#BEFORE CLICKING READMORE: BE WARNED THAT THIS IS SUPER FUCKING LONG
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Thoughts on across the spiderverse in whatever order my brain comes up w because I need to write it down while it's fresh in my mind:
Starting with things I was wrong about (based on minor spoilers I'd seen beforehand):
1. Thought spot was another spiderman. Was proved wrong instantly. All I knew was that he was a silly little guy and I LOVE that he's a silly little guy but also fucked up with it <3
2. Thought miguel was the main villain. Sort of right, will go into my thoughts on his character later because he's SUCH a good villain
3. Thought hobie would have more screen time, purely based on the amount of fanart and gushing abt him I'd seen. Disappointed he wasn't around as much as I thought he'd be but I still love him and understand the hype
MOVING ON, scenes I really enjoyed:
1. The opening scene (obviously). As a percussionist every time I see gwen on the drums I get so excited. The visuals along with the music made me have to restrain myself from bouncing my legs a lot because I didn't want to shake the chairs of the people next to me lmao
2. The scene where spot explains his connection to miles and actually becomes legitimately threatening/scary. No longer villain of the week!
3. Every scene with gwen and her father. The way the background steadily becomes more abstract the longer they talk is so good. The way it reflects their emotions and also makes them seem more defined in contrast.
4. Miguel's intro. When his theme kicked in I was like oh yeah. This guy is a villain for SURE
5. When they first entered the HQ and all the spidermen were making quippy one-liners. Made me smile real big. Also the sheer amount of individual spider designs they made was incredible.
6. The chase scene in the HQ had me leaning forward with my heart pounding. Just. Everything about it. The music was amazing (as usual)
7. The way they make you think gwen is listening in on miles' conversation with his mom was so clever, made the reveal that he was in the wrong dimension so much more impactful
8. WHEN THE PROWLER THEME KICKS IN. THE PANTIES HIT THE FLOOR
And now the main event - thoughts on miguel because he's incredibly well-written and I'm obsessed with him:
Finding out that spot was the "main" villain surprised me because of my impression of him before I saw the movie, but after watching it I still don't feel like he IS the main villain, because really, there's two. Spot is a villain because his actions drive the plot forward - he's the Bad Guy that the Good Guys need to stop. His reasons for hating miles are understandable (if misplaced. It's not like miles hurt him on purpose), but ultimately, the viewers aren't supposed to sympathize with his cause. His actions are clearly Wrong, and the heroes' attempts to stop him are clearly Right. While his actions upset miles and the rest of the spidermen (who wouldn't be upset by someone threatening to kill their loved ones?), they don't present any moral conflict, or provide character growth for the heroes.
That's where miguel comes in. He doesn't give a lot away from his first introduction - he's more stiff and serious than other spidermen, but the way he fights with gwen and jessica shows that he's used to working with a team, and is ultimately willing to let gwen join them. When he sees her argument with her father, he sees a like-minded individual - someone who's willing to do what they think is right, even when it's not easy.
When he meets miles, we've already seen glimpses of his life with his daughter - but it seems like typical Spiderman Tragic Backstory. The longer he talks with miles, the more he loosens up (his quip about how their official name for the spider-verse is also kind of dumb stuck out to me the most). He becomes more complex and relatable, easier to like when he's not acting like batman. It's easier to understand why so many spidermen across multiple universes follow him, and why gwen and peter listened to him and hid the truth from miles.
He truly and completely believes that what he's doing is the right thing, and that alone makes him feel more like the "main" villain than spot. When he tells miles that saving the captain was the wrong choice, because it means that that universe will start to fall apart, it's both shocking and understandable, to a degree. It's a classic use of the trolley problem: allowing one person to die when you can save them seems extreme, but when you let someone die in order to save an entire world, it's the right thing to do... right?
THIS is the main conflict within the story - not what the heroes should do to stop spot, although that's still important - but whether allowing someone to die is the right thing to do (and by extension, if it's what spiderman would do). Because miles is the main character, it's clear to the audience that miguel is wrong, but the other spidermen don't know they're in miles' story. And generally in media, the option to sacrifice one person to save many is shown as the correct option, or the heroic option. Believing that their loved ones HAD to die, and the idea that nothing they did would be able to stop their deaths from happening, makes it easier for all of them to cope. When miles stands up to miguel, it's clear why the rest of the spidermen would try and stop him.
Miguel's belief that certain people have to die in order to maintain balance, the reveal that miles wasn't supposed to be bitten, and the fact that he turned miles' friends against him is what drives miles' character development. Miles' actions in response drive the development of the rest of the cast - from main characters like gwen and peter, to the spiderwoman who allowed miles to escape. Suddenly, they're found questioning whether what they're doing is right.
But miguel unshakably believes in his cause, and is willing to do whatever it takes for the Greater Good. Which, to me, is the hallmark of a compelling villain. He's angry at himself for inadvertently destroying a universe. He grieves the loss of his daughter and his chance at a happy life. And he projects this onto everyone around him. To him, everyone is as likely to make the same mistakes as him, because they weren't calculated decisions. They were simply the actions of a man who just wanted to live a good life with the people he loved. And if he couldn't have that, why would the universe make an exception for someone else? Why would it be kind to miles, who wasn't supposed to be bitten, but was still able to exist in his universe without consequences? It isn't Fair.
The reveal that the other miles became prowler adds an extra layer to miguel and miles' dynamic: miguel took the place of the other spiderman because in his universe, his family was alive. From what we see of prowler miles at the end of the movie, he feels the same. His uncle may be alive, but his father is dead. (Cue the "we're not so different after all" speech.)
To summarize: miguel provides the bulk of the moral conflict to the story, is a relatable and compelling character, and this is why he feels like the "main" villain, despite all of spot's hard work to not be Villain of the Week.
Also, rip to noir and pig john mulaney for getting like two seconds of screen time
#BEFORE CLICKING READMORE: BE WARNED THAT THIS IS SUPER FUCKING LONG#i spent like 45 minutes writing all of this and its all very rambly#idk if i got all my thoughts on miguel as a character across properly. just imagine me with a bunch of sticky notes on a corkboard#connected by yarn. youll get the idea#anna says stuff
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Continuation of Human Relations (Oh My God, They Were Roommates)
This is a 16k story that’s a bit too short for AO3 but a bit too long for Tumblr that acts as a continuation of my Archivist!Sasha and Immortal!Jon fic Human Relations. I recommend that you read that before this. This story takes place between S2 and S3, and is about Sasha and Georgie’s roommate adventures. I’m uncertain if I’ll continue this and post it on AO3, post it on AO3 as it is, or what, but for the time being I’ll at least post it here.
Serious content warnings for discussion of abusive friendships, gaslighting, discussion of 19th century racism, implied transphobia, and discussion of police brutality. Nothing more serious than what we saw in Human Relations, but it does have a much more explicit investigation of Jon and Elias’ relationship. Rest under the cut. Happy Birthday, @magickko.
EDIT: HAHA READMORE DIDN’T WORK, YIKES.
Sasha dreams, every night.
Nightmares, mostly. Statements given and Statements stolen run endlessly through her head in a scrolling loop, crying out for mercy, as its figures cry and scream. Sasha looks at them through a camera, pushing the button and clicking the shutter again and again and again, searching for that perfect shot frozen in time.
A woman, trapped under a thousand pounds of dirt and crumpling metal. Snap. A woman, chewing keycaps, eyes riveted on a flickering screen. Snap. A woman, lost in her fiance’s grave, pleading for someone to find her. Snap.
A man, eating canned peaches, alone. Snap. A man, swinging an axe with a frantic strength born of terror. Snap. A man, and the look in his eyes, betrayed. Snap. A man, gunshot wound leaking blood out of his chest, eyes rolling in the fluorescent lights. Snap.
When Sasha wakes up she is always surprised to find herself in a guest room, always out of place and out of time as she stares up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Maybe the worst part is those two seconds after waking, where she doesn’t know where she is, adrift in time and space. Then she remembers, and she’s faced with the situation all over again.
Namely, the fact that she was couch surfing in the Grim Reaper’s guest bedroom.
Sasha dreams, every night.
Nightmares, mostly. Statements given and Statements stolen run endlessly through her head in a scrolling loop, crying out for mercy, as its figures cry and scream. Sasha looks at them through a camera, pushing the button and clicking the shutter again and again and again, searching for that perfect shot frozen in time.
A woman, trapped under a thousand pounds of dirt and crumpling metal. Snap. A woman, chewing keycaps, eyes riveted on a flickering screen. Snap. A woman, lost in her fiance’s grave, pleading for someone to find her. Snap.
A man, eating canned peaches, alone. Snap. A man, swinging an axe with a frantic strength born of terror. Snap. A man, and the look in his eyes, betrayed. Snap. A man, gunshot wound leaking blood out of his chest, eyes rolling in the fluorescent lights. Snap.
When Sasha wakes up she is always surprised to find herself in a guest room, always out of place and out of time as she stares up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Maybe the worst part is those two seconds after waking, where she doesn’t know where she is, adrift in time and space. Then she remembers, and she’s faced with the situation all over again.
Namely, the fact that she was couch surfing in the Grim Reaper’s guest bedroom.
Georgie Barker wasn’t a mystery, and she’d be the first to tell you.
Of course you’re welcome to stay as long as you need, honey! I always love having Jonah owe me a favor. Don’t worry about the cops and the law, nobody will ever find you here. Seriously, the entire department’s in my pocket. It’s no hassle having you here, it’s a big flat! It’s been years since I’ve had a roommate, this’ll be fun!
The one thing she hadn’t understood was Sasha begging her not to let Jon in to see her. He knows exactly where you are, Georgie pointed out. He knows you’re not actually a murderer, Georgie said. He might be able to help explain some of what’s going on, Georgie hinted. Jon would respect my wishes, but if Jonah really wants him to talk to you, he’ll definitely do it...
“Please,” Sasha had croaked, the uncomfortable morning after she had stumbled into Georgie’s flat. The Admiral wove around her legs, purring up a storm, and Georgie was munching on avocado toast and sipping pomegranate juice. “I just - I just need some space.”
“Why?” Georgie asked obliviously. That was something that Sasha was rapidly learning about Georgie - she didn’t hold back with impolite questions, or her opinion. She seemed to be regarding Sasha’s life as her own personal Youtuber Drama, which Sasha really didn’t know how she felt about. Her life wasn’t a spectacle, but she guessed even the warfare and tragedy of ants were of obscure and strange interest to humanity. “He’s feeling, like, totally bad about framing you for murder. I can tell he super wants to apologize to you about everything.”
Martin’s words echoed through her mind, from what felt like a decade ago: Jon had ruined Martin’s life, but to him it was as simple as a momentary inconvenience. “I don’t want his apology,” Sasha croaked. “I want not to be on the run from the police. I want to go back to my flat. Unless he’s going to make me human again I don’t want any stupid apologies. They’re useless.”
“Hm. Well, you’re free to stay here as long as you need to, of course.” Georgie sipped at her tea. They were sitting around the breakfast table, Sasha desolately shoving eggs into her mouth as Georgie drank her tea that Sasha was reasonably sure was spiked with brandy. Rich people were literally never sober. “It’ll be so much fun, like a sleepover. We can do each other’s nails and talk about boys!”
“My boyfriend thought I was a monster for the past month and now thinks I’m a murderer,” Sasha said flatly.
“Oh, I see.” Georgie tapped her lips thoughtfully. “We have to get you laid, huh?”
“I am literally on the run from the cops.”
“That’s very sexy to some people,” Georgie assured her.
After that, Georgie waved goodbye and swanned out of the house, either going to her studio to work on her podcast or doing some work for her real estate empire or writing a best-selling book or schmoozing with celebrities or attending parties at exclusive nightclubs or working part-time as a bartender just for gossip or devouring souls. Just from Sasha’s one day at Georgie’s flat, she knew that she did all of these things and then some. It was a stunning contrast to Jon’s laziness, or Elias (Jonah’s) single-mindedness.
Maybe you lost the energy to be so productive after your two hundredth year. Sasha didn’t fucking know. Hopefully she would never know. Or maybe Jon just appeared to be lazy, and every moment that he was complaining about being bored he was secretly manipulating world leaders. Maybe Jonah’s dedication to spreadsheets and dress code was a front, and he was secretly pulling the puppet strings of her entire life…
In the empty spaces of Georgie’s spacious flat, it was easy to be paranoid. Sasha lay on her luxurious couch, hands folded across her chest like a corpse, trying not to think of anything, thinking of everything. Thinking of Tim: of his smile, of his scowl, of his cold looks given to someone he had thought was a stranger. Thinking of Martin: his warm smile, his sharp looks.
She struggled to think of other friends, other family members who gave her comfort, but drew up a blank. Her parent’s faces were blurred after ten years of no contact, not so much forgotten as repressed, and her baby siblings were likely unrecognizable to her now. Almost as unrecognizable as she was to them, probably. Tim, her boyfriend who hated her, and Martin, her subordinate who she had almost never had a conversation with that wasn’t about work or Jon...that was it. All the friends she had in the world. She was sleeping in the guest room of a podcast host/Grim Reaper whom she had met once, and that was all she had.
Loneliness was Sasha’s constant companion. In a crowd, in her family, in the world - no matter how many people she had been surrounded by, she had always been alone. She had never had anybody in the world to rely on besides herself, and for the first time in a long time she was achingly aware of it. Nobody who loved her was going to help her. She was alone now.
After an hour of lying on the couch and crying, Sasha desolately watched Netflix cooking shows on Georgie’s gigantic flat-screen TV, trying very hard to think of absolutely nothing at all. She only moved to pet Georgie’s silky long-haired cat whose name she had already forgotten, and even he left quickly once she lost the energy to give him attention.
That was how Georgie found Sasha when she came home: lying on the couch, still dressed in borrowed silk pyjamas, watching idiots on television fuck up cakes. Georgie’s arms were laden with shopping bags, with names of exclusive London boutiques sprawled along the side, her deep black pits of eyes hidden by designer sunglasses. She burst through the door happily, her cat running up to her and winding through her laps as he purred, and easily kicked off her red pumps. She stopped in the doorway of the living room, looking strangely excited.
“Sorry I’m back to late! Utterly bogged up at work, there was a plane crash and I was processing corpses for hours. I had to do some serious retail therapy just to deal with the tedium - darling, have you moved?”
Sasha grunted.
“You look like Mikey Crew threw you off the Shard,” Georgie said sympathetically. “Utterly disastrous. Don’t worry, Aunt Georgie’s here to make you feel better.” She lifted her bag triumphantly. “I bought you new outfits!”
Sasha eyed her warily.
“You get no say in this,” Georgie said kindly. “Chop chop, we’re doing face masks too.”
That’s how, somehow, Sasha found herself playing an unwilling dress-up doll for the Grim Reaper. Georgie had taken Sasha’s casual mention that she had no clothing besides her work pantsuit to heart, and had hit up her favorite boutiques for ‘cute outfits that accentuated her figure and made her eyes pop!’. Or something. Sasha wasn’t much one for fashion.
As it turned out, Georgie Barker had a walk-in closet. Because of course she did.
The looks ranged from Sasha’s usual, as Georgie put it, ‘sexy librarian’ look, to ballgowns, to tennis outfits, to moddish, to vintage, to wintery. It was February, the seasons lingering in British chill, and according to Georgie the perfect solution to this was a mink coat that was probably worth a month’s rent on her flat.
Strangely, all of the outfits fit perfectly - and Sasha knew that her measurements were difficult to find. Georgie took it in stride, clapping enthusiastically each time and suggesting accessories and how to mix and match the outfits.
She would have thought that she was too dead inside to actually enjoy it, but so far as distractions went it actually worked pretty well. Georgie chatted about everything but their actual problems, and Sasha had absolutely no input or choice in what Georgie decided to dress her in, and by the time they had transitioned from nail painting to watching Legally Blonde and eating ice cream from the carton Sasha was actually feeling a little relaxed.
“The musical’s better,” Georgie informed Sasha imperiously as Sasha dug around in her carton for chunks of cookie dough. Georgie was clutching a glass of wine in one hand, while Sasha was contenting herself with ice cream. Best not to drink when she was this sad. “Reese is such a doll, though. Allergic to shellfish, poor dear, but I told her not to let Leo pick the restaurant.”
“What I’m wondering,” Sasha said carefully, teeth cracking into the frozen chunk of cookie dough, “is that half the time when I see you, you’re dressed like a 2008 goth in jeans and t-shirts.”
“Oh, honey,” Georgie said pityingly, patting her hand. “I used to spend two hours getting dressed each morning. I’m never doing that to myself again. You, however, clearly have never had nice clothing in your life. It’s written all over your face. People’ll walk all over you if you always look like you’re straight from a charity shop. We gotta buy you some self-confidence.”
“Thanks. I think.” On screen, Elle flourished and achieved her dreams. Sasha tried not to feel jealous. “It’s not really as if I had a lot of girly sleepovers as a kid…”
“Word,” Georgie said sympathetically. She patted Sasha’s hand again. “Jon was the same way, you know. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to renovate that boy’s wardrobe. He has no idea how to dress to impress.”
“Do we have to talk about Jon right now,” Sasha groused. “He’s the last person I want to think about.”
“He means well,” Georgie soothed, as Elle Woods proudly proclaimed on television how she, yes, she, was a strong independent woman - who didn’t need a man! “It’s not his fault he’s stupid. He’s just so helpless on his own, you know, he needs girls like you and me to make sure he’s not wasting a decade fixating on obscure Bolivian religious practices or whatever.”
“Helpless? He’s a two hundred year old man.” Sasha spitefully grabbed the bottle of wine from the coffee table, pouring it into a spare glass and drinking it quickly. It probably cost thousands of pounds, but it just tasted like wine to her. “It’s not my job to make sure his little feelings aren’t hurt.”
“Of course not,” Georgie said, but Sasha had the sense she was being calmed instead of listened to. “But Jon’s...you know.”
“I don’t, actually.”
Georgie made an interpretive hand gesture. Sasha stared at her blankly.
“...I still don’t.”
Georgie sighed. “He’s delicate. Jonah babies him, honestly.” She patted Sasha’s hand for the third time, making her skin crawl. “Don’t worry, I won’t let him see you until you’re ready to forgive him. Every woman has the right to some time to herself after a guy fucks her over. You two’ll patch things up, right as rain.”
There was nothing Sasha wanted to say to that, nothing she wanted to think about, and she kept drinking her wine and watching the movie, out of lack of any other options.
That night, she drunkenly tipped into bed, so blasted that she slid immediately into sleep and did not dream. It was the first relief she’d had in what felt like a very long time.
It wasn’t Sasha’s job to fix Jonathan Sims.
It really, really wasn’t. It wasn’t her job to make him feel better, or forgive him, or save him from himself. If Martin wanted to waste his time and energy doing that, then god fucking speed, but Sasha had other priorities. She had been profoundly fucked over and had her trust abused by three different men lately, and she wasn’t going to be the one to patch things up.
Two of them she had no desire to patch things up with at all. Two of them she’d be perfectly happy if she never saw again. The last one...Sasha didn’t know what she felt. But that was nothing new.
That being said, as Sasha chewed her way through hangover medication and an acai bowl the next morning, Georgie’s inane chattering about tricking some celebrity or another into taking her to Hungary for authentic Hungarian food didn’t register nearly as loudly in Sasha’s mind as her words about Jonah and Jon.
Jonah babies Jon. That was what she had said. It...it was accurate, right? It had to be. Georgie had known Jonah and Jon for a hundred years, and Sasha had barely heard one authentic conversation between them. She’d known them for a year, and known Jonah’s true nature for maybe a few days. There was no way Sasha understood their relationship better than Georgie did. It just didn’t make sense.
Finally, she put her spoon down, cutting Georgie off in the middle of her ramble about the majesty of Hungarian food made by genuine Hungarian grandma hands. “What did you mean, ‘Jonah babies Jon’?”
Georgie blinked at her, clearly barely remembering the conversation, before recognition dawned. Then she shrugged, sipping her protein smoothie. Which may or may not be spiked. It seemed as if her solution to hangovers was to just not stop being drunk. “Oh, you know how those two are. Jon swans around the world doing whatever he wants, Jonah holds the fort down at home. That’s why Jon’s fun, you know.” She sighed nostalgically. “Romantic cruises to the Bahamas for two months, we tear up the Bahaman government and start a minor military coup, then we take a tour of the beaches. You haven’t lived until you’ve dug your toes into Bahaman sand.”
That was something Georgie said frequently: you haven’t lived until you’ve done X, Y, or Z. It seemed as if Georgie was very intent on living, and very intent on defining it in discretionary ways. To Sasha, living was simply the act of not being dead, but Georgie was almost fanatical about experiencing life.
“If he’s so much fun, then why did you break up?” Sasha asked, before she realized what she said. “I mean, it’s really none of my business, feel free not to answer that -”
But Georgie just laughed lightly. “That’s just how Jon and I work. We spend a few weeks together in bliss, and then we go our separate ways for six months or a year or whatever. Work’s always taking us different places, and seeing each other all day would make us hate each other. Some people work best when they’re not in each other’s pocket.” She took a long drag of the smoothie before speaking again. “Besides, he’ll always be second in my life to having fun. And I’ll always be second in his life to Jonah. It’s just how we work. It works for us!”
It seemed to. Last Sasha checked, Georgie and Jon seemed to be very amicable despite being exes. Lackadaisical, on-and-off, passionate yet going years without seeing each other - it was a relationship uniquely in the providence of workaholic immortals.
It wasn’t until Georgie had already waved goodbye, making Sasha promise not to spend all day on the couch again, that she realized that Georgie hadn’t quite answered her question.
An image flashed through Sasha’s mind - Jon’s face, as he dared to disagree with Jonah, and was utterly ground into the dust for it.
There was something more to this. Something that wasn’t obvious on the surface, something that was so well hidden maybe nobody even knew it was going on. Or maybe it was deeper than that, more insidious: maybe whatever was going on was so well-known and pervasive that it simply wasn’t spoken about. Not polite, not the kind of thing you say about your friends, not normal. Not in polite company. Not vocalized. Utterly taken for granted.
Sasha walked into the guest room, pulling out her phone from her bag and staring at its blank screen. Holding her breath, she hesitantly turned it on, staring at it blankly as it slowly booted up.
She shouldn’t be turning it on. She was perfectly aware of how, given a warrant, the police could track cell phone location, texts sent and received, everything. She could do it herself. The crushing weight of surveillance, the fear of being found and seen and rooted out, settled over her shoulders like an old, familiar friend. A comforting blanket to wrap herself up in at night: where, even if the fear was terrible and awful, at least it was familiar.
You could get used to anything, Sasha thought. Any behavior, any fears, any horrors or tragedies - anything could become normal, given enough time. A year. A hundred years. After two hundred years, maybe you wouldn’t even recognize it as happening at all.
Like a flood, the text messages poured in. Notifications chimed in a cacophony, as text after text after text popped up on her phone. Missed calls. Emails popped up, notifications from the doorbell camera, reminders from her fucking Duolingo...
Dizzily, Sasha scrolled through the texts. Lots from Tim, as expected, and a few from Martin, as expected. Some texts from her mother, which - which wasn’t expected. At all. Sasha hadn’t even known that she knew her number.
Sasha’s brain stuttered over the Spanish, having been years since she spoke it. Her brain also stuttered over the gratuitous misgendering, which was also blissfully novel yet just as uncomfortable and upsetting as ever. Translated, it was a slightly accusatory question about why the police had been calling them about her whereabouts. What had she done? Had she gotten in trouble?
No matter what you did, the text read, God will forgive you. Just call them back.
Sasha stared at the texts, brain buzzing. She felt sick. Forgive her? They’d forgive her? They thought she’d done it? They thought she was capable of -
Horribly, awfully, tears pricked at her eyes. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe you never really grew accustomed to pain, even if it was felt a thousand times. Maybe some pain you never acclimated to, never scarred over or calloused. Maybe sometimes the more you were hurt, the worse it hurt. The pain her parents gave her - how they cut off contact, the misgendering, the coldness - hurt just as badly at thirty six as it had at twenty six, at twenty, at fifteen, at nine. It had always hurt.
So stupid. Sasha deleted the text messages. She didn’t have time for this. She wasn’t a child. She was thirty six goddamn years old, that was way too old to still care about your parents. To still need them.
She clicked on Martin’s texts next. The first one had a timestamp before the murder, the rest afterwards.
Martin: where are you?? I found Tim (he tried to kill me w/an axe but we’re ok now) and were trying to get out of here. I explained everything to him. We’ll meet you in the archives.
Martin: Police are looking for you. I know you didn’t do it so call me back. Tim’s worried. Jon doesn’t seem that worried...
Martin: Shouldn’t text you anymore. Please be safe & careful.
Jesus. Jesus, she had been terrible to Martin. She was a rotten friend. Sasha hiccuped, rubbing at her eyes. She needed to get him a gift basket. Five. He was a freak, but he was her freak. Maybe.
Finally, almost holding her breath, she pressed on Tim’s messages. There were a lot of them - more than was safe, Sasha distantly registered. The first five were from the same time Martin had sent the second text. She guessed it was right after the police finished talking to them. He had called her slightly before - likely when they found the body - but there were also two texts from two am last night.
Tim: pick up your phone
Tim: pick up your phone are you okay im so sorry
Tim: baby please please pick up
Tim: we need to talk & im sorry & i hope ur safe
Tim: dont text me back
Then two texts from two am:
Tim: to warn you im drunk but im sorry (AND DRUNK) but in my defense im a shitty boyfriend. If you want to break up its fine but id like to make it work but i get if you cant because cops i guess. Bitch tonner wont stop bothering me make her stoppp
Tim: I love you and I wish that was enough.
Sasha rubbed at her eyes, exhausted. She wished it was enough too. She knew it wasn’t. Strongly, like burning, Sasha wished so desperately that she had never met Jonathan Sims. Maybe, in that world, things were okay. She and Tim were happy.
She scrolled through the rest of the notifications. Strangely, she even had two texts from Melanie.
Melanie: Hey, I heard what’s going on. I know you couldn’t have done it. A LOT of cops are bothering me - Hussein and Tonner have called like five times. I think you know them? For legal purposes I’ll say that you should turn yourself in or whatever.
Melanie: oh and Martin said to tell you that Mr. Bouchard’s been asking me a lot of questions about what im doing and my job situation - dunno y tho
That….probably wasn’t good.
No texts from Jon. She wouldn’t know what to do if he had. She doubted he knew her number, or how to work a phone. The last thing she could deal with emotionally right now was an apology. She didn’t know what to do about Tonner or Hussein or Melanie. Those were all problems she couldn’t fix right now.
Really, there was only one problem she could fix right now. She walked over to the door to the balcony, carefully stepping out onto the 20th story balcony. She carefully ejected her SIM card, snapped it in half, looked underneath her to make sure there were no passerby in the exclusive London neighborhood, and forced her fingers to release from the phone so she could watch it fall twenty stories onto the concrete.
She imagined a smash, a crack, but it didn’t make any sound at all. Sasha forced herself to step back inside, leaving the past behind her.
There was a lot Sasha had to force herself to do that day. Georgie owned a few laptops, but she hadn’t given Sasha permission to use any of them yet, and she didn’t want to intrude. Despite Sasha’s own...reservations about her personality, she really was being incredibly kind by letting her stay and trying to cheer her up. She did, however, have a great deal of antique books, and Sasha eagerly cracked open the first edition copies of fiction novels from the 19th century. Was that a first edition Pride & Prejudice? Oh, score!
She wasn’t hungry, but she forced herself to eat. Food tasted like ash in her mouth, but that always happened whenever she was upset. She forced herself to take a shower, impossibly intimidated by Georgie’s small army of hair care and hygiene products, and even cautiously let herself take a bubble bath with a bath bomb. It was...weirdly luxurious, but maybe not surprisingly. Georgie’s bathroom was like the Queen’s, and you could practically swim in the bathtub. It was intimidating and weird and uncomfortable, but Sasha forced herself to appreciate it. How many people got to take a shower in a stall with five different showerheads?
Halfway through the day the housekeeper came in, terrifying Sasha deeply, and she retreated to her guest bedroom to let the woman work. She inspected her newly painted toenails glumly, halfway through Pride & Prejudice, forcing herself not to think about how Jon could have been a background character in the novel. Wasn’t he in his twenties in this time period? Wasn’t that when he and Jonah Magnus had -
Sasha drank more wine, and put on another cooking program. She hadn’t watched telly all day, so technically she could tell Georgie that. Besides, it wasn’t as if there was anything productive to do. No work, which sucked when she was a workaholic. No computer to waste time on. No friends she could talk to without the police investigating her. She couldn’t go outside, again due to the aforementioned cop situation. Her life was her work, and her bosses had just framed her for murder.
Somewhat buzzed, Sasha stole several pieces of intricate stationary and wrote down everything Leitner had told her before he was murdered. It wasn’t nearly as much as she wanted, yet far more than she knew what to do with. Halfway through her notes deteriorated into a bizarre sort of mind map, lists of cases connected together and obscure monsters and figures pointing to each other. Salasea and his endless array of dangerous trinkets, mysterious yet lonely ship captains, Michael and his gently twisting deceit, Gerry Keay and his bizarre heroism, Leitner and his ruinous imprints, Agnes and her desolate fate, and the oft-mentioned yet barely understood man, whose name was whispered by shadowy figures entrenched in the supernatural world, Jonathan Sims…
Did he know? How often his shadow stained her statements? Did he care? Did he know how thoroughly he had ruined her life?
She scoured her memory for hints, writing down everything she could remember of his cameos in random statements. Of Leitner’s testimony, the immortal figure who so easily attained what Leitner and Mary Keay had spent their entire lives grasping for. Was there a hint to his true nature, his true allegiance?
In the corners of the cute stationary, Sasha doodled a small eye. She stared at it, and couldn’t help but fight the notion that it was staring back.
She scratched it out, feeling paranoid, not feeling paranoid enough.
A few hours later, Georgie came home, and Sasha fought the pathetically hopeful trepidation. When she heard the front door rattle she left her room, intending on welcoming Georgie back and proving that she hadn’t been watching telly all day, but she stopped short in the hallway when she heard the loud sound of voices. Specifically, the loud sound of Georgie’s still slightly unfamiliar voice, and the quieter tones of a voice that was far too familiar to her.
“ - if you’ll just let me talk to her, she’ll understand.”
“And she said that she’s not seeing you,” Georgie said firmly. Sasha held her breath, pressing herself up against the hallway wall. Next to her was a doorway that led to the living room, that led to a foyer. If she craned her head she could just barely see Georgie standing in the foyer, arguing with a figure holding a leather briefcase that made Sasha’s heart leap into her throat. “You really did screw her over, you know.”
“I know,” Jonathan Sims whined. “I want to apologize. It’s not my fault. Jonah got pushy again, you know how he is.”
“Ugh, tell me about it.” Georgie scoffed. “Did something happen between you two? Sasha was asking all sorts of weird questions.”
“Just Jonah being his usual insufferable self,” Jon said, so carelessly and casually that if Sasha hadn’t known better she would have believed him. “It probably alarmed her, seeing how that man really is. I’m sure she’s feeling very overwhelmed right now.”
“She really is, the poor dear,” Georgie said sympathetically. Sasha’s hands clenched into fists. “But you aren’t getting past this foyer, honey. I’m sure she’ll want to be friends again once Jonah gets the cops off her case.”
“Martin’s giving me a hard time,” Jon sulked. “Says this is all my fault that the dreadful little wolf girl is sniffing around. It’s not my fault. If my Archivist just let me explain, she’d see that it’s not my fault.”
“That Blackwood boy’s always giving you a hard time,” Georgie sniffed. “I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with him. He’s overly moralistic and doesn’t know how to have fun. You spend too much time with him.”
“Don’t tell me you’re jealous, Georgina Barker,” Jon teased. He stepped forward a little closer, and although Sasah couldn’t see his face she had the feeling he was smiling. “It’s a bad look on you.”
“Idiot,” Georgie said fondly, “everything’s a good look on me.” She stretched up on her tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek. “Ditch him and come party with me, darling, I’ll show you a wonderful time. Maybe after all of this nonsense blows over.”
“Judging from what I can make out of Jonah’s monologuing, we ought to get our parties in while we still can,” Jon said glumly. He opened his briefcase, passing a manila folder to Georgie. “Give her these. She’ll be getting hungry. Tell her that the top one is from work, and the second is from me.” He hesitated for a second. “You really think she’ll forgive me?”
“If it’s not your fault, then why do you need to be forgiven?”
Jon was silent for a long minute. Finally, he said, “I’ll talk to you later, Georgie. Love you.”
“Love you too,” Georgie said easily, casually, as if she had said it a thousand times, a million times. “Take care of yourself.”
She stood in the foyer after he left, arms folded, one delicately manicured finger tapping against her arm. She eventually turned around, poking her head into the living room.
“You can come out, darling, I don’t bite.”
Sasha guiltily stepped into the living room, crossing her arms defensively. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
But Georgie just rolled her eyes. “Please. My best friends are Jonathan Sims and Jonah Magnus.” She looked thoughtful for a second. “Well. My oldest friends. Anyway, if you’re in the same house as one of those Beholding types you aren’t getting a private conversation. I’m super used to it.” She held out the manila folder, and Sasha cautiously stepped forward and took it from her.
“Beholding types?”
“Oh, you know, you and your lot,” Georgie said dismissively. “Can’t do anything about that annoying little megalomania the Eye gives you. Have fun with lunch, I have to freshen up. It takes ages to get the scent of Jon’s musty old books off me.”
But Sasha was already tuning her out, because in the manilla envelope there were two Statements. They thrummed under her fingers, charged with energy and power and fear, and Sasha could feel herself gripping them. The first one was a classic Magnus Institute Statement, just like she would have read at work, but the second was what looked like a photocopy of a piece of paper. Judging from the ornate script, it was old, and when Sasha’s eyes wandered to the date her eyes widened. July 21st, 1823.
She looked up, already frantically searching for a tape recorder, and immediately saw one sitting on the coffee table. She didn’t think twice about it, already sitting on the plush white couch and setting the papers out. Which one first - oh man, they were both so exciting - her fingers drifted to the one Jon gave her, and she picked it up. That one, then.
Sasha James pressed play on the tape deck, feeling a familiar thrill go through her at the gentle whirring. She cleared her throat.
“Statement of Sasha James, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, regarding a letter sent by Barnabas Bennet to Jonah Magnus. Statement begins.”
And, as Sasha’s blood ran cold, she began to read.
My dearest Jonah,
I hope you are well. It was an absolute pleasure to vacation at your estate this summer. I’ve never had such interesting conversations with a like-minded individual, and since returning to my own estate I have been sorely missing your company. You have introduced a great deal of brightness and acute interest to my life, and without you the luminescence of Heaven does not thrill me. How I wish you were around to thrill me again!
Do not concern yourself - I have maintained my studies. The library you loaned me is of great interest, and I have been spending many a quiet night bent over one of your occult tomes. I have never felt so enlightened. A world is opening up before us, Jonah, one of richness and wonder, and for the first time in many years I find myself excited to rise each morning. I thank our Heavenly Father each day that I was so fortunate as to cross your path. You must remind me to discuss with you the report by Smirke in detail - fascinating! Theoretical, of course, all theoretical - but the concept of classifying the devils that so bewitch man into fourteen unique taxonomies fascinates me. We must discuss it.
Jonah, I trust that this letter reaches you in private, and that you shall not betray my confidence by discussing it with anyone. I have a private grievance I wish to address with you. It is regarding your boy, the one kept so close in your confidence and trust.
I would never hasten to question any of your decisions, for I trust they are made with great deliberation and forethought. But I must question why you keep that boy so close to you. His air is strange and fey. While summering at your estate, I would frequently see him awake at late hours, pouring over some tome or report or another (I would swear that he reads better than I!). I know he’s somewhat of a project of yours, bringing him into Christianity and your charity, which will surely be rewarded etc etc, but I cannot shake my strange trepidation.
If I were to be quite honest, my fear of him.
He always asks questions. Disturbing and distressing questions. And when I deign to answer them, he acts as if he truly understands. Moreover, that he understands more than me - that he possesses some secret knowledge that only he has obtained. I catch him listening at doorways and around corners frequently, and no matter how many times I box him about the ears for it he will not cease. You encourage it, allowing this behavior. Even after I reported to you the pagan rituals which I am confident he is performing, you brush me off. You two are strangely close. I’m simply concerned for you, Jonah. Please heed my advice: that boy is trouble. I fear that he will bring you into trouble also. Do not allow this paganism to steer you away from the light of our heavenly Father. I understand that the occult is of great interest to all of us, discovering the secrets of the world and its many mysteries, but it is only an academic interest. I would never go so far as to partake of these devilish rituals myself, and you ought to dissuade yourself of such a notion also. Do not allow that John to lead you astray.
I wish you most well. I am encountering some trouble of my own - debts and such - but do not concern yourself with them. The situation is well-handled. I hope to write to you again soon.
Yours, faithfully,
Barnabas
...supplemental.
Jon. Why did you show me this?
Is this your definition of vulnerability? Of honesty? What, are you trying to justify your decisions to me? I get it, it’s disgusting. These people were disgusting to you. I can’t know how you feel, but I think I - my parents -
What I mean is, I can’t understand. I can’t imagine how hard this must have been. I understand how Jonah was the only one to… ‘get’ you or whatever. How he was the only person to see how brilliant you are, how much you have to give.
But, Jon - I don’t think Jonah thought any better of you than Barnabas did. He was just better at hiding it. I don’t know, I didn’t know him and I still don’t know him - but you get that the way he talked to you back then wasn’t right, right? You get that it was fucked up, right?
I don’t know. I don’t think you get that. I don’t think anybody does. Georgie’s too close to it, too used to you and Jonah’s ‘quirks’ or whatever. I...don’t know anything Martin thinks, but I feel as if you’d be pretty invested in keeping this from him. But I’m close enough to you to see it, and I’m far enough away from this that I understand. Something’s really fucked up about this situation. I’m worried I’m the only person who sees it. I hate being that person, the person who Sees it all, who knows it all, but is powerless to do anything about it. You understand, right? You understand how much this is hurting me?
I’m not sure you do. If you’re showing me this, trying to show me how hard you had it, how misunderstood you were, just so I forgive you...I don’t. And it’s manipulative, so cut it out. I’m not sure if you’re consciously doing that, I really don’t think you’re emotionally intelligent enough.
But you aren’t dumb, Jon. I know it’s a defence mechanism or whatever to pretend that you are, to act childish, but you aren’t.
Ugh, listen to me. I sound like Martin. Disgusting. I don’t give a shit about this, I’m not your therapist. But you keep on making your problems my problems, and I’m not tolerating that. We’ll talk when I’m not fucking wanted for murder for something you were complicit in.
Get your act together. I don’t forgive you. Statement fucking ends.
As if Sasha’s life wasn’t hard enough, Georgie wanted to go dancing.
“I am literally wanted by the police.”
“The nightclub’s so dark, nobody’ll even see your face,” Georgie promised.
“Shouldn’t I be spending my time working on my conspiracy theory board?”
“Honey, no offence, that thing is so tacky.”
“I hate clubbing.”
“You’ll like the way I do it!”
“I really don’t want to -”
“Tough nuts.”
So, of course, that’s how Sasha ended up shoved into a tight dress, heels, and makeup, pushed into a taxi, and quickly deposited in front of a warehouse looking building. There was a long line out the door, of women with straightened hair dressed somehow identically, yet way worse, than Sasha, all looking very cold. Georgie looped her arm through Sasha’s, white teeth flashing as she grinned widely, and escorted them both straight through the doors and past security.
She, it seemed, was a known quantity. Sasha, who had spent the last year working in a mill to feed evil psychic vampires and the ten years before that locked in academia, which was basically the same thing, was not a known quantity to any nightclub. She had not been clubbing since uni, which was approximately five lifetimes ago.
“I’m still not sure this is a good idea,” Sasha said into Georgie’s ear as they transitioned from the furiously cold February air into the swelteringly hot club. It was dim and smoky, the noise overwhelmingly grating at her ears. After so long in a quiet office, in a silent flat, she could barely handle it.
Georgie said something to her.
“What?” Sasha yelled. “Georgie, I don’t want to be here!”
Georgie frowned at her, and unlinked their arms so she could reach up on her tiptoes and clasp Sasha on the shoulders. “You have been accused of murder! You just split with your boyfriend because of clown trauma! You haven’t had fun in years! You deserve this, queen!”
You know...maybe she did.
Georgie pressed a drink into her hands, mysteriously procured from somewhere, and without thinking too hard about it Sasha downed it in one gulp. Georgie whooped, clapping her on the back, and directed her towards the bar. She flashed her platinum credit card at the bartender, and suddenly Sasha was MVP of the night.
You know, Sasha thought dizzily as she was given a toxic blue drink and pushed onto the dance floor, maybe she did deserve this. Didn’t she deserve to have fun? After the way things ended with Tim, couldn’t she just act like a normal girl and go clubbing with her friends to dance away the pain? She was almost forty, way too old for this, but maybe she could forget for a little bit. She had never had the opportunity as a teenager, not even as a young adult. Couldn’t she do this, before she died?
Maybe women closer to forty than thirty dealt with this with - with book clubs, with sisterhood, whatever. Maybe women closer to forty than thirty were married, had kids of their own. But Sasha was just Sasha, stuck in a literal dead-end job, going nowhere good, and this was all she would ever have.
Maybe Georgie was right. Why not live, before she died? Everybody on earth died - everybody, that is, except for a small group of people who were willing to sell their soul for the privilege. At least maybe this way she could have whatever joy she could fit into her life before all opportunity was lost, and she was lost.
A man sidled up to her, asking for a dance, and she evaded him. But then there was another one, and another one, and Sasha found herself fleeing back to the bar and ordering another drink. Too soon. Way too soon. She found herself digging in her borrowed purse, searching for her phone, wanting to call Tim or talk to him or ask him if they really were broken up so she could have rebound sex with random dudes in bars, but the purse was empty of both a phone and a wallet. That’s right - she had destroyed it. Because the cops were after her.
Next to her, out of the corner of her eye, a man sat down at a barstool. He said something to the bartender and leaned towards her, mouth spilling something obscured by the crush and heat and sound of the club. He seemed to be asking if he could buy her a drink. Sasha shook her head dizzily, confused and lost. Then he leaned in closer, and Sasha could smell the alcohol on his breath.
“Are you sure? I’d like to dance with you!”
Sasha shook her head no again, frantically.
“Aw, come on -”
Then, as if by magic, Georgie was at her elbow. Unintimidating, not more than one hundred and seventy centimeters, with teased hair and sharp black lipstick and eyeliner, she raised an eyebrow at the guy. But there must have been something in her eyes, or a lack of something, because the guy rapidly slipped off the barstool and melted into the crowd, leaving the drink the bartender slid onto the counter behind.
As if she had planned it, Georgie easily stole the drink and knocked it back. She tugged Sasha down, yelling into her ear. “Come with me, darling, let’s check out where the real party is.”
Without taking no for an answer, Georgie grabbed Sasha’s hand and tugged her through the outskirts of the crowd, ducking and weaving between small clusters of people and women dancing the night away. Sasha’s vision swam, details and faces lost in the endless ripple of flashing lights and sound, until all she felt was Georgie’s cool hand in hers, and it wasn’t until they emerged from the choppy sea of people into a small hallway off the main room that she felt like she could breathe. Sasha’s head swam with movement and smoke, and she was barely cognizant that they were in a hallway for a bathroom or something.
But Georgie walked confidently past the bathrooms, into what appeared to be a storage closet. She confidently opened it, halting at the door frame to glance backwards at Sasha. A smile quirked at her bow lips.
“You coming?”
Sasha, slightly intoxicated though she was, couldn’t fight the skepticism. “This is where the real party is? A supply closet?”
“Oh, my dear Archivist,��� Georgie said, smirking slightly. “The world is full of far more delights than you could understand. Follow me, and stay close.”
Then Georgie stepped forward, disappearing into the closet, and as little as Sasha wanted to step inside more dubiously supernatural hallways she wanted to be left alone in this club even less, and she ducked after Georgie into the unknown.
The unknown, as it turned out, was another club.
Or, more accurately, a pub. It was a nice pub too, all smoky yellow lights and burnished wood booths. The booths were upholstered in soft and cushy looking brown leather, and the sound where nowhere above a quiet murmur. It didn’t seem to be abandoned, the shadows at some booths deeper than others, but for the life of her Sasha couldn’t puzzle out the faces or figures of anybody at these shadowy corners. There was a single bartender, wiping a grimy glass over and over. He nodded at Georgie when he walked in, and Sasha was forced to wonder how many dubiously physical supernatural bars and hang-outs existed in random back rooms of mundane stores. Were these things just everywhere? Or were there only a few, and so long as you had the right key any door could be an entrance? It was just Sasha’s intuition, but she felt as if it was the latter.
What would, could Georgie open up for her? What power, what majesty? What world of power and control could Jon give her, that Jon was trying to hard to give her that she kept refusing? Nobody was telling her the cost. Nobody was letting her make a decision. She was being swept up in the wake of giants, and Sasha was just trying to keep her head above water.
Georgie was still walking confidently down the aisles, and Sasha stumbled trying to keep up. Finally, she came to a stop in a back corner, utterly secluded with a booth that stretched the entire corner, large enough for seven or more people. Georgie turned to Sasha, smiling broadly, and Sasha tried not to feel intimidated.
“Honey, these are my friends. Girls, this is my new roommate, Sasha James!”
With a flourish, she made a little tah-dah motion, and the smoky yellow lamp above the table flickered on.
The table was crowded with women, or women appearing people. Absolutely none of them were familiar. No - in the corner, there was one person who was familiar. Michael, blonde hair hurting her eyes in curly ringlets, hands in his coat pockets. He smiled crookedly at her, jarring her adrift.
“Uh,” Sasha said, confused. Who were these people? “Hello?”
A short East Asian woman in a white tank top and black jeans scowled from where she was slouching in her seat. “One of those Beholding patsies? Please, Georgie, they’re so insufferable.”
“I like this one,” Georgie said cheerfully. She slid into an empty seat, and Sasha cautiously sat next to her. “Play nice, everyone.”
“You’re such a grouch, Jude,” a woman said, leaning forward and looking interestedly at Sasha. Her eyes were dark and big, her head cocked, giving her an almost insectoid air. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person finally, Archivist. I’ve heard so much about you. You’re really making waves in our little community.”
“Patsy Archivist,” a tall and burly white woman with cascading brown hair said shortly, taking long gulps of a pint. “What’s impressive about that?”
“I’m impressed with anyone who puts up with Sims and Magnus long enough,” the insectish woman said. “No offence, Georgie.”
“Oh, they’re insufferable,” Georgie said cheerfully. “Have you heard how those two like to socialize? They go to galas. With those awful little Fairchilds and Lukases and whatever. It’s just tragic.”
“Word,” the insect woman said, raising her glass. The rim seemed to be coated in cobwebs, making Sasha feel vaguely ill. “Much rather have a pint at a nice little pub with friends. But we haven’t introduced ourselves, have we? My name’s Annabelle Cane. I’m sure you’ve heard of me in all those little stories you like.”
Anabelle Cane. Sasha swallowed. “Yeah, I’ve heard.”
“A proxy Archivist she may be,” Michael said serenely, “but perhaps our most successful yet. She’s already coming along so much further than Gertrude ever did.” He winked bizarrely at Sasha. “Michael, but you already know that. They and them, if you please.”
Oh. Sasha blinked at them. “Thanks for...saving my life back there. And Tim’s and Martin’s.”
“My pleasure,” Michael said affably. “You’re the most fun I’ve had in awhile. Always nice to have the Eye owe me a favor.”
“They’re just mad they didn’t get to kill Gertrude,” the brunette said evenly. “Julia Montauk. You should know me too, I think. Is it true you killed someone?”
“I definitely didn’t,” Sasha said heatedly. “It was a set-up.”
“Relax, we’re all killers here,” the woman in a tank top said. She scowled at Sasha. “Jude Perry. What the fuck do those old money ponces think they’re doing, installing another patsy Archivist this late in the game? I would have thought that they learned their lesson after that bitch Gertrude.”
“Archivists are quite slow learners,” a woman piped up. She sat in the corner, strangely oddly. Her skin was shiny and strange in the dim light, almost plasticish, and her dark eyes hadn’t moved from Sasha’s face since she walked in. “Nikola. A pleasure, Archivist.”
“Are you guys all…” Sasha trailed off uncomfortably. “You know?”
“Serial killers?” Julia Mauntauk asked flatly.
“Inhuman monstrosities of plastic and flesh?” Nikola inquired.
“Daughters of fear entities that control our every action?” Annabelle said.
“Embodiments of unknown concepts made sentient, forced into a shape that cannot suit them, locked in flesh and fractal prisons, always screaming in endless turmoil, unable to understand the horrors of the concepts of ourselves, always searching for the sweet release of death that can never quite be obtained, because that which does not live can never die?” Michael said serenely.
“Assholes?” Jude Perry said flatly.
“The sexiest Avatars around?” Georgie asked.
How did Sasha’s life devolve to this point.
“...yeah,” Sasha said. “Hey, where can I get more drinks?”
Unsurprisingly enough, the drinks came very fast. Service was excellent when you hung out with eldritch women, Sasha supposed.
The conversion flew thick and fast after that. In Sasha’s experience, joining a new group of established friends meant being ignored for favor of pre-existing dynamics. It was always uncomfortable, and no small part of why she just didn’t join new groups. Tim had never had that problem - he had a loud and persistent personality, the kind that made you pay attention to him. He dominated any room he entered, by force if necessary. It always seemed exhausting to Sasha, but Tim didn’t really seem to have anymore real friends than she did lately. His personality was like an ocean, overwhelming and everywhere, but when his mood turned sour it was just as intense. Gulfs of pleasure, intense pain - it seemed exhausting, to feel so deeply. God knows Sasha didn’t.
But today, in this group, she seemed to be novel. Maybe new fear avatars were a rare enough thing, or at least ones with Georgie’s seal of approval. They aimed a barrage of questions at her, and Sasha did her best to keep up with each one.
How did Sasha know Georgie? Mostly through a mutual enemy. Oh, fuckin’ Sims, right - you guys friends? No, I hate him. You guys fucking? Ew. Right, right, Sims is a giant prude - actually I heard that he doesn’t really - no, Jon decided a while back he doesn’t do that, and we all respect his decision - ew, though, nobody wants to imagine that. So why are you two friends? We’re roommates, mostly, I’m kinda on the run from the cops. Who’d you kill? Nobody. Who’d that old fucker Bouchard kill? Jurgen Leitner, mostly.
“Cheers to that!” Julia said abruptly, raising her glass. “Hate that fucker.”
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” Annabelle said, downing her own drink and what seemed like an improbable quantity of spiders. She leaned over the table to where Sasha had hastily been stuffed in, beetle-black eyes gleaming. “But really. What are you doing here?”
“As I said,” Sasha said uncomfortably, “I got framed for murder -”
But Annabelle just waved her hand. “No, no, we know that. I’m asking what are you doing here? With people like us, in a place like us? You’re just a sexy librarian. Your highest goal in life was owning your own cottage house one day. How’d you get wrapped up in the tangled web of our world?”
Sasha’s mouth ran dry, her head spinning in a way that didn’t really seem to have anything to do with the alcohol. How had she ended up like this? Who was to blame?”
“Jonathan Sims,” Sasha said dizzily. “He -”
“Didn’t know you Beholding types were in the process of lying to yourselves,” Annabelle said, casually yet brutally. “No, really.”
Sasha opened her mouth, then closed it. Finally, she said, “I guess I just asked all the wrong questions.”
It was a pretty way of dressing up the real answer: that Sasha didn’t know.
Maybe her thoughts were obvious, because Georgie cooed sympathetically and slung an arm around her shoulders. “Cheer up, honey, it’s not so bad. Not everything happens for a reason. Sometimes it’s just your own rotten luck.”
“Speak for yourself,” Jude called, lifting her glass. “I love my fucking life. It’s hookers, coke, and blow from here to Scotland. The life of a woman with power’s a thousand times better than the life of a woman without, James.”
“What is with you people and hedonism,” Sasha muttered.
“Why not?” Nikola asked, tilting her head strangely. “Life’s so short when it’s this long. It’s just bread and circuses, Archivist. We all need...entertainment.”
“Humans are always trying to make sense of it all,” Michael said arily. They were digging their fingers into the table, scoring long grooves in it. “When you know there’s no meaning, no purpose, then everything else just...falls away.”
Sasha didn’t know if she believed that, but she bit her tongue. Instead, she said, “What about those Avatars like Magnus or Raynor? They seem really...driven.”
Georgie giggled, light and airy, and leaned in. “That’s because they don’t know.”
She shouldn’t even ask. She shouldn’t - “Know what?”
Georgie smiled, sharp and wicked. “That there’s no point.”
And that was all she would say on that for the night: conversation after that devolved into parties, restaurants, drugs, and conquests. Maybe the women were right, in their own clearly demented way: that without death there was no meaning, when when there was no meaning only pleasure held any significance. If there was no afterlife, no reward or punishment - which Sasha didn’t believe, but they seemed to - then there was no reason not to do what you wanted. To have fun. To take revenge.
If all Georgie wanted was to have fun, and if all Jon wanted was revenge, then what did Jonah Magnus want? Sasha didn’t know. She had the feeling that if she didn’t figure it out, she wasn’t going to live much longer.
Why had Jonah Magnus done this to her? What was the point of framing her for murder? She couldn’t do her job like this. What’s the point?
Half-drunk, head spinning, she found herself vocalizing this. Somehow, Annabelle Cane had ended up sitting next to her, letting spiders run along her slightly too long and too jointed fingers. Annabelle Cane just smiled at her, jaw slightly slacking open to expose teeth.
“Maybe it’s just to fuck with you,” Annabelle posited. “Why not? Do you think he has another reason?”
“I don’t know,” Sasha groaned. “I don’t know anything. Everything’s confusing and terrible. I could never understand those psychopaths.”
“You won’t make it very far in this line of work if you never ask why,” Annabelle scolded. She paused a second, spider running thoughtfully across her eyeball. “But too many questions damns you just as effectively, I suppose. Hm. Jonah’s quite good, isn’t he.”
“Why me,” Sasha groaned. “Everyone’s trying to keep shit from me, it fuckin’ - it fuckin’ sucks, man. It sucks. Nobody would tell me what’s going on, but I don’t think anybody knows what’s going on. Not even Jonah, or Jon, or - or anyone. Nobody but me.”
Annabelle blinked at her, somewhat curiously, before leaning in. Her perfume lingered in the air, a heavy rosy scent. “Do you know something that Jonah doesn’t?”
“Yeah,” Sasha slurred, world fading in and out. “Jonah doesn’t know that Jon -”
Then the world faded into black, and Sasha fell asleep.
If she had felt too old for this at the nightclub, she definitely felt too old for this hangover. Sasha spent twenty minutes crouched over a toilet bowl, reluctantly shoved the Eggs Benedict in her mouth that Georgie insisted was a hangover cure, somehow, and refused the Bloody Mary that Georgie also insisted was a hangover cure that her Mum used to feed her. The thought of Georgie’s Mum filled Sasha with a deep fear, incapable of imagining somebody who was both likely born in the 1800s and who had raised a hellion like Georgie.
When Sasha mumbled this to Georgie, she didn’t look offended. She just smiled, strangely fond. “Oh, none of this is my Mum’s fault. She was a darling, her and my Da. My childhood was positively idyllic. All things considered, you know.”
Yes, Sasha thought, struggling to imagine 1910s London in her mind, idyllic. She took another look at Georgie, squinting slightly as her head throbbed. She definitely seemed younger physically than Jon, but Jon had a particular way of carrying age about him that had nothing to do with his appearance. “When did you stop aging?”
“I forget, honestly,” Georgie said airly, sipping her own bloody mary. For some reason, Sasha didn’t believe her. “It always takes a while to notice, you know. I suppose, logically, it would be about when I died the first time.”
That, more than anything, alarmed Sasha. “I thought you couldn’t die.”
“Not permanently,” Georgie said, as if this was somehow obvious. “Eat your eggs, they’ll get cold.” Sasha frantically shoved eggs in her mouth, desperate for the story. But Georgie just sighed and propped her chin on her hand, eyes distant. “You know how it is. Small town girl, grew up in North Birmingham, Alabama - back when it was just a tiny little thing, you know. I wanted to be a star. I always did. Scared of dyin’ in the dirt. If I was gonna die young, I wanted to do it where everybody knew my name. So long as they remember you, it’s no kind of death at all, really.” She sighed, lost in memory. “I could sing so good...so I went to Harlem, ‘cause all my friends and I always had dreams of going to Harlem and making it big singing in the jazz clubs. They didn’t get so far, staying at home with their babies, but I did. Wasn’t really made for babies and such, I think.” Something strange emerged in her words, the last vestiges of a Southern accent. “I was pretty, and I could sing, and I took to the spotlight like a duck to water. It was tough, but man - if it ain’t tough, it ain’t worth it. I worked so hard. Like I was working myself to death, almost.”
She trailed off, birds softly trilling outside, and Sasha was silent.
Quietly, Georgie began speaking again. “Got into some trouble. You know how it is. I spent dozens of years wondering if it was my fault, if there was something I coulda done differently, zig instead of zag...but now, I don’t think so. Just my own rotten luck, you know. Put my trust in the wrong people. Had the wrong sentence whispered into my ear.” She shrugged listlessly. “Couldn’t handle the truth. Just another girl who couldn’t handle the limelight, that was what they said. But I was set up to fail. All those jazz clubs were ganger run, you couldn’t avoid it. Every girl in that golden age fell prey to those men, same as I did. I just wanted to feel again. Tried everything once, just to feel something.” She sighed, taking another drink. “Got shot. Got back up. I remember it, clear as day. Must have been 1923. I scrubbed the blood out of my show dress and went back on stage that night, cuz you can’t get a rep as a flake. They said, that day...that day was my best performance.”
She trailed off, Sasha finally alert. She wanted more details, almost desperately, but she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t want to risk putting the whammy on her host, even if she wasn’t sure that she could. If Georgie was being purposefully vague...well, Sasha wasn’t entitled to her pain.
Instead, she said, “I bet you were good.”
Georgie smiled at her wanly, eyes far away. “I was the best.”
They sat in silence for a little while, eating their food, Sasha’s head ringing and mind buzzing. What about this picture was she not understanding? What was so important that she was missing?
Finally, Sasha carefully floated, “I bet you must have met Jon soon after.”
Georgie looked up from her bloody mary, surprised. “Oh, yes. Just a few months after. He must have caught the word on the wind, you know, of that singing girl who got back up after getting shot in the lungs.” She sighed, propping her chin on her hand again. “Saw him in the front row of my club. He was so handsome, and so finely dressed. But there had been something strange in his eyes, you know? Like little marbles, reflecting the lamps. He caught up to me afterwards, and I figured he was just another fan to squeeze dry, but he told me in his funny little accent I’d never heard before that he could help me.” She swallowed, looking away. “That he could help me understand what was happening to me. Why I was having those strange dreams, seeing those strange tendrils. I guess he was right. After I met him, I understood it all. Things moved fast after that.” She smiled weakly at Sasha. “I suppose you know the rest.”
She really didn’t, but Sasha understood the dismissal for what it was. “Yeah. Thanks for telling me all of that.”
“It’s no secret,” Georgie said dismissively. She smiled cunningly. “A hundred years later almost exactly, and what I did to those gangsters was still my finest work. They say that if you pass by an old building on St. Nicholas Avenue, you can still hear the screams. Anyway, I have a meeting with my land development company in an hour, must run, ta!”
On that distressing note Georgie swanned out the door, and Sasha was left alone with nothing but a stack of conspiracy theories, an opulent flat, and bad memories.
Time seemed to move quickly, yet sluggishly, after that. After another day of writing down literally every Statement she could remember off the top of her head and trying to fit them into the weird and seemingly kind of arbitrary categories that Leitner had given her, she had hit a roadblock. She couldn’t remember any more Statements, she didn’t have access to them, and the ones she did remember she either already sorted or couldn’t dredge up enough memory of them to sort them in a satisfactory way. Either that, or the Statement itself was just incomprehensible - Sasha still didn’t know what the fuck was going on with Tessa’s problem. She tended to have a better memory of the ones that seemingly mentioned the Avatars in the background, just because it had been so startling to actually meet them - and a few even mentioned Jon, usually in context of Salasea or any Eye Statement.
When Georgie came home that night, they watched another movie and they both studiously avoided mentioning anything supernatural. Best not to take work home with you, even if Sasha had never quite been good at that.
The next day Sasha did what she should have done in the first place, and hacked into the Magnus Institute server.
It was seriously, comically easy. Sasha had installed a backdoor connection to the desktop of her work computer from her laptop ages ago, and all she had to do was borrow one of Georgie’s laptops and redownload the program. With an easy virtual desktop she was already in. It was somehow satisfying to see all of her work programs pop up on the borrowed laptop, and it was almost a relief to access the Archive drive that connected all of their computers. More importantly, where they all put their research follow-ups and the spreadsheet that documented the debunked, uncertain, and verified statements. It had gotten to the point where if the statement refused to record on the computer they automatically put it on verified, but what Sasha really wanted from that spreadsheet was the one sentence description they had all put for each Statement.
From there, it was much easier. Sasha, sick of the disorganized conspiracy theorist aesthetic, made her own spreadsheet and began categorizing the verified Statements that way. Much more reliable than working from memory.
If only she could actually access the Statements...Sasha’s life would be so much easier if everything could be digitized. The debunked ones were typed up, filed, and recorded, but the verified ones only existed on paper. Couldn’t be typed up, couldn’t be recorded. It was so stupid.
Sasha checked the clock. Eleven am on a Wednesday. They were definitely all still working. Maybe…
It was an invasion of privacy. Did she actually care about that? No. Was she worried about apparently being locked into an employment contract with an...entity of some sort that preyed on invasions of privacy? No, although she felt like she should. Was she concerned that Jon and Jonah were trying to turn into her a conduit of this entity’s power into the world, probably gradually turning her, if not evil, at least into a giant dick? Somewhat.
Words echoed through her mind, and Sasha’s fingers halted over the keyboard. Her powers manifesting differently than Jon’s...her unique skill with hacking…
Well, that was just kind of offensive. Sasha had worked hard for her skills. They weren’t given to her by Jon’s weird god. Also - seriously, a god? It was just a malevolent eldritch entity living in a separate dimension that encroached tendrils into Sasha’s life. There was nothing divine about it. That was just offensive. Sasha was a good feminist, transgender Catholic on the run from the law and didn’t worship false idols.
It was only then that Sasha noticed a folder on the drive that she hadn’t created. It was labelled ‘For the Archivist’. Despite herself, she clicked on it.
It held a few pdfs. Sasha clicked on one curiously, and saw that they were photocopies of statements. No - of Statements. She was already recognizing this one as one of those spider ones. She quickly printed them all out, conscientious of how easily supernatural files corrupted, and quickly exited the drive and the virtual desktop.
It wasn’t until Sasha was already in the kitchen and pulling down a bottle of Jack that she realized what she was doing. She sighed, replaced it, and fetched herself some sparkling water instead. She drank it slowly as she returned to her laptop and logged remotely into the police database, which she already had a backdoor into.
It occurred to Sasha, perhaps belatedly, that if the police found her laptop and the incredible variety of highly illegal programs meant explicitly for accessing secure servers she was probably triple going to jail. This time, for something she had actually did.
All of the hacking had never felt illegal. It had just felt...well, fun and necessary. It had never been about whether or not she should, it had been about if she could.
Was that how it had started for Jon? Collecting household secrets because he had to, so secure the money and influence he desperately needed, because he could, because it was fun?
Whatever. Sasha shook herself. She could have her moral crisis after she was no longer on the run from the cops for murder. This wasn’t the time to be squeamish about something that wasn’t hurting anybody. She knew, as Jon probably did, that just because something was illegal didn’t make it wrong.
It was easy to log onto the police database and check out her own open case. She frequently checked out open homicide cases for fun, but it somehow hit a little different when it was her they were talking about. Incident, Senior Citizen, Offence: First Degree Murder, Location of Arrest: N/A, yeah, yeah, yeah…
One victim, a John Doe. Foul play was suspected...yes that’d be the gunshot wound. No witnesses. Reporting officer’s narrative...Elias Bouchard and Jonathan Sims the Fifth had walked into Head Archivist Sasha James’ office to discuss work with her when they found the body. Both were shocked and called the police...gun found at the scene had her fingerprints and the ballistics matched...suspect still at large. Friends and family had been contacted, everyone denied knowledge of where she was. Suspect had a noted history of mental illness...great…
The officers dispatched had been Alice Tonner and Basira Hussein. Sasha found that strange: Basira had history with one of the witnesses and the suspect, wouldn’t it be unprofessional to send her out?
There couldn’t be that many sectioned officers, Sasha reasoned. Even if the incident hadn’t officially been sectioned, because the police report still existed, as a general rule if something happened at the Magnus Institute it was sectioned until proven otherwise. Even if the murder itself was seemingly mundane.
Out of curiosity, she searched up Detective Tonner’s records. Been on the force for a long time, worked her way up the ranks. Very, very few cases and incident reports for a detective who had been on the force as long as she had. Sectioned, obviously, but even Basira had more official cases than she did. When Sasha clicked on the incident reports, they were extremely spotty and strange. Obvious details were omitted or censored.
Something cold began to creep down Sasha’s spine. She found the arrest records of the latest four people with official records of Detective Tonner arresting them.
Almost all of them had entered custody with bruises, cuts, and in one case a broken limb. They all had records down as ‘resisting arrest’. Sasha felt sick.
There was one case that stopped strangely short. A clear perp, a rapist but one with little evidence, who Tonner had quickly caught. That was where the case ended: the report that Tonner had found his hiding spot, but no arrest, no trial, no prison sentence. When Sasha investigated the perp, she found that he had unceremoniously vanished shortly after Tonner had reported that she had found his hiding spot. A month later, a death certificate had been filed.
Sasha stared at the death certificate, nauseated. This was who she was dealing with. A vigilante, some batshit pig who had obviously decided that the law was best taken into her own hands. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy, but...if anybody looked at Sasha’s case on paper, they’d say the same thing.
And that was just the cases on record. It was the only obvious instance Sasha could see of Tonner having offed someone just because she felt like it, but cops were good at covering shit like that up. How many other arrest records had fallen in the cracks? How many other dead perps that nobody gave a shit about? How many sectioned cases?
God, Sasha was fucked.
She begged off hanging out with Georgie that night, instead staying in bed with the covers pulled tight over her head as if that could ever protect her. Why was Jonah doing this to her? What did he have to gain? If he wanted her to die a mysterious death in the bottom of a ditch, why wasn’t he man enough to do it himself?
Tonner was going to murder her, Sasha thought hysterically, and she was going to pat herself on the back for keeping another monster off the streets.
And Jon knew. The fucking hypocrite. He wasn’t going to help her. Nobody was. But, god, she was so alone…
The next morning, as if she knew, Georgie slipped Sasha a burner phone over the breakfast table as they both robotically ate quiches.
“It should be untraceable, but just know that anybody you call you’re putting at serious risk,” Georgie warned, before her expression softened. “This’ll all be over soon, honey. I promise.”
“Did Jonah tell you that?” Sasha asked bitterly.
“Nah. I just know those two.” Georgie delicately ate a forkful of quiche. “They get bored of terrorizing humans pretty quickly. Now, Michael’s a different story. They’ll terrorize someone for decades. I’ve seen them do it!”
“Great,” Sasha said.
It seemed to be at this point that Georgie realized she was actually making Sasha feel much worse, because a slightly panicked expression crossed her face and she quickly reached out to pat Sasha on the hand. “But I’m sure they won’t do that to you,” Georgie said quickly. “They love you! Jon especially. Jonah’s just on another of his little power trips right now, he’ll get over it. And Jon, like, feels really bad about this whole thing. He’s been super annoying about it, actually -”
“See,” Sasha said, standing up to clear away her dishes, “I would rather handle an enemy who obviously wants to kill me than a friend whose good side I always have to be careful to stay on, who I can’t afford to ever make mad. I guess that’s the only difference left between me and you people.”
She angrily put her dishes in the sink, where the housekeeper would do them, and stalked to what was rapidly becoming her room, slamming the door.
Flopping down on the bed, she stared at the burner phone. Tim wouldn’t be at work yet. They could talk. They could -
Do what? Get back together? Split up? Could he explain, beg for her forgiveness? Did she have to apologize too? Sasha didn’t understand.
That was rare for her. She understood a lot of things, or at least she thought she did. Maybe she had been lying to herself, about everything: that her and Tim were a good idea, that Martin was sketchy, that Jon was evil, that Jon was kind, that Georgie just wanted to help her, that there was nothing that Jonah Magnus would do to her, that she was safe and human and a good person.
God, her capacity for self-delusion was ridiculous. But maybe people needed a little bit of self-delusion to survive. Nobody could live in complete honesty, in full sight of their flaws and shortcomings. You could burn away, living like that.
No. No time or space for fear. Sasha wasn’t afraid of anything. If she kept telling herself that, maybe it would be true. She desperately punched in a number that she didn’t remember memorizing, holding the phone desperately to her ear, her one connection to humanity.
It rung, and rung, and one, and Sasha’s heart thumped in her chest.
Finally, the ringing stopped, and a slightly sleepy voice punctuated the dead air. “Hello?”
“Tim, it’s me,” Sasha burst out, everything she wanted to say to him rushing through her throat and choking her, and she burst into tears.
Distantly, through the sound of her crying, she could hear Tim on the other side losing his shit, and eventually wrangling himself to calmness.
It was almost funny, how they could work each other up like that. Eventually, by the time Sasha had managed to wrangle her own crying, Tim had calmed himself down enough that he was able to clumsily try to cheer her up.
“We’re all fine. Everyone’s perfectly safe. Martin’s gotten, uh, even more annoying since you left, and we’ve technically hired Melanie, which is - not good but it’s funny? Are you still crying? Please don’t still be crying.”
“I’m fine,” Sasha hiccuped. She rubbed at her red eyes. God, she’d missed him. “Tim, what happened?”
The line was silent for a while. Finally, he said, “Is this line secure?”
“Uh - probably? I mean -” Sasha quickly checked herself. She didn’t want to mention Georgie. The less he knew the better. “ - it’s a burner, if that’s what you’re asking, and I’m not the one who bought it.”
“Where are you living?” Tim asked harshly. “Are you homeless? You have to come stay with me, I can -”
“You mean the first place Tonner will look?” Sasha shot back. “No. I’m safe, I’m dry, things are fine. That’s all you need to know.” She softened her voice. “I promise, if it was safe I’d tell you more. I want to see you again. Tim, I - I’m really sorry.”
Tim laughed hoarsely, without humor. “Shouldn’t it be me saying that? I’m the one who thought you were a monster.”
“...yeah, that one’s on you.” Sasha sighed miserably, lying down on her bed, wishing Tim was next to her. “I am, though. A monster, I mean. Tim, I - I’m definitely not entirely human anymore.”
“God, Sash, that’s the least of our problems right now,” Tim said, laughing slightly again. “Can you just tell me what happened? I know you didn’t fucking do it. That dick Bouchard keeps playing dumb and his shitlead lackey keeps on avoiding the Archives. I bet Sims killed that old man, right? He totally did. Martin keeps on saying that his precious Jon wouldn’t let you take the fall for something he did, but I’m not so sure.”
“I...it’s more complicated than that.”
Sasha explained in short order. For once, Tim was totally silent the entire time, letting Sasha dispassionately recite the entire sad story. She finished it at Michael helping her escape, not detailing where she had been dropped off.
Finally, after a long silence, Tim said, “So this is my fault.”
“No, it’s not,” Sasha said harshly. “You were manipulated, same as I was.”
“I’m the idiot who -”
“Yes, you were being an idiot. You should have talked to me, talked to anyone. You should have done anything other than your homicidal partner in crime. You definitely shouldn’t have been buying a fucking black market gun when I know for a fact you have no idea how to shoot. But you tried playing hero and you played straight into Magnus’ hands. You fucked up. Okay? Now let’s try to do better.”
More silence, until Tim sighed. “Can’t believe the Douche’s Jonah Magnus. Explains why Sims is always playing lackey for him. Can’t wait to spill to Martin how his boyfriend framed his boss for murder.”
Sasha chewed her lip, uncertain. She hadn’t shared the details of Jonah and Jon’s conversation too closely - it had seemed private. “See, I’m not sure this is...entirely Jon’s fault.”
Tim groaned. “Not you too! Why is everyone but me and Melanie a fucking Sims apologist?”
“Jon and Jonah are...they’re weird, okay?” Sasha moved to chewing her hair, uncertain of how to describe it. If it should even be described. It seemed so private, so unsuitable to name...but maybe everybody thinking that was how these things stayed perpetuated for so long. “I think Jonah’s kind of, you know, abusive?”
The line went silent again.
“Wow,” Tim said finally, “Martin’s going to be so disappointed his boyfriend’s taken.”
“They’re just friends! I think. I’m like, ninety percent sure. But you didn’t hear them, Tim. They’re really...it’s messed up. Trust me.”
“Jesus, Sash, why are you defending someone who fucked all of us over like this? Sims is a big boy, he’s responsible for his own shitty decisions and the shitty company he keeps.” Tim snorted. “I’ve heard them talk, anyway. If anything, Magnus is the one always giving into Sims and his little tantrums. Jesus, I just want to throttle the both of them.”
“Maybe you need to get over your anger issues and focus on actually solving the problem for once,” Sasha snapped. “Nobody has time for your revenge fantasy, Tim! We need to fix all of this.”
“Which one is it, Sash?” Tim asked coldly. “Was I manipulated, or was it my anger issues and hero complex? Are you going to decide if this is my fault or not?”
Sasha’s heart stuttered in her chest. She didn’t know how to explain to him what she knew - that it was everything, that it was all of the above, that he was manipulated through his anger issues and hero complex, that Tim had been pushed in a direction but he had taken the steps all by himself. But she couldn’t blame him entirely, because Sasha had been manipulated the same way, and so had Jon and Martin and Georgie, and if she started thinking like that then she would have to start hating the whole damn world.
“Tim, are we going to stay together?” Sasha whispered, broken-hearted. “Can we even still be together? I love you. I want you here with me. But there’s so much ugliness that’s growing between us. I don’t know if this can be fixed.”
A long silence again. Sasha wanted to be there with him, to read his face, to see what he was thinking. She had always understood him so well, or at least she thought that he did.
“I love you too,” Tim said finally. “I want to fix this too. I - I don’t know, Sasha. I love you. The thought of you alone, in danger, and not even knowing where you are, is fucking me up. It’s like Danny all over again, Sasha, I can’t handle this. Can we have this conversation again when I know you’re safe?”
“Okay,” Sasha said, and she knew that this was probably the best both of them could do right now. “Are we staying together?”
“...I don’t know.”
“...are we breaking up?”
“...still don’t know.”
“Okay,” Sasha repeated again, and sighed. “I won’t call you from this phone twice. I’m doing the best I can here. I’m safe, I think. Things will be okay, Tim.”
“Sash,” Tim said, “I don’t remember the last time things were okay.”
And neither did she, and they both knew it, and she hung up on him without saying anything further. She lay on the bed, listening faintly to the sound of the housekeeper vacuuming, staring up at the fan as it beat in a steady rhythm on the ceiling.
Was Tim right? Was she reading too much into Jon and Jonah? It wasn’t her job to fix Jon, to puzzle out his weird psychology. Maybe he was just an asshole without a spine,and there wasn’t anything more to that.
No. Sasha didn’t believe that. This was a puzzle that she hadn’t solved yet, and she had the feeling that at the heart of this puzzle was the key to finally keeping herself and Tim safe. She couldn’t abide a mystery, couldn’t trick herself into thinking that the truth wasn’t important. The truth was all Sasha had. She couldn’t close her eyes to it, that awful and ugly reality.
Tim...he had been such a bad idea. But he had always been her favorite one: the way he could always cheer her up, his bright and bold smile, his courage and heart and sensitivity and vulnerability. He had loved her, truly and wholly, for who she was. He knew the ugly corners of her and loved them as much as he loved her best attributes.
Was that still true? Was Sasha turning into a person that Tim just couldn’t love? Was Tim turning into someone that Sasha couldn’t love?
People changed. Sometimes they changed apart. And for some strange reason, Sasha just couldn’t bear the thought of that.
Lying on the bed of a grim reaper, crying like a broken-hearted teenager, Sasha didn’t notice that the housekeeper’s vacuum had stopped running. She didn’t notice the knock on the door, or the creak of the door opening, or the gentle rise and fall of voices. She only heard it when there was a soft knock at her own door, and she was forced to roll off the bed to open her bedroom door.
Standing in front of her, looking nervous, was the housekeeper. Standing behind her was Jonathan Sims.
He looked pretty bad, Sasha noted clinically. Eye bags, even more pronounced than usual, stood starkly under his eyes, and his hair wasn’t as cropped short and styled as it usually was. It had grown out a little, making Jon look more like a tired modern guy walking the streets of London than a centuries old immortal psychic vampire. He was still dressed in a suit, as he always was, but the suit jacket was off and his dress shirt was rolled up to the elbow.
He stared at Sasha, probably registering every minute change in her appearance as she did his, before glancing down at the housekeeper. “You’re excused for the day. Thank you for your time.”
He passed her something - probably neatly folded bills - and nodded at her as she shakily nodded back and escaped the flat as quickly as possible. Jon stepped backwards in the hallway, gesturing for her to come out, and walked back into the living room. Because Sasha was just slightly too prideful to barricade herself in the bedroom, and partly because she wasn’t sure that Jon wouldn’t break into a woman’s bedroom, she stepped out into the grandiose yet cluttered living room with him. He stood in the center, hands in his pockets, looking over the flat with a clinical eye.
“Georgie’s sense of interior decoration is as immaculate as ever,” Jon noted clinically. “She used to spend months getting every house we ever lived in just right. Said it was her job as lady of the household. She had never been a lady of any household, of course, not in the way that Jonah and I had once known - but her fun’s important to her, and it doesn’t hurt anybody important.” He sniffed slightly. “You coming to stay here was for the best after all. She’s been lonely, I think.”
“I’m staying here because I’m homeless,” Sasha said flatly. For the first time, she noticed a small manila envelope under his arm, tucked slightly into his back pocket. “Because of you.”
“I’ve kept your flat for you,” Jon said eagerly, stepping forward, and letting his cold mask fall. In him now was something eager, something almost pleading. Sasha forced herself not to step away. “All of your possessions are intact, and I can get your bank accounts unfrozen easily enough. Once all of this blows over, your life can be right back to normal.”
“Wow,” Sasha drawled, crossing her arms, “how kind. Were you so busy being this nice to me that you forgot that Georgie barred you from this flat because I don’t want to fucking look at you?”
“She’ll get over it,” Jon said dismissively. “She’s been wanting us to make up, anyhow.” He stepped closer again, fluorescent green eyes fixed on her large and warm brown ones, and Sasha fought the tingle crawling up her spine. “Sasha, I really am sorry. Jonah was out of line in what he did. But - but you know, he really does know best. Even if it doesn’t seem so. What we’re doing now, it’s for the best for your development. I promise this will all blow over soon, and things will be better. For all of us.”
“For a subject of a truth god,” Sasha said, voice dripping sarcasm, “you have a unique ability to lie to yourself.”
Jon puffed up, scowling down at her. “That’s ridiculous. I -”
“Does Jonah Magnus respect you?” Sasha pressed.
Jon...hesitated, and they both saw it. Jon frantically tried to cover, quickly saying, “Of course he does. I’m his partner, and we’ve been partners for two hundred years. There’s nobody on earth he respects more than me. There’s nobody he respects but me.”
“Then why does he talk to you like you’re an idiot?”
“He talks to everyone like that.”
“Because he doesn’t respect anyone but you. You just said that. But if he respects you, then wouldn’t he talk to you differently?”
There it is - Jon’s shoulders hunched slightly, unconsciously on the defensive. “Does he give you equal input on decisions?”
“I always give my -”
“Does he listen to them?”
Jon was silent. Finally, slowly, he said, “Jonah was right. He said you’d get like this.”
Fuck. Sasha’s heart sank, even as her jaw dropped in incredulity. She had lost him. “You must be kidding.”
“He said you’d get jealous.” Jon crossed his arms, turning slightly away from her, but what he clearly meant to be a closed-off stance just seemed defensive. “He said that you’d get upset that I’m more loyal to him than to you. What we’re doing now is for your own good, Miss James. You’ll see one day that this - this unpleasantness is helping you grow.”
Unpleasantness? Unpleasantness?! Putting her life at risk was an inconvenience? “I’ll see, huh?” Sasha said bitterly. “Just like you saw? Just like how you changed your mind from this being cruel and traumatic to it being a momentary unpleasantness?” She barked a short laugh, not very humorous at all. “I was there. He called you stupid, he said that you couldn’t trust anybody but him, and he called you an idiot. Are those the words of someone who respects you? Of someone who even likes you?”
Jon stiffened, mouth tightening, and he broke eye contact and looked away. “Don’t concern yourself with the private business between Jonah and I.”
“When you’re having the conversation over a cooling corpse that you framed me for then you’re making it my business, you absolute shitheel!” Sasha yelled, finally losing her temper. “Your bullshit is ruining my life! Your complete inability to stand up to that sack of shit is ruining my life!”
“Shut up!” Jon yelled, seemingly having taken her losing her temper as permission to lose his. Distantly, Sasha was aware of his stupid this must have looked: two fully grown adults, yelling in a living room like children. “You’re a spoiled child who doesn’t know anything! All I’ve ever done is try to help you, and you spit in my face! You’re no better than Martin!”
Abruptly, strangely, Jon stopped short. He seemed almost embarrassed, almost in pain.
And just like that, Sasha knew. “He’s not letting you see Martin, is he.”
For just a split second, Jon’s expression crumpled, but he forced it back into his haughty mask. “I decided that it was best I didn’t waste my time with manipulative traitors.”
“Was that your idea?” Sasha asked flatly, abruptly extremely tired. “Or was it Jonah’s?”
Jon was silent. They both knew the answer.
“If you walked up to Jonah now and told him that you wanted to start dating Martin, do you think that you’d leave that conversation still wanting to do it? Or would you somehow decide, all by yourself, that you’ll end up doing what Jonah wants anyway?”
Jon didn’t say anything.
A strange mix of emotions swirled in Sasha’s stomach. Anger and disgust mixed with pity and sadness. What had Jon been like, before he met Jonah Magnus? Had he been a good person?
But maybe that wasn’t so important. Maybe the question that had to be asked was - what kind of person would Jonathan Sims be without Jonah Magnus in his life?
All at once, the fight seemed to go out of Jon. His shoulders sagged, and he abruptly deflated. He looked down at the ground, ashamed and aware of it. He had always been aware of it. He had just been lying to himself. Maybe it was impossible to live without it.
“I don’t know what to do without him,” Jon said quietly. “I’ve never - I need him.”
“You don’t,” Sasha said, abruptly exhausted. “You want to help me, Jon? You want to protect me and Martin? You can’t do that while staying friends with Jonah Magnus. You have to choose. So long as you stay close to him, you are going to stay within his complete control. That’s what he does. He controls everybody and everything. And you’re letting him. You’re justifying it. You’re doing his work for him. Everybody around him is - even Georgie. There are two people in your life who are trying to get you away from him, and he’s trying to convince you to cut them out of your life. You think that’s a coincidence?”
Jon opened his mouth, then closed it. Weakly, he said, “You’re wrong.”
“I need your help, Jon,” Sasha whispered, and to her shame found her voice cracking. “I need someone on my side. I can do it alone, but - but I’m scared. And I don’t want to. I need help. I’m scared.”
But she knew, even as she said it, that Jon was scared too. He couldn’t reach out a hand to her - not now, not here. Jon had carried around his fear for hundreds of years, pushing it down and pretending it wasn’t there, and it informed everything he’d ever done. Scrambling for power, exerting that power, desperately dominating even as he was dominated - it stemmed from that fear, all of it. And Jonah Magnus kept those flames fanned, because a Jon who was afraid was a Jon who could be controlled.
A Sasha who was afraid, who was isolated, who was trapped, was one who could be controlled.
The realization was dizzying. Somehow, the thought that kept running through her mind was - who’d do that? Who was such a terrible person that they’d go through all that trouble, all of that plotting, just to make someone suffer? Not because they disliked them, not in revenge, not because of any human emotion - but just because it was convenient? Useful?
Because you could?
So this was what power did to a person, Sasha realized. So this was what power and immortality and money and supernatural gifts did to you. It made you someone who Sasha could never hope to understand, whose depths of depravity she could never truly rationalize. To Sasha, who prided herself on knowing people and being able to understand them and their motives - it was almost a relief, almost a blessing, that she couldn’t possibly understand the motives of Jonah Magnus at all.
Jon stared at her, fluorescent green eyes wide, and for just a minute she could see the fear that she knew was there written all over his face. For just a minute, Sasha and Jon were scared together, both trapped in tumultuous waters that they couldn’t control. For the first time Sasha empathized with Jon.
Jonah Magnus was somebody that Sasha could never understand. But Jon was, and for the first time Sasha knew what Martin meant when he said that he felt as if Jon had been a good person, a long time ago.
You can’t understand someone and hate them. Not really. You could be angry, upset, betrayed...but if you really understood someone, backwards and forwards, true hate was difficult to find.
“I have to go,” Jon said, almost dizzily. He shoved the manila folder at her, both of them having forgotten that it was even there in the first place. He glanced at it, frightened and guilty. “Be - be careful when meeting Jude Perry. Don’t take her at her word. I have to go.”
He fled, as if the hounds of hell themselves were snapping at his heels, and Sasha was left standing in an opulent hallway, clutching a manila folder as if it was a time bomb, completely certain that it was meant to hurt her and cause her pain and damage her, completely certain that she was going to read it anyway.
Like Jon - what choice did she have?
But as she stumbled back to her room, as she sat down on the comfortable chair and thumbed on the tape recorder that sat at the desk, the words of Jonathan Sims ran through her mind. His warning. A clumsy attempt at protection. At the very least, a signifier of desire.
Sasha knew, as she sometimes knew things, that Jon had started out somebody who deeply desired to protect others like him. To take revenge, to grab power, yes, but also to spread that precious knowledge and resources around. He had never stopped thinking of himself as one of those vulnerable people, people who society had stepped on and ground into the dirt. Deep down he had just wanted things to be fair, wanted some justice in the world. Jon, at one point, had only wanted to help.
Maybe she wasn’t so alone after all.
“Statement of Sasha James, Head Archivist…”
#my writing#YES I KNOW THIS IS TOO LONG FOR A TUMBLR POST BUT CONSIDER: ITS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR AO3 AND MY STANDARDS ARE INSANE#jonathan sims#georgie barker#sasha james#archivist!sasha#human relations#tma#the magnus archives#tma fanfic#jonmartin#jason's tims age
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First, I hope you get all the support and love you deserve dear. ^^ You are FANTASTIC! Second, I am clinically depressed with high anxiety. How would the six handle someone with those qualities? The fretting and low, days where you want to disappear, worrying that no one really cares it just an act?
Thank you!
I’m writing this based on my experiences and the experiences of those close to me, and i 100% understand those aren’t universal. and my interpretations of the characters are not Law or universal. I just wanna say blanketly, that I hope youre doing alright and that you also get the support and love you deserve and that you are safe. Content warning for suicidal ideation (that feeling where youd rather just not exist without like A Desire to act), anxiety, depression. Under a readmore so please take care of yourself and don’t click if you might be negatively effected by reading about this also its long as hell.
Suicide prevention hotline: 1-800-273-8255Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386.
Asra:
- His heart literally aches with you
-Brings you tea in bed for days that you cant leave bed either because depression or because anxiety
-Will sit with you for hours just so you’re not alone, even if youre feeling awful.
-Cares 50000% less about the shop than he does about you, and if youre having a bad brain day he will just lock up and sit with you and hold your hand.
-Will encourage you to get out a little if you can, maybe for a nice walk in the woods to collect mushrooms with him because sometimes getting out and doing something helps.
-Is good at finding secluded secret ways to get around bc fuck people.
-He’s bffs with Muriel so hes pretty good with dealing with self loathing and anxiety already.
-Asra i think has a really good response to the “nobody cares and its just an act” because his magic mark will just glow when he puts his hand over your heart and its really hard to argue with “made a deal with the devil to resurrect you” if the argument is “nobody actually cares” and that was 100% his choice and hes not afraid to tell you that.
-Can, will, wants to, just ramble at you at length about how much he loves you and exactly why and will spend hours refuting your arguments which is tiring but maybe helps you feel a little better by the end.
-If things are just So Bad? If you want to disappear? he’ll nap with you just to be close to you and keep you safe.
-Will bring you to his oasis to walk around and help keep you safe if you really just want to disappear and he’ll try to cheer you up there which is admittedly mostly just pointing at tiny weird magic bugs and stars (but at least your body is safe).
-Deep deep down he’s still the person who brought his mom a button when she was sick so he’ll try anything to cheer you up. Faust too.
-He’ll even talk to Julian to see if he knows anything or anything to ease your pain a little.
-Will sit and just Listen to all your pain and be just Present for you.
-He loves you more than life itself and will definitely be receptive to anything you say about things that might help.
Julian-
-Extremely similar hat.
-But goddamnit if you made HIM feel better about being alive and worthy and deserving of love, he is absolutely going to return the favor.
-Anxiety? he knows all the back alleys to avoid people
-Doesn’t mind staying home from the rowdy raven to sit with you if youre too anxious to go.
-If you need a small dark quiet place to be alone and calm down? Hes got just the place (the hole at maz’s and he’ll even come in with you if you want because it makes you smile to see you both try to cram in there)
-Depression or anxiety making food hard? Some of maz’s soup will fix you right up.
-You find him in the middle of the night pouring over medical texts about depression and anxiety, looking for anything to help you at all.
-He’ll sit up with you on nights that you cant sleep because of anxiety or because youre just too sad.
-He’ll definitely lay in bed with you while you cry.
-He found someone who truly and entirely loves him and he will cling to you for dear life, and tell you all the things he loves about you whenever you need or want to hear them.
-He probably is gonna try a leech at least once.
-Brings you to the docks at night because its calm and peaceful and away from everything.
-After his upright end he definitely learned the importance of a support system and isnt afraid to enlist it to help keep you happy and safe.
Nadia-
- Shes extremely concerned that someone who lights up her entire life can be so sad.
-But shes not about to sit back and do Nothing.
-She can and will cancel any event or meeting if it means she can sit in bed with you and hold you while you cry or if her presence with you soothes some of your anxiety.
-She’ll bring you to her contemplation tower if you need a place to just get away from everything thats making you anxious.
-Will also bring you to the magical realms to help keep you safe and help cheer you up.
-Enlists the finest doctors that she can find if you’d like.
-She’ll take long baths with you where you two can just sit in the hot water and you can cry while she strokes your hair.
-If you feel like shes just faking her affections towards you then expect a bit of a surprised scoff followed by a 4 hour powerpoint presentation about every single thing she loves about you and how you make her feel
-You feel like youre not good enough? “I’m the fucking countess and i could have had literally anyone in vesuvia or beyond but i want you”
-Will pick you up and spin you if she sees you smile because shes just so happy to see you happy.
-Horseback riding as a way to help clear your head and escape anxiety is a given.
-Shes really attentive to making sure you stay fed, in fresh clothes, and bathed, even during bad depressive times so that it doesnt pile on to your bad feelings.
Muriel-
-If not same hat then EXTREMELY similar hat
-Lives in the forest so hes all about that avoiding social anxiety life.
-If you ever feel unsafe Inanna can and will lay entirely on top of you.
-Feeding chickens and petting inanna as anxiety relief for both of you.
-He’ll definitely hold you against his chest or with your head in his lap while you cry if you need it.
-Muriel hates seeing you sad, and doesnt always know exactly what to do or say but he’ll make you eggs all the time to make sure youre still eating when youre sad.
-Will remind you that youre like the only person hes ever truly let in to his heart and he doesnt want to lose you.
-Will also remind you that he gave you the myrrh voluntarily because he….wants you to remember him. hes never wanted to be remembered before. he never asked for it back.
- He really empathizes with wanting to disappear but he doesnt want that when hes with you and he wants to work hard to help you feel the same way with him.
-Long quiet walks in the forest together.
-He’ll take you stargazing and tell you all the things he loves about the beauty of the forest and the stars…and you.
-Big Hugs for Big Sads
-Enlists asra and nadia’s help if he feels he needs it, but he cares about you enough that he’d willingly seek out help for you.
Portia-
-Yeets pepi at you Like A Football.
-”Peep?? Peep Peep”
-Youre gonna feel better if it kills her.
-Gardening to help with sadness, touching dirt always helps. She’ll spend hours with you in the garden, helping you create like beauty with your hands.
-Chase the goddamn cockatoo with a broom to make you smile.
-Enlist’s Maz and Maz’s soup as well.
-Helps you find secret passageways to hide in when your anxiety is too much.
-Too sad to leave bed? Portia will carry you and your blanket.
-Is having none of that “oh what if you dont actually love me” business. She’s super used to Julian’s self loathing and depression that shes moved on to slightly tougher love.
-She loves you and shes going to keep telling you that and shes not going anywhere.
-She gets soft when you cry though and will cling to you for dear life and not move for hours.
-”How dare you talk about the person i love like that” - Portia, to you, when you talk about reasons you hate yourself.
-Cries with you though.
-Doesn’t like when she has to go to work when you’re in a bad mental space so shes asks nadia for you to have just a nice room in the palace reserved for you that you can lay in so she can come check on you during the day.
-Shes great for bad anxiety days because she has no problem doing social interactions for you. The thought of going to buy some herbs brings you to tears? No problem, she has no idea what herbs shes buying but shes Gonna Do It.
-The strength of Portias hugs is liable to just squeeze the depression right out of you along with also your internal organs probably.
Lucio-
-”How can you be depressed?? You’re dating ME, the COUNT! ……….Can I help?”
-He definitely tries to use his sex appeal to lighten your mood, it probably works sometimes (or at least gets a laugh out).
-Gets extremely startled when you cry but holds you tight against him.
-Cancels meetings, cancels plants, cancels the entirety of the Vesuvia if he has to in order to stay in bed with you when youre having a bad depression day.
-You can cry into M&M’s fur as long as you’re not wearing any makeup :P
-Gets worried and hides the pointy tips for his gauntlet.
-Absolutely having none of the “nobody really cares and its just an act” hes the COUNT! He could have anyone anytime he wanted! You were the first warmth and compassion he felt in years! The first person to really actually love him for /him/! he gets way more emotional than he plans to but he feels very strongly about this
- 4 hour powerpoint presentation on all the reasons hes into you
-Tries really hard to find material things that will help your mood. Gold? Silk? Furs? Sweets? Watching fistfights? Anything?
- He knows what its like to really disappear and hes not about to let that happen to you.
-He’ll never admit it to anyone but you but hes clinging to you with everything he has and he will work tirelessly to help support you.
-”Will petting my hair help you relax”
-Ropes Julian, Nadia,and Asra into things to help you, but they dont mind because its You theyre helping really.
-Anxiety? “Oh don’t worry, I’ll make /sure/ all eyes are on me” it maybe doesnt help exactly as intended but watching him be ridiculous eases the tension a little.
-Deep deep down he knows in his soul Deep Sadness and it makes him surprisingly good at supporting you.
i hope this was what you wanted!!!!
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Erebus’s Return - FULL EVENT TRANSCRIPT
Hey, guys! Guess what? That event that I started back in uhhh, June? IT’S FINALLY DONE! For those of you interested who were not participating, I’ve taken the liberty of copying it all down and transcribing it here for you to read! It’s a long bugger, and there are a few trigger warnings, but it was a really awesome story and Red has been permanently affected by it!
characters involved:
Red, Vex, Three (Lucida), Erebus, Arum - me
Vesper, Bix, Ruby, Ryder, Tallow - @lostdreemurr
Fisk - @subject-number-3-frisk
Dove, Puppy, Crow, Mellow - @pyrocicle
Grillz, Fuku - @r0astet0aste
Pap - @honeyhogger
Put under a readmore because it’s SUPER FREAKIN’ LONG!
If you don’t care to read the whole thing, scroll all the way to the bottom for the TL;DR longlasting effects this had on Red and Vex
- - -
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum -
Past Alphys's upper lab - and she had been shoved aside by whichever skeleton your muse was with, without explanation - was the true lab. Some had been here before. Some had not. Gaster had not taken up residence here. There were just the amalgamates and the best and the various rooms. But it was as they neared the room full of flowers that people began to appear together. Timelines clashes together as they approached Gaster's old machine.
Bix was dumping the skeletons in front of Gaster as Vesper, Fisk, Grillz, Dove, Puppy, and Pap all appeared in the same room. Visible to each other for the first time.
At the same time, if Red or Vex was accompanying one of you, their form flickered, and then disappeared with a snap.
It was just them, near the entrance to Gaster's Lab. Let the temporal madness ensue.
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
Vesper had been hand in hand with Vex when suddenly, he wasn't. He was just. Gone. That in and of itself was distressing. Add to it the stress of being in an unfamiliar place with a steadily growing crowd of unfamiliar people. Including someone who looked like a mirror image of him and he just...couldn't handle it. He slunk back, pressed against a wall and slowly began to panic.
Ruby too, was in a panic, having received a sloppy text from Dove saying that Red and Vex had gone missing. As f they had been taken. Her nonexistent insides were coiled up in fear, soul pounding as if she had just run a marathon. This place. These people. These monsters....
She cringed as she was suddenly overwhelmed with unpleasant memories of her lab, her shoulders drooping as she realized that neither Red nor Vex were among those gathered here.
"HAS....HAS ANYONE SEEN RED? OR VEX?" She was just going to assume the answer was no, but the short skeleton had no idea what else to say.
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
Oh, come on, Fisk had just now gotten here. why does it look like others had decided to join in? In fact.. who were these people? Friends of Red and Vex? Well, she had no idea they had this many friends from out of their timeline, at least it looked like for the most part. The human decided to back a couple steps away from the others, chuckling nervously from the question. "Well, no. I mean, Red kinda ported on me after hearing that Gaster had Vex."
It took her a moment to think about this, them appearing out of nowhere, and in fact, she could've swore she saw some Red's or Vex's disappearing on her. It all suddenly clicked in her mind. They all clearly were here for the same reason, including her. They were here for the brothers. They were hare to help them. Best thing to do is to just team up against Gaster. But, first things first. "Just.. who are you all?"
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove took a deep breath, holding back her swearing to shove at the empty space in her head. Ow ow ow ow ow OW. Her head was ringing like a bell but she knew what that meant.
"we're probably all here to help. I don't know about the rest of you but I've been through a timeline merge before and... ow. that's what's happened. ow. I'm Dove. Ruby, they're that way, or Red is at least." She pointed vaguely.
A tiny blaster with green eyelights snuggled up to her, whining with distress.
Grillz/Fuku
Whoa. This was even more disorienting than when Red suddenly teleported with him without warning. He watched in dismay as Red seemed to blink out of existence, leaving him alone in the lab. But. No. No he wasn't alone. He was surrounded by people he didn't recognize. There was a mix of humans and skeletons. And him. Everyone seemed confused and upset. What was happening.
It wasn't until one of the humans began speaking that the situation made any sort of sense. And even then it was only just. She introduced herself as Dove and called one of the skeletons Ruby. Well... It seemed like a strange time for introductions, but he wasn't one to be rude.
"I'm Grillz. I'm looking for my daughter and my future brother in law, and I guess my fiancé now too since he just disappeared."
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
What. The fuck.
Vex had been next to him and they were rushing through the lab when the other simply vanished and several others appeared beside him. He was instantly on high alert, thinking he had just walked into some sort of a trap. But once he'd gotten over his initial shock and thought about it, he realized this must be thanks to some timeline shenanigans.
But even as he realized this, when the alternate version of Grillby spoke about finding his brother in law and fiancé he couldn't help but bristle, a surge of protectiveness washing over him. "your fiancé? you're not talking about red, right? cause he happens to be my bond mate."
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
Pap wasn't the only one to bristle. Ruby folded her arms, tapping her foot rather impatiently as she glared at the taller skeleton and flame elemental. "I'M SORRY. DID YOU SAY MATE? AND FIANCE? DREAM ON BOYOS. RED AND VEX ARE MY BOYS."
Everyone had been too busy squabbling amongst themselves to notice the arrival of a tall, eerie appearing skeleton. For those who had seen Gaster before, he would look too familiar for comfort - although his laid-back and lascivious nature made it obvious that he wasn't anything like his father in the slightest. He sat back, listening to them whine and argue, before a sharp, piercing whistle split the air.
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
Wait now, mate, freaking fiancé?! This is too strange, and making her head hurt a bit. It didn't help any that the whistle was so high pitched. But it seemed to at least caught some attention. And despite the loud ring in her ears, she spoke up "I get it, we all know them! I'm not even going to dare to say what I am to them, but let me say this. I want to save them, and I am sure the rest of you do as well. Can we argue about who is who's partner after we save them from utter torture and possibly death?" All Fisk wants, is to save them. And while the others are quite a surprise to her, she knows fighting will not help anything.
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove pointed slowly at Tallow, looking up to glare at him with an eye bright with red magic. The red ribbon around her wrist was telling for... probably only Ruby and Tallow.
"agreed. rescue from homicidal jackass now, fight over later. our timelines will probably split back up post rescue so everybody just chill and let's plan."
Puppy nodded vigorously. The motion didn't mean much without a body behind it, but bobbing up and down really fast was at least entertaining to watch.
... Blasters aren't that smart, are they?
Grillz/Fuku
Grillz didn't like this. He didn't like that there were others claiming to be Red's partner. He had an unseemly jealous side that had never really had the chance to come out before, but now it was threatening to show itself in full force.
But the other human was right. At her words, reason returned to him. He regained his composure and became stoic once more. He had to get back his husband (soon to be) and his Daughter. He couldn't bare to imagine what was happening to the both of them.
"Planning is good." He said, nodding somberly and folding his arms across his chest. "We don't really know what we're going to face. And we can't save Red--or Vex or my daughter--if we go charging in blindly and get ourselves killed."
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
He was struggling to contain his jealousy as well, but when the other Grillby didn't move to argue with him it helped him calm down just slightly. They were right of course, and normally he would've been the first one to suggest it, but everything had just been such a shock to him that he hadn't been thinking rationally.
"yes i did say mate. me and Red have soulbonded. but you're right in that we need to worry about who's who later. we all seem to have caring about red and Vex in common so let's focus on that."
As much as he already didn't like the flaming monster for trying to say he claimed Red, he was right about one thing. "we do need a plan. my soulbond with red let's me have a vague idea of where he is, so if you'll let me take the lead i think i can point us in the right direction." He crossed his arms but looked to the side at his next words. "however im certainly not the strongest fighter out of all of you here, that much is clear. so you'd all have to stick close behind me in case we run into trouble."
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
"NOT A BAD JOB," Erebus said approvingly as Bix dumped Red and Vex at his feet. They were both unconscious, of course, having been knocked in the back of the head by the small skeleton. Erebus summoned a few extra hands, that lifted both skeletons onto tables and began to strap them down. As timelines snapped together, features collided. Mostly on Red, as a ring appeared on one finger, a band of green appeared on the matching wrist, and the composition of his soul shifted slightly to match the bond made. A few other cracks appeared on Vex's body, but for the most part, he'd been a constant. Both were tied down by the wrists, ankles, torso, and neck - Red in particular was tied down tightly by the neck. A weakness to be exploited.
Then he tilted his head. "IT SEEMS MY THINGS HAVE FOUND FRIENDS. GO AND FIND THEM, AND STALL THEM FOR A BIT. OR SEE IF YOU CAN AT LEAST SEPARATE THEM. I NEED TO SEE WHAT I CAN DO ABOUT FIXING THIS PLATE."
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
The praise appealed to some lower part of him -- one constantly seeking his brother's approval -- and served only to strengthen whatever hold Erebus had over him. He nodded at the command, and turned to exit the lab.
*shall I eliminate any of them
--
Vesper was grateful the bickering had turned to words of agreement, though he remained huddled against the wall with his arms wrapped around his knees. He lost Vex. To whatever this thing was that wanted him. Just like that. Gone. And he couldn't do anything about it. He was so weak. So weak. So useless. And now? He couldn't even pull it together enough to help formulate a plan. How pathetic.
He whimpered softly, curling up tighter. This had to be a dream. It just had to be.
--
Ruby pressed close to Dove, happy for a familiar face and company. "DOVEY," she said, touching the human's arm, "TAKE YOUR PILLS. THEY'LL HELP YOUR HEAD." She was less worried about the others, and whatever their relationship with Red was, and refocused. Right.
"WE NEED TO MOVE FAST, HIT HARD, AND WORK TOGETHER." she announced. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS GASTER WANTS BUT IT CAN'T BE GOOD."
--
Tallow whistled again. Softer. Drawing everyone's attention to him. He signed slowly, hoping everyone knew hands, and hoping someone else would narrate for those who didn't.
((We stay together. Period. No splitting up. No matter what. If we lose someone we find them and regroup. If we split up, we're well and fucked.)) His silent observation had been spent preforming a CHECK on everyone, and he was...worried to say the least.
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
Fisk's attention moved to Tallow, completely able to understand hands as she instantly repeated what he had said. "Stay together, no splitting up. Lose someone, we find them and regroup. And we are in deep is we split. I agree." She seemed to have had some attention on Vesper for a moment before smiling at everyone, clasping her hands together. She needs to stay enthusiastic about the situation. "We must know about each other, and abilities and such in order to have some form of organization."
The human then pulled out the shield that Red had made her from her inventory. It wasn't anything pretty to look at, but it was the last of Red she had left at the moment. "Forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Fisk, a Frisk if you think along those kinds of terms. I'm sure you all know that Red's timeline is a mixture of UnderFell and Handplates. I personally am from a Handplates timeline. I remember this place pretty well, so I can assist navigation if that is needed. I have normal LV 1 human stats, but I can also summon bones and blasters because of the experiments done to me. I hope to be of use to all of you."
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove nodded slowly to Ruby and Tallow. It only took a moment to dig out a large orange bottle and dry swallow a large white and orange tablet from it. While Dove took a moment to order her thoughts enough to deal with introducing herself, Puppy changed to his skeleton form.
"hiya! i'm puppy. i usually protect mama if she gets into a fight she can't handle by herself. i can take blaster form as well as use bone attacks and summon other blasters!" He was a tiny thing, clearly still a babybones... But Tallow and Ruby could both attest he has shockingly high lv for his age.
Dove put a hand on his shoulder. "alright. I'm Dove, something of an alternate to the Frisks. I'm currently dealing with two sets of memories so if I'm confusing, that's why. on th' one hand I'm here for Red. our magic is currently bonded, so that's going to be interesting to see how it interacts with a soulbond. I'm also here for Bix, who is the li'l guy with the tail we're almost certainly gonna have to subdue. please don't kill him if you can avoid it. I have unusually skewed stats; I hit hard but can't take a hit very well without creating a shield." she held up her walking stick.
"I'm a skilled combatant from Bix's side; I had been underground for almost four years with him'n Sidi. Due to the bond with Red I can summon bone attacks; on my own I create shields and fireballs and can use a short-range teleport. I also have a year's supply of monster candy on me."
Grillz/Fuku
Grillz watched with surprise as the blaster became a small skeleton. The corners of his mouth twitched up. He had a major soft spot for kids. And this one seemed like a real sweet kid. He was very concerned, however, about bringing a child into a situation like this. It seemed downright irresponsible! He wasn't one to tell other people how to raise their kids, but he would never put a young one in this kind of peril. And then he remembered that he had allowed his daughter to get kidnapped. So maybe he didn't have very much room to talk. He glanced around and decided it was his turn once again.
"As I said already, I'm Grillz. I have experience in fighting in some of the earliest battle in the monster human war." He paused, painfully aware that he was the oldest one present by a longshot. He continued. "I'm mainly a ranged fighter, using a bow and magical arrows. However, I can also do close combat with my fire abilities. But that isn't ideal. Like most of my kind, I have high attack, but low defense. But I have a lot of health, so there is a bit of a buffer. I'm not fast, but I'm agile.
"On a different note, I believe that if we are to begin exploring this place, I should be at the head of the party. Shadows conceal many enemies, but I can light things up easily. Also, I'm a bit bulkier than anyone else here, so I can provide a bit of cover. And if I have regular healing, I make an effective wall." He smoothed out some wrinkles in his vest, wondering if anyone would protest.
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
He bristled as Dove said she was tied to Reds magic, and a wave of anger and jealousy went through him but he managed not to act on it. He surveyed everyone as they listed off their abilities and nodded at Grillz as he spoke. "okay. me and hot stuff here will take the lead and be on the outskirts of a fight when one happens."
He closed his eyes and put a hand over his chest as it glowed slightly, focusing on his bond to locate Red. He turned to a hallway on their left and started down it, motioning with his hand for the others to follow. "this way, i can feel him."
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
Erebus waved a hand absently as he turned back to his Subject 1. Red was still unconscious, though it looked that Vex was starting to wake up. Good thing Erebus had already gagged him. For the moment, he was focused on fixing his broken magic.
"YES, YES, KILL THEM IF YOU MUST. I REALLY DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO RANDOM MONSTERS. THESE TWO AND HUMANS ARE ALL THAT INTEREST ME. SO FEEL FREE TO USE WHATEVER FORCE YOU DEEM NECESSARY TO KEEP THEM AWAY. THEY'RE JUST ANNOYING LITTLE PESKS, AFTER ALL."
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
The group had filed out, following behind Grillz and Pap. Tallow brought up the rear, occasionally taking a mental head count of everyone. Perhaps he miscounted, or perhaps he missed someone between Ruby's exuberant bouncing and the flickering light cast by the fire elemental.
But it didn't occur to him until sometime later that they were missing someone.
--
Vesper was easy prey. Alone, in the near dark, just coming out of a panic attack. He couldn't stand to be around so many strangers, all bickering and squabbling and even once they settled -- he felt like he didn't know them at all. So when another skeleton appeared, tail flicking, he didn't think twice about it.
Which might have been his first mistake.
*where did they go
"i don't....know?"
*yikes
*youre just shy of completely useless arent you
*well
*thats not true
*i do have a use for you
Vesper didn't even have time to react before the smaller skeleton was on him, pinning him to the floor with a hand on his skull and the bladed tip of his tail pressed between his vertebrae. The sensation caused Vesper to seize up, a whimper escaping his throat.
*dont move
*if you move ill sever your spine
*understand
Vesper whimpered again.
*call out to them
*bring them back here
"i can't. i don't know their names. i was...out of it when they were introducing themselves."
*try anyways
He pressed harder, and pain lanced up his spine.
"Aghk!!! Help! Please! Anyone...!" Bix's free hand closed around an arm, gently positioning it across his leg.
*louder
"H-Help!!"
He sighed.
*lets motivate you
*i want you to really get their attention ok
*scream real loud
He broke his arm without blinking, leaving the limp to dangle as the lanky skeleton screamed for help.
--
Ruby froze, "OH NO. WE FORGOT VESPER. WHAT DO WE DO?" She knew they weren't supposed to split up but...they had to go back for him!
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
Fisk looked over at Ruby with surprised eyes. Did she mean that shy skeleton from before? After looking around for him, she also noticed that he was gone. It made her eyes wide, body just barely shaking. no, no... calm down F, this isn't a time to have a panic attack After a deep sigh, she looked back, a sharpness in her eyes. She could hear something, far in. They were pretty far in already so, it was hard to hear from their starting point, but she could hear it... a scream for help.
"As much as I wish to go back for him... I can't help but feel like Gaster would..." She had no place to talk. To leave someone behind, she felt horrible! Even if it is a trap, she needed to. She was DETERMINED to get Vesper back. "We need to hurry in that case, before Gaster finds him."
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove cringed internally, a grimace flitting across her face before she could force it back into a neutral smile. "Fisk's right. anyone working with Gaster and making that kind of sound... if their trap doesn't work, the bait's dead or worse than dead."
Puppy had since returned to his blaster form, but bobbed up and down in an imitation of a nod.
Grillz/Fuku
Grillz turned toward the sound of the cry. Damn it! They had only just started and things were already going awry. He scowled and looked back the way they were heading. It was very likely, as they had said, a trap, or at least a diversion. Red, Vex, and Fuku were somewhere deep in this dark place, probably in the other direction. But the one they had left--Vesper? --needed help. But the three prisoners might not have a lot of time. Grillz hated this. This decision was really testing his morals. What to do? What was most important?
"...You all can go back. I'm going to keep going. I have to find them." He turned away from them, as he did his morals. It was hard. But for his daughter and his lover he would cast away all morals. There was no one he wouldn't sacrifice for them. ... and that realization scared him a little.
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
Pap cringed and closed his eyes, trying to block out the cry of distress. It hurt him, but he'd made his decision before the others even started talking about it. "...im going to keep going too. come on grillz, red and Vex don't feel like they have a lot of time."
He started walking again, away from the sound. His fists clenched in his pockets, hating himself even more than usual. But...he wasn't going to risk Red's life for someone he didn't even know. However he did pause for a moment and turn his head slightly to the group behind him. "...im sorry."
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
"NOW THEN." Erebus lifted Red's hand to examine the damage to the plate. "WELL WELL WELL. YOU DID A NUMBER ON IT. I'M SURPRISED YOU DIDN'T OUTRIGHT DIE. ONE OF THOSE MEDDLERS SAVED YOU, DID THEY? OR DID ALL OF THEM? IT DOESN'T MATTER. I CAN FIX THIS." He hooked up an HP stabilizer to Red's soul directly, powering it on. Then he grabbed his tools. This would be fun.
Red was starting to wake up by then, blinking hazily. His hand, his hand hurt, his neck was... His eye sockets snapped open wide as he focused on Erebus with a buzz saw. That dark grin... Oh stars, it was too much like his nightmare. But the way his hand hurt. He gasped in as deep a breath as he could get, with the straps in place. "no. no no no don't don't d-aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The buzz saw dug into his wrist and he screamed, body going rigid, as bone and marrow was split. Erebus was literally cutting his hand off, and he was screaming his non-existent lungs out.
Papyrus jerked against his restraints, shouting around the gag in his mouth. He summoned a few bones, that shot at Erebus. ...20 damage each. They hardly put a dent, and Erebus didn't even turn around. "CAREFUL, SUBJECT 2! IF MY HAND SLIPS, I MIGHT TAKE OFF PART OF HIS RADIUS AND ULNA, TOO."
The bones stopped. Red was still screaming. His HP shuddered down to 0.5, then was yanked back up by the machine. His wrist was cut halfway through.
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
Tallow whistled again, sharply. ((DO I NEED TO REPREAT MYSELF OVER AND OVER AGAIN SO SOMEONE FUCKING LISTENS?)) His signing was sharp and aggressive, eyelight flaring violet. Pap and Grillz had already gotten ahead, and he let out a frustrated sigh. ((I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL THEM MYSELF.)) He rubbed his forehead, closing his eyes for a moment when...
Bix appeared before them with a crack, immediately lashing out at the closest person: Fisk. It was oddly silent, considering all the screaming before -- and Ruby suddenly felt incredibly guilty. They were too late. Too much time spent debating, too much time arguing -- and now...
She cast a shield up to protect Fisk, and the small, tailed skeleton snarled.
*your friend was pathetic
*useless
*hardly worth the effort
*but you dont care do you
*you left him there to rot
*heh
*your turn now
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
The girl was looking at Tallow when he was speaking, and was even going to say something when Bix showed up. Her eyes went wide, entire body shaky when it looked like the skeleton was about to attack her. She was about to break inside. The screams she had heard, about to be attacked. 'Red... RedRedRedRedRed!' All the while the shield was on her, her fear slowly turned into anger, eye starting to glow red in self-defense.
'No... not yet, not yet... be patient...' She pulled out her shield, quietly gulping to herself. If she was going to OVERLOAD, she might as well do her best to get to Red. "Tallow... as much as I agree to your words, to stick together and everything, unless you wanna see me kill everyone, I need to go, NOW!"
FISK FLEES
Who knows where she went, she just instinctively ran off, past Pap and Grillby, to protect the strangers around her.
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove froze, a high-pitched whine of pain escaping between her teeth. For a heartbeat, all she could do was clutch her wrist, trying not to scream in pain as well, before she blinked to Pap's side without hesitation. Her good hand reached out, grabbing the skeleton. "take us to Red. now. I have the magic."
And then a newcomer dropped into the fray at Ruby's side, out of a knot of strange, water-textured ribbons. She wore a cloak made of oversized crow feathers and a beaked mask, and held a tall staff that coiled around a small star. The dim corridor was filled with near-blinding light; shadows now offering no hiding spots if they were cast by the light of the staff. To everyone here, her presence seems to fill the very building; it's like standing next to the sun.
Grillz/Fuku
Red's screaming shot at them like bullets. Hearing his love scream in such agony made Grillz want to curl up in cry. Distressed, his flames took on a paler color and dimmed significantly.
And then Dove appeared beside them and he nearly shrieked and attacked, fearing an ambush. Luckily he caught himself, though he could feel decades being taken off his life. every minute they were there. He watched her grab Pap and her words clicked together like a puzzle. Of course! He put a hand on Pap's shoulder.
"You can teleport like Red can, yes? And you have a soul bond with him? Do as she said. You can use that to take us right to Red, can't you?" Fuck Jealousy. Fuck pride. They had to get there before it was too late! They were running out of time!
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
He felt the moment Red woke up, and gasped at his panic. And then...oh god.
Pap stumbled onto one knee and couldn't stop himself from screaming in time with Red as his hand was getting severed. "RED! oh my god oh my god..."
He cradled his wrist and tears sprung to his eyes. "oh god, im gonna kill him! he's cutting off his hand we need to move now!"
He managed to stand up and nod at both of them. "yes, i can. let's go." He grabbed both of them and reached for his magic, gasping softly as he felt Dove's well up within reach. Shit, that'll be helpful.
"hold on tight, and be ready to fight."
He teleported them to where he felt Red was, and his gaze immediately locked onto Red. "red!!"
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
Vex yanked against his restraints again helplessly, as Erebus continued to saw at Red's hand. He felt it, then. Dove's bond with him. And through it, in a roundabout way, the bond to Red, and even fainter, Red's bond to Pap. Their magics were tangling together, and she if not the others would be able to feel the terror, the outright age regressing horror of being back here, of remembering, all at once, all of the horrible things that had happened to him. Tears welled up and began to pour down his face and he made a choked sound through the gag.
Red was in too much pain to focus on anything. Stars, it was worse than when the plate was put on. Tears streamed down his own face as he cried out still, no longer like before, but heaving sobs and cries, arm rigid. Erebus switched the saw to a manifested purple hand as he turned to look at his visitors. A fire elemental, a skeleton intriguingly similar to Subject 2, and...
"WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? MY TEST SUBJECTS BEFRIENDED A HUMAN? FASCINATING. COME HERE, CHILD."
Another manifested hand shot out, grabbed her by the throat, and lifted her up. Still a third hovered over her chest, summoning her soul to look at.
"OH DEAR, IT APPEARS TO BE CRACKED. YOU'RE USELESS TO THE BARRIER DEAD, AREN'T YOU? BUT NOT ENTIRELY SO... I THINK YOU'RE MY NEW SUBJECT 4."
A dozen purple bones appeared to shoot at Grillz and Pap, as if as an afterthought. He didn't give one shit about them. He turned back to glance at Red, as his HP jerked back down to 0.5, then back to 1. His wrist had an inch left and he was dry-heaving now, on the verge of passing out.
Fuku was strapped in with metal bands on a table in the corner, an afterthought. She didn't mean anything either.
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
Tallow sighed at the appearance of the newcomer. Great. Another person to keep tabs on. Although, she seemed quite capable of handling herself. And benevolent. This he could handle. He looked down to Ruby and clapped a hand on her shoulder, ((You two, take care of him, for fuck's sake. I'm going to...attempt to save the fools that just rushed headlong into danger.))
Ruby nodded, summoning her shield and spear.
"GOOD LUCK TALLOW. PLEASE BE CAREFUL." She turned to Crow and smiled, "HIYA! NO TIME FOR INTRODUCTIONS. LETS DO THIS!"
Bix pounced.
--
The bones certainly would have impaled Pap and Grillz, but a blast of violet light disintrigrated them before they could hit. A blaster floated, menacingly, staring Erebus down as it hovered protectively over the other two monsters. A smaller blast of black fire was aimed at the summoned hands, attempting to free Dove from the monster's grasp.
A swift smack to the back of Pap's head announced Tallow's arrival, the boss skeleton hefting his scythe over his shoulder, manifested hands signing,
((When this is all over, and we're all sore and miserable, I'm going to kick your asses back to your respective timelines. What part of "stay as a group" are we not understanding?))
He whistled sharply, trying to get Erebus' attention.
((Hey ass face...wait. We have similar faces. Hey you. Yeah. With the nasty ass intentions. Why don't you, uh, fuck off??))
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
Oh, oh stars. Where is she? It looked to be around where she used to be kept. She was able to slow down enough to look around, trying to pinpoint her location. Oh, yes, the cell was right there. Wait, no, she needs to hurry over to the main lab room, because working on the both of them at once would have to result them in the same room for sake of safety. The main lab would be the only place where that could even be done. So, she went and made a couple turns, then she stopped in her tracks.
She can't let them know she was there, not yet. If she could be a surprise attack to gaster, it might give them enough time. So, Fisk stayed flat against the wall, keeping as silent as possible as she looked over towards the door. She needed to be careful, one wrong move could cause some serious trouble. So, she closed her eyes, and slowly pulled out a pill bottle. Pure DETERMINATION and magic, she pulled a single pill out with a deep breath. If she took one or two, she can stay in control. But for now, lets see where this goes.
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Hand on her throat, lifting her up. It wasn't crushing her windpipe yet and hadn't started to cut off blood circulation to her brain-- ah, he wanted her alive. For now. A grin forced itself onto her face, despite the pain and lack of air. She had at least three minutes, four and a half if she could keep calm--
Dove was going to kiss Tallow after this, she really was. She couldn't've asked for a better distraction! Her left eye lit up red, her right orange as she drew on both bonds, sending the boys her icy, calculating nature. She had a plan. Bones erupted under her feet to try and relieve the pressure from her neck, while much smaller ones went for the straps holding Vex and Red down, trying to slice through without damaging either of them.
---
Puppy had followed the jump, but landed himself on the other side of the room. A wolfish grin split his jaw wide as he summoned six more mini-blasters, charging and waiting for the opportune moment to fire. Though if mama didn't rescue herself and soon--
---
The masked Huntress saluted Ruby, slinging her staff into Bix's path and firing off a burst of white fire. It was remarkably similar to Dove's silvery flames, but much hotter, much brighter, and much, much, MUCH stronger.
Grillz/Fuku
Grillz braced himself for the impact from the bones. But they never came. Tallow's blast saved him and Pap from significant damage. He looked back gratefully at the tall (irritated looking) skeleton. He was motioning with his hands, but Grillz had no clue what any of it meant. He shook his head.
"I don't understand, but thank you"
He took his chance and dashed across the room to the table where his daughter was restrained. Fuku turned her head and saw her father coming towards her.
"Daddy!" Oh thank god, he had come to save her and Red! This had been a nightmare! Grillz reached the slab and held his daughter's face.
"Fuku! Oh baby..." He felt his insides drop. Fuku had clearly been doused with water. One entire side of her face was no longer ablaze. Her core was cracked from the sudden change in temperature. Looking at the injury, he saw that the wound would never fully heal. It had been out for too long. Grillz felt his fear and anxiety turning to cold fury in his gut. The ones he cared most about in the whole world had been hurt. He wasn't going to let this go.
"Hold on, Baby girl. I'll get you out of there as soon as I can. But for now, daddy has business to take care of."
He turned back to the creature that had orchestrated all of this and moved away from the table to keep Fu out of the line of fire. Then grillz summoned his weapon for the fist time in years. An orange long bow, nearly as tall as the elemental himself, appeared in his grip, glowing as bright as Grillby's flames. He drew back the string and a rod of fire knocked itself in place. Then he let it fly, aiming for Erebus's middle.
Pap/Null/Haze
Pap braced for impact, but was startled when it never came. He yelled at the smack to the back of his head and gave Tallow a glare. "i couldn't wait any longer! besides it wasn't my idea."
He got out of the middle of the fight, rushing to Vex' side first to try and get the straps undone. First, he removed the gag from him, then summoned a razor sharp bone to slice at the restraints. "come on Vex, if you can keep hitting him, please do. we're gonna need all the help we can get." He wanted so badly to have run to Red first, but he knew Vex would be able to help them in a fight.
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
Vex didn't really look to be in any state to do any fighting. When the gag was removed, he coughed a bit, hands tightening into fists. With Dove's bones and Pap's help, his hands were soon free, and then his ankles. He struggled to sit up... only to to slip off the table and land in a heap on the floor, bones rattling, breathing too rapidly. For once, he sounded to be the one on the verge of a panic attack. But then Dove's wave of icy calm washed over him from the bond. He grabbed the edge of the table and started to force himself up, eyes starting to glow.
"R-RIGht... right..." His voice was... far too quiet. Not at all like its usual screechy, high tone. Nonetheless, he lifted a trembling hand, summoning ten bones to shoot at Erebus.
The scientist dodged out of the way of Grillz's flaming arrow - and it narrowly missed Pap, good job - but some of the bones Vex summoned hit. Five of them, for 100 damage total. He was at 4,800/5,000... And mostly focused on the human in front of him until the bones landed. Then he whipped his head around, the hand around Dove's neck tightening a little. "I SEE YOU'VE UPPED YOUR ATTACK, SUBJECT 2, BUT YOU'RE NOT NEARLY STRONG ENOUGH," he said with a twisted grin. Vex shrank back, still only on his knees, one hand gripping the edge of the table for dear life.
The buzz saw finished slicing through the bone of Red's wrist at last. His hand clattered to the floor as the manifested purple hand turned off the saw, put it down, and picked up a power drill to begin the process of applying a new plate to his left hand. Just then, the straps holding Red down were finally filed through by Dove's bones, but Red, sputtering for breath and delirious from the pain, couldn't even begin to try and get off the table. His hand was just gone, and he was gaping at the wound left behind, heavily bleeding marrow, in utter shock from the whole ideal. It was actually. Gone.
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
Bix startled at the fire, narrowly avoiding being scorched. He bared his teeth at the huntress, scarcely noticing that Ruby had moved behind him -- blinking across the short space to drive the blade of her spear through his tail, pinning him in place.
He yelped amd whirled around, claws gouging into her face and eye socket.
"AHGK! PUT HIM OUT!"
--
Tallow noticed that Red had been freed, and watched as the air nearby rippled. Another newcomer? He wasn't going to complain at this point. They needed all the help they could get. He rushed forward, whistling at Erebus to get the Gaster's attention, flipping the bird for a good measure of sass. The tall, lanky skeleton with the fiery mane put a gentle hand on Red's shoulder, keeping an eye on the distracted Gaster.
"Hey," Ryder said, "Sorry I'm late. Need a hand?" He stopped, and let out a breath, "Well, I'm officially the worst monster on the planet. Look at what you've done to me. Now I'm making very bad, very terribly hurtful jokes. You're rubbing off on me." He reached out and took what remained of Red's wrist gently, applying a bit of his own healing magic. "Babe, look at me. This is gonna hurt like hell, and I'm sorry. But if I dont do this and you keep losing marrow, you'll die."
"One, two, three-" A flash of white light left the bones cauterized, and he immediately switched back to healing magic to ease the pain.
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk - 06/30/2017
Fisk was just trying to understand the situation, keeping quiet until she eventually came away from the wall, into the room. It seemed that some yellow was escaping her eye. Oh, shit, she was preparing to overload, if she hasn't already. She only took two pills, but even still, that's double her usual dosage. Expect to have a bad time if she attacks. The more distractions, the better.
'Would you look at that, another annoying Gaster.'
She looked at Tallow with a apologetic look. She had completely forgot about him.
'No offense.'
She was keeping an eye on everyone taking care of Red and Vex from the corner of her eye, her glove now removed as she got a creepy smirk on her face, the yellow in her eye starting to flare, and even some more pills in her hand if needed.
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Crow unceremoniously cracked Bix across the back of the skull; fully intending to merely knock him out. That accomplished, she offered Ruby a small vial of a green-glowing solution. "here, universal regenerative solution. should do ya." Her voice sounded... suspiciously like Dove's, but was deeper and more forceful.
---
Puppy's blasters moved into place, all six firing off to try and contain Erebus while he himself fired straight down the middle. Of course, if the asshole managed to dodge it would hit mama, but Mama knew this trick and knew what to do.
---
Dove whirled her walking stick into place in front of her, summoning her shield. The glowing green magic shield arched from the ends of the stick, fully four and a half feet in diameter, curved just enough to protect her hand from getting fried. Correction, two minutes. Her free hand reached up, digging into the construct gripping her throat and trying to rip it away. Silver flames coated her hand as she accessed her instinctive magic. She had to trust the others could protect Red and Vex for now; she had to worry about herself first now that they were free.
Grillz/Fuku
Grillz cursed in his first language (which sounded like a log cracking violently in a fire) as his arrow missed. Was Erebus impossible to hit or was he out of practice? Maybe both. The firing of the blasters made him flinch. He was glad those little things weren’t aimed at him. He averted his eyes from the bright attack and spotted Red slumped on the ground and gasping beside yet another monster that he didn’t recognize. Well the more the merrier. As long the more was on their side and Erebus didn’t have any reinforcements.
At the moment, the blasters seemed to have things as under control as they could be, so he took his chance and dashed across to Red's side. He let his bow disappear and put a hand on his knee, trying not to look at the cauterized stump where his hand used to be.
"Red," he said in a voice that was forcibly calm, "it's going to be okay. We're here. And soon I'll take you home. It will be all right."
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
Pap swore as the arrow narrowly missed him. "watch where you're aiming hot stuff!"
As Red's wound was cauterized he doubled over himself, letting out a scream of pain as the sheer agony rippled across their bond. At least he wasn't bleeding anymore, he'd be safe for now. Once he regained his senses he turned to look at Vex, expression softening slightly as he grasped his arm. "Vex, look at me. we can do this. im going to teleport you over to your brother, and i need you to protect him while the rest of us distract that asshole. if you can, launch some attacks at him when you get the chance, but the most important thing is that you keep yourself and red alive. alright?"
He waited for a confirmation before teleporting them across the small battlefield to get to Red. He grimaced at the wounds and sent some loving and soothing vibes through the bond to try and calm Red down. "babe, we've got this, okay? Vex is right here, he's okay. he's gonna watch over you while we finish this fucker off. just keep breathing. i love you." He pressed a kiss to Red's forehead before snapping his attention back to the Gaster. "come on flame boy, let's keep him occupied."
Summoning his magic, he made a row of blue bones erupt from the ground under Erebus, each one doing one damage per second that it was in contact with the other monster. This way, he hopefully was able to make him a little less mobile.
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
Red was slowly growing too numb to even panic, though staring at his marrow-dripping wrist in shock was not helping matters. He snapped his gaze up as Ryder appeared (and the corresponding ring appeared beside Grillby's). Okay, honestly, despite the situation, he might've laughed at his fiancé’s very distasteful hand joke, but he just didn't have the breath for it. What he did instead was just let out a low sound something like a wheeze, and his left hand clasped around Ryder's. He hardly had time to process the words and meet Ryder's gaze before the searing pain in his wrist doubled. A half-stifled yell of pain later, he was slumped against the other skeleton, gasping and trembling. "hhh... th-thanks..." he forced out, struggling to gain some semblance of composure. They were all in danger, he needed to stop freaking out and help, damn it! His gaze flickered to Grillz and he nodded breathlessly. At least someone around was calm. As was Dove, it seemed... The calmness from her was surprising, given how she was clawing at a hand around her throat...
Erebus whipped his head around at Tallow's whistle, and scowled. He blocked the oncoming attack just in time to hear blasters charging behind him, ah, that was how they wanted to play this...? The manifested hand's grip on Dove's neck didn't waver as he suddenly dissolved into goo, thereby dodging Puppy's blasts. No telling where they would ricochet from Dove's shield. The goo half-formed again, and a too-big hand shot out to start wrapping around Fisk, sticky and trapping. "TWO HUMANS? MY, MY, AND WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO YOU, WITH EYES LIKE THOSE? A SUBJECT 5! EXCELLENT!"
"sh-shit... i c-can't, oh god, i can't..." Vex trembled on his knees, voice still far too quiet, almost childlike with terror. He nearly whimpered when Pap grabbed his arm, looking up at his alternate with an almost broken expression. Right, he had to... He had to protect Red. As much as he wanted to curl up and let someone protect him, like the child he still was inside, he had a duty... He took a deep breath, trying to center himself with Dove's calm, and nodded. "r-RIGHT. YES. TH-THANK YOU." He got back to his feet and allowed Pap to teleport him to Red's side. Ryder and Grillz were both there for healing and moral support, and he forced himself to plant his feet there and summon his sword. He'd be defense. He could do this...
[ *Almost out of breath, are we? My friend, just hold on a bit longer. I apologize for the wait.]
As Erebus's goopy form attempted to wrap more around Fisk, Dove's shadow moved. Something goopy sprang from it too, a lighter shade, almost tinged blue, and it latched onto Erebus's form, starting to spread. The scientist jerked and snarled. "GET OFF OF ME, THREE!"
"No."
Suddenly, a voice which only Dove had been able to hear before rang out in the room. A girl's voice, polite, sophisticated like an adult's, and yet clearly one of a child.
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
Just as things were beginning to get out of hand, Ruby appeared, kicking open a door and dumping Bix on the floor a tad bit unceremoniously. Listen. She was tired, and still a bit irate at nearly losing an eye. She had thanked Crow for the vial of, well, whatever it was – as it made her pain ease and erased any damage the small fell had done.
“CHEERS BOYOS, RESCUE'S HERE!” She didn't hesitate, rushing to Dove's aid as she smashed into the manifested hand with her shield – avoiding Dove's face with a precise aim. “SORRY DOVE, RAN INTO A BIT OFA SNAG.”
–
Tallow chuckled silently.
((That's alright. I am an annoying Gaster.)) As if to emphasize his point, he rushed the half trapped, and now goopy Gaster – summoning his scythe. He'd take off his head! He'd – FUCK!! One of puppy's blasts ricocheted, and he was forced to duck and roll to avoid being seared into dust. He couldn't wait to lay into all of them about team work when this was all over.
–
Ryder looked over at Grillz, the fire on his skull flaring at the suggestion of taking Red home. He tried not to be jealous, knowing that this was somehow an amalgamation of all of the timelines, but he couldn't help the twinge in his soul. In another universe, Red wasn't engaged to him. He forced himself to take a calming breath, to focus on his magic. And then he heard her, the voice of 'Subject 3'.
He looked between Vex, and the other skeleton he didn't recognize, slipping out a quiet, “We need to get them out of here...” as he watched Erebus struggle with the goopy hold he was stuck in.
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
Fisk gasped out in surprise, the goop seeming to be quick to wrap around her. She knew she couldn't come back from this, a growl trying to escape her throat as she kept her breathing from going too quick. Her glow in her eye started to die down when the tightness got worse, tears in her eyes as she gazed over towards Red and Vex's new location. She can’t... not yet. She wanted to attack Erebus, but the other goop forced her not to. Instead, she tried to force the goop off her, knowing that it was futile to doing so. If anything, she was hoping the others would forget about her, and leave her behind. After all... what importance is she?
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove gasped in relief as the hand was finally knocked away. Her soul erupted in silver flames, attacking the hand still cupping it. "thank." Tiny voice, soft voice, that was a bit too close for comfort.
Crow, meanwhile, headed straight for the goopy group. She's experienced with working with groups, though, and switched from her staff to a strange twisted sword that a flick of the wrist separated into two. She waited for Tallow to recover before attacking, though; unlike these nerds she's got experience fighting as a group.
Grillz/Fuku
Grillz watched everything happening around him, crouching protectively beside Red. Everything was chaos, but also different kinds of chaos. There were attacks flying, words being flung, new people appearing every few minutes... God, everything was absolutely insane. Then, through all the chaos, a flash of silver caught his eyes, falling as the mad man who was the reason for everything turned to sludge. He locked onto it. Keys. Those were keys! They were batted around a bit in the fight and skittered across the floor.
His gaze flicked up again to where his daughter was still locked onto the table. This might be his only chance to free her. The last thing he wanted to do was leave Red's side, but he knew he was in good hands. All these people were here to save Red. But Fuku only had him. He reached out and grabbed hold of the one who had appeared beside Red earlier-the cat headed skeleton-to get his attention.
"Take care of him. I'll be back quick." He said, not knowing if the other could hear him over the sounds of the fight. Then he stood up and made a dive for the keys.
Pap/Null/Haze
Pap looked up as the newcomer spoke quietly to him, and nodded. "i know we do. but red can't go anywhere yet. that machine that's hooked up to him is the only thing keeping him alive. even if his raised HP from bonding with me transferred over as the universes meshed it wouldn't be enough to allow him to survive without it." He looked to Vex and Red, then to the large machine that was keeping Red alive.
Fuck, how could he get him out of here? He thought for a moment and an idea popped into his head, and he glanced up at the other with some hope. "okay, i have an idea. ive been able to look at a smaller version of this machine before, i think i might be able to modify it enough to make it portable. but...id have to turn it off to do so. do you have enough healing magic to keep red going for a few minutes while i fix it?"
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
"gh... three...?" Red repeated to himself, still gripping Ryder's left hand with his own, trembling one. It was keeping him grounded for the moment. That and Pap and Dove's calm emanating from the bonds. A deep breath, and he could sit straighter, eye magic sputtering to life at last.
"i'm not leaving until everyone else does too." That was directed at both of them, though his gaze planted steadily on Pap's.
"WE CAN'T JUST RUN WHILE YOU FIGHT OUR BATTLES," Vex agreed, seeming to be far more in control now from his panic earlier.
"You there!" The girl's voice sounded again from the goop, as a face slowly rose from it. Her gaze was fixed on Fisk. "Hello, nice to meet you, I'm so sorry for the goopy mess. This will be tight a moment."
"YOU'RE NOT PULLING ME BACK THERE WITH YOU, THREE!"
"Oh, am I not? Watch me, Father."
The bluish face sank back down a little as it gave a massive tug. Erebus resisted, indeed tightening on Fisk's body a moment. But then with another heave, he was ripped away, shouting in fury.
"Everyone, I can't keep him locked up forever. You should use this time to regroup, yes? Heave ho!"
Both puddles dissolved until there was nothing but a faint stain on the floor, and a fading scream from Erebus.
There was a moment of silence, as both brothers looked around, assessing the situation. Grillz was at his daughter's side, there was Bix unconscious on the floor, Tallow had his scythe. Ryder was still healing Red's wrist. Fisk was unfortunately covered in goop. Who the fuck was the green lady? Dove seemed okay too, thanks to Ruby's help. Pap was there behind Vex. And...
Oh.
"...WHERE IS VESPER?"
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
The silence that stretched after Vex' question was uncomfortable. Ruby rubbed the back of her neck, frowning softly. She didn't want to be the one to tell him - nope, nope, nope.
--
Bix slowly began to come to, groaning softly as he picked himself up off the floor. His skull throbbed painfully, and he wobbled before plunking back down -- too unsteady to attempt to stand. Ow.
*where
*where am i
Clearly he had no recall as to what had happened. Or what he had done.
--
((They fucked up,)) Tallow said, tapping Vex on the shoulder. He was absolutely throwing everyone under the bus. ((We were supposed to stick together, because Bix,)) he gestured over his shoulder, ((Was hunting us down. Not his fault. Mind control and all that bullshit.)) He still didn't tell him where Vesper was.
--
Ryder nodded at Pap, "I can keep him stable for a long time. Let's get him mobile." He wasn't listening to Red. They needed to get out of here - or at least get Red and Pap to safety.
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
The human 's eyes went wide from the tightness, but then heaved in relief when the tightness was gone, collapsing onto the floor and panting heavily. She seemed to be out of it for a couple moments, but was internally thanking the goop that Erebus had called 'Three'. But then came the question from Vex, her entire body froze up, she had no idea how to reply to it. True, she had never met him until this incident, but saw him.
Fisk was more than likely going to regret it for many resets. But even so... she did not believe she was the one that should say it. She could only gaze at Vex for a moment with pained and guilty eyes before looking away. But then it processed, all this goop. She looked like she was gonna be sick, but held back for the sake that she took account into what Three said. They didn't have much time, she should really just get the goop off and actually come up with a plan with the others. So instead she stood up wobbly, and started to force the gunk off her and onto the floor around her. But then came the look that she was about to be sick as she did so.
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove rubbed her throat, but her eyebrows shot up. "who the hell is Vesper?" Her voice was even more raspy than usual, after being choked for so long.
Crow returned her dual blades to a single sword, then swept over, holding up a number of healing items. "alright, heal bitch here, who needs it?" Dove was handed one of the little vials. "and have none of you fucknuts worked together before?"
Grillz/Fuku
Grillz all but entirely ignored the group behind him as he unlocked his daughter's bonds. Once Fuku was free, she sat up and threw her arms around her father. Grillby pulled her close to his body, almost entirely enveloping her in his embrace. Thank god she was safe.
"Daddy..."
"Oh baby girl! My baby girl! Shh... It’s okay. It's gonna be okay now. You're gonna be okay. Come on, let's see it."
He pulled back and took her face in his hands, turning and tilting her head gently as he assessed the damage. It wasn't pretty. There was no hiding the blatantly obvious bald spot on her face, void of her bright green flames, leaving the cracked core underneath.
"Is it bad?" She asked him, already able to read the answer on his face. He gave her a somewhat pained expression and released her face, taking her hands instead.
"We might be able to keep it from scarring. Perhaps we can get it lit once again. We can't worry about that now. Can you stand?" She answered by doing just that. "Good. Fufu, you need to get out of there. We don't have much time until that beast returns. Take that hall over there and follow it out to the main lab, okay? I'll follow you once everything is d-"
"Wait! Wait, dad, you're telling me to leave?" She asked incredulously. "No! I'm not leaving. I'm staying to help you all fight."
"Fuku we don't have time for this!" Grillz groaned in exasperation. "Don't be difficult. Don't try playing at being a hero-"
Playing?!" She cut her father off again, staring at him with disbelief and anger. "I'm sorry, is this a game, dad? What part of this makes you think I'm playing? Huh? Oh yeah, being tortured and used as bait was so damn fun I can't wait to do it again."
Grillz regretted his words and quickly backpedaled. "No. This isn't a game. You're right. I'm sorry, Sweetie. I'm... I'm scared as hell right now." He admitted, taking her hands again. "I was so close to losing the only people in the world who matter to me. The only family I have left. I don't want you to get hurt, baby girl."
Fuku's expression softened slightly. "Well... it's kinda late for that." She reminded him, jerking one of her shoulders at her ruined face. "I'm scared too, dad. But I can't run away from everything that scares me. I can be helpful to you. I can fight. So I'm going to fight."
"...have I told you how much like your mother you are?"
"All the time, dad."
"She was just as stubborn as you. And just as brave. Alright. Fight. But please, be careful. Don't go prematurely turning me to dust with worry."
"You don't need to worry, dad. You're the one who taught me everything I know. I'll make you proud of me. Just watch."
"I already am proud of you. I always have been."
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
Paps gaze softened as Red looked at him like that and said he was going to stay and fight. He let out a sigh and cupped his soulmate's cheek, rubbing it softly with a thumb, and pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "how'd i know you'd say that. red, look, this is not a battle you can fight right now, you either Vex." He glanced up at the taller brother. "you can't fight this by yourselves, let us do this one thing for you after everything you've done for all of us here. the way you can help us most is to get to safety where we won't be constantly checking to make sure you're both okay. then we can completely focus on beating this son of a bitch permanently."
He gave Red's cheek one last run before withdrawing and nodding up to Ryder. "alright, im gonna turn it off get ready." He flicked a switch on the machine and it died down. Alright, he could do this. He just needed time.
He began taking components apart and setting them in piled around him while he informed the others of his plan. "everyone listen up real quick! i can make this machine portable so we can get red and Vex out of here and safe but i need a little time. if you can buy me that then we can get these two safe so focus completely on this goopy motherfucker."
He got a zap to his finger and he hissed, shaking his hand. He glanced at Vex for a moment before returning to work. "Vex, before you argue about leaving, just stop. red can't get out of here on his own, and even if he could he's in no condition to protect himself. you need to protect him. he protected you when you were young and it's your chance to return the favor. im counting on you, Vex."
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
Red's eyes narrowed as Ryder flat out ignored what he said. And then as Pap cradled his face like a baby, his eye alit with red. He let go of Ryder and smacked the hand away. "don't fucking baby me!" he hissed. "i. am not. going. anywhere." He stood up, wobbly on his feet, and his hand caught Pap's in a death grip before it could flip off the machine. Despite minor wobbling, his grip was firm and even a little painful. He was not letting Pap turn it off. Before he could say anything, though, he processed the question. He felt a sudden chill.
"...WHO EXACTLY FUCKED UP? WHO SPLIT? DID THIS ONE, DID- EVERYONE PAY THE FUCK ATTENTION!" Vex's voice rose to ground-shaking levels, bone sword slamming down on the examination table he'd previously been occupying, destroying it with a crunch and screeching of metal.
"WHERE. THE FUCK. IS. MY VESPER??"
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
Ruby caved, "He's...he's... dead..." her voice was quiet, tears pricking at the corners of her sockets. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."
Tallow let out a huff of breath, ((He got left behind. Had an attack or something and couldn't keep up.))
"I wanted to go back..." Ruby said, mumbling.
((Pap, Dove, and Grillz split up first. I'm not laying blame, I'm just answering your question. Vesper was left alone and...)) a quick glance to Bix, ((And he was...killed...))
--
Across the room, Bix shrank against the wall in fear. Part of it was because deep down, he knew it was his fault. While the other part of him saw Vex as his brother. His eye lights narrowed to slits, and his breathing shallowed.
--
Ryder glared back, "Don't look at us like that. You're hurt. Badly. You want to fight? Fine. Then let Papyrus do his thing or you will die before you get to make the first punch. Understand?" He returned his grasp to Red's injured arm.
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
While the situation didn't seem all that good as is, Vex is really not helping any. She could understand he was pissed, apparently to skeleton meant a lot to him. It was all their faults, everyone had a part of the blame with them. To have a loved one killed, it does hurt. But she couldn't allow herself to be faltered. She hid her eyes as she let herself gulp "I don't know to a exact what really happened, I was caught in the middle of trying to figure out what was even going on, or where to go. We didn't even realize he was missing until it was too late." Her voice hurt, from the grip before, but she was able to at least wither something out.
Her head was pounding, hopefully after things go back to the way they were, he won't remember this in their own timeline. Because otherwise, she was expecting herself to get killed by him or worse. She took a silent look around, taking a light look at the situation. The fire elemental, he had a daughter? She never knew that, at least in her timeline... she hated seeing the kid like that, it seemed that some of her core went out. It didn't look good either. Hopefully she will be fine by the end. Red, he was still willing to fight. Fisk couldn't help but smile inside at that. But, the issue here was Gaster. Who was that three that had helped them by sending him back for some time?
She shook her head, back to the main focus. The human had always thought that maybe is she threw another liquid at him, he would have a weakness, but the time she tried it it didn't work. The only way, that she knew of, was by brute force and attack. She still had the shield that Red had made for her, so she could be a tank if needed, and she might have enough magic to stun him for a couple seconds, but she would lose control if she did that... Fisk has no idea what to do at this point.
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove was, much like Red and Vex, currently a mashup of two of her selves - and part of her was here for Bix. That was the part that took control, stalking over to Bix to look him over.
Crow rubbed the beak of her mask. "Save the emotions for later. Not that I don't feel for your loss, but right now we need to get out of here with as many of us alive as possible."
Grillz/Fuku
Grillz rejoined the main group, Fuku now at his side. His daughter was free and alive. He could lay most his worries about her to rest. But with those worries gone, guilt began worming it's way in to take their place. He really had left someone alone to die. Even if he hadn't known them and didn't care anything about them, it was clear that someone else did. Someone else was going to miss him and grieve for him. Christ, he had been through that himself before. And now he had let it befall Vex. But what was he supposed to do. It was a no win situation. Sure, now he knew that Fuku was safe, but back there he might have been choosing between a stranger's life and his daughter's. Gah... He shook his head, shoving those thoughts away. Later. He would address them later.
"We don't have a lot of time. You heard that monster. We need a plan. I recommend we form ranks to fight when the beast returns. Close range fighters in front. Then shields to protect those behind them. Then healers. And in the back long range fighters. What does everyone else think?"
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
Paps eyes widened as Red slapped his hand away before he narrowed them in brief anger. "i am NOT babying you red jesus! you just lost a hand for fucks sake!"
He hissed as Red gripped his hand painfully tight. He was about to snap at him when Vex started screaming like he'd never heard him scream before. He felt his soul sink as he realized what had happened. "Vex...i didn't...i didn't notice and when we did i...i felt red with his hand and i didn't think..."
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
Red felt the pain of grief flood through him, via the bond with Dove. Muted, nothing near what Vex would be feeling, but it was enough to make his breath catch. He loosened his grip on Pap's wrist, barely registering Ryder's words. He was right. Choking back the tears he knew Vex was choking back too, he let go altogether to let them work. His soul sought out Pap's for comfort. Dove was not an option; she was bordering on dissociation at this rate. And Pap was here. "go ahead, get me mobile," he said quietly.
He's dead. I'm sorry. Vex could hardly register the words. He tried to focus on Tallow's signing, but the burning in his soul, the overwhelming grief, made it hard to process. Left behind... Couldn't keep... Split up... Answering.... Vesper... And the glance. Vex's gaze followed. There was such fire in his throat. He was burning. And a part of him, the child still inside, wanted nothing more than to scream again. Scream and cry and wail and collapse into a ball, as useless and weak as he had ever been. Why did he let Vesper come? He knew it would be intense. Vesper had a panic attack without him and now... And now...
His grip on the sword tightened as his chest heaved. What could he do? Cry? Scream? Curl up? Run? Succumb?
"YOU... YOU ALL... ALL OF YOU... YOU JUST... LEFT... H-HIM... TO.... YOU... YOU!"
He was more known for strength than speed, but let it be said he was fast. He lifted his weapon and then was lunging for Bix, with every intent to get revenge in dust.
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
Bix couldn't think past trying to save his own life, adrenaline racing through his bones and manifesting as a whole array of blasters. But he didn't fight back. He only wanted to defend himself, fear choking out the words and apologies and cries of "no no no! please no!" In Vex he saw his brother, and though he hadn't landed a hit - he could already feel the pain of past beatings in his bones.
--
Tallow sighed, watching everything go to hell in a handbasket for the fourth time. His eyelight shimmered violet, and he blinked across the small space, colliding with Vex before pushing him back. "ENOUGH." He forcibly rasped, the word little more than a sparse wheeze -- though Tallow was surprised it came out at all. It hurt, but he had greater concerns.
A pair of spare hands signed aggressively, [[YOU'RE ALL THE WORST BUNCH OF MONSTERS I HAVE EVER HAD THE DISPLEASURE TO MEET. WORKING TOGETHER? NOT IN YOUR VOCABULARY. NOW, THEN,]] He pushed Vex back into a wall, locking him there with a show of great strength (and a little bit of magic). [[WE'RE GOING TO GET RED MOVING. GRILLBY IS GOING TO GET HIS DAUGHTER TO SAFETY. AND EVERYBODY ELSE, EVERYBODY ELSE IS GOING TO STICK TOGETHER AND FOLLOW GRILLBY'S PLAN. DO I MAKE MYSELF INCREDIBLY CLEAR?]]
Someone had to be in charge. Why not the boss monster?
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk - 09/08/2017
Fisk had flinched when Tallow had taken control of the situation. Well, at least someone did. The one known as Bix seemed to would have been murdered by Vex anyway. As much as she would have, this crowd would be one where she felt mellowed out, as if she had no real impact here. Out of all honesty, deep inside, she felt like she didn't belong along with the others. But she seemed to agree with the plan, only lightly nodding instead of speaking up. And she even seemed to be silently making hands. 'I understand.'
Dove/Crow/Puppy
One might have expected Dove to be frozen, torn between the dual natures that had influenced her here, but in such emergency situations she tended to have a priority list of reactions. Though she couldn't react as quickly as Tallow, she still put herself between Vex and Red. They would, if all went according to plan, be safe and have time to recover. That made Bix's retrieval and protection her next priority. Much as she hated to be forced to choose, she couldn't let Vex take his grief out on someone whose will hadn't been their own.
Crow sighed and looked at the tiny skeleton on her shoulder. "yer in th'back, Mellow."
"i know, sweets."
"ain't lettin' ya get stepped on."
"a'ight, fine, 'm goin'." Abruptly, there was another fell Sans in the mix, this one with an impressive skull crack, who shuffled grumpily back to lean against a wall. Crow watched the rest of the proceedings, debating smacking sense into her younger alternate later.
Puppy, for his part, went over to nuzzle Red comfortingly.
Grillz/Fuku
When she read Tallow's hands mention her, Fuku stuck out her chin defiantly. "I'm not leaving. Dad isn't taking me anywhere. I'm already here and I can fight. I'm going to fight. I've already had this conversation with my father. You're going to need me if you want to win this fight."
"She's a close range fighter." Grillz explained. "We don't have enough of those. We need someone in the front to press him, or else the distance fighters won't be able to land a hit. I can also be close range if I fight with magic instead of a weapon. So Fuku and I will be in the front. If anyone else fights close range, they come to the front too. After us, the shields. We need to get this together quickly." he simply ignored the sudden appearance of a new skeleton. By now, so many people had just appeared out of nowhere, he was beginning to expect it.
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
Paps soul reached out to Red's in return when he felt the other seeking comfort, sending soothing and loving waves to him to try and keep him calm. When Red let go of him he pressed a quick kiss to his forehead and nodded, getting back to work on the machine while still listening and watching the conversation. Everyone seemed to have Vex handled, so he didn't try to get involved.
When Grillz and his daughter spoke up he couldn't help the look of faint surprise on his face. Wow, that was one strong kid. And even though he didn't know her, he felt a sense of pride. "i can dance between close range and far range, but im no shield. i can possibly get on one of my blasters and hit him from above though, and get a good birds eye view."
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
"LET GO OF ME!" Vex screeched, grabbing ahold of Tallow's wrist and trying to wrench himself free. "LET GO, I WILL KILL YOU! HE KILLED MY LOVER! LET GO!"
"papyrus!" Red growled. "he didn't know what he was doing!"
"I DON'T CARE! VESPER IS DEAD!"
"and we're all gonna be dead if you don't calm down!" As he said it he flooded Dove, and by association Vex, with calming energy. There was the older brother in him, taking charge for the first time in decades. "remember how to do this! fight now, feel later!"
Vex glared at him, orange magic still flaring from his sockets. But after a long, tense moment, his shoulders slumped. He let go of Tallow's wrist.
"...RIGHT," he muttered, the magic dying down at last. "I'M SORRY."
Red nodded, then looked back at the machinery Pap was trying to detach to make him mobile. "pap, you're better off in the air near the back, long range. with only 1 hp and not a lot of room to dodge, close range is too risky for you. don't argue, just do it. bix, you're a glass canon, so you need to be near the front but ready to duck behind the shields if need be. yes? fisk, with your overload, you should stay near the front too. use the shield. ryder, your defense is through the roof, you're with the shields. ruby, short range, right? Vex in front, i'm in the back. don't have a lot of room to dodge myself, either, and with my hand... dove, shield position, and take a deep breath while you're at it. babybones-" Puppy "-long range. that should be everyone."
"RED, YOU REALLY-"
"shut the fuck up, i'm not leaving."
Vex closed his eyes, relenting. "PUT ME DOWN. I'M CALM."
While everyone was discussing tactics, there was some of the goop slowly, inconspicuously forming together again. Erebus was creeping back despite Three's efforts, and he was rising up in a discreet corner, about to strike Bix from behind.
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
Tallow felt like something was off. He scanned the room, fingers idly tapping against his hip when - oh no the fuck he didn't! He lunged for Bix -- shoving Dove to the side in the process -- grabbing the smaller skeleton by the front of his shirt and pulling him away. The action put the smaller skeleton right back into defensive mode as he moved further back to recover. And then, without even a little hesitation, he locked his fists together and smashed Erebus in the chin -- putting enough force into the blow to send him reeling at the very least (it would have broken a lesser monster's jaw).
Ruby cast a shield up over Red and Pap, giving them extra time to finish what they were doing, while throwing another Bix's way. He was scrambling to get to his feet, tail lashing and mind reeling from before.
[STAY TOGETHER] Tallow signed aggressively, several pairs of violet hands materializing. [NO MATTER WHAT. I'LL PUSH HIM. THE REST OF YOU STICK TO THE PLAN]
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
Fisk pulled out her shield from inventory, quietly gulping before taking another pill in order to stay overloaded. She really did not like where this was going, and while she could hold up as a shield, she had no idea how long she could stretch the overload like this. hopefully long enough for the battle because if not she will end up losing control. But for the time being, she went into formation and glared at Erebus, eyes a bright yellow from the magic.
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove stumbled aside, but managed to recover her balance without going down in a heap. The calm from Red helped with that, and she added her own to help Vex. She used the shield Ruby through up as cover to slip back towards the group, setting up one end of the defensive line herself. A green shield domed out around her staff, anchored to the ends of it.
* focus, Bix.
Most wouldn't notice the change in voice, but it's most familiar to Bix.
------
Puppy took up a position directly behind Dove, his blasters forming and charging, but holding their fire for now. Mellow's did the same.
Crow swiped some sort of paper down her blades, causing them to ignite in silvery flames that crackled and twisted like the solar flares of a strange sun before she joined the fray. Each of her movements was precise and under perfect control. No movement wasted, the moves moves of a fighter used to utterly destroying things far above her on a cosmic scale.
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
Pap nodded at Red as he was ordered to stay in the back, quickly returning his attention to the machinery in front of him. "that's fine with me, not about to argue with that logic."
He jumped a bit as Tallow moved quickly which was quickly followed by a harsh crunch sound as Erebus was hit. Fuck he didn't have nearly as much time as he would've liked. He shot Ruby a thankful glance as the shield was thrown up over him and Red, and he redoubled his efforts to fix the machine.
"okay okay i just need to rewire this and bend this piece this way..." He was mumbling to himself and cursed as he was electrocuted lightly from a misplaced live wire. It took him another two minutes--although it felt like an eternity longer--before he finished, tearing off a few strips of his favorite hoodie to use as makeshift straps to go over Red's shoulders.
He finished securing the strange backpack like machine to Red's back, double checking that everything was working before nodding to Red and giving him a quick kiss to the forehead. "be careful babe." Then he reluctantly pulled away and summoned a blaster, getting on top of it and floating up some so he could survey the battle and help where he could.
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
Erebus had just managed to form the upper half of his body when Tallow's fist connected with his face. With a scream, he was shoved back, goopy bottom half splattering when he hit the wall with a loud THUD. He seemed disoriented, jaw half-goop again and looking dislocated.
3,500/5,000 HP
"yOu MiSeRaBlE, oVeRsIzEd RoDeNt!"
That deathly screech was more jarring than Vex's, and came out distorted, as his jaw began to shudder back in place.
"SON OF A BITCH-" Vex steadied himself as Tallow abruptly let go, lifting his sword again. His soul was hammering, but he quickly got himself into formation in front of the shields, casting a grateful glance at Dove. Yes, he was definitely calmer now. He could fight with a clear head. There was time for mourning later.
[ *I couldn't hold him any longer, I'm so sorry!] Another mass began to form, but struggling, nearby Dove. [ *My friend, help me form here! I can still help. I can still fight!] Sticky and a little melty, a child's hand reached up for Dove, as blue-tinted eyelights started to form in the mush. They flickered to Fisk, and the other hand started to shakily extend to her. [ You there, other human, lend Dove some of that power of yours! It will help.]
"good." Red winced as he heard the sound of Erebus hitting the wall, his soul thrumming faster as he fought down panic. "shit, please hurry... pap, no, not the hoodie!" In the midst of this very important, very deadly battle, the sheer distress on his face as he watched Pap tear strips off that beloved, soft orange hoodie. A strangled noise of horror at the damage. He loved that hoodie!! He hardly had time to react to Pap's forehead kiss and departure, hand brushing the fabric now tying the soul-sustainer to him. Rest in pieces, one of his favorite comfort objects... He took a deep breath and stood. A sway, and then he was dashing to the back of the crowd of people, his socket alighting with re... yellow...? A strange mix of red and yellow, nearly coming off as orange, but the colors were distinct enough to tell it was not orange at all, cycling in time to his pounding soul. Up came his hand, and with it, three blasters.
But none of them were fast enough to stop Erebus's enraged attack on Tallow - seemed he was pissed enough to ignore his real targets for a moment in favor of getting revenge. He shot forward, body forming more, and a goopy but still sharp bone extended. The point of it shoved straight through the weak spot of Tallow's neck as the monstrous creature bellowed.
- - - - -
Step, step, step...
"eesh... 's creepier than me here. hhhehehehhhh... good one, me. thanks, me."
step, step, step...
"maybe i can find smelling salts 'round here, heard there are humans in..."
step... halt.
"oh boy. hey, buddy... gosh... y'look half dead. lemme help with that..."
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow - 10/12/2017
Vesper wasn't terribly responsive, but he was dimly aware that someone was trying to help him. Shit, he was in a lot of pain -- broken leg just barely attached. Shit. He was supposed to stay out of trouble.
"...thanks..." he said weakly, and then promptly passed out.
------
Ruby was the first to react, before Tallow even, pushing her magic into a shield and shoving Erebus away from Tallow with a grunt and the battle cry of a warrior. "GET AWAY FROM HIM!!"
Tallow didn't move from where he fell, fingertips steady beginning to dust. But it had been worth it. He had landed a good hit, the others finally had a chance. They just had to work together. Oh stars, please let them just work together. And Red... he’d be okay. He'd recover.
[You can do this....] The summoned hands flickered, magic waning, [Kick his ass. Work as a... unit... don’t give up...] The hands faded entirely, his sockets slipping closed as he collapsed into dust.
Fisk looked at the hand that had formed for a moment, before letting one hand off the shield to grab ahold of it. She's honestly never been able to transfer her abilities before, but now was a good time to do so. She also looked over at Tallow for a moment as he dusted, silently nodding in determination. The deaths so far won't be in vain. So in order for more power to be available to Dove and Three, she popped a couple more pills into her mouth. Hopefully, it won't override her sense of who is good and bad and it will just get instantly transferred.
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove
"It's all good, friendo." Dove reached down, grabbing the hand extended to her, a faint smile forming, before the rush of DT hit her like completing a circuit. Her eyes, already lit up red and orange from leaning into Red and Vex's power, both flare a painfully bright red now. The power surge rushed through the bond, though not enough DT to be lethal leaked through. [Red, Vex, and Pap are now benefiting from Dove's DT boost.]
Puppy, Mellow
The pair of skeletons summon and charge up their blasters, waiting for a good opening to take pot shots now.
Crow
Meanwhile, the Hunter is Hunting, supernaturally enhanced skills being brought to bear on Erebus. This is a woman who fights things that regard her as little more than an ant. The Blades of Mercy dance a twisted, crooked dance, as silver flames flare as she searches for patterns to disrupt.
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
At the moment, Pap hadn’t really been thinking about what he was doing as he ripped his hoodie but he realized he must look mildly ridiculous right now with his strange hoodie crop top thing. He wasn’t too worried about his favorite article of clothing though, he had other things to wear and Red and the others were far more important.
He got up in the air just in time to see Tallow impaled by a goopy bone and sign his farewell. Pap’s sockets went out for a split second and he felt his soul clench at the loss before he pushed his feelings aside to focus on the fight. Vex was right, fight now, mourn later.
The tidal wave of DT hit him hard enough to make his blaster wobble and nearly dematerialize, almost sending him crashing to the ground to his likely death. But he could hardly be mad, the rush of so much magic brimming in his bones quickly overwhelmed any other thought. “h-holy shit. now we’re talking.”
He summoned a closely packed carpet of blue bones under Erebus, hoping to limit his movements and make any sudden move he did make hurt something fierce. He stayed hovering in the air, his orange magic now tinged with streaks of red thanks to the DT, and kept a few dozen bones floating in the air by him at the ready. He was watching the whole battlefield and hopefully it would help them all be able to work together better. Though he was particularly keeping an eye on Red and Vex to make sure they were alright.
“okay guys try and form a half circle around erebus to surround him and pin him against the wall! but make sure to keep enough distance from him that you can dodge!”
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
"you're welcome. whoops. there he goes." Arum scooped Vesper up very carefully, making sure his very broken leg stayed on. The layout should be similar... He found the right room and set Vesper on a table, then hooked up a grim magic machine. Without any green magic of his own, this was all he could do. He made sure the connections were stable, then left the other skeleton there. "good luck, pal." And with that, he moved on. "hmm... smelling salts... gotta be around here somewhere..."
Red's three blasters charged and fired where Erebus had been pushed back by Ruby, but he was hardly paying attention to the damage dealt. "tallow!" The scream that left his teeth as his 'fuck buddy' started to dust rivaled Vex's usual volume. He could hardly process Tallow's dying words, tears welling up in his sockets. No, no, no! "tallow...!" A choked sob escaped him and he lifted hand and stump. The number of blasters he'd summoned doubled, yellow overtaking the red in his eye now. He was brimming with Justice, and as they blasted his creator, Erebus took heavy damage.
3,000/5,000 HP
"SHIT!" Two blasters popped up from Vex, to add their attack. Unfortunately, he had no KR, they simply did 50- no, 100! The DT! - damage each. But it was something. It was definitely something.
2,800/5,000 HP
"i WiLl KiLl YoU aLl! I wIlL hAvE mY tEsT sUbJeCtS bAcK!!" Erebus's voice was unholy, as he remained slammed against the wall from the onslaught. But as the skeleton brothers’ attacks faded, hands summoned dozens of bones, which shot forward into the crowd of attackers.
[ *Whooah, almost too much! Stars!] With a yelp, something nearly a scream, the goop of black finally formed fully, her hand solidifying and holding Dove's tightly. It was a girl, she looked hardly more than 8 years old, and she was wearing a filthy, ragged hospital gown. The plate on her right hand read WDG 3-L. Three squeezed both Dove's and Fisk's hands, her sockets coming alit - a vivid, clear blue. Integrity. "That's more like it! If only I knew how to make those blaster things!"
But even without them, it seemed she had some fight in her. Both sockets swirling, she unleashed a barrage of her own bones, hoping to deflect a few of Erebus's and land a few hits.
Vesper/Bix/Ruby/Ryder/Tallow
“OH, SHIT!” Ruby’s shield shattered under the onslaught of bones, a few catching her squarely in her now unguarded sternum and sending her stumbling back. “AHN, SHIT...” Her ribs were cracked, and the pain was immense but she had to focus. A massive shield went up, blocking the bones that threatened to hit the others. It was obvious she was tiring, but she remained DETERMINED to protect her friends.
———————
Bix was afraid. He was afraid he would die and afraid he’d fucked up and afraid that if this other monster broke free then he’d search out and destroy them all. Them, their loved ones, their entire world...
He shifted without thinking, body elongating and bones cracking to accommodate a new shape. Feral growls and a shrieking roar and he lunged forward, latching onto Erebus’ arm — threatening to tear it from his very body.
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
Fisk couldn't help but silently gulp at Erebus, gently gripping you young subject three's hand. "Just tell me if you need more, I'll gladly give." But, she knew deep inside that she was overstressing her body enough as is giving all the magic and determination. She is willing to die for the cause. Fisk also had her shield in her other hand, half tempted to try and summon more blasters to help with the back lines. But the lightheadedness she was feeling made her decide otherwise. Just a little while longer... And she can stop.
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
Pap’s soul hurt as Red screamed like that, and he wanted nothing more than to go to him and pet his skull soothingly to calm him down. But that would have to come later, right now he needed to make sure that Red even made it out of this alive.
He fired blasters of his own at Erebus, summoning more and more bones to attack him with. Thanks to the DT he could summon many more attacks without collapsing, but still he knew time wasn’t on any of their side. He would tire eventually, and more than likely Erebus wouldn’t. So they needed to make this quick. “everyone focus your attacks! we need to finish this quickly!!”
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove keeps up the shield and her magic, taking the occasional fiery pot shot, but she's here as a defender rather than a direct combatant.
Puppy and Mellow keep up their blaster fire, slipping into a slightly-off-kilter pattern between the two of them.
Crow meanwhile is attacking mercilessly with her swords, silver fire dancing along the blades.
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
The onslaught was overwhelming for Erebus. He snarled and roared as Bix bit into his arm, shaking it furiously. That left him open to a few blast attacks from Pap, Dove, Puppy and Mellow. Crow was being a biiig nusiance, with her damage.
2,300/5,000
1,700/5,000
1,200/5,000
"eNoUgH!" With a veritably demonic screech, Erebus staggered back and cloaked himself in a ball of intense voidling energy. Bix hanging off of his arm disappeared into it before he could react, with Ruby not far behind. Tendrils lashed out from it, reaching as far back as possible. Red and Vex dove in separate directions.
"Whoa!" A yelp from Three as she yanked both Dove and Fisk out of the way. The last two tendrils shot to the fire elementals in the back.
"no no no no!"
"RUBY!!"
If his aim was to make his test subjects hysterical again, he was 1 point up. Red was staring in horror as one by one the captured monsters were enveloped by darkness. A shockwave through the room made them all dispell, knocking poor close-range Crow flying backwards into the other wall. Everyone who had been caught was gone. No dust, no leftover clothes. Gone.
The heartwrenching wail from Red at this new turn of events had yellow magic bleeding out even more, two stormclouds of righteous vengeance and grief. Vex took his hand, orange bursting as brightly as a forest fire, every ounce of bravery untouched as a child overspilling. As one, they attacked.
750/5,000
Fisk - Subject-3-frisk
Fisk watched with wide eyes as the monsters caught in the blast disappeared, hands shaking heavily as she let out a silent gulp. Were they... Dead, just like that? And she couldn't see the amount of HP that was left either.
The girl looked down at her bottle for a moment before smiling both nervously and a bit of relief. If this was not a good idea, then when was it ever. Fisk opened the bottle and gulped down every pill inside, overdoing it like never before. Her eyes were too blurry as her eyes started to cry a horrid mixture of yellow and red to even see straight, but even so. The blasters came out, instantly able to blast without a load time. "Red... I... I can't lose you."
Her breath started to rag, slowly losing control of herself as she finally let go of three, not without leaving a bunch of her energy to go through the bonds for a bit longer. This is it, this is the end of it for her. Fisk was no longer in control when she did a large amount of bone and blaster attacks, while making the mistake of letting go of the shield. And at the same time, it was like she knew what would happen as she took one last moment to see the ones still standing. Then all that was left of her vision was black.
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Crow slammed into the wall with a grunt, rolling to her feet with shocking ease. She shook off the pain quickly, but not quickly enough - she had no chance to save the poor girl who landed the killing blow. The Huntress shook her head, plunging a wicked looking needle into her left leg twice to restore her heath.
423/793
623/793
793/793
Dove yelped at being pulled away, and cried out as Ruby and Bix disappeared, both halves dreadfully upset by this turn of events. Before she could react, though, Fisk sacrificed herself. A muffled cry escaped her, and she pulled Three close to her, holding the little skeleton close, afraid her best friend would disappear, too.
Puppy and Mellow were safe enough from their positions, though both cried out at Dove and Crow's injuries.
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
Immense fear rushed over Pap in a wave and he did what he did best: avoiding. Whether that was his problems or an attack, he was always a master and finding his way around obstacles. He cursed and flung himself off of his blaster as one of the inky black tendrils lashed at him, and he managed to soften his fall some by summoning and desummoning bones at a perfect time. His fragile body still wasn’t very happy with that maneuver, and he groaned as he forced himself back to his feet.
HP 0.6
Pap got up just in time to see everyone vanish and watch in horror as Fisk completely overloaded and sacrificed herself to land the killing blow. He took a step forwards and fell to his knees, panting and watching with disbelief as Erebus melted into nothing but dust.
After a second of catching his breath he looked frantically around for Red and Vex, hurrying as fast as he could to Red who was closest to make sure he was alright. “shit, are you two okay?! fuck who’s still here?! i still have some magic left i can heal!”
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
Red was preparing another no-holds-barred attack when he heard Fisk's voice. He snapped his head around and his sockets went wide as he realized what she'd just done. "fisk, no, don't-!" He was too late. In fact, he and Vex barely had time to throw themselves out of the way of the insane amount of blasters and bones shooting at Erebus. Once they had stopped passing overhead, he lifted his head to see her body collapse to the floor.
"no no no no...!"
He hurried towards her, not even caring about the sticky, gooey dust of his creator. He fell to his knees in front of her body, and pressed a hand to her chest to find a heartbeat. There was none. Green sputtered for a moment under his hand, as he attempted to use healing magic, but it died off after only a second.
She was dead. Just like so many others. Vesper, Tallow, Ruby, Bix, Ryder, Grillz, Fuku, and now Fisk. Eight. Eight people were gone, and seven of them, he loved with all of his timeline-combined soul. It was over. The battle, the horror, it was over, but it didn't feel like a victory. Tears welled up in his sockets and he slumped over her body, starting to sob. He hardly heard Pap's hurried words, though his hand did reach out blindly, trying and failing to find his. He couldn't stop crying.
Vex knelt down in front of some of the gooey dust. He tugged off a glove, then ran one phalanx across some of it. It was like sludge, almost. But it was definitely dust-caked.
"HE'S REALLY GONE. HE'S REALLY DEAD," he said slowly. "WE REALLY DID IT." He looked over at his sobbing brother, and then at Pap. His soul was heavy. "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT," he said quietly. "I SHOULD HEAL YOU INSTEAD. YOU TOOK A NASTY FALL."
His voice seemed too loud in the room, now that so many people were gone. It was too empty. Three was clinging to Dove just as tightly, her sockets wide, as she stared down at the human girl who had sacrificed herself. "This..." She swallowed thickly. "This isn't... how I expected it to go..." Nonetheless, she reached up to lightly stroke Dove's hair. "It's all right, my good friend. I'm not going anywhere...”
Dove/Crow/Puppy
Dove hugged Three tightly for a moment, then scooped her up and slowly approached, torn between Red and Vex. Red seemed to need the most comfort right now, though, so she crouched and put a hand on his skull, rubbing softly. Three people she'd loved were gone too.
Puppy immediately darted over to Vex, hugging his uncle tightly and nuzzling into him comfortingly. Mellow sighed softly and wandered over to Crow, grabbing onto her shoulder before returning to his smaller form, burrowing under the cloak.
Crow sighed, looking around and shaking her head morosely. "Alright! Who still needs help?" She'd let Vex take care of Pap, but if anyone else needed healing... She dropped her blades, pulling the staff she had arrived with from nowhere in particular.
Pap/Null/Haze - [askinfresh]
Pap caught Red’s searching hand and he quickly pulled his beloved into a quick hug, forcing him to turn away from the human’s small body. He held onto him tight as he whispered reassurances to him and rubbed the back of his skull, completely ignoring the pain in his shoulder and ribs from the fall to instead focus completely on his lover.
As Vex spoke to him he looked up at his friend, tears starting to gather in his eyes before he wiped them away with his arm and nodded stiffly once. “okay...th-thank you vex. if you need it i can heal you up some too.” He was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and the sheer weight of so much death around him made him want to vomit. They needed to get out of here. He looked up at the others who remained, taking a deep breath. “we need to get out of here. we need to get them out of here.” He looked at Vex and Red sadly and with a heavy soul.
Red/Vex/Erebus/Lucida/Arum
Red just sobbed quietly into Pap's chest. He felt Dove start to rub his skull and leaned into that, too. Two beloved ones who survived. Parts of him were overly relieved about that, but there was so much grief in his heavy soul that he could hardly think about it right now. Everything was over, his adrenaline had died down and the only thing he could feel was sorrow and loss.
Vex didn’t realize how badly he also needed to be comforted until his nephew came running over and providing one. The taller skeleton swallowed thickly, then hugged the child back tightly. "THANK YOU," he said, his voice quieter. "IT'S OKAY... I'M FINE." A lie, but at least he wasn't dead, and that was always a victory in his book. "ARE YOU HURT, KID? I CAN HEAL YOU TOO." He carried the boy over to where the little group of people was, and knelt beside Pap. A hand settled very gently on Pap's wounded shoulder and began to heal the damage as best he could. Thankfully, even though he'd used quite a bit of attack magic, he naturally had a huge reservoir of green magic. There might be a little bit of scarring, but he was fairly confident he'd taken away most if not all of the pain. A glance to Crow. "I THINK THE REST OF US ARE FINE. INSTEAD, CAN YOU COLLECT THAT?" He pointed to the dusty pile that was once Tallow. "HE SHOULD BE JARRED AND SETTLED SOMEWHERE PROPERLY.
Three allowed Dove to hug her and lift her. She looked between her brothers sadly, the one sobbing and the other numbing himself by doing damage control. She was rather more hoping for a happy reunion, as improbable as that might be. A hand of hers also settled gently on Red's head. "Will you put her to rest properly too, Red?"
The crying skeleton lifted his head from Pap's check to look up at her. He wasn't sure who she was entirely, and he was too tired to ask. But she was right. He took a deep, shaky breath, then pulled away and carefully got an arm underneath Fisk's body. He only had the one hand now, so he used a manifested one to help him lift her up, leaning her side against him slightly. One last mournful look at her face, and he heaved himself shakily to his feet. "y-yeah... let's... get out of here," he muttered, his voice hoarse. "i want to go home."
THE END
...
TL;DR?
Red: lost his broken right hand that had had the plate on it, regained a lost sense of the JUSTICE in his soul, making his magic now contain yellow flecks inside of the red, and has been severely traumatized by the things Erebus did and everyone who died during the fight - most of them were lovers.
Vex: Gained a bit of scarring around his left eye and forearms, has become a bit jumpy, suffering from grief due to a few deaths as well, internalizing EVERYTHING like the dumbass he is. Mostly blames himself for how badly things went.
Lucida: is here~! Three, or Lucida, is the long-lost sister of these two, and also the one who set them on the path to freedom, knocking herself and Erebus into the void in the process. The giver of Vex’s scarf, physically no older than 8, but intellectually an adult, and she has been watching her siblings/the events of the world from the void.
#gaster event#erebus event#hey its me (red)#still love him (vex)#guest muse: arum#guest muse: erebus#guest muse: lucida#red gems (red and ruby)#red and ruby and vex#under the stars (ryder)#kink machine (tallow)#hold him close (bix)#plated lovers (red and fisk)#big smile (dove)#columba (red and dove)#baby blaster (puppy)#flaming skulls (red and grillby)#sweet as honey (red and pap)#fontcest#tw: violence#tw: body horror#tw: death#tw: brainwashing#tw: domestic abuse#tw: panic attack
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hi! im a huge fan of your long haul fic and i remember you saying you had a few deleted scenes you could post if asked? Could you? Your writing is my favourite! lots of love
awww thanks anon
oh and its ambiguously 1859 fanservicey ish hahahha.imo dealing with a drunk person is very not sexy but i know the shipper mindset HAHAHAAH
its about 3k words long so pls click the readmore to get all of it! if its less than 3k and you dont see the readmore you might need to view the post on my blog
===/\===
“Goodevening Gale!”
FUCK gokudera shot out of his chair SCRAMBLEAGAIN Hibari’s going to kill him
Hibari looks up from the floor and dragshimself two steps to the sofa and stretches out there.
Well, looks like gokudera’s just given him afree pass to the sofa then. Shit next thing you know gokudera’ll be sleeping inthe bathtub.
“Hello!” she says and she breezes in as soonas gokudera opened the door.
“Hi Ma’am, Angel, uh, Kaoru’s sleeping.”
“Oh whoops, sorry,” she said, and she creptover to check. “Wow, he looks super young like this!”
Was hibari actually sleeping haha no waydumb question.
“Hey Gale hon, what’s this?” thelandlord asked, picking up the photo of the Costeggiarefamily member bastard son they’d been having trouble looking for since thebombing
Dropped on the floor, the picture ofDario/duilio which hibari kept in his pocket.
Shit shit shit, cover story quick.
“Well, right now we’re looking for thatguy. Hoping to interview him. You know him from somewhere?“
“Oh yeah, hon. He’s a regular at mywork for two months now, sometimes comes on too strong to the staff or othercustomers, but he spends big, so,” she shrugged. “What can Ido?”
The door opened and Hibari dropped his keyson the table before turning to lock the door. “Kaoru,” Gokuderacalled. The dark haired man looked up from where he was taking off his outdoorshoes.
Hibari opened an eye. When it was convenientfor him huh, bastard.
“Where,” he asked, sitting up.
“good morning Kaoru,” she says. He eyes herfunny, then dips his head.
“Angel found our mark,” headded in Japanese.
“Who?” Hibari asked. Gokuderawaved the photo of the Costeggiare familymember. “Not that,” Hibari said. Gokudera rolled his eyes. Why was heunsurprised by Hibari not bothering to remember who Angel was when she’d beenwaltzing in and out ever since they started the mission? “Thelandlady.”
“I see,” Hibari answered,setting the shopping on the kitchen counter and walking over to the table. Hemet the landlady’s eyes.
“Boungiourno,”he greeted stiffly before turning back to Gokudera. “Where.” Herepeated.
“He is a regular at herworkplace,” Gokudera said, passing Hibari the photo.
“you can speak Italian just fine why don’tyou ask her”
“people say a lot when they think you don’tunderstand them,” hibari answered irritably. “Where.”
“Say Angel, you never said exactly where youwork.”
“Well, it’s not an uppity sort of place.” She bites her painted lip. “aw hell with it.It’s a dance place. We have girls dance on tabletops if you know what I mean.”
“ah,” gokudera says. “should be fun. For meat least.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” thelandlady said, pointing at Hibari. “That guy in the photo? He’s a regularof one of our girls, and she looks a lot like you. You know, exotic, pale, darkhair, dark eyes,” she added helpfully. Hibari looked at Gokudera.
“You should really stop pretendingthat you don’t understand Italian,” there’s no way im actually goingto translate for you, Gokudera said dryly. Hibari smirked.
“If that’s true, then I’ll bite him todeath,” Hibari said, eyes sparking with anticipation, completely ignoringGokudera’s input. It looked like his weeks of boredom were over, and he didn’teven have to resort to visiting the Chiavarone house.
“If it helps, he stops by to watch Kikievery Friday night– Kiki’s that dancer Kaoru-san looks like– and he alwayssits in booth twelve. She comes on at eight, so if you boys get there a bitearlier, you could get yourselves a seat nearby.”
Hibari stands gracefully, one fluid motionand is already walking to the kitchen.
“Ask the landlord if he wantstea.” He says, businesslike.
“That’s nice of you,” gokudera says,trying and failing to keep his incredulous tone out of his voice.
"If you don’t tip informants, you won’thave informants.” Hibari said, and he put the kettle on.
Gokudera sighed. Of course Hibari would beso mercenary. "He wants to know if you would like tea.“ He tellsAngel and he laughs
"Oh, so all I had to do to getKaoru-san to open up was to invite him to the club? "Sure, I’d lovetea.”“ she laughed. And gokudera winced laughed along. A club is thelast place hibari would want to be. He is crossing his fingers that that nightwont be a disaster.
"And I think I’ll need another coffee,I need to run more background.” Gokudera calls to him
“Milk?”
Wow that’s amazing.
“No thanks, it’s two already.”
“Oh, and no offense if you alreadyknow this, but just tell Kaoru-san, because he doesn’t look like he’s ever beento a club in his life. STRIP CLUB ETTIQUETTE
Alright boys, now the real reason I’m here,
Right, gokudera pulls her money from hiswallet, exact amount, and she drinks her tea. Hibari doesn’t even comment onthe lipstick stain.
Well, see you boys [tonight] then! She saysand leaves. Clack clack lack of her boots on the way to the lift. Gokudera andhibari and chiavarone are the only weirdos who take the stairs.
Gokudera drinks his coffee and marvels athis luck.
Hibari washes the cups.
"Not bad, miser,” Hibari saidbefore he disappeared into the room, and the clack of plastic on wood meantthat he had gotten his laptop out.
Good morning Tenth. It’s a day of goddamnmiracles. –59
Heh. Good to hear, Gokudera-kun—27
===/\===
The good streak of course couldn’t last.
“We need to come off as young, cockyfirst floor trash so he won’t take us too seriously, got it?”
“Yes,” Hibari said, and Gokuderacould hear the eye rolling in his voice. at least he was still replying? Butnow gokudera wasn’t sure if hibari would LISTEN and what’s the use of aconfirmation that might not actaly be what he means.
“I’m serious,” Gokudera said, using everyounce of self-control to not snap at him. “I want us to look so young that weget carded.”
There we go. Hibari’s stopped answering.
Gokudera wore an amalgamation of his clothesfrom his high school days and his current wardrobe. The button down was Galeand the three belts and the graphic tee were all teenage-Gokudera.
Hibari wore a full suit, crisp black overdeep purple and perfectly tailored. Gokudera was this close to introducing hisown face to the coffeetable.
“Are you really going to a club dressedlike that?” Gokudera asked incredulously.
… Yes “This is how I normallydress,” Hibari answered, frowning.
You know what kind of club this is?
… a looooong pause.
“Well, there’s your problem,”Gokudera said under his breath. “Why don’t you just break out your shinycredit cards and get yourself a clubbing outfit?”
Hibari observed him for a moment. “Idon’t want to,” he answered simply.
Coffeetable was too far. Gokudera put hisdespairing head into his hand.
“Dammit, just change, I don’t want towalk into any club if you’re wearing that,” Gokudera sighed, running onehand through his hair. Hibari raised an eyebrow as if he truly believed that asuit was the perfect attire to go to a strip club in while undercover.
“Change to what.”
Oh dear lord all the talk about dressingHibari up was going to become a real thing. Maybe he could shoot himself andget this over with.
“Alright, I’ll see if I can work a miraclewith your closet,“ Gokudera sighed, walking over to the window side of theroom and opening the bedside drawer. A quick rummage proved that yes,everything was office shirts and black suit wear. So Hibari wearing the purpleshirt with the suit was his idea of interesting. Gokudera closed the drawer.
"Looks like you don’t have much ofchoice,” Gokudera said, looking over Hibari’s outfit once more.
Lose the jacket and tie,“ he directed,but Hibari’s eyes just narrowed in defiance.
"Work with me here, damn you,”Gokudera cursed, walking over to the other bedside drawer and pulling out a fewaccessories of his own. Looking at Hibari then at the items he’d laid out, hepicked a fang on a black leather strip and an accompanying leather wristband.
“This is stupid,” Hibari intoneddryly, unbuttoning his top button. His blazer and tie were draped over thechair, and his sleeves had been rolled up. Without the extra padding of hissuit, his slight build was obvious, barely changed from his middle school days.Still, with an aura that fierce, it was unlikely he’d have too much trouble.Besides, any story that involved Hibari getting picked on in a strip club wouldbound to be interesting to tell to the guys back in Japan.
“One more button,” Gokudera toldhim, before turning to look for a suitable belt. “And wear those,” headded, waving absently at the pieces he laid out on the bed. “Andthis,” he added as he pulled out a belt. It had two teeth and metaleyelets in twos, with another strap hanging from it like half suspenders.
“That would be a liability,”Hibari critiqued as he fastened the wristband on his left wrist.
“Just wear it and give the poor suckerswho try to make trouble with you a fighting chance,” Gokudera snickered,closing the drawer. Hibari scoffed quietly as he removed the belt he wascurrently wearing.
“A straightjacket would be moreappropriate,” Hibari said, threading Gokudera’s belt around his waist andcomfortably cinching it at the innermost set of eyelets.
“Nice to know that the cloud guardianof Vongola is a humble man,” Gokudera remarked cynically.
Hibari bowed his head in humourous? Assent.
If you wear your boots we’re good to go. No,wait there a second.“ Gokudera stepped into the bathroom to grab some hairwax. He passed it to Hibari, who looked at it then gave Gokudera a deadpan lookas if to ask ‘and what do you expect me to do with this?’
"Style your hair a bit,” Gokuderatold him. At Hibari’s blank look, Gokudera decided that it wasn’t any goodexplaining. He grabbed the bottle and opened it, scooping out just a littlewith his fingers. “Now stay still and for the love of God, don’t goberserk on me, alright?”
Hibari flinched and glared as Gokudera’shands came up to his head, but otherwise took the fussing well.
Kind of punk looking. But hey, punk’s notdead right. Yeah.
“Hah, not bad,” Gokuderacongratulated himself.
“Disgusting,” Hibari commented, ashe touched his hair lightly, the slightly sticky texture of the waxbrushing off on his fingers.
“boots. Boots, lets go.”
Angel worked in walking distance in the notso nice part of town. Hibari was more acquainted with the place than Gokuderaexpected. Two turns later and he slowed.
“C’mon it’s almost time.”
“What is this place?” Hibariasked, stopping in his tracks. From the neon lit street, booming music and theunmistakable noise of throngs of people emerged. Gokudera sighed, and turned.
“That’s Angel’s bar.” When Hibarimade no sign of recognition, Gokudera elaborated. “The landlord’sworkplace.”
“There’s a crowd,” Hibari stated,refusing to carry on walking.
“Yes, it’s a Friday night, but this isalso work, so let’s go.”
“If I go anywhere near that place, it’sto bite everyone there to death,” Hibari said, mouth curling into a silentsnarl.
“Well, suck it up. This is work.”
Hibari walked at a steady pace, cut throughthe crowd and Gokudera had to follow.
Second floor less so. They didn’t actuallyget carded. Gokudera was much disappoint.
Murderous aura and the nearest patronslooked nervous.
“Just be glad we’re in a booth.”
Kiki wasn’t on yet, but Bambi was. Or atleast that’s what she said her name was. Bambi was a sultry brunette withshoulder length hair and hazel eyes. Gold glitter painted stripes and spotsdown her back, arms and legs, highlighting the tan skin.
“You just missed me, handsome,” she says toyou. you smile and wave.
“Next time then,” you say casually. You areso not good with women especially when they don’t have all their clothes on.You blame your sister.
“Hey, we booked this booth,” someone saysbehind you.
“Oh?” Hibari says and he’s spoiling for afight so hard that you level a warning glance at him instead of turning to seewho it was.
“Let the boys stay,” an amusedvoice.
Goddamn, Dario himself. He looked IDK HOWDOES HE LOOK WHO ARE HIS GOONIES
Hibari’s grin was wicked.
“I’m Darren,” he lies smoothly. MIGHT WANTTO CHANGE HIS ALIAS.
“Kaoru,” Hibari said.
“Is that your real name?”
Hibari gave the man a look. Whut you smokingbruh
He laughed. “Could I buy you adrink?”
“No need, I have a tab open.”
“I insist.”
“Then, if you must.”
Kiki was a petite woman, with raven hairspilling freely over her shoulders down to her waist. She didn’t look anything like Hibari, she was justAsian.
If this guy had yellow fever you were goingto laugh your ass off.
===/\===
(missing scene)
“Don’t touch me.”“What’s wrong with you?”“It was crowded. And noisy. There was something in my cranberry juice.That man kept talking to me and I couldn’t kill anyone. I hate that place. Youcan go alone next time, pervert.”
“He’s a pervert. You’re a pervert too.” Hibari’s eyes narrowed.“I should bite you to death.”“Yeah, yeah, tomorrow alright? Just try to stay conscious until we reachthe house." "Wait,” Hibari said, suddenly throwing his weight back.“What?” Gokudera asked tiredly. “Outside clothes, don’t touch the bed, herbivore,” Hibari mumbled disjointedly. “Nice to know you follow your own rules,” Gokudera sighed, pullingdown the bedcovers and dumping Hibari on the bed. “I said not to touch the bed,” Hibari protested, sitting up. Gokuderagave him a light shove and collapsed on the bed himself.“Shut up and go to sleep,” Gokudera said, words muffled by thesheets. He couldn’t even be bothered to get his pillow from the couch outside.He fully expected some sort of retort or a threat from Hibari, but none came,testament to how far gone the other man was. Yawning, Gokudera decided hazilythat he would take whatever nonsense he’d get for ‘crowding’ the bed and justwent to sleep where he was.
===/\===
Gokudera woke like a man struggling not todrown in molasses, slowly, with a lot of effort and a little pain. He hadn’tdrawn the curtains the night before and he was in a strange place betweenfeeling ‘rested’ and ‘like crap’. He’d slept on his front last night and therewas a kink in his neck as due punishment. Of course, there was also the matterof him smelling like sweat, cheap perfume, alcohol and cigarette smoke. It wasamazing that Hibari hadn’t just thrown him out the window for daring to so muchas touch the bed in this state.
Gokudera turned to his side to stretch andfroze. Hibari hadn’t rudely kicked him out of bed, not from some sense ofgratitude for Gokudera hauling him back from the club, but because he hadn’t woken up yet. Gokudera gaped atthe thought, but before his eyes was the undeniable.
Hibari was curled up on his side, back tothe light, and face shielded by the crook of his elbow. Gokudera felt a grinbreak through his usual morning grogginess. The sight was almost endearing,except this was Hibari, and the onlythings associated with Hibari and the word ‘endearing’ were either a highlyintelligent messenger bird that could be carrying a spy-cam that sealed yourdoom or a personalised box weapon that could decimate an army and reduce askyscraper to rubble within five minutes. Gokudera could almost see thehedgehog curled up in the exact same way as its owner in the empty space nearHibari’s stomach, and Hibird nestled between the man’s wrist and hair. Heresisted the urge to take a photo and send it to the Tenth and got up asquietly as possible. As much amusement as he got from seeing the violentmisanthrope sleeping all tucked into a ball, photographic evidence wasn’t worththe broken bones he knew he would get afterwards. Hibari appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, arms full of sheets. He took onelook at Gokudera and the landlord sitting at the kitchen counter, then steppedback into the room and shut the door.“Oh my, I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen him half dressed,”she commented. Then she gave Gokudera a knowing smile. “Changing thesheets are we? Good going." "Ah, yeah,” Gokudera tried to smile casually while mentally screamingno. She must have picked up on Gokudera’s uneasiness, because she patted hisarm reassuringly. “Be more confident, sweetie. You’re good looking, smart and you have awonderful disposition. You’re a right saint,” she smiled.“Besides,” she whispered. “I don’t think anyone but you has thepatience to deal with his temper.”Gokudera laughed. “You should see our boss,” he replied. Tsunacould smile genuinely all the time while talking Hibari down off a rampage andpersuading the man to do something other than stalk around Namimori or sit inhis house and drink tea. It never failed to amaze Gokudera each and every time.Heck, Tsuna even managed to get Hibari and Mukuro to go on a mission togetherwithout one of them coming back dead.
He placed the plate on top of the glass tofree one hand. “Hibari?” Gokudera asked, knocking on the door.“Go away.”“If you can’t drink, you shouldn’t,” Gokudera said matter-of-factly.He opened the door then took the plate back into his hand, pushing the dooropen the rest of the way with his foot. Hibari was sitting in the tub, water upto his chest and dark hair plastered to his skull. It vaguely reminded Gokuderaof bathing his cat.“Who said you could come in?” Hibari asked, not turning to faceGokudera. “If you’re too out of it to even lock the door, then I’d better come inbefore you drown or something,” Gokudera retorted. “Here.”“Don’t want it,” Hibari muttered without even looking at whatGokudera was holding. “It’s just toast, water and aspirin,” Gokudera said, starting to getannoyed. “How badly could I fuck up toast?" "I’m not going to eat in the bath,” Hibari said, leaning against theside of the wall and grimacing. “Leave it outside.”“Seriously, you alright?” Gokudera felt the need to ask again. “Must I bite you to death before you are convinced?” Hibari snipped. “Hah, you must be fine if you’re making threats. Don’t drown, bastard.”
#1859#khr#khr fanfiction#long haul fic#1859 friendship fic#replies#answers#previews#deleted scenes#my writing#Anonymous#im still working on the other asks slowly if youre the many ask anon!! sorry was out of the country and now its event season
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