#yeah hes evil and murderous but id be different. id be tiny around him and itd be fine. sorry but im just different <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[so-very-small]

*sees a fictional old man* hhey so i need to. be tiny in ur hand right this second sir. respectfully.

[littlemisslipbalm]

Little Border Town Pt. 3

Summary: It begins with a man and a woman, as it always seems to. One lives in France and the other lives in Italy, technically, but they’re also neighbors. Various issues arise between these two and they can’t ever seem to see eye to eye on anything. Will they ever move past their petty fighting or is the little town they live in doomed to only gossip about what Harry and Y/N are fighting about today? 

Part 3: the one with the boat and the beginning of a storm

IT’S BEEN AGESSSS I AM SO SO SORRY I LOVE YALL SO MUCH AND EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER READ THIS THANK YOU FOR BEING PATIENT

also harry is wearing this fit in this part just no tie?? i think i cant remember

college has been incredibly crazy this year already and i just dont have time to write like i did before i went back. i honestly had this mostly finished and i havent reread so i have no idea what even happens so lmk what you think, i can’t imagine that it will get a lot of notes but if it did id be very happy about that - anyways lots of love and feedback appreciated as always...pls enjoy

Word Count: 6.6k | Warnings: ?? Swearing? idek, more yearning bc slow burn

Catch up here! part 1 | 2 |

-

“Isn’t the weather not ideal for boat sailing today,” she ponders as her face looks up at the sky. She’s walking into Harry’s store again after running back to her place to grab a jacket and lock up. She placed a notecard in the door’s window that says “closed today, see you tomorrow” with a smiling face as punctuation.

Harry grins, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He had sailing boots on his feet with a smart big-collared printed shirt and marigold trousers. Instead of a belt, he had suspenders that matched the color of his pants and a pearl necklace as his final accessory other than his rings. He must have repainted his nails this morning because they were a light lavender shade that hadn’t been noticeable last night.

“It’s just fine. We’re entering fall and the sun is out today!” He gestures to the sky above them and she nods in agreement that the sun is indeed out. However she wasn’t sure if she’d categorize it as a nice day to go out on the sea still. With the sun there were also many clouds, they were mostly white and fluffy, but she was sure they could turn sinister any moment.

“Ready?” He beams.

“As I’ll ever be.”

-

On the boat, Y/N felt her stomach churning. Was she giddy or unnerved? Likely, both.

Harry was tying the boat off the dock after helping her onto the deck. It wasn’t a huge boat, not a yacht or anything, but it also wasn’t a tiny sailboat. It had an upper deck where maybe four people - at most - could comfortably be. Then a lower deck, inside a hatch in the upper deck. She couldn’t discern how much space was down there, but she was sure Harry would show her. He was talking through everything he was doing on the boat. Ad nauseum for an extremely nontechnical girl, such as herself.

Still, she sat in the spot he had directed her to next to the closed hatch and watched him move gracefully around the boat. Maneuvering the sails and different parts of the boat was a dance for Harry. Each step, each twist and knot, moved by a song unknown to her. It was beautiful. He was completely in his element, surprisingly. Again, Harry surprised her. She knew he had a boat, but whenever she thought of a jerk with a boat she didn’t think of what she was seeing with her own eyes. It was beautiful - or at least, it would be, if he’d shut his big mouth that was now making her roll her eyes as he made a pun about boats.

“So,” Harry starts finally, finishing up whatever he needed to do to get the boat off the dock and on the path he wanted. They were moving out into open water, she could see the little town, but it was growing smaller by the minute. Her stomach churned again as she looked up at the man she had just trusted to take her out onto the ocean. She grimaced slightly at the thought.

“Do you want to see the inside?” he continued.

She nods eagerly, “Finally!”

He chuckles lightly before opening up the hatch and gesturing for her to go first. She looks at him hesitantly.

“This isn’t a trap right? It’s not going to be all...murder-y down there?” Her voice is pitched higher, she’s almost completely serious.

This time Harry’s laugh comes from his belly, almost doubling over at the word ‘murder-y’. Between laughs, he tries to reassure her. “God no...oh my god.” More laughter, then a deep breath. “The only evil entity on this boat is the diavola I invited on here,” he gestures to her standing in front of him and her eyes narrow. Displeasure washing over her features.

“You’re ridiculous,” her hand swats at his sternum before she turns from him and climbs down to the underdeck area.

When she’s down, she’s surprised with her surroundings and she doesn’t notice Harry follow quickly behind her. It’s neat and stylish. Well, she’s not completely surprised, Harry was very fashionable. But the neatness dissipated all thoughts of the improbable scenario where Harry had lured her on his boat to murder her. It was what she had been freaking out over when she had at first refused to enter.

There was a small daybed at the end of the hall that doubled as a couch, a door to a bathroom, a dining area, a kitchenette, and then the random area they were standing in. It wasn’t super spacious, it was a hallway with things around it, but it was clean and it smelled nice. Everything had a place and they were neatly put in their places. After a moment, she turned at the feeling of Harry’s presence behind her.

He grinned, scanning the areas her eyes had just taken in for the first time. His green eyes were filled with admiration. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah, smells like you.” She nods matter of factly.

“Huh?” His head whips to her, sure he hadn’t heard her right.

“The whole place is very you,” she looks away from him and walks down the hall to the daybed and takes a seat, “Styles-ish.”

He follows quickly behind, shaking his head out of his own thoughts.

He mumbles a thanks, not catching the play on words she’d used with his last name. She smiles to herself, pleased. He stands in the doorway, not really wanting to sit beside her. Maybe he didn’t trust himself with being in such close proximity with her anymore. No, not after last night.

Her eyes widen slightly when he leans against the doorway and crosses his arms. The sleeves of his button-up had been rolled up when he had been working with the sails. Her lips suddenly are dry and she wets them with her tongue, eyes moving to the fabric of the blanket she’s sat on top of.

“I meant to say,” Harry breaks the silence, obviously not a fan of the quiet. A hand leaves his pose and runs through his hair, rings classically tugging at his curls. He swallows before he speaks again, “Thanks, uh, for stopping me last night. That would’ve been weird…”

He trails off and her eyes go wide again, but now they’re trained on his face. His eyes are downcast now, watching the way light plays off his rings. She tries to make out the sound in his voice, the expression he’s trying to hide with indifference. Her teeth tug her bottom lip into her mouth as she thinks, silence once again taking hold of the small, small room. The air is tense, static, unmoving, the complete opposite of the water that rushes just outside the walls of the boat.

She clears her throat and Harry locks eyes with her, “No problem...alcohol and atmosphere, clouds the head. I get it.” She did, but she also hadn’t wanted the gratitude Harry had just placed on her.  

“You booze, you lose,” he smiles, straightening up and she looks at him quizzically.

“That’s such an odd phrase.”

“No it’s not!”

“It’s a play on ‘you snooze, you lose’ right?” She leans forward, face looking smugly up at Harry’s offended face.

“Well, yeah,” Harry admits.

“I can’t believe you made that up and got it tattooed,” She states breezily and then stands. She brushes past him to look around the rest of the cabin.

Harry scoffs, not even noticing the way her fingers had brushed over his naked forearm as she passed, too focussed on his indignation. “How’d you know about the tattoo?”

“Naked neighbor? Never closing his shade? Do you seriously need a refresher course already? Seriously, boat boy, I really thought you were smarter than that,” She talks as she snoops around the different parts of the cabin. She pokes at figurines and looks at little photos and paintings. Her head looks over her shoulder and she laughs happily at Harry’s face of irritation. It was so easy to push his buttons.

“Don’t call me boat boy,” he seethes, but she knows he’s not really mad. More like he’s a child who got told no dessert before dinner. A laugh rocks through her body again and bubbles to the surface. It causes Harry to soften, this time there’s no alcohol in his system to account for the feeling he just felt. He mirrors the smile she has. That is until she reaches the kitchenette and finds a rack of CDs sitting beside the sink.

She turns from him and begins to leaf through them, most of them are artists she recognizes. But then she reaches some that are just titled “Demo” with various numbers beside the word. Her fingers nimbly pick out “Demo #1” and turn back to Harry with an inquisitive gaze. His green eyes are bigger than usual, the smile gone from his face.

“These from the boy band days?” She smiles wider as he turns a little red. She crosses closer to him, remembering the sight of a cd player in the main area where the entrance to the cabin was.

“Erm..no.” She flips around again, confused again, but then it dawns on her. “Demos for my solo work.”

“That you put on hold to take over for your Uncle.”

“Great Uncle.” He corrects.

“I know.” She waited a second, where she was about to be quick to play the CD, she now wanted to get Harry’s permission. It might be a little more personal than she had first thought. “Can we listen to this one? You’d technically be taking me up on the request to play for me sometime.”

“Yeah, they’re rough - obviously. So if you could try to not bruise my ego, at least not more than you usually do,” he grins and she looks at him with dead eyes. A smile cracks on her face quickly, still.

“I wouldn’t...this is different,” she struggles to find the right words. She would never make fun of something he cared a lot about, not now. She wasn’t that person, it was odd to think he maybe saw her like that. She shook away the thought and focused on placing the CD in its player correctly.

The first song begins to play, he’s right it is rough, it’s a demo. There’s no backing vocals or beat of any kind. Just a voice and a guitar. And it’s amazing. After the guitar intro, she lets out a breath she had been holding when she hears the voice. His voice. It’s beautiful. And she’s shocked, her eyes flash to Harry. He’s nibbling at his bottom lip, watching her hear it for the first time. His voice from all those years ago.

“Brooklyn saw me empty at the news, there’s no water inside this swimming pool.”

Her eyes light up again at the lyrics and she smiles, finding it melancholic yet slightly funny at the same time. It was interesting, the words, his voice, the meaning. Some bits of information eluded her, but she knew she enjoyed the song.

“And I’ve been praying, I never did before.”

Even as the song moved on from this one lyric, she felt it replaying in her head as she watched the singer in front of her. Years older than he had been when he had written this song. She was filled with questions and paused the CD as the guitar faded out.

“That’s it?” Harry laughs, “Just one song? It was really that horrible?”

“Oh my god, no!” She is emphatic, needing Harry to understand she’s serious. She takes a step closer to his figure. He had traveled closer to her while the song had played. They were almost chest to chest and her hand goes out to touch his forearm. “I really liked it, genuinely. I just needed a moment before the next one.”

“Bracing yourself?”

“Stop, I’m serious. It was beautiful. Your voice is wonderful, Harry.”

His eyes sparkle at the praise, finally believing she’s not taking the piss. Then his eyes dropped from her gaze, “I was a lot younger then, was 21 I think when I recorded this demo.”

“So? A voice like that doesn’t just disappear, dude.” She looks at him with a finality in her expression before dropping the hand that was firmly gripping his tattooed arm and turning back to the CD player.

Harry bites his lip as another one of his early songs plays over the shoddy speakers. His voice repeats “Meet me in the hallway” over the solo guitar. There’s no echo or bass, no count in like the final song was supposed to have. It’s just him and his guitar, before he chose to leave it all behind.

His voice is sadder here, she notices and she visibly winces at “just take the pain away” and “just let me know, I’ll be on the floor” and his repetition of “gotta get better.”

How did this man, who seemed fazed by practically nothing, have so much hurt in him to write both of these songs? Her eyes welled with water, but she blinked them back still staring at the singer before her. He was watching the CD spin in the player as his voice came through the speakers. He was lost in thought, in memory. Maybe she was lucky, these weren’t memories for her, she was only hearing his interpretation of his life. She hadn’t had to live that pain first hand. This time she doesn’t pause before the next song.

The next one seems more produced than the last two. This one starts with drums, a step up from the last two acoustic demos in respect to production. A big crash and then a wailing guitar and an accompanying voice. His voice is stronger here, more sure of himself. And then it changes again, melancholic once again and her heart strings are yanked at again.

“We’re not who we used to be, we’re just two ghosts standing in the place of you and me, trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat.”

The guitar continues that sad tone for a riff and then goes back to strumming beneath his voice. She shifts her eyes to him again and sighs softly, it weighs heavy on her soul that the man next to her has seemingly been through so much heartache. He looks up at “We don’t see what we used to see” and she holds his gaze, brows knit together in confusion and sadness. She pauses this time, finger reaching out without looking.

“This is depressing, please tell me they’re not all sad songs or I might as well have turned on a pet rescue commercial.”

His smile etches on his face, in a small knowing smirk and he crosses into her personal space. She’s about to step back, but he reaches out and softly bats her finger away from the pause/play button. She smiles back, shuffling to lean against the counter beside him. It was unusual for them to be on the same side of the counter, much like last night at the bar.

“There’s six songs on this demo. Three sad, three…” he trails off, looking at her expectantly. She nods. “You gotta learn to be a little less impatient, hmm?”

“Not impatient, just trying to brace myself for more sadness. I thought I had been promised a day of fun,” she grumbles.

“I wasn’t the one who suggested a demo listening party,” his brows raise and she twists her mouth to the side at his smug response.

“True,” she finally concedes with a murmur.

He presses play and a new song comes on that is more upbeat than any of the other’s that have played so far. It also seems to be a bit more produced than the first two. Her hand rests on the countertop and begins to tap, she quirks her brow at the first lyric “she’s got a family in carolina, so far away, but she says I remind her of home.”  A girl who likened Harry Styles to the South of the United States, interesting. As she listens to the lyrics, she smirks at the massive crush he must have had to write this song. The “good girl” lyrics bounce around in her mind and her mind drifts back to last night. Would it have felt good? To kiss Harry?

Then, she’s brought out of her reverie with “I met her once and wrote a song about her”. Her eyes widen and look to Harry again inquisitively as his past self muses over how good this girl felt. He wrote about a one night stand? That woman must have been magic. That was all she had to say about that.

“Really?” She asks incredulously, folding her arms over her chest. His gaze flickers at the movement, human nature. He presses pause.

“What?”

“A one night stand earned that?”

He looked at her seriously, like the answer was obvious. She laughs before continuing.

“You’re a simp.”

“I’m sorry?” He sputters at her statement immediately.

She raises her brows as a response now. Nothing else to say.

“She wasn’t a one night stand,” he defends, “She was a blind date...and it had been after a dry spell.”

She starts to laugh, about to give another snarky response, but he adds, “And I was twenty-one.” The numbers specifically enunciated.

“You’re still a simp in my book...but I liked the song. It was catchy, rock vibes in there. I don’t know about her telling you remind her of Carolina - north or south, I don’t see it.”

He eyes her warily, still not happy with her titling him that gen z term that was super popular all over the internet. He took her in and he knew she was only three years younger than him, he was pretty sure, yet she used ‘simp’ and ‘vibes’ like they were lexicon words. He didn’t hate it, it was just different than what he usually heard in the little border town. Italian not having translations for things like that, English was so interesting, internet language was so interesting.  

“I-” He starts and stops. “She said it. Was she right? That’s not my place to judge.”

“I don’t know,” Y/N pressed, words dragging out playfully, “Personally, I wouldn’t want to be a reminder of the U.S. South, but okay...simp.”

“I swear to god if you call me that one more time, I’m throwing you overboard and I won’t feel bad about it.”

Her eyes widen and then she smiles, he cracks a smile too. They huddle back around the CD player, ready for the next song. It starts with a strong guitar and drums, again well produced compared to the acoustic earlier ones.

His voice in this is far more shaky, unsure of himself again. “Let me take my medicine, take my medicine, treat you like a gentleman,” comes through the speakers. She shivers and looks at him, her fingers tapping along to the beat. The instruments are strong where his voice is soft, it doesn’t exactly fit, but she likes the lyrics still. When it gets to the pre-chorus, that’s when she knows she loves the song.

“I had a few got drunk on you and now I’m wasted, and when I sleep I’m gonna dream of how you (tasted)”

When his voice pitches high for ‘wasted’ she loses it. Her body moves with the instruments and her eyes close and her head wiggles. Harry smiles happily as she dances for the first time to one of his songs. The last word must have been shouted by his bandmates, because she doesn’t hear him say it.

Then the chorus hits and she wonders how it got even better. Her eyes shoot open and she just stares at Harry, her jaw slightly dropped.

“If you got out tonight, I’m going out tonight cause I know you’re persuasive! You got that something and I got me an appetite now I can taste it”

His past self sings of getting dizzy and his voice moans into the mic the demo was recorded on. She’s blown away. It sounds so hot, his voice gaining confidence during the pre-chorus and the chorus to have an all around rockstar sound.

The present Harry just taps his rings together as he watches her, studying her reaction with an even-tempered expression. Why isn’t he screaming like she is on the inside? When it gets to the second verse she’s bracing herself for what’s to come. This song has her pulse racing and blood flowing wildly around her body. She’s buzzing from it.

“The boys and the girls are in, I mess around with him and I’m okay with it”

The electric guitar follows the line up and she thinks she’s going to pass out on this boat right now. Flamboyant Harry. Was this what Marie had been talking about. The wild side of Harry she really had never seen, embodied in one song. She wanted more of it. Still all she got was the Harry on the demo rocking out to his song. She can hear him smiling through the recording, the sad boy from a few songs ago was now feeling euphoric. She just wanted to dance the night away with him.

Then another pre-chorus: “I’m coming down, I figured out I kinda like it, and when I sleep I’m gonna dream of how you (ride it)”

His voice goes high again for ‘like it’ this time and her question of what is to follow is quickly answered with the bandmates screaming ‘ride it’ into the mics they must have had. It’s punctuated with the drums and other instruments. A noise escapes the back of her throat and Harry looks at her both smugly and amused. She rolls her eyes in response, trying to convince Harry that she hadn’t just had images of him singing about how good someone rides him flash in her mind. Even more so with the images of someone, namely her, being the object of his dreams. Doing the things he said he’d dream of. That, that was definitely not what she was thinking about. Definitely not. Her throat was dry and she swallowed hard. Harry’s eyes never left her face. Watching every reaction, gauging it and storing the information elsewhere for the time being.

She sings along to the chorus, trying to focus on the song, it was easy to pick up, but then the damn moans. And then there’s a guitar solo that sounds like sex itself and she’s baffled that this was an unreleased demo, not a famous rock song. Harry in front of her can’t stop himself from tapping his feet at this part, a little dance forming on his body as his eyes finally leave her figure. They close as he feels the music, the memory of his friend playing the riff clear in his mind and how much he had loved it. It builds up again and then there’s a final chorus. She watches him now as he dances in the confined space. His mouth opens to sing along to the “la la la’s”

It ends and goes straight into another upbeat song. It seemed like a complimentary song to the one that had just played.

“I don’t want your sympathy, but you don’t know what you do to me, oh Anna!”

His voice sings strong again. Harry before her composed himself again, going back to his watching position. He took in her tapping and smiling to the song. He also mouths the words slightly as it plays, the lyrics clear as the day he finished writing them almost 4 years ago. One of the final ones for this demo.

“Hope you never hear this and know that it’s for you, don’t know what I’d tell you if you asked me for the truth”

She smirks at him, now, with the earnest lyrics, about to say something, but then notices the change in the guitar. It switches from the epic riff that was going to a more familiar tune, “Faith” by George Michael. She looks at him, a cheesy grin on her face as the voice begins to sing the chorus of that song. Her body begins to dance to it, like an old man doing the twist. She’s not ashamed and Harry loves it and joins her by mirroring the movements.

When the song comes to an end, they’re one large giggling mess. She falls into his arms and he holds her steady, their laughter coming out with freedom.

“Thanks for making me be patient,” She looks up at him, “it was worth it!”

He smiles, backing up slightly, “It’s like I knew what I was talking about.”

“Ok smart guy,” she teases with a silly voice. “I’m assuming whoever Anna is, isn’t actually named Anna then...?”

Harry hums and makes a twitch of his brows, but doesn’t respond. Instead he grabs her hand and she squeaks slightly, he pulls her to the ladder and prompts her to go up. She obliges silently and lands back on the top of the boat now. She looks out and sees the little town to be off in the distances now, shining blue water all around the creamy white boat.

Harry stands behind her now and shuts the hatch easily. She looks at him warily, confused by his silence. He extends his hand to her this time and she takes it. He leads her to the front of his boat. They’re moving, but so slowly you’d barely notice. There’s a loveseat of sorts right at the front and Harry sets her down in it. She smiles at him with caution, still bewildered. He leans against a part of the boat that stands in front of the seat.

“It’s beautiful, right?” He asks.

Her eyes have been looking around her, but they’ve mostly been trained on Harry. She was mesmerized by him now. His music, his boat, his clothes, his everything. She was seeing him in a new light. In a completely brand new way that had her unable to take her eyes off of him.

She nods finally when Harry looks at her expectantly. “It’s amazing,” she breathes.

His smile is the half-sided grin again. Beautiful big teeth on display with a little part of space between them. His dimple pops out and once again her eyes are on his face. She realized going on this boat with Harry might not have been such a good idea.  

He folds his arms, her eyes flicker down. Every movement he makes, she doesn’t want to miss it. Even if she also is telling her mind to shake it off, she can’t. It’s like a spell.

“Obviously Anna is a pseudonym,” he says finally, eyes watching where the boat was taking him. She nods in approval. He pauses, watching the little waves, but she knows he has more to say.

“What did you think of the rest of it?” He asks quietly, gaze never going back to her. He knew she’d teased him a little and had danced along to some. She’d looked at him with wide eyes at some lyrics, but he wanted to know what she really thought.

She can tell he’s nervous, but she doesn’t understand why. They were all very good songs, his voice was beautiful, the lyrics were interesting. She didn’t understand his lack of confidence. His first time not exhibiting his usual self-assured - self-absorbed, even - personality. She bites her lip in confusion and his brows knit together, further showing his apprehension. The wrinkles in his forehead show up more prominently and she’s reminded that Harry is 26. He’s a different person now then he was back when he recorded that demo. Maybe there was a reason he kept them on the boat. She felt unsure in her response now.

“They were all great, Harry.” His face softens immediately. “Each one was beautifully written and sung. The ones that were acoustic sounded wonderful as did the ones with your whole band. I’m honored to be someone who got to hear those masterpieces.”

She wanted to tell them they should be famous songs, but she had a feeling that might not have the effect on him that she wanted. He had chosen a little quiet life in the little border town. She didn’t think he would want to hear how his music could have made it big time.

“Thank you,” he murmurs, just about the sounds of the sea. He lets a closed mouth smile twist onto his face, but it feels like he doesn’t fully believe her. She wants to kiss his worry away, but again, she knows it’s not possible. His words from earlier rang in her head. It would make things weird. Yeah, you’re right. Ugh, why had she agreed. She didn’t agree, not at all, not anymore.

“Did you have a favorite?” He stands up straighter with his question.

She laughs slightly, “I liked the second to last one a lot. It was hot.”

“Hot how?” He steps closer, smirking.

She jumps up from her reclined seat, in indignation, “Oh come on, you know it’s hot. Now you’re just looking for me to stroke your ego! It’s obviously about sex.”

“And? You’re the one who’s saying it’s your favorite and blushing.” He arches a brow at her, arms going to his hips and looking at her teasingly.

“Well, you’re the one who was singing about sucking dick and dreaming of how someone rode you.”

“Is that what it’s about?” His voice raises as he purses his lips and raises both of his brows.

She realizes just how worked up he’s gotten her in such a short amount of time. She huffs and turns away from him with a flick of her hand. “You’re infuriating.” Is all she can say. She looks out at the waves now, ignoring Harry even though he’s less than a foot away.

He’s laughing behind her for a little. Then when she doesn’t turn around, he quiets and she’s not quite sure where he’s gone. Then his breath fans over her neck and right shoulder, where her jacket hasn’t managed to cover her. It’s warm and a little minty as the scent travels over the salty sea air. She doesn’t turn or move a muscle for that matter.

A hand reaches out to her shoulder, but still she makes no move to turn. It rests there for a minute and she simply huffs again, letting her shoulders rise and fall dramatically. A single laugh slips from Harry’s mouth.

“C’mon diavola, don’t be like that. S’all in good fun.” His voice is low in her ear, sultry even. It reminds her of his voice in that song once he got into it. His voice sounds like sex in her ear and this time when she sighs it’s not because she’s irritated with him. No, she wants him. The sigh has an undercurrent of that desire and she hopes Harry doesn’t understand that. But otherwise she stays quiet, letting him murmur into her ear with his hand on her shoulder and his chest pressed to her back now. The only witness of this exchange is the ocean before them.

His head leans closer and if she didn’t know any better it felt like he was about to press a kiss to her neck. Instead all she feels is the brush of his mustache, it tickles the shell of her ear and she can’t keep in the giggle. She twists away from the sensation and Harry is grinning at her when she faces him.

His hand still on her shoulder and his body still pressed close to hers. He’s so warm and so close and so shiny new in her eyes, even if he still manages to irritate her. Her eyes flicker up to his as their laughter quiets down. She realizes her own hands have gone to his waist to steady herself and she follows his feet as he backs them up from the edge of the boat that she had brought them too.

It’s quiet again. They’re staring at each other intently. Her eyes are swirling with emotion because she just wants to know what’s going on in the brain of the man before her. She wants to know everything about him, but she knows that’s not how he feels about her. Sure, they’re friends now, but nothing else.

Why did she have to come on this stupid boat and find his stupid amazing music? Why did he have such a stupid amazing face?

These questions and other silly things were racing around her head as she gripped his waist. He didn’t mind her quietness, he found her gaze to be a little unnerving, but he was just glad he had made her laugh. He found that he didn’t enjoy her anger at him as much anymore.

Just as he was about to start another conversation, there was a cloud that drifted over the shining sun. It was her original fear come to life. Harry’s brows furrowed as he looked up at the clouds. They were turning grey. Fast.

“Shit, shit, shit,” He began mumbling and released his hand from her shoulder. He pulled away from her hold and began moving swiftly around the boat. He needed to get them off the water, there was a storm coming.

Her eyes went wide as she noticed the approaching storm as well. Her brows furrowed with worry as she watched Harry begin working on the boat, his only words being curses to himself at first.

Then he enlists her help, asking her to hold onto a specific part of the boat for him after he threw her a life vest and made her put it on. She wore it with great dissatisfaction. He only shrugged as he continued to move nimbly around the boat, turning them around, back to the dock.  

The boat moved much swifter into the shore than it had on their way out. The waves were growing choppier by the minute and she would admit she was more than a little scared. Thankfully, Harry knew what he was doing and got them there quickly and safely. Once at the dock, he tied them there and then helped her off the boat. She stood on the dock uncomfortably as the rain started to come down.

“Give me your lifevest!” He gestures from the boat.

She quickly takes it off and flinches when the first bout of thunder sounds from far off. He takes it from her and throws it haphazardly down the hatch along with his own before jumping off the boat himself. He surveys the boat from the dock to make sure he hasn’t forgotten anything. Then he looks at her. She’s wrapped her arms around herself and is ducking her head, looking like she’s attempting to ward off rain but failing miserably.

She looks up at him and he offers a soft smile of reassurance.

“Take my hand!” He shouts slightly over the growing sound of rain and thunder. He wants to get them out of the rain, but he’s also apprehensive to leave his boat to the mercy of the weather. Still, that’s all he can do.

She puts her hand in his and his fingers weave with hers. Then, they’re off racing back to their street in the little border town.

-

“I should go back to my place!”

“Don’t be silly! France is much too far for you to go in this weather!”

She laughs and grips his hand tighter as he fumbles for his key. His wet hand slipping as the rain droplets soak their clothes and skin. Even though her door is a mere few feet away she allows Harry to pull her into his shop. The warmth and dryness appreciated after running a few blocks in the now torrential downpour. There weren’t storms often in the little border town, but like the old adage said ‘when it rained, it poured’ quite literally. The less she had to travel in the rain the happier she was, even if it was three measly feet.

It also occurred to her that she’d be able to sit out her first storm with someone by her side. And she would admit that didn’t sound like the worst thing in the world. She wasn’t necessarily a fan of storms and being in a new place with a storm she’d never weathered before was daunting. Harry inviting her in was a blessing. She didn’t have to be asked twice.

Once inside the little shop, their wet frames begin to form puddles beneath themselves. Harry sighs and takes off up his rickety stairs. She looks after him in confusion but stays put when he calls a quick “Wait there!”

She shakes a bit of the rain from her and shivers as she listens for Harry’s movements barely audible above the crashing of the rain water. When he returns, her breath catches in her throat, like she just choked on something, yet there’s nothing.

As he walks down the steps, far slower now, his wet hair shakes out around his head forming some ethereal halo. The light from upstairs illuminates him and the darkness outside casts an ominous darkness as he descends.

“Un ange…” She whispers after finally catching her breath.

If he hears her, it doesn’t matter. He’s already beginning to smile widely just from seeing Y/N before him.

He skips the last step and crosses to her swiftly. “Let’s get you dried a little more,” he begins to dote. A matching smile spreads on Y/N’s face out of appreciation. She still can’t manage to fend off the shivering and Harry’s smile falters. His hands leave the towel and trace her exposed skin. Her cheek feels like ice, only slightly warming under his touch.

“You need dry clothes,” he mumbles.

Her eyes widen as she looks up at him. He’s so close and so attentive and she wants to ask him to kiss her because they’ve been going back and forth all day, but he’s right she’s freezing. His eyes are so intense though she can’t even maintain eye contact. Instead her gaze flits up to the droplet beginning to swell down one of his rogue strands of hair that flopped over his forehead moments ago.

She doesn’t respond as she watches and Harry begins to worry more. Her eyes seemingly unfocused, her shivering, and her silence. He thumbs over the apple of her cheekbone and finally breaks her reverie. The droplet splashing between them without her as its audience.

“C’mon,” he tugs her hand now to bring her upstairs.

[dreamescapeswriting]

One Shot ~ KSJ [Request]

⎇⎇⎇ Word Count: 3K

⎇⎇⎇Genre: Mafia Au, Angst? AU, with a little fluff

⎇⎇⎇Pairing: MafiaLeader!Kim Seokjin x reader

⎇⎇⎇Warning: mentions of murder, prositution, death, blood, violence

⎇⎇⎇A/N: I always have fun with mafia writings oh god, hope this is okay for you though sweetie

Jin was higher up in the Mafia chain than most people in his business but that was he practically owned it but he had to work his way up to the top, it wasn't all shaking hands and doing deals with the wrong kinds of people, no, it was hard work. Sometimes dangerous work resulting in deaths but never in Jin's case, no one died under his watch but those who messed with him and his men did which is how he became one of the most feared Mafia leaders in Seoul.

"Afternoon sir, we weren't expecting you here today." A tiny man in an all-black suit said as Jin walked through the underground-casino that night. Casino's were still highly illegal in Seoul that's why he was running his casino underground, although most of the police force was under his payroll he still wanted to be careful with everything that he did not want to grease too many palms and have it be too suspicious.

"I told Mark I would be coming, where is he?" Jin asked buttoning up the blazer he was wearing and looking around the dull hallway, Lee Mark was one of the people that worked under Jin, in charge of what happened in and around the casino since Jin couldn't be there 24/7.

"He's with someone right now, I'll let him know-"

"Was I mistaken, I thought I ran this business not Mark." The man nodded and Jin made his way into the office ignoring the scared looks he was getting from people around him. He was used to people fearing him since he was so high up but he wasn't about to let Mark think that just because he ran the casino he could do whatever he wanted, he opened the door and found Mark sitting at his desk.

"And secondly the next time- Oh. Sir, I didn't know you would be here so soon." Jin slowly walked into the room to sit at the desk beside the girl that Mark had been talking to. You looked up to see another male presence in the room and you got up from the chair, giving him a quick bow and turning to look at Mark who was eyeing you up and down.

"I expect you to be ready in half an hour, don't be late." He barked and you promptly left the room not wanting to get yelled at anymore. Jin had watched you from the moment he entered the room, your hands were shaking and you were playing with the skin at your fingertips a sure sign you were nervous about something.

"Who's that?" Jin asked acting as though he wasn't bothered that you were so scared but secretly wanting to know who you were and what you were doing with Mark in his office.

"One of the works, being late as usual but I've informed her if it happens again she will lose her job." Jin cleared his throat as  a sign of understanding but he didn't believe mark for even a second so he began looking around the disgustingly small office and then back at Mark who was sitting there in his suit,

"Are we going or what?" Jin snapped and Mark was up on his feet in a flash rushing around the office and getting ready to show Jin around the casino. He was only there to see how business was going he didn't need to be friendly or wait for a drink but he did want to find out more about you. You looked way too innocent and scared to be working in a known Mafia Casino and you looked far too scared of Mark to know anything about Jin so he assumed Mark was feeding you lies about who he was and what he did and Jin was going to find out one way or another.

The tour of the casino was boring as it always was whenever Jin had to come and check out what was happening but he kept himself entertained by acting as though he was mad about something inside the building, just to keep Mark on his toes.

"Mark, I think I can go to the toilet on my own," Jin said as Mark started following him in the direction of the men's bathroom, Mark nodded in agreement trying not to seem awkward,

"I-I'll go and wait by the bar sir, with your usual drink?" Jin nodded and watched as Mark scattered away in the direction of the main bar inside of the casino, for a Friday night it was unusually quiet and Jin didn't like it. He had a weird feeling about but he couldn't place his finger on what it was so he began walking towards the bathrooms, hopefully, to run into some workers and question them about what was happening and why no one was around when he ran into someone else. Your heel snapped as you fell backwards and you could have sworn you broke your ankle as well from the sound it made,

"Shit, I'm so sorry! I was in a rush and I wasn't looking and I-" As soon as you locked eyes with the man that was helping you to your feet you began bowing repeatedly, avoiding eye contact and staring down at the ground. Jin looked at you as you sat on the floor, you were wearing a black cocktail dress with black heels and he knew for a fact that dress would cost more than a years salary at the casino,

"You know who I am then?" You nodded in silence remembering everything that Mark had told you about him and Jin. Jin was someone you never wanted to mess with if you valued your life and the same went for Mark, they could kill you if they really wanted to and no one ever know anything about it.

"Do you not speak? I mean, of course, you do I just heard you swearing..." You nodded in silence once more and Jin sighed not liking this, he wanted you to speak to him he wanted to hear your voice or at least know your name and that's when he spotted your clutch bag on the floor.

"Here," He bent down to pick everything up and found your ID on the floor so he quickly remembered the name and date of birth before handing you the bag back.

"Your heels." He groaned finding the red-back shoes snapped, now he knew you didn't work for them because no one under his pay could afford shoes like that unless they're were him or just below him.

"I'll have them replaced for you,"

"No, no...It's fine. I'll just-" You stopped once you locked eyes with Jin and you stayed staring into one another's eyes for a couple of moments,

"I'll send a new pair to mark." Your eyes widened in fear and Jin knew he'd struck a nerve with it so he knew there was something off with you and Mark but he didn't want to press you on it,

"Please don't. It's fine. I'll glue them please don't tell mark." You stuttered out and he nodded his head slowly,

"I could keep you safe, he's afraid of me." He mumbled but you pretended not to hear it so Jin moved on,

"Just be careful." You nodded and rushed out of the way going back up to your room inside of the casino to look for some super glue, Jin was nothing like Mark had told you he would be. He wasn't evil and didn't start screaming at you for making eye contact with him like Mark said he would, you stared down at the shoe wondering how you were going to explain it to Mark if he ever found out you couldn't tell him it was because you walked into his boss.

"Tae, find me everything you can on Y/n Y/l/n, yeah I'll text you her birthday," Jin said as he watched you walking down the hallway, as soon as you were out of sight in walked into the men's room to wash his hands. He faced himself in the mirror and shook his head at himself, he couldn't get you out of his brain and he wanted to know what you were doing inside of the casino. The door creaked open and he looked over to see a bathroom attendant walking inside,

"Mr Kim Seokjin, so good to see you." He smiled at the younger man,

"Jimin, still working here? Mark hasn't promoted you yet?" Jimin shook his head and handed Jin a towel,

"Why is no one here Jimin?" He could be frank with Jimin, he was younger than him and he'd been one of the most loyal workers for Jin since he started his own casino,

"Mark's been firing people all over the place, and he's starting to bring in different people all the time, people who aren't meant for Casino business...Renting out hotel rooms for nights or hours at a time if you get what I'm saying..." The cogs began to click inside of Jin's head once he head that rooms were rented out for hours, he was running a prostitution ring in his casino business.

"Highing out women?" Jimin nodded and Jin looked down at his phone texts were coming through from Taehyung he's hacker back in the offices and he knew he was going to have to look through them soon but he was already running late to meet Mark at the bar.

"The girl he's always with, who is she?" Jin asked quickly looking at Jimin who was slightly taken back at the question,

"She's just someone who hangs around with Mark, been with him for a couple of months now." Jin nodded and then thanked Jimin,

"I'll be in touch soon okay?" He walked out of the bathroom and began reading through the information that Taehyung had found on you and it was quite interesting, to say the least.

Jin stormed over to Mark at the bar trying not to come across mad but it was hard to when he was hearing all of the things that were happening within his business he wanted to play it cool as if he didn't know anything.

"I've been doing some thinking about the business," Jin said sitting down at the bar and looking at Mark, you were now sitting behind Mark on a bar stool sipping on a drink and staring at the floor once again. Your heels were now fixed and you were back to being the shy girl you were when Jin first walked into the casino.

"What about it?" Mark asked looking at Jin who smiled at him before looking around at the empty bar,

"What if we introduced something new?" Your ears picked up and you tried to listen in to the conversation without making it obvious but Jin could tell you were listening,

"Like what?" Mark was interested in where this was going now, maybe Jin was starting to get onto his level of business thinking.

"What if we started renting out hotel rooms by the hour...letting mail clients come and find a companion." You stared at Jin, that was already happening inside of the casino you knew that and you didn't even work there so surely the boss should have known.

"That's a good idea, we could even find our own girls." Jin hummed and looked at you, you looked terrified and Jin knew what Taehyung had found out was true as it always was.

"I'll tell you something Jin, I've already been doing it and I wasn't going to tell you but I figure if you're more than willing to go-" He didn't have time to finish because Jin smashed his head down onto the bar and pinned him down.

"You're already doing it inside of my business?" Mark whimpered and nodded, his nose was bleeding and he was crying out for Jin to let go of him, you stumbled knocking the barstool out from under you and Jin stared at you.

"Has he touched you?" You shook your head and looked at Mark who was now being forced to look at you, you stared at his bleeding face and felt a strange sense of satisfaction seeing him all beat up like that,

"Did you dad really sell you to him?" You nodded again and Jin tightened his grip on Mark's arms smashing his head against the bar once again,

"Go into my pocket and call the last number on my phone." You did as you were told and called the number holding the phone up to Jin's ear,

"I want him taken care of if I have to do it myself I will." You didn't hear the other side of the conversation all you saw was a gun being withdrawn from Jin's front pocket and being placed on the back of Marks's head before he was shot.

You didn't even scream when it all happened which surprised Jin most people were left screaming and traumatized,

"I'm assuming you've seen things like that before?" You nodded at his question as he walked you through to a penthouse apartment, he'd taken you out of the casino after he killed Mark and promised he would clean you up since you were in the splash zone resulting in you being covered in blood.

"My dad, he used to be involved in the business." Jin knew that already but he was glad you were being open with him about it,

"I know, but it's alright. We'll get you washed up, I'll order you some new clothes and you can go home." Your body tensed at the words home, home was somewhere you never wanted to go again.

"Can I come work for you? I'll be a secretary, a cleaning lady anything but going home?!" Jin stared at the panicked look on your face and nodded wrapping his arms around you to try and comfort you and you instantly relaxed against his grasp, he was the first person to show kindness to you in a while.

"I'll get you a job, you won't have to go back." He promised, helping you into the bathroom once the hug was over, he sat you down on the toilet seat and then began running you a bath while you stared at the running water.

"W-Will you help me?" You asked turning your back on Jin to show him the zipper at the back of the dress, his hands went up to the silver metal zip and slowly bringing it down, you grasp the front so you wouldn't flash him and he smiled at you in the mirror.

"Thanks," You whispered turning to face him once again both of you standing in silence the only thing that filled the room was the sound of running water,

"Thank you." You said quickly as he went to turn away from you, he stopped and looked down at you,

"For, getting rid of Mark...He was an asshole." Jin nodded in agreement and looked at you, you seemed a lot more relaxed now that Mark was permanently out of the picture,

"It's alright," Jin whispered, he didn't know why he was whispering but it felt as though he had to, your hands were still clutching onto the front of your dress and Jin stepped closer to you,

"Did he ever hurt you?" You shook your head,

"Just threatened to if I didn't do as I was told." You admitted looking up at Jin and feeling the heat from his body bouncing onto yours, your heart began to beat irregularly and you wanted nothing more than to kiss him but you knew you shouldn't. Jin's mind was in the same place, he stared down at you and wanted to kiss you, there was something about you that drew him in and he wanted you badly,

"Fuck it." He mumbled cupping your face in his hands and kissing you, your hands stayed on your dress but your eyes fluttered shut as he kissed you your heart pounding against your chest as though it wanted to come out of it, his arms wrapped around your waist and you dropped your dress wrapping your arms around his neck neither of you cared about the overflowing bathtub behind you but he bent down to pick you up, wrapping your legs around your waist and pressing you against the tiled wall behind you, you let out a loud hiss from the cold tiles and he chuckled.

"Sorry, I forgot about that." You giggled as he held your face in one hand and rubbed your cheek with his thumb,

"I'll never let anyone sell you or buy you again, you'll come work for me as a secretary-" The doorbell to the penthouse went off and he put you down on the floor taking off his blazer and wrapping it around you.

You followed him out there and he answered the door to a younger man dressed in a suit, you'd seen him around the casino before.

"Jimin, glad you could come. Your promotion I mentioned before, it's now. You'll be Y/n's personal guard, she's my secretary." You stared at the back of Jin's head as he spoke and Jimin stared at you with a smirk on his face, you all knew you weren't just a secretary since you were standing in his penthouse apartment in nothing but his blazer which was tightly wrapped around you.

"Yes Sir," Jimin walked back out into the hall and Jin turned around to look at you again,

"Where were we?" You giggled rushing back into the bathroom to turn the water off before you flooded the place but Jin rushed up behind you and took the blazer off your body, you'd forgotten until that point what had happened earlier on in the night,

"I'll take you out to dinner tomorrow." He whispered kissing your exposed shoulder and helping you into the bathtub, you looked up at him and nodded and he got down onto his knees beside the bath rolling up his long white shirt sleeves.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

Tagline: 

@writingdreamsnottragedies @yoongisdumplingcheeks @snowy-meowl @lynnthevirgo @jooniesdarlingdimples @kpopfanfictionhoes @lyoongx @mitzwinchester @fan-ati--c @callingmyangel @btsiguess-kpop @rjsmochii

[silverlightqueen]

May I provide a (not so) official SKZ intimidating rank:

1. Minho (man needs to just look in my direction and I would lose all sense of confidence. One of those guys you know CAN be soft but you still don’t wanna take things lightly bc you KNOW just because he’s nice to cats doesn’t mean he’s gonna be nice to you. unless you’re a cat. or han jisung)

2. Seungmin (seungmo is adorable but he’s got a resting bitch face going on and he looks like he’s capable of murder if you annoy him enough ((chan i’m looking at you)). Plus he’s got this... stare. Yeah, no. If I saw him outside I would not be able to walk up to him and ask for directions. And he always looks and sounds so serious outside of the group. Like that time he convinced a blindfolded park jisung that he was touching his cheek when really he was poking the air. Seungmin is lowkey evil and I wouldn’t wanna test him)

3. Changbin (okay so rich people already intimidate me bc wtf you doing with all that money?? But also he’s such an intense rapper and he’s got a really intense stare. I would die. But then he’ll call himself dwaekki and do the “ta ta ta” aegyo and I’ll just never be nervous around him ever again. Not to mention he’s shorter than me 😶)

4. Hyunjin (we all know hj is a major softie and is super cute but imagine if you didn’t know him. If he was just some random guy and he just give you that blank stare... yeah. I would die on the spot. BUT there’s a chance he’d smile or say hi so the moment you speak to him, the delusion of intimidation is gone bc he’s just cute ❤️)

5. Chan (alright as visiblemisfit as established, dude is tiny but likes acting like he’s freaking rowoon sf9. And yeah he’s super approachable and cute and sweet. bUT tell me that man’s 6’5 attitude ain’t gonna make you think 2-3 times before approaching him. Especially if he’s working oof. Yeah... Christopher may be a cutie but I feel like if he wants to, he can be real scary and intimidating. BUT he’s still super soft and sweet and is friends with literally everybody that it’s hard for people to NOT wanna approach him and say hi. But I would still think twice before I do)

6. Jeongin (BABY BREADDDD!! ngl id put him higher bc his stare is quite intense but he’s still a baby and constantly calls himself different variations of bread. And he’s still a teen :’) so yeah no... soz innie I ain’t scared of you)

7. Han (ahh my fav shy introvert :’) Jisung is so intense when he’s rapping but he also never shuts up around his friends and is always noisy as hell. Imagine seeing him laugh for 1 min straight and cry about his stomach hurting and STILL be intimidated by him. pls ✋🏻 he’s cute, funny and a lil awkward and we LOVE HIM 😤❤️)

8. Felix (okay felix’s voice is intimidating as hell. Honestly if we were judging by voices he’d be #1 BUT we’re not. And honestly I don’t think it’s possible to be intimidated of a man who smiles as much as he does and walks around giving brownies to people. Like pls. HOW is felix not automatically exuding bestie energy?? Id do anything I can to try and be friends with him and talk to him he seems so cool a sweet. A gamer nerd who bakes and is into makeup?? Sounds like the superior human being to me 🥰)

omg okay I love your ranking and it’s definitely justified, like your reasoning makes a lot of sense BUT my ranking would be a little different like yes minho is first but I wouldn’t put seungmin second bc as savage as he is, he’s also a total cutie with his avocado filter and his little ‘dah’ noises that he makes 😭

I would have to rank them:

1) lee know, our intimidating and stunningly handsome dance king

2) hyunjin bc he’s tall(er than the rest of skz and me) and drop dead gorgeous

3) changbin bc yes his constant aegyo isn’t intimidating but his rapping and muscles for days are

4) jeongin - may I present this picture as evidence

I would shake like a leaf under that gaze 😳

5) jisung bc despite his introvertedness and anime girl feet, he’s very hot, and his rapping and biceps are v v intimidating

6) chan but he’s only intimidating in producer mode, otherwise he’s a cute short dimple boy

7) seungmin, the avocado filter just makes me melt like yes he’s hot but he’s not super intimidating (ik what you mean about the resting bitch face but I have it too and it makes me so sad when people say I’m intimidating, I promise us rbf virgos seem bitchy but WE’RE NICE I PROMISE 😭😭😭)

8) felix, we’re in agreement bestie, his voice is intimidating but everything else about him is cute and endearing as hell 🥺🥺

[itsa-lie]

Birth Of A Liar Part Three

||Part One||Part Two||Part Three||Part Four||Part Five||

Oh boy, I have some angst in store for you today let me tell you. This poor boy has been through a lot.

Trigger warning for murder, taking care of babies, bl**d, and cl*wns

DICE...everyone liked the sound of that. Hanako gloated that it was like she was in one of those secret spy organizations like in the movies and, well Kokichi couldn’t agree more. He did sneak into a cinema once or twice so he knew a thing or two about evil organizations. Not that he thought he was evil, hell no, couldn’t be farther from the truth. But from Maki and Goro’s comments about stealing being evil it was kind of hard not to have that mindset.

So he went with it. Even practiced making evil faces in the mirror a few times. Practice makes perfect after all.

And would you know it the young boy actually loved having company. Sure Goro was quiet and always apologizing for the dumbest things, Maki scared the shit out of him, and Hanako cried for almost everything, but it was fine. Besides, Hanako taught him a really great trick to guilt-trip adults. All he had to do was cry. That easy. Just cause a scene and everyone would go to your aid. Plus with extra people they were able to get more things like televisions and game consoles. It wasn’t stealing, it was giving to orphans and that wasn’t evil...right?

However it really wasn’t an organization with only four people...in the movies they had more members. So once as Kokichi was sitting in front of the store he usually steals or guilt-trips people to buy from he sees something odd going on in the street. A woman carrying a bundle in her arms while another man chases her from behind. He seemed to have a gun in his hands, the woman was running for her life! A headache filled the boy’s head as a memory crossed his mind. He was smaller. A woman with black hair holding him. A man with purple hair knocking a gun out of the hand of a man pointing it right for him. Cringing at the slight pain Kokichi held his head. He didn’t know why he did this but he got up and chased the man. 

His feet were not as fast as the man however and out of no where there’s a loud bang. Then a baby crying. Kokichi quickly hid behind a brick wall. It was a good thing he did too, since the gunned ban came out of the alleyway with a handful of cash leaving a crying baby at his wake. Should he dare look back there? He definitely wouldn’t like what he was going to see. Still he turned around slowly into the dark alleyway. The woman was face down in a puddle of blood while the baby cries brokenhearted and afraid beside her. Cautiously Kokichi approached the woman and checked for signs of life. There was none. Also for a second he could see the woman being that black haired woman carrying him in his memories which made him gasp and fall back.

“N-No...t-that’s not mama...” He consoled himself. She’s probably okay and will come back for him, after all the body was gone the next day, who’s to say an ambulance didn’t pick her and his father up and bring them to safety? Now they’re just looking for him! But this baby...what if something happens to it? It was much too young to take care of itself like he was. Ooooh but what would Maki and the rest say? He has to decide quickly, the sounds of sirens were coming closer and closer.

-------------------

“YOU BROUGHT HOME A BABY?!” Maki’s loud tone of voice made Kokichi jump and the baby cry even louder. “Yeah! It’s our new pet! Surprise!” Maybe if he pretends it’s a gift they won’t get so mad. He was wrong. Goro smiles politely, even if it was easy to see the baby just made more worry on him. Maki was very angry, angry enough to beat Kokichi to a bloody pulp and she probably would have if he wasn’t cradling a baby in his arms. Hanako was very excited though, jumping up and down to try to see the baby.

“Babies aren’t pets, dipshit.” Maki growled holding her temples. She does her best not to curse in front of little ones but by God was she in a bad mood. Even Goro could see the steam rising out of her. Maybe he should try to heal the situation a little bit.

“Now now, Maki. You did the same thing when Hanako was in danger.” Goro tries to put a hand on his sister’s shoulder before she pulls away. “That was different! You can’t just STEAL a baby! What if the parents find out? What if they find out about us?”

Kokichi was silent, he shows the blanket with a bloodstain on it.

 “They won’t...it’s mom is dead.”

“D-Don’t call them an ‘it’! And what about their dad?!”

“I-I dunno! W-Why are you yelling at me? You’re scaring the baby!”

Maki quickly took the baby from Kokichi’s arms and examined them. Their cries getting louder and louder, the baby thrashed and moved. Finally Maki looks at the others, her eyes closed. “They need a diaper change.”

“W-What?!”

“N-No  way am I doing that again! I already used to change yours, I’m not doing THAT again.”

“Ewww hehehe!”

“You don’t have to. You just need to get me some diapers and diaper cream. You steal from the store all the time, right?” Maki states, bouncing the baby on her shoulder. That oddly seemed to calm it down a little. How was she this gifted with kids? “Fine, but don’t let it barf or poop or whatever on our stuff. Hana, stay with Maki and help her with the baby. Goro, come with me.” True to his leader form Kokichi gives orders imminently and the rest follow. Perhaps what Maki said was right. Being a leader does run in his “jeans”. As ordered Kokichi managed to snag a bag of diapers and diaper cream as Goro distracted the workers as usual. Man Kokichi hopes he doesn’t grow much taller because stealing is way easy because of his height. At long last they arrive at the abandoned building they lived in.

“We got the-”

“Give me that.” Maki practically took the supplies out of his arms. She must be really desperate to stop the infants crying. Even Hanako was covering her ears. Swiftly Maki places the baby on a table and begins working. Curiously Kokichi looked over Maki’s shoulder to see what she was doing and then quickly regrets it, his face turning green and close to dry heaving. That was a horrible idea. Yet Maki seemed...unbothered by it? It was almost mesmerizing at how fast she changed them. Once she was done the crying...stopped?

“Did you fix it?” Kokichi asked, now feeling better from the peace and quiet without the baby yowling.

“Did you fix him. He’s a boy.” Maki corrects him as she cradles the child. “And yes. He’s fine now. Also his name is Kenji...” The baby quickly falls asleep in her arms finally making the place quiet.

“How do you know?” asked Goro tilting his head to the side. Maki simply shows Kenji’s tiny chubby arm to reveal a hospital bracelet on it.

-Kenji Date, DOB: 7/6/20XX, Paitent ID: 11037

So the baby was probably born recently given how close the dates were, maybe about one month old. Still Maki was looking angry with Kokichi, but didn’t do anything. “C’moooon you can’t stay mad at me forever can you? Look at this faaaace. It would be sad without my ultimate assassin friend.”

“Call me that again and you’ll be the next victim...” she warns, her eyes narrowing again. “But aren’t assassins and murderers different things?” Kokichi asks, honestly confused. “They’re the same thing, dumbass...” Well shit he didn’t know. Another awkward silence. 

“I guess everything worked out in the end though. And hey! We can add more members with other orphans! Think of this, a whole network of orphans working together to protect each other!”

Maki shook her head. “That sounds like a cartoon...”

“But you’d watch it, wouldn’t you?”

“Fine, I guess so...but no babies okay? They’re really hard to take care of as it is.”

And with that promise, DICE gained more and more members. In about a few years the whole place would be practically crawling with orphans or kids who wanted to be away from abusive homes. In fact so many orphans had lived there that they even had to move some to upstairs rooms. And with more members came cool new stuff! More toys, books, games, anything they could steal they would. It was like running their own little orphanage. However they did have to have some other leaders in power too making sure the other’s stayed in line. Kokichi picked nine others to “co-star” as he put it in his operation. Of course Maki was one, so was Goro, but because he was immature only the tall kids get to be the co-leaders.

“But you’re shorter than all of them! How are you leader?” Hanako asked one day as everyone was making masks to wear for Halloween to play their usual pranks and to hide their identity. “Because I came up with this idea so, as it’s so plainly obvious to see, I should be leader!” Kokichi grins booping the girl on the nose. “Hmph! Well I thought only tall people could be leader so...”

“Nhyhehehe, oh Hana. Tell you what, if anything ever happens to me, you become leader okay?” He tips his leader hat and flaunts his cape as if he was trying to be dramatic. Though how dramatic can you be with an old baseball cap and a tattered old bed sheet flowing behind you? Hanako looked hopeful as her eyes sparkled. “I can have the hat and cape too?” Kokichi dramatically held the bed sheet in front of himself like a vampire would. “Any perks of being DICE leader you can have. But I won’t be leaving any time soon you know~”

As the children drew their masks, Kokichi starts the meeting.

“Hello my fellow crime syndicates! As you know, today is Halloween. We’ve been waiting for this day all year my friends. And finally it came!” The whole building filled with applause which made him laugh. Maki just shook her head. If he keep it up they’ll be found out but he kept everyone so...so together. “Now I know what you’re thinking...’why would we be making clown masks for?’ Well I’ll tell you! Bring in the boxes!”

Hoards of boxes came rushing in being displayed in front of all the children eliciting “oohs” and “ahhs” This was probably their biggest heist yet! Never have the kids seen so much stuff come in before, not even food. What sort of wonders awaited inside those containers? “Now, open!” The bigger kids opened the box to reveal the most amazing thing! Costumes and prank supplies covered the ground. This was the year! This was the year they have an actual, real Halloween! All the kids went forward to grab some stuff but the co-leaders organized them into a single file line to make sure everyone got a costume and supplies.

“Sorry, all the costumes are clown costumes but, hey that’s why I made you all make the masks!” Kokichi exclaimed. Everyone didn’t mind. This was a fun activity and now they had something they can do that normal kids with parents usually do! However Maki was the only one to speak up. “You got crates of costumes? How do you expect not to get caught?! You know they have security cameras, right?” Kokichi shrugged his shoulders and places his hands behind his head. “So? Look at their faces! Even Kenji and Hanako are smiling! Worrying about that stuff will just ruin the moment so just reeeelax a bit Maki.” It was true. The kids looked more happy than ever. But something inside her seemed like this was going to be a bad idea...

Once everyone was dressed they all hit the streets. Each child knew about their one rule: no killing. Their leader was against murder in any way possible teaching the children how horrible death was and how they should avoid it. All of the kids got a costume, as well as eight of the Co-Leaders, but Maki and Kokichi were left without one. “I don’t mind. As long as the kids have one I will just go as Kokichi Ouma for Halloween.”

Boy was this the most fun these children have ever had, With their clown suits and masks on their faces they made mischief in the city. Toilet paper rolls on houses, chalk graffiti on walls, water buckets on doors, the whole place was crawling with little clown gremlins causing mayhem in their wake. It was enough to make Kokichi proud. “Oh this is enough to bring a tear to my eye~!” The leader claims dramatically. Maki just rolled her eyes and said nothing, however she was happy to see the children having the time of their lives. However she stops as she was walking, looking like a deer in headlights at the televisions in a shop window. Kokichi waves his hand in front of her as to get a reaction. All she could do was point.

A newscaster on the screen started talking, a picture of a clown at his side, underneath the headline states: “Clown thieves hit the streets”. Kokichi could feel the lump forming in his throat.

“Good evening.” The newscaster began as he bangs his stack of papers on the table once to align them. “A group of pranksters? Or a group of kidnappers? A hoard of clown suit wearing children hit the streets today causing panic and anger across the city. We have no idea where they come from or what they want, but they continue to wreak everything in their path. We go live to our reporter, Michiko Nakajima.” The screen changes to a woman in a dress with a microphone in her hands. Kokichi could have sworn that the woman was behind him somewhere.

“Thank you, Natsumi-San. I am standing here on the very street where young Kenji Date was taken from his mother’s arms seven years ago. His mother shot dead in an abandoned alley. They couldn’t find the killer or the child’s body, however one clown who has been taken into custody had Kenji’s hospital bracelet in his pocket!” The screen shows a picture of Kenji, his mask off, looking sad and disappointed. The two leaders could feel their souls about to fly from their body.

“I like where I am! You’re not gonna take me to some stinky orphanage!” Kenji exclaimed on the screen as two men take him away. “Luckily the father was still alive to bring little Kenji back home to his rightful place.” The reporter finishes as it then cuts to a man who has red puffy eyes. It seems he had been crying. This makes Kokichi feel immense guilt rise up in the pit of his stomach. “I’m just happy I can finally see my son...these clown people took seven years of me getting to know him.” The man looks like he could break down at any second. “He won’t even call me ‘dad’, he just says ‘where’s Kokichi and Maki’ or ‘Kokichi will save me’!”

The name “Kenji” meant “an intelligent child” but also meant “ public prosecutor”. It all made sense in a way. Just like his own name, “Kokichi”, meant “little luck”. Right now he was having no luck. Maki was beginning to sweat too. From the corner of her eye she could see the news reporter and camera crew come closer. “This makes it even more curious. Years ago another child had been lost after his parents death. Kokichi Ouma, then three years old, was deemed lost as both his parents were killed by his father’s own gang. Another, Maki Haruwaka, the youngest of many children, killed her father in cold blood before leaving with her older brother Goro Haruwaka. Both these children have yet to be found, but law enforcement is still on the look out.”

Without warning Maki began to run. She knew this was a horrible idea! No one would even know their secret if Kokichi just did an inside Halloween party instead like they usually do. 

“M-Maki wait-”

But it was too late, she already ran too far. He tries to catch her, but was stopped by a big brawny man who held him by the shoulders. Kokichi kicked and thrashed, but the man had no trouble taking him to where he wanted him to go.

“Maki!!!”

The newscaster looks back at the camera, obviously excited by this rise in the story she was reporting.

“We have word that we might have just found the lost children Kokichi Ouma and Maki Haruwaka! Could this be a clue to find more missing children? We will give updates as soon as they’re avalible. Michiko Nakajima, Tokyo news.”

[eponymous-rose]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E74 (Aug. 13, 2019)

This week’s guests are Mica Burton and Marisha Ray! Let the chaos reign!

The druid couch (TM) is asked to turn into an animal. Like, right now. Just do it. Just turn into an animal. Just do it. They succeed?

[id] Marisha, Mica, and a Molly body pillow on a couch, all holding strange poses [end id]

Announcements: The second issue of the second series of Vox Machina: Origins comes out tomorrow! The body pillow is Mica’s (she also has a McCree body pillow: “some asshole voices him but whatever”)! And... I guess that’s it? Here we go!

Episode 74: Manifold Morals

Mica has only seen a couple complete episodes of CR, but she’s picked up a lot by osmosis, which is to say that she knows the secrets of Arsequeef (she’s still a little taken aback when Brian excitedly brandishes a tiny photo of him in her face).

Stats for this week’s episode! The party went 183 days without knowing Beau’s last name. Reani had the 250th guest roll of campaign 2. There were six otter puns in the episode. 

Marisha, deeply insulted: “Only six???” 

Mica’s been playing D&D since she was a teenager. She was in a campaign when she was at Rooster Teeth, which was her first experience playing a more intense campaign. She’s got an acting major, so the improv always really appealed to her. She only brought about 1/4 of her dice to the game. “I guess it was my mating call to Laura to pour them out in front of her.” She sent in a four-page backstory for Reani to Matt; after receiving it, apparently Matt burst out of his office to tell Marisha, “I love Mica Burton.” Usually, Mica plays chaotic neutral characters (typically tieflings), but she wanted to try something different this time around. She also sent a three-page description of Reani for the artist’s reference.

Marisha: “I love her freckles.” Mica: “I love her titties.”

“It’s been very difficult to separate Beau’s feelings [about Reani] from mine.” Marisha loved seeing another druid at work. “Beau finds you very endearing and charming, but also Beau kind of thinks Reani might be a psycho.” Mica: “Valid.”

"I just thought it would be cool to be Giant Scorpion Batman.” Reani just sort of set up camp in Uthodurn while waiting for further instruction. “The angelic past influenced the Folk Hero, rather than vice-versa.”

On the party not knowing Beau’s last name: “She’s... fine. Beau likes keeping the upper hand by continuing to have secrets.” Marisha resolved at the beginning of the campaign not to reveal anything personal about Beau unless it was immediately useful or she was asked directly. “She would value knowing things but not divulging them. The more you tell people, the more they have to use against you.”

Cosplay of the Week: an adorable Jester! (on Twitter: koalois, photo by AmynTheOutcast)

Reani’s always been “super evil-die, good-live”. Landen really leaned into Samliel talking to her. “If Landen says ‘listen’, and Samliel says ‘listen’, all Reani knows is ‘listen’.” 

Mica hadn’t planned any of the M9 parallels; she hasn’t watched enough of the show to know those details. She also didn’t know in advance that the group would be dealing with patrons to such a degree. “Dude, I rolled her months ago. This is all just an amazing coincidence.” She feels like if she’d seen everything, she might have approached the character differently, but this felt “more organic”.

She talks about how nervous she was to be on the show (”I was shaking”); she loved everyone at the table and had heard such good things about the fandom, and she wanted to do them proud.

“I don’t know if Beau sees herself as a capable leader. That feels very generous. But I think Beau knows she can bullshit herself as a capable leader in the moment. Beau’s best when she’s bullshitting.” Marisha put a lot of points into deception, because she knew Beau would be good at lying, but Fjord’s influence has made her try to be more honest. “I should go back to lying.”

“Goatback? Does that sound fuckin’ enjoyable? Yeah, no, fast-travel’s a big deal, especially when you’re at this level.” Marisha points out that they got spoiled having Keyleth last campaign to just teleport via plants wherever they needed to go.

Mica on the concern over Reani’s low hit points: “Y’all, I’m fine. Trust and believe.” She points out that she has two Wild Shapes. “That’s a lot of hit points!” Marisha: “I’m so proud.”

One of Reani’s favorite methods is to invite her victim for tea and then poison them. “It seems more humane than stabbing.” Dani: “She could legit have just murdered all of y’all.”

Fan Art of the Week: Reani and Caduceus and the tree! (on Twitter: Skidarstudios)

Mica’s horrified off-screen gasp when Brian does the dab-slash for the first time is magical. Marisha: “I appreciate your humor so much more when seeing it through your eyes.” Dani: “Yeah, she makes you a lot funnier.”

Mica on the failure points of the relationship with Fen: “When I yelled, ‘it’ll always be your fault!’ it was a gut reaction. She understands that what she does can never work with how Fen thinks. Their ideals inherently clash, and they obviously still care for each other, but when your base morals don’t mix, it’s just going to be a destructive circle. It was kind of a mutual ending of the relationship.”

“But she’s traveling with a hot-ass monk, so, you know. She’ll be fine.”

Beau’s always known that her affiliation with the Cobalt Soul can be a good bargaining tool, but she’s had to be selective about that. Mica: “It won’t fly at a club to get you in.” So she’ll always jump at the chance when it arises.

“Samliel hasn’t said anything other than ‘Dragon, dragon, dragon’,” which is the first thing Reani’s heard from him in five years. So she’s defaulting to helping the Nein out as much as she can. Reani overheard the M9′s whole conversation, and she heard them talking to Umi about spreading his name and that he’s as good as his father. “She wants him to be happy, so she’ll put herself at risk to help the greater cause. Also, she thinks a lot of the people in the group are attractive,” especially Beau and Caleb.

Reani has the Luck feat and Mica realized after the game that she didn’t use it once. “I’d rather use it for something that can get us killed, rather than an auditor.”

Mica will be back next week! Mica: “Is this a legitimate offer or are you baiting me?”

[whimsically-ominously-auspice]

One morning I awoke early

I often slept on the couch at Bobbys. If I fell asleep in my room or he carried me there, I often went back to the living room.

.....******......******

I had a tiny room but it was good enough and Bobby made it real nice, taking my stuff from the big house. But it reminded me of my old life. My life where people left me.

My dad went to the Navy SEALS and has special missions he couldn't take me on. He knew Bobby and I did better work on our own. My mom was murdered and I was stupid enough to demand to be taken to the scene of her and her two friend's dead bodies.

Jesse went crazy and his wife went Lulu. Both left, Jesse after he threw me out into the streets. So i didn't like my old bedroom stuff. Id like my bed again when my dad came home to visit and i saw him sleep in it a couple times so i knew he was alright. That would be fine then.

Bobby had washed the sheets and blankets and they smelled all new again and I couldn't smell my dad. There wasn't a quite distinct scent but more of a feeling... It was still there but was covered in the snuggle fabric softener and tide. The smell wss distracting. Good but not my dad.

I freaked at Bobby about it and he said it was fine, he still had the bedding from my dads bed. So I used his old army wooly not so soft but itchy scratchy with a hint of softness under... Like my life... Id carry it back and forth from my room. Bobby was kind enough, if he moved my sleeping body to cover me with the obscene fabric.

He warned me though that my dad had asked him specifically to wash it and he told me "if your dad wants to beat me up because i didn't you will have to protect me"

When my dad was due to arrive, i left the front door open and put a nightlight in my room so he could see for the bed to get dressed and go to sleep. Like an adult i thought. But my dad thought like a parent.

I thought I heard him creep in, drop his bag and say "finally I am home!"

But I dreamed about him coming home so many times I wasn't sure he did. "I guess ill use the bathroom then go on in to sleep"

Uh huh good one dreaming that one is new, I thought. I heard the light flick on and saw the light fill the hall, so I sat up in case he wanted to get something to eat, Bobby always did but rarely did my dad. But it was a new house and life was certainly different with Bobby. Honest. Small and I was left alone a lot. So I rarely played. Just watched the cars drive by, watch their patterns repeat. In the afternoons I'd sit on the porch and watch the other side of the street while I had lunch in case anyone worried, i sure did. And they could see me do it, too. Often I ate something normal like a bowl of ravioli.

........***,,,,,,&----''

Some hobag came a few times looking for Bobby "oh honey Bobby ain't home, his car ain't here"

I got up in went in the house. I didn't say anything to her. It wasnt her business. Her life. Wasn't mine and we didn't need no women ruining it. Yeah it was small but big enough for 3 or 4 more people. But Hell no. Not her. Not some bitch to tell me what to do or what I already knew. I banned Bobby from seeing her. Didn't stop him from going over and fucking her a few times. But we had long deep talks about romance in our life and how it wasn't happening. Mostly me to him. "Just give her a try. I did I kind of like her"

"Lets see her house. Lets go over when she ain't home" we did. "Sit down Bobby. Is this where you wanna live? You wanna live like this? Look at this stuff. Does she even dust? We would die in here. Not only do you have to clean after me and you And sometimes your brother but also her everyday. You wanna clean after this pig?"

"Alright let me look"

He looked at the kitchen stove. Noted some spots needing cleaning. Looked around. I could tell he was willing. The bathroom light flicked on. "Yuck. Oh alright honey I can clean that up after you. We all got to use the toilet Any way. What did you do to the sink!?!?! Lets go see the laundry..."

My heart was pounding. This was my only go to. I hoped to god this would get her out our lives but I had a feeling...

He came rushing down the hall... "Lets go" head down. Job done.

"But Bobby no!"

At the door he said strict "lets go right now! Get the hell out of here!"

"Yes!!! Bobby! Yes!!!!" I jumped up and ran to the door with glee. That was a this place is a dangerous dump demand. But sometimes he made a plan to go back in. Those times he strolled. This one he walked so fast i thought he had to take a massive water shit. He pulled his keys from his pocket and opened his car door. "Huh?!?! Bobby what you're gonna chase after her?!?!!? We aren't dressed for church besides she just goes to the bar!"

"Get in the fucking car!! We are out of here!!"

Last time I saw that look on his face was when he said I couldn't go to my mom's crime scene of her dead body. But this time. This was a celebratory moment.

$$$@$$$$$@$$$$@$$$$

My dad and Jesse overruled and I got in the car and rolled into a ball. "See? She can't handle it!" So when he got in. I climbed up into the front seat. Fixed the collar on his shirt, pulled his seat belt on and leaned against him, hugging his arm. "You don't want mom to see you looking dirty" so he directed the rest of the car to clean up. "I know shes dead but she has eyeballs and the rest don't. She will tell her evil friends on you then what? They will want to have sex with the dirty boys!"

Jesse messed his hair up a bit and my dad told him fix it...

"Not my mom Jesse. The other ones"

"I know"

"They're dead"

"Not for long"

Bobby who was disgusted angry turned back in,his seat.. Realizing the Zulululu already stole Jesse and took a look at my dad... Whom he looked like he was crunching numbers with every grind of his teeth.

I poked his side with my feet then put them on his leg "hey who are you?"

He poked my foot in a way only he did. Under the covers to remind me not to kick him in the face.

"Huh?! What?! I wasn't even paying attention. Who do you think put my wife there? Do you know? Jesse what's going on with you? I missed the conversation but i feel the car tension has something to do with you"

Jesse rolled down a window. Then Bobby then my dad. We went with wind blown hair. "Don't worry. My mom likes the look. Calls it sexy. Wind blown marketing should always be a thing she's always said. It's alright y'all, lets go see"

We started to walk... "Really she says the air conditioner is too cold but likes the wind chill factor with high winds."

"Did" reminded bobby, trying to rush ahead to block me. Like I wasn't only 2 and didn't use my size to my advantage. Mental note: avoid bobby, to through the legs of the others. Bobby would block me and squish my head. He's done it before. But the feeling of fear in the crowd led me back to Bobby and i got squished "hey! You'll mess my hair! Dad hurry! Can you pick me up!" I let my foot drag out to get bobby back cause that was a mad heavy thigh squish and it actually hurt.

"Don't kick bobby. Come over here. Yeah yeah ill carry you since Bobby didn't want you to come And tried to squish your brain meat out like you're a cadaver. Yeah yeah I know. I saw. Bobby can't handle it all since his wife died. It's only been 3 years. Haven't you ever noticed you only eat men and never any woman?"

I hadn't realized that it wasn't only men in the government program. I just thought women didn't die as often...

I looked back at Bobby and i saw him as a man whom had a life before me. Something I knew but hadn't realized had impacted him so thoroughly. I guess we both had something in common.

Loss.

And it was written all over his face.

I never saw it that way. I always saw it as patiently waiting.

When I waited i thought nothing. Felt clear sunshine. The birds singing and life dancing.

A cloud moved and put Bobby into the sun. He walked out of it and into the shade with a tint of annoyance.

I never would have moved. Just bathed in the sun until i burned. I never saw a difference before. Bobby used to cry a lot at our house. Mom would always say "he's different than us" I had known his wife had died but I never did understand. I knew what different meant. But Bobby was my friend.

But now I saw. Bobby and i, we didn't see the world the same

"He doesn't want you to know how he feels, he's scared. He doesn't want to lose you and or me. So don't just mind him"

"He can't see like me. He doesn't like the sun or th3 birds chirping. I bet he can't even build a sand castle"

"Sabrina what the hell are you talking to me about? Is Bobby dark and demented?"

"He doesn't like the sun burning his skin and I do" I whispered...

Bobby hasn't been in my life a long time. While I still like the heat, I don't like the reminding burn. I don't like the pain. I've had enough. I can't take anymore. Bobby was 22... I was older than him.. It began in my face... I couldn't handle my face being burnt. I was 23. Now I can't handle my arms or legs and that's been 5 years And more.

I was 7 when I couldn't handle multiple places burnt. My back and shoulders, face, and arms.

Only one place, no more.

.... ..... .... .....

I ran around the car feeling the worried face on my look but th3 joy and cheer still in my heart. I trusted Bobby and I knew him like th3 back of my hand I could piece it altogether.

I jumped in with enthusiasm. "No, no you dont have to put your seat belt on. Im not like your parents only when your intuition says."

Bobby is different now. He always puts his seat belt on. If i can get away with it. I don't. But I have my daughter and all other kids buckle up. However when I'm stressed or extra happy I buckle up automatically. Barbara, Heathers mom taught me that one. "Don't want stress to kill you. And don't want to lose your life on the happiest day of"

Plus then evil has no idea of what kind of day you're having.

"Well then Bobby where the Hell are we going? I feel I should be holding something. A bear or something" I looked out the window "you sure are going fast" I looked in Bobbys always immaculate clean car, hoping he might have something "there there a newspaper, that might work" I held it like a bouquet of flowers, thinking how we had ran errends for my mother's funeral.

"We're going to change your mother's last name to Jennings for the news paper so her in laws can take note. Is that alright with you?"

"These flowers sure are pretty. But how are they going to know?"

"They might not. But at the same time, they may. So we will see."

"Hmm idk. No. I don't want any candy"

"Ok"

He just drove past the mini-mart where Matt Hagan's dad used to work. The sun shining brightly upon it, saying we needed to still go

"But hey weren't you going to get a coffee?"

"Yep. Hold on to that thing" And he grabbed a vase. Sometimes it seemed he talked to himself out loud. Gave him self commands and orders. I'd learn they weren't for just him. But also for me and him. I found that out when I spilled his coffee a different day and I expected him to grab it, not realizing his hands were full with a sandwich and a steering wheel. "What do you want me to do let us die so I can just hold my coffee!?! I have a sandwich, too" he wasn't mean. And he didn't yell. But I cried. I felt so bad for spilling his coffee. Maybe I hadn't had enough sleep or enough food. Maybe I hadn't told Bobby enough truth so he could protect me from his brother. I remember I didn't just have a stressful leak, I had a full out bawl. And he said he hadnt seen me cry like that since my mother died and I cried into her flowers and told him nothing was wrong, he had just forgot his coffee.

I wanted to tell him what his brother did. Why I closed and locked the door at night so he couldn't come in. Why I checked all the rooms to make sure I didn't lock his brother in. I needed to sleep and my brain was getting foggy.

"You need sleep?"

I nodded and trudged to the couch. Found him cleaning the car floor "you need help?"

"No. You need to go back to sleep. You just woke up I can tell. I know there's been something wrong with you. You've been safety sleeping and I don't know why. And you need to tell someone the truth. No you can go to sleep in my bed or in yours but stay off the couch and that's an order okay? Do you hear? Now come here and give me a hug if you want to"

Safety sleeping is 20 minutes to an hour every hour and half to three hours. On average.

So he tickled me and made me giggle and asked if I wanted to sleep or help him clean

"Sleep was made for me! Much better than cleaning!" It was a made up saying for the neighbor next door... Why her room was such a disaster. He shook his head and blushed and told me to go on and he would talk to me later.

That gross gut feeling came in and I saw a Jupiter on a bike riding to Bobby to warn me ego was cunning I ran back to Bobby, "if your brother comes over dont let him in! Okay for me! We are going to have to eat him! And it's one of those blah blah blah feelings when you're cooking and tastes better and head cleaner when it's all gone"

"A raper? Alright I'll tell him we're moving and to get his stuff, ill get a new car from storage. Don't c worrythis one's not ruined."

I didn't have to tell him what his brother did and he understood. And he could protect me appropriately.

I hugged his neck "okay? And I'm sorry! And I might be wrong okay, I just can't have him around me when I'm safety sleepin' on"

"No I've always knewn. It was before my wife died. But he still keeps coming around so I let him, although I've known I've hated him for years. But raping. That one is new. He must have just started it"

"Uh huh. Yeah and on me. He didn't put it in me though but he got creamy and on my dads blanket so I cut out all the pieces that were wet with three scissors. Not a knife nor the bouy. I love you though and c you'll always be like my dad" I hugged him again ahs kissed his cheek. Paused to watch a car pass.

"Why do you always watch the cars, Sweetie?"

"You never know when they'll need me. And I'm missing two. I haven't seen them yet all week"

He looked startled. "Do you want to go look for them?"

"No I want to get sleeping. They been waiting v all week anyway. i learned that with my "mom and me." Rush around around to get to Iraq after 10 weeks only to find out c you hate the bitch."

He shook his head and laughed

I was playing with a cat from the neighborhood. I'd always put it on the porch then offer it to go in, it never did. But it knew it was welcome as a safe place to go and visit. Sometimes it would meow at the door to remind me it was lunch time and time to go out and watch the streets. He would lay and purr and I'd pet him while on my watching shift. Sometimes I'd take him in and wrap him in my dads blanket like a baby. Those were days I didn't feel so good. Depressed and sleepy they'd say. And I'd fall asleep with my adult baby cat all Heathcliff style in my arms.

It was patient and kind and didn't at all mind. I guess he needed somebody as much as I did. He'd close his eyes and sleep if I moved he opened them wide until I settled. When Bobby came home the cat would leap out and run out the door to go back where it was loved.

One time a big black van tried to cat nap him. He was my working cat. And that shit was not acceptable! He worked hard and for what!? Just a few pieces of human jerky and snuggles and hugs? I ran outside barefoot and fought the 5 guys in the gravel loose rock street. Bobby took out a shot gun and did a blast to the air. "Come on lets go!"

I saw another guy with the same gray army blanket as my dad with the cat wrapped in get in the back seat. I jumped and dove in "get me my cat! I need it back!!" I started hitting them with my hands. He dropped the cat and blanket. The cat ran out and jumped on the back of a seat, saw it was all clear and ran out. Waited and looked at me.

"Oh alright I'm coming, but I'm stealing this blanket! I had to cut all holes in it for perverts like you touching me and it! I hope you burn in Hell one day sir, you stupid fool" I heard laughing as they shut the door to drive off. At seeing Bobbys face I dropped the Blanket. Why? Why did I just do that? To the people most important to him!? Over a cat!? I must have scared himto death!

He went over to pick it up "oh don't worry about me! I had the driver pinned up along the side. He didn't like having a shot gun. Under his chin and being punched in the chestand gut."

"Oh okay but are you okay? You didn't get your knuckles bruised or anything?"

"No they're alright. We're getting you a dog. I'm checking the newspaper tomorrow"

"If that's okay with kitty. I'll go ask" he rubbed his body in between my legs, I picked him up and looked in his eyes "a dog! Do you know what that is!?" I walked over to Bobby "dad idk if he really knows can you check?"

"Dad?" He looked behind him. I didn't usually call him dad but I just had a feeling... I saw hiseyes look sad like my dad's. Bobby is usually about food and stuff and getting my room ready and laundry but a dog!?! That's a dad thing. And kitty only came in the house if I ate a piece if a steak of my mom that morning then I wrapped the car like a baby Heathcliff so maybe three Doug would be like a son to him. The cat it was like a doll that purred. That was all. A doll to me. Like company cause the cat sometimes watched TV then went to sleep... But I tried not to get attached. Sometimes he was busy and didn't come to see me but when he did, I was grateful. I didn't hate to be alone but that was my Bobby. Even if he hated me, He still loved me because he had to. But that cat? That cat came by choice. Alright. Alright, I did feed it. But even it liked ravioli made by Chef Boyardee. And it still hung around after lunch, then by 3 or sometimes even 2 or 1 and a half in the deepheart of summer and it was too hot to be outside. We would go inside and it would come with me by choice. Bobby always said "never pickup an animal and take it inside unless it's being chased by a storm or hurt by a car"

So I didn't! Really hot days I put a plastic covered popsicle in the bathroom sink for kitty to lick and cool off with. Then a always took some human jerky to share on the sofa

Sometimes not in winter I had to vacuum off the sofa when I saw Bobby in his black uniforn with cat furballs stuck to his back. Then I would put my blanket in the dryer with the clean old baby shoes to beat the hair out.

And in winter I had would rush to put the cat bowl or water in the sink. So bobby wouldn't kick it over and complain. He liked to watch TV and deink so he had to have it in a certain spot or ue wouldn't drink! Right by the sink. Exactly right in the mess of Bobbys walking pathway.

"Why don't you put the water on the table honey that way the cat can see and drink"

"You told me not to retrain him -- any animal that walks into our house that's not ours and he has another home. I don't feed him. Only snacks. 2 ravioli and some slices of jerky we share"

"Let me see how much"

"Just these pieces on the jar on the counter. That's why I asked you to put it next to this sink so I could reach it easy. See? I just go like this on this chair and lean across and dangle. Get my shirt all wet if you forget"

"You could go the other way"

"That's no fun. And kitty doesn't mind. He just sits right here and watches then jumps over to my seat and Waits for me to pick him up in my blankie. Huh don't you kitty? Oh he thought we were gonna get him a treat. Could you get him one?"

"Alrightie"

"Here you get this strip" I ripped off a narrow piece of human jerky about 3 inches long and put it in his mouth. He grabbed it with both paws like a baby does a bottle and nibbled.

Bobby was awestruck, "let me look at this thing." I handed him over. "No wonder you dove in after this thing. It's like your baby" he turned off the tv and watched cat look around then turn it back on and kitty went back to nibbling happiky. "Let me see this thing that had to be a fluke" he turned off the tv again and the cat reached out and slapped his cheek. Then closed his eyes like I'm gonna kill this bitch if he don't stop. "Well look at that he slapped me! Does he do this to you?÷?!"

"No I don't turn the tv off on him. Sometimes I change the channels but that's to watch Ma Vida that's in Spanish but its a home cooking show but I can follow along so I can help you when you come home and we are cooking and you're bored of the same old thing--"

"I --- what?!?!?÷"

"Then usually when Mazda Vista comes on after, he gets drowsy and usually he's asleep by the time its over"

"But that's a realtor show!!"

"I know and but I like it here, don't worry. Its small but not too small."

"Its a travel trailer with boxes attached to it! We can't even drive it! Its been,destroyed÷ and it leaks!"

"But that's okay. Me and kitty like it. I have a feeling,he has a bigger house down in the middle. Oh lookie he's sleeping. Here lets move his thing. I just put it down here in front of him. He's had a hard day being kidnapped and everything."

"He slapped me because he wanted to watch tv and couldn't then went to sleep!?!?!"

"Well yeah. Lets watch Mazda Vista"

I don't know what it was with the show. It made me want to look out the window to watch the highway and see the patterns. Out that way i was missing four but two more were added and that i knew was not good. After today I'd probably have 3 more and usually they drifted away and quit coming again only to come again sporadic then again some other times also when I was losing other people.

....

.

So they finished loading and seemed to be looking at me so I spun to my back against the wall. Then slid down and looked out around the curtain. Were those guns? Yup. Pointed at me. Only two years old. Maybe I shouldn't pretended to be Bobbys height by standing on the cushion side of the coffee table.

Bobby was still asleep, the cat really must had knocked him out. That's happened to me too some ladies claiming to be from church, me holding the cat, I remember hearing them after I woke up from my nap and seeing their pamphlets about God wanting me, tucked in the door and on the floor

...... ....

It made me scared. I felt stark white and I saw the cat staring at me from the couch. I checked the clock. It wasn't time to wake up from his nap yet. It was half past two, not nearly 3. Just one notch past the half, that meant 35. 2:35 Bobby would say. I thought the cat would be purring or pacing back and forth, but it was just there in the blankie. Looking.

I ran to him "oh kitty! That was so scare! I think I'll shut the door for the rest of today, at least until my Bobby gets home!" Kitty closed his eyes to sleep and I knew it was the truth of what to do. "Okay Kitty I even locked it. No don't worry I know he will need his key and today is Wednesday so he will probably have his groceries. I mean groceries for like you and me, then I'll go and open it. Usually I hear his car so I know it's him... Kitty went to sleep and so did I. Later I felt paws on my face. "Huh? What? What? Oh is he?! Oh do you know his car sounding too? Oh you are too good kitty! Too good! Come on lets go see! Hold on. No. I feel something else is out there lets wait till we hear full Bobby on the porch. What do you mean meow? You think we should not wait? I guess. Yeah yeah you're right, what if... He could be in danger too. If he is... But right now I want to hold you but if I can't ill have to put you down. I have a feeling it will be okay. I'll just open the door. Yeah I know I'm just peeking. So bobby always told me the strongest part of us is our feet when standing at the door so always remember that. Yeah I know. Tells, but he hasn't told me in awhile so Is it told still? Yes but not always told because he's not dead yet. I'll have to ask Bobby. That was too many words in a row. I need a comma or something and I sure couldn't hear it in my head. Idk why I can't see Bobby. Oh I can see his shadow!" A Jupiter turned to look at me "Oh I can see those men! Can other people see them kitty?"

I was busy looking out and i felt his two paws on my face and then I looked at him and saw that he and nodded and closed his eyes then I saw some Hell. "In their sleep? In their nightmares?" The cat snuggled down and purred but this time I felt it was laughing.

I looked out and Bobby kept saying no and shaking his head. "Im sorry no. I'm not going to. Then You tell her!"

"Oh I think I know what it is." I grabbed the phamplets off the stereo stand and went outside and just stood

"Did they get you?"

"No the cat saved me. You mean the ladies right?"

"Did you get a good look at them?"

A Jupiter turned to me and apologized saying how they didn't know if I knew and just wanted to speak to Bobby about it. But my pale face left knowledge that I knew. He ruffled my hair.

"These 3 ladies came to the door. The other soulmate looked for me and they tried to get in with a screwdriver but they couldn't. They heard the cat scream and car doors opening and shutting. They said "oh shit!" And took off in their car. A silver Mercedes-Benz and the meanest one was driving. They weren't all thin but close enough their license plate number was C3J4alcatraz9."

"They will be going to Tuscaloosa. Okay we will see you later Bobby. We will catch up. Thanks to you kid!"

"No not a problem. Manana!"

"She's been watching Spanish on T.v. did you know? She's looking brighter! You know you'll be alright! Those ladies they won't get you thanks to your other soul!" As they flew off Bobby sat on the porch steps and called me to him, he pulled me into his lap in a big hug, so much I could barely look out. Kitty jumped out and ran to watch the Jupiters fly off and then came back around, rubbed on Bobbys back all kinds to say "I gots you dad" then climbed back into my lap to settle down.

He had asked me how the cat saved me. And I told him usually I dont pay much attention when he falls to sleep but that day I had and it made me drowsy like when I couldn't sleep and I would look at my mom or dad's face and it would help me ease into sleep better. I explained I was just sitting up and looking down. And yeah the ladies could had seen me.

He said he had wondered why the door was shut and was getting frustrated that it was and Jupiter wasn't saying I had been taken. He was so worried I felt tears on my head and ears from his eyes.

So when Kitty came he said "so you saved my girl hu" and he held his head high with a smizle and purred. And bobby kissed him on the nose and between the eyes. "Alright y'all its been a long day and as you see I didn't even shower"

"But you didn't even give him a tight squeeze! You remind him you love him and you are thankful for his love, here ill give you one and you carry these in and ill make us some raviolis, you can have some of mine. Its okay. You always buy me enough! And you can take your shower while i cook! Come on Bobby its okay! Oh you want to come in, too, miss kitty? Its okay! Bobby we will have to share! 2 pieces each and she likes the gravy!"

"I call it a girl she tells me its a man and then she calls it Miss Kitty" he said to himself.

Right when Bobby was finishing, a Jupiter flew down, "bobby they're not going to Tuscaloosa! They're right down behind those trees! They have men and they're camping!

[ellieaelious]

Ellie Robertson (DC Verse)

Preferred Name: El

Real Name: Ellie Robertson

Age: 15+ (depending on timeline)

Date of Birth: March 2nd

Race: Realmain, formerly human

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Pansexual

Titles: Unknown

Affiliations: Bat family

Prior Affiliations: Unknown

Occupation: Secretary at Wayne Enterprises (eventual)

Identity: Secret (eventually public)

Relationship Status: Single Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wgu9Ax3shs

~Appearance~

Appeared Age: 15 or older depending on storyline. Ages like a normal human.

Height: 5′3

Weight: 724 lb, 858 lb after training. Through levitation she is able to appear to have a standard weight.

Build: Ellie is small and thin in build with not much in the way of muscle or feminine features. If it wasn’t for her long hair she would easily be mistaken for a boy from the back. As she matures, she takes on a more feminine and thicker appearance due to the rigorous training Bruce puts her through.

Skin Color: Pale white

Eye Color: Silver

Hairstyle: Long, often braided.

Hair Color: Black

Fashion: Jeans, t-shirts and hoodies, usually sneakers when she is out and about. She takes on a more victorian gothic fashion after working for Bruce, wearing suits and dresses. She does enjoy wearing flowing garments and walking around barefoot.

Abnormalities: Missing her left arm, she was found with fresh scaring and robotic prosthetic that mimics what would have been her original arm. At times her arm will appear to have writing on it or blue circuit lines running through it.

~Personality~

Base Alignment: Lawful Good. Although Ellie is a law abiding citizen, her moral code differs greatly from the other members of the Bat family. While Bruce has tried to instil his rule of no killing, Ellie finds herself compelled to kill certain people, despite their status as a villain or not. She will not lie, cheat, or steal however.

Personality description: Upon her arrival into the DC dimension, Ellie lost all memories of her previous life. If her belongings wouldn’t have had her name on them, she would not have had any form of identity. This makes her very distrustful of people, seeing as how anyone can claim to have known her.

She suffers from major depression as a result of her empath abilities, and believes she is evil in a way due to her desire to kill. It makes her very nervous about going out alone and she often lashes out at strangers. It makes her feel useless as a member of the family since she is not allowed to join in any vigilante activities.

When she’s comfortable around someone she will be more open, talkative and even smile.

Character flaws: She’s very unwilling to adapt to change, since everything is new to her anyway. She also has manic episodes where she will become violent and must be subdued, but only when in the presence of someone who would find their home in Arkham Asylum.

~Abilities and Powers~

Generic: Possesses all the standard superhuman abilities.

Physical: Bones and muscles are denser, making her much heavier than a human.

Levitation: Ellie is able to levitate, making herself seem lighter. It also allows her to fly.

Air manipulation: Able to manipulate air by causing gusts of wind or removing the air from someone’s lungs.

Empathy: Allows her to constantly feel the emotional state of everyone around her. She can pull emotions from someone or influence their feelings if she stares long enough in their eyes.

~Weaknesses~

Empathy: She’s unable to turn off her empath abilities, and in a place like Gotham that is not the best.

Water: Unable to use her powers when in water or wet.

Low oxygen: If put in a low oxygen environment, her body will begin to hibernate.

~Backstory~

When Ellie first woke up after the battle, she didn’t really remember anything. She wasn’t sure why she was in a hospital bed or why her shoulder hurt. When she started to remember and helt the smooth, healed over skin where her arm once was she let out a scream. She was hysterical at discovering that not only was her nightmare a reality, but a physical piece of her was missing. It took large amounts of sedatives, but she was finally calmed down enough that they could explain what happened, but not why. She stayed staring at a wall for a week, even when her friends brought her a new amd supposedly better arm. Even when her sister, who she loved so much came to see her, she couldn’t bring herself to look at her. It didn’t take long to notice that she’d been the only one that carried a battle scar when she wasn’t even involved in the actual fighting.

A month went by and she still had nightmares. A hand lifting her in the air by her face, another wrapping around her arm, trying to break it. Then the pop. She never expected there to be a pop. The screaming came before the fall, before the thud, stopping when she tried to crawl to her sister. Everything would go black after that and the screaming would start again when Ellie woke up.

A giant hole had formed in the storm clouds, white and glowing tendrils opening from the center and cast down a bolt of lightning wrapped in a vine of fire into an alley. The sound was loud enough to cause an earthquake that lasted for several seconds before the calm. The tendrils were pulled back into the opening of clouds, never again to be seen. The rain started again, softly at first as raindrops fell onto the body of a young girl dressed in white, lying in the center of the lightning strike. As the rain grew heavy she opened her eyes and lurched forward so quickly she almost threw up. Fear overtook her body as she looked around to get her bearings. Loneliness now. Anger followed as emotions funneled into her. Slowly she crawled to her feet, the tears starting again as she hugged herself and walked down the alley. Helplessness. Greed. Her pale lips trembled as she found herself walking towards a dead end. She fell onto her knees in a deep puddle and almost fell over completely. Rape. She could hear the laughter of two men coming down the alley. Her tears stopped and her eyes narrowed as she stood. Vengeance.

A body was thrown from the alley, bouncing off a taxi and landing into a trash can across the street. The other would be rapist tried to escape down the sidewalk but a cyclone of wind lifted him into the air and engulfed him, reaching a speed that tore him apart and sprayed his body on the innocent people of the street. The girl in white slowly stepped out of the alley, eyes a hurricane of anger and scanning the faces of the shocked innocents. She was overcome with the screams of this world and countless beyond. There was one that invaded her fragile sanity, a white face that laughed madly and tripped her over the edge. In a gentle breeze her body vanished as she teleported across the dark city to her victims. Bodies were thrown from windows, heads were sliced off shoulders, limbs torn off by mini cyclones, the dark city now being painted red as she convinced herself she was doing God’s work. Fortunately for the city her energy had been draining quickly, and as she approached the house of madness known as Arkham she fell before it, her body giving out.

“Found this one about a month ago. ID, no match in the missing persons database, no one showing up to claim her.” an orderly was showing around a new hire and came up to Ellie’s enclosed cell. “Just comes out of nowhere and starts killing people. Bad people, but murders a murder. They think the Joker had something to do with it. All she would say was ‘stop laughing, stop laughing.’, so they brought her here. Took a while to figure out how to control her.” the orderly tapped on a keypad. “Low oxygen environment. That’s why we always keep this door closed. You feed her, you put the little tray in here, close it up, press this and it gets delivered. She may look tiny, but scales say she weighs over 700 pounds. Imagine that flying at you like a spider monkey.” he laughed and knocked on the cell. “Make sure she’s still alive every now and then. Doesn’t move very often, but just check the oxygen levels. If she’s alive, they try to jump. If she’s dead, well they probably won't.”

“Jeez man, she looks like a kid.” the young new hire got a little closer to the cell. Ellie went from laying on the floor to slamming against the barrier in an instant. She stored up her energy to escape, even though it never got anywhere. The new hire jumped back while the orderly laughed. “Yeah, does that too. Just play her some Les Mis and she goes back to sleep. Come on, more crazies this way.” “I dreamed a dream of times gone by...when hope was high, and life worth living.” Ellie quietly sang along to the music, tears falling from the corners of her eyes as she stared at the ceiling of her cell. It never stopped. The laughing, the horrible thoughts, every criminal’s darkest thoughts played inside her head. She tried so many times to kill herself, but nothing. She took a deep breath and rolled over, hugging her knees. Wait, she could breathe again. She shot up to her feet, looking at the door that was now open. Two men stood in the door, escapees hoping to get some help from a new resident baddie. “Come on sunshine, time to wake up.” one of them started chuckling. Her eyes narrowed. She really hated laughing.

What she lacked in combat skills she made up for in madness. Outside of her cell it was so much worse. All these criminals, all their darkness, feeding right into her. She’d already killed five and was working on her sixth, chasing him down a hallway. With her powers back, it was easy to summon her bladed fan and start delivering what she thought was justice. “Where is he?” she grabbed her sixth victim. “I have to make it stop. It’s the only way.” she didn’t even realize she was choking him to death.