#unless you happen to be a label on a crayon. then you can just say 'beetle' or smthn

[shrapnarl]

thinking about the concept of color through the lens of language again

[mochidreambubble]

From Golden Grove, Love Sunset Bird

[ongoing fic]

Ao3 link

Chapters on Tumblr ~ 1 2 3 (you're here!) 4

previous - next

{Cove was your new best friend, but your fairy pen pal was also basically your best friend. It makes sense but not to Cove, but... But why is it he thinks you could only have one best friend anyways?}

[some notes from me before I continue, or you can just scroll down to the new chapter after the linebreak.

Comes back in here with a wedding pretzel and b/w ice cream sandwich like I didn’t leave this fic for months-

Few things of note going forward:

Due to OLNF clearly still being in progress, I’ve decided to do more of the first game for now. Though, for every B&A chapter out, in future, there will be the same number of NF POVs/Centric chapters.

It’s a little sad cause I wanted to do alternative POV chapters but that would just put this whole fic on hold instead (I do have one more OLNF chapter after this, but next time it will be unlikely)

I’ve also decided not to do a linear timeline, which I think is fine cause I’ll be labelling each chapter title with the step anyways? So maybe don't expect the next chapter for the respective MCs to be in the same or the next step cause I’ll likely just go back and forth on what I feel like writing to make it easier. Unless it’s a narrative thing I wanna follow up on.

(Also due to recent developments…. Maaaaaybe I won’t be sticking to Cove/MC, at least not straightforwardly)

And done, onward to the new chapter]

Three: Beginnings & Always Step 1 ~ “Nobody said I only could have 1 best friend”

You’d like to think you don’t get into fights that often. Maybe with Lizzie sometimes , which Mom and Ma always sat both of you down for cause siblings only had each other and you should talk things out. 

But this was different. Cove was crying, which made you cry. You cried harder when he yelled that you weren’t friends anymore. What did you even do ? 

You thought Cove and you got on pretty well over this summer. It was super great to have a kid your age for once, and one who didn’t move away once summer break was over. In fact, thanks to Cove, a lot had happened in just these few months alone. You barely had the time to write to your pen pal. 

It made you feel kind of bad especially since, across the summer, you had at least 10 different postcards from them. Mom had left them in a neat pile and a colourful ribbon to make sure not a single postcard could go flying off. Which was silly because you’re sure postcards can’t fly. 

You were waiting for Cove to come over. Ma promised to let both of you decorate the cupcakes she was baking, but only after you’ve both finished your weekend homework. It was criminal (were you using that phrase right?) that teachers gave soooo much homework. It was only the third week of the new school term too. It may have been cooler but you could still smell the summer spirit in the air.

Mr Holden said Cove would be there by 3pm on the dot. You think that means that Cove will be there on time? 

You had your eyes glued to the clock in your room. But you got a little bored just looking at it, so you ended up reading the postcards your fairy friend sent instead. Their summer adventures back home were made up of carnivals (right in the middle of the city! Where did they have the space for that?) and two visits to the zoo. If not, they were spending time with their mother, on short trips to the nearest beach. There were a bunch of stickers. In fact, two postcards were mostly just stickers and a cute drawing smushed in there. Maybe they were wondering when you’d write something back…

There was one postcard scrawled with crayons that caught your eye. It was sent to you not long after the one you sent earlier in summer break. 

Is your green friend smiling now? Cove? I wanted to send you candy to give to your new friend. Candy makes me happy.

Mama laughed when she read your letter. Mama says Cove’s papa is funny. Mama also said sometimes Mamas and Papas do funny things for us. Because we are their babies. But we are not babies anymore, I dunno why she says silly things like this. 

You guess this maybe was the postcard that came with a small box of hard candies. Mom took one look at the postcard and gift and told you it was likely because these were harder to melt. It was a little sticky because of how hot it still was, you bet. But not a goopy mess.

With a quick glance at the clock, you decided you still had time. It was almost 3pm. There was totally time.

You took a piece of paper from your special drawer. It had all your sparkly pens and colour pencils. Most importantly, your pretty paper. Instead of white paper with lines, it was the colour of the sea with starfish and coral at the corners. 

Hello little fairy!

Sorry I took so long to write to you. I had a lot of things to do this summer. Cove is a lot of fun, but he’s still not very smiley yet. But I think he is magic!!! Like for realsies!!! 

You decided to start by telling the story of Cove and the Amazing Alexander. Not about how Cove’s balloon popped at the end though. It was still too sad…

You were only getting started when you heard Lizzie yell super loudly from downstairs that Cove was here. You jumped off the final two steps, touching down with a smack as your two feet landed. Mom yells out to be careful when she hears the telltale sound of what you just did.

“I’m okay!” You tell back, but you hear mom sigh. She worries about the silliest things for sure.

Cove was waiting for you, by himself, cause Lizzie had already joined Mom in the kitchen. You don’t think he waited all that long but you still felt kind of bad…

With a skip in your step, you went up to him just as he stood up, a smile on his face.

“Hi,” he greets you softly, fidgeting with his glasses. 

It wasn’t all that cold yet, but he was already sporting a long-sleeved shirt. Maybe it was just cause it had been a while since he could, since he got his cast off recently. 

“Heya Cove!” Part of you wanted to hug him, but Ma and Mom told you to still be extra careful even though he could finally get his cast off, so you made sure you smiled extra sparkly for him. “Thanks for coming over to help with the decorating!”

“Yeah, it sounded… Fun.”

You grab both his hands to give them an excited shake, but before you can lead him to the kitchen, your mom calls out from the island counter, cleaning up with Lizzie and helping dry some dishes.

“Not just yet kiddos, I’ve just put them in the oven, so it’ll be a while. How about you bring Cove up to your room, hm? I’ll call you two back down when they’re ready.”

“Yeah, I’m just helping mom cause she said I could lick the spoon for icing,” Lizzie says in her sing-song voice.

Mom makes a big show of clutching her chest. “Defeated by icing, oh Lizzie, you’re leaving your mom out to frost-”

Lizzie gives out a huff as she rolls her eyes and you giggle. “Sure thing, mom! C’mon Cove.”

He probably knows the way to your room by now, but you like holding his hand. Cove still takes the time to look around even though your room hasn’t changed since the last time he was here.

Well. Not exactly because he spots the difference right away.

“Postcards?”

Oh. Right. You spent all that time with Cove this summer, but you never really did tell him about your fairy pen pal, huh?

You pat a spot in your room for him to sit as you gather them up. “Mmhm, it’s from my friend in Chicago!”

Cove’s mouth forms an ‘O’ shape as you hand over the postcards. “How do you become friends with someone who lives far away?”

“We’re pen pals!” You say like it answers everything. Cove’s face tells you all you need to now - he was confused and your answer didn’t tell him anything, which meant he thought it was bad and unhelpful. So you grab another pile of postcards and short letters, plop down next to him and begin to explain.

Like how and why you started writing to them, who they were and details like they’re kind of like Shiloh in that they only lived with their mom, they were two years younger, they lived in the city and their home was kind of tiny, they liked doodling and collecting stickers…

Cove was already on the latest set of postcards as you add on, “And they’re my best friend!” 

It was like a magic spell was cast and turned Cove to stone because he freezes entirely. 

“...Cove?” You turn to look at them, small bubbles of panic rising.

“Your best friend?” He was whispering so softly, which didn’t help that he sounded like something was stuck in his throat. His eyebrows were slowly forming a frown.

“Y-yeah, but…. Cove, what’s wrong?” 

“B-But you said we were best friends!” He stands up with a shout, causing you to jump up too with a shock.

You did kind of say that, when Cove asked if you were friends during the sleepover but…

He was already starting to cry which made your heart fast and loud.

“Of course you are Cove!”

“But you just said I wasn’t!”

“I didn’t say that!” 

He tosses the postcard all over and stomps his foot. “Yes you did! You said your pen pal was your best friend!”

You looked at him confused and unsure, but find yourself yelling back. “Yeah! Both of you are my best friends!”

“No!” He shouts again, crossing his arms. “You can only have one best friend!”

And the two of you became stuck in a circle of yes, no and crying because all of it made you confused and upset. Why was he so mad about this?

It became so loud that Mom came up to see what was wrong. You ran over to hug and tried to explain. You’re not sure she understood you fully but she was nodding, at least. She must have called Mr Holden or something because by the time she brought both of you back downstairs still hiccuping the tears back, he had dropped in a little while later. 

He looked between you and Cove, sat on opposite sides of the sofa. You didn’t even have the energy to greet him like usual, even when he smiled at you. Mom had pulled him aside and started to whisper to him. Mom handed him a tupperbox of cupcakes - Lizzie still decorated them as she watched you from the stool she was using to reach the high counter, glancing from Mom to you and Cove. 

“C’mon Cove,” He came back over and ruffled his hair. He looked away when he realised you were watching which made you feel pain and you could feel the tears again. He gets up and follows Ciff out without any issue, and for the first time since Cove moved to Sunset Bird, he left without you saying ‘Goodbye’.

But who cares, he was being stupid. Why couldn’t he understand that you could have many precious best friends if you wanted?! Both of them were important to you after all…

And you try and explain that to Mom once Cove left, and to Ma again. If both of them could understand, why couldn’t Cove…

It had been a whole day since the fight with Cove, but you still felt upset. Not even dance practice felt fun…

Lizzie was even being nice to you, offering to play whatever game you picked once you got back. It’s things like this that make you really love her, even if Lizzie was bossy most of the time. But it still bothered you, even as you played with her, that by the time the sun was setting on a what should be a happy Sunday…

“Hey, where are you going?” Lizzie stands up just as you do, as you run back upstairs.

You were on a mission now, you decided as you grab a bunch of letters between you and your pen pal. You simply yell out as you swing the front door open that you’re going to the Holdens, your Mom yelling back Alright but you had to be back for dinner soon.

You knock with your free hand, the other squishing the small stack of paper to your body. Mr Holden opens the door with a surprise.

“Hiya Mr Holden, sorry about yesterday.”

“Oh, it’s alright. It seems like my boy made you quite upset too. But, are you here to-”

“See Cove? Yep, can I?”

You watch as Mr Holden thinks on it for a little while, then nods. “Of course, kiddo. Do you remember where Cove’s room is?”

You nod. This would be the second time you would have been there, the first was after the first day of school you had together with Cove. It was super lucky, the two of you were in the same class and your seats were side by side.

You thank Mr Holden and he heads back to the kitchen counter after he makes sure you were fully inside. You walk to Cove room door, taking a deep breath. The door opens before you even land a knock, Cove staring at you in surprise when he realised you were there.

You expected him to slam the door in your face. Lizzie does that to everyone when she’s mad…

But he just… Stands there, not even looking at you, his eyes staring right at the floor.

“Hey Cove,” you manage to say, but it was so soft that you weren’t sure about your plan anymore.

“Hi.”

Oh, at least he greeted you back, right?

“Um… So uh, I was wondering if I could come in for a bit.”

He doesn’t look up, instead shuffling back in. He left his room door open, so you walk in and close it after. You liked Cove’s room, even if it felt kind of empty at the moment. You were helping him add more to his shell collection.

Once you were both in there, standing a space apart, the silence came back. You take in another deep breath.

“Sorry!”

“ ‘m sorry.”

Huh?

Cove finally looks up at you, eyes filled with tears again. “Oh Cove, please don’t cry I’m-”

“I’m sorry,” he’s already crying but he repeats his apology again. “I still want us to be- Be friends!”

“Of course we’re still friends! Best friends even!”

“B-But-”

You take out some of the postcards from your other bestie and start to talk. “A-And you can be their best friend too! I sent them a letter at the start of summer and they sent me so many postcards and some of them were asking about you!”

He looks surprised and rubs at his eyes to stop the tears. “You told them about me?”

“Mmhm! I promise you, they’ll like you too! And we can all be best friends together so… So uh…”

You start to fumble and ramble, about how it should be fine to have more than one best friend anyways cause you should be allowed to make your own rules. And that whoever made that old rule was stupid because Cove and you could do anything you wanted to anyways!

“And you can help me write the next one too! I was gonna write about what I did this summer and you were there for almost all of it so…!!”

He nods at last, and the postcards and short letters go flying as you rush to hug him.

Mom looks at the rather thick envelope with a smile.

“You sure you got everything packed up in here, kids?”

You look to Cove and he gives a firm nod. “Yes… Uh, we made sure to read everything three times so we got everything.”

“The whooooole summer adventure,” you nod seriously, your hands together motion in a wide circle as you tell mom.

Mom laughs and ruffles both your heads, Cove ducking a little. Your mom promises to get it delivered and you grab onto Cove excitedly. You already can’t wait to hear back!

[last note from me this chapter: my friend 'weebnt_b' read through the new chapter but they're kind of not feeling too good, so if you see any mistakes, please let me know!

[the-darklings]

*kicks down your door* Can I get a whole alphabet with the psycho husband please?? (Not the sandy one thanks) 🤡

asking for lucien & trash-talking the elder? iconic behaviour. so this is for npfh!lucien/reader but the inbox still open for other characters/ships (or combos)

ADORABLE (what do they find especially endearing?)

endearing isn't a word often associated with Lucien but if there's one thing he might later down the line find somewhat amusing and kinda cute it's the willingness to oppose him, especially in a physical sense. there's little chance to win against him but deep down he might find that willingness to not back down cute/admirable, even if it's likely to come out as sardonic on his part

BARGAIN (how do they get their way?)

well, he's good at getting his way, lets just say that. towards others he's usually downright menacing but Lucien has a presence that's frightening on a good day, much less if he's actually angry. in a relationship he's def more maniable but not by much. usually if he sees something has to go one way, he's stuck in that mindset for a while, he's too individualistic for anything else which can def cause arguments/disagreements

COMMUNICATE (what is their love language?)

physical touch is a big one for him. because he allows very few lay hands on him after the kind of life he's had, so him taking pleasure from your touch is the biggest and surest way to know he cares and wants you. be it a gentle touch (rare but possible) or meaner more rough handling (careful enough not to hurt but only just), it's his secondary language of communication since he's not the talkative one especially about feelings

DEVOTED (how do they show they're serious?)

you know. just... trust me, you really know. Lucien makes no exceptions for anyone (except clara/v) so if you're his person the mere way he looks at you is different, the air around you for him is different. a massive cat that hates everyone else purring in your lap energy. there's also the fact that he actually seeks you out while he usually very much prefers to be completely alone.

ENCHANTED (what first caught their eye?)

it's unlikely the first impression was a positive either from his side or yours, or both. he doesn't really see or take note of others often. people are more background noise for him after being locked up for so long so he's still learning in that regard. but one thing you would def need with Lucien is perseverance and patience, so that dedication not to give up on him despite the prickly edges is likely the first thing he would take note of. physically you can be as beautiful as you want, he won't care about that. lust for him is nothing more than an itch. you could try and wear him down and get him to fuck you but don't expect it to mean anything to him or for him to come back for seconds, he doesn't operate that way.

FLIRTY (how do they flirt?)

his flirting is honestly more sly, mean-edged wordplay. he's not the flirty type to begin with so don't expect anything flustering (unless you're more into the rough-spoken/meaner wordplay) but you being clingy after he returns from a long period away would certainly prompt a few comments.

GENTLE (how do they provide comfort?)

again, not particularly amazing with words, and even worse with comfort. he's not the mopey type and will not sit around handing you tissues. if someone hurt you? they're dead, simple as. but if it's being upset by some outside factor, he would likely have a hard time wrapping his mind around it (more so a consequence of his lifestyle/upbringing) so the more likely course of action would be a distraction. whether this is physical or activity-based is up to you.

HOT (what is their favourite look on their partner?)

something easy for him to rip off your body, also enjoys you naked in nothing but his shirts. he's really tall (like the man is 6.1 1/5) so anything of his usually hangs down to your tighs. he also likes the easy access : )

INTIMATE (what kind of date do they like?)

he's not really the dating type. spending time together in silence or murmurs of quiet conversation is usually as close you come to a date. sometimes, if needed for a job for the pit, you might tag along if he needs to go pay a visit at a club etc. then maybe some dancing. he's not half bad at it, either. but he def enjoys watching you if you dance, his eyes are unlikely to slip away once.

JEALOUS (how jealous are they? how do they show it?)

oh, he gets jealous alright. if you're the exception, you're the exception. he won't share you with anyone except clara but that's a topic for another time. he's not about to go alpha male type but the air around him is chilling. he trusts you (if you managed to wear him down enough to be with him, he knows you're not some flimsy wet wipe who's easily swayed) but the other party can def get into trouble. also most certainly expect some rough sex that evening, he's far greedier but equally so more attentive.

KARMA (how do they apologize?)

he has a hard time apologising. not because he can't accept the fact that he's done something wrong/is prideful but mainly because things people do get upset about often seem so trivial to him. again, more so a byproduct of the life he's had opposed to any actual unwillingness to say sorry. actual words would likely only leave his lips if something major has happened.

LUST (favourite thing about their partner?)

willingness to stick by him because he knows full well he's not the easiest crayon in the box to colour your life with. physically, likely laugh and durability : )

MEMORY (what's their favourite memory together?)

likely the first kiss but for different reasons. for you, it's a victory and confirmation you're feelings are not once sided after a sizable struggle to get closer to him while for him it's likely the first time in years he's felt a physical draw that goes beyond just wanting to scratch an itch. also, first person besides clara he felt anything other than indifference or hatred towards. the memory itself is a searing thing infused with passion so it's certainly one to remember.

NORMAL (what does a normal day look like for them?)

there's no such thing as "normal" with him. Lucien isn't around often (at least not initially or for a while) so time together is savoured. Lucien tends to wake up early (he doesn't sleep much in general) and does long morning workouts to burn off the edge of violence constantly swimming in his blood. the most likely way to wake up in the mornings if he's around is to feel his mouth and hand on your or hear the shower start. he's not opposed to you joining him.

OBVIOUS (how do they show they're together?)

while Lucien is not the most PDA-friendly person, he would eventually get used to someone's presence at his side and, as such, not move away from any physical touch outright. nor does he mind - and even prefers - to touch you occasionally in public. these displays are usually only limited to when you're home at the pit of vipers, however, as there's still safety and prying eyes to consider.

PEACE (how do they relax together?)

usually in his room, regardless of the actual activity. Lucien enjoys fresh air though (old lingering unease about being trapped between walls) so expect to spend a fair amount of time upon the Pit of Viper's roof terrace and surrounded by clara's plants, flowers and herbs. there's bustling sounds of the city around you but it's like a small corner of paradise that's almost kissing the skyline.

QUIET (what can they do together without talking?)

Lucien enjoys training a fair amount to help himself focus and burn energy off, so he would be happy for you to join in or simply watch. in the same vein, he doesn't enjoy silences (despite not being very talkative himself) so he does listen to a fair amount of music; anything to fill the quiet. he would be happy to try some of your hobbies eventually too, as long as they're not too irritating.

ROMANTIC (what kind of gifts do they give?)

once more not typical boyfriend material where you can be expected to be pampered and showered with gifts. presents from lucien are few and far in between (and pretty much non-existent during initial paces of relationship) he doesn't believe loyalty can be expressed in presence, and loyalty is higher for him on the scale than love. that being said, eventually, you can def expect one or two things down the line. they're more like to be meaningful and have meaning. likely a show that though he's not the most chatty-cat out there, he always listens and nothing escapes his notice, especially when it's you.

SLEEP (how do they sleep together?)

with you likely tucked under his chin or his arm an iron band around your waist holding you to him. this does take a while to fully bloom into effect though since initially he can be a bit callous in this regard.

THOUGHTFUL (what small things do they do for each other?)

the big one Lucien appreciates more than most is the ability to recognise when he needs space because his mindset is in a dark place. for you, it's the smaller things like finding covers pulled up over your naked body although the other side of the bed is long since cool. or how despite you both knowing he needs to leave, the ever-building sense that he lingers for as long as he can each time, as if some part of him isn't happy to be leaving as it once was.

UNITY (what would their wedding be like?)

not the marrying type. just straight up. again believes loyalty is expressed in a different sense and his devotion is concrete, so he sees little reason to attach any labels or papers on what you have.

VIBRANT (what always makes them smile?)

very little does. with what he's been through his smiles are elusive and incredibly hard to come back (unless they're more insincere/sarcastic things because then they're more common) but way down the line there might be few instances when you feel his mouth stretching against one side of your head if you rush to greet him after one of his returns. they're private and tucked away from anyone's eyes, however.

WHISPER (what pet names and compliments do they use?)

"pretty girl" : )

XOXO (how do they kiss?)

except bruising and hard, very intense. lip bites. few chances to draw breath because he's on you at once. he very much enjoys it if its intensity returned. scratch those nails down his neck, rip at his hair - he welcomes all of it.

YEARN (what do they do when they're apart?)

you likely have plenty to do around the Pit even if not officially one of the Vipers, and he's away making sure no enemies can blindside the Pit which more often than not means murder. minds mutually wonder towards each other often though.

ZOOM (what's their favourite picture together?)

most likely a picture either Step or Noah managed to grab of you together in a little Pit gathering/dinner. Lucien is likely facing away from the camera, unimpressed by whatever is happening, and you're caught mid-laugh. casual at first glance until you look closer and note how you're leaning into him and his head is lowered towards you, his arm half curled around you.

[underfell-crystal]

Item #: SCP-4885

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: Currently, it is only theorized that SCP-4885 is contained. To further elaborate, SCP-4885 is contained within an unknown Class-17 Containment Chamber in an unknown site. In the event that SCP-4885 breaches containment, Procedure Invenient Eum is to be enacted, which consists of the following procedures:

Thirty six Class-17 Containment Chambers are to be connected to an independent self-driving vehicle. At all times, 216 inactive Containment Chambers are to be readily available in case of sudden and unforeseen breach of SCP-4885's containment.

One D-Class subject of stable mental health is to be submitted into the vehicle, and driven into the system. A cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generator is to choose a random number between one and thirty-six, and the vehicle is to be transported to a Containment Chamber based on the number chosen.

Each Containment Chamber has a single digital monitor that is capable of outputting video at 720p resolution. Once a D-Class subject is transported to a random chamber, a message is to be sent to every monitor simultaneously. This message consists of the current location of SCP-4885, delivered via an implanted tracking device. The GPS is only accessible by Level 5 Personnel or SCP-4885 containment staff on a need to know basis.

After approximately two hours, each containment chamber is to be transported to a randomly designated Foundation site via self-driving trucks. The trucks are to be disguised as a packaging service in order to prevent suspicion. In the event an accident occurs during this stage, Procedure Invenient Eum is to be enacted again.

No personnel who are aware of SCP-4885's existence are to go within 100 meters of any Class-17 Containment Chamber. Several signs and warnings have been placed around each chamber, labeling it as a water treatment room, and that attempted access is punishable by immediate amnestication and loss of employment as decided by the Ethics Committee.

These warnings tell personnel to report to a nearby Automated Site Overseer of any leaks from the chamber, in which the person will be visually amnesticized by the Overseer, and Procedure Invenient Eum will be reenacted. For more information regarding the composition of Class-17 Containment Chambers, please consult Document 7631.00.

Currently, SCP-4885-1 instances that are located via far2.AIC are contained within Location i. The whereabouts of Location i is only known to far2.AIC. Currently, far2.AIC is connected to 80% of CCTV security cameras within the United States, and 40% of total CCTV security cameras on Earth.

SCP-4885-1 instances discovered by far2.AIC will have specialized Foundation carrier drones to be dispatched and attempt to grab the body, and carry it to Location i, using routes that minimize the chance of unwanted civilian interference. In the event that a civilian notices a drone and SCP-4885 breaches containment, the drone will send an "All Alert" message to SCP-4885's containment team, and Procedure Invenient Eum will be enacted.

In the event that Location i's whereabouts are discovered at large, the next personnel located within Document PAINT-THE-TOWN-YELLOW will establish the next Location i, and their immediate family will be notified of their death.

Description: SCP-4885 is an anomalous humanoid resembling the main character of the popular series of puzzle books "Where's Wally?" (known in the US as "Where's Waldo?"). This entails that SCP-4885 wears a horizontal red and white striped shirt, a red and white bobble hat, and jeans. However, a noticeable difference in appearance from the character is the entity's paler skin and the lack of eyes.

In the event that a subject knows of SCP-4885's current location at any given time1, SCP-4885 will move to the nearest wall and begin to "phase" into it. SCP-4885 will appear inside of the subject, and will reach up the esophagus and grab the subject's chin through their mouth.

SCP-4885 will then proceed to pull themselves through the subject, destroying their internal organs and their spine. Once this has occurred, a yellow liquid will exit the corpse's mouth and will cover the subject entirely, which causes it to become an SCP-4885-1 instance. SCP-4885 will remain in its current location, occasionally patrolling the area, until another person discovers its location once again.

However, if SCP-4885 is close enough to the subject when they discover its location, they will instead approach the subject, attempt to climb into the subject's mouth, enter their abdomen and exit their body through the subject's pelvis. During this time, SCP-4885 can easily dislocate/relocate any joint in its body, and its skin and muscles will gain the consistency of a malleable solid, allowing it to easily climb into and out of the subject.

SCP-4885-1 instances are anomalous corpses that were created by SCP-4885. The entire body of an SCP-4885-1 instance is covered in illustrations similar to those found in Where's Wally? books, with many different characters appearing on the instance's skin. These illustrations originate from the liquid that exits the corpses' mouth. Currently, no instances of the cartoon character "Wally" have been found on an SCP-4885-1 instance. These illustrations cannot be removed from the subject unless the skin it is placed on is removed.

If a subject knows the location of any given SCP-4885-1 instance, SCP-4885 will teleport itself to the subject and kill them in the exact same manner as if they discovered SCP-4885 itself. This will also transform them into an SCP-4885-1 instance.

SCP-4885 was discovered residing in [LOCATION REDACTED] within a small wooden house. Mobile Task Force Chi-19 ("Unrelenting Punishment") was sent to capture an entirely separate anomaly, and did not know of SCP-4885's existence.

Subjects: Amelia Merrick (M-1), James Klein (M-2), Kurt Stoll (M-3)

[BEGIN LOG]

M-1: Mic check.

M-2: Yup.

M-3: All good.

M-1: Equipment check.

M-2: Everything's working as intended.

M-3: Ditto.

M-1: Transcript number… 67. We are entering the house.

M-3: No one's talking to you Melly.

M-2: Oh, stop it. Now is not the time, Kurt.

M-3: Heh, right, sorry.

The group enters the house.

M-1: Initial descriptions of the object were a pair of black spectacles capable of killing the user, and covering their body in strange pictures from an unknown children's book.

M-3: It was obviously Where's Wa-

M-2: Kurt, stay professional.

M-3: I just want to bring some life into M-1's robotic speech.

M-1: I'm trying to keep my job, Kurt.

M-2: Ahem.

M-1: Sigh Right.

The group search the ground floor for the object, and begin to go upstairs. Scraping noises are heard below them, but the group does not notice this.

M-3: There's a picture on the wall.

M-1: Hmm?

M-3: Yeah, looks weird. Looks like crayon.

M-2: Take a picture.

M-3: Already on it.

him.png

The image taken by M-3.

M-2: Good. Think it has something to do with the anomaly?

M-3: Of course. It looks like Waldo.

M-1: Do any of you have an idea on where the object may be?

M-3: Er, I think it's in here.

M-1: Which room is this?

M-3: Um… Bathroom. There's a toilet and a… a shower, yeah. At least I think it's a shower.

The room is circular, with a normal porcelain toilet at the other side of the room. There is a small depression into the floor, leading to a small drain.

M-2: Strange… what kind of shower is this?

M-1: There is a modified sprinkler on the ceiling. There's a switch on one side of the room that, I assume, would activate the sprinkler. Seeing as this house has been abandoned for several years, I doubt it would work.

M-3 activates the switch. Water begins to come out of the sprinkler.

M-1: I stand corrected. Who is paying the water bill for this to work? Is it still hot?

M-3 touches the water, and immediately recoils in pain.

M-3: Gah… it's scalding.

M-1: Who is…

M-2: I have discovered the object. It was rested… uh, resting on the toilet.

M-2 is seen holding a pair of black circular glasses. The lens appear to be missing.

M-1: Good. You know the drill.

M-2 carefully examines the object, checking for fingerprints or any other traces of evidence. A small set of fingerprints are discovered on the temples of the glasses, which are revealed to be his own.

M-2: Yup, these are the ones. I'll put these in a baggie real quick.

M-2 produces a plastic bag from a small container around their waist, and places the glasses inside.

M-3: There's an inscription here. It's in… uh, [REDACTED].

M-1: Where?

M-3: Over here, on the wall.

The phrase "[REDACTED]" is seen on the wall in [REDACTED].

M-3: This was definitely not here when we first got here. Should we just leave it be and tell command about this, or?

M-2: It's most likely memetic. Here. let me translate it. I have training.

M-2 takes out a small Foundation-made translator, and inputs the phrase.

M-2: Huh, well never mind, doesn't appear to be memetic. It says… "The basement. The corpses from a child's book are in the basement. He is there too. Fr-. " And then it cuts off.

M-3: Hm. Take a picture and we'll send it ba-

M-2 begins to groan and hold their stomach.

M-3: Are you okay? What happened?

A set of fingers exit M-2's mouth, and grab their jaw. The hands push down, launching the jaw across the room. SCP-4885 exits M-2's body.

M-1: W-what the f-

Both M-1 and M-3 begin shooting at SCP-4885. The entity charges towards M-1 and shoves their fingers down their throat, and begin clawing into their mouth by unhinging their jaw.

M-3: Please, fuck, oh god. P-please, command. We're at [LOCATION REDACTED]. I repeat, [LOCATION REDACTED]. We need assistance, asap. Help. HE-

The audio is abruptly severed.

[END LOG]

When the transcript was received by a nearby site, the site almost immediately went into lockdown as SCP-4885 killed most of its personnel. The O5 Council enacted an emergency meeting, and Procedure Invenient Eum was created. Shortly after this, the procedure was enacted, and SCP-4885 was theorized to be contained. All information regarding SCP-4885's location of discovery was removed via an automatic algorithm, and SCP-4885's file was created.

You had this bitch on standby didn’t you

[mirkwoodshewolf]

We’ll make it work; Wanda x Vision x child reader

*Author’s note*

Hey guys well it’s been a LOOONG time since I posted something OUTSIDE of the Bohemian Rhapsody/Queen fandom. So I hope that my marvel readers enjoy this cute little fic that had been on my wattpad inbox since like last Sept. And I PROMISE to those anons who have sent me requests from Doctor Who and a couple more marvel stuff, I WILL GET TO YOUR REQUESTS ASAP. So I’ll stop here for now and let you all enjoy this cute little fic :)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@ixchel-9275

@queensdivas

@platawnic

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

_______________________________________________________

They said it couldn’t be done.  Hell everyone would say it was downright unnatural but yet it was finally happening. After the whole battle with Thanos and managing to bring everyone back, Wanda and Vision settled down together in a quiet suburban home in upstate New York.

They built their house from the ground up using their own two hands and decided that now with the white picket fence home, they could now start thinking about having a family together.  Now of course Vision being a machine he can’t physically reproduce but as luck would have it, there was an orphanage just 30 minutes from where they lived.

Wanda submitted an application to the orphanage introducing themselves and what their preference for adopting was.  They had agreed on wanting to adopt a little girl, preferably around 4-6 years old. With some interviews, home visits, and looking through the files, Wanda and Vision finally came to an agreement on their dream child, young (Y/n) (l/n).  

An orphan that was brought to the orphanage after her mom gave birth to her in prison.

Her parents were would-be-robbers who mostly robbed homes or cabins but then they got cocky hoping to rob a bank.  Unfortunately they were caught right before they got even a foot away from the bank.  It was there her mom found out she was pregnant and gave birth in prison before the foster system brought her to the orphanage.

After reading her backstory, Wanda and Vision knew immediately they wanted to have her.  So she called the orphanage and set up a meet and greet and in one week they would get to meet their future daughter.

When the day arrived, Wanda and Vision (in his human disguise) drove up to the orphanage where they met the Head organizer Ms. Eliza Soo.  She asked them some questions that weren’t on the application like what their current jobs were, and since they were publicly named heroes, that they had their powers under control for the sake of their future daughter.

The two heroes assured Ms. Soo that they had full control of their powers and do not intend on showing their powers before young (Y/n) unless she asks them to. After about 15 minutes of chatting away, Ms. Soo told them.

“Alright. Now unlike most meet and greets that other orphanages do, we personally would like to see how the potential parents interact with our children. Instead of trying to force the child to talk in a room with 2 strangers, we ask that the potential adopters meet the child in the Playroom. Are you two up for that?”

“Yes of course. I personally understand what it feels like. For most of my childhood it was only my brother and I for years before he…...” Wanda said.  At the mention of her brother, tears flickered in her eyes but Vision took her hand in both of his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“My wife lost her brother just shortly after we met. They were both orphaned when they were 10 years old back in her old home of Sokovia.”

“Oh I’m so sorry Ms. Maximoff, my condolences on your loss. I lost my brother around that age too. Gunshot by a rival gang member.” She took a deep breath in before exhaling out. “Now then, (Y/n) should already be heading towards the playroom if not already there by now. Allow me to escort you there so that you three may get acquainted with each other.” The three of them stood up and Ms. Soo guided them out of her office and down the hall.

They soon reached a room that was labeled at the top of the door PLAYROOM. Decorated all over the door were various art projects that the kids have done and at the bottom there were their names and ages.

“Now we’ll just observe you guys from the double-sided mirrors and see how you guys interact with her. If we see that there’s a connection, then we can proceed with the legal adoption.”

“Thank you Ms. Soo.” Vision said.  She nodded and walked off leaving the couple alone by the door.  The two of them looked at each other and Wanda asked her husband and partner.

“You ready?”

“If you are, then so am I.” Vision responded.  Wanda then reached for the doorknob and turned it on its side to open it up.

When they stepped into the room, it was completely filled with every kid of children’s toys imaginable from toy cars and trucks, dolls and action figures, even a small TV with a videogame console.  There was also drawings hung up along the wall just like there were on the door.

Soon their eyes came to young 4 year old (Y/n) (L/n).  She was at a small circular table with some paper and crayons surrounding her.  Happily humming to herself as she continued to draw on the paper.  When she saw Wanda and Vision, her head tilted to the side like an intrigued puppy.

“Are you my new mommy and daddy?”

“We—we hope to be.” Answered Wanda.  A wide smile soon spread across her face and she raced right up to them and immediately embraced Wanda.  Once she felt that little girl embrace her, a warm sensation fell over her and she already felt that maternal instinct take over.  Wanda knelt down and embraced young (Y/n) and she said. “So what is it you were drawing?”

“Come look. I’ve been working really hard on it!” like every excited child that wanted to show off their accomplishments, she dragged them both to the table and they all sat down around it and she began to show them all the drawings she’s done.

Some of them were drawings of herself out in a flower field, with her favorite animals, but one picture struck out to the two of them.

“What is this picture of (Y/n)?” Vision said as he held up a picture of (Y/n) standing between two adult figures.  But they had no hair or facial features drawn yet.

“That’s a picture of me with my new family. I…..I didn’t want to finish it till I knew it was for real. Are you guys really gonna be my new parents?” Wanda smiled and gently placed her hand on top of (Y/n)’s head and stroked down it.

“If Ms. Soo thinks we’re good with you, then yes. We will be.”

“I know one way that can help you, follow me!” she then stood up and raced over to the toy chest and opened it up.  Inside were dozens of costumes ranging from feather boas, to every kind of hat imaginable. Donated Halloween costumes, and even some props. “Since you guys are real life heroes, do you think we could play superheroes?”

Both Vision and Wanda were a little hesitant but after seeing the hopeful look in (Y/n)’s face, they agreed.  So they want up to her and they dug through the costume chest to see what all they could find.

With the wide imagination (Y/n)’s had, her and Wanda would be the heroes while Vision was to play the giant fire breathing dinosaur.  They stacked up some blocks for the town and places the toy cars to make it feel like an actual city.  

Watching them through the double-shift mirror, Ms. Soo along with some of the other workers watched the two former heroes interact with (Y/n).

“Seems (Y/n) has finally found the family she’s always wanted.” Said one of the female workers.

“I agree.” Said a male worker.  Ms. Soo who had been watching with interest, began to realize that maybe her employers were right.

After about 10min. of playtime and just getting to know her a bit more, that’s when Ms. Soo stepped into the room.  Her face was stoic as she looked at the three of them.

Wanda and Vision stood up and Vision asked.

“Ms. Soo, is there something wrong?”

“No. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen all that I’ve wanted to see. And……you guys have proven to me that you’re meant to be her future parents.”

“Really Ms. Soo?! Wanda and Vision are gonna be my new mommy and daddy?” (Y/n) asked excitedly.

“Indeed they are. We’ll have the legal forms printed out and have you both sign them. Then in a couple of weeks you can officially move in with them to your new home.” Ecstatic about the news, (Y/n) jumped up and down happily cheering at the fact she now had a new mom and dad, not only that but her new parents were Scarlet Witch and Vision.

“Thank you Ms. Soo. Thank you.” Wanda said happily.

“No need to thank me. You’re truly shown me that you both are the perfect couple to take her in.”

So for the next couple of weeks, Wanda and Vision signed any legal papers that the orphanage would send to them, get (Y/n)’s room ready for her and buy her some new toys, clothes and get her bed all made up.

Vision was currently outside building the playground that they wanted (Y/n) to play in the backyard.  It wasn’t anything grand just the basic swing set and jointed mini-clubhouse.  But as he was reading the instructions for how to hook the swings up that’s when he heard the gossiping voices of one of the neighbors next door, Karen and Felicia.

“Have you heard about the couple next door adopting a kid?” asked Felicia.

“Yes. That poor kid, having to be adopted by a bunch of freaks.” Karen mouthed out.

“I mean Wanda’s an okay girl, but I just worry about that boyfriend of hers.”

“Like he’s a freakin machine! You’ve seen all those robot shows. What if he goes all Terminator on that poor little girl?”

“I’d feel safer if her and Wanda bailed when that robot isn’t looking.”

“Amen to that sister. Oh! Did you see the recent Housewives of Orange County….” At this point Vision stopped working and went back inside.

He phased through the wall before levitating himself up towards the master bedroom and just stood there with an array of emotions buzzing about his head. Anger, fear, hurt, heartbroken, but most of all doubt.

Was he really able to take care of a child….scratch that a human being? He was an android after all.  What hope could he possibly have of taking care of a human child? He couldn’t taste properly so there’s no way he’d be able to cook for his new daughter.  There are some human emotions that he still has trouble deciphering, so how would he know what his daughter was feeling, especially once she reached her teenage years?

“Vis?” Wanda’s voice called out to him.  He looked up and saw Wanda kneeling in front of him.  Vision soon took notice that he was now on the floor, his knees curled up close to his chest, his back up against the wall. “Are you okay?”

“Wanda I—”

“Shhh, calm down. Breathe for me.” She placed her hand to the side of his head, her fingers gently brushing against his temple and he closed his eyes taking in a few deep breaths.  “You okay now?”

“Yes. Forgive me I—don’t know what came over me.”

“You were having an anxiety attack.”

“How—how is that possible?” Vision asked.  He was an android how could he have an anxiety attack?

“I don’t know.”

“Well we’ll—we’ll worry about how that’s possible later. Do you want to tell me what it was all about?” Vision looked down with regret and he whispered softly.

“I was a fool to think I could do this.”

“What? What are you saying?”

“Me. Being a—a father. To a human child.”

“What? Vision why—why would you say something like that?”

“I’m not fully human Wanda. I mean yes I can pull the disguise but—when it all comes down to it I’m a machine. After all I was originally supposed to be Ultron’s Vision.”

“But you’re not…….”

“There could be another threat. A threat that—puts you and our……I’m sorry Wanda. I shouldn’t have even spoken up about this.”

“Hey, hey, hey, look at me. Look at me Vision.” She cupped the side of his face. Her eyes filled with concern as her brow furrowed to match the concern in her eyes. “There is nothing wrong with speaking up about something like this. I’m scared too.”

“But you’re at least human. What if I—what if I hurt her?”

“You won’t.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because I feel you. Just you. And when we played with (Y/n) just two weeks ago, I could feel just how happy you were. You will not hurt her.”

“But what if…..”

“Stop.” She held out her hand as she spoke softly.  She then moved her hand and gently with her powers, showed Vision a memory of when they first met (Y/n).

Specifically the memory of when both him and (Y/n) were playing together.  It was when she (as the superhero) had slain the reptile creature and he allowed her to climb on top of him and do a victory pose with her fake sword and shield.  After awhile that’s when he suddenly came back alive and he began to playfully tickle her.

After seeing that memory, Vision turned to Wanda and she said with a warm smile.

“That’s how I know you won’t hurt her. After just knowing her for that short 10min. of playtime. You were just like how my father was with me. Kind, caring, and a heart full of love.”

“You do realize I don’t actually have a heart right?” she arched her brow at Vision annoyed. “Right, sorry.”

“You know what I mean. What I’m trying to tell you Vis is that it doesn’t matter whether your human or machine, (Y/n) loves you for who you are, who you’re going to be to her. You’re the only father she’ll never know. And as long as you care and love her, it doesn’t matter what you look like.” Vision nodded and said to his love, tears flickering in his eyes.

“Thank you Wanda. Thank you.”

“I love you Vis. So does (Y/n). I won’t deny that we’ll probably make a million mistakes but so long as we both love her together, I know we’re doing something right.” The two of them shared a soft but loving kiss before embracing each other.

In a few days (Y/n) was soon moved into her new home and just like Wanda told him, they both loved and gave her the care she was denied from her birth parents.

Of course there were the skeptical neighbors but Vision hardly paid them any mind now, because as long as he was loved by his new daughter, that’s all that mattered to him.  

Also I won’t confirm or deny that when Wanda finally found out just who was responsible for putting doubt into Vision’s head in the first place, she may or might not have given Karen visions of her worst memories and fears, while making Felicia think she had a poltergeist in her house.

[dyanlzbb]

Bucky and the Toy Phone (2/3)

Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x OFC

Word Count:  2072

Warnings:  none that I could think of.

Bucky took his time to sort out his feelings. He tried to read, to watch movies, to take long walks in the park... but during those activities all he could think of was Chiara and Ethan. And her ex… he was fearing that he may come back one day and be interested in them, reducing his chance to be in their lives to a zero.

Pepper invited more often Chiara and Ethan with the excuse of work and sharing anecdotes before her daughter was born. But they knew perfectly that the reason behind all of those invitations was to make her and Bucky to interact with mixed effects.

Some days, Bucky would start a conversation with Chiara only to be interrupted by Ethan throwing a tantrum or trying to get full attention from his mother. Some days, Ethan wanted to play with Bucky and Steve, usually letting Bucky to play the bad guy against Captain America and his tiny sidekick.

Sam noticed the conflictive attitude from the boy and stated to call him little devil. He even mentioned once that Ethan was jealous of Bucky and that was the reason behind his hesitancy.  

Chiara and Ethan became regulars in the Avengers compound; they visited at least 3 times a week, sometimes every day. That was until Chiara got really sick. For days, Chiara had been under the weather, but she still needed to go to work and care for her son.

However, she couldn’t run far from illness for too long. It didn’t help that Ethan’s usual nanny had to attend a congress from college during that week. So on top of her usual work and being a single mother, Chiara had to deal with a very aggressive flu.

Luckily her boss noticed the red watery eyes, the running nose and the coughing and sent her home for the weekend a lucky Thursday. Chiara was grateful until she realized that Ethan was especially energetic that day. On their way home he kept pointing at every car, house and tree he could see.

She entered home and put Ethan down in the living room while she went to serve the take away food she got before picking up the boy from school, in no way she wanted to make dinner under her condition. After they ate, she poured a cup of tea and sat in the couch watching over Ethan who was drawing on the coffee table.

Ethan was coloring a page from a Power Rangers coloring book and turned to show his work to his mother, just to find her sleeping. He moved closer to her and tried to open her eyes, just to listen to her grunting and turning over a bit. Ethan stared once again at his mother and stayed still for over a minute. Nothing changed; his mother wasn’t paying attention to him.

So he did what any reasonable toddler would do, he went to grab some toys from his room and brought them to the coffee table, being one of them, the toy phone that his uncle Tony gave him.

The thing with that particular toy phone is that, as always, Tony went over the top with it. So when Ethan was playing after his mother took an involuntary nap, he pressed the number 0 and the button on the side and was connected to F.R.I.D.A.Y. immediately.

The I.A. voice spoke to the boy. – Ethan, how can I be of assistance today? – Tony had programmed a direct line in case of an emergency, something that Ethan could dial easily in case he needed an Avengers intervention. He never imagined that the kid would call him accidentally, which was obvious if you think about it, unless you’re the genius Tony Stark.

The little one wasn’t scared of the I.A. voice. You could blame the TV and all of the internet apps of him being familiar with a mysterious voice, so the boy wasn’t afraid to converse with the immaterial being – Yes, wanna call Bucky. – He was the first person that came to his mind.  

Over the previous weeks, Bucky tried to get close to Ethan and Ethan was happy to get his attention. Not only because he was friends with Captain America, one of his heroes… but because he really liked Bucky, but somehow he also couldn’t stand him at times.

Following the instructions from Tony, the I.A. connected the call to the Avenger in question.

Bucky was exercising at the gym. Doing repetitions was the best way he found of thinking through what was happening around him. And it was a distraction from thinking how he still liked Chiara and how Ethan sometimes seemed to like him and sometimes wanted him as far away as possible from his mother. Which the others said it was normal for a child his age since he was getting to the Oedipus complex.  

He was immersed in his thoughts when F.R.I.D.A.Y. called for him. – Mr. Barnes, you have a call request, shall I connect it to your mobile?

It took him by surprise, he usually never get calls and he could count with one hand the number of people who has his number or wanted to talk to him. – Sure. – He went to his phone and pressed the answer button to receive the call. – Hi, this is Bucky, who’s calling?

-          Hello, this Ethan.

-          Ethan? – Bucky was surprised to hear the little boy’s voice, he wasn’t sure he knew how to make a call. He tried to contain his panic keeping at by the thoughts of Chiara and Ethan having an accident or worst. - What are you doing? Does your mother know you’re calling me?

-          No, she sleep. – Ethan replied casually.

-          Are you in danger? – Since he was doing fine, then it had to be something else.

-          No. But mommy is sick.

-          Are you alone? – Bucky heard the boy saying yes and his mind started to race 100 mph with all of the things that could go wrong when you have a little kid home alone. - Do you want me to come and check on your mom?

-          Yes please.

-          Don’t move Ethan until I come and get you.

-          Okey! See ya! – The boy said casually not knowing the storm he created in Bucky.

Bucky just had time to put on a jacket and grab the keys of one of the many cars that Tony had in the garage. He was halfway to the car when he realized something: he had no idea where Chiara lived. A little ashamed of having overlooked such an important detail, he called for help. - Umph, F.R.I.D.A.Y. do you have Chiara’s address?

Of course the I.A. had the address. - I have sent it already to your mobile Mr. Barnes. I also must tell you that the key to her apartment is in the common room, it is perfectly labeled on the first drawer from the right.

-          Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y.

Bucky went back to retrieve the key which truly was perfectly labeled as “CHIARA”, went back to the garage and hurried to the apartment. He was preoccupied that something bad had happen to Chiara. He just knew she was sick and Ethan was home alone. A bunch of scenarios crossed his mind. But he gave himself some time to grab some medicines for her.  

With each passing light he grew anxious about the little boy being alone. Finally he arrived to the building marked on the GPS and hurried to number 3B. Even when he was extremely unsettled, his training as the Winter Soldier prevailed allowing him to open the door. At the sight of him, Ethan ran full throttle and threw his arms around his legs as a greeting.  

Bucky felt relief at once, he unruffled his hair and looked around. He then saw Chiara. The position in which she was sleeping surely would let her neck in pain when she wakes up. So he turned to Ethan and whispered. – Let’s take mom to bed, shall we? – And Bucky entered, closed the door and moved to carry her.

Ethan nodded enthusiastically and ran to show Bucky his mother’s room. Bucky couldn’t help noticing her beauty. He was mesmerized by her full lips and the rhythm of her breathing.  He put her to bed, took off her shoes and made sure she was comfortable before turning to deal with the little devil.

He closed the door and turned to Ethan. – Well, pal, now… what were you doing when you called? – Ethan showed him his coloring book but decided it was more important to show Bucky the apartment paying special attention to his room and his Iron Man toys. After the mini tour and having found another book that needed color, Bucky went to the kitchen to make some chicken soup and clean a little bit what he could find.

Chiara woke up when the sun was down in bed and was scared when she noticed the hour. She knew Ethan was alone. She felt ill still, weak but she had a responsibility with her son. So imagine her surprise when she went out and saw Ethan and Bucky having dinner and discussing school.

- Then what did the miss said when you took your crayons from the girl? – Bucky asked completely immerse in their conversation.

- She says… she says to share them, like with Benji… but it was my turn!

- Of course it was your turn!  She already had them for her flower.  

Listening to a contained giggle that became a cough Bucky looked up to find Chiara smiling. Despite having red puffy eyes because of the flu, he found her beautiful. In that precise moment he understood how smitten he was. He didn’t want to deny it anymore. Yet the excited squeal from Ethan brought him back to reality. Because Ethan was Chiara’s priority and he didn’t know if he fitted into that equation, not when sometimes Ethan behaved as if he wanted Bucky around and others like a rival who was trying to steal his mother from him.

- Mommy, Bucky came. – The little boy ran to the arms of his mother.

- Yes baby, I can see that… but why? – Chiara turned to see the beaming face of Bucky. He looked as handsome as ever and she… well, she had been sleeping all day due to the flu so probably not the prettiest sight right now.

- Oh, Ethan called me and said you were sick, so I came to watch over him.

- Thank you Bucky, but you shouldn’t have – She was ashamed that he had to come and a light pink tinted her cheeks. Then she found herself thinking about what he had just said – When you said “he called me”… what do you mean exactly? – remembering her phone was on her purse and that Ethan couldn’t have known Bucky’s number because not even Chiara had it.

- Well, F.R.I.D.A.Y. told me I had a call from Ethan. – Both adults were shocked when they realized the impossibilities regarding a call from Ethan.

- Ethan, how did you call Bucky? – Chiara asked and the boy ran to give her the toy phone he received from Tony. And of course, everything made sense in a minute. She would be mentioning it to Tony and Pepper in their next meeting.

As if in cue to break the tension from the moment, the TV announced Ethan’s favorite show and he squealed excitedly – “Watch Bucky”.  Ethan grabbed Bucky’s hand to take him to the sofa and sat next to him to watch Paw Patrol.

Of course Ethan pointed and explained the whole episode to Bucky, he was excited. Bucky noticed it, and he noticed how Chiara sat next to him and Ethan. He thought that he could get used to this: good days and bad days ending with a cartoon show. It was a bittersweet feeling, hope clouded by fear. He craved more and more for this dreamed life.

Unbeknown to him, Chiara craved for the same. Right now the illness was taking the best from her, but she was elated to have Bucky there, responding a call from her son. And Ethan was beyond himself. He liked the attention he got from both adults next to him, they were his favorite adults, and for a first night, the three of them were complete.

[firesfelt]

hi hello ! i’m pace ( she/her ) and i have really horrible timing, as i need to go to bed like asap and also have a packed day tomorrow so can’t be on then either ( rip ) but i rlly wanted to get at least one thing posted before i go ! i’m in the gmt, and am just realising now while i think about intros that all my fcs ( for the moment ) have names beginning with ‘a’ ? inch resting. but i’ll hopefully be able to get intros up for my gals too asap & i rlly wanna do the tasks for everyone and get writing and just have a Hoot. this is the exact environment i need, u know ? exciting !!! anyway, lemme introduce my first character before i end up writing some rambled essay about,,, literally nothing.

( asami zdrenka, 26, demigirl, she/her/they/them ) EMIKA BLAKE was seen listening to HEARTBEAT BY SCOUTING FOR GIRLS on their way to TATTOO ARTIST. EM is known to be CREATIVE & STANDOFFISH.

➜ i always find emika’s personality hard to describe, but i think the best way to begin is ‘misunderstood’ ? she has good intentions, and a kind soul, but the social skills of a wet trout. she’s quiet, and reserved, and has a serious case of resting-grump-face, and it very much leads people to get the wrong sort of impression of her, through no fault of their own. the sarcasm doesn’t help, either. she’s very much a loner ( and therefore a pain in the arse to plot with ) but i always enjoy developing relationships of any kind with her and seeing how things unfold.

➜ obviously, her job has a very social side, and that’s the one thing she can manage. she has no problems communicating in a consultation, getting ideas out there, easing the nerves of an anxious first-timer, expressing herself and what could be best, but that’s often because she knows exactly what to do. she does it day in, day out, and can almost follow a script in a way. sit the same person she had the consult with down for six hours to actually have the tattoo done, and unless they make the effort to keep the conversation going, em has nothing. it’s not even that she doesn’t want to talk, either, she just struggles. and then when she does think of something to say, it can come out abrupt or abrasive, so it’s often best to just keep her mouth shut.

➜ is it obvious yet that emika’s autistic ? she has no idea of this, herself, but it’s canon, just undiagnosed. and it was, admittedly, unintentional. i’ve revamped em from a character from long ago, and the first time i played her, i didn’t set out for her to have autism, and then when i realised that she’s definitely, definitely autistic, everything made sense. it just never got picked up on at school for her, and her mother never paid enough attention to notice or care to do anything in terms of getting a diagnosis or trying to help, so it’s gone undetected. thus far, anyway, who knows ? that could be interesting.

➜ speaking of her mum, let’s talk upbringing. emika was actually born in brighton, england, to her mother, mayumi, and father, stephen. on account of him being a cheating bastard, their relationship fell apart when em was seven. stephen made an attempt with his daughter, but he was in and out of her life for the following five years. at aged twelve, she realised that he really wasn’t worth the effort it took to force a relationship with him, and told him where to stick it. three years later, mayumi would want to uproot to huntsville to follow the latest in a long line of boyfriends --- and stephen didn’t so much as protest. the relationship between mayumi and her canadian lover didn’t last ( here is where em would bitterly mutter ‘they never do’ ) but they never went home.

➜ growing up, she had two escapes: art, and books. she’d always been creative, and always been trouble. think drawing on the hallway walls in crayon at four, getting paint on the living room carpet while creating a ‘masterpiece’ at seven. aka, not trouble, just a kid being a kid, but w/e. try telling her mum that. it was easy to get lost in a drawing or a painting, and she found comfort in reading, too. she’s still a bookworm now, despite not having much free time.

➜ em works too hard. she adores her job, and doesn’t take a single day of it for granted, but she works too hard. there’s nothing she’d rather be doing, and it’s by her own choice, but her time isn’t filled with much else. she specialises in neotrad, but likes to dabble a little and expand her styles when she can. she’s so unbelievably grateful to be doing what she does, especially as it very easily could never have happened for her.

➜ with a home life that was rocky at best, em definitely struggled. as a teenager, she turned to alcohol, and long before she was even legally allowed to drink, she developed a dependency on it. even now, she’d never say she was an alcoholic, but she’d definitely admit that it was a problem, and steers clear from the stuff now. wanting nothing more than to become a tattoo artist was the motivation she needed to get sober, and she knows it very easily could’ve gone in the opposite direction. she got an apprenticeship in the end, and the rest is history.

➜ but ! she’s still young !!!! like super young !! i always like to pick a fc a couple of years younger than however old i’m playing her, because it’s kind of a thing that emika looks even younger than she is. but where a lot of asami’s resources are from a couple of years ago, i thought a year’s difference would do ! but em knows she’s young and still has so much room to learn, and she’s eager to. she just wants to get better and better.

➜ so as an individual who speaks to her mum as little as possible, has no other family in canada, and has very few friends ( if any ? ) who keeps emika company, i hear you ask ? why, it’s her two goldfish and  her chinese softshell turtle, of course. named fred, george, and dobby, respectively. she loves her tank full of friends far more than she’d ever care to admit. ideally, she’d love a dog, but doesn’t have the time to dedicate to caring for one, nor does she have the space. emika moved out at eighteen, the second she could scrape enough money together to do so, and moved into the tiniest box of an apartment, and hasn’t moved since. despite its size, she truly loves her little flat ---- and hates change.

➜ going forward, i’m open to,,, anything. with all three of my goblins, i’m really open to absolutely anything. including just vibing and seeing what happens, but i’m coming in really open and just wanting to Explore. i have an idea for a wc for em, which should be super interesting, but other than that, it’s all just vibes and goin with the flow !!

➜ i hate to wrap things up abruptly, but i really gotta go to bed lmao ( i should’ve written my intros out earlier, rip. isn’t hindsight amazing ? ) so just some things to note: when it comes to gender, em mostly idenifies as ‘ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ‘ and really just doesn’t think about it. she’s probably never talked to anyone about it, either, not properly/in depth. she doesn’t really think about it, and it doesn’t really,,,, matter ?? to her ?? it just sort of,,, Is. she/her absolutely flies with her, they/them is also appreciated, she really just,,, doesn’t mind. sexuality is one she did have a big crisis over ( and is it still ongoing ? kinda ) but eventually just decided that bi was the label that fit best so that’s what she goes with. she still,,, has no idea. and doesn’t know if it even matters. she split her life between brighton and huntsville, so it was never like she’d never be accepted, but it was all a big Internal Yikes for her.

➜ tldr: dog loving, artistic book enthusiast, who has more coffee in her system than blood and loves her job and her fish more than anything. a total pain in the arse, but a hard worker and bringer of sarcasm. and bitterness. but also bad jokes and gossip --- it’s easy to forget she’s there when she’s so quiet; she hears all kinds of shit.

➜ ooh ! one thing to note ! while em is obviously covered in tattoos, she doesn’t actually share any of asami’s irl ones, so pls keep that in mind ! and ignore in photos/gifs ! will have more details when i do her stats/first task, but for now i really have to go bed !! i’m v excited to be here though, ty for having me and i’ll be here properly soon <3

[voidwhump]

Part 2! Ima tag the people who made noise at me about this. @just-another-whumper @whumping-every-day @burtlederp @raigash @in-chains-broken @deluxewhump and like two seconds ago, @shameless-whumper ! I already know I’m awful at keeping up with tag lists, but if people are interested I’ll give it a shot. :) 

It sat, holding its paper and staring at the floor as its new owners looked it over. The younger one sounded disappointed. It hoped it would be kept, it was a custom order after all, and probably couldn’t be resold without remodification. It always felt weird after a tweak, but it knew it was in the clear as long as its new owners liked it. But it didn’t seem like the younger one did. 

It heard a door close and it glanced up, not moving its head. The younger one had been left with it. He walked over and grabbed its face. It didn’t resist, blinking up at him.

“You’re probably useless, aren’t you. It’s the yellow ones who can actually do things.”

It looked down again once he dropped its face to grab the paper. It didn’t think it was useless. It could do tricks, not very many, but it could learn more. It could make toast. It could draw with crayons. Maybe this owner didn’t want that though. And that would make it useless. 

“Ugh.”

Its owner dropped the newly crumpled up paper and fell heavily onto the couch behind it.

“I don’t want to make you better, I wanted to get a better one in the first place.”

Oh. It shifted, bringing its knees to its chest. If its owner didn’t want to make it what he wanted, then it would never be able to do much at all. Maybe it could try and get its owner to like it more. It leaned sideways until its head was resting on its owners leg.

Its owner kicked it. 

It fell the other way with a quiet gasp. Its owner wasn’t wearing shoes, so it hadn’t hurt, but tears still welled up in its eyes. It wiped its eyes on its shoulder. It should’ve guessed it couldn’t make its owner like it.

“You’re such a baby.”

Its owner got up again, heading towards the hallway on the other side of the room.

“Don’t follow me.”

…

It started really crying after its owner left. It didn’t want to be returned, no one would like it if it got returned. It ran out of tears after a while though, and it looked around as it sniffled and wiped its eyes again. Maybe the other owner would like it when he came back. 

It should go around the house, maybe it could be helpful and the younger owner would like it when he saw.

It got up, keeping quiet as it went through into the hallway and went through the cracked open door that led to the kitchen. It was a good sized kitchen, much bigger than the tiny one it had back at the lab. The only things out of place were a pitcher of water, a few cups, and a bag of bread that were all on a tray on the floor. It knelt down to get a closer look, and saw a label on the tray that read “For Pet”.

It guessed it wasn’t out of place then. It wasn’t hungry or thirsty, so it moved on.

The next room it found was a bathroom, which was slightly less clean. It didn’t know if its owners wanted it to use a bathroom, it realized. That was something it should know. It looked in the drawer under the sink, and found what were probably cleaning products. It couldn’t read the labels on those. The words were too big. 

It looked through the rest of the house, both stories, with the only place it didn’t explore being where their owner was. He had probably locked that door anyway. It returned to the living room. It didn’t know what time it was, but it was tired now. It lay down, curling up on the carpet with their back pressed against the couch’s smooth fabric. Hopefully its owners wouldn’t mind it sleeping here.

…

It woke to the sound of arguing. 

It sat up, still drowsy, and craned its head to see into the hall. Its older owner was being shouted over by the younger one.

“It can’t DO anything! What do you expect me to do, play dolls?! How am I supposed to play with THAT!?”

The older one threw up his hands and turned around, and the younger one slammed his door.

It shrunk back against the couch. It hadn’t even lasted a day. Maybe it wouldn’t count as used if the owners returned it soon.

Its older owner walked in, looking a little surprised when he saw it. Had he expected it to do something? It hoped not.

The older owner didn’t say anything, just flopped down onto the couch in the same way the younger one had. He seemed tired though, not mad. It didn’t move. It was going to let him make the first move.

He did make a move after a minute. Its owner reached over and scrunched a hand through its hair. It remained stiff, not wanting to move closer unless directed to.

“He’ll come around a little. It’s happened before with other things I got him, it’ll happen again.”

It didn’t seem like its owner was talking to it, but him talking made it relax a little. It shuffled a little closer, and its owner scrunched its hair again.

“Did you find everything? I put out some food and water for you.”

Now he was talking to it. It nodded, pressing against his hand. 

“So you did move. Good.”

Its owner made a little huffing laugh, and stood up, patting its head.

“I need to get some things done.”

He was almost to the door before he stopped, turning to look at it.

“Right, I was going to tell you that you can use our bathroom. I don’t believe in that outside business, sounds awkward.” 

It nodded again, and its owner left.

[edda-blattfe]

Twisted Wonderland: Academic Headcanons pt.3

(Originally, the dormatories featured were going to follow the order in which they were initially revealed. However, there was a special request for Ignihyde and Savanclaw, and lord knows I can't turn down an eager fan! 😊)

Ignihyde

Idia Shroud:

- Idia's test scores are above average, but his class participation and p.e. grades are sorely lacking. He skips classes far too often to be consider a good student.

- If ebooks are not an option, he’ll do a quick read through of the chapter and does the rest online. Like with everything else Idia does, he usually studies alone within the confines of his dorm room.

- All of his notes are typed into google word (or whatever the tw equivalent of that is), usually in bullet points. Occasionally he’ll add wry comments next to parts he finds ridiculous or entertaining.

- Avoids study groups like the plague. Idia does not do socializing and knows study groups are more about the “group” and less about “studying”.

- Once again, Idia does NOT do socializing; tutoring included. Now, if you get in contact with him online and set up a specific chat room he might be willing to help out. But be prepared! He’s quick with a keyboard and will mercilessly tease you for even the simplest of mistakes.

Ortho Shroud:

- No one (but Idia; maybe Crowley) knows where this kid came from, or even which grade his supposed to be in, but the teachers love him, nonetheless. Ortho’s scores are phenomenal in all subjects. It helps that he’s a complete sweetheart to everyone..no matter how grumpy and dead inside they act!

- Literally reads his textbooks cover to cover at the beginning of the semester and can relay everything he read without screwing up a single word. Lil’ guy doesn’t need to study! If the teachers mention something he’s unfamiliar with, Ortho will either make a trip to the library or look it up online.

- Doesn’t need to take notes for the same reason he doesn’t study. After watching Kalim doodle in his notebook, though, the little guy decided to carry around a “doodle book” of his own. It would be extremely cute, if he didn’t always draw an exact image of the classroom without even glancing at the paper.

- He’s usually hanging around with Idia, but study groups would probably be a lot of fun to him! Trey has invited the little guy to join the Heartslabyul dorm’s group for a while now, but he refuses unless Idia feels like joining....which has, and will never happen.

- Ortho, when in “teach” mode, sounds like Siri- you know, if she were a shota with a “cheerful” setting. He answers every question promptly, logically, and with no errors whatsoever. Sometimes, he’ll attempt to use an analogy or new phrase someone mentioned to add some flavor to the lesson; it’s like watching your grandfather trying to be “hip” when your friends are around, exceedingly uncomfortable.

Savanaclaw

Leona Kingscholar:

- You know that one guy who hardly puts an effort into actually learning, but somehow manages to ace their exams? Yeah, that’s Leona in a nut shell. “Life’s not fair...” Damn right it’s not!

- He’ll flip through the chapter once, twice if it suits him, then toss the textbook onto the floor until the teacher gives the next assignment. He’s never suggested it, but everyone suspects him of having a photographic memory.

- His notes are incomprehensible scribbles of whatever he thought was interesting. If the class is studying something with a diagram, Leona will make a sketchy copy of it in his notebook and label once class is through.

- Leona makes a point of never openly accepting a study group invitation, opting to answer with a “definite maybe.” There’s a 50/50 chance he’ll turn up, when he does it’s because someone mentioned free snacks. Usually, he’ll just pick a spot to spread out across (preferably a couch, but tables are fair game too) and wait for a chance to add some sort of sarcastic comment or make an incredibly inappropriate joke. He’s permanently banned from the Heartslabyul dorm...Riddle says the cat knows why.

- Teach? Him?! Hah, Good luck with that! Leona’s explanations are just as half-assed as his hairdo (Oh no, my inner Vil is coming out). If you’re having difficulty with a particular problem he’ll make some demeaning joke to remind you of his intellectual superiority, solve it in his head, and leave you to figure out how he did it. The only alternative is reserved for those the prince deems as “cute;” in which case, be prepared for an onslaught of flirtatious advances and sexy teacher jokes.

Jack Howl:

- Despite his rebellious attitude and delinquent status, Jack is actually a fantastic student. He wants to become stronger; not just physically, mentally too! The only way to usurp the hierarchy is by educating the masses, after all!

- Jack spends a good chunk of his time either studying or training, usually in the same place. He’ll read through the chapters multiple times, look up references, and, if there is any, research opposing points of view.

- Waste not, want not. Every page in his notebook is crammed with notes, terms, definitions, and diagrams that somehow make perfect sense to him. He can never seem to keep track of his pencil, leading him to use whatever writing utensil is on hand, including washable marker and crayon.

- No. Just, no to the study groups.

- Persistence is key to getting him to tutor you. Well, that, and the ability to not be annoying. Once those are covered, you’ll have yourself a decent instructor! Jack is direct and honest when helping you through any problem. If you have a question he doesn’t know, then he’ll help research it until you have a satisfactory answer.

Ruggie Bucchie:

- A surprisingly good student. Ruggie knows the value of a good education and refuses to allow this opportunity slip through his fingers. Good grades means a chance at a good job, and a good job means he’ll never go hungry again!

- Studies before and in between classes. He’ll flip through the chapter first, familiarize himself with the main topics as well as a few of the terms, then read the contents.

- Ruggie writes his notes as he reads through the chapter, so his handwriting is a little messy. He tests his knowledge be rewriting previous notes from memory, repeating the exercise until he’s pleased with the results.

- Loves study groups! He gets to joke around with friends while also getting more time to memorize term definitions; kill two birds with one stone! The Heartslabyul study group even offers snacks, how great is that?!

- Doesn’t really like acting like a tutor...it feels awkward to him. Ruggie would much rather be your study buddy.

[lorumipsum-03]

Storybook Assassin-Short Story 1

I let out a deep breath and stare up at my latest adversary. We have been in conflict since early yesterday morning and the battle is showing no signs of ending soon, if ever. I take a step back and wonder, how much stuff can possibly fit in one closet? It’s not even a big closet. I set the box of books I had been moving and check the time: 9:02. I don’t need to be at work until ten, so I (regrettably) still have some time left to clean. Once again I plunge into the jungle that is my closet, looking for the treasure that is The Adventures of Weed Wacker and Binary. Volume 4. 1985. I tug out another beat up looking box labeled Misty’s princess stuff. Misty is my sister, she’s 8 years old and a pain in the butt. I move to set the box down on my bed, but before I can put it there, the bottom gives out. Knickknacks and toys from two years ago spill out all over my already crowded floor. I scramble to clean them up, but don’t really get far. You know when you go to clean out your clothes and sort of end up wearing them all? That’s pretty much what happened to me. So, instead of putting them back in the box I end up wearing a crown, veil, weird little princess cone hat, and an elegant red king’s robe. That’s when I notice the wand. It’s about a foot in length and made of a translucent, glittery, purple material, that I assume is plastic. It has been taken out of its packaging, but unlike all of the other toys in the box it is not battered or broken. I think nothing of it and pick up the wand, cold to the touch. I lean back in my chair, and jokingly point the wand at nothing, and give a half-hearted “Bippity-Boppity-Boo.” To my complete surprise a swirling blue portal appears on my wall. I let out a very undignified yelp and drop the wand, which lands on my foot before falling to the floor. That’s way too heavy to be plastic. Now, to answer the question, what’s inside that portal? I have no idea what to expect, so I grab a bag that I normally bring when I go camping with my family. Inside it I have toilet paper, duct tape, two bottles of water, a compass, Swiss army knife and a notebook with some crayon pencils. As an afterthought I grab my phone, I probably won’t get service, but one can always hope. When I slip my phone in to the front pocket of my shorts I get a glimpse of the time: 9:40 AM. Shoot, I’m going to be late for work if I go exploring. Should I go? I know I have a couple vacation days left, but I don’t know If I’ll make it back through the portal. Then again… there’s also a portal to another freaking dimension. Aw, screw it. I grab my phone to call in and ask for today off. I dial the number, it rings twice before cutting off, the ring replaced by a voice. “Jane Black, Rainy Day Comics, how can I help you?” “Jane, it’s Clara, I need to use one of my vacation days.” “’mkay, may I ask why?” “Found a wand while cleaning, made a portal, gonna find out where it goes.” “All right, I’ll buy it. Bring back something cool to show me.” The dial tone sounds and I slip my phone back into my pocket. All right, I guess I’m doing this. I take a deep breath (in case I end up underwater) close my eyes, and step through the swirling blue circle. Oh boy. I step out into a peaceful, sunlit forest. It’s warm and bright, bluebirds and cardinals chirp in the branches, and the grass is soft under my feet. You’re kidding me. In my excitement I forgot my shoes. I spin around to run back into the portal and grab them, but the portal is gone. I pause to bang my head against a tree for a moment before holding the not-plastic wand in front of me and shouting the incantation that brought me here. “Bippity-Boppity-Boo!” Nothing happens. I try again, nothing. I slump down, and glare at the wand for a bit before pushing myself up and heading south. I tuck the wand in my back pocket, seeing as it’s not doing me any good right now, and resign myself to a long walk to the next town. I don’t get far. About five minutes into my quest for civilization I run into two of natures most feared and hated creatures: cops.  As soon as I see them, I freeze and step on a conveniently placed stick. Snap. The cops take that moment to notice me. As they turn to face me I notice they both have translucent wands with black handles that look like they fade to red and patches on their chests that read Magic Patrol in a flowy script. I quickly turn to face them straight on, trying to hide my wand, which I’m probably not allowed to have. If I can hide my wand from them and if I can convince them to take me to the nearest town and if they don’t put me in jail, maybe I have a shot of finding out how to get home. If I can get home. “Oh, hello. I didn’t see you there,” I say. They both raise their right eyebrow simultaneously. Dang, I wish I could raise one eyebrow at a time. “I appear to be lost,” I continue, “could you two point me to the nearest town?” They don’t answer, instead they turn toward each other, and one of them takes out a little glass tablet. One of them taps it and a hologram pops up. A shining blue map of the forest with two silver blips for the cops, and one red blip, that I gather must be me. That’s probably not good. “Miss-” one of the cops begins before the other one cuts him off. “Look here lady, you’re under arrest,” he barks in a loud gravelly voice. Before I can react, the calm cop- the one who spoke first, is behind me and my wand is in her hand. Then the loud cop takes the tablet and scans the wand first, then me. He turns to his assistant and growls “this is the wand we’re looking for. The girl isn’t from here, she’s of no consequence.” And with that, they run off, jump into their car, and leave. Now, unless I can get that wand back, I might be stuck in this weird fairy-tale land forever.  

I give up. I’ve been walking for about five hours, and it’s dark. I think time works differently here, but that’s not really surprising, given I’m in an alternate dimension. My feet hurt, I’m sweaty, I drank one of my bottles of water, and still no sign of a settlement of any kind. I sink to the ground against a ridiculously large tree, whose roots make a pretty comfortable nook. I’m glad it’s warm, because I don’t have a blanket. I tuck my bag under my head and put the Swiss army knife next to me, just in case. I can see slivers of the sky through the leaves, and it’s filled with stars. That’s not something you can see at home. I fall asleep with the tree guarding me, the stars twinkling, and the crickets singing.

I wake up to the sound of twigs snapping, and the soft sound of breathing. Breathing that is not mine. My eyes shoot open, and I find myself looking into a pair of violently green eyes, about six inches from my face. I scream and kick the green-eyed intruder in the gut. He flies backward and ends up sprawled on the grass, I jump up and grab my Swiss army knife. “Who are you?” My voice comes out creaky and riddled with sleep, not as threatening as I’d like. Green-eyes scrambles backwards into the tree opposite mine and puts up his hands. Now that he’s further away and I can get a better look at him, I realize he looks familiar, but I’m not sure where I’ve seen him before. He’s dressed in creamy white shirt with golden epaulettes and buttons, and red pants with shiny black riding boots. His hair is black and looks like it was smoothed back earlier, but now it’s ruffled up from the wind. Then it hits me. “Prince Charming?” He sets his hands down and nods. I shove my less-than-ideal weapon in my pocket and plop to the ground. I just kicked Prince Charming, the Prince Charming in the stomach. If I wasn’t in trouble then, I certainly am now. Oh, well. I’ll try to make the best of it. “Think you’d mind giving me a ride to the nearest town? To my surprise, he doesn’t. He stands up, and offers me his hand before realizing I had already got to my feet. I introduce myself and he introduces himself. Prince Chad Charming LII, he says he’s not that far from town and would be happy to give me a ride. I gratefully accept and off we go to find his horse.   It’s a pure white stallion with beauty uncommon in a horse, and I honestly don’t know what else I expected. We climb on, him in front with the reins, me in back clinging to the saddle for dear life. It takes us the better part of an hour to get to town and when we do, it’s a picture-perfect storybook village. Although, at second glance, it doesn’t look quite so picture-perfect any more. I can see handmade patches on almost every roof, and a good portion of the houses look like they’re about to fall over. The butcher is arguing with an old lady over a scrap of meat while everyone else looks around hollow-eyed and hungry. This whole trip has just been one giant train-wreck. That makes this the perfect time to start an awkward conversation. “So… What’s a prince doing gallivanting around in the woods, miles from his own kingdom?” For a second I think he’s not going to answer, but then he squints, like the reason is embarrassing, and starts talking. “Well, Princess Amethyst is hosting a ball tonight, to celebrate the finding of her wand, and me and my family were invited. We normally don’t like to have anything to do with the Amethyst’s, but finding her wand is a big thing, so my parents think we should be there. And, well, I didn’t have a date. So I went off into the forest to look for one, because my family has had luck with finding damsels in distress in the woods before, and I thought if I could find one, I’d get a date to the ball.” The wand? Could that be the one those cops took from me? “Why is finding her wand such a big deal?” I say, carefully steering the topic away from finding a date for the celebration.  The prince looks a little put-out, like he thinks I would offer to be his date. No. “Well, in magical families, it’s a tradition for the firstborn to get a wand, or a spell book, or something like that when they turn sixteen. The princess’s wand, which had been her great-grandmother’s, was put on display in a museum. It would remain there until she came of age and claimed the wand. But, about three years ago, the wand vanished. Just, gone. Like it had never been there. They reviewed all the security footage and found nothing. We were all resigned to its loss until yesterday night when, the royal guard caught its energy signature about ten miles north of here. Now the princess is eighteen, and ready to claim her wand, even though some may not wish it.” I hmm softly under my breath, if there was a way to get home I may have just found it. “Why wouldn’t some people want her to get her wand?” I ask. “She doesn’t seem so bad.” At this the prince whips his head back and gets this weird look in his face. “You’re not from around here, are you?” I shake my head and mutter something about being from a kingdom across the sea. The prince sighs and starts to explain. “The Amethyst family has always been a little… harsh. They let their country fall into poverty as they grow richer and richer, there’s never enough food to go around, and they can throw you into jail for the smallest reasons. The princess is the worst of them all, even without a wand, and with the king and queen getting old…” he trails off. “The whole country is worried about what she’ll do. It just doesn’t seem right to stand around and do nothing, but my kingdom has bigger worries.” He sounds sad, I can see why. It’s a pretty bad situation the Amethyst kingdom has got itself in. That’s when I get an idea. Time to play hero. “I assume the wand will be present at the ball?” “Yes.” I crack a small smile, this could be my ticket home. “Do you still need a date to the ball?”

I grimace, this was a bad idea. This was not worth it, I wish I was still in the woods. I have just walked through the doors of the Amethyst castle, in a smooth, bright blue dress. The prince is next to me, and his parents are right behind.   They were overjoyed see their son had brought me back, and immediately stuffed me into a bath, did up my hair, and jammed me into the dress. With high heels. Though I must admit, I do look pretty dang good, blue works well on me. I look around, hoping the wand is in plain sight, unfortunately, I can’t see it. The prince, luckily hasn’t quite figured out what my plan is. I don’t know if he’ll be mad or not, but his parents certainly would. This is so illegal. My plan is simple, find the wand, get the wand, kick the princesses butt, and get home. Easy. I keep looking around trying to catch a view of the princess or the wand. After circling around the ballroom twice I finally realize, I don’t know what the princess looks like. I am the best at planning, I blatantly lie to myself. I turn to the prince and ask him what the princess looks like. “She’s right over there.” He says and points at a girl a little taller than me, with long white-blond hair that fades into lavender at the ends, and a dress to match it. And she’s holding the wand. Unfortunately, at that moment the music starts. I need to dance. I don’t know how to dance. I have to get away. I spot the princess slip her wand to a servant, if I can get over there, I can grab the wand and get out of here. The prince is looking away now. This is my chance. I take a deep breath, and slip into the crowd. Making my way over is harder than I thought, and half way through I have to press myself against the wall to take a breather… there are so many people it’s hard to think. That’s when the prince pops up beside me. “Fancy seeing you here,” he quips. I swallow, this is not going my way. “Ho-” he cuts me off. “I don’t need your footwear to recognize you, you know.” I smirk at that, but he doesn’t lift a lip. “Tell me what’s really going on.” I can’t do that. He’ll never believe me. “I’ll believe you.” “You were right when you said I wasn’t from here. But I’m not from another kingdom, I’m from another universe. A universe where all this,” I wave my hands around, “is fictional. I found the wand and somehow opened a portal to your world. I tried to get back and couldn’t, and then the Magic Patrol took the wand away. Then you came, and when I figured out about the wand I thought I would talk to the princess and have her zap me back home, but when you told me how awful her and her family was I knew I had to do something and I…” I pause to take a breath, there are tears in my eyes and a very confused look on the prince’s face. But then the confused look turns to determination, and he holds his hand out to help me up from the floor which I didn’t realize I had fallen to. “Okay,” he says, “I’ll help you.” I start to open my mouth to thank him, and he cuts me off. “But, when we open the portal back,” if we open the portal back, “you’ve got to show me this world of yours, deal?” “Deal.” We shake hands. It’s time to kick some princess butt. I run around the left side, and the prince takes the right. If I can get halfway up the staircase I’ll be right above the princess and her servant. From there I can drop onto the servant’s head and wrestle the wand away. From there the prince will help hold any attackers back as we escape. After that we’ll go�� somewhere, I’m not exactly sure where, but the prince says he knows some people who can do magic, and might be able to get me home. I hope he’s right. I tap my way up the stairs, being careful not to make too much noise with my stupidly loud high heels that I can’t even walk in. I almost trip over my dress twice. Why did I think I could do stairs? How am I going to land on someone’s head while I’m in a dress? I take my shoes off and decide to figure it out as I go. I reach my destination without further incident, and peek over the edge of the ivory railing. I’m right above the servant with the wand. The prince is at the front of the crowd, and he gives me a thumbs up. Then the princess starts talking. “And now, for the main event,” the princess says, her voice sounds like wind chimes and crystals. She grabs the wand off the plate it’s being held on and brandishes it. It starts glowing red. She starts glowing black. There’s some screaming. Time to go. I grab the top of the railing, and scoot my feet back as far as I can without falling over. If I get enough momentum I can catapult myself over the edge in one smooth move. I pull my arms forward and push my legs upwards as I launch myself past the railing. It occurs to me while I’m in midair, this was a really, really bad idea. But then I don’t have any time to think, because I just crashed onto the plate the servant is holding. I slam into the ground, the servant crunches on top of me. Yes I mean crunches, his nose cracks pretty hard against the floor and starts bleeding I’m not much better off. Pretty sure I’ve broken my tail bone. Princess Amethyst screams and turns to face me. The wand is still glowing red, as are her eyes and holy heck that’s creepy close up. She points the wand at me and opens her mouth to scream something, I scramble backwards as a bolt of energy flies from the front of the wand, just barely missing me. I continue to crawl backwards as she continues shoots at me, but luckily, she has terrible aim. I try to catch the prince’s eye as I move past him, I give my head a desperate jerk, trying to tell him to circle back around and tackle the princess. All the other guests are screaming and storming the doors. The princess aims a blast at my head, and I go flat as the bolt zooms over my head. I really wish the prince would come help. The prince comes and helps. He hurls himself into the princess and grabs her around the waist, effectively bringing her down to the ground. The wand is knocked from her grasp, and I watch as it clatters across the floor. I lunge and grab it. Oh jeez, I grabbed it. What do I do? “What do I do?” I yell at the prince as he struggles to keep the princess on the floor. “How should I know?” He yells back. “Just try something! Turn her into cheese or something.” Oh, turn her into something else. But not cheese, I have something more…fitting in mind. I raise the wand and it starts to glow green. “Amethyst!” A bolt of light soars from the wand, and strikes the princess right in the chest. It starts turning into crystal the moment it hits. She screams death threats and vengeance as she freezes. In less than a minute it’s over. The prince rolls off of the newly crystalized princess and groans. “That’s the last time I go looking for damsels in distress.” I laugh, I can’t help it. It’s not particularly funny, but after the day I’ve had, I need a laugh. Now I can only hope when the prince says he knows people he’s right.

The prince knew some people. He got me out of trouble with the Magic Patrol, covered up most of the chaos with the fight and figured out how to get me home. I ended up taking back a spell book to show to my boss. It’s pretty cool, and I’ve even learned how to float things (Including myself). I couldn’t manage to take the wand home though, something about it being a priceless heirloom.  All and all, I’m pretty happy with the way this adventure turned out, I’ll just need a break, and some new shoes before my next one.  

[dontshootmespence]

Passive-Aggressive Partnership

Parts 1-13 @coveofmemories @bleedreid @my-xomatosis-s 

Part 14

                                                            -----

“So what do you notice, Dave?” Hotch asked as Rossi walked toward the crime scene after helping Penelope set up her technical stronghold down at the local police station. The two senior profilers knew immediately that something was off, or rather that there was yet another piece of evidence that pointed to their killer being a child. 

Deacon’s body had been found under leaves and hay. “There are leaves nearby, but the hay came from somewhere else. Whoever did this brought it over to cover the body because they couldn’t gather enough leaves.”

“Exactly,” he said, his eyes suddenly drawn to a branch nearby. “What do we have here?” 

Rossi walked over behind him, an evidence bag in hand to gather whatever it was that Hotch saw. “Is that a piece of material?” he asked, looking at the swath of semi-rough tan material.

Hotch nodded, placing the material into the bag to send off to Y/N at her makeshift ME’s office. “A piece of pants, maybe?” Other than the piece of unknown material and the fact that hay was brought from somewhere else to cover the body, there wasn’t much to be found at the crime scene that gave them any new information. Everything they found just pointed to the killer being a child - inexperienced and impulsive.

“We should go assist Morgan and Prentiss with those interviews,” Rossi said, zipping up the evidence bag and labeling it as they walked back to the house. “Maybe we can interview the kids while they interview the parents.”

                                                           -----

“Babygirl,” Morgan whispered into the phone. “Have you been able to find anything about Cash and Annabelle that might help us?”

Despite the case they were working on, he found himself chuckling as he heard Garcia huffing and puffing in the background, undoubtedly do to the lack of wifi in the area. “The service out here sucks!” she exclaimed, apologizing to a local officer who happened to be passing her desk. “But don’t worry, yours truly has been able to glean some information about them in between rebooting the system. For the third time in the past two hours, mind you. God, I need my high-speed internet.”

“Garcia,” Emily warned. “Do you have anything?”

“Yes, my love. I can tell you from memory, sorry, still waiting for the system to boot up again, that Annabelle has been to the hospital outside the city on numerous occasions, upward of 10 in the past year, for quote unquote “accidents.” She’s claimed falling down the stairs, burning herself on the stove, and the like, but every time she goes in, her husband is right there standing over her. And according to some of the nurses, her husband tends to speak for her.”

“Thanks, mama,” Morgan said. “That helps. Talk to you later.”

“Go get ‘em, baby boy.”

“Alright,” Emily said, as Morgan hung up the phone. “Let’s go see if we can get something out of Cash Senior and Annabelle.”

“We’re gonna take the kids,” Hotch said. After walking forever back to the house, they’d finally made it. “We’ll interview them. You take the parents.”

They were going to need to interview the family of the other boy, Joseph Parker, as well as Joseph himself just to rule him out. But as soon as Annabelle opened the door, they could tell something was very wrong inside these four walls. “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Hensley. My name is Derek Morgan, these are Agents Emily Prentiss, Aaron Hotchner and David Rossi. We’re here to talk to you about Deacon Fullerton. He and your son were friends?”

“Yes, they played together on occasion,” Annabelle said, refusing to make eye contact as she opened the door and let team in.

“If it’s okay with you, Agent Hotchner and I would like to interview your children as well,” Rossi said, addressing his intentions to the wife in an attempt to prove his point. 

“You can’t interview a minor without their parents present,” the senior Cash said emphatically. 

“Unless we have your consent,” Hotch replied - his eyes peering into the father’s through half-lidded eyes. 

“Well, you don’t. You can take a look in their rooms if you want, but you talk to them with us,” he replied.

With a quick nod of their heads, Hotch and Rossi turned toward the staircase to the children’s rooms. They were all thinking the same thing. It was even a hard situation to profile. Whether or not the killer lived in this house, there was definitely abuse going on in this house. “Okay, please, take a seat, Mr. and Mrs. Hensley,” Emily said, making note of all three children sitting at the kitchen table in absolute silence. “How close were Deacon and your son?”

Annabelle made an attempt to speak, but her husband placed his hand on her leg and spoke over her. “They played together on occasion, like my wife said earlier, but he played with that Parker boy more.” Immediately placing blame, Emily thought to herself - convenient. 

“You’re friends with the Fullerton’s, right?” Morgan said, watching as they both nodded. As he asked the next question, he made a slight motion for Emily to look toward the children. She noticed that Cash Junior was looking in at the conversation more than the girls were. “Well, they said that Deacon had been withdrawn lately. Said he didn’t want to play with Joseph or Cash, that they were being mean to him lately.”

“That’s just boys being boys,” Senior said in such a way that made Emily’s skin want to crawl. That was such bullshit. Excuses and nothing more. 

“Have any of your children been more withdrawn as of late?” Emily asked. The look in Annabelle’s eyes immediately said yes, but she wouldn’t or couldn’t speak. She was definitely under her husband’s thumb. Even if the killer wasn’t here, they had to find a way to get the senior Hensley out of the house.

“Not at all,” Mr. Hensley said, pointing his thumb back toward the kitchen. “All of my kids are great. Especially my boy. He’s going to turn out to be a fine young man just like his daddy.”

Again, Morgan and Emily glanced to the kitchen. The girls were coloring away, pretending as if nothing was happening, but Cash Junior was listening intently. He’d stopped coloring long ago, his eyes too filled with anger to continue. One of the crayons was even crushed next to him, as if he had gripped it too hard. 

“Do you mind if we interview each of the kids?” Morgan asked. “One by one? You can be right here. They can even sit with you if you want.” Even if they couldn’t ask the questions they wanted to, they could gauge their facial expressions. Behavior was so much more telling than words.

“Gracie,” the father yelled, loudly enough for every member of the family to jump. “Come in here and sit with your mama.”

With a teddy bear in hand, and a picture for her mother, Grace came to sit in her mother’s lap. Although the little girl hadn’t shown Emily or Morgan the picture, she could see through it somewhat. There were four figures instead of five - three small and one large - maybe the mother and three children? It would make sense given the tension in the household. “Hi Grace,” Emily said softly. “I’m gonna ask you a few questions about Deacon, okay?” 

The little girl with hair so light it was almost white, nodded her head, a tiny smile forming on her face as she sat in her mother’s lap. Both girls knew of Deacon, but they claimed to never have played with him. They said Cash Jr. wouldn’t let them. When Callie came over, Morgan noticed a small fading bruise on her leg just under her skirt; it was probably not meant to be seen. Finally, they asked for Cash Junior to come over. “Come here Junior,” the father called, the tone in his voice more full of pride than it had been with his daughters.

While the girls came to sit in their mother’s lap, Junior wanted nothing to do with either parent, going to sit in an armchair by himself across from Emily. He wouldn’t even make eye contact with Morgan. Emily seemed to be the only one he wanted to talk to. “So Cash,” Emily started. “You were friends with Deacon?” For the first time since they’d walked in the door, a small smile crossed the boy’s lips. He nodded, the twinkle in his eye immediately vanishing. “Deacon said you were being mean to him. Were you? Did something happen between you?” 

“No,” he said. “He was just being a baby and I didn’t want to hang out with him anymore.”

Although they both wanted to, they couldn’t ask any questions about their home life without alerting the father to the fact that they were onto him. And that wasn’t what they were here for. “When was the last time you played with Deacon?” 

“Last week some time,” he replied, his finger fidgeting in his lap. He was lying. The mother seemed to betray that too, but again, the father was stoic. They knew something about this boy they weren’t saying, but they would require a second interview, at the station, to figure out exactly what happened. 

“Okay,” Morgan said after Emily was finished, “We’re probably going to need you to come to the station at some point. But we’re finished for now.” The timing could not have been better. Hotch and Rossi came down the stairs and all four exited the house with the same bad feeling - like they were leaving a violent abuser in the house - and it didn’t sit well with anyone. 

“Find anything upstairs?” Emily asked. 

The girls’ rooms were basically uneventful, but Cash Junior’s room turned up a bit more. “He had a pair of khaki pants that looks like it could match the material we found out in the woods, but the pants were ripped. On top of that, there were quite a few pictures of the family under his bed with the mother’s and father’s eyes scratched out,” Hotch said.

“We need to get this material over to Y/N and see if she can identify it for us,” Rossi said. “And we need to figure this out quickly because something awful is going on in there.”

                                                          -----

After dropping the piece of tan material off to Y/N, Hotch, Rossi, Morgan and Prentiss met up with JJ and Spencer at the station. “Find anything out from Mr. and Mrs. Fullerton?” Morgan asked.

“Just that these parents have been through more than any parent should have to go through,” JJ said sadly. 

Spencer imagined the frame with the baby sock inside. “They had a miscarriage and now their only other child was taken from them. We only know that they had nothing to do with this, but we knew that before.”

After obtaining the warrants they needed, it was nearly 10 o’clock at night. They weren’t going to be able to do anything else tonight. Y/N walked into the station, having been driven over from the doctor’s office. “Anything?” Hotch asked. 

“I can tell you that the material I found in Deacon’s throat and the piece you gave me come from the same thing. I’ll know what it is by tomorrow,” she said, attempting to wipe the sleep out of her eyes and failing. “Need sleep.” She stretched her arms up to the ceiling, an ungodly noise escaping her mouth. “So tired.”

“There’s only one motel in town, so we’re going to have to double up.” Garcia called Morgan, Hotch and Rossi would always double up when necessary, JJ and Emily called each other, which left Y/N and Spencer to awkwardly double up.

Wonderful. 

“Let’s all go get some sleep,” Hotch said. “The sooner we figure this out, the better.”

As they hopped into two separate cars, Y/N fell asleep on Spencer’s shoulder; it was probably just because she was tired, but the gesture gave him hope that maybe she wasn’t mad at him anymore.