#whoa this is long when it wasn’t meant to be oops

[uhthor]

This is completely unprompted but when I was younger the only two marvel super-heroes I knew were spider-man and the hulk. Everyone else was from dc. (Not that I was aware that there were comic book companies but w/e). I didn’t know Thor or Iron Man or Black Widow or Cap or Black Panther or anyone else lol. Obviously I was familiar with spider-man because of Tobey’s movies and it being superpopular with kids my age. However I was really familiar with the hulk too. His face was kind of everywhere that was related to fitness. And in commercials for “manly” things like cars and axe deodorant. There was (and still is lol) a famous football player nicknamed after the hulk because of how big he is. And it was my dream to go to the incredible hulk ride at universal studios bc every kid that got to go would come back bragging about it. And despite not reading comics, he kinda terrified me lol bc I was familiar enough with his story to know that he was a normal looking dude that would completely lose it from time to time. I’m saying this bc there was a time when the hulk was the second most popular marvel hero and I’d say he was in the top five most well known super-heroes (by the general public outside of America). He left an impression on people. So it baffles me how little marvel has explored this character. With each movie they let him fall further and further into the background. They completely stripped him from everything that made him interesting and turned him into a supporting character in everyone else’s story. I mean they had Ed Norton and then Mark Ruffalo who are both top tier actors and did nothing with it. The only time he got to shine was in the first Avengers and that was it. It really blows my mind lol. Like I can’t comprehend why they didn’t make better use of this character. He probably has the richest comic book history out of all the Avengers, second only to cap (bc he exists since literally WW2). So much stuff to work with and they did nothing? I don’t get it lol

omg hi anon i’m sorry this reply is so late!!

ALLLLL OF THIS!!!! bruce is so interesting and he gets paid DUST!!!!!

the hulk ride at universal omg…. i went there when i was 11 and was so excited to go on it only to be too terrified when i arrived and saw it irl 😭

i think one of the reasons that he’s fallen into the background is because a) marvel don’t know what to do with him and haven’t found a writer who does b) don’t have access to a lot of his material because he is still technically property of sony and c) moving him over to the mcu and recasting him wouldn’t have helped (even though i much prefer mark as bruce)

we need a dark and gritty origin movie for him in mcu canon. on a similar level of dark and mysterious as MoM was because i feel like bruce definitely would fit that kind of vibe in an origin story. i mean that line in A1 when he admitted to trying to take his own life…. fury, steve and tony just IGNORED that? they asked a mentally unstable man to relive his traumas over and over again in order to fight battles he didn’t even want to in the first place…

i say it all the time but it’s true: ragnarok is the ONLY exploration of bruce where we truly see his inner conflict and relationship with hulk - they work out their differences and we see both sides of their stories and bruce actually comes to terms with hulk being there and them trying to work together which is especially huge after the absolute shitshow he went through in AoU where he was terrified to live in case he hurt people. even that deserved more of an arc really, one that could’ve taken us to an even darker side of bruce and find him on rock bottom ready to work on himself and his relationship with hulk/hulk and the public.

i wish he would’ve gotten the treatment marc spector got. i wish they’d have known each other if i’m honest because they are the only ones that may be able to support and understand each other. and while i’m so glad we got the rep we did with how they handled marc’s character, i wanted that for bruce, too :(

[rot-shield-hero]

imagine if, during the Cal Mira arc, Naofumi knew how to surf and had actually figured out how to surf in that world.

This is a very long one. Enjoy

Naofumi always liked the beach. He enjoyed being in the water more than being in the sand, always making a dash to the edge of the shore once his feet hit the sand. Ever since he was younger, he would watch surfers and wish to partake in the same activities. It took a year of begging and showing his parents how much he wanted to learn. By the age of five, he had lessons until he received his own surfboard. All of his hard work had paid off.

Even when he slowly shut himself in, preferring manga and anime over anything else, he would still go to the beach to clear his thoughts and mind. He even learned how to make his own boards. It was his part-time job, secret kept from his parents after they pushed him aside for his little brother.

His little brother had even taken up surfing but not as much as playing games since he hates bailing and getting salt water in his mouth and nose.

Then, he was summoned to the country of Melomarc, forced into the role of a devil hero through rumors and lies. He could never go to the beach. He was forced to travel and grind levels, forced to fight in battles. The only sense of closure was working with the blacksmith, Erhard. He asked if he could work on a project, personal and secret. It would be a surprise once he finished and perfected it.

So when given the chance, he worked on a board similar to the one he used to own but with a different design painted on it.

He couldn't test it without the beach, but the length and weight felt good. He also laid on top of it as if he were to paddle. It felt like his old one, even the material he used was somewhat similar. The wood was light and soft, a nice redwood. When finished, he presented it to Erhard who stared at him in confusion before he explained what it was and how it was supposed to be used. "If we ever go to the beach, then I'll even show you!" he offered with a smile—rare and bright.

"Well, I'll hold you to that." He chuckled and slapped him on the back, knocking the wind out of him. Naofumi coughed and put the board in his inventory.

The chance ended up presenting itself in the form of Cal Mera Archipelago. Of course, Erhard wasn't able to join them, but he wished Naofumi luck that his board was perfect.

That in itself meant a lot to the shield hero.

On the boat, he met L'Arc and Therese. Two people that he found himself liking. They even offered to join him in grinding levels, which they held truth. While he looked forward to that, he looked forward to impressing them with his surfing skills.

The opportunity came when he took the girls to the beach. He watched them for a moment, but mostly kept an eye on the water.

The sun beats down on them in a good way, the salty air feeling good on his skin. He smiles, helps Filo with finding shells, and keeps an eye on Raphtalia while she wads through the shallow part of the water. He watches the waves, grinning as he thinks of going in. It's ten minutes into their trip when he sees L'Arc and Therese. Now is the perfect time.

"Filo, will you be okay on your own for a little? I'm going into the water."

"Oh? Why?"

"Hmm, you'll see. Look, go with L'Arc and Therese." He chuckles as he watches Filo run over and summons his board. Taking off his shirt, he tosses it onto the sand and ties the leg rope around his ankle. He's aware of the confused stares from the people but he doesn't really care.

Surfing brings him a sense of freedom. He goes into the water, paddling outwards as he slowly becomes more and more determined to get the right wave. He closes his eyes, feeling the water and rocking with the motion before grinning and heading out a little further before readying himself.

The wave hits and he grins, feeling more alive now than before. On the first wave, he keeps his tricks simple, trying to find himself again. A bottom turn and a snap. He finds himself with a nice little audience but mostly focuses on the waves and on his party. The bigger the waves the better. He hits them well, getting in some airs and foam climbing. He goes in once more, doing an alley oop.

He could spend all day and night just surfing but he knew he had to get back. With a small sigh, he goes for one more, planning on the rodeo flip that he perfected before all of this.

It fails. He didn't land right, hitting the water and getting rolled under the wave. Fortunately, the board didn't break or else he would have allowed himself to drown since it had taken him forever to make it.

Resurfacing, he coughs and wipes his face as he holds onto the board. Seeing how far he is, he tends to ride this last wave to the shore, doing bottom turns and a cutback.

"Whoa, kiddo, you good?" asks a familiar voice. "You scared us on that last one, thought I would have to go and save you."

Naofumi gives him an unimpressed look. "I'm fine. Not really the first time I've bailed on my tricks. Just good to know I haven't lost my touch."

"Naofumi-sama! That was so cool!" He braces himself for Raphtalia's hug, hugging her back. "Can you show me how to do that? It looks so fun!"

He glances at L'Arc with a small smile. "What about you and Therese? You want to learn too?"

Finally! I was looking forward to writing this one but never got the inspiration until just now. I do not surfboard, i don't know anything about it and had to do some brief research. Honestly, the only thing i ever came to knowing it is from Soul Surfer. Hope you enjoyed this as it is one of my more longer ones. Please feel free to send me more asks.

Or add on.

[ahogehope]

BlazBlue Alternative Dark War Nightmare Fiction Event English Translation (Part 8: At the Edge)

IT’S FINALLY OVER! -cue game over music-

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST:  I realize this isn’t getting as much (actually not much of any) traffic as opposed to the reddit posts, but I’d like to extend this request over here as well. I’d definitely like to continue working on translations for this game but am unsure whether I should jump right into the most current event (the Dark Mai one) or start on actual story content next. So my question is: what do you guys want to see more? Reply to this post or shoot me an ask or whatever it is tumblr does these days.

Crossposted from reddit just for a little more exposure.

This is part 8, or the ninth story quest in the event.

Previous parts can be found here: [Part 1-1, Part 1-2, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7]

Some notes:

- The default name of Rei is used for the player character and was selected as male at the beginning of the game.

- I’m still on the fence on if I should be using honorifics or not. Your opinion on the matter would be greatly appreciated.

Click here to be taken to a pastebin with the translated dialogue or look under the read more to read it here. 

Section 8 – “At the Edge” (TL: Read as “kazuaru hazama-nite”)

Kazuma This is...

Ciel It’s very similar to the room we found hidden beneath Ishana.

Raabe So... this is the “innermost part.”

Hazama Oh? What’s with you guys all of a sudden? You’ve all got this shocked look on your faces. Have you guys been here before?

>We’ve been somewhere like this before. Hazama Really? Normally I’d ask to hear more about what sort of place that was but... Hazama We’re not exactly in the best place to be taking our time, wouldn’t you agree?

>Never seen it before in my life. Hazama Hey now, don’t just leave me in the dark like that. Hazama You’ll just make me even more curious if you keep it a secret, y’know. Hazama But... now isn’t really the best time to get into that, is it?

Fuzzy Raabe’s right though. This is the innermost part you guys have been so keen on getting to.

Fuzzy You brought those six keys here so you could activate the elements... and finally escape.

Raabe What happens next then?

Fuzzy You’ll just have to find out for yourself, right? You will, won’t you? Really though, even I don’t have any idea what’s supposed to happen next. Ahahaha.

Raabe We don’t have much of a choice either way, it would seem.

Kazuma As soon as we activate the elements, all of the mana we’ve collected will activate with them and accumulate around us.

Kazuma Much more mana than we’re used to will gather together in one place.

Hazama Will that be problematic for us?

Kazuma There’s no reason why it should be. This is probably the perfect place for it actually...

Fuzzy If you’re gonna go ahead and start it up, I’d let Kazuma do it. Since he’s a magician he should be used to working with mana and the elements already.

Ciel Kazuma-san, would you be willing to activate the elements for us?

Kazuma I, uh, yeah, I can do that. That shouldn’t be too difficult.

Kazuma Let’s see here...

Hazama You’ve looked like you’ve had something on your mind for a while now.

Hazama I agree that Kazuma-san’s the best suited out of all of us to carry this out but... don’t push yourself if you don’t think you can handle it.

Hazama If we really have to we can always looks for another way to activate them...

Kazuma ......

Kazuma ...No.

Kazuma I can do it.

Raabe Hey, hold on...

Hazama Are you sure?

Kazuma Yes. Please, allow me.

[a green magic circle appears, surrounded by the six elements]

Hazama Oh my... I can already feel how the air around us has changed. Looks like you managed to pull it off without a hitch after all.

Ciel Is this... activated mana? But this feeling, where have I...

Raabe It can't be. This is...! Hey, Kazuma! Stop whatever it is that you’re doing!

Kazuma ......

Raabe Are you even listening!? Earth to Kazuma!!

Kazuma ...Ah... it’s just like I thought. I was wondering... if that’s what it was...

>What’s wrong, Kazuma-san? >Who are you talking to?

Kazuma Who...

[a dark green shadow with veins and one glowing eye starts to materialize]

Hazama Uuh, guh, ghh....

Ciel Hazama-san? Is something wrong?

Hazama Please be careful... Something’s... coming...!

[the shadow becomes fully visible]

Raabe Wh... What’s going on?

Fuzzy Hmm, I wonder what it could be～? What do you think?

Fuzzy What about you, Rei? What do your “eyes” see? You can see it, can’t you?

Raabe Don’t look. ...I guess that’s impossible, huh. Try not to focus as much as you can. This... isn’t a collection of mana.

Ciel Raabe-san, Rei-san! We’ve got a problem.

Ciel I’ve confirmed the appearance of the cauldron.

Ciel But... there’s nothing around here that looks like it could be the cauldron. And if there’s a cauldron here, then who is the Observer...?

Raabe They’re both right in front of us.

Ciel Eh? Wh-What do you mean?

Raabe The cauldron came into existence across this entire world the moment this guy appeared. In other words, that shadow... it’s the Observer.

Raabe It’s also the cauldron. There’s no other explanation for this sort of reaction. This much condensed seithr... this is the cauldron.

Hazama What’s that now? Seithr?

Hazama You mean what Kazuma-san’s magic is activating right now isn’t...

Raabe It’s not the elements or mana, no. It’s seithr!

??? Ahh～ god, you losers took fore～ver to show up.

Ciel !?

??? Shit though, you guys sure have been through a lot, huh? But thanks to you I can talk as much as I want again.

>The shadow spoke! ??? Kyahahahaha, just a shadow, eh... Well, I guess that’ll have to do for now.

>Who are you? ??? What, you wanna know my name? You really wanna know who I am? Sure, I’ll humor you...

Kazuma ...Yuuki Terumi...

Spirit Terumi Oops, looks like you beat me to it. But yeah, the kid’s right. Don’t go forgetting it, numbskulls.

Spirit Terumi Yuuki Terumi. That’s the name, folks.

Hazama You were lurking inside of me.

Hazama Earlier when we were fighting Saya-san, she said she had sensed something within me... I wasn’t entirely sure what she meant at the time.

Hazama I had no idea that it would turn out to be something like this.

Spirit Terumi Hyahahahaha! Damn, I didn’t realize you were so out of the loop, Hazama-chan.

Ciel So you’re familiar with Hazama-san as well.

Spirit Terumi Oh yeah, best of buddies, thickest of thieves, call it what you like but we’re rea～l intimate. In fact, I know all you guys.

Spirit Terumi You’re the morons who’ve been running all over the city doing my dirty work for me. Hyahahahahahaha!

Kazuma So you were... using us? Does that mean that Fuzzy-san was also...?

Fuzzy Can’t say I know about any of this. I’m only here to fulfill my role. Really I’m just a pawn here.

Fuzzy You guys are all just pawns too. But even the pawns are necessary in the end, right? It’s not really a game if all the pieces aren’t in order, after all.

Spirit Terumi The trap over here gets it. And now since you’ve been such good little slaves so far, how’s about you do me one last teensy-weensy favor...

Spirit Terumi And die for me, will you? Hyahahahahaha!

Raabe I see now. We’ve been playing right into his hands this entire time.

Raabe When Kazuma started the activation sequence, he wasn’t channeling the mana or the elements. He wound up summoning this guy instead.

Ciel No way... Then does that mean the whole story about escaping from the city was a lie?

Spirit Terumi Come on, even if I’m not that cruel. I’ll still let you guys out.

Spirit Terumi All aboard the Terumi express! Now serving a one-way trip straight into the Boundary! Just make sure to keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle, or you might lose them!

Hazama Are you always this egotistical?

Hazama Things may have gone your way up until now, but we’re not going to just stand here and let you do whatever you want.

Hazama ...It was wrong of me to bring you all this way when I sensed something was amiss, no matter how small it may have been.

Hazama Looks like I got you all mixed up in something undesirable after all... I’m really sorry, Rei-san.

Hazama But I don’t think I’ll be able to handle this one by myself. I’m afraid I must ask for your assistance one last time.

>Let’s all get out of here together. Hazama Thank you. I’m... truly glad to have met you.

>Let’s kick his ass and get the hell out of here! Spirit Terumi Ooh, someone’s a little touchy. That sort of enthusiasm is contagious, y’know.

Ciel Assuming combat position. All eyes on target. Ready when you are!

Raabe His form is still unstable. It’s hard to say if his existence has fully taken root yet or not.

Raabe The reaction he’s giving off is definitely strong but... he might not be able to use the full extent of his power the way he is now.

Raabe We need to strike before all of the seithr has finished gathering in one place. Let’s get this over with quickly.

Fuzzy Go, go! You can do it!

Hazama Are you ready for this, Kazuma-san?

Kazuma Ah, uh... Right.

Spirit Terumi Oh? You wouldn’t really team up against little ol’ me, would you? Heheheheh.

Hazama Well then. Let’s go, Terumi-san.

Spirit Terumi Guh, shit...! My power... no, none of this shit. None of it’s good enough!

Kazuma ......

Fuzzy Whoa. You guys really creamed him.

Hazama ...I think that shadow inside of me... Terumi-san detached himself completely from me during the course of that fight.

Hazama It’s the strangest feeling. It’s unsettling but also like a... weight’s been lifted, in a sense.

Spirit Terumi Ha, haha... Hyahahaha...! Damn, that really could’ve gone better.

Spirit Terumi I guess you win this one. I really lost to some lame spin-off side characters. Ain’t that right?

Kazuma Yes. I... think that’s what happened.

Spirit Terumi Heh, hahahaah! Yeah, them’s the breaks, huh. Tch, what a pain in the ass.

Spirit Terumi Man, this sucks... you’re really blue-balling me here. Taking on a bunch of pussies like you should’ve been a joke.

Spirit Terumi Sure screwed myself on that one.

Kazuma ...Please send us back.

Kazuma As long as you do that... I don’t think we’ll have to hurt you anymore.

Spirit Terumi Ha! Hurt me? You really think you can hurt me? Hyahaha, you don’t have a lot going on underneath that pretty face, do you, kid?

Spirit Terumi Don’t make me laugh.

Ciel Are you going to continue resisting?

Spirit Terumi Oooh, close but no cigar! This isn’t what you’d call resistance...

Spirit Terumi This is an escape!

[static]

Kazuma ...Ah. H-Huh?

Ciel This is...

>It’s Ishana! Kazuma Yes, this is Ishana. It’s the same place we were before we found ourselves in that strange city...

>Are we back? Ciel ...It would appear so. This is where we were standing before we were taken to that strange city.

Ciel But what does this mean? It’s safe to say that we took out the Observer but we weren’t able to destroy the Cauldron...

Ciel Regardless... we managed to escape the Phantom Field.

Raabe I still need to look into everything further so this is just a hypothesis for now, but...

Raabe I don’t think that city was an undiscovered Phantom Field.

Raabe It’s foundation was built on Ishana who had already lost its Observer.

Raabe Using the power of Observation, that shadow calling itself Terumi must have found its way in and overwrote things when it took over.

Kazuma So it was... re-Observed?

Raabe That’s exactly what it was.

Raabe In other words, we weren’t so much moved somewhere else as it was our surroundings themselves were changing before our eyes... That’s probably what happened.

Hazama Well, it was certainly an experience I could have lived without and I’m still not overly sure how any of it was possible but...

Hazama Everything worked out in the end, right?

Hazama We all made it out safe and sound. Let’s be thankful for that, shall we?

Hazama Ahh～, truly all’s well that ends well.

Ciel Hazama-san. And Fuzzy-san, too. The two of you came back to Ishana as well I see.

Fuzzy Bzzt, wrong answer. Really, did you hear a thing Raabe just said? None of us actually came back anywhere.

Fuzzy We were all just sort of displaced.

Ciel Ah, so we were. So then would Fuzzy-san and Hazama-san be considered foreign entities in this situation?

Raabe There’s no way to know for sure what the Phantom Field has classified them as but... that’s probably the case.

Raabe Neither of them are involved with Ishana.

Hazama Hmm～, while this place does look incredibly delightful, I’m afraid this isn’t where I belong.

Fuzzy Me either. I’m not getting any good vibes from the ambience around here. I don’t think I’d fit in very well.

Raabe ...Once a Phantom Field has been liberated of its Observer, any foreign materials left behind should gradually start to return to where they were originally from.

Raabe Here soon your existential information should be sent back to your own worlds.

Fuzzy I guess we’re stuck hanging around here until that happens, huh～.

Fuzzy Well, not like it matters. I’ve never been here before so there’s no harm in exploring a bit. Don’t you think?

[Fuzzy leaves]

Hazama And there he goes. I suppose it’s best to just let him have his fun while he can.

Hazama But more importantly... Rei-san, Ciel-san, Kazuma-san, Raabe-san.

Hazama Thank you all so much for your help.

Hazama When I was still wandering around all by myself, I was at a loss as to what I was supposed to do...

Hazama But as soon as I joined up with you guys, everything just sort of naturally clicked into place.

Hazama A lot happened back there, but I want you to know that from the bottom of my heart I’m grateful we were able to escape from that bizarre city.

Raabe ...Is that all you have to say? I can’t say I’m very convinced.

Raabe It still feels like you’ve been manipulating us this entire time.

Hazama Don’t be ridiculous! It must’ve been fate that I ran into you when I did. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.

Hazama I’d even go so far as to say that you saved me.

Hazama I’m honestly in your debt. If you ever need an extra hand for something, I’ll be sure to do everything in my power to help you out.

Hazama Then again... I can’t guarantee that the me you’ll encounter then will be the same as I am now.

Hazama Let’s do this the right way this time. My name is Hazama. It’s a pleasure to meet you.

Hazama Rei-san.

>Pleased to meet you.

Hazama Yes. I wish you all the best.

Ciel ......

Raabe ...We still need to head back and check the data to see if this was indeed the abnormality the System was detecting.

Raabe We’ve overstayed our welcome. Let’s return to base.

Kazuma ...I guess this is goodbye then.

Kazuma Hadn’t you said earlier that you couldn’t stay for long?

Ciel That’s correct. We’re still only outsiders in this world.

Kazuma ......

Kazuma ...I’m really glad I was able to see you again. Getting to spend more time together... it was really fun.

Kazuma I feel like I know myself a little better now.

Kazuma Thank you so much.

Ciel There’s no need to thank us. We were merely here for our mission.

Kazuma You’re as blunt as always, Ciel-san...

Kazuma ...I think I have my own perplexing “mission” in front of me... nevermind. Hang in there for me, will you?

Kazuma I’m rooting for you.

>Thank you. >Good luck, Kazuma-san.

[static]

Kagami Rei! Ciel! Thank god you guys made it back in one piece～!

Ciel Oh. You startled me. What’s the matter, Kagami-san? You seem out of sorts.

Kagami Well, what did you expect!? Almost as soon as you two got in you just fell off the grid!

Kagami I wasn’t able to pinpoint where either of were for a long time...

Kagami Your signals only reappeared inside Ishana’s Phantom Field a little while ago, y’know!

Kagami So what happened? Nevermind, it’ll be faster to get the answers from Raabe’s internal data.

Kagami Either way, I’ll get an investigation started. First you guys need to go get a medical check.

Kagami And watch yourselves this time, got it!?

Ciel Y-Yes, ma’am.

Kagami I  can’t let you out of my sight for even a second. Geez...

[Kagami leaves]

Ciel It would seem we’ve caused quite the stir in our absence.

Ciel Let’s head to the medical room. I’ll go with you, Rei-san.

Hazama So this is supposed to be the famous Ishana, huh? Now that I’ve finally gotten a good look at it, it truly is nothing more than a ghost town.

Hazama ...Well then. I wonder where I should be heading next? With the help of those suckers, I was able to remove the chain that was inside me.

Hazama I should be able to go just about anywhere now.

Hazama At any rate, Terumi-san is right back where he should be. Although I can’t say I’m overly thrilled that he left me to do all the grunt work by myself.

Hazama ...I would have been in quite the bind if it weren’t for that boy, though. Heheh.

Hazama But still, what a successful endeavor that turned out to be!

Hazama For me, for Terumi-san... Even for him.

Hazama “End Gazer”... The One Who Sees the End. I can’t wait to see how this will play out.

Kazuma ......

Kazuma Ishana... All these years here, and I still haven’t learned a thing.

Kazuma But... I feel like I finally know why I’m here... Just a little...

Kazuma I feel like I’m home.

https://imgur.com/a/VfNvhRF

[echoghost1]

Dannymay 2021 Day 10: Shadow

The Brighter The Light, The Bigger the Shadow

Summary: It's been a month since the accident and Danny still doesn't have any control. Or anyone on his side.

Word Count: 2077

And today's fic is brought to you by the age-old "ask and you shall receive" except I can't promise that it will arrive in a timely manner.

This is part 2 to the fic I did for Phic Phight called, What You Fear The Most

You can read on AO3 or down below the cut as per usual!

also going to tag a few people because they reblogged the last one and really enjoyed it: @blueoatmeal, @another-shameless-fangirl, @ilikepensandships

Danny’s locker was stuck. Again.

He sighed and let the lock drop from his hand as he rested his forehead against the cool metal. This is not what he needed right now.

It had been almost a month since his accident and he still wasn’t in control. He wasn’t sure how he had been able to slip under the radar at home for so long. It kept him up at night knowing that eventually, they were going to catch him. They were going to find out that he was a monster.

He was terrified of what that would mean.

But he didn’t want to think about that here. Not while he was at school. He had enough to deal with here and thinking about how he had accidentally turned himself into a monster some of the time wasn’t something he needed right now.

He took a breath to center himself and then stood up fully so he could try again.

Just after he heard the satisfying click of his combination unlocking, he was shoved face-first into his locker.

“Oops, I tripped,” Dash mocked, only proving that he had done it on purpose.

Danny turned his head so he could both breathe and talk. He was thankful that the push hadn’t broken his nose, “You okay?” Danny asked with no hint of actually caring.

“Yeah, I had a dork to catch my fall.” Dash was cackling in amusement before he even finished the sentence and his fellow footballers were just as amused.

“Lovely.” Danny deadpanned as he tried not to think about how a guy twice his size was crushing the air out of his lungs and absolutely no one seemed to notice. “You mind getting off?”

“Aw, what’s the matter, Fen-total-waste-of-space? Can’t handle a little weight?”

“I think you’re more than a little weight, bricks for brains!”

Dash pulled back and spun Dany around fast enough for him to get a little dizzy, “What the hell did you call me you little jerk!?” Dash screamed as he lifted Danny up by his shirt and slammed him against his locker again.

��Did I say that out loud?” he honestly hadn’t meant to, but then again it felt kind of nice to be able to fight back. Even if it was just with words.

He meant to sound apologetic, or even honestly surprised by his slip-up. Turns out grinning was the wrong facial expression to have.

“You think this is funny? Well here’s a new joke for you,” Dash started as he pulled Danny off of his locker, opened it up, and shoved Danny inside.

When Danny saw Dash’s grip on the door he knew he had to pull his legs in or risk them getting crushed. He pulled them in as close to his body as he could just as Dash slammed the locker down shut.

“Good luck talking your way out of that one you freak.” Dash sneered before punching the locker once before he walked away with this friends.

They all just laughed.

None of them stayed behind to help.

He wanted out. Needed to get out.

Dash had no idea how right he was about how freakish Danny was.

The space in the locker grew darker. Too dark.

He glared at the darkened door before him, the otherworldly green light was all he had to illuminate the impossibly dark space.

The hallway was quiet so he figured it didn’t matter now. It was too late anyway.

His nightmare form had been unleashed; he might as well use it to free himself.

He burst from his locker with a primal scream. His claws hit the floor first as his tail slid out like a snake behind him. The door clattered to the floor beside him, his books and papers scattered out around him, but he didn’t care. He was too angry to care.

There was a gasp behind him.

He whipped around and saw his friends. When did they get there? How much had they seen?

He slowly stood up, or floated upward, to his full height. He was usually the shortest in their group, but he towered over them now.

His elongated body of shadows was almost tall enough to touch the ceiling. He could touch the ceiling if he just reached up for it. It wouldn’t take much effort at all.

That was way too tall. No person should be that tall.

But he wasn’t a person right now, was he?

“Where’s Danny?” Tucker asked in almost a whisper.

They didn’t recognize him? Was that a good thing?

He looked back to the locker, his neck snapping loudly as he had turned his head too fast. He huffed in annoyance, because of course he couldn’t do anything without being pure nightmare fuel.

He turned back to his friends, slowly this time as to not repeat the same mistake.

They still looked horrified.

Was he moving too slow now?

He wondered if maybe it was the height? He was clearly too tall. Nobody liked being towered over. But he didn’t know how to not be tall.

He shrank down on himself. Got low to the floor and hoped that they would understand that he wasn’t going to hurt them.

Maybe he should just leave?

He started to back up, he peeked behind himself to gauge where the janitor’s closet was. He knew there was one nearby.

Found it!

He skittered backward as fast as he could. Too fast.

He ended up crawling backward up the door and halfway up the ceiling.

He stopped, opened the door, and slipped inside using his tail to close the door behind himself.

Sure, shutting himself inside the closet wasn’t much better than his locker, but it was at least a little roomier. He didn’t bother going for the light even if it was within his reach.

The last time he turned on a light in this form, the lightbulbs exploded. He really didn’t want to clean up a bunch of glass again.

He closed his eyes and tried to calm back down. If he could calm down he would shift back.

At least that was his theory anyway. He still had no idea how this whole thing worked.

He felt his tail wrap around himself. It was long enough at it coiled around him more than once and the tip rested on his shoulder. He tried not to think about this form seemed to favor the tail instead of legs. Then again, in this instance, the prehensile tail made more sense than long spindly legs. It didn’t make it any less weird though.

He was so focused on himself that he didn’t notice that the door had opened.

Sam stood there, staring down at him. “Danny?”

He opened his mouth to answer her, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say. To acknowledge that she was right? To deny it?

It didn’t matter. All that came out was indistinguishable static and moans.

He snapped his mouth shut, his hands clamping over it. He didn’t want them to see him like this. He didn’t want to be like this.

Why couldn’t he just be normal? Why didn’t he just die in the portal?

She pulled him into a hug and all his thoughts just stopped.

“It’s okay! You’re okay,” she hugged him tighter but it didn’t stop him from slipping his arms out from between them and hugging her back.

“It’s not okay. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he cried his apologies into her shoulder.

She leaned back and held his face in her hands, “Why are you sorry Danny?”

He pulled away from her. He knew he had changed back, but he could still feel all that darkness just under his skin, it danced on the edges of his being, eager to come forth again. “Because I never wanted you to see me like that.” He pulled his hoodie sleeves up and over his fingers so the oversized fabric engulfed his hands completely, “I scared you.”

“Don’t be silly Danny,” Sam smiled as she reached out and touched his balled-up sleeve-covered hand, “you didn’t scare us.”

“Speak for yourself.” Tucker scoffed from his spot lingering on the edge of the doorway.

Sam snapped her attention back to Tucker, “Not helping!”

“At least he’s being honest,” Danny muttered.

She looked back at him with a slightly less annoyed glare, “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

He hadn’t meant for her to hear that, but given how close she was, he really should have expected it. He pulled his hand away from her and used both arms to hug his stomach, “Because I know I scared you both. I can tell.”

“How do you know?” she asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“I’m afraid I’d scare you more if I told you.”

“Well that certainly wasn’t ominous,” Tucker quipped nervously as he bounced on the balls of his feet. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but right where he was.

Danny didn’t blame him for wanting to run away. It hurt, but he understood.

“If you want to go, it’s okay. I get it if you don’t want to be friends anymore.”

“Whoa there,” Tucker dropped to his knees and shuffled in closer so he could also place a hand on Danny’s shoulder, “No one said anything about not being friends. Sure I’m scared, we all are. That includes you, Dude. I’m not going to leave you alone just because you can get spooky sometimes.”

“Get Spooky?” Danny deadpanned.

“Well, what do you call it?” Tucker shrugged as he best defense.

Danny looked down and pulled his knees closer to his chest, “I don’t really call it anything.” he wrapped his arms around his legs so he could pull them even closer, “I try not to think about it.”

“Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out together,” Sam said as she placed her hand on his knee again.

Danny didn’t know where she got all that confidence from. She was still scared. He could tell even in this form.

“So, I’m probably going to hate myself for asking, but,” Tucker took a breath then sat down fully, one knee tapping against the floor while the other stayed perpendicular to his body. “How did you know Sam was scared?”

Danny looked from Tucker’s nervous curiosity to Sam’s steely resolve. He bit his lip but couldn’t think of a reason not to tell them. They’d seen him at his worst and they didn’t run away.

“I can,” gosh he really hoped that this wouldn’t be the thing to push them away, “ I can smell it?”

“What does it smell like?”

“Red.”

“Red what?” Tucker asked.

“The color.”

“The color?” he repeated sounding even more confused than when he had asked his initial question.

“Yeah.”

“You smell emotions in colors?” he asked to clarify.

Danny sat up and threw his hands out for emphasis, “Look my senses have been really weird since the accident. I think all that electricity scrambled my brains or something.”

His friends just shared a look so he continued.

“Ghost stuff feels like flavors to me now. Like the portal, it felt sour. That might just be all ectoplasm though, or at least the raw stuff anyway. Oh and sometimes,” he paused mostly because his brain was going so fast and he still hadn’t found all the words to explain what he had been going through in the last several weeks. Plus this was the first time he was saying any of this out loud. “Sometimes I have trouble holding or touching things. Like I’m not really there. And when that happens my body or just parts of it, feel spicy? But if spicy was cold instead of hot.”

“Dude.”

“What?”

“That doesn't make any sense.”

Danny slumped back against the shelving unit behind him. He knew it was weird but he didn’t know how else to describe it.

“Actually I think I know.” sam said slowly as she nodded to herself.

“You do?” the boys both asked with slight variations of confusion. Tucker’s was more towards disbelief, while Danny was a little more hopeful.

“It’s like he’s trying to translate it, but there are no words for it. Not in English anyway.”

Before Danny could ask what she meant the bell rang.

“Oh gosh I exploded my locker all over the hall and we’re going to be late for class!” Danny scrambled out of the closet and passed his friends.

[inkslingersworld]

Zusammen: Part XII

Hey guys! Sorry about the long wait between this installment and the last, it took me way too long to write this. I just needed to flesh out some of the plot details and think about which direction I wanted to take the story. Hopefully this’ll be worth the wait! Thank you for reading Zusammen! Link to all parts here.

“I am still bewildered as to why I had to come along! Contrary to popular belief, kwamis value their sleep very highly!”

Plagg had been complaining ever since Adrien had brought him to the Nerve Center. Despite the kwami of destruction usually being eager (and at times, frantically desperate) to see some action, Adrien suspected that Plagg had grown a tad lazy during this long intermission between akumatizations. 

“Come on, Plagg, I just told you this,” Adrien huffed. “There’s a killer on the loose and we need to catch Marinette and Luka up. A lot of stuff’s happening right now!”

“That still doesn’t clarify the importance of me being here!” protested Plagg. 

“To protect me!” voice-cracked Adrien for the twelfth time.

“You don’t need me to protect you! Kagami has more fighting skills than either you or Ladybug combined! Oh, sorry - you or Marinette combined.”

Besides becoming more reluctant to see action, Plagg had also taken to teasing Adrien about Ladybug’s true identity, which Marinette had revealed to him at Luka’s insistence. Coincidentally, Kagami had been trying to convince Adrien to reveal his identity to Ladybug for some time, so when Ladybug de-transformed in front of him, Adrien thought, Well, why not? Even at this point, he’d dedicated his love to Kagami, but not having a crush on Ladybug anymore didn’t deaden the shock of the revelation all that much. 

“Plagg, we’re still referring to Marinette as Ladybug in public, remember?”

“Yeah, but I thought this was a secure location!”

“It is, but still.”

“You guys playing nice back there?” called Kagami, activating mom mode.

“Yes,” replied Adrien and Plagg in unison.

Plagg smirked. “Jinx.”

“Enough messing around, Plagg,” Adrien said. “Claws out.”

The kwami managed to blow a raspberry at him before being sucked into the Cat Miraculous.

Upon returning to the main room, Adrien - now Chat Noir - sat himself next to Kagami - now Ryuko - on the busted couch the superhero team had been able to salvage. 

“Is it just me, or is Plagg getting more... annoying?” he asked her.

“I think he’s just a bit restless,” Ryuko answered. “He’s not the type to enjoy being cooped up.”

Ladybug and Viperion entered the Nerve Center before Chat Noir could continue the conversation; Carapace followed behind them, staring around the room with an awestruck expression.

“Whoa!” was his first word. “How come you guys never told me about this place?”

“We were going to, eventually,” Viperion stated, belly-flopping onto another couch before making room for Ladybug and Carapace. “Time gets away from you, ya know? Chat, Rena wasn’t able to make it. Parental stuff.”

“Hey guys,” said Chat Noir, rubbing his eyes. “Thanks for coming. Sorry we missed the rehearsal.”

“No problem,” said Viperion nonchalantly, resting his head on Ladybug’s shoulder. “The best is yet to come.”

“Why’d you call us over here, Adrien?” Carapace asked. “Oops! I meant to say Chat Noir! I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t sweat it, Nino,” Chat Noir chuckled. “This is a secure location.”

He decided not to tell Plagg about this hypocritical statement.

“Does this have to do with Hawk Moth?” inquired Ladybug. “Still no sign of him, it’s been nearly four months now.”

“It... might have to do with Hawk Moth,” said Ryuko slowly.

“What do you mean by might?” asked Viperion. “I took notice of how vague you were in your text message over whether or not Hawk Moth was involved.”

Ryuko turned to Chat Noir. “Do you want me to tell them?”

Chat Noir sat up and sighed. “It’s fine. I’ve got this.”

===========

By the time Chat Noir had finished relaying all the details about Emilie’s disappearance, the murder of Amos Moreau, their analysis of Emilie’s library checkouts, the book with the akuma illustration, Gabriel’s odd behavior, and Nathalie’s unforeseen departure, it was almost midnight - Chat Noir was very glad that he’d gone home first so as not to arouse his father’s suspicion. However, despite the lateness of the night, the eyes of his fellow superheroes had grown wider.

Carapace broke the silence: “That’s crazy, man.”

“Yeah... no kidding,” Ladybug agreed.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Viperion, contradicting himself.

After another brief silence, Ladybug asked, “How long have you two been doing this investigation, again?”

“Only about two days,” muttered Ryuko tiredly. “We knew this had gotten too big to continue keeping to ourselves.”

“So, let me get this straight,” began Carapace. “There’s this library book that was only checked out once, right?”

“Right,” confirmed Chat Noir.

“And your mom’s the only person to ever check it out, right?” he continued.

“Right.”

“And this library book still hasn’t been returned?”

“Right”

“And it was written concerning how magic is connected to human emotion?”

“Right.”

“With highly detailed watercolors depicting both akumas and amoks?”

“Well... yes,” said Chat Noir, not liking where this was going.

“She checked this book out three days before she disappeared?”

Chat Noir nodded hesitantly.

“Not to mention that your pop’s being acting funky and his assistant slash secretary went MIA this morning?”

“That is all... correct.”

Carapace shrugged. “I dunno what it all means, but it sure means something, there’s no denying that.”

“Adrien,” said Ladybug, “you don’t think your mom knew who’d become Hawk Moth, do you?”

“No, I do not,” Chat Noir said firmly, ignoring the melancholy look Kagami was giving him. “Or maybe she did, but she definitely didn’t know who he’d become in the future. She wouldn’t have stood for that.”

“I think we need more information,” proposed Viperion. “We have a lot of info, and I’m pretty sure we can all agree it connects, but we don’t know enough to see how it all connects.”

“I agree,” said Chat Noir. “That’s why we need you guys.” 

“Adrien, we’d be more than happy to assist you and Kagami,” said Ladybug.

“What can we do to help?” Carapace added.

“To be honest, just knowing that you guys are caught up on the situation is a relief for me,” Chat Noir admitted. “I don’t want you to be too tied up in this, though. Moreau’s killer might go after me or even Kagami; they probably wouldn’t be pleased if they found out we discovered all this. For that reason, I just want you guys on standby. If you happen to notice anything, contact us or Inspector Beaumont. We should all get some rest.”

Each Miraculous holder said their goodbyes to one another and departed the Nerve Center until only Chat Noir and Ryuko remained. They de-transformed and turned to each other.

“What do you think?” Kagami asked, placing her hands on Adrien’s shoulders.

“I’ll tell you what I think,” said Adrien, sensing sleep approaching. “I think that everything is about to change.”

[holding-hands-and-hearts]

A Stormtrooper and the Spectres

LS-0627 could barely remember her own name. She had been with the Empire for too long - and she knew it had only been a year and a half, but it was a chunk of her life she’d never get back. Who knew so much could happen in a year and a half? She had lost count of the crimes she’d committed. When she first killed a person she’d thrown up in the barracks that night, swearing to remember the man’s face, his name, anything. But now, her mind hissed “traitor” whenever she thought of him, even though he’d done nothing to deserve his fate.

She was going through life on autopilot. Wake up at 0500, breakfast at 0515, armor on at 0545. She tied her hair in the same tight bun every day, put her uniform on in the same order, ran her hands over the nicks in the plastoid. People weren’t people anymore - it was the locals and the Empire, the locals and the Empire, and no one’s face ever changed. Emotion was a foreign concept. It had been beaten out of her a long time ago.

She couldn’t argue that her life was bad. She had a roof over her head, food every day. She had a job. It was a lot luckier than most people got.

The stormtrooper in her was fine. Emotionless, her allegiances were firmly with the Empire. She was a perfect soldier. She didn’t make mistakes. Didn’t cause trouble. A role model, by all means. LS-0627 was fine.

But the name that she’d almost forgotten wasn’t. She couldn’t imagine being fine. Couldn’t comprehend all of the things she’d done. She was lost, adrift in a stormy sea with no home to return to. Her name needed an identity again, the kind of personhood LS-0627 didn’t understand.

LS-0627 was on her guard shift, busy compressing her lost name’s turmoil down, down, down, to nothing, when the air in front of her exploded.

The blast knocked her down to the ground with an awful scrape of plastoid, leaving her ears ringing. Her breath was ragged. She tasted blood. And her heart was beating faster, faster, faster, adrenaline charging through her veins like a herd of stampeding animals that ran through the long grasses on Lothal, free, throwing their souls to the wind.

And suddenly she needed that freedom.

“Rebels!” LS-2846 yelled, from somewhere far away. She had transferred to the squad a few months ago, and Jania had never learned her name.

Jania. Her name was Jania.

Jania didn’t belong here. She belonged in the grasses, running free. She belonged anywhere else, anywhere far away from here, where she could try to atone for the sins LS-0627 had committed. Anywhere where she could remember what the phrase “doing good” meant, where she could try to make this life worth living. Where she could fight.

The rebels could take her somewhere she could fight.

Jania pushed herself to her feet, running. There was a ship overhead, the freighter Imperial Command had been chasing for years, and now she knew why they painted phoenixes everywhere they went. The ship landed on the docking bay LS-0627’s squad had been guarding, and Jania saw figures begin to sprint towards its lower ramp.

“Wait!” she screamed, stumbling towards it. “Wait!”

“What are you doing?” LS-8959 yelled, but her voice didn’t matter, nothing mattered except getting to that ship and going far away.

“Incoming!” a woman’s voice shouted, from inside the smoke, and there were blaster bolts all around her. The ramp was twenty meters away.

Jania dodged a blaster bolt, tearing off her helmet. “Wait!”

“Um, what is she doing?” someone else asked, but this was one of the rebels, the Jedi kid that that ISB agent was so obsessed with, and Jania just needed to get to him, convince him to take her with him.

“Please!” Jania screamed, putting her hands in the air. “Let me come with you!”

“What?” the Lasat growled.

And Jania was insane, she knew she was insane, but nothing was about to stop her. “Anything - I’ll do anything - just let me come with you, I’ll do anything, please - “

And then a bolt of energy hit her, the pain tearing through her cells, and Jania fell.

*******

“What were you thinking, adopting a stormtrooper? She could be a spy, you idiot!” It was the young woman’s again. She was the one who wore Mandalorian armor all the time. She was the one who painted the phoenixes.

Well, LS-0627 was dead, and Jania was about to rise from her ashes.

If she wasn’t dead too.

Somewhere far away, one of the other rebels had started to argue with the Mandalorian, but it was clear that the new voice wasn’t much more supportive.

Jania opened her eyes, blinking. The harsh overhead lights left spots in her vision, dancing, taunting.

“Oh, great. She’s awake.”

“Step away, Sabine,” an older voice said calmly. Probably the Jedi. Jania blinked, trying to find his face. “And just what do you want?” he asked, fixing his eyes on her.

“Ah,” Jania gasped, trying to sit up. “I - “

“Whoa there, take it easy,” someone said, as Jania reeled.

“Get her some water,” the Jedi ordered, and after a moment he lifted a cup to her lips. She choked on it. But even the water was the best thing she’d ever tasted. And it eased the ringing in her head

“Thank you,” Jania rasped. “I want….”

Force, did she get to choose anything? She probably couldn’t, but it felt like the galaxy was at her fingertips. She could walk on every single one of the stars, unbind her hair, let the wind blow her away. “I want….”

A tear slipped down her cheek.

Behind her, the Mandalorian - Sabine - took off her helmet, revealing inscrutable almond-shaped eyes. Her skin was a warm shade somewhere between tan and brown.

“Jania,” she whispered, and another tear rolled across her face. “My name is Jania.”

*******

Jania went on to join the Rebel Alliance, swearing the Declaration of Rebellion in front of Senators Bail Organa and Mon Mothma. Upon her arrival, she was able to provide key intelligence that saved a small rebel base on Byss from falling into Imperial hands. She found her purpose in flight, hooked on the soaring feeling of freedom and purpose that made her heart swoop when she climbed into the cockpit of a starfighter. Eventually, she became one of the Rebellion’s best teachers of aerial and space combat. Most of the pilots who helped take down the second Death Star had, once, been her students.

*******

this is my first post - ever - so please be nice! I can barely even figure out how to edit things oops. Working on it :) sorry for any inaccuracies. I mostly write TCW and the 501st being lovable idiots so that'll come whenever I get the courage to post it.

[ransomedrogue]

Tales of Woe - Scenes from S1

oops, meant to get this out before Monday but minor delay due to editing! 

this week - a scene to start the episode and one to end it...

1.3

Weller's emotional rollercoaster of a day started before the previous one had even ended - with a phone call just before midnight.

He hadn't been home all that long after wrapping up the Gibson case when his cell began to ring and he saw that it was an agent from Jane's detail. That alone flicked at his anxiety, making him flash back to the fear he'd experienced seeing her crashed car. Then, when the agent started describing what had happened at the safe house, Weller's blood pressure instantly shot through the roof and he almost walked out the door in just his PJs before he realized he needed to bring his badge and gun.

Rushing to the scene, Weller only managed to resist breaking numerous driving laws by constantly reminding himself that Jane hadn't sustained any serious injuries and was currently chaperoned by multiple FBI agents and cops. Yet he was still much too aware that those same agents had just let a guy sneak into her safe house and it was entirely possible that she would already be dead if that had been the man's goal.

Ice cold dread ran through Kurt at that thought. He could have lost her again, so soon after finding her. Even if they hadn't tested her DNA yet, he was sure that she was Taylor, somehow brought back to him after twenty-five years away.

Pulling up to the scene at an unreasonable pace, Weller saw that it was already getting busy with more agents arriving and the coroner showing up to deal with the body. He flashed his badge to get past the yellow tape and immediately started scanning until he saw Jane sitting on the couch, scowling at the paramedic trying to look into her eyes with a penlight.

"Ma'am, you've been hit hard enough to lose a tooth and your pupils are still dilated. I really recommend that you come to the hospital and get examined by a doctor."

Instead of arguing with the EMT, Jane saw that Weller was approaching and gave him an exasperated look. And suddenly he was transported back to a moment forgotten for so long that he hadn't known that it was still there.

In his memory Kurt was nine and crouching in front of an annoyed four-year-old, doing his best to put antiseptic on her scraped knees as she rolled her eyes at him and complained.

"It's not even bleeding, Kurt," she'd groaned, desperate to get back to the game they'd been playing. "You're such a worrywart."

Weller remembered the internal pressure he'd felt, babysitting his wild little neighbour. It had been a responsibility he took pride in and he'd hated having to tell Emma that Taylor had hurt herself again, attempting some stunt. Or, even worse, explaining that he'd stepped on Taylor's hand, causing her to fall from the tree. Not that Emma had ever blamed him for any of the bruises and cuts; instead, she'd always reassured him that it was all part of an active childhood. Still, he'd been the older one, the one in charge. So he'd always felt like it was his fault if Taylor hurt herself, no matter what anyone else said.

Looking at Jane now, he felt exactly the same way. He obviously couldn't protect her, not even with the power of the FBI behind him. And failing in his duty made him angry and anxious; overprotective to the extreme.

Kurt flashed his badge and told the paramedic that he could go, explaining that he would deal with Jane and make her see a doctor. The EMT exhaled in relief as he walked away from his stubborn patient and Weller took the man's place, standing in front of Jane, who was still seated on the couch.

She looked tired yet agitated, sitting there holding her swollen cheek. He could see that it was already bruising and Weller internally flinched as he imagined her getting hit hard enough to knock out a tooth.

"I knew him," she said immediately. "He's the man from my target training memory. The one that was outside the building before we almost got blown up. He knows me and he was following me. We have to find out who he is."

"Whoa, Jane," Weller replied, crouching down to look at her more closely. "Slow down. We will do everything we can to find out who that guy was and how he's connected to you. And I do want to know exactly what happened here. But first, tell me are you okay?"

Jane looked a little startled by his question, as if she'd completely forgotten about everything else while fixating on the dead man in her safe house. Then she glanced down at her hand on her cheek and wrinkled her nose.

"My face hurts. But otherwise I'm fine," she muttered.

"You still have to get checked out by a doctor," Weller said. "He must have hit you really hard."

Jane brought her hand down from off her jaw and gave him an irritated look.

"It's been a long day, Weller," she groaned. "I really don't want to go to the hospital."

Weller flashed back to earlier that day, having the same argument with her after she'd crashed the SUV. He'd pretty much guilted her into it then. But right now Jane sounded so tired and on edge that he didn't want to battle with her.

Yet it was clear she needed to see a doctor and at least get some x-rays of her jaw. So Kurt thought the issue through until he arrived at a solution that could placate both of them, even taking the time to figure out how best to present it to his recalcitrant patient.

"Well, you can't stay here," Weller finally said. "It's a crime scene now. We'll find you a safer place."

"And you need to be cleared by a doctor before you can come back out in the field with us," he added. "That's standard protocol."

Jane's frown deepened and she exhaled wearily. Weller could hear that he'd chosen the right selling point - she was desperate to stay involved with the case and be out on missions with the team.

"So either I take you to the hospital right now or you pack up some stuff and we go to the NYO. You can sleep in the medical bay until the doctor gets there in the morning to check you out."

Jane gave him a long look that indicated she knew exactly what he was doing. Yet, for once, she didn't argue, just giving him a tired shake of her head instead.

"Okay, I'll see the doctor at the NYO," she sighed.

Weller held back a grin at her begrudging response and offered her his hand. Jane gave it a long suspicious look before grasping it and letting him pull her up to her feet.

The drive to the NYO was silent, even though Kurt was full of questions. He desperately wanted to know everything that had happened that night but knew that it wasn't the right time to ask. Jane was quiet and obviously still shaken from what had happened; so Weller decided to leave his questions for the morning, after she'd been seen by a doctor.

As they neared the office, Kurt glanced over at Jane once more. He had thought her silence was due to her own head being full of questions too, or continued stubbornness about getting medically checked out. But it turned out that she'd just fallen asleep now that all the adrenaline had fled her system, her head lolled back against the headrest so the bird tattoo was perfectly exposed.

He had never before met such a vibrant, tenacious woman. And even though he had no proof yet, Weller knew in his bones that she was Taylor. He'd gotten her back; been given a second chance. And this time, he wasn't going to let anyone hurt her.

Again he glanced over at his sleeping charge, feeling a warm tickle spread through him as he realized how relaxed she now looked. All the tenseness she'd been wearing at the crime scene was gone as she murmured inaudibly and leaned in his direction.

Weller resisted the urge to reach over and brush a wayward strand of hair out of her face, forcing himself to focus on the road. Yet he still found himself looking to his right far too often, as if his eyes were magnetically drawn to her.

It was impossible but he believed it with every cell in his body.

She was Jane and she was Taylor.

And most of all, she was his to protect.

###

Jane's emotional rollercoaster of a day ended with two solid answers; yet her head was still full of questions as she stood there, clinging onto Weller's arm.

After all that arguing with Weller and Agent Reade's open questioning of her role in the investigation, it had been a major relief to be told by Mayfair that they had all supported her being armed and part of the team. Jane was sure that Weller had pulled rank with his agents to get that kind of unanimity but she hadn't even had time to really thank him for backing her before Patterson showed up and gave them the other, unbelievable, news.

She was Taylor Shaw. Weller's neighbour, who had disappeared without a trace twenty-five years ago.

Jane stared at him and he stared right back. She watched a wave of joy pass through Weller's expressive blue eyes and felt his elation ripple down her spine as well. Not only had they finally found out something concrete about her, it tied her intricately with Kurt and explained his name being tattooed on her back.

For a moment Jane wondered if it was normal, how much Weller could make her feel. She'd spent most of the day being furious with him for keeping secrets and refusing to let her participate fully out in the field. But then he'd insisted on going with her to the hospital, despite Agent Reade's vocal objections. Which had paradoxically made her feel both protected and nervous, because it was clear that Reade had touched on the truth.

Then, as soon as they were in danger, he had given her a gun without hesitation, fully trusting her to watch his back. Which had been a good thing, considering how close he'd gotten to having a full round of ammunition pumped into him, point blank. Even as it was, Jane had almost been too late - she'd seen the gunman's trigger finger moving just as she shot him dead.

The relief she'd felt seeing Weller alive was as fierce as any emotion she'd experienced yet. And then there had been a whole new set of feelings after he told her he thought she was his childhood friend, the little girl who went missing when he was ten. That revelation had finally put the entire day into perspective, completely flipping her understanding of his behaviour.

The argument with Mayfair. His sudden overprotectiveness. His blow up when she disobeyed his order and put herself in danger.

Weller had been under such immense personal pressure. She wondered how long he'd been thinking of her as Taylor. Clearly it had been influencing his actions all day.

Jane flushed a bit remembering how furious she'd been with him during his tirade about protecting her. At least she wasn't angry with him anymore. That hadn't felt good at all.

So much was running through her mind that Jane suddenly realized they'd been standing there for ages, just holding on to each other and staring silently. Patterson had left somewhere along the way and it now was just the two of them, with the mind-blowing piece of information hanging between them.

Weller's eyes were still teeming with an emotion she couldn't quite identify. She could see that he was fighting to contain himself now that his suspicion had been confirmed.

Jane flashed back to him telling her that she could trust him, that he'd been looking for her all his life. It made her feel warm and a bit tingly, to be to closely tied to Weller. But there was also pressure to being the girl he'd sought for so long - to mean so much to a man she barely knew, a man who already made her feel everything so strongly.

"Are you okay?" he asked, finally finding his voice.

"Yeah," she replied slowly. "It's just… how is this even possible?"

Weller shook his head, a look of wonder still in his eyes.

"I don't know," he said.

"But we will figure it out. We're going to find out what happened to you."

He sounded so sure but Jane was realizing that getting answers had only opened up an onslaught of new questions. If anything, being Weller's childhood neighbour made the whole situation even more confusing and implausible. Also, what had Casey meant by Orion? Was that a clue to where she'd been taken after being kidnapped at age five?

The wave of questions was about to engulf her when Jane felt a squeeze on her elbow and remembered that Weller's hand was still on her arm. Looking up at him, she suddenly felt drained from everything that had occurred in the past day. She'd barely gotten any sleep after the attack at her safe house and then had an extremely emotionally and physically taxing day.

"Hey," he said, studying her closely. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Jane shook her head. She needed some time to think before she asked him any more questions.

"Okay then, how about some food?"

She furrowed her brow at him, confused by the abrupt change in topic. But Weller was just giving her his usual warm concerned look, like he hadn't said anything out of the ordinary.

"I bet you haven't eaten all day," he added. "It's been over twelve hours."

Food was the last thought on her mind, especially after such an intense day. But, thinking about it, she realized that he was right on both counts. And then, precisely at that moment, as if her body was in collusion with Weller, Jane's stomach growled.

Weller grinned at her and Jane swore she even saw a twinkle in his eye as he slipped his hand down her arm until his fingers were entwined with hers.

"Well, that settles that," he said. "Let's go get something to eat."

"Weller," Jane muttered, unsure about his proposition. Going to a restaurant with Weller sounded both enticing and nerve-wracking. Especially with everything that had happened between them that day.

"It's fine, I'll order in later."

"No," he replied sternly. "We're going together and I'll take you to your new safe house after. We won't talk about any of this until tomorrow. But I want to make sure you eat some real food."

Jane's instinct was to argue and push off his concern. But then she remembered the sadness in his eyes as he'd told her about his little neighbour, how he'd been there the night she was taken.

Weller wanted to protect her. And as much as it was sometimes irritating, it also made her feel safer knowing that he was looking out for her so fervently. So maybe it was okay to let him care a bit too much, especially when it felt so good to have his fingers laced between hers.

"Okay," she sighed, giving his hand a squeeze.

She didn't yet know what to say, or how she felt about being his missing girl. But Jane did want him to understand how she was grateful for everything he'd done for her already and for how much he cared.

"Thank you," she finally said, offering him a timid smile. "For everything."

"I'm so glad you found me."

[sharkbaitsekki]

Zakkura at the Golden Saucer. Fluffy but funny! Though, honestly, I'll be happy with anything. Thank you!!

The pressure was on Cloud now, and it was nearly palpable in the air around him. All of his muscles were tense as he waited, slowing his breathing and trying to focus. His grip around the leather tightened. His eyes darted around to collect all the information he could later use to his advantage. His entire body was taut like a bow, aimed and ready to find its target true. Cloud only had one mission to fulfill here tonight, and failure was absolutely not an option. Too much hung in the balance of his success. 

“Let’s do this fair and square,” his opponent smirked, and Cloud glared at him in return. 

“Bring it,” he taunted, and took one last deep breath as the announcer chimed in. 

“And... begin!”

The bang of the starter gun was deafening, but not as deafening as Zack’s whooping as he kicked his chocobo into a well-timed starting sprint. 

“Seeya later, Cloudy!” Zack taunted, sticking his tongue out at the blonde who frowned at his own missed start and kicked his canary yellow chocobo into a gallop. 

“It’s okay,” he reassured his mount (and himself). “This is the long track. Zack stands no chance if he doesn’t remember that.”

His chocobo crowed in acknowledgement, and settled into its rapid pace. Cloud kept his eyes peeled for obstacles, leading the animal over the initially simple bumps and turns in the race track. He didn’t mean to brag, but he was actually quite talented at chocobo riding. 

It just so happened that Zack “Golden Child” Fair was also good at it. Unfairly so. Cloud just wanted to knock him down a peg, finally have something to tease Zack about, for all the teasing the latter did for him. 

Speaking of the man, Cloud huffed self-satisfactorily as he saw him turn the next sharp bend. As expected, his charcoal grey chocobo had slowed down after its initial burst of energy, allowing Cloud to catch up with his steady pace. 

“How’s that overconfidence treating you?” he taunted as he came up behind Zack, enjoying the brief flash of panic in the older boy’s eyes. 

“Rather well, thanks for asking!” Zack grinned, not seeming too worried. “Don’t worry Cloudy! I’m sure you’ll look ravishing in that dress!”

“Like I’d actually let you force me into another one of those things.” Having brief flashbacks to Don Corneo’s mansion, Cloud could only shudder. 

He focused on avoiding the more treacherous mountain terrain for a bit, distancing himself from Zack to take it easier and steer his chocobo away from the pitfalls and rocks, smug when he noticed Zack’s chocobo trip and stumble in the distance with a loud crow and an accompanying cry of surprise. That was Cloud’s opportunity to catch up again, this time side-by-side with Zack. 

“Don’t get your feathers too ruffled when I win,” he scoffed, lowering his body to ease his chocobo into a sprint. The wind whipped past him, whistling in his ear, but it wasn’t loud enough to cover up the sound of Zack’s loud, unrestrained laughter. 

“Was that a pun?” he laughed, also lowering his weight to keep up with Cloud in his sprint. “I can’t believe it. A pun! From Mr. Sunshine himself!” 

“Stop talking,” Cloud gruffly said, feeling his cheeks heat up despite the cold wind on his face. “I’ll push you off your mount.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Zack’s voice suddenly dropped and oh, there was the competitive streak that had started this ordeal in the first place. A shiver ran across Cloud’s body, heating him up at the sound of that tone. 

“Don’t test me,” he threatened, bringing his chocobo closer until he was within reach of Zack and shoving his shoulder roughly. At least Zack hadn’t seemed to expect it of him, his chocobo veering off course slightly and narrowly avoiding a protruding tree root in consequence. 

If Cloud wore a smug smirk on his face as he took the lead, nobody saw. 

“Hey, I’m coming for ya!” Never the quitting type, Zack quickly caught back up to him, this time taking the lead on the assault by trying to bump Cloud’s chocobo off the path. Cloud pulled on the reigns tightly to keep his mount on the right track, and while he was focused, Zack leaned over and grabbed his arm. “Two can play at that game!”

“Let go!” Cloud grunted, trying to shake the annoyance off, tightening his legs around his mount to use both of his hands to pry Zack off. The latter only seemed to be having the time of his life like this, also letting go of the reigns in order to wrestle Cloud in what was likely a violation of at least four rules on the racetrack. 

“Come on, Cloudy, you can do better!”

“You’re so annoying... Get off!”

“Can’t make me! I’ll do what I have to to win!”

“In your dreams, weirdo.”

Zack laughed at that, genuinely amused, and perhaps it was the radiant grin on his face that suddenly took Cloud’s breath away. His heart skipped a beat as if free-falling when he looked at the sheer happiness on his partner’s expression. 

Less than a year ago, golden days like these seemed unattainable for both of them, each one stuck in a nightmare of their own. How far they’d come, Cloud realized, simply by never giving up on one another. 

Instead of having his eyes on Zack’s blinding euphoria, however, he should have paid attention to the racetrack. It was the panicked cawing of his chocobo that drew him out of his contemplation, and he turned to the front urgently. 

Too little too late, Cloud noted the boulder in their path at the same time as Zack did. Just when Cloud felt the grip on his arm begin to loosen, their chocobos let out twin cries of panic and each split into a different direction to avoid the boulder. 

“Whoa!” Before they knew it, they were both free-falling off their mounts, hanging on tightly to one another in the absence of all else, the gesture nearly ingrained into them after so long of it having kept them alive. It wasn’t too tall of a drop, but when they landed awkwardly in a tangle of limbs, it was undeniably painful. 

“Oww....” Zack groaned, finally letting go once they were on solid ground, sitting up to rub his head where he’d cracked it against the ground. 

“This is why you should’ve been more careful,” Cloud complained, mimicking the action and cradling his elbow where it had impacted the ground painfully, lightning bolts shooting all the way into his shoulder. At the sight of him, Zack’s face only split into a grin again, despite the spot of blood welling up on his forehead. “Hey, be serious for a second!”

“No way,” Zack chuckled. “That was fun. Sucks we didn’t finish the race though.”

“Zack!”

“Is your arm okay?” 

“Yes, it’s...” Cloud groaned, realizing he wouldn’t be winning this. “It’s fine. Zack, that was dangerous.”

“There are worse dangers in life,” Zack casually said, and meant it. Shrugging, he put his hand out to inspect Cloud’s arm, making sure it wasn’t broken. “So wait... if neither of us won, then who’s going to wear the dress!?”

“Nobody’s wearing dresses!” the blonde grumbled, jumping when Zack touched a sensitive part of his arm. 

“But you’d be so pretty...”

“I will end you.”

Zack laughed at that, letting Cloud’s arm go to instead cradle his jaw in his hands. They were dusty from the fall but warm, and Cloud immediately felt his heart skip a beat. Almost on instinct, his eyes darted down to his lips, feeling light at the sight of the beautiful, simple smile etched on them. 

“Alright, it’s a tie, then,” Zack conceded in a softer voice, caressing Cloud’s cheek. “Consolation prize?”

“You’re such a baby.” He said that, but Cloud did lean in to kiss him, soft and brief, enjoying every moment of it. It was at times like these that he realized how close he’d come to losing Zack forever, and he hated the feeling of anxiety that came with all of their moments together. 

“Mhm,” Zack hummed, drawing back and then back in for another kiss, slightly longer this time. “Sorry for pushing you off. Didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s fine.” Cloud didn’t dare open his eyes just yet, just in case this was just another mako dream. “Glad you’re well enough to keep making fun of me.”

“I’ll make fun of you even on my deathbed,” Zack promised lightly, although there was something bitter to it that prompted Cloud to lean in and hold on tight to him. 

The two of them stayed there for a minute, tangled in one another and breathing softly in tandem, letting the joy of their peaceful moment together wash away all the doubts that always sat at the back of their minds. The “what if”s and “could’ve been”s faded from attention, replaced instead by the acute awareness of how warm, solid, and alive they were under one another’s hands. 

Cloud couldn’t imagine where he would be now if not in Zack’s arms. 

“Hey! Lovebirds!”

“Well, moment’s over,” Zack chuckled, moving away from Cloud just in time to see Aerith ride around the bend, heading their way on a beautiful white chocobo. Tifa followed not too far behind on a pink mount, worry etched on her face as she spotted them. 

“We totally saw you wipe out on the cameras!” Aerith laughed shamelessly as she stopped next to them. “You two owe damages to the racetrack owner, just saying.”

“Oh, good. More money we don’t have.” Cloud punctuated that sentence with a glare directed at his other half, who, in return, simply chuckled sheepishly. 

“Oops.”

“Well, climb on. Tifa and I will take you back,” Aerith prompted. “Gotta say, though... there really are more romantic places to make out than on the chocobo racing track.”

“Eh,” Zack shrugged, helping Cloud stand and linking their fingers together. “We’re used to just taking whatever opportunity we can get.”  And Cloud clung on tightly, renewing his eternal vow never to let go.

[unnecessarygayfeelings]

Finished my Farafey fanficton! Here’s a link to it on ao3, but I know not everyone uses that, so I’ll post it here under the read more. No content warnings (there’s a small mention of alcohol, but no one is intoxicated), just 2k words of fluff. This is for the Farafey micronation especially @aquilamage because she has epic content that inspires me a lot.

Lavender Lip Gloss

It was new year's eve and Kay was going to be late to the party because her roommate was hogging the bathroom.

Kay should be used to this, really. Ever since she and Sebastian decided to rent an apartment together at the ripe old age of nineteen, she became well aware of her friend's quirks. But she could handle the misplaced pens, loud classical music, and endless pacing at ungodly hours of the night. She would be a hypocrite if she judged him, though. Half of the pens they owned were probably on her desk, and in the early mornings she liked to sing her favourite pop songs in the shower. They argued about who was the cause of their the noise complaints every time they received one.

They've been roommates for years now. Kay was used to Sebastian's habits... except for one.

"Seb, leave the goddamn door open when you're just fixing your hair! I need the hairspray!"

It took a long time for Sebastian to break the habit of placing barriers between them when it wasn't necessary (Kay had grown up in a home with open doors and open hearts; she wants the same for Sebastian), and eventually he stopped locking the door behind him every time he entered a room. Kay respected Sebastian's need for privacy. But she also respected their friendship, and that's why she knew that what she was about to do was not only expected, but acceptable in their tiny apartment. She took a step back, lifted her leg and opened the door with one swift kick.

There was a high-pitched yelp from Sebastian, who had styling gel on his hands, a strand of hair sticking up on his head, and an unimpressed expression on his face as he saw Kay's triumphant smile. "I-I was almost done!"

"You always say that, and then you end up taking another thirty minutes," Kay replied, grabbing her hair spray and securing her high ponytail right there. Sebastian's face scrunched at the smell. She sprayed a little bit of the product in his hair, too. They both laughed, doing the finishing touches on both of their party looks together.

After a final once-over from each of them ("The green button-up was a good choice, right, Kay?" "Yeah, but what about this silver skirt?"), they were ready to go to the new year's party. It was at Miles's house this year, and if they both weren't used to bothering him at every location possible, it might have felt a bit weird to party at the boss's place.

When they arrived at Miles's house, the host himself greets them. Although he does look genuinely pleased to see them, his smile turns strained when Kay tells him to "prepare for trouble, and make it double". While Sebastian is making small talk with Edgeworth, Kay lets her mind trail elsewhere— to the reason she was so eager to get to the party in the first place.

Maya Fey had been in Kura'in for a while now. Despite their friendship being long-distance, they were still very close. Their bond was just as strong as Kay's with Sebastian, although she felt very different about Maya than him. Kay's heart soared every time her phone dinged with a new message. She circled dates on the calendar with a violet marker whenever they planned to video chat. The time difference was brutal, but Kay would gladly stay up late just to hear Maya's voice.

"Waiting for s-someone special?" Sebastian's teasing voice broke Kay out of her thoughts. She hadn't even realized that Miles was long gone. The only one next to her was her best friend, who was looking extra smug. Of course Sebastian knew about her crush. He was the one Kay would go to at one in the morning, bombarding him with texts and asking him if he thought there was a deeper meaning to them. The deeper meaning, he would tell her, is that you both like each other and it's only a matter of time before one of you make a move. He was being ridiculous, of course. Just because Maya called her pretty and laughed a little too loud at her jokes and had a purple heart emoji next to her contact name didn't mean anything.

Okay, it definitely meant something, but Kay wasn't going to take the first step and confess or anything because... she was shy. Ugh. She wasn't used to being shy. Sebastian was the shy one, not her. But Kay hadn't seen Maya in person in what felt like forever (it had been six months), so who knows. Maybe she would make a move.

"Hey, there she is!"

Kay's head shot up, pure enthusiasm with a twinge of anxiousness filling her whole body. She looked to where Sebastian was pointing, and there she was.

Maya Fey was here. Maya Fey was looking around the room. Maya Fey was making eye contact with her. Maya Fey was walking towards her.

"Hey!" Maya Fey's voice sounded so much more real when it wasn't through a speakerphone, all light and chipper. Kay wasn't sure how she'd survive the night, let alone make a move.

"Hi, Maya!" Sebastian greeted, holding out his arms and allowing a brief hug. Maya showed her affection through touch: high fives, hair ruffles, and hand holding. Kay was the same which was one of the reasons why their long distance communication was difficult. You couldn't embrace someone through a screen.

Then Maya turned towards her, arms outstretched, and Kay found herself being pulled in like a magnet. Maya's hugs were warm and welcoming. She didn't miss how they both lingered, the hug lasting many seconds longer than a hug Kay would have with any other friend, even Sebastian. But eventually they had to (slowly) pull away.

"It seems like forever since I've seen you!" Maya exclaimed, looking up at Kay with a big grin. "You look great! I love your skirt!"

Kay's brain seemed to short-circuit. Maya was wearing a cute pink party dress and her long hair was in its usual style, decorated with sparkly hair clips. Her lips were shiny with a purple gloss. It was a light shade, like lavender. Was this weird, just staring at her lips? She needed to respond before it got weird. "Thanks! I love your lip gloss!"

Okay, so now Maya had solid proof that she was staring at her lips. Oops. But Maya just smiled at her. "Haha, thanks! Do you guys want a drink? I saw Miles bought the good champagne."

Had he? Kay didn't even notice. Sebastian nods and then a minute later Maya is offering her a drink. Kay takes the glass, and tries not to think about the brush of Maya's fingers against hers too much.

Conversation is easy. Maya asks what they've been up to since the last time they talked. Kay feels like this question is more for Sebastian, since her and Maya just talked this morning on the phone. Sebastian tells her about his latest case (not a murder, thankfully), and Kay includes details from her perspective as the detective assigned. She's sure she had mentioned this case to Maya before, but Maya seems very interested anyways.

When they ask what news Maya has, she perks up tremendously. "I've finally mastered the bowl without falling on my face!"

Recently, Maya has taken up skateboarding while in Kura'in. Pearl has been the one teaching her; she was very talented, and had a cool skateboard with a flame design on the sides. Kay had been blessed with many cute selfies of Maya in her skating gear (lavender knee and elbow pads, and a florescent pink helmet that could probably blind a person if they stared too long at it) and ten second clips of her skating around in sunglasses, striking poses at the camera. Maya was a beginner but she refused to give up, despite the constant complaining of bumps and bruises from falling all the time.

"Really?" Kay gasps. She's received many texts about the bowl, and according to Maya it was one of the most difficult things to master in her life. ("It's harder than channeling spirits, Kay! Stop laughing, it's the truth!") Kay had never skateboarded before so she felt like she couldn't judge but it certainly didn't look easy.

Maya quickly pulls her phone out of her dress pocket. "Let me show you. Pearly got it on tape! Proof that I'm not making it up to sound cool or anything."

Kay believed her. Maya wouldn't need to make stuff up to sound cool. She unlocked her phone (Kay felt herself blush at the lockscreen— it's a selfie that they had taken the last time Kay was in Kura'in, a trip that was impulsive and expensive but she didn't regret it one bit) and pulled up a video of Maya on top of the bowl. Pearl can be heard off-camera shouting encouragement. Then Maya adjusts her helmet, balances herself on her board, and slides down the bowl in one swift movement. She skids to a stop once she's on the ground. The last thing they hear before the video cuts out is Maya and Pearl screaming with excitement.

"That's so cool!" Kay exclaims, genuinely impressed.

Sebastian's eyes are nearly bugging out of his head. "Whoa! You look like a pro-professional skateboarder!"

"Yeah, this makes all the times I fell down on my butt worth it," Maya says, grinning from ear to ear. They talk some more before Maya goes to mingle with an old friend.

"Hey, do either of you know where Nick is? I want to bug him before the year ends."

Sebastian points Phoenix out across the room, where he is currently distracted by his daughter Trucy pulling an comically long scarf out of the tiny pocket on her blouse. A mischievous smile, a wave of her hand, and Maya's off.

There's a brief silence as they watch Maya leave. Sebastian turns to Kay with the same shit-eating grin he has when he's about to say something clever. "Kay? I diagnose you with gay. Lesbianism, if you want to be specific."

Kay groans. "I know, I know."

"Well, it's clear that she likes you, too, so I don't see what the con-conundrum is."

Kay believed that she was a relatively logical person. Her field of work made use of that trait, tested it. And now she was being presented with more evidence and a restless witness. The pieces fit together perfectly— Maya Fey liked her. The only question was what she going to do with this information.

"Was I... obvious about it?"

Sebastian raises his eyebrow. Takes a long sip of of his drink. "Is that a trick question?"

Not everyone Mr. Edgeworth invited was at the party, but the house is noisy regardless. Friends and acquaintances are talking in groups, there's music coming from an unknown source, the television is playing a new year's special, and Kay's heart is beating up a storm. Despite all of the activity, Kay thinks her heart is the loudest thing in this place.

Sebastian is tapping his fingers against the table next to them. Another noise, although it's muffled by the black gloves he's wearing. "Well, I know you don't like champagne."

Kay looks down at the drink Maya gave her, still full. The condensation from the glass mixes with the sweat on her palm. The feeling of Maya's hand brushing against hers lingers.

In the distance, Maya nudges Phoenix roughly in the side, and his drink splashes on his shirt. Maya laughs and then points at the stain, exclaiming loudly that it kind of looks like the Blue Badger. Phoenix seems to push his annoyance aside to carefully examine his sleeve. Maya calls other people over to look, a light yet determined expression on her face, and Kay can feel herself fall a little more in love.

...

The flashy countdown screen on the TV lights up, signaling the last minute of the year. Kay smiles and swirls the untouched champagne in her glass. She's lost in the way the tiny bubbles cling onto the sides of the cup until something distracts her. Or more accurately, someone.

"Hey," Maya says, placing her own glass on the table in front of them.

"Hey," Kay echoes back intelligently. She places her glass next to Maya's as her friend (she ignores the tightening in her chest when she calls her that; she's not sure there's a single word in this world to describe what Maya is to her) sits down next to her.

There's a moment of silence between them. Maya smells like jasmine and nostalgia. Kay wants to look but she's glowing like the sun, so she decides to play it safe and stare ahead. She sees Sebastian and Klavier talking about something, but she can't concentrate enough on their voices to know the topic.

Maya's voice snaps Kay out of her trance. "Happy new year."

For a split second, Kay thinks she miscounted the seconds, and missed the celebration. She checks the television quickly, and sighs with relief. "You're about thirty seconds too early, but I appreciate your enthusiasm." Then she had to use all of her strength to resist the urge to kick herself for sounding so weird.

"Oh." Cheeks flushed red for sure, Kay risks a glance at Maya. She doesn't regret it. She doesn't think she'll ever get tired of seeing Maya smile. "Happy new year's eve, then?"

She barely pulls herself together before responding in a passably-normal-although-probably-too-eager tone. "Yeah! Happy new year's eve!"

Maya laughs at that, and Kay can physically feel her heart soar. She knows it's bad to look at the sun but she can't help it, and within seconds she's pretty sure she could map out all the freckles on Maya's face. Kay stares too long to pass as normal and she knows it. But Maya is staring, too.

"TEN SECONDS!" Kay doesn't recognizes whose enthusiastic yelling the voice belongs to, but she doesn't even bother tearing her eyes away from Maya.

Ten.

Maya is sitting so close to her that their thighs are touching. How did Kay not notice that until now?

Nine.

Maya hesitantly reaches over and touches Kay's hand with her own.

Eight.

Her hand is shaking slightly. It's sweaty, too. Kay doesn't complain. She's probably the same.

Seven.

Kay curls their fingers together. She can't seem to stop smiling.

Six.

There's no denying it. The walls between them tumble down to reveal something a bit more than friendship, a bit more than just simple attraction.

Five.

Kay wants to say something, anything, but she's been rendered speechless. She's pretty sure she looks ridiculous. Ridiculously lovestruck.

Four.

Maya's other hand reaches over to brush Kay's hair out of her face, and her touch lingers near her cheek.

Three.

There's a line that they haven't neared, trying to maintain their friendship. Maya is standing at the edge of it, threatening to cross over.

Two.

Maya tilts her head, leans in, and closes her eyes. Kay can't hear the music over her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

One.

Kay closes her eyes, leans in, and unconsciously holds her breath.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Their lips met, and Kay smudges Maya's lavender lip gloss.

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

Taxi Cab (Peter Parker's iPod, Part 13.)

Series description: Blip was hard. Dating MJ was a pleasure in Parker’s life, so it was even harder when she told him that things aren’t working as she anticipated - one month before college. Although they remained friends. But Peter isn’t too sure if he can handle liking yet another girl.

Part Summary: Slowly, you knew that there's something very fishy going on around Peter. But to realize what, that was fucking wild.

A/N: And I oop-

Word count: 4.1 K

Tagging: @fanboyswhereare-you, @lukesbabylon, @eridanuswave​

Master list: H E R E

For the love of God, you were lucky enough not to think about the weekend and what happened at the farm. The big final exams were approaching and as much as you were nervous around it, you had Peter around all the time. You had to concentrate on sitting around the books, scripts, and notes you have taken at school.

You've sat through hours with being taught the topics by MJ and Betty, there wasn't even time to binge Netflix properly - you woke up and studied, ate your lunch while studied and fell asleep on your school materials. And Peter wasn't making it too much easier for you.

After what happened during your weekend, he was acting like a lovesick puppy. And it making you flip out. You would handle the uncomfortable stares he gave you every time you turn around, you could close your eyes when it came to the topic of Peter buying coffees and food, not wanting you to pay him back a single penny. But that kiss was a mistake. It was your small brain failure.

It made you think about Spider boy a lot, much more than ever before. There was somehow a lot of him in Peter. It was him and not Peter who could you feel in the kiss. Was that falling in love or something? With someone you didn't even know? With someone who's face you hadn't seen? Damn, weren't you just fucked?

But trying to brush Peter off, that wasn't doing any actual good either way. He was unstoppable. You weren't able to shake him off your back. He was one persistent guy as far as you could say. Some might see that as a sweet thing that a boy in love does, but you were just sick of his puppy ass.

The real breaking point came by on its own. The whole gang gathered up in your flat and after a week of consistent studying, you were just sick of hearing words like ontogenesis or superego - so you just ordered an oversized pizza, gathered around the TV, and played some music videos on MTV.

Ned was excited to rap almost a whole song from Eminem. He made up almost half of the words and was out of his breath after the first verse, but he delivered it like a boss. When Ned was done, it was your and MJ's time to show them how much you've perfected Will Smith's Prince of Bell Air. Peter then sang something from Celine Dion, but that was when a Drake song popped in.

"Not this garbage, come on! I know you made Y/N listen to it too, but we don't like Drake here!" - MJ begged and brought Betty a bit closer. Ned chuckled and looked at you, making you look at Peter as well.

You laughed for a moment before you stiffened and let the smile disappear from your face. It was just a small thing, but it made your eyes widen in horror. One date, maybe a month ago, Spidey rapped the same song. The same one, leaving out the same words, mumbling at the same time.

There was more and more info that fucking thing. There were more and more connections building up in front of your very eyes and that couldn't simply be seen. He was kissing like Spidey, singing the song exactly like him and for a reason, you could say that some characteristics were overshadowing each other at some point.

Whoa. Hold up. That was too crazy for you to believe. For a moment, you sat there with your mouth fully opened and eyes widened. Your heart was hurting as realization after realization landed inside your fucking brain. These lips. The smile. The words that were said. The smell. Suddenly, you stopped everything and got up, left to your room and locked yourself in - and for the first time, you rolled the rollers down, making yourself completely isolated from the outside world.

You heard someone knock on your door, asking you if you're okay, but you didn't answer them at all. You just played some music so you wouldn't hear the MTV mess coming from the other room and when that was done, you sat on your bed and opened up your laptop, looking at the pictures you had there. There was a lot with Ned, Betty, and MJ, but Peter was obviously on 90% of these photos with you.

This realization must've been your brain fucking playing some games on you. It couldn't be logically explained. Are you never fucking ever thought about Parker being Spidey for a second and suddenly, your brain just decided that he is and there's not a single thing you can do about it? What kind of fuckery were you playing with yourself? In what universe could Peter fucking Benjamin Parker be Spider-Man. Yeah, he could carry you around for quite a long time, but he didn't exactly need super strength for doing so.

As you were going through the photos with your lips parted, you noticed that MJ got the second key from your bedroom and unlocked the door. But as soon as she was in, she immediately locked it again so Betty or Ned, who were still in the living room, wouldn't come there.

"You fine? I've never seen you runnin' like that... Ever. You fucking freaked me out." - She sat beside you. Her brown eyes looked over the screen of your laptop, at your parted lips, teary eyes, and you being rolled up in two blankets. - "Oh, fuck."

That was what she said. There was no other question, there wasn't a need for words. She knew what all of that meant. You figured it out. And yeah, she was kinda harsh on Peter telling you and she knew she shouldn't send him these aggressive texts and e-mails because you always told her that she's being way more aggressive than she needs to be, but... It hurt her to see you hurt.

"Come here, chicken nugget." - She closed that computer and let you hug her. Her fingers dipped under the blanket so she could caress your back while you started weeping. Before any of you spoke out loud, you felt her lips gently touch your temple in a comforting kiss.

"Did you know that? I mean, I don't even have to be right, I mean, even that idea alone is crazy." - You spoke quietly as you wept your eyes out. Your arms were holding MJ's waist super-tight.

"It's not that crazy. I knew... Everything. I did. And I'm sorry that you feel hurt, baby." - MJ whispered back sadly, looking at the old rose you still had on your table.

"Why didn't you tell me? You always tell me every fucking bullshit, but this time, not a single word?" - You sat up, hearing as Moral of the Story starting to play in the background. At that moment, you could see that Michelle's face got very uncomfortable, which wasn't normal at all. She was looking all around the room and she bit her lip.

"This is a tough one, okay? And I don't think I can explain everything to you since you wouldn't get all of it. I guess I just concluded that it isn't my business. You seemed to be happy and Peter was higher than on cloud nine. It wasn't nice. He hadn't done a good thing at all, but he did it with his best beliefs. He is... A good kid. Maybe he's too good and the Spider-Manning..." - She tried to explain herself, but her words just weren't enough at all. She couldn't give you even a hint of what was happening inside of her. It was chaos. Nothing but chaos.

MJ wanted to protect you from getting hurt, of course, she did - you were practically the only female best friend she ever had. She also wanted to protect Peter from getting hurt. All Michelle wanted was to see everyone happy, enjoying their lives. But as soon as she realized what kind of fuckery Peter started, she knew that happiness isn't the outcome you're all going to get. Tears and bad words were coming your way.

And Michelle knew it has potentially the power to destroy your whole friendship with Peter. Because realizing that Parker was the spandex dumbass you've fallen for was something unexpected and shocking for you.

"When were at the farm, at my granny's... I've kissed Peter. And not that spandex asshole. Because I realized that maybe, there's something about that boy. And if there wasn't for the whole Spider-Man thing I would most probably date him. All he had to do was to ask, MJ. Or am I that scary?" - You asked again, tears running on your cheeks again. MJ closed her eyes and let you lay your head on her thigh. With a long exhale she was caressing and playing with strands of your hair.

"You and scary? Jesus Christ, that's a good one. It's not you, baby,  Peter's just a dumbass." - She whispered back, letting you fall asleep.

[ghostking-wenning]

Radishes, Chapter 2

chapter 2 babeyyy let’s party! I promise we’ll get to the actual plot soon lol

2200 words, Rated G, NingXian, modern au, farmer’s market au, gay disaster flirting, romcom? I guess?

Qionglin carefully stacked the produce crates in the trunk of his hatchback. It had been his sister Qing’s when she was in high school, but she passed it on to him when she moved to the city for university. It had been old then, and it was pretty shabby by now, but it got Qionglin from point A to point B, so he wasn’t complaining. He liked it better than the huge, noisy farm truck, anyway. That thing had the turning radius of a steam engine, and when it was cold and wet like today, the brakes made a hideous screeching sound that Qionglin could feel in his teeth. He’d considered driving that old monstrosity today, as he found himself once again laden with radishes. Luckily, through sheer stubbornness and a little clever maneuvering, he managed to fit it all in his car.

The drive to the city was peaceful, if a little boring. But Qionglin liked driving. In the car, he was finally, truly alone. He could sing along to the radio, and laugh aloud at the DJ’s corny jokes without fear of being seen or judged, or worse. When he was in school, he’d been bullied constantly. He had been tall and gangly, all limbs and very little grace; coupled with his stutter, his shyness, and his below-average grades, he was the perfect target. He’d had to learn to keep his head down, keep a straight face, keep quiet to avoid torment. Several years and lots of therapy later, he still struggled to express himself and be open with others, even his family. Slow progress is still progress, he reminded himself.

It had started to rain in earnest by the time he pulled into the market plaza. Working quickly, he pitched the canopy and unloaded the car. He had almost blissfully forgotten about all the radishes, until he was stacking them on the table again. Qionglin had always thought of himself as a patient, tolerant person-- a pushover, his sister would say-- but these radishes were really starting to get on his nerves. At least he could be sure they were the tastiest damn radishes in this whole market.

He finished setting up, and surveyed the rest of the market. Usually more of the vendors were set up by now, but perhaps they’d been delayed by the weather. It looked like it would be a slow day today. He sighed and sat in his folding chair, and watched as the market plaza slowly came to life. Nearly an hour passed before the first customers arrived to mill about the stalls, contemplating heirloom vegetables and artisanal soaps. After a few more hours, Qionglin happily tidied the stack of bills in his cashbox. For all his awkwardness, he had no trouble selling his produce. His vegetables were one of the few things he was proud of, and thus one of the few things he could talk about easily. 

But frankly, the produce spoke for itself. He had several regulars already who kept coming back for his peas and cabbages and whatnot. Even the radishes were popular, but they were so large, most people only bought a few at a time. The pile of them loomed quietly beside him. He pointedly avoided looking at them, and instead indulged in a little people-watching between customers. He spotted a teenager wearing a studded jacket and black boots, and was suddenly reminded of the handsome stranger he’d met the week before. Wei Wuxian... It wasn’t the first time he’d thought of that chance encounter in the last few days; he’d made such a fool of himself it was hard to forget. He’d also had trouble forgetting that incredible smile. He did say he was coming again this week… so I guess I can’t have screwed up too bad. 

When he took a break for lunch, he texted Qing. Just a quick “Hey how are you?” that she was probably too busy to answer right now. He thought about going to visit her when he was done for the day, but eventually decided against it. Qing didn’t care for surprise visits, she insisted on having a routine.  

He and Qing had been inseparable as children. After their parents passed, they were taken in by their grandparents out in the countryside. It had taken them both a long time to adjust, but it had been much harder on Qing. She never quite took to living in the country as well as Qionglin had.

When she graduated high school, she’d considered taking a year off before university, but Qionglin wouldn’t hear of it. He knew she was worried about him, knew she didn’t want to leave him behind, and he didn’t really want her to, either... but he couldn’t stand the thought of her putting her dreams on hold for him. He insisted he didn’t need her to protect him anymore, that her happiness was more important. They had fought about it all summer, but in the end, Qing relented. The day she left for the city, they both cried for hours. It was a bitter memory, but Qionglin chuckled a little thinking about it. It had been one of the first fights he’d ever won. One of the only ones.

He texted Qing again: “Miss you. Call me soon?” She didn’t answer. He would just have to wait until their next scheduled video chat. Qionglin sighed as he put away his lunch box and turned his attention back to the market. He busied himself tidying baskets of potatoes and bundles of herbs. The crowd was thinning now, and the rain was still pouring. Qionglin didn’t mind the rain, but it did sometimes steer his thoughts toward melancholy and a sad kind of wistfulness. He was so used to being on his own that he didn’t register the feeling as loneliness. He sighed again. I should do something fun tonight. Maybe I’ll bake something. That should cheer me up. 

“Hey, Farmer Wen!” A cheerful voice shook him from his reverie. “It’s nice to see you again.”

Qionglin jumped. He turned to see Wei Wuxian strolling breezily into his market tent. Oh no, Qionglin thought, as if part of him hadn’t been looking forward to this exact moment for the better part of an hour. Wuxian lowered the hood of his jacket and swept his long hair forward. Today he wore it in a loose braid, revealing a streak of red that Qionglin hadn’t noticed before. His clothes were damp from the rain, but he seemed elegantly unbothered. Somehow, even a worn knit sweater and faded jeans looked like high fashion on him. Oh no.

“Oops,” Wuxian said, stifling a little laugh, “Looks like I startled you this time.” 

“H… um, h-- h--” Qionglin cursed himself for getting stuck on the very first word. He shut his eyes and took a breath. It’s fine, don’t panic! Just pick a new word... Wuxian was patient as Qionglin collected himself. 

“… Greetings!” He finally said. Great choice, dork.

“How have you been?” Wuxian asked, idly picking up a head of cabbage and turning it over in his hands. He still wore his silver skull ring and woven bracelet, but today he had added several more rings, thinner and daintier than the skull.

“Uh… me? I’ve been fine I guess. S-same as ever. What about you?” He wished he’d had something more to say, but it wasn’t like he got up to much outside of work. Wuxian didn’t seem like he’d be interested in things like tree grafts and crop rotation. Quinglin had hobbies, he supposed; he liked archery and cooking, but he hadn’t had time for archery lately, and cooking was more of a necessity than a hobby. Nothing special.

“Fine, you guess? Huh.” Wuxian mulled over his bland response, eyebrows knitted together slightly like he was dissatisfied somehow. For a moment Qionglin worried he’d press the issue and he’d have to reveal just how boring he was. Thankfully, Wuxian had already moved on. 

“I’ve been doing great, myself!” He said, casually circling the table between them. “Had a pretty good week, y’know? Finished a big commission, had dinner with my sister, met someone... interesting.” He glanced sidelong at Qionglin and watched him completely miss the hint. With a sly little smile, he added, “And I’ve got a show coming up, so that’ll be fun.”

“Oh, that all sounds nice... What kind of show are you going to?” Qionglin asked, clueless, but politely interested.

“A rock concert,” Wuxian answered vaguely, picking up a long stick of burdock and twirling it in his fingers.

“Cool!” Qionglin said, sincerely and maybe a little loudly. His anxiety gave way to eager curiosity. “I like music. Haha, of course I do, who doesn’t like music?” He caught himself before he could start rambling. Focus! “Who-- uh, who’s playing?”

“I am.” With a hand on his hip, head held high and an effortlessly confident smirk playing across his lips, he was the very picture of coolness to Qionglin.

“Whoa! Really?” Qionglin’s face lit up. “I should’ve guessed you were a rockstar! Now that I think of it, you totally look like one…” He hadn’t meant to say that last part aloud, but before he could panic about it, Wuxian’s expression melted into a bashful, yet somehow radiant grin. In an instant he’d gone from incredibly cool to unbelievably cute. If Qionglin wasn’t blushing wildly before, he definitely was now. Oh no, he thought again. I’m doomed.

“Wha-- You really think so?” He asked, clearly flustered by the praise. His silvery eyes glittered.

It was too late to take it back, Qionglin had to commit. “Um, well, yeah! With the long hair and the piercing and the stylish clothes and all…” He fidgeted a little, worrying at the hem of his sleeve. Is this… flirting? Am I doing it right?

“Wow, thank you! That’s really sweet of you to say,” Wuxian beamed. “I, uh, I’m afraid I might’ve oversold it already though… My band isn’t exactly famous or anything. We mostly play clubs and stuff. Rockstar might be too strong a word.” He said, self-effacingly. 

“S-still! It’s cool that you’re in a band. What do you play?” Qionglin asked, still gazing admiringly.

“I’m the lead singer, but I also play guitar and sometimes keyboard. I play flute too, but that’s not very punk-rock, you know?” Wuxian laughed. “Do you play anything? Or sing?”

Qionglin laughed too, a little bitterly. “Only when I’m alone in the car. I think I’d die of embarrassment if anyone ever heard me… I uh, tried to learn violin when I was in school, but I was terrible. I couldn’t get the hang of sheet music either. I can’t even imagine being on a stage...” He shuffled his feet on the ground, and finally managed to tear his eyes away from Wuxian. He remembered how frustrating music had been, how the notes and lines seemed to swim across the page, jumbling into meaningless noise. They might as well have been hieroglyphs, for all the sense they made to him. Thinking about it too hard would give him a headache.

“Hmm,” Wei Wuxian said, pulling Qionglin back into the present. He didn’t say anything for a while, just looked at Qionglin appraisingly. “Well, you’re definitely handsome enough to be on stage. Might look better with your hair up though, so people can see your cute face.” He fished around in his pockets for a minute, totally oblivious to Qionglin’s thunderstruck expression. “Ah!” He said at last. “Here.” He offered Qionglin a red hair tie.

Qionglin could only stare, still trying to process what he’d just heard. Suddenly, it dawned on him that he might’ve been the interesting someone Wuxian had mentioned meeting. After what felt like several whole minutes, he took the hair tie, and tried to ignore the quiet frisson he felt as their fingers just barely brushed together. His internal monologue was reduced to incoherent screaming.

“Thank you…” he finally forced out. “I don’t think… anyone’s ever called me uh, that before…” he mused. Clumsily, he gathered the top layer of his hair back into a short half-ponytail. “Um… H-- how’s that?” His voice was so quiet he barely heard himself. Or maybe it was just drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in his ears.

“Well, I can’t tell when you look at the ground like that!” Wuxian chuckled. Qionglin looked up at him, but couldn’t meet his eyes. He opted to focus on his silver piercing instead, then panicked when his eyes wandered to Wuxian’s lips. He dropped his gaze to the collar of his jacket. Wuxian examined him for another drawn-out moment. Qionglin briefly wondered if anyone had ever actually died of embarrassment or if he’d be the first. He nibbled on his lower lip, trying to think of what to say next, but his head was full of static. 

Thankfully he didn’t have to think too hard. “Hm, yep. Much better. Red’s a good color on you.” Wuxian said decisively. He finally looked away, and even he looked a little sheepish now. “I uh… guess I should actually do my shopping now, huh?” He cleared his throat and turned to look through the vegetables.

“Mn…” Qionglin answered. He shuffled back behind his counter and sat, still a little dazed. A couple minutes later, Wuxian plunked his picks on the counter. He paid and tucked his veggies into his backpack, the silence stretching between them. 

Under the table, Qionglin clenched his fists on his lap. Just go for it! Say something! Taking a deep breath to strengthen his resolve, Qionglin looked back up at him, green eyes meeting silver. He could swear Wuxian was blushing too. “S-see you next week?” 

Wuxian’s smile felt like a sunrise. “Yeah!” He said. “Absolutely.”

[cha0s-crew]

YoyoBeat soulmate AU

Not much time had passed since Beat met and subsequently recruited Yoyo. In that very short time, however, something had become overtly obvious: Yoyo liked to hip-bump other rudies, regardless of crew. It would have been mostly a non-issue, not much more than an annoyance, except for the black splotch on Beat's right hip. 

He'd had it since birth, just as most people have a splotch somewhere on their body, a spot that remained pitch black until the moment one's soulmate touched them for the first time, which would always be right where the spot was. The placement of Beat's spot meant it was easier to hide than some people's; Gum had a handprint on her shoulder, while most of Tab's right side was marked, indicating he was most likely going to run into his soulmate on accident. But Beat's mark was hidden to the world, he was the only person who knew where his was, or that he even had one at all. 

Beat had considered before what might lead to such a strange place for a mark, but just under two months ago he was suddenly struck with a possible reasonable explanation for it, and it made his stomach turn in a strange way. Suddenly there was a man whose go-to action was slamming the side of his left hip into people's right hips. And suddenly, Beat truly understood just what the mark on his hip meant. Sure, he'd always known, but it had never really clicked as reality.

It didn't take any time at all for Yoyo to feel comfortable enough in the crew to start his assumedly playful assault. Beat watched, over the course of a week, as Yoyo managed to knock over almost every member of the GGs, as well as every enemy he could reach. It only took nine days for Yoyo to try and topple Beat as well.

Beat, already prepared for this moment, maneuvered away easily. "Nice try."

Yoyo stumbled, having not expected Beat to move, but recovered quickly and spun around on his skates. "Aw, man, what's the prob?"

Beat put his hands on his hips and smirked. "If you really wanna get me, prove it."

Yoyo's mouth dropped for a second, before he matched Beat's expression. "Is that challenge?"

"Maybe," Beat kicked himself back, gliding backwards just long enough to wave teasingly, then turned and took off down the street.

After a short moment of stunned immobility, Yoyo began skating full-speed after Beat. There was a massive smile tugging at the corners of his lips, the rush of air and the excitement of a chase pushing him on more than anything else in this moment. He kept his eyes on Beat as best he could, and came to realize that they were headed to Benten-Cho. A surge of confidence coursed through Yoyo and he picked up the pace. 

Beat pumped his arms as he swayed, pushing himself through 99th Street. The bright neon lights all around him were somewhat comforting. Despite the sun being down, it was just as bright and busy as you’d expect of a daytime shopping district. As he glided through the streets and between the bustling people, Beat almost forgot what he was even doing here.

Almost.

Beat took a quick glance behind himself and confirmed that, yes, Yoyo was tailing behind him. There wasn’t much distance between the two, and Beat wanted to remedy that. He slowed slightly, and Yoyo nervously slowed as well, even more than his opponent; it was suspicious that Beat would slow down during a race. When Beat jumped onto a rail and started grinding around a corner, however, Yoyo growled to himself and had to take a few seconds to get back up to grinding speed. Truly Beat was not only technically skilled, but excellent at predicting and using his rival’s moves against them.

By the time Yoyo had rounded the corner, Beat was out of sight. Yoyo cursed quietly to himself, huffing as he pushed himself up the rail to get a better viewpoint. He grinded up Benten Tower and stood at the top. He looked down over Benten-Cho, watching the lights blink and feeling the breeze on what little skin was exposed, listening to the cars in the distance and the incoherent conversations below him. Even though he was so familiar with the area, it had been a long while he’d really taken a step back and truly appreciated it. The serenity didn’t last long, however, as he spotted Beat skating towards the bottom of the rail to Yoyo’s left. Yoyo spun around once and jumped onto the rail, following it down. When he reached the bottom, he was full-speed barreling after Beat. Then, all of a sudden, life seemed to play out in slow motion.

Without even looking behind him, Beat drew his left arm to his chest and extended the other out as far as it could reach. He swung his right arm in time with his ankles turning, resulting in a near-flawless on-a-dime turn that Yoyo had nowhere near enough time to replicate. All Yoyo could do was follow Beat’s movements with his eyes, and watch as Beat’s threw a peace sign with his still-extended arm and stuck his tongue out. He’d lost almost no momentum thanks to the maneuver, which means that when time sped back up to normal, Beat was zooming almost full-speed in the exact opposite direction of Yoyo.

Beat didn’t bother looking behind himself to see if Yoyo was following this time. He kept his eyes forward, towards the garage. He was huffing, exhausted, but he was also exhilarated beyond belief. Despite the burning in his lungs and limbs, the adrenaline pushed him on and kept a smile on his face. As Beat jumped into the garage, he threw both of his arms straight up in the air.

“I won!” Beat cried hoarsely. 

Beat slid directly into Gum’s arms, collapsing into a giggling mess. Gum met his laughter heartily, holding him up since he clearly wasn’t stable enough to stay standing on his own.

“Beat!” Gum said through laughter. “What’dya win?”

Beat only responded with more giggling that devolved into wheezing laughter. He slipped, gripping to Gum for support. Finally, Yoyo burst into the garage. He landed on the floor beneath the window and didn’t hesitate to explode into his own giggle fit. 

“I-I won!” Beat yelled again once he’d regained some control of his breathing.

Beat let go of Gum and she helped aid him to the ground so he could sit.

“Damn, cuz!” Yoyo called back. He wiped his face off. “Don’t-Don’t think this is over!”

“Never,” Beat’s laughter died down and he put his head in his hands sleepily. 

For the next few months, their races became routine. Almost every night, Yoyo would chase Beat through another area, and more than once he came dangerously close to bumping Beat’s hip against his own, but Beat had managed to avoid touching Yoyo at all for the time being. Logically he knew it would only matter if Yoyo touched his hip. Still, something in Beat warned him against letting Yoyo touch him at all. Moreover, Beat had only recently noticed that Yoyo was hip-bumping other people much less frequently than when they first met. It almost seemed like both of the boys were equally hyper-focused on the apparent competition. Beat sort of liked the attention, if he were being honest.

One day, about half a year after meeting, Beat was chilling in the garage, blasting music and dancing with Gum and Tab. The trio were unwinding for the day, a successful day of tagging and evading police together. Tab was mostly showing off as Rock It On blared, Beat just vibing to himself while Gum danced around the floor and cheered for her family. Over the music, the trio could hear someone climbing in through the window. 

“Come dance with us!” Gum cried over the song.

From behind, Yoyo let out a hearty laugh and skated over to where the other three were centralized. Gum grabbed his wrists and lead him around the floor, and he happily followed her around. As Concept Of Love queued up, Gum spun around. She lost her grip on Yoyo, who stumbled into Beat, his left hip connecting to Beat’s right hip. Beat fell to the ground, having lost his balance from the surprise and anxiety of what had just happened.

“Oops, sorry,” Yoyo laughed. “Does that count if it was an accident?”

Beat scrambled up to his feet in a visible panic. He shot Gum a look quickly, and Gum took the hint. She didn’t know what exactly was happening, but she knew Beat well enough to usher Tab and herself out of the room.

“Whoa, dude,” Yoyo snickered again. “You five-by-five?”

Beat swallowed hard and leaned against a wall to keep himself stable. He pushed his pants and shirt away just enough to see, but Yoyo didn’t need to look at the mark to understand. 

“Oh, fuck,” Yoyo mumbled and quickly copied Beat’s action. 

The two boys didn’t even bother looking at their own marks, only at each other’s. On Yoyo’s hip was a large, colorful mark. Not black, but vibrant with reds and yellows and greens. And on Beat’s hip, the same thing. Beat let out a breath and slid down the wall. Yoyo skated over and sat beside him silently. 

Understand, understand

Understand, understand

Understand, understand

The concept of love

“Yo, Beat,” Yoyo spoke up. There was a smile on his face.

Beat looked up.

“Wanna hear somethin’ dumb?” 

“Sure,” Beat answered.

“I’ve been going around bumping into everyone for, like, years, bro. ‘Cause I knew what that black, uh, spot thing meant,” Yoyo started. “So like, I mean, I wanted’a meet ‘em. Only, after I started racing with you, droog, I stopped bumpin’ around so much!”

Beat scooted closer to Yoyo, so they were shoulder to shoulder. “Why’zat?”

Yoyo’s face scrunched into a massive, dorky grin. “‘Cause I didn’t want anyone else to be, ya know, the one!”

Beat snorted, a small laugh, and rested his head on Yoyo’s shoulder. “Damn, Yo, that was dumb.”

“I know, right?” Yoyo placed one arm around Beat’s shoulder gently. “Totally bogus.”

“Real bogus,” Beat said.

He closed his eyes. Now that he was here, now that this moment was here, he realized it wasn’t so bad. After spending so much time avoiding Yoyo’s touch, Beat realized how much he’d been hoping for this; how much he actually wanted Yoyo to touch him. He turned his head and pushed his face into Yoyo’s neck. They stayed there like that for far longer than either knew they probably should, the only reason either stirred was because of Gum coming in and advising them to sleep. Beat knew Gum would question and bully him tomorrow, but for tonight he just enjoyed Yoyo’s company.

[sicprowl]

The Fell-Star

Next     AO3

Sigh.

He was so bored.  So, so bored.

The red head leaned back in his seat, wiggling the pen between his lip and nose while he dazed lazily up at the ceiling.

Siiiiiiiigh.

“Sylvain,”  Ingrid tensed beside him, but her fingers continued to glide across the screen of her navigation system as various symbols lit up on the screen in an array of colors.  “Can you please stop that?”

The communications expert paused a moment, giving his childhood companion a side eye before looking back up at the ceiling.

Groooooan.

“What?”  He laughed and took the pen off his lip to wave it at her, “It’s not the same thing~.”

She wanted to pull her hair out, long braid and all, then strangle him with it.  “Why don’t you go do something productive?!”

“Like what?”  Sylvain gestured around the empty command deck, “There’s nothing to do.”

Ingrid went back to piloting, tick mark pulsing on her forehead.  “You’re supposed to be doing your job.”

“Right, my job…”

Sylvain frowned and put the pen back between his nose and lip.  One glance at his terminal showed nothing but a blank map; black, lifeless, boring. 

He’d gone to the Officers Academy for *this?*  To sit at some desk and listening out into the void, waiting for someone to say hello.  The red head had thought he’d hear some juicy gossip, get paid to chat people up, and maybe even answer distress calls to isolated colonies of beautiful women.

Instead all he got was the latter.  Minus the isolated colony of beautiful women.

Sylvain gave Ingrid a pout, “My job sucks.”

Ingrid wished his seat was closer just so she could smack him.  “Then why didn’t you study something else?!”

“Meh,” he shrugged and leaned back in his seat.  “This seemed the easiest.”

She was getting a migraine, “Can you just….Just go bother someone else?  I can watch everything here.”

Like always.

“They’re all busy.”

Ingrid huffed while focusing on her console again.  “That never stopped you before.  Felix isn’t on duty - I’m sure he could use some company.”

Sylvain deflated and the pen dropped to his lap.  “He’s in the armory having a mood.”

Ingrid looked at him questioningly, but he didn’t elaborate.  He merely waved his hand and spun slowly in his chair.  She squinted at him as he stared at his lap.

“What did you do this time?”

He jerked, “It wasn’t me!!”

The doors to the command deck opened and they both looked to see three members of the crew walk in.

Ingrid stood immediately in a salute, gazing at their Captain with stern obedience that was beat into them throughout their Academy days.  “My Lord!”

Sylvain was slower to stand, not really liking the formalities of it all.  They were all former classmates, most even childhood friends and confidents.  Heck, they’ve spent FIVE YEARS running and gunning Empire ships!  Surely that meant they could relax in their off time?

He glanced at his friend’s Captain’s face, avoiding the eye patch that covered the ghastly scar from a battle long since forgotten.  The heavy bags laid under his eyes as a constant reminder that the man never seemed to sleep and always seemed to be ready to strike.  His blonde hair looked unkempt and long as it curled slightly at his collar.  His black armor was worn from desperate battle after desperate battle while a long blue cloak with snow lion pelt at the collar.  It all made him look like a towering giant; broad, powerful, deadly.

Then there was that lance.

Sylvain gulped, noting the emblem in the middle of the blade cackled like blue lightning.  Thankfully it was merely flickers and not the thunderous storm that seemed to erupt from his old friend during battle.  But Sylvain didn’t need the lance to tell him that the blonde was aching for battle.  The bloodlust in his icy-blue eye was enough of a giveaway.

The red head looked away, unable to handle to see the once calm, and friendly boy of his youth turn into this.  Sylvain focused on Annette instead, the cute and cheerful scientist of the group.

“What’s up?”

The small girl jerked in surprise, feeling as if she were back in school and the teacher had called on her.

“Oh!  Ashe and I were calibrating the engine when we caught a strange signal on our computers!”

Panic settled on Sylvain’s face as he looked at his screen to see one, lone blinking red light right in the middle of his screen.  

Oops.

“Oh!”  Sylvain laughed nervously as all turned to him, “Sorry about that.”

Ingrid groaned while Dedue gave him a look of disapproval.

Dimitri ignored them all as he walked over to his chair, his heavily armored boots making the floor vibrate beneath all their feet.  He plopped down in his chair, his whole body taking over the spot like a predator staking it’s claim.

“Show it to me.”

The red head didn’t need to be told twice.  He sat back down and zeroed in on the signal, fingers dashing across the keys with ease as he turned on the flight screens for everyone.

Annette gasped in awe as the black, white, and blue panels covering the front half of the command deck’s ceiling changed into a vast expanse of stars.  They twinkled like fire flies in streams as a lone nebula laid light years away.  It shined bright in an aurora of periwinkle greens and cobalt blues, reaching out like in large wings that could easily dwarf a Faerghus warship.

It was breathtaking.

Dimitri gripped his lance as the screen zoomed in on a flying ship that zipped across the stars like a comet.  His gaze narrowed as he raked it over the hull of the spaceship, then gave a sharp tooth grin when he found the symbol he so desperately hated.

The emblem in his lance began to spark and Dedue was immediately at his side, ready for orders.  He was Dimitri’s second in command on this ship and closest confidant.  The large man was ever loyal to the lost Prince of Faerghus and has been after he saved him from the Purge of Duscar.  

He was his everything the moment Dimitri pulled him from the rubble.

“Sire?”

The blonde chuckled, making Sylvain’s hair practically stand on end.  “It’s time to hunt some rats.”

>>>>>

Felix’s upper lip snarled in distaste at the litter of corpses that laid in the narrow hallway, blood splattered over the floor and ceiling like it was a morbid painting.  Most of the bodies had been gouged out with a blade while a few were headless or worse…  He always looked away from the worst.

“What a disgusting brute.”

Sylvain didn’t respond as he checked one of the bodies for ammo, putting the ethics of it all in the back of his mind.  He’d unpack this all later.  Right now, he needed to make sure they were prepared.  Felix may have his family shield with him, but that thing couldn’t protect the both of them.  Not unless they wanted to straddle each other.

The red head felt the corner of his lip turn up at the idea, knowing it’d annoy the hell out of his prickly friend.

He stood and touched the comm in his ear, “All clear on the lower deck.”

”I don’t see anyone in the barracks.”  Ashe responded, having gone with Annette as a third wave in case the first two groups missed anyone.

Dedue and Dimitri had charged in headfirst….Well, Dimitri had, Dedue followed after him with his heavy weapons and armor to keep the enemies off the Lord.  Felix and Sylvain had followed after the first few minutes in case anyone came out of hiding to flank them, but lost them when a group of soldiers stormed from another hall.  Speaking of…

”We found something in the engine room.”

Sylvain raised a brow, itching to ask what the Duscar man had found, but could only get out a ‘on our way’ as Felix stroke forward.

“Whoa, wait up!”

Felix glared at the path ahead, “Someone should take that thing away from him.”

Sylvain scratched the back of his head, knowing what his friend was talking about.  “Yeah…probably.”

Except who’d be stupid enough to try?

“Look at this-this MESS!”  Felix gestured around them as they turned the corner to find more blood and lifeless bodies.  “It’s changing him!  He’s sick!”

The red head bit his lip, not wanting to think about Dimitri being sick.  Really, truly sick.

Dimitri had all the signs, all the madness that came with carrying one of the old relics.  The irrationality, the paranoia, the hatred.  He had to be forced to sleep and eat.  They’d find him staring out into space, whispering and pledging to the dead that his goals would be met.  

It made getting a drink at night…unsettling.

Sylvain kept his own lance in his room, not really caring for the alien object.  The old weapons had always creeped him out.  They looked too wrong to be normal and he could only wonder in amazement as to why their ancestors decided to play with them after discovering a tomb on some far off planet.  Sure, they could cut through any armor and barrier like butter, and others could stop bullets and blasts.  But holding them too long came with a price.  A terrible price their Prince was paying for the longer he dwelled on his anger.

Heh.  Thousands and thousands of years later and humans still fight with swords and daggers if angry enough.

Ashe and Annette had made it to the engine before them, both unharmed and standing side by side with the Captain and his Second as they stared at the back wall and talked.  Sylvain raised a brow, wondering what could be so interesting about some machinery.

“It looks like a pod,” Annette said while bending her torso slightly to get a closer look without having to step forward.

Ashe looked excited, but uncertain.  “Maybe it’s some kind of cryo-chamber?”

Annette turned her head when he heard their steps and gestured them over, making room for the two to stop and stare at the strange contraption before them.

Sylvain’s jaw dropped.  “What the hell is that?”

Sitting on a pedestal was a marble.  A giant, green marble that could roll over them all over with the right push.  It was like some big, dull colored crystal ball just…sitting in some corner!

“Is this supposed to be important?”  Felix asked with a wave of his hand.

Ashe was looking behind them, hand on his chin.  “How did they get it through the door?”

“They had heavy guards protecting it and were quite determined to keep us away,” Dedue said thoughtfully.

“It’s kind of pretty.”  Annette finally stepped closer, wanting to poke it.

Dimitri raised his lance and pierced it before the girl could even touch it.  She screamed in shock while every hurried to stop him.

“You’re highness!”

“Whoa, dude!”

“BOAR!!”

But it was already too late, the blade of the deadly lance pierced the object with ease while it’s blue emblem roared to life.  Sparks flew and a bright blue electric current rushed over the marble in a wave as a drip of lime green water started to drip out.

Everyone stood still, frozen mid grab for their Captain as he tore through the membrane like material (not glass like Sylvain had thought).  They all gasped as a dribble of liquid spilled out.

Felix hissed, “You idiot!  Are you trying to get us kill-!?!“

The object suddenly bursted open as swamp like water pooled at their feet and a cloud of gas sprayed out.  It hit Dimitri first as he raised his arm to cover his mouth while the others quickly followed.  The only sound that filled the room was their coughing and the hissing of gas that seemed louder then the ship’s own engines.

“D-Don’t breathe in!”  Annette cried out, squinting her eyes through the slowing fog to try and see what was happening.  

Ashe was already pulling out a small device to scan the air, his arms shaking with fear that they’d all suddenly drop dead.  He blinked and slowly pulled his hand away, only to sneeze.

“O-Oh,” he rubbed his nose.  “It’s safe.  Nothing you wouldn’t find in a rainforest on Almyra.”

Everyone sighed in relief, opening their eyes and looking around at the strange conditions.  The engine room felt less dark and dank and more…bright, nature-y.

Felix jerked away when something touched his cheek and quickly raised his gun, “What is this!?”

Sylvain couldn’t help but laugh.  His friend was waving his weapon around at what looked like giant, glowing dandelion seeds.

Annette’s eyes sparkled as one floated past her face.  “So pretty~!”

“Step back, my Lord!”

They all looked to see Dedue suddenly in front of Dimitri, his arm out to shield him while his other held his large gun, pointed and ready to fire at the broken marble.  No one knew what was happening until the gas began to thin and the spores lit the room up like little lamps.  Sylvain held his breath as a dainty figure stepped out of the object.

“Oh!”  Annette covered her mouth while Felix aimed his gun, all of them wide eyed as a woman with glowing green hair stepped out.  Wait, even her eyes!  

Everything about her seemed to be bright, yet soft.  Like a warm night light that lulled children to a peaceful sleep.  

Her skin looked porcelain, fragile and mark free of any kind of battle or accident.  Her features beautiful, sharp and blank, almost…inhuman.  Then they noticed her ears and Ashe jolted with amazement.

“I-Is she…?!”  He daren’t say it.  

Space had been in their grasp for a good while now.  Their race had traveled many light years and colonized many planets, moons, and even asteroids.  But they’d always be alone with no sign of others living in this vast universe.  But now…?

The woman(?) swept her gaze over them, stopping to stare at each of their faces as they all stood still in shock.  It took her to fully step out for Dedue to aim his gun again.

“Halt, or I will be forced to shoot!”

She continued to stare at them all blankly, her eyes blinking at Dedue’s weapon.  The girl tilted her head, her hand on her cheek as if in deep thought as she studied the heavy gun.  Then her lips parted slightly, a small puff of air coming out in surprise(???) when she saw Dimitri’s lance.

Her hand reached for it and Dedue shot at her feet.  

Annette paled when the strange woman didn’t react to the shot, her eyes now glowing as bright as the orb on Dimitri’s weapon.  The lance practically shook as their Captain snarled, unwilling to let this stranger take what was his.  He raised his lance as he had with the marble and shot forward, aiming straight for her head-!!

There was a scream and a scrambling of feet as half of the team backed away and the other stepped forward, ready to fight - but the scuffle never came.  Nor did the blood or mangled body falling to the floor like all their enemies.  

Instead they could only stare in awe as the blade froze in mid air, the shaft shaking in Dimitri’s hands as he seemed to be fighting to spear her.

“W-What is this!?”

She didn’t react to his snarl, her focus solely on the orb as it continued on with it’s thunderous rage.  A small hand reached out again, ghosting over the emblem with a soft caress.  It did not quell under touch, but also seemed to grow brighter the moment her skin made contact.

Dimitri snarled and the woman looked at his face, her own void of any emotion as she moved both her hands to his chest.  The blonde recoiled, but didn’t move again when the mist in the room finally faded away.

Sylvain blinked, once, twice.  Three times he had to make sure he knew what he was seeing.

“She’s naked!”  Annette gasped while Ashe covered his eyes - all of them more or less agreeing this *was* a woman.

Dimitri’s gaze flickered down then shot right back up, cheeks turning a ruddy red as his arms began to twist.

“Idiot!”  Felix hissed as she moved closer to lay her head on his chest.  “Grab her!!”

Sylvain had to hold in a guffaw when their Captain looked over his shoulder with panic, one hand now holding his weapon while the other tried to find a place to grab.  

“W-Where?!”

“Anywhere!”

He didn’t seem to like that answer.  It meant he had to look at her again, take in her form and try to…restrain her.  Sylvain could only look on fondly as Dimitri began to fluster as the woman seemed to be resting against where his heart was.  It reminded the red head how painfully bad Dimitri was with women.

Who would have thought this raging beast would fall apart before some girl?

Dimitri swallowed hard when she looked up, eye wild with uncertainty as she reached up to cup his cheeks.  He held his breath, thankful for the armor that separated his body from hers.  All he had to do was not look too far down at her…ample….c-c-c-chest.

But he didn’t have to worry about that, not when she was tugging his head down into a kiss that made him drop his lance.

Annette gasped, Ashe asked what was happening from behind his arm while Felix and Dedue seemed at a loss.  Sylvain was the only one doing something about the situation, and that was taking a few sneaky pictures to laugh at later.

The Prince was no better, his body tense in shock as the woman’s soft lips pressed his cracked ones.  She held fast to his face while turning her head slightly, her eyes closed as if this was her long lost lover.  Dimitri almost, almost closed his eye too, not wanting to admit that it was…nice.  Yes, very nice.

But she had stopped before he could, letting his face go and staring up at him expectantly.

Dimitri blinked, body trembling like a teenage girl as he stared back.  

Ashe finally took the time to look, having missed the strange kiss during his nervousness.  But now he was interested and he couldn’t help but finally say it.  “D-Did we just make first contact?!”

Sylvain snickered, glancing at their lost Captain.  “Someone here sure did~”

[stellarune]

Heyyyyyyyyyyy

It’s me with a new fic ! I’ve always had a sweet spot for sickfics, so here you gooooo.

Title : why Elwin can never take a break

Word count : 2k

Pairing : Tam/Keefe

Rating : T

Tw : sickness, vomiting (nothing graffic), fever

Keefe felt weird, weirder than usual. He had had his eight hours of required beauty sleep, but he still felt tired. Nothing that would stop him to hang out with his friends at the sleepover that night, but his throat felt weird too, scratchy, but not enough to make him cough. It was probably nothing, something he had eaten.

He shivered. Why was it so cold in here ? Did Juline come to Everglen earlier ? Keefe rummaged through his drawers to find the comfiest, biggest hoodie he had. Better. As the warmth flooded all over him, he flopped back on the bed. Taking a nap 20 minutes after waking up couldn't be a bad idea, right ?

When he woke up, he felt better, less tired. The scratchiness was gone,so even if he had a faint headache now, he was fine ! He felt awfully hot though, why had he thought for a second that it was a good idea to go to sleep in a hoodie ? Keefe was covered in sweat now, and this hoodie retched.

The shower would help, nevermind the water was so cold it felt like icicles against his skin. He was waiting for the water to warm up, but after all, cold water was good for his hair, so he felt with it. He was still dying for a warm shower right now, all of his muscles were sore. Tam knocked on the bathroom’s door.

“You’ve been in here for an hour, hurry up ! I need to use the shower too !” How had it been an hour ? The water hadn’t even warmed up yet. He finished showering quickly, and grabbed the fuzziest, softest towel of them all, who cared if it was Sophie’s, and got out.

“Whoa dude, you look more like shit than usual.”

“Thanks, you too, bangs boy.” Keefe, rolled his eyes. He wanted to go back to his dark, cold room. Why was it even that hot here ? He had been shivering under the shower a minute ago. Now, he was sweating like…

He felt a cold hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I- why are you so hot ?”

Keefe smirked “Aw, you think I’m hot !” That was cute, but now, he had a bed he had to get back to. Too bad that he couldn’t keep Tam’s hand with him, the cold felt nice. He felt like he had worked out for hours yesterday, and he hoped that lying with a blanket on top would help with the soreness. He wasn’t hungry anyways, so staying upstairs would be fine. He was starting to leave, but Tam stopped him.

“You’re burning up, dude” Tam was running cold, but it was alright, it was comfortable. Keefe raised his hand to his forehead. It wasn’t that bad, maybe a little hotter than usual, but nothing too alarming either.

“Don’t worry, Shadow Man, I’m fine.” It was probably a cold, Sophie had talked about these, and it was possible he had caught one while fighting the Neverseen in London. Right. Now he needed to get to his room. The problem was he wasn’t sure if he would be able to do that anymore, he kinda felt like he would fall if he took one step over. Okay he had to do this, he wasn’t gonna be stopped by a simple cold. One step at the time. Here we go. He could do this.

Keefe couldn’t. He still managed to take the first step. More or less. He fell right on Tam.

“Okay, Mr I’m Absolutely Not Sick, let's get you back to bed...” That… did sound better than he cared to admit.

Together, they walked to Keefe’s room. Well, it was more like Tam carrying Keefe and supporting ninety percent of his weight, but they made it all the same. Once Keefe was finally settled in, he fully realized how bad he was feeling. How did he think for a second he would be able to go to the sleepover ? He was swimming in his own sweat. Why was it so hot ? Did someone turn on the heat ? Everything was too hot, his bed, his pillow, his blanket… why did he even have a blanket ? Keefe pushed it away, but as soon as the air hit his skin he pulled it back up. His room was freezing ! They needed to turn the heat on. He couldn’t find a position where he was comfortable, all of his joints screaming each time he moved.

Tam left him. Keefe hadn’t even realized he was stroking his hair but now he was leaving and Keefe didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want him to leave, because if he was gone then that meant Keefe was all alone. And right now that sounded terrifying.

Then, as quickly as he was gone, Tam was back. But he didn’t go back to stroking his hair, instead he put a cold washcloth on Keefe’s forehead, and god if that didn’t feel amazing. Soon, it felt damp, water mixed with burning sweat. It hurt so bad it was ridiculous, his whole body was on fire. Tam changed the cloth three times before helping him sit up. The room was spinning fast. Did the Neverseen do something to it ? Who the heck was touching him ? What was in the glass they were giving him ? Was it poisoned? It had to be. He tried to take the cup and throw it at them, but his hands were shaking so hard he only managed to spill it on himself. It was so so so cold he was shaking from everywhere and his teeth were clacking.

“C’mon, you need to drink or you’ll dehydrate” he knew this voice. Oh. How had he forgotten Tam ? Keefe’d been in love with him for as long as he could remember.

“What ?” Oops. He had said that out loud. He hummed and tugged on Tam’s sleeve. He would deal with this latter, but right now he wanted cuddles.

“Come here” Tam lay beside him and snuggled his face in Keefe’s hair.

“I swear if I catch this thing, I’m gonna kill you.” Keefe could worry about that later. Right now, the guy he was in love with, who so happened to be the perfect temperature to be the nicest thing ever, was lying in bed with him. So he got on his side, grabbed Tam’s arm and tried to get comfortable

Keefe was woken up by the intense need to throw up. He rushed to the bathroom and all but falled to his knees in front of the toilets. His stomach was killing him, and he felt like he was going to throw up, but all he did was gag without being able to get anything out but too thick saliva and acid bile. Still, his body kept wanting to get more out. Before long, Tam was there, rubbing circles on his back and gently stroking his hair.

“It’s okay, get it all out.”

Once his stomach had finally settled, more or less, he slumped against the wall. Tam sat next to him. He was perfect for Keefe to put his head on his shoulder. The cool felt nice.

“Sorry I woke you.” He sounded awful, his voice all scratched up.

“‘S fine” he sounded even more tired than Keefe, who wasn’t as hot as before, so at least that was that. Soon, they were both asleep again.

To say the morning was worse was an understatement. Keefe wasn’t on fire anymore, he felt like he was in a freezer. He was shaking, shivering and coughing, and all of his body was in pain every time he breathed. He felt like his bones were cracking open, and his head was exploding. He let out a couple of white hot tears. His fever was even higher than the day before, and he hurt so much he didn’t even think he would be able to get to his bed without throwing up. Everything hurt, the wall behind him, the light filtering below the door, the faint noise of Verdi outside, everything.

Tam was panicking. He didn’t know what he could do to help. Just carrying Keefe to his bed had him whimpering in pain and shaking like crazy. Nothing he did seemed to help : he had tried to get Keefe’s fever down by turning on the air conditioning, and Keefe had started shivering in his sleep and clacking his teeth; Tam had tried to make him drink a bottle of Youth, but he had thrown it back up right away. The only thing he could do was to hold him during his fever induced nightmares and pray that Sophie would manage to contact Elwin so he could come back early from his mystery vacations.

This day was essentially Keefe passing in and out of consciousness and Tam trying to focus on the book he was reading. Yeah that wasn’t working. He just wanted Keefe to get better already so he could stop worrying about whether or not it was a good sign Keefe had stopped vomiting. He had stopped pretending not to worry hours ago, when Sophie had found him smoothing Keefe’s hair on his forehead.

He fell asleep while holding him during nightmare number 158 of the day.

When Keefe woke up with a personal living heater against his back, he didn’t question it, he pressed closer to Tam. He felt better, like he wasn’t going to pass out if he tried to walk. He wasn’t sweating either, so he supposed his fever had gone down a notch. He dozed off pretty quickly after that.

He woke up again, but without Tam behind him. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t here though, as he was stroking Keefe’s hair while holding a plate with a good dozen of rifflepuffs. He couldn’t help it, he leaned in the touch and hummed in contentement. What a sight to wake up too, his two favorite things in the world.

Tam chuckled . “I sure hope I pass before the rifflepuffs, though.” Oops. Keefe shrugged. He was too tired to care. He considered closing his eyes and going back to sleep for a split second, but the temptation of pastries was too strong. He sat up on the bed.

Tam tapped a finger to his chin, to look like he was considering pros and cons of giving a rifflepuff to Keefe before taking one and eating it himself. Keefe feigned to be outraged.

“How dare you do this to me ? My own flesh, my own blood !”

Tam rolled his eyes and tried to look annoyed, but the smile kinda gave it away. “I’ve been dealing with you for two entire days, I deserve to see you suffer.” He ate a second one.

Things kinda escalated from there. Keefe was trying to steal at least one pastry, while Tam ate them before he could. He still got the last one, and let out a cry of joy when he finally ate it. That didn’t last very long though, Tam almost immediately hit him with a pillow, and Keefe obviously had to get revenge, so now, they were sitting next to each other, laughing after the biggest pillow fight they ever had.

“You’re gonna kill me one day, you little shit.”

“You love me,” Keefe huffed. He was leaning on Tam, his head on his shoulder, and Tam was playing with Keefe’s hair.

Tam sighed, and kissed his hair. “I really do.” Keefe stood up immediately with his eyes open wide. What ? When did that happen ? Not that he was complaining or anything.

“What did I tell you ?” He couldn’t remember most of the last two days, still fuzzy and blurred, which wasn’t exactly surprising, but still. “Not that I’m not happy about… that,” he said, gesturing between them.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, honeybee,” Tam smirked. Keefe grunted and went back to Tam’s shoulder, pouting. Tam chuckled, the audacity, and resumed his stroking. He couldn’t help it, Keefe leaned in the touch, humming.

“‘My god. You’re a dog. How didn’t I see it sooner ?” How could Keefe still pout when he said that ? He stood up again, waiting for a sign that Tam would be alright with what he would do next. He nodded.

Keefe leaned in and suddenly, he was kissing Tam. There were no fireworks, no sparks, no butterflies, just warmth and peace. And if that wasn’t the best feeling ever, then Keefe didn’t know what it was. Tam’s hands were always in his hair, but now it was his turn. He had been dying to pass his finger through this hair for long enough. It felt amazing, and he was so so happy to be able to do that now. They broke the kiss for air after what felt like seconds.

He felt like he could keep kissing Tam forever, and maybe he actually could. Now if that wasn’t something to look forward to. Keefe broke into laughter.

“Why the heck did it take us so long ?”

[clownsgobeepbeep]

Fluffy Heart

@grotesquegabby @post-itpenny Tagging you because some of yours are in this :3 Just something I felt like writing

It seemed like another decent day to hang out at the park.

Children were in school, so the park would be mostly. Sure, there would always be the need to watch out for dogs and such, but it was safe to say...that it was safe.

Mr. Twinkles sat upon the parapet of a bridge, his arms behind him as he moved his little legs in sync. He was enjoying the nice sunlight that fell upon him, especially with the peach he had managed to snag the other day.

He gave a content sigh, then turning to look around the area that was empty. It was so wonderful.

“I’m winning!”

The doll turned to look down from the bridge, right where there was a source of water flowing right beneath it. And right on it, he spotted a boat, a small boat that was practically meant for his size.

“Dad! Dad! I’m winning!”

“Oooh, careful now. Your brother’s about to cross paths.”

“Hey, no fair!”

Mr. Twinkles looked down at the water where he now saw a second boat, this one crossing in front of the first which made it slow down to prevent a small crash. He then looked up to where another one of the bridges was noticing three figures. Two much shorter than the third who no doubt was a parent, the parent of the two kids.

“Ooooh, Rowan, you better be careful there.~”

“I was winning!”

Mr. Twinkles soon squinted at the trio, realizing that one of them had a head of black hair...and two different colored eyes. His face...looked so serious, like he was ready to stab somebody.

Wait…

“Dang it!”

“Aw, sorry about that champ.” the father ruffled the brown haired boy’s hair, chuckling at his pout. “Looks like Basil won this one.”

“Basil!?” Mr. Twinkles stood up from his seat, panic coursing through his tiny body which made him flail around and accidentally make his peach roll over the bridge and into the water.

This then caused a splash that caught the trio’s attention, especially the black haired boy’s.

“Oh shit!” the doll gasped, immediately turning before attempting to run down the bridge to get away before the boy came over, because he knew he’d come. “Oh shit! Oh shit!”

He soon found himself at the bottom of the railing, then giving a shriek of fear once he bumped into a body.

“Oh shit! Oh shit!” he repeated as he fell onto his bottom, now looking up in horror at the boy that loomed over him.

“Basil!”

“Where’d you go?”

Mr. Twinkles gulped up at the boy who glared down at him, coming even closer as footsteps were heard nearby.

“Basil, there you are.”

“Why’d ya run over here?”

In an instantly, the boy reached over and grabbed Mr. Twinkles, right before shoving him into his pocket.

“Basil!”

“Hey, don’t run off like that.” Twinkles heard the adult say. “You got me worried there for a sec.”

There was a silence for a moment, right before the other child gasped.

“You wanna go home already? But we just got here!”

“Rowan, we’ve been here for an hour and a half. I think Basil’s right. Dinner’s probably close to being ready.”

“Aww, but dad!”

“Come on, let’s go.”

Deep inside the pocket of a young boy, Mr. Twinkles’ fears increased by the second.

_____________

“Hey, you guys are back.”

“How was the park?”

“Fun! Dad bought us some ice cream on the way here!”

“Ice cream before dinner?” a woman’s voice asked as something was set down, no doubt a knife. “Atlas!”

“Rowan, I told you to keep it secret.”

“Oops.”

Mr. Twinkles felt as he was still stuck inside the boy’s pocket, too afraid to move. He was too afraid of attempting escape, but also remaining inside the pocket was too scary.

“Go wash your hands guys, we’re almost done with dinner.”

“Kay mom. Come on Basil.”

The doll gave a yelp as he felt the boy run off with the other, continuing to yelp every time he felt his small body bounce.

“Boys! No running!” called a man, one that wasn’t the one at the park.

“Hey Basil, where you going?” the brown haired boy asked, right before a silence followed, and once again speaking. “Oh, okay!”

The doll finally felt a hand slip into the pocket he was in, right before the back of his outfit was grabbed. He was pulled up and out of the pocket, right before he came face to face with none other than Basil.

“H-hey kid!” Mr. Twinkles nervously laughed. “How ya been, huh? Why don’t...why don’t ya let me go?”

He saw as the boy shook his head.

“Come on! You can let ol’ little Twinkles down! What’d I ever do to you?”

Basil’s eyebrows somehow furrowed even deeper, this sending chills down Twinkles’ body.

“Where are you even taking me? Won’t your mom get made for picking up random dolls at the park!?”

Mr. Twinkles soon heard a door open, and he felt as he was brought into a room that had a sort of soothing atmosphere to it. However...Basil’s presence made it seem otherwise.

“Come on, what are you doing!?” the doll exclaimed, Basil soon bringing him farther from his body and dropping him. “Whoa!”

He soon found himself on something soft. Something soft and fluffy.

“Hey, hey, hey! You can’t just leave me here!” Mr. Twinkles shouted up at Basil, especially as the latter walked away and shut the door behind him. “Hey! Please! Kid, please! You can’t just leave me here!”

The doll attempted to comfort himself, gulping as he looked around the area before taking notice of several things.

A rocking horse that was a carousel horse.

A rocking chair.

Pastel colors.

Animals painted on the walls.

A changing station.

“Oh...oh no.” Mr. Twinkles felt a fear go through him again, especially as he realized just where the boy had dropped him into. “It’s a baby room!”

He began to panic once again, especially as he heard a soft yawn behind him.

Ever so slowly, Mr. Twinkles turned around….fearing for his life.

That was when he looked at a face that fluttered its eyes open, now revealing big hazel eyes.

“Oh shit!” Mr. Twinkles cursed once again, especially as the eyes looked down at him. With a smile.

“No, no, no, no, no!” he shook his head, falling backwards before the baby reached over and grabbed his body, pulling it towards the baby as Twinkles shut his eyes, awaiting his new torture.

However, he was surprised when he instead felt...warm.

He opened his eyes in hesitation, hearing a coo from above.

The doll looked up at the baby, realizing that she was snuggling into his small body, her arms gently hugging him.

“I...um…”he looked at her in confusion, feeling her small hand pat his head while still cuddling with his tiny frame. “Huh…”

Mr. Twinkles allowed the treatment to continue, especially as the baby released him and placed him on her bed. He felt a blanket be placed over his body, an extremely soft one that almost made him doze off.

He looked at the infant who smiled down at him, and he smiled back up at her.

“Flora, Willow.~”

He looked to the side as a light shone through a now open door, and stepped in a man that made Twinkles panic a bit.

The baby squealed in delight as she reached her arms out, right before large hands reached inside the crib and took hold of her.

“Your sister’s still sleeping, but mommy has some dinner for you.” Flora’s father cooed at the baby who giggled at him. “Hey, where’d you get this new doll?”

“Hey there.”

“Whoa, what the-” the man blinked down at Mr. Twinkles. “Um, Atlas?”

“Yeah?” the man from before walked into the room, making Twinkles sit up as he looked at the two men and the baby. “Whoa.”

“Hey guys what’s wrong?” now sounded the woman from before, the doll already recognizing who it was.”

“Nothing! We’ll be there in a bit.”

“Just getting the girls.” Atlas said, right before reaching in and grabbing Mr. Twinkles who yelped as he was taken on yet another trip. He then made sure to pick up the other baby who had just started to awaken.

“Smells good mom!”

“Thank you Rowan, but it was your dad who made dinner this time.” Mr. Twinkles could hear the voice that clearly belonged to Ula, his nervousness once again returning. “What’s that Atlas?”

“You remember Mr. Twinkles?” Atlas sat down with Willow resting on his chest, Ula quirking an eyebrow. “Because guess who I found in Flora’s crib?”

“What?” Ula frowned, now seeing as the doll was set down on the dinner table. “How in-”

“Basil brought him!” Rowan exclaimed with a giggle. “He told me he brought him for Flora and Willow!”

“Uh...um…”Mr. Twinkles nervously laughed as all eyes were on him, and he gulped as he especially felt Basil’s eyes. “H-hi…?”

“I see you don’t stop getting into trouble, Mr. Twinkles.” Ula sighed, taking hold of her knife and fork which made Twinkles shake in fear, especially as she sweetly smiled at him. “So how about you stay for dinner?”

“W...What?” the doll stared at Ula in disbelief, not knowing if she was screwing with his head.

“Stay for dinner. I can get you some utensils and plates from the girls’ dolls.” Ula stood up. “Just sit tight.”

“R-really?” he asked again, seeing Ula nod before she made her way out, leaving him with everybody else.

“This is so cool! We have a tiny doll having dinner with us!” Rowan giggled as he stared at Mr. Twinkles in awe, then turning to Atlas and Schrader.

“Um...how, uh….how you guys been?”

“Good.” Schrader replied as he stroked Flora’s hair, seeing how she smiled down at the doll. “Just been with the kids.”

“Haha...nice to know.” Mr. Twinkles looked at every person again, right before hearing another giggle from Rowan.

“You know what Basil told me?” he grinned at Twinkles. “He told me the tiny doll flirted with mom when they were at the mall one time.”

Mr. Twinkles tugged at his hat for a moment, looking around the table once again as he now felt glares from Atlas and Schrader.

This was gonna be a long dinner.

[yumi-michiyo]

Tempo [5/?]

Rating: K+, may be subject to change later

Genre: Humour/Fluff/Slowburn

Pairing(s): Kristoff/Elsa (Kristelsa), some Kristoff/Anna (Kristanna)

Summary: Their pace varies; sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but always in harmony. Canon!AU, takes place immediately after the first movie. A series of drabbles.

Part 1 here

Part 2 here

Part 3 here

Part 4 here

Five: Con Slancio – with enthusiasm

“Do you think we could see it?”

“See what?”

“Your house.”

Kristoff hesitated. “Uh, it’s not really fit for visitors at the moment.” That was an euphemism, really; he hadn't been back in months. His house (really a hut) was probably musty and leaky and generally uninhabitable.

"I don't mind,” said Elsa gently, “you know that.” 

Of course he did. Even now, closer to acquaintances than friends, Kristoff knew that Elsa wasn’t the type of person that cared about appearances. He just didn't like the idea of bringing her somewhere unpleasant; especially not after he had finally broken the chain of bad luck that dogged their little trips together. 

It was also rare that Elsa made requests; enough that Kristoff would have given her the moon if she’d asking him for it. 

He realised Elsa was still waiting for an answer.

Clearing his throat, Kristoff said: "Let me go take a look and clean it up before we head there, okay? Wouldn't want you to think I live in a garbage dump."

Her laughter was musical. "Kristoff," she protested, "I would never think that."

Kristoff decided to go for humour. “You say that, but wait ‘til you see it.”

He was busy, and the trip kept being postponed. Gradually the promise fell from his mind.

Until the day he, Anna, and Elsa were delayed on their way back from a trip to the ice lakes. It was dark by the time they were halfway through. “We shouldn’t have dallied that long,” he fretted. 

“I’m sorry,” said Anna dejectedly. “I shouldn’t have insisted on meeting Jovnna’s family.” She slumped lower in the seat beside him. 

“No, it’s okay. I should’ve kept a better track of time.” Kristoff wrapped an arm around Anna’s shoulders and squeezed. “C’mon, cheer up, Fiestypants. You were just being nice.” 

Inwardly, though, Kristoff’s mind was racing, calculating their options. They risked being attacked by wolves if they continued on, not to mention the dangers of pitfalls and crevasses; the moon was a slim crescent, not enough to light the path reliably. 

“Oh,” he said suddenly. 

“Oh?”

“My house.”

“Your house?” It was Elsa who had spoken this time. 

“Yeah, I have a hut around this area,” said Kristoff, deliberately not meeting Elsa’s gaze. “We can spend the night there and continue travelling next morning.”

“You have a house?” asked Anna, wrinkling her nose. “Don’t you, like, live with your family?”

Kristoff snorted. “And sleep curled up among the rocks? Yeah, no thanks.” He flicked Sven’s reins. “You know the way, buddy,” he said to the reindeer, who snorted. Turning back to Anna, he continued: “I got my own place once I was old enough to look after myself.” 

“And how old were you when that happened?” 

“Uhhh…” He didn’t know when he was born. Kristoff vaguely remembered a faceless woman tell him he was six winters old some time before the accident. He couldn’t remember exactly how much time had passed between then and the time he’d run off to the trolls. “I’m twenty-one winters old this year, I reckon; so I must’ve been… fifteen?” 

“You reckon? You don’t know how old you are?” Anna put her hand on his arm. “Kristoff, when's your birthday?"

Kristoff shrugged. Heat prickled the back of his neck. “I dunno. Look, it wasn’t really important then, and it still isn’t. What matters is that you're old enough to work and look after yourself. Me and Sven just add a year on the first day of spring; that’s easy enough to remember.” 

Whatever Anna said in response was lost when the sled jerked; Sven had darted forward. 

"Whoa! What's the big hurry, Sven?" Kristoff squinted ahead. He glimpsed a familiar trail marker and whooped in excitement. “Alright! We’re close! Home, buddy!” 

The reindeer harrumphed excitedly and sped up. 

"Don't think we're done with this conversation, reindeer boy," huffed Anna. 

Kristoff pretended not to hear as he pulled up the sled in a clearing in front of a hut. He hopped off, already fishing out the key from inside his shirt. "Uh," he said, "welcome to my house." 

"Oooh, this looks nice." Anna bounced eagerly on the balls of her feet behind him as he fumbled with the lock.

The smell hit him when he got the door open. It smelt musty, and every surface Kristoff could see had a thick coat of dust. Luckily, it was mostly intact otherwise. Kristoff exhaled in relief.

"Oooh," repeated Anna brightly and with more enthusiasm, unwinding her scarf. "This looks nice." 

"Oh, shoot, hang on." He darted forward, scooping up a dirty plate from the table and shoving it into a cupboard, out of sight. "Sven! Can you wait outside for a bit while I get your stall ready?"

Sven froze in the doorway, snorted his assent, and then backed out. Elsa stepped into the house around him, looking amused. 

“No, wait.” He retrieved a broom from the cupboard in the corner of the hut. "Uh, can you guys wait outside in the sled?" Kristoff surveyed the place; his eye traveled over the untidy dining table and the cold hearth full of ash. At the very least, he'd remembered to strip his bed before he’d left, so the cupboard was full of clean bedding.

He'd been perfectly content with all this before, but now it seemed shabby and small compared to the castle.

Anna bounded over. "Can we help?" 

"It's fine."

"Please?" It was Elsa who spoke this time. 

Kristoff hesitated. "Look, I don't really wanna be the guy who made the queen and princess of Arendelle do housework…"

"But this is kinda survival work." Anna waved a hand. "It's fine. Is this where you keep your cleaning stuff?" She pointed at the cupboard.

"Actually, can you two help me get a fire going?" Kristoff said.

"Consider it done."

"Great. There should be firewood in the other corner ��� " he pointed "– and a box of matches next to it." Kristoff caught himself. "Wait, do you know how to start a fire? You need to sweep all the ashes out of the hearth first."

"I'm on it," said Anna excitedly. She grabbed the rake.

"Wait, Anna! Set out the cloth on the floor first!" He dropped the broom and snatched up the cloth – just in time for Anna to sweep a large pile of ash onto it. 

"That worked out fine," said Anna. "We make a good team." She stacked logs in the hearth, quickly getting the fire started.

When Kristoff straightened up, he noticed Elsa had picked up his discarded broom and was finishing up the work. "You don't have to do that," he said, holding out his hand for the broom.

"It's fine," she said. "Like Anna said, this is survival work." Elsa smiled at him, and resumed her work.

Kristoff blushed. "Uh, well, if you say so." He busied himself with cleaning up Sven's stall, going to the storage shed outside to fetch clean straw.

He paused to knock snow off his boots on the step. In the short time he was gone, there was a fire crackling in the hearth and a mound of blankets in front of it. Kristoff frowned. The mound was… cackling…?

"Elsa found a cupboard full of blankets and cleaned it out," said the blankets. Anna poked her head out, her hair a complete mess. "This is gonna be the best blanket fort ever."

He dumped the clean straw in the stall and called Sven in. "I guess we don't need that anymore," said Kristoff with a sigh as the reindeer clumped in, spotted the blanket pile, and excitedly burrowed into the mound.

"Oops. I'm sorry," she said.

"Nah, he's just ungrateful that way."

Sven brayed indignantly, and Kristoff laughed. "Okay, what do you need for this fort of yours?"

"Can you fetch me some chairs, please?"

He'd never built a blanket fort before. Anna didn't seem to care, and cheerfully bullied him and Elsa (who had finished sweeping) into following her directions until they had a snug nest.

"Perfect," said Anna. "Sven?"

The reindeer – his antlers part of the fort's structural support – lifted his head, creating an entrance. She crawled in and sat up on her haunches. "Come in, guys."

"Glad you think so." Kristoff obediently occupied the space Anna indicated to him, on her right. On Anna's other side, Elsa tucked her legs under her and yawned.

"Goodnight, everyone." She crawled into the space between them, tucked a pillow under her head, and fell asleep.

Kristoff was exhausted. Sleep tugged at his senses, willing him to rest. But he fought it, sitting upright and glancing over at Elsa. "Are you comfy? Are you cold? I have some furs somewhere."

"I'm fine," said Elsa around a huge yawn.

It was the most unqueenly thing he'd seen her do, and only his own exhaustion was stopping him from bursting into laughter. "Okay. Uh – let me know if you need anything else."

She nodded. "Kristoff?"

“Hmm?”

“You don’t live in a garbage dump.” She lay down and closed her eyes. 

“That’s because you guys helped clean it,” he muttered, but she was already asleep.

He woke to the sound of rocks grinding.

It wasn't unpleasant; he'd been raised by trolls, and the harsh grating sound was common when their rock bodies collided. But it was much louder than Kristoff was accustomed to, and he was also very snug and warm – something not associated with trolls.

Kristoff opened his eyes.

The grating sound was coming from Anna, who was snoring loud enough for a valley of trolls.

He squinted at her. Kristoff vaguely remembered Anna falling asleep between himself and Elsa… and now she was on top of him, which meant…

Kristoff glanced to his left, and saw white-blonde hair.

His chest was currently a pillow for Anna, like how his left arm was Elsa's pillow. He was lying on his back and completely immobilized by Arendelle's queen and princess.

He sighed. He tested his right arm and found it occupied by Sven. "You too, buddy?"

Sven huffed sleepily and settled closer to them.

What light he could see was bright enough to penetrate the roof of the blanket fort, which probably meant it was close to midday. Kristoff was amazed by how late they'd slept; he was normally up with the sun.

His head rolled to the left towards Elsa. She was still sound asleep. 

When he flexed his arm, she muttered something in her sleep and clutched his hand. 

Kristoff froze.