more of a statement. You looked down at your feet, even though you’d been looking him in the eyes the whole interview. It was a little late for shyness but the absence of the cameras and knowing he recognized you took away any semblance of confidence you previously had. 

“Hey Mat” 

“Why didn’t you call me?” 

Shit. You knew this question was coming but you’d hoped he would at least make some small talk first. Maybe enough to give you a chance to think of an answer. But now he looked just as worried as you, running his fingers through his hair. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I just….I don’t know, I enjoyed talking to you that night and I just figured you would and then you never did and I couldn’t do anything,,,,” He trailed off getting quieter at the end, 

“I’m sorry, You’re not crazy Mat. I had a really great time that night. I’m not sure what to say. I know it’s a stupid excuse but I was leaving to go home to Boston so soon and I just convinced myself you were, ya know, this impressive star athlete and it wouldn’t matter if I never said anything because you would forget which I know isn’t fair since you’re a perfectly nice guy and..”

“Come to dinner tonight.” He cut you off.

“I’m supposed to go out with some of the other guys but a lot of them have family or girlfriends coming too. So you won’t be crashing guys’ night or anything.” 

“t’ll be low key don’t worry” He added, sensing your hesitation. 

“Okay, I’ll go” 

“I have to get back, but text me and I’ll send you the details” 

“Sounds great” Biting your lip did not do enough to hide the smile growing on your face. It was a group dinner, but no matter how you looked at it, you were going to dinner with Mat Barzal. Who ever said second chances don’t exist.

[kickingitwithkirk]

Happy Coincidence Chance Discovery

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Piper, Jared Padalecki x Piper,

Characters: Dean Winchester /Jensen Ackles, mentions of Chad Michael Murray 

Word Count:4367

Warnings: cursing, kissing, nudity, implied sex/genital fondling/teasing 

 *Jared and Jensen are single.

A/N: for @idreamofplaid​  Thanks for the Memories Challenge #plaid and the memories  HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED🎉

Prompt: Season 11, episode 4, Baby

A/N: Baby is my favorite episode but every time I’ve watched it I kept wondering; Sam’s hook up with Piper the waitress? So this is my fill in that blank with a Jared twist.

Divider: created by @writeyourmindaway​

*No beta all mistakes are mine

Dean drives into the parking lot of a roadhouse just after dusk and Sam looks at the marquee shaking his head in disbelief.

“Are you serious? Dean, it's late, I’m exhausted and..and.. and starving.  And this place. I mean, even Swayze wouldn't come to this roadhouse.” Sam groused.

“First of all, never use Swayze’s name in vain, okay. Ever.” Dean chastises his brother for such a sacrilege, “Second, you don't remember this place? You don't remember Heather, the hunter we worked the wendigo case a couple years ago?”

“Oh, yeah,” Sam partially smiles, remembering that night of fun.

 “Yeah, exactly” Dean taking the same trip down memory lane.

“What, she’s here tonight?” Sam asks, perking up a bit.

 “I texted her, she's working a rugaru case in Texas.” Dean says.

“Actually, she never texted me back. That's not the point, the point is that we have a ton of driving left to do just to go to a town where it's not probably a case.” Dean points ahead, “But in there, good times.”

 “Uh...” Sam hedges looking at the building.

 “But time heals all wounds, especially good times. What do ya say?” Dean looks at his brother hopeful.

 “I say... knock yourself out.” Sam answers with his usual reply and Dean looks away, “I'm gonna find a diner and dig into the lore like Cas did, see if anythings ever happened where we’re headed.”

“Ah man, you really got to learn to have fun.” Dean’s reply was full of disappointment in his little brother.

“Seriously. It’s pathetic.” 

They both climb out of the Impala. Sam grabs his bag from the backseat and starts walking back towards town as Dean heads into the roadhouse. 

***

Sam had walked over a mile looking for somewhere to eat. Being Saturday night he thought there’d be more open but that’s small town living, the streets roll up at noon on the weekends. 

He was about to give up and hike back to that mom & pop gas station he passed for a microwave burrito, preferably bean to get back at Dean, when he happened upon a small, local place, Mak’s Diner. 

Hitching his bag up, he pushed open the door expecting the usual greasy spoon Dean's unerring sense navigates towards and stops just inside the front door.

It was an older establishment, obviously one of those passed down from generation to generation places but to his surprise it was well maintained, despite the C on the marquee being burnt out.

“Evening, have a seat anywhere and I’ll be right with you.” A woman’s voice called out from the kitchen. Sam walked past the counter smiling at only other occupants, an elderly couple having coffee and dessert, heading towards the back where family seating was located. 

As he passed the next to last booth he noticed a closed laptop, several open books with notes scrawled around their margins, highlighted paragraphs and a few notebooks scattered on its tabletop.

He dropped the bag on the seat and shed his jacket before sliding into the booth, fishing out his laptop and the legal pad that he had started making more notes on earlier.

“Hey there, what can I get you?” 

Picking up the menu laying by his elbow Sam glances through it, “Coffee and the Cobb salad, thanks.” He orders closing the menu and looking up to hand it to the waitress. She is differently not what he would have expected to find in a backwater burg like this one. 

Her makeup is understated, nails painted a neutral color and her copper hued hair is pulled back in an elegant chiffon, not a high ponytail or hastily bobby pinned up-do, held in place with a real silver clip, the type that’s handed down as an heirloom.

“Just the Cobb salad?” She asked looking under the tabletop, taking in Sam’s long legs somewhat stretched out under it, boots bumping against the other side of the circular booth. Her blue/grey eyes slowly travel up appraising his body till they meet his.

“Big boys like you need more than a few leafy greens for stamina.” 

Sam felt himself blushing like he was seventeen again. Waitresses blatantly flirt with Dean and vice versa all the time so he’s taken aback by this woman's more than blatant appraisal of his physique.

“I, um, yeah, ju..just the salad.” Sam stammers out.

“Okay, be back with that coffee.” Her smiles genuinely, not that faked for the customers sake one he’s used to.

Sam appraises her retreating figure like she did him. She’s not wearing the nurses white or black rubber soled shoes that’s usual waitress gear he’s seen but a brand of tennis shoes he knows are out of the typical income of career restaurant staff. 

The fifties style, yellow uniforms color is completely unflattering, not fitting her right, way too tight around her bust and hips and far shorter than it should be, her mile long legs on display.

Sam shifts in his seat and tries to discreetly palm down his spontaneous erection but not so little Sam is putting up a fight, making it known it's been way too long since he’s gotten wet and he wants to enjoy her junoesque attributes. 

***

While he is waiting for a page to load Sam hears the elderly couple preparing to leave. He watches as the husband helps his wife into her jacket and gently takes her hand, resting it in the crook of his arm as they slowly make their way to the exit, feeling the pang of loneliness that’s his constant companion.

“Mr. Reynolds’s, hang on a sec,” the waitress calls from the kitchen emerging with a white cake box tied shut, “Auntie wanted me to make sure you got this before leaving. She’s sorry she missed your anniversary party.”

“You tell her we missed her, needs to hurry up and get well.” Mrs. Reynolds remarked as her husband took the box with his free hand. She glanced back towards Sam, “Sweetie, you gonna be okay here with the likes of him?” 

Sam kept his expression neutral, waiting to see how this plays out. He knew people found him intimidating because of his size and being a stranger in a small town, he definitely stands out but not many were that blatant about it.

“He ordered a Cobb salad, I think I can handle him,” she jested winking at him.

The couple bid her goodnight and she went back into the kitchen, Sam realizing they were now all alone. Sighing, he starts reading the info again trying to figure out what exactly their hunting is. Or not.

He was so focused on his research like usual he didn’t acknowledge the waitress standing there with his order.

“Kmm hmm,” Sam’s head snapped up, “must be something really good if you don’t notice the likes of me.” She chided him setting down a coffee decanter and cup.

“Sorry, guess I was kinda caught up.” Sam moves the laptop and notepad over as she sets down his salad and two types of dressing. “Figured you might not be a ranch type of guy so I grabbed the vinaigrette too.” 

“Thanks, I prefer vinaigrette, don’t usually get offered it.” 

“I’m pretty good at reading people which is why I also brought you this,” she set down another plate with a lettuce wrapped, curiously colored and, by the smell, not meat burger with all the fixings, a generous helping of baked sweet potato fries and a green colored milkshake.

“I didn’t order this.”

“I know but it cooks night off and I’m trying some new recipes. Seeing as you're the only other one here, you've been conscripted as my guinea pig.” She slid into the other side of his booth where an identical plate rested, “I wasn’t kidding about you needing more than just a salad. Besides, I hate eating alone, you wouldn’t believe how often it happens. Fuck, where’s my manners, I’m Piper.” She stuck her hand out across the table.

He takes her preferred hand amazed how it fits perfectly in his, “Sam.” 

“So Sam, figure out what you're hunting yet?” She asked nonchalantly as she picked up her burger, “Cause, not being judgey, but that’s some really random shit you got there.” She takes a bite, watches as his expression bounces between startled and incredulous.

“How…”

“Saw your Tarsus 99 when you took off your jacket. I had one as a kid, then daddy got killed on a hunt and I got sent here to live with Auntie, she doesn’t cotton to hunting.” 

Piper picked up a fry pointing it at him, “But what I really wanna know, where the hell did you get that demon blade, ‘cause I’ve never seen one like it before.” 

Sam hesitates, “That’s a long story.” 

“Don’t close till one and I’ve got nowhere to be after.”

Sam decides to deflect instead of answering. “So what is it you do, because you're definitely not a waitress.” 

“Officially, I’m an antique appraiser. Unofficially, I’m helping a wayward hunter who graced my door with something he can’t figure out.”

***

Sam and Piper, after closing the diner, stayed another three hours hashing out the research for his case were now taking their time walking back towards the roadhouse. 

“I’ve been wanting to ask, what’s with that name tag?” Sam noticed early it read Maggie.

“Came with this god awful uniform. Auntie insists that we all adhere to how her daddy ran the place. So when I came back to temporarily help out after her surgery, Maggie decided she was not gonna take orders from someone younger, quit and I got stuck with this. I told Auntie it wouldn’t fit, even with letting out the hem. Maggie was like five-four and I’m over five-ten! 

Ugh! I keep popping these stupid top buttons and can’t freaking bend over without showing everyone my C U Next Tuesday.” 

Sam smiled that nervous smile he got when unsure how to respond to an answer he wasn’t expecting.

“I normally wear this to cover it,” moving her pocketed hands in the light weight, knee length sweater she had put on when they left the diner, “but I have to confess,” Piper turned around, walking backwards, “I took it off when I saw you come in, thought what the hell, been long time since a really cute guy has walk through my door so...” She bit her lip, turning back around as they continued down the lane in companionable silence.

Sam mused over her confession admitting to himself he was interested in her too. He enjoyed sharing different theories and bouncing ideas of what they might be hunting back and forth with her, surprising him with her unique take on things.

Piper might not have been the type he consciously steered towards since Jess but she was comfortable to be around, didn’t feel his usual awkwardness he normally had around most women. 

They arrived at the roadhouse a few minutes later and Sam led her towards the Impala.

“Damn, you brother is a fucking artist, how many times has he rebuilt her?” Piper asked walking around the car, running her hand over the Impalas pristine exterior. 

“To many.” Sam replies, putting his bag on the front seat. “Can I have a look?” He turns to see Piper standing by the trunk. “Um, sure.” Strolling over he unlocks it and lifts the interior wheel well exposing the car's hidden armory.

“Is that a grenade launcher?”

“Yeah, Dean found it at the bunker.” Sam laughed remembering how excited Dean had been when he discovered it. 

Piper shook her head shutting the trunk and hopped up on it, “What’cha wanna do now, go in,” gesturing at the bar, “or hang out here for a while longer?”

“I think I’m good hanging o...”

Piper grabbed his jacket dragging him between her spread legs and kissed him.

It took Sam all of five seconds to process what was happening before his hands grabbed her hips and tugged her to the edge of the trunk, her short skirt riding even higher as she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer.

Sam jerked back as headlights flashing over them, a patrol car drove into the parking lot. He lifted Piper off the trunk and led her to the car's back door dragging  the green cooler out of their way.

Piper climbed in as he hauled it to the trunk and grabs the army blanket Dean keeps then gets in depositing it and his jacket over the front seat.

“Where were we before being rudely interrupted?” Piper asked, sliding onto Sam’s lap and leaning in to resume kissing him. 

Sam tangled his long fingers into her now loose hair pulling to halt her, “What about that patrolman?”

“Won’t be back till closing, around six A.M.”

“That means Dean won’t either,” he says closing the space between them, heatedly attacking her lips.

***

Piper ran her hand over his bare chest, “How long is your refractory period?”

Sam shifted to look down at her, “umm, around twenty minutes.”

“Hmmm, I’m gonna have to see what I can do to shorten that ‘cause we are so doing that more than once again.”

“And how are you gonna do that?” 

Piper stared at him slowly trailing her hand down his torso. Sam’s breath hitched as she lightly teased her fingers across his lower stomach, running through his treasure trail and over to his hip.

Shifting further down his body she continued running her fingers over the top of his left thigh feeling the hard muscles flexing under the skin. She placed both of her hands in between his legs shifting his left one off the seat and bending his right leg back placing his foot flat on the bench seat. 

Piper kneels in the space between Sam’s spread legs continuously moving her fingers in random patterns over the insides of both tights, touching him everywhere below his waist.

Sam closed his eyes groaning loudly, dropping his head back against the window as her fingers played over his balls feeling her other hand travel behind them teasing over his...

“You fell asleep in the fucking car!”

His eyes snapped open startled. Blinking rapidly he sees Dean leaning through the open car window looking at him. 

“Dean what...where’s Piper?”

“What’s a Piper?” He growled out, “Dude, we wrapped twenty minutes ago and I’ve been looking for you, got worried cause you weren’t answering your fucking phone Jay!”

He took a good look at Dean. His foggy brain finally realizing its mistake, taking in the headset hanging around his neck and the ball cap he likes wearing when directing. “Jen, sorry, guess I’m still in Sam headspace, got disoriented for a sec.”

Jensen laughed, “You find one grey hair and suddenly you're getting memory loss and needing naps? I’ll have to remember to have you in bed by nine, old man.” 

“Your fucking hilarious Jack.” Jared shoots back sliding across the seat getting out, “Man, I had the weirdest dream.”

“From the happy noises you were making that was far from weird. And speaking of happy,” Jensen's eyebrows went up as he pointedly looked down.

Jared glances down thinking he’s drooled all over himself only to see the prominent bulge in his jeans.

“Bob’s called a meeting in five but I think we’re gonna be late.” 

***

“I’m telling you it was so real! She was tall with coppery blond hair, tasted like chocolate peppermint and has this tattoo above her...” Jared paused grinning, keeping that specific location to himself, “I’ve never in my life had such a vivid dream like that.”

“Dude, you like petite brunettes.” 

“I know..so why would I make her a redhead?”

“Hell if I know, it’s your giant melon. Maybe all that sugar ribbon you eat is finally getting its revenge.” Jensen snarks as they enter the meeting room.

They were greeted by Bob’s gruff voice, “About time you two showed up. Alright, now that everyone is finally here, we need to get everyone up to speed. We’re having to make changes to the filming schedule.” He pauses looking at him notes, “Jared, don’t need you to come tomorrow for those new promo shots with, what was that new character again?” 

“Y/N Y/L/N, Sam’s new love interest.”

“Right, anyways, writers scraped that idea. As some of you heard, several of our exterior locations got flooded with that last storm and it’s taking time to find new locations so instead of doing blocking we're gonna do a quick read through of the new episode.”

Jared opened his copy of the new script to episode 4: Baby.

Reading the opening scene he experiences deja vu, quickly scanning the first two pages: bunkers garage: Dean washing the Impala, Sam having a possible case in Oregon. Next scene: interior shot Impala, Sam gets a protein shake out of cooler, Dean wants to know about the beer. Next scene: pulling in roadhouse parking lot, Dean trying to get Sam to join him, goes to eat instead, shot from Impala view watching Dean walking. Next scene: daybreak continuing from the view of the car...

“Fuck me.” Jared whispers, catching Jensen's attention. “What’s wrong?”

“This is how my dream started.”

Jensen pulls a yeah right face.

Jared shifted in his chair leaning closer to Jensen, looking directly into his green eyes, “I’ll prove it. Next scene: Dean gets in the car at daybreak and a naked waitress pops up in the backseat with a voice-over from Sam. Dean gets out peeping in the driver's side back window at her getting dressed. Cut to next scene: Sam climbs into front seat buttoning his flannel as he apologizes for having sex in Dean’s car. Dean, happy his brother finally got laid drives off quoting Bob Sager lyrics, playing Night Moves and Sam changing a lyric. 

Jared continued to lay out the entire episode from memory as Jensen flips through the script following.

“Bullshit Jared, someone snuck you a copy of this script, you're totally fucking with me.” 

“Jensen, not this time.”

***

Jared walked back to his trailer aggravated that Jensen won’t believe he didn’t get an advance peek of the script. He can’t shake this unsettling feeling that he was forgetting something important.

He was two steps into his trailer when his phone vibrated. Chad left a voicemail instead of texting, weird.

“Jay man, you gotta do me solid. A friend of mine got the part of Y/N on your show and I don’t know what the fucks happening up there but she flipped the fuck out on me! Need you to check on her, she’s outside one of the guest trailers. And have her call me back after she’s calmed the fuck down!”

Jared snorted, another woman pissed off at Chad, shocker. “The fuck you getting me into this time Murray.” Jared mutters to himself as he heads over to the guest stars trailers and hears a somewhat familiar voice outside of one.

“What do you mean there’s nothing you can do? I get here and now they're telling me they’ve dropped the story line.”

There was a pause in conversation as Jared walked closer to hear more clearly over the lot's noises and was shocked when he saw her sitting on one of the trailer's steps.

“But I signed a contract...what? I don’t remember seeing that in there. So they can just arbitrarily drop the part with no notification, that’s bullshit! I’ve never had a clause like that in one before. I gave up my job and apartment for this!” She gets up and paces around not noticing him. 

“They're giving me the bit part of the waitress in this episode, have a five am call for hair, getting a blonde rinse so I look more like a Dean type girl. I don’t know what the fuck is with these writers, it’s like they don’t get Sam, should’ve left him like Kripke originally created him.” She paused, “paying me what? At scale! That’ll just cover my petrol for the drive back to L.A. Wait, what about my six month lease? Could you check on it.” 

“Oh, giving me two nights at the Hilton. How magnanimous of them,” she sarcastically replies, “can I still get that part on Arrow...cast someone else.” She abruptly ends the call and sits back down on the step slumping over her knees.  

“So, how much of that fucked up conversation did you overhear?” She asked not looking at him.

“Um, almost all of it.” Jared confesses, “I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping but I got a voicemail from Chad,” she looked up staring in disbelief at Jared, “he’s worried and wanted me to check on you.” 

“Fanfuckingtastic, can this day get any better? I’ve completely humiliated myself in front of Jared Fucking Padalecki!” 

Jared can just make out her blushing in the still dimming light. “I wouldn’t say completely, I mean, you could drop your pants and yell Pudding.”

She blinked at him before doubling over in laughter, “Alright, point taken. Still, it’s a crock of shit you don’t need to be bothered with.”

“Chad’s kinda made it my problem. Look, I don't know all the details but maybe I can help, I can call casting..”

“Oh hell no! Thanks but no thanks. Bunch of assbutts on social media were already speculating about how someone like me got the part in the first place. Last thing I need is more ammo for the haters, they’ll tweet something like I had a three way with you and Ackles because I was desperate to get the part back.” 

Jared cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair embarrassed to feel turned on by the imagery she conjured up in his mind. 

 “Mmm, that’d be my wet dream come true, but not the point, they’ll just come up with some random shit.”

Jared understood being all too familiar with the anti whatever’s having been the target himself.

“Okay, how about we go to my trailer,” she gave him a skeptical look, “where you can have some privacy to call Chad back. I’ll get de-Sam’d and we can talk some more or grab a bite if you're hungry.”

“You don’t know me from Adam, what if I’m some psychotic serial stocker nut job?” 

“If your friends with Chad, you absofuckingloutley are Ms. what's your name.” Jared sarcastically remarks given her a mischievous grin.

“Touché, and it's Piper,” Jared froze at her name, “and you’ve been friends with Murry longer than me so I know you’re straight up batshit crazy.” She smarts back standing up, “lead on, oh gallant knight.”

***

Jared walked out of the bath toweling his wet hair sees Piper lounging on his couch still on the phone with Chad.

As he crossed over to the kitchen's fridge he couldn’t help but notice her low rise jeans had ridden lower, revealing the top half of the tattoo just above her..

“Dude, should’a told me Padalecki has a tattoo kink,” Jared tripped over his feet before catching himself embarrassed at getting caught, “Yeah, that was your boy.” She winked at him, “No way in hell I’m ever showing it to you perv.” Jared loudly laughs at that. “Hey, when I get back I’m PA’ing for you till I get another gig. Don’t you dare argue, you got me into this so it’s that or I’m on your couch for a month,” Piper rolled her eyes at Chad’s response, “Yeah, yeah, talk to you later.”

“Is that how you met Chad, working as a PA?” Jared inquired coming over to sit down next to Piper handing her a beer. 

“Yeah, paid the bills while doing auditions, was starting to pick up a few bit parts around LA.” Piper starts nervously fiddling with the bottles label, “I heard about the casting call for a new Sam girl and Murry talked me into trying out for it, so I figured unless I kiss Crowley I don’t have a shot in hell and holy fuck, I got it.” 

She stopped talking but kept playing with the label. 

“Hey, whatever it is you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Jared says gently touching her shoulder in a reassuring manner.

She took a long pull of her beer before continuing. “My Auntie died and I inherited everything, including her debts. I negotiated a smaller settlement but it wiped out all my savings.” She paused draining the rest of her bottle. “I figured it was serendipity..”

Jared is half listening, feeling that uneasy sensation again at that last word.

“...gonna be Sam Winchester’s...”

“If we’re meant to meet again,”

“.. weren’t killing her off after three episodes but then they decided to drop that story line...”

“we will.”

“...I should be going. Thanks for the beer and letting bending your ear, I’m gonna get out of your hair.” Piper gets up heading for the door.

Jared finally remembers.

“I believe in serendipity..maybe you can too.”

He quickly jumped up moving between her and the door blurting out, “I know you said you didn’t want my help but you can’t go, not yet.”

“Okay, why not? ‘Cause any other time I’d be up for some wham bam thank you ma’am but so not in the mood right now.”

Taking a deep breath he goes for it, “So, get this, after we finished filming today, I fell asleep in the Impala and had this dream…” 

***

Jared sat on the couch nervously chewing on his thumb watching as Piper paces back and forth mulling over his story.

She abruptly stopped and sat down on the table in front of him. “So here's the deal, I will believe everything you've told me,” Jared opens his mouth to say something but Piper reached out laying her fingers on his lips, “if you can answer one question.” 

Jared took her hand remembering how it felt so right in his, “Okay.”

“Since you’ve seen it in your dream, what does my tattoo mean?”

“In Japanese, it means happy coincidence,” Jared confidently says sitting back as Piper climbs onto his lap, “but that's the first line, the second one is chance discovery.”

Jared pulls her in, brushing his lips against hers, running his tongue across them so she’ll part them , allowing him access. He can taste the beer they’ve been drinking but there’s that sumptuous flavor of her underneath he finds intoxicating..chocolate peppermint..thinking to himself..

Serendipity.

[softforcal]

hiii

hello! these types of questions are great don’t worry! everyones different but yeah, let me tell you about my writing process :) (this is a long ass writing rant and hopefully it’s helpful)

so for headcanons tbh, i just write them. like. i sit down and write it all in one go and tbh not much thought goes into them there isnt really a plot it’s just notes practically so headcanons for me are not difficult at all. fics/oneshots are where things actually heat up.

so for my fics i do note form outlines. what this means is i have all the major things that have to happen already lined out. i put it on a word doc on half my screen and the fic on the other and there’s no plan on how to get to each note point but i know i have to get there somehow, but having basic goals makes it easier for me.

when it comes to fics there’s usually a brainstorming process. i have two wonderful amazing loves of my absolute life @hereforlukescruff and @glitterprincelu and usually it will start with me saying an idea and we all just kind of start shooting ideas and bouncing off of each other. this process can take hours. like. i remember when i came up with gang luke (penumbra) i was in class and we ended up chatting about it for 3 hours and coming up with shit. when the main brainstorm is done i plot it all out. i have a few ocd tendencies, one of which is linear stuff means a lot to me. like i can’t start a fic at the end. i need to start at the start. so i’ll plan as much as i can but sometimes i stop at the middle and i re-evaluate once i get there and have a better sense as to where the story is going.

for me, characters are huge. like. i have the plot points but characters drive everything else. so i’ll often have a sit down and reevaluate what has happened to them and how they’re feeling and see if it’s all making sense for them, but, because i brainstorm a lot, usually i don’t end up changing much. strong characters are key my dudes. 

my biggest motivator to get to the end of the story is well, the characters. i love them so much and writing for them feels so comforting to me. LOVE YOUR CHARACTERS. but also. something ya’ll gotta understand about me is that i’ve been writing fan fiction for 8 years. i’ve probably spent an average of 2 hours a day (and that’s seriously low balling it) so thats 2x365=730x8=5840 hours that i’ve written and that’s probably too low to be accurate. so i’m a writer. i type fast as fuck and i’ve been doing this a while so writing comes very easy to me, ideas are constantly flowing. this is legit what im pursuing as a job so don’t be discouraged if you can’t write 10k in a day like I do because... well, i’ve had a fuck ton of practice. writing 10k in a day is pretty common for me i’d say, once i sit down with a oneshot i don’t want to leave until it’s done.

but. i also again, have a bit of an ocd thing and when it’s paired with anxiety, it makes it hard for me to stop. i need to get things done. to check stuff off my list. or i get bored. if i leave a fic for even a day or two, it’s likely i’m not gonna finish it. so for me, and i know this, its important to wait until i have a sufficient amount of time to bust something out and a plan makes it so easy because i don’t have to stop and ask myself “okay now what”

what more can i say about writing.... uh... characters. so important. dialogue. key. 

like i’ll start a fic with a general idea about an OC but as the fic continues they grow and i really enjoy watching them grow. i think a good rule of thumb if you’re having troubles with this is immerse the story view point in the most solid character you have (i’ll give an example of this in a moment) and use their perspective and musings on a different character, like what they notice, to promote growth.

example of what i mean when i say this. i recently wrote prince cal and from the start, he was my strong character. Ostara was new, she’s ashton’s sister, she’s back for the first time in a while. the very first paragraph establishes that calum is taken aback by how much she’s changed. there’s still some similarities to how she was growing up and i weave that comfort of the known throughout the story (with things like chicken fights in the pool or musing about how they used to play hide and seek as kids) but from the start, Calum is knocked off his feet by how beautiful she’s gotten and that’s a very obvious symbol of change, not just outside but in. so as the fic continues calum notices things about ostara. for example. the second time i wrote she was wearing a print of some sort, calum and i both mutually realized, ‘huh. she likes prints i guess.’ because ostara is ostara, i dont control her, in my brain she’s her own person, she’s dictating whats happening and baby just likes prints. and calum notices which says something about him, but its also little details like that that bring these characters to life. 

i mean. i don’t know how other people write characters. my characters are always alive to me. they have their own voice and knowing their reaction to things is second nature to me. but this can be attributed to the fact that i legit wrote fan fiction about actual characters (MCU, TVD, Teen Wolf, etc...) for 6 years and being able to step into those characters and do dialogue that seemed legit was the most important thing for me. so i have a FUCK TON of experience on characters. so once again, if its hard for you to step into your characters thats okay. maybe do those things where you have a fill in the blank sheet on whats their fav food, their fav colour, do they like summer or winter? etc....

i think there isnt one way to write. i think i’m blessed that i’ve ALWAYS been a writer. since i was like 4. you know in elementary when they made you write and they’d give you those little booklets and shit? other kids had like one or two at most but this whore was always on book number 6 or 7 like, im a writer. it’s what i am. it always has been what i am. 

im also a multitasker. so most of my writing is done while watching shows. which means its a double whammy for me. like. im learning about characters and plot WHILE writing so... as you can see, i’m hard core as fuck about this shit. 

my point is. my process is a process that i think is pretty particular to me. most people i know cant watch tv and write at the same time. most people don’t sit down and bust out 10k in one sitting. and thats fine. if you enjoy writing then do it. focus on what you can be doing better, this isnt a competition. at the end of the day, the only person you should be trying to be better than is the person you were yesterday, or last week, you know?

find people who are creatively inclined because holy shit it makes a huge difference. bouncing ideas off of supportive people is really important. without my friends, Birdie in Penumbra might be named Cherry, the Gang AU wouldn’t have an ending all planned out and ready to be written, and i would have missed out on so many hours of face time calls and back and fourth messages with two of the most important people in my life right now. 

so lets break down what the fuck i’m even saying

-find supportive people (but it’s important you support them as well. if they’re gonna let you throw ideas at them and help you out and pump you up, reciprocate hoe)

-focus on yourself 

-find what you’re good at. plots? characters? dialogue?

-find ways to strengthen the things you’re not so good at (character fill in sheets, plot planning, etc...)

-find what, at the end of the day, really works for you

-don’t put pressure on yourself. writing is for fun. it should be fun. and if it is fun, i think motivation will come easy? but i could be wrong, once again, i have an addictive personality and writing is a fix i need every day or i go insane. 

yeah. if ya’ll have any more writing questions let me know. i love answering these because i think it’s so interesting to really look at the process :) 

[makorays]

Thael

[i decided to write an off-screen interaction between my two characters in the savage worlds campaign my friends and i are playing, figured i might as well post it here since i’ve already posted art of them. some parts might be slightly confusing without context but i think you can get a general grasp of things.

also, apologies if any of this contradicts what is meant to be canon scellor lore; we’re kinda just using what we know of the scellor race and filling in the blanks based on what works best for our particular story.

here’s a good song to listen to while reading, if you want: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNJ6LO1QIyk ]

In the science lab, an oddly short Orthe and an oddly tall Ulkam engage in telepathic conversation. Minyaxl: You know, Thael, I just realized I've never really run into you anywhere other than the lab. What do you do in your off time? Thael: uh...i don't really have off time M: Wait, what? What the hell kind of slave-driving operation is this? T: no, i mean, i'm allowed to have it but i don't really take it. i usually just keep working M: ...Why? T: i dunno what else to do T: sometimes nazira tells me i need to take a break so i go to my room and watch the tv but that's about it

M: ......Really? T: i don't really understand human tv, the words they use are totally different from the words i hear people in the base use T: i never hear anyone around here say things like "daijoubu" or "hisashiburi" M: ...I also never really hear anyone here say things like that. M: ... M: But anyway, wow though, uh... Minyaxl scans the room for other staff and finds none but Thael. M: Wait, are you in your off time right now? T: yes M: ...Thael, let's go do something. T: do something? M: Yes. Hey, when was the last time you saw the surface? T: when you took me to that other country M: I...see. M: ... M: Let's go outside! T: ok Thael puts down his scientific implements and allows the small scellor to lead him, retaining his signature blank expression the whole way.

A minute or so later, the two emerge from the base. Thael briefly loses his wide-eyed look as he squints and raises his hand to shield his face from the blinding sun, but eventually returns to normal once his pupils adjust. Minyaxl walks him around to the shaded side of the nearby boat house. Minyaxl drops to the grass, his back against a wall, and Thael feels obligated to follow suit. A cool breeze blows past them, lifting the bottom of their hair gently to the side. M: It's come to my attention that we haven't actually talked very much at all, so I was hoping we could have a bit of conversation. I mean, jeez, you're pretty much my favorite person in this whole place and I still barely know anything about you. T: ... M: What are your interests? Got any hobbies? T: no M: ...Well I guess that answers the hobbies question but what about the interests one? T: nope M: ...Is...is that a "nope" as in "nope, i don't have any interests"? T: yes M: Well y- ...I mean...y-you clearly take an interest in science, right? T: ......... M: ...Is something wrong? T: um T: i... T: i'm not very interested in science M: ...What?! But you're great at it, you were great enough to be qualified for this! You obviously have a lot of experience with it, you must have done a ton of studying...why would you go through all that if you didn't even like it? T: ...i used to like it. M: Used to? What happened? T: ...... T: ...i...um......i-i'm not sure if it'd be good to talk about that. M: Talk about...what...? T: ... T: i've never told anyone about it before. M: Well I'm sure you could make an exception for me, right? T: w-well...um...

Thael begins looking uncomfortable. M: ...Are you alright? I've never seen you look so...worried, before. Not even when you were getting shot at... T: ...... T: i'm afraid. M: Afraid of what? T: afraid of you thinking less of me. T: you're the first person in the last 5 years i've felt that for T: ...you're the first person in the last 5 years i've felt ANYTHING for. T: i don't want you to know that i'm a- T: ...there's just some things i don't want you to know. M: ... Minyaxl produces a devilish grin, in spite of his friend's clearly serious discomfort. M: You know I'm not gonna be able to stop myself from prying after you've said THAT, right? M: C'mooon, what are you that you don't want me to know about? Let's see, you're awfully tall by average caste standards...are you actually a Niaar who wishes he were an Ulkam? Or maybe a formerly proud Niaar who was forced into doing an Ulkam's work? M: Or maybe you're actually an alien separate from scellor and humans that's just disguised as a scellor? It could explain the unique...body shape... M: Wait... He lowers his voice to an almost whisper for this next question, even though they're still speaking telepathically. M: ...Are you trans? Because seriously I still don't know how a biological male could be so... His eyes glance downwards for a split second. M: ...adiposally gifted. M: I swear though you better not be another android thinking that you're subscellor or anything as obvious as that because we JUST went through hell to prove that we're accepting of Teri despite her leaking informatio- T: i'm a monster. Thael turns his head to face his friend. From Minyaxl's perspective, Thael is now looming over him, his blank eyes now looking less like the innocent windows of an endearingly lost individual and more like cold, emotionless portals to a neurological abyss.

A few moments of silent thought pass, and Minyaxl briefly wonders to himself if he maybe ended up getting emotionally close to a broken psychopath, whom he also repeatedly slept with. M: ... M: Ahah, come on, it can't be that bad...don't scare me like that, alright? Thael ceases his gaze, staring off into the space in front of him again. T: when i said you're the first person i've felt anything for in the past 5 years, i meant it. T: i never really feel anything in regard to anyone or anything. i haven't in a long time. T: but when you're around...it's different. maybe not by much, but there's at least something. T: when you enter the same room as me, i feel a little happy. M: Only a little...? T: a little is a lot more than nothing. T: and...i... T: ......i don't want you to stop entering the same room as me. T: i like feeling happy. it feels...good. M: If you like being with me so much then why don't you ever leave the lab to come find me during breaks? T: i don't want to bother you M: Oh come on, you're never a bother to me. Which is a lot more than I can say about some people... M: And I guarantee you that your story won't bother me. T: i'm sure it will, and i'm sure that you'll feel more apprehensive toward me afterwards T: and then you won't want to see me, and then i won't get to feel good anymore T: ... T: is that selfish? M: N...no, it's not... M: But...I do think you should have a little more trust in me. M: Thael, listen. I really really like you. I consider us to be close friends, and I wouldn't just turn on a close friend like that. I'd trade the life of any one of my squadmates for yours if it ever came down to it. I am PROMISING you that whatever story you have to tell, it can't change those feelings. M: Can you trust that? T: ......... T: alright T: i'll tell you.

Clouds begin moving in front of the sun that shone so brightly a minute ago. Minyaxl knows it's just coincidental timing, but he still can't help but feel a small doubt about whether or not he should have actually asked for the story he's about to hear. T: around 500 or so years ago, there was a scientist who wanted to find a way to control people's souls. T: to that end, he did terrible things. T: he'd take living, sentient scellor, and restrain them inside pods that were designed to psionically manipulate their souls. T: in his experiments he ended up destroying or otherwise irreparably damaging dozens of scellor souls, leaving them with no hope of reincarnation. M: ...W...w-wait, what?? What the fuck...??? M: How have I never heard of this?? T: it was kept fairly secret, but if you dive deep enough into government project records you'll find it. M: Government?! T: yeah. M: Wh-...I...but... Minyaxl recoils with a look of absolute horror. He looks like he'd be ready to start producing tears, but he holds back to focus on hearing the rest of the story. M: Entire...souls... M: Just......destroyed?? M: How the fuck could anyone do something like that?!? Let alone our...our own government... T: thankfully, he never succeeded in his mission, but the damage he caused was permanent. T: and just like you're doing now, anyone else who heard about his exploits would've just lamented those past victims and moved on, but T: while reading about the things he did, i started to remember doing them myself. T: and then i started remembering other things that hadn't been written about T: like the fact that the experiments would cause a kind of pain more pure and direct than anything the body or mind could normally experience T: and the sight of the bodies dropping to the floor as empty husks once their essences were erased from the world T: and as those memories invaded my head, it quickly became clear to me that i was the one responsible for all of it. M: ...Oh. I......holy shit... M: B-but, I mean, even though that man deserves no forgiveness, everyone knows your past lives don't have to determine who you are. You're basically not even the same person, even if you happen to have the same soul. T: that was my hope T: i was absolutely horrified, but that horror was reassuring to me, because it meant that my current self would never do something like that T: well, that's what i thought, at least. T: i went into university with an immense conviction to do good, to use science for the benefit of others and make up for those crimes of the past T: i was a lot more excitable back then. i felt like a superhero, so sure of myself, so happy to do the right thing. i had so much passion that people thought i was kind of crazy and needed to chill out, but i felt nothing but positivity. T: i graduated with immediate career prospects. i didn't even have to look for a job, my credentials were such that a government agency reached out to hire me right away. i jumped at the opportunity. T: i should've seen the warning signs going in. they'd always talk about the importance of making "sacrifices" for the greater good, and they'd constantly reassure you that you'd be doing the right thing. that seemed kind of odd to me, but the thought never crossed my mind that it was a flimsy excuse to pretend that what was being done was ok. T: by the time i realized the truth of the situation, it was too late to back out. that's how they'd get people; they'd be vague enough to get you to agree to the job and sign an NDA, but they wouldn't bring any attention to the fine print stating that you wouldn't be allowed to leave once you saw anything. T: and then as soon as you were in, you saw everything. T: i never even thought it was possible for a government operation to be so unethical. i always assumed there were serious laws in place, but either there weren't enough or the government just didn't care. T: i guess i shouldn't have been surprised considering my past self had a government position, but i guess i blindly hoped that his project was a freak incident and things like that wouldn't be allowed to happen again. T: that hope was misplaced. M: ...What exactly...happened in there?

T: they wanted to find a way to force sentient scellor to become drones again. normally you have to make a conscious choice to become a drone, and even then the state is reversible, but they wanted the ability to rob undesirables of their free will. T: they wanted to be able to deal with enemies of the state without outright killing them, so our organization was tasked with discovering a method to make people more...neurologically compliant. T: despite our nonlethal end goal, a lot of test subjects died in experiments. of course i didn't want to have any part in it but they wouldn't let me leave no matter how much i begged. T: i was pretty low on the corporate ladder. i wasn't tasked with a whole lot of decision-making, but instead given the grunt work of carrying out experiments designed by those higher than me. T: since not even the most powerful orthan can force someone to become a drone, we had to try more brutish techniques. T: i personally had to carry out everything they could think to try, from hypnosis to... T: ... T: well. T: imagine a short little praal girl, barely into adulthood, strapped down to an operating chair, crying and screaming and pleading at you with every ounce of energy she can muster, begging you not to lobotomize her. M: ...... T: i tried to do it but my hand wouldn't stop shaking and my tears made my vision really blurry, so someone had to come in and scold me until i was able to steel myself enough to get it done. they yelled so loud that i started to feel guilty for NOT doing it. M: ...Y-you...... T: i was really bad at the torture too T: the subjects knew i didn't want to continue doing anything to them so it was kinda hard to be intimidating, i mostly just begged them to become drones so i wouldn't have to hurt them any longer T: the torture actually worked sometimes, but it wasn't good enough for the people in charge. they wanted to be able to instantaneously convert someone from a distance. T: so they kept devising more ideas, and they kept making people like me try them out T: and i just kept crying. T: i cried, over and over, every single day T: during my free time, during the experiments T: i'd tell the test subjects how sorry i was, again and again, even continuing to say it to the corpses of the ones that didn't make it T: i must have looked almost as terrified as they did. T: and i'd just cry and cry and cry T: but i guess eventually i ran out of tears. T: at a certain point when doing those sorts of things you just stop feeling, because you can't anymore T: so i stopped, and i haven't really felt anything since. M: .........

Minyaxl struggles to organize his thoughts into any set of meaningful words. M: I...I-I um... M: Wow... T: do you understand why i didn't want to tell you about this now? M: ...... T: i want you to be honest Thael faces Minyaxl again, locking eyes. T: do you still want to be close to me? Minyaxl worriedly searches for signs of life in the set of pale, empty glass orbs currently confronting him with a dead gaze. His instincts tell him to turn away, but he fights them. M: ...... He's not sure he's found anything, but he decides he doesn't care. M: ......Yes. T: ? M: Yes, I do. T: really? M: Listen, I'm not gonna pretend that the things you did weren't fucked up, but...you wouldn't have done them if you had any way of avoiding it. You didn't have a choice. T: yes i did T: i could have refused M: But from the way you described things it sounds like they'd have probably just killed you and gotten someone else to do it. T: but at least i wouldn't have shared responsibility Thael turns away. T: i really have no right to be alive after what i did M: ... M: Please don't say things like that... T: i'm sorry T: ... T: i just......wanted to help people...... Minyaxl scans his friend's face, expecting to see tears running down his cheeks. He instead sees the same dry, emotionless expression Thael has continued wearing throughout the whole story. M: But...you ARE helping people now. M: Look at your current job! You're helping to save an alien race from genocide!! T: i know T: i sometimes wish i could feel happy about that T: it's good that my body is being put to use for philanthropic purposes, but...i feel like i'm just that. T: a body, being put to use. T: i don't feel like a person who makes decisions, i feel like a robot that carries out the tasks that it's given and sometimes responds to self-preservation instincts like sleep and food intake T: it's funny, my job was to turn other people into drones but now i feel like a drone myself. T: not that i'm really bothered by that T: as long as i'm being used for good, it's fine M: ... M: I... Once again Minyaxl lowers the imaginary volume of his psionic voice, a little embarrassed of what he's about to say. M: ...I want to help you feel things again. Thael turns to him, his eyes opening slightly more than usual with a look of mild curiosity. T: ...? M: I'm going to stay friends with you, and I'm going to do the best I can to brighten your days. T: ...what...? T: ...why would you make that kind of effort for me...? M: Because I think you deserve it. T: ...how could you possibly think i deserve it after what i- M: It doesn't matter how!! I just do. You don't need to worry about it. T: ... T: well i suppose i'm......glad...? T: ...i know i said i haven't really felt anything since those days, and i know i'll probably never feel much of anything ever again, but... T: like i said earlier, you...do help me feel a shred of something every now and then T: so......i'm glad that can continue. The slightest of muscle movements raise the corners of Thael's mouth; it's almost imperceptible, but he is definitely smiling.

[ellana-ravenwood]

The List - Bruce Wayne x Reader (Erotica)

Summary : You and Bruce, are making a list of all the people you slept with...Because why not ?

I just had this stupid idea when I was at work and sorry for it...hope you’ll still kinda like it and boom, here :

IMPORTANT WARNING : THIS IS EROTICA ! THIS IS NOT FOR YOU IF YOU ARE UNDERAGED, I GODDAMN MEAN IT. Like there’s cute and sweet feelings in the mix, but also...smut, so if you’re not 18 or more, or if you’re not comfortable with that sort of things etc etc, this story ain’t for you. I have tons of other very SFW story, for averyone to read, and if you wanna check those out instead, it’s right here, on My masterlist blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives.

________________________________________________

You don’t even remember who started it.

You don’t remember if it’s you who made a snarky comment first, or him.

You both were equally gifted in the sarcasm area, so it really could be any of you. And none of you could actually remember the instigator of it all...

But oh someone definitely started it, and now, you were both sitting on the floor around the coffee table of the living room, a pen in hand, a blank sheet of paper in front of you, thinking about all the people you had sex with. 

Or rather, about the people you had sex with and that you both knew. 

Who cared about some unknown guy from a bar, or a girl from a gala ? 

They meant nothing. They were just pleasure on the spot, something that didn’t matter at all and...to be honest, both you and Bruce didn’t care about those one night stands with people you didn’t give a damn about...You both knew you weren’t each other’s first time after all, and one night stands ? They were long over and there were not nearly as much as everyone thought...Bruce had only a few, and you too. And again, it was such a long time ago, and so meaningless (definitely not your favorite kind of sex, and Bruce would agree with that). 

This list was about the people you had sex with, with whom you shared part of your life, and/or someone you both knew. 

You knew almost everything about each others, but your past relationships ? You rarely talked about it. You never felt the need to, as you were too in love with each others for anyone else to really matter...

Both of you already stated multiple times, in your long years of marriage, that you never loved anyone like you loved each other. That all those past relationships were nothing compared to what you felt to each others. 

But...Curiosity always got the better of the two of you. 

And besides, when Bruce learnt that you used to date his best friend, Clark, he started to wonder if you slept with anyone else he knew, after all, you knew lots of Justice League members before knowing him so...He just wanted to know (he would never admit it, but he was quite jealous really. Grumpy Broosh). 

And so here you were, after one of you made a comment about it (wether it was you comparing Bruce to Clark or him saying something about Selina, you didn’t quite remember), writing a list. You were writing the last name on yours when Bruce raised his head and, very sternly said :

-I’m done.  

You smiled as you finished the last letter of the name you were writing and looked up, smiling at him. 

-Me too. 

Just another proof of how you were always so damn in sync, finished right at the same time. He doesn’t smile, and you smirk at him as you exchange papers. And...Exact same number than you. You quickly look over it and chuckle a bit, he detached his attention from your list (his frown getting bigger by the second as he was reading it), and, a bit suspicious, says : 

-What ? 

-Bruce, I think the two of us basically slept with the entire league. We’re super-sluts my heart. 

It doesn’t make him smile at all, on the contrary, and you roll your eyes before saying : 

-Hey you’re the one that started this. 

-No you are. 

-I don’t remember starting it. 

-You did when you talked about Clark. 

-I’m pretty sure you spoke about Selina first. 

-No I...

-Listen it doesn’t matter. What I mean is, don't be so moody my Broosh. All those names there, they mean nothing to me. Well, I mean I’m still friends with many of them, and so are you but like...I love you. This is never going to change. I love you more than I ever loved anyone, and the only ones you could be somewhat jealous of are our boys because nothing can compare to the love I have for them. But, romantic love ? Like “I want to spend my life by your side” shit ? It’s you Bruce. It always been you. Don’t feel jealous because they might have had my body once or twice, but you’re the only one that caught my heart so...let’s just have fun ok ? Like I wanna know how it was to have sex with Zatanna ? Did she use magic ? 

This makes Bruce crack a smile and...Ok. He could ignore his jealousy, just like you were trying very hard to do. He wasn’t duped, he knew you were a jealous mess right now, but you were right, it didn’t even matter...You loved him. He loved you. Nothing could change that. He shakes his head and says : 

-Alright. I love you too. More than you can imagine. If I had to burn the world for you I would. But you already know that. You already know you mean everything to me, you’re the most important (you and the boys) person in my life. You’re the only one I ever actually loved and I just know you’re the love of my life so, I won’t repeat myself again. 

-You just did. 

-I know. I’ll never get tired to tell you I love you. 

-Cheesy fucker. 

-Only with you. 

-Yes, I bet you weren’t cheesy with...

You quickly glance at his list and, raising an eyebrow you say : 

-Lois ? 

He smirks at you and explains : 

-When I came back from my training, I went to Metropolis to make sure Clark wasn’t a threat and...Well, she was there. 

-I bet she was. So wait at that time I was probably...Hey barely finishing middle school. You guys are all so old. 

-Oh shut up, you love it. 

-Never said I didn’t...Also, since I slept with Clark and you with Lois, we should totally ask them if they’d be into a foursome. Oh and relax Bruce ! I’m kidding ! Kinda...

You approach him seductively and kiss him lightly on the lips but before he can grabs you you pull away, ignoring his groan (and damn the way it was so obvious he wanted to follow after you was hot, but his self-control was even hotter), you went back to your place in front of him, on the other side of the coffee table and took his list again. He took yours and...

-Harvey Dent ?! 

You jump at the sound of his voice, not expecting him to speak so soon, and you nod slowly saying : 

-Well it was before the all...hum...him becoming completely crazy. He was your friend, you know how great he used to be. Also, seems like even at the time I couldn’t resist justice. 

Your own joke makes you chuckle as your husband just roll his eyes at you and adds : 

-If I knew you’d do it, I would have added comments too...

-I bet you love it. 

-Oh yeah sure, I love to read about what my wife thought of the sex she had with other men. I particularly like you mentioning that “The ring comes in handy” next to Hal’s name. 

-Well I’m sorry Bruce, but it does. Have you ever had sex with a Green Lantern ?

-No. 

-I’ll steal Hal’s ring to show you what you can do with that thing. 

The sultry smile you give him makes him shivers and he turns back his attention to the piece of paper in front of you. He could just imagine your damn smug face and it calmed him down. 

A few minute of silence pass as you both scan each other’s list, when you finally break it : 

-So...Did Zatanna use magic ? 

-No. 

-I feel like she missed an opportunity there...

He grumbles an answer and oh you just love this all thing. It’s hilarious to see him so jealous and yet interested at the same time and...Oh you hide your own jealousy and interest way better than he does, which happens so rarely that it’s just too damn satisfying ! 

His voice brings you back to reality as he says : 

-When you write “Hades” do you mean...

-The God of the Underworld yes. Met him while helping Diana do a thing. 

-You slept with Hades. The God of the Underworld. 

-Mm mm. 

-Right. But of course. 

There’s a short silence before he adds :

-...And “Constantine” is it...John Constantine ? 

-Yup. 

-...

-What ? I have a thing for this all dark gothic thing ok ? Besides, I see here you slept with Nocturna so like, I bet you kinda do too. Props to you though, she’s hot. 

-The nail marks she left on my back were so much deeper than the one you leave. 

-I bet, she has long ass nails...Did she bit you ? 

-Yes. Oh yes. 

-Hot. 

-I know. 

You smile at him, happy to see him relax a bit and understanding that...This is the past. It’s ok to talk about the past. It’s ok that you both enjoyed being with other people before because...Now ? They were all long gone from your thoughts. Only Bruce remained in your mind. And only you remained in his. 

He smiles back, and your wink kinda drives him crazy but oh he’s decided to show nothing of it and starts reading your list again. 

You’re the one, once again, that break the silence again : 

-So. You have a thing for kinda...bad girls uh ? Talia, Selina...I bet they were completely wild in the sheets.

-You’re wrong. Talia was super into vanilla sex, I think because she lacked love in her life, and Selina...The wildest thing we ever did was to do it in front of her hundred cats. 

You full on laugh at his words and he adds : 

-It’s those whom you’d least suspect that are the wildest really. 

-So like...Julie Madison ? 

He sees you wince a bit at her name, as you knew she was his first love and..well, jealousy overwhelmed you a bit. 

-Yes. But believe me, nothing compare to what we did. Like that time we did it with you hung on the chandelier in my office. 

You smile and wink some more at him, all thought of Julie Madison gone at the good memories of that indeed very wild night. But you continue : 

-Ok but I bet that...hum Vixen and Hawkgirl were quite something ! Oh and Power Girl. Nice tits. 

-Yeah. Power Girl gave me a...hum...

-Titty job ? 

-...Yes...

-Was it good ? 

-Not as good as yours. 

You give him a satisfied smile and he smiles back. If he didn’t know that it would make you be very pretentious and that you would never let it go, he’d tell you that the best sex he ever had was with you. By far. But this thoughts are making him think of your body squirming under him and he has to think about something else to resist the urge to jump on you, so he says : 

-Hawkgirl’s wings made it a bit awkward sometimes. 

-What, she basically had to ride you right ? 

-Yes. 

-Awww you not being in control made you feel awkward ? 

-My love, I often leave you control. 

-No, I take it, or you’d always be the dominant one. It’s ok though Bruce, I like it better like that. I’ve always been more submissive anyway...

-Even with Oliver ? I see you put “Green Arrow” down...and seeing him with Dinah makes me think that...

Your laugh stops him and you say : 

-Oh yeah no, Oliver is totally the bottom haha ! What about Dinah ? I can see you got with her...

-Yes, before she met Oliver. And hum...Her screams were disturbing. 

You snort once more imagining the scene of Bruce using one of his extremely pleasurable signature move on Black Canary and her screaming in his ear...oh damn. 

And he can’t help it, he laughs too...and he can’t help but think that this situation could only happen with you. Only with you. Because only with you could it be so natural to speak about past sex and relationship. Only with you could it be totally fine and normal. 

Because you were too in love for it to really matter, and this was all part of both your lives...You weren’t each others’ first time. At least, when it came to “having sex”. When it came to “making love”, you were definitely each others’ first time. He never made love to anyone else but you. Because he knew that the only women he truly ever loved was you...He stares at you as your eyes scan his list, just admiring your beauty and...a thought comes to him slowly. 

With a smirk he takes his most stoic voice, his “I’m super serious voice” and asks : 

-Who’s...bigger ? 

You raise your head to look at him and at first, what he’s asking isn’t registering until finally, it does, and you roll your eyes, sigh, and say :

-Really Bruce ? 

-Yes. Really. 

-Erf. I’m not even gonna answer that, it’s too damn immature. 

He holds the smirk he wants to give you, holds it as best he can, before taking an extremely annoying and whiney voice to say : 

-Please ? Please ?! Ok never mind...all I wan’t to know is...am I bigger than Superman ? 

The sparkles in his eyes make you melt, and oh you wished he would be more often that cheery and silly...And you decide to indulge him : 

-...Oh for God’s sake, yes you are. You’re actually bigger than all of them, is your stupid masculine pride reassured ? 

-Yes. Yes it is. ...I knew I was the most well hung anyway. 

-...Oh my God Bruce...

He chuckles and it’s the most beautiful sound you ever heard, and you can see he’s about to say something but you cut him off : 

-Oh wait actually you’re not the biggest one, Plastic Man is. I mean, the guy can extend any part of his body as he wishes so...

Bruce’s smile falters and he just stares at you for a few seconds until he realizes that...of course you’re just messing with him, and with another wink you add : 

-But don’t worry, you’re the one that knows how to use it best. 

He smiles again until you continue : 

-In my top 10 of “best sex ever” you’re definitely holding the 8 first places ! 

The frown is back and he asks :

-...Who are the two others ? 

-Only one person. Clark. He does that thing where he...

-I DON’T WANNA KNOW ! 

You laugh yet again and the sound of your clear and childish giggle makes him relax a bit, and loose the frown. He shakes his head at your teasing and finishes reading your list. It’s not as bad as he thought in the end...Once again, you break the silence that installed itself : 

-Wait, what did you do with Diana ? You just wrote “Wonder Woman : Kiss ++”, what does that even mean ?

-That I kissed her in more than one place...but didn’t like...

-Penetrate her.

-Yes, penetrate her. Didn’t do that. 

He says a bit awkwardly. 

-Babe, we’re making a list of people we had sex with and giving each other details about it, so like...stop being so prude about it. Especially since I know “prude” isn’t really your style. 

You wink at him and oh the effect it has on you, to see his Adam’s apple visibly ‘”gulping” at your words...

-...fair enough. Yes. No. I didn’t fuck her.

-”Fuck” out of your mouth, I’m shocked...

He gives you an exasperated look and with a smile you ask :

-So what did you do ?

-Ate her out.

-Did she return the favor ?

-Yes.

-I knew it, she’s more of a giver really.

-How would you know ?

-Look at my number 14.

He does and...his eyes widen, and he shivers slightly. 

-...You ate her out too ?

-Oh yeah. More than once. And we both know now she’s amazing with her tongue.

He makes a strange face and you can’t help but laugh. You approach him again and rub your shoulder against his and, with an over the top wink you raise your eyebrows repeatedly and say :

-Does it make you all hot and bothered ?

-No.

It’s funny, to see him trying to resist you. Trying to act as if he doesn’t feel fazed at all. His short answer and apparent self-control can’t hide the truth for you. You know him. You know he can never resist you much. Besides, the apparent bulge growing in his pants is enough to know he’s lying...

-Reaaaaaaally ?

-Yes.

-Oh. 

You make your “oh” sounds so disappointed that it makes him shift on his spot and you just know the effect you have on him, damn minx...You continue :

-Cause imagining you giving a blowjob to Clark gets me all hot and bothered so like, I’d think the thought of me going down on Wonder Woman would have the same effect on you. And knowing that it’s not just a fantasy like me about you and Clark, that it actually happened...The thought of my tongue swirling in...

-Stop. 

-Or What ? 

He doesn’t answer and you straddle him. He raises his arms and put them away from you, as if he’s afraid to touch you, as if just his hands coming in contact with your body would make him loose his cool. You grind on him shamelessly and he takes a deep breath. With a smirk and the smuggest look you can give him you say : 

-Feeling all hot and bothered now ? 

-To the extent that it’s painful so just stop. 

-...Oh God Bruce, things don’t always have to be painful, just take me already we’ll finish those stupid list later...In fact, at least as far as I’m concerned, I don’t care, because the best one I’ve ever slept with is you, I love you and I...

You don’t have time to finish your sentence. You’re pretty sure he tuned off when you said “just take me” and tried to resist just a few more seconds for good measure...But when he tells you that you’re the only one that ever mattered, and that he loves you more than anything in this damn and crazy world, you realize you’re wrong and it’s not your “take me now” that made him want you, but the fact that he feels love when with you, that you want him for him, that you love him and...Damn he loves you.

_____________________

This was so stupid and bad. Sorry. But I had to..

[wonhosbun]

Through the Lens Mafia!AU Pt 5

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Pairing: Reader x Mark

Warnings: Some explicit language, some violence 

Word count: 1.6k

It had been a couple hours since Lisa had arrived and had been been in the medical room with Mark. The others kept trying to calm you down, telling you he’ll be alright.

After what seemed like eternity, Lisa finally came out, “Don’t worry he’ll be fine he just needs time and rest. I know how much of an important role he plays but please, let him take his time to heal.” All of the boys nodded in agreement.

“Can we see him?” you asked, the worry kept eating at you, all you wanted was to see him. It’s honestly really surprising how fast you’ve come to care and fall for him. But it didn’t matter because all you wanted to do was protect him from anything that could ever harm him.

“Yes he’s awake, he was actually asking for you.” Your heart fluttered at her words. On the outside you seemed fine but on the inside you were squealing like a little school girl who just found out her crush liked her back.

You made your way into the room, there he laid, hooked up to a bunch of machines. The sight made your heart hurt, how did this even happen to him?

“Hey you, how are you feeling?” He looked so weak and so fragile that you felt his bones would break with any slight movement, his face pale, lips dry and parted.

“Besides the fact that I’ve just been shot, lost a shit ton of blood and almost died, I’m doing pretty well actually,” he said in a sarcastic voice, you playfully pouted and clenched where your heart is pretending to be hurt. “If this is how you’re going to act then i best be on my way,” you turned on your heels and made you way towards the door. You knew he wasn’t going to let you go that easily.

“Alright bye,” you stopped in your tracks completely dumbfounded. How dare he you thought. Turning around you placed your hands on your hips, “Are you seriously about to let me go Mark?” his lips turned into a slight smirk. “I knew you weren’t going to leave if I told you that, and look I was right.”

“For someone that almost died you seem awfully cocky.” you said while walking towards the side of his bed, pulling a chair next to him. While grabbing his hand you noticed how cold he had felt. How much warmth he lacked throughout his entire body. Would it have been too soon to ask him what had happened to him to even be in this position? You hesitated for a bit, but made up your mind.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did this happen to you?”

“Okay Jackson and Jaebum you two go that way and I’ll go this way.” Mark said while also signaling his fingers.

“Nuh-uh dude we’re not splitting up, at least not here, you know how it is here.”

“Yeah Jackson’s right we stick together no matter what.” Mark let out a defeated sigh as he agreed with the two other boys. “Fine, but I’m going to lead I’d rather have something happen to me than to have either of you hurt.” Jackson and Jaebum only nodded, knowing they weren’t going to be able to change his mind.

“Tell me again why we agreed to do this? We’re literally asking to be killed.”

“Oh for the love of God will you please be quiet? Someone could he-“ The sound of a loud gunshot had interrupted Mark, but what also interrupted him was the bullet that went right through the side of his stomach.

Both boys cursed, then turning to the direction to where the shot came from, successfully shooting the man down. Luckily there was only one, they picked up Mark’s body trying to hurry to their car. Jackson got into the driver’s seat while Jaebum had Mark in his lap, holding his head.

Mark’s eyes started to roll to the back of his head, “No no Mark stay with me we’re almost there please just hang in there.” He started to mumble words, unfortunately Jaebum couldn’t seem to make out what he was saying.

All he could do was apply pressure to the wound, hopefully stopping the bleeding a little bit, at least a bit.

As he finished explaining you hadn’t noticed how wet your eyes were, how there were tear stains on the side of your cheeks. Memories of Wonho flooded your head, seeing his blood covered body made your heart ache. It made you feel useless, sure you didn’t have any feelings for the man anymore but that didn’t mean it still didn’t pain you when you saw the life being sucked right out of him, that didn’t mean he didn’t hold a place in your heart.

Mark’s face softened when he realized you had been crying, he hated seeing you cry. His protective instincts led him to draw you closer, and he did so by reaching out for your arm and pulling you in. He didn’t ask why you were crying, knowing how he wouldn’t get an answer assuming from the amount of sobs you were letting out. His arm was kept around your waist, pulling you closer.

“Shsh it’s okay I’m here, let it out Y/N.”

“I already lost one person, I can’t lose another one.” you said in a whisper but loud enough for Mark to hear.

“I’m not going anywhere Y/N, I promise you I’ll always be by your side.” he said while kissing the top of your head.

You tilted your head to look at him, he gave you a reassuring smile, both of you stayed in that same position for what seemed like hours but had only been a few seconds.

Mark licked his lips while looking down at yours, your mind went blank as soon as your heart started racing, filled with anticipation, the butterflies in your stomach made you want to kiss him then and there, and just as soon as you had the guts to, the door flung open, a very concerned looking crowd busted through.

“We heard crying is everything okay?” you knew who’s voice that was, it was Youngjae’s. His voice was laced with genuine worry and concern. “Yeah everything’s okay, she just got a little emotional that’s all.” They all sighed in relief, thinking something was wrong.

“It’s getting pretty late, we should all let Mark rest.” Lisa was right, he didn’t look too well he definitely needed some rest. Everyone agreed and said their goodbyes to Mark, “I’ll come see you in the morning okay? Please go to sleep and get some rest Markiepoo.”

“Markiepoo? I could get used to that but don’t tell any of the boys you called me that, I’d get teased for as long as I’ll live,” he let out a slight chuckle and flashed his beautiful smile, “Alright I won’t, goodnight.”

As you made your way towards the room you saw rest of the boys sitting on the couch, however they were whispering to one another, why were they whispering?

“She’s going to have to take his place for however long he’s going to be out. We need 7 because if there’s not 7 then there’s someone that’s not doing their job and if someone’s not doing their job then that can put our lives at risk.”

“Jinyoung our lives are already at risk considering we’re in a fucking mafia!”

“Oh fuck off Yugyeom you know what I meant asshole!”

“Both of you keep your damn voices down she could walk by any second.” you were tired of hearing them bicker like 10 year olds so you decided to make your presence known. You coughed, a little bit too loud, as you made your way towards the couch and squeezed yourself in between Youngjae and Yugyeom.

“So guys what’s up?” they all looked at each other, all of them mumbling trying to come up with an excuse. Knowing they weren’t going to say anything you let them know that you knew about their plan, “I heard you guys talking about me and how I have to take Mark’s place.” Jackson let out a groan, “ See I told both of your asses to keep it down why doesn’t anyone listen to me?” he while throwing his hands up, you started to giggle at this whole situation.

“She’s giggling why is she giggling why are you giggling?” BamBam said with a confused look on his face. “Because it’s cute how you all started to freak out because I heard, did you guys think I was going to get upset?” all of them nodded, “well I’m not, I mean I’m stuck here aren’t I? Might as well make the best of it.”

They all stared at you with a confused face, not knowing how to reply. “Do you know how to fight?” asked Jinyoung, the question took you back but then started thinking about it. You hummed to yourself, thinking of what to say.

“Well this one time in highschool I fought this one girl i’m not sure if that counts?”

“Shit are you serious? What happened?”

“It all happened because my bestfriend at the time was having a problem with a girl she absolutely hated, so she decided to fight her and as she was fighting her the other girls best friend tried to jump in, and I couldn’t allow them to double team so my ass jumped in.”

“What the fuck thats badass, did you win?”

“Lets just say blood was spilled but certainly not mine.”

All of the boys started yelling ‘ohhhh’ and ‘ohhh shitttt’ hyping you up, BamBam even dabbed which made you cringe but you loved it at the same time.

“But that was years ago, I don’t know if I still have it in me.”

It was true, you haven’t fought in a while and you certainly weren’t as strong as you used to be.

omgfkgmdfjgsfbsdhjbd im so sorry i took forever to upload, also this probably isn’t the best chapter but hey its something \: ): anyways i hope you enjoyed part 5 <3

[raving-writer-ramblings]

It Takes Some Time: Part 1?

Hey hey I’m back in action with a bit of writing. This was more or less improvised. I just sort of let it flow naturally and took it from there. I apologize if it is a little messy or boring. It is a bit long for some people but I hope you enjoy. ^_^

________________________________________________________

“Hey! Connor! Did you go out to get food today!?” The question rang out from the kitchen, muffled partly from the barrier of the wall between there and the living room and partially because Connor was sure his roommate had his head buried in the fridge. Of course this meant that his roommate already knew the answer to that question.

“Sorry dude, had work all day I forgot.” Connor actually hadn’t forgotten, well not exactly but he wasn’t about to let it slip that he avoided the task on purpose. Quinn would be pissed if he learned he didn’t want to shop just avoid his Ex who had been working the register that day.

“You forgot? Dude you work right next to the grocery store, how the hell did you forget? You walk past it coming home.” The voice was closer now and Connor could see her standing in the doorway, hands on hips, over the edge of his laptop.

“Quinn I’m sorry it just slipped my mind, I had to do about fifty returns in like the last hour today. I swear forty something white moms are the god damned worst with this shit.” Connor rolled his eyes and finally looked up from the almost completely blank text file he had open. “If you want I can go out and get stuff now. The Pharmacy at the corner should still be open and they have groceries. I don’t know why we don’t shop there anyways it's closer.” Quinn just let out a long sigh and turned heel back into the kitchen where the unmistakable sound of a fridge being shut in a not so calm fashion could be heard.

“Fuck it, I’m going out. Please just get food so I don’t have to eat fast food tomorrow I’m trying to make weight.” After the, um ‘gentle’ closing of the front door of the apartment the harpy was gone. Of course that wasn’t really a fair description of her. While Quinn did have some issues keeping calm she was still one of Connor’s best friends and the only one who’d take him in after last summer. Plus it wasn’t the first time he had ‘accidentally forgotten’ to get the groceries. That added on top of the diet she was trying to maintain for boxing meant his blunder today resulted in a pretty fair amount of anger.

Letting out a resigned breath of his own Connor got up and grabbed his coat off the back of the couch. He briefly considered changing into something other than a T-shirt he’s had since high school that barely fit and shorts that should not be worn outside the house but he really wasn’t trying to impress anyone today. So slipping on the worn out windbreaker and jamming his feet into a pair of beat up sneakers was all he did before slipping out of the apartment, only to double back halfway down the hall of his apartment building because he had forgotten several key items. Namely keys, hat, wallet, and the all important cellular device.

With his assortment of essentials gathered and ready to go Connor once more slipped out of the two bedroom apartment. This time he made it to the street without any sudden realizations of miscellaneous objects he would need on his little adventure for foodstuffs and toilet paper.

The city was pretty bright considering it was well past sundown, a fact of both convenience and great annoyance to conner. He enjoyed being able to see where he is going and such but a walk in the dark was always something he enjoyed as a teenager. He and his friends always took long walks over the weekends, just smoking and enjoying the simple things in life. Of course now he didn’t smoke much and life’s simple things were a tad less enjoyable but the nostalgia of it seemed to cover for those things a fair bit. Of course this walk would only be for a couple blocks but again it didn’t really matter.

Connor’s mind drifted as he walked, his hands jammed in his pockets and only the sound of passing cars to remind him of reality. The deeper his mind drifted the more her face started to show up, Laurin. This happened so frequently now that it barely bothered him, at this point it was to be expected. Of course he wished this would end and that he could simply move on but something about her nagged at him whenever he got lost in thought. Maybe it was the loose curls in her blonde hair or the way she chewed her lip when she was lost in thought but he couldn’t get her out of his head.

It was pathetic. Really it was. Connor was the one who broke it off with her, she had hurt him and yet he still thought of her like this. She still haunted him like a delightfully soft nightmare but he knew he’d never let that happen again. There were times where he thought he was insane for still feeling this way about her after almost a year.

A loud and sudden honking from behind him cut those thoughts short, which was admittedly for the best and connor turned around. The car that had been honking was a stark white convertable of some kind. It looked european but Connor couldn’t really tell since he wasn’t much of a car guy. More importantly inside the car were four women, each squealing like children as the blonde in the front seat honks her horn repeatedly at the red light. When the light changes there is a remarkably loud tire squeal and a roar of an engine as the car bolts forwards through the crossing at a fairly unsafe speed. The laughter and shouting of the women fades off in the distance as the car passes and something about the whole scene caused Connor to bust out laughing.

Maybe it was the incredulity of the whole scene and maybe it was the juxtaposition of that against his silly worries and musings. Whatever it was he’d have to thank them for saving him from his own torrent of gloom. He might also have to tack on a thank you about reminding him that he was already where he needed to be he just had to cross the street to the pharmacy. He can’t count the number of times he had absentmindedly walked past whatever destination he was headed for because he was too wrapped up in his own stupid pity party to notice.

After a few scares where he was almost hit by cars, Connor successfully crossed the street and made his way into the small 24 hour convenience store slash pharmacy. After glancing at the signs hanging from the ceiling he made his way to the section labeled ‘groceries and canned goods’ which he noted was an odd description as he figured you could count canned goods as groceries. It only took a few moments to pull up the list Quinn had texted him earlier and gather the things she had wanted and to pick out a few things he wanted as well.

Once all the items were gathered he had a new dilemma. He had a shit ton of things he had to carry all the way home and unlike Quinn he wasn’t a boxer so his arms were going to fall off from the weight of it. Of course he was no going to complain to Quinn or wimp out now, that would be a one way ticket to getting his ass kicked and thrown out. Two things he did not want to happen.

So sucking it up he made his way to the counter and lined up all the stuff on the counter in front of a girl with obviously dyed black hair and really pale skin. Basically if anyone fit the bill as a vampire it would be her. Her smile was obviously enforced as some sort of company policy because it really didn’t fit on her face super well. She didn’t really say anything at first but after looking all of his stuff and bagging it for him she lost the smile and raised an eyebrow with a look that seemed more like her natural resting face.

“Dude didn’t you walk here? You know you can’t steal the shopping car right?” Her voice was pretty monotone but the corner of her mouth twitched and you could tell she found the idea a bit amusing.

“Shit, here i thought you’d be cool and let me take it.” Connor offered a grin, and picked up a couple of the bags in one hand as he prepared to leave. The bags were annoyingly heavy already and in five minutes when he starts walking his arms are going to hate him.

“Nah, i might get the axe for that. I tell you what though, You wait twenty minutes and I can give you a ride home.” This time her smile spread more naturally and she motioned over her shoulder in the general direction of the parking lot.

“Alright, but before you make any moves I’ll have you know I carry a wooden stake at all times.” Connor was thankful for the offer and hoped he could keep their bit of banter going.

“Uh… what? Wait…” Her face went from puzzled to suddenly getting it within seconds and she let out a soft laugh. “Sorry kid, you’ll actually need silver bullets for me. Nice guess though.”

“Shit and here i thought I was safe for once.” Connor took his turn to laugh. “Alright I’ll wait outside, twenty minutes right?”

“Nineteen now, but yeah. Get outta here so I can do my job.” She waved him off nonchalantly and Connor headed for the door only to be stopped short by a voice. “Hey! Wait! I didn’t catch your name stranger!” Her laugh followed the dumb cliched line.

“Oh, right I’m Connor.” He spoke loud enough back that she could catch it easily and he stepped outside. Of course he hadn’t bothered to ask her name because he was busy trying to act smooth but in the end just came off like a character he might write in a poor book idea.

Sitting himself down at the curb he let his eyes run over the four cars that were in the parking lot and tried to guess which one was hers. There was a black SUV in decent shape, a silver convertible that looked to be about twenty years old, a beat up bug painted some dark color like black or blue, and the last one was an orange mustang that had definitely seen better days. Judging by her black nails, dyed black hair, and snow white skin Connor guessed she probably owned either the SUV or the old Bug. Deciding between the two he went with the bug since she worked at a convenience store which he doubted could pay for the relatively nice SUV.

Having made his bets he still had a few minutes before she would follow him out and settle the debate once and for all. In those few minutes Connor did a number of things, all of which were totally interesting and worth noting.

A few flicked pebbles and 74 passing cars later a short petite girl wearing a beanie and boots that clashed with her uniform stepped out of the building. She looked the wrong way first and did a sort of pirouette before spotting Connor sitting in the shade.

“Jeez, and you made fun of me for being a vampire. You know the streetlights aren’t the sun right? You won’t burn.” She grinned and offered a hand to help him up which he accepted.

“True, but I was hoping that if I hid in the shadows you might let slip your true name so I could control you.” This line was a stretch and in hindsight was more than a little cringey, but it got a laugh anyways.

“What am I? A demon or rumpelstiltskin? Neither of those sounds like a compliment though.” She picked up a few of his bags and started towards the silver convertible, which meant he had guessed wrong.

“Well I was hoping to find out. I guess I can settle for the name you’d be wiling to offer me. I can’t just call you cashier girl can I?” Connor loaded his bags into the trunk of the car and slid into the passenger’s seat when prompted.

“I suppose not, but seeing how you missed your chance to ask earlier it might be funny if I withhold the information.” She offered him a grin as she turned the key in the ignition and the car practically wheezed to life.

“That didn’t sound to good. I think the hamsters running your engine are dying.” Again a pretty cringey line but she only shot him a glance before laughing softly. “Yeah ok that was definitely not the best joke. I assume it's not that unusual a sound though?”

“Yeah, the old thing has sounded the same for about three years. Honestly I’m only a few paychecks away from upgrading to something that runs a little better before this gives out on me.” She shrugged without looking over and kept her eyes steady. “ You didn’t tell me where we were going by the way. I have no clue where you live.”

With a chuckle Connor informed her that it was a straight shot to his apartment and should only take a few minutes. The two of them simply made smalltalk the rest of the way and when she pulled over Connor thanked her and got out.

“Hey, before you go. The Name’s Eve. Friday night I’ll be at the coffee house down the street” She offered him a wink and drove away before he could respond.

With a shrug of his shoulders Connor took his bags of foodstuffs up to their fourth floor apartment halfway up the building. Everything about the last forty minutes had been like something at the start of a goofy romance movie. Right down to the bad lines and how hot she was in comparison to him.

Once he got to the apartment he noticed the door was unlocked and the doorway smelled vaguely of meat and cheese. Burgers.

Inside the apartment the smell was stronger and on the couch was Quinn, sprawled out with a mountain of burgers on the coffee table. As far as Connor knew she was still on a diet so he took pause and opened his mouth to speak before being cut off immediately.

“I got a call while I was in the car.” Her voice sounded very agitated and Connor’s mind instantly cycled through everything he had done in the past week to make sure it wasn’t because of him.

“Um… about what?” Connor was genuinely confused and that carried in his voice.

“Apparently my opponent was caught juicing. So my bout it cancelled.” She paused for a moment. “Well sorta. Apparently I can get a fight scheduled for that same day but I will have to go up an entire weight class. The club needs the win to convince the board for funding so i don’t have alot of choice in this.”

“Ah…” There really wasn’t much else to say. Quinn was dedicated to boxing and as such she would make this work, but he wasn’t sure how. “Um So all of the food I bought?” He ventured the statement as a question.

“It’s fine. Most of that stuff would have lasted longer but I need to boost my calories.” Quinn gritted her teeth a bit before glancing back at Connor. For a moment her face was exactly what he had expected but then her eyebrow shot up. “You met a girl?”

“Wha.. how the hell did you do that?” He was dumbfounded. There was absolutely no way she could have found that out just by looking at him, it was impossible.

“I just havea sense for these things with you. We’ve been friends since High School.” She took a long drink from her giant cup. “So is she cute?”

“Yeah, I’d say she is.” Connor started to get things put away as he spoke, the wall separating the kitchen and the living area serving as a barrier from the embarrassing staring she’d no doubt be doing. “She isn’t actually my type, but we hit it off well enough that i could look past it.”

“My my how noble of you, letting the non-blondes bask in your favour for once.” The sarcasm was so thick that he could practically feel her rolling her eyes in the other room.

“Oh come on that isn’t fair! You do that shit too!” This time it was Connor’s turn to star disapprovingly from the kitchen doorway. “Name one time you dated or had sex with a guy that wasn’t shorter and thinner than you.”

“Puh-lease, that is not the same at all. I’m 6’1” most guys are shorter than me and just because I like skinny guys doesn’t mean i wouldn’t date another… wait shit. Fine you win.” She sighed and took a mouth full of a burger. “Hey by the way you haven’t eaten yet tonight right?” She punctuated the question by tossing Connor a burger. “Go nuts i think if i eat all of these i’ll puke.

Connor rolled his eyes at his overzealous friend and unwrapped the burger befor plopping himself down on her feet. “Thanks Q.”

“Yeah yeah.” She tugged her feet up and moved so that instead of laying on the couch she was sitting with her legs stretched out. They were still close to Connor but at least now he had proper eating room.

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful. Quinn passed out on the couch and Conner cleaned up the wrappers that were thrown around the room at random. After he got everything picked up he dragged a blanket over his friend and headed to his room. Life wasn’t always going to be so boring and simple, he’d learned that as a kid, but right now he wished that every day could end like this. Afterall he didn’t have all that much to worry about and things seemed optimistic for once.

[aoi-midori]

Brotherhood Chapter 1

new chapter, new narrator. i’m really glad people liked the prologue, but this one is a lot more interesting imo. also it’s just more exciting overall. if you guys want to read the prologue but haven’t yet, or you have no idea what i’m talking about, i’m going to post the link here right before the read more!

Chapter 0 (Prologue)

Chapter 1: First Mission [Minami Cho]

I was thrilled to be back with ETMA after being gone for so long. It felt like I was waking up from a long-ass dream, only to find myself in a familiar setting again. I was finally at home.

The first few days back on base went pretty well in my opinion. Out of the twenty of us called in, fourteen were new to ETMA, so all we had been doing since then was training. A few of us, myself included, had each been training several of the others over the years, so everyone was pretty skilled when it came to using their powers. This exercise though was mainly thought of as an icebreaker, to get to know each other more. So all in all, things worked out well!

As for that day… Ugh, one thing that I definitely did not miss while I was gone was the early morning schedule. While I was away from ETMA training new recruits, I was in charge of the whole enchilada, so that meant that I could pick and choose all the training times and everything. Not anymore, I couldn’t! So that morning, I was forced to wake up at the crack of dawn, and it was a real pain in the ass.

“Hey! Cho, time to get up!”

I slowly opened my eyes and raised my head up to see my roommate, Sammie Phoenix, prodding me on the shoulder. “Ugh… What time is it?”

“Ehm…. About 7 AM?”

“... Oh hell.” I threw myself back into my pillow with the full intention of going back to sleep. But before I knew it, I was shivering all over - Sammie had pulled the covers off of me.

I put my arms around me and curled myself up into a ball as Sammie shook my shoulder. “Come on Cho, we’ve got to get moving!”

“Says who? And why the hell are you so damn chipper?”

“Shuuhei sent out the assignments for the first mission he’s having the mages go on. And we both got picked!”

“Oh yay… Woo,” I groggily gave her a high-five. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some more sleep.”

“You can’t go back to sleep, we have to leave!”

“Augh…” I turned over onto my side and looked her in the eye. “Right now?”

“Well… Shuuhei did say to meet him in the briefing room as soon as possible, so yeah.”

“Fuck.” She had me at the word ‘mission’. Despite how early it was, there was no way I could pass up the opportunity. After all, I was actually kind of hoping I’d get the first one anyway. So how could I say no?

“Alright, alright, I’m up.” It took me a few seconds, but I finally managed to sit up onto the mattress. Yawning, I raised my hands to my face and worked to rub the sand out of my eyes. “Augh, I can’t function this early in the morning, I don’t know how you do it.”

“Heh heh, well it just takes some getting used to. You’ll get back into the swing of things before you know it! Now how about this: you go ahead and get yourself ready while I’ll go and grab us some coffee. Sound good?”

“Sure, sure, fine. I’m goin’.” Even after Sammie had left, it took me about five more minutes for me to actually get out of bed. So I went through the usual morning routine - shower, hair, teeth, clothes - as fast as I could at 7 in the morning, which was definitely a lot slower than normal. And about 30-40 minutes later, Sammie and I were on our way to the base’s main building with hot coffee in our hands and a sports bag slung over my shoulder.

“Okay,” I took a swig of coffee as I pulled up Shuuhei’s e-mail on my phone. “Let’s see what we got here…”

And the e-mail was exactly what I expected it to be- a shit-ton of words. Shuuhei did love to ramble when it came to anything, but I didn’t have the time or the patience to read it all, so I just skipped down to the bottom to see everyone assigned to that mission. Sammie and I were there obviously, and so was Joe; including him, that made three veterans going on the mission. Then three of the new recruits were coming too: Al Smith, Emma Parker, and Ren Witten.

“Huh. Okay then…” I scrolled back up to the middle to find those three names in the team roster. I knew that Ren went way back with Shuuhei, Al was one of Joe’s kids, and I remembered Emma from training. But the thing I was looking for in the e-mail was their abilities. After each name, their ability and mage classification were also listed. And according to that…

Well, Al was a water Elemental; hadn't seen many of those in a while. Then Ren was a Tectonic with bio manipulation- didn’t know what the hell that was, but whatever. The thing that got me interested though was Emma’s. She was listed as a fire user, which would’ve been pretty normal if it weren’t for the one word right next to it: Tecmentic. As to how a fire user could be a Tecmentic in the first place, I didn’t have a clue, but I figured I’d find out soon enough.

It turned out that it’d be a lot sooner than I thought. Sammie and I had reached the briefing room, and Shuuhei was waiting for us in there along with both Al and Emma.

“Morning!” As soon as I walked in, Shuuhei brought out a box of doughnuts as if it were a peace offering. “I brought breakfast!”

I eyed him suspiciously. “Uh huh, I see what you’re doing here. Don’t think you can pull one over on me, Shuuhei.” Of course, I said that as I grabbed two doughnuts and stuffed one of ‘em into my mouth.

“I know, I know, but it’s the least I could do. The fact that you all got here early shows your dedication, so you deserve this!”

“Thanks. But goddammit Shuuhei, does the mission have to be this early in the morning?”

“Eh… Kind of, yeah. You’re going overseas for this one, so it’s absolutely necessary.”

With my mouth full of doughnut, I set my sports bag down on the floor and plopped down into the seat nearest him. “Figures.”

“Well… I guess you don’t necessarily have to go. I can always assign someone else to go in your place if you’d rather sleep-in.”

I shook my head vigorously. “No no no, I’m fine! It’s all good!” I still felt like I was gonna pass out any minute, but I sure as hell couldn’t let Shuuhei down. He specifically asked for me, so I was gonna do everything in my power to deliver.

“Alright, if you’re sure…”

I leaned back and slid down in my seat as I looked up at the clock on the wall to check the time. It was almost eight, but Joe and Ren still hadn’t shown up yet, so I figured I’d kill some time until then.

“So,” I looked over at Emma and caught her attention, “you’re a Tecmentic, huh?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, I guess I am! But I’m not sure what that means though…”

“Yeah, I’ve also been curious about that,” Al nodded his head as he pulled out his phone. My guess was that he was pulling up that e-mail of Shuuhei’s from earlier. “I know that these are supposed to be mage classifications, but could someone at least explain what those are exactly? We weren’t really told anything when we first got here.”

“That is an excellent question!” I became fully alert when Shuuhei spoke. I had always dreaded hearing those words from him. “Now where should I start… Oh, right! You see, the magi-society-”

I bolted out of my chair and shoved my hand over his mouth before he could say anything else. “Don’t even think about it!”

“Come on Cho!” Shuuhei actually managed to say that and still be loud enough to hear despite having his mouth covered. “I have a really good answer for this!”

“Hell no. No one wants to hear your dissertation on ‘the Fundamentals of Mage Classification.’ We’d be stuck here for days if we let you talk!”

“But-”

“No buts! If anyone’s gonna do the talking, it’s gonna be me.” I figured we were safe at this point, so I moved my hand away. “So pipe down already!”

“Aw…” Not surprisingly, Shuuhei looked pretty disappointed there. “Well, alright.”

“Thank you.” I turned away from him to face Emma and Al. “Okay, so think back to training- both from the past few days and with Joe. You use your powers, but at some point you reach your limit and start getting really tired and can’t use your powers anymore. Am I right?”

“Yeah…” Al nodded, “But then eventually you gain all that energy back.”

“Yep, that’s right. But here’s the question you should be asking here: how? Where does all of that energy come from?”

Both of their faces were blank, which was my cue to grab a dry-erase marker and start drawing on the whiteboard. “Mage abilities are typically powered by three different sources. And as such, it’s these sources where the classifications come from.”

I started off by drawing five small circles grouped together, each one labeled with the thing it represented. “First up are these guys- the Element Spheres. There’s some big myth about it, but I’ll spare you the details, unlike somebody I know.” I looked over at Shuuhei to get my point across before turning back to Al and Emma. “Anyway, the gist of it is that the Element Spheres supposedly carry all of Earth’s magical energy or somethin’.”

I pointed with my marker to each of the circles on the board. “Each sphere represents one of the classical elements: fire, water, earth, wind, energy. So naturally, it’s these guys that power up mages with elemental abilities. It’s kinda obvious really. But yeah, we call these guys ‘Elementals’. They’re probably the most common type of mage around to be honest, since there’re so many of ‘em out there.”

"Okay," Al raised his hand slightly, “so would that also apply to mages with abilities that aren’t one of those five elements in particular? Like my dad, for instance? He can control darkness, so…?”

“Basically saying, yeah. I mean, you’re gonna have a lot of stuff that branches off from one of those main five elements. Like sand. Sand is another form of earth, and I know at least one person who can control plants. And then darkness is definitely a sub-form of energy… Point being, Elementals are really common.”

The second thing I drew was my lousy representation of the earth. “Okay, mage type number 2 is the Tectonic. They’re powered by… you guessed it- plate tectonics. Don’t ask me why, that’s just how it is. Anyway, Tectonic mages have abilities that have something to do with the physical body, whether they affect themselves or other people. More often than not, the user is affecting their own body.”

“Like my brother, right?" Emma spoke up this time. "I think the e-mail said that he was one…”

“Your brother? Yeah, let’s see…” I quickly looked through that e-mail again and found his name in the list. “Will Parker, right? Ah, so he’s an endurance-type, interesting… Yep, that definitely fits! He’s basically like a tank; you know, super resistant to physical and magi-attacks and all that. Pretty convenient!”

“But anyway, there’s a lot of variety when it comes to Tectonic abilities. Super speed, invisibility, shape-shifting, and a whole lot of other things. They’re not as common as Elementals, but still pretty common all the same.”

Then I went on to draw some stars and a few bigger circles. “The last source is the stars and planets, and they’re responsible for powering up Psychics. These are the guys with ESP. So telepathy, precognition- all of those’ll fall under that. And Psychics are pretty rare compared to Elementals and Tectonics. I’m not exactly sure why that is, but most of the Psychics you’ll come across will likely be top-notch. Heh, I actually have a friend who’s a Psychic. Really powerful and all that! But she hasn’t been around for a while…”

I didn’t know why I mentioned that in the first place. All of a sudden, it just came right out of my mouth without me even realizing it. And then there I was, thinking about her along with those other two friends of mine all over again. ‘Seph, Hans, Derek- how long had it been since I’d heard their voices, seen them smiling, laughing? I really missed those days, but nothing was the same anymore, not since that time…

It was Al’s voice that brought me back to reality. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” I grasped the back of my neck and massaged it gently. “Sure sure, I’m fine.”

Sammie saw right through me though. Before I could say anything else, she placed her hand on my shoulder. “I’ll take it from here,” she whispered into my ear.

I nodded and handed the marker over to Sammie. As she continued the mini-lecture, I moved away from the whiteboard to sit down on top a nearby table. After taking one long sip of coffee, I noticed Shuuhei standing there in front of me. Despite that blindfold hiding his eyes, I could easily tell the look he gave me was an understanding one.

He handed me another doughnut. “Here.”

I took it almost immediately. “Thanks.”

Shuuhei sat down next to me as I took one huge bite from the doughnut. “Anything you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know… I mean, it’s been seven years since the incident. That should be more than enough time for me to move on and shit, but I still haven’t been able to get over it. And it’s like everyone completely disappeared off the face of the earth! ‘Seph I could care less about, but Hans and Derek? It’s been ages since I’ve heard from them, and I haven’t been able to get in contact with them at all!”

More doughnut and more coffee. “It’s just so damn frustrating. They were my best friends, and now they’re all gone. You and Sammie are all that I’ve got left.”

There really wasn’t much else to say about it, at least with Shuuhei. He knew, he’d heard it all many times before this, and he listened every time I brought it up. Because of that, I could always rely on him when I needed that kind of support.

True to form, Shuuhei wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled himself closer so that our sides were touching. “Well, there isn’t a whole lot I can say that’ll make you cheer up, but things like this definitely take a long time to finally move on from. And I know I’ve told you this about a hundred times already, but I’m always here for you. If you ever need to talk about anything, you just say the word. I’ll drop whatever I’m doing if it’s you.”

That was exactly what I needed to hear. I leaned in against him and rested my head onto his shoulder. “Thanks Shuuhei.”

We just sat there in silence for a few minutes, eyes closed and leaning against each other. Then eventually Sammie spoke to us after finishing up with the mini-lecture. “Hey, what time were we supposed to start again Shuuhei?”

“Around eight. We’re just waiting on Joe and Ren now.”

“Well, this is Dad we’re talking about,” Al sighed as he checked his phone again. “If it’s after eight, then he’ll probably be here any minute.”

And sure enough, as if right on cue, Joe appeared in the doorway. “Good Morning! I hope I didn’t keep everyone waiting too long!”

Al rolled his eyes without even looking up from his phone. “And what do you know, there he is now.”

Coming in after Joe was a girl with short brown hair and blue eyes, and I assumed that this had to be Ren. “Sorry Shuuhei! I wanted to be here like fifteen minutes earlier, but someone just couldn’t be bothered to leave until after eight o’ clock.”

“Oh come on, I’m just having some fun. Relax!” Joe clapped her on the back. “You’re way too uptight.”

Ren sighed as she sat down in the chair opposite me and Shuuhei. “Maybe. But if there’s a specific time that I need to be somewhere, I like to get there ahead of schedule and not be late!”

“Don’t worry about it Ren, it’s not a big deal,” Shuuhei assured her. “And now that everyone’s here, let’s get down to it, shall we?”

We both stood up; while I found the chair with my sports bag and sat back down, Shuuhei remained standing. “So, we’re takin’ down a Chang-Lo op?”

“Yes,” Shuuhei nodded. “Over the past several weeks, we’ve been working to stop one particular operation of theirs involving illegal drug manufacturing. We’ve been able to uncover most of their distribution facilities and take those out, but recently there have been a few problems concerning that.”

“Meaning Melisma?”

“Yes, exactly. While those missions were successful in the long run, our agents had started to struggle completing them efficiently once Melisma mages came into the picture. And that was only with about two or three mages stationed at each facility.”

“But anyway, back to your mission. Just the other day, we finally found the location of their main factory, where they actually make the drugs. I’m almost positive that this place will be very heavily guarded with Melisma mages, so that’s why I’m sending the six of you to do this.”

“So, what do you need us to do exactly?” Sammie asked him. “Are we actually going to be destroying the factory?”

“No no, that shouldn’t be necessary.” Then he looked over in my direction. “I mean, as long as the source of the drugs has been taken care of, then that should be satisfactory enough, I think.”

I nodded. “I gotcha. So you want me to find the source and blow it all up, am I right?”

“That’s the idea.”

I smiled and got to my feet, slinging that sports bag of mine over my shoulder. “Well, blowing stuff up is my specialty! So what’re we waitin’ for?”

“Right,” Shuuhei looked between the six of us. “Well, if there aren’t any other questions, then let’s get to it.”

He pulled out from his pocket a light-blue sphere about the size of a golf ball, which Sammie, Joe and I all knew was a portal sphere. Ren at least looked a tiny bit familiar with it, while Emma and Al, unsurprisingly, had never seen anything like it before. Shuuhei caught on to that too, since he immediately went to use it and made… a portal to our destination. “A portal sphere,” he showed them before pocketing it again. “It makes travelling instantaneous! Pretty neat, huh?”

Emma nodded very enthusiastically as she followed Sammie and Ren towards the portal and stuck her head in. “Whoa, yeah! This is awesome!”

“Yep, it sure is!” Joe then motioned to Shuuhei. “And I’ve got my own for the trip back, so don’t worry about us.”

“Noted.”

“Wait a minute,” Al stopped just before the portal and turned to face Joe. “You have one?”

“Yeah. I’ve had it for several years actually.”

“.... Well if that’s the case, then why did we have to take a plane to get here?! We could’ve just used that!”

Joe turned Al back around and guided him to the portal. “I figured that it would be better if we got to spend some more quality time together. You understand, right?”

“Augh, whatever, I don’t care. Just don’t mention it to Lex, okay? She’ll be pissed as hell if she finds out.”

Eventually, it was just me and Shuuhei in the room. “Are you sure you can handle this one?” Shuuhei asked me with a concerned look. “You did only just get back and all…”

“Shuuhei, relax! I’ve got this!” I pulled the strap of my sports bag up a little to draw his attention to it. “This baby should take care of everything!”

“Alright then. Well, good luck! And just call me if you need anything, okay?”

“You got it!” I gave him a thumbs up before stepping through the portal myself and joining back up with the others. Then as soon as the portal closed up behind me, I took a look around our new surroundings.

The six of us had come out onto the roof of a large run-down looking building, apparently in the middle of nowhere. It was nighttime, so we had to be in Asia, most likely somewhere in China since it was the Chang-Los we were dealing with here. “Okay,” I sighed as I placed a hand on my hip. “Now where can we drop down…”

“There’s an open window over here!” Ren was crouched down near the edge of the roof and was looking down the building’s backside.

The rest of us approached her quietly. “Is it wide enough to pass through?” Joe asked.

“I’ll check, hang on.” She climbed down so that she was hanging from the roof, and then she swung herself through the window. After a few seconds of silence, she poked her head back out and nodded.

One by one, the rest of us out there did what Ren did and climbed down carefully until we were all safely inside the building. The window we had just come through was part of a bare empty room that we all soon left in any case. Soon enough, we came out onto a metal walkway that wrapped around the entire inside of the building. Down below on the ground level were a whole lot of machinery along with a couple of guards patrolling the area.

“Okay,” Sammie whispered, “So how do we want to go about this? Keep the stealth game up?”

Joe shook his head. “No, I think we’d be better off if we just go in guns ablazing. Besides, the Chang-Los aren’t a threat here, but Melisma is, so we’re going to need to find those mages as quickly as possible.”

“Alright,” I fingered the strap of my sports bag, “what do ya got in mind?”

“We should split up.” He gestured to himself, Al and Emma. “I’ll take these two, and we’ll act as the distraction and flush out the enemy, get as many of them onto us as possible. Then you guys can go for the drug source without too much trouble.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Al looked over the railing. “So how should we get their attention then?”

“Leave it to me.” Not even a second later, Emma had sent a fireball down to the ground, and boom- all the nearby machinery had caught on fire.

“Works for me.” Al followed Emma over the railing and down to the ground level.

Then Joe climbed onto the railing himself. “Well, good luck!”

“Yeah, you too. Don’t be too rough on those guys!”

As he jumped down after Emma and Al, Ren called down to him. “Be careful, alright?!”

“Sure, sure!”

Making sure my sports bag was secure, I started running down the metal walkway along with Ren and Sammie. “Okay! So where should we look first?!”

Sammie was the first to come up with something. “Well, this is supposed to be a factory, right?! Whatever we’re looking for is probably going to be in some kind of big container, or tank, or something like that! And it would definitely be on the bottom floor for safety reasons!”

“Alright, so we’re lookin’ for some huge-ass tank then, sounds good to me! But we should probably get as close to the other side before heading down there! We don’t wanna get in Joe’s way!” And as if right on cue, we could hear screaming enemy guards beneath us followed by lots and lots of fire.

“I’ll scout on ahead!” And just like that, Ren was dashing off at the speed of light.

We couldn’t argue with that. So Sammie and I kept pressing on down the walkway at our own pace. We ran into a few Chang-Los along the way, but they were a cinch to take care of; we didn’t even break a sweat. But something was just a little off.

Looked like Sammie thought so too. “Okay, I know that most of the guards are going to be downstairs, but why haven’t we seen anyone from Melisma yet?! You’d think they’d come for us right off the bat, right?!”

It seemed that we were tempting fate there, because right that second some flying guy appeared a few feet in front of us. “Ah, there we go!” I stopped in my tracks and got the Melisma grunt’s attention. “Hey you! Ya wanna fight, let’s go then!”

Sure enough, he came right for me. I was ready for him though. But before I could make my move, Ren came right out of nowhere and jumped straight onto the guy from above. And then just like that, she shoved him face down onto the walkway.

“Aww, come on! I was gonna get that guy!”

“We don’t have time! Let’s just get this thing over with!” Then she motioned for us to follow her. “Come on, this way! There’s a stairwell up ahead!”

We did as she said and followed her down said stairwell so that we were finally on the ground floor. And luckily for us, there just so happened to be a giant tank right there in the center.

But before we could get to that, we had to take care of some minor nuisances first. Some more Melisma grunts had shown up, including one who could control wind. Anyway, this guy sent some wind blasts my way, which to my disappointment was not even enough to shift my footing.

I shook my head very unimpressed. “You call that wind? Here’s some real wind!” I retaliated by sending a mini tornado at the guy, and it swept him up along with a few of his friends in the process. Anyway, the thing sent them flying aways back, leaving my path to the drug tank perfectly clear.

“Alright you guys, cover for me for a minute, will ya?!” I shouted over my shoulder to Sammie and Ren. “Also, once this thing blows, we’ve gotta hightail it outta here, got that?!”

“Sure thing!” Sammie replied. “I’ve got your back!”

“Thanks!” Then I went to work. I knelt down on one knee as I let the strap of my sports bag slide down into the nook of my arm. I unzipped the bag, and without further ado, I pulled out my primary weapon of choice: the green bazooka.

“Augh, the blowback’s gonna be a bitch, but who gives a shit about that now?” After pushing the now-empty sports bag back over my shoulder, I braced myself as I took the bazooka and aimed at the tank. I didn’t know how tough or sturdy that thing was, so I figured multiple shots should probably do the trick. Also, the tank itself was still pretty far away, so we’d definitely have enough time to make a break for it.

Without wasting any time, I fired three consecutive shots of energy, and a few seconds later, they gave me that explosion I’d been hopin’ for. I quickly got back up with the bazooka in hand and shouted out to the other two. “Okay you guys, let’s move it!”

They didn’t need to be told twice. The Melisma grunts scrammed once the tank blew, which left me, Sammie and Ren free to head back to the other side of the facility where the rest of our group was at. We were probably about half way there when all of a sudden, some sort of shockwave hit the ground and sent the three of us flying, through the nearest window and several feet all the way outside.

“Owww,” I groaned as I slowly got back up on my feet. Surprisingly enough, the bazooka hadn’t been blown out of my hand. “How’s everyone?!”

“Okay, I guess!” Sammie replied with a wave of her hand. She had been able to break her fall with some sort of rock wall, so she didn’t look too bad.

Ren, on the other hand…. Well, we had landed pretty close to each other, and the first thing I noticed when I went to check up on her was that her foot was bent backwards. “Holy shit, are you alright?!”

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine! Don’t worry!” She went to touch her injured foot and, wincing, was able to twist it back into place. And then at the same time, any scratches or bruises she had previously gotten were now completely gone. “There, see? Good as new!”

“Well, okay, if you say so.”

Sammie then joined us and looked back over towards the facility. “What was that anyway? It couldn’t have been from the explosion, could it?”

Ren shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure someone did that deliberately.”

“Well whoever it was, they just pissed off the wrong person!” I marched forward a few steps and fired the bazooka at the building, not even caring where I hit it. It ended up blasting a huge hole in the wall, which worked out just fine for me. Who the fuck cared about property damage anyway? Not this chick, that was for sure!

In no time at all, the three of us made it back to the building, and with me taking the lead, I stepped through the hole back inside. “Alright, who the hell did that?!”

I spotted Joe, Al and Emma right away, and then not too far away from them were two other guys. My guess was that one of them was responsible for the shockwave earlier. “You two! Who’re you, and what do you-”

Then I saw their faces. I hadn’t seen them for years, but I recognized them immediately. “... H-Hans? Derek?”

It was them alright, no doubt about it. And they sure looked surprised to see me too. “Cho?! Hey! Long time, no see!” Hans was beaming and waved at me, but Derek looked on edge. It was as if he didn’t want us to have met, and that got me suspicious.

I kept a firm grip on the bazooka as I took another step forward towards the pair of them. “What are you guys doing here anyway?!”

“Hm? Oh, well we heard there was some trouble over here, so we came over as fast as we could to help out!”

Again, that look on Derek’s face was making me a bit uneasy, and for good reason. I hadn’t heard from them in ages, and now of all times they decide to show up? Without any warning at that. Something was up…

I raised the bazooka and pointed it in their direction. “No, this is a Chang-Lo operation. So what are you doing here?”

The smile on Hans’ face faded, and he moved to scratch the back of his head- the one surefire way to tell when he was anxious. “Well, you see, umm….”

That got me thinking. They had come there to help? But how did they know about what was going on there? Unless…

“A-are you with Melisma?”

It was then that both of their faces went pale. “We need to leave,” I heard Derek mutter to Hans.

“Wait, what? B-but what about Cho?”

“We can’t stay now, we’ve said too much.”

“Hey! Are you with Melisma?! Answer me!”

As soon as I started making my way towards them, a portal appeared behind them. Then I noticed Derek holding a portal sphere. “We need to go. Right now!” He pushed Hans through before he could say anything else.

“Hey wait! We’re not done here yet, get back here dammit!”

I was too late. By the time I had reached the place where the portal was, it had already closed up behind Derek. They were gone.

From somewhere behind me, I heard Joe whip out his phone and dial a certain number. “Shuuhei? Yeah, we’ve got a problem. No no, the mission was successful, but we weren’t able to apprehend anyone. Well, because… Hans and Derek interfered, and it turns out that they’re with Melisma now.”

All I could do was stand there, staring at the spot where the two of them had been seconds earlier. At first, I couldn’t place my head around it. Why the hell would they join Melisma in the first place? They had been with ETMA for so long, and even after they left, they still had some incentive to come back one day. But then for some reason, they just abandoned that idea and went off to join an enemy organization. So why…

But then it got me thinking. While I was sure they still held a lot of respect for Shuuhei, there could only be one explanation for them joining Melisma that made any sense to me at all. Maybe they didn’t join because it was an enemy organization. What if it was because of someone they really cared about? Derek’s behavior pretty much confirmed my suspicions for me. He looked uneasy because he knew that whatever their reasoning for joining was, I wouldn’t like one bit.

What if, the leader of Melisma was… “‘Seph.”

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