#well as someone taako's Group meets

[institute-of-planar-shitposts]

"...have any questions?" the Director asks as she finishes informing the brand new Reclaimers of what their new job will entail, as well as the fee she'd just had Davenport pay them.

"I've got one," Taako offers. "As far as we know, is there a bad Bureau of Balance?"

"A Bureau of Imbalance?" Magnus adds, grinning as he nods.

"Just general bad guys?" Merle agrees.

The Director exhales. "Of sorts, yes. To the best of our knowledge, the group that created the Grand Relics, known as the Red Robes for the bright crimson robes they were known for, are all but gone. The Red Robes were a group of powerful wizards, warlocks, and other magic users, and they created the eight relics according to the school they had the most affinity for. If you ever run into any of them, it's imperative you run away."

"So they're still around, then?" Merle checks.

"Most of them are not, no."

"Sooo, again, they're still around?" Taako says, raising an eyebrow.

The Director looks between them, her gaze measured. "I suppose I shouldn't hide it from you, as Reclaimers," she decides. "I'm telling the truth - most of the Red Robes are no longer in existence. The entire Bureau knows about them, and the standing order to run, but due to the danger it poses, few know about the greater threat."

"And that is...?" Magnus gestures for her to continue.

"The story of the Red Robes isn't well known to most of the world," she says, getting up to look out a window. "Of course, that's partially due to the Voidfish. As I'd told you before, the only way to stop the war for the relics was to make the world forget, and that included what was already well-known about the group. I only have what knowledge I've been able to piece together about them. On their own, they're dangerous enough. That said, there's a threat to this world that's greater than the Red Robes.

"In the bits and pieces I've heard, there's a reason this group fell. The Grand Relics, once word spread of their power, were highly sought after. The Red Robes tried to hide them, but gradually lost each item they'd created. One of them became enraged over their loss, and decided to take matters into her own hands. The destruction of the group was due to this being turning on the rest. She was crazed, determined to recover what they'd lost by any means necessary, even if that meant taking out the rest of the Red Robes.

"The rumors about this being say that she's a warlock to something with power never seen otherwise on this plane, and that she causes destruction wherever she goes as she searches for the Grand Relics. I don't know how much of this is true," the Director adds, turning back to the new Reclaimers. "What I do know, however, is I've encountered someone who matches her description, and she is indeed bent on reclaiming the relics, no matter the cost. She's been named the Black Opal."

"'The Black Opal'? Isn't that a Goosebumps story or something?" Merle frowns.

"I think it's a separate series," Magnus disagrees.

"And it's called the Black Lagoon," Taako adds, snorting. "You know, creatures of?"

"Oh. Is that where the name came from?" Merle blinks.

The Director looks like she's resisting the urge to drag a hand down her face. "No. Black opal is a gemstone," she answers. "I hope you never have to meet her, but if you did, you'd understand why she's been called such."

"Is she made of the stuff or something?" Taako snorts.

"Or something," she confirms, expression grim. "It's impossible to know exactly what that substance is, but that gemstone is the closest description I can give. If you ever run into the Black Opal - and again, I dearly, dearly hope you never do - you must run as fast and far as you can. I don't want to risk losing anyone to her mad destruction."

"I'm sure we could take her," Magnus argues.

"No," the Director says forcefully. "Your direct orders are to run, if you ever see her. That's it. Do not engage, do not try to reason with her. Run."

"Okay, okay," Taako says, waving a hand. "We get it, we see the spooky robe, we run. You talked about a gachapon thing earlier, can we get going?"

She scrutinizes each of them for a long moment before exhaling. "So long as you've truly etched that command into your brains, then yes," she replies, sitting back at her desk. "Davenport will show you how to get there."

[umbraastaff]

as is my nature, i am compelled to ask u for some more about how the atla taz group (gaang? oh my god grup? like group + lup???) meets kravitz

taz atla au

the grup... oh my god. perfect

anyway i did that here but here's something else you might like.

--

Slipping in through a window and coming to the elf chained up high in a tower, Kravitz realizes something that the Admiral and all of his subordinates did not: this is not the Avatar.

Taako, conversely, has no realizations about the identity of this burglar. His face is concealed by a skull mask, and he's never seen anyone running around with a scythe like it's a weapon before.

But the burglar cuts him free, and he's not one to turn down a gift. "Alright, reaper man!"

They get pretty far before encountering any real problems. The Reaper moves just as quickly and almost as smoothly as Taako, so they have no issues keeping up with one another as they escape, even as they start getting chased. He even manages to pick a few pockets.

But when they're stopped less than ten feet from the final door, surrounded, the Reaper turns to a more desperate measure. Taako suddenly finds his neck between a sternum and a blade.

He can feel the Reaper's chest against his back as they move backwards through the open door, Taako's life as the bargaining chip.

They get a good distance away before Taako hears the thwack of an arrow against the Reaper's mask, and feels him slump. Taako flings a smoke bomb he picked off someone to the ground, and with the cover, he drags his rescuer into the woods and loses their assailants.

(And he'd better be so fucking grateful about it, Taako is built for dexterity, not strength, and he's well past out of breath by the time they reach a safe spot--)

Taako's normally of the opinion that a masked man ought to have a right to his privacy, but also, he should really check if this guy's breathing.

Oh.

He must have come for Lup, then. Did he realize it was Taako when he arrived, and rescue him anyway? Or did he just not know?

In another universe, someone waits for light to awaken their rescuer before fleeing.

Taako doesn't. He lays Kravitz in a way where he won't choke on his own spit, lingers only another silent moment, and leaves before the prince can begin to stir.

[crossovernonshipstournament]

Propaganda

Mario and Sonic:

People who pit these two against each other are WRONG. They both regularly meet up for the Olympics and they're great friends. Mario and Sonic probably get competitive when facing each other in sports but would definitely compliment each other afterwards and then go and get chilli dogs and spaghetti or something. They would bond over suggesting platforming tequiques to each other (where do you think Mario got his rolling ability from?), and they probably have a group chat with the other characters where they all talk about their adventures!

Tim Stoker, Lup, and Taako:

I have so many thoughts built up from drafting a TMA + TAZ crossover fic which I will hopefully one day post, specifically season three of TMA and the Stolen Century arc of Balance (and this is going to be incomprehensible if you haven't listened to both podcasts, sorry op). I just feel like both of the twins would get along with Tim so well on a base level, but especially a combination of the traumatized and depressed Tim of season three and the post-Legato deep into the cycles Lup and Taako of the Stolen Century arc. In my AU the TMA world is just one of the many that the Starblaster crew encountered during the century. As far as Lup goes, I feel like she would be able to connect with Tim's grief over Danny and Sasha (but especially Danny) and help him find a way to get revenge against the Circus that doesn't end in his death. Because of the mechanics of the cycles Lup's probably lost Taako early in a year at least once or twice, so she knows the grief of losing a brother, and whether you see Tim and Sasha's relationship as romantic or platonic (I personally headcanon them as a QPR but that's neither here nor there) she's got experience with that sort of grief as well through Barry and the rest of the crew. More than that, she has experience finding perspective and reasons to keep living beyond that loss and beyond the need to avenge it that Tim desperately needs. Above all, though, Tim really needed someone in his corner during season three to side with him about how utterly fucked and unfair the entire situation with the Archives and the Unknowing and help him figure out a solution to work towards, and Lup, being the magical powerhouse that she is, would be absolutely delighted to help him torch the Circus to the ground from a safe distance. On the Taako side of the equation, I feel like Taako's characterization during Stolen Century is simultaneously a good mirror and a good opposite to Tim in terms of their attitudes versus their circumstances. On the one hand both of them theoretically share the motivation of fighting to save the world for the people they care about, only Taako has already lost his home world to the Hunger and Tim has already lost his two most important people to the Stranger. On the other hand you have Tim's whole "you're the only one I can trust is still you" dealio with Jon from MAG 114 and Taako's "everyone aside from the six of you are dust" speech from the last part of Stolen Century, both of them clinging to people they feel they can trust in response to growing despair. While Lup would help channel Tim's anger into something productive and cathartic, Taako would help by just letting him sit with his feelings for a bit, not pressuring him to get over it or rush into forgiveness. And finally from Tim's perspective, I feel like it would be such a comfort to him to have the support of two powerful people who feel just as strongly about the situation as he does. Lup is an immensely powerful evocation wizard and Taako is a talented and skilled transmutation wizard, both of them are incredibly intelligent scientists and arcane scholars in their own right, and both of them are used to dealing with end of the world level threats on the regular. Knowing that both of them are on his side and are actively working with him to fix a situation he's otherwise felt utterly powerless within for a long time would be such an emotional thing for him. On top of all that, beyond just helping take down the Unknowing and deal with his grief, Lup and Taako are two fantastically funny and goof-loving personalities who could help bring out more of the old playfulness and lightheartedness that Tim had before things got so bad just by interacting with him. Anyways, thank you for coming to my TED talk op, hope you enjoy my 700+ word essay on why being adopted by the Tacco twins would fix Tim Stoker's mental health :)

[canon-fcdder]

heartheaded: 

Taako wasn't like anyone Scanlan had been traveling with before -- no, this one encouraged him. Allowed him to flex his melodic bearings proper, like a decent Bard deserved. Scanlan gave his forever friends a little shit, sure, but at the end of the day perhaps the two can feel the same on that. Is that found family still found if you're the one that's still lost? Truly, they've only recently met, but he enjoys the freedom. The lack of judgement. The lack of vendetta against his more terrible ideas is especially euphoric, even if they were absolutely terrible. Sometimes he had a win, and sometimes that's what counts. He would never hold it against them, though, they had good times, it just... didn't last long enough. He found himself chasing the high more than his favored spice--which was no stranger to being involved from time-to-time. Once, he thought he found a friend in a widowed sphinx too, but that is neither here nor there, either. 𝄇𝄋𝄋𝄆 < ❝Oh, of course! You just have to read the atmosphere and see what emotions to touch on--it's an art, really. It seems there's a hustle and bustle about, so what if we cool things down a little? All these people with their long days and hunched backs--low and slow. Relaxed.❞ Scanlan finds the tune and begins his song, clearing his throat. 𝄇𝄋𝄋𝄆 < ❝Two delicate lives, like delicate wings of an angel, Together we ride, protect you at night While you're resting up tight -- And we'll only bite, if you ask nice~❞

「 ☆ 」 Of all the bards Taako has come across, Scanlan was quick to become his second favorite. No fault of the gnome's, Johann simply a cut above the rest when it comes to composing and character. It's difficult to compete with, as the interesting character would put it ❛ the greatest violinist basically ever ❜. Someone who irrefutably taught Taako how much power even the simplest of songs could hold, provided they were created by the right heart... and reached the right ones.

That song had inspired entire worlds... and brought forth a victory that, truthfully, Taako isn't certain would have been assured otherwise. After meeting someone like him, hearing of his deeds and watching his legacy persevere as Johann always wished, how could Taako ever genuinely underestimate a musician's might?

Besides, Scanlan's ideas can be wonderfully-reminiscent of the ones Taako and his compatriots would barge forward with seemingly reckless abandon. Nonsensical or outright stupid at a first glance ( Hell, most WERE ) but effective nonetheless. Sort of like the ramshackle group they'd amassed. Sometimes stupidity gets a job done, especially when veiling a clever surprise. Ironically, considering his penchant for providing levity, Taako also provided most of the witty twists that kept their adventure from reaching a premature end... As well as pitfalls they had to frantically claw their way out of. As is expected from one with a knack for talking.

But Scanlan doesn't seem to mind his quick mind and even quicker mouth, whether it's making things easier or... otherwise.

This plan, however, seems rather straightforward and remarkably safe. Taako can get behind that, no problem. ❝ Heh— Saucy~ ❞ Taako playfully quips under his breath at the others lyrics, loud enough to be heard but not disrupt his song. Glancing out at the crowds with their ❛ long days and hunched backs ❜ he hums thoughtfully as a few begin to slow their steps. Deciding to help his compatriot with his stage-presence, Taako pulls on a curved handle from his bag of holding.

Brandishing a wand in the appearance of a vibrant umbrella ( after... losing his last one, Taako had been forced to admit he'd grown accustomed to the aesthetic accessory ) he casts a simple but effective light spell. A glowing orb floating to follow behind Scanlan, bathing the gnome in a soft spotlight of lavender— much like Merle had once cast —to enhance the relaxing demeanor he's trying to entice with. Breaking the dreary atmosphere, like a gentle beacon calling out to those with heavy hearts and hopefully heavier pockets, Taako gives his companion a quick wink.

As if to say, ❛ You're welcome. ❜ 「 ☆ 」

[reddjennies]

terezis replied to your post “aquamech replied to your post “google how do i stop trying to make...”

zombie au............

OK BUT LIKE FOR REAL... i think about zombie aus A Lot i know they’re not for everyone but they’re kind of my weakness i love zombie aus. i think i just like the aesthetic of like, bloody baseball bats and combat boots. god damn thats good stuff.

i think abt it a lot specifically with the train to busan premise as like, a starting point? bc its like. a place where they would all meet. my only issue with it is i think part of what makes the premise work is train to busan has like... Fast & Strong zombies (and the premise if u dont know is p much just. one infected girl gets on a train, infects pretty much The Entire Train, but like the train is still going. wikipedia would probs explain it better. its good.) and im just...not a fan of Fast And Strong zombies. i like my zombies Walkin (otherwise i know i wouldnt stand a chance).

but i just...i still think abt it a lot like tbh i have a doc set up to write a fic for it but i just Have Not but like. i had the idea that (since there’s a little kid as a major role in the movie), angus gets on the train w/ his grandfather, but his grandfather dies early on and Some Other Passengers (magnus, mostly) are just like Guess I’m Adopting This Child Now! i planned for like the entire ipre to be there, + obvs angus and then like, probably kravitz somehow, maybe mavis and mookie just for like, reasons of drawing certain parallels to the movie? idk man i dont want 2 ramble here bc im not sure how interested everyone is but like.... i had some Plans

[barry-j-blupjeans]

oooh 16 (So I’ve been trying to be less chronically online and you know, find my People out in the public. Because real human beings are way more important than numbers on a screen. It’s just that this dating app is full of guys holding fish and/or guns, and I’m so, so ready to quit, so I have to know right now immediately what your whole deal is because I’m absolutely enchanted already) and taakitz maybe?

Get off dating apps, Lup said. Go outside and touch grass, Lup said. Maybe your dream man will rise from the depths of hell to serenade you, Lup said. Well, no, she didn't say that part, but she didn't object when Taako had suggested that outcome. And honestly? Honestly?? Taako had tried. He really had. Not the "perfect man will come out of hell to fall in love with you" thing- well, not exactly. But he had tried to actually go places and meet people instead of just scrolling through WizardsOnly.com for hours on end. Half those chucklefucks weren't even real wizards, anyway.

Logging on today had been- a distraction. A coping mechanism, if you will. It was an "I had a shitty day and I'm all out of ice cream" kind of day. The profiles on here were awful and downright embarrassing to read through sometimes and usually, they'd do a great job of making Taako feel much better about himself. He couldn't be worse than the sixteenth guy holding a bass. Like, c'mon. At least Taako had a salmon in his!

But then- then! Maybe the fiery gates of hell did open briefly because no one was allowed to be this good-looking with committing some kind of death crime. Mr. High cheekbones and half-pinned up hair, with a cool and dark aesthetic about him. There were no fishing pictures. There was no bragging about being voted into the local wizard consul.

There was, however, several photos of him amongst a group of old woman, all of whom were wearing bright, colorful clothes. The first picture of him was obviously a cropped selfie where someone had zoomed in on his face. The description was as followed:

Kravitz. 27.

And that was it. No introduction, no explanation from the gaggle of grandmas, no nothing. Taako was- well, Taako was delighted. Lup always said he had a tendency to go for people who seemed sort of aggressive but if something about this worked out, then he had physical proof that this man was not violently aggressive and/or mean. Old ladies didn't vibe with that. Fuck yes.

Taako opened up a new message.

sooooo I’ve been trying to be less chronically online and you know, find my People out in the public bc real human beings are way more important than numbers on a screen. it’s just that this dating website is full of guys holding fish and/or guns and I’m so, so ready to quit so I have to know right now immediately what your whole deal is because I’m absolutely enchanted already

He sat back, satisfied. Take that, Lup! He moved to click away from the tab but a bubble popped up under his messages, showing that Kravitz was already responding. Taako scooted his chair forward. It took a rather long time for him to type the message, so Taako did think, for a minute, that he was going to be offended. But when it finally popped up, it wasn't like that at all.

Message from Kravitz: I run a knitting circle.

Taako: A knitting circle?? go on

Kravitz: It's like... a grief thing. Like, "I'm so sorry your husband died, Susan, do you want to knit a blanket about it" kind of thing.

Taako: Delightful.

Taako paused, stretching his fingers over the keyboard. Go big or go home. This was a dating website, after all.

Taako: so listen. ur vv hot but I need to know if ur like, a murdered or if you have like,,, anger issues. bc my history is Not Great. please don't be a murderer

Kravitz: I don't think I'm a murderer? And that's a no on the anger issues. I think. Maybe? Should I ask someone?

Taako: I trust you.

Kravitz: Bold words from the guy who dated a murderer with anger issues.

Taako snorted, smiling for the first time all day. He cracked his knuckles and shook his hands out, setting them back on the keyboard.

Taako: You've got no idea, my dude.

[liltaz-asatreat]

Sometimes You Can’t Get Them All

(You can also read this on ao3!)

TW: transphobia and alcohol

~

Barry walks back up onto the deck of the Starblaster after using the bathroom, swaying slightly in his slightly more than tipsy haze. Lup and Taako are still sitting at a table, laughing drunkenly, with their new friend, Sebastian, a local chef from a five star restaurant in town that they met at a cooking tournament where they were looking to score a little bit of cash and to prove that they were the best chefs currently residing on this plane. Of course, the twins did win with their almost two hundred years of cooking experience, but surprisingly, Sebastian had come in at a close second. He was amicable about losing to them, and the three of them had enjoyed talking about cooking techniques enough for the twins to introduce him to Barry and the others and invite him over a few times to hang out.

Tonight, Davenport had brought out a bottle of green apple schnapps earlier in the evening, and as the night grew late, everyone started trailing off to bed. With how late it is now, currently, Barry thinks it might be time to start wrapping up the party for everyone else too as he walks up behind Lup and wraps his arms around her in a hug.

Lup twists in her chair a little to try and look at him with a sloppy smile, and Barry takes the opportunity to kiss her forehead. She giggles and tilts her head back to kiss him too. “Hey, babe. We were just talking about embarrassing stories about our previous crushes.”

Taako laughs. “Yeah, you just missed the story of the one girl Lup had the biggest crush on while we were traveling with a mercenary group. She tried to impress her with her 'martial prowess',” he says with air quotes, “by taking a swing with her giant morning star. Nearly took out her head!”

Barry snorts, and Sebastian laughs as Lup rolls her eyes. “At least I've never went out with someone who was dead set about refusing to believe that gravity is real.”

“You went out with someone who didn't believe gravity was real?” Barry asks incredulously as he sits down in his chair next to Lup. Sebastian laughs harder, and Taako scowls at Lup.

“I did not go out with him; it was a one night stand! I didn't know he was an idiot until after I sucked his dick, and Lulu, you swore you wouldn't tell anyone about it!”

Lup bends over laughing, hugging her stomach, and Sebastian shakes his head. “Don't worry, Taako, you can't do worse than my last girlfriend. We'd get into arguments all of the time over the smallest shit, and there was one argument we got into where she got really angry, and she stabbed me.”

Lup stops laughing, and the three of them look at Sebastian in silence. He just shrugs and says, “It happens sometimes. Funnily enough, that was unrelated to why I broke up with her.”

“Wait, stabbing you wasn't enough for you to break up with her?” Barry asks incredulously. “What finally did it for you?”

“She tried to get with my mom and my younger sister. Really weirded all of us out.” He takes another drink from his glass as Lup shakes her head.

“I mean, I think both me and Taako have been in relationships like that too at some point.” Taako nods at her, and Barry looks at the both of them a little sadly. “Shit's hard growing up on the road, and you can meet a lot of nasty people. Especially over the course of about a hundred years.”

“Great thing about being on the road though is if someone tries to kill your sister, you can just kill them, hide the body, and leave, and no one will catch you because no one knows who you are.” Taako says with a shrug.

“Still wish I had gotten that one guy who almost let you fall of a cliff,” Lup muses quietly. “Too bad he managed to disappear by the time I saved you and got you back up on solid ground.”

“Well you can't get them all,” Taako says. He stands up and stretches his arms above his head. “I think I'm gonna head in. I want to test something out with the Light tomorrow if I don't wake up with a monster of a hangover.”

Barry snorts. “You actually want to help study the Light this time around?”

Taako tries to glare at him, but it's obvious he's fighting a smile. “I don't just sit around the ship all day, Barold. I've helped y'all with studying the Light plenty of times–”

“Usually only if me or Lup ask,” Barry interrupts, but Taako ignores him.

“–And when I'm not doing that, I do plenty of other important things too.”

Lup scoffs. “Uh huh. Sorry, Koko, but I don't think starting cults of personality is exactly helpful to the mission.”

Taako smirks and ruffles her hair, and she swats his hand away. “You say that, but most of the times I've done that, I've been able to convince a lot more people to help us in whatever our endeavor is pretty quickly, wouldn't you say?”

He has a point.

Lup scowls. “Fuck you.” And Taako laughs.

“I'll see you all tomorrow. Night, Sebastian.” He waves, and Sebastian waves back.

Lup stands up from the table and stretches too. “Sorry, Sebastian. I think everyone is heading in now unless, Barry, do you want to stay out here?” She looks to him questioningly.

Barry yawns. “Only long enough to clean up and see him off the ship.” He turns to Sebastian and asks, “Will you be okay getting back home?”

“Oh, yeah. I don't live far from here. Here, let me help you clean up.” he says as he stands up from the table.

He starts collecting trash as Barry stands up and gives Lup a hug and a kiss. “Don't worry about the mess; we've got it. I'll see you back in our room.”

Lup smiles tiredly. “Thanks, babe.”

They share one more kiss before they let each other go, and Lup heads back down into the belly of the ship.

Barry turns back to the table and starts collecting empty glasses. Sebastian conjures up a trash can and dumps the trash he's collected into it. “So I got to hear about their dating stories. Do you have any fun stories from before you met Lup?”

Barry laughs. “Yeah, a couple. Nothing quite as dramatic as the twins' stories, I'm sure, but there was this one girl in middle school. Prettiest girl I had seen up until that point, and she was really smart too. We were kind of friends, but we didn't know each other super well by the time the winter dance was coming up, but I wanted to ask her to go with me anyway. I almost didn't because I was too nervous, but some of my other friends tried to boost my confidence and gave me advice on how to do it. They insisted I had to do this huge display of affection–”

“Oh no,” Sebastian says, and Barry laughs.

“Yeah, and um, unfortunately, I listened to them, so I ended up cornering her in the courtyard during lunch with a bunch of balloons and a big teddy bear. I lost my nerve as I was staring at her though, so I kind of just said, 'Dance. With me. Teddy bear?' and stuck the teddy bear and balloons out to her, and she just stared at me while her friends laughed.”

Sebastian chuckles and shakes his head. “I'm guessing she said no?”

Barry nods with a small laugh. “Understandably, she didn't speak to me for a whole year after that. I never listened to my friends about dating advice again.”

Barry stacks the glasses he's collected on the table, so it would be easier for him to carry as Sebastian stares at him, seemingly lost in thought. “So you're bisexual too?”

Barry looks up at him confused. “No? Why do you ask?”

Sebastian gives him a funny look. “I was just curious. No hate; I'm bi too– or I guess, by myself. But wait– you just told me a story about how you wanted to go out with a girl.”

Barry stares at him. “Yeah?”

“But... you're also married to Lup?” Sebastian asks questioningly.

“Yeah?” Barry asks again. “Lup's female too.”

Sebastian shifts his weight from foot to foot and looks generally uncomfortable. “Yeah, but like, she's different, right?”

Barry sets the rest of the glasses he has in his hands down on the table. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Did she not... tell you?” Sebastian asks carefully. “I mean, she brought it up when she was talking to me about her past, so I thought it was common knowledge.”

Does he mean her being transgender? Or did Lup's gender identity change, and she didn't tell him yet? That can't be right, can it? She definitely would have told him before she told some guy she met two weeks ago. “Look, bud, I honestly don't know what you're talking about,” Barry says. “Last I knew, Lup still identifies as female.”

“Yeah, but... she was male before, right? She was born male?” Sebastian asks.

Barry sets his jaw and folds his arms across his chest. “Yeah, and so was I. Shit changes sometimes, bud. She's female now, and she's been female for a very very long time.”

Sebastian hesitates. “But she's not really female, right?”

Barry's heart starts pounding in his ears, and he clenches his jaw a little tighter. “I think it's time for you to leave now.”

Sebastian takes a small step backward away from him. “I'm sorry, I–”

Barry puts up a hand to stop him. “I'm going to give you to the count of two. Get out.” he says coldly.

Sebastian takes another few tentative steps backward. “I'm really sorry. I obviously misspo–”

Quick as a flash, Barry pulls out his wand and fires off six silvery bolts of light that hit Sebastian square in the chest. He stumbles back in pain, clutching at his chest as pools of blood quickly stain his shirt red as Barry raises his voice. “One!”

Sebastian scrambles backward and runs for the ramp. Barry follows him, and as he watches him flee, he yells, “And don't darken this doorstep again!”

He stands at the railing and watches him get consumed by the darkness of the night, and he continues staring out into the distance, breathing heavily. The fucking nerve of that guy to come here and disrespect his wife after she and everyone here have been so gracious to him.

He better not see his face for the rest of this cycle.

Barry storms back to the table and grabs the stacks of glasses. He carries them down into the kitchen, and he takes the time to wash them instead of waiting for morning in an attempt to make himself calm down. It helps a little bit, but certainly not enough to warrant the obscene amount of noise he's making while everyone is supposed to be asleep. He slams the handle of the sink's faucet down to turn off the water, and he grips the counter tightly as he breathes heavily through his nose. Maybe he should have blasted him off the side of the ship himself. He probably would have survived the fall. It's not like they're a thousand feet in the air.

“Well you can't get them all.”

Shut up, Taako.

Now that he thinks of it, that bastard's lucky he didn't say that to him or Lup. He definitely would not have survived being blasted off of the ship by either of them.

Barry sighs heavily. He's tired, and he should really go to bed. Especially if Taako really does want to help study the Light tomorrow.

He climbs back up the stairs to the deck to put away the table and chairs and to collect the trash bin and dump it into the regular trash can before the spell wears off. Then he makes his way to his room and quietly slips in through the door.

Lup stirs a little as he sits down on the bed, and she holds an arm out to reach for him. Barry takes her hand and gently kisses it as she turns over to look at him through half lidded eyes.

“You 'kay, babe?” she asks, slurring her words slightly. “You're making s'much noise... it sounded like you're angry.”

Barry takes a deep breath as he slips under the covers. “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't mean to wake you.”

Lup nods a little and snuggles closer to him. He wraps an arm around her as she says, “D'you wanna talk 'bout it?”

Barry hesitates. “I don't want to make you upset while you're half asleep. If you still want to know in the morning, I'll tell you, but just know, Sebastian's not welcome on this ship anymore.”

Lup frowns slightly. “I'm deffo gon' ask 'bout that in the morning. But you right. Too tired for that conversation now.”

Barry kisses the top of her head. “I love you so much, you know that, right?”

Lup smiles again. “Yeah, and I love you too, babe!”

Barry's heart swells at that, and he closes his eyes. “Good night, Lup.”

“Good...”

She doesn't finish the sentence because she's already fallen asleep again.

[shihalyfie]

The difference between the friend dynamics in the Adventure and 02 groups

This is a point I’ve reiterated in a lot of my 02-based metas, but there is a fairly distinct difference between the Adventure Chosen Children having a tight, deep bond and yet not quite being friends in “social life”, whereas the 02 group was a much tighter group on a social level. I always feel that I need to be really careful about saying this, because if I don’t word it carefully, it sounds like I’m trivializing the Adventure group’s bonds (plus, a lot of Adventure diehards will get very upset at you for suggesting this no matter how you put it), so I thought I should write something a bit more in-depth about it.

I think a lot of of this ultimately ties into what each series was about. The fact that Adventure was meant to be a series about “self-recognition of the individual” whereas 02 was about “relationships with others” has been pointed out by many a fan (and official staff too, while we’re at it), and it naturally lends to how the characters and the relationships between them will have a fundamental difference.

The idea that the Adventure group wouldn’t be the type to get together all that easily never really took that long after Adventure to set in. Of course, Our War Game! having this as a plot point also had a meta purpose (basically, limiting the number of people who could participate in the Diablomon battle), but it also has a very important point behind it: the Adventure kids’ social lives were never all that intertwined.

Again, this is something that sounds really awful to say without further qualification. What do you mean, the Adventure kids weren’t friends? Does that mean their entire adventure was for nothing? Did they go through all that only to forget about each other right after it?!

Well, no, that’s kind of exaggeration. I think to properly flesh out the nature of the issue, it’s important to define the differing ways you can be friends with someone. Imagine that you go on the best vacation in your life. You meet a handful of people there. You swap stories and get life-changing advice. You take commemorative photos after some really spectacular experiences. You swap numbers and social media contacts and then you go home. Are you going to keep in touch every so often with the people who gave you some very important advice, and maybe check on their important life events or organize a reunion sometime in the future? Very possibly! Does that mean everyone you met at that trip will now be regularly going out for lunch with you every week now?...Probably not, especially if you already have friends from school. That doesn’t mean you aren’t friends with the important people you met during that best life-changing vacation; it just means that they fill a very different niche in your life from the friends who don’t necessarily understand the life-changing vacation but have the free time to chat with you over lunch.

When the Adventure group found themselves pulled into the Digital World during summer camp, they had already come from very different social spheres. In short:

Taichi, Sora, and Koushirou were the only ones with a background of knowing each other beforehand, thanks to being in the soccer club;

Yamato went to the same school as the others but was a stranger to them, to the point people didn’t even realize Takeru was his brother at first;

Mimi had her own friend circle (see Adventure episode 29);

Jou was assigned as Mimi’s camp group leader but had no other prior relation to her, and Yamato didn’t even initially know his age;

Takeru wasn’t even supposed to be there since he didn’t go to their school and was only tagging along with Yamato;

Hikari was brought halfway into the adventure by virtue of being the eighth Chosen and Taichi’s sister.

Although six of the eight come from the same school, you can see that they’re basically “kids brought together by a certain circumstance” -- they’re not kids who would have normally come into each other’s purview had it not been for this. Which also means that as soon as their adventure ended and some years passed, the aspects of their real lives and social circles started kicking back in:

Taichi continued soccer;

Yamato formed a band (and presumably had a good relationship with his own bandmates);

Sora quit soccer for tennis;

Koushirou quit soccer for the computer club;

Mimi moved to the US;

Jou started attending a private school outside Odaiba;

Takeru and Hikari were never in their age group to begin with.

In the case of Taichi, Yamato, Sora, and Koushirou, it’s representative of how, although they originally had a shared interest in soccer, ultimately, they started to drift into their own specialties. Again, remember that Adventure was a series fundamentally about finding yourself and finding your own path, and all of these choices actually tie into their character arcs: Taichi is a straightforward person and a natural, charismatic leader, meaning soccer was good for him to begin with; Yamato learned to become more sociable and make friends at school; Sora started playing tennis as part of properly reconciling with her mother, and Koushirou decided to pursue a club relevant to his actual interests instead of one purely so that he could have minimal presence in it.

Mimi’s moving to the US is an interesting case because it’s likely because she’s often described (by both fans and official staff) as someone who is easily likeable and can get along with practically anyone. Considering that she’s constantly considerate of others and lacking in condescension or malice, it’s easy to see why; her infamous bouts of complaining were largely because she was under a lot of stress at the time of Adventure’s events (it’s even said that her cracking under pressure was meant to be representative of how an ordinary child her age would react to the situation), and otherwise she has no problems making friends -- hence why she was shown in Adventure episode 29 as already having friends in Taako and Mii-chan that she presumably hung out with prior to the events of the series. So in moving to the US, the point is made that Mimi could move to an entire other country and still hit it up with people there (and she does, given how she makes friends in Michael and the other American Chosen without issue). So thus, Mimi’s moving is also part of her own path -- becoming an effective “ambassador” between international Chosen as they start to pop up all over the globe.

As for Jou, his character arc has heavily to do with the fact that he’s always been on the “elite” academic track -- Japanese school entrance exams stretch back as far as high school, so the fight to get into medical school comes back as early as here, and since the events of Adventure helped Jou come to terms with why he wanted to be a doctor rather than just following his father’s wishes, it’s understandable that he would now be putting everything into that goal -- even if it means going to a different school outside Odaiba and committing himself to the prep school life. And, generally speaking, the other kids respect that too, given that the only time they tried to pull him from it was a time they were literally suffocating on the spot and needed Ikkakumon’s specific backup badly (02 episode 16).

And finally, Takeru and Hikari? The fact that they’re that much younger than the others in this group really is a big deal. When they’re on something “purpose-based” like an adventure, of course the others will have no problem keeping them around, and of course they’ll be happy to participate with these older kids. But if we’re talking about mundane, ordinary life -- there’s not a lot of evidence to suggest they really would prefer the company of kids so much older than them for conversations over lunch. This is especially because it’s hard to imagine they didn’t have other friends at school, too.

Not that they mind being around all these older kids when the time calls for it, but as far as socialization goes, they have their own lives to live. And that’s fine; again, Adventure was a narrative about kids coming to terms with themselves and what they wanted, and it’s not their fault for prioritizing those paths and forming their own social circles rather than insisting on being a specific eight-person group (no matter how much the fanbase wants to have the romantic image of them sticking together all the time no matter what).

Plus, it’s not like they all completely drifted apart and cut each other off!

Just because they’re not “daily life friends” doesn’t mean they’re not still important to each other. 02 episode 38 has Taichi, Sora, Jou, and Koushirou show up for Yamato’s concert -- it’s unlikely they were attending every single one of his concerts, but this was a very important one that was going to be broadcast on TV, so it’s only natural that even Jou (who, again, doesn’t go to school in Odaiba anymore) would still come to support him.

In fact, the fact they can come together when a situation like this happens even without necessarily meeting up every single day of their lives is probably a testament to how strong that bond is in itself. They don’t need to hang out once a day or week to maintain their friendship, and having other friends they’d rather hang out with throughout the day or invite to events doesn’t necessarily mean the other Adventure kids are less worthy friends to them. That experience in August 1999 was so impactful on all of them that they will never forget it, so even if they spent quite a long amount of time not interacting with each other, when a circumstance that necessitates them coming together does bring them together, they can hit it off like nothing happened. Think about how you might have an important friend that you may not chat with on a daily basis, but you talk to them once in a while and hit it off like you never had a break in the conversation. But because that strong bond is based on that one very specific experience that happened in one specific summer, it’s only natural that the majority of meetups over this are going to be based on something to do with that experience, like Digimon incidents; for ordinary things like “band concerts” or “club activities”, it’ll naturally be easier to stick around friends who have more similar social interests, like fellow band or club members.

On the other hand, this is very much not the case for the 02 group.

To understand why the 02 group has a fundamentally different dynamic, we need to dial back to a little before the actual “adventure” part of 02 started.

Right off the bat, we see:

Takeru moves to Odaiba from Sangenjaya, and specifically to the same building Miyako and Iori live in, meaning he’ll be walking to school with them every day;

02 episode 7 indicates that the Motomiya and Yagami families live in the same apartment complex, meaning Daisuke and Hikari are also likely to walk to school together;

Miyako and Iori are established as having already long hit it off with each other as neighbors;

Daisuke, Hikari, and Takeru end up in the same class (with Daisuke and Hikari having known each other already).

In other words: Even before anything to do with Digimon had been introduced (or re-introduced, technically) into their lives, the kids were already being thrown into each other’s social circles. You could technically argue that Daisuke wouldn’t have necessarily met Miyako and Iori if not for the Digimon incident coming into his life later in the episode, but Takeru being neighbors with them basically fills in all of the gaps here -- unlike with the Adventure kids where the adventure in August 1999 threw them together when they likely wouldn’t have been in the same social circle otherwise, the 02 kids are the social circle even independently of the Digimon incidents. In fact, due to being functionally neighbors, there are a lot of ways these kids’ social lives intersect, with Daisuke and Miyako being Taichi and Koushirou’s juniors, Miyako working for Yamato’s band, Yamato being classmates with Miyako’s sister Chizuru, and Jun and Miyako’s other sister Momoe being classmates.

Since, again, 02 was a series fundamentally structured on examining relationships, you can basically view Adventure being a series about “bringing some people together as they find self-assertion even when they’re from different social circles” while 02 follows that up with “so if they were in the same social circle, how would they deal with that?” -- especially since 02 makes it clear that certain kinds of emotional baggage associated with that can actually make it much more complicated.

A lot of 02′s first half is dedicated to the 02 kids doing completely mundane things that have very little relevance to the Digital World conflict -- watching TV in the computer room (remember: this was before they realized the “genius boy” being covered on the news was actually relevant to this), or having a picnic in the Digital World. Mimi even explicitly points out that this kind of thing wouldn’t have happened with the Adventure kids, but it’s not just because of the fact that Adventure involved a lot of running for their lives! It’s easy to dismiss a lot of what happens in these early episodes as “filler”, but a lot of this is dedicated to depicting how the 02 kids were constantly spending time with each other for reasons completely separated from Digimon incidents. This even includes completely ordinary things like soccer games -- Takeru, Hikari, Miyako, and Iori come to support Daisuke with an obvious motive of seeing him do well, so it’s apparent that they’ve come to enjoy hanging out with him beyond just obligation.

Part of this is because of the different nature of the Digimon conflict that they experienced. The Adventure kids had an experience that really was, functionally, “one” experience -- an extremely formative and important one, but one condensed one that they all experienced together. The nature of what the 02 territory war and conflict was, on the other hand, meant that what the conflict “was” to the 02 kids was of a completely different nature. This wasn’t summer vacation; this involved going back and forth between the fight and real life, to the point where Digimon fighting became integrated into “daily life” -- so of course you’d probably hope that the people you’re fighting with are also people you like to bond with on a social level. “Digimon life” and “social life” became synonymous to them.

And when it all comes down to it, it’s hard to pinpoint a “single experience” that the events of 02 embodied, or at least in the same way August 1999′s adventure was. As much as they were running for their lives, the Adventure kids have the luxury of looking at the events of their series as a formative singular time for them, one that they could even look at nostalgically, but for the 02 kids, it’s hard to condense everything into one singular experience (it’s easy for the audience to see it as one series, but for the kids themselves, it’s a very long chain of vaguely connected events). Actually, most of the year involved fighting with someone who ended up becoming their important friend and the other involved helping him deal with his trauma, so it’s not like everyone would be likely to have the most romantic image of this experience itself to “bond” over as much as they care more about the take-home they got out of it: each other.

One thing that 02 doesn’t really spotlight front and center with its starter cast of characters is that, unlike the Adventure kids, who either came with their own social circles prior to Adventure or eventually developed their own in the course of their lives, it’s heavily implied that the 02 kids actually had difficulty making other friends even on a social level, or at least were likely to be in a situation where the other 02 kids really were better company than their other options even for mundane situations. This is especially in the case of the newly introduced characters, who are, effectively, a bit socially “displaced” from others and likely to have struggles fitting in.

There are quite a few signs that Daisuke had serious difficulty making friends prior to the events of the series (with Hikari being the closest thing he had to one), and the fact that the 12-year-old Miyako is portrayed as constantly hanging out with the 9-year-old Iori, brought together by being neighbors, rather than people closer to their own ages stands out. Iori is particularly interesting in that, unlike with Takeru and Hikari, who were portrayed as kids likely to socialize better with those their own age, Iori’s unusual maturity for his age heavily implies that he would actually be out of place with his classroom peers (a very common phenomenon for some people in real life, too!). 02 episode 3 depicting him left alone in the classroom with only a teacher to watch him while his stubborn fixation on principles leaves him slow to finish his lunch says a lot -- his own behavior is liable to isolate him from others, and it’s thus not all that surprising he ended up bonding with some kids who are older than him and more accepting (and even treat him with proper respect, too).

Takeru and Hikari, too. There’s been a lot of arguments over whether the two of them would theoretically be closer to the Adventure kids or the 02 kids, but I would honestly say it’s technically both at once -- they have the same “not socially close, but intuitively understanding” relationship that the Adventure kids all have with each other, but hold the other 02 kids as part of their social circle and hang out with them in “daily life”. So in other words, they have the Adventure kids’ relationship with the other Adventure kids, and the 02 kids’ relationship with the 02 kids. This is presumably why Takeru and Hikari end up hitting it off so well at the start of 02 even though they didn’t interact all that intimately in Adventure; not only do they have that shared experience they intuitively understand, they also were able to start hanging out in day-to-day life and actually, well, socialize.

This applies to them in relation to the rest of the group as well. While neither of them were necessarily portrayed as having social problems, one common thread between the two is that they’re both very emotionally closed-in. Takeru’s response to negativity is to cover it up with smiles, until he can’t hide it anymore and bursts (which scares the hell out of Iori in 02 episode 19 and ultimately forms the basis of their Jogress arc), whereas Hikari has issues vocalizing whenever she’s hurt or in pain (said by herself in 02 episode 31, but with precedent from Adventure episode 48). That means that, even with potential social circles at school, it’s unlikely they necessarily would have had someone they could emotionally bond with deeply off the bat (especially since Takeru had just moved from Sangenjaya), and it’s likely why they kept gravitating towards each other (despite never truly talking about anything in-depth for most of the series) up until the Jogress arc.

In other words, while the Adventure kids’ adventure of self-actualization meant that their relationships to each other were mainly formed on simply understanding that they had a similar experience and empathizing, the 02 kids -- full of a group of somewhat socially maladjusted and out of place kids, plus two who had been on the prior adventure but were young enough to now still be carrying some deep-seated, unresolved emotional baggage -- were in a position where they arguably needed each others’ help to grow.

Jogress isn’t just an obligatory evolution gimmick; it’s something very important to 02 as a series and understanding what it wants to say about relationships. I think one thing that makes me very sad is how often its constant pigeonholing as a gimmick makes me hear people saying that Daisuke and Ken was the only plot-relevant one and the rest were forced “spares”, saying that something like Takeru-Hikari and Miyako-Iori would make more sense. But when the point of the series is about building your relationships from scratch and learning to grow together, I really don’t feel that a story about relationships that naturally existed already would have helped it nearly as much. It’s not like Daisuke and Ken was that likely of a friendship, either!

This is especially in the case of Takeru and Hikari, who certainly were vibing pretty well with each other, but were still very emotionally closed-in with a lot of emotional baggage until the more to-the-point Miyako and Iori were able to break through their shells. (02 episode 13 is so often considered a “Takeru and Hikari bonding” episode, but while it does do a lot to show off the depth of their relationship that hadn’t been depicted much besides them just hanging out all the time, it also does not solve Hikari’s core problem in nearly the same way Miyako gets to the bottom of it in episode 31.) This is also why Takeru and Hikari have such a different relationship with the 02 kids compared to theirs with the Adventure kids; while they were largely tagging along with the older kids and learning a bit about inner strength back during their summer adventure, the 02 group is the one who not only provided them with friendship on a more equal peer level, but also poked deeply into their emotional issues that they very much needed others to help them out of. These are friends who finally get them.

That Ken ultimately becomes yet another addition to this group of kids in need of friends finding support in each other should go without saying -- after all, it’s made abundantly clear he was very lonely and friendless until Daisuke and the others reached out to him -- but it ultimately culminates in them choosing to integrate this lonely boy from Tamachi into their social life. (Remember: Ken is the only of the six 02 kids to live in Tamachi and not Odaiba, but the last quarter of the series has them going out of their way to meet up.) The episode that establishes that everyone has truly made their peace with Ken and wants to unequivocally support him (with the most originally stubborn against it, Iori, graciously accepting him) is sealed off with a Christmas party. A completely ordinary Christmas party that has nothing to do with the Digimon incidents at hand, where they can play meaningless card games and celebrate the little things like Ken laughing, because it’s not just forgiving him or learning to work with him, but actively enjoying his presence and supporting him.

The Digimon Animation Chronicle profile for Ken in Diablomon Strikes Back refers to him as Daisuke’s “best friend” (親友). Usually, the word for “friends” within Adventure and 02 would be nakama (仲間); you may have heard this word from One Piece fans, but this is a word that roughly means “one of us” and has a stronger emphasis on being in a certain group, or being like-minded. Thus, “you’re a Chosen Child like us,” or, more pertinently, “you have the same goal as us and we’re in this together” (after all, it’s not like being a Chosen Child was ever an exclusive club or anything).

But in the case of Daisuke and Ken’s relationship, it’s not just about having happened to gain a deep bond over the course of 02, it’s that Daisuke now really does have a sense of emotional closeness to Ken that the two are considered best friends by default -- in any situation, despite him living all the way in Tamachi. Even though the franchise loves to put them in the category that “protagonists and rivals” usually get, where most others are ones who tend to have friction but understand each other in the end, Daisuke and Ken are unique in that they’re not like that at all. They have a very straightforward sense of emotionally confiding in each other, at worst maybe lightly bantering a bit, but they are friends before anything else, and that extends to the rest of the 02 group as well.

The aftermath

On its face, it sounds like the 02 kids are getting a pretty luxurious deal -- they got a fun adventure of emotional growth out of it, and they’re tight friends with each other at that! Well, that probably sounds great, but there’s a flip side to all of this.

Firstly, as I mentioned earlier, the Adventure kids’ adventure in 1999 was a lot more “romantic” than the 02 kids’ eight-month-long ordeal. Sure, a lot of it definitely was stressful, what with the running for their lives and the scary villains and the emotional conflict, but there was also the part about getting to meet Gennai and the other friendly Digimon around and getting to explore villages. They were on summer break, so they didn’t even really have to worry about school (especially once they realized time dilation was a thing); it’s basically the epitome of the romantic coming-of-age story. (Fun fact: Stand By Me is really culturally influential in Japan.)

02, on the other hand, was an eight-month-long ordeal of having to fight a territory war crammed into the after-hours of school, juggling fighting this war with keeping it from parents, in a fight that would retroactively turn out to be against what would later become a heavily traumatized and beloved friend, plus eventually watching him get subject to even worse trauma. Oh, and the series also ended on witnessing a bunch of deaths (or in other words, the worst New Year’s Eve ever). While it seemed like the kids had the luxury of enjoying the Digital World in ways the Adventure kids couldn’t at first, actually, they didn’t get to enjoy as much of it at all, since they never got to form any lasting relationships with anyone like Gennai or Elecmon. These kids were basically too busy trying to keep each others’ heads on straight to really be able to focus on that.

The comparative mess that the 02 kids went through, and the messes that they kind of are, means that they’re rather dependent on each other for emotional support. This is not inherently a bad thing, mind you; the fact that some people are more independent than others is a simple fact of life, and the 02 kids (whether it’s from naturally being a bit misfit or from the degree of their experiences) being the type who grow together with mutual support isn’t inherently anything bad. It does, however, mean that they’re likely to have some difficulties ahead coming out of 02 as “growing up” conspires to make it more and more difficult for them to stick together -- after all, how many people have actually been able to stick with their elementary school friends all the way into adulthood? This is especially because Japanese high schools admit students by examination, and rank by academic ability; it’s not particularly common for those from the same elementary/middle school to attend the same high school, even if they live close to each other, and it’s very unlikely that all of them will be sticking together in school by that point.

So, how did they fare?

Well, before we get into anything else, we should probably bring up one thing that seems like such a tiny little detail but is actually very important for this: Technology didn’t stagnate at 02′s D-Terminals, and by the time of Kizuna in 2010, smartphones and group chats existed! (Earlier than they did in real life, at that.) This is actually really important because of how much it does for that question of “how to keep in contact when circumstances like school keep you apart” -- especially when the Adventure group would certainly appreciate the method to keep in touch despite their lives largely getting increasingly separate. That, and even more so if other similar technological things like social media existed; there’s a lot of ways to keep in touch despite physical and circumstantial distance.

Of course, they’d been keeping in touch via email since 02, but a group chat is much lower pressure and actively encourages everyone to keep in touch; think about how useful group chats have been for connecting with your own longtime friends. It’s ambiguous whether the 02 group was privy to this particular chat from To Sora given that they were clearly on call for incidents like the Parrotmon one, but it’s also entirely possible that this is a room for The Ones Who Went on That One Adventure in August 1999, especially since they use the Crests as their icons, and the 02 group has their own (let’s be real, they totally would; think about how many Discord servers with overlapping people you might be in right now). This, combined with the fact that the Adventure and 02 groups seem to have formed a sort of recon squad for the increasing number of Digimon incidents in Tokyo, means that there are actually a lot more opportunities to stay involved with each other than ever before!

As it seems, the Adventure group does seem to be rather emotionally close to the point that Taichi is willing to reach out to Yamato simply to dump his emotional troubles about his future career prospects on him (despite them going to very different universities at this point). Yet, at the same time, there’s still a palpable sense of distance going on here, and a depiction of Taichi and Yamato having developed separate social lives and their own friend circles -- Taichi with Morikawa and Nemoto, and Yamato with Abe (their names come from the novel), who are also acquainted with each other enough to talk about career and worry about each other.

When Taichi and Yamato talk over beer, they don’t even have updates on the same people (Yamato has to update Taichi on Sora and Takeru’s status), and ultimately, Yamato comments on their drifting -- saying that it’s a potentially inevitable part of choosing one’s path. It’s not hard to see why he says this; it’s been a recurring theme for them since after the events of Adventure. Sora and Mimi haven’t been around for Digimon incidents lately because of their careers, and it’s highly likely Jou hasn’t either; Koushirou keeps in touch, but our only depictions have been in the range of business and Digimon incidents.

But for the 02 group? Absolutely not.

The Kizuna drama CD has a lot about what the 02 group was doing (and planning to do) during their little “vacation” in New York. In fact, there’s a lot to go on about here:

Daisuke and Takeru show up together even though Iori was allegedly said to be “first” approached, meaning the two of them were basically hanging out anyway.

Daisuke insists on going on a trip that’s about his own personal career with friends -- and not just any friends, but specifically the group of himself, Ken, Miyako, Iori, Takeru, and Hikari. He also wanted his seniors along, but they were too busy -- but it’s pointed out that the other 02 group members aren’t exactly full of free time either, meaning that these five have a special place of importance to Daisuke in his ramen career trip.

Even the Digimon are aware of what the other humans (the ones that aren’t even their partners!) have been up to lately.

Miyako and Hawkmon say that it’s only natural for them to show up when the group is getting together -- i.e. being with this specific company is a fact of life to her, to the point she invents D-3 gate exploitation to be with them.

The group keeps saying “it’s been a while” for periods of time in which it is made pretty obvious it’s actually not a lot of time at all. (Miyako had just left for Spain to the point her coming back elicits an “already?!” kind of reaction, yet that constitutes “a while”, and the most likely very short time between the trip planning and the movie is also apparently “a while”, and it’s very likely that Takeru’s “a while” in greeting Iori may well have not been that long, either.) It really makes you think about how often the people in this group must be meeting up to think that this constitutes “a while”...

Hikari is ready to fight people for denying her the chance to play with Miyako.

Beyond that, they’ve all apparently been regular enough presences in Daisuke’s life for completely offhand comments and actions to have major impacts on his career thoughts.

In the movie itself, Miyako refuses to take on the exact same request that she ultimately gladly participates in with the rest of the 02 group in New York -- presumably, because the fact her friends are there makes it all better.

As it turns out, despite everything -- despite everyone going in completely different directions with their careers, attending different schools (Iori’s still in high school while everyone else is in university!), the 02 group has been maintaining this attitude of going out of their way to hang out with each other, in a sort of “we do it together, or we don’t do it at all” sense. Of course, that’s not to say they’ve all stayed so socially maladjusted that they’ve become completely incapable of making any other friends at all, but there is a very clear, strong preference of them wanting to be in each other’s specific company to the point that they would do ridiculous things to make it work.

So, you might be asking: what’s the trade-off?

Yamato attributes the alienation between the Adventure group to “choosing one’s own path”. Inherently, this is not quite right (nor is the sentiment that “choices are bad” in general), especially considering that Daisuke, Iori, and Hikari already made their choices in path a long time ago, yet are still behaving like this. The question is actually more of priorities; notice that while the older Adventure characters are mainly portrayed in Kizuna as aggressively pursuing career prospects, the 02 characters, despite having their current educational statuses listed in their profiles, simply seem to have this as not an object.

Iori’s still in school uniform; he’s arguably cramming this all between school club obligations. Ken, Miyako, Takeru, and Hikari don’t have their current educational status involved at all, and even though Daisuke’s ramen trip is technically for his future career, he’s also happy to just “play around” about sightseeing (and, again, there’s also no reason he needed to bring his friends for this). Takeru’s working on his novel, but he hasn’t actually decided it’ll be his career yet. It’s not about whether they’ve made choices or not; it’s about the fact they’re going about this remarkably casually to the point where maintaining their relationship with their friends is more important than career. And this extends to the 02 epilogue as well; compared to their seniors’ more prominent history-making careers, the 02 group’s is more low-scale and community-oriented (the only exception being Sora, but even that ties into individual ambition more than anything else, considering that not succeeding her mother is already a pretty big deal in itself).

The take-home

Adventure and 02 are both very well-known for showcasing people with different personalities and goals in life, and celebrating their differences. I think, personally, the difference between the Adventure and 02 groups’ dynamics is also something that reflects on the different ways to live one’s life as well. This is especially something that most of us can probably understand well now that we’re adults looking back at this, especially in light of Kizuna.

There are some of us who really want to do large-scale things in this world, and will need that understanding of the self to get there but may struggle with maintaining consistent friendships on that turbulent path, and have to adapt by managing the different levels of their relationships and learning to get along with different people in different ways. There are some of us who gain happiness more from mutual support with the people around us even if it means not ostensibly achieving as “great” things, and feel most comfortable with a single consistent set of friends. Some of us are in between, or feel elements of both as we try to experiment with things in life (actually, I’m pretty sure that’s probably most of us to some degree).

Think about your own life and future prospects right now, and then think about the friends you may be in touch with, or haven’t been in touch with for a while, or the ones you talk to for different purposes or fulfill different niches in your life. We’re all trying to straddle this balance; there’s no one right way to live.

[mspainttaz]

Davenport’s just like that

read on AO3

summary:It’s a common phrase on the moon.

Davenport loves to hum beautiful songs as he walks from place to place. No one recognizes the melodies. “Oh, Davenport’s just like that” you say to the new recruit. He likes making his own music his own little songs; Johann and he get along great! He always has new ones it seems, and, if you catch him in the right mood he even likes to sing sometimes.

Davenport is quiet on his feet and hard to spot during training. He can tag out an entire team before anyone can lay a hand on him, then grin and say “Davenport!” Like some people would say “Better luck next time!" before helping up anyone he tripped. It’s hard to stay a sore loser when you lose to a guy as genuine as that. "Davenport’s just like that” they shrug, then go through the exercise again until they get it right.

It’s whispered sometimes. “Davenport’s just. Like that.” Davenport will trail off mid-sentence and stutter into silence, before picking his fallen face up and giving a quick “Davenport”, a quick what do you do, as if suddenly being unable to speak was something he refused to handle with anything but grace. The rest of the conversation would become more one sided as Davenport finishes giving whatever information he’d been asked to relay and made his exit. No one on the moon pitied him or talked behind his back. Davenport was capable and likable and possibly one of their bosses (?) So a shrug and a quick “he’s just like that” to anyone new tended to be the end of that.

Davenport cooks sometimes and gets frustrated over missing ingredients that he doesn’t have the words to describe and not always in the usual way. Davenport walks in the room and smiles and chirps “Davenport!” And suddenly everyone feels like it’s going to be all right. Davenport got startled once and jumped so high he landed halfway up the side of the library dome. Davenport flicks his ears at the elves on the moon to confuse them by mixing Elven and Gnomish body language signals and no one realized until Brian busted out laughing one time during a debriefing; between spluttered fits of laughter he explained that Davenport had been alternating “I want to fight you” “I am VERY interested in you, wink wink”, and something that didn’t translate well from Gnomish but in Elvish was basically “the monster behind you is constipated” at him the entire time. Davenport admitted to nothing. The Director called the room back to order and looked like she was trying very hard not to give Davenport a high five.

("I am sure Davenport would not act quite so unprofessional, Mr. Brian." The corners of the Director's mouth twitch.

Davenport puffs up in mock indignation. "Davenport.")

Again and again. “Davenport’s just like that” “Davenport’s just like that” “Davenport…”

Davenport remembers being a part of a great and terrible war that destroyed many. He lost friends and loved ones during this war. There’s counseling provided on the moon base to those who need help reconciling these returned memories with their current lives. Everyone is required to participate in the group therapy sessions, though no one has to say anything. Davenport can’t say anything most of the time. He gestures, “Davenport’s”, hell he’s willing to take up interpretive dance if it means saying something some days. But mostly he can’t. Mostly… Davenport has about as many words as he does ways to say them. He wonders if his speech has always been like this or if something happened in the war that took away his mind and his words. He feels it. Something’s missing but it doesn’t feel like it’s missing until he hears what everyone else has to say. He knows he was involved in heavy fighting. Remembers conflicts where he had to be fast and smart when everyone around him had spells and brawn. Talks about that, sometimes. Sees some others nod along. Occasionally one person will recall a battle and others in the room will perk up, say me too, I was there, I didn’t realize you were the one fighting by my side. Once or twice Davenport has even shared that moment of comradery. He remembers fighting in the village Killian says she fought in. Stuff like that. But Davenport knows there’s something else not because of what’s gone missing, but because as time passes and he realizes that yes, this is all the Voidfish can give back to me…

He realizes he doesn’t remember growing up in a Gnomish city because he never lived in one. He doesn’t remember parents or siblings because he has none. He doesn’t remember staying in one school long enough for the name or teachers to make a dent in his memory. He doesn’t know if that’s because he got kicked out a lot or because he was smart enough to never stay in one long enough for it to make an impression. He doesn’t recall when he first started noticing the Davenport’s sneaking up on the heels of his sentences, when they started taking over. He doesn’t remember anyone who would miss him terribly if he was gone and in the quiet moments of his mind, he realizes that’s not because he doesn’t remember them but because there was never anyone there.

Davenport doesn’t say this. Instead he carries out his duties on the moon base and feels right wearing his uniform and his cheer and standing at the side of a woman who speaks like she too remembers things she doesn’t want to say. Madame Director and him understand how important this organization is; have worked together on it since the early days with Maureen. Back then Lucas was young and bratty but inquisitive and would spend hours talking Davenport’s ears off. Davenport would help him adjust screws and calibrations on whatever mad machine Lucas was currently set on bringing to life. When Maureen died and Lucas withdrew and the Director was silent in her office most days with a look about her like she felt her age more than usual, Davenport ended up speaking more than anyone else around him. He knew the Director… Lucretia loved Maureen and. The time they had spent together. Knew that Lucas was taking over a legacy and a duty that his feet were simply not big enough to fill. Davenport knew the feeling. So he spoke, he spoke until his words ran out or until he found them again and in between he “Davenport'ed” enthusiastically.

[REDACTED] died. [REDACTED]tried to defect.[REDACTED] was killed. [REDACTED] went under the thrall. [REDACTED] went under the thrall.[REDACTED] died. [REDACTED] went under the thrall. [REDACTED] went under the thrall. [REDACTED] d

Sometimes there really were no words for what was happening sometimes no one knew what to say or expected someone to speak and

Davenport helped things run smoothly in the Bureau of Balance. He was a familiar face. Some joked he was an even more familiar name. He would stand in front of the room for meetings. Help with archiving mission statements after the Director had gone over them. Headed the Treasury Department. Listened to Brad Bradson not-complain about Taako not-purposely messing up his filing system. Rarely took vacation days. Wiped the floor on game nights. Got twitchy when he sat still for too long. To everyone he was Davenport, the ward of the Director who competently filled some mystery role or several unnamed mystery roles in the Bureau and who had his own quirks just like anyone else. To new recruits, (there were always new recruits) the explanation was always “Davenport’s just like that”. It was practically an inside joke by now and Davenport.

Davenport was relieved that he was quickly accepted with no further need for explanations he couldn’t always adequately communicate.

Davenport also loathed it because he didn’t know why he was “like that” either. The answer was locked up behind his mouth and inside his brain behind the irritating. Numbing sound of his own name and Davenport Davenport Davenport wasn’t an answer he knew how to translate. All he knew was that the only answer he was likely to get was the same one he’d been making do with for longer than he remembered

He was just like this.

[imastrangebean]

taz things ive been meaning to write down

ok so The Adventure Zone is a blessing to this world as are the McElroys in general

idk where i was going with that theyre just great

ANYWAYS

something that always lowkey bothered me about balance was the slight inconsistencies that arose from the fact that the story wasnt completely fleshed out until like halfway through crystal kingdom

dont get me wrong i love every little detail about taz but my brain always has to read too much into things and so ive overanalyzed a lot of the things from the beginning and i figured id share it

spoilers btw

1. Merle has gaps in his memory where he’ll accidentally remember things the Voidfish took away from him at random moments in time.

This is something I saw on another post, and now I cant unsee it

There are several moments where Clint has made some sort of goof that alludes to something that ends up happening later on. Of course, mechanically, this couldn’t have actually been planned, but I doubt any of these were. It’s just a nice little coincidence to tie up the story.

For example, when Merle asks to talk while they’re walking in (I believe it was) Wave Echo Cave, he phrases it in a way to make it sound like they’ve known each other for a while when they’d supposedly just met. (”I just feel like we’ve grown apart.”) Another time, in Crystal Kingdom, when Noelle was explaining what Liches were, Clint joked and said something along the lines of “Well I have some close friends that are liches.” (Lup and Barry) He is also the one to step in when Taako almost succumbs to the Gaia Sash, and he asserts his dominance in an unconventional but successful manner. 

2. The reason THB can handle the relics is because they helped create them.

This one is pretty straightforward, but I don’t know if they actually said it in the podcast.

3. Lucretia talked about the Umbra-Staff.

Going back and relistening to the podcast caused me to realize a couple of things. This is where I’m talking about the inconsistencies; the first two were just random headcanons I thought I’d jot down.

When Taako brings the Umbra-Staff to the Bureau of Balance headquarters, Lucretia tells him to bring it to Leon who finds the Umbra-Staff in his book. There was only ever one Umbra-Staff made, as was revealed in The Stolen Century, since Lup only needed one. The Umbra-Staff was also an original creation, so there would be no reason for there to be copies of it unless one of the seven birds tried to replicate it, and Lup is probably the only one who would be able to match it exactly. As a result, it can be assumed that Leon’s book was somehow factually incorrect. It says in his book that the Umbra-Staff is one of many, not one of a kind; not to mention the fact that it was in his book at all. The seven birds kept a low profile on Faerun before Lucretia and Fisher turned everything upside down, so there’s no logical reason as to why anyone but the seven of them would know about the Umbra-Staff. That would mean that one of them wrote Leon’s book, and, considering where it ended up and its off-putting misinformation, it was almost definitely Lucretia. She likely put the Umbra-Staff in his book as a way to honor Lup or in hopes that she would return, identifiable by her unconventional wand, but she probably pretended there were multiple in an attempt to keep suspicions from arising as to where this one-of-a-kind object no one has heard about came from.

4. Lucretia was teaching Davenport how to talk.

As we all know, Davenport lost the ability to say anything but his name after Fisher erased his memories. This means that he didn’t learn how to talk until sometime after joining the Institute of Planar Research and Exploration. He did, however, learn how to speak before the century-long mission; this is shown when he talks in front of the crowd at the assembly-type event that was arranged to celebrate the beginning of the mission. Even so, Lucretia erased the IPRE and, subsequentially, Davenport’s ability to communicate.

She probably didn’t realize that would happen, as he probably learned to speak before meeting her, and she probably felt guilty. That would explain why she kept him so close to her side, so she could protect and nurture him. He’d acted as somewhat a fatherly figure in the group, (though he was still their friend, and he did some reckless stuff; don’t get me wrong) and Lucretia would’ve felt the need to repay him. She would’ve had to start teaching him to speak sometime between the original erasure of everyone’s memories and the arrival of THB. The reason I say this is because, while Davenport is known for only ever saying his name, he starts out saying more than just that. It doesn’t last long, but he does communicate in concise sentences for his first few interactions with THB. The only way that would be possible would be if he were being coached by someone, and that someone would’ve had to be Lucretia. Lucretia likely stopped once she saw Taako, Magnus, and Merle, as she probably decided to then focus her efforts solely on channeling the relics and the light of creation into the shielding spell.

Another interesting thing I’ve seen about that is something that I personally accept as a headcanon: 

Magnus, upon gaining the knowledge that Davenport can only say his name, decides to prank Davenport by scaring him and saying “Magnus!” to mimic Davenport in a sense. However, when he does, Davenport reflexively jumps and responds with “Dammit, Magnus, stop doing that!” They then both get confused, and Davenport immediately goes back to being unable to talk.

anyways thats a lot of typing im probably gonna lay down now

[theassthatquits]

The Plane of Celebrations Ch 3: A Lesson in Empathy

The third chapter is posted! You can read the first two here.

Summary:  After the events of the Day of Sacrifice, the crew attempts to prepare themselves for the next holiday: The Day of Humility (A lesson in Empathy). Barry and Lup visit a temple.

“Okay, so according to this book on this plane’s celebrations, it seems like the next one is the Day of Humility: A Lesson in Empathy,” Barry was thumbing through the text, trying to figure out what their year here was going to look like.

“And? What does that mean for us? I can’t go another day without my sense of taste, I’ll just knock myself out for the rest of the day,” Taako called out from the other side of the room.

The crew was congregated in their common room, Barry was sitting on the couch with Lup draped over its back, reading over his shoulder. Davenport was standing in front of him at attention, ever the professional. Taako was leaning against the doorframe pretending to look uninterested but Lup could tell he was pretty apprehensive about what the next “holiday” would entail. Ever since the Day of Sacrifice, Lucrecia and Magnus had doubled down on what they lost. She had been writing more than ever and was currently taking detailed notes during their meeting. Magnus was pacing around the room lifting dumbbells that he had acquired from...somewhere.

“I can teach these people a lesson on empathy, they’ll never know what hit them,” muttered Merle from the floor where he was sitting cross legged. “I think they need a taste of Pan.”

“Something tells me that bringing Pan into this world isn’t going to fix anything, old man,” Lup teased from behind Barry’s ear. He shivered involuntarily.

Barry read out loud from the textbook: “‘The Goddess Eies had noticed that everyone was too harsh and judgmental of their neighbors, not caring what others had going on in their lives. To solve this issue, she made every head of household swap with another. For the full day, they had to live in another family’s shoes, doing what they do on a daily basis, experiencing their struggles, their joys. At sunset, she brought everyone together in the center of town for a community feast.’”

“Okay so we swap Davenport with someone for a day and then go to a delicious feast? Psh, this will be easy,” Taako scoffed from the doorway and turned to leave, waving behind him. “Taako out.”

“Hmm, I guess we can prepare for this at least.” Davenport started staring off into the distance, stroking his beard. “Do we have any idea when this is going to happen?”

Barry started flipping through the pages, running his finger along down the paragraphs. “Uhhhhh, no clue. It doesn’t really give a timeline.”

“Ooh! I have an idea!!” Lup leaped up and started prancing around the room. “How about we head into town and start asking around. They must have some idea of when this fantasy freaky Friday will take place.”

“Hmm...I suppose that isn’t the worst idea.”

This was all the permission Lup needed. Squealing, she ran over and enveloped him in a large hug. “Thanks cap’n! Hey, Taako! Get your fancy shoes on! We’re going out!” Lup jumped up and ran down the hall after her brother.

Sighing, Davenport turned to Magnus. “Will you go with them? Just to make sure there’s no...trouble?”

Magnus smiled and pointed one of the dumbbells at him. “You got it, cap’n’port!”

——

Barry sat in the lab, engrossed in the book, making notes all over the pages trying to prepare for the holiday ahead. Was it a magical switch? Would the captain wake up inside someone else’s body? Or would they receive word of where he should go? Would it even be Davenport that was chosen? He had just assumed because he was the leader of the group, but maybe it was more of a metaphorical head of household, someone who held them all together. That would probably be Lup if it were. Barry frowned at that idea, he wasn’t so keen on the thought of Lup switching places with a random person for a day. Maybe it wouldn’t affect them at all, they were all just assuming it would because of the last holiday. It’s good to be prepared regardless, he decided.

“Hey, there’s a whole world out there that can tell you all of that information, you know.”

Barry smiled. “Well if I’m out there winning the world with my charm, what will you do?”

“Hmmm,” Lup walked into the lab, settling herself down on the couch in the corner. “I guess hide here in the lab like the nerd I secretly am.”

“Gather anything good?”

“Oh, loads! So it’s going to take place sometime next week, it’s apparently always around the first week of the sixth month. And it happens magically, like Davenport is going to wake up in someone else’s bed on that day.”

“Yeah but will he be in that person’s body or his own?”

“His own! Isn’t that incredible? The kind of magic needed to just instantly transport all of those people, that’s…god-like.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure the forces behind all of this are gods. That is a whole lot of power that they would need for something like that…” Barry trailed off and Lup turned to look at him.

“What are you thinking about?” She said after a moment. “Barry, that’s your very intense thinking face. Did you get an idea?”

Barry snapped out of his reverie. “Oh! Sorry, Lup.” He furiously scribbled some notes down. “Yeah, something did just occur to me. Has anyone talked about these gods? If they have met them or anything?”

“I think a few have mentioned them by name but I haven’t heard of anyone being visited by them since the first time these events took place. I did see a few temples around town, did you want to go check them out?”

He paused, staring down at his writing. “Yeah, I think that might be a good idea.”

—-

Lup and Barry walked across town, over to the Temple of Eies. They walked past people preparing for the holiday, setting up tables and centerpieces, passing around sign-up sheets for food and entertainment, the temple itself was being adorned with flowers and letters written to the Goddess. Everyone was in high spirits, despite knowing that any day now a random person would magically wake up in their house.

This was not the first time that they had travelled into town, but Barry did not recognize many of the faces, he had really only just been to the library. Lup on the other hand was already on a first name basis with quite a few people. It seemed like no matter where they went someone was yelling over to them, or giving her a high five as they passed. One man was particularly enthusiastic about the high five and she swerved him, laughing as she walked past.

“He’s kind of a dick,” she whispered to Barry. “Told Taako his outfit looked stupid and no one messes with my boy like that.”

The temple was abuzz with activity and Barry almost suggested they turn around until they noticed that they were actively being welcomed inside. It was small, a statue of what he could only assume was Eies was at the front, a tall winged woman with her hands on the heads of two small children on either side of her. Fresh flowers were strewn around her feet, providing some color in an otherwise very gray space. A couple of benches were placed nearby and some columns lined the walls but other than that it was a pretty boring space. Not one that is immediately thought of for a Goddess of immense power.

“Can I help you fine folks with something?”

The small voice startled Barry and he turned around to find a halfling looking up at them.

“Yeah, actually. Are you in charge here?”

They chuckled at that, “Is anyone really in charge of anything? The Deities are the ones who are in charge, we just act in their vision. But yes, I am a devout follower of Eies and the keeper of this temple. What can I help you with?”

“Uh, we were hoping that we could ask you some questions about the upcoming holiday and the Deities.”

“Oh of course! I thought you were going to ask me for something difficult, this is an easy one. Come, come, let’s go sit and have a chat.” They led Lup and Barry towards the front of the temple to one of the benches nearby the statue. “My name is Sadorn, you two must be part of the group that are staying in that large metal thing right outside town.”

“Yes, this is Barry and I’m Lup. We haven’t been here for very long, we arrived a couple of days before the Day of Sacrifice.”

“You must have had quite a scare if that was your first venture into our celebrations!”

“Yes, it was…” Lup grimaced. “Unpleasant.”

“I’m sure but it is the work of the Deities! They know all, and we must trust them. Now what are your questions?”

“I’m curious about the nature of the Deities,” Barry started off. “Where did they come from and how do they know ‘all’?”

“Well, my dear, the Deities came from the sky! They had been watching us for a long time and couldn’t bear to see us miserable anymore. You’ve heard the stories, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I do have a book I have been reading, but it doesn’t give much in the way of specifics.”

“What kind of specifics are you looking for?”

“Like...has anyone alive spoken to a Deity?”

“Oh, no, the Deities left us a long time ago. They still watch us from above and will interfere again if needed.”

“How would one get into contact with a Deity?”

Sadorn motions to the letters left at Eies’s feet. “Write a letter, leave it at her feet. She will answer.”

“How does she answer? A note back? Some telepathy, perhaps?”

“Dear heavens, no,” Sadorn laughs as if this was the best joke they had heard in awhile. “The Gods don’t write notes.”

“Then how will we know?”

“Trust, my dear. The world will speak to you.”

Barry, a man of science, was not thrilled with this response.

“Okay, this has been...an interesting talk. Thank you for your time, Sadorn.”

“You’re very welcome, and please let me know if you need anything else. Have a great rest of your day and a safe holiday.”

Lup smiled warmly at them. “Thank you for talking with us, Sadorn. We will see you at the festival.” After Sadorn left, she turned to Barry. “Well, not the most reliable of sources but maybe we should give it a shot. Do you have any paper?”

The only thing on him was the book on celebrations he had been reading, so he flipped to the back of the book and ripped out the title page for the second chapter.

“What are you writing?”

“Well, they say that the Deities know all and they obviously have incredible power to pull off the things that they do. I’m going to warn them about the Hunger. And ask them for their help. If they really do have that kind of knowledge, then they should know that we aren’t from this plane and maybe they will know what to do.”

“I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask.” Barry pauses while writing, looking puzzled down at the paper. “What’s wrong?”

“How do I end a letter to a deity? Should I sign it with love?”

“Nah, man. Sign it something cool. We should come up with a name for our crew….ooh! I got it! How about the Hunger Blasters!”

Barry’s brow furrows, “I don’t know, sounds kind of dirty.”

Lup slaps him on the back in celebration. “Then it’s perfect! Sign it and let’s go!”

Sighing, Barry signed ‘Hunger Blasters’ at the bottom of the letter and then underneath in smaller print ‘(Sildar Hallwinter and friends)’. Probably best to be formal with a Goddess.

[ramblinganthropologist]

N7 challenge 21 and 22 - Undercover and Red Sand

Summary: Alistair Shepard’s back at it at Krispy Kreme when a contact informs him about red sand on the Citadel. So... how easy is it to get into Chora’s Den when you’re wearing OTT Sweet? He’s about to find out...

---

Nothing like showing C-SEC up by blowing the lid off their latest red sand problem. If only it hadn't wound him up in interrogation.

“Alright, Commander... I can understand a Spectre shutting this down... but how?”

Alistair shrugged as he shifted his weight so the uneven chair didn't bother him. They had one main way of dealing with suspects, even the ones who had helped them out. Unlucky for them, he understood physics. After all, they drummed the basics into recruits during boot camp. Chairs could eat his ass – ironic, considering he was sitting.

“Well, I heard rumor of it, so I investigated and found out what was going on. The rest was easy with my squad.”

The C-SEC agent looked almost incredulous as they glanced at him from across the table. “And... how did you do that? We've been working to get someone in for months.”

“Oh... I went undercover.”

“Undercover?”

And here was the time to get creative. He couldn't give ALL his methods away. Besides, no way such a straight-laced C-SEC agent was going to believe this.

“Commander Shepard, it's been a long time since we've worked together. How are you doing?”

Alice was looking good. He still wasn't sure why they were meeting on the Citadel like this, however. Good thing he had brought her things along to return, otherwise he would've had to mail it the next time he was in port.

Ah, the life of a wandering Spectre. Never in one place long.

He sipped at his tea before he answered. It was good tea – strawberry. He liked strawberry, good to know she did too. It went with her outfit more than his, mind you – today's coord was OTT in pink and white. Not a bad look on her, definitely different than the mint-chocolate number in the bags by his side.

“As well as can be expected. I hope you haven't been bothered by anyone since I dealt with the Blue Suns.”

She smiled at him as she took a dainty nibble at a biscuit. “Not at all. Things have been quite peaceful, actually.”

That was great... but it didn't explain why he was sitting in a lovely little cafe, drinking tea with his sister's friend. There was something she was going to ask him, and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to like it much.

Maybe he should've just done it by text... it would've been easier to say no.

In the pause, Alice took another sip of her tea and daintily put the cup down without making a sound. Her eyes were on him, burning not with desperation, but determination. Something about that made his stomach shift, yet at the same time... well, curiosity didn't just get the cat. Sometimes it got hamster-handling Spectres.

“In the time since then, I've become aware of something on the Citadel. I come here every so often to shop. Omega unfortunately leans a little too Classic for my taste, though I do believe that it would be the perfect style for you-”

Nope. Taako was good out here, to quote the old 21st century classic.

“Anyway... during one of my trips, I happened to catch whispers of something when I stopped for a refreshment. I believe you know what red sand is, Commander Shepard?”

His eyebrow zoomed to his hairline. “How does red sand come up among lolitas?”

Alice put a hand to her mouth to hide her chuckle. “Why, it doesn't. When did I say I only associate among lolitas?”

Yeah... that was his mistake. Still, his mind was wheeling. If Alice had heard mention of red sand on the Citadel... just the thought of it made his stomach turn. It was the sort of thing she definitely shouldn't be around...

And he sure as hell shouldn't. After all, as a biotic that shit fucked him up six ways to Sunday.

“At any rate, I tried to contact the proper authorities about it. They laughed at me and dismissed it as ramblings of a little girl with an active imagination.” She sniffed. “Ignoring the fact my ID says I am almost 30, by the way.”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, they're a real crack squad.”

“Which is why I came to you. You know my information is real, and more importantly, you are a Spectre.” She took a sip of her tea. “You can get to places that C-SEC cannot.”

Both of these facts were true. Still, he didn't see why they needed to meet in person. For something like this, all he really needed was an email. More than that, Alice had the same tone she had used the first time she had asked him for a favor.

You know... when he wound up in the dress in the bag he was currently holding.

“Right, but... why do I get the feeling this is going to involve a petticoat again?”

When Alice smiled, there was nothing friendly about it. “I may have neglected to mention when I was in this establishment, I may have slipped to my acquaintance that a friend of mine was a gorgeous petite blonde with blue eyes and a taste in OTT sweet...”

Alistair's cheeks turned scarlet. “You set me up again?!”

“Well, you did it so well the last time...” her voice dropped. “Please, Commander. I know you know the danger of red sand. I heard about your accomplishment on Illium with the Justicar. C-SEC refused to believe me, and I know this was true. You need to investigate this for the good of every biotic in the Citadel.”

She had made a grab for his hand with this, her eyes shifting from crafty to pure pleading. Part of him wanted to believe this was an act... yet the gaze she was giving him was downright desperate. Alistair felt his resolve dropping away as he glanced down at the bags.

Good thing he had made sure these were properly cleaned and ironed...

“Where do I have to go?”

Alice smiled as she poured him more tea. “Have you ever heard of a bar called Chora's Den?”

“Yeah, I almost got shot there twice.” His voice was flat, his eyebrow even higher. “A lolita at Chora's Den is going to stick out.”

His contact chuckled as she reached for a biscuit. “That's the point, Commander. Now, you're going to need to be there by 22:00-”

Why did he get the feeling he was going to regret this...

---

“Commander, are you ready?”

Yes, he just needed to fix his petticoat.

Alistair had never expected to wear one ever again, and yet there he was. Apart from some new accessories borrowed from Alice to help with the change in fashion and season, it was the same damn dress, petticoat, and wig he had worn the last time.

The purse was different, though. Made hiding his gun and a few other tools easier should he need it.

“I'm ready, Alice, just had to make sure everything was sitting right.”

The line for Chora's Den was short that night as he approached with quick, even steps. The second time in rocking horse shoes was easier, not that he had practiced for the occasion or anything. He was just more confident this time as he made his way to the entrance. After all, this wasn't his first rodeo.

“Now, I told them my friend's name was Jane. You can fill occupation and hobbies in yourself, just remember that we met at Baby the Stars Shine Bright's store on the Citadel.”

He knew that brand – it was a classic. Not quite OTT due to the prestige of being one of the cores of lolita fashion, but it was famous. Hell, he'd watched Kamikaze Girls the first time he'd been preparing for a mission like this. A brand only lasted that long through staying power and appeal. It wasn't quite to his taste, but he could see how it had made it to the late 22nd century.

…

And now he was forming opinions on clothing brands. Shit. He was getting way too into this undercover work.

“Right... thanks for the ad-lib room.”

“Bo said you were an expert at it. Now, I'll let you know when I see them. This contact camera is amazing, did you really design it yourself?”

Alistair had to resist a chuckle as he waited in line, pretending like he was taking a call on his omni-tool. “Oh no, it was a customization of an existing design that didn't quite meet my needs. I could show you the fabric when I get back tomorrow.”

Alice was a smart woman – she caught on quick. “Impressive. Is this what working what a Spectre is like?”

Oh, she should see him when he had tech in his hands. That's when the magic happened. His contact cam was just a fruit of that effort from having to go undercover one too many times. After all, he could hardly rely on cameras where he went half the time. It was better to have one on hand that was constantly being saved to his hard drive on his computer back on the Normandy. There was also a backup version Alice would have, and a second version on his omni-tool. You could never have enough backups in case things went wrong.

Some might call him paranoid. They could kiss his ass, he had died once before – you could never be too careful.

“Excuse me, sweetheart, I think you're lost. The Tea Room is up a ways.”

There was a man leering at him. The outfit had definitely turned him off, so his only reaction to what he perceived a woman was scorn and minimizing. Alistair had seen this plenty of times before, and dealt with younger versions in his teens. Luckily, it didn't bother him.

So he shot them a blank, dignified look down the bridge of his nose as he walked past. “I do believe the line is back there. Chora's Den isn't fond of nobody line cutters last I checked.”

The man's friends laughed as he sputtered. Naturally, an assault to his identity would prompt a desire to beat the shit out of the one who had caused it. The question is, would he go after someone in a dress and petticoat?

Looks like the answer was yes – he was leaning forward.

“Why  you little-”

With a swift movement, he had the man off balance and knocked on his ass. Then he kicked as a reminder to stay down. It wasn't hard enough to hurt anything seriously – just well aimed. It left his annoyance groaning on the floor.

He gave the friend group a blank look as he kept walking. “I would advise keeping your friend on a leash. I think he's in heat.”

Then he entered Chora's Den under the eye of a more than amused bouncer and with the chorus of a bunch of already drunk men. They were quickly drowned out by the music of the club and the energy that surrounded it.

It looked a little different since Fist had been running it. Cleaner maybe, though probably just as corrupt. There were still dancers of various council species, and those who enjoyed watching. These he gave a wide berth, making his way to the bar. This was the same person- he hadn't seen their body when they had cleared the place out. Smart woman.

“Nice going with the guy out front, honey.” She gave him an appreciative nod. “Saw it on the cams. What can I get you?”

He smiled, carefully. “Please tell me you have some form of sprite here. I don't exactly drink, but I'm here to meet someone.”

The bartender laughed as she reached under the bar. “Last time I heard that, Commander Shepard was still on his first life. It's why I carry the stuff. Here, I call this the Red Shepard. It's got a little grenadine in it for color.”

…

Apparently, there were drinks named after him in bars. Who knew? At least it seemed to be the designated driver special. He was happy to accept, though when he tried to pay she shook her head. Part of him was worried it was his borrowed credit chit, but then she smiled.

“You did us a favor, honey. The bouncer almost threw out his shoulder tossing him out. Drinks are on the house tonight.”

Well, that was good for him. He smiled and went off to find a place to sit so Alice could get a view of the floor. Though the music was loud, his ear piece had a noise blocking feature he was more than happy to turn on. When it came down to it, he just didn't like night clubs. Add in the dancers and he liked them even less.

If they were dudes... well... he probably would've been too embarrassed to stay long.

“See anybody yet, Alice?”

“No, but your performance outside the Den was impressive. Was that aikido?”

He smiled as he sipped at his drink. “I picked it up in basic because I was smaller than everyone else and got tired of getting my ass kicked.”

“A friend of mine learned judo for the same reason.”

Good to know someone else was kicking ass on the small side. Alistair raised his glass in tribute as he took a careful sip. He had needed the sugar anyway – he had started to feel a little shaky after walking in. Low blood sugar was fun like that.

As he waited for his blood sugar to raise as Alice looked around, he took the chance to glance around Chora's Den without moving his head. They had definitely cleaned the place since Fist had run the place. They probably had to – his squad had left more than a few bodies and bullet holes when they were breaking out to go rescue Tali. He could still remember where he had almost collided with a wall running after Bo to make sure everything was alright.

She had left quite the trail of destruction. It was kind of impressive. Good they had fixed it in the two years since he had been dead, though.

“Commander, the target is approaching you now. Play nice.”

Alistair picked up his head as he took another sip of his drink. There was indeed someone approaching his table. Surprisingly, they weren't wearing a coord. Instead, he would have said they were any normal resident of the Wards.

Which of course, meant nothing. Out of uniform he looked like any random twink with a minor obsession with hamsters.

“Jane, is it?”

Right, that was his code name. He gave his best cordial smile, much like he had seen Alice give, and nodded. The person in front of him smiled as well as they took the seat across from them, already carrying a drink in their hand.

Theirs was definitely alcoholic – it was making his damn eyes water.

“It's so good to finally meet you...” he trailed off. “Forgive me, Alice didn't give me your name.”

They answered a little too quickly – someone was eager. “It's Rax. I was a little worried you weren't going to show up. Chora's Den is kinda rough, I'm still surprised Alice comes here when she's on the Citadel.”

People were just full of surprises, weren't they?

Alistair took another sip of his drink as he gave Rax the once over. While he didn't see any tattoos for the major gangs, the lean muscle and scarred hands suggested they were into something. Part of him would have considered undercover C-SEC, but they were obvious from a mile away. Garrus had taught him to to tell them anyway. So this guy was probably either a low level merc striking out on their own, or they were from a third party gang trying to muscle in on the big three.

Poor sap. They'd be lucky if they survived the year.

“So... why don't you tell me about yourself? Alice played this close to the corset I'm afraid.”

They were already stammering as they swallowed half their drink in one impressive gulp that dribbled down their chin. Gross. At least Alistair was a master of keeping it off his face as he kept the camera trained on his target. C-SEC might need this data later after they wiped the egg off their faces.

“Oh uh... nothing special. I just do some work locally.” Another sip – someone was nervous. “How about you? Alice says you're not on the Citadel much?”

He shook his head carefully, taking another sip. “No, my work takes me off the station frequently. I work for a small organization doing research on how the various council species construct clothing.”

“Makes sense, what with how you dress and all.” They obviously then bit their tongue. “Sorry, just... don't see a lot of women like you on the Citadel.”

Alistair chuckled much like Alice would as he played with the straw of his drink. “Oh, I'm not that rare.  We just keep to different places on the Wards.”

Why did he get the feeling Rax would love nothing more than to know where those areas were? While he wasn't exactly a member of the subculture, he could tell someone trying to scratch an itch when he saw it. The guy was kind of pathetic, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. A little more charismatic, and maybe he'd be concerned.

Then again, he was just pumping the guy for info.

“Oh... m-makes sense I guess. I mostly stay down here.”

The Spectre in disguise took another sip of his drink, careful to monitor the level. “What kind of work do you do? You look strong... C-SEC, maybe?”

The person in front of him snorted into their way too strong drink. “C-SEC is a fucking joke, Jane. They're just glorified pencil pushers sweeping the Citadel over.”

While this was true... maybe he could lean into this to get somewhere. Alistair nodded along as he played with his straw again. It was easy to see Rax was watching his every move. Maybe it was a good thing he had painted his nails for this...

It was the little touches that made the role worth it.

“Sounds like you get into some dangerous things, Rax.” He smiled, leaning in. “That's kind of exciting.”

Rax grinned, but there was nothing friendly about it as they lowered their voice. “Oh, you could say that. C-SEC doesn't even know I exist. Those idiots keep pinning my shit on other small time idiots. It's really clearing the market for me.”

Man, he must have been drunk to let go this easily. That, or he was puffing himself up. Alistair wasn't sure right then as he started putting the pieces together. With dealers, he could never tell. Usually they weren't too friendly with him... but that was when he was in armor.

So he lowered his voice again. “Market? Do you mean like... drugs?”

“Oh, I got something better than that, Jane.” Rax was so close that Alistair could smell their breath – gross. “You ever heard of red sand?”

“There, you have them! Pump them for information!”

Alice was getting excited, but the Spectre remained calm as he took a small sip of his drink. Every motion he made was deliberate, due in part to the fact he knew he was being watched. Rax's body language was screaming some rather lascivious things to say the least. Sadly, they weren't Alistair's type.

He liked his merc on the good guys's side.

“Red sand... that's that stuff that makes you biotic, right?”

Rax nodded as they drained their drink. “For a bit. I have a guy who supplies me from Ilium. C-SEC still thinks it's coming from Omega, the fucking morons!”

Yeah, they were... but now Alistair needed to find out where he was keeping it. Oh, he was going to regret this part... but it was what he needed to do. Luckily, he had a gun in his purse and a well-modified omni-tool to put up kinetic armor should he have the need.

So he smiled, finishing his drink. “Sounds thrilling. Skirting the law, working with that kind of material. You live an exciting life.”

“You don't know the half of it, Jane.” They looked at both empty drinks on the table. “Say... looks like both of us are out. I got something a little better at my place. It's not far if you want to come with... I can walk slow for you.”

Alistair smiled as he stood, straightening his skirt as he did. “Maybe you can tell me a little more about your exciting life while you're there. I've never tried... you know...”

He looked away, willing his face to blush. It was hard to do it on command, but it gave him a chance to look through his altered eyelashes. Rax was watching him, looking as though they had just won the world series.

Too bad they wasn't getting lucky tonight.

“Well, I think I could give you a taste.” They held out their arm. “Follow me, then. This place was getting a little too loud anyway.”

The pair were soon leaving Chora's Den, walking out of the club entirely. The bartender gave Alistair a concerned look, but when Rax wasn't looking he winked and patted his purse, briefly showing the outline. Then she shook her head, but smiled anyway.

It was short walk, like the merc had said. This part of the Wards was pretty run down, just like the Spectre remembered it. Luckily, they were heading for a small group of ramshackle warehouses. Honestly, it was just the place he expected someone to hide red sand.

Still... talk about keeping it right under C-SEC's nose. If Rax hadn't been so horny for a pretty face in a long skirt, they might've pulled it off longer.

“Here's my little piece of heaven.” Rax's smile turned to a smirk as they nudged Alistair closer to the door. “So uh... how about we get to know each other a little better? It's gonna be hard to do this in such a big skirt a-”

Alistair was all smiles as his eyes glowed bright blue and pinned his target against the wall. “Yes, I do believe it's going to be a little hard to do this if you keep trying to undress me with your mind. Now, about the red sand?”

Now it was going to get fun... he had plenty of sugar to work off from that Red Shepard. Might as well put it to use.

Poor Rax. All they had wanted to do was get laid. They had even been nice about it. Sadly, that's what happened when you tried to fuck a Spectre pumping you for info.

---

“So you went undercover in Chora's Den and wound up meeting with the middleman.”

Alistair nodded as he finished his compacted story. The C-SEC agent still looked incredulous, but he had filled in the needed pieces. Naturally, he had kept out the parts about him being in a dress, but they were more window dressing anyway.

“Yep. They showed me the warehouse, I restrained them when they made a move against me. Then you guys showed up.”

Turns out Rax had been sitting on a small mountain of red sand, enough to really fuck some people up. They were still working on locating their supplier, but Alistair had a feeling they had long since cut and run. After all, there hadn't been nearly enough to strike out as a solo dealer. More likely, they were just holding for someone more powerful.

But... that was one supply cut off he supposed.

“Well... you managed to clear up a red sand smuggling ring we had previously thought was connected to Omega. Not to mention a few assaults, a missing person, and a possible murder.” The C-SEC agent looked rather sheepish. “You uh... you do good work, Shepard.”

Alistair smiled as he rose. “Thank you. Can I get going, though? I need to get back to the Normandy. They kind of can't take off without me.”

“Oh uh... sure. If we hear anything else, we'll let you know...”

With that, Alistair took his leave of the station. As he did, he walked past the office of a few other officers. From the looks of things, they were clearing the cases he had managed to bust open for them with a few hours work.

Not a bad job for a Spectre.

“I don't get it... are you sure that's what she said?”

“Yeah, bartender at Chora's Den said a woman in a green, puffy dress with blonde hair was seen leaving with Rax. Nobody's seen her since.”

And then he was walking a little faster. After all, he had a ship to get back to, and a lot of questions he didn't want to answer. Besides, he had a dress he needed to iron and return once it was back to pristine condition.

He was definitely returning it this time. No more cross-dressing...

…

At least not in this dress. Green wasn't really his color, and Alice probably wanted it back. Maybe he should...

Fuck. Now this was a road he didn't want to go down.

[comradelup]

Hey bruh can we get an epic infodump about that BOTW au, because I am HERE for some self indulgent content, hit this niche Zelda/TAZ fan audience with that tasty au over here

i just woke up so this might not be too legible but :3333 also obviously spoilers for botw for ppl who haven’t played it and don’t wanna be spoiled

(most of it is under the cut though because WOW this got long akdnajfnsjf)

okay so taako is link and lup is zelda. instead of being a princess and knight they’re a king and queen co-ruling faerun. there isn’t really a king rhoam figure in this? like they don’t have a parent/guardian they pops up in the memories, it’s just them ruling the kingdom. when the prophecy came, they knew one of them was the royal with the goddess’ blood in them and the other would be the hero with the darkness sealing weapon. obviously both of them would have the same blood or whatever since they’re twins, but it comes down to who can properly wield the magic. as it turns out, lup is the magic twin and taako is the weapon wielding twin. their enemy, usually ganon, is instead the hunger.

there is still an old civilization of ppl with ancient technology, though i don’t really have a name for them, so i’ll keep calling them sheikah. BUT, there is a modern day group of people dedicating themselves to learning all they can about the sheikah technology in order to prepare for the return of the hunger. they are the institute of past research and exploration, IPRE for short. it is made up by the rest of the seven birds, among a few others.

the champions are davenport, merle, magnus, and barry. lucretia is kinda how she was in TSC canon, just sorta tagging along to write everything down, but that changes once they make the grand relics. speaking of, the light of creation replaces the master sword in this instance. it has the power to fight off the hunger, as well as take the shape of any weapon taako can imagine. that’s how we get the flaming raging poisoning sword of doom and the krebstar. but lup and barry, ever the scientists, are like “is there any way to… break the light into pieces? so more people get super powerful weapons against the apocalypse?” so they do

some of the relics are different, though. the philosopher’s stone doesn’t change things, but it changes itself, keeping that weapon-changing property of the original light. obviously, since it’s a seventh of what it used to be, it isn’t as powerful. but it’s still pretty damn powerful compared to the rest of the weapons in the world. the gaia sash is different too, adding healing on top of the plant magic. the animus bell basically makes undead armies instead of the soul switching magic from canon. basically, the relics’ powers are altered to better fit a combat situation. also they’re the gifts given to taako after the divine beasts (replacing urbosa’s fury/daruk’s protection/etc) so they would need a more combative/practical use. the healing part of the gaia sash is basically this au’s mipha’s grace akfnajfnsj

one relic in particular is interesting, and that’s the phoenix fire gauntlet. with lup’s struggle to unlock her powers, she created the gauntlet as a sort of conductor for magic energy. she’s incredibly proficient in normal magic (esp evocation) but this goddess magic is tricky to unlock, and it’s super frustrating. the other stuff came so easy to her, so why is this hard? unfortunately, the gauntlet didn’t help with that :-(

lucretia and her relic are also interesting in this au. as i mentioned in the ficlet i posted, she intended to use the bulwark staff to protect the champions, and she couldn’t, so she blames herself for everything that happened. obviously, it’s not her fault and i make myself sad thinking about her being sad T_T but as a result of this, plus a bit of good ol paranoia, she uses the bulwark staff to create a big bubble shield around phandalin (this au’s kakariko villiage) the rest of the IPRE live here (basically the BOB, so killian, carey, johann, etc)

i won’t go too into detail for the rest of the story, as it’s fairly similar to botw canon other than that, but some things to note are this: the divine beasts are different, so as to suit the champions better. magnus and merle have a bear and owl, respectively, but idk what’s for barry and davenport (definitely open to suggestions akdnajdns). also, the yiga clan is called the shadow brethren, because i love me a good amnesty reference. it’s leader is kalen, and he’s an actual threat to taako, unlike kogha. i’d imagine the brethren tie to magnus’ divine beast because kalen ties to his storyline. also, the gauntlet basically becomes the bow of light in this au, aka what taako uses to defeat the hunger once and for all

other characters to note are:

kravitz and the raven queen, basically purah and symin in the hateno ancient tech lab. they’re a mother and son duo, with TRQ living through the calamity and kravitz being born afterwards

lucas and maureen are in robbie and jerrin’s place as another mother-son duo in the same position as krav + TRQ; maureen lived through the calamity and lucas was born after

(everyone is basically human in this, or at least has human lifespans, so 100 years is definitely a long time for someone to live through. maureen and TRQ developed magic to prevent them from aging all those years. lucretia was the first volunteer to use this magic, but it kinda failed and instead only slowed down her aging. that’s why she’s her older self when taako wakes up.)

the goddess hylia is instead istus. not much changes there, she’s just the goddess everyone references akdnakdjs

yknow the characters that help link get to the divine beasts in canon? like sidon, riju, etc? they’re replaced by other characters depending on what relic taako is going after, and it correlates to canon. so when he’s going after davenport’s divine beast/the oculus, he meets angus. when going after the owl/gaia sash, he meets hurley and sloane. so on and so forth. though he DEFINITELY meets julia in refuge and she DEFINITELY does NOT have a crush on the hero of legend who piloted the bear divine beast 100 years ago ;)))))

differently from botw canon, taako actually develops a strong relationship with lucretia, who is pretty much impa with a different backstory. as he gets his memories back he realizes he had six incredibly close best friends and now five of them are gone, so he kinda gravitates to her when he’s with her

one more thing to note is that after taako defeats the hunger and lup is free, she combines the relics into the light and uses it to bring the dead champions back because FUCK death separating this family. lup “phantasmal and resplendent” adventurezone would never allow it. if her brother gets brought back from the dead, so do her friends and her husband, thank you very much

and that’s… basically it! i could go more in depth with the taakitz/blupjeans side of things, but this is long enough akfnskfnskfn but if anyone wants to know anything else i’m always open to talking about it :D

[mollymauk-teafleak]

A Gentleman’s Guide to Dancing

Okay, so I watched Little Women and Pride and Prejudice in the same week and this happened...

Taako and Lup find themselves fast running out of time. If Taako doesn't secure himself a wealthy wife before the year is out, he and Lup will lose their recently deceased aunt's Manor House that has been their home for so long.

Perhaps he will meet someone at the mysterious Countess Raven's harvest ball. Thought he isn't holding out much hope.

thanks to @minky-for-short and @spiky-lesbian

Please consider leaving a comment on Ao3!

-

Taako’s shoes were full of snow before they’d gone ten paces.

His good dress shoes too, the only pair he had. Then came his trouser cuffs, the ones he’d spent all morning fixing the fraying hems on. Then his socks, the thick ones he wasn’t really supposed to be wearing to a party so fancy but it was freezing and he’d rather keep his toes than ensure he wouldn’t be embarrassed should someone happen to glance down at his feet. It was all soaked and they hadn’t even crossed the first field.

And now Taako was looking forward to this night even less. He hadn’t thought that was possible.

Things got worse when they finally approached the manor house, squatting on top of the rise in the valley, eyeing them balefully with it’s glowing window eyes as if deciding whether to eat them or allow them entrance. Where it didn’t glow with clearly magically assisted candlelight, it was black, everything from the wrought iron gates to the oaken doors to the bricks, right down to the curtains in the windows.

Just one of the reasons the Countess Raven was considered rather strange around these parts. The curiosity about her, the rumours people were dying to confirm, had undoubtedly brought most of the figures currently stepping out of their elaborate carriages and into her End of Harvest Ball. Semi scandalous gossip all the way to full blown calumnies like how she never unveiled her face, how she’d never married and never had children, how she’d come into her riches probably by way of sacrifice to some deity banned for good reason. Taako imagined a lot of curious guests would be poking through wardrobes hoping to find skeletons, all while pretending to have the slightest interest in the Countess’ new ward who was making his formal debut tonight.

Not that he did either, that had to be said. But it was a party in the house just a few fields away from their own, a party where there would definitely be available ladies with enormous dowries, couldn’t be avoided.

The prospect only made his heart sink further and turn as cold as his feet, as he stood on the threshold and knocked his shoes against the rockery to clear the snow from them. In that moment he couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than to turn around and go back home, to curl up with a spellbook, to go spend a few hours in his tiny but beloved kitchen, and forget about all of this.

But then his eyes were drawn to his sister beside him, in finery as threadbare as his own. She was frozen in the act of knocking the snow from her own shoes, ones that would let the icy water in far worse than Taako’s. Her face was far away, her eyes looking out at the fleet of carriages conveying the other guests to the party without so much as a speck on their brand new clothes. Carriages like the ones they’d used to own but now couldn’t afford anymore than they could fly. He could read her mind as easily as he could read the spellbook he was imagining longingly.  

And Taako remembered there was something he wanted more. He wanted his sister to be happy. He wanted her to be safe, without the constant threat of losing their home. He wanted her to have the life she deserved, one of comfort and simple joys, with the person she wanted to share it with.

Stifling a sigh, he reached over and tucked a strand of hair back into her graceful updo where the walk had blown it out of place, “Hey. Want to see who can stuff more canapes in their pockets without getting caught? That’d be breakfast sorted.”

Laughter bubbled up on Lup’s lips, drawing her away from the carriages, “Don’t you dare. I’m not helping you if you get kicked out.”

“I wouldn’t get kicked out,” Taako grinned as they walked into the warmth, pitching his voice below the music and murmur of conversation, “Countess Raven would simply slit my throat and drink my blood to keep herself youthful.”

Lup swatted at her twin’s ear, “Shh! Don’t say things like that. You know she’s just an old woman who didn’t fancy getting married and everyone just assumes that means she’s an evil demon worshipper.”

“I know, I know, I’m joking,” Taako’s ear twitched in that embarrassing way it did and he grabbed it to make it stop.

He couldn’t help but appreciate the irony in that. He wondered if he started wearing all black and veiling his face behind midnight silk he could get away with not being pressured into marrying a woman he felt to attraction towards.

But no. He was fairly certain that kind of eccentricity only worked if you were rich. Which he and Lup certainly were not, not since their aunt passed away.  

This time he allowed himself to sigh, as the ballroom came into view, it’s vaulted ceiling and wide open black oak doors framing those guests already chatting and dancing and making merry. Already he was listlessly scanning for female faces with money attached to their surnames, all while some small part of his brain, one he’d been trying to supress and beat back, lingered on the male faces.

The same routine, Taako thought miserably, straightening his lapels. Only this time he hoped it would actually lead to success, to a viable match and a change in their fortunes.

Well. Most of him hoped.

After a few turns of the ballroom, Taako’s hopes were dull embers in the pit of his stomach. There was a significant shortage of new faces, mostly people from the surrounding manor houses, no one had journeyed from beyond Rockport.

Which meant all the available ladies in the room were well aware of what a wastrel he’d been just a short year before. How he’d shirked his studies, climbing out of windows and shimmying down the pipes before his tutors could arrive, going out to cause havoc with his untamed magic. How he’d refused to mix with polite company, instead spending his time with people who actually liked him, his sister and several interesting characters from nearby villages. Carpenter apprentices and strange herbalists and aging soldiers more than happy to reenact their dusty battles with a group of youths.

In short, ladies who knew that until his aunt had died and her lands had been seized, Taako had been a thoroughly unpleasant young elf. And that now he was a thoroughly unpleasant, penniless young elf.

Taako picked up a glass of wine from a nearby table and sipped at it moodily in the shade of some curtains. Black of course. He let his eyes move lazily around the floor. A handful of people in silks, velvets and crinolines were already engaged in a lazy, graceful dance. The kind that could still facilitate conversation, a dance for early in the evening when things were just getting warmed up.

Lup was in the middle of it, she loved dancing. She often said it was one of the only things that made these balls worth it. Though she smiled politely and laughed prettily at the unheard banalities of the young heir that had ended up being her partner, Taako could tell her mind was somewhere far away.

Dancing somewhere far from here. With an entirely different partner, someone who would never even get past the door at a function like this but who was damn smarter than half of the people in this room put together.

Taako gave a long, steady exhale and set his half empty glass on the windowsill he stood beside.

Maybe one more turn around the room. It couldn’t hurt. Maybe Lady Miller had forgotten the time Taako had put one of their mansion’s windows through with magically enhanced fireworks that set off all of their many wards at once.

His damn socks were still soaked. He was going to get trench foot by the time this night was through.

Taako sighed, flapping his ears irritatedly. They were still ringing from the hiding Lady Miller had given him about the fireworks. As it happened, she hadn’t forgotten in the slightest. In fact, talking to her had led her to finally connect the dots and realise why the loud cackling she’d heard that night had been so familiar.

His patience was at a very deep and shadowy low. He needed to take five minutes away from people wearing outfits that cost more than his friends had seen in a year of their lives, from viperous gossip about the lady whose champagne and canapes said gossip was mumbled around. From feeling like he wasn’t meant to be here, like he’d been painted onto completely the wrong canvas and was ruining everything.

Taako gave one last glance across the room to Lup, just to see that she was okay. She was, of course, his sister found it so easy to get along with people. She knew exactly what to say, how to smile, how to come back with a witty comment at just the right time to make everyone laugh.

You could do it too, she would always point out carefully when they’d be trudging back to their aunt’s house and his face would be like thunder, it’s all acting, you’re better at that than me.

Taako never had an answer to that, beyond a grunt and a sullen shrug. He knew he could act, put on the right face. He just never understood why he had to.

Why he wasn’t just good enough as himself.

Knowing his sister was okay, he wandered away from the light and noise, slipping out into the same entrance hallway he’d left wet footprints on the polished floor of as he’d come in. There was no trace of them now, clearly some servants had been dispatched to clear them away so everything could retain it’s pristine quality of having never been lived in.

He didn’t know where exactly he was going, just that he needed to be alone. Eventually he came upon a door that looked sturdy enough to shut the world away, huge and oaken and, most importantly, unlocked. He slipped inside, just wanting somewhere to dry his socks and sit and not have to think about the looming deadline where he and Lup would become homeless and how every attempt he was making to fix things was a pathetic failure.

Sound was always the first thing Taako noticed, his large silvan ears catching and funneling everything in. So the crackling fireplace was the first to catch his attention, along with the soft rustling of paper. Next was the smells, burning wood and old paper and leather.

Then his eyes caught up. And noticed the young man sitting in a wingback chair by the fire, reading and looking very surprised.

Taako said something very ungentlemanly that would make his aunt’s ghost cringe.

The young man smiled, looking more nervous than askanced, “Hello?”

“Hello,” Taako winced, realising he’d just made two very bad impressions in quick succession, “I’m sorry, I, ah…”

“...was avoiding my mistress’ party?” the man supplied, managing a soft, refined smile, “Same as me?”

“I suppose,” Taako had been about to come up with a lie about assuming this was the bathroom but the man clearly had his number, “Your...your mistress?”

“I’m Countess Raven’s ward,” he explained, seeing the confusion, “Kravitz, most call me.”

Taako was well aware he was gaping like a fool but he couldn’t help it, “The countess has a ward?”

“I’ve been in the city for the past few years, making my own way,” he didn’t seem surprised that his existence was a mystery, “And even then my mistress isn’t one for sharing...you’re Taako, right?

He blushed, finding it even more embarrassing now, “Ah, yes. Taako. That’s me.”

The young man, Kravitz, smiled wider, “I see you walking sometimes, your house is just across from my mistresses…” a blush coloured his own dark cheeks, clearly it was catching, “I mean, you know that. Of course you know that. You live there.”

Taako recovered from the shock, finding their shared embarrassment endearing now, letting it reassure him, “Last time I checked. Though fair warning, it may have been my sister. We’re identical twins.”

Kravitz nodded, “Oh I know. Mistress told me about the two of you, about your adventures.”

“Well,” Taako leaned against the wall, “There goes my last shred of hope to make a good impression on you…”

Kravitz laughed at that, his eyes crinkling at the edges. Nice eyes. A nice laugh. A nice face. His hand came out to motion to the seat next to his own, in the warm orange glow of the fire. Taako decided to accept. It was so rare he got a chance to have a nice, easy conversation with someone other than Lup or his friends. It really made a difference when Taako wasn’t trying to present himself as someone he wasn’t.

“So what brought you to hiding out in the library?” he asked, smiling crookedly as he leaned back and let his feet finally warm and start to dry.

“Ah, balls and parties aren’t really my thing,” Kravitz admitted, “I never know what to do with myself. It’s like…”

He seemed to falter and Taako provided an answer, his smile turning to something gentler, “Like there’s a pressure only you can feel. Like everyone else is enjoying themselves and you should too but you just can’t.”

Kravitz’s eyes met his own in a way they hadn’t yet. He looked awed, “Exactly.”

“So it’s not only you,” Taako chuckled, “And it’s not only me. That’s comforting.”

“I suppose it is,” when he leaned back, gold winked in his hair, there were bands set in his sweeping dreadlocks.

And Taako found himself noticing more and more.

He had a very noble face but there was expression to it, a depth like there was actual life behind his aquiline nose and golden eyes. He had a smile that seemed rare but beautifully soft when it did appear. His hair was in a very unusual style for the gentry, dreadlocks that swept back from a widow’s peak and hung around his shoulders in perfect order. He must have been in the city for some time, if Taako had ever seen this man before he would certainly have remembered him.

“I was so sorry to hear about your aunt,” Kravitz’s voice had gentled and his face had softened while Taako had been mooning, “My mistress told me.”

Taako swallowed. A thought budded in the back of his mind, wondering if anyone beyond his friends had ever told him they were sorry for the loss of the closest thing he’d ever had to a parent without immediately tacking on a comment about the future of the house, making it clear what they actually cared about.

“It was hard,” Taako murmured, determined to keep his voice even, “She went so quickly...she was the last of our family. Now all Lup and I have is each other.”

Kravitz leaned forward again, towards him, looking like he might be about to offer a hand but was trying to decide if it was the right thing to do, “I’m sorry. I never knew my family so I can’t pretend to understand your loss but…”

Taako shook himself quickly, sitting bolt upright in his chair, ears standing to attention so fast that they set his queue off center, “It’ll be fine. It’ll all be fine. I’ll marry and my wife’s family will buy auntie’s house and Lup can stay there and I’ll...it’ll be fine.”

Kravitz blinked, looking slightly alarmed but willing to accept that Taako didn’t want to take the conversation about his aunt further, “I see. You seem to, ah...have things well planned out.”

Taako nodded stiffly, heartbeat starting to pick up the way it did when he was anxious. He hoped his face wasn’t getting all red.

Except everyone thinks I’m a useless, broke strumpet and they’re not wrong. Expect no girl in her right mind would marry me. Except I don’t even want to marry a girl. Except eventually Lup will start to think she’ll have to marry herself off when really she wants Barry and I’ll have failed her again like I have done all my life.

But except for all that, yes, it’s all planned out.

So he didn’t open his ridiculous mouth and let all of that come pouring out, Taako said instead, “You know what the silliest thing is?”

Kravitz tilted his head, “No?”

“I actually love to dance,” Taako smiled tiredly.

That smile came back, shy and sweet and with its own inherent value, like a rare bird sighted just before dawn, “Well… I truly do make a terrible dance partner but you’re a little short on choices here… I promise to do my very best.”

Taako didn’t understand his meaning for a few breaths, until he stood- gods, he was tall- and held out a hand to the elf. Heart racing for an entirely different reason now, Taako took it and allowed himself to be drawn to his feet, a smile breaking out on his face, whether it was red or not.

The music from the hall was muffled by the walls and doors between them but it would do. Taako had never been led but he found it was fairly easy, settling his hands on Kravitz’s shoulders and swaying with him until their feet grew brave enough to take those first few steps. They soon found they had to make their own beat of sorts, with the tempo so quiet and with chairs and side tables with chess sets and bookcases to avoid but soon things like that mattered very little.

Kravitz hadn’t lied, he was a terrible dancer. How someone who sat and rose and simply existed so gracefully could follow steps so rigidly and tensely, Taako had no idea. Before long Kravitz was chuckling self consciously and Taako just couldn’t hold his giggles in. The two of them collapsed into helpless laughter, abandoning all attempts to follow a waltz or any other kind of set dance. Instead they just turned around the room, following something other than laid out steps or even the music.

Sill grinning, Kravitz reached behind him or maybe he just waved a hand, Taako didn’t catch it, but suddenly the bay doors leading out into the night swung open and with a gust of biting, exhilarating cold, they were dancing out onto the veranda. Taako yelped and clung tighter to Kravitz, letting himself be whirled along.

And now they were playing a game, twirling from curtain to curtain, grinning and ducking and stumbling to avoid the eyes of the dancers in the ballroom now just a pane of leaded glass away. Their own laughter became their music, picking up and gasping as they larked around, pulling faces and imitating the nobles inside who were just a glance away from noticing them.

Just in his socks, his queue loose and golden hair flying up around his face, Taako felt the bad mood that had sat on his chest for gods only knew how long finally lift.

They went all around the mansion, finally tumbling back into the library, red cheeked and shivering and jaws aching from giddy laughter.

Taako crashed back into his chair, tripping over his own shoes, cackling delightedly, not caring if his laugh sounded common or the gap in his front teeth showed. Kravitz came to a rather more dignified stop, sinking into the opposite chair and folding one leg lazily over the other.

“You know,” he chuckled, eyes bright, “I thought coming back to the country meant all excitement in my life was over… but I don’t think they have anyone like you anywhere else in the world.”

Taako gave a lopsided grin, “They do. My sister.”

Kraviz shook his head slowly, leaning close again. The fire was dying, with the doors flung wide and the wind gushing in, it was embers flickering in his eyes now.

“I think you’re entirely unique, Taako.”

The elf paused, caught in those eyes for a moment, still tasting night air on his tongue and laughter aching in his chest. He wondered if anyone had ever looked at him like that before, like they were really seeing him and only him.

There was fear in his heart at the thought. But not just fear.

He eased himself up slowly, “I should be heading home, the party looked like it was dying down. Lup will be looking for me.”

Kravitz nodded, sitting back so his eyes went dark again. They were such unusual eyes, a brown that caught the light in such a way they could almost be called red.

“I’m in the country for good now, ready to take the estate over from Mistress,” he said hopefully, “Perhaps you could come visit? The library’s always open to you.”

Taako smiled, “I would like that. You can teach me to play chess and I’ll teach you to dance.”

Kravitz gave a bright bark of laughter, “It’s a deal.”

[a-solitary-marshmallow]

Baby Take a Bow - Chapter 7/7

Lup and Barry returned that evening with a nervous elf in tow. Lucretia had only gotten a glimpse of them during their scuffle in the forest. They were covered from head to toe in twigs and moss and pieces of plant matter, which she quickly realized was not simply camouflage but grew off them, making them all but invisible amid the greenery. They stuck out sharply in the open, though.

They didn’t seem too different from the elves Lucretia was familiar with, barring the plant growth and the extra length of their ears. Those ears fluttered nervously with every whisper of wind and movement, much longer than Lup’s as she and Barry led them towards the Starblaster.

Lucretia called out a soft greeting to her crewmates and walked up to meet the approaching party. No sign of injuries except for a few scratches on their faces and some twigs in Lup’s hair. Lup waved her over with a grin. Lucretia made sure to put a welcoming smile on her face and make her posture non-threatening for the sake of the twitchy elf.

“I’m glad you’re safe.” She greeted her friends warmly in elfish and nodded to the stranger. “Good evening. It’s nice to properly meet you. My name is Lucretia.”

“…I’m Jules.” The elf mumbled in common, which was a relief, because Lucretia’s elfish was pretty rusty. “Err, sorry for the webbing. You kinda gave me a fright the other day.”

“I’m sorry too. Screaming probably wasn’t the best reaction to seeing someone new.” Lucretia admitted. Lup leaned on Barry’s shoulder and started to explain.

“Jules’s village lives not far off from here, but it’s super well hidden. The elves there were really hospitable when we explained we’re peaceful. Oh yeah, Jules,” She added, “Lucretia is another female like me. She/her instead of they/them.”

“Right.” Jules nodded. At Lucretia’s look they screwed up their face. “So all of your kind have this binary division? How do you know which is ‘he’ and which is ‘she’ and which is ‘they’?”

Thankfully Lucretia was spared from having to answer by the sound of her crewmates approaching. Magnus was holding onto Merle and Davenports’ hands, casting nervous looks at the gurgling river nearby. He perked up when he noticed the stranger in their midst.

“Hi!”

Jules winced. “I’m sorry about that too. They frightened me.”

“He.” Lup reminded. “Magnus is a he.”

After a few quick introductions Davenport got straight to business.

“The curse on my crewmate, can you reverse it?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jules said. Lucretia watched curiously as the elf walked up to Magnus. They didn’t use a wand – they didn’t seem to need one. Instead they reached out to touch the little guy’s head. Magnus giggled and grabbed their finger.

Jules’s eyes crinkled with amusement. They booped Magnus gently on the nose.

The point of contact crackled for a split second before there was a miniature explosion of smoke that made Lucretia jump. When the smoke cleared child-Magnus was no more.

Adult Magnus lay sprawled on the grass. He sat up slowly with a groan, squinting at the people around him.

“Uh… what did I miss?”

“How ya feeling, big guy?” Barry stepped forward to pull him to his feet. Magnus took the helping hand thankfully. “Do you remember what happened?”

“Mm, sorta.” Magnus blinked a couple more times before focusing on Jules. Their little smile had disappeared – faced with a fully-grown and very burly Magnus, they stared back at him like a deer in the headlights, as if they’d forgotten how intimidating the real deal was. “You’re the person who spelled and un-spelled me, right? Nice to meet you.”

“…likewise.” Jules said slowly. “Sorry for casting Regress on you.”

“Nah, it’s all good, I attacked first. And you seem pretty cool.” Magnus paused to look around at the group. “No one’s attacking them so they’re cool, right?”

“They’re cool.” Lup confirmed.

Lucretia wondered if Jules would be open to sitting down and telling her the stories of their village. The small amount of magic they had displayed was nothing like Lucretia had ever seen before. Did they not use wands to channel? And a people without a gender binary? She hadn’t come across a group like that in all her travels. Her fingers itched to grab a pen and start writing.

As if reading her mind, Barry cleared his throat.

“Ah, Jules, I forgot to mention, Lucretia here is the chronicler I told you about. I know you said you wanted to meet her before letting her into the village? She’s the one who records stories – if your elders consent, of course.”

From then on most of the crew left, and the discussion turned to the wonderful topics of history and ships and interplanar travel.

 Magnus headed back to the Starblaster while the nerds had their nerd talk. Being an adult again was great, but before he could relax he had to find his weapons and gear. Merle pointed him in the right direction and soon Magnus had his axe strapped firmly to his back once again.

The past few days (days? Had it been days, or only one?) were kind of blurry. He could remember charging after the elf who had attacked Lucretia, managing to tackle them to the ground, before they shouted a spell and there was a flash of light. He vaguely remembered painting skulls, and making dinner with Taako. The chewie toy was still around his neck from that. Magnus definitely remembered slipping and falling into the river. The surge of terror, water in his mouth, pain up his arm, then warm arms and a shoulder to cry on and voices he trusted that took the pain away.

Fuck that river, he decided.

For a split second after he had regained his senses, every muscle had clenched in preparation for a fight. But the elf didn’t look threatening anymore. They looked kind of embarrassed actually, and the crew was chatting with them, so Magnus chalked the whole incident up to a misunderstanding. It was one of the better misunderstandings he’d been a part of. In this one, no one got dismembered!

All’s well that ends well. The only thing he couldn’t figure out was why Taako kept shooting him glares.

“You were cuter as a kid.” Was the only explanation Magnus could get out of him.

Another weird thing – Lup had gotten into the habit of hugging him randomly and then shrieking with laughter when Magnus scooped her up, as if she had forgotten he was big enough to do that. Just about everyone on the Starblaster was a little more touchy-feely with him now. Not that Magnus could complain. He loved hugs and he took them greedily whenever the chance arose.

Kid Magnus must have been pretty fucking cute.

[barry-j-blupjeans]

If you are still taking weird au prompts, how about chef/cult with blupjeans and/or taako and lup!

27. Chef / cult

--

Being chanced by the apocalypse for the past thirty-six years had really messed up Barry's idea of what was a good plan and what wasn't. Sure, there were still some obviously bad ideas. For example, Magnus's suggestion of breaking in through the skylight and storming the place wasn't very good. There wasn't even a skylight, in the first place. But surely, they could have come up with a better plan than this.

Logically, it was pretty simple. A cult has the Light in their possession + Cult needs catering for their lunch-in = pose as chefs and have someone sneak to get the Light in the meantime. Taako and Lup were obviously the best choice for the chefs, but they can't do both the cooking and the sneaking. Magnus was too loud, Davenport had to stay with the ship, Merle was the opposite of subtle, and Lucretia had pretended to be sick to avoid going.

Which left Barry.

He did not get his rogue levels to do this, but, well, here he was. The Light was in his bag, making it glow ominously. The only thing stopping him was the group that had decided to have their own, separate meeting in the hallway that lead to the kitchen. He had cast Sending earlier to alert Lup of his problem, but it'd been five minutes and he was starting to get anxious that his spell hadn't worked.

"This is really good!" one of them was saying. "What is this?"

Barry was desperately trying to think about how to distract them by himself when, at long last, his savior came through the kitchen doors.

"Hors d'oeurves," Lup's voice said. Barry dared to peek around the corner. She was leaning against the kitchen door.

"Horse divorce," one of the guys said dreamily. "Love it."

"Exactly, perfect pronunciation," Lup said. She took a few steps towards them, drawing their attention away from the door. In her hands, she had another whole tray of hors d'oeurves. "Y'know, I was gonna go put this out for everyone else, but if y'all like it that much..."

"Really?" the biggest one asked.

"We shouldn't," the smallest one said, glancing towards the door. He met eyes with Barry. Barry yanked himself back around the corner and held his breath, but it was too late. "Hey, did you guys see that-"

"Horse divorce, wow, yum," Lup said, butting into the conversation. "Hey, listen- what's your name?"

"Me?" the little one turned back around. "J... Jaren? Jaren. Why?"

"Did you know," Lup started, like a secret, and Barry peaked back around to see her gesturing very subtlety for him to start coming that way. "That people named Jaren are six times more likely to enjoy horse divorce?"

Barry was about halfway down the hall now. There was a very tense moment where Jaren was obviously thinking about the logic of this and Barry had to pause midstep.

"Really?" Jaren asked, Lup's Deception roll passing with flying colors. Barry let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. They were still all looking at Lup. She took a few steps so they were facing the opposite wall, instead of the kitchen doors. Barry gave her a thumbs up.

"Oh, yeah," Lup bluffed. "It's kinda crazy, actually. Every single person I've ever met named Jaren- and there's a lot, babe, don't even question- every single one of them loved this. And funnily enough- what's your name?"

The big guy blinked and said, "Pterry. With a P."

"Every Pterry I've ever had the pleasure of meeting has also enjoyed them," Lup said easily. Barry was sneaking right behind them now, carefully going up the few steps to the kitchen. Taako cracked the door open for him and Barry passed his bag through first. Lup was now saying something about horses and how often they got divorced. Barry slipped inside.

"You enjoy these," she said and he was sure she was handing over the platter now. "Have a good cult meeting."

"Thank you!" the small guy said, sounding way too pleased with his new snacks. "We sure will!"