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fandomsnstuff · 11 months

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Day 7: Aftermath

Last day of @blupjeansweek 2023!

This is a followup to day 5: Bones

Read it on AO3

Summary: Lup meets her future mother in law

Lup and Barry sit in her parked car, staring at the house across the street. It's a cute little white picket fence number. There's a stone path bordered by rows of tiny blue forget-me-nots that leads to a manicured garden, then a wraparound porch with a set of comfy patio furniture to one side of the baby blue door.

Lup turns to Barry and says, "you're sure about this?"

His eyes are fixed on the house, and he nods. She presses her thumb against his cheeks, "unclench your jaw."

He takes a deep breath. "Okay. I'm okay."

"Wait here," she squeezes his arm, "I'll signal you when it's time."

She gets out of the car and crosses the street. She takes a closer look around as she heads for the door. The forget-me-nots poke up through the spaces between the stones. The garden has two different rose bushes in it. There's a little garden statue of a teddy bear in overalls sitting on a side table on the porch.

She raises her fist and hesitates. She's practised what she wants to say, but there's no telling how this'll go. But Barry wants to do this so by god, they're doing it.

She knocks.

It's a long, agonising minute before the door opens. Behind it is a small round woman with blue eyes and short grey hair that has just a whiff of curliness to it. She looks confused. "Can I help you?"

"Are you Marlena Bluejeans?"

"Yes…"

"Hi, uh, my name is Lup. A little over a year ago now, I bought your son's house? And-"

Marlena sighs. "I'm going to stop you there. That house stopped being my problem after I sold it, yet almost every owner since has ended up here. If you think strange things are happening, either suck it up or leave. Goodbye."

She starts to close the door, Lup puts her hand on it to stop it and half-shouts, "wait!" She takes a breath. "You knew your son was still in that house, didn't you? You knew what kind of things he was experimenting with."

Marlena keeps her eyes down, but doesn't close the door any further. "I'm sorry, young lady. If you're here to try to get me to speak to him to calm him, I can't. I tried. I held onto that house for two years trying to talk to him, but he's not himself. He couldn't recognize me. He's angry and volatile, all he wants is to be alone."

Lup remembers Barry telling her that by the time he came back to himself after dying, a family had already moved in. He assumed he just hadn't manifested until then, but what Marlena's saying… he was there, but he wasn't aware or in control.

Marlena looks up at her, and her eyes are brimming with tears. "I'm sorry you had to meet him like this," she says, "he's… he was such a nice boy. And a good son, who always came to see his mother."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mrs. Bluejeans," Lup says. "But the thing is, I'm pretty stubborn. And I wasn't going to let a cranky ghost chase me away." Marlena smiles a little bit, and it urges Lup forward, "so we eventually came to a truce, and started talking, and we rifled through some old books he had stashed in the attic and, well."

She turns and waves to the car. They can only see the top of his head as he gets out, but once he rounds the car and starts crossing the street, she hears Marlena gasp behind her. She turns back and says, "we found a ritual. And after a lot of prep, we tried it, and… yeah."

Marlena puts a hand on her arm, eyes shimmering, "did you bring my boy back?"

"I did."

"Oh-" she rushes past her and meets Barry halfway down the path, crushing him in a hug. "Oh, my sweet boy. My son." She pulls back and takes his face in her hands, examining him. "Look at you," she says reverently.

Barry smiles, tears rolling down his cheeks every time he blinks. "Hi, mom."

#blupjeansweek2023 #blupjeans #barry bluejeans #taz fic #taz #lup taaco #taz lup #lup

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noodyl-blasstal · 11 months

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Blupjeans Week: Bet (day 2)

It's @blupjeansweek day 2. This follows on from yesterday's prompt. You can also read on Ao3

"It's going to be fine."

"Easy for you to say, you just casually revolutionised thermodynamics, you're gonna walk your viva." Barry could hear Lup rolling her eyes at that one, though he stayed resolutely focused on the raggedy copy of his thesis which was, at this point, 70% sticky notes. Could he read what any of them said because of how much they overlapped? Shut up.

"Natch, evocation is never going to be the same thanks to cha'girl's research, but that doesn't meant you're going to fail, Barold."

"No, they're just going to MPhil me out."

Lup sighed heavily. "Oh no, you worked hard and gained mastery in a subject, how terrible, what an embarrassment."

Barry did look up then, didn't she get it? He’d thought she’d get it. It was an embarrassment! She’d watched him put so much into this, the stupid well thumbed, badly bound paper stack represented four years of late nights, early mornings, cancelled plans, 3am anxiety… he thought she understood. She’d lived it with him, they were working for the key to the next level, if they gave him the wrong one what was even the point? "You think…?"

"I'm being flippant because that's not going to happen. Once again, I've read your work my guy, it's good, in fact, it’s great. In fact, right now, you’re arguing with established fact.” Barry grimaced as Lup spoke, but she ploughed on. “... you've already published three chapters of this thing in peer reviewed journals. 6/6 esteemed peer reviewers agree!"

"But they publish bad science all the tim…"

Lup cut him off. "Barry stop. You know you’ve done good science because a) I would have told you if you hadn’t, and b) peer reviewers might be lazy but you’re not. You know your submissions were solid, just look at the citations.”

“But…” She was right. But Barry still struggled, sure she hadn’t said anything incorrect, he knew he’d done solid work, but he also just knew that he’d fucked this up.

“...But what? But maybe they're idiots who can't recognise genius? They're gonna recognise it, Barry. It's impossible not to recognise how brilliant you are. That thesis is just you yelling “I’m Barry Bluejeans and I know what the fuck I’m talking about, pay me money about it.” Plus, publish a few more chapters and you can do PhD by publication without those losers to worry about anyway."

Barry didn’t even register the second part because Lup thought he was brilliant! Lup thought he was brilliant and she was telling him and he kept shutting her down instead of just being grateful about it. Maybe if he tried to accept the compliment. "Than…"

Lup started speaking at the same time. "In fact…" She paused to let him speak, but he shook his head and gestured to her, he could try being gracious another day. "... Okay, if you're sure." He nodded. "I think, Baraldo, that we should make a bet, you and I. I may as well profit from all this self doubt, so I bet you're gonna pass with no corrections."

Barry laughed bitterly. Whatever she was betting she'd be losing. "Lup, I'm going to fail."

Lup shoved his shoulder gently. "You're not and you know it. Be serious."

"Oh, like yours was serious?"

Lup's ears flicked back defensively. "Serious? Barry, c'mon. Obviously we all know cha’girl’s out here shaping the future of evocation, but you're doing magic within magic on all your spooktacular stuff. The chapter on spell wheels? I'd never considered it, and even if I had, I definitely would have taken at least 10 minutes longer than you to come up with something so elegant. You know what you're doing, I know what I'm doing, it's why we're such a great team."

They did make a great team. They’d met the first day of undergrad at orientation. Barry the lone mature student in a sea of babies, then Lup and Taako had appeared, and sure there was The Nerd Incident, but they cleared that pretty fast. They coincided in most classes, worked together in labs, and powered their way through a ridiculous amount of higher education together. There hadn’t been any question about it when the option of choosing housing came up, they lived together off campus and were joined by a rotating cast which had pretty much always featured Taako (well, until this year), but LupAndBarry, BarryAndLup? They were a constant, they worked. “We do work well together.”

“You can say that again.” Lup glared at him as he opened his mouth to repeat it. “...And you know exactly how smart I am, right?” Lup asked. Barry could taste the trap-ness of this question, she was an angler fish and the question was a beautiful little light, he was going to answer it honestly and wholly and she was going to chomp him down with her big clever teeth.

“You’re incredible Lup, your research is amazing and you’re passionate and eloquent and so smart…”

Lup’s teeth closed. “Then you know I know my shit well enough to know your shit’s good, so, what’s your bet?”

“I pass with major corrections?”

Lup raised an eyebrow. “Question, or an answer?”

“I pass with majors.”

“Fine. If you want to lose whatever you’re betting then be my guest, Bluejeans.”

“I don’t think I have anything you want.” Barry said, and he wasn’t sure, it was a ridiculous thought, but he could have sworn that Lup’s ears reddened at the tips. She coughed loudly, then almost shouted “Jeans.”

“What?”

Lup coughed again and spoke in a softer tone. “I get rights to your wardrobe. I know your jeans are comfier than mine.”

Barry hesitated. He’d already lost a good chunk of his shirts and sweaters to Lup. Not that he minded most of the time, he usually managed to steal his favourites back briefly on laundry day, but his jeans? He only had three pairs and they all served specific purposes in his life, he couldn't afford to sacrifice them, no matter how cute Lup would look in them. But, <;i>but</i>, there was no way he was actually going to pass without corrections, everyone at least got minors and Barry's supervisor definitely didn't think he'd even manage that. According to the available evidence, this seemed like a safe bet. "Deal!"

Lup grinned big and wide and dangerous . "GuyWhoJustLostHisJeansSaysWhat."

"What?" Barry asked.

Lup snickered. "Just asking what you wanted from me if your externals are somehow struck incapable of recognising brilliance?"

Oh... yeah, Barry had forgotten this part. Lup's brash overconfidence in his abilities had essentially signed her up to do whatever he wanted. He could stick her with dish duty for the next hundred years; make her actually use the dregs of her body wash before she moved onto the next one so the edge of the shower wasn't a terrifying pile of upside down barely balanced bottles; he could ask her to tell him whether there was an expiration date on their whole thing, whether the end of study meant different directions and fond memories, phone calls which dwindled as she remembered less and less… "You have to come home with me." He blurted out the thought before he could properly consider what he was asking. Was that too much? Oh it was probably too much. A trip home meant a road trip, motels, meeting his Mum. There was no way Marlena wouldn't pick up on exactly how he felt about Lup, not that she hadn’t already, but it was easier to lie on the phone. Plus, there was no way his Mum wouldn't love Lup too. How could anyone not? Then he’d only disappoint her when Lup moved on with her life and left him behind. Maybe he could back track, do the dishes thing instead…

"You have yourself a deal, Mr Bluejeans, may as well use that title one last time. Now, I have some outfits to plan, go eat the sandwich I made you, then I'll help with the last minute prep." Lup disappeared in the direction of Barry's room.

Barry resigned himself to losing another few shirts while Lup investigated his wardrobe and obediently shuffled his way to the kitchen. It was definitely time to eat, he wasn't entirely sure when he last did… probably the last time Lup shoved food at him. He definitely had to thank her when this was over.

"...And why did you decide on Necrostics?" Lup looked expectantly at Barry.

"It was the most logical methodological approach as it incorporates acknowledgement of the agency held by constructs and the undead while also acknowledging the influence of social and summoning factors. I modified the approach to ensure it was appropriately controlling for the new spells I developed."

Lup clapped her hands delightedly.

"It was that good an answer?" Barry asked.

"It's that good a wardrobe. I cannot wait to get my hands on it, Barold, you're gonna be living in your pants… although…" Lup narrowed her eyes.

"Absolutely not, no!"

Lup shrugged. "You can't watch your stuff all the time, Barry. Cha'girl needs some new sleep shorts."

Barry felt his face flame at the thought of Lup sleeping in his clothes, Lup wanting to. "I'd better go now!" He said, too fast and too loud. "Gotta go get it over with."

Lup jumped up. "Cool, I'll grab my book and and few other bits and come with. There's some comfy chairs in the corridor with my name on them."

Oh. Lup was going to come with him. Lup was going to wait for him. "You don't have t…"

"I want to."

–

"Good luck Barold, you've got this." Lup hugged him firmly, he squeezed back. If he didn't let go he didn't have to go into the scary room. Can't defend your thesis if you’re in the middle of a hug, that’s just science. Lup pulled back slightly, then dipped her head to kiss him on the cheek.

Barry didn't have time to react before Lup pulled away and planted herself across the corridor chairs, head buried in her book.

"Are you ready, Mr Bluejeans?" A voice asked from the door behind him. All Barry could do was touch a hand to his cheek, turn, and nod.

–

"Congratulations again, Dr Bluejeans, this may be the most enjoyable viva I have ever taken part in." Said Dr Combish, opening the door for him.

Barry was going to pass out. The adrenaline finally drained out of him, weeks, months of panic, gone. It was over. An outright pass? It was so rare, so ridiculously unlikely. He should be raring to celebrate, but mostly he just wanted to go home and sit very still in the dark. He stepped into the corridor, remembered to thank Dr Combish, and stared numbly at the door as it closed. What did he even do now? It was over. A whole chunk of his life was just… done. He had the keys to the next stage, had the fancy title, had everything he'd worked for and… and?

"Hey Bear?" Lup nudged his arm gently. "How'd it go?"

"I… I passed?" Said Barry. "Yeah. They. Well. I passed!" His voice broke momentarily, to say it was so surreal. "Lup! I passed!!!" He grabbed her into a hug. "I did it! We did it! Thank you, thank you thank you thank you!"

"Knew you could." Lup said thickly, hugging him back. They didn’t say anything for a while, just held on tight. “We… we should do something.” Said Lup, eventually. “Celebrate, you know.”

“We’ll celebrate together when you pass next week.” Barry didn’t even have to think about it. Whatever he could do, Lup could do better, there was no way she’d be correcting anything.

“Fine, but we’re getting pizza, from the good place.” Lup grabbed her backpack from the chairs.

Barry stared for a second. “You… you’re wearing my garden jeans. Lup!”

“And they look great on me. Told you I believed in you. Fair’s fair.” Lup winked, wiggled her butt, and grabbed his hand. “Now, let’s get you home, Baraldo. We need to ring Marlena and tell her, she’ll be having kittens.”

Barry couldn’t do anything but nod.

#blupjeansweek2023 #Barry you idiot; see how smart you are!#Lup grabbed those jeans so fast - she's been secretly wearing them for years but now she doesn't have to hide it anymore #Noodyl Writes #TAZ fic #The Adventure Zone #Blupjeans #Barry Bluejeans #Lup Tacco #Lup

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yaboi-julien · 2 years

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Day 2: Clown

Day 2 for @blupjeansweek! I was at a little bit of a loss for this prompt, but I think it all worked out lol

[ID:

A four panel comic in a cartoony flat-coloured style. In the first panel is Lup in her litch form, a red-robed figure with hands reminiscent of smouldering charcoals and a little spout of flame poking out of her hood where her hair would fall. Under the hood it’s completely dark, except for two glowing white eyes and two sharp white canines. She looks down dejected as she wanders down a darkened street with old-timey shops in the background, the moon and stars in the sky. She is thinking: “want to hug husband want to hug husband want to hug husband”.

In the second panel she looks up, a large lightbulb appearing beside her as a sign on one of the buildings in the background reads: “necromantic wares”

In the third panel, we see Lup’s red robe from the back as she looks at a shelf inside the store. On the shelf is the clown doll from the MBMBaM TV show’s Haunted Doll Watch segment with a tag underneath it saying: “Ready-to-be-haunted doll. Sale! 400 gp”. A thought bubble coming from Lup says: “Perfect.”

In the fourth panel is Barry, a human man with short brown hair wearing a white tank top, as he is sleeping soundly in bed. The clown doll, now posessed by Lup, looms over him in preparation to give him a hug. A thought bubble coming from Lup in the doll says: “This couldn’t possibly go wrong”.

END]

#the adventure zone #blupjeansweek2022 #blupjeans week #blupjeans #blupjeans week 2022 #taz #the adventure zone balance #taz balance #lup #barry #lup taz #lup the adventure zone #barry bluejeans #barry the adventure zone #barry taz #mbmbam #haunted doll watch

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thekingkez · 2 years

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little doodle for day one of @blupjeansweek 🕺💃👖

#TAZ #Blupjeans #Barry Bluejeans #Lup #The Adventure Zone #do not. expect more lol #I am very sleepy #but also I haven't posted in like a month so #literally what have I been doing

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taakosleftshoe · 11 months

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@blupjeansweek day 1: refuge

Barry and Lup are ready to visit Refuge for their second (? Who can keep count in Refuge) time.

#i added a brief description in alt but if anyone wants more detail pls send an ask and I'll be happy to provide!#i just dont rlly know how many people use them or if they'd like more detail #taz balance #blupjeans #blupjeans week #my art #blupjeansweek2023

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herbgerblin · 2 years

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First image is of Lup, an elven woman dressed in a very comical, clown attire. She has tan skin, curly blonde hair, and a slight build. She is sitting cross legged and eyeing Barry, a human man wearing glasses, a denim jacket, grey t-shirt, and jeans. He has pale skin, short, brown hair, and a chubby build. Lup asks, "Is that a comically large clown shoe in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" Barry replies, "I'm sorry, what?" There is an awkward moment of silence. Second images show. an even more awkward moment of silence. In the bottom panel, Lup breaks the silence by speeding off with tears in her eyes. She shouts back, "Golly! Look at the time! Anyway! Enjoy the show! Bye!!" Barry, completely taken aback, shouts, "Wha--wait, I!" Third image shows him looking a little crestfallen, before noticing something down by his hand. On the seat beside him, where Lup had been, is business card that reads, "The amazing Taako Twins, B.O.B. Bigtop," as well as a phone number, "666-420-6969." Barry picks up the card and stares at it.

Fourth image shows Lup sitting beside Lucretia, a human woman in a leotard. Lup has her arms slumped forward on a table, her clown makeup smeared by tears. In the background, through open tent flaps is Taako, an elven man juggling bowling pins. Lucretia says to Lup, "Well I've heard worse one-liners. Bold move to leave him your number like that." Lup forlorn, asks, "Is there a sliver of hope that it worked?" Lucretia starts to reply, "Can't say chances are high but-" The ping of a cellphone near Lup interrupts her. One the home page is a message from an unknown sender. It reads, "Hi, Is this Lup? This is Barry from earlier..." Lup immediately perks up, phone in hand. She exclaims, "Oh shit, it worked!" Lucretia finishes her statement with," -they're never zero." End ID

this is super late but clown flirting :0)

#clown lup au #blupjeans #blupjeansweek #taz au #i hope the id is not incomprehensible #will add more tags later

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blupjeansweek · 1 year

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Hello all! I plan to release a prompt list in about a week! In the meantime, if anyone has any prompts they would like included in this year's event, feel free to drop an ask, send me a message, or reply to this post with your suggestions!

#mod stuff #blupjeans #barry bluejeans #lup taaco #taz #taz balance #the adventure zone #the adventure zone balance #thezonecast #blupjeansweek2023 #blupjeansweek #blupjeans week

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chaos-lioness · 2 years

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It’s day 4 (monster) and I’m not late at all! Nope! Happy still @blupjeansweek

#blupjeansweek2022 #blupjeansweek #taz #the adventure zone #my stuff

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entguarde · 11 months

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@blupjeansweek day 4: AU

Did yall know that i have an entire fucking bird au locked and loaded at the ready (species list at @i-morko)

[image description: a digital lineless illustration of Barry Bluejeans and Lup from The Adventure Zone, except both are sulid birds.

Barry is depicted as a blue-footed booby, with cream body feathers, brown wings, and brown speckles going into his face. His face is bald and a blue-ish gray. His eyes are blue. His beak is long and spear-like

Lup is depicted as a northern gannet, she’s a bit smaller than Barry. She’s almost completely white, save for the cream-yellow feathers on her head. She has a dark mask over her face and light blue skin over her eyes. Her beak is like Barry’s, except hers has a stripe going down the side.

They are tapping the sides of their beaks together in a bonding display, and both are smiling. Barry is looking at Lup, who has her eyes closed. End description]

#ent’s art #blupjeans week 2023 #blupjeans week #taz balance #balance bird au #The adventure zone #blupjeans #the adventure zone balance #lup taako #barry bluejeans #THE WORLD NEEDS TO SEE MY CREATION

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holdmecloser-gandydancer · 11 months

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@blupjeansweek day 1: Refuge

The sky opens up in a fickle instant. A moment ago, nothing but blue skies and fluffy clouds. The next, Barry’s clothes are getting soaked through and he’s looking for some kind of refuge from the storm.

He ducks into the first structure that has something more substantial than a thatched roof. Lucky for him, he finds himself not in a private residence with an unhappy homeowner, but inside a cozy bookshop. Cozy is putting it gently; he's certain that there are more books than there are square feet in the shop. Precarious stacks loom taller than his head, small trinkets sit where they can find purchase, and handwritten signs vaguely outline some organizational structure.

He can't see any kind of checkout desk or register. He assumes he's not intruding; the door was unlocked, after all.

The shop smells mildewy, a signifier of a good bookshop. More signs lure him further into the shop, promising more books in branching rooms and rarer books downstairs.

Thunder cracks outside, loud enough to make some of the stacks wobble. Further in it is.

He's several twisting hallways and branching rooms in when he sees another soul. A dark brown cat with tan stripes and intense brown eyes. It's perched on a desk, sitting like it owns the place.

Barry keeps himself at a distance; doesn't want to risk an allergy flare up in such tight quarters. But he smiles at it. Truly he's cursed with his allergy whilst being fond of cats. It's never an allergy foisted upon cat haters, that's for sure.

The cat meows at him, almost expectantly.

"Hey! Hi! I'm just checking the place out."

The cat meows again. More interrogatively this time.

"I'm Barry." He sneezes, though whether it's from the dander or the rain, he isn't sure.

The cat seems satisfied with this answer and stretches, walking its paws up a stack of sturdy hardbacks. One goes toppling off the stack. Barry bends down to pick it up, but a voice stops him.

"Oh, I got that, don't worry about it!"

By the time Barry straightens up, the cat is gone and in its place is a beautiful woman, sitting on the desk, putting the book back in its place.

If Barry were in some kind of fantasy novel, he'd remark on the similarities between the woman and the cat in a way that's somehow more than just people looking like their pets.

But that'd be silly.

She smiles at him. "So. Barry. Are you cool?"

A frown. No? Historically, no. "Yeaaaaah," he says, surely so convincingly.

"Just trying to see if you're a narc, dude."

"Not a narc."

"You sure? You gotta tell me if you are. That’s the law, probably."

"Hundred percent not a narc."

"Cool! I'm Lup. If you promise not to get rain on them, you wanna come down to the basement and see the collection of rare books I've got? I also have a pretty dope coffee maker down there, if that sweetens the deal for you." She pauses and ponders. "This isn't like, a Cask of Amontillado situation, I promise."

Barry laughs in spite of himself."Uh. Yeah, yeah, Lup. I'd love that. Promise not to rain on the books." In fact, he feels remarkably dry now. Weird. Must have been in here longer than he thought.

"Dope! Follow me," she says, disappearing from sight with a remarkable speed.

In fact, he doesn't see Lup trotting downstairs, but the cat from earlier.

"Um. H-hey Lup? Are you the cat? Because you gotta tell me if you're the cat! It's the law, probably!" He gets no answer.

He follows the cat, of course. He thinks he has to.

#taz balance #reese writes #blupjeans #blupjeans week #blupjeans week 2023 #barry bluejeans #lup #listen. i just finished this so. here you go #dont mind any formatting weirdness i pasted it on my phone

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fandomsnstuff · 11 months

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Day 5 - Bones

It's my birthday so i think you should read this fic (and the others, if you want) and be nice to me :3

@blupjeansweek

Read it on AO3

Summary: Lup commits a crime but she swears she has a REALLY good reason

It's nearing 6am, the sky is just beginning to turn orange, and Lup's been digging since eleven. She's sweaty, exhausted, and covered in dirt. Barry better know what he's talking about, because if she went through all this only for the ritual not to work, she'll kill him. She doesn't care if he's already dead.

She pauses for a moment to give her aching back a short reprieve.

Why did she have to buy the murder house? "It has a story," she said. "It has character," she said. "It's in a good neighbourhood," she said. But who is she kidding? She bought the house that a guy had been murdered in years ago because it was cheap and nobody else seemed to want it. It didn't take long to find out why. The place was haunted as hell. The murdered guy was mad about being murdered and kept scaring people away, but Lup's no quitter. She and Barry fought not just a battle of wills, they fought a war. He wanted her out so he could sulk, she couldn't afford any other house in the area. They eventually came to a tentative truce. Then they started talking, and then Lup was in a lot of denial, but seeing as she's committing grave robbery to complete a ritual that Barry's "pretty sure" will work, she has to admit that she has a stupid crush on the fucking ghost.

Her shovel hits wood with a hollow thunk, and she could cry in relief. She tosses the tool aside, and uses her hands to brush away the dirt on top. Barry said his mom is a simple woman, who always talked about getting buried in a plain box and not getting embalmed, so they were hoping she'd done the same for her son. Cleared of dirt, Lup finds exactly that. A plain wooden box. She grabs her shovel and brings the edge down on the box. After a couple good whacks and a few silent prayers to no one that there isn't a groundskeeper around to hear it, she's able to pull away enough of the lid to get at the remains inside. It's nothing but bones and a tattered suit. She takes a cloth bag from her back pocket and carefully removes the bones from the casket. She ties the bag to her hip, then climbs out of the hole and flops back onto the grass with a heavy sigh.

She doesn't dare stay there for long. She's already been here for way longer than she wanted, and the sun is on its way up. Fortunately, even though she wasn't able to find the "dig a hole" kind of magic in the old tomes she dug out of a dusty chest, she did find the "move dirt back into a hole" and "make grass grow" kind of magic, so she's able to cover up her crime and hustle her ass out of there.

Back home, she's in the basement with the carpet torn up, revealing a stain on the concrete that no one's ever really been able to get rid of. Runes have been carefully drawn in a perfect circle, centering on that spot. She's lit only by candles and the faint blue glow that comes off of Barry's spectral form as she arranges the bones in the middle of the circle.

"Perfect," he says, "that's perfect. Okay, I think we're ready."

"You think?"

"I know. I know we're ready. This will work. It has to work."

"It better," she steps out of the circle and picks up the old leather bound book they found deep in the attic, "I spent all that money getting your new documents."

"Thank you, Lup. You didn't have to do all this for me. You… you're amazing."

"Don't thank me just yet." She jerks her head towards the circle, "get in there."

Obediently, Barry moves so he's floating just above his bones. Lup looks down at her marked page in the book, at the words she's been practising over and over for months. She was never great at latin, but now she has to be. She takes a breath and starts the ritual. All she has to do is read the lines again and again until it's over. Until, hopefully, the spectre and bones are replaced by a living, breathing Barry.

On the first round, Barry's glow gets brighter. On the second, his bones start to glow. Third, the runes light up. Fourth, the candles start to flicker violently. Fifth and sixth, Barry's spectre starts to lower towards his bones. Seventh, he disappears into them and there's a flash of bright light. Eighth, there's a body in the middle of the floor now, but his eyes are closed and he's not moving. Ninth, his chest starts to rise and fall almost imperceptibly. Tenth, Barry inhales sharply, his eyes snap open, and all the candles go out.

It's pitch black. Lup stops reading. She can hear breathing, and it's not her own. She whispers, "Barry?"

"Yeah," he responds, "I'm- I'm here. Can we turn the light on?"

Lup drops the book and stumbles to the wall, feeling blindly for the switch. She winces when it turns on, having to take a moment to let her eyes adjust from one extreme to another. But when she blinks the spots out of her eyes, there he is. Sitting butt naked on the concrete floor is Barry Bluejeans in the flesh.

"Uh, Lup," he says, "could you- the robe?"

"Oh, right." From their table of supplies, she grabs his glasses and the robe she bought for him just in case old taboo resurrection rituals didn't take clothes into account. He wraps it around himself then starts trying to stand. He's a little wobbly, so Lup grabs his arm to steady him.

He's warm.

"Here," she unfolds his glasses and hands them to him.

He puts them on and looks around. "Can we go upstairs?"

"Of course."

She helps him up the stairs, and takes him out into the backyard. He takes a deep breath and looks at her, "it worked."

"It did."

"Lup, you're a genius."

"Glad you noticed, but you're the one that figured out the ritual."

"Run away with me."

She pauses. "What?"

"Lup, I- god, I'm being an idiot right now, but I like you so much, and I think we make a great team, and I can't stay here, but I want to stay with you." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, this is stupid, the whole reason we even talked was because you wanted to stay in the house, I shouldn't have-"

"No," she cuts him off, "I mean yes. Yes and no. It's not stupid, and honestly I stopped giving a fuck about the house ages ago. Let's run away. We can live in a shitty apartment and you can work your way back up to a PhD and we can complain about people together and one day we'll get a house that no one's ever been murdered in and no one ever will be murdered in."

He smiles at her, and he's so much more handsome in flesh and blood. "I like the sound of that."

She leans her head on his shoulder and admires the gardens. "Do you think I could charge extra for the house since it's been ghost busted?"

"I don't think anyone will want to live where a ghost busted."

#blupjeansweek2023 #taz fic #blupjeans #barry bluejeans #taz #lup taaco

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