#we’re calling is Hate AU even if it’s not technically an au per se

[toon-topaz]

Honestly there’s a lot of untapped potential for drama in continuations of the Everyone Hates You ending. Like here’s a bunch of Voices that you’ve traumatized and then left to rot, assuming they would never come back, but they’re here, and they’re out for blood.

Stuck in a world without change, they’re going to remain exactly as they were in their worst moments, forever hating and doomed to never get better, their wounds never healing. What would the worst version of themselves look like?

And do you try and help? Can you help, after everything you did to them. Or do you double down, and forsake them completely, becoming the big bad overlord of this new world of yours?

(trick question, I’ve thought about this a lot and am working on designs for the lil guys but as the worst versions of themselves.)

[asleepinawell]

Stop Trying To Make Fetch Happen

(First of all, let me offer my deepest apologies for the title. It was just too good to pass up on. Second, if you haven’t seen the video of Boston Dynamics robot, SpotMini, you should, especially since the robot in this is a direct ripoff of it. Third, set very loosely in the au of my fic sliding towards chaos, but absolutely no context is needed…it’s really just because of the bits with the Machine). Last, did I say sorry about the title yet?)

Reese turned around from getting a beer out of the fridge in the subway to find himself face to face with pure nightmare fuel in the form of 65lbs of robotics. The robot…dog (for lack of a better term) might only have come up to just below his waist, but it’s extendable neck allowed it to raise its mechanical head and “stare” him right in the eyes.

“Root,” he called softly but urgently. “Root, it’s staring at me again.”

While the mechanical monstrosity didn’t technically have eyes, Root had drawn some on with a sharpie. It did, however, very much have a mouth, or rather a jaw, with which it could pick things up or possibly rip someone’s arm off.

“Don’t be silly, John.” Root watched him from the table across the room, a slightly sadistic smile on her lips. “It’s just being playful.”

The robot tilted its head back and forth as if examining him and all he could think of were the creepy, death dinosaurs from Jurassic Park. What were the called again? Oh right, raptors. Root had built a giant robot dog-raptor probably with the sole purpose of terrorizing him.

He could easily imagine a pack of the things hunting him down and ripping him to pieces in the most painful way possible.

Reese wasn’t sure what exactly set off Root’s obsession with building the damn thing. Shaw kept claiming it was her latest attempt to get out of doing chores since the first thing Root had done was teach it to do the dishes.

(Taking out the trash was still off limits since even New Yorkers might get a bit worried if a giant robot burst out of a basement carrying a trash bag).

“Good robot,” he said and cautiously ducked past it. It turned to watch him go, but didn’t follow.

Shaw watched it with narrowed eyes from where she sat on the floor next to Bear’s bed. Bear had spent the first few days of the robot’s existence barking at it and howling in distress from a safe distance. Shaw had been furious and Root had attempted to make peace by programming the thing to exhibit playful dog behavior.

Or what she thought was playful dog behavior. The robot was now capable of swaying back and forth an bouncing up and down while its head remained in the exact same location in space. It looked completely unnatural to Reese and sent a shiver down his spine every time.

Bear must have agreed because he now wouldn’t approach it at all and sometimes hid when it was bouncing around on its alarmingly mobile legs.

Shaw had retaliated by leaving things in the middle of the floor for it to trip on which had only prompted Root to improve its sensors and give it the capability to right itself after a fall.

Shaw had not been amused.

Reese came over to sit next to Shaw on the floor.

“She hasn’t given it any offensive capabilities, has she? Like attack protocols?” he asked.

Shaw didn’t look up from scratching Bear’s head. “Not that I know of, but this is Root we’re talking about. Only a matter of time.”

A sudden horrifying thought occurred to him. “Can the Machine control it?”

Shaw shrugged. “Probably. Seems like something Root would do, though I think it’s supposed to be autonomous.”

“This is how the robot apocalypse starts, Shaw.”

Shaw snorted. “I actually trust the Machine more than Root’s programming on this one. Only one of them hates most people and it’s not the AI.”

A fair point, Reese conceded.

He joined Root at the table a few minutes later. It was weirdly uncomfortable here with both of them lately. The weren’t fighting, per se, but the robot was a point of contention and Shaw pointedly avoided Root when she was working on its programming.

“What are you doing this time?” he asked as he sat down.

Root was busy at her laptop as always, no doubt upgrading the thing with new, creepy powers.

“Hmmm, I’m trying to find the best way to teach it the general concept of a refrigerator.”

“How about ‘human food box’?”

Root’s smile was deeply patronizing. “It’s cute that you’re trying to help, John, but that’s the worst suggestion you’ve ever given me. You’re thinking like a human.”

Not the first time she’d accused him of that, but the intended insult was one he was proud to claim.

He refocused on the important matters.

“You haven’t taught it to…attack or anything right?”

Root’s wide, toothy smile made his blood run cold.

“We’re working on “fetch” at the moment,” Root said. “Things like “attack” and “kill” can come later.”

Reese laughed weakly. She was joking right? Right?

“Root.”

They both turned at Shaw’s tense voice. The robot had gone over to Bear’s bed and had its front legs bent, the back of it shaking back and forth. It bounced playfully on its front legs as if asking to play.

Shaw had her gun pointed at it and Bear was hiding behind her.

“It’s just being friendly,” Root protested.

“It’s about to get real friendly with a bullet.”

Root sighed and called the robot back over to her. Not an improvement in Reese’s opinion since that put it right near him again.

“It’s okay,” Root told the robot, patting it on the head in a reassuring manner. “She’ll come around eventually.”

But eventually didn’t seem like it was going to come any time soon.

The entire mess came to a head while Reese was out on a mission one day. The subway was empty when he returned, but the robot dog was lying, inactive, in the middle of the floor. Several pieces of it had been ripped off, and one of its legs was broken.

Reese examined it for a few minutes and then headed to consult the only one besides Root or Shaw who was likely to know what had gone down.

“Hello?” he said as he entered the subway car.

One of the monitors was already on and words appeared in the screen almost at once.

Hello, John Reese.

He was proud of the fact she finally called him by his name.

“What, uh, what happened out there? With the robot.”

You are aware that Root has been teaching her creation to fetch?

“Yeah, she said she thought she finally had it down.”

She attempted to have it fetch Shaw. Shaw did not wish to be fetched. A brief struggle ensued and it would be accurate to say that Shaw emerged the victor.

“Oh god.” He could imagine that almost too well. “Why fetch Shaw?”

Root was in bed and wished Shaw to join her. She sent the robot to gently encourage her to hurry up. Unfortunately the fetch protocol is still a little buggy and the robot got overenthusiastic.

“Bad idea.”

It was perhaps not Root’s best plan.

Reese looked out at the pitiful remains of Root’s pet project. “I can’t imagine Root was pleased.”

She was very distraught, though slightly distracted by Shaw’s display of upper body strength during the struggle.

Neither of these things surprised him in the slightest.

Shaw was unapologetic, but did take Root home after. Presumably to cheer her up.

Reese had a good idea what that entailed and no desire for details. He decided to change the subject slightly to head that off.

“Do you know why Root never named it?” He’d been shocked she hadn’t.

She wished me to select a name for it. I did not.

“Why you? And why not?”

Her original intent in building it was a misguided notion that I might like a pet. I did not name it because it’s not truly self-aware. It is a fancy toy.

Reese wondered if the Machine could get jealous. Probably best not to think about that for too long.

“Sort of a shame, though,” he said. “I hate the thing, but I’d kind of gotten used to seeing it around here. And Root seemed to really enjoy working on it.”

Perhaps you are correct. Would you like to help me remedy the situation?

“Uh, I don’t know the first thing about robotics.”

Unnecessary for this task. Several pieces were badly damaged by Shaw’s impressive attacks against it. You can help me acquire replacement parts.

He decided not to notice the fact that the Machine seemed kinda…into Shaw beating up the robot.

“Does it require breaking and entering?”

Not necessarily, but I’m sure I could arrange it to.

Reese nodded in satisfaction. Now they were talking.

It took Root two weeks to fully rebuild the robot, partly because she kept getting very upset about its broken state and Shaw kept having to ‘cheer her up’. Reese started spending more time hanging out with Fusco until the repairs were complete.

“I think he’s starting to like it,” Root said, watching Bear cautiously sniff Spot.

The Machine had finally agreed to name the robot, though he suspected that was mostly to humour Root.

And Bear was doing a little better with it now that Root had taught it another way to play fetch: throwing Bear’s chew toy for him.

“Hmph.” Shaw kept an eye on Bear and Spot as she cleaned her weapon at the table. She was sitting next to Root now and Reese was working hard not to notice the way Shaw twitched every so often and Root looked smug. But it was nice to see they’d made up.

Shaw hadn’t warmed up to Spot much, but since its resurrection the robot seemed very nervous around her and went out of its way to avoid her. Reese wasn’t sure if this was something Root had added to its programming or if one of the fancy learning algorithms it ran on had concluded that she was a threat. Shaw seemed quite pleased with the situation.

“I think it’s almost ready to try out in our apartment,” Root said.

“Oh, hell no.” Shaw looked indignant. “No evil robot dogs in the house. That’s Bear’s territory.”

“But Sameen, think of all the dishes it could do.”

“Think of all the dishes you could do it you put in one tenth of the effort you spent on that thing.”

He tuned out their friendly squabbling to watch Spot attempt to chase the robot tail Root had given it. It was almost endearing.

Especially with the little top hat on that he’d bought for it. Root had been absolutely delighted about that.

Later, after Root and Shaw had left for the night, he found Spot in rest mode, folded up in the dog bed Root had insisted on buying and placing next to the Machine’s servers.

“How’s pet ownership treating you?” he asked the monitors.

It is not really a pet.

“True, but pretending it is isn’t the worst thing ever.”

That is possible, I suppose.

“If you really dislike it that much I’m sure Root will deactivate it for you.” Probably, anyway. There’d be a lot of sulking.

I am not deactivating Spot.

Reese’s lips twitched as he held back a smile. “You like it, don’t you? Something in your code thinks it’s cute.” Probably the wagging tail. Even an AI couldn’t resist that.

I believe you have plans tonight, Primary Asset Reese. You will be late if you do not leave soon.

A dismissal and he was back to being ‘Primary Asset’. He must have struck a nerve. Or circuit.

In the dark of the subway later that night, Spot switched back on and unfolded itself. It trotted over to the monitor display and cocked its head to one side, focused on one of the little computer speakers on the desk.

“Good Dog.”

Spot wagged its tail.

[raendown]

Pairing: KisameIruka Soulmate au: The one where soulmates can communicate telepathically using only images

Follow the link or read under the cut!

Sometimes Kisame couldn’t help but wonder if his soulmate might be a little stupid. Alright, that was slightly unfair. Maybe not stupid but certainly sometimes he thought whoever it was must be confused. He enjoyed their strange conversations, conducted entirely in the form of disjointed images, and he liked that they were so in tune that he could usually tell the intent behind each image.

The only problem that ever cropped up was when he tried to tell his partner about himself. It wasn’t really safe to say anything about his life but he could certainly describe his looks. He usually used an image of a shark. His clan was unique in their strangely shark-like appearances and one wouldn’t be wrong to say that he shared a number of traits with the aquatic predators. Yet, every time he would receive in return the image of a dolphin. And behind that image he could sense the intent of “name”, and he couldn’t fathom what message they were trying to send. He was a shark, not a dolphin.

He had tried to send an image of his own face once when they were both younger. It had appeared warped and strange. He had asked his mother, only a year before she died, why he couldn’t send his soulmate a picture of himself. She had laughed.

“Because you don’t see yourself as a picture,” she told him, poking thick fingers in to the deep blue locks on his head. “You see yourself as a concept, as an emotion, as a feeling. Who you are could never be conveyed in just one image. You can only send the things that you see, not the things that you feel.”

Young Kisame had huffed and swatted her hand away, annoyed at the flowery words from someone not usually given to embellishments.

Many years later, closing in on his thirtieth year, and Kisame had long since given up trying to tell his soulmate what he looked like. It was an exercise in frustration and he was in too good of a mood to ruin it doing something he knew to be pointless. He was standing on the border of his fellow Akatsuki member’s home village, looking down at the houses below. Surely the nine-tails jinchūriki was here and their task would be completed soon. Kisame was eager to move their plans forward, to see this new perfect world that they were building. He was certain he would be able to find his soulmate in a perfect world.

Normally Kisame tried not to give away his location to anyone – and that included the person who was linked to him mentally. He led a dangerous life and there was no telling who could get hurt in the crossfire or who would betray him unexpectedly. Today he felt close enough to his goal to be daring, to let a little information slip. He looked over to the gates standing tall and proud in the wall he and his partner were currently perched upon, sending an image of the leaf symbol carved therein.

He was startled to receive the same image back with such a strong feeling of love that he gently swayed on the spot. There was such an intent of deep, abiding loyalty in that response and right away the possibility occurred to him with a muted sort of horror that his soulmate might very well live here.

Next to him, Itachi was silent as he scanned his red eyes over the place he had once called home. Kisame used that silence to send an image of Konoha as he saw it right then, infusing the message with curiosity, with a question. In return, his soulmate sent him an image of a schoolyard, of children playing underneath a window that led to an empty classroom. There was a tree in the yard with a swing tied to one branch and Kisame could almost picture the shadow of someone sitting on that swing as he read the intent behind the image: a beckoning, come to me.

“Where’s your Academy?” he rumbled. Breaking from his reverie, Itachi gave him a questioning look but Kisame only gestured at the village before them impatiently.

“It’s there,” his partner replied, lifting a hand to point. “Not far from the Hokage Tower.”

“Right. We’re going there.”

“What?”

Kisame didn’t wait for an answer. He kicked off the border wall in one powerful leap, sending him sailing over the outer rim of buildings. After a minute he sensed Itachi following, likely curious to see why he wanted to go somewhere so unlikely to house their target. The thought of the boy they were meant to be finding was so far from Kisame’s mind at that point he might have nearly forgotten he was even on a mission at all. He was focused entirely on the prospect of finally meeting his soulmate.

His cloak, he knew, was a giant neon sign hanging off his shoulders. He kept to the shadows as he dropped down beside the main building of the Academy and crept along the wall. Children dashed to and fro in the yard, playing at games and screeching with abandon the way children do. Adults dotted the yard here and there keeping an eye on their charges.

Small, sunken eyes scanned the yard until Kisame’s gaze fell upon a certain tree, one which had a swing tied to its thickest branch. Upon the swing sat a young man with his brown hair pulled up in to a ponytail and an old scar punctuating the skin across his nose. His face was turned up for the sunlight to filter down through the leaves and fall upon his tanned skin as his eyes seemed to dart here and there. He was incredibly handsome, Kisame noticed with a strangely warm sensation gathering in his chest. Not even the puffy vest of the Konoha uniform could hide his broad shoulders or his muscled torso.

Hesitantly, Kisame sent an image of the man on the swing across his mental connection. He was pleased beyond words when that same man stiffened and his head jerked down, turning immediately to look in the direction of where Kisame was peering out from the shadows. He sent the image a second time, infusing it with the same intent of beckoning as the other had before.

He was barely aware of Itachi grumbling behind him and slinking away as the tanned stranger rose from the swing and hurried in his direction. Kisame stepped back, anxious and eager all at once and trying not to show it. He was concentrating on standing still when the man who he was certain was his soulmate slipped in to the shadows with him, stopping only a few feet away. They stared at each other in absolute bewilderment, each wondering what to say.

“Um, hello,” the other man began in a voice worn by years of yelling at fledgling ninjas. “We should…introduce ourselves? My name is Iruka.”

“Iruka!” Kisame tossed his head back and laughed without thinking. “So that’s why you kept sending me an image of a dolphin!” Iruka blinked at him, then smiled bashfully.

“Yes. That would be why. And your name?” he asked.

“Kisame. My name is Kisame.”

“Kisame.” Iruka chewed his lips for a moment before suddenly breaking in to a brilliant smile. “Hello there, Kisame! It’s nice to finally meet you!”

He stared at that smile, the ball of warmth in his chest growing larger and larger until it encroached upon the knot of guilt in his gut. Iruka; he seemed like a nice guy. He was handsome, instantly friendly, and he was the first person who had been genuinely happy to see Kisame since his own mother had passed away. He hated to think what this man would do when he found out his soulmate was a member of what was technically known as a terrorist organization.

“Your cloak…”

He stiffened, giving Iruka a startled look for having nearly read his thoughts.

“What about it?” he hedged.

“I’ve heard about that pattern on it. That’s an Akatsuki cloak.” His eyes were filling up with an incredible sadness and Kisame drew in a slow breath, unable to describe what that expression was doing to him. He suddenly felt the need to do something he had never done before: repent.

“It is,” he murmured quietly in response.

Iruka simply stood still and looked at him, held his gaze for a long, silent minute. In that minute Kisame felt as though he were being judged and was surprised to discover he was nervous about the final verdict. Finally the other man sighed.

“I am glad to meet you Kisame. But I am loyal to Konoha.” He looked torn and it ripped in to Kisame in an unfamiliar way. Iruka rocked back on his heels and, thinking he was preparing to leave, Kisame panicked and blurted out the first thought that crossed his mind.

“Wait, uh, I could be.”

“Could be…what?” Iruka paused, shifting his weight back again. Kisame scrunched his nose.

“Alright I don’t think I could be loyal to Konoha per se but…I could be loyal to you.”

Even more surprising was to find that he meant it. He realized suddenly that he really could be, that he was, somewhere inside himself, considering leaving his cloak behind and surrendering himself to a village not his own all for the sake of a man he had only just met.

But had they really only just met? He had known Iruka’s presence inside his mind for his entire life; even if he hadn’t had a name or a face until today he still knew him. Iruka was the single constant in his life, the one person that had never let him down and the one dream that had never died. He had joined the Akatsuki when he became disillusioned with the world around him, attracted by the idea of a perfect world and the perfect happiness he would find therein.

Now here before him stood another opportunity for perfect happiness and he was smart enough to recognize that he had a choice, that this was a turning point. And as the smile slowly bloomed on Iruka’s face again he knew that the decision had already been made – because he knew he would do anything to keep seeing that smile.

“Could you now?” Iruka asked in a low voice. Kisame stepped closer, his lips pulling up in to a smirk.

“I could. I could be very loyal to you.”

“Well I certainly won’t discourage you.”

His hands were tugging at the clasps of his cloak before he even registered that they had moved. The black and red material slid from his shoulders to gather in a puddle upon the dusty ground behind him and Kisame took another step forward – a step away from the Akatsuki, a step towards Iruka.

His soulmate welcome him with a smile and soft embrace that made him feel as if he were the smaller of them even though he stood well over a head taller. His soulmate could fit tucked under his chin yet for all his shorter stature he did not give the impression of weakness or helplessness.

Kisame smiled and it felt like he was relearning the expression entirely. It certainly wasn’t going to be so easy, he knew that. He was a criminal, a wanted S-rank missing-nin. There would certainly be a trial, jail time, something. He spared a fleeting thought for Itachi and wondered if he would report Kisame’s defection to the Leader.

Whatever the recompense, he was ready to face it. Truly the wild tales he had never believed about soulmates were truer than he could ever have imagined. He had only just met his and already he knew he would spend the rest of his life fighting to stay by Iruka’s side. He already knew that this was where he was meant to be. If only he hadn’t wasted so much time by trying to avoid telling the other more about his life.

As it turned out, Iruka had been the smart one all along.

[myndopeus]

you give me something to think about (chapter 4)

ao3 link in bio (idk if tumblr is still hiding external links)

Summary: Trini has no plans for the future, no idea of what she’s going to do after she leaves school. All that’s left is to enjoy the last year she has left.

And oh, what a year it will be.

The Slowburn Hogwarts AU that no one asked for.

Trini turns and watches the early blue light of the morning creep through the window. She rubs groggily at her eyes, looking at her clock again, watching the second hand tick past. It reads 6:07. One of those days, I guess.

She quietly gets out of bed and gets dressed, careful not to wake any of the other girls. She decides that sitting in the common room trying to work would probably make her feel even worse, so she tiredly creeps quietly out, hoping that the castle doors won’t be locked.

Luckily enough, they aren’t, and she steps out, the dewy morning air cooling her skin. She shivers a little, wraps her robes tighter around herself, and starts walking. She’s not really thinking about where she’s going, just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, hoping the rhythm will drown out the thoughts in her head. When she finally pays attention to her surroundings, she’s somehow ended up near the lake. The memory of that day in detention surfaces, and she suddenly feels a little more awake.

The castle looks strangely blue in the light, much like how Trini is feeling. The cloudy sky filters the sunlight that reflects off of the lake. Even the green grass looks strangely grey. She chalks it up to her shitty mood and walks, keeping a wary eye out for doxies.

She practically jumps out of her skin when a blurry shape darts across her path. She fumbles with her wand, her mind completely blanking on spells. Luckily, the animal isn’t one of ill intent, just a rabbit. She places a hand over her racing heart, breathing heavily. Suddenly, a much larger shape swerves out from behind a tree, and she yelps. The figure stumbles back in surprise, letting out a similar yell, and she realizes she recognizes the messy black hair.

“The fuck, Taylor?”

“Trini?” His face crinkles in confusion, before shaking his head. “Whatever, one sec,” he says, running past her.

She turns, confused and mildly offended, to see Zack cast out a barrier charm. The sprinting rabbit collides with the spell with a mildly audible thump, bouncing off and immediately dashing in another direction. Zack sends out another spell that hits the grass, missing its target. After a few more missed shots, he swears to himself before simply diving at the animal and grabbing it. He skids a few feet before getting up, the rabbit in his hands.

“Son of a bitch.  Anyhow, what are you doing here? Aren’t you usually on the pitch around this time?”

She simply stares at him as he tries to restart the conversation. “So we’re not gonna address how you were just chasing a rabbit?”

“Transfiguration assignment.”

“There must be some sort of law out there on manhandling animals. Even if it’s for school purposes.”

“Oh, no need to worry about this guy. I’m supposed to be turning him back into a statue.”

Trini hums in sympathy. “Reversing transformations is really weird, I still haven’t got the hang of it.”

“Yeah, I’m still figuring it out too. Really have to work on it though, because it’s a bit early in the year for me to be falling behind in class, especially with Quidditch and all that.” He shrugs like it isn’t a big deal, tucking the rabbit under his other arm.

It might be the early hour, or the lack of sleep, but Trini finds herself speaking before she fully finishes her thought. “If you want, I could help you out. I mean,” she stutters slightly, “I still need to work on it too, so it might be good if we, y’know, practiced. Together.”

Zack blinks, clearly surprised. “Oh! Um, yeah. Yeah that… that sounds good.”

“I kind of owe you anyways, for the quidditch training and stuff…” She trails off awkwardly.

Thankfully, they don’t stand in silence for too long. The clanging of the bells draws their attention, startling them both. They both speak at the same time.

“I should probably- ”

“That’s my cue-”

Trini cringes internally. She fires a quick “see you later” to Zack before turning and walking briskly back to the castle. She hears him call out as she’s leaving.

“Later, Crazy Girl!”

* * *

Something bounces off her head, jolting her awake. Trini’z eyes shoot around disorientedly, trying to make sense of everything. The garish color of the walls tells her that she’s in the Hufflepuff common room. She looks down, and sees a colorful paper tiger prowling on her books.

“Sorry about that.” She turns to the source of the voice walking towards her. It’s a tall boy with long, silvery hair that’s tied back. He reaches out, and the tiger jumps into his hand. “Didn’t mean to disturb you, especially since you looked so comfy.”

She chuckles bashfully. “It’s probably a good thing,” she says. “I don’t even remember falling asleep.”

“We’ve all been there before, believe me.” He sticks his hand out. “I’m Ernie, by the way. And yes, that is my real name, short for Ernest, haha, it’s funny, I know.”

She smiles, shaking his hand. “Trini.” She looks at his face, and something clicks. “You’re on the quidditch team, aren’t you?             You’re, uh, a chaser? Keeper?”

“A little bit of everything, actually,” he laughs, eyes twinkling. “I move positions almost every year.”

“Wow. That’s pretty impressive.”

“Eh,” he shrugs. “Mostly I just round out whatever position needs filling.”

“Still, you must be pretty talented. Are you captain this year?”

“No, although I am technically Vice Captain, in an unofficial capacity. Jen’s captain, and she’s certainly got the passion for it, but she forgets a lot of the administrative stuff, which is where I come in. Speaking of quidditch,” he says, “I hate to be that person, but tryouts are on Saturday. Jen’s making me tell everyone I see,” he explains.

Trini nods. “Cool. I’ll be there.”

“You don’t have to say that just because I brought it up,” Ernie says quickly.

“No, really, I was planning on going anyways.”

“Oh. Oh! Great, then.” He smiles. “I’ll see you around, Trini.” He walks off, his long hair swishing behind him, the paper tiger crouching on his shoulder.

Trini glances at her watch and sees that it’s around the time that Zack’s last class gets out. She clears her things off the table, putting her books on her bed, before heading out to meet him.

She reaches the tree from before and sets her bag down. She stretches a little, looking around. It’s sunnier today, and the sun is hovering quite nicely over the water. One of the perks of living in a hidden castle in the middle of nowhere, she muses to herself. At least you get a good view.

“Sorry, had to go get him from Professor McGonagall.” Zack shuffles up to her, a cage tucked under his arm. “How’s your day been?” he asks, setting it down.

She shrugs. “Same as every other day. Did meet this guy with a sick ponytail though, Ernie.”

Zack’s eyes light up in recognition, a little smile on his face. “Oh, Ernie! Yeah they’re cool, great quidditch player. Also super hot as well.” He sighs a little dreamily, staring off into the distance for a moment.

Trini blinks, her brain frantically trying to process all of the information packed into the last few seconds. It’s not that any of that information bothers her, per se. She’s more shocked at the ease with which Zack mentions it.

She chooses to go for the least personal question. “They?”

“Oh yeah, Ernie uses they/them pronouns. They’re genderqueer.” Zack looks at her. “You’re cool with that, right?”

“Way to put me on the spot, but yeah, of course. And they’re cool with you telling me this?”

“Yeah, Ernie is out, they don’t mind. Did you guys talk about tryouts?”

She nods. “Yeah, they mentioned it and I told them I was going.”

“Ernie’s pretty high up in the hierarchy of the Hufflepuff team. Would have been a good time to use what little charm you have, butter ‘em up a little, earn some bonus points, eh? Eh?” Zack winks excessively at her, nudging her with his elbow.

“First of all, no,” she says, pushing him away. “I’m not quite as willing to embarrass myself like that as you are. And they’re not my type, anyways.”

“Well, what is your type, then?” Zack asks, and Trini freezes. Luckily Zack doesn’t seem to notice, he just watches her waiting for an answer. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know what to tell him.

Fortunately, a slight movement in her peripheral vision gives her a distraction.

“My type is someone who actually pays attention to what they’re doing,” she says, pointing over Zack’s shoulder at the escaping rabbit. He looks at the open cage, before cursing and setting off after the animal, Trini laughing at him as he scrambles.

* * *

“So did you always want to play quidditch?” Trini asks. They’ve been sitting there for a while, the rabbit between them as they took turns trying to cast the spell. Her back is leaning against the tree, and Zack is sprawled out on his side, his head propped up on his hand.

Zack tries the spell again, and the grass around the rabbit glows for a bit, but nothing happens. He sighs disappointedly.

“Actually, when I got here, I had no idea what quidditch was,” he says, and Trini pauses, her wand in the air. “There isn’t much opportunity to learn about that kind of stuff outside the wizarding world.”

Trini’s eyes widen. “Oh. You’re--”

“Yup. Muggleborn, 100%.” 

She nods. “Me too,” she says, and Zack’s eyes meet hers. “I just didn’t think…  I mean, you look so at home here, I thought that you were at least half-blood, or something.”

He shrugs, sitting up. “Yeah, well, wasn’t always like that. It was super awkward my first year, everything was really weird. It was my mom who suggested that I join quidditch, actually.” He chuckles, a look of fondness growing on his face. “The only thing she knows about it is that it’s a sport, but she kept insisting that I try and make friends somehow. Plus, it was a good outlet for all my nervous energy.”

Zack reaches out and gently strokes the rabbit, scratching the back of its neck a little. Trini watches him, a little surprised. She never would have guessed it, but it turns out that underneath all his loudness and bravado, Zack is actually a really nice guy.

“So what about you?” She starts, pulled out of her thoughts. Zack is looking at her, that air of openness still surrounding him. “How’d you adjust to all of this?” he asks, gesturing to the castle.

She doesn’t meet his eyes, reaching out to tentatively pat the rabbit instead. “Dunno, I guess I managed somehow,” she mumbles. She can’t bring herself to lie to Zack, not when he’d just been somewhat honest with her.

He raises an eyebrow, but to her relief, he doesn’t push her for a better answer. She takes a deep breath, concentrating, before carefully waving her wand and saying the incantation, making sure to enunciate.

The rabbit stops chewing, the grass around it glowing with a bright light. It rises, freezing into a pose on its hind feet, and Trini and Zack hold their breath in anticipation. A moment passes, then another, and then the light fades and the rabbit unfreezes, landing back on all fours. It continues chewing as if nothing had happened.

Zack groans, flopping onto his back. Trini closes her eyes, tilting her head back until it hits the tree. “Damn.”

“You’re rushing it,” a voice calls, and Trini opens her eyes to deliver some snarky response to whoever was butting into their business. Unfortunately, her voice seems to completely disappear for a second when she sees who it is.

Kimberly is walking towards them, and she is in a completely unreasonable state of undress, a towel in her hands. Trini frantically turns away, afraid that she might start staring. Unfortunately, she wasn’t quick enough, and the image of Kimberly Hart in a fucking bikini, her legs and stomach completely on display, keeps flashing behind her eyes.

“You’re enunciation is good, but the wand movement is still a bit unclear,” Kimberly says casually, as if she isn’t practically naked in the middle of the grounds. Her skin is littered with droplets, and water drips from her hair. She tilts her head, starting to wring her hair out. “If you slowed down a little, you’d probably get it.”

“Woah, Hart,” Zack laughs incredulously. “I always knew you were a little crazy, but you actually go swimming in that fucking lake? Home to the giant squid?”

Kimberly shrugs, slinging the towel over her shoulder. “Weather was looking nice, figured I’d go for a swim.”

“In a lake full of deadly magical creatures?”

“I live in the dungeons, Zack, and there are windows. They’re actually not as scary as everyone makes them sound.”

“Sure they aren’t. I’m just saying, when a giant pervy tentacle snatches your top off, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”

“I… In what scenario would that possibly happen? I don’t even want to know how you came up with that.”

Trini feels awkward just sitting there listening to Zack and Kimberly banter, so she turns her attention back to the rabbit, who has hopped a few feet away. She exhales, focusing intently, and tries the spell again. Once more, the rabbit assumes the correct pose, but it doesn’t turn into a statue, and the spell fails. She lets out a huff of frustration.

“You’re still rushing it.” Trini notices that Kimberly is addressing her. “The second movement needs to be softer—”

“Well, if you’re so good at it, why don’t you show us how it’s done?” Trini challenges. She can feel her ears burning slightly from embarrassment.

Kimberly raises an eyebrow, and Trini expects her to just make some snarky remark and walk off. Instead, she steps forward, and soon she’s standing over Trini. It’s an awkward angle looking up to her face, but Trini figures it’s more appropriate than looking at any other part of Kimberly’s very much unclothed body.

There’s an awkward silence before Kimberly speaks. “Um. I don’t have my wand.” Trini blinks in confusion before she realizes that Kimberly’s hand is outstretched. Oops. She still doesn’t move, simply maintaining eye contact with Kimberly.

Finally, Kimberly lets out a sigh that is somehow both patient and condescending, before turning to Zack. “Can I?” she asks, and Zack hands his wand over.

She turns to the rabbit and lifts the wand. Her wrist flexes gracefully as she casts the spell, and even before she finishes, Trini can already tell that it’ll work. The glow barely lasts, and soon a ceramic statue of a rabbit rests on the grass.

“Good enough?” Kimberly asks, and Trini doesn’t have a reply. Kimberly simply smirks and hands Zack his wand back. “See you later,” she says to him before she walks off, not even bothering to say goodbye to Trini.

“That girl is hot as hell,” Zack comments, and Trini kicks him lightly, because there’s no way that Kimberly is out of earshot.

“Ow! What?” Zack complains, rubbing his shin. “It’s true.”

Trini rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Who does she think she is, acting like she knows everything?”

“I mean, she did get the spell right.”

“So?” Trini scoffs. “It’s still rude.”

“You realize she’s top of our class in Transfiguration, right? She’s got the brains and the body.”

“Gross, dude.” Trini grimaces, aiming another kick at Zack. “Do you talk about all your friends like that?”

“Actually I do,” he says, before winking at her. “If you think that’s bad, you should hear the stuff I say about Jason—” She cuts him off with a groan, burying her face in her hands, and he laughs. There’s a pause before Zack speaks again.

“So, you reckon Kimberly’s more of your type?” Her head shoots up, and Zack is watching her with a devious twinkle in his eyes.

Instead of responding, she turns to regard the rabbit statue. She looks at Zack, smirks, and then raises her wand. His eyes widen.

“Wait, don’t—”

“Lapifors.”

The statue wavers, comes to life, and the rabbit immediately starts hopping away. Trini rises to her feet, grabbing her bag. “Good luck, Taylor,” she taunts as he gapes at her.

“Wha-? What am I supposed to do now?”

“Keep practicing,” She says as she backs away. She waves her arms in an exaggerated conductor-like gesture. “Remember, slooooowly.” She turns away, and chuckles when she hears Zack swear as he goes back to chasing the rabbit.

* * *

Trini fidgets with the handle of her broom, her brain already filling with regret. Her nerves had been getting the best of her, so she figured that there was no harm in getting to the tryouts a little early. Except she might have been too early, and now she’s facing the prospect of sitting awkwardly by herself, waiting for someone else to arrive.

Stupid, she mentally berates herself. She’s tempted to fly around a bit, just to give herself something to do, but it might look pretentious if someone saw her. She settles for pulling her wand out and messing around a bit.

Even after all these years, Trini never gets tired of doing magic. Not to say that being gifted this way was easy; she figures her relationship with her parents would still be strained either way, but magic definitely played a part in that. Still, she found something calming in casting spells. There was a certainty in it, in the way she could actually make things happen. It helped her feel in control, even if only for a little bit.

She conjures a rainbow, and smiles as it hovers in a perfect circle front of her. Her smile fades a little when she remembers her earlier conversation with Zack. She bites her lip, mulling over the questions he’d asked her.

You reckon Kimberly’s more your type?

She hears footsteps approaching, and it turns out to be Ernie again. She gives them a wave.

“That’s pretty neat.” Ernie says, and Trini shrugs.

“Thanks. So’s that.” She gestures to Ernie’s hair, and they chuckle.

“Tragically, I’m nowhere near this skilled. It’s all Jen’s work,” they say, fingers brushing against the braids pinning their hair back. “Speaking of which, she swore she was gonna be on time…”

There’s silence for an awkward amount of time before Ernie tries to start up the conversation again. “Feeling nervous?”

Luckily, at that point, a bunch of other Hufflepuffs walk in, some of them in jerseys, some of them wearing regular clothes. Some of them call out to Ernie, and they excuse themself before going to join their teammates. Trini lets out a breath, glad to not be the focus of attention anymore.

People keep arriving for the next ten minutes or so, and soon the pitch is full of noise and chatter. Eventually, a sharp whistle calls them all to silence, and Ernie steps out.

“Hello everyone,” they say cheerfully. “Hopefully you’re here because you want to try out for the Hufflepuff quidditch team. If you thought this was gonna be something else, then I’m sorry to disappoint, but we’d still like you to try out anyways. If you’re not in Hufflepuff, then I don’t know what you’re doing here, but could you please leave, thanks.” There’s a titter from the crowd, and some groans from Ernie’s teammates.

“For those of you who don’t know, I’m Ernie, the unofficial vice-captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. I am not the actual captain, as that would be—”

“That would be me.” A voice booms from the entrance, and everyone turns on the spot. There’s a girl walking towards them, purpose evident in her every step. Trini can feel the wave of intimidation settle over the crowd.

Ernie shakes their head. “Always one for dramatics,” they sigh as the girl comes to stand next to them. Her long, dark hair is braided down the back, and her dark, serious eyes scan the crowd.

“Listen up,” she commands, and everyone snaps to attention. “I am the Captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. You may call me Jen, Jenny if I like you, and Jennifer if you have a death wish.” Some idiot in the crowd chuckles, but he chokes when she immediately fixes him with a piercing glare.

“I’m not going to lie, the team has suffered a bit of a blow this year, so you have some big shoes to fill. If you want to even be considered for this team, I want you to give 100% effort. There will be no do-overs for these tryouts, no second chances. This is your one and only chance to prove that you are tough enough and talented enough to be on the team. You want a place? Then. Earn. It.” She punctuates the final words by staring into the crowd, and Trini swallows thickly. “Warm ‘em up,” Jen says to Ernie before taking off on her broom.  

“Well then.” Ernie claps their hands enthusiastically. “We’ll have a few laps around the pitch to warm up, do some drills, and we’ll go from there. Sound good?”

The girl standing next to Trini leans in close. “The captain sure is scary, huh?” she whispers.

Trini nods, watching Jen fly around the pitch. “Yeah. I wanna be her when I grow up.”

* * *

“We’ll take a five minute break,” Jen calls out. “And no slacking!”

Sighs of relief can be heard throughout the pitch. Trini settles on the ground, wiping the sweat off her face.

The tryouts so far had been… chaotic, to say the least. After warm-ups and passing drills, there had barely been any structure at all. Jen seemed to be calling out exercises at random, some of them sounding so ridiculous that Trini was sure they’d been made up on the spot (at one point she tried to have them steer their brooms with their legs, which Trini is pretty sure is impossible). To add to the weirdness, every so often Ernie or one of the other squad members would fly up, seemingly out of nowhere, and yell “Catch!” while throwing some random object in the air (they lost a couple of recruits from black eyes, and Jen eventually had to call them off when someone launched an umbrella through the air like a javelin).

“Hey Trini! Catch!” She whirls around, hands just barely coming up in time to catch the object being thrown at her. It’s cold, and wet, and she realizes that it’s a bottle of water. She looks for the source, and is startled to see Billy waving to her from the stands.

“You need to stay hydrated!” he calls down, hands cupped around his mouth like a megaphone. There’s a huge smile on her face as she sips from the bottle before giving him a thumbs up. He gives her two in response, and Trini feels like she could cry.

“Alright grunts, circle up!” Jen barks, and Trini quickly takes a few last sips before heading over.

“Surely there’s a nicer word to call them?” Ernie suggests, and Jen waves the suggestion off.

“Meh, who can be bothered? Alright,” she addresses the recruits. “We’ve split you guys up into teams, and we’re gonna run a practice match. We don’t have a snitch, so instead you’ll be chasing Ernie here. Rules as usual, except the game doesn’t end when the snitch is caught. If you somehow do manage to catch Ernie, both seekers will be switched out, and the match will continue. Any questions?”

A hand rises. “If Ernie is gonna be flying, how are we supposed to catch them without anyone getting injured.”

Jen shrugs. “That’s your problem. Anything else? No. Good. Also, positions may be switched up randomly and without warning, so you suckers better be on your toes.”

Fourteen people are selected to be on the starting teams, and the rest are told to wait in the stands. There’s a lot of confusion and apprehension floating among the recruits, and Trini tries to tune it out. She grabs a seat next to Billy, giving him a smile.

“Didn’t know you were gonna be here,” she says, nudging him with her shoulder. He flinches at the contact, but waves off her apology.

“You’re my friend, of course I’m gonna come watch. I would’ve brought the others, but I don’t think players from other teams are welcome at tryouts.”

“Probably not,” Trini agrees. They turn their attention back to the pitch as the quaffle is thrown up and the match begins.

Billy watches the pitch with a blank expression. After a minute, he speaks up. “This is a hot mess.”

“I agree.” They both wince as two of the players exchanging Chaser positions collide into each other, calling for a time-out. A player in a jersey flies up and points to Trini.

“You, Tiny. You’re up.” She glares at him defiantly before saying goodbye to Billy. Rather than going back down the stairs, she simply jumps to the top of the barrier and leaps from there, mounting her broom in mid-air.

The Hufflepuff player nods. “Impressive. Hopefully your skills live up to your showmanship. You’re in seeker position for team Yellow.”

The whistle blows, signaling the match to resume, and Trini immediately flies to a higher vantage point, scanning the action. She quickly spots Ernie by their silvery hair, the Black team seeker in pursuit. She almost dives down, but then she sees Ernie heading towards the thick of the action, where the chasers are battling for the quaffle. She heads on an interception path, aiming for the other side of the mass of people.

Ernie skillfully weaves under and between the other players—the other seeker isn’t as lucky, almost colliding with a chaser before getting brutally pummeled by a bludger. Trini winces in sympathy as they’re quickly swapped out.

Something flicks her in the ear, and her hand comes up instinctively. “Ah!”

“Focus, Trini,” Ernie’s voice says over her shoulder, and she immediately turns, but they’re already speeding off. She sets off after them, keeping an eye out for obstacles.

They zig-zag across the field for a while before Ernie tries the same tactic, darting by the other players in an attempt to throw her off. Instead, Trini drops altitude, flying a level below the action. She’s able to track the action above her, and she spots Ernie as they’re looping back to the other side of the pitch. She’s gearing up to intercept when her path is suddenly blocked.

“Get out of the way!” she snaps at the figure that swerved in front of her, and she nearly pisses her pants when she looks and sees Jen glaring at her sternly.

“I-I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” she manages to stutter out. Jen looks between her and Ernie before speaking again.

“Change of position,” she says, tossing Trini a bat. “You’re beater now.” She speeds off before Trini can say anything else.

The rest of the match passes quickly; there isn’t much for Trini to do as a beater, since the players are so disorganized she can barely remember who to defend and who to attack. Eventually, Jen calls a halt.

“That’s good, we’re done now. Good show, we’ll get back to you… at some point.” She flies away, leaving Ernie standing in front of everyone. They look around before throwing their hands up in celebration.

“You guys did really well!” they cheer, a comically large smile on their face. “That was a lot of fun, I hope you guys enjoyed it, we’ll have a discussion and once the team has been selected we’ll probably post something in the common room. Get some rest, make sure to drink water, and have a nice day!” As abruptly as their speech began, it ends, and Ernie is already walking towards the rest of the team before Trini can process what they said.

“Talk about good cop, bad cop,” she mutters to herself as she heads out. Billy is waiting for her outside the pitch, and he claps his hands when he sees her.

“You did really well!” he says excitedly. “It’s a shame you didn’t get to play chaser, but all that practice we did paid off! It was a really unorthodox method of choosing players though, I’m really interested in what their goal was. When do the results come out? I’m pretty sure you have a good chance of getting in. Do you think I’d be able to talk to the captain?”

Trini holds her hand up for a second, and Billy pauses. She thinks for a moment before responding. “Thanks Billy, it was fun, I had no idea what was going on either, results will be out maybe in a week? And you can try and talk to her, but she’s kinda... rough. Ernie is nice, though.”

He nods. “That’s good to hear. What are you going to do now?”

“Have a shower, eat everything I can get my hands on, and then take a nap.”

“Sounds like a good post-practice plan. But don’t eat everything, because it’s really easy to overeat after you exercise, because you’re so hungry. Plus, if you’re too full, you might get indigestion during your nap.”

She smiles, touched by his concern. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this. Everything in moderation.”

They chat a little about classes and the other players on the walk back to the castle (“It takes a lot of skill to drop the quaffle.” “I’m sure it happens to everyone though, right?” “They literally have Gripping Charms on them, Trini.” “Oh…”). Billy eventually heads off to the library to do some more research, and Trini heads back to the Hufflepuff common room. She stops by the kitchens first, and the house elves are very curious about her appearance. She gives them a very brief rundown of the tryouts as they foist sandwiches and pastries on her, and they wish her luck while sending her off.

Stepping into the Hufflepuff common room is incredibly awkward, because all of the other players from the tryouts are also just making their way back. Many of them are congregated by the windows in a sweaty mass, discussing the tryouts and how each of them thinks they did. Some of them recognize Trini and try to start a conversation, but she manages to quickly, if somewhat brusquely, brush them off as she heads to her dorm.

She debates whether to eat or shower first, but after getting a good whiff of herself, she decides that the sandwiches can wait. The hot water of the shower feels heavenly, and the only reason she manages to make it back to her dorm is because her stomach starts grumbling. The sandwiches are delicious, as always, and she has some pastries left over for later, as always. She barely manages to set everything aside before she passes out from exhaustion.

* * *

Zack is waiting for her outside the Great Hall after lunch. He falls in step besides her as they head to the library.

“Well?” he asks insistently.

“Well what?” she says, feigning ignorance. He sighs dramatically, rolling his eyes.

“The quidditch tryouts, what else?! It’s been over a week, surely they must have said something by now.” She keeps her expression innocent, and he makes an exasperated noise, throwing his hands in the air. All of a sudden he stops, and his eyes narrow at her in suspicion.

“Wait a minute… You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?”

She keeps her expression blank.

“So results did come out, then?”

No response.

“Did you make it on the team?”

Silence. Then, a slight twitch of her mouth.

“I KNEW IT!” All of a sudden, Trini finds herself wrapped up in one of the most intense bear hugs of her life. She feels herself lifted clean off her feet, and her bag presses uncomfortably into her side as Zack squeezes her, spinning around.

“That’s my Crazy Girl! I knew you could do it!” After a few spins he sets her down, and the first thing she does is punch him in the kidney.

“I’m proud of you,” he wheezes out, and while she doesn’t respond, the smile on her face says it all.

She and Zack make their way triumphantly to the designated study table, when Trini stops short. Billy and Jason are sitting next to each other, as usual, with designated space for Billy to lay out his inkwell and quills. But on Jason’s other side sits Kimberly, her hair falling in her face as she leans over her book.

“Huh. Fancy seeing her here,” Zack whispers. Trini frowns.

“You say that like you come here all the time. You’ve literally stepped in this library once.”

“Twice, now.”

“Same difference.” Taking a moment to get herself together, Trini walks up to the table, Zack in tow. She takes her usual seat across from Billy, who looks up at her.

“Any news?” he asks, and Jason turns as well. She exchanges glances with Zack before turning back and giving a thumbs up.

“That’s great,” Jason says, giving her a smile. “You’ve been working hard, you deserve it.”

Billy looks confusedly at her for a moment, hesitantly giving her a thumbs up. “Um, thanks? But did you make it onto the team or not?” he asks again.

“Yeah, I did!”

Billy gasps, clapping his hands together. Out of the corner of her eye, she notices Jason watching Billy fondly.

“Congrats.” Trini is surprised to hear Kimberly speak. She gives a sort of awkward nod in response, and Kimberly turns back to her book.

After a moment of silence, Trini gets out her astrology assignment, rubbing her eyes as she looks over the star chart.

Zack leans over (which is kind of unnecessary, considering how much taller than her he is), and frowns. “Wait, what’s that doing there?” He points to a dot on her paper.

She blinks at him. “That’s Pluto.”

“Pluto’s involved in this?”

“Yeah, we’re supposed to calculate based on a waning half moon. But I thought Pluto was supposed to be over there.” Billy points to a different cluster of stars.

“What? Let me see your chart.”

The three of them spend the next thirty minutes comparing star charts and quietly arguing about the positions of the planets. They eventually attract the wrath of Madame Pince, who gives them a brief scathing lecture on collaborative work and library etiquette before making them all swear to be silent. As soon as she’s out of view, the whole table dissolves into quiet sniggering.

As she reaches for a reference book, Trini briefly wonders how she came from studying alone in the common room to sitting at a library table with her two best friends, her best friend’s quasi-boyfriend, and her best friend’s quasi-boyfriend’s mysterious ex-girlfriend. She rubs at her eyes, turning back to her work. She’ll have time to ruminate on all of this later. Right now, she’ll just enjoy the calm while it lasts.