#would’ve kept this in replies but i hit character limit my bad

[stillw4t3r]

besides what was said in replies, which i agree is true, i think it’s also because she isn’t in any of the healers’ bound. she’s an important character (more important than many of the other named npcs, actually, especially when considering specific routes), but you can’t affect her life/death the way you can with other named npcs. with all the bound, they have that dialogue after their deaths as a way of telling you (without even looking you in the eye; they’re all faced away), “you let me die. i had x, y, and z to see and do and be, but i am dead because you allowed it.” but, you can’t protect or save aglaya the way you are actively meant to with your own bound. she’s just Doomed, made to die in the background no matter what you do (at least in 2). she wasn’t, as an actress, taken out of the equation like the others are when you don’t show up for them; when you don’t improvise to the best of your ability and prompt with ‘yes, and?’ or even just follow the script to a t. she simply has a scripted exit, and she is not quite a woman to deny that which she’s been written to do despite being more conscious of it than pretty much any other character.

im still not fully done with my first playthrough of patho2, i might be missing something, but how come aglaya lillich doesnt show up in the theatre of death?

i get she knows more than most characters but i dunno how that correlates with not being in the theatre, did she girlboss her way out or what?

[noritoshiikamo]

game over

pairing: noritoshi kamo + fem!oc genre: angst tags//warning: established relationship, wild gojo appeared // blood, character death, emotion distress, mention of shibuya  note: the obligatory trio of mine: not well edited, lowercase intended, english isnt my first language im sorry if i murder it. note that i put descriptions of the characters i write so it would be easier for me, you’re free to imagine the character the way you seem fits! okay listen imma be honest i dont like this part that much dhhdbdjksncjddiem and im sorry if it sucks bcs istg i cant compete to part 1 and 2 of it so IM SORRY tagging @unabashednightmarepizza @sassyeahhhh @dok-ja @sukirichi [bold means i cant tag u idky :( lemme know if wanna be tagged in the next part] read the first part | second part | third part | bonus

few years ago;

“you’re fucking ridiculous!”

“you’re injured, how the fuck is it me that’s being unreasonable?”

she contemplated stabbing him straight to his chest. “i’m fine, leave me alone,” she hissed, holding on to her arm as she tried to limp away. second year jujutsu student noritoshi kamo wondered how the hell one could be this stubborn. with blood caked up on the side of her face, lips busted and bruising in the corner, not to mention the broken arm and probably twisted ankle, he could not understand how one could be this reckless and stupid, it’s almost ridiculous.

but here she is standing in front of him.

“you could’ve let me handle it,” he said, coldly.

she never turned that fast in her life; her limping leg suddenly worked fine as she hauled her ass, throwing both fists to his chest. the force put was enough to threw him back a few steps, he caught her wrists holding her from falling down. “stop acting like i’m so fragile. i can exorcist the curse just fine. you make me hate you so much,” she spitted, pure rage etched on her face, “just because i’m a girl, because i’m your girl, i’m weak. please, i am as good as you are, kamo.”

their faces were so close, he could count the freckles spread on her nose and cheeks. he loves her eyes the very first time he caught glimpse of it; one is a dull brown while the other looks like it carries the secret of the bright blue sea. this time, the eyes he loves looked hopeless, lack of the burning spirit she carried with tears threatening to spill. letting go of a wrist, his trembling hand brushed the hair coated with the blood back, carefully not to hurt her. “i never said you are bad,” he clarified, fingers busy brushing the hair back. his sudden reaction surprised her, and her body betrayed her thoughts as she eased in his arms.

he tilted her chin, his head was panicking as he realised that his brain was no longer controlling his movement as he leaned down and kissed her.

she tasted like blood.

she winced, pain aching on the swollen part and he apologized so quietly as he deepened the kiss. “nori-” her voice croaked as she swallowed his moans. he hummed, satisfied by the kiss. their foreheads rest against each other, the tip of their noses touched as they struggled to catch breath.

“stop being stupid. let me help you okay?”

“okay.”

slipping his arm under hers, he helped her walk, leading them out of the abandoned building they managed to exorcist. nothing major, a couple of pestering level three and four curses that them both handled well but their supervisor missed to tell them about the hiding level two curse that took them by surprise. she had become the curse’s main target.

if she would’ve just listened to him and stay close. he sighed.

“ouch, ouch,” she cried, clutching on her left leg, forcing him to stop. impatient, he slipped his hand under her knees, lifting her up in his arms. she apologized profusely, embarrassed to be such a burden to him. he brushed it off immediately.

“did you call them? told them that we are done?”

she gasped, “wait, i thought they’ll wait for us.”

he huffed, “you’re not that important, y/n. give them a call, please. i want to go home.”

kicking the door open, the moonlight shone on them as he carried her down to the bottom stairs. settling her down on the steps, he sat beside her, letting a long sigh. he watched as she took the call, letting them know that she was slightly injured, and they need to go back asap. she was visibly tired, and he was the same too.

he couldn’t help but to sigh at the way the moonlight enveloped her. he had loved her from the very first moment he caught his eyes on her; she caught him staring, called him out publicly and ignored all his advances. it took him a lot to court her. she’s a gojo, she can have anything and everything with the sky is the limit.

but one thing money could never buy is affection.

it started with little stuffs; noritoshi waiting for her with her lunch readied every day. it annoyed her but momo (who was secretly rooting for him) forced her to just do it. “it’s just a lunch,” momo said sheepishly. noritoshi would have them paired all the time for the missions. she’d accepted it with open heart. noritoshi would also teach her how to weld a bow and shoot arrows. she promised that she would go out on date with him if he taught her.

by the end of their first year, they became inseparable.

the idea of being apart from her hurts him physically and mentally. she took a sharp breath when he laced his fingers between her own, quickly telling the other person on the phone that she was okay. “it was just noritoshi,” she replied with a small laugh. their hands fit each other; his skin contrasted her slightly tanned skin. while his hands were rough from welding the bow and he kept his nail short and clean, hers were slightly softer with her nails painted prettily. this month she had her nails painted in pastel. all the girls’ day out with momo and mai had proven its importance. he was happy to provide her with his black card despite her discontent.

“analysing my hands now?”

he smiled slightly, “it looks very pretty. i guess i got my money worth. are they coming?”

she leaned on his shoulder, his own wrapped around her as she closed her eyes, “they are around the corner. i would definitely need another round this week,” she teased. kissing her forehead gently, he didn’t mind that his uniform was stained with her blood; he was glad that she’s safe.

“i’ll happily take you there.”

few years later;

noritoshi kamo almost lost his mind. the stadium was half destroyed, huge craters on the pitch with the sight of his wife nowhere to be found. he looked up to the black pitch curtain encasing the stadium area from the sky, a curse escaped his lips.

“where the fuck are you?” he grunted, scanning the area.

she is gone, his stubborn little wife. she could’ve just wait but annoyed that their dinner date was interrupted and eager because this was their first mission together as a married couple; she escaped his supervision. as they were dealing with minor curses outside, she decided to head on forward, leaving him to deal with whatever is left. he beat himself inside for letting her come, he could easily do this himself and send her home safely, but she blinked her eyes and he was weak. she always has her way with him.

his step stopped when he realised there was a shadow ahead.

“she’s pretty,” the thing said.

his blood ran cold, “what did you do to my wife?”

the curse let out a laugh. it was sinister enough to send chills down his spine. especially when he realised the head it was stepping on was his wife. her eyes were fluttering back and forth, struggling to stay awake. a howl shocked him, shivers down his spine at the painful whimpers her shikigami making. cursed spirits were devouring it alive, overwhelming it and chewing every part of its body. his wife was too weak to dispel the shikigami; it’s dangerous as the devoured wolf shikigami will drain her cursed energy by a second.

all shikigami linked directly to the owner; everything inflected to the wolf, she could feel it too.

he needed a plan.

hidden in his wedding ring was a retractable knife. he rarely carries blood bags anymore as his power solidified itself. the older he got, the better he was at using and controlling a small steady flow of his own blood straight from the tap. with a clap of his hands, the knife cut his hand enough to send blood shooting like bullets. the blood hit the curses straight to its cores, died out instantly on impact, but the shikigami was beyond salvageable. it let out one last howl, one last goodbye before dropping to the ground, half of his snout gone. she will be devastated, it’s her only shikigami she managed to tame at such a young age, but at least it has stopped the shikigami from stripping his wife’s cursed energy to its core.

the fire burning in his eyes only made the curse laughed. he kicked her body away, spurting blood out of her mouth. she was halfway close to death’s doorstep.

“i will fucking murder you,” he hissed.

“my blood is my power. it’s supposed to rot human, stripping its meat from the bone like acid. however,” the curse nudged her body, “your wife didn’t. humour me, did your blood tainted hers? tell me, i’m curious how.”

“are you going to chit chat because i don’t have whole day.” his blood dripped on the pitch.

the curse grinned, shrugging his shoulder. he kneeled, running his bloody fingers on her cheeks leaving trails of flowers pattern that dissipated immediately, “i’m not here to fight. i’m here to serve a warning,” he looked up to the tensed sorcerer, “for gojo satoru. tell him, we’ll be waiting for him in shibuya.” noritoshi’s face scrunched in confusion.

“we have no business with the gojos.”

“but she is. she could change her name, married you, but it doesn’t erase the fact that she carried gojo’s blood in her vein. she’s the bridge to your two clans. i’m just killing two birds with one stone. ruin the kamo clan’s relationship with gojos and hurt gojo satoru. all thanks to her,” the curse turned his back on him, his laugh echoed as he walked away. the dark curtain disappeared slowly as the ground rumbled. a perfect chance for noritoshi to strike if it wasn’t because of the cursed spirit’s words gluing him to his spot, “oh, kamo, i believe a congratulation is overdue. let me know when’s the baby is due, i would love to drop by personally.”

the pillar holding on to the roof collapsed sending wave of dust all over the place. noritoshi covered his face, coughing as he sucked some in, removing his coat as a shield. the cursed spirit was no where to be found.

“the place is going to collapse! i’ll get the curse, you go get her!”

a voice echoed and he caught a glimpse of blond hair running past him and noritoshi didn’t think twice as he sprinted around the cracks and holes. who was that voice or who was the curse, he couldn’t give a single fuck, he just wants his wife back. he was shaking when he got to her, arms immediately scooped her up in his arms. her chest was raising slowly, blood dripping on the side of her lips as she struggled to exhale.

“you’re going to be okay,”

he told her, but he wasn’t sure if he will ever be.

-

“can you turn down the stupid light, it’s hurting my eyes.”

the voice laughed melodiously, the light moved to the other eye repeating the same thing.

“as you can see, she’s awake, slightly weak, but she should be okay.”

another voice interrupted, “are you sure?” she gasped, excited to hear a familiar voice. “nori?” she called out, unable to open her eyes, relying strictly to her hearing as she reached her shaky hands out for him. “her senses might be slightly off, just let her do it herself,” the woman’s voice noted, and she felt annoyed. how dare you underestimate me, her mind scoffed.

“my senses are fine. see?” she claimed as she held noritoshi’s hand up. he smiled, gently rubbing her hand with encouragement. “thanks, shoko, we are fine.”

“i’ll leave you be then. call me if you need anything.”

she listened to the clacking of shoko’s heels, followed by the door opening and slamming shut. she jumped, but he held her hand tighter, reassuring her that it’s alright. “so why can’t i see?” she asked, confident that they are alone now. she felt the bed sunk a little on the left side, “you were high on anesthesia, i’m surprise you could even move your jaw to speak.” she felt a finger brushed her hair aside, breath loomed on her face and she could feel her own face reddening up.

“are you going to kiss me or are you just going to tease me?” his heart swell up, despite her shaky voice almost made him laugh.

“do you trust me?” his hand cupped her cheek gently.

she nodded eagerly, “always.”

“good.”

his kiss hit her like a waft of fresh air. every kiss felt like a first kiss to her that she couldn’t help to react so eagerly to it. his tongue slipped through her defense, overwhelming her taste buds with such strong taste of iron. it didn’t stop her. she knew what he was doing from start. he peeked a little, didn’t stop a second from kissing her as he watched his blood marking appeared on her face. her hands went up around her neck pulling him closer and he obeyed, deepening the kiss.

heal; his mind commanded.

after a while, she pulled back, being the one to break apart from the kiss first, her chest raising up and down as she struggled to catch her breath. her eyes were wide open now, fluttering lazily as she leaned back on the propped-up pillow. he wiped the corner of his lips, eyes on her as he watched the open wound on her face and arms slowly closed leaving the fresh healed red marks behind. he relaxed when he heard a thank you coming from her, as she checked her healed arms.

“i’m disappointed with you,” he finally broke the silence.

“really?” she frowned. he always does this thing where he will immediately go into lecture mood every time she does something that pisses him off. it’s almost like a game to her as she waited for him to explode, “right now? not even going to wait until i’m discharged. this is a new record, toshi. like shoko said, i’m fine.” he shook his head, “it doesn’t make it right. you always disobeyed me. ignored my orders, going about with your goddamn big head, you could’ve been killed.”

she rolled her eyes, noritoshi is being noritoshi, what a drama queen, she mentally rolled her eyes, “but i’m not,” she pushed her hair back, twisting it easily into a simple loose knot, “i told you, i am not weak.”

“your shikigami was destroyed, your blood was poisoned, 70 percent was already circulating to every part of your vein, i had to beg for the higher up to help purify your blood,” her smile died down. this game no longer feels fun for her. noritoshi was really mad this time. “you think it’s fun and all game but game over, y/n. you need to stop doing this. if you can’t do it for me, do it for yourself.”

“leave me alone, nori, if you just going to nag, please i don’t want to hear it. i’m tired.”

it made him angry that she was taking his word lightly. running his hand in his messy hair, he felt like hauling his head to the wall.

“you don’t understand-”

she slammed her hand on the bed, interrupting his words, “no YOU don’t understand me, i’m tired of you babying me. i’m an adult, i am your wife, stop treating me like a fucking child! we have been married for months, but god you’re suffocating me.”

“i will when you stop endangering yourself. i will stop treating your like a child when you stop acting like one. you’re pregnant, for the love of god!” he threw his hand on the wall. the wall cracked from the force. “i’m what?” she felt the world stopped spinning. she was hundred percent sure that her ears and head were deceiving her. he removed his hand from the hole he made on the wall, his body shaking from the amount of anger building up.

“noritoshi, answer me! what do you mean- i’m not pregnant, i had my period this month.”

“you are,” he shrugged. he felt something hit him in the back; looking down he saw the fluffy white pillow sitting by his feet.

he pointed to the bedside table where a sonogram perched up against a tissue box. she was about to lose her mind. “this is not funny, if this is your mean way of fucking me up because i won’t listen to you then this is just fucking cruel.”

he marched towards him, his hand went down on his chin, forcing her eyes on him, “until you stop playing your stupid games, until you stop treating your life like it’s nothing, until you consider my feelings and my worries, as your husband is valid, i do not exist in your life,” tears fell down her cheeks, “like you, i’m tired too.

“nori i-“

he left her before she could say a word. she broke into sob; her chest was pounding so hard that the blood pressure monitor was beeping. the door burst opened but it was not the face she wanted to see. she was immediately hysterical. satoru managed to hold her wrist down before she ripped the tubes and needles off her arms. “no, no, i want nori. where is he!” she screamed as satoru held her down. “you need to calm down, it’s not good for the baby,” satoru cooed, but she was not having it. he turned to shoko, “her cursed energy is skyrocketing, she’s going hysterical, do something!”

“let me go!”

shoko held out a syringe, “hold her down.”

she screamed, thrashing so rough that she almost slipped out of the strongest sorcerer’s hands. she managed to get a needle out before she felt another sharp pain on her back. shoko pulled the empty needle out and they retreated away as she fell on her butt backward. she was reduced to a babbling mess, her eyes drooped as she struggled to fight the waves of sleepiness hitting her one after another.

“tell him i’m sorry,” she croaked out, before everything turned completely dark.

the blood pressure monitor returned back to normal.

three days later;

“are you still going to ignore her? it’s been 3 days.”

“she needs to learn her place.”

gojo satoru disagreed. he eyed the head of the clan, shaking his head before standing up. he thought he could convince noritoshi kamo to visit his wife, but the man was as stubborn as- huh, her.

“i think she have learned enough, she’s miserable. you’re miserable.”

the man glared at the blonde man child, raising the cup of tea up for a sip. the tea doesn’t taste as good as the way she made it. he left her for 3 days and he found himself struggling to do everything alone. 

he, noritoshi kamo, 23 years old and the head of the kamo family, could not make a cup of fucking tea.

she always said that the best way to make tea depends on how long you let it steep. “too early and you won’t get the right amount of flavour,” she explained, her back facing him as he watched from the counter as she loomed over the stove, “but if you steep it way too long you going to burn the tea leaves and it will make everything taste bitter.” she turned around, a huge smile on her face that made his heart skipped a beat.

he frowned; the tea tasted bitter.

“she’s pregnant, she’s supposed to be crazy. you are supposed to be the wise one. she is going to carry your child for 9 long months, i can’t explain to you how long that’s going to be but she is allowed to be crazy.”

he dropped the cup on the floor when gojo’s hand grabbed him by his collar, pulling him up from his chair.

“now please, see your goddamn wife before i deck you in the mouth.”

“i will.”

satisfied with his answer, gojo’s demeanor changed and he was again the man child they all know of him. noritoshi could no longer focus on the report in front of him; not when his mind is full of her and only her.

would she forgive him? he wasn’t sure.

but he would spend his lifetime making up to her and the baby if that’s necessary.

[isthatbloodonhisshirt]

If you could change ten things about Teen Wolf what would you change??

OMG BUCKLE DOWN BECAUSE IT’S GONNA BE A LONG ONE! Do asks have a word limit? Guess we gonna find out! (Sometimes I wish I could speak these replies, they sound much funnier when I am speaking out loud to myself and then they are just weird and flat typed up but I DIGRESS! I do that a lot, have you noticed? Doesn’t matter.)

(Also, I did put a “Keep Reading” but for some reason it’s not working. Or it’s not showing as working on my end. But it’s right under this paragraph I swear so if it’s not working, that isn’t on me....)

1) SO! Trauma. People be dealing with their traumas. That’d be a thing I’d like, thank you. Like, I’m sorry, but there is a fuckton of trauma in this show and everyone like, goes to bed at night and wakes up cured. Like MAGIC! I mean, yes, I get that magic is a thing in the show (is it? I mean kind of? Idk, I never saw past season 4, they alluded to magic and then SNATCHED THAT AWAY so, side-note, that’s coming up later!) But yes, I would’ve very much liked for people to, you know, deal with their traumas in a realistic fashion. Let’s get some therapy going, or like, idk, some actual negative reactions to thing! They kind of had that with Stiles every now and then, but he seemed to be up and down episode to episode so like, it’d be like they wrote an episode where he reacts to what happened to him and then four episodes have gone by where he’s fine and the writers were like “OH YEAH SHIT HE JUST MURDERED LIKE A WHOLE HOSPITAL, make him have a panic attack randomly over dropping milk, that balances out, excellent, we’re so smart.” So yes. DEAL. WITH. THE. TRAUMA! Thanks.

2) LESS CHARACTERS, MORE DEVELOPMENT! I mentioned this in another recent ask about relationships but like, they just kept shoving characters in there. Like one of those clown cars. So we got like, 30% character development on the core group and then the rest was like “wait, who are you again?” Like, legit, I have a bad memory, you put too many people in front of me, I ain’t gonna remember them unless they have a good personality or a reason to be there. And like, develop their relationships! Not even romantically, but like, Scott’s mom loves Scott, that is sweet and lovely, but like, we never really… see… that… developed? Idk man, like again, I have a bad memory, but when you really develop relationships WELL (ex: Brooklyn-nine-nine), that shit sticks with you and you CARE about people. The friendships are important, and the familial relationships are important and just developing all the dynamics is important! They spent more time showcasing how much everyone hated each other and lied to each other and stuff and that just got really tiring. Yes, you’re allowed to get mad at your friends, but if you’re a Werewolf, and your human friend is calling you when there is a fucking monster running around killing people, can you maybe stop making out with your girlfriend and answer your phone so your friend isn’t treading water with a 200+ pound Werewolf for 2 hours? Like, JUST SAYING! (Spoiler alert: Me and Scott would not be close friends. Like, I think we’d be friends, but not so much that I’d trust him with my life. If I wanted to grab pizza and a movie, maybe play some video games, he sounds like a treat, but if my life was in danger, thanks I be callin’ someone who answers their phone).

3) Actual consequences for their actions! Okay like, I am also guilty of this in fanfic, but at the same time, my writing is free, I don’t get paid for it, and I write what I want because that’s how it works, so I can do whatever I please (If I wanna make the Hales royalty for the millionth time, ain’t nobody gonna stop me!). But like, when you are a legit paid screenwriter who is writing a show? Consequences! Just because it’s a show about Werewolves doesn’t mean there can’t be any consequences! Like, the best scene, and I feel like we can agree, because fuck it like, hurt my soul and my heart and I was just so like ;~; was when the sheriff got fired (fired? suspended? TEMPORARILY UNEMPLOYED!) because Stiles stole a police van when they locked Jackson up in it. Like, that shit was REAL LIFE CONSEQUENCES for actions, and that shit was intense and it HURT and omg I loved it! Give me more of that! Like, I’m sorry, but you gonna tell me Nogistune!Stiles walked through the hospital murdering a bazillion people and not one camera was working the whole time? Not one? Nobody saw that? Nobody went “hey, isn’t that the sheriff’s kid?” Like, CAN. YOU. IMAGINE?! That would’ve been so amazing, a bunch of episodes of the pack scrambling to keep the Supernatural a secret while also trying to stop Stiles from GETTING ARRESTED because saying “Sorry ma’am, I was possessed by a demon fox who likes chaos and thought murdering a bunch of people would be fun” ain’t gonna fly in court and the FBI sure isn’t gonna believe that but like, UGH! Again, bad memory, but was the fact that Dark!Stiles wandered through the hospital killing people EVER brought up again???? CONSEQUENCES. Woulda really liked that.

4) STOP with unnecessary romances. Like, yeah, I get it, the allos like their romances, but shockingly, you can still have a good show without focussing on the romance. Like, it can be there, I’m not saying don’t put it in, I’m saying DON’T MAKE IT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING! Like, the entirety of season one was Scott chasing Allison and Stiles chasing Lydia. This… this does not make an interesting show? Like, is that just me? And then as the season progressed, EVERYONE had to be in a relationship? WHY? Again, haven’t seen past season four, but I mean, I know Scott and Kira were a thing, and then Stiles and Malia, and Liam and some… person? Idk. And Ethan and Danny (congrats Jeff, you get to tick your ���I had representation in my show!” box, well done, gold star, or whatever). And Isaac and Allison, and Melissa and Chris (apparently?). And then Stydia was alluded as being canon, and Scott ended up with Malia somehow?? And Derek slept with half the town and all of Mexico, idek. Like, stop it. Stop. Shows work without everything being about everyone banging each other. (See again: Brooklyn-nine-nine, or Avatar the Last Airbender, or The Good Place, or even fucking Supernatural!) You can have a good, interesting story without everyone banging each other. It ain’t necessary.

5) More actual storytelling (again, this woulda worked better without the unnecessary romances taking up 49 of the 50 minutes of air-time). Like, yes, I get it, pilot’s gotta have some pizzaz! Gotta be spicy and sparkly to make people interested (and like, fucking hell, all I can remember of the pilot is sobbing Allison soaking wet–LIKE, WAS THAT NECESSARY???–about the dog she hit and oh noes is it dead well thank God the lead character works for a vet! And somehow has keys and access to the whole clinic like nbd at all hours? Whatever. I wasn’t even allowed inside my blockbuster as a shift lead if it was off-hours but apparently a high school student doing paperwork at a vet clinic is different, I’m not a vet so what do I know? I HAD A BAD DAY OKAY, I GOT FEELINGS ABOUT THIS RN!) I went off-topic, what was I saying? Oh yes, storytelling. You know what woulda been nice? Werewolves! It happens, we find out about Laura, we find out about Werewolves, Scott gets bitten, all that jazz. And then like… ease in the Hunters? Like, why was there Laura/Derek, Peter, AND the Hunters all crammed into the pilot? Yes, I get it, you need the SUSPENSE and the DRAMA, but you can do that without the Hunters right off the bat. Just, how CONVENIENT~ that the same day Derek and Laura come back, Hunters move to town? That’s just lazy, and again, I can be guilty of laziness, I admit to it, but I literally get paid in—like, do hearts count? I get paid in hearts and pats on the back for my fics, I can write whatever I want. If you’re getting paid to write something, try a bit harder, yes? Yes???

What number am I on? Oh good Lord, I got things to say, okay.

6) MAGIC! Can you like—I feel like this one is self-explanatory. Stiles did the whole mountain ash thing in season one, and it was SO PROMISING, and then that just died. It died like Maes Hughes getting shot in a phonebooth (spoiler, but really, you haven’t seen that yet, that’s a you problem). Why even bother introducing magic if you weren’t gonna use it? Like, was it because people like Stiles more than Scott and the showrunner was like “nonono. If we make him magic, he’s TOO cool, and then Scott is unimportant.” I mean, you coulda worked that in your favour, but no. You just murdered the fuck out of it, like straight up took it out back and shot it. Like, yeah, Derek went kiddo again and Jennifer was apparently all magic beauty spell or whatever, but like?? That’s it??? You had a show about Werewolves and you didn’t even try to make it more interesting by making some of the characters magic? Lydia’s basically the closest and they didn’t even explain her powers that well. Magic would’ve been dope and they totally shoved that to the side. That was dumb. Shoulda done something with that.

7) Explain things more? Don’t mention them once and then do nothing? Like, we got some brief stuff about anchors, and emissaries (which are super duper secret according to Deaton but then like, EVERYONE KNOWS HE IS EMISSARY SO WHICH IS IT DEATON? YOU TELL ME!) Like, they had so much opportunity to talk about so many things and again, maybe that comes out more in the later seasons, idk, but they likely coulda done with more explanations and they didn’t and this angers me GREATLY. They mention something once and then it never comes up again. That’s some Lost bullshit right there. Don’t start something if you’re not gonna commit. You tell me the beginning of the story, I wanna fucking know the end, don’t forget halfway through and wander away, that ain’t right, I NEED ANSWERS JEFF! And like, as above, never really got Lydia’s powers. I know what a Banshee is, but her powers did NOT make sense to me. Idk, could just be that I’m dumb, but similarly, don’t write something so convoluted that it confuses people, that is also dumb. As dumb as I am so like, well done there. And also do we get more on Parrish? I know he’s a Hellhound, but how does one get born a Hellhound and not know until you are conveniently lit on fire by someone trying to kill you for money? (Also, you bean, you absolute treasure, “I’m worth five dollars?” You’re so cute. Silly child.) I feel like being a Hellhound is something that woulda come up before getting barbecued in his cruiser. Like, he works a stressful job, you gonna tell me not ONCE while getting shot at he didn’t have a massive heart attack over a close call and like, burst into flames? No? Is that just a me thing? I feel like the slightest annoyance and I’d be fully on fire, not gonna lie. (I’d be on fire a LOT… CLEARLY I AM AN ANGRY PERSON! No, that’s not true. No yes it is, I am angry, but more angry lately because I’m sleep-deprived and work is dumb ANYWAY back to this)

8) EMBRACE THE SIDE CHARACTERS! Okay, so MAYBE Scott is meant to be the golden child. The Dick Grayson of the show, if you will. The original Robin, the creme de la creme. That’s all fine and dandy if he is, no judgement (little judgement), but you know what you don’t do when your side characters are getting a lot of attention and love? What you DO NOT do is give them less screen time. Because then you’re being petty and, shockingly, you get more positive results when you give the fans what they want. I’m not talking about pairings, because everyone is different, and you can’t cater to everyone, but like, the more people moved away from liking Scott, the harder the showrunners pushed him into our faces. And like, that isn’t how this works. If I like side character 87 a lot, and the lead’s getting annoying, you know what’s gonna make me NOT watch the show? Cutting out side character 87 (hey, for shits and gigs, let’s call him DANNY, just, not coincidentally at all) and then just shoving the lead into my face. That is what makes someone go “Well, four seasons is enough, I can happily live knowing I didn’t waste my life watching two more of them.” Like??? I’m not saying cut out Scott, because the show is ABOUT Scott, but the more everyone tried to showcase how amazing and wonderful and pure and perfect he was, the more annoying it got? Like, Scott has flaws. THEY ALL HAVE FLAWS! If you don’t admit that they all have flaws, it gets boring, and you hate the characters. I know that Scott turned into a douche later (apparently, again, haven’t seen it), but even in the early seasons by trying to make him this pure True Alpha golden angel child who spreads love and hope and trusts everyone, it just got boring. He was vanilla, and also a bad friend, because he was too “perfect” to be around someone “imperfect” like Stiles, and even like, the rest of the pack overall. He was always put on a pedestal and it made the show really… irksome? Idk, I just feel like yes, SCOTT is the Teen Wolf, but you added all these damn side characters, maybe use them a bit more? At least Stiles was interesting, and Lydia was fucking badass, and fucking hell, if you’d done right by Boyd and Erica, the actors wouldn’t have left for better shows so like, come on man, you coulda done better. We coulda had such a dope show, why you gotta crush my dreams like that Jeff? What did I ever do to you?

I know this is only eight, but this is long enough, if I go two more, this is gonna be IN.SANE. And also it’s late and I haven’t finished my fic for the day (I mean, I’m almost done, but I’m not done yet!) So like, I’ma stop here. But yes, hopefully this answered your question. Sorry I got REALLY PASSIONATE about it but it’s been a day.

Also, I feel this needs to be said, but obviously these are my own personal opinions, and as opinions, you are not obligated to agree with them. But you are also not allowed to tell me my opinion is wrong. You can disagree with it, but this is an opinion, not a law, so there is no right and wrong. Don’t @ me, my day’s been bad enough kthx!

HAVE A GOOD NIGHT, BE BACK IN LIKE TWENTY(?) MINUTES!

[strongerwiththepack]

Sensory Sunday: Touch

Whoops I’m a bit late but here’s my ‘touch’ fic for @gumnut-logic's new challenge. The boys weren’t cooperating with me today but I think it turned out alright in the end!

Hyperthermia vs. Hypothermia 

“Do you two coordinate your disasters just to irate me?” Virgil asked in exasperation as he warmed up another heating pad between his hands.

Scott just shrugged but Gordon grinned at him. “Just keeping you on your t-toes bro.”

The joke was kind of lost in the sound of chattering teeth so Virgil just rolled his eyes and placed the final heating pad onto Gordon’s chest. His little brother hissed slightly at the startling change in temperature. Virgil eyed him wearily, he was still pale and his lips had a slight blue tinge to them but at least he was shivering again which meant he was warming up.

He crossed the infirmary to examine how his other patient was doing. Scott, in complete contrast, had a cooling blanket draped over him with ice packs around his neck and armpits. Virgil removed the cold compress from his brother’s forehead and held his hand over it, cringing at the heat still coming off him.

Somehow Scott had come back from his rescue with severe heatstroke and then he’d had to go and pick up Gordon because he’d managed to get hypothermia. It was almost laughable. In fact he had laughed, and now he was regretting all his life choices as he yoyoed between heating and cooling treatments.

“You’re dehydrated, you need to keep drinking Scott.” He reiterated, eyeing the still full glass of water he’d left by his brother’s bed. “Don’t make me put an IV in.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Scott grumbled, grabbing the glass, a little too aggressively, and drinking a few sips.

Scott’s skin was sunburnt and irritated and Virgil could see it starting to peel at his hairline and cheeks. He’d already put cream on them so there wasn’t much more he could do.

“Don’t blame me, you were the one who decided not to wear your UV shielded helmet.” Virgil shot back with a hint of annoyance in his tone because this could all have been avoided if his older brother wasn’t such an idiot.

Scott just glared at him and Virgil rolled his eyes. He knew his brother was regretting that decision now that he was confined to the infirmary and off duty for 48 hours. He’d argued about the amount of time but Virgil was not budging on that one. He knew the dangers of heatstroke and he wasn’t risking his brother going out before he was ready.

“Hey V-Virgil, seeing as I kept my helmet on, do I w-win this one?” Gordon called.

“Seeing as you were at the bottom of the ocean, I’m glad you made that decision.” Virgil replied with a smile shaking his head.

Scott piqued up then, apparently putting the dots together. “How did you end up with Hypothermia anyway Gordon? Your suit should have protected you from those temperatures.”

Trust Scott to jump on the big brother train first opportunity he got. Gordon just grinned sheepishly.

“Well I said I kept my helmet on, I never said anything about the rest of my suit.”

“What!? Gordon, report.”

Virgil sighed. “Scott you’re supposed to be resting. You’re both supposed to be resting.”

Scott narrowed his eyes at Gordon.

“Fine.”  He said getting comfy on the bed. “Let’s call it a bedtime story then, on you go Gordon.”

Virgil frowned but didn’t stop Gordon as he dove into the story with all his usual dramatics. He was pretty curious as well, he’d only heard a condensed version from John earlier.

***

“I’ve just got one more to get John” Gordon told his space monitor brother as he prepared to swim across from Thunderbird 4 to the downed submersible once again.

John popped up looking slightly distracted. “Okay Gordon. Listen, Scott’s got himself in a bit of trouble, think you’ll be okay to navigate solo?”

“FAB John.”

Gordon felt some concern rising for his oldest brother, but John would’ve told him if it was serious. He turned his focus back to the rescue. 3 crewmen aboard a research submersible in the Arctic Ocean that had been hit by a Bowhead whale.

Gordon was familiar with the mammal, Bowhead whales have a massive triangular skull to help them break through the ice in these waters so its unsurprising that it was able to do so much damage to the tiny sub. The entire vehicle was flooded, luckily the crew all had dry suits and breathing apparatus. The problem was getting them from their vehicle to Thunderbird 4 through the strong currents in the water. Due to the unpredictable waters he wasn’t able to dock safely to the vehicle.

So, now he was free swimming across with the researchers but he had to take them one at a time in case the currents were too strong for them to make the swim. It was a fairly standard rescue. He should be done soon. John had directed him to the divers in the first place but he knew where to go now.

Gordon swam through the outer hatch once more, battling his way across to the submersible. These definitely weren’t recreational waters, the current was strong. He really had to pump through the water hard to get through. It was a cross current so he was swimming pretty much diagonally to where he wanted to go, pushing against the current while also propelling himself forward. It was slow work but his hand finally found a rung on the research vessel.

Pulling himself through the opening he’d made previously he swam through the flooded hallways to where he left the last researcher.

“Final call for dry land.” He called out as he turned the corner. Luckily the woman was right where he’d left her and she smiled gratefully.

“What would we do without you International Rescue.” She said in a relieved tone, her Icelandic accent coming though strongly.

“All in a day’s work ma’am” Gordon replied with a smile as he attached a line between them. It was always nice meeting kind people on the job. It was pretty rare when everyone you met was going through what was likely one of the worst experiences of their life so he usually shrugged off any unsavoury characters.

They were almost at the door when the compulsory disaster every rescue seemed to contain occurred. The whole station started to flip on its side and they were thrown into the wall. Gordon felt a searing pain in his side as a piece of bent metal cut into his suit. It was a shallow cut but that wasn’t what Gordon needed to worry about. He hissed as a flood of sub-zero temperature water flooded into his suit. It felt like daggers against his bare skin.

Okay. That puts a time limit on things.

He sucked in a sharp breath, trying to stop his heart racing from the shock of the cold water and turned to the researcher.

“Are you alright?” he gasped out.

“I’m fine.” She seemed a little dazed before noticing the tear in his suit and widening her eyes. “Your suit?”

“I’ll be fine.” He shrugged off. “Let just get you out of here.”

She looked at him with uncertainty but complied, nonetheless. Oxygen wasn’t an issue, he doubted it would leak into his helmet to that extent before they got back to Thunderbird 4. He wasn’t stupid though, he knew the risks in these temperatures but the best thing to do would be to just finish the rescue as quickly as possible.

He started swimming with the researcher swimming behind him. None of the research team would have made it through the currents alone, the connecting cable pulled taunt every time and he ended up propelling himself and his passenger through the water. It was what he expected though, the required level of swimming ability you needed to obtain an underwater vehicle license was pretty low.

The swim was definitely harder this time though, the cold seeping into his suit seemed to be burning his skin and his limbs were feeling sluggish. It didn’t help that the rip was near his chest, it would be reducing his core body temperature a lot faster. He was surprised John wasn’t already screaming at him.

His muscles were burning by the time he was able to latch on to his bird and he took a second to catch his breath before opening the outer hatch. He let the researcher in before him and gave a sigh as the water drained out of the compartment. Usually he’d be completely dry under the suit at this point but the soaked fabric clung to him and he shivered violently.

He secured the last researcher with her colleagues, leaving them with a reassuring smile, that probably wasn’t vey reassuring considering how bad his teeth were chittering, before heading to the cockpit and letting out a sigh. He was freezing.

“Thunderbird 4, your suit readings are showing a sharp decline in body temperature. What’s your status?”

John had popped up on the comm, his brow furrowed. Gordon was feeling pretty rubbish but he didn’t want to distract his brother if Scott still needed help.

“I’m okay Thunderbird 5, go help Scott.” He assured.

“Scott’s fine Gordon, he’s back on Tracy Island now. What’s your status?”

Gordon sighed in relief, realising he’d been holding on to some stress about his brothers situation subconsciously.

“My suit was compromised while in the water John.” He reported. “I may be in the beginning stages of hypothermia.” He replied sheepishly.

What he didn’t expect was an amused smirk from John and the questioning tone. “Hypothermia?”

Gordon was confused now, he was in the Arctic Ocean with a ripped dry suit, of course he was hypothermic. He must have let some of that confusion show on his face because John just shook his head and muttered. “It doesn’t matter, just know Virgil is not going to be happy.”

“Can you make it to the drop-off point?” John asked him, changing the subject.

Gordon was still confused at his brothers questioning but replied. “Yeah, I’m only 20 minutes off the port, but I may need a pick-up from there.”

“FAB Gordon, I’ll notify Virgil. Let me know if it gets any worse.”

“Thanks John.”

***

“And then Virgil came to rescue me and brought the warmth with him.” Gordon ended, snuggling down into his pile of blankets and heat pads.

“John called me exactly 30 seconds after I had got Scott settled and treated for heatstroke telling me that you had hypothermia and needed a picked up.” Virgil interjected shaking his head in mock disappointment.

“You know you love us.” Gordon grinned and Virgil was glad the colour seemed to be coming back to his cheeks. He repositioned the heat packs that had fallen out of place during his brother’s theatrical hand gestures.

Scott groaned. “Urghh, just looking at those heat pads is making want to throw up again.”

“Again? I think it’s story time for you now big brother.” Gordon piqued up.

Now it was Scott’s turn to look sheepish. “Wellll I was in Mongolia helping with earthquake evacuations and bear in mind here that this rescue took over 10 hours”

***

“Okay John, I’m moving on to Sector G now.”

“What? Scott you just finished searching Sector G.”

“Oh. Sector…” Scott had to do a quick run through of the alphabet to figure out what came next. “…H then. Sector H.”

John noticed the pause.

“There is no Sector H Scott. You’re done.”

“Uh…Great. I’ll head back to One then” Scott said looking around about him. He was glad to be done, he’d had a pretty bad headache for a couple of hours now but it had started to subside.

John frowned at him but replied anyway. “FAB Scott.”

Scott slowly made his way back to his bird. He was desperately looking forward to a nice long, cool shower when he got home. It had been a long day and he technically hadn’t needed to stay past the last aftershock but the local aid services just didn’t have the equipment they did. It was a much faster evacuation with him helping. He had been out in the sun all day though and he could feel the heat on his face.

Gordon was so going to laugh at him for getting burnt and he could already hear Virgil’s lecture on wearing sun cream.

“Scott, where are you going?” John questioned as he popped up on his watch.

Scott looked around himself. He had no idea where he was going. Huh.

“Uh, I might be a little lost Thunderbird 5.”

John frowned at him again. One of those frowns that said you’re acting weird.

“I’ll send through coordinates.”

“Thanks John.”

His brother signed off again. Scott knew Gordon was on another rescue so he didn’t bother his space-bound brother again, even though it took him way longer to calculate a path from the coordinates than it should have.

Finally setting eyes on his bird was a relief. The insulated metal encasing that promised a cool environment inside. Except when he did step inside, and the cool air hit him, all that greeted him was a strong feeling of nausea. He barely had time to grab a bin bag before he was emptying the contents of his stomach into it. He sank down onto his knees and heaved over the bag as the feeling failed to pass.

“-ott what’s wrong?” He finally registered.

Bringing his arm up he was met with a worried looking John which managed to shake him out of the nauseous daze he’d ended up in.

“John. M’fine.” He mumbled. It didn’t even sound convincing to himself.

He pushed himself off the floor but was met with worrying double vision before it tunnelled and he ended up on his knees again, slumping sideways into the wall of his bird, trying to blink the spots out of his eyes.

“You’re not fine, Scott. Stay down.” John ordered. “When did this start?”

Scott sighed, moving to sit with his back against the wall, resigned to his fate as John quizzed him. He was usually pretty good at pretending to be fine but not being able to stand up was a bit of a giveaway.

“I don’t know John. When I got to my bird, I just felt really ill.”

John’s lips pursed but his attention got pulled to something on his left.

“Hang on Scott, it’s Gordon.” He made to blink away but turned back warning. “Don’t move.”

Scott started to stand up as soon as his brother was gone. In his defence, he did take it very slow this time. He leaned heavily against the wall as he stood, breathing deeply to try and dispel the nausea. His skin was tight and irritated, he rested his cheek against the cool metal of his bird and sighed at the relief it provided. His skin was on fire. That probably gave him an indication of what was making him feel sick. Virgil was going to murder him.

He stumbled up to the cockpit and sat down heavily in the pilots chair. John popped up on the dash.

“Scott. What did I say?”

Scott just smiled innocently. “Sorry bro.”

John growled in annoyance. “It’s not funny Scott. You could have passed out and hit your head. And you are not flying home.”

“John I’m fine.” Scott tried to reassure. “It was just a dizzy spell.”

“Scott, I am remote flying One home and Virgil is going to be waiting for you at the other end to take you to the infirmary because we are pretty sure you have heatstroke.”

Yeah he was pretty sure on that as well so he just groaned and leaned his head back against the chair. He tried closing his eyes but the world spun around him every time he did so he focused on a spot on the roof and fought to keep the contents of his stomach as John flew him home.

***

“Ha! You’re way more of a screw up than me.” Gordon boasted as soon as Scott was finished. “I’m here because of an unavoidable accident whereas you’re here cause you’re just an idiot.”

Scott scoffed at the statement but Virgil just raised his eyes in amusement. At Scott’s look of betrayal he stated. “What? He’s not wrong.”

“Virgil I was busy!”

“Not too busy to take care of yourself. All you’ve accomplished is John having to monitor your sun exposure and water intake from now on.”

“John doesn’t have time for that.”

“Exactly! So, stop making it a necessity.”

Scott huffed in frustration but Virgil just glared at him. He could see Gordon out of the corner of his eye itching to break the awkward silence but he gave his brother a slight shake of his head. He was not letting Scott get away with this one. He could understand one mistake but this was not the first time this had happened. Scott needed a reminder that they were not invincible, especially to the forces of nature.

He was pretty sure that in Scott’s mind the only dangers were the stuff that could actually hit you. That’s why Virgil had to be the one that watched out for the more subtle heath concerns of their job but he was tired of Scott not listening to him.

“Okay.” Scott finally conceded. “I’m sorry, I was being stupid.”

“Good.” Virgil nodded, accepting the statement. He was pretty sure that was all he was going to get out of his stubborn eldest brother.

Scott flopped his arms over his eyes and Virgil winced, knowing Scott probably had a horrible headache at the moment.

“The ice in those packs has probably melted by now. I’ll swap them out.” Virgil reasoned heading to the door so he could replenish their supply of ice from the kitchen.

“Good idea, I feel like a furnace.” Scott replied, arms still covering his face and mumbling his words slightly.

“That’s it.” Gordon suddenly declared. “I’m coming over to cuddle.”

Scott deadpanned him. “We are not cuddling Gordon.”

Gordon was already climbing out of his own bed though, keeping one of his blankets clutched tightly around him as he shivered. “Too late. Gimme some of that heat”

Virgil just laughed as he swiftly made his exit. It honestly wasn’t the worst idea in the world. He could still hearing his brothers bickering as he walked down the hall though.

“Just so you know, I kick in my sleep.”

“Gordon get off my bed!”

[blackmissfrizzle]

The Sacrifice

Summary: Dean finds out the reader is a virgin. Based on 3x12 

Characters: Dean x black!reader

A/N: So, I’m basically doing a series rewrite of my favorite episodes. This is is based on the the reader’s and Dean’s relationship through the years. Its based on A Match Made in Hell Series.  I’m not doing this in a linear order, but I’ll make a separate masterlist for this series and put the fics in order.

When you get the chance, you’re putting a bullet right between that British bitch’s eyes. Bela had managed to steal the colt and get the boys arrested by Agent Henricksen. The only reason that you weren’t in a cell with the boys is, that Henricksen could never physically tie you to the boys except for your Stanford connection with Sam.  So, all he could do was call you to “consult” on the case.

“Where are you going Agent Y/L/N?” Henricksen stopped you on the way to the cell. At the sound of his voice, your body immediately went stiff. Agent Henricksen wouldn’t be too bad if he wasn’t so focus on locking up Sam and Dean, but you also understood from his point of view. With his limited knowledge and evidence, it all points to the boys being devil worshipping, psychopathic killers.

“To talk to an old friend and try to figure out how’s he connected to all this. That’s what you wanted me here for, right?” You cocked your head to the side, annoyance clear on your face.

Henricksen slowly approached you, trying to make himself seem bigger to intimidate you. Too bad for him, nothing scares you anymore, but you won’t let him know that. “Yeah, I brought you here so I can see your face when you see that your best friend and your boyfriend are finally locked up in a maximum-security prison.” He searches your face a reaction, but you didn’t give him one. “It may take me awhile, but one day I’m gonna get the evidence and then it’ll be you sitting in a jail cell.”

Throwing up the peace sign, you sauntered off. “Good luck with that, Henricksen,” you yelled over your shoulder.

—

“And why is that a good thing?” You questioned Dean after hearing him brag to Sam that they got a hit out on them.

“Because we’re awesome, that’s why.” You rolled your eyes at his arrogance. “Hey, why didn’t the demon go after you?”

In a blink of an eye, you flashed your eyes to black. “Oh, I forgot, you’re their precious half demon spawn.”

Ignoring his little snub, you pointed to Dean’s gun shot wound. “How’s the shoulder?”

“Eh, I’ll live. That’s if we don’t get killed first.”

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother before turning to you. “Is there any way you can get us out of here, Y/N/N?”

“No,” you sighed deeply. “Henricksen’s watching me like a hawk. He’s ready to throw me in a cell with you guys.”

“Well, ain’t that just peachy,” Dean muttered to the side.

The sheriff walked in on your discussion. It seemed that he was in a daze as he unlocked the boys’ cell, ordering them to leave. All three you were suspicious, and the boys refused to leave.

Before you could order the sheriff to get out Agent Henricksen came to do the same. However, nothing got settled because Henricksen put a bullet in the sheriff’s head.

Sam wrestled the gun away from him and began performing an exorcism while you and Dean held back the deputy.

Right before Sam sent the demon to hell, he screamed that it was too late and that more were coming.

“I shot the sheriff,” Henricksen confessed.

“But you didn’t shoot the deputy,” Dean joked, which earned him a kick to the back of his knees from you.

—

*Dean’s POV*

My eyes find her while I’m in the office with Henricksen. She’s talking to the secretary with that warm smile on her face that magically seems to calm everyone down despite being in the worst of situations. I’m too damn worried about her to focus on anything else despite the fact she needs no protection and can kick my ass to kingdom come.

“Scratch that. You just don’t have your brother. You got Y/N.” Henricksen interrupted my thoughts.

“We’re not together. Just friends.” I admitted, even though I wanted so much more than that. Its just my luck to fall in love with a girl when I have less than a year to live.

“Okayyyyyy.” Disbelief was soaking in his response. “What’s the deal with her anyway? How does a rich kid like her end up hunting with you two?”

I stopped cleaning my gun and gave him a hard glare. “Not my story to tell but know this: she’s probably our best way out of this situation.”

Henricksen was about to say something when we heard a loud crash outside. Both us plus everyone else ran to see Ruby caught in the Devil’s trap. Raising his gun to her, Henricksen asked how we kill her.

“We don’t. She’s here to help us.” Sam forced Henricksen’s gun down and opened the Devil’s trap. Me and Y/N traded annoyed looks. Neither one of us could stand Ruby. Y/N just kept her annoyance quiet unlike me. It was already hard to trust Ruby, because she was a damn demon, but if sweet Y/N doesn’t like someone then that’s a major red flag.

--

*Reader’s POV*

Great, there’s 30 demons out there ready to kill Sam and Dean. You’re pretty sure you could get through all of them, but you’ll be pretty banged up in the end. You were tuned out of the conversation, figuring out a plan of attack until you heard Lilith’s name.

“Lilith?” you repeated to Ruby.

“Yup. And she really, really wants Sam’s intestines on a stick. ‘Cause she sees him as competition.” Ruby informed us of Sam’s new nemesis.

“You knew about this?” A very pissed off Dean questioned Sam. “Well, gee, Sam, is there anything else I should know?”

Before they could get any further into an argument, you intervened. “Sam, you should’ve told us. Lilith’s no joke.” You weren’t gonna let Sam off the hook, but also you weren’t gonna rail into him like Dean was trying to.

Sam ignored Dean and looked to you with a face full of guilt. “How do you know about Lilith?”

“My dad talked about her all the time. He always told me that me and her could be a force to be reckoned with.” Just the thought of the many talks you had with your father had you bothered. He always tried to make it appealing that you were some kind of demonic second coming. At least this talk you remembered was helpful.

“I thought your parents were dead?” Henricksen asked.

You looked over shoulder and threw out, “My adoptive parents are. My real dad’s a demon and alive.”

Henricksen, Nancy, and the deputy gasped. You forgot that they just learned of the existence of demons and your lineage could be a bit troubling. “Relax. I’m only half and hate demons probably more than anyone else in this room.” The three of them eyed you cautiously, but that calming effect you had on people led them to believe you.

“Well, now that we got that out of the way. Where’s the colt?” If you had tea at that moment, you definitely would’ve been sipping it. Both of the boys tried to avoid Ruby’s gaze and when she looked at you, you furrowed your brows at her for even questioning you for losing it.

“It got stolen.” Ruby just about had a bitch fit when Sam admitted the truth. She was one insult away from you punching her in her gotdamned mouth, when Dean pulled you back and shook his head no.

But, thank the lucky stars, Ruby knew a spell. It would blow the demons out of the bodies, including Ruby, so it didn’t seem too bad; until she said she needed a virgin, specifically a heart of a virgin. And sweet Nancy still wanted to go through with it, but you couldn’t let an innocent sacrifice herself.

“I’ll do it,” you blurted out. All eyes turned to you and everyone was surprised except Sam. He remembered when you confided to him back at Stanford that you said that you were waiting til marriage.

“No way. Come on, you, you watch porn and you tease me all the fucking time.” Dean claimed.

“One, how else am I supposed to get my rocks off? Virgins are horny too. And two, its fun to see you turn red.”

Ruby seemed a little too happy with your decision to sacrifice yourself, but everyone else was heavily against it, except Sam. Dean tried to dissuade him, but you and him knew it was the best option.

“It’s my decision, D,” you told him.

“Damn straight, cherry pie,” Ruby replied with a smirk.

“Stop! Stop! Nobody kill any virgins!” Dean grabbed your hand and pulled you away and ordered Sam into a hallway for a talk. Normally, you made yourself scarce when they had these talks, but you guessed since you were offering yourself up, Dean thought it must’ve been a good idea to include you.

“Tell me you two are not seriously considering this.”

Sam and you both traded solemn looks. It sucked but it was necessary. “And we’re also talking about 30 people out there, Dean, innocent people who are all gonna die, along with everyone in here.” Sam argued back.

“It’s a numbers game, Dean. 1 life vs. 30. If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same.” Hell, Dean already did it. He’d offered up his life for Sam’s. How the hell is this any different?

“It doesn’t mean we throw out the rule book. I’m not gonna let that demon bitch kill the kindest person I know, who I might add hasn’t even been laid!”

“Then what? What do we do, Dean?”

“I got a plan. I’m not saying it’s a good one I’m not even saying that it’ll work. But it sure as hell beats killing our virgin best friend.”

“What’s the plan,” you and Sam asked simultaneously.

“Open the doors, let them all in, and we fight.”

Dean’s plan may be a little crazy, but it could work. Ruby was pissed at the suggestion and left. Her plan would for sure leave everyone alive except me. Offended that we didn’t go with her plan and refusing to watch us lose, Ruby left.

--

It worked. Dean’s plan actually worked. We were able to trap all the demon’s inside the station and played a tape of Sam saying the exorcism. It helped that you could hold 10 demons on your own, so the rest were left to Sam, Dean and Henricksen.

“Coming with?” Dean asked before him and Sam left.

“Nah, I gotta stay. Technically, I came with the FBI now I gotta write a report on how you two died on the helicopter. Yay me!” You hated writing reports and now this one was going to take longer, because you and Henricksen had to get your lies together.

The boys gave you a sympathetic look and made you promise to contact them once you got home before they left.

The remaining of you, began cleaning the station when a little girl came into the station. Your spidey senses started tingling and you moved a bit closer to Nancy. The little girl said she was looking for two brothers: one’s really tall and one’s really cute.

When Nancy asked her, her name, she responded, “Lilith.” You tried to attack the her, but soon you felt two sets of arms around you and you were teleported out of the station. It was your dad and his lackey, Brixton.

“Get off of me!” You yelled, just in time to see the police station overcome with a blinding white light.

Deep in your soul, you knew Henricksen and the rest were dead. What other reason would your dad save you?

“Calm down, princess.” Brixton said, fighting you off.

It wasn’t beneath your father to use dirty moves, so he grabbed you by your curls and threw you to the ground. “Calm your ass down, before I make you tell me where the Winchesters are and kill them myself!”

Quickly, you got up and wiped the dirt off you. “Why’d you save me?”

“Lilith’s orders. And I suggest you get used to the idea of a life without the Winchesters. Dean’s year is about to be up, and Lilith is gonna kill Sam sooner or later. Its just a matter of time.”

“Not if I can help it.” You claimed.

With a sweet kiss to the top of your head that betrayed his demonic nature, your dad whispered, “It’ll happen. Save yourself the heartbreak, baby girl.” And just like that he disappeared.

--

*Dean’s POV*

Sam and I were relaxing when we heard a knock on our motel door. It was Ruby. Damn, will we ever get rid of her? I’m tired of looking at her bitchy face.

As usual, she came in bossing us around. She told us to turn on the news. Supposedly, there was a gas main rupture that led to explosion at the sheriff’s station. The news anchor said everyone died, but one person did survive.

Please let it be Y/N, please let it be Y/N, please let it be Y/N, please let it be Y/N, I thought. It may be shitty, but I couldn’t bare the thought of losing her. Henricksen, the other FBI agents, the deputy, the sheriff, and even the freaking virgin secretary were dead, but I didn’t see Y/N’s face on the screen.

Just as Ruby was railing into us, there was another knock on the door, and I ran to open it. There she was standing there, tears running down her face. Probably feeling guilty that she was alive while the others were dead.

“I couldn’t save them,” Y/N whispered before her knees buckled. I caught her just before her she hit the ground.

Ruby threw us some hex bags that’ll help get Lilith off our trail. But I wanted to throw it back at her, just to get her to stop complaining how our plan sucked ass.

“And now look, your precious little virgin is having a mental breakdown, because even she knows you guys messed up.”

“Leave.” I ordered. I wasn’t gonna let her upset Y/N anymore than she already was. Ruby got one look at my deadly glare and took the hint, that if she didn’t leave right at that moment, she’d be dead. Sam followed her to make sure she leaves and to give me and Y/N some space. Over time, me and Y/N grew closer, especially now that Sam’s all buddy buddy with Ruby. It wasn’t unusual for her or me to go to the other to find comfort after a bad hunt.

This time I had no words for her. As much as I was hurting that we couldn’t save Henricksen and the rest, I think I would be hurting much worse if it was her, we lost instead, but I can’t tell her that. So, instead I just held her until she cried herself to sleep, hoping that in the morning I can find the right words.

Tags: @titty-teetee @cocooned-butterfly @nervouspetsonanime @thefaithfulwriter @meishaabae @dannixchristian @blacknthemix @mml232

[scaredandbored]

the one with the sonic showers

for @julie-yard , (sorry it’s so ooc but it’s got DaForge in!)

word count (excluding the compulsory grouching i do in the brackets next because i ran out of space in the tags whoops) : 2233

(also this is my first ever piece of writing using solely other people’s characters so i apologise in advance lol)

(constructive criticism welcome just please be nice i cry really easily)

(hey so data is literally an android and geordie is CHEIF FRICKIN ENGINEER and i am Bad At Physics. so there are large gaps in dialogue which i would LOVE to do some more research on (not sarcasm i really would but i would get sucked into it and never actually write lol) but i’m more of a chemistry/biology Basic Bitch™️ so even though i’m supposed to know enough about sound waves to write that dialogue i don’t trust myself enough to do it)

(also, i’m a First Aid Responder, not a doctor, damnit! so all medical talk in this is me reading three (3) articles on chronic tension headaches and then seeming myself fit to write about it)

(sorry in advance, here you go!)

The alarm he had set for twenty minutes before the beginning of his shift made Geordie feel as though he was being hit repeatedly by a phaser. Wincing, he groped for his VISOR, slamming his other hand on the button that would stop the infernal shrieking. Logically, Geordie knew the noise was just barely above a soft trill, but as he rummaged around his drawer for his acetaminophen hypo, he was considering having a word with the senior medical staff about limiting the volume of the ships alarms in the interest of the crew’s wellbeing.

As usual, the hypo did very little for the inescapable pressure on his skull, and the activation of his visor did nothing but restore him to the state he was before the hypo. Grimacing, he dragged himself over to the replicator in the far corner of his room, toeing off the black regulation bottoms he’d slept in and tossing them into the laundry shoot as he walked by. “Coffee, black, sixty degrees Celsius.”. Hoping against hope the caffeine would keep the dull pain from spiking until he could administer her perscription later in the day. He rolled his head between sips of the slightly too bitter beverage, with the intention of loosening up in order to stave off neck and shoulder tension later in the day. “Computer, set a reminder to schedule a meeting with Dr.Crusher for me, will you?” The computer’s answering trill was, again, much too loud for his liking, so he gave a second order for all automated auditory responses to decrease intensity by 50%.

Sliding off his VISOR, Geordie decided to pick out his uniform and dress using muscle memory, the idea of putting his VISOR back on before absolutely necessary was enough to make his stomach turn, violently. “OK, so don’t put it back on, Geordie, it’s not rocket science.” he sighed to himself as he tugged the zip up, catching his thumb in his collar. Adequately annoyed at himself and already aching to take another shot of his hypo, Geordie lamented the fact he hadn’t decided to shower, the warm water would’ve done some good towards the inevitable spasms his upper back and neck would undoubtedly engage in later that evening. Sitting down, he pressed the heels of his almost-cool hands against his temples, rubbing around the terminals for his VISOR, where the ache was the worst. As he considered requesting sick leave and how to tell Riker he’d be missing poker tonight without raising suspicion, his communicator went off, the obnoxious trill sending a jolt of nausea through him as Barclay’s voice rang around his room.

“Barclay to Commander LaForge.”

Geordie winced and sighed before tapping his badge. “LaForge here.”

While Reg was relaying his message, Geordie reluctantly picked up his VISOR and clicked it into place. “There’s been several complaints shipwide about sonic shower malfunctions, the captain has asked us to assemble a team and look into it as soon as possible, sir.”

“Acknowledged. I’ll be in Engineering as soon as I can. Until then, Reg, you get a few ensigns and run a few tests on the basic functions in the malfunctioning units on the lower half of the affected decks. I want the results updated in real time so I can check them against the ones I’ll run. LaForge out.” Geordie considered popping into Sickbay on his way to see if he could get a muscle relaxer to avoid any serious cramping of his neck muscles, but the acetaminophen seemed to be kicking in, and he’d hoped this meant the worst was over.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

After numerous hours of running several different sonic showers at increasingly higher frequencies, Geordie felt as though his head was going to burst. He’d missed the hour he was supposed to re-administer his painkiller by a good thirty minutes, and the ensign he had taken with him to the upper decks had noticed his smile was less a smile and more a pained grimace. When she’d suggested he let her run a few tests while he updated the logs, Geordie had politely declined with a small laugh and an even smaller smile. When she repeated the question ten minutes later, he complied without a word.

Lunchtime arrived what felt like years later, when Geordie finally caved and turned himself into sickbay.

“Hey, Alyssa, can I talk to you for a second?” Geordie held out his hand in a sort of rushed, half-thought out greeting that immediately told Alyssa what it was Geordie wanted to talk to her about.

“Geordie, maybe you should sit the rest of your shift out.” Was all she said in the way of sympathy as she administered several of his usual hypos. This was why Geordie came to her before any other nurse on the Enterprise. Her sympathy was just enough to get her job done and she kept her pity to herself for the most part.

“Well, you know what they say!” Geordie jumped to his feet, rubbing his hands together briefly before giving one sharp clap to test the rapidly receding pressure in his head. “No peace for the wicked. I’ll see you around, Alyssa, thanks for the help.”

As Geordie moved out from behind the thin curtain Alyssa had pulled for privacy, he found himself looking straight up at his best friend, and his heart skipped a beat. “Data!” He grinned.

“Geordie.” Data’s head nodded in acknowledgement. Geordie admired the halo his VISOR caused around Data’s head. “I fail to see the relevance between your chosen turn of phrase and Nurse Ogawa’s reccomendation. I also object to the comparison you have drawn between yourself and the afformentioned ‘wicked’.”

“Data, it was a joke.” Geordie smiled again, the combination of the slightly stronger meds and his closest friend reducing the pain to a tolerable level. The fact his crush on Data was all-consuming only meant he had something to distract himself from what pain remained. “And Alyssa was just being nice, you know how I’d love to take an evening off to fool around on the holodeck.” Geordie immediately regretted his choice of words, but Data remained oblivious, his concerned head tilt still in place.

“Nurse Ogawa is not known for the benevolent prescription of unnecessary sick leave, Geordie.” He opened his mouth as if to suggest something, before closing it again and taking a step forward, placing his hand on Geordie’s shoulder. Now, it was Geordie’s chest that was under considerable pressure. “Do not hesitate to contact me if necessary. I must return to duty.”

Geordie chuckled in order to hide his disappointment at the loss of Data’s hand on his shoulder, shaking his head fondly. “No problem, Data. I’ll do that.”

Geordie was nearly out the door of Sickbay when Data called after him. “I shall see you at poker tonight, Geordie.”

It didn’t sound like a question, but Geordie knew Data well enough to know he was hoping to prompt a response. “I dunno, buddy. I’m kinda tired, if I’m being honest. I’ll let you know later, ok?”

Data blinked once, then twice, then nodded, his head adjusting itself into a neuteral position. “That is satisfactory.”

This time, Geordie laughed, the pain in his shoulders creeping up on him slowly once again, despite Data’s adorable half-attempt at a wave as the doors slid shut behind him. “Computer, what time is it?”

The shrill chime that preceded the response didn’t particularly hurt his head, but Geordie could feel his shoulders tensing even further, and he knew beyond doubt there was no way he would make it to cards that evening.

That evening found Geordie still in one of those awful, shrieking showers. He’d been technically off-duty for an hour now, and desperately needed to take off his VISOR for ten minutes, but Barclay had taken one look at Gerodie’s drawn face and refused to leave him alone in the bathroom they were checking out. “Hey Reg, do me a favour?” Geordie needed to get him out of the room so he could slip off his VISOR and massage his temples. That, or he needed to stop working with the shower on; the high frequencies were really not helping his situation.

“Sir?” Barclay’s hands had stuttered to a sudden stop the minute his commanding officer had spoken.

“Could you run and grab a coffee? The Gamma Shift doesn’t start for another five minutes, we can take a break from this instantaneous reporting.” Geordie didn’t take his head out from the panelling they had removed half an hour ago, afraid Reg would see the pained twist he could feel in his lips and call Dr.Crusher. He knew he could handle it, it wasn’t the worst pain he’d ever had from his VISOR, and he’d managed to subtly administer another hypo when he’d gone to grab them both a water around twenty minutes ago.

“Yessir.” Was Barclay’s anxious reply, and there was a prolonged silence between his response and the sound of the doors opening and shutting. They’d had to shut down all replicator and environmental control activity while they worked, which meant Geordie had five minutes to give his head a well-deserved break. Clicking the VISOR out of its terminals and heaving a sigh of relief, Geordie felt his head swim. Taking a few steadying breaths, he fumbled blindly at the sonic shower’s controls, silently cursing himself for not having shut it off before removing the VISOR. Only succeeding in shifting the tuning to an impossibly more painful frequency, Geordie sat down on the floor of the shower, back pressed against the back wall, head falling back against the cool slate. He rubbed at his eyes. “Goddamn.” His sigh made his head swim once more, and his subsequent calming breaths only served to worsen the sensation. The constant drone pressed down on his head so much the pain from that morning seemed as intimidating as... Geordie couldnt think properly; he could only conjure up an image of Data as he worked at his desk in his quarters, resolutely ignoring Spot on his stack of PADDs, aside from his gentle, regular strokes. The image made him smile, which caused his tensed muscles in his neck and shoulders to spasm, violently. Again, the deep breathing Deanna had helped him with when he’d first arrived on the ship did nothing but worsen the sensation.

Geordie dragged his shaking hand down his face, which came away damp with what Geordie briefly considered to be sweat, before everything went black.

There was a hand on either side of his face, a comforting pressure being applied by what felt like a pair of thumbs around the terminals on his temples. “Do not be alarmed, Geordie.”

Data was whispering, Geordie noted, and his tender head thanked the android for it. “Data? What happened?”

The thumbs stopped rubbing briefly, but resumed without hesitation when Geordie accidentally, slightly whimpered at the loss. “You passed out while completing your tests on the malfunctioning sonic showers. Dr.Crusher administered a variety of medications which she noted in your medical log, if you would like for me to read them to you?”

Despite his hushed tones, Geordie’s head really wasn’t going to put up with any noise for very much longer. “No, no talking, please, Data.” he managed to get out, curling up a little, before starting, which caused his shoulders to spasm lightly. “Wait, my VISOR-” Data’s hands shifted to the problematic muscles immediately, massaging firmly.

“I have your VISOR on the arm of your couch to my left. However, given the negative effect it has had on your condition throughout the day, Dr.Crusher has requested you refrain from replacing it this evening.” There was a pause as a mildly confused but very tired and complacent Geordie allowed himself to be gently manoeuvred into a reclined position, his head in Data’s lap while the second officer returned his hands to Geordie’s head. “I am here to assist you in every way possible, and I have downloaded various massage techniques frequently used on those who suffer from long-term, extreme tension headaches.”

“Why?” Geordie mumbled, slowly drifting off despite the pressure slowly returning with a vengeance behind his eyes.

Another pause, the hands stilled. Geordie frowned and they started to move again, but the silence continued. Just as Geordie was about to fall asleep, Data spoke. “You are my friend.”

“Huh?”

“I am helping you because you are my friend, Geordie.”

Geordie smiled softly, shaking his head. “I know that Data.”

Another pause, much more brief, and the hands did not stop their gentle rubbing on his delicate head. “What was the purpose of your inquiry, Geordie?”

And Geordie, as much as he wanted Data to know, he couldn’t tell him. Couldn’t say he wanted Data to be there because he liked the domesticity of this situation, to be there not only to massage his knotted muscles and play nurse, but to hold his hand, to kiss his forehead, to... “No purpose, Data.” He sighed softly, settling further into his best friend. “None at all.”

His breathing had lengthened, he was almost fully asleep but not quite there yet, when he felt cool lips press against one of the terminals, then the skin right beside it.

“Hmmm, Data?”

A pause. “Yes, Geordie?”

A mumble, the beginnings of a snore.

Slightly more urgently, “Geordie?”

“Said, I l’ve ya,,,”

Several minutes of soft snores and gentle massages later, an almost unintelligible: “I believe... I am in love with you also.”

fin

i was going to put in a bit about Data finding Geordie because he hadn’t gotten back to him about the poker but then i felt like it took from the kind of,,, geordie pov vibe i had going idk

hope you enjoyed!

sorry for all the inevitable typos i did this on my ipad and i didnt proof read because i’m kinda using this one shot prompt thing as a warm up to writing as opposed to actually writing fic? idk if that makes sense but i enjoyed writing it and i hope you enjoy reading it!

[assembledherethevolunteers]

Future Management Chapter 3

A/N: Hi again!  Sorry this took so long.  It’s been a crazy week.  I hope you guys are still enjoying this (and thank you to everyone for the love of my last chapter)! Please let me know what you think of this next part!

 Pairing: Ben Hardy x fem!Reader

Summary: You and Ben Hardy had been together for the better part of a decade.  After hitting a rough patch, the two of you decide to end things. However, one small surprise keeps you two connected more than you thought.

 Warnings: Cursing, angst (I swear it’ll get better), fighting (verbal)

Catch Up: Prologue (https://assembledherethevolunteers.tumblr.com/post/188795655663/future-management)  Chapter 1 (https://assembledherethevolunteers.tumblr.com/post/188846514968/future-management-chapter-1) Chapter 2 (https://assembledherethevolunteers.tumblr.com/post/188923255568/future-management-chapter-2) 

Taglist: @lovebirdy93 @jonesyaddiction @im-an-adult-ish @taylorroger-s @amy-brooklyn99 @springholland @stassaurus  @hahaboop @tcnystqks @bloatedandlonly @doctorwhatwhenandwhere  If I missed you I’m sorry! Please let me know if you want to be added.  

The next morning, Ben and Eliza came with you to the recording.  

Ben had made breakfast, but barely talked to you outside of something for Eliza.  You were wondering how him seeing Jackson again would go if he was still this mad at you, even though he had no right to be mad.  Mostly because you weren’t actually dating Jackson, but also because, just like you had to remind yourself, the two of you weren’t together anymore.  

“Good morning, Y/N,” Jackson smiled at you in the studio.  

“Hi, Mr. Jack!”  Eliza waved from Ben’s arms behind you.  

“Well, hi there, Miss Eliza. How are you doing today, darlin?”

You grinned at her but noticed that Ben’s jaw had tightened.  

“Good! Mummy said we can go home and play princesses after dis!”  

“Well that should be a whole lotta fun, huh?”  

Eliza giggled and shook her head yes.  You watched as Ben moved his arms so that Eliza was even closer to him.  

“Y/N? Jackson?”  A woman with a headset asked.  

“Yes?” You both replied.

“Can you follow me? We’ll get you in hair and makeup.”

“Alright,” you turned to Ben and Eliza.  “Mommy and Mr. Jack have to go with her, but you and Daddy can…”

“Oh, Jaz?”  The woman said to another.  She stopped and looked at the group.  “Can you take these two to Y/N’s dressing room?”  

You saw this ‘Jaz’ woman look Ben up and down and then smile.  You nearly saw red.  

“I sure can, follow me, you two.”  

You gave Eliza a kiss on her cheek.  “Mommy will see you soon, okay?”  

“Okay! Bye, Mummy! Bye, Mr. Jack!” Eliza waved at both of you and then Jaz led them away.  

“She’s really cute,” Jack told you as you followed the woman.  

“Yeah,” you sighed.

“Ben doesn’t seem to like me much,” Jackson said with a dry chuckle.

“It um…takes him a bit to warm up to people.  He’s really a good guy.  A great father.”  You replied as you walked into the hair and makeup area.  

Jackson just hummed noncommittally and sat down in one of the chairs.  The two of you spoke with the cosmetologists as they fixed your makeup and hair.  

The interview was going well.  You and Jackson talked about the movie and how it was working together.  The two of you had always gotten along easily.  It made it easy to work with and do all these interviews.

You were about to wrap up when one of the hosts brought it up.  It wasn’t really off limits, but it still kind of shook you when somebody brought it up.  

“Now, Y/N, how is it being back in London?  You used to live here, yeah?”  

You fidgeted with your hair for just a second, a nervous gesture, before fixing a smile on your face.

“I did, yeah.  I love being here!  It’s so different from New York, but at the same time it’s still that go go go of a big city.  And it’s that same modern feel and yet you know how much history has happened here as well.  It’s beautiful.”  

“That’s very true,” the female host, Holly nodded.  “You sometimes forget how historic this city is.”  

You could tell she was trying to hint to her cohost not to bring it up again.  Thankfully, he picked up on it.  

“It is, indeed, a beautiful city.  Now, back to the film.”  

You and Jackson finished the interview mentioning a part of the book that you wish could’ve been in the movie.  

“Not to give too much away, but there’s this scene towards the end of the novel, in the last couple chapters I think?, and we just couldn’t make it work.  It was written so well on the page and we tried four or five different ways to get it perfect, but we just couldn’t, so we had to scrap it. Maybe that will be an extra on the Blu-Ray or something.”

“I remember that day,” Jackson laughed.  “Everybody was trying to get it exactly like it was on the page.  Maybe if we had just taken a little more creative license it would’ve worked better, but like Y/N said, it was so beautiful on the page that we wanted to do it justice.”  

“Well now we need to know what it is!”  

You looked at Jackson and then gestured for him to continue.  

“Oh great, make me do it,” Jackson nudged you with his arm.  You laughed and pushed him back, letting your hand linger for maybe just a beat too long.  “Again, we don’t want to give too much away, and it’s not like it’s the climax of the film, but Y/N’s character and mine are in their home, and she has a dream.  I’ll leave it at that.”  

“Oooh I remember that part!” The Holly’s voice rose in excitement.  “I loved reading that!”

“Me too!” You matched her tone.  “And we tried, we really did, it just didn’t work with the story we were working on and everybody agreed to let it go because the same thing could be conveyed with a conversation between our characters,” you shrugged and then looked to the audience.  “If you’re one of those people that doesn’t read the book because a movie is coming out, may I suggest breaking that rule just this once?  That scene itself is worth it.”  

The other three on the set vocally agreed with you.  

“Well we can’t wait to see the film, it sounds amazing and you two are just great.  If your chemistry here carried on set, I think we’re in for something great!”  Holly smiled at both of you and then turned to a camera.  

“’See You Around’ comes out next Friday!  Stay tuned and Meghan May will be showing you how to get rid of those pesky earwigs in your garden.”  

The audience applauded and then the same woman that showed you and Jackson hair and makeup appeared.

“And we’re clear!”  

“Thank you both, so much,” you offered your hand to the hosts.  They both took and shook it in turn.  

You and Jackson came off set and Eliza ran right up to you and hugged your leg.  

“Good job, Mummy!”

You bent down, trying to keep your balance in your heels.  

“Thank you, Lovebug! Did you have fun watching Mommy?”

Eliza nodded and then looked up at Jackson.  “You did good too, Mr. Jack.”  

“Thank you, Miss Eliza.”

“Well, we should probably get to lunch.  Eliza will need her nap soon,” Ben’s voice came from a few yards away, a little too loud.

“Daddy! Can Mr. Jack come over to lunch?”  

Jackson looked over at Ben and you noticed Ben’s eyes harden.  

“I don’t think so, Birdie.”

Eliza pouted and looked at you.  

“Mummy?”  

You ran your hand through her hair.  You opened your mouth to answer, but you were cut off.  

“You know what, Miss Eliza?” Jackson drew Eliza’s attention.  “I’ve actually got plans for lunch, but I’ll be sure to see you one more time before I leave.”  

Eliza was still pouting but nodded.  

“Okay, Mr. Jack.”  

You stood up and gave Jack a hug and kissed his cheek.  

“I’ll see you at the premiere tomorrow night?”

“Sure will,” Jackson fixed you with a huge smile.  He smiled down at Eliza.  “I’ll see you soon, Miss Eliza.”  

“Bye, Mr. Jack!” Eliza hugged his legs before moving back to you.  

You bent down and picked her up.  She played with your necklace, already over the crushing disappointment.  

“I’ll see you later,” Jackson said again.  He looked to Ben.  “Nice to see you again, Ben.”  

Ben just waved before Jackson left.  

You shot a glare at Ben before you started making your way out as well.  You and Ben were silent, listening to Eliza talk about one of the nice people that had given her a lollipop (“But Daddy said I can’t have it until lunch”).  

You buckled Eliza into her car seat and then got into the car, still ignoring Ben.  Thank God Eliza kept talking because the tension in the front of the car was palpable.

Lunch wasn’t much better. You made Eliza a turkey sandwich, along with fruit snacks and carrot sticks. You and Ben avoided each other as much as possible.  Once Eliza was done eating, Ben put her down for her nap.  

You thought about pouring yourself some wine but decided alcohol wouldn’t help anything.  Ben walked back down the stairs and then set his hands on the counter.  You watched him for a moment.  

“I don’t like him.”  

You rolled your eyes and folded your arms across your chest.  

“Why?  What has he done to you?”  

Ben looked at you for a long moment.  “Are you sleeping with him?”  

“Ben!” You hissed, trying not to raise your voice for fear of waking Eliza.  

“That’s not an answer.”

“Why does it matter? In case you haven’t noticed, we’re not married anymore.”  

Ben opened his mouth a couple times before inhaling sharply through his nose.  

“I know, I just would like to know who is around MY daughter.”

You stared at Ben, dumbfounded.

“First of all, she’s OUR daughter.  Second of all, you’re kidding, right?”

“Look, if she gets attached to ‘Mr. Jack’ and he ends up being a bad guy…”  

“Ben, I’m not dating Jack!” You were getting angry.  Did he honestly think that you would do ANYTHING to hurt Eliza?   That you would let people that would hurt her even be able to LOOK at her?

That made Ben take a moment back and then he cleared his throat.  

“I…I mean, he’s still around her.”

“Yeah! And so are Gwil and Joe and Luc…”

“They’re different!”

“Why?! Because YOU know them?! Last I checked, they were also your coworkers before they were friends and…”

“So you’re comparing my best friends to some guy that you just flirt with and…”

“WE WERE IN A MOVIE TOGETHER!”  You hated yourself for yelling, but you couldn’t stop it.  “YOU KNOW HOW THOSE INTERVIEWS GO! THEY WANT TO SEE YOU GET ALONG WITH YOUR COSTARS!” You were fuming.  He was mad because you got along with your coworker? How dare he use Eliza as an excuse for not liking somebody!  

“WELL YOU PLAYED IT REALLY FUCKING WELL!  HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IF YOU’RE SLEEPING WITH HIM OR NOT?!”

“MAYBE TAKE MY GODDAMN WORD FOR IT?! OR NOT EVEN WORRY ABOUT IT!”

“HOW AM I NOT SUPPOSED TO WORRY ABOUT IT!?”

“BECAUSE IT’S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS, THAT’S HOW!  WHY THE FUCK DO YOU CARE IF HE AND I ARE SLEEPING TOGETHER?!”

“BECAUSE I…!”

“Mummy? Daddy?”  You and Ben turned toward Eliza.  She was holding her stuffed ladybug close to her face as she stood at the doorway to the kitchen.  She looked about ready to start sobbing.  

“Oh Birdie, what are you doing awake?” Ben’s voice softened, even though his chest still heaved.  He walked over and picked up Eliza.  You were quickly behind her, rubbing her back.

“I h…heard you and Mummy yelling,” Eliza’s voice shook, full of tears.  

“Oh Lovebug, Mommy and Daddy are sorry,” you cooed, continuing to rub circles on her back. “We um…you know how Mommy and Daddy play pretend?”  You asked her.  That was how you explained what you and Ben did.  It was the easiest explanation for a three-year-old.  

Eliza nodded, tears still threatening to fall.  

“Well, that’s all we were doing.  Playing pretend.”  

“You both said bad words,” Eliza whispered, almost as if she spoke louder she would break whatever tentative peace you and Ben had reached.    

Ben pressed a kiss to her forehead.  

“We did, and we’re sorry, love,” Ben rocked with a Eliza a few moments.  Once she seemed to be calmed down, he asked “Do you want to go upstairs and get some more sleep?”  

Eliza shook her head, burying her face in the crook of Ben’s neck.  

“How about we watch ‘The Princess and the Frog’ and cuddle on the couch?”  You offered.  The Princess and the Frog was her favorite movie and you knew it could soothe her.  

She peeked over at you.

“Can Daddy cuddle too?”

You looked at Ben and then back to Eliza.  Why did she have to look so much like him?  You tucked some of her hair behind her ear.

“Of course, sweetie. Why don’t you and Daddy get comfy and…”

“No, here,” Ben slid Eliza into your arms.  She buried herself deeper in your arms.  You and Ben exchanged a look.  “You and Mummy can get comfy and I’ll get everything ready.”  Ben kissed Eliza’s nose and led you to the living room.  You and Eliza started making a nest of blankets and pillows as Ben got the TV and Blu-Ray player ready.  

“Mummy?”  Eliza asked as you got her wrapped in a blanket.  

“Yes, honey?”  

Eliza was suddenly shy, which was something she never was.  You rubbed her back again.  “What’s the matter, Liza?”

She shook her head as Ben came over with the remote.  

“Ready, lovies?”  

You ignored the term of endearment as you burrowed yourself deeper into the hoard of blankets and wrapped your arms around Eliza.  Ben pressed play and then placed one arm on top of yours and pulling Eliza (and you) closer to his chest.  

If the two of you had still been married, this could’ve been how you spent the last three years. Cuddling on the couch, Eliza between you, watching Disney movies while the dreary English afternoon went by.  Maybe after she was asleep, Ben would take her upstairs and then when he came back downstairs, the two of you would snuggle, just the two of you, maybe finish the movie if it wasn’t over yet.  

Eliza was singing along to the songs, and you noticed Ben was keeping the beat with his thumb near your elbow.  You hated how…normal this all seemed.  

You hated that you ached for this.  

Eliza giggled at the fireflies in the movie started up their song.  The last thing you remembered was Ray and all his family singing “Gonna Take You There” and the feeling of Ben gently rubbing your arm.  

Ben watched as your eyes fluttered closed.  He’d missed that sight.  He’s missed almost everything about you.  Maybe that’s why it had been easier to pick a fight with you about Jackson.  If he thought about the bad things, he wouldn’t beg you take him back.  He felt awful for taking out his frustration on somebody who honestly seemed like a good guy and had been nothing but nice to Eliza (and you, as much as it annoyed him).

And poor Eliza.  No child should have to hear their parents argue like that, whether they were together or not.  Ben glanced at her.  She was trying so hard to stay awake, but the song was a soft love song and it was lulling her to sleep.  

“Get some sleep, Birdie,” Ben placed a kiss in her hair.  

“No, Daddy,” Eliza muttered, but her eyes were already closed.  

You’d always said that Eliza looked more like him, and maybe she did, but she acted just like you. She was sweet, and smart, and warm. She had her stubborn side too, even at three.  It pained him when he saw her act like you, or when she used American terms for something because it just reminded him that much more of you.  And when she talked about you, the way her face lit up when she saw you, it just made him miss you that much more.  

Ben watched the rest of the movie, even though he basically knew it by heart.  

“Because Tiana, she is my Evangeline.”  

Ben looked over at you and sighed.  

[chemicalmagecraft]

The Gamer Hero, Deku Chapter 1

A/N I hope you guys like my first fanfiction. This is a concept that I thought of that I'm surprised hasn't come up yet, at least for BNHA. Either that or it has and I haven't seen it yet.

xoxoxo

"Sorry, kid, it's not going to happen," the doctor said. "If you had a Quirk, it would've shown itself by now."

"What do you mean?" my mom asked.

The doctor pointed to an x-ray of my foot. "After the emergence of Quirks, there were studies done. It was found that most people with a Quirk lack this joint right here. It's possible for someone to have the joint and a Quirk regardless, but if Izuku here hasn't developed a Quirk at this age, it probably means he doesn't have one."

After that, I was crushed. The one thing that I wanted most was to be a hero, and now that dream seemed completely out of reach. How could I become a hero without a Quirk? I never completely gave up, but after a while, it just seemed so hard. It was around this time that I really started to get into video games. In them, I could be the hero. I was always the hero. I saved the day, stopped the bad guys, and had all kinds of cool powers. Maybe... maybe that was what kept me going. At any rate, I eventually redoubled my efforts to become a hero and began analyzing everything I possibly could about heroes. I watched hundreds of videos of fights between heroes and villains in all kinds of environments. I went to see every hero fight I could. I learned enough that I could theoretically be certified a Quirk counselor if I took the exam. Still, I always had some doubt as to whether or not I could do it. If there was ever a hero without a Quirk, they never made it big enough to even be mentioned. Everyone at school laughed at me for saying I wanted to be a hero.

But that all changed the day my Quirk awakened.

I woke up feeling odd, but couldn't quite place why. It only hit me when I was brushing my teeth. When I was just about done, I noticed something weird above my head in the mirror. I looked up and immediately spat out my toothpaste when I saw white text floating above my head. It might have been reversed, but I could read it clear as day.

The Gamer

LV 5

Midoriya Izuku

I had no idea what to make of it. "Why is there a text box floating over my head!?" I thought. "And what's with that part that says 'The Gamer?" I might have stayed there, staring like a deer in headlights at my own reflection, for hours if my mom hadn't called up to me.

"Izuku! Hurry up or you'll be late for school!" That snapped me out of my reverie. Whatever it was could probably wait until I was at school.

"Coming!" I yelled back down, and then hurriedly finished getting ready. When I went downstairs, she was waiting for me with my lunch. After she gave it to me (along with a hug and a kiss) I looked above her head.

Supermom

LV 11

Midoriya Inko

So it wasn't just me. It seemed to me like she couldn't see the words, considering the fact that she hadn't reacted at all. Still, better to be safe than sorry. "Hey, Mom?"

"Yes, Izuku?"

"Have you noticed anything strange today?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"I thought something was off. I guess I just stayed up a little too late last night." She narrowed her eyes at me. "D-don't worry, though! I'm fine now." That confirmed that she couldn't see the text floating above our heads. Satisfied, I headed out the door.

xoxoxo

On the way to school, I saw that everyone had a title above their heads. "It's just like a video game!" I thought. I stopped for a second as a thought struck me, then continued as I thought about it. "Could this be a Quirk? What if that's the reason? It'd explain why only I can see these titles. The doctor did say that it was possible I had a Quirk, just not likely. But why now? Why wouldn't my Quirk have shown up earlier?" I was so distracted that I didn't even notice the crowd until I walked into someone's back. After apologizing, I followed everyone's gaze to see a giant, monstrous man standing on the overpass.

Giant Monster Man

LV 32

Yamazaki Riku

"Guy gets cornered by heroes and just turns into a giant monster," a nearby man said as if it was a common occurrence. I made my way through the crowd toward the front. When I did, a bunch of fangirls squealed as a guy who looked like a cross between a ninja and a tree kicked the giant in the face. "It's Kamui Woods," I said. I squinted and just barely made out his title while he monologued at the villain.

?

LV ?

Nishiya Shinji

Huh. I figured that the titles had some limitations to it. My assumption was immediately given some credit when a giant woman kicked the giant villain in the jaw while he was distracted with Kamui Woods' special attack.

?

LV ?

Takeyama Yu

"Mt. Lady, huh?" the guy next to me said. "She's certainly making a name for herself. Seems like she might make it big."

"Yeah," I muttered. "She's certainly got a good Quirk for hero work. Plenty of power and flashy too. I can see a few downsides, though. She can't use it in tight spaces and being that big would definitely cause a lot of collateral damage." I was interrupted by a ping. I looked down to see... a blue text box?

A new skill has been created through special action! Continuously analyzing your surroundings has created the skill 'Observe' to gain information about objects.

Observe (Active) LV1 EXP: 0.00%

The ability to observe one's surroundings and gain information from it.

Gives the user information about the object it is used on.

Yet again, all I could do was gape at what I saw. A skill... so this wasn't just identifying people... I don't know how I immediately knew how to use it, but I did. "Observe," I thought while looking at the text box for the Observe skill, and a new text box popped up.

The text box for the Observe skill. Shows the effects and experience of the Observe skill.

I probably would've played around with this more, but the man next to me cleared his throat and said, "Hey, kid! Are you okay?"

"O-oh, I'm fine!" I blurted out.

"You looked pretty distracted, there. Something happen?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it," I replied. "My Quirk's just a little weird." I was just using it as an excuse, but... it had to have been my Quirk. There was no other explanation for it. I decided that I'd explore this new Quirk as best I could when I got to school. Wait. "I HAVE TO GET TO SCHOOL!" I realized and ran for it.

xoxoxo

Once I made it to my homeroom, I immediately collapsed into my chair, panting. I looked at the text boxes that had appeared on the run to my school.

The level of the skill Observe has increased by one! The level of the skill Observe has increased by one!

Those and a bunch of Observe text boxes made up most of them. I saw the LV1 on Observe's text box and inferred that I could probably raise the level of the skill by using it a bunch. Naturally, I spammed it at every item I could on the run over. However, there were two that I hadn't expected.

Due to repeated struggles, your VIT has increased by one.

Due to prolonged running, your DEX has increased by one.

Well. That was interesting. I suppose it made sense. I may have gained some weird video game power, but I was still in real life... supposedly... so I was still able to exercise. I wondered what my stats were, then had an idea. I concentrated, then thought the word "Menu" to myself, just like when I used Observe. It didn't surprise me, then, when a menu popped up.

Status Screen

Skill List

Inventory

Party Options

Map

Quest Log

Options

Well, that seemed interesting. I decided to start at the top and make my way down. "Status Screen"

Name: Midoriya Izuku

Title: The Gamer

Level: 5

HP: 250/250

MP: 275/275

STR: 10

VIT: 11

DEX: 11

INT: 30

WIS: 10

LUK: 10

POINTS: 0

MONEY: 0 Yen

What? I got most of my stats, but... why would a level five character have twenty more points in INT than in the other stats? I guess that explained why I didn't start at level one, but... maybe I got five stats per level after one and my Quirk automatically dumped those into INT because of my above-average IQ? I guess that made sense, but I really wished it hadn't. I could have probably used those points better myself, Quirk! Still... I decided that I'd have to train up my stats the hard way at first. "I can probably focus on INT, WIS, and LUC during school hours. Studying and doing math problems should probably increase my INT, maybe I could increase my WIS by meditating, and if I constantly flip a coin and call it that'd probably increase LUC. As for out of school, I said I was going to Yuuei, so nobody would think twice about me exercising like crazy. Actually, why haven't I done that already? 'Exercised like crazy' is half of what made Batman Batman, so why did it take me this long to figure out that I should do that!?" I then noticed another text box.

Due to planning things carefully, your WIS has increased by one!

That's probably what led to me questioning my previous actions. I would have thought about that further, but I was interrupted (again) by someone saying my name. "Midoriya-kun is also planning on going to Yuuei." Oh no.

"WHAT!? DEKU!?" Kacchan went over to my desk and started burning my desk with tiny explosions. I got a good look at his name.

Lord Explosion Murder

LV 14

Bakugou Katsuki

That title was really accurate. "YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A FUCKING QUIRK, YA SHITTY DEKU! YOU'RE JUST A DISGRACE!"

"Kacchan..." I sighed. I was surprisingly calm considering the fact that an explosive blonde was shouting in my face. I guessed I was just really distracted by the whole "I have a Quirk now" thing. "You can't stop me from going to Yuuei, no matter what you do." "Actually," I thought, "while he's in my face like this... Observe."

Name: Bakugou Katsuki

Title: Lord Explosion Murder

Level: 14

HP: 800/800

MP: 725/725

STR: 27

VIT: 25

DEX: 35

INT: 29

WIS: 13

LUC: 13

Quirk: Explosion

Emotions: Angry, worried

That last one didn't seem right... "SHITTY DEKU! I'LL MURDER YOU!"

"Bakugou, calm down!" the teacher said. "Remember, you're not supposed to use your Quirk in school. I don't think that getting a detention will look very good to Yuuei."

"FINE! I'M JUST GONNA GLARE AT HIM!"

"PLease limit yourself to that. That isn't against the rules and doesn't cause a disturbance."

"MAYBE I WILL!"

Wow Kacchan is high-strung. I sighed as he plopped back into his seat and started glaring at me. With that threat out of the way, I decided to test my new training regimen.

xoxoxo

On the walk home from school, I decided to review what I'd done at school. After Bakugou's outburst, I'd decided to try out meditation, which yielded quite the fruit.

A skill has been created through special action! Through repeated meditation, the skill 'Meditation' has been created.

Meditation (Active) LV2 EXP: 61.23%

By clearing one's mind, the mind becomes much sharper. This skill allows the user to meditate on the mysteries of life, the universe, and everything for enlightenment.

Increase HP recovery per minute by WIS while meditating.

Increase MP recovery per minute by WIS while meditating.

Increase stamina recovery per minute by WIS while meditating.

WIS can be trained through meditation.

Through repeated meditation, your WIS has increased by one!

I also found a 500 yen coin during lunch and started flipping it as I'd planned. Just like I'd thought, calling it right enough times had increased my LUC.

Due to repeatedly winning games of chance, your LUC has increased by one!

"I should probably focus on VIT and DEX, and especially DEX. Even if I can shrug off getting punched by a truck and hit with the same amount of force, there's going to be some attacks that I can only dodge." I would have done some more planning, but I was interrupted by a weird feeling and a ping. I was excited to see what this new text box would bring me until...

A new skill has been created through special action! Through exposure to impending doom, the skill 'Sense Danger' has been created.

I had about a second to think "Well that is the second most ominous thing I've ever seen." before a manhole burst with some form of sludge. The sludge consolidated into a single blob that somehow had eyes and a mouth with teeth.

Sludge Monster

LV 26

Kurosawa Shou

xoxoxo

A/N: CLLLLIFFHANGER! I hope you guys like it! Just know that I'm always open to constructive criticism, especially with my math because fuck math. Also I'd like to apologize in advance if my updates are erratic. I'm still in school and I can get easily distracted.

[its-love-u-asshole]

Twelve Hours [Ch. 6]

Pairings: Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei

Summary: Kuroo Tetsurou has dealt with a lot since he was eighteen, each year bringing the same depressing challenges on the same depressing night. He expects this time to be no different, but the universe is trying desperately to prove him wrong in the most bizarre ways imaginable. So screw it, Kuroo’s only choice is to buckle in and hope he doesn’t die. Easy enough. And hey, with some new allies at his side, maybe he has a chance. Who knows? At least Kuroo is sure of one thing in life when it comes to March 15th, and he stands by this unwritten law, no matter what happens:

If you try to kill pizza delivery boys on Purge Night, you’re irrevocably a bitch.

Rating: T

Tags: Purge AU, mentions of violence but nothing graphic or too bad, no character deaths here okay, this is borderline crack and idk what I was thinking, first meetings, other characters, shenanigans and just…a lot of fun (it seems angsty but its not)

Note: Yay, I got through hell chapter lol. Action scenes are the worst, let me tell you, but I hope everyone enjoys this update! I think the pain was worth it... Big thanks to @emeraldwaves for reading this over! 

AO3

There was nothing quite as jarring as waking up one morning, everything as normal and mundane as the last, only to find the human right to living had been tossed into a raging hellfire.

The announcement of the Purge and its passing had put a hold on Kuroo's thoughts; no more qualms about the homework he didn't proofread the night before, or the Poptarts burning in the toaster. Kuroo forgot them all, and would continue to ignore them until the burning turned to smoke and sent the alarm blaring through his eardrums.

No, Kuroo had just stared at the television, life knocked off the rails with no hopes of finding the previous track ever again. He never thought anything would be quite as disorienting as that, but he had to admit, getting hit with a car came pretty fucking close.

The next hit caused him to lurch forward, and the seatbelt dug into the skin of his neck. He couldn't see anything except flashes of headlights and blurred faces, but he needed to snap out of it, needed to get control where he could.

Thank god Terushima wasn't a completely hopeless driver.

"Yuuji, back up! Back up!" Futakuchi yelled, and the blind trust which existed between them paid off. Terushima put the car into reverse with jerky, but efficient motions, not stopping to question why or how come.

Thank god, or else their front would've been unsalvageable.

The other car, zipped past the windshield, barely missing them, before correcting itself again. The car might've been smaller, but that heavy armor was not fucking around and neither were the drivers.

In short:

"Fucking step on it!" Tsukishima ordered, finally finding his voice, and no one was going to not listen to that.

"Oh fuck, oh shit, oh--"

"Yuuji." A chorus of three voices sounded, panicked, but loud enough to make Terushima put his foot to the floor. They sped off in a haze of sparks and burnt rubber, tearing down the street onto a section of empty freeway. No one cared about staying on course. Right then, it was about getting out alive.

Alive...

Kuroo looked to where Tsukishima sat, instantly finding the sizable dent visible from where they'd first been rammed at the side. If the car had been any less secure...

Tsukishima, who'd also been marveling at his 'near death' marker, just laughed nervously. "I know this is a really bad time, but the shell of this car is amazing."

And Kuroo, despite the way his body lurched from a sudden turn, regardless of how he could see the sedan barreling behind them, couldn't help but laugh back. If he and Tsukishima still kept their humor through all this, maybe he'd be able to not think about the game of vehicular pinball they'd been forced into.

Maybe.

As if there to shatter that, the sedan revved its engine, now beside them, and--

"Shit!" Suga cried out as he leaped to the other side of the car, not caring about Yamamoto's personal space as the car angled itself to hit the driver side. It missed, but Kuroo doubted it would again.

Terushima broke hard, arm moving to pin Futakuchi against his seat as they all flew forward. Swearing, Terushima let the car get ahead of them for a split second before moving the van into a full u-turn, taking them down another desolate stretch of highway bridge.

Yamamoto barfed, but no one seemed to fault him for it.

And damn that stupid little sedan, it had no problem adjusting itself, already on their tail again.

"These people are insane!" Terushima's voice screamed over the screech of metal as he turned the wheel frantically, not caring where the car went as long as it was away. He looked over his shoulder, taking the van's accelerator to its limits and doing his best to block the other car.

"They know that!" Kuroo yelled, but it hardly mattered when they were grazed again, only somewhat saved by Futakuchi's quick thinking. The brunet grabbed the steering wheel, turning it sharply so they swerved off the adjacent exit.

Didn't help much.

"Fuck," Kuroo growled, weighing the pros and cons of asking Terushima to open a window so he or Tsukishima could shoot. But if the other car had guns, which they certainly did....

"Too risky, too..." Tsukishima muttered beside him, and it was only after a few seconds Kuroo realized he wasn't talking to him, but himself. His golden eyes flicked about the cabin, straying on the windows, scratching at the leather, anything which might lead him to a solution.

And that was when Kuroo realized the bitter truth. No matter how prepared he or Tsukishima had been for this night, no matter how much they knew what to expect, when moments like these actually came there was no room for rational thought. No amount of knowledge or planning would change the fact that as soon as danger arose, all thoughts flew out the window, and all that was left was pure instinct, and the will to live.

Ha. And he'd thought his bullet proof vest was gonna help. So rich.

"Go faster!" Suga begged, his voice breaking, and he clung to Yamamoto's jacket like a lifeline. Yamamoto just sat there, staring lifelessly ahead.

The engine revved. The sedan nudged their back bumper.

"I--I don't--this is as fast as it goes! I don't--"

"You don't know what you're doing!" Tsukishima practically snarled from the backseat, and to Kuroo's horror, he looked prepared to jump from his seat just to take the wheel for himself.

Tsukishima's belt was already off by the time Kuroo figured out that was precisely what he planned to do, and as Tsukishima rose from his seat, Kuroo's arms wrapped around his waist in a flash, pulling him down with a fierceness that shocked even him.

The next hit came, and they lurched forward, but Kuroo did not let Tsukishima leave his arms.

"Don't ever do that." Kuroo's voice quivered, and he knew it wasn't an order, or laced with anger.

Tsukishima didn't take it as such either, just squirmed in Kuroo's arms until their eyes could meet, hand on Kuroo's pulse, frantic. "We have to do something! They're going to run us off the road if we don't--"

"There's no way I'm letting that tiny piece of shit run us off the road! Fuck that," Terushima hissed, following the curve of another ramp. He hit part of the median, taking the turn too fast, and his side mirror snapped off. "Dammit!"

"Hey did you not see what kind of car that is? Be realistic," Tsukishima scolded, and as usual, Terushima wasn't having it.

"So what? I've got just as much thick plating on this car as--"

"No, it's a fucking Honda!" At this point, Tsukishima was so enraged, he slapped his hands against the seat on either side of Kuroo's head, his voice distraught and gargling. "Don't underestimate people who drive Hondas, they're vindictive little bitches and they're not going to give up!"

"Oh my--shut up!" Futakuchi screamed back. "Whatta you know? Do you drive a Honda?"

Tsukishima leaned forward in Kuroo's arms, not minding the constraints as he growled back. "Yes smartass, I do."

Sure enough, what was supposed to be an insult quickly dissolved into a revelation. As soon as Futakuchi made the connection, his face showed it, the fact they were all fucked finally dawning on him. "Ah shit."

"Yeah, exactly," Kuroo couldn't help but add.

The car lurched again, and Kuroo took action, pinning Tsukishima to his seat until he got his seatbelt refastened. With that solved, he loaded up his gun, seeing no other way at this point.

"Kuroo, you can't." Tsukishima leaned forward, and Kuroo stubbornly pushed him back. "If they shoot back--"

"It's that or lose the car," Kuroo replied, fixing Tsukishima with an intense stare. The conflict showed on Tsukishima's face; he knew Kuroo was right. Even if they survived a crash and got away, being on foot during the Purge....

Unthinkable.

At this point, Kuroo was pleading."It's strong but it won't take many more hits like the first one. We're obviously not going to lose them, so--"

"Yes we are!" Terushima cried back, revving the engine to no effect. There were tears in his eyes. "I sacrificed so much to get to Takahashi and no one is ruining that for me!"

"Yuuji," Futakuchi begged, hand tightening on Terushima's wrist. "We can't--"

"I won't go back to my mom like this!"

Suga's head popped up from where he'd been hiding in Yamamoto's shoulder, eyes flashing with something pitiful.

Futakuchi only stared, hand falling away even as the car rocked. "Yuuji..."

Kuroo wondered if it was the gasoline in the air making his head cloud up.

Kuroo couldn't hold it against Terushima. His desperation, his refusal to be defeated...

Those were things which had been so strong in Kuroo at some point. To think he'd been robbed of them tore him in two. But they weren't gone completely, and his willingness to help Terushima proved that. It might cost him his life but, he wanted to be useful again, wanted to fight for something.

Kuroo's only regret would be that in the grand scheme of the Purge, his death would be nothing but a statistic delivered cheerfully by the morning news anchor. That, and he'd never be able to see Tsukishima again.

But no. No way. There had to be a way to get out of this...They just needed Terushima to--

"Well if these guys kill us, you won't go back at all," Tsukishima voice, cold but loud, rang through the car as blunt as ever. Suga winced, and Futakuchi looked close to berating him, but Tsukishima continued to shout. "I know it sucks, I know nothing is going to stop you from getting where you want to be...from your revenge! But don't be an idiot! All this means nothing if you end up dead on the side of the road, so quit whining!"

Kuroo looked to where Tsukishima's hands were curled at his side, shaking, and not from the car ride. Tsukishima related, perhaps too much, and Kuroo promised to stay alive just to find out how much so.

If only Terushima had listened.

Terushima's eyes widened, and he hit the steering wheel with his free hand, shaking his head. The blare of the horn rang out. The delusional muttering filled the car, and Kuroo knew it was over. "It won't catch us, it won't..."

Kuroo looked behind him slowly, just as the sedan found an opening.

Even as he tried to scold him, Tsukishima's voice had a fearful edge. "It will with your drivi--turn, turn!" Tsukishima's voice was too little too late though. Futakuchi reached for the wheel, his hand tightening over Terushima's as they turned it, but it was pointless.

The sedan had veered around them, risking it all to slide against them. Afraid and trapped, Terushima took the bait.

The tires screeched as Terushima turned them too quickly, the car spinning out until it connected with a pole. Kuroo wished darkness had settled in fast as soon as he grabbed Tsukishima's hand, but unfortunately, he stayed as aware as he'd always been, the crash whirling by in slow motion.

--

When he'd promised himself he wouldn't let go of Tsukishima, he had meant it, even if he had to be dragged out of the car with him and onto the rough pavement.

Even as hands tugged at Kuroo's shirt and kicked at his body, he stayed glued to the blond, and he didn't care when the ground scraped skin from his palm.

Tsukishima hissed as his elbow slammed against the cement from being thrown down, but didn't release Kuroo's other hand. Guess the feeling was mutual, or maybe Tsukishima needed something to steady him. Either way, Kuroo's hold tightened.

Don't do anything brash.

He couldn't say it, so he stared at Tsukishima, asking, begging for him to stay down.

The blond looked absolutely livid, and the only real reason he'd probably stayed put on the cold floor was the gun pointed casually at his chest. It sent fear rushing up Kuroo's entire body, and he moved to push himself in front of the weapon, only to be kicked down by a pair of cleats.

Kuroo coughed, and Tsukishima immediately pushed against the gun, drawing attention away from Kuroo.

So pathetic, Kuroo told himself. When would Tsukishima stop protecting all of them by himself? It wasn't fair to the blond. Kuroo should've been carrying some of that weight.

"I hate fighters, and you guys reek like 'em," the masked man spat, pushing the gun into Tsukishima's clavicle. Again, Kuroo watched as Tsukishima's eyes bulged in panic, but not from the fear of death. Despite the way the gun bruised porcelain skin, Tsukishima looked observant, clinical, his thoughts racing to get them out of this.

Kuroo had to do the same.

Kuroo's gun sat out of reach, and if he moved for the knife in his pant leg, he'd surely be noticed. This guy was too close to make a move...

Hopeful thoughts, too hopeful, raced in his mind.

Yeah. They could do this. Some kind of surprise attack? Maybe if one of the others could get free they could...

"Get off me!" He heard Suga snarl as he too was dragged from the wrecked car, and his glare didn't diminish when his body slammed against asphalt. His body trembled, afraid, but well, Kuroo could tell by now Suga did not like being controlled.

"Shut up!" One of the assailants said, one of four, from what Kuroo could now discern. The man made a move to slap Suga across the face, and he flinched, but it didn't stop the rage from bubbling out of his mouth.

"Fuck you! You first!"

Kuroo wanted to think he was an idiot. That he was too naive and this show of bravery would mean nothing if it got him killed. Kuroo always tended to think things like that, because admiring someone's actions during the Purge meant very little to him. What was the point?

But now, looking at Suga's dirt stained cheek and disheveled person, he felt nothing but respect.

At least Suga made some good impressions during the short time in this life.

Instead of punishing Suga though, the man looked to his friend, the smile on the mask conveying the sick cruelty well for once. So cliche, so stupid, and Kuroo was just as dumb, powerless to do anything except fling pointless insults in his head.

The other accomplice responded to the look by pointing both his guns to the huddled heap which was Terushima and Futakuchi.

Against his better judgement, Kuroo called out, demanding. "Get away from them!"

But no one bothered him with a glance, he wasn't going anywhere after all. Not with Tsukishima under the mercy of a gun. Trapped.

Suga's breathing trembled, and he stared, fixated on his friends as they were threatened for the first time.

Futakuchi sat there, curled up and hand clutching his head from the shock of the crash. Terushima's hand cradled his head too, as if the extra touch would solve all his ailments. Of course, it didn't. Futakuchi wasn't in any state to speak or look up at what endangered him, much less fight back. Not that Terushima would let him, from where he curled himself over Futakuchi, shielding him from both guns.

"See, that's what I thought," the assailant laughed, watching Suga's speechless face. He tapped the gun against Suga's cheek, but that didn't do much to change his expression. The shock stayed, persistent. "Whoops, I broke him."

The man next to Tsukishima, who Kuroo now noticed wore a striped tie, clicked his tongue. "They're no fun when they're like that. Gonna have to snap him out of it somehow..."

Tsukishima and Kuroo looked at each other helplessly, echoing each other's thoughts.

What do we do? We have to help them. We said we'd help them.

Tsukishima grit his teeth so hard Kuroo thought they might shatter, glancing between every member of the group of assailants.

Right. They knew what they were dealing with.

Striped Tie is here with us. Double Barrel hasn't moved from Terushima and Futakuchi...

The man currently prodding at Suga, who Kuroo referred to as Blue because of the god awful blueberry jeans he wore, only sighed.

But wait, there were four before...

Where--

"Hey Reo, maybe we should bring out their friend's body," Blue called out, his voice filled with a disgusting level of amusement which made Kuroo's blood run cold. "I'm sure that'll get a reaction."

Kuroo heard a choking noise, and barely processed that it came from him.

Terushima's body whipped around at the same time all their heads turned, looking back to their beat up van. Another man, Reo, sat against the side casually, fitting perfectly into a dent. Behind him, in the second row of seats, Yamamoto was hunched over, lifeless.

Kuroo's stomach twisted at the same time Tsukishima's head fell forward, disbelieving. The sound from Suga's throat was not human.

They'd failed. He'd failed. No one was supposed to--

"Yeah," Reo sighed, reaching in to pat Yamamoto's motionless form. "They can't all make it I guess."

"Don't touch him!" Tsukishima's head flew back up, and it was...it was scary enough to make even Striped Tie flinch a little. "I--I'll--"

But then, Terushima's weak tone broke through the dread drenched night. It reminded Kuroo of a whimper, and when Kuroo looked to him, he wished he hadn't. "W-wha--no. No, he's--"

The limbs holding onto Futakuchi had stiffened, as if Terushima's body were nothing but a sculpture. The only thing which told Kuroo the other hadn't just died from shock, was the trembling of his lip, the sheen of his eyes. "Yamamoto..."

In that moment, all Kuroo wanted to do was apologize, but he didn't know if he'd be given that chance.

I'm sorry you had to go through this.

Worst of all, Kuroo couldn't completely say he was surprised.

"Ah, it's the driver," Striped Tie laughed, unaware of the dread seeping into the group. He addressed Terushima, but Kuroo doubted the other heard any of it. His head had moved from Yamamoto's direction, fixed against the asphalt. "Good job by the way! That was a fun chase, you need to work on parking though. Maybe then your friend would've fared better."

Kuroo made a move to stand, to punch someone in the face, but Tsukishima's hand flew to his, pinning him there. Kuroo could feel the graininess of his palm, where the gravel had stuck.

No, Kuroo couldn't sit here. There had to be something he could do.

All his dumb internal advice about caution, rationale, and survival went down the drain. Someone was dead, someone he promised himself to watch over. Nothing mattered except saving the rest of them, some sick form of redemption he didn't have time to think about. Perhaps it was the selfish kind too, or the plain unwillingness to die himself.

Whatever it was, he had no time to be ashamed. He had to fight. If only Tsukishima would let go.

"Just let us go! Why do you even want us?" Suga shouted, and what a useless question, but it got the attention off Terushima.

"Why? Because we can," Double Barrel replied, shrugging like they'd just asked him what he wanted for dinner instead. “Two of us saw you dicking around at the gas station, you were easy targets.”

And yeah, Kuroo expected as much. Purging wasn't supposed to have a point. Not everyone listened to that, Terushima for instance. The point of the night was to release 'primal urges,' or that's what all the propaganda said. Killing for sport, essentially.

"For us," Blue jumped in, ruffling Suga's hair. "You were in the right place at the right time. A van full of idiots, perfect for purging."

"Not idiots," Tsukishima muttered beside him, seething, and Kuroo began to worry about how his shoulders shook. Upon looking down though, he noticed Tsukishima's fingers slowly scratching at the loose chunks of asphalt, suppressing himself with the cruel motions. No wonder his palms had been so rough...

Wait.

Kuroo hated the expressions about lightbulbs going off in people's heads, but it was the closest comparison right then. The chunks Tsukishima had managed to scratch free were medium sized, large enough to throw, to maybe obscure vision...

And yeah, it was a shit plan. A shit lightbulb. The goons were close by, even if they were just joking around with each other and not paying too close attention. If Kuroo managed to get it in Striped Tie's face, then great, he'd get shot by one of the others in the next second. But, he hoped the moment of distraction would let Suga or one of the others get the upper hand.

Even that wasn't a solid plan. None of them seemed in the right state of mind to think so fast.

But Kuroo had to try. If he could take one hostage then they'd have some equal footing...

In any case, he'd free Tsukishima, and that was a threat in and of itself.

Slowly, Kuroo moved to scoop up the rocks and pebbles, nudging Tsukishima's hand out of the way. But the blond's other hand clamped down on his, not allowing him to move.

One look at Tsukishima's face, and it became clear.

Ah, must've had the same idea as me then.

Kuroo almost laughed. Made sense, Tsukishima didn't seem like the type of person to do anything without reason, including digging up the floor.

Regardless, Kuroo's resolve was hard to move. He looked at the blond, taking in his features just in case. The darkness under his light eyes, the long eyelashes, the almost fully faded scar on his cheek which he hadn't noticed before...

He wished he'd been able to reach out and trace it, just once.

Let me do this. Let me help you this time.

Kuroo hoped his pleading carried through into his expression, willing Tsukishima to follow him for once. When the shaky hand against his loosened its grip, Kuroo knew they had an agreement.

Be safe.

That's really all he could hope for, the rest he left in Tsukishima's capable hands.

He steadied himself, put weight on his foot, and took his last breath, vision tunneling to see Striped Tie's laughing face alone.

This was his only shot, and he counted a few beats, letting the energy build in his muscles before rising up. 3...2...1...

Before he could lunge, or even move, a fist connected right against Reo's face, bringing all eyes to him.

Double Barrel hesitated, Blue dropped his gun, and Kuroo didn't take the time to comprehend how Yamamoto had manifested out of nowhere. He looked at Tsukishima, and from then it was all instinct.

Kuroo lunged at the same moment Tsukishima grabbed his gun from his back pocket, turning towards Blue and firing with no hesitation. And at this distance, those rubber bullets lost the label of 'non-lethal' real quick.

But Tsukishima didn't shake or tremble when Striped Tie was brought to the floor by Kuroo, only waited for Kuroo to roll a safe distance away before firing.

"H-hold it right there!" Double Barrel turned both his guns away from Terushima and Futakuchi, but it did him no good. He was distracted, aiming at Tsukishima when the real threat came from his side. All it took was Tsukishima hitting him in the leg for him to drop one gun, allowing Yamamoto to grab it.

The next few seconds were an eternity, but regardless, he didn't take his eyes off of Double Barrel as he lived his last moments.

"Wait, stop!" Double Barrel pleaded, but hadn't they all plead enough?

In the back of his head, Kuroo wished it would've been him firing the gun though, just for the sake of keeping Yamamoto the same man as before this night, but some things were not meant to be. It had to be done, this night couldn't go perfectly.

The Purge never did.

Fueled by pure adrenaline and protective instincts, Yamamoto fired straight into Double Barrel's head, ending it.

The gunshot rang out, echoing down the empty stretch of road. Tsukishima gasped lightly, finally lowering his weapon as his head cleared. Yeah, I know. The blond most likely realized all the things Kuroo had. Yamamoto was alive, but they still hadn't managed to save him in other ways. Somehow, Kuroo knew that disappointment would come back to them eventually, but at least it didn't weigh as heavy as blood.

Kuroo walked slowly towards Yamamoto's quivering form, hands raised. "Hey man, you got him. It's okay now..."

Or as okay as it could be.

"Tora," Suga whispered, walking past Kuroo, past the invisible perimeter he had marked. Unafraid. He didn't think Yamamoto would hurt him. "Time to put the gun down, alright?"

Kuroo felt Tsukishima come up behind him, also following the order by holstering his gun as well. Kuroo mouthed a silent thank you, but truthfully he couldn't express just how grateful he was.

All eyes were on Yamamoto, waiting, watching for some sort of reaction. Even Terushima looked stunned as he lifted Futakuchi to his feet, gaze flicking to every corpse on the floor.

Yamamoto looked between all of them slowly, then at Double Barrel's body, and at the gun in his hand. His eyes went from dead, to clear, to frantic, and he turned every which way, the realization dawning on him. He let the gun fall to the ground, then abruptly clutched at his stomach, and--oh. Oh okay yeah, he's puking. Awesome.

The shattering of frozen time didn't happen the way Kuroo expected, but come to think of it, this made perfect sense.

Yamamoto heaved, but after that car ride, not much was left in that stomach of his.

"What the fuck! Guys!" He threw his hands up, gesturing to the bodies and the blood on his jeans. He looked downright ridiculous. "There's so much--wha--look! All the--the blood. Oh my god--"

"Er...Tora..."

"Fuck! I just killed someone! Holy fuck, shit--"

"Yeah congrats," Tsukishima deadpanned, his face losing its concern in favor of the usual annoyance. "You seem just fine to me..."

"I know," Kuroo muttered, leaning into the blond. "They don't make criminals like they used to. Did they even check his vitals?"

"Apparently not."

"Hey assholes, I was out cold! It sure felt like I'd died," Yamamoto hissed, his hands moving across his limbs and abdomen. His panic turned into a delirious grin at the realization he had every piece intact.

"So what, you just woke up?" Tsukishima asked, walking towards where Suga was currently checking Yamamoto's head for worse injuries. Thick skull on that guy...

Yamamoto swatted Suga's hands away. "Pretty much, and then I saw all the guns and...yeah, I lost my shit when I saw you guys in trouble."

"You could have died," Kuroo scolded, but deep down, he was beyond thankful.

"That's a weird way to phrase 'hey Yamamoto, thanks for saving my life' but I'll take it," he replied with a sniff, and a poorly concealed smile. And well, how could Kuroo fight with that. He smirked, giving an appreciative nod.

"Fine fine," Tsukishima sighed. "But please, no scares next time."

"You do care!"

"Shut it."

It was then Futakuchi's groan captured their attention, the brunet rubbing at his head with dreary eyes."I don't know exactly what happened, but...we won yeah?"

Tsukishima arched a brow. "Are you alive?"

"Who knows."

"Good enough."

Terushima handed Futakuchi gently over to Suga before rushing to Yamamoto's side. He looked like he wanted to tackle him to the ground, hug him until he ran out of breath. But something made him falter in his step, like Yamamoto being alive was too good to be true.

He touched Yamamoto's arm, the flesh firm and real against his, and then he sighed, shaky and relieved all at once.

"Tora...you're really--you're not dead. Oh my god...you're not dead!" Terushima laughed, the tears beading in the corners of his eyes as he finally embraced his friend. "Thank god you're not dead! I'm...I'm so--"

"Shut it, you're still the best leader," Yamamoto said gruffly, rolling his eyes. "Even if you can't drive."

Terushima sobbed through his laugh, and Suga and Futakuchi joined in, huddling around the two. It made Kuroo smile, glad they could stay together.

Yet...

"There's still hours to go," Tsukishima whispered beside him, watching the makeshift family reunion with barely concealed wistfulness. He didn't sound hopeful or afraid either way, but the statement was eerie enough to make Kuroo figure out the point.

Anything could happen in those hours.

But somehow, watching the group hug and cry in front of him, and with Tsukishima by his side, he wasn't as worried as he was before.

"Then, we'll just have to get through those hours," he said, rolling his shoulders back. Tsukishima turned to him, eyes widening as the words sank in. Then, slowly, acceptance settled in those beautiful eyes, and Kuroo stared at the blond's lips as they formed the smallest of smiles.

Again, not everything that night had turned out so bad.

He did have a tiny afterthought though...

"Hey," he said softly, undoing the straps of his bullet proof vest. Tsukishima watched him with concern, the protests so clearly on the tip of his tongue. "I want you to wear this."

"Kuroo-"

"Nope, you're more likely to get in a gunfight than I am," Kuroo laughed, tying the vest around Tsukishima's form against the other's wishes. Shockingly, Tsukishima didn't put up as much of a fight as he could've, and Kuroo truly believed he could've. But instead of leaving Kuroo on his ass, Tsukishima stood frozen as their bodies scrunched close together, and Kuroo fastened the vest.

If Kuroo didn't know any better, he'd say they were both holding their breath. But, that must've just been his imagination talking.

"No taking it off you hear?" He asked, smirk extra infuriating.

Tsukishima's eye twitched, and he crossed his arms, but he made no move to remove the article. The reluctant resignation in those eyes made Kuroo want to pick him up and hug him. "You realize you just jinxed yourself right? What if you get shot now?"

Kuroo shrugged. The fear from earlier that night had faded, now he had someone to watch out for. "We'll have to see."

A scoff, and a smile. Music to Kuroo's ears. "Geek."

They lingered on each other for a moment longer before Terushima's long suffering groan called them back to the land of the living.

"God, I can't believe that just happened!" Terushima said, baffled as he wiped his eyes.

"You giant moron, you scared him half to death," Futakuchi muttered, back to using Terushima's shoulder as a personal crutch. Neither of them minded much.

"Okay but see, I was totally right earlier," Yamamoto proclaimed, smile big and smug, a relief to Kuroo. Guess he wasn't completely scarred, or he wasn't showing it. He'd have to pull him aside and talk about it later.

Futakuchi squinted. "Huh? About what?"

Kuroo had a bad feeling about the words before they even left his mouth, but only Tsukishima's whisper of 'oh god' really prepared him for it.

Yamamoto coughed in disbelief. "Uh, the Snickers bar? I told you I needed that shit for energy, and it completely paid off. Who's selfish now? Not me."

The silence which enveloped the street made Kuroo wince, and thank god Suga did something about it.

The other seemed thoroughly done with everyone shit, and pointed towards the car like he was talking to a two year old. Accurate. "Just...just go over there please. I changed my mind, I can't look at you anymore."

"What?"

"Mm, speaking of, maybe we shouldn't be standing out here like this...." Terushima looked around, on guard and way more wary than before.

"Yeah, I'd hate to have a gun pointed at me three times in one night," Tsukishima said, smiling all the way as he walked to the car. Everyone gladly cleared his path.

He appraised their van, walking around to survey the tires and dents. Kuroo, as badass as he seemed (or thought himself to be in his little delivery car), knew shit about cars. Then again, who knew if Tsukishima knew shit about cars either. Point was, Kuroo trusted him, and he didn't question the way Tsukishima popped the hood and scrutinized every detail.

Man, how could he have missed a person like this?

He'd regret it everyday of his life.

"As banged up as this thing is, most of the damage is cosmetic," Tsukishima said, slamming the hood back down after a few minutes. He glanced towards Terushima, smirking. "Guess you didn't do a terrible job after all. This thing's still drivable."

Terushima grit his teeth. "You little--"

"That's great!" Suga said, way too cheerfully, and piled right back into the behemoth. "Now let's go before we uh, I don't know, get shot."

They all nodded ruefully, because well...they'd had enough of that nonsense.

As Terushima took a step towards the driver's door though, they all paused, looking to Tsukishima as the blond eyed the steering wheel.

The silent hope was there, searing, and even Terushima couldn't feel wounded over it. It had to be done.

Tsukishima tapped his chin, as if he was actually thinking it over, when they all knew damn well he'd already decided. Of course, a few moments later: "You know, maybe I should dr--"

And thus, before he could finish, the unanimous chorus ruled: "Please drive."

[katsukiboom]

The lovely @wizarmonfan asked for the last one of the seven days of Tetsukami week! I chose the prompt ‘villain’ for this one and I must tell you I’m super sorry I made it really angsty >.< I wanted to experiment a little bit I guess, but I’m putting a warning just because I feel like it could trigger some people. I hope you like it! ♥

TW: mentions of violence, slight gore, and character’s death.

There were many things in the world that Denki Kaminari did not enjoy at all: uncultured people, awful television shows, unfashionable things, being unable to do what he wanted… yet none of those things compared to what was going on around him.

Sparks flew all around, broken wires balancing dangerously as they were ripped away from their place along with the pieces of wall that were destroyed with each hit the villain made, the powerful Quirk disintegrating whatever matter they touched and the building he was in slowly turning into a decaying battleground that was about to give in at any moment, but he kept on fighting for his own sake and for the heroes that fought besides him.

Between those he could count Tetsutetsu, someone who had become his entire world without even knowing it and that held his heart on the palm of his hands, much to Denki’s confusion; he wasn’t sure how it had happened but soon he found himself tangled in a web of feelings he didn’t care to admit just yet, and now he acted both with the adrenaline from the encounter with the villain and from his own heartbeat.

He found himself alone in an isolated room, although he could still hear the explosions and debris being scattered all over. Hiding behind a fallen pillar, he let out a long breath as he heard attentively for any sound that might’ve sounded out of place, a massive headache making its way through until it reached every spot of his head – there were cuts all across his sleeves and pants, his skin under those not looking good either, but that was the least of his worries right there. Looking at the shooter attached to his arm, he could tell it was about to reach a certain limit before it would break, and his visor had long been lost.

Just then, a thud on the other side of the room he was in caught his attention, and Denki held his breath just for a moment as he prepared his weapons; peeking to the side, he saw something moving on the floor among the flying dust, and by the looks of it, it was someone who was badly injured lying on the floor, but he couldn’t make out if it was a friend or a foe. Looking around and making sure no one else was there with them, he sneaked out of his hiding spot and crawled towards the body, his shooter always aiming for the head in case they were someone on the opposite team.

“If you move I’ll shoot,” he threatened, his voice hoarse and his throat dry.

But the voice that replied, weak and breathy, was the one thing he didn’t know he hated the most in the world. “I’m… not an enemy, Denki.” It was the only voice he had wanted to hear the most yet the one who now showed him a whole different angle of the situation. Coughing and spitting some blood, Tetsutetsu added, “I’m hurt.”

His friend and crush tried to lift himself up using his elbows but failed midway, falling back down and hitting his face with the ground – it was then that Denki ran and knelt down beside him, helping him turn around so that he was facing to the ceiling. Gasping, Denki noticed just how bad the situation was: bruises covered all of Tetsu’s face, his eyes just barely open and his lips were bleeding, he was shaking hard and had never seemed so weak; his breathing was also uneven and for what Kaminari could see he had a broken rib, a big purple spot tinting the left side of his abdomen underneath his now ripped shirt. Blood stained the right side, and he feared to see just what else would be going on as he said, “What the fuck happened Tetsu? What happened to your Quirk?”

“Reached my limit,” was the only thing Tetsu was able to say with a straight face before pain took over his expression again. “Should’ve eaten more iron, right?”

“How can you make jokes at a time like this?” Denki was exasperated, putting a hand on the other’s forehead to feel his temperature way higher than normal. Sighing while telling himself not to panic, he quickly tore and threw away what was left of the fabric to expose Tetsu’s upper body fully, the big bruise now becoming more apparent – what was new to his eyes was the big slash that ran from Tetsu’s side all the way to his navel, blood slowly pouring out, and even though it was still fresh it was already dirty.

Unaware of how deep it was, Denki covered his right hand with the sleeve the best he could and pressed down on it, making Tetsu groan in response while he took a small transceiver from his jacket’s pocket, and only then did he notice just how much he was shaking. He was about to call for help when his friend sighed loudly, making him turn around. “I’m going to die here, aren’t I?”

The question took him by surprise, which quickly turned into anger as he felt the need to electrocute Tetsu just so that he would stop spouting nonsense. As he struggled with shaky hands and a device that was hard to use, he said, “Shut up, shut the fuck up, I’ll call for help – you’re not going to die, I…”

I still need you with me.

A little laugh escaped Tetsu’s lips, and his half-closed eyes looked at him, a small tear falling down his cheek as his hand weakly grabbed Denki’s, which was still pressing down on the cut. “You know you’ve never been one to lie if it’s not for your own benefit, so what makes you say that right now?”

He knew.

He just knew that if he didn’t request more help right away, it would be the end. Random memories of the two started showing up in his mind, of the two meeting years prior, the first time they went on a mission together, the way Tetsu had won him over gradually, the first smile that made Denki go mad, the joy he had experienced when Tetsu agreed to join his new agency, and the many times they had fought side by side, an unbreakable duo that was set on cleaning as much as the world as they could.

Denki’s voice as he spoke to the other heroes was filled with false courage, his eyes glued to Tetsu’s as he gave him a last smile before closing his eyes, a shudder running down his spine. Once he was done asking for help, Tetsu whispered with a frail voice, “I’m getting cold – do you think y-you can cover me up with something?”

“Let me look for something,” Denki said as he got up maybe a little bit faster than he would’ve liked, although he knew there wouldn’t be much to look for in that moment. Tears fell down his cheeks as he wrapped his head around the thought that they didn’t have much time – he had no idea how the others were doing, and the fact that they were in a room far away from them did not help at all. His right sleeve, soaking with warm blood, clung to his arm and made him sob even harder as he pretended to look around the room. “I can give you my jacket if you want… Tetsu?”

This time he fell on his knees with a neutral expression; his crush’s chest wasn’t moving up and down anymore, a strange mix of calm and pain on his face as the last thing he might’ve experienced before leaving Denki’s side. The bleeding was stopping slowly, a small red pool forming below the body and staining Denki’s legs too. In his state of shock, the only thing his eyes could see was the blurry image of his love forever gone, and he felt his chest tightening and his stomach drop to the floor as he let out a loud scream, one that channeled all of his rage and hurt and that felt like a thousand needles going through his throat.

He didn’t hear the footsteps behind him nor the eyes that, meticulously, studied his form to know just the way to finish him as well.

[subasekabang]

Title: Anything To Make you Stay, Chapter 9 Rating: T Word Count: Total: 15,761, chapter: 2,136 Characters: Joshua, Neku, Shiki, Eri, Beat, Rhyme, Hanekoma, Kariya, Uzuki. Pairings: Josh/Neku. Warnings: Suicide, Major Character Death, Depression, semi-detailed depiction of dead bodies, mentions of ableism, one minor allusion to transphobia Summary: Joshua and Neku have been best friends since they were 11, but their friendship starts to fall apart after Joshua goes missing for a week, soon after his 14th birthday. Lies corrode the bond, and Neku’s vivid nightmares of finding someone’s dead body does not help. A year and a half later, they hit the boiling point. Always look before crossing the road, kiddos. Author’s Note: Autistic Josh and Neku! Afab demiboy Josh! Agender Rhyme! Usage of sign language! This was a fun fic to write please enjoy it.

Chapter 9:

Neku wakes up at Tipsy Tose Hall. Josh is already awake, of course. He’s  been like that every day so far. He stands up, brushing himself off.

“Ah, so Sleeping Beauty decided to wake up. The others are already up and about. Beat and Rhyme are heading over to AMX, while Eri and Shiki are seeing if they can head over to Molco.” Josh pulls out his phone, fiddling with it.

Neku pulls out his own when the text tone sounds. “Alright, Erase the Noise at Spain Hill. Should be easy enough.”

“There’s probably a twist to it. Noise feed off of negativity. Some people might be stirring up trouble.”

And off they go, solving the problems of Shibuyians.

While they buy some chili dogs, he takes a moment to stop and think. It’s strange to look back just a few weeks, and remember how much he didn’t care. He didn’t hate people, not with a bitter loathing for each person he met, but besides that friend of his, the rest of humanity could turn to dust, and he wouldn’t have batted an eye. Everyone else was gray, boring, not worth his time.

Now though… Now, he can look around, and see the colors, see the way everyone shines. He suspects that the Music he’s always heard might be related to this side of the world.

Rhyme was the first step. When Josh had that talk with Beat, Neku had his own with them.

They had been frowning, and when he’d asked, they’d said, “I can’t remember my brother.”

“Entry Fee, probably,” was his reply. “Mine was the memories of my best friend. I know I died after we had a fight, and I remember vague things, but otherwise? Nothing.”

They nodded. “It’s the same for me. He’s there, somewhere, but I can’t remember specifics. I hope he’s doing okay.”

“It’s like… It’s not a hole, it doesn’t feel jagged around the edges. More like when a radio is out of tune, or when graffiti gets faded to the point where you can’t see it. If I didn’t know about the Fees, I might not’ve noticed.” That’s a scary thought. Neku knew, at one point, that his friend had meant everything to him. To have this missing piece of his heart be taken forever? To not even realize what was missing? That would’ve been hell.

Then there had been a conversation with Shiki, while Josh was showing Eri some more sign.

“What’s the case between you and Eri, anyway,” he’d asked.

Shiki shrugged. “We’ve been best friends for a while. I’ve always admired her. She was popular, she was sweet, everyone loved her designs. I wanted to be a fashion designer like her. I made Mr. Mew myself, my first attempt at sewing something. Just before we died… We got into a fight, she told me I wasn’t meant to be a designer. I took that bad, it was my fault we–” she cuts herself off, takes a breath, and looks away. “She just meant my talent was as a seamstress. I envied her too much, I guess.”

“You can’t blame yourself for whatever happened!” he’d insisted. “From what it sounds like, she did a lot of the talking between the two of you. She could’ve listened better, thought before she spoke, and maybe that  fight would’ve turned out better.”

“Maybe…” her voice was hollow, unconvinced.

“Hey, listen. A little bit of jealousy gives you something to shoot for, as long as you don’t fixate on it too much. I marched off from a fight with my best friend, only to get run over by a semi-truck. There were things both of us could’ve said to keep it from ending up like that, probably. I dunno, I don’t actually remember much of the fight, cuz of my Fee, but my point holds.” He grinned, nudging her in the side.

Shiki smiles at him, bright and wide. “Maybe you’re right… Thanks.”

It takes longer to figure out Beat. Once he learns that he’s Rhyme’s sibling, it clicks into place.

On day 4, hanging out at the Crossing, they’d had a chat, Beat telling him about Rhyme, and what his home was like. “Our parents were always comparin’ me to them. Sayin’ why couldn’t I be more like Rhyme. ‘Rents didn’t care ‘bout my best, didn’t care at all, so I stopped carin’ too. Rhyme though, they never gave up on me.”

“Hey man, fuck ‘em. If that’s what your parents are like, don’t listen to them. You don’t need that. I’m sure you’ve got something you’re good at, something you like doing. Even if you don’t know what that is, we’re all gonna win, and you’ll have plenty of time to figure it out. You’ve got us now. All of us.”

Eri was harder to talk to, but between her limited signing and paper, they’d discussed guilt complexes and how listening, thinking, was important. He’d gathered she spoke a lot before, so maybe this was a chance to learn patience.

He didn’t know why he was taking in everyone else’s problems. It wasn’t his job to listen and give advice, he’s not a therapist.

But that what he does. These people, everyone, has their own little world, isolated, that they live in. He’d been isolated, before now. Sure he’d had his friend, but they never reached out to others, never tried to live instead of laugh at the caricature of everyone who passed by.

So helping Ai and Mina is less of a bother than he would’ve thought. He’s happy for them, when they make up and walk off.

Day 6 has Tin Pin. They all have a few hours to kill before the slam, so they spend it practicing, playing against each other.

It’s Josh and Neku’s turn to do the 1v1, when Neku decides to chat. “Hey Josh, tell me more about yourself.

“Any specifics you wanna know, dear, or are you just trying to distract me so you have a shot at winning?” Josh grins.

“I dunno, anything really. You mentioned a friend before, tell me about them.” He smiles at Josh, dropping the game of snark they play.

Josh’s grin falters, and he sighs. “He was… He was my best friend. My family was pretty shitty, between being autistic and gender and seeing the UG, I was not the perfect child they wanted. I was weird, kids at school didn’t want to be my friend, and Hanekoma was a good parental figure, but not really a friend. I met him a bit after I turned 11, after meeting Hanekoma, and by that point, I’d learned good and well not to tell anyone about what I saw. So we hung out, explored the city, joked about how other people were, but I never told him. I guess I was afraid that I’d lose him if I did.”

“If he was going to reject you for that, then he wouldn’t have been a very good friend,” Neku says, frowning as he loses another pin in the battle.

“I know, but I didn’t want to risk it. I was a coward. He was everything to me, and I don’t think I would’ve been able to bear the pain if he did reject me. I didn’t think he would, but there’s that voice in the back of my head, reminding of all the times others called me a freak. I didn’t want to be his voice.” Josh looks sad, eyes downcast, mumbling his words, posture shrinking as if to hide away from the world.

Neku feels a surge of emotions, and it takes time to pick them apart. Worry, deep in his gut, over how Josh could’ve ended up in the Game. Empathy (curse hyperempathy, it settles less like a washcloth on his heart and more like a case of cold, biting steel), because he knows the bitter sting of a friend’s rejection.

There’s something else, crawling up from the pit of his stomach and into his throat, a sickly, greyish green spider, spinning a web to clog it all up. It sticks, coating the sides and trapping the emotions inside.

He doesn’t know why guilt is flooding him like this.

Neku would offer Josh a hug, if he didn’t know Josh was touch-adverse. As it is, he pokes him in the side. “Well, we won’t abandon you. You’ve got more friends now, all of us. You won’t be alone anymore.”

Josh’s eyes flit up to him, to see the softness in his smile, the sincerity in his eyes, and he smiles back. “Thank you, Neku.”

The smile is quickly replaced by a scowl as Neku knocks his last pin away, and Neku grins over at him. “You got too distracted by being sappy.”

“Shut up and stop using underhanded tactics, or I’ll find a way to get you in more Lapin threads.”

He narrows his eyes. “You wouldn’t.” It’s not that he really minds, but the theatrics have become a joke now.

“Don’t test me.”

He laughs. “Fine, let’s slam.”

In the end, he takes home the win. Neku suspects Josh might’ve had something to do with Shuto’s malfunctioning equipment, but a win’s a win, and it kept them all in the Game one more day.

They all wake up in the Scramble, once more, for day 7. When six phones chime off in unison, they all grab at them, and let out a collective groan.

^The Game Master awaits you on the freeway. Defeat him. You have 600 minutes. Fail, and face Erasure - The Reapers^

“Well, that’s plenty of time to get ready. Once we’re all set, we should decide which of us will go first,” Josh says.

“You and Neku should be the ones to try first,” Shiki says. “I mean, you’ve both got the best chance, so if you go first, the rest of us won’t risk being Erased.”

Neku looks around, to see Eri and Rhyme nodding, and Beat puts in a “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

So they do the daily shopping (at Josh’s insistence), spending the ludicrous amount of time they have preparing. Neku insists they grind on Noise (what better way to prepare for a battle than to battle, after all?)

It’s late in the afternoon when they finally head down to the Station Underpass. Before they go too far, though, Neku stops and turns around to face them all.

“No matter what happens, you’re all my friends, got that? Once we come back to life, let’s all meet up at Hachiko, yeah?” he asks, smiling.

Eri nods, signing a yes with her hand.

“Of course!” Shiki says.

“You can count me in!” chimes Rhyme.

“I’ll be there, yo!” Beat says.

When Josh says nothing, they all turn to him. Neku raises an eyebrow, and Josh sighs.

“I can’t promise anything,” he mutters, “but I hope to be there with you all.”

“Good enough,” Neku says. “Let’s do this.”

Joshua and Neku walk forward, leaving the others behind to watch on, as they approach the Game Master (Ram Crotch, a voice in his head whispers. He holds in a laugh at the thought).

The most notable thing about the guy, besides the absurd belt buckle, is his usage of food puns. Who the hell says ‘Prepare to be spicy tuna rolled!’ before an epic battle, seriously?

After that, it’s just a matter of dodging attacks and hitting Higashizawa with all he can throw at him. Shockwaves, pyrokinesis, lightning bolts, all of it. He can feel Joshua fighting in the other plane, dropping all types of items down from the sky, from motorcycles to vending machines. He keeps his thoughts focused, syncs up his attacks with Josh’s.

The energy fueling their bond builds. The Music swells, reverberating between them, a crescendo of power, threatening to tip over. It blooms inside him, and he struggles to hold it back, waiting for the opportune moment.

It comes when Neku finishes dodging the balls of energy he flings about. White hot light ignites under his skin, as he throws his hand out and channels all that energy into an attack. Josh picks up on what he’s doing and does the same.

“Another world awaits…”

“And you’re going!”

The meteor plummets into Higashizawa, smashing him into the ground, plowing him down like he’s nothing. Which is exactly what he is now. Nothing.

The battle fades around them, and then they’re back in the UG, wearing matching goofy smiles. Adrenaline still courses through him, but now it’s being waylaid by relief. He has time to glance back at the others, eyes darting away from Josh for a second, before they’re all enveloped in a soft warm light, twirling around them.

They all disappear together as the light takes them to their final judgement.

[raywritesthings]

She Makes Him Laugh

My Writing Fandom: Doctor Who Characters: Wilfred Mott, Donna Noble, Tenth Doctor Pairing: Doctor/Donna Summary:  Donna and the Doctor bring back a present for Wilf. AO3 link

Wilfred Mott was woken from a light doze one late afternoon by the strangest sound he’d heard in his life. A sort of wheezing and groaning that would’ve had anyone taking their car down to the mechanic’s in a fright. He sat up, startled, in his chair — Sylvia was always saying he should just go to bed, but he never meant to fall asleep and anyway his back never minded it too much — and looked about blearily.

The noises had stopped, so he got himself on his feet and shuffled to the front door. A glance up and down the block didn’t reveal anything immediate. He wandered out onto the path all the same.

Then distantly, he heard a new sound. A faint, high pitched whirr. It was coming from the back! Quickly, Wilf turned and cut through the house out to the back door. There was nothing there either, but when he looked up the hill—

“Oh!” Wilf said to himself quietly. There it was, the blue box! And there was his granddaughter and that alien Doctor of hers. Wilf hurried up the hill as fast as he could.

Long before he approached he could hear the two of them talking.

“You’re sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Course I do, Donna. You’ve seen me take apart and reassemble more complicated things than this.”

“Yeah, but this is important.”

“So was the missile defense system on Fanfarna.”

“It’s special then. You’ve no idea how much my mum and dad spent on this. Gramps would be heartbroken.”

“And Sylvia would be furious, I’m sure.”

“Oi! We can’t all go around sonicing cash machines and breaking the Bank of England!”

“I’ve never broken the Bank of England! Well, I have broken in, but in fairness my judgement was severely impaired at the time.”

“You what?”

“Long story. Point is, I will not break this telescope and bankrupt the entire Noble-Mott family. Don’t you trust me?”

“Seriously wondering right about now.”

“Donnaaa.”

“Fine, yes! I trust you. Happy?”

“Brilliant!”

He crested the hill just in time to see the Doctor grinning broadly up at Donna from where he was crouched down by his telescope. They’d gotten it out of the shed he kept it locked in somehow, and his granddaughter had been hovering beside it protectively. Now she backed up, though her doing so allowed the alien to catch sight of him.

“Oh, Wilfred! Hello!”

Donna whirled about. “There goes surprising him. Hey, Gramps!”

“I’d say this is a surprise all on its own, you two turning up,” he remarked, embracing his granddaughter. “Hey! What’s brought you back here, then? Taking a break from all them aliens and planets?”

“Yeah, bit of one. How’ve you and mum been?”

“Oh, just fine,” he dismissed. “Nothing to report. Not anything exciting as what you’ve got, eh?” He looked eagerly between them. “You could come down to the house, have a cuppa. What’s all this about then?” He gestured to his telescope still standing between the pair.

It was only now that he noticed the Doctor holding a strange silver instrument with a blue tip in one hand. “Just a bit of tinkering. Nothing to worry about, Wilf. You’re getting an upgrade.”

“Upgrade?”

“We were on this rest stop for a sort of space highway,” Donna explained. “Rocketships, the proper kind, that sort of thing. He skips all that normally.”

“And a good thing, too. The traffic’s murder,” the Doctor remarked, hitting a button on his device that made the same whirring noise Wilfred had heard earlier. It glowed and he watched in fascination as the screws of his telescope undid themselves and fell one by one into his open palm.

“Anyway,” Donna continued smoothly over the alien, “they were selling these telescopes for real cheap. I thought it’d be wizard if I could bring you back one of those. You’d be able to see all sorts of stuff from right here! This one,” she said, indicating the Doctor with a tilt of the head, “said I couldn’t do that, though.”

“It’s dangerous to introduce future technology to the past, Donna,” the Doctor rattled off without even looking up from his work.

She’d clearly anticipated his response, for she didn’t even bat an eye before saying, “I hardly knew you half an hour before you were giving me stuff.”

The Doctor glanced at her for a moment. “Just the ring.”

“He gave you a ring?” Wilf asked with interest, the first he’d been able to cut into their seamless back-and-forth.

Donna blanched. “Not like that. It was a bio-damper-thing, for the wedding.”

“The wedding?”

“My wedding. The one at Christmas,” she elaborated to his slight disappointment.

"Wasn't exactly a wedding, as it turned out," the Doctor muttered, grinning as Donna leveled him with a glare that would've had most men running for cover.

Sylvia had said she’d seen the Doctor there. Wilf still didn’t know the whole story, but it was shaping up to be a rather good one from the sounds of it!

“Alright,” he agreed. “So what does this have to do with the telescope I’ve got? It’s just fine, really.” The Doctor had made quick work of disassembling it in front of his eyes, and while he trusted this man to take care of his granddaughter he couldn’t help a slight apprehension over his most prized possession.

“Fine, I suppose, for the twenty-first century,” the Doctor allowed. “But you’ve seen all it could show you on its own and you know there’s more out there, don’t you, Wilf? An astronomer like you! Just isn’t right for you to be limited.”

“Will you get on with it?” Donna requested, prodding the alien in the shoulder. She was smiling all the while though, and kept looking to Wilf eagerly.

The Doctor obliged her. “The reason it’s a bad idea to introduce future tech into the past is the risk that it might fall into the wrong hands. Alter the timeline, erase the future events that led to its creation in the first place — wham! Big paradox.” The alien paused his tinkering to address him directly. “But Donna reckons you can be trusted, Wilfred Mott, and I trust Donna Noble’s judgement more than most things in the universe.”

“Whatever it is, Doctor, I wouldn’t dream of letting someone else get ahold of it,” he assured, standing up just a little straighter.

“And that’s the plan!” The alien took something out of his pocket. It looked like a pair of tiny mirrors. “I’m building the future technology into your telescope. Outside casing will look exactly the same to the casual observer. We’ll be the only ones who know the difference.” He winked up at Donna, then hefted the telescope into his arms. “Should have it done before nightfall, and then you can give it a go.”

“Oh, well, that's wonderful! Thank you, Doctor.”

“Don’t go thanking him yet. Let’s see if it works first,” Donna cautioned.

“I told you I’ve built things a hundred times more complex than this, Donna!” The Doctor insisted in an injured tone.

“He’s told me only about a hundred times, too,” she quipped. “Might as well have that cuppa while we wait. I’ve got so much to tell you. Oi, Spaceman, you want any?” His granddaughter called over her shoulder as she led him back down the hill.

“Oh yes,” replied the Doctor, re-immersed in the telescope parts.

“Yes what?”

“Please. And don't forget to tell him about the Kravani! You were brilliant with them.”

“I’ll get to it when I get to it.” Donna shook her head. They entered the kitchen and she set to work starting the kettle and pulling mugs down from the cupboard. She also fetched the sugar, which neither of them took — he used to, but Sylvia said it wasn't good for his health and she always made such a fuss.

“So the Kravani, was it?”

“It’s been two weeks since then. Honestly, he never shuts up about it, I swear.” She glanced at Wilf and her lips quirked in bemusement. “What are you smiling about?”

“Oh, just happy you’re home, sweetheart,” he answered.

“Sure. You were the one saying to go off and see the universe,” she reminded shrewdly.

“Well a visit in between every now and then can’t hurt.”

“No,” she agreed with a smile. “So, let me think. What did I tell you about last?”

“There was that planet with the- the Odd fellas or something, I think.”

“Ood. Yeah, that sounds right.”

She launched back into the fantastic stories of her travels. Planets, Agatha Christie, half-fish people. It all sounded so marvellous, and he was thrilled to know it was his granddaughter experiencing it of all people with that Doctor of hers. The way she spoke about him — dazzling, she’d called him the last time, and that clearly hadn’t changed. And from the little Wilfred had been able to observe of the Doctor thus far, it seemed a very mutual feeling.

The kettle boiled and then Donna was busying herself with the tea. She used a liberal amount of sugar for the third mug, stirring it in as she continued to talk, then left it to cool on the counter while bringing his and hers to the table.

“And that about covers it, I think,” she said eventually. Then she glanced to the counter at the third mug, which was no longer steaming quite as much. “That’s probably done.” She stood and stuck her head out the back door. “Doctor! Tea’s ready.”

He heard footfalls on the hill and then Donna was letting the alien past her into the kitchen. “Nearly finished. Just one or two tweaks and then it should be good as new. Better, actually!”

“Oh, it could’ve waited, really. I meant to tell Donna she ought to call you down sooner, but she was just telling me all the wonderful things you two have been doing out there.”

“Nah, it’s for his own good. He never lets it cool on his own. Burns his tongue every time,” Donna informed him, rolling her eyes with a look caught somewhere between fond and exasperated.

“Guilty as charged,” said the Doctor, who had just taken an incredibly large gulp from his mug. He smacked his lips together. “So, ready to see some new planets?”

“Well I suppose I better be!” Wilfred remarked with a chuckle. Donna smiled, looking between him and the alien. He stood, dropping his mug off in the sink on the way. “Will there be aliens on them?”

“Some,” the Doctor answered.

“How about those whatsit, potato people?”

“Sonteran,” Donna helped him.

“Sontaran, Donna,” the Doctor corrected automatically. He looked more amused than anything at what appeared to be an old argument. “And no, their planet is far away from this galaxy. Fortunately.” He drained the rest of his mug and then was leading their little group all back up the hill. He'd grabbed Donna's hand so she walked along at his side, and Wilf brought up the rear.

Wilfred settled himself in his chair, waiting as the Doctor fiddled a few moments more with the telescope. It was completely dark by the time he and Donna placed it in front of him.

“Controls are all the same. Now, just to give you an idea of what she can do, I think I’ll pick out the first planet.” The alien looked through it and slowly adjusted where it was pointed to until stopping suddenly. “Oh yes! That’s a good one. What do you think?”

He’d asked Wilf’s granddaughter knelt beside him and motioned Donna forward, holding the telescope steady as she leaned in close for a look.

“It’s gorgeous! Which one is that?”

“Well, the name’s a bit tricky. It’s officially part of the Trappist-1 system, a dwarf star in the constellation Aquarius discovered by humanity right at the turn of the century. They won’t spot the exoplanets till a bit into your future. This one was originally named Trappist-f, but there was a Twitter poll and, well, things got ugly.”

Donna looked away from the telescope and to the Doctor quizzically. “Twitter?”

“Oh, right. It’s only just got started, hasn’t completely taken off yet. That’s in your future, too.” He grinned at her, and Donna grinned right back. The two of them burst into laughter. He'd never seen Donna so carelessly happy before, and the Doctor, well, there was nothing but joy in his expression as he looked at her and laughed.

One of his hands was resting on the small of Donna’s back.

As if sensing Wilf’s eyes, the Doctor looked round and his hand was quickly snatched away. “Er, but why don’t we let Wilfred see for himself?” Donna also turned in his direction, shifting back from the Doctor and looking a little red in the face to him, even in the dark.

“Yeah, Gramps, give it a go,” she urged quickly. “Here we are hogging your telescope. Not like we can’t just have a look at it ourselves later up close.”

“Oh, I don’t mind. Nothing quite like stargazing sometimes,” he said, leaning forward in his chair. He thought to mention its rather romantic nature, but decided that might be showing his hand a little much.

Then he’d put his eye to the telescope and forgot nearly everything else.

“Oh. Oh!” He’d certainly never seen anything quite like this planet before. And certainly never so clear. “That’s an alien planet?”

“Uninhabited right now, actually. What’s exciting about it is that it and its fellows are terrestrial, and three of them fall within the habitable zone.”

“Habitable for us?” He looked to the Doctor and got a nod. “So we might get there someday?”

“Oh, humans,” the alien gave a fond shake of the head, “you lot will get everywhere.”

“He’s not kidding. I’ve seen it,” Donna added. “All across the universe.”

“Amazing,” breathed Wilf. “Just amazing.” He went back to looking through the telescope, hardly able to believe what he was seeing. Yet the Doctor and Donna were the living, breathing proof. The things they’d seen, this was only a fraction.

All three were startled by the sound of a car door slamming around the other side of the house.

“That’ll be mum,” Donna realized.

“You two better be off, then,” said Wilf. He was sad to see them go, even if it meant his Donna was getting back out there and seeing the stars with her Doctor at her side. “Stop by whenever you’ve got some more stories.”

He stood to hug Donna, who murmured in his ear, “We will.”

The Doctor returned his salute with a nod. “Wilfred, always a pleasure.”

“And you, Doctor. Thank you.”

He shook his head. “Thank Donna. All her idea, and a rather brilliant one as always, I’d say.”

The alien looked at her for a moment, and it was clear to even a human like Wilf the emotion on his face. Then he ducked his head and stepped into his box.

Donna lingered. “Listen, just tell mum I said hello, I suppose.”

“I will,” he promised. “Oh, Donna?”

She’d half-turned towards the blue box herself, but looked back round. “Yeah, Gramps?”

“That ring the Doctor gave you — he ever ask for it back?”

Donna tensed. “No. Why?”

Wilfred affected a shrug. “No reason,” he said lightly.

A frown appeared on her face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, I may not know much about alien blokes, but when a man gives you a ring—”

“Oh, don’t you start,” she warned. “We are not together.”

“Donna?” The Doctor called from inside the ship. “Everything alright?”

“Coming!” She lowered her voice again and said, “Seriously, not even close.”

“If you say so, sweetheart.”

She watched him through narrowed eyes for a moment. “I’ll come round soon as I can,” she eventually stated. “See you, Gramps.”

“Go see those stars!”

She cracked a smile again, then was walking through the doors of the Doctor’s ship to rejoin her alien. Wilfred backed up a couple steps as that wheezing and groaning he’d first heard began anew, and the ship slowly faded away from sight. He let out a laugh. How marvellous!

The back door opened moments later. “Dad, are you up there on the hill? What was that racket?”

“No idea,” he answered. “Must have been one of the neighbors or something.”

“And what are all these mugs doing in the sink? Did you have company?” Sylvia demanded.

Wilfred smiled to himself. “Don’t you worry about that, love. I’ll do the washing up.” He looked back to his newly improved telescope and then up to the stars. Maybe some night he’d be gazing up at all those undiscovered planets and see a little blue box and the wonderful couple — whether they knew it or not — that traveled in it.

“Just give us a few,” he called down.