#SCREAMING AND CRY AND BITTING THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

complexcritterscave · 1 month

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So I just found out that it’s pretty a popular headcanon in the fandom that DrRETRO was placed in solitary confinement/a padded cell while being blindfolded and shit

So I’m gonna TRY and include that into the story the best I can

Erm yup! Any who!!!!! Forgive me if I mess something up, I did a bit of research on this before deciding to write (and while writing) so I hope this isn’t dogshit 💔💔

Anyway enjoy! Or don’t you do you idk

Everything had gone wrong.

Everything was overwhelming despite nothing being around.

She couldn’t see.

She couldn’t move.

She could barely speak without cold and sharp metal poking her mouth.

The silence was deafening. She could hear everything and nothing at the same time.

And it scared her…

Every few blind steps she took she was met with soft, padded wall.

She felt like a caged bird, desperate to spread her wings and fly only to be met with the bars of her small enclosure.

Her breathing grew laboured as she struggled to keep calm.

What had she done to deserve this? Why was she being punished like this? She followed the rules, did what she was supposed to, and yet she was still forced to endure this cruel fate.

She wanted to cry, to scream, to lash out, but that would only extend her time. She didn’t wanna spend any longer in this plushy hell, she refused to stay longer.

She hated it here. She was innocent! Why was she being punished for something she didn’t do?! She felt a twinge of frustration itch beneath her skin, her ears flattened as she let out a guttural growl whilst leaning against the wall.

She wanted revenge, to get back at those who lied about her. She wanted them to feel the same way she did.

But how could she?

She was the one trapped within a rubber cell. She was the one stuck in pillowy prison. She was the one who had been locked away…

An overwhelming wave of emotions washed over her, drowning her within its currents. Despair, frustration, sorrow, anger, all mixed into a depressing cocktail that she was forced to drink.

Before long she found herself crying silently, weeping as each breath became more irregular than the last. But there was at least one plus…

No one would be able to see her state of weakness… At least not yet…

DrRETRO let out a groggy meow as her alarm clock went off, jerking her from her painful nightmare into the real. Time to get up already?! She swore just went to bed! Then again, staying awake would probably be the best decision for now… But GOD that constant beeping was more annoying than Poob’s party horn. If it weren’t for the fact that they were so darn friendly, she would’ve definitely done something about that now.

The katball swatted the clock with her paw, sighing as it was finally silenced. If it was broken, she’ll suffer the consequences later, for now, she was too tired to deal with it.

Rolling out of bed, she trudged to her bathroom, physically and mentally preparing herself to get ready for the long day ahead of her. She could only assume what the others would get themselves into…

Once ready, she put on her coat and grabbed an energy bar for breakfast. She had no clue what time it was, but assumed she had no time to sit down and eat. Besides, she’ll probably stop by the RedBall Diner or somewhere for a proper meal in the afternoon. She carefully descended down the machine’s spiral before approaching the elevator, humming quietly as she pressed the button and opened her snack.

Before she could even get a bite in, the doors had opened revealing an overly curious robot who smiled politely at her.

"Woah! A giant cat! My sensors are telling me a lot about you!"

"…"

"Based off the information I have received from my database you are apart of a species known as Katballs correct? Oh! And you speak a language similar to that of regular domesticated felines!"

"Mrrow…" «Uh, yeah…»

"This is wonderful! BZZT! Ah! Pardon me, a large stone man taught me that it is considered impolite to engage in conversation before introducing oneself. My name is Prototype!"

"Meow…" «Hello… Prototype…»

"Hm, I can’t properly translate your message, perhaps, if you don’t mind, I could stay with you for the time being and learn it? Or maybe you could teach me as to avoid language barriers in the near future!"

The katball stared at him, he was sickeningly sweet and clearly eager to learn, she wasn’t sure she could deal with that right now, especially after going through that horrible nightmare. Just thinking of it made her fur rise.

"Is everything alright? I am detecting an elevated heart rate and body temperature. Was my request too strange? I apologize for intruding! I’m just so excited!"

"Meoww…" «No you’re fine. Ah wait, you can’t understand me… Oh well.»

She signalled to the robot that it was okay with her paws, nodding as she stepped into the elevator and sighed.

"Ah… So is that a yes..? Everything is alright?"

She nodded.

"Does this mean I can stay with you for now?"

She hesitated before reluctantly nodding.

"WONDERFUL-! Oh sorry! I did not mean to shout. I was also told that shouting is impolite!"

She already regretted her decision…

The two ascended together within the elevator, Retro eating her energy bar and Prototype watching her with intrigue.

"Is this what your species eat for nutrition?"

She shrugged.

"So it varies? That’s so interesting!"

While he was a bit more active than the others, she found their enthusiasm adorable in an annoying way.

"Does this imply katballs do not have the same carnivorous diet as domesticated felines? Would this not make you omnivorous?"

He asked a LOT of questions though…

Before she could properly answer, the elevator came to a stop, letting out its iconic ding as the doors opened, before she knew it, an exhausted lamp stepped onto the elevator along with his sickly friend.

"W04H! h3llo R3tR0!!! :D"

"Good morning…"

The doctor only gave the two a curt nod, she knew that Lampert would possibly try and pester her about Infected, per usual, but as she mentally prepared herself for his questions, Prototype had spoken up.

"Oh! Are you also a robot? You seem to be artificially made! Just like me!"

"What-"

"My scanners are so far confirming my theory as well!"

"Don’t do that.."

"Huh? May I be mistaken? Are you not artificially made?"

"I am, but I don’t appreciate being scanned. It’s weird to do that without at least asking first."

"So would it be considered… impolite?"

"Uh yeah I guess."

"It seems I have many things to learn about the mannerisms of this elevator and its riders. I apologize for my impoliteness. I should have asked."

"It’s fine. Anyway… DrRETRO-"

"Meoww." «If you’re asking what I think you’re asking, I already told you there’s nothing else I can do.»

"You didn’t even let me finish."

"Mrrw.." «You’re very predictable.»

"You’re rather growly today…"

Lampert was tempted to question her, but didn’t bother pushing his luck. There weren’t a lot of things he knew about Retro but he knew enough to know not to press her buttons. So instead, he sat quietly, listening as Prototype and Infected interacted with each other.

"s0 y0u’r3 l1k3… 4 r0b0t??? y0u’r3 n0t g0nn4 try 4nd t4k3 0v3r th3 w0rld r1ght?!?!?!?!!!!"

"Uh no, I don’t think so. I don’t understand why you would think that. I want to learn about the world! Not conquer it!"

"0H!!!! th4t’s s0 sw4g br0!!! XD"

"I don’t understand this terminology, however I am assuming ‘swag’ is a good thing right?"

"h3ck y34h m4n!!! y0u’r3 4ctu4lly 4lr1ght!!! :]"

"Thank you!"

Lampert glanced back at DrRETRO, watching her quietly from the corner of his eye. She was staring at blankly ahead, her expression was difficult to read but he could tell something was troubling her. As he opened his mouth to speak, he was harshly stopped before her could even get anything out.

"Hisss…" «Lampert… Don’t…»

"Well excuse me for wanting to ask if you’re okay."

"Mrrraow.." «It’s none of your business.»

"You’re acting like a cornered lion. I think making sure you don’t lash out at anyone is my business."

That was most definitely poor wording, he swore he saw her flinch before snapping her gaze towards him. He noticed the slight pinkish tint in her pupils, growing nervous, anyone could tell you what that meant…

"HISS?!" «ARE YOU CALLING ME A THREAT?!»

"Wh- N-No! I was just making an analogy. Not trying to offend you."

He took a step back. By now Infected and Prototype had stopped talking and were instead watching the two with questioning or concerned expressions.

"… Meoww…" «Just stay out of it..»

He nodded, watching the pinkish tint die from her eyes as she looked away. An uncomfortable silence filled the elevator before being disrupted by its doors opening.

"Ah… This is our floor, come on Infected."

"1c3 cr34m f0r br34kf4st!!! s0 epik!!! >:D"

DrRETRO watched as they stepped out, being left alone with the curious robot as the doors closed.

"… Are you okay..?"

She nodded.

"But-"

She let out a warning hiss, glaring down at him with annoyance. He may have not understood her tongue, but he understood that hissing typically meant anger or annoyance within cats.

"Okay… My apologies for pestering.."

The elevator was filled once more with heavy silence. As they stopped at floors, prototype would either enthusiastically greet people or watch DrRETRO do her work. He had no clue that she was skilled in the medical field. Perhaps he should’ve done a deeper examination of her. Perhaps he should do it now. But it’s impolite to do so without asking… He’ll just ask now!

"Uh… DrRETRO? That is your name right?"

She turned towards him.

"I was wondering if you could allow me to scan you one more time? Just to add some extra information to my database!"

She stared for a moment before nodding, though she relaxed slightly as she noticed his excitement.

"Thank you!"

There was a lot he had missed about her now that he took a deeper look. She was Brazilian and had a medical license! How interesting! Her birthday is in October, specifically the 10th of October.

"I’ll have to get something for your birthday!"

She shrugged in response.

As he continued, he found some… questionable information. A warrant for arrest. Perhaps she could answer a few questions of his.

"Excuse me? Were you perhaps arrested in the pa-"

Before he could finish, she let out a hiss.

"Huh-? What’s wrong? Is that an uncomfortable subject?"

She snarled, tail lashing as she glared at him.

"I’m sorry! I don’t mean to be intrusive!"

She snorted, turning away from him. Guess that meant leave her alone for now…

As they progressed, he watched her quietly and subtly. They had eventually made it to his floor of which he gave a small goodbye and left without another word.

DrRETRO was left alone, and she was pretty glad that. She just wanted to get her rounds done and go home, maybe even take a small nap. Who knows?

As she continued to ascend, she couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease and fear. She felt like she was being watched, as if something were going to happen. She felt vulnerable and she hated it…

Each floor she stopped at, each person she treated, she felt worse and worse. Her fur had begun to rise as she rode the elevator, nothing she did could distract herself from that nightmare. Maybe she just needed someone to hang out with, just talk to! Yeah! That could help..

As she reached out to press the button to pick a floor, the elevator stopped, its doors opening to reveal a familiar caterpillar holding a small bag of apples.

"Oh… Hello!"

Pilby gave her a nervous smile, waving with one of their arms before stepping onto the elevator.

"Meowww." «Hello Pilbert."

"How are you, doctor?"

"Meow." «I’m fine as usual.»

"That’s nice! Have you been doing your rounds?"

"Mrrow." «Just finished.»

"That’s good! Where are you going now?"

"Mew…" «I was going to go see Mach..»

"Golly! Is something wrong?"

"Miau." «Just… wanted someone to talk to.»

"I get that. Mach is a great listener! But gosh, if you’ve got a problem she’ll sniff it out faster than Wallter can drink a can of grey stuff! I wonder what’s in those cans anyway… I don’t see the appeal but everyone’s got their own taste, right?"

"Meow." «True.»

Pilby nodded, falling quiet as they hummed quietly to themselves. It was rather ironic, DrRETRO was the one stressing out and panicking internally while Pilby wasn’t as much as a nervous wreck as they usually were. Perhaps it was due to the fact that the feline was aboard as well, they had gotten used to being around her after all, she typically defended them from Gnarpy when xe got aggressive or Bive when she went on her rants and rambles.

As the elevator dinged and its doors opened, the two looked outside at the floor, though Pilby was the first to exit.

"Mew…?" «What’s this..?"

"Mach’s office."

"Mrrrew?" «Since when did she get an office?»

"She’s always had an office!"

DrRETRO followed after them, the doors closing behind her as she remained quiet and glanced around. She tilted her head as she stared at the pedestals, confused by what she saw. There so many strange objects, most of which glowed. Did she like glowy things? Was she part moth or something? At least she knows the qualifications to meet to get her gift in the future; make sure it glows.

"Meoww..?" «So uhm… Where is she?»

"Probably up- Oh there she is!"

The doctor looked up, staring at the deity who watched them from, as it was called beneath the window, the living quarters. It was ominous in a way, her top-hat left a shadow on her face as he red eyes glowed dimly, her face was its usual neutral expression as she gripped her hammer in her hands.

Retro swore her heart had skipped a beat for a moment, it truly was terrifying, even though she knew she had nothing to fear. She gave a small wave, forcing a nervous smile as Mach repeated the action. Within a blink of an eye she appeared in front of the two, staring down at them as she tilted her hat upwards.

"Hello."

"Meow." «Hi..»

"Hi Mach! Uh… I got you a snack from the shop!"

"Thank you Pilby, sit it on my desk for now."

The caterpillar nodded, hurrying over with the bag and placing a bag of mini donuts on her desk before leaving the two alone. To be honest, the feline would’ve preferred if they stayed, she’d prefer more than just one other person around. It’d make her feel a bit safer and less exposed. Her tail lashed as she lifted her ears, forcing her fur to lie flat for the time being.

"What’s wrong?"

DrRETRO was jerked back to reality as Mach spoke, tilting her head ever so slightly to the side as she questioned her.

"Meow! Mrrow." «Nothing! I was just bored and wanted to just talk with you.»

"Are you sure?"

"Mew.." «Yes..»

"Are you lying?"

"Mrraow!" «No!»

"Alright. What do you wanna talk about?"

"…"

"Mw.." «I didn’t think this far ahead..»

"Tsh.."

Mach couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh, sitting in her swivel chair as Retro sat on the crates.

"Seriously?"

"Miauuu." «You try thinking of topics on short notice.»

"I will. Here’s your first one: seen that stupid rock recently?"

"Mew… Meoww mow merow." «Okay firstly, screw you… Secondly, surprisingly no. I thought that it’d be bothering me eventually today.»

"Hopefully it’s gone for good. I hated it, really annoying honestly.."

"Meow! Mrrw…" «Yeah! Plus it makes my job harder, if you only knew the amount of burn scars I’ve had to treat…»

"I can only imagine.."

DrRETRO purred, feeling better from before as she forgot of her early morning reminder of the past.

"Meow! Meew." «Oh! Met some new robot today.»

"A new robot?"

"Meowww. Merrw mwww." «Yep. Called himself Prototype. Very sweet actually, just way too impulsive as well as asking a lot of questions.»

"What, did he bother you?"

"Mrraw." «No. Not really. Not on purpose at least.»

"What do you mean not on purpose?"

"Meow." «It’s nothing don’t worry about it."

"That just makes me worry more..."

"Mrrw." «Aw, you really do care.»

"Retro.."

"Meow?! Mrroww?" «What?! I can’t joke anymore?»

"Is something bothering you?"

"Mew.." «As I said before, don’t worry about it..»

"Doctor RETRO Katball…"

"Maow…" «Uh oh full name…»

"What’s wrong?"

"Meow." «Nothing.»

"I know you’re lying and I swear I will use the hammer on you if you don’t fess up.."

"Mrrew." «Such an empty threat.»

She purred quietly before falling silent as she saw Mach grip her hammer tightly.

"How much are you betting?"

"…"

"Exactly."

"Meeow…" «Really, darling, you don’t have to worry about it. I’m fine…»

"The last time you said you were fine you collapsed on the floor from exhaustion while coughing and dry heaving."

"Meow.." «Well I was fine until then..»

"You had a fever and stayed hunched over the toilet for the next two hours!"

"Mrrow." «It was certainly an unpleasant experience…»

"Retro…"

"Meow?" «What?»

"I’m being serious about this. What’s wrong?"

"Mrraow." «You wouldn’t understand.»

She shrugged, trying to push down the swelling emotions in her chest. Unfortunately for her, Mach was persistent, gently cupping her cheeks with cold hands. Perhaps she should’ve heeded Pilby’s warning from earlier…

"Then help me understand…"

The katball pause, placing her own paws against Mach’s hands as she held her gaze. Even with her neutral and cold expression, she could still see the concern that glittered within her eyes.She let out a shaky breath, swallowing hard as she struggled to find the words.

Since when was talking about your problems so difficult?!

"It’s okay. Take your time. I’ll be here when you’re ready…"

"…"

"Mrrow…" «I… had a uhm… dream, well nightmare, last night. And it’s… It’s been bugging me all day…»

"What happened in it?"

"Meow… Mrrowww Miau." «Just… Uh… Reminded me of prison ya know? Just kind of… relived one of the worst moments of my life."

"Oh, Retro…"

"Mrrw! Mreow…" «I mean at least it’s over! Don’t understand why I’m worrying over it so much…»

Mach stared at her, her concern growing as she went on. She couldn’t even begin to comprehend how the katball felt right now. She had never been herself but she imagined it was a traumatic experience.

She sighed before pulling her close, holding her tightly as she took a deep breath.

"I know you’ve been through a lot, and I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve any of it. Just know, if you ever need anything, I’ll be here…"

The katball fell quiet, her ears flattening as she took the time to process her words. She let out a shaky sigh, her grip onto the other tightening as tears slowly streamed down her face.

Mach continued to hold her, gently caressing the doctor’s head and back as she tried to comfort her to the best of her ability.

"Mrraoh…" «Sorry for bothering you with my issues while being a giant crybaby...»

"Don’t apologize. Cry all you want, you’re not bothering me…"

"Miauu…" «Okay…»

She fell quiet, tears continuing to flow as she trembled slightly. Despite her earlier feelings of vulnerability and fear, she felt safe at the moment. She felt as if nothing could harm her, not here at least. She liked that..

"Mrrow?" «Mach?»

"Mhm?"

"Mew…" «Thank you…»

"Don’t worry about it.."

RAHHHHH YURI!!!!!!

I started falling asleep (it is 3:30 am here) towards the end so sorry for any mistakes and stuff I’ll fix them when my brains not silly and thinking of croissants. Hope you enjoyed Schmiles

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jeanmoreausautismstickers · 15 days

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tsc spoilers to share the brainrot but just a few small moments for you that are just sitting in my head that I NEED to talk to someone about

- jeans promise to Kevin

- Jean hurting Jeremy during practice “Away, Jean. You’re hurting me.”

- “Now I am not safe with you, Captain” because jer asked about Riko

- jer calling Kevin and asking if Riko broke his hand

- just fucking RIKO oh man we knew he was bad but lordy lordy lord he’s a monster

What do you think of it? How do you feel about Jean? Or Jeremy?

I need you to know that all of things you've noted made me cry. okay anyway

tsc spoilers under the cut xx

Jean's promise to Kevin? I fucking threw up brother. like it just. that whole scene and all the complicated feelings has about Kevin (and Neil) but he's still not breaking Kevin's promise. he still makes promises with Neil. like just that small, almost childish hope in him. he doesn't hate Kevin nearly as much as he wants to say he does now that he's gone and I'm so obsessed with it

oh the "Away, Jean" scenes broke my heart because I have a feeling Nora might use Jeremy saying Jean hurt him in the future. be it Jeremy finally Losing It about something and snapping (unlikely) or Jean using it as an excuse as to why he shouldn't look at Jeremy (very likely). they both break my whole heart with this scene, but I loved watching (well reading) Jean grow as a player and as a person, and start to understand that he can change his little habits. it'll just take time and watching his coaches and captain give him the grace he needs for that learning curve has me nawing on the bars of my enclosure

on top of that, Jean telling Jeremy he didn't feel safe? gagged. the fact that Jeremy, despite KNOWING it was a bad choice, stepped away and respected Jean's (slightly self-destructive) boundaries? screaming and yelling and crying my eyes out. that scene hurt me in so many ways, but the biggest one is the fact that Jean knew Jeremy would respect him if he said it. I mean it was like a punch in the throat, but it created a lot of trust between them based on Jean's boundaries and I cannot be normal about it

I'm not gonna lie, I giggled a bit at Jeremy's absolute rudeness on that phone call. like it was definitely heartbreaking and I want to give Kevin a hug. and Jean. and Neil. but the gall to call someone and immediately ask for their traumatic backstory is crazy. anyway, that scene was sad but other than giggling a bit at Jeremy's word choices, it didn't evoke a ton of emotion in me? i already knew about Kevin's had from TFC-TKM so it didn't surprise me, but I did feel terrible for Jeremy and how he found out. he will be making GOOD use of his therapist in the future I just know it

I HATE RIKO. OH MY GOD. the whole book everytime I say his, or Grayson, or Zane's name I had to say a quick prayer for the murderous thoughts running through my head. I hate him I need to hurt him even though he's already dead

i loved this book so much. once the mental illness about it dies down and I can think of it without my heart crumbling I'm going to reread it. I loved all the characters (minus all of the Ravens of course) and I cannot wait for tsc2 to come out. I'm sooo excited and I hope we get a bit more on Jeremy's family and how he thinks he ruined it. it was such a beautiful book and it makes me so sick to my stomach (in a good way) and I love it like my firstborn

I loved loved loved Jean and Jeremy, both separately and together. the parallels of Jean's family giving him up as a child but Jeremy's family not letting him leave even though he's an adult? Nora is fucking insane and i love her for it. her brain is just so good. I hope they get more of Jean accepting he has a family with Cat and Laila and Jeremy. I hope he starts referring to the house they share as HIS house, instead of calling it Laila's. I know he already called it home but I need him to take personal possession of things other than his notebooks. he and Jeremy deserve the whole world and I trust Nora whole heartedly to give them that after she torments us first ♡♡♡

#tsc spoilers #jean moreau #riko moriyama #jeremy knox #grayson johnson #zane reacher #coach rhemman #neil josten #kevin day #the sunshine court #the foxhole court #the raven king #the kings men #all for the game #aftg #tsc #nora sakavic

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moon-blanket · 2 months

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I Finished the Imperium-- here are my findings.

Welcome to the Imperium / Your Place Amongst Magic

Not much to note, Echo wasn't as scary as I thought. I was more so "oooooh"ing and "aaaah"ing about the cool set up. I love me a good tragedy.

Hunted Down by an Obsessive Water Elemental

Kody why do you sing for so long. Please stop.

Blake's "But I'm not-" when being referred to as a Dreamwalker. That's clever, I see what happened here.

VINDEMIATOR !!!! WOOO !!!! I was So afraid that he was gonna be Mean the Whole Time. But I get putting up appearances. He slayed though.

A Desperate Incubus Asks For Your Help

The immediate tone change from Vindemiator oouugu guh YEAH.

Him apologizing if he scared us i'm going to Weep and Sob. The comeback of "living and being alive are two different things" had me shaking the bars of my enclosure. Oh yeah, that's my baby.

I will do Anything for you sir. I will die for this cause.

Hell YEAH getting Kody's ass. Get the fuck outta here baby !

"What are you gonna do, fuck me to death?" return also !!! we love callbacks.

At an Enforcer's Mercy

Vin's little thing about Not wanting to talk about what just happened, how it's just another means of survival :(((

HUXLEY NOOOOO. Huxley baby this isn't like you. Where are your mothers.

Freelancer standing up for Vindemiator when Huxley starts to punch him !!!!! Soulmates in every universe I'm tellin' ya.

Alone with the Fanatical Academy President

Would you hate me if i said I was kinda into it. I was a little Scared, but I get it a little bit.

His whole story about how he got where he is, golly ! that's a little frightening !! And his condescension when Freelancer keeps asking about Vin !!! ouu u ugh that was Something.

Uncomfortable Truths with a Hopeless Demon

Avior !!! Hi Avior. I didn't know that the Haven was a sort of ploy ! It does make sense in the long-term. The Imperium can take any power it gets huh.

And it's Starlight !! can these two not get trapped in a hell for like 5 seconds.

Oh there's the kicker !! an apocalypse !!! I knew this was happening, but hearing the characters acknowledge it !! uhoh !!

His little speech about how No One listens to him and how he goes to the roof to scream at stars :(( What if i Cry.

Consort to the Tyrant King-Imperial

I knew Damian was King-Imperial. I knew Angel was his Consort. Still in awe.

Angel has Very Valid concerns and Damian just brushes them off with "I'm the King" !!

Him freezing/tracing them so they couldn't move during their argument >:(( What the fuck sir. This is not love !!

Turned by a Devious Vampire

Do you think this is what Sam is going to do now that he's kinda left the Solaire Clan. The dentist part, not the mass-maker part. Could you imagine.

Regardless, he seemed nicer than I thought. A little nerve-wracking for sure, but there was Some kindness there. Poor Baby though, and Poor Ivan afterward.

The fucked up cycle of mass-making is crazy. No wonder the Meridian is Dying.

Caught By a Cruel Werewolf Pack

This one i was Most excited for. Imperium Pack Fics are some of my Favorites. I did kick my feet a little when Milo showed up. Sweetheart still being his mate :') once again soulmates in every universe.

ASHER !!! EJ, I understood before but now. I see the whole picture now. I immediately folded.

Him mentioning David and Darlin' OUCH !!! He misses his mate so much. I didn't know it was bc Christian and Amanda were off fucking !! what !!!

Babe asking if he's okay after chewing Christian out, and actually holding a conversation with them-- even if it's an interrogation a little bit. And once he finds out their agenda he takes them to the Den oh my god it's happening guys.

I ate this audio up. I think it's my favorite so far.

Claimed by Two Sadistic Vampires

What the actual fuck is happening right now !!! I mean good riddance Adam, but what !!!

Welcome Back

yeah yeah Echo thank you so much. I do now understand why everyone is afraid that it's constantly raining in the Prime Universe now though !! I get it !!! I'm afraid too !!!

The little bit at the end with Asher and David, and how David just wants to spend time with his best friend before the E&E Games :') that was a really nice touch and also. hurts a lot after the Inversion and Imperium !

It's time for the Cataclysm. I'm sure all of my thoughts will Drastically Change lmfao.

I gotta re-read some Fics first though ;)

#redacted audio #redacted asmr #redacted imperium #moon's thoughts #This is actually Amazing i'm eating this up with a fork and knife.

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theminecraftbox · 2 years

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/dsmp /rp

oops helloooooo still stuck on this set of lines:

Dream: “You can own it, Sam. You’re an evil dude. You’re an evil guy, you do evil things, it’s fine. You kill people, you trap people, you torture people. Just own up to it! Look, I own up to it! …Look, I’ve done some horrible things, I have my reasons! …But they’re not excuses, they’re reasons.”

Sam: “You want the truth? You want to be real to each other? What’s real is, I was looking forward to every time Quackity would come. Because I was excited that that was the time that he would come in here, and he would get the revive book from you, and we could kill you off for the last time and be done with this. That’s what I was excited for.”

Dream: “There you go. There, you know? I have a little bit of respect for you for saying that. Look, at least, see, your means were getting the revival book. Fair enough, you know, it’s a valuable thing. I knew the risks…”

The personal and the professional!! The personal and the professional!! Crying and screaming and gnawing the bars of my enclosure!!!!!

Dream didn’t fucking ask if Sam enjoyed it! What Dream was after was not an admission of sadistic personal satisfaction, it was an admission that torture is evil, and committing torture makes you into someone who commits evil acts, ergo, evil. He just wanted that bare acknowledgment. He’s fine with Sam’s reasons, whatever they are, he just doesn’t want to listen to Sam saying he did nothing wrong. The professional!

But what Sam chooses to provide at first is NOT a reason. It’s not a pragmatic justification like Dream’s are. He chooses instead to admit, “I was looking forward to every time Quackity would come.” As if what he thinks Dream is looking for, some admission of evil, must involve private satisfaction, enjoyment, sadism. The personal!

Sam walks it back immediately into his pragmatic reason: the book. He tells Dream, ‘yeah okay I was enjoying hearing you scream. BUT, actually, that wasn’t because of my spite, what I was looking forward to was getting that book.’ This is the reason Dream really understands and believes. The professional!!

except THEN Sam gives away the game again, by saying that what he really, really craved was Dream’s death! He wanted the book not because he had something important in mind to do with it, but because it meant he’d be free to murder Dream and dump his body in the lava and be done with him. That’s some sincere fucking hatred. The personal!!

And what is Dream’s response to that? It’s to ignore the highly fucking alarming sentiments that Sam bookended his reasoning with. Dream doesn’t mention Sam’s personal desire for either his torture or his murder. Instead, Dream fixates on a) the fact that Sam admitted anything at all and b) the value of the book as a “fair enough” reason for torture. Because that’s the motive, the end, the reason, that he can understand! Not the vendetta, no: the goal. The professional!!!!

#c!dream and c!sam #torture.#abuse.#daedalus arc

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remmushound · 3 years

Text

Mud Dogz Rising, chapter 2: Daniel

The Lotus family were one of the most influential families in the Hidden City, with a bloodline dating back to almost four hundred years B.S (that is, Before Shredder). Though near every rat in the city could be traced back to the first Lotus immigrants five hundred years ago, the only ones with any true power was always the oldest son, whose father was the oldest son, and grandfather was the oldest son, and so forth. The current sire had six daughters and six sons, and the youngest of the brood was a tiny runt of a rat named Daniel.

Though he was constantly surrounded by brothers and sisters and servants, Daniel often preferred to play alone. Being only one of so many, it was easy for Daniel to slip away while his littermates were getting ready for bed, and out into the garden unattended he went. There was a massive fence around the garden to seal it off from the rest of the undignified yokai on the other side of it; at least, that’s what Daniel’s dad always called them, so Daniel would too! The yard was littered with things to do, and it didn't take long before his searching brought him to a discarded soccer ball laying in the flower bed.

Playing by himself meant that there was no chance of his bigger brothers and sisters bullying their way into his game. He could play at his own pace, using his own rules, and there was no one around to tell him otherwise! The game he chose to play was a simple one: bouncing the soccer ball off of the titan-shaped statue at the center of the water fountain! The ball would bounce back to him, and he’d toss it back, and it would bounce back again. The game was simple and stimulating and entertaining! At least, it was until a misthrow sent the ball flying into the sky and over the garden wall.

“Aw…” Daniel’s ears went down and he whimpered, “I liked that ball…”

The rat stared at the wall for several moments longer before looking around. There were no guards that he could see, no servants. No one to snitch on him if he were to, for example, sneak over the wall to retrieve his lost ball. The ivy was certainly high enough for him to climb, and it would be for a few seconds. Just long enough for him to get his toy…

Climbing the wall was a lot harder than he had expected it to be; his body was designed for climbing, but that didn't mean the first time wasn’t difficult. Up and over the ten foot wall he pulled himself, and when he got to the top he strained the length of his neck trying to find any way down. He leaned a little too far and instead of the soft descent he had been trying to achieve, he fell fast and landed hard with an undignified squeak.

The breath was knocked from his chest with the stinging impact, making him cough as he struggled to find his feet. The sidewalk beneath him was incredibly dirty and had left a stain in his new pearly clothes! With a whine of terror, imagining what his parents might do to him if they found the stain, he did his best to wipe it away with his paws. That only seemed to make things worse, and then he saw how icky his paws were. How gross all of him was! He had to get it off somehow! He tried to shake it off, but it clung stubbornly. He tried to groom it next, but every swipe of his tongue was so gross that he couldn’t do more than three, and there was still so much more of him that needed cleaning!

Then he saw his ball, and all thoughts of needing to get clean were quick to fade away! His ball wasn’t very far at all, and without another thought the boy was running across the street to get to it. He didn't notice the speeding cart coming until the rider screamed at him to move out of the way. By then, it was too late for him to do anything but turn and stare with widening eyes as he froze in terror.

The cart struck him hard, his tail caught in the wheels to further drag him along the dirt road with a painful, searing burn until the cart was able to stop. Daniel was screaming by that point, his tail painfully tangled and body battered and bruised, but thankfully not pinned. His ear was bleeding a lot now and throbbing too, and swiping a paw over it felt weird. The rider jumped out of the mystically-imbued cart and, though Daniel reached out to the yokai expecting help, all he got was anger.

“What are you, suicidal?!” The yokai growled, grabbing Daniel by his collar and yanking him out with no care for the wrapped state of his tail. The tail came loose with the force of the grab, but not without significant pain that made Daniel cry out even louder. The yokai shook him hard. “Stay out of the damn street!”

Daniel was crying of both fear and pain. No one had ever spoken to him like that and he couldn’t imagine why they would! He was the one who got hurt and he getting yelled at, and now his clothes were all dirty and he hurt and he still didn't have his ball! His fur stuck up at all ends and now his tail was all bendy and he was missing some of the fur on his side.

“Where are your parents?!”

Daniel, shaking, raised a paw to point at the mansion. The Yokai had to do a double take at the grandeur of the place before his attention turned fully to Daniel with narrowed eyes.

“You live there?”

“Yeah…”

The Yokai bit his lip. He looked down both sides of the street, making sure he wasn’t being watched, before he picked up Daniel by his clothes.

“Come on.” He shoved the rat into his cart and Daniel was in too much pain to argue, “today’s my lucky day.”

***

“Doku!” Madam Daishi hurried toward her husband, her expression distorted in fear and her hands quickly as she held the letter tight enough for her knuckles to turn white. Her fur was a pale, snowy white with black patches doted throughout to make her look almost like a Dalmatian, one particular patch on her forehead like a heart, “Doku!”

Her husband turned to her with a confused expression on his face, “Daishi, what is wrong?” He was a simple, dark brown rat with black eyes.

“It is Daniel!” There were tears in her eyes, worry melting through her voice as she appealed to her husband and handed him the letter, “Someone has taken him! They want money for his return.”

Doku looked over the ransom, his face unreadable. “Seven hundred thousand yen…”

“We have the money— we must give it to them!” Daishi insisted, “We must get Daniel back.”

Doku didn't react. He gave a low hum and then crumpled up the paper carelessly. “No.”

“No? What do you mean no?”

“That much money is not worth Daniel. He is not first born.” Doku tried to walk away, but his wife stopped him.

“He is our son!”

“We have five others.” Doku met evenly, “And we’ll have more. The twelfth born is worth nothing.”

~~~

Daniel didn't know what was happening. He was still hurting and he was still bleeding. He was supposed to be going home after daddy gave the bad yokai the money— why wasn’t he going home? Why was he still here, in this crowded, heated space with all of these other rats? There were so many of them, all stacked in wire cages that hurt their feet and wouldn’t let them stand. Daniel hated it. He wanted to go home! It had been days, and he was desperately hungry, and the air stunk of ammonia and filth.

The bad yokai was back, and this time he had another yokai with him; a fox yokai. Daniel didn't know what they were talking about because they were whispering, but he didn't like how the fox yokai in the nice suit was looking at him. The next thing he knew, he and several other rats were being carried away in their cages and loaded into a big cart together, their enclosures stacked on top of each other and held down with ropes and tough knots.

The cart started to move. As it rolled down the streets, Daniel saw other yokai and children like him and he tried to call out to them for help, but it was like they couldn’t even see him! Still he tried, and he tried and tried some more.

“Kid.” Said the rat yokai in the cage under him, his pelt a dingy, grayish color. “Don’t waste your energy. They don’t care about us.”

“B-but I gotta go home!” Daniel said, and then he yelped when the cart hit a bump and the rope securing him shifted slightly. “Please, I’m not supposed to be here!”

“None of us are!” The older rat snarled, “You think any of them care?”

“Do you know where we’re going?”

“I have a pretty good idea.” The rat muttered bitterly. His dark eyes turned back to Daniel, and then to the shifting ropes. It looked like they hadn’t been secured properly. If one cage was freed, then… “Hey kid. You got a family, right?”

“Y-yes sir.”

“And you wanna get back to them?”

“Y...yes sir…”

“Then I need you to reach through those bars and move that rope off of your cage. Now!”

Daniel yelped at the sudden demand, but did as he was asked. He reached his arm through the bars as far as it could go and was able to grab the rope, but quickly pulled back when his arm bent the wrong way.

“It hurts!” Daniel whined.

“Keep going!”

And so Daniel did. This time, he shoved his entire arm out up to his shoulders and pushed the rope in spite of the pain. The rope slid off of his cage with a pop.

“Okay… what now—?”

Before he got an answer, the cart hit another bump and Daniel’s cage was flung free. It flew through the air as if the cheers of the other rats propelled it, and then hit hard and then broke apart with several impacts. Daniel’s cage dislodging set off a chain reaction that caused each of the other cages to tumble free, one after the other, until all of the doors were popping free and the caged rats all ran for their freedom, Daniel included.

#Rottmnt #rottmnt mud dogs #mud dogz #Daniel mud dogz

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savannahsdrabbles · 4 years

Text

Ocean Song - Part Six

rating: PG summary: Marine biology student April O’Neil makes a startling discovery.

notes: 5k words - this chapter is a big boy! A03 link can be found here. Special thanks to @cloakedrabbitand @starfiretheninja for beta-reading!

Being constantly together meant that there wasn’t always a need for names in his family; no matter where they went or what was happening, a brother was always within earshot. Besides, surviving as a group often called for one to put aside the concept of ‘I’ and ‘me’, and instead focus on the importance of ‘us and ‘we’.

Us, Brothers. We, Father and Sons.

Individual names were thought of as precious things to be shared. To be called by name was one of the most intimate ways of being identified – it was a way of telling the other that they in particular were important and cherished and held a special place in the speaker’s heart. Being given a name was a special gift, and to be able to give someone their name was an even greater honor.

Father had given them their original names when they were still very small, cooing the sounds as they burrowed into his worn white fur and drank in the warm, safe scent of each other.

Small. Brave. Strong. Clever.

The chirped sounds were a reminder of his love for them - a verbal affirmation that he held them dear.

Once Father had passed, those names became something almost sacred in their family and were reserved for only the most special of occasions. They were spoken primarily in times of overwhelming emotion, such as during a particularly harsh winter when Strong Brother brought home a catch large enough to feed the whole family for many suns. The turtles had gathered around him that night, churring happily and celebrating their brother’s great and likely life-saving accomplishment.

Other occasions were less joyous but just as intimate, such as on nights where one of them startled awake from a terrible nightmare – an event that happened more frequently since Father’s passing. Brothers would huddle around their frightened member and press close, filling their ears with whispered names and reminding them that they were safe, they were home, and they were loved.

At this moment he yearned for nothing more than to be drawn into one of those tight embraces, cool scales and warm breath tickling his skin as the sound of his name chased away the surrounding monsters.

“Brothers here, Clever. Clever Brother safe.”

He blinked his eyes rapidly – one of the few body parts he could still move – as tears blurred his vision and began to roll down his face. The cold, hard object that had been clamped around his neck vibrated softly, a cruel imitation of the cool skin and hummed tones he was desperate for. The turtle bit down on the inside of his cheek and roughly chewed in an attempt to distract himself. No, he couldn’t cry yet, no matter how much he wanted to. For now he had to stay alert. If death was to come, he wanted to face it and be brave. That’s what Father would have wanted.

An acrid scent filled his nostrils as the ground swinging beneath him slowly transitioned from light to dark, and the harsh lighting above was replaced with a handful of flickering orange lights. The turtle let out a soft grunt as they came to an abrupt stop, his momentum continuing to carry his head and arms forward until they collided against the human called Ivan’s back. Before he could process what was happening, the hands holding him shifted to grip the edges of his shell and he was twisted around to face his captor.

Ivan stared down at him for a moment, his brown eyes seeming to note the turtle’s lolling head and the tear tracks that ran up either side of his face before he smirked. “Alright, in ya go.”

The turtle felt himself being turned again and then he was shoved into a small, dark place. He gasped softly, eyes flicking around to take in the new, colder enclosure. This one was much different than the other prison – it was much smaller, offering him only a few inches of movement on every side, and made of a shiny silver material that looped together to form an interlocking web. Several other prisons lined the one that he was being placed in, signifying that there was room for other prisoners if necessary.

The icy floor beneath his skin vibrated rhythmically as a mental image rushed to his mind, causing his already twisting stomach to gurgle a warning. No. Brothers safe. Brothers not here.

“Th-that cage is fairly small for a creature his size – and he should really have some source of water-” the red furred man that they had called “Doctor” leaned around Ivan as he attempted to peer into the silver prison. Waves of pity emanated from the human’s eyes, so similar to the expressions Red Girl and Boy Human had given him.

The turtle squeezed his eyes shut, wanting to shake his head and erase the memories from his mind. They hadn’t come back for him. Father had been right about Humans – they only sought to hurt and destroy. Their promises and looks of pity meant nothing.

All of the sudden a hand reached out and gripped the back of his neck, causing his eyes to snap back open. A warning hiss bubbled out from the back of his throat.

“Oh hush,” Ivan tapped sharply on the bridge of the creature’s snout, then leaned into the touch as he shoved the creature further back in the cage and swung the door shut. The turtle could still see through the metal links as Ivan latched the cage and reached into his pelt to retrieve what looked like a large gray egg. The man tapped the shell once, triggering a low beep from the object around the turtle’s neck. He gulped, bracing for the worst, and then barked in surprise as a wave of tingling warmth began to slowly wash over his body. It was an odd, hot sensation – like the feeling of urinating after a cold swim – but it was welcome. The turtle shook his head and gave a small sign of relief as life began to creep back into his limbs… until Ivan clicked the egg a second time and the weight came crashing back down.

“Eh, better keep you still for now. Just in case.” The large man twirled the egg between his fingers for a moment, looking thoughtful, then tucked the device into an inner pocket on the van door. Once he was certain it was secure, Ivan grabbed the doors and looked back over his shoulder. “You’ve done enough, Dr. O’Neil,”

The doors slammed shut with an air of finality, plunging him into darkness and making him whimper softly.

Seconds later a roar screamed at him from every side, and then a sudden jolt of movement sent him crashing into the cage door. He clenched his now bruised jaw as the rumbling continued to slide him back and forth, eyes blinking rapidly to adjust and then locking onto the door pocket that shifted in and out of his line of sight. He hummed in determination. That was it – his ticket to freedom. He needed that egg.

***

Okay, so it turned out that car chases were a bit difficult when you didn’t have a plan and didn’t want to alert the other car.

The Jonesmobile had exploded from the parking garage with a vengeance, spitting up gravel in its wake, only for Casey to quickly second guess his actions – a rare occasion and one to be noted – and slam on the brakes. He killed the headlights, essentially casting a cloak of invisibility over the Jeep, and waited impatiently for the van to put a bit more distance between them before gunning the engine. The two vehicles weaved their way through Hamato Lab’s property, the Jeep’s headlights staying dark until they emerged onto the freeway. There weren’t many other cars out at this time of night, but it was just enough for the teens to be able to blend into traffic without tipping off their target.

“We need a plan – is there a rest stop or something coming up? Maybe we can wait until they stop and confront them then?” April leaned down to retrieve her laptop from the floorboards and started to pull up a map of the highway. “I’m not sure where exactly Oroku Inc. is located, but I know it’s at least several hours away; they’ll have to pull over at some point to-”

“And then what? They’ll stop to get some Funyuns and we’ll break into the van?” Casey tapped his blinker as they changed lanes, moving the Jonesmobile one lane closer to the van and pressing on the accelerator. The Jeep rumbled beneath them as they powered forward. “As much fun as that sounds, I don’t think it’ll work – one of the goons will probably stay behind to watch the car.”

“Ugh, you’re right,” the redhead moved her hands to her face and rubbed her temples vigorously as if to stimulate brain activity. “Okay, okay. Did they lock the back of the van before they drove off?”

Casey shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road as the van signaled right and began to change lanes. “I don’t know – you had a better vantage point than I did.”

“I don’t think they did, but I’m not one hundred percent sure. But if we can get them both away from the car for a bit maybe one of us could get in through the back and pull him out?”

“Hmmm…” the boy hummed, impatiently drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he thought.

Ahead of them, the van signaled once more and began angling towards the nearest off ramp. Casey waited for half a moment before doing the same. He’d never driven on this part of the coastal highway before, but he could tell at a glance that the traffic was a lot less dense on the upcoming side street – meaning that there would be less cover and the goons would quickly catch on to the fact that they were being followed. If they wanted to take advantage of the element of surprise, they needed to act soon.

“How good are your acting skills?”

April blinked in confusion. “My what?”

“I have an idea. Just follow my lead – and brace yourself.”

Before April could ask any more questions, Casey jammed his foot against the gas pedal and the car rocketed forward like a sugar-high child released into Disney World. The girl shrieked in surprise, hand swatting at the roof as she grabbed for the ceiling bar and held on tight. The Jeep careened onto the off ramp, narrowly missing the siderail as they powered down to the lower level. Streetlights whipped by, illuminating the inside of the car in photographic bursts. Casey’s crazy, wild-eyed grin. April’s confused but determined resolve. The gap between them and the van began to close.

50 feet.

40 feet.

30 feet.

“Casey-!” April braced herself, teeth gritted and eyes squeezed shut as she prepared for what was sure to be a colossal collision. But then, without warning, Casey jerked the wheel and they blew past their target. April pried an eye open just in time to see the van whip past and start to shrink in their rearview mirror. “What the heck are you doing – we need to be behind them!”

“Just trust me – I saw this in a movie once!”

Once Casey seemed to be satisfied with the distance between them and the other vehicle – at least ten car lengths – he threw his right arm in front of April and slammed on the brakes.

Tires screamed in protest, immediately chorused by the voices of the Jeep’s passengers. Casey’s left hand gripped the steering wheel, fighting to keep the car under control as it skidded from side to side. A second screech joined the cacophony of noise, and April squeezed both eyes shut again as she waited for the impact that never came.

Then, with a crunch of gravel, everything stopped moving.

The two teens slumped forward in their seats, chests heaving against their seatbelts as they attempted to steady their racing hearts. As soon as she was sure that they were still alive, April turned her head and gave a snort at the shell-shocked expression painted across Casey’s face. “You good?”

The boy moved slowly, prying a white-knuckled hand off of the steering wheel and slowly patting it across his face and body in search of injuries. “I… I think so. You?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” April closed her eyes in relief and nodded breathlessly, then turned sharply in her seat as she threw a punch to Casey’s shoulder. “What the heck was that?”

Casey recoiled, color flowing back into his pale face as he attempted to dodge her flailing fists. “I have a plan – I told you, just trust me!”

“Trust you? After you tried to kill us? Boy I-”

“You call that crap driving?” A voice boomed from behind them, followed by the slam of a car door being kicked open. April tensed, eyes flicking to the rearview mirror. Both of the men they had seen at the lab emerged from the van, looking every bit as shaken and angry as she felt.

“Like I said – follow my lead!” Casey grabbed April’s hand and squeezed once as he hissed his words. Without any further explanations, the teenage boy unbuckled his seatbelt and threw himself out the car door. He started speaking even before his feet had touched the ground, voice pitching into a pitiful and unsure tone as he turned to the approaching goons. “I am so sorry, sirs! I don’t know what happened – I was just driving along and all of the sudden I lost control of the wheel! Are you two alright?”

Now that they had headlights and streetlights to illuminate the situation playing out, April was able to give the Oroku Inc. employees a once over in the rearview mirror. They were definitely enormous – both solidly built men each standing at least six feet tall and towering over even Casey’s lanky form. She squinted, eyes straining to read their nametags as they passed the Jeep’s bumper and continued to move closer. Anton and Ivan. Those certainly didn’t sound like any Japanese names she’d ever heard – maybe they were transfers to Japan, like she and her father? Then again, these guys didn’t really look the part of well-educated scientists – more like club bouncers that had been handed official nametags and set loose.

“I think that something is wrong with the flux capacitor – I heard it making noise earlier this morning and thought to myself: ‘Self, you need to get this fixed’ and by golly look where that got me now.” The men continued to stalk forward, shoulders hunched and not speaking as they got within an arm’s reach of Casey. The boy stepped backwards, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips as he continued to ramble.

Okay, this didn’t look good. Time to step in.

Taking a deep breath, April pushed herself through the passenger side door and did her best put on a mask of nervous innocence. “Oh yes, I hope that we didn’t scare you two gentlemen!”

Both mens’ heads whipped around to face her, as if just realizing that there had been a second person in the Jeep. They glanced at each other, eyes sharing a quick conversation, and then Anton gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Not at all, Miss. We were just checking to make sure that the driver of this car was alright – you were driving a bit erratically back there.”

“That’s because my girlfriend really has to pee!” Casey interjected. “We were speeding to get to the nearest gas station.”

April blinked, taking the moment of temporary darkness to roll her eyes back into her head before nodding and crossing her legs awkwardly. “Err, yeah. I really gotta… go.”

The bigger of the men blushed and glanced between the two teenagers. “Oh. Um, well then if you two are okay, we’ll let you go on your way-”

“No!” Casey and April both yelped at the same time, startling the two men and catching each other off guard.

“I really need help to get my car running again, and you can’t leave us stranded out here!” the teenage boy gestured towards the hood of his car and shrugged helplessly. “I totally suck at cars – I mean, look what happened! If I don’t get this fixed, someone else might come along hurt us or something and then I’ll have to tell the cops what happened and –”

“Alright, alright, we’ll give it a quick look,” the black man interjected with another tight smile, though his eyes betrayed a deep aggravation with the turn of events. “Ivan, you’re good with cars, aren’t you?”

“Good enough,” the white man shrugged and started to roll up his sleeves.

“Thank you so much, gentlemen, we really appreciate this,” Casey gave a small bow as the two men moved to the front of the Jeep and started to raise the hood. Before they could get started, he turned back to April and continued to speak in his lilting, false voice. “It’s pretty quiet out here, Babe. How about you go behind these nice men’s car and see if you can find somewhere to take care of business? I think their van will block you from the road.”

April nodded. Okay, maybe Casey knew what he was doing after all. “Okay, Babe. Try not to miss me too much while I’m gone.”

Casey gave a wide grin, his eyes glimmering with amusement. “Impossible.”

Before he could continue playing along and dragging things out, April turned and slowly started to make her way into the darkness. The van was still running, making her cross her fingers and pray that the back of the car would still be unlocked. If it wasn’t, she wasn’t sure how she could go about stealing the keys from the cabin without alerting Anton and Ivan.

From behind her, she heard a shouted “DUDE SHE’S PEEING, DON’T LOOK!” and bit back a snort. Bonus points for dedication on Casey’s part.

Moments later Casey’s voice resumed its awkward tone, assuring her that the goons had turned their attention back to the car. “So I always forget - how often are you supposed to change the oil in your car? It’s like once a year, right?”

April wanted to laugh at the absurdness of this all, but she knew that she didn’t have time to waste. The red head walked slowly, trying to appear calm before she ducked behind the van. Anton had apparently jerked the wheel when he slammed on the brakes, causing the van to fishtail and come to a stop at an angle – perfect. She waited in the shadow of the vehicle for a few seconds, half-expecting one of the men to charge around the corner, and then reached for the door handle.

“Please be unlocked, please be unlocked.”

Click.

The van door swung open, and April was suddenly face to face with the turtle.

A wave of relief rushed over her, and the girl grinned as she reached for the sliding latch on the front of his cage. “Oh thank God – are you okay?”

The creature hissed loudly, his narrowed eyes locking on hers and shining with anger. “No!”

She hesitated, drawing her hand back and watching as the turtle trembled in the low light. “Hey – I don’t know what all happened after we left, but I’m here to help.”

“No! Human hurt!”

April bit her lip. He was right – she could see the scrapes on his arms and face where it looked like he had been roughed up, and the humming collar on his neck didn’t look good. Casey cleared his throat in the distance and continued to talk loudly, but she could tell by his tone that he was starting to sound less confident. She didn’t have much time to argue.

“Listen – I’m going to need you to trust me.” She whispered as she raised her hand to the latch again and slid it open. The turtle gave a low grumble, but made no move to snap at her or fight back. “I’m sorry that those humans hurt you, but I promise that that’s the last thing I want to do. Casey and I are trying to get you home. You know, home with Small Brother?”

That was the key – she could almost see the switch being thrown in his brain as soon as she mentioned his brother.

Once the latch was undone, the girl slowly extended a hand into the cage. “Trust me, ok? Just come with us, and we’re going to get you home.”

The turtle regarded her hand for a moment, then moved his eyes to look past her. “Egg.”

April froze. “Egg?”

“Egg!”

“I – I’m sorry, I don’t know what that means?” They didn’t have time for this – April reached into the cage and tried to grab for one of the turtle’s legs to pull him out, only to brush against the collar on his neck. The metal buzzed slightly, sending pins and needles through her fingers and causing her to jerk her arm back. The tips of her fingers felt numb to the touch, and she flexed her hand to force blood back into them. “Ow – what the heck?”

The turtle blinked up at her almost apologetically, then turned his focus past her once more. “Egg. There egg-egg-egg-egg-egg!”

The collar – maybe that was why he wasn’t moving? So what did an egg have to do with this…?

Casey yelled in the distance, and April froze. “Can you check my gas tank as well? I filled it up last week, but maybe I’m running low?”

“Fine, whatever, Kid! Just stop yelling – they can probably hear you from Tokyo!”

That didn’t sound good – Casey was running out of things to distract them with.

April turned in the direction that the turtle was looking and reached into the door pocket. Immediately, her hand closed around something small and round. She pulled the object from the pocket and held it out to him. “This?”

“Egg!” he chirped excitedly, still not moving but eyes shining with child-like excitement. “Egg egg egg!”

“You doing okay back there, Babe?” Casey’s strained voice floated around the corner and she gulped.

“Almost done,” she called back, trying to keep her voice even as she turned the device over in her hands. There was only one button on the object, so that meant it had a 50/50 chance of helping. Taking a deep breath and praying that it would do what she hoped, April pushed the button.

A beep sounded from within the cage, and April heard the turtle sigh with relief. He didn’t make any moves to climb out of the car, but she could tell that something was happening as the turtle slowly turned his head from side to side and looked up at her with eyes full of adoration.

“Hurry it up, little miss! We’ve got to get back on the road!”

Okay, no time to wait. April shoved the small device into her pocket and reached into the cage to hook her arms under the turtle’s armpits. “I’m sorry if this hurts, honey, but we’ve got to move now.”

The turtle’s legs trailed limply behind as she hauled him out of the van and attempted to lift him fully into her arms, only to stumble backwards and nearly drop him. Nope – not going to work. He was surprisingly heavy despite his small frame. April grunted as she shifted her hands and tried to hug the turtle to her chest with his head resting on her shoulder. His arms still dangled at his sides, twitching occasionally as feeling started to flow back through them, and the turtle let out a nervous hum.

“I gotcha, bud. We just got to figure this out –”

“Dude, you can’t interrupt her when she’s going to the bathroom -!”

“She’s taken long enough – what’s going on back there?”

Before she had a chance to consider her next action – fight? flight? - two sharp cracks rang through the night followed by the sound of multiple heavy objects hitting the ground. Less than a second later, Casey barreled around the back of the van and nearly crashed into her. His eyes had a wild shine as he quickly took in the situation and then lunged forward to scoop the turtle out of April’s arms. “We gotta go!”

April gave a grateful nod as the boy shifted the turtle into a bridal carry and tucked the creature’s head under his chin. “What about -?”

“I gave us a few seconds – now GO!”

The teens exploded from around the van in time to see both men moaning and slowly pulling themselves to their knees. The splintered remains of a hockey stick lay scattered at their feet, clearly telling the story of their downturn. April gulped as she leapt across Anton’s long legs and threw herself into the passenger side of the Jeep. Across the car, Casey pulled open the back door and quickly dumped the turtle onto the bench seat with a “sorry, dude.”

“You will pay for that, boy,” the white man snarled as he rubbed his head, then raised his eyes and let out a yell. “He’s got the turtle!”

“Thanks for the car help, guys!” Casey scrambled to the driver’s seat and threw himself inside, managing to slam the door behind him right as Ivan lunged for his arm. “Really appreciate it!”

Another hand slapped against the passenger side door, and April shrieked as it was yanked open. Anton towered above her, a deep scowl on his face as he reached down to unbuckle her seatbelt and drag her from the car. “CASEY! DRIVE!”

“On it!” Casey’s foot slammed onto the gas pedal and the tires spun madly in the gravel, searching for traction and throwing small pebbles into the air. April continued to scream and kicked out, her flailing legs connecting with Anton’s chest and sending the man stumbling backwards. Across the car Ivan pounded on the backseat window, yelling to be let in as the turtle squawked in terror.

Suddenly, they were off! Tires gripped the road with terrifying ferocity and the Jonesmobile went flying onto the pavement.

Casey yelped as the car lunged forward, nearly overcorrecting and sending them back off the other side of the road before he could get a firm grip on the wheel. He let out a whoop of excitement as the Jeep powered down the coastal highway, aiming for a small side road that wove above the shore. Soon the van and two screaming men fell into the distance, and both teens sighed in relief.

“Freedom, here we come baby!”

Their celebration was short-lived, however, as a loud BANG suddenly cut through the darkness like a knife.

April’s eyes widened, and she turned to look out the rear window just as headlights burst to life behind them. Another loud BANG echoed through the air, and then something thudded into the back of the car. “Oh my gosh – they have guns!”

“Oh heck no – we are not dying today!” Casey gunned the engine, forcing the car to work harder as they drove onto the rocky, winding cliffside road. “Look at your computer – see if we can find the nearest police station or something!”

“Uh – sure – ok. Keep your head down!” April lunged towards the floorboards, her hands flailing to catch the laptop as the car started bouncing and shaking violently. Small bangs and thuds echoed against the Jeep, and she wondered how many of those were rocks being kicked up versus bullets being intentionally lodged their direction.

A heavy weight thudded behind her and April whipped around, wondering if another bullet had connected with their car, only to see that the turtle had slid off the seat and landed on the floorboards between the bench and the back of the drivers’ seat. His arms flailed helplessly, clearly having regained enough life to move but not to push himself back into an upright position.

“Here – ” Keeping her head down, April pushed a hand against the turtle’s shell and rolled him back onto the seat. The creature chirped in surprise, but continued to flail his arms around as the car began to shake even more violently. “What - are you going off road?”

“I am until you find directions – ” Casey had to raise his voice to be heard over the chaotic combination of bullets, rocks, and squawking coming from the back seat. “I’m trying to throw them off!”

Another BANG rang through the night, shattering the back window as a bullet lodged into the ceiling just above Casey’s head.

“Dude – that could have killed me!”

“I think that’s their point!” April ducked her head down again and started typing frantically on her laptop. She wasn’t even sure what to search for. The police? I mean technically they were the criminals in this situation – but the other guys were shooting at them, so they were clearly in the wrong, right?

Casey let out a whoop as he jerked the steering wheel to one side and then the other, eliciting a shriek of metal as the Jeep sideswiped the guardrail that separated the road from a steep drop into rocky, wooded area. The van was getting closer now, its headlights shining brightly in the rearview mirror and making it impossible to look back without being blinded.

“This is totally wicked!” Casey hollered as they took another sharp turn, tires spinning and spitting gravel up into the windshield wipers. “It’s kind of like we’re in an action movie, ya know?”

“You’re insane - and slow down on those turns – and calm down!” the red-head snapped first towards the driver, and then over her shoulder as the turtle continued to yell wordlessly and scrabble to get a grip in the torn upholstery. Her hands flew across the keyboard – maybe she could just find them directions to another side road where they could lose the people pursuing them?

Another loud BANG rang out, and then a large jolt rocked the Jeep first to one side and then the other. April’s eyes snapped up from the computer just in time to see a bridge pass them on their left… while the Jeep continued to plow forward into open air. “CASEY! BRIDGE!”

***

Somewhere across Osaka, a phone rang.

#rottmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt fanfiction #sea turtles au #nickelodeon #savannah drabbles

27 notes · View notes

theatresweetheart · 4 years

Text

Broken Words

Fandom(s): Sanders Sides, G/t

Summary: Rescuing humans has never been too difficult for Roman. However, the little one currently glaring at him from its enclosure has proven to be a very different case.

Warnings: Selective mutism, fear, crying, panic attack, feelings of helplessness, feelings of guilt, character being treated like an animal, swearing, self deprecation, mention of Deceit (Dorian), Remus is mentioned but not present. (If I missed any, please let me know!)

Pairings: Platonic Prinxiety, incredibly brief mentions of Royality/Logicality

Word Count: 5925 words

A/n: I haven’t had a whole lot of time to get any writing done, since it’s nearing the end of the semester but I wanted to get something posted at least! So I found this in my drafts and finally decided to finish it. Enjoy!

Taglist: @isle-of-gold @sandersships @anonymous-bean

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

The feeling of sharp eyes digging into the back of his head was something Roman was becoming unfortunately familiar with.

He could already tell that the gaze was cold and angry.

Even as he was just trying to get some work done, the gaze was unrelenting. Probably unwavering, as it always was even when he was looking at the little creature head on. It—he?—was fearful of him, Roman knew that as he had seen the little one flinch away from him or wince if he moved too fast, but there was also that hateful resilience.

The constant staring with that resolute sneer on his features to match.

To be honest, he didn’t entirely understand why the little one was so frustrated all the time. Roman liked to think he was a good caretaker; making sure the creature was fed, hydrated and cared for. That and its enclosure was comfortable. The cage itself was full of lavish luxury. He wanted it to feel less like a cage and more like a safe space. A place where it could relax from its tense position and really take in the best of its life.

And then there was the fact that he certainly wasn’t cruel.

It was almost upsetting, the lack of trust that was on the human’s features every time Roman’s eyes passed over him. Even if he was distracted with something else.

The little one would end up flinching more often than not, even if it was with a mundane action of Roman’s like turning the light on the desk off, or reaching a bit too close to the enclosure for its comfort apparently. It had boundaries that Roman had no idea about because it wouldn’t communicate them with him.

The human seemed to prefer staying curled into its corner of the cage, knees tucked up into its chest as it eyed Roman’s every move—no matter how harmless or thoughtless—as if it was waiting for him to do something. Something that would give the little creature an actual reason to hate him, instead of just waiting for something that was never going to come.

It was a long process, trying to make any ground with the tiny being. Its dark eyes were constantly alight with worry, anxiety and wariness. It looked as if the human was constantly calculating Roman’s moves, as if it was trying to piece together his ulterior motive.

Which, for the record, he didn’t have one.

Roman was genuine in his care and worry but it obviously wasn’t taken at face value.

To try and alleviate some of its stress, Roman had tried to talking to it. Making light conversation. Telling it about his day, trying to prompt some interesting answers or questions.

Unsurprisingly, those attempts had been met with a stony, grouchy silence.

It had almost led him to believe that the human couldn’t understand him, save that he had been proven wrong by the way it would react to things he said.

They may not have made a lot of conversation, none that actually ended with the human speaking to him, but enough of an understanding that the human had nodded and shaken its head when Roman had asked it things. It had been an accidental discovery in all honesty. He had just been trying to break the awkward silence that accompanied their every interaction and he had asked if the creature actually had a name. (Roman, at the time, had just been using nicknames and such, or trying different names to see if any stuck). After he had asked, the human had nodded sharply.

Of course, he had been startled. The human had finally reacted to him in a way that wasn’t inherently negative. Roman had hoped to try and continue this cooperation by asking if the human would tell him his name, but it had shaken its head and hunkered down into itself. Almost looking more closed off than before even after that silent revelation.

To try and encourage more positive conversation, Roman had tried giving it things. Little toys and gifts that he thought it would have liked—at least to keep it busy or give it something to do when he was away, rather than staring at him all the time.

He had set the toys and such into the cage with the human, only to watch the little creature toss the attempts at peace out through the spaces between the bars.

It was disheartening, Roman would admit. He was trying so hard and the human wanted nothing to do with him.

This specific human had been one Roman had caught himself. Well, perhaps using the term “caught” a bit lighter. It was simply his mission to go through the portal with a troop of others, retrieve the terrified little creatures, rescue them from their hostile land and bring them back into their own world to allow them a second chance at life.

Humans were helpless creatures, barely managing to survive in their own land. Not to mention, they were so incredibly small that it was a wonder they had managed to survive at all.

The human that was currently seated in the corner of the cage had been one of Roman’s more difficult cases when it came to rescuing humans. He had put up quite the fight, managing to duck Roman’s first few attempts to gather him up. The human had even found a way to squeeze himself into an alleyway where Roman’s hands were actually too big to grab him.

It had been a bit startling at first, as he had never had to deal with someone so obstinate. While of a lot of the humans he had helped had originally panicked and tried to escape, none had done so successfully. It was especially stressful because he didn’t want the human to hurt himself in his fear.

Adrenaline was known to wipe out common sense and push the human body into its fight or flight survival instinct.

It didn’t matter what necessarily happened after that, as long as they got out of whatever situation they were in relatively unharmed.

Roman didn’t enjoy terrifying the little creatures but it came with the job; it was just something he would have to live with. While it did make him feel guilty in the moment, he had to remind himself that he was doing it for a good cause. That no matter how terrified the humans were in that instance, they would be far better off in the custody and safety of his own kind. With a race that could actually take care of them properly.

He remembered getting down onto his hands and knees and peering into the little alleyway, noticing that the human had backed itself into the corner; completely rendering itself stuck with no way out.

The wall that had been at the human’s back had been about twice his size with no way to leverage itself and catapult himself over it. The alleyway was too wide for him to balance himself between the walls and climb up. The human really had cornered himself.

They had been at an impasse at that point. For a while Roman had debated whether or not he should try and reach in after it. He ended up not following through, lest he end up hurting the fragile being in the process.

“Life over limb.”‌ He could recall his superior saying. “A‌ human will be far more grateful to be alive and missing a limb, than dead.”

Morbid, but true.

Roman had tried cooing to the little creature, making soft noises in the back of his throat in an attempt to get him to calm down. To come out on his own. Instead, the human had bared its teeth and hissed at him.

Eventually, he had tired of playing this game.

The human had turned around, the tiny hands pressed against the wall trying to feel for a break in the solid stone, to attempt another escape—at least, that’s what Roman assumed it was doing.

(Also, a part of him was mesmerized at seeing such impossibly tiny hands.)

Honing in on that weakness as his chance, as one should never turn their back to their opponent, he had stuck two fingers into the alley and managed to snag the creature by the back of its jacket. He pulled it out kicking and screaming, all while fighting him tooth and nail.

None of the others had ever been so determined, so filled with rage, that they would risk their personal safety. There were a lot of others Roman knew, that wouldn’t have hesitated to the put the human down. It was a common practice, unfortunate as it was, but sometimes it was a necessary course of action. If a human was too dangerous or not behaving safely around itself or others there would be no other choice.

Especially when it came to the fact that this little one had such self-destructive tendencies. Which would then end up hurting himself or the family he went to live with.

The creature had been so desperate to try and escape, he had then attempted to slip out of his jacket altogether.

He was able to slip about half-way out of his jacket before Roman had caught on to exactly what he was doing. At that point, he had brought up his second hand and sealed the human between his two palms to try and minimize the danger it could cause to itself. Self-harm and attempted self-harm seemed to be a reoccurring pattern with this one.

Roman, on the other hand wasn’t too worried about the human trying to get out from there. It was actually physically impossible for the little creature. He had held many humans this way and none of them had been able to budge his fingers, so he really wasn’t too concerned. Even as the creature squirmed, kicked and cussed at its living confinement.

This little one, as hateful and stubborn as it was, seemed to have an incredibly anxious outlook on the world around it. Its body language was often closed off and wary. Its arms wrapped around its knees as it kept to itself. It was like it lived in a constant state of stress—even if it had been expressed to him just how safe he was. Then there was the fact that Roman would often leave in the morning to run some errands or meet with some friends, return home and the human would still be seated in the same position he had left it in.

The dark clothing it wore also made it difficult to get a real read on its body language. The hoodie it wore was a bit over-sized on the tiny frame, but it didn’t seem to be too much of a bother. If anything, he seemed to like having the jacket be a bit too big as it gave him a place to hide.

There had been a couple times where Roman may have, admittedly, come off a bit strong while trying to reach an understanding and the human had hidden away in his jacket. Hood up, hands stuffed into the pockets and knees directly against his chest.

He also seemed to shy away from attention, which was something Roman had picked up on quickly.

The human didn’t like when Roman watched him in silence, even though the creature was a huge (no pun intended) fucking hypocrite. Apparently it was only okay when it was the one doing the staring.

Then there was the fact that he had chosen this.

It had been his own decision and here he was facing the consequences. A part of the reason Roman had picked this specific human was to give him a second chance at life, even if he had been a bit foul-mouthed upon their first meeting. That, and he had a feeling that not many others would give the little one the chance he deserved. The human would have either been put down, or lived his the rest of his life completely alone.

So, he couldn’t blame anyone for forcing this responsibility upon him as it had been entirely up to him to make that choice.

Which had then, in turn, led him right to this moment.

Letting out a sigh, Roman straightened a little and turned his attention from his laptop towards the cage settled on his dresser not a foot away. “Are you just going to keep staring at me, or do you actually want to talk this time?”

Roman wasn’t entirely hopeful with getting conversation from the human, or real words for that matter, but he was tired of the relentless staring. He was also frustrated, but not to the point where he was going to force the human to say anything. That would probably cause more harm than good. Scaring the human was not his intention and it never would be, even if that was an option.

Intimidation was always an option, just not one that would get the desired end result.

It seemed as though Roman’s sudden statement had startled the creature into ducking further into his hoodie, pulling his sweater paws up defensively and watching him carefully from over-top of his knees with those analytical hazel eyes.

He was just…tired. Tired of this charade. Of this game. It was almost getting to the point where he was close to regretting the choice of adoption. Not just yet, but he was slowly getting there.

Some of his other friends had talkative, adorable and affectionate humans. Ones that liked attention and liked being spoiled with gifts and treats and liked conversation and storytelling. A‌ part of him was just so confused by his human’s reluctance to listen or respond or interact. It was something that he wanted to understand, but he couldn’t even begin to understand if the human never spoke to him.

Patton had told him that some humans just needed time to adjust—told him that when he had gotten Logan, the little one had barely paid attention to him, almost constantly trying to find a way out before eventually figuring out he was perfectly safe and beginning to actually enjoy Patton’s presence.

But Roman had already given the human plenty of time and yet it still remained eerily silent. It was easy to say that Roman envied Patton in that regard.

“Well?”‌ Roman prompted after a moment, a brow quirked in question.

Roman knew the little one wasn’t mute. He had used his voice to shout and shriek and swear, making his likes and dislikes very clear, all without the use of proper words.

“…what’s it even matter if I talk or not,”‌ the human said, his voice quiet and muffled by his hoodie sleeves but still as sharp and cold as ice. He was obviously upset. “Not like its gonna change anything.”

As relieved—as well as pleasantly surprised and excited—as Roman wanted to be when it came to actually holding an intelligent conversation, the human’s statement was so…depressing.

“On the contrary. Hearing you talk matters far more than you think it does,”‌ Roman said, folding his laptop down and setting it onto his desk. He then turned completely to face the cage where the human sat. “Actually talking to you makes it a lot easier to communicate instead of just having you glare at me constantly.”

“Yeah,” the human snorted humorlessly, “as if that’s gonna change just because I have a voice and decided to use it.”

Seriously, what was with the negativity?‌ The human had barely said anything and already his words stung.

It was a learned behavior, Roman knew that. Self-deprecation didn’t come naturally. At least, it shouldn’t. He had known plenty of people before now that used that kind of humour to make them feel better or to hide their true feelings, but hearing it from the slumped and dejected shoulders of the human seemed to have a far different effect.

The human turned his gaze away, pulling his knees closer to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. “If you can’t tell, my life has gone from kinda decent to the worst few weeks of my entire life all within a couple hours. So, forgive me for not wanting to socialize with the giant that kidnapped me and ruined everything.”

Ruined everything?‌‌ Now that— that had to be a little harsh, right? It wasn’t as if the human had anything left for him back on Earth. Roman was only doing the best thing for him. He was giving him a better life, where he didn’t have to worry about anything anymore. He would be fed, cared for, protected. Safe. What part of this set-up was so bad that the creature was still so incredibly hostile?

Roman kind of got it. Earth was the only home the human had ever known, so it was no wonder he was attached. It just made his job harder, which he now knew meant he had to try and convince the little one that life here with him would be better.

Now that they were actually on talking terms, he had more of a chance to get real and honest responses.

“I don’t think you understand what kind of set-up we have.”‌

Roman had tried to explain it before, but the human had only snorted at him before turning his back. It was clear he didn’t believe him, which was understandable. Trusting a stranger was hard enough, but trying to trust someone that had taken you from the only place you’ve ever known?

Okay, yeah, so Roman did get it. More than he thought he did.

The human sneered, shaking his head. “I‌ know exactly what kind of set-up we have,” he spat, venom injected into his every word once again.

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose, that frustration coming back briefly, making a small appearance in his chest as his emotions flickered. He was just feeling a lot and he wasn’t entirely sure what he should be feeling at this point in the conversation. “I‌ really don’t think you do.”

“Then enlighten me,” the creature snapped, eyes sharp as knives. Clearly he was judging Roman and was already judging the words he hadn’t said yet. “What do we have going on here?”

It was a taunt. That’s exactly what that was. A poisonous threat that could and would crumble everything Roman had worked for when it came to treating the human as well as he deserved. Unspoken but well known, the human had been rather spoiled in an attempt to get it to warm up to him eventually. It was kind of like a thoughtless bribe, really.

The statement was so loaded, that Roman almost didn’t know how to answer him.

Except, when he stayed quiet for a heartbeat too long, the human seemed to take it as his answer.

“That’s what I thought,”‌ he said, his tone almost sounded somewhat defeated. “I’m this helpless little creature you ‘rescued’ from Earth and its terribly deadly landscape and then ‘adopted’ because you knew no one else would want me.” He chuckled mirthlessly, shaking his head and resting his cheek on his arms that were folded over the tops of his curled knees. “I don’t want your pity and I‌ sure as hell don’t want your care. If I’m just some pet for your amusement, the least you can do for me is leave me alone.”

To say that he wasn’t surprised, would be entirely wrong. Roman’s brows had raised in slight shock from the miserable statement.

Giving it another second of silence, Roman got up finally and moved over to his dresser before crouching down in front of it. He watched as the human seemed to try and tuck himself further into his corner, looking as if he was trying to hide in plain sight.

“Look,”‌ Roman started off after a moment, watching as the little one kept his gaze locked on the wall to his right, “you’re not happy here, I‌ get that. But you have to understand that Earth really wasn’t exactly inhabitable anymore.” The human snorted but before he could say anything to refute it, Roman continued. “I’m trying to be as accommodating as possible. And if I haven’t been great about it, it’s because you tell me literally nothing; what you want, what you don’t want, what you like, what you don’t like. This is supposed to be a two-way thing and it doesn’t work if you refuse to acknowledge my attempts at trying to better your life.”

“I don’t want you to better my life, don’t you get it?”‌ The human snarled suddenly, brown eyes meeting his own, blazing with intensity. “I was perfectly happy back home, living my life the way I wanted to live it. Not constantly being hovered over by someone that thinks of me as lesser than any other intelligent sentient being.”

“I‌ just want to mention that being here with me, would be far better than being stuck in a shelter,”‌ Roman finally snipped back, letting that irritation rear its head. “At least here I‌ care. You could have been stuck with someone far worse, don’t you think? At least I‌ try and reason with you—which would have been far better if you had been in a more talkative mood.”

The human’s fingers dug into the black fabric of his jacket, the small knuckles going pure white from the intensity of the hold. “I don’t care,”‌ he grit out through clenched teeth, looking increasingly distressed. “I don’t like this situation, I don’t like this place and I‌ sure don’t like you.”

That statement left Roman staggered momentarily. “I get that, truly I‌ do, but why?”

The human’s eyes squeezed shut and Roman belatedly realized he could see tears gathering in the corners of its eyes.

He also belatedly realized he may have pushed a bit too far…

The boy’s jaw shuddered as he took in an unsteady breath, shaking his head. The human’s fingers dug further into the jacket as if it was the only resource he could hold onto. “I want to go home,”‌ he breathed, his voice on the cusp of shattering. “I‌ want to go home. Please.”

Before Roman even had the wits to say anything (even as he felt his heart stammer, his throat tightening with emotion) the human was speaking again…no, he was mumbling to himself, over and over again. As if Roman wasn’t even there anymore. Or perhaps this was an act to gain more pity than he had already received.

However, this seemed far too genuine for him to be faking it.

“Please,” the tiny creature sobbed, his hands moving to push his hair out of his face but keeping his head tucked down to his knees as far as it could go. “Please, please, please.” He choked on a hiccup, the sounds of absolute desperation didn’t go unnoticed when they were the only thing Roman could focus on. The only thing he could hear. “I-I‌ want my brother. I‌ just..I‌ want to go home a-and see him again and be told that everything’s gonna be okay and he’s— he’s…”

Roman wished there was something he could say. Something to make the human feel better, but nothing was coming to mind. He was left watching the little one break down in front of him and there was nothing he could do.

He had never felt so helpless and big in his entire life.

The human’s fingers were digging into its hair, trying to find a way to ground itself as it mumbled through sobs. Speaking indistinctly about wanting to go home, a brother and a few more things that Roman couldn’t make out. So, he just stayed there, knelt in front of the cage looking useless and dumbstruck. He wasn’t even sure what to say at this point, or if he should say anything.

In all honesty, a part of him had forgotten that humans had families too. It was more of a fact that was never touched upon in training courses. A lot of what was talked about was how the trainees should be warned about things like humans fighting back, how to protect themselves, how to properly transport a human, etc, etc.

Talking about a human’s past—family and friends included—seemed to be a topic that was skillfully avoided.

As if it were a tactic…trying not play off the fact that maybe something was wrong with what was going on.

The more he thought about it, the more Roman’s head and heart hurt. He hated seeing the little one so torn up about what was happening, but he also had the urge to try and reassure him again that he was perfectly safe and Roman would make sure nothing happened to him again.

But as he looked at the little creature, rocking himself back and forth, his head buried into his knees, going through what seemed to be a panic attack, he realized there was nothing he could do to help.

However, Roman couldn’t just stay there off to the side not doing anything. It only made him feel worse. He needed to say something, try and help the little one get his thoughts in order, but how?

“What’s his name?” He asked suddenly, surprising himself and causing the human to flinch at the utter suddenness of it. Roman quickly adjusted his tone. “…your brother’s name, that is.”

The human shook his head, turning his face further away from Roman, hiccups filling the silence between choked breaths and gasps.

Roman clenched his hands, his nails biting into his palms but it wasn’t from frustration. It was from nerves. He didn’t know how to help someone through something like this! Patton was better when it came to things like this, but his friend was currently out of reach and Roman had to figure this out himself.

The silence was hard to bear, though. The quivering noises only made his stomach churn with guilt.

Even though Roman’s question had startled the human, it seemed after a couple minutes he was beginning to come down from the initial terror. It was obvious that this breakdown had been a long time coming and Roman had just unfortunately caused it by pressing too hard for answers. It was something he was aware of when it came to his personality, and usually others could handle it. He supposed he should have known better when it came to the human. Especially with how non-verbal he always was and how asking too many questions at once could freak him out.

The human coughed a little bit, a hand pressed to his mouth as he tried to steady his breathing.

It was a tactic Roman had never seen before. He guessed it was kind of like hyperventilating into a paper bag, just using one’s own hand instead. Even in this instance, he was still rather fascinated with the little creature. Just how small it was, was absolutely captivating. The minuscule hands and even smaller fingers.

The human was incredibly delicate to the touch and Roman could remember holding him. He could remember feeling the tiny little chest heaving against his fingertips and a heartbeat thudding behind it, pattering rhythmically to its own beat.

He had never truly realized just how much power he held over the little creatures and how easily it would have been for him to—

No. No. He wasn’t thinking about that.

It didn’t matter how aggravating this human could and would be, Roman wouldn’t hurt him. He wouldn’t intimidate him—purposefully, at least—and he wouldn’t force him to give up any information he wasn’t willing to.

While, yes, it was frustrating, he couldn’t stomach the thought of it. He couldn’t bear the idea of the human staring up at him with terrified, wide, tear-filled eyes forever. No, Roman was well aware that they may never be friends, but that didn’t matter as long as the human at least felt safe in his presence.

Roman just wanted him to feel safe.

He didn’t want the human to feel frightened, fearing every single move Roman made, constantly waiting for something to happen. Something that was never ever going to come.

“…D-Dorian…”

The suddenness of the human’s voice made Roman’s eyes snap back up to him, wide and surprised. He instantly felt worse when the human jerked backward, hands tightening in the black fabric of his jacket. The little one looked as if he regretted saying anything at all.

“What?”

The human tilted his head away, scrubbing at the dampness on his cheeks, even as flushed as his face was. “Y-you asked for his name,” he murmured, swallowing thickly, “it’s— it’s Dorian.”

Getting the name of the human’s brother almost made it worse. Roman knew he had asked, but he almost felt sick by actually being granted the information. He struggled to come up with something to say back to it. What could he say? While he didn’t like thinking about it, Roman probably had ruined everything for the little one. Stealing him away from his brother, bringing him back to a place that was unknown and foreign to him.

He shook the bitter thoughts away, he couldn’t let that get to him right now. He was finally getting more positive communication from the little one and he couldn’t ignore it.

“It’s a lovely name,” Roman said after a moment of deliberation, keeping his voice reserved and gentle. “Would it be possible to get your name as well? If you’re not comfortable with it, you certainly don’t have to!”

The human sat in silence again, his head stayed ducked down as he continued to use his sweater paws to wipe his tears away, soft hiccups escaping him from time to time. Roman knew the little thing had to be absolutely exhausted. Going through a panic attack had to be terribly draining, emotionally and physically.

The human sniffled, blinking the rest of the water from his lashes and finally, finally, turning his eyes up to meet Roman’s. They were unguarded hazel browns with tears lingering in the depths of them, pooling slowly as he seemed to decide if Roman was a safe enough person to give such a personal thing to. Names were incredibly personal and he would understand completely if he was still ignored. Really, he wouldn’t take it to heart now that he knew the true extents that he human felt.

The creature’s eyes flickered over Roman’s own features and he felt oddly vulnerable, even though the subject staring at him had been doing the same thing for ages at this point.

However, this time felt entirely different.

The human looked tired. Like he had almost given up, but still held a resilience that said he’s wasn’t done just yet.

The human took a breath and Roman held his own. Almost waiting in anticipation now. The human scrubbed at his face again with his hoodie sleeve before, blinking and biting his lip. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something before closing it again, as if he had almost thought better of it. “…it’s, um, Virgil.”

Roman blanched.

He had been told such an indescribably important thing. Getting to know the human’s—Virgil’s—name was not something to take lightly. It was knowledge he knew he would have to cherish.

He cleared his throat when he realized he hadn’t said anything and it was probably making Virgil nervous.

“I’d say it’s a pleasure but… I don’t think you’d consider it as such,” Roman said, trying to at least humour him a little bit.

Roman was surprised to hear a quiet, wet half laugh in response. But pleasantly relieved to hear that it hadn’t been taken the wrong way.

“I really wouldn’t call it a pleasure,”‌ Virgil said back, his voice quiet and still on the cusp of shattering.

“How about this.” Roman shifted a little bit on his knees, trying to get more comfortable in his crouched position. He hadn’t realized how tense he had been up until now. “We start over.”

Virgil quirked a brow in response, carefully leaning back at that while also slightly uncurling from his defensive position. The same defensive position that Roman had seen him tucked into day after day. It was almost heart-warming to see him changing a bit. “Start over?”

“Yeah, I‌ mean, you just introduced yourself, so it is only fair I reintroduce myself.” Sure, the idea was rather cheesy and made him feel a little silly, but if it helped Virgil feel more comfortable in his presence, than Roman was more than willing to do it.

“That’s the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard,” the human mused, his lips pressed into a thin line as he cleared the rest of the water from his eyes. He then hesitated after a moment. He looked unimpressed, but Roman supposed that was better than a heated, seething glare. “…fine.”

Roman beamed at the conformation and resisted the urge to reach his hand out in a handshake—knowing that it would not be taken well in the slightest. Just because they were on talking terms, didn’t mean that erased all of Virgil’s anxious feelings. “Roman Prince, at your service.”

Virgil snorted, shaking his head. He still looked unaffected, since he already knew Roman’s name.

But the aura didn’t feel as tense anymore, which was a huge weight off of Roman’s shoulders. And perhaps, maybe it was a weight off of Virgil’s as well.

However, even though they had come through to the other side of this whole mess, it didn’t erase the guilt that Roman felt. A part of him almost felt worse now that he knew Virgil’s name. The slumped shoulders and depressed looks were almost heavier now, especially since he wasn’t just referring to him with nicknames anymore.

That and he was almost more curious about what Virgil’s life had been like before all of this. Not wanting to press, but still curious if he was still in the talking mood, Roman’s eyes scanned the human’s form. Before his own browns softened and he tilted his head to the side slightly. “…can you tell me more about your brother?”

The question made Virgil stiffen and his features turned guarded and defensive again. “…why do you care?”

“I‌ have a brother too,” Roman said casually, attempting to ease the conversation. Showing that there truly were no ulterior motives and that he was genuinely curious. “A twin and an absolute mess of a man, but family nonetheless. I’m also just curious to understand what your life was like before.. all of this happened.”

Virgil’s eyes flickered over Roman’s person again, studying him, trying to work out something behind his brown eyes. As if he was trying to find something wrong with Roman’s sentence, to “read between the lines” so to speak.

He then uncurled himself a little more, stretching his legs out in front of him and leaning against the back of his enclosure. His head tilted the other way, staring at the wall in the opposite direction of Roman, but looking reminiscent. He kept his arms crossed against his chest and his hands tucked inside his sleeves, but the human nodded his head somberly after a moment.

Roman sat back on his hands, carefully attuned to whatever the human was going to say. He may have made his fair share of mistakes, but it seemed as though Virgil was willing to work past that. At least for now.

And that was all Roman could really ask for.

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throughtheglassdarkly · 5 years

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Roadblocks, part 5.2

Yova was spending her lovely windy Wednesday afternoon alternating between spoiling Gershwin with new toys and plants for his terrarium and banging out “Crocodile Rock” on her piano to try and make my souffle fall (I never should have told her I hate Elton John). She almost missed the sound of the doorbell to her apartment, but stomped over, threw it open and sneered, “Oh, I’m so sorry, was that botheri- heeeelllo, Pam!” Pam beamed up at her and said, “Hello! I just heard from Derek and he was so concerned about you, so I thought I’d come over. I brought scones and bars!” Yova somehow managed to keep her hair from combusting into flames and invited Pam in.

Pam set things up in the kitchenette, putting it to good use (for once). She brought her own bean grinder and coffee beans to make coffee just how Yova liked and pulled out all the stops to make a nice little coffee party. It was around this time I asked Paisley to go up as a scout and let me know if Pam was there. She was eager as anything to go up, so we made our way upstairs. Yova opened the door and grinned, showing me every tooth in her mouth. “Deeeerek. What a pleasant surprise,” she said, molars grinding to dust. I grinned and held up a plate. “I brought mini quiches,” I said.

We stepped in and Paisley made a beeline for Gershwin’s new enclosure. I think Yova bought one of those giant saltwater fish tanks and converted it into his home. Paisley couldn’t stop herself from exploring and I caught her giving me a dirty look, clearly asking why I wasn’t stepping my pet owner game up. “Dude, don’t get used to it. I don’t have disposable pianist income,” I told her.

Once we settled down and had ourselves some coffee and bars and mini quiches, Pam asked Yova about her Fetch and how she was doing. “Oh, I’m fine. Honestly, I’d rather just leave it alone,” Yova said. Pam and I shared a look and I tried to lean on Yova, saying, “You know, I said pretty much the same thing. And that very nearly ended up blowing up in our faces,” I said. Yova sighed, leaned back in her chair and looked down in her coffee, saying, “I just want you to be prepared for it not to go well. I don’t know if she’s crazy or just putting on an act, by she is definitely self-aware enough to harm someone. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.” She looked up and asked, “And there’s no way I could persuade you to not go through with this?” Pam just shook her head.

Yova drained her coffee and leaned forward, taking a bar. “Honestly, I’ve considered calling my parents and seeing if they’d take her in,” she said, munching on it. I considered for a second and said, “Well, there’s nothing wrong with one of us calling and trying it out.” She sat there for a second, then got up, grabbed her phone and started typing in a number. She punched send and handed the phone over to me.

While we were dining on baked goods and angst, Bella and Day were hanging out at his office, where he was sitting at his desk with the fancy name plaque he splurged on and she was trying to convince him of the merits of setting up a Facebook page and handing out crappy flyers she designed herself. They both turned, surprised, when they heard the door opening. Day tried to get more presentable, tucking his shirt in, but much to their surprise, they both recognized who stepped in: it was Marigold, bundled up in a fluffy wool coat. Day relaxed and said, “Mary!” “My name’s… Marigold… not Mary,” she said hesitantly. “It’s – I was trying to –“ he sputtered. “Oh, it’s a nickname!” Marigold chirped. Bella told me she considered jumping out the window at this point.

Marigold wasn’t there on a social call, however: she wanted to hire day for an investigation. Day told her to take a seat and tell him exactly what was going on. Bella sat up straight with a proper secretary’s posture and started taking notes. Marigold sat down, looking nervous, and pulled out a piece of something electronic with some wires hanging off. She slid it across the table and said, “This fell out of one of the vents at my apartment while I was cleaning it.” Day looked at the device, which appeared to be a crude sort of microphone. “Well, it’s pretty cheap and staticky, probably wouldn’t pick up much outside of the room it was in. At least it’s not the FBI,” he said. “Why would you think it’s the FBI?! I’m careful about that!” Marigold yelped. “Jesus, Mary, it’s a joke,” he said.

He reassured her that the bug was just a basic device, and so she probably wasn’t dealing with someone who was a real professional. Marigold was a little relieved by that, but told him that she still wanted him to look into it. “And please, don’t tell Yova. I don’t want her to worry,” she said. “No worries, it’s like a doctor-patient confidentiality. Anything you tell me doesn’t pass this desk. So, uh, to give me some idea of what we’re working with… when you and Yova do it, how does it –” Bella mercifully cut him off.

Day asked Marigold if she had any enemies who would want to listen in on her. “Ex-friends, ex-siblings, ex-lovers?” Bella asked. “I don’t think so? I mean, I’m the librarian at the Autumn Court. It’s not like that’s the most enviable position. I’m not trying to gain rank or curry favor. I’m just trying to get by.” Bella looked her dead on and told her that there were people in the Courts who just didn’t like Darklings. And then Marigold started to cry. Which is why Day and Bella are officially the worst people.

Once they calmed her down, Day told her that this had to be the work of someone who had access to her apartment, so she needed to try and think about anyone who might have come over to the apartment or come in for any reason. She wasn’t able to think of anyone other than Yova who came over. Day asked her if she could get a hotel for the evening so that he and Bella could go take a look at things, and if they found anything out, they’d let her know. She agreed and he told her to find a place to stay and just hang out there, and if she thought of anything, to give him or Bella a call. Bella proudly pulled out one of Day’s new business cards and handed it over.

After she left, Day asked Bella if she was ready to earn a bonus. “I think we should get a pseudo-Marigold to go to the apartment and do her everyday normal things, and see what happens,” he said. “What are you trying to say, Day?” “What I’m trying to say, Miss Pocket Pilfer, is we’re going to take one Darkling and put in another.” “So are you trying to say all Darklings look the same?”

Back on the saner side of my motley’s spectrum, I had the phone and was waiting for someone at Yova’s parents’ place to pick up. The phone kept ringing and ringing and ringing, and just as I was about to hang up, I heard an older woman’s voice come on and say, “Hello?” I straightened up and said, “Ah, yes, Mrs. Pavlovich? My name is Derek, I’m an orderly at Binghamton Psychiatric Center in Binghamton, New York. I’m calling about your daughter.” There was a long pause, then she said, “Oh… yes? But she was discharged, wasn’t she? I’m not sure what I can do for you.”

I managed, somehow, to keep from screaming, and cleared my throat. “Uh, yes, ma’am. But we’ve just realized that she left some personal effects here and we’re not permitted to hold onto these. I was hoping you might help us get in touch with her so she or a representative could come and pick them up?” I asked. She hesitated. “Oh. Well, we live out of state, so we wouldn’t be able to help you out there. I assume you have her phone number and must have called? I’m afraid I can’t help you out any more than that.” “I see. Well, thank you for your time, Mrs. Pavlovich.” “You’re welcome. I wish I knew more but we don’t speak very much, so I don’t know what she’s up to,” she said. I bit back a few choice words, given what Yova had told me about her parents’ reaction to her coming out. Instead, I took as cold a tone as I could muster.

“Well, Mrs. Pavlovich,” I said, “perhaps you could try calling her sometime.” And then I hung up the phone.

I told Pam and Yova the bad news about the Fetch getting released. We quickly started brainstorming and Yova grabbed the notebook she got from Aurora’s hideout. After a few minutes, I spotted a couple of names I recognized: Deb and Greg, the changelings we met at the biergarten who were working with Day’s and Bella’s Fetches. We discussed whether Aurora might have dropped Yova’s Fetch off with them. Yova looked like she was internally kicking herself. “I thought she was where she needed to be. Out of sight, out of mind,” she sighed. “Well, we’re going to figure it out,” Pam told her.

Meanwhile, Abbot and Costello were putting their brilliant plan into motion. They got Bella dressed up like Marigold and Day staked out the apartment while she went up to the front door and got the spare key from the flowerpot. Bella headed in and started looking around, trying to spot anything that might have been out of place in Marigold’s apartment. She couldn’t help feeling a little bit on edge. Outside, Day didn’t see anything out of the ordinary to start with, but a few minutes after Bella entered the apartment, he spotted a U-Haul parked nearby slowly pull out and start to drive away. They were moving slow enough for him to take note. He jotted down the license plate and then climbed into his car to follow.

Back inside the apartment, Bella was distracted and on edge, searching through Marigold’s things. And it was probably the fact that she was so distracted that she didn’t notice until it was too late that another person was in there. The same person who brought a sack over her head as she was looking at the calendar with the adorable kittens on it. Wriggle and writhe and scratch and scream as she might, she couldn’t get away. As she struggled, she managed to pull a muscle in her back and became completely unable to move. Something hard came down against the back of her head and she was out.

As Day was following the U-Haul around the block, it pulled up to the street behind the complex. While he waited, he saw the driver walk briskly back around the front of the U-Haul. Someone else came up to it, popped something into the passenger side and threw it in.

Back at Chez Yova, Pam tried calling Day but just got his voicemail. Yova called the Summer Court to let them know what was going on. She got a hold of Brandon, the changeling who took Aurora’s body. She told him about the situation and he told her that Fetches were usually their changeling’s responsibility, but he said he’d take a description and they’d keep an eye out for her. Yova told him she had no idea who the Fetch would contact and didn’t know how physically capable she was, but she still recommended approaching with caution.

I realized it would be good for the Autumn Court to also be aware of what was going on, so I called Stella, and the conversation went about as well as you could expect. “It’s Stella, state your business.” “Hi, Stella, it’s your favorite bird brain.” “Hello, Derek, how can I help you?” “Well, Yova’s Fetch got busted out of the insane asylum she was in, so we’re calling around to alert people about that and tell them to watch out for her.” There was a momentary pause, then Stella said, “That’s surprisingly responsible of you.” I gave her a description of what Yova used to look like and she told me she would make the Court aware of it, then she hung up. I looked up at Yova and Pam and said, “She loves me.”

Around this time, Yova decided to call Marigold. She got her voicemail and left a message: “Hi, Marigold, it’s me. There’s a bit of a situation. If you can give me a call back, I’ll talk to you about it more, or I can text you the details, just please, please be safe.” She texted what was going on to Marigold. We decided to go to Day’s office and see what was going on. As you’re probably guessing, we just saw the sign on his door saying he was out on a case. That’s when we tried calling Bella.

Who was slowly coming to in the passenger seat of the U-Haul. She heard her phone buzzing and started to realize she was in a car and driving off somewhere. The bag was still over her head and her hands were tied behind her. She heard a feminine voice saying, “Look, I know this seems bad, but don’t worry, stop struggling. You’ll be out of this soon.” “You guys suck. Who does this?” she asked. Around this time, Day was driving through traffic and started losing them. He let out a very long and very rude series of words.

Yova was getting very antsy at not hearing anything from Marigold, so she drove us all over to Marigold’s. When we got there, she jumped out of the car about an eighth of a second after she slammed the shift into park. Pam and I got out and tried to make it up after her, but she was moving at mach now. She checked the flowerpot for the spare key, which wasn’t there. The door wasn’t locked and the lights were on the apartment. There was also a note on the door with an address written on it, which Yova snatched off.

She barged in, yelling, “Marigold?!” There was, obviously, no answer. I started checking the book, looking to see if Marigold’s address was there, but Yova was tearing through the apartment. And in the large closet near the living room, where Marigold had some storage, the door was open and it looked like some sheets that had been folded and stacked were pushed together in places, as though someone had been hiding there.

Yova was in a blind panic by now. She called Marigold, again got no answer, and then called Day. He picked up and before he could even get a greeting out, she half-shrieked, “Marigold’s been kidnapped!” “No, she hasn’t,” Day said. Yova paused, then said, “Day, what the fuck is going on? And you better tell me right now or I swear to God…” “Oh, she’s worried,” I murmured to Pam. “Shut the fuck up, Derek!” she snapped. Day explained what was going on and told her that we should try to meet him where they were going, but that she shouldn’t let on that we knew it wasn’t Marigold.

Across town, Bella got dragged out of the U-Haul and tied up inside the place she was brought in. The kidnapper said to someone else, “Okay, we got her. Can we get our money now?” This time, she recognized Deb’s voice. The voice that responded said, “Of course. You’re free to go if you want.” The two kidnappers talked quietly among themselves, but all Bella could make out was some murmuring. The other voice said, “So you’re just gonna stay here when people come looking for her? That’s your plan? You know, I don’t claim to be the brightest crayon in the box, but I think you’re missing steps B through Z here. The woman said, “I don’t have to explain anything to you. I have my reasons.” They seemed to shrug and left.

When Yova, Pam, and I arrived at the parking lot, Day was already there. The building where Bella had been taken to was an office at a self-storage unit place. It looked like it was abandoned, like it hadn’t been in use for a while. Yova demanded to know what the hell was going on and we managed to calm her down enough to try and figure out a plan. Day told her that the kidnappers didn’t know she was coming with a group. “They might not even be aware that Bella’s not Marigold, so it’s best if you ham it up a bit,” he said. I’m sure you’ll be shocked to find out that this was not going to come as any real stretch to Yova. She said she was going to kick in the front door and directed the rest of us to sneak in the back and try to ambush them. As Day, Pam, and I snuck around, we saw Deb and Greg going away. We quickly debated going after them, but then realized our first priority needed to be getting Bella out.

Pam stayed outside as a lookout while Day and I slipped in the back door. We could hear Pachelbel’s canon (which Yova had told me at one point was her least favorite song in all of time and space) playing off a CD. We slipped toward the central office and I could hear someone humming along to the sound. It was awful, and I could tell whoever it was was trying really hard to make the tune work, but she couldn’t get there.

Yova kicked in the door and standing there, leaning up against the wall, filing her nails and humming terribly out of tune, was her Fetch. Yova glared at the Fetch and said, “I gave you a chance. So why all this showmanship when you can’t even carry a tune?” “Are you really asking me why you’re extra?” the Fetch asked. “Oh, I know exactly why I’m extra. But why you, when you have no talent whatsoever?” Yova hissed.

The Fetch turned and looked at her, creepily talking about how all the talent stayed with Yova. “I have all your memories, every bit of knowledge that makes you you. I have all the same dreams and goals as you. But the one thing that makes them happen doesn’t exist for me. It’s really not fair. Not fair at all. You think you can just waltz back in? That angelic voice of yours, all that talent and skill, while I’m left behind to rot? No. It’s just not fair.” Yova narrowed her eyes and told the Fetch she was chasing something that was never hers. “Well, I wasn’t meant to be anyone else. And you can’t give up, of course not. You just strode right back in and grabbed it right back. If you can’t give it up, what makes you think I can?” the Fetch asked. “I’ve got eighteen years of skill and practice and I’m not a hollow imitation,” Yova snapped.

Around this time, I slipped in and was behind Yova’s Fetch, trying to make eye contact with her. I raised a leg, preparing to kick her forward so Yova could deal with her. She pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head slightly, so I was left poised like a flamingo on one leg.

“I’ve just as much right to exist as you do and I don’t want to stop existing. My options for that while you exist are limited. So I figure that it’s only fair that if one of us has to spend this existence in a state of constant suffering, then we should be doing it together. It’s only fair.” Yova sighed, “What are your terms?” The Fetch made eye contact with Yova and hissed that she didn’t come there to deal. Yova suddenly saw that as the Fetch was approaching Bella, she was pulling out a very long, nasty-looking knife. Bella felt the knife come into contact with her neck.

Yova flared her brightness, which managed to blind both her Fetch and me. Day leapt forward and tackled the Fetch. Bella started wriggling out of her bonds. I axe-kicked the Fetch, narrowly missing Day’s face and she let out an unholy screech. Yova ran up to deck her and knocked her bitch ass out. Bella managed to free herself, sliding out of her bonds and we tried to assess what was going on. Yova was closing her eyes and breathing deeply, clearly trying her hardest not to go into a blind rage. When she had her breathing under control, she looked at Day and said, “We need to call the Summer Court.” He agreed and she asked him if he could restrain her Fetch while she called. “I don’t trust myself right now with her.”

Bella was a little loopy, so I put a hand on her shoulder to keep her from wandering into any walls.

Yova walked out past Pam, pulled out her phone, and did her best to keep tone level. Just as she was about to dial, a call came in from Marigold. It turns out Marigold had been enjoying the spa at the Albany Marriott (a fine establishment, to be sure) and didn’t have her phone on her. She quickly picked up on the fact that Yova was not okay. Yova asked if they could talk in person and said she was just so glad Marigold was fine. They agreed to meet up later and Yova called the Summer Court.

When Yova got a hold of Brandon, she told him that she didn’t trust herself with her Fetch and asked him what the policy is on Fetches who tried to harm changelings. He told her that usually it was to deal with them permanently, but that it was on her. “If you want us to show mercy, that’s up to you,” he said. “No. I gave her a chance. I tried to let her walk away. But I can never trust her again,” she said, deadly serious. Brandon agreed to send someone to pick the Fetch up.

While Day and Bella were bantering over her bonus, Yova walked back in and sat down in the chair heavily. Pam headed over and put a hand on her shoulder, which quickly turned into a mom hug. Yova didn’t react at first, but then just pulled Pam close. Eventually, the Summer Court showed up and took Yova’s Fetch away (though not before Bella got a good few kicks in). Day and Bella made their way off to bumble their way through another case and that left me, Yova, and Pam in the parking lot.

Pam asked Yova if she was going to head home. Yova sighed, pulled out her keys and handed them over to me. “No. I’m going to call an Uber to go see Marigold,” she said. I looked down at the keys in my hand and I could actually feel my eyes start sparkling. “I get… to drive,” I said to nobody. “And if I see one scratch on her – wait, do you even have a driver’s license right now?” Yova asked. “I do not!” I said, still captivated by the keys. Yova snatched the keys out of my hand and passed them to Pam. I was very sad the entire way home and collected Gershwin from Yova’s place because I was clearly going to be geckositting again.

As far as what happened when Yova got to Marigold’s hotel room, well, there are certain things that even Yova is reluctant to talk about. But what I got out of her was that they were both exhausted and completely relieved that the other was safe. And they decided to start going steady. And when she told me that, I was about two-thirds through a bottle of pinot grigio and started bawling because it was just so beautiful.

So that’s a good place to stop for now. Until next time, may all your brunch spots stay hidden.

#Changeling: The Lost #changeling #ctl #ic #recap #the marriott is the finest two and a half star hotel in all of greater albany

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thymika · 4 years

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The Weight of a Crown 3: Bubble World

I was never fond of diaries until I wrote the first word into this notebook. A diary is something most girls carry around, it's usually a pink notebook with a bunch of notes about their prince charming. They protect their diary with their lives and lose their minds if someone reads it. I'm personally sharing this diary with all of you for different reasons. Our world is filled with heroes, those that have flashy superpowers and otherworldly strength. Many can fly, are agile, shoot arrows with perfection, and others are simply gifted. A hero isn't defined by their ability to carry a car over their shoulders or be able to destroy a meteorite. A hero can simply be an ordinary person, with an ordinary job, and with no superpowers. That's why I'm writing this diary, to possibly convey a message of inspiration.

I'm not going to lie; Yes, I also have my princess charming, and also write stupid things for no reason. I'm a mortal, what do you expect? This diary might be for inspirational purposes, but this is still my diary and I have every right to write my own nonsense. I'm just trying to be funny, bear with me...

Continuing with my story, it's time for a little bit of history. For thousands of years, our country Emerald Woodland has been divided into two sections. Recently, it has been officially stated that the North and South are separate countries, both carrying the same name with the exception of each side having the title North, or South. The North is filled with darkness because they abandoned their nature as Moon Elves. The South is where the good guys live, or that's how I used to call it. The Tree of Life is located near the Moon Lake, which is sort of in between the North and the South. My great grandfather decided that the Moon Lake belongs to us Moon Elves, therefore the Tree of Life and Moon Lake are still inside our Southern territory.

Now that I have explained some boring facts about my country, we can move on. My life was surrounded by every sort of luxury. As a royal child, my siblings and I led comfortable lives inside the palace at the Tree of Life. Suffering was something that never crossed my mind. Yes, I struggled because I am not the perfect son, but none was compared to the pain I witnessed at the young age of seven. I held tight on to Karina's hand till she stopped crying. We were exposed to some sunlight because I remember seeing Karina's damped face and reddened eyes. Her hands trembled and were cold. I felt helpless, unable to fight back or do anything to make her feel better. Uncertainty was waiting, and danger as well. I grabbed her face and quickly kissed her left cheek, close to her lips. The surprised girl widened her eyes and immediately stopped trembling. I did it without thinking, without analyzing the situation. With all the innocence in the world, she smiled at me and I couldn't resist the urge to smile back. Yes, we were scared and sad, but during those seconds, we felt happy.

The car stopped, and we felt how the sack was lifted and thrown somewhere. Our legs crashed against a hard surface, and both groaned and cried in pain. Someone opened the sack and a hand grabbed me by my hair. He pulled me up till I felt like my hair was ripping off from my head. The man threw me inside a dirty cage, Karina was treated equally and the man slammed her against my body. I felt dizzy from the impact, and slowly tried to regain my conscience. Our cage was hanging from a chain attached to the ceiling, there were other kids in cages. Some were crawling on the floor like dogs, they had thick collars around their neck. I couldn't comprehend the situation, the panic was swallowing me and taking over my body. I heard howls and screeches from the neighboring kids, the smell was pungent and triggered my stomach. I wanted to get out as soon as possible. I turned to Karina, expecting some sort of comfort, but she looked as if she had given up. "We have to get out of here," I said, pulling from her wrist, "it's too late," "what? Too late for what? We can't stay here!" "They won't let us out. These people do bad things to children."

I grasped on to the bars of the cage and shook them, "let us go!" I yelled, but nobody came to rescue us. Karina pulled me from my shirt and frowned, "no one will help us!" "Someone should," "no one cares!" "People should care! There are kids everywhere!" She stared at me for a moment and then slowly lowered her head, "not everyone does—" My world suddenly collapsed. Everything I learned at home wasn't entirely true. Not everyone was nice, not all said please and thank you. Not everyone was polite and mindful of others. That's when I realized that there were bigger things that I didn't understand despite my years of reading hundreds of books. I was living in a bubble far away from the real world.

I held on to Karina's trousers and replied, "but I care." I remember her stare, her eyes twinkled with some sort of hope. There were humans, orcs and some others which I couldn't recognize, kids from all over were stuck in cages like us. A human boy swung his cage and said, "whoever gets out from here wins." I didn't understand his words, therefore I leaned over and said, "how do we get out?" "Those guys will pick someone and take us out, eventually," "really?" "Yep. It's like being adopted, they take the best-behaved kid. We should behave." The rest of the kids smiled and stayed still. I didn't understand what he meant back then, but now I do. He was the eldest of the group and wanted to calm the younger kids who were struggling. Our situation was no game, and no one was being adopted. Somehow, we played along due to our innocence and managed to stay positive through our difficulties.

The room was flooded with smelly red and black paint; now I understand it wasn't paint, but my mind couldn't wrap the thought of blood surrounding all of us. I kept playing along with the kids and we all sang songs and told jokes. One little Orc said that he wanted to be a police officer like his father. A nightcrawler said that she wouldn't like to work, an elf like me said that he wanted to be an astronaut. The human boy who was the eldest said, "I want to be a hero," "why?" I asked, "heroes are never afraid," "heroes can sometimes be afraid," "yeah, but they do their best to keep smiling for the sake of others." I didn't think much of it, but it made me feel better, "what about you? What do you want to be?" I thought for a moment, then replied, "a strong king," "king? That's nice. What about you?" He pointed his finger at Krina, "me?" "Yeah, you," "I want to be happy," "that's a boring answer!" All of the kids laughed.

Our little moment of joy immediately vanished when a man suddenly entered the room. He had a mask over his face and wore strange-looking clothes. He approached one of the cages and abruptly took one of the kids out, the one who wanted to be a hero. I closed my eyes as I heard how he was being punched. He was dragged into the next room and his screams eventually became silent. I was petrified and tears began to roll down my face.

I looked up and stared at the ceiling. There was a ring attached to it, but the ring had a little opening. The chain that held our cage had a possibility of being tilted over if we could somehow separate the chain from the ring. I swung my body until the cage freed itself from the ceiling, we then crashed against the floor. We were surprised and got hurt, but as expected the cage opened by itself. Karina immediately ran towards the exit, I grabbed her arm and stopped her, "wait! Karina!" "What? They will get us!" "Let's help them first!" She stared at me in amazement and then agreed to help me. We opened every cage and freed the children from their cages. An Orc stepped down from his enclosure and hugged me tightly, "thanks bro," he said. The nightcrawler did so too, and some others. They weren't any different from the kids back home. I did not understand why the grownups couldn't have peace with neighboring countries, and why they hated Orcs and nightcrawlers so much. My innocent mind saw those kids as kids, and I didn't label them as anything else.

We left soon after, but I had this strange feeling hanging around, "Estes, what's wrong?" Karina asked, "I don't think I want to be king—" "why not?" "I would... like to be a hero," "hero?" "You saw how amazing that was? We saved those kids!" I was all excited and couldn't stop jumping all over the place. I really wanted to become a hero like the boy who appeared to be having fun. I won't forget that boy, he really gave me hope and cheered me up despite everything.

I fondled Karina's hair and said, "since I will become a hero, I can protect you too!" "M... me?" "Yeah, you said you are running away, didn't you?" "Mhm—" "that means... I can help you out," "how?" "Come and live with me!" "Really?" She smiled brightly, "I have this big room and a big bed and—" I suddenly remembered that she was a girl. I swallowed my words and flushed red in an instant, "and... and, well! I have plenty of space." I did stutter like a loser, but that didn't bother her at all. Karina smiled at me and I gave her a crooked grin, it seems like she noticed my funny expression because she kept on giggling here and there.

#fanfic #journal #fiction #my writing #romance #mobilelegends #writer #l writes #writeaway #writeblr #writing #writers on tumblr

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owengradyfanfic · 7 years

Text

Vacation Week - Chapter 1

Twice a year the park closes for a week for routine maintenance. Missy has no vacation planned and as it turns out, neither does Owen. But who is watching the pair, just waiting for his chance to strike?

Owen Grady/OC

Chapter 1

(REPOSTING! :) )

For two weeks every year the park was closed for a routine cleaning and maintenance. One week during the winter month and one mid-July. It was a necessary inconvenience for visitors to the park, in which the whole place was given routine safety check and a fresh coat of paint.

During these periods most of the staff, excluding the dino-carers and the security staff were given paid vacation days. A sort of thank you from the higher-ups for dealing with the crowds during the peak-season holidays.

Usually Missy would have jumped at the chance of taking a holiday somewhere, but her sister who worked in London had cancelled on her last week. Her friends had urged her to go with them to Miami for a few days when they heard about her cancelled plans but Missy had merely shaken her head and told them to go enjoy themselves.

Instead she was going to spend the entire week relaxing in her bungalow. Perhaps giving the place a clean out while she had the time.

Missy had worked at Jurassic World for two years.

She had the very 'un-coveted' job of administering inoculations to the various dinosaurs of the park. Being genetically bred meant that there was always something new that could cause the animals to become sick. The labs regularly sent herself and a couple of others out with a new vaccine and often gave her special drugs to give to certain species, that she was told would aid them in the growth process and give them upgraded features and traits.

It was noon when Missy finally finished her work in the Gentle Giants Petting Zoo and was now on her way over to the Velociraptor paddock.

She had spent the morning chasing around the juvenile herbivores, giving them each a sharp jab to the right leg. She had been almost done when one of the baby stegosaurus had spewed up all over her blouse the moment she had given it its inoculation.

Missy grimaced as the putrid smell of the vomit rose from her shirt as she drove up towards the looming pen.

On her first day at Jurassic World she had been told with, what she always felt was a hint of glee from her manager, that she would be working with the raptors. And more importantly than that- Owen Grady.

Owen Grady had a bit of a reputation amongst the staff at Jurassic Park to say the least, but all Missy had heard about him when they first met was that he was ex-U.S. Navy and that he had trained with his raptors since they were born.

When she first entered into the velociraptor enclosure at the end of her first couple of weeks at the park, she had immediately felt eyes on the back of her head. Silhouetted against the bright sun had been Owen, stood watching her from the walkway above her head.

For months he ignored her, the most she got out of him was a curt nod as she passed him. Then one day… it happened.

She had been on her seventh month working at the park and that morning a new vaccine needed to be introduced to one of the raptors, Echo, who kept falling sick. They had tranquilised her and Missy was led into the raptor pen to give the unconscious dinosaur the jab.

Normally the raptors were leashed in holding cells while she administered the medicine but this was the first time she had been next to one in its entirety.

Barry had smiled and reassured her that Echo had been given a good enough dose and would be knocked out for hours. The same as every time, she had felt Owen Grady's gaze on the back of her head as she was led over.

But the dose had obviously not been correct, as the moment Missy knelt down beside the raptor, it had opened his eyes and leapt to its feet, knocking Barry to the ground.

Missy had let out a muffled scream and dragged herself away from the beast as she heard pounding feet and yells and shouts coming from behind her.

Echo had swayed on the spot before suddenly his head turned towards Missy.

It had leaned in towards her and given a deep sniff before a tranq dart hit it directly on its neck.

It had given the most ear piercing screech right in Missy's face before collapsing once again onto the floor.

Missy had turned to look behind her, to see Owen Grady standing there, tranquiliser gun in hand.

He gave her a look as if he was about to say something but Missy hadn't lingered long enough to find out. She had merely run past him and out of the paddock taking her supply bag with her.

Outside, up against a wall, far enough away so that no one would see her, Missy had broken down in tears. She had lifted a hand to her mouth to muffle the sobs but her whole body was shaking and tears poured down her cheeks. She had been genuinely frightened for her life.

That is when he had appeared…

Owen.

At first he didn't say anything, he merely came to stand next to her, leaning up against the wall, arms folded, his eyes at the floor.

"That was a pretty scary thing to go through," he had muttered eventually, glancing up at her.

Missy had desperately tried to wipe away tear tracks but the sobs seemed to be coming thick and fast.

"It's happened to me a couple of times. They've caught me off guard and I wasn't mentally prepared," he had uttered.

"What did you do?" Missy asked.

Owen shrugged. "I didn't cry but I came close to it a couple of times."

Missy gazed up at him, all biceps and rumpled clothes and had been shocked at this response. This big, ex-navy guy was showing her his vulnerable side. Was showing her that she shouldn't be emabrssed to cry.

"I've seen you working, I like your style," he had said with a bit of a smile.

Missy had given a sniff. "Thanks," she had mumbled.

"I'm Owen, by the way," he had said holding out his hand.

"Missy," she had replied, wiping tears from her eyes and taking his hand in hers.

And that had how they had become friends. Each and every time Missy had entered the raptor enclosure from then on Owen had come up and talked to her. Most of their conversations at first were fairly formal. Then one evening, when Missy was out at a bar with some girlfriends, Owen had caught her eye at the other end of the bar. Most of her friends had nudged her in the ribs and swooned about how handsome he was but Missy had just rolled her eyes at them. She had chatted with him for a while and he had introduced her to some of his friends. But that night Missy had had way more than she had intended to drink that night and Owen had revelled in speaking really loudly to her when she had turned up at the raptor paddock the next morning.

She hated him but at the same time loved being around him. He was a great guy to be friends with.

Just friends…. that's all they were.

It was 1pm by the time Missy pulled up outside the raptor paddock. Her blouse reeked of stegosaurus spew. She gave a sigh and began to unbutton it. She had a spare, clean shirt next to her on the seat, her bra would only be visible for ten seconds, she thought.

But the moment she peeled her dirty shirt from her skin a loud knocking filled the truck.

She turned to see Owen standing beside the driver's door with a grin plastered across his face.

"Look, I know you just want to get naked when you come near me, but we're at work, you need to control yourself," he said cockily.

Missy rolled her eyes. "Shut up," she said, pulling on a fresh, cotton shirt. "I got Stego vomit me."

He pulled open the door and Missy hopped out and eyed him irritably. "What are you so cheery about?" she asked.

Owen continued to grin and gave a shrug. "It's the day before shut down week. An entire week of vacation, why wouldn't I be cheery about that?"

"Hmm… I guess," uttered Missy, shielding her eyes from the mid-day sun.

Owen glanced at her. "I thought you were going to Europe to visit your sister?" he said narrowing his eyes at her.

Missy gave a sigh as they walked towards the paddock. "She cancelled on me, she's got emergency meetings planned at the bank she works at in London. So I'm gonna hang around here for the week instead. How about you? Have you decided on any plans. The last time I spoke to you, you were still making up your mind."

Owen ran a hand across his stubbly chin. "I'm sticking around here too, as it happens. The fencing around the pens needs some work so I volunteered to fix it."

Missy smiled. "You know that the park can just hire in someone to do that for you," she muttered, shooting him a look.

Owen smiled, his eyes falling to the ground. "I know, but its quicker and easier if I just get it done myself."

The pair of them reached the raptor enclosure where swift shadows could just been seen between the slats of concrete barriers.

"How are they doing today?" asked Missy, nodding towards the pen.

"Pretty good," said Owen folding his arms across himself. "Work with the clicker is improving…. ISNT IT, BLUE?" he yelled loudly.

Suddenly all movement inside the paddock stopped at the sound of his voice. Owen chuckled.

"So what have those geeks in the labs got for us today?" he said turning back to Missy and eyeing the metal case at her side.

Missy quickly opened the case the reveal four heavy duty syringes, all filled with a yellow liquid.

"It's apparently a serum that works to improve the raptors' velocity and power," she said matter-of-factly, gazing up at Owen. But the raptor trainer immediately frowned.

"Those girls are strong enough already, they don't need anything to make them more powerful than they already are. They're animals- not monsters," he said exasperatedly.

"Owen, I'm just doing my job," uttered Missy, staring up at him guiltily.

"I know that," he said softening, touching her gently on the arm. "It just kills me how they're trying to breed them to be weapons, when they're dangerous enough already."

Owen looked down at Missy, a frown at his brow and gazed into her eyes.

She bit her lip as her grey orbs met his green ones.

A long moment passed before she suddenly growled in frustration.

"Fine!" she said, rolling her eyes and reaching down into the bag. "But don't say I don't ever do anything for you."

Glancing this way and that, she pulled out the four syringes and emptied each one out into the bushes beside them.

When she was done she slipped the empty vials into a separate compartment of her bag.

"Happy?" she asked, through gritted teeth.

Owen beamed at her and before even saying a word he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

Missy's stomach suddenly lurched.

"You owe me one," she uttered when he pulled away, a blush creeping over her face.

"Definitely," he said grinning. "Anything you want." And with that Owen escorted Missy back over towards her beat-up truck.

What neither of them seemed to notice was that Vic Hoskins, Head of InGen security division, watching them from a walkway high above the raptor pen.

Would you like me to post more?? Also let me know if you’d like to be tagged in this fic! :)

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