#yay for it somehow actually winding up in my drafts!

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

What I never learned in study hall by Ice Nine Kills, is an incredibly brujay song, from Jason's perspective. I think it works even if the brujay is "parental" with how fucked their relationship is by the time Jason is back. Thoughts?

OUGHCH ouch, yeah I can very much see it as like, especially brujay after a breakup? Like it's very much a regrets song, very much a looking backwards song, so I don't feel like it'd be in a period while they were together.

I think what I could see most is this being a version of Jason who had a crush on Bruce while he was a kid/Robin. Or, of course, the very dark version of Underage exploitative brujay... Cause like then this would make a ton of sense for Jason's feelings in Under the Red Hood

I definitely like it for them!

Also funnily enough I just shared some early drafts with someone of a brujay flavored future chapter of Chained based on this fanart here that really really fits this song... mayhaps it'll come up in chapter titles idk

[rinharu-purple]

Gavin x MC's Lore in S1 Pt.1

CH 1-10: Meet Cute Conspiracy

After two and a half years, 37 chapters and a fair amount of blood sweat and tears, MLQC has reached its season finale in ENG server.

I must say, post CH24 the storyline has lost a lot of momentum, however I enjoyed the ending of it as well as the new beginning.

What I really love about it thought, that the story of Gavin and MC came in full circle and now I can finally tell their story from beginning to the end. It’s a fairly long post, which I've actually lost due to a software crush during writing first draw and had a mild nervous breakdown (yay!)

Therefore this post in it's final form is a team work and I would like to thank some extremely valuable people to me. @playheej Thank you for painstakingly scripting CH2 after I’ve lost my first draft. Without your help I couldn’t ever finish this!💗 @cheri-cheri You know I can’t appreciate your contributions to this fandom and companionship enough. Thank you for your hard work in proofreading and fruitful discussion sessions! @sin-with-quiche @purple-cat-demon Thank you so much for the emotional support all the way preparing this and lifting my spirits up when I was busy whining over the lost draft, you girls rock! ^_^

Warning: This post has nothing but spoilers from MLQC S1!

Warning 2: If you decide to refer to this work, please make sure to mention it ^_^

Gavin and MC’s story began 6 years before the events of CH1, when our lovebirds attended Loveland High together when they were 16 and 17 years old respectively. They had a fairly distant relationship in which MC's initial awareness of Gavin's existence grew into interest and to MC “lurking” around senior years' quarters or catching glimpses of Gavin's athletic body, whereas Gavin felt awestruck upon seeing MC in the rain for the first time and then observed her gradually from afar before finally developing a crush on her. Unfortunately, their interactions didn’t go beyond keeping tabs on each other, and Gavin had to leave before graduation. They did not see each other for 6 years. A very detailed storyline of this period can be found here by @ginkgomoon which did an amazing job in compiling everything, so make sure to take a look at that to understand the humble beginnings of Gavin and MC’s relationship.

Fast forward to today, Gavin requested to be dispatched to Loveland City on his own accord so that he could be close to MC again. This is exactly what happens in CH1 as Gavin sees MC for the first time after six years of longing... Though only from afar.

In CH1, MC is introduced to all the love interests...except Gavin. Gavin's introduction is left till CH2, and PG generously spends a whole chapter doing that. Despite the lack of a proper introduction and an interaction with MC, CH1 still gives us a glimpse of him detecting  energy waves when MC is saved by Victor. He doesn't see the “car accident" since he rushes to the scene after the EVOL fluctuation takes place.

...What I didn't notice is that with that gust of wind, a man appeared noiselessly in the sky above the city. Even in that windless afternoon, his windbreaker somehow flutters. The gun in his holster shines coldly. He presses the call button on his headset”

Agent B-7, energy wave detected in Loveland. Sending coordinates. Target locked. Taking action immediately

His sharp vision follows the girl's figure until she leaves the street

Before we even grasp who he is, he's already left the scene and us poor Gavin stans hungry for more (typical Gavin). And mind this outfit for it will make a reappearance.

The next day, in CH2, we have a whole chapter dedicated to MC and Gavin meeting each other after six years of separation and what a reunion it is! Their paths cross as MC receives a special assignment by City News for investigating a series of warping incidents and her contact person at Loveland Police station under the phone number18xxxx is<...drumroll...> Our “Big shot's boy” GAVIN!

MC is frozen at first by hearing the name alone and instinctively wants to flee due to Gavin in her memories. She flutters and shudders just as our birdcop is having his own turmoil of emotions behind his beautiful amber eyes. Upon seeing the mixture of fear and unfamiliarity on MC’s face Gavin's very first line to MC is “Do you remember me?” since she is acting strange in front of him and of course our MC remembers, just not in the way our Gav-babe would wish her to. Realizing this, he asks her whether something's wrong. While MC denies this, he knows...he has a long way to go, many misunderstandings to clear, and a heart to steal. Gavin is pretty surprised by MC’s reactions and he finds it interesting when she describes their encounter as “a coincidence”. It isn't, because Gavin was the one who arranged this case for MC so that he could meet her again.Thus, this was their “Meet Cute Conspiracy” went according to Gavin’s plan (minus MC freaking out at the sight of him lol). ^_^

Despite finding Gavin cold and uptight at first, MC takes note of how he  slows down his pace and also offers her his long term cooperation in case she needs his help in future shows. MC is a person who is well aware of her surroundings and thus realizes the discrepancy between the Gavin from her memories and the Gavin standing right next to her.

Her train of thoughts and feelings have a 180° turn during the events in CH2:

A tall guy wearing all denim who gives off a strong, uptight feeling even without the uniform, making her feel a little afraid, a face that is older but more tamed than the one from her memories, a bloody letter, wanting to flee, thinking the uneasy feeling over the past few days were pointing to that moment, cold steely eyes that make her shutter, not a straight arrow cop, coldness enveloping her, he would be great on camera (wtf MC, confused much? :D).

Afterwards, they set off to meet Hollow for the investigation and we have the very first body contact between them after MC meets Sparky. She goes from this....

...to this. This change is sponsored by Gavin and Sparky, a dynamic duo ;)

As they reach Verdant Plaza in 10 minutes from the Police Station, MC gets numb feet, which will become a running gag afterwards for MC’s default feeling whenever Gavin gives her a rush of feelings. My theory here is that besides making MC hug him tightly, Gavin is also trying to see how far one can get at top speed in 10 minutes. From what I can see in City Stroll, the Police Station is slightly closer to Verdant Plaza than Flower Fair, and he deduces that one cannot cover the distance between Verdant Plaza and Flower Fair (23 km) in 10 minutes (btw you can at around 140 km/h with godly driving skills and a briefcase full of speeding tickets, but yeah I see what you mean Gav, the police would know someone driving that fast constantly in the city).

Anyways, they interrogate Hollow, who swoons over Gavin and ignores MC completely. Gavin stands for his girl and gives Hollow his imnotintoyoujustanswerthequestion505 gaze which, as always, meets his purpose and shuts Hollow down. But Hollow is not the only third wheel for our meet-cutes here as MC's phone rings and one of my favorite moments takes place. Lucien teases MC and tortures our birdcop, thus starting a series of “Gavin's jealousy on Lucien” moments which can be read in detail here. So both of our lovebirds have a threat present in the scene. On another note, MC thinks Lucien knows about the source of her unease (the feeling she has towards Gavin at first sight) for some unknown reason. Why do you think that is?

Leaving Hollow in her puddle of tears and drool, they go to Verdant Plaza to investigate the case further and spend the whole afternoon together. During this time, MC also has a chance to awe over Gavin's deduction and analytical skills as the holy trinity paving the way to MC's crush on Gavin forms a cross in her heart...

His looks (the father), his character (the son) and his intelligence (the holy ghost).

Right after this, Gavin drops her off at her apartment and tosses her the bracelet. Please make a pause here and listen to this call about bracelet and enjoy pre-relationship Gavin. How clueless and flustery he is. I will post a couple of other calls so that we can witness his character development together.

And thus, the most recognizable love token between Gavin and MC makes its appearance and MC instantly loses herself in memories from high school - the music room, late autumn and the ginkgo leaves… moments that always managed to take her breath away. Our skillful in bijou design but as much weird in love Gav-babe rips her from these romantic thoughts as he reveals that he put a tracker on the bracelet (he didn't- team no-tracker here). After MC asks why he gave this to her, he replies...please everybody listen to Joe's voice as he says “So in an emergency, I can respond instantly”. This is the voice of a guy coming up with a lame excuse on the spot. Our Gav-babe thought as much to conceal his true intention by saying he put a tracker on it but didn’t take into account that she might wanna know why. This fact doesn't stop her from cherishing it though. She likes the bracelet from the very first moment despite it being given under the weirdest circumstances. MC thinks to herself that Gavin has indeed changed. What she doesn't realize though, is how her train of thought evolved within a span of 8 hours after Gavin saves her from a BS agent who tries to stab her after the space folding evolver beams her up to the alley from her dream and she lands in Gavin's strong and warm arms, using his EVOL.

“The light of the setting sun made his face appear so handsome that I dared not look at him. This is high above the city, it's a bit cool, but his embrace is warm…”. 

This time you've made it Gavin. But also welcome to the club MC ^_^ I believe the reason behind MC falling into Gavin so fast upon reuniting with him is that she already had a slight crush on him during high school but was taken aback by his reputation and her opinion on him due to the numerous rumours. Remember how she still thinks he would look goods in the camera while internally freaking out of fright? MC is like many Gavin stans. Before everything, she finds him really good looking and then gets hit by the countless other good qualities he brings with the package. As scientifically proven, it's always about the looks at first ;)

Now that his EVOL is out in the open, Gavin tells MC about the Black Swan Organisation, evolvers, how MC got the assignment, and that she has the precognition EVOL. But he also tells her that the car accident two weeks earlier was a plot to kill her. Here, we find out that Gavin knows Victor from his childhood years and that Gavin couldn't have more distaste of him or of knowing him (same here).

MC asks him more about his EVOL, and he demonstrates his superpowers by making rose petals dance in the air around them...MC's heart skips a beat and our birdcop delivers his household line:

“As long as you're in the wind, I can sense you”

Can it get any meet-cuter than this? You tell me!

When MC's back home, surely Gavin accompanies her there, she confides in the ginkgo bracelet and finds solace in it and Gavin caresses her with a breeze to give her a feeling of peace and kids...that's how MC met Gavin.(insert Ted Mosby here)

---------

After that, we don't see Gavin often but get this. I think CH3 is taking place parallel to Trio Date because here, MC visits Kiro at the set of Project X and a security breach causes fans to swarm in and cause mayhem. Yes I know on the date it's about an album launch, it's my headcanon here because I don't think that there is a more fitting time for this to happen and since it involves pre-relationship Gavin, it fits. Other than that, Gavin sends MC an SMS to give her his number and I will let Joe take on the task of expressing my feelings towards this not straight arrow cop action of Gavin here. (Fun Fact, Lucien invites her to watch the movie Manhattan with him but MC can't because of Kiro's project so Lucien organizes another screening for the day after).

I don't know about you, but whenever MC takes note of wind in the main story, I must think about Gavin and I also believe he is the reason behind it, much like Shaw being responsible for the precipitation. In CH 3-15, wind kicks up and MC reminisces on  the sea breeze from the summer when she was 17 and ready to embrace the future.

That night, Gavin is in his special uniform and is ready to head out but wants to say a proper goodbye to her...opens the chat session:

Type, delete, type, delete and at the end hesitates and decides not to.

But MC, now at home, senses the summer breeze and feels a refreshing coolness and has a sweet dream. Coincidence? I think not ;)

Gavin is on his mission in CH4, so we don't see him. But he calls MC and they talk about Souvenir as MC tells him about the one-of-a-kind restaurant with negative reviews on everything except for the food to which Gavin replies that a restaurant with bad management might not be the best feature for the TV. MC says it's because Kiro recommended it (funnily Gavin doesn't react to this, making me think back on my Trio Date hypothesis). When MC tells him that she got kicked out, he suggests going there first and then letting her in. MC says that they would be kicked out altogether. It's then that Gavin asks about the name of the place and has indeed heard of the name Souvenir, but can't put his finger on it. Still offers to meet her in front of Souvenir and to take her somewhere else. But MC says she wants to deal with it herself and Gavin doesn't push the issue further ('cuz the best boi gotta best boi).

My guess is that the mission is the one from Airport Date and Gavin has “family issues.” Thinking back, Shaw was foreshadowed all the time!

By the end of CH4 MC reminisces about Gavin telling her about the assasination incident, and believes that the cruel world is still a long way away from her.

Afterwards, I often thought back on that time. At that time, we had just met, and the story had just begun. At that time, I had no idea what lay behind that glittering memory. The cruel fact that would make my world collapse.

In CH5 Gavin returns from his mission only to find MC tailing Lucien like a stalker for days and nights relentlessly. Our jealous birdcop is back and he gives MC one hell of a wakeup flight as he kidnaps her from her office on the 19th floor. MC sees a hint of danger on Gavin's face and gives him a good old cold shoulder therapy by telling him that she was too sleepy to answer his calls (ouch!). But Gavin isn't helping either by mysteriously asking for permission to take a picture of her photo with her father or that she needs to contact him when she meets any suspicious evolvers to which she rightfully responds that the only one fitting this description is his magnificent self :)

“Anyone might hurt you, but I'm the least likely to“ #truestory

Gavin leaves and goes to investigate Twin Leaves Orphanage, where he finds the spot on which MC posed with her father on the photo he brought with him. Gavin is again on a mission with unknown parties and again why he does the things he does, but MC doesn't. CH5 is finished with the score Lulu 2-Gavbabe 1

At the same time, Loveland City gives MC a long-term assignment and considering the fact that it was Gavin in the first place, it could mean that this also has something to do with him...It doesn't as we find out in this call in CH5-19 and this call also raises some confusion about the bracelet. Let me clear it with my take on this for you. Gavin asks her whether she's visited the orphanage on that day and when MC asks him how he knows he turns it around and asks her what she thinks, but at the beginning of the call he doesn't know where she is. So my take is that he knows about the orphanage because that is his current mission and therefore has surveillance in the area. He also warns her about the area but also lets it slip that he's worried about her. He also tells her that he will be leaving on a major case. Even now our birdcop doesn't leave without saying goodbye <3

CH6...Rude Awakening introduces Gavin in CH6-13 with this famous dream as MC shouts Gavin's name which results in everyone teasing her for thinking about him too much. MC blushes like hell but is also scared to such an extent that her heart beats out of her chest. Frantically, she tries to call Gavin but he doesn't answer...at 4 am in the morning. MC again, confides in her ginkgo bracelet and a night breeze caresses her face. She is standing on the balcony and thus in the wind, Gav-babe senses her- how I love this about them! And get this, she is wearing the ginkgo bracelet in CH6, in Lucien's chapter. Meaning, she does carry Gavin's bracelet all the time!

Once again, MC has romantic thoughts related to him. She remembers how he said that he can find her in the wind and talks to him in her mind. Telling him to show up, since she is standing in the wind, to tell her not to worry, that it was just a dream, nothing more. The scene in her mind is when she is in his strong and warm arms and she doesn’t dare to look at his handsome face.

She spends the rest of her day with the programme and takes a walk with Lucien afterwards. Just as Lucien asks MC if she's standing close to him and having a bad feeling because the wind is kicking up, there he was!:

-Gavin!

Gavin has a threatening and unfamiliar expression that gives MC a fright and she hides behind Lucien. Lucien holds her hand and smiles at Gavin all the while telling MC not to let go of his hand, and to stay back because Gavin is dangerous (my bby, how dare you Lucien!). Despite all of this, MC still holds on to the belief that Gavin wouldn't hurt her in spite of the gun pointed at her.

“He took aim without an ounce of hesitation.

He aimed at me coldly...

Shooting to kill...

The muzzle flashed.”

BLAM!

If we could turn back time, I bet we would still end up here. It's not fate, or a trap cleverly laid. It's because I am me, and you're you. We would make the same decisions and embark on the same path to the same end. The gale ripped the corner off the cruel truth.

The past me died in that moment

CH7 starts in a scene two weeks after the Rude Awakening moment with MC hiring Minor, the ultimate Gavin stan and the best wingman on earth. Talkative, outgoing, troublemaker, in good shape and sometimes helped old ladies cross the street, copied my homework hung around Gavin all the time, a social chameleon and a shameless kiss-up. MC gives him his first assignment on her project “Letters in Time ''. They decide to go through high schoolers to search for ideas and MC visits Loveland High and runs across to Gavin and another running gag in the lore is introduced:

(Both simultaneously) What are you doing here? - They will be doing this on a regular basis from now on, just watch ;) They then tell each other about their businesses while playing with a pebble (because they must act like teenagers now lol)

They go to Lynn's Kitchen and have their favorites brought to them without MC even having to order anything. Gavin eats spicy noodles with garlic, cilantro and thinly sliced beef as MC goes for noodles in a clear broth, chopped scallions and a half boiled egg. We also finally put the pieces of the puzzle together as to why MC was so scared of him and that is because she witnessed the boss of Lynn's Kitchen hand over money to him and she thought it was protection money. Not only does Gavin arrange for them to eat there outside of operating hours, he also convinces them to give MC an interview...on top of it leaves without paying the bill.

Gavin drives her home as usual. MC suggests to meet him at 9 am the following day in the hopes of ditching him (somebody hasn't learned her lesson, oh well the hard way it is then :P). The next morning MC revisits the kitchen to meet the lady boss and there her perspective is changed radically as the owners tell her that the extortion of money she thought she had witnessed was actually them paying their debt to Gavin who saved their son's life after rushing him to the hospital when he had an accident with his bike. (Gavin is a national treasure and needs to be protected at all costs). Not only that but she also finds out that he actually paid for the food way earlier. While she's buried in a heavy pool of guilt, Gavin catches her and puts the cherry on top because it's 9 o'clock already, the fake time she told Gavin and our birdcop is as punctual as a German. Being caught red-handed, MC flutters but Gavin is such a baby he tells her she needs to hurry if she doesn't want to be late for her interview. But MC drags him in the opposite direction (since she's done with the interview already. Doesn't feel good now does it MC? :))

Anyways, they see Minor at Loveland High and Gavin finds out that he's working for MC. While Minor is busy swooning over Gavin and about to bring up the letter, our trio learn that a student's gone missing and Gavin takes the matter in his hands. He tells MC to wait for him in the classroom after her interview and Minor to look after her.

You see, CH7 is about MC and Gavin clearing all the misunderstandings from six years ago. While alone, Minor asks MC about the letter from back then which startles her. Appalled by his knowledge of the alleged warning letter,he frankly replies that he was the one who put the letter in her drawer and that it wasn't a threat.

Before MC can inquire further, she spots the missing girl and decides to follow her but gets abducted and her dream from the beginning of the chapter starts unravelling. MC tries to buy some time until Gavin finds her and for the first and last time in the game we hear her calling an LI’s name and waits for the rescue. 

“Save me Gavin, please!”

MC tries to escape but to no avail. Jay (the abductor and brother of the missing girl) presses a knife against MCs throat and her knight arrives in the nick of time:

Gavin: No way

MC's world comes to a halt and we can literally hear her loud heartbeats. Gavin immobilizes Jay and stretches his long, steady hands to MC she would recognize anywhere (she was him only one or twice before but MC is romanticizing Gavin to the max already.). She even thinks that his tall frame is glowing in the sunlight and Gavin hugs her for the first time, so tightly that it hurts a little albeit warm and comforting that can melt anyone and bring tears to the eyes. When he finally tells her that it's ok now , “I'm here”, MC thinks it was worth the peril (wth girl you almost died!).

As we will see later on, any Gavin x MC romance will always be disturbed by an external factor. Here it is the sniper shot MC somehow forgot from her dream (I can see that the embrace melted her but damn). Gavin evades the bullet by using aerodynamics and in the coolest way possible in the anime. Afterwards he tells her to hold on tight and the next thing is our lovebirds soaring through the air. This time, ginkgo leaves are dancing in the air. MC enjoys the scenery and drifts back to her memories until she realizes the scar on his collarbone, which frightens her. MC's heart skips another beat. She looks into his amber eyes and gets lots in them (her words) and is assured that everything is alright and that his slight smile softens his dour countenance...she keeps staring at him just like that until Gavin rips her off yet another swooning session:

“How long are you gonna make me hold you?” smh

MC gets all blushy so she changes the topic to the matter at hand and asks him about the missing girl and explains why she left the classroom. Gavin lets this slide and suggests that she needs to be more careful next time.

Being the third time some mysterious people tried to kill MC and having Gavin save her, MC tells Gavin how Jay told her that throwing MC off the rooftop would bring his sister back and then showers Gavin with questions. This is when she remembers the gunshot and worries about him.

Gavin gives her quick answers but also assures her that he's fine and that he needs to finish his business. He adds in his charming voice

“...and don't go anywhere this time?”

As he leaves, MC reminisces about the scene in Rude Awakening and how Gavin was actually there to save her and how she didn't believe Lucien when he said that Gavin was dangerous. Gav-babe fired a shot to change the other bullet's trajectory to save MC. He can shoot a bullet in the air! This is one out of this world skill!

Gavin asked Lucien to take her home but contacted her later in the night and told her everything.

This is also when she realizes that her camcorder was recording all this time. Including her making him hold her for an infinite time and getting caught again by Gavin while contemplating erasing that part before handing it as evidence to the police. Gavin flicks a loose sand from her hair and then her wrist and puts the ginkgo bracelet on that she had lost during the commotion. MC is all blushy again. When he clutches her hand for the first time MC's ear turns flaming and red and her mind goes blank, she would let Gavin lead her wherever and she finds Gavin's face gentler under the sun...

“An indescribable emotion welled within me

I tried to recall the first time I saw him

This ill-tempered, occasionally enigmatic man that I once feared had inspired all sorts of thoughts”.

This is where she gathers her courage and asks Gavin when he first noticed her to which he at first replies that he doesn't remember (way to go Gav) which throws MC completely off since she threw her out there. Her initial sense of expectation and resulting disappointment kinda hints at her romantic interest towards him. Once our birdcop is done teasing he smiles as if signaling that he does remember (he even remembers what she was wearing, what day it was, how was the weather on that day etc.). Gavin was mesmerized by MC at first sight in the rain while she was putting a handkerchief on a stray cat. He kept watching her out of the place and she gave him a pure and comforting smile with her untainted, innocent eyes. She was wet and cold so covered her with his jacket and charged into the rain (#justgavinxmcthings)in the game it say they charged into the rain and cheri and I decided on the CN version. Since MC doesn't remember this, he simply says that he knew who she was before she ever noticed him.

After the sun goes down they report at the police station and the topic of the camcorder pops up again as Gavin assures MC that he can make a copy of everything irrelevant to the case...you know...in case she wants to listen to their banter at home while Gavin's not around lol. MC answers wryly and Gavin repeats that she doesn't have to worry about anything not relevant to the case, which leaves her all blushy again. I swear to god, this guy can see her thoughts through and through.

Their dialogue takes a darker turn as they talk about the main reason behind it all. Jay was searching for his runaway sister but MC was his target as his task was to position her on the roof for the sniper to have a clear shot (since when do snipers need someone to position their targets so that they can have a clear shot lol).

He then tells her that the bullet was identical to the one from the orphanage. Gavin ensures that they are taking steps to prevent this from happening again (and it doesn't) but MC's heart skips another beat and something weighs on her chest.

And another amazing Gavin X MC moment takes shape as Gavin sees MC intentions before she even finishes her sentence about not noticing her EVOL before and how she would've never thought that someone would target her because of that. MC is comparing herself with Josie and Gavin gets this instantly (I didn't tbh). MC thinks that if they had helped Jay earlier he wouldn't be in jail today, to which Gavin earnestly replies that he is happy that someone caught him before he hit rock bottom. He was looking at MC while saying this and MC realises that this is a soft side of him she's never seen before.

MC asks if he would still want to be an evolver given the choice. He replies with a resolute yes, because he has someone he wants to protect and adds:

“It's always the darkest before the dawn

Has Gavin gone through dark times?”

The mode changes instantly as they both try to change the topic simultaneously

(Gavin/MC): You...

a pause

(Gavin/MC): When you...

Gavin gentlemanly gives MC the first word and she finally asks him about the letter.

The million dollar question is there but Gavin doesn't give her an answer since it doesn’t matter anyone and asks her what she thinks about him now, now that she's cleared her misconception of him from years back and MC gives the most boring answer possible:

“Well, you're ill-tempered and impatient, but you're not the monster they described. Nothing stops you from our goals, and you've got a kind heart. Well, maybe not quite kind, but very clear and open”. 

I believe she tones down her thoughts because he kinda leaves her hanging when she puts her out earlier. I think had Gavin given her more courage, she would also say that he makes her feel safe and that she's thankful for the bracelet. That he has many more facets to discover and that he's looking drop dead gorgeous and she can't take her eyes off him haha.

Later when she's home, Minor comes to the rescue and sends her an URL where Gavin expresses his regret of not having given the letter himself, and that it was a farewell letter because of the post-it note MC hung in Lynn's Kitchen. MC is taken aback by the fact that Gavin knows about this. When asked about the text in the letter he says that it doesn't matter since they have a lot of time in the future, pretty much he tells her that it doesn't matter now that they've reconnected.

CH8 has Gavin MIA again. MC thinks about him as Kiro tells her about Black Swan and then in CH9-8 MC calls Gavin to inform him about the information she's found out with Kiro but Gavin doesn't pick up. So MC sends him a text. The wind howls outside the window. MC looks out and sees lightning in the distance. It suppresses a bad feeling in her and she draws the curtains. As it appears, Gavin is once again busy with family issues. The office again teases her on her love life, though Kiki and a nameless guy discuss on Lucien and Kiro while Willow says she hasn't heard MC mentioning Gavin in a while.

In CH9-10 MC throws a party with the team to celebrate the success of the interview with Key and drinks a little bit too much. Luckily Minor is there to keep an eye on her and even tells MC that he did it on behalf of Gavin. While MC asks herself what this has to do with him, she realizes that he is still MIA and worries since he's never done this before, and sends another text.

“Gavin, busy lately? I have something important to tell you. Call me ASAP”

I bet my dollar that when Gavin sees this message he will freak out and think about any possibility other than something related to Black Swan XD

and freak out he does as CH10 starts with his voice message

“Why were you calling me? How come you didn't pick up? Is everything alright?”

When they finally manage to have a proper phone call Gavin tells her to come downstairs and that he is going to take her to work...of course he is, Bestboi is back baby, fret no more! ^_^. MC runs downstairs (I will show here the difference over time in the last part of this series)

MC's first thought is how cool Gavin looks but then as Gavin sees her MC also observes how his face looks happier upon seeing her. As MC babbles about her new deal Gavin remarks on how she is no longer afraid of him which she confirms and says that the misconception is cleared up. Gavin says that because she wasn't responsive he came to check on her the day before and saw her sleeping (I think that is the only explanation as to how he can be so calm, considering the fact that she was MIA). He is kinda upset about her not telling him about being hospitalized though. Our bircop has brought a personal helmet for her and puts his jacket on her, causing a blushy face. MC's heart pumps as she leans on his back and Gavin tightens her hands around his waist. Gavin is riding slower and MC takes note of this (our Jupiter is careful as she was hospitalized <3 )

After this sweet reunion Gavin asks her about her call and SMSes and she tells him about the message she saw on Black Swan

“We come from the future, with the sole mission to accelerate human evolution. We have EVOL. We create all. We cannot be stopped, for we hold the world in our hands. The Queen will soon awake. We look forward to marching together into a new world.”

Gavin asks her how she acquired this information and she tells him about the hacker summit. Gavin says that this information helps him a lot since he has also gathered some leads but that she needs to stay safe and leave the rest to him. After telling each other a hundred times to be careful and stay safe Gavin leaves as MC keeps worrying about him.(#justgavinxmcthings)

If I add one last headcanon here- These two dates probably take place during this era. Considering the fact that Gavin appears on her shows and takes her to work in the morning and rides her home at night. 

As we know CH10 ends with Shaw injuring MC and thus we can look forward to more family feud, romance and drama in the next episode here.

[adultswim2021]

The Venture Bros. #1: “The Terrible Secret of Turtle Bay” | February 16, 2003 - 11:30 PM | S00E01

It’s weird to think how much I love this show considering how intensely I disliked this pilot.

The Venture Bros. was created by Jackson Publick, who wrote for the beloved, sorta-similar-I-guess The Tick. He did most of the work on this pilot himself. Doc Hammer came in late in production cuz he was “on tour” and he and Jackson were partners for the regular series. Their partnership IS The Venture Bros, which is maybe why this episode feels a little lacking. It’d be kinda like if Matt Stone did the first episode of South Park by himself because Trey Parker was on tour with DVDA, only to link back up with Matt for episode 2.

The biggest drawback of this episode is that it’s animated very cheaply using flash. This is basically a 25 minute Icebox cartoon. I think Mr. Wong made a cameo. Oh! There actually is a fairly insulting Japanese character voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas; even Jackson and Doc note that it’s “a little much” during the DVD commentary. It actually gets progressively more racist over the course of the episode. Look, I guess if you’re trying to make a Jonny Quest pastiche insensitive portrayals of non-white guys are kinda part of it. But even I tugged my collar a little bit while watching this, I tell ya.

Oh, I should say what the show is about. Doctor Venture is kind of an ex-boy adventurer type, like if Jonny Quest grew up but now he’s a bitter pill-popping dickhead with two sweetly naive boys who desperately want to follow in their father’s footsteps. The boys yearn for Hardy-Boys-style adventures and usually wind up in much more disturbing situations. It’s a comedy of juxtaposition, a word that I’m pretty sure I know what it means. Except for the presence of super-scientists and costumed villains, the world of The Venture Bros. is roughly as harsh and grimy as our own, so when Hank and Dean (Doctor Venture’s sons and the titular Venture Bros.) attempt to go have a wide-eyed boyish adventure it ends with them getting mugged and winding up with a FREAKIN’ HOOKER!

My reason for not liking this was oddly specific: In my senior year of high school a classmate in my drama class actually wrote a play with a similar premise: a cocky adventurer with two precocious but naive boys (they said “yay!” all the time, I remember) were doing some kind of Indiana Jones style thing. They also had a bodyguard who spoke tersely and dished out brutal violence at the drop of a hat. Sound familiar? Like, holy shit, a teenager I knew wrote the same fucking show! This was 2001; a version of this pilot was allegedly written in 2000. Did he just somehow find an early draft of Venture Bros on a message board or something and pass it off as his own work? I honestly wonder.

I didn’t like this pilot. I found it simplistic and not very funny. But, I love The Venture Bros. now, so it’s hard for me to hate on subsequent viewings. It’s definitely the worst episode of the series, but... it ain’t so bad, right? It’s got the boys in it. They say fun stuff. There’s a dog with no skin. That’s kinda cool. There are good little character moments despite the fact that the characters are underdeveloped. The animation though, jeez. I was an insufferable snob around the time this first aired, so there’s also that.

The Venture Bros. pilot aired in 2003, and was pretty popular among early Adult Swim viewers. I remember they heavily promoted a repeat showing that had additional scenes. The version on DVD is the extended cut. The only scene they point out in the commentary is the scene where Hank and Dean are playing with the bidet in the hotel.

It’d be about a year and half until we saw the show air as a proper series, which... actually isn’t that long in terms of Venture Bros. hiatuses, actually. Because of the enormous gulf between this and season 1 both in terms of time and quality, most would call this episode zero or the “pilot special” but I’m numbering this as episode #1. Please don’t flip out and be mad at me. I’ve had a tough year, dad.

MAIL BAG

MAIL BAG

Sorry, about that previous message about Master Shake. My phone gobbled up half my message somehow. Now if it were what we were talking about, do you think it would work for Master Shake?

MAIL BAG

Do you ever think Adult Swim will stop "bringing the funny"? Has it already happened? I don't know I do watch Toucan and Morty.

MAIL BAG. There was a time in 2006 when I think they spread themselves WAAAAY too thin and they gave shit like Saul of the Molemen 20 episode orders. I think that’s the closest they got, but there was still good stuff on there. I don’t know. I think there’s usually SOMETHING good going on over there. And you KNOW daddy like the good stuff

Are you gonna be doing anything fun for 2003

Am I... NO!

[redhoodsrobin]

I like giving really extended author’s notes (or ‘director’s commentary’ if you will) about my fics, but since AO3 is hardly the place for adding those, ehm, guess it’s gonna be bonus content for the tumblr crowd?

Now chapter 3 of No Shadow Falls is up, I just really want to ramble a bit about the thought process behind it. Do people give spoiler warnings for their own fics? If so, consider this it. Please read ch3 first, just in case :’)

So this is that UTRH/Court of Owls mashup fic I mentioned a while back! The premise I wanted to do was basically ‘What if the Court caught wind of Robin!Jason being led into a trap by the Joker & saw a chance to get a new Talon’. Combine this with a little of ‘what if Bruce never found Jason’s body but still presumed him dead bc of the explosion and copious amounts of blood at the scene etc (even though he secretly keeps looking for him still) à la Arkham Knight’ and voilà, here we are.

Considering the fact this fic’s setting is contemporary, I actually imagine Joker would’ve recorded video evidence of him beating up Jason to taunt Batman with too... Hmm, maybe I should re-label this a UTRH/CoO/Arkham Knight mashup instead...

Did I mention that if you’re here for romance, you better strap in for the long haul? Because this is gonna take a while, alright

Prologue

Can you tell I like being poetic? Or that I enjoy parallel & contrasting sentence structures?

first & last paragraphs (the ’beginning’ & ‘end’) include ‘a boy’ & ‘a bat’

‘how the story goes’ vs the later ‘NOT how this story goes’

second & second-to-last paragraphs both start with ‘you see’

3rd & 4th paragraph start with ‘maybe’

the structural halfway point is between the 3rd & 4th paragraph, so between ‘an end (death)’ & ‘a start (resurrection)’

in those same paragraphs: ‘in flame and fire with ice building in his gut’ versus ‘in liquid and ice with fire running through his veins’

Yes, the prologue is from Jason’s POV through his death and resurrection

Chapter 1

The working title for this chapter was ‘Something In The Water (...it’s bodies)’ though I changed the location the body was found in the end.

That stream of consciousness that serves as the intro paragraph(s) is supposed to reflect the opening narration of the Court of Owls storyline, wherein Bruce muses over the Gotham Gazette's 'Gotham is...' column.

Also let me tell you I knew from the start I wanted to do a UTRH retelling but with Talons, and I still somehow forgot Dick’s leg was in a brace during the original UTRH story until I went back to fact-check.

[announcer voice] All names of the victims/CoO members are purely made up, canon can bite me because I don’t care much for the turn the CoO story took after a while but that’s a rant for another day

��Dick is getting precariously close to the end of his rope’, get it?? foreshadowing that the victim was gonna be found hung up under the bridge? eh?? I like to think I’m funny when I’m not

Chapter 2

I re-wrote this entire chapter from scratch (except for the last 'night’) because I hated the first draft so much

Guys, I love Babs-as-Oracle. Dunno if I can do her justice, but please know I love her.

I don’t think this detail matters if you don’t know much about comics canon: Tim and Cass did stay in Blüdhaven for a while in the past, but they’re mostly back in Gotham now. They still have a hideout in the Blüd and drop by to visit Dick/avoid Bruce every so often, and Cass also spends a lot of time with Babs (& Steph, again, I’ll mention her at some point. so many characters to juggle, christ. I’m gonna level with y’all, I just do NOT want to deal with the War Games storyline in this fic, so don’t expect me to reference it)

Talon did, in fact, use a crude version of Batman’s grapple hooks to get the body up on the bridge. Why display it in the first place? See ch3: as a provocation to both Batman and Nightwing in specific, because Jason is a dramatic lil’ shit no matter what universe you put him in

The Talons in canon seem to have more weapons that fit their fighting style, but I went for the combination of grappling line + (throwing) knives for now because Jason actually does use a knife in UTRH. I might make him use guns, at some point, but for now it’ll be the usual improvised bat-gadgets like flashbangs, smoke bombs etc, plus knives

And thus starts our story of Talon messing with Dick

Chapter 3

The ‘Such Terrible Hungers’ chapter title is taken from the same poem as the main story title (’No Shadow Falls’), namely, Louise Erdrich’s “The King of Owls”. For obvious reasons.

This chapter, I re-wrote about fifteen times. I wanted to cry in frustration.

Anyway, yay, more Jason POV! (in my weird quasi-poetic format)

[insert obligated identity crisis because he was forced into a role he never wanted but it’s now useful to his cause]

Points I want to single out:

Whenever I use text in italics+brackets, it’s some form of unbidden thought coming to Jason’s mind

Drinking game: spot the references to how Bruce failed to find Jason/the Owls (”a detective who cannot find what he is looking for“) or how nobody seems to want Jason bc he’s Jason, they just want him as a substitute for Dick

This is also why Talon doesn't want to be caught, he wants to be found. Small but significant difference

There’s an underlying theme of ‘stories’ in my quasi-poetic chapters, so I really wanted to incorporate the classic ‘Once upon a time, there was...’ ‘One day, ...’ structure of fairy tales/bedtime stories. Lest we forget the CoO also had a nursery rhyme dedicated to them

“Talon never spilled his secrets but oh, how the Owls would have laughed if they had known.”  >>>> the Owls ovbs interrogated ‘Robin’ (Jason) while he was in captivity, but they didn’t get much info from him. I’ll mention the details in some later chapter!

Yes, I do the ‘Night-Wing’ ‘Gray-Son’ spelling thing on purpose to show that Jason’s mind isn’t all alright at this point

The switching between ‘the Gray Son’ & ‘Gray-Son’ is also on purpose to show the cracks in Jason’s conditioning/the Owls’ failure to brainwash him fully

I try to keep most of Jason’s core characteristics intact - his focus on victims + helping them, his disdain of Batman’s methods - but I’m going to have to change some bits to fit the Talon narrative I think. We’ll see how it works out...

That being said, he’s mostly gonna be messing with Dick because he’s petty and bitter, but it turns out to be more fun than he thought it would be. After all, our boy severly lacks human interaction & Dick is a relatively expressive person (the polar oposite of the Owls’ haughty/better-than-thou/distant demeanor & even Batman’s carefully controlled reactions)

Bonus scrapped story element: at one point I had the idea to have Talon be as good as mute because of a particularly brutal blow (from the crowbar) injuring his throat/vocal chords. I couldn’t think of a way to incorporate it on top of everything else though, so that remains an idea for another time...

(Seriously though, Jason and Cass silently bonding over speech issues, sign me up. Especially bc Jason loves literature and Cass is into theater it seems, you can do so much with that)

[tashatoons]

Paralyzed

Well I did it. Here’s my Grelliam Ficlett.   Inspired by the the song “Paralyzed” by Mystery Skulls. Hence the super original title :P  This is a first draft, so there may by typos. But yay! I did a thing!  I’m open to constructive criticism, as I don’t write often but would always like to improve. If things aren’t clear or too round about in description, feel free to let me know what you think. Or just fan screen at me. lol I’m open to whatever XD 

“SSSHHHIIIIIIVVV”

That satesfying metallic sound of William’s extandable death scythe pierced through the air before its clippers made contact with the wriggling tresses of cinematic record more than 50 feet before it. The scythe most certainly made up for its lack of showmanship with an impressive, unlimited range and percision. William made quick work collecting what remained of the record and turned to his subordinate with a freezing gaze.

“If you have time to daydream, I presume you must be done?”

Grell blinked. “Awah~! Just finishing up now!” And scrambled to finish collecting that pesky record.

He had a bad habbit of zoning out when William  was around.

Not for lack of effort, of course! Quite the oposite, actually. Grell’s intention was always aimed to impress his boss. The boss Who just happened to be the man he had a huge crush on for the past 90 years. The boss who made his head feel stupid, and legs feel like jelly and heart beat like mad. That boss who he was once again, staring at like an idiot school girl who wandered into the wrong classroom because she was following the boy she liked.

“Sutcliff.”

“I’M DONE! I’M DONE!”

“Honestly.” He sighed, adjusting his glasses and the click click clack of his extendable scythe collapsed back into place. “This mission could have been done In half the time if you could keep your head on straight.”

Grell’s lip twitched into a grin. “Oh pleeeeease! As if I could keep ANYTHING straight.” He giggled at his own joke and waved a hand in the air dismissively.

William turned around and continued to adjust his glasses, perhaps in a vain  effort to supress any sign of a smile.

It was a good joke after all.

“Well.” He cleared his throat. “If you’re done Than let’s be off. I’ll need the report and proper forms completed and on my desk before the end of the day.”

“Of course, darling!” Grell beamed as he bounded towards his boss, easily clearing the span of two rooftops In one leap.

“And by end of day I mean BEFORE 6pm.”

“Yeeeesss, yeeees.” Grell sang, linking an arm around William’s.

He tensed. “Do try to remain professional, Sutcliff.” He spoke, pulling his arm from the subordinates vice like grip. “We’re still on the clock.”

“Mmm-hmmm~” he giggled as his mouthed turning up into that classic shark toothed grin. “Telling me to do my homework AAAAAND follow the rules. Ooohh~ teacher might have to give me a de~ten~tion ♡”

William’s eyebrow twitched. “Must you turn everything into an innuendo?” He retorted, grabbing Grell’s animated hand before it could poke his chest a 4th time.

Grell’s cheeks suddenly felt incredibly hot. There was a great chance to make a second joke there, but the 2 second interaction of William grabbing his hand made him momentarily forget how to speak English.

So he giggled stupidly and turned away. Gosh his hands were big. They fit perfectly around his. William could probably crush him in his grip without even trying.

“SUTCLIFF!”

William’s voice broke the red reaper out of the daydream again. This behavior was going to reflect poorly against him, he knew it–

“What was that?” Grell snapped back into reality as something wizzed past.

It was hard to make out, but that stench was unmistakable.

A demon.

“When did THAT thing get here?” The redhead growled, letting his voice fall into it’s more serious lower regester.

“I don’t know. I just now noticed it.” William’s voice remained it’s usual monotone, but his posture shifted into a defensive stance.

There was an unnatural silence around the two reapers. The kind of silence they knew all too well when a demon was on the prowl. Not birds, no humans, not even wind. It was close.

“BEHIND YOU!” Grell warned, twisting around to swing at the inky blur that materialized behind his boss.

The chainsaw roared to life as it shot forth with pinpoint precision inches from William’s left arm. He himself had heeded the warning, turning to block the oncoming attack with his clippers.

The demon shrieked as the chainsaw’s teeth snagged at its body.

The attack wasn’t close enough to cause any real damage, but it was enough to hurt.

“Blast! It’s fast!” Grell barked under his breath and turned on a dime. His senses had conpleatly shifted into hunter mode; Leave it to a demon to bring out the serious side of things.

The air around the two reapers felt charged with static electricity, causing pops and shrill whistles to form on the stagnant air. Soon, That beast was going to show itself.

The roof shingles settled and that was all they needed to know before instinctually leaping to the next rooftop.

Actually, William was a few seconds slower than Grell. Having spent more time behind a desk than on the field, his reflexes were not as sharp as they could have been. Just a few seconds made all the difference.

The creature burst from underfoot, sending William toppling head over heals from the shockwave.

Grell landed unscathed and zipped around with lightning speed, weapon at the ready.

“Are you hurt, darling?” Grell teased as William landed a few paces behind, having righted himself before the land.

“Tch. I’m fine.” He sighed, the air around him whipping as his scythe spun into its defensive grasp. “Did you forget a soul on the list??”

“WHAAAT!?” Grell shrieked, his voice cracking. “How can you accuse me of such a thing?!”

“Easily.”

The demon swung at them with a long, slender arm which they both avoided.

“I got every one! I know it!” Grell wined, heals clicking onto the new rooftop.

“Martin Fordwan?”  Will checked his soul ledger,  avoiding the demon as he read off the list of names.

“Yeees!” Grell ducked a clawed swipe.

“Quinneth McGain?”

“Ugh! Could not forget that one!” He groaned, swinging the chainsaw around to lop off the demon’s finger as they continued to fall back In pace. “That one HAD to go. Her fashion sense was HORRID!” The chainsaw revved, drowning out some choice descriptors of the unfortunate soul’ wardrobe.

The two reapers landed on the last low rooftop in the town, brick wall blocking their path. Up was the only possible direction to go, less face the beast head on.

“Gregory Forges.” William Glace from his soul ledger to the brick wall. It was tall, even for a reaper’s jumping abilities.

The demon rushed forward, sliding over the towns rooftops like an inky wave; It’s once faceless form now revealing a giant maw of jagged, sharp teeth. The thing lunged, causing the reapers to jump over it.

“Who?” Grell questioned, not hearing correctly over the demon’s commotion. The chainsaw revved and lopped off an unnamed appendage.

“Greg- Ahh!” William blocked an oncoming attack. This demon was somehow able to grow limbs all over its body, making it quite difficult to dodge. The extendable clippers shot forth and charged through a row of incoming limbs. The demon roared, and Grell didn’t hear the name again.

“WHAT?” Grell yelled from the other side of the inky mass, holding a hand up to his ear. Pinky out, of course.

The clippers shot forth, percing the floor right by Grell’s shoes. Within seconds, William was beside the subordinate, having used the scythe retraction to pull I’m forward.

“Gregory. Forges.” William spoke coldly, his eyes bearing down on Grell like two stabbing icicles.

Grell shivered. Oh, those eyes made his feel weak all over. If it weren’t for the commotion of the demon appraising, he would be lost in William’s gaze for sure! “Uh! Of course I did!” Grell’s voice was uncarictaristically shakey as he summoned his own soul ledger to leaf through. “See! I told you I-”

William’s brow twitched.

Grell gulped. “I…” and glanced to the side, ears burning. “I missed it.” He mumbled under his breath.

The demon roared.

“You WHAT?!”

“I MISSED IT!” Grell shrieked, stomping a heal and turning away embarrassed. At this point his face was the same color as his hair. “It’s ok! I know where it is!”

“For your sake, you had better.” William signed, his jaw clenching. “This will be more paperwork for the both of us to deal with.”

“S-sorry, Will.”

The boss signed, “Honestly. Just collect the damn thing before this creature does.” His teeth clenched as he blocked an oncoming attack.  "I’ll keep it occupied. Go!“ He pulled his death scythe back, forcing the demon to lunge towards him, perfectly lining it up for a stab through its hideous face.

Grell was gone before Will’s scythe stabbed the creature, and the thing’s cries confirmed his attack was true. Grell chewed on his bottom lip, the thought of his darling man holding off a demon just for his beloved maiden. "Ah! Knock it off!” Grell barked to himself, forcing his head back into reality. “This is for work. Just for work.” He sighed as he landed on the cobblestone street. It was nice to fantasize, but this required full attention. Something Grell severaly lacked when working with Will.

“Come on, where are you?” The reaper’s heals clicked along the path as his eyes scanned the area. It should have been here. Leaping atop a roof to get a better view, Grell once again checked the soul ledger. That damn name remained unchecked. Collections were not going to let him hear the rest of this. “Dammit! Where is this bloody thing?!” Grill was starting to grow anxious. The  soul should have been here! Right here! If the soul was missing it could only mean one thing.

“Shit!”

A Second demon charged from underfoot, sending the desperate reaper onto his rear. It had the soul in it’s long, tooth mouth. The cinematic records tenderils churning and whipping about. The inky mass climbed atop the roof, somehow struggling to keep the tendrils from escaping it’s own maw and it bit and spat stupidly as the records struggled against it.

“Humph! Took more than you could handle, huh?” The reaper’s gloved hand tightened on the death scythe’s handle and it’s engine roared to life. “Let me show you how it’s done!” And he leapt forth like a red bullet. To the human eye it would have simply appeared as a flash of light, thought in truth, the chainsaw sliced straight through the demon’s neck, severing it’s head completely. The thing screamed a blood chilling cry and it’s head fell against the shingled rooftop like a sac of rice; It’s jaws going slack.

Grill turned on a dime and faced the creature, his beloved chainsaw dripping with black, stinking blood. “Ugh! You’re certainly no treat to look at.” He scowled, bringing a hand up to his nose. “or smell for that matter. Ehhh Yuuuck!” The reaper let out an over dramatic full body cill before bringing the scythe forward to collect the record. He only got about half of it when something knocked him off his feat, causing an effeminate yelp to squeak out of him.

“Wha!?” Grell saved himself from face planting right there and turned with lightning speed. “YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”

The Demon had grown a new head, and it was on it’s way towards it’s mate, half of a cinematic record in it’s brand new jaws.

Grell’s sharp teeth clenched, the grip on the death scythe tightened and his own eyebrow started to twitch with irritation. This was just NOT his day. “FFF!!! Stop making me look bad INFRONT OF WILL!!”

William blocked an attack while simultaneously tearing off yet another limb. He’d lost track at this point and wasn’t aware of the second guest headed straight for him. Until he heard Grell’s voice. He sounded…serious?

The entire incident happened in an instant. William hadn’t enough time to react, the last thing he saw was the demon’s mate, charging forth and somehow connecting with it’s body. William felt a stone drop in his gut before a tremendous impact sent him hurling backwards.

“WILL!” Gell changed course, running to shake his unconscious supervisor’s shoulders. “Will! Will! Wake up!.” He knelt down and helped the man into a sitting position, his stern eyes flickering open. Grell reached into his inner vest pocket and held a handkerchief to Will’s bleeding forehead.

Will was dazed from the blow. Gell’s voice sounded distant and muffled, but William knew he was right infant of him. “Uh…wha?”  He must have hit his head pretty hard. He wanted to tell Grell he was fine, he would heal in just a minute, but his hand fall against the red reaper’s arm and his eyes met the same two toned pair that matched his.

“Grell. The record.” He could hardly hear his own voice. “Get the record.” He forced himself more upright, clutching the damp handkerchief to his head. “I’m fine, get the record.”

“You’re not fine, you stubborn man!.” The sound of worry lingered on Grell’s voice as he helped his boss to his feet. “You’re bleeding.”

“You’re worried about THAT?” Will chided, leaning against his subborninate for just a moment to regain his balance. Did Grell’s hair always smell like roses?

The demon roared.

“What the ff-“ Grell’s voice was drowned out by the beats battle cry. What once was two was now one create, double the size, double the heads, both tearing at what was left of the cinematic record.

Grell growled and started forward, but William held him back.

“That thing is much too powerful to take on! I’m calling for backup!.”

“What!? We don’t have time for that!” Grell pushed William’s arm aside and started forward, chainsaw revving. “I’m getting that record and killing this thing myself!” And he lept forth, slashing straight into the creature’s belly.

The thing screamed and turned one hundred red eyes on it’s attacker. Grell was fast, zipping around the creature’s body like a lightning bug. The chainsaw roared and slashed through it’s gelatinous, black blood. Hacking and sawing at any part it could reach.

“THIS IS WHAT YOU GET!” Grill huffed, leaping into the air towards the second head. “FOR HURTING”

Slash

“MY!”

SLASH

“MAN!!”

The chainsaw’s teeth stabbed right trough the beast’s forehead, Pushing into the bone and sinew and muscle with ever ounce of the reaper’s strength. Putrid black blood shot forth, staining the beautiful red clothes in it’s thick viscous sludge. Grell’s teeth clenched, Pushing the blade of the chainsaw deeper into the creators brain. “Die!” The thing gurgled and spat, hanging on with every once of it’s being.

A dark tendril whipped forth, whipping Grell square in the gut and a second right under the chin. The attack cought him off guard and he lost his footing, falling back onto the rooftop in a pile. There was a snap, and when Grell hit the ground, the sound of tiny beads scattering around him coused his breath to hitch.

He scrambled to his hands and knees. But Something was off. Everything was blurry. He frantically reached a hand to his eyes and confirmed the worst. His glasses were missing. That sound of marbles falling around him wasn’t shingles breaking, it was his glasses chain snapping and scattering all about.

“Shit!” Grell felt a sinking feeling in his gut. He couldn’t see a thing infant of him, and the demon was approaching quickly. The thing was angry! One head hung limp at it’s side while the other bared a maw so hideous, Grell was almost releaved he couldn’t see it.

Grell felt around for his scythe. If he could grab it, he could atleast stand a chance. He scooted backwards, eyes staring blindly ahead. The inky blob before him reared up in preparation for a final attack. Gell’s breath hitched. The creature screamed and lunged forward.

Silence.

Grell opened his eyes, the ting wasn’t moving. Then he heard it. The clack clack clack of William’s clippers pulling back from piercing straight through the creature’s head. William pulled the clippers from the thing’s skull and it’s body fell lump onto the ground, it’s body immediately sizzling and melting into a pool of dark goo.

“W-Will?” Grell squinted at the blurry Will shaped figure walking towards him.

“That was incredibly rash and irresponsible, Sutcliff. Will’s reprimand was much calmer than usual. “You didn’t think that through at all and could have cost me even more paperwork had you not succeeded.” A blurry shape appeared before Grell’s vision and he reached out to touch it. A hand?

William pulled his subordinate to his feet and stared down at him before gently placing a pair of red glasses on his face. “Thank you for your effort, Grell Sutcluff.”

Grell’s mouth dropped open. “Uhh…you…too.” That handsome face suddenly coming into focus was probably the highlight of the assignment. Those cold eyes staring straight into his own, the soft expression, the hand. Oh, he was still holding Will’s hand, and Will wasn’t pulling away. Gell’s eyes widened and his heart felt like it might leap out of his chest. “W-Will…” He whispered, leaning towards him stupidly.

“Collect the other half of the record.”

“GAH!” Grell  snapped out of it and reluctantly let go, gulping and feeling his face heat up once again. “So cold…” he sighed dreamily, trudging to the other end of the roof to collect the pesky thing.

———

“OI! What happened to you?!” a chipper blonde reaper poked his head around from a cubical and chuckled at his Senior officer.

Grell had been completely disheveled by that vial beast’s blood and guts,  it would be terribly unladylike to go back to work looking like a sewer rat. Aside from being told by management to send the clothing to laundry, Grell had to change into the standard black suit and tie ensemble, with a red ribbon taking the place of a boring black tie. “It’s only temporary.” He groaned while sitting down at his desk, hair still damp from the shower.  “My poor coat’s a mess, laundry better not muck it up!”

“Hah! For your sake I hope it doesn’t shrink any more! Then you’ll only have a finger to wear it on!”

“SHUT IT, YOU LITTLE—“ Grell swiped at Ronald playfully, knowing full well the pup was only teasing. The two chuckled and bantered lightly until a pile of paperwork was plunked onto Grell’s desk. The Reaper’s grew silent.

“From Upper management. Mr. Spears says ‘ee wants these filled out an’ on ‘is desk by 6PM.” A slim, blonde from general affairs spoke apologetically.

“What?!?! But that’s only 2 hours from now! He really expects this to be done by theeeeennnn?” Grell wined and leaned back on his chair, defeated.

“S’wat ee said.” The blonde ducked her head and walked away.

Ronald whistled. “Geez, Spears really screwed you this time?”

“I wish he’d screw me a different way.” Grell mumbled.

“What?”

“What?” Grell blinked, turning his attention to the paperwork at hand.

Two hours was not enough time to finish all of this. It left almost no time for slacking off and fixing makeup!

————

“You’re working late, Ron?” Grell stretched both arms over head and leaned back against the office chair, letting his back crack with a satisfied sigh.

“Ehh, more or less. Susie’s having a little get together at the pub ‘round 7. Figured I’d stick around to walk with her.” The younger reaper grinned and leaned in to speak lower. “We’ve been….seeing each other, if you know what I mean.”

“Weren’t you seeing a Terisa two weeks ago?”

“Ehh! Things didn’t work out with her.” Ron shook his head. “Too high strung ‘bout certain things ya know?” Ron squinted. “Total prude. Didn’t even wanna move past snoggin’.”

Grell coughed. “Right.” And stood holding the completed pile of paperwork against his chest.

“Oi. You wanna join us tonight?” Ron asked, brows raised. “It’ll be a bunch of us. Not just me ’n ol’ Susie.”

“As long as my normal clothes are out of the wash by then. I feel absolutely dreadful in this getup.” He sighed. “That’s in what, an hour?”

“Uhh…fifteen minutes.”

“It’s 6:45?” Grell tried not to sound panicked.

“Did you forget to wind your clock?” Ronald turned his head. Grell was gone.

—————

The red reaper zipped through the hallway towards William’s office. Again he screwed up, after trying to years to impress him. Desk work was just NOT his strong suit. If Grell was LUCKY William may just give a lecture. Nothing he hasn’t dealt with before. It would be fine.

“Grell Sutcliff!” William didn’t even glance up from his paperwork as Grell walked into the supervisor’s office. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“I know I know!” Grell huffed and tiptoed up to William’s desk, a nervous smile plastered on his blushing face. “But I finished it! I worked really hard to get it all done! Really Will, 2 hours wasn’t nearly enough time!”

“Clearly. Hence your extra 45 minutes.” He finally looked up from his paperwork and locked eyes with Grell, causing a visible shiver through his body.

“You are an absolute slave driver, Will.” He grinned, wiggling from the spark of energy rushing through him. “Ohh, it drives me wild!”

“My shift was supposed to be over at 6:30 today, you know.” He stood, tapping the small folder of documents on the desk to straighten them.

“Mine toooo! Come on Will, I finished my work.” Grell wined and leaned down to drop the heavy folder of paperwork on the supervisor’s desk. He hadn’t noticed a part of his ribbon cought between the founders and pulled itself undone when the folder was let go. “Might I add we got back later than expected! Be grateful a lady saved you!”

William had walked around his desk to face Grell, a tall towering cold expression loomed overhead, causing Grell’s ears to heat up.

“I am.” William’s eyes fell to the undone ribbon around Grells neck. “Though I believe I helped you as well in the end.” His hands reached up to retie the ribbon and a swarm of butterflies erupted in Grell’s stomach.

“Uh…heh. Yes. A true knight in shining armor come to rescue his damsel in distress.” Grell smiled dumbly and batted his eyelashes, cheeks flaring at William’s small gesture.

“Honestly.” William’s nimble fingers tugged at the freshly tied ribbon, making sure it sat perfectly straight.  “You’re more than capable of defending yourself.”

“Also true.” Grell’s expression went soft, he felt that if he said anymore those butterflies would surely swarm out of his mouth.

“You handled that demon better than expected.” Will’s weight shifted forward ever so slightly and his eyes locked onto Grell’s.

Grell shivered. His own body inching forward as well, one hand reaching up to touch Will’s shoulder. His hands were still on the ribbon after all. “W-Will…”

There was nothing more than needed to be said before their lips were drawn to one another. The kisses were chased at first but quickly grew deeper as years of pent up tension finally melted in this desperate moment. Will’s hands gripped Grell’s slender waist and Grell pulled him closer, their breaths hitching with abandon and unrestrained passion. Grell drank the William’s kisses like precious water in a scorching desert’s heat. Time was lost to them and Grell was being pushed against the edge of Will’s desk; His hands gripping the back of Will’s jacket as if to never let him go. Will’s hands lifted the red reaper by the waist to sit on the edge of the desk, causing an effeminate gasp to fall from his lips.

The folder of paperwork toppled from the desk and hit the floor with a thud causing both reapers to jump. Suddenly, reality hit Grell like a train at top speed. He had just made out with Will.

“OH!…” Grell’s eyes widened as he turned back to face Will. “I….I’m s-sory that wa—Oh my.” His head spun with the awkward mix of emotions when one unexpectedly kissing their boss.

The two reaper’s knelt to puck up the spilled paperwork. “I’ll g-get this.”

“It’s fine I’ve —.” Their hands reached for the same page, and for a moment, the two of them did nothing to rectify the matter.

William cleared his throat. “Thank you Sutcliff, I’ve got this.”

Grell didn’t really understand what any of that meant, he just scrambled to pick up the rest of the pages and handed them off to William. Both of their hair was a bit of a mess from the incident that just occurred; at least Grell’s bow looked perfect.

“I should p-probably go…” Grell stuttered, handing off the handful of files to Will’s hands. Their figures brushed and Grell really needed a glass of water.

William didn’t answer, he remained stone faced and unreadable.

“Ahhh…Ok! Uh…See you t-tomorrow.” And Grell awkwardly shuffled out of the office, eyes wide and face burning. He wasn’t even sure if the incident had actually happened. Maybe he imagined it. Wouldn’t be the first time. Though the memory of Will’s hands lifting him onto the desk had him pinching his nose.

“Oi, Seinor! You comin?” Ronald waved by the office exit, a pretty blonde by his side.

“I’ll meet you there.” Grell squeaked quickly, picking up the freshly laundered pile of clothes on his desk.

“Everything ok? Spear’s wasn’t too rough with you, was ‘ee?”

Grell shivered, a stupid smile stretching across his face. “Not at all.”