Tumblr gets to see the Jack Delroy doll before the gram does :^]

You Only Water Plants With Cool Water

Rukawa Kaede x reader, sfw, fluff, word count 1,435

reader is a painter 

Rukawa and you both had practice. Studio sessions, gym time, he needed to go to the store for new basketball shoes, you needed new paper or canvas. He knew when you had had a bad day. When every stroke of pigment was wrong, when you had to change water too many times. You knew when he had messed up his scoring percentages, or when he’d landed a shot not to his liking.

You also had good days though. Ones where you would be electrified, dragging Rukawa to the tiny bedroom studio in the apartment, excited to show him a new piece. He tried to be subtle about sharing his smaller successes with you. Quietly asking to go on a walk to the park on weekend mornings, picking up a basketball before heading out the door.

While Rukawa couldn't exactly understand painting, or art, he did understand you. He saw how hard you worked, the same as him. You too were striving for something. So he lets you ramble on about new art books you had bought, different painters you admired, ones you hated, an art supplies store you wanted to try your luck at. This was also how you understood him. You saw how at home Rukawa watched all the NBA games, kept tabs on different players.

The two of your respective passions consumed lots of your life. Which is why he didn't mind when you had the door to the studio closed when he got home from the gym. You didn't bother him when he was watching a game. He would sleep on the small couch you had tucked in the corner of the studio, the radio giving a play by play of some game. Legs hanging off the arm rest, simply enjoying being in your presence. Some days you would go to his practices, half watching, half sketching out ideas for a new chunk of canvas. This was one of those days.

Looking up from your lap you see that practice is almost over. You set aside your work to focus on Rukawa completely. He really is something else on the court. Brash, aggressive, and still sly. Those parts of Rukawa were the same. The part of him that bluntly told you while out shopping what did look ugly, that way you swore he moved stuff around in the fridge to mess with you, or how he shoulder checked people a little too often. When he was playing basketball it was like the various gears and screws that made up Rukawa were perfectly made to play, like it was the only that life made sense to him. It added something to his outward psyche, a fire of energy that exuded from every pore.

You watch as the team starts to wind down. Shooting from various points on the court, running sprints from one side to the other, to end practice there was a complicated passing drill that you couldn't follow. You were prepared to leave, grab some take out on the way home, but when Rukawa came over to you he flopped onto the bleachers.

“Hey! Come on you can't sleep here”

With a sweat towel covering his face he mumbles,

“I can sleep anywhere, just give me a couple minutes”

But you know with Rukawa that a couple minutes can range from thirty minutes to hours. You pull on his arm trying to get him up, his eyes are stubbornly closed though. You poke, you blow air on his nose, you ruffle his hair and pull on his clothes. When that doesn't work you try threats.

“I won't pay for dinner”

“I was going to pay”

He says, words muffled by the towel. Exasperated you sit back onto the cold bleachers. You reach into a plastic bag you have settled down by your feet. It's from the craft store, new paint, new brushes, you had stopped there on the way to see Rukawa. Cautiously you pull out some paint and let it rest against Rukawa's skin.

“If you don't get up, I’m gonna paint you”

“I dont care”

“Really?”

“Why would I care?”

Before you two had been playful, teasing, but when he asks that he is genuine. Like he couldn't possibly comprehend why that would bother anyone. He has one eye open now, peaking at you, seeing that you are considering it now.

“I don't care, go ahead, just let me sleep”

At first you're still a little apprehensive. You are slow to fill up one of the paper cups from the players bench with the water fountain. You use the colors little by little. Mixing them in the palm of your non dominant hand. You start with his arm. The paint moves differently on his sweat tinted skin and you have to adjust.

Rukawa floats in and out of sleep. Lazily watching your concentrated expression move expertly over him. He likes the way the brushes feel, the cool of the paint. He notes that you're holding his hand differently, it's deliberate, your fingers not laced with his but clasping onto him. You do this so you can twist his arm this way and that. He can see blues and greens mixed onto your own skin in puddles. Then he’s back asleep.

You are no longer paying attention to Rukawa, or the dance group that came to use the gym for practice. You like working here. The gym lights are bright, the AC blasting cold air. You were originally only going to do something small. But now Rukawa's entire right arm has been consumed by paint. You are putting the last few strokes of detail on his arm knowing that you aren't done yet. You are afraid to dab at the paint to see if its dry, you blow on it and Rukawa gives a small smile at the sensation.

You pull the towel off of Rukawa’s head and lay it over his chest, placing his arm there too. You grab your bag of supplies and move to the row of bleachers below Rukawa. His left leg your new target. This is harder for Rukawa to sit through at first. The bristles of the brush more ticklish, but it is soon calming once again. He wants to see what you’ve painted on his arm but his eyes are still so heavy, he so tired.

“Wow you're really good!”

“Thanks! He’s a pretty good canvas!”

Rukawa wakes at the sound of your voice.

“Oh sorry I didn't mean to wake you!”

It must be one of the girls from that dance team he decides.

“It’s okay he sleeps plenty”

You tell the girl, she laughs a little before waving herself away. You're packing up your things, swirling brushes into the cup of water, twisting paint tubes closed. Finally feeling satisfied with his nap, Rukawa slowly gets up. Used to sleeping wherever he pleases the dull ache from the bleachers doesn't bother him much. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and sees it.

You've painted a river. From his right shoulder to his left ankle is a river. Patches of grass and flowers growing along parts of it, stones, clouds, waterfalls, waves of water. It’s dynamic, twisting over the grooves of his muscles. You are surprised at how gentle his fingers move along the outline of the water, tracing it down his whole arm. In between his knuckles the water fades off his hand in droplets. The red flowers a bold contrast to the cool colors of the water. Fish leaping in and out of the water, some not even breaking the blue surface of paint, shadows of warm color beneath the water.

“You like it?”

You ask, he only nods, still admiring your work. You get him off the bleachers, once standing the daze he was in wears off. He grabs his duffle bag and the two of you head out. The night air is refreshing, the sky dark blue but bright like how it is in the summer. The street is still buzzing from the dusk. People on the way home from work, light traffic in the street, store and street lights flickering in the newness of the night.

“I’m sorry”

“Huh?”

You don't know what Rukawa could possibly be apologizing for.

“I’m gonna have to take a shower and the paint will wash off”

“That’s okay I knew that when I did it”

Rukawa seems discontent with this answer but you aren't sure how to help ease him. At the next block Rukawa turns the wrong way.

“Where are you going the-”

“Walgreens”

“What?”

“They have disposable cameras at Walgreens.”

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　

A/N: If someone made a bingo chart of my writing Walgreens would be on it. Will post this on ao3 later today :) Also no :) I did not :) edit this :) 

And Stuff

AN: When you decided on a life of academia, you’d never expected to meet someone like Spencer Reid 

Characters: Spencer Reid Pairings: Spencer Reid x reader Spoilers: None Warnings: Mentions of crime and violence, alcohol

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

You hated this stupid paper, you really really did. You stared blankly at your screen, reading and rereading the same two paragraphs in the vain hope that something would stick, but it was all gibberish.

“Hey, there’s my favorite PhD student,” a familiar voice called, collapsing into the seat beside you, “coffee?”

“Please,” you sighed gratefully, wrapping your hands around the disposable cup and taking a deep sip. It was perfect, just warm enough to shock some life back into you, “I owe you one, Prof. Reid.”

Spencer wrinkled his nose distastefully, and you laughed.

“I told you I hate that,” he said.

“And we both know that’s a lie,” you teased back, “you love being called Professor.”

“By my students,” he admitted, “not by you. How’s the thesis outline coming along?”

You sighed, “it’s not.”

“Can I take a look?” Spencer asked, reaching out towards you.

“Noooooo way,” you said, closing your laptop quickly, “not until it’s done.”

“But, Y/N-“

“No, Spence! It’s terrible.”

Spencer stuck his tongue out at you but didn’t press the issue as he pulled a stack of unmarked essays out of his satchel. You and Spencer had met a few years ago, when you’d both started a BA in philosophy. It was your third undergraduate degree, but like Spencer’s hundredth, and you’d bonded over your love of academia almost instantly. By now, meeting in one of the common areas to study and work together was almost a ritual, twice a week at least, every week of the semester. You loved it, you relied on it really. Without Spencer you were sure you’d have lost your mind years ago.

Spencer couldn’t always stay long, after all he was still a hot shot FBI agent, but even just the little bit of time you did have together was like a breath of fresh air. You both looked forward to the chance to talk about something other than your jobs for once.

“I’m sure it’s not, Y/N/N,” Spencer assured.

“Mhhm,” you said unconvincingly, “what about you? Did you get your epistemology paper in on time?”

“Oh yeah. I’m not sure anything I wrote technically qualifies as an argument, but it’s done.” Spencer replied, his eyes tracing the papers in front of him at lightning speed and marking as he went

You could see the signs of exhaustion on his face and your stomach pinched with concern. Spencer was a genius, you knew that better than anyone, but even he wasn’t immune to the stresses of university life. He was always burning the candle at both ends, taking on more than any reasonable person could ever hope to accomplish, and that was before he started teaching an intro to criminology class. It worried you.

“Spence?”

He looked up, his eyes still glassy and faraway, the hint of a smile on his lips, “Mmhmm?”

You frowned, “Are you okay? You look exhausted.”

Spencer nodded, “Did you know that some studies have shown that an adult man can actually survive on as little as two hours of sleep a night without showing outwards signs of exhaustion?” He rambled, gesturing at nothing with his hands, “Sleep deprivation will, of course, affect your mental capabilities over time, but the amount of time that process actually takes is fairly individual. In my case-“ he looked over, noticed you raising your eyebrows at him, and laughed, obviously realising just how tired he was. “Yeah I’m a little tired,” he admitted, “it’s just been a long week that’s all. I was up for a few days for a case,,” he nudged your shoulder with his, “you know if you took me up on my offer I’d probably have more time to sleep.”

“Me? Join the FBI?” You scoffed, shaking your head, “No way. I’ve never even held a gun.”

“Neither had I before I joined.”

“Yeah but you’re-“ you gestured in his general direction, “you know.”

“I’m what?”

“You know,” you huffed, feeling your cheeks flush with embarrassment, “strong. And brave. And stuff.”

Spencer laughed but he looked pleased with himself nonetheless, “you think I’m strong and brave?”

“And stuff,” you clarified, “I’m an academic. I’m perfectly happy in a dark room with my dusty books and manuscripts, thank you very much.”

Spencer nodded, stealing a sip of your coffee and grimacing at the taste, “is there any sugar in this at all?”

“You tell me,” You answered, “you bought it.”

“Well there’s obviously not enough, you can still taste the actual coffee,” he said, just as his phone started to beep frantically.

Spencer took it out of his pocket and frowned at the screen. Your heart sunk a little but, when Spencer looked up at you apologetically, you shot him a small smile.

“Duty calls,” you said simply.

Spencer nodded, packing his stack of papers back into his satchel, “I’m sorry, Y/N/N. I’ll see you back here on Friday?”

“Sure,” you agreed, “if you’re back by then.”

“And you’ll send me your thesis outline when you’re finished with it?”

“Of course.”

Spencer wrapped one arm around your shoulder, giving you a quick hug, “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Enjoy your day.”

“Good luck, Professor,” you smiled, waving him off, “and thanks for the coffee!”

He waved back at you, half jogging and already on the phone as he vanished into the incoming crowds. You watched him go, sighing sadly as you turned back to your unfinished outline.

“Okay, Y/N, you can do this. Spencer’s written like three of these, let’s go.” You muttered, “The psychological implications of linguistic progression, think.”

You threw yourself back into your research, losing yourself in the methodical nature of your work. The coffee next to you got cold.

————————

Spencer was flushed by the time he made it into the office, his cheeks hurting with the effort of suppressing his smile. Time with you always did that to him, no matter how drained he was when he first arrived.

You were like a ray of sunshine on an otherwise very gloomy day, and ten minutes with you was better for his mental health than a whole weekend’s worth of sleep. You were sweet, and funny, and you let him ramble about whatever he wanted to and even pretended to listen. Meeting you for coffee every week had become more than an act of friendship, it was an act of self care, a thin thread holding what was left of his sanity together.

His phone chimed and he smiled down at the message, a picture of you sipping your coffee and giving the cameras a big thumbs up:

Go kick some bad guy ass, Wise Guy!

He started typing up a reply but, before he could, someone interrupted.

“Good date, Pretty Boy?” Morgan greeted.

“It’s not a date, Morgan, you know that,” Spencer replied, fondly, “it’s just coffee with a friend.”

“Oh yeah it’s totally not a date, just a biweekly coffee hangout with someone you’ve been in love with since forever.”

“Yeah, exactly,” he smiled.

“But it did go well, then?” He retorted with a knowing smile.

Spencer smiled and nodded, “She thinks I’m strong and brave and stuff.”

“And stuff?”

“And stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” Prentiss interjected.

Spencer froze, “I don’t know, I hadn’t thought about that.”

“Does she know you’re not dating?” Prentiss asked.

“What? Yes of course! Or-maybe? I don’t know we haven’t exactly talked about it.” Spencer replied.

“No, she doesn’t know,” Morgan clarified.

Spencer opened his mouth to argue but, before he could, Garcia cut in.

“Okay my little geniuses, it’s a weird one today. Let’s get briefed,” Garcia called.

“When do we get to meet her?” Prentiss whispered as they took their seats.

“Never,” Spencer replied.

Emily pouted, “you’re no fun.”

Spencer smiled but, as the briefing went on and the picture of their newest case got clearer and clearer, so did something else; they couldn’t do this alone. They needed help, very very specific help. His heart sunk. As they headed to the jet, Spencer pulled out his phone, wishing to God he didn’t have to.

“Hey, Y/N, remember how you said you owed me one?”

—————————-

This had to be some sort of nightmare, you thought to yourself as you stepped off the jet. When Spencer had first called you, you’d laughed, told him to stop joking around and tell you what he actually wanted but, as it turned out, he was serious. They had a case, he’d said, one that required a certain set of expertise, one that only you had. And you couldn’t really say no could you? Not to Spencer.

And now you’d solved it. It was over. Your hands were shaking and you’d never been this tired in your life, but it was over. You felt a hand on your shoulder and jumped.

“Hey, it’s alright, kid,” Derek Morgan assured you, “you’re okay.”

You nodded, even though it wasn’t a question and gave him a small smile.

“I know.”

Derek nodded, his dark eyes boring into you in that way only members of the BAU could, like they were looking into you and not at you, so you tried to look brave.

“You did good work on this case,” Derek said, walking back to the building with you, “without you I’m not sure we would’ve caught the guy.”

You shook your head, “Spen-Reid would have figured it out eventually.”

Derek pressed his lips together, “Probably, but even he said it would’ve taken him days to reconstruct the language from scratch, even without adding the psychology behind it. In that time who knows how many people our UnSub would have been able to get.”

You looked over your shoulder to where Spencer was standing at the base of the jet’s stairs, looking everywhere but at you. He’d been acting distant for a while now, ever since Hotch had decided to strap you into a bulletproof vest and send you in to talk a maniac off a ledge. The UnSub had been having some sort of psychotic break, he’d forgotten how to speak English and communicated exclusively in a language he’d created himself, a combination of several that pointed to details about his personal life. It was fascinating, in the worst way possible, a real life application of the theory you’d been working on for years. It would make your thesis a piece of cake to finish.

The thought made you feel nauseous.

“Is he-“ you asked Derek, pressing your lips together nervously, “is he angry at me or something?”

He frowned, “Reid? No. He’s crazy about you, he looks forward to those coffee dates with you every week for days.”

You flushed, “They're not dates, Derek.”

“Oh yeah, sorry,” he replied, sarcastically, “slip of the tongue.” He ruffled your hair fondly, “Go on, talk to him, I’ll call you a cab when you’re done.”

You nodded and hung back, letting Derek’s hulking form vanish into the FBI building as you made your way slowly back toward the jet. Spencer was staring up at the moon, looking pensive and beautiful and painfully sad.

“Hey, there’s my favorite profiler,” you greeted gently, “you alright?”

“Hey,” he replied, still looking up at the moon, “why didn’t you go inside with everyone else?”

“I was waiting for you,” you explained, “I wanted to see if you’re okay.”

“If I’m okay?” He laughed incredulously, meeting your eye, “Y/N, I’m out here because I’m trying to figure out what I could possibly say to make up for what I just put you through.” He explained, “This...this stuff-it’s my world, not yours. I should never have brought you into it.”

“Spencer you needed me, your team needed an expert and, no offense, but your social circle isn’t big enough to have two experts in linguistic psychology.” You teased gently.

Spencer chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest.

You stepped forward, resting a hand gently on his bicep, “You made the right decision, Spence. I’m glad you called, I’m-“ you paused, “I’m glad you let me help you.”

Spencer snorted, “And it nearly got you killed.”

“It didn’t nearly get me killed-“

“Yes. It did,” he insisted, “the UnSub was psychotic, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t have killed you on sight. Hotch should never have let you-I should never have let you go in there.”

“But I wanted to and I’m fine. The case is over, Spence, we’re in the clear.” You assured him, “Things can go back to normal now.”

“No, they can’t!” Spencer practically shouted, turning to face you, his eyes red and puffy. You instinctively stepped back and Spencer pressed his lips together, looking guilty, “Y/N, I-knowing you were in danger and that there was nothing I could do about it...it killed me. You were never meant to know about any of this, you were meant to be safe! I was meant to keep you safe!” He explained, running a hand through his hair, “You were the one thing in my life that this stuff couldn’t touch and now-“ he breathed, “now everytime you look at me you’re gonna think about this, and him, and everything I put you through and-“ he met your eye, “and things will be weird and you’ll stop wanting to talk to me. Things won’t be the same, Y/N.”

You flushed and stepped forward, “You're worried that I’m not gonna talk to you anymore?” You asked. Spencer didn’t answer, but the way he avoided your eye and worked his jaw seemed like answer enough, “Spence,” you smiled, “you’re like...my favorite person in the world. This stuff,” you gestured around, “what you do, it doesn’t change that. In fact I think it’s kind of incredible. You guys tracked down a serial killer based on nothing but some muddled letters, who does that?” You laughed.

Spencer didn’t respond, but the edges of his lips twitched, like he wanted to smile. You watched him for a moment, the way he held his head, the way his eyes darted up to yours. He was just as beautiful as he’d always been, but there was something more now. He was vulnerable, you realized, really vulnerable for the first time since you’d known him. No matter what he said, Spencer was reaching out to you.

“Your world is messed up, Spencer,” you continued, stepping forward and taking his hand, “but you aren’t. We aren’t, and I’m glad I got to be there when you needed me. We’re good, okay?”

“Do you promise?” He asked, his voice small.

You squeezed his hand, “I promise.”

Spencer nodded, squeezing back, and let you slowly pull him back towards the FBI building.

“Besides,” you continued, “you still owe me a look at my thesis.”

Spencer snorted, “That’ll literally take me 3 seconds.”

“Show off.”

“What? It’s true.” He laughed.

You suddenly realized that Spencer was still holding your hand and, when he saw you looking and tried to pull away, you held on tighter. Spencer smiled nervously, and you felt a rush of something warm and promising flow through you.

“Hey, Y/N?” He started nervously.

“Yes, Spencer?”

“Are we dating?” He asked.

“After today? We’d better be. I’m expecting at least a dinner after almost getting shot for you.” You teased, bumping his shoulder with yours.

“That’s so not funny,” Spencer replied, but he was smiling when he said it.

“It’s a little bit funny.”

“Fine,” Spencer agreed, stopping in his tracks and pulling you towards him, “it’s a little bit funny.”

And that’s when he pulled you in, cupping your face with his hands and pressing his lips to yours. Just like that, the weariness of the day melted away, disappearing into a kiss that tasted like burnt coffee and sugar and the best champagne you’d ever had. Spencer was strong and sure. He kissed you like it was the only chance he’d ever get, like he wanted to burn the memory of you into that brilliant mind of his forever. When you broke apart it felt like the earth had shifted beneath you and you stared at one another, breathless and smiling like teenagers caught making out beneath the bleachers.

“Oh yeah,” you laughed, “yeah you definitely owe me dinner.”

“Woohoo!” Morgan cheered.

“Ooooo, Y/N and Reid sitting in a tree,” Prentiss sang, “K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

“Go get ‘em, Lover Boy,” Garcia joined in.

Spencer laughed, letting his head fall down onto your shoulder, humming when you threaded your finger through his hair.

“Can we-um-can we maybe continue this at a later date?” Spencer asked, “Like maybe at dinner? Or,” he checked his watch, “breakfast, maybe?”

You looked back at Spencer’s team and felt, with a sudden rush of clarity, that you were looking at a group of people who would soon be staples of your life.

“Let’s go get coffee with the others,” you answered, “and then after that,” you tilted his head up and kissed him softly, “you can take me to breakfast.”

taglist: @ourfavoritesergeantbarnes​ 

Bray Road part 5 - Mulder x nonbinary!reader

Uhhh classes started today for my final semester so let’s do some stuff between classes shall we?

- 

(Y/N) made there way through the ground floor of the hospital and to the information desk. They showed the desk assistant their badge and ask for directions to Jason Mulligan’s room. They made their way to the elevators after. Jason was in the ICU, which was strange since Mulder said he seemed to be fine when he saw him last. But things change, like this kid’s blood type apparently. The next theory that came to their head disturbed them more than anything. If Winterfield was really a werewolf and Jason had DEA in his blood, did that mean Winterfield was trying to make more? And worse...No... (Y/N) had had their blood work done since all those years ago and they had never found DEA. They made a mental note to speak with Jason’s mother, maybe he had the same experiences that they had: sleepwalking, trouble sleeping. Now they they really thought about it... they were only sleeping walking on the full moon. 

The elevator’s bell chimed as it stopped on the fourth floor. They stepped off the elevator and saw a typical floor for a hospital, nurses at the nurses station, even a few going from room to room. Or, they were really more like spaces that were closed off with a sheet. Jason was down the hall, second room on the left. As (Y/N) walked that had an odd feeling in their chest. Maybe it was just because they just learned their pediatrician is a werewolf. But the feeling only grew deeper as they walked closer. Once there, everything seemed oddly quiet. 

They knocked on the wall next to the entrance, “Mrs. Mulligan?” They pulled back the sheet, “My name is-”

Blood. Lots of blood. Mrs. Mulligan’s corpse was laying across the bed... her head was else where. There was no sign of Jason. (Y/N)’s breathing became shaky as they backed out and slowly closed the sheet. They hadn’t seen anything strange when they walked through the floor, meaning... this murder was calculated. They made their way back to the nurses station and stood there while the nurse finished her phone call. She was a petite woman, probably no older than they were. The nametag on her shirt said April 

“Yes, how can I help you?” She smiled. 

“I want you to put call security to put the hospital on lockdown, Jason Mulligan’s mother is dead and Jason is missing. He is to be considered extremely dangerous and treated with caution. We need to evacuate this floor. Now.” As they spoke, the nurse’s face grew paler and paler. With shaking hands, she grabbed at the telephone and called security. While the line was ringing, she told a nurse walking by to put evacuation procedures in place to which that aid also scurried off. From the right, (Y/N) heard a click. They looked down and saw a small boy with a disposable camera. 

(Y/N) smiled as not to alarm him, “Hello. That’s a nice camera.” They bent down to meet the child eye to eye. 

“Thanks.” He smiled, “My mommy got it for me. I like taking pictures.” He smiled. From the scaring on his face and the bandages, it was clear he had been severely burned and was starting to heal. 

“That’s nice. Where is your mommy?” 

“She went to the bathroom after the big dog.” They froze. 

“What big dog?” He pointed his little bandaged finger over (Y/N)’s shoulder. 

“That one.” He smiled, bringing the camera up to his face and taking a picture. (Y/N) slowly stood up, looking slightly over their shoulder and saw it. It was massive, standing at five feet tall on all fours. Its fur was a dark color and it looked wet, soaked in... the blood that was still dripping from its fangs and claws. It’s eyes were jet black. There was steam coming from its body. Before the eyes of the agent, the child, and the speechless nurse at the station, it began to stand on its hind legs. Its shoulders rose and fell with the creatures deep breathing. 

“Did you call security?” They whispered to the nurse. She nodded slowly, still holding to phone to their ear. 

“Good. Don’t move. Don’t scream.” The nurse nodded again, her lips trembling. (Y/N) reached down, stilling keeping an eye on the creature and took the little boy into their arms, he snapped another picture of the creature in the process. 

“Remain calm.” They whispered. And that seemed to work until a scream from behind the creature  that came in the form of a patient. The creature turned and roared, swiping at the patient with its massive claws, knocking the patient into a wall and killing him. 

“RUN!” (Y/N) called holding onto the boy and sprinting away, the creature hot on their trail. The little boy held on tightly, wrapping his arms around their neck. 

“It’s coming closer!” He cried. (Y/N) could hear from the increasing volume of the footsteps that it was true. Holding the boy with one arm, (Y/N) pulled down a large filing shelf as they ran by, hoping it would slow it down. The creature only roared in response. Ahead of the two was the elevator that was thankfully opening. (Y/N) ran inside, pressing the door close button frantically. 

“It’s coming! It’s coming!” The screamed, tugging on their shirt. 

“Come on, come on!” They said through their teeth, pushing frantically. The door finally closed, the creature slamming itself into them, denting the doors slightly. They took a deep breath of relief, leaning against the back wall of the elevator. 

“Okay.” They sighed, looking down at little boy in their arms. His face was red and wet from tears, “It’s okay, he didn’t get in.” Then, continuing their unfortunate bad luck, there were screeching noises coming from above them followed by a thud that shook the elevator. Spoke too soon. They were stopped on the second floor. So close to the first. 

(Y/N) they set the boy down, taking him gently by the shoulders, “When the doors open, I need you to run. Run faster than you ever have before.” 

“Okay.” He sniffled, gripping tightly onto his camera, “What about you?” There was another thump on the car ceiling. 

“I’ll be okay.” (Y/N) smiled, but the smile didn’t reach their eyes. They reached out and hit the open doors button, the doors opened and the little boy took off. As soon as the doors closed again, the creature’s hand broke through the ceiling. They shouted, crouching down to the floor to avoid the swinging claws. They grabbed their pistol from its holster on their hip, aiming and shooting up. The creature wailed it was hit but it didn’t relent. They shot again but this time, they heard a snap from the cable holding the car. As (Y/N) fell, the ceiling of the car caved in and they fell into darkness. 

- 

Mulder and the sheriff rushed into the main building as the elevator collapsed. The nurses and doctors were rushing patients outside from the main floor and the stairwells. 

“What’s going on?” Mulder called to a nurse evacuating a patient. 

“We’re evacuating, there’s a monster!” The mousy nurse called back, rushing a patient and their oxygen tank outside. The sheriff held a large weapon, a rifle by the looks of it. They both walked with caution towards the smoke coming from the elevator area. When the smoke cleared, they saw it. Both men stopped to stare. It was massive, at least seven feet tall. It was drenched in blood and covered in drywall rubble. It was dragging something behind it as it walked, and that something turned out to be Mulder’s partner. They seemed to be passed out, being dragged by their ankle.

“HEY!” Mulder called, aiming his pistol. The creature turned to look at them and roared. It had the features of a wolf: long snout, pointed ears, and large fangs. 

The sheriff took aim and fired, the shot to the chest did practically nothing. Mulder and the sheriff continued shooting but the creature only came closer, having dropped (Y/N). As it came closer, their bullets ran out and they were backed against a wall. The creature roared and went to descend on the two. Mulder squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the swipe of claws. But instead, he opened his eyes and saw a bloody silver pole sticking from the creatures chest. The creature fell to the side, revealing the same mousy looking nurse from before. There was blood splattered across her face and her breathing was hard. In her hand she held the wheels that had come from the tray she had used to stab the beast. 

“Damn April.” The Sheriff said as he regained his breath. She only waved lazily in response. 

Mulder got up and quickly went to his partner who was slowly coming to. 

“Ow.” (Y/L/N) groaned. Mulder helped them into a sitting position. 

“Where’s the thing?” They grunted. Mulder looked back, then at (Y/N). 

“I think you mean Jason.” He said solemnly. Before btoh the agent’s very eyes, the large creature had slowly morphed and shifted back into a bloody and naked Jason Mulligan. 

-------

Read Part 6 here!

I’m getting back into the grove! I’m very excited to finish up this series and I’m glad it’s getting some love. 

Reblogs, likes, and comments are appreciated! 

Here is the taglist, comment below or send me an ask to be added: 

@bi-andready-tocry 

@nyotamalfoy

Season 9, Mission 14: Fort Knox

Tour group

~

JANINE DE LUCA: All right Runner Five, Mr. Yao. There is only audio surveillance in this room and I have muffled the microphones. We can talk freely.

SAM YAO: I really don't like this, Janine. I mean, okay, they did let us into Van Ark's mystery base, but then they stuck us in this tiny room, insisted we take medical exams. Peter and Maryam still aren't back from the med bay. I can't believe we let them just inject us with tracking devices.

JANINE DE LUCA: We had no choice, Mr. Yao. It was take the subcutaneous trackers or leave Red Scorpion Base. General Bakari claimed he would meet us on arrival, but so far we have only been escorted by soldiers. The security here is intense. Barbed wire fencing, perimeter guard towers, patrols in unmarked uniforms. If our operation goes wrong, escape will not be... [door creaks open] Someone's approaching. [loudly] Which is why they'd better pay well for this job! Don't you agree, Sven?

SAM YAO: Uh... yeah. Yes. Mercenaries, us. Money, ooh, we want it.

GENERAL BAKARI: You can relax. I've relieved the guards in this section, shut down the cameras.

JANINE DE LUCA: General Bakari, there are others in our team -

GENERAL BAKARI: - still in the medical bay. We can't wait. The trackers you've received are a new security provision powered by bioelectric energy. They didn't tell you this, but it takes about 40 minutes for a tracker to stabilize in its new host. We've got that long before your every movement is monitored. That's just enough time. [drops bag on the floor] There are maintenance uniforms in the duffel bag. Put them on.

JANINE DE LUCA: General -

GENERAL BAKARI: I trust you weren't counting on a sentimental reunion, De Luca? There's a mission at hand. Red Scorpion Base has a secret you're going to help me liberate. All of you, out into the corridor. No time to dawdle.

~

SAM YAO: This place is just a maze of metal hallways, isn't it? Shh. Hey, do you guys hear that?

[distant metallic footsteps]

GENERAL BAKARI: A patrol coming from the intersection ahead. Duck into that store room, quick. [cloth rustles, footsteps pass] They've passed. Those maintenance uniforms will help at a distance, but the patrols here know all the authorized faces. Come on, this way. Speaking of faces, it's Runner Five, isn't it? You gave me this gammy leg. My own stupid mistake, I admit, chasing you on that motorcycle.

JANINE DE LUCA: Perhaps if you had not sided with Prime Minister Hakkinen, General, you might have avoided injury.

GENERAL BAKARI: Is that reproach I hear, De Luca? You were always so quick to judge. Sigrid was a monster, but with impressive ambition. It seemed folly to oppose her, so i toed the party line loudly when she was listening. Soldiers served their country, after all. I hear there's a thief in charge these days. Not sure your vote turned out much more righteous than mine.

SAM YAO: Hey!

JANINE DE LUCA: Don't let him needle you, Mr. Yao. The base, General. It is in excellent condition, especially given we have seen evidence it predates Z-Day.

GENERAL BAKARI: Very good, De Luca. Yes, Red Scorpion Base has been here for many years. Once we get to the next intersection, you'll see where it came from. Where's Tom, Janine? I was sure he'd be with your team.

JANINE DE LUCA: Tom... Tom was killed in action some time ago.

GENERAL BAKARI: Unfortunate. He had a weak heart, that boy. I saw it every day I sheltered you two after your parents passed. Thought I taught you to watch out for each other!

I'm not authorized for this part of the base. I've stolen passes, but if we're caught here, we will be shot. Do you see the turrets bracketing the door ahead? Machine gun emplacements, automated. Look at the symbol on the turret mountings below each gun barrel.

SAM YAO: Those are stars and stripes. Flags, American flags.

[door rattles open]

GENERAL BAKARI: And past the door, a flag painted on the wall. They're not allowed to fly one outside. Red Scorpion Base was established by the American military 20 years before Z-Day. Black ops research, top secret, and they're still very much running it today. Quickly, all of you, there are a lot more patrols in the next section. Follow the corridor branch left, on the double.

~

SAM YAO: Look, Five, by the water cooler. That's the portrait of the last US president. God, this is crazy. There's still a US military and they're hanging around a base in Tunisia!

JANINE DE LUCA: A base somehow connected to Ernest Van Ark and V-type fungus.

GENERAL BAKARI: You already know about the local fungus, eh? The US military heard rumors of it decades before Z-Day, whispers unearthed by archaeologists in North Africa. They thought it had martial potential, set up a base here to dig for it. They hit on caves of the stuff underground. There's an archive room on our way. I'll show you what they found.

SAM YAO: Wow! Janine, look! Down the corridor to the right, that looks like the war room from, well, every movie with a war room ever. Ah, there must be a hundred screens in there.

JANINE DE LUCA: All cycling through images of landmarks. The Brandenburg Gate, Times Square full of zombies, a toppled Eiffel Tower. General, are these images current? What reach does this army have?

GENERAL BAKARI: Honestly, the US isn't what it was, but the man in charge of Red Scorpion Base likes to keep eyes everywhere. [drones whir] Come on, there are surveillance drones in these corridors. I hear some coming. Forward.

SAM YAO: [whispers] Likes to keep his eyes everywhere? Yeah, yeah, that sounds like Van Ark, doesn't it, Five? If the Americans are running Red Scorpion Base, is he backed by their army? The others are getting ahead. We'd best speed up.

~

[door rattles open]

GENERAL BAKARI: We're in the main research annex deep underground. This is an archive room, oldest on Red Scorpion Base. If you want to know about the fungus, this is the place.

SAM YAO: But it's just a room full of dusty filing cabinets. Oh, and Polaroid pictures of scientists stuck up on the wall. Scientists in a cavern full of black ash.

GENERAL BAKARI: Certain branches under the Department of Defense saw huge promise in the fungus. They dreamed of perfecting a symbiosis to make humans faster, better, stronger. The early experiments went poorly. People died. The decision was made to destroy the fungus after it nearly escaped containment, every trace burned away.

JANINE DE LUCA: General, the glass tank in that corner, the blackened lump inside...

GENERAL BAKARI: A relic. This room is a memorial. The old research data is all locked away. The lump is a museum piece, scorched rock from a once red cave, long dead now.

JANINE DE LUCA: Then... the fungus is not why you summoned us?

GENERAL BAKARI: Not at all, De Luca, though not a bad guess. What I have for you is much more important. Come along through the far door. Incidentally, you see the old photo on the left, the one showing a team in bulky armor scouring rocks with flamethrowers? They still call Red Scorpion’s emergency response the fire team. These days, they wear powered exoskeletons, flamethrowers integrated. They're what comes for us if we make a mistake. We're short on time. Go.

~

SAM YAO: Loads of fancy computers in here, Five. Must be in a sciency bit.

GENERAL BAKARI: Ancillary data storage. From here, we can access files from the Red Scorpion's latter day experiments. Listen carefully, De Luca. The base contracted your team on my recommendation. Since Z-Day, Red Scorpion's been short-handed. They sometimes recruit outside personnel. Three months ago, one of my aides went MIA. Any deserter is viewed as an unacceptable security risk.

SAM YAO: Did you kill him?

GENERAL BAKARI: Fellow took a bad fall. I disposed of the body, arranged evidence of his flight to the mountains, suggested we needed help to locate him. Obviously, no one's ever going to find him outside, and our security head is getting desperate. Once she briefs you, she'll send you into the mountains to hunt down the deserter. There, you'll divert to designated coordinates. You'll find buried parts of a vehicle I've had hidden. Assemble it and escape.

JANINE DE LUCA: You are not coming with us, General?

GENERAL BAKARI: I'm rarely allowed off the base, and I don't intend to return to the UK to stand trial. I know you're thinking it, De Luca.

JANINE DE LUCA: You betrayed your nation. It would be my duty.

GENERAL BAKARI: And you always loved duty. As a child, you used to turn your night light out on principle. [computer beeps] Give me a minute with the computer. I'll get what you're here for.

SAM YAO: Um, which is what, exactly?

GENERAL BAKARI: Research from Red Scorpion Base, something that can change the future. The file I'm giving you is encrypted, I can't open it. Did you bring a computer expert?

SAM YAO: Sort of. We, um, lost our equipment, though.

GENERAL BAKARI: The file is too big to transmit without powerful equipment. If you were able to decrypt it, you might have been able to send key details out. As it is, you'll need to get this thumb drive to the UK intact. If anyone suspects you're smuggling data off the base, you're dead, understand?

JANINE DE LUCA: General, if we leave you here -

GENERAL BAKARI: I'll be fine, so long as the operation succeeds. Humanity, kin, and hope, De Luca. That's what this is for. Do not let me down. The head of security just pinged me. The rest of your team is done in the medical center. She wants to brief you all, stat. We need to get back. There's one more thing I need to give you. Through the door on the right. The doctors should be on their break. This way, run!

~

JANINE DE LUCA: General, is this a hospital ward?

GENERAL BAKARI: It's an emergency care area. Ah, here it is. Five, give me your arm. My research indicates you'll be the best subject for this.

SAM YAO: Wait, what-what are you doing? You can't just inject strange substances into people!

GENERAL BAKARI: The bio data in the injection is a crucial component of the information in the files. The only way to transport it is inside a living host.

JANINE DE LUCA: It's long past time you explained exactly what this information is, General.

GENERAL BAKARI: It's a cure, Janine.

SAM YAO: For what?

GENERAL BAKARI: For everything. Every ailment that plagues humanity, every virus, every infection. A panacea.

JANINE DE LUCA: That's impossible.

GENERAL BAKARI: No. It may take years, even generations to formulate a usable vaccine, but the germ of it is here. The zombie plague has brought such pain to humanity. I accept I played my part in it. But this data, the antibodies in Five's blood, and the files on that drive, they may be the one worthwhile thing to come out of all that death.

JANINE DE LUCA: Then I leave the decision to you, Five. Very well. Proceed, General.

SAM YAO: I'm just gonna, um, not be here watching that. Injections always make me feel queasy.

GENERAL BAKARI: Your trust will be repaid, Janine, I promise you.

JANINE DE LUCA: I hope so.

SAM YAO: Oh my God. Janine, Five, over here! There's a door with a little porthole. On the other side, it's-it's Van Ark! He's unconscious, hooked up to, well, it's like a giant dialysis machine. Looks like it's draining him.

GENERAL BAKARI: I was saving him until last. Good bait to get you here, but if I explained too soon, you'd only get distracted.

JANINE DE LUCA: Is Van Ark running the research department? What are the Americans giving him through those tubes?

GENERAL BAKARI: Van Ark running the place? [laughs] Not at all. The fellow at the top, no one ever sees. Nasty piece of work by all accounts. But Van Ark here, he isn't in charge of anything. Van Ark is one of the experiments.

~

Like We Used To: 8

A/N: Sorry I missed a post yesterday. Hope you enjoy and PUH-LEEEASE message me with some feedback.

[Click Here For Previous Chapters]

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CHAPTER EIGHT

Elizabeth was able to get a few more hours of shut eye before she awoke again. The sun shone through the curtains, warming up her face as her eyes adjusted to read the time on her phone. 8:07 AM. She stretched and threw the sheets off of her, feeling the sudden cold air hit her bare legs. Instantly the memories of the previous night came rushing back. She had thought about that moment for years, and half expected herself to be dreaming. A smile crept up on her face as it was even better than she imagined her first time with Harry being. 

She decided to take a quick shower, but instead of letting the water relax her, she found herself starting to wonder: what happens from here? Today was Sunday, everyone’s last full day together until they leave on Monday morning and go back to their normal lives. Pretty soon Kate and Lewis will be on their way to the Maldives for their honeymoon, and Elizabeth had until Wednesday to return to her social media marketing manager job. Harry would be...God knows where, with God knows who, doing God knows what. At least she had one more day to enjoy with him before reality hit.

She quickly blow-dried her hair, threw a bit of makeup on, got dressed in her casual white long-sleeved shirt that she tucked into her blue jeans, a black belt, and a long beige cardigan. When she reached the bottom of the steps she could hear the voices of Jimmy, Matt, Kate, and Celeste echoing from the kitchen. She saw Matt first, standing in the doorway.

Elizabeth smiled and pinched his side, which made him jump, and she teased, “I can’t believe you’re awake before me. How did you manage that?”

He put her in a headlock and pulled her closer to him, “Because of a thing I like to call: an alarm!”

Everyone turned their attention to her and they all shouted “Good morning!” as Kate scurried over to her, shoving a donut in her hands with a look of relief, “Oh, good, you’re smiling!” she noted, pulling her towards the kitchen island and leaning against it, “So you and Harry are still good then? No fighting? And you made it all the way to midnight? Because most of us were still up until 1 AM. And when you didn’t come down to join us and we didn’t hear you go into your room we thought…”

Elizabeth gulped nervously, glancing at Celeste who’s attention darted elsewhere. She cut Kate off, “Uh...yeah. We made it to midnight, but we were both tired by then so I just decided to go right to bed. I guess I was just really quiet so you didn’t hear me.” Elizabeth looked over at Celeste to see if she would rat her out, but she didn’t.

Jimmy stepped up, “Okay, what I think Kate meant to ask was if you and Harry kissed last night. Because if you did, that means I won the bet.”

“Hang on!” Matt objected, “We also bet that Lizzy and I would kiss at some point this weekend, too. We have a whole day left!”

“Yeah, but if she kissed Harry, she’s not kissing you!” Jimmy waved him off and looked back at Elizabeth, eagerly waiting for a response.

Elizabeth stuttered, unsure of what to say, when $20 was smacked down on the island next to them. She looked behind her to see Harry with a smug face.

Harry looked up at Jimmy and simply said, “You won.”

“Fuck, yeah!” Jimmy grabbed the money and ran out of the room screaming, “Pay up, motherfuckers!”

Elizabeth felt her cheeks get warm and when she met Kate’s eyes her friend’s mouth had fallen open, “Ok, wait!” Kate put her hands up, smirking, “You two kissed, or you kissed?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Elizabeth shot Harry a look of warning before they heard stomping and glanced over to see that Matt was no longer there. Everyone looked at each other in confusion and Elizabeth whispered, “I’m gonna go check on him.”

She walked up the two flights of stairs to Matt’s room, tapping on the bedroom door lightly before cautiously opening the door. Matt was sitting on the bed with his head propped up on the headboard, playing with his phone. She left the door cracked open a bit and climbed onto the bed next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.

“You okay?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yeah, fine.”

Elizabeth snorted and dropped her donut on his stomach, “You’re an absolute shit liar, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know,” Matt groaned, chucking his phone at the end of the bed and taking a bite from the donut, “So you two really kissed?”

“Yeah. Are you mad at me?”

“I’m not mad,” Matt exhaled, “I’m just...worried.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, “Worried? Why are you worried?”

“Because, Lizzy. Don’t get me wrong, Harry is a great guy, and I don’t want you thinking I’m just saying this stuff because of some stupid kiss we had, but I saw how upset you were the last time he left. You were heartbroken. I always thought that there was something between you two back then, but whatever it was took years for you to get over. I’m worried this time it’ll be worse if you get yourself in too deep with him. Sure, he’s here now, but he’s famous! He travels the world on a weekly basis and has thousands of girls throwing themselves at him every single day. How long before he leaves again? I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

Elizabeth’s chest tightened a bit. He was right. It was a really tough situation to be in. Harry had made promises to her, but who knows if he’ll keep them or not? Sure, they used to be best friends, but a long time has passed and she can’t necessarily say she knows him that well after only spending two days with him and nine pivotal years of their adult lives had passed.

She grabbed Matt’s hands in hers and squeezed, “It was just one kiss,” she lied, attempting to reassure him, “Harry and I are just friends, nothing more. I just...got caught up in the moment. But I’m a big girl now and I can handle myself. Who knows if I’ll see him again after this weekend, but if I don’t then that’s tough shit and it’s his loss. At least I have all of my friends. I love that you care so much about me, though. I appreciate it.”

“Of course I care, Lizzy. I love you, you know that. And I’ll always be here for you no matter what.”

“Love you too, Matt.”

He rested his cheek on top of her head and said, “But seriously, if he hurts you again I’m done with him.”

“Same,” Elizabeth chuckled, her heart sank at the thought.

There was a knock on the door which slowly swung open and they both looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway. Elizabeth straightened up and took her hands back as he smiled begrudgingly and said, “Hey, uh, Kate just sent me up here to let you know that there’s a fair going on down the road and a few of them were gonna start heading over in the next thirty minutes if either of you would like to join.”

“Oh fun!” Elizabeth slid off of the bed, “I’ll go. Coming, Matt?”

He eyed Harry before saying, “Yeah. Just gonna take a quick shower first,” and headed towards his bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Elizabeth closed the door to his bedroom once she was in the hallway. Harry looked down at her with a look of irritation as they made their way to the stairs and whispered, “So after last night we’re just friends? We only shared one kiss? No big deal?”

“What?” Elizabeth continued down the stairs and whispered back, “What was I supposed to tell him? Harry stuck his cock in me last night and made me cum while you guys were 30 feet away? It’s no one’s business what we do.”

They paused on the landing, hearing voices get louder and then dissipate before Harry rounded on her again, “Obviously you don’t have to go into explicit detail, Lizzy. No one needs to know we had sex if you don’t want them to know, but you don’t have to talk to me about it like it was just a casual thing, either! We didn’t just fuck, and you know that. I promised that I wasn’t going to just disappear from your life again, do you not trust me?”

Elizabeth felt a jab of guilt hit her in the gut. Harry had obviously overheard her and Matt’s conversation, but she was frustrated because she didn’t know how to handle the situation. What was she supposed to do? It’s not like they were dating. 

 “Harry, I don’t know what you thought was going to come out of this. We got carried away last night and we had sex,” she sighed, grabbing his hands, “Listen, whatever this thing we have is, I just don’t want to make a huge fuss about it. Let’s just carry on with our day and have fun. I really don’t want to argue with you. Please?”

Harry stared into her eyes for a while before giving in, “Fine. But I’m going to prove you wrong, Lizzy Miller. I won’t hurt you again.”

She shook her head, joking, “Jeez, you boys are so sensitive today,” earning a pat on the butt from Harry as they made their way down the stairs.

Everyone had decided to go to the fair, and Daisy brought a few disposable cameras to use while they were there. Since all of the boys had driven to the house they decided to take three of their cars to get there. Elizabeth drove in Matt’s car with Harry and Daisy in the back. Matt was obsessed with the song “Boyfriend” by Tyler Cassidy and blasted it on repeat so loudly that the car interior rattled as they drove the 8 minutes to town, screaming the lyrics. Daisy stuck her head out the window, throwing her hands in the air and Harry laughed in the backseat next to her.

When they pulled into the parking lot they all grouped together and made a game plan for Harry in case he was noticed and things got crazy. He was given the keys to Lewis’ car for a quick escape. There was a good amount of people there for it being 11 AM, but it wasn’t terrible. They suspected a lot more people would be coming later that night. They all chipped in and paid for Harry and Elizabeth’s tickets as a prize for making it through the dare card and winning the ‘Spill It’ game, which earned knowing glances between the two, and they headed inside.

Jimmy, Matt, Owen, and Heather started off with some of the ring toss games while the rest of them wanted to get on some rides. The first ride they went on was the Music Express. It sat four to a seat and Elizabeth decided to sit with Kate, Lewis, and Daisy. Funnily enough they started playing an old One Direction song which made the group burst into laughter. Harry was being crushed in between Celeste and Edward, gripping onto his sunglasses and praying that they didn’t fall off. 

They decided to hit up the bumper cars next. Harry jumped into a seat and gave Elizabeth a nod to come over, but before she could reach him Daisy had jumped in and smiled. Elizabeth shrugged at him and got into a car with Celeste who had control of the steering.

“She probably wouldn’t flirt with Harry so much if you told her about you and him,” Celeste said quietly.

Elizabeth nodded, “I know, but I don’t even know what’s going on with us. It’s fine. I don’t think she’s his type anyway.”

As soon as the game started, Celeste was off, crashing into strangers and laughing. It didn’t take long for Harry to slam into them from the rear.

“You two are public enemy number one!” He shouted, “Watch it!”

After that, the group kind of switched up a bit. Edward, Celeste, and Daisy had gone on more rides while Matt had joined Elizabeth, Harry, Lewis, and Kate to play more games. Harry had managed to win a small stuffed bear at the balloon and dart game which he offered to Elizabeth. That definitely earned some suspicious looks from their friends, but Elizabeth thought she played it off pretty cool.

Elizabeth, Matt, Lewis, and Kate had given their tokens to play the ‘ball and bucket toss’ while Harry decided to grab something to drink and eat.

“Do you want anything?” He asked them.

Elizabeth looked back sweetly, “Can I have a lemonade, please?”

“Me too!” Kate shouted. He nodded and headed off.

The friends played two more rounds before they noticed that Harry wasn’t back yet. It was starting to get closer to dinner time and they needed start heading back to the house to cook their Sunday roast. By that point Daisy and Jimmy had joined them and they all looked around, wondering where he could have gone.

“Is that him?” Jimmy pointed out.

They looked over and saw Harry laughing with a tall guy about their age wearing a white tee with the sleeves rolled up and his dirty blonde hair pushed back. His arms were covered in full length tattoo sleeves and he had four friends with him.

“Shit, must be fans. Should we go save him?” Daisy asked.

The group looked over at them more intently and the realization must have hit them all at once because there were different variations of gasps.

“Holy shit,” Kate drawled, looking at Elizabeth in shock, “Is he talking to your ex?”

Fuck.

KEEP READING

Whumptober Day 18 – Cold

Fandom: GOT7

Sickie: Bambam

Caregiver: mostly Jackson & Jinyoung

 Bambam’s POV.:

We were all in a hurry this morning, getting ready for a fansign. I was really struggling to find an outfit I liked and kept asking for advice. I could tell my members were getting fed up because I was making them late. Being afraid of holding them back more, I quickly settled for dresspants and a tight turtleneck shirt before meeting the rest of the group by the front door. “Alright, sorry for taking so long, I’m ready now.” – “Umm, Bambam-ah, don’t you want to take a jacket? The fansign is outdoors and although it looks sunny, it’s not all that warm”, Jinyoung gave me a questioning look. “No, that wouldn’t go with my outfit at all and I just found one that looks okay”, I refused. “Come on, don’t be so stubborn, we don’t want you to get sick” – “You’re not my mom. I’m a fucking adult, I can make my own clothing choices”, I snapped. “Bam, don’t talk back at your hyung like that!”, Jaebeom gave me a stern glance. “Alright, just don’t complain about being cold, we need to leave now anyways”, Jinyoung said, holding his hands up defensively. We left in a tense mood and I have to admit Jinyoung wasn’t lying, there was really a cold wind blowing. Crossing my legs in an attempt to keep them warm I smile at the girl in front of me. I’m just now realizing how much ahgase must love us to wait out in the cold for so long just to talk to us for a few seconds. The thought warmed my heart as my limbs started to feel colder. An hour into the fansign I can’t really feel my fingers anymore. I’m aware of the concerned glances Jaebeom keeps sending my way but refuse to meet his eyes. The way I had acted this morning made it impossible to admit feeling cold now. I rub my hands against my thighs waiting for the next fan to take a seat in front of me.

By the end of the fansign about two hours later I had lost all hope of ever feeling warm again. We gathered in a small circle waiting for our manager to tell us about the change in schedule he had just announced. I had my arms wrapped around me, hugging myself for warmth but when I saw the look Jinyoung gave me, I quickly dropped them to my sides. “This afternoon we want you to go around the city vlogging so we can get some bonus footage for the new album release”, manager-nim told us and I groaned inwardly. Jackson shot me a look and I tried to smile at him, hiding my shaking hands behind my back. When the manager had left we discussed spitting up in smaller groups for the afternoon or staying together. It was decided to get coffee together first and then maybe split up. Well, this was a misunderstanding, I had thought we’d stay at the café but we only grabbed a drink and left for the nearest park. There went my chance of warming up for a few minutes. I sighted holding on to the hot papercup for dear life. Slowly my sense of feeling returned to my fingers and I sighed. “Are you cold?”, Jackson asked walking closer to me. I noticed Jinyoung looking over at me and denied with a forced smile. Jinyoung-hyung hasn’t spoken a single word to me since this morning. I guess he’s really pissed at me for talking back at him and yes, I’m sorry, I know it was wrong but I don’t know how I can admit that now. Jackson wasn’t fooled and after disposing of our empty cups he grabbed my hand in his gloved one. We kept walking beside each other and he slipped our intertwined fingers into the pocket of his jacket. I gave him a grateful smile which he returned with a knowing look.

 Jinyoung’s POV.:

We kept walking around the park, taking pictures and fooling around for the cameras. Youngjae had teased Yugyeom who was in turn chasing the other who tried to escape screaming. So far everything was as usual and I held the camera to capture Mark and Jaebeom doing flips. Aside from the maknae’s screaming in the distance and the hyung’s teasing each other it was strangely quiet. I looked around to see whether Jackson and Bambam had disappeared since I was so used to them being loud it worried me when I couldn’t hear them. They hadn’t actually disappeared but were standing close-by watching the hyungs comparing their acrobatic skills. Jackson seemed longing to join them but couldn’t since he was holding Bambam in a back-hug, wrapping his jacket around both of them. Jackson met my eyes and his eyes showed pure concern for the dongsaeng in his arms. I sighed, of course the younger was cold. The boy is so skinny, there is nothing to keep him warm aside from his clothing, which was pretty thin today considering the weather. Had he just dressed warmer or taken a jacket with him like I told him this morning. I hope he doesn’t get sick now. Noticing my stare Bambam looked up at me too quickly looking away, ashamed. Yes, I feel sorry for him but I’ll let him learn his lesson by himself. He should be aware that I only wanted the best for him and he kept mocking me for it. I hated to admit that it did hurt a bit even though I knew it was his pride speaking.

 Bambam’s POV.:

Of course, Jinyoung knew. He knew I was cold, even had predicted it earlier. I tried to stand as close to Jackson as physically possible, thankful to lean my back against his warm chest. Though I had his arms and jacket around me I still felt cold. It hurt, my bones seemed to have turned to ice and my fingers had taken on a slightly blueish tone. I shifted my gaze from my hyungs to my dongsaengs who were still chasing each other. On any other day I would join them without a second thought and maybe moving around would help warm me up but I felt stiff and frozen in my spot. I feel Jackson let go form a second and shudder immediately only for him to start rubbing my arms up and down. When Jaebeom finally determined that we had enough video-material I had completely withdrawn into my own mind, trying to think warm thoughts, imagining walking along a beach and feeling the sun on my face. It barely was of any use and I was soon snapped out of my thoughts anyways as Jackson shook me slightly. “Did you even hear what I said?”, he asked concerned. “Sorry, spaced out for a second”, I mumbled looking at the ground. “We decided to head home and grab a bite for dinner on the way there, you good with that?”, he repeated and I only nodded not really caring what was happening around me anymore as I could only focus on the pain in my limbs but home sounded good. He smiled and grabbed my hand while we walked lagging behind the rest. On the way home, we grabbed some gimbap and ate while walking, well the others ate, I had no appetite and just wanted to get home, the cold was starting to make me sleepy. I had tiredly declined when Jaebeom asked what to get for me and was now hugging myself because Jackson needed his hands to eat.

When we arrived back at the dorm after what seemed like an eternity, I was completely out of it. Jackson had pushed me straight towards the bathroom after I had kicked off my shoes to let me shower first. I stiffly took of my clothes and stepped into the shower, letting the warm water run down my back, goosebumps spreading over my body at the change of temperature. The longer I stood there, the hotter I turned the water. I heard the door open for a minute: “Hey, Bam-ah, I brought you some clothes, they’re on the sink.” I thanked Jackson and started washing myself down, hoping I hadn’t used up too much of the hot water. When I stepped out and toweled off, my eyes fell on the clothes Jackson had chosen for me. God, I loved him so much, he had picked out my thickest sweatpants and a large warm hoodie. I quickly put them on since I felt cold again the second I had left the shower. Leaving the bathroom my members shot me some worried glances and luckily didn’t comment on how long I took. I shuddered walking back to my room and crawled into my bed pulling the blanket up to my face trying to get warm. There was a knock before the door opened. It was Jaebeom, who took a seat on the bed next to me. “You ok, Bam?” I nodded shivering. “Still cold?” I nodded again. “You are aware that you brought this on yourself, right?”, he frowned. “Y-yes, hyung and t-that’s the worst about t-this. I have no one to b-blame excep-pt for myself”, I replied while trying to keep my teeth from chattering. He rubbed my arm through the blanket sighing before he got up and left, closing the door behind him. Being alone I finally allowed myself some silent tears over how terrible I felt.

 Jinyoung’s POV.:

Jaebeom just returned from checking on Bambam. “He’s still cold and doesn’t look to good. All pale and stuff, though he admitted he’s aware it’s his own fault”, Jaebeom sighed. I frowned walking into the kitchen and warming up some milk. Taking the cup out of the microwave I stir in two heaping spoons of instant hot chocolate powder, knowing my dongsaeng likes his drink to be extra sweet. On the way to Bambam’s room I passed by mine and grabbed a thick woolen blanket from the closet. I hid both outside in the hallway while stepping into the younger’s room and found him curled up in his bed, only his dyed hair sticking out. “Hey, everything alright?”, I approached him quietly. Bambam turned around to look at me, still hugging himself tight underneath the blanket. I could see his eyes being slightly reddened and there were tear-streaks on his cheeks. “H-hyung, I’m s-sorry about earlier. I know you were r-right but I j-just w-wanted to look okay for ahgase. A-anyways I s-shouldn’t h-have talked t-to you the way I-I did. Please d-don’t be m-mad at me anym-more”, his voice was shaking and he looked miserable. “You really learned your lesson, huh?”, I asked with a sympathetic smile and he nodded eagerly. Stepping back out I quickly get the blanket and the cacao I had prepared. After placing the cup down on the nightstand, I spread the blanket out over his. “Alright scoot over, let’s make you all warm again”, I whispered softly, climbing into bed with him before handing him the cacao. “T-thank you, hyung. I-I know I m-messed up.”- “It’s ok, I know you regret it, just don’t forget about it. You know I only care about you.”, I reassured. Hugging Bambam tight I kept rubbing his shoulderblade to generate warmth while he slowly sipped his hot drink.

Not long after I had placed the empty cup back onto the nightstand, I could hear my dongsaeng snore softly with his head against my chest. Oh, this boy, he is going to drive me crazy some day.

Making a Living off of Death (1/4)

I literally cannot believe I’ve posted my first fic to AO3! This is my first fic in almost seven years, so I’m really excited to become a contributing member of fandom again. 

Anyway, here’s my first Spider-boy fic, and in the spirit of Whumptober, it is of course whump.

Read On AO3 Here

When people ask him what he does, he generally tells them he’s a freelancer. On occasion they will enquire further, “A freelance what?”, to which he will respond, “Whatever I can.” That’s basically true—while he deals mostly in assassinations, he also does assaults and robberies on occasion. Sometimes he needs to put the fear of God into people. Sometimes he just needs to play God.

The hit on Tony Stark comes to him in a heavily encrypted email that takes his computer two days to work through. Sometimes clients are paranoid like that, making the orders so difficult to access that most people in the business walk away before they even know what they’re for. He supposes this isn’t a bad idea. Plausible deniability and all that. But it’s annoying for him to have to wait around for his program to work out the endless lines of tangled code. This also probably means payment will come in a similar form, which is even more annoying.

Anyway, the hit on Tony Stark gets sent to him and three other colleagues and he’s the first one to decode it (and probably the only one to try) so first come, first kill. The built-in kill code activates and his instructions unwrite themselves from the screen, his laptop defaulting to his desktop photo of the silhouette of a dog on a sunset. Alright, time to strategize.

First, he has to get to New York. Then he has to figure out how to get Stark’s schedule. Then he has to get close to him. Then he has to kill him.

Hacking into Stark’s security team is above his skill set but gaining access to his employee files ends up being pretty easy. Cross-check some names, Google some addresses, hack a local AT&T store, and boom, he has access to the personal phones of who he has decided is two key players in his plan: the head of security and an intern.

He decides these two are key because he sees them too much. Photos from expos, parties, conferences, press events—the two are a constant presence at the side of Tony Stark. The security head quite frankly looks like an oaf, and the intern doesn’t appear to be older than college age, so he decides that they can’t do too much thwarting to his plan. The more he gets to know them through the screen, the more he feels that way.

The emails that the two have sent back and forth are heavily encrypted, and there are heaps of text messages that are as well. He can’t believe it, but his main source of information is coming from the animojis that the two send each other on occasion. The intern favors the alien. The security head favors the brown bear. (The intern also thinks the security head should use the poop one more, but that’s beside the point.)

Through the animojis, GPS tracking, and some old-fashioned stalking-- er, in-person reconnaissance, he discovers that the intern is a student at a magnet school in Forest Hills and that the security head is, for whatever reason, his personal after-school driver. The relationship between the two of them seems pretty relaxed. They clearly have a long history of uneventful school pick-ups, because he just sits in the visitor parking lot and stares at them without detection as the security head pulls up in the black Audi, the intern hops in, and they wait in the long queue to get off the campus. He trails the car, but the location of drop-off changes on the daily—sometimes a restaurant, sometimes a bodega, twice it was just an alleyway. Once they went to Stark Tower, or at least he assumes that’s where they were heading, but by the time they were two blocks away he decided to drop off to avoid getting clocked on any of Stark’s cameras. Even though Stark probably had access to every CCTV in town. Sometimes you just have to play it safe.

After about two weeks of monitoring, he gets his golden ticket. His phone pings a few times in a row, and he opens it to witness an exchange between Alien and Brown Bear:

[Alien] Are we still on for after school? [Brown Bear] Yeah, he had to move some stuff around so we might be late, but we’ll still be there. [Alien] Cool! It’s probably better, I don’t want—[the alien hesitates, rotates his head, lowers voice] Mr. Stark to have to deal with people freaking out about him being here. [Brown Bear] Don’t worry about it, kid. [Brown Bear] I think he’s kind of excited to see your school and your friends. [Alien] Okay, well I’ll see you guys later then. [Alien] OH! Can we please go to Julio’s again? Please? I’m craving breadsticks. [Brown Bear] Boss says okay.

So the decision had to be made: to carry out the assassination on a high school campus, or at an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. He sighs as he Googles “Midtown academic calendar forest hills,” and sighs again when he discovers that tonight is the Annual Science Fair. What will Tony Stark do in the presence of one thousand geeks and their parents: double down on security or keep it modest? He rapidly Googles some more, trying to find instances of Tony Stark, billionaire and savior of the universe, attending a high school science fair. Bingo. Seven years ago he had attended the science fair of the Bronx High School of Science, and according to r/TonyStark and r/IronMan, he had only had Brown Bear and his gauntlets at his disposal. No supplementary guards? Not wise, Stark. Still, one instance was not enough to base his operation on.

Further inquiries reveal that Stark, in his years since becoming the savior of the universe, has only grown laxer. His prosthetic arm doubles as a housing unit for the Iron Man suit, sure, but it seems to be de-weaponized most of the time. He’s spotted without security regularly—outings with clients, with the Avengers team, with the kid, all solo. Rarely a body guard appears, but it’s only when he’s with his daughter or wife. Maybe it’s because Stark thinks he’s too big to fuck with. Maybe Stark is, and maybe this is a big mess in the making. Oh well. He decides the assassination is going to go down at the school, but he needs one more thing to make it go off well. So he calls a colleague, has them transfer the encrypted message, decodes it again (but faster, thank you machine learning), backward engineers it, and makes a phone call. And a request.

Two hours later, a cloaking suit arrives at a P.O. box, to which he has the key.

Sometimes his clients gift him cool things to execute a mission, but a cloaking suit is hands-down the coolest thing he’s gotten. He didn’t know what he expected when he takes it out of the courier box, but it looks almost civilian—a thick grey windbreaker with lines of reflective material running down the sleeves, and a pair of pants to match. It’s basically a tracksuit. He’s relieved. New Yorkers have likely seen weirder things than a man dressed in full tactical attire on the subway, but it’s still nice to have a low profile.

He messes around with the settings and soon enough he’s standing before the hotel bathroom mirror almost completely invisible, only a slight warp betraying where he is. Nothing anyone would see unless they were looking for it. Without the hood on, he looks like Harry Potter on his first Christmas at Hogwarts. He is—he dare say—giddy.

He deactivates the cloaking, grabs his guitar case (read: sniper rifle) and wallet and leaves the hotel.

Before getting to the school, he has a slice of pizza, a coke, and a bag of gummy bears. This is not good fuel for the potential get-away sprint, but he can’t help himself. He’s so happy, he can just feel the brewing of a good mission on its way.

He arrives at the school after classes have let out and before the end of the science fair, meaning that the parking lot is a ghost town. His cloaking suit already activated, he climbs up on his predetermined hiding spot (a portable building next to the bus parking lot which would allow him ample cover and a quick escape were things to get hairy), sets up his Barrett M82 (already sheathed in its matching grey cloaking suit), and hunkers down. He lets his mind wander as half an hour passes, thoughts looping around his ex-wife (that bitch), his breakfast tomorrow (maybe that 2.8-star diner down the street), and his dog (who was currently boarding at a doggy daycare next to his house in Kentucky and got a time-out today). Finally, families start spilling out of the front doors of the school, and from his view atop the portable, he can clearly see the faces of all exiting.

Fifteen minutes pass of parental pride and filial embarrassment before Stark, the security head, and the intern come walking out. By the time they exit, most of the fair has cleared out and only a few cars remain in the lot—probably teachers and staff. The intern is clutching a blue ribbon and a small trophy while the security head struggles to maintain hold of some kind of robotic device. Stark has his hands jammed in his pockets, strolling casually, lips quirked in a contented smile as the intern rambles about something. He can barely hear it—something about how the intern knew his project was good but didn’t think it would win an award or anything. For a moment, he pauses, feeling a little remorse. He had always wanted kids. The intern seemed pretty endearing. Oh well. Moment over.

He lines up the sight on Stark. It’s a clean shot, a beautiful shot, a stars-have-aligned-and-I’m-about-to-get-away-with-this shot, and he feels the rush of a perfectly executed assassination flow through his veins. This moment is why he mainly deals in assassinations. This high of having so much power yet not even being seen, it hits different. He drops the safety and just as his finger twitches back to the trigger the most bizarre thing happens.

The intern looks at him.

Of course, the kid can’t look at him, he has the cloaking suit on, but the kid’s suspicious eyes pass over the top of the portable and he feels violated.

Also, he squeezes the trigger thrice.

And then a more bizarre thing happens: the kid drops.

Well, shit.

Title: Still Developing

Fandom: Mob Psycho 100

Pairing: serirei

Words: 2618

After a year and a half, I finally went and wrote a fic to go with this post.

I’m not very experienced with creative writing but I had fun with this! I hope you guys like it and any constructive criticism would be appreciated :]

To clear up any confusion, Keiko is a character that shows up in the Reigen manga and Amane is just someone I made up.

“You have to see my kids!” Reigen exclaimed as he fwipped out a chain of photos from his wallet.

All the photos were clearly taken with a disposable camera: Mob wincing from the flash… Ritsu scowling and covering his face… Teru with a serious case of red-eye… an extremely blurry Shou… somehow the quality kept getting worse.

“Oh they’re all yours?” the client said, more exclamation than question. About ten middle schoolers, understandably, seemed like a lot.

“Well I just mentor some of them, although I do consider them all part of the family.” Reigen folded photos back into his wallet as he asked, “So now, which course are you interested in?”

The client took a moment to think, “I guess I’ll take the all-out course.”

“Ah, good choice!” Reigen smiled as he took the 12,000 yen. The client had indeed chosen the most expensive course, all according to plan.

 “Are you still telling clients we’re your kids?” Tome strode into the room, placing her school bag down on one of the sofas in the office, “That lady I just passed by seemed a little overly friendly.”

“Well I-”

“You know someone’s going to see right through you one day. They’ll wonder why a 29-year-old single man has adopted so many middle schoolers and you won’t have anything to say. You won’t be able to get out of that one. You’ll be revealed as some weirdo who hangs out with a bunch of teenagers.” She walked up to Reigen’s desk, placing her hands on top of it and stooping down to eye level. “And that’s why you should pretend to be married to Serizawa, it would clear up a lot of questions.”

Reigen stared, eyebrows raised, as Tome stood and put her hands on her hips, looking satisfied with herself. Ever since she’d started officially working at spirits and such, she’d been trying to make little “improvements” wherever she could. Tome also just liked to mess with Reigen. Waving his hand dismissively Reigen said, “That’s not necessary. And I’m pretty sure that would raise a lot more questions.”

Tome narrowed her eyes at him, still looking smug, “Uh huh, sure. Well you should at least use a better picture of me! I’m only half in frame in that one. If you're going to use me for profit, I should at least get a say in how."

“I’ll think about it if you- “

Creeeak, the door opened and in walked Serizawa. “Hey everyone,” he said with a warm smile. Suddenly Reigen’s heart was caught in his throat.

Tome smirked at Reigen as he gave her a look that said don’t you dare.

“H-hey Serizawa, it’s been a slow day so there’s not much to do. I think Tome needs help with her homework, though.” Reigen was hoping to distract her, but on second thought maybe it was risky to put the two of them together.

“Sure! I need to study for a quiz today, so we can help each other.”

“Only if Reigen helps me with my salt aim later!” Tome yelled as she and Serizawa found a space to sit and work.

Crisis averted? Reigen turned back to his laptop and continued “working” (browsing twitter). He started tapping his foot subconsciously as he kept glancing toward Serizawa and Tome every few minutes. At some point, Serizawa’s eyes met his and he smiled awkwardly as he started tapping his foot faster. Oh, that’s definitely audible. Serizawa didn’t seem to notice, though, and smiled back before continuing some math explanation he was giving Tome.

Serizawa was always willing to help wherever he could, it was… admirable. He said that Tome and he helped each other equally and that explaining concepts to each other helped them both. You could tell that he really cared about her and that he wanted to see her succeed.

It went on like this for a few hours until Tome suddenly got up and said, “Oh it’s almost time for my date with Keiko.”

“You ready for your first date?” Serizawa asked.

“I think so…” Tome wrung her hangs together.

“You’ll do great! I’m sure you and Keiko will have a good time together.” 

Reigen gave a thumbs up as he said, “How could you go wrong with my signature romance tips?”

“You just read a trashy magazine article to me.”

 “It’s the thought that counts, right?”

  “Alright, I’m gonna head out. See you guys tomorrow.”

“Wait, before you go,” Reigen got up and crossed over to Tome, placing his hands on her shoulders, “About the photos… you know I actually do care about you and everyone else right? I told that woman that I consider you all part of the family and I meant it. I know I’m not the most open person, but I just want you to know that I care about you and want the best for you.”

Tome rolled her eyes and brushed him off.  “Yeah okay dad,” she said sarcastically as she reached for the door.

She paused a moment, then turned around to envelope both Reigen and Serizawa in a hug. “Yeah I care about you guys too.”

Serizawa patted her head, “Good luck on your date, make sure to let us know how it goes.”

“Okay, I will.” She smiled and left.

Serizawa turned to Reigen, “Well that was sweet.”

“She’s certainly full of surprises.”

“Seems you’re full of surprises too.” Serizawa said, catching Reigen from the corner of his eye.

“Don’t give me that look,” Reigen chuckled, “It’s just that… I’ve messed up before with Mob and I… I want to be a better friend and mentor and… all that. You know?”

“I can understand that.”

“Yeah so… anyway, you have to go to class soon don’t you? How much more time you got?”

“You think you can get rid of me that easily? Well… you can actually, it is time for me to go.”

“Well dang. Good luck with that quiz today, I know you’ve got it.”

“Thanks.” Serizawa reached out to touch Reigen’s shoulder. Reigen instinctively went in for a handshake. Serizawa redirected his hand and they shook hands. “Okay, well… see you in a few hours.”

“See you!” Why did I go in for a handshake? What even was that?

 Serizawa stepped out into the day, taking in the fresh air and sunshine. It had been spring for a few weeks now, but it still felt so good to be done with winter. The world was in bloom again, and he felt like he was finally blooming with it.

He had grown a lot thanks to support from his new friends. Just a little over a year ago, this level of independence wouldn’t have felt remotely possible to him. He finally felt like he could be proud of the person he was becoming.

Serizawa started to hum, tapping his fingers on his bag as he walked. The tune wasn’t really based on anything, but it felt nice to make a pleasant sound. He was honestly feeling pretty nervous about the math quiz he’d have to take in class. Humming helped distract him from the urge to pull out his hair.

Lost in thought, mentally going over what he remembered from his notes, Serizawa made it to the train station before he knew it. He took a seat on his train and pulled out a chain of photos, similar to the one Reigen showed to clients.

Even if I don’t don’t do well, I can always do better next time. There are still people who love and support me. The photos we a nice reminder of what was real and important to him when he was feeling overwhelmed. It would’ve been easier to just keep pictures on his phone, but he found that keeping a tangible item was more helpful for him.

Feeling reassured, Serizawa put the photos away and pulled out his notes to go over again.

 Meanwhile, back at the office, Reigen paced around the room. Occasionally he would absentmindedly push a book into place, straighten out a picture on the wall. The place was already clean, but he needed something to do with his hands.

Eventually he plopped back down at his desk with a sigh. He ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath before reaching into the bottom left drawer and pulling out a manila envelope. Inside were several smaller envelopes containing various pictures: some trips he'd been on, documentation of his transition, more pictures of the esper kids and Tome. He opened the last envelope.

Reigen actually really enjoyed photography, he just didn’t have a nice camera. He also thought it was a good idea to show clients the pictures with more "character." He thought he’d gotten pretty good at framing the shot just right and with his editing skills he could come up with some nice results if he wanted to.

Inside the envelope, among the Kageyama brothers, awakening lab kids, and everyone else were a few pictures of Serizawa. They were mostly candid shots: him studying, laughing at some joke, dozing off after a long day. There were also some pictures of him posing with the kids. He really did look like a dad, maybe Tome was onto something...

Reigen gently touched Serizawa's smile in the photo. Oh I'm really in it, huh. Tome can tell... Serizawa probably knows too. Maybe he just doesn't know how to let me down easy.

 "Hey that wasn't so hard, was it?" Amane, a friend of Serizawa's, asked him. Class had just ended.

"Guess I was nervous for nothing." The quiz had been much easier than expected.

"It may have been easy, but that's still a win in my book!" Amane said with a big smile and a thumbs up. Serizawa smiled back, then gathered up his stuff and joined her in walking to the train station. They walked in silence for a while, just enjoying each other’s company. Eventually Amane broke the silence. "You seem a lot less anxious this semester, what's your secret?"

"Well, uh, therapy. Also - this is going to sound silly but... I keep a bunch of pictures on me to... y'know... remind me of what's really important. It reminds me that the things that worry me are only temporary."

"That's great! Is that why you’re always taking pictures with your phone?"

"Yeah, I've really gotten into photography lately. I don't know if I'm any good, but I like to take pictures of my friends and birds and flowers and all kinds of stuff.”

At this point they had made it to the station and checked in before finding a place to wait for their train.

"I think having fun with it is the most important thing. Do you mind if I look?"

“That’s fine.” Serizawa said, pulling out his stack of pictures and handing them to Amane.

She looked them over while Serizawa watched nervously. “These are wonderful Serizawa!”

“You think so?”

“Definitely, and I see that picture of me turned out great,” she said, using her free hand to frame her face as if she were posing for a photo. This elicited a chuckle out of Serizawa. “Who are some of these other people? Who’s this kid with the bowl cut.”

“Oh that’s Shigeo, we call him Mob, though. He’s a good kid, we use to work together. He was one of my first real friends if you can believe it.”

“He sounds sweet. What about this sweaty guy?”

“Haha, that’s Reigen. He’s my friend but I also kind of work with him? He’s done a lot for me... I wouldn't even be here without him,” Serizawa absentmindedly touched his face. “He's a good man. He doesn't believe it sometimes, and he definitely isn't perfect, but he is - he is a good man."

"You really care about him, huh?"

"Of course! He's my friend, I just wish he could see the him that I see."

"I feel the same about my wife. The people we love never seem to see themselves the way we see them."

"Oh," Serizawa whispered to the ground, a slight bit of color tinging his cheeks. "Oh..."

 Hearing sounds near the door, Reigen quickly put away his pictures. He went to go open the door, but Serizawa came in before he could reach it.

“Hey,” Serizawa said, a nervous energy affecting his tone.”

“Hey! How’d that quiz go?”

“Oh, it was easy. I’m glad I put in extra time to study but I didn’t really need to.”

Something else is on his mind?

Bzzt Reigen’s phone buzzed in his pocket. “Tome texted in the groups chat.”

“I forgot to charge my phone, mind if I look?” Serizawa said as he came up behind Reigen’s shoulder.

“S-sure” Reigen said, repositioning his phone so they could both read off of it.

Tome: date went great :D I just walked Keiko home and I’ll tell you guys all about it tomorrow

Tome:ty for the advice! even if Reigen’s was bad :p

Reigen started typing.

Reigen: hey at least you knew what not to do from me

Reigen: glad it went well! can’t wait to hear about it

Reigen handed his phone over to Serizawa

Reigen: hey it’s seri :) I’m so happy for you! I knew you could do it d(OuO)b

“She’s growing up so fast, isn’t she?” Serizawa said as he handed Reigen’s phone back.

“She sure is.” Reigen turned and their eyes met, their faces mere inches apart. With a slight gasp he said “I think I’m in love with you.” The words had escaped his lips before he could think.

“What?”

“Nothing! What? I didn’t say anything.” Reigen looked away and tried to cover his face as if that would help. Oh god what have I gotten myself into?

Suddenly he felt a hand cup his chin as Serizawa turned Reigen’s face to look at him. Serizawa’s hands were so warm and soft and gentle. It took everything Reigen had to not melt into a puddle right there on the floor.

"You really feel that way?” Part of Reigen thought he heard a bit of hopefulness in Serizawa’s tone, but maybe that was just wishful thinking.

Reigen could barely hear over the pounding of his heart as he stammered out “Maybe? Well… yeah. B-but it’s ok if you don’t feel the same! I-”

“Oh,” Serizawa said quietly, “W-well I do feel the same. I, uh, kind of just realized I did in the last hour. I don’t really know how this is supposed to go… would it be ok if I…” and suddenly his face was very close Reigen’s.

Reigen had been staring in shock, scarcely breathing through this. Without thinking, he leaned in so hard he almost broke both of their noses.

“Aw jeez sorry ah… sh-shit.” Reigen tried to regain his composure. “I don’t really know how this goes either, but could we try that again?” He tried to smile confidently but the pain in his nose was making his eye twitch.

Serizawa smiled playfully as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay, but if this keeps up you might have to start paying my medical bills.” And he leaned in close again, a bit slower this time.

When their lips touched it felt like the world had stopped around them. Reigen felt Serizawa’s thumb rub against his cheek as he ran his hands through Serizawas hair. It felt so good, so right, so ethereal, so- and suddenly it was over.

“Wait, are you okay? Sorry I didn’t even a-”

Reigen laughed as he threw his arms around Serizawa’s neck. “I’m just fine,” he said as he pulled Serizawa close again.

Devil Within (Jason Todd/Red Hood x Reader)

Request: Nope.

Prompt: You were the second Batgirl alongside Jason’s Robin but when he did you left.

Relationships: Bruce Wayne/Batman x Reader, Dick Grayson/Robin/Nightwing x Reader, Jason Todd/Red Hood x Reader

Warnings: Cursing? Torture

Word Count: 2729

A/N: I’ve tried posting this multiple times in the past week but it hasn’t posted but now it has! I must say that this isn’t one of my best pieces. Enjoy anyways.

~~~

(Y/N)'s POV

"Hello everyone and welcome back to my YouTube channel. Today I was supposed to be met with a dear friend of mine, who've you met plenty of times before; Jason Todd, however he's bailed-" I was cut off by my phone, I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the Caller ID, 'Bruce', "Hello?" I answered,

"(Y/N), it's Jason" he said,

"What about him? What've you done?" I questioned as I stood up and began pacing,

"The Joker-"

"No! You're lying Bruce! Don't you dare say it!" I snapped cutting him off as tears appeared in my eyes,

"He's dead" He stated making the tears fall, I dropped my phone and fell to my knees letting out a painful scream and sobbed.

***

"Hello everyone and welcome back to my YouTube channel. After my 5 year break from it. As some of you may be wondering why I practically fell off the face of the Earth it's because someone extremely close to me died and I didn't feel like I could give you all my best when I definitely wasn't and I didn't want to put a facade for you. But I'm back and ready to get back to my schedule. I love you all so dearly. Until next time" I say into the camera before switching it off, I sighed as I quickly edited it and uploaded it to my channel, my phone began ringing, I glanced at the caller ID and growled, "What do you want Bruce?" I snapped,

"I need your help taking down Red Hood" he stated, I rolled my eyes

"And what made you think that I wanted to help?" I asked,

"Because he almost killed Tim" He retorted,

"Fine but I'm doing it so another Robin doesn't end up like Jason" I agreed reluctantly before hanging up, I left my recording room and headed into my bedroom, I glanced at my old Bat-girl suit scoffing in disgust before changing into a plain black top with a leather jacket and jeans, I tied my hair up and placed a simple black eye mask on before leaving through my window, I met up with Bruce and Dick,

"(Y/N)" Dick greeted with a smile, engulfing me into a hug, I rolled my eyes as he pulled away,

"Let's get this over with. I don't want to spend another second wasting my time with you" I sneered towards Bruce, he grunted in response before we searched the city for this 'Red Hood'.

Finally we found him, disposing of some drug dealers,

"It's about time you showed up. And you brought a new friend. Another replacement no doubt" Red spat,

"Replacement? I think not. How about I show you how much of a real deal I am" I threatened as I went to go for him but Bruce stopped me making me glare at him,

"This isn't your fight, (Y/N)" he whispered, I growled

"Then why the fuck did you ask for my help?!" I snapped slapping his arm away from me,

"Back up" he answered, which pissed me off even more,

"Back up?! Screw you!" I yelled and I punched him across the face, "Think twice before calling me for back-up again" I spat before going to walk away,

"It's Jason, (Y/N)" Bruce called over making me freeze momentarily as tears made their way to my eyes,

"So you finally figured it out" Red said as he removed his helmet, I slowly turned to see Jason stood there in the flesh, I sighed as I turned back around and headed home.

***

"It's worked. It actually worked" I mumbled as I paced my living room,

"Indeed. Now for you to hold up your end" A deep voice rumbled,

"Fine" I sighed stopping in place, I shiver crawled up my spine making me shake,

"We're now one" The voice announced within my head, I hummed in acknowledgement before turning to my window as Jason climb through it,

"And what can I do to help you?" I asked resting a hand on my hip,

"You look well" he commented, I rolled my eyes and folded my arms,

"What do you want?" I demanded,

"Ouch, that's the treatment your Bestie gets when you find out he's alive? I'm Hurt" he mused,

"Ex-bestie" I corrected,

"Wow...what happened to the happy YouTubing Bat-girl I knew?" He asked,

"She took your death hard, and as a warning that if she continued to wear that symbol on her chest she too would end up 6-feet-under" I answered, he hummed,

"You also stopped YouTube. Until recently" he stated,

"Your point? You were supposed to do a video with me before I got the news. I didn't want the memories to remind me of what I lost" I replied dropping my arms, he sighed,

"Do you still give the best hugs?" He asked, opening his arms awkwardly, a small smile pulled at my lips as I opened my own arms and he stepped into them and I wrapped them around his large frame and squeezed, "I missed you, so much" he whispered,

"I missed you too" I replied.

***

"Hello everyone and welcome back to my YouTube channel. Today, I'm joined by the one and only; Jason Todd!" I exclaimed as he sat in the chair next to me,

"Remind me again how I agreed to this?" He asked, I rolled my eyes

"Because you owe me. Plus, I'm your bestie" I beamed making him chuckle,

"Anyway, today I-we will be look at some of your fan-work; this includes art stuff, video edits and dare-I-say stories/imagines/head cannons" I explained,

"You're going to regret that last category" Jason commented making me slap his arm,

"Shush. Let's start with Tumblr art" I say as I searched my name and brought up several art pieces made by people,

"Hold up, is that us?" Jason said as he pointed to an artwork, it was of him and I younger, I was smiling/laughing and Jason had a bright smile on his face as he looked at me,

"Where did this come from?" I questioned as I looked through the progression shots then finally the source, "Oh my god. That was the second video we did together. It was a reading your comments" I stated.

***

I groaned as I made my way to my door, I opened it revealing Bruce,

"Nope" I say as I closed it but he stopped it with his hand,

"(Y/N), I need your help" He stated as he invited himself inside,

"The last time you needed my help I was only back-up" I retort, he sigh

"I know and it was wrong of me to do that to you but I really need you this time" He replied,

"You have plenty of other people to help you. Go get them. You can show yourself out" I snap as I began to head towards the kitchen

"Joker has them; Dick, Tim, Damian, Jason" He stated making me stop, "(Y/N) I'm begging you. Put on your cowl one last time for me. For Jason" he pleaded, I changed my course to my bedroom and pulled my batgirl costume out, I put it on and held the cowl in my hands as I exited my room,

"Still fits" I comment, a small smile appeared on his face as he nodded

"Thank you" He said before we headed out to his car.

We arrived at the Cave and was greeted by Alfred, Barbara, Kate, Stephanie and Cassandra,

"(Y/N)?" Barbara asked in disbelief,

"Yeah don't get too excited this is a one off" I replied folding my arms,

"The second batgirl was (Y/N) (L/N)! The famous YouTuber?!" Stephanie exclaimed,

"Yeah. Fan?" I asked, she nodded

"Only one of the biggest!" She answered making me chuckle before turning to Bruce who was now in his Batman suit, I put on my cowl,

"We work as a team. Our objective is to get the boys out" Bruce said, I rolled my eyes but nodded as did Kate, Stephanie and Cassandra,

"Shall we?" I asked as I headed over to the motorbikes.

***

We arrived at an abandoned toy factory,

"Stay alert. I don't want any corpses to drag out" I demanded before we entered the building,

"Do you really think this is a smart idea girl?" The demonic voice asked within my head, I hummed

"Spilt up, we'll cover more ground" I ordered,

"We'll be at a larger risk" Bruce retorted as he grabbed my arm,

"Do you want your sons or not?" I growled pulling my arm from his grip and squared up to him, he gave me his famous bat-glare which I didn't budge under, I only returned it,

"Fine we'll go in small groups, myself and Batgirl, and Batwoman, Spoiler and Black-bat" he ordered, I rolled my eyes and we separated down different corridors,

"Don't ignore me girl" the demonic voice snapped, I heard the psychotic clowns laughter making me spilt from Bruce, I looked through a window and saw each of the boys restrained to a metal chair and beaten, as Kate, Cassandra and Stephanie stood in the middle back to back, Bruce entered the room,

"Yey! Now the really fun can begin now Batsy's here!" Joker exclaimed before a swarm of his henchmen came out from any entrance possible, I sighed and climbed through the window on to the beams above, the four of them were easily overpowered and the Clown prince revealed himself, "I must say Batsy, I'm a little disappointed. Wait...where's Batgirl?" He questioned making me smirk,

"Who?" Bruce asked,

"You know Batgirl! She arrived here with you! I saw her!" Joker exclaimed,

"You must've been hallucinating Joker. No Batgirl arrived with us" Stephanie commented,

"She's right you know" I called out setting them all to look around, I wriggled out of the Batgirl suit revealing my pure black skin-tight bodysuit, I removed my cowl dropping it down below and moving from my position and placed on a simple black eye mask, "Batgirl never arrived with them, it was only little old..." I trailed off as I dropped from the beams on to a henchmen and snapped his neck, "...Me" I smirked before Bruce, Kate, Cassandra and Stephanie broke free and we began to take down the henchmen, Joker ran out of an exit making me growl, as I sliced a throat of one henchmen and drove my knife into a neck of another,

"(Y/N)! We don't kill! I thought you knew that!" Bruce scolded, I rolled my eyes and did a backward handspring avoiding the swings of a henchman before kicking the crowbar out of his hands and catching it before swinging it around his face,

"Get the boys out of here! I'll handle the rest!" I demanded,

"What So you can kill them all?" Bruce growled as he approached me as the last henchman fell, I glared at him

"No, so they can be treated. Now go!" I snapped as another swarm entered the room.

***

I groaned as I came conscious, one of the clowns managed to catch me by surprise with a crowbar to the back of the head,

"Ah finally, now how do you start a live stream Miss (L/N)?" A clown asked, I raised an eyebrow

"And why do you want to start a livestream?" I questioned earning a punch in the face, sending my head to the side,

"I don't. Joker does. Now tell me!" he snapped as he came to hit me but a gunshot echoed though the room and he fell backwards,

"Honestly, you can't find the men these days. I do apologise Miss (L/N) for his awful hospitality. Perhaps I'll be better. Now, let's start a livestream" Joker said as he approached a laptop that was hooked up to a camera, my eyes widened as it was on my channel, "Oh I hope you don't mind. Your channel does reach to a lot of people" he said before beginning the livestream, "See! We've only just started and we're closing up on 1million viewers. Our fans!" He cheered coming over to me,

"Go to hell!" I spat trying to get to him, he smacked me around the face with a crowbar making me yelp,

"Oh no we can't be having that. And to make sure that you don't die no one can cancel the stream or leave it" He chuckled before connecting the crowbar with my ribs causing another yelp,

"You can leave your streams on just leave your phone or computer or whatever you're watching this on" I demanded before getting another hit,

"So batsy, I know you're watching me along with all your bat-brats now you can either come save her or you could leave her in my hands. I promise I'll take the best care with her" Joker bargained making me chuckle,

"Of course you will" I commented earning another couple of hits, "B I know I've been off with you but if you or any of you other bats come save me I'll kick your ass myself. We all know I've been through worse. Since I was Batgirl" I smirked,

"What?! You were Batgirl?!" Joker exclaimed as he bent over in front of me, I narrowed my eyes at him

"Yes!" I growled as I kicked him in the manhood then head butted him.

***

"And we've hit the 72hours mark. Wow you can endure a lot" Joker stated,

"Come on girl. Kill him" The demonic voice commented,

"No" I grumbled,

"He's a monster" It continued,

"No" I repeated,

"Just like you" It stated,

"No!" I yelled gaining Jokers attention,

"No? No to what? Finally lost your mind?" Joker chuckled before skipping around the room,

"No. She didn't want to give up this fragile body to me" The demon spoke from me as I was locked into my mind.

Jason's POV

"No. She didn't want to give up this fragile body to me" (Y/N) said in a deeper, broken voice,

"Huh?" Joker asked as he stopped in his tracks, (Y/N) snapped free of the restraints kicking the Joker backwards into the camera, knocking it over,

"She fought so hard against me taking control and killing your pathetic self" (Y/N) spoke before the Joker let out multiple grunts, the camera was picked up revealing a bloody, bruised and beaten (Y/N) but her eyes were completely black, "I'm in control now. The girl you all once loved is gone and there's nothing you or she can do to stop me!" (Y/N) snapped before chuckling, dropping the camera that was aiming towards the Joker who was unconscious, "I must thank you 'Joker' if it wasn't for you, I would've never taken control of this body. Bye-bye now" (Y/N) cooed.

***

(Y/N)'s POV

"(Y/N)!" Jason yelled, I turned to face him,

"Oh it's you. The dead boy wonder. The reason she's in this predicament" The demon spoke,

"Shut up! He doesn't need to know this!" I snapped, the demon chuckled

"Oh but he does girl. You see Jason, (Y/N) was so torn up over your death that she went all over the world to find a way to bring you back. She eventually came across me and bargained her body as a host if I brought you back" The demon explained, I sighed

"But you didn't bring me back. Talia Al Ghul did" Jason retorted, 

"True but she doesn't know that. Or didn't" The demon chuckled,

"You lied to me!?" I exclaimed,

"You lied to her. Give her back!" Jason yelled as he came to attack, he was easily beaten and thrown on to his back,

"You want to know why she desperately wanted you back. Why she was so willing to give herself up?" The demon questioned as I circled Jason,

"You're probably going to tell me anyway" Jason grunted as I kicked him in the gut,

"She loved you. She still does. I know that her watching this is torture" the demon tainted as I withdrew a sword from thin air, "So why not let her watch you die" The demon said as I went to impale him,

"No!" I screamed and the sword stopped mid-way, 

"What the-?" The demon asked,

"You're not hurting anyone else" I growled making my eyes widened as I regained control over my body,

"No!" The demon yelled from inside my head, I smirked and threw the sword away,

"Didn't hurt you too bad did I?" I asked Jason as I helped him up, he engulfed me in hug,

"Not at all. I've missed you" He replied making me smile as I returned the hug,

"Me too. You best get me back to the Cave and locked up until Constantine arrives and removes this thing from me" I stated as I pulled away, he nodded,

"Just one last thing" He said before crashing his lips on to mine making my eyes widen in shock before easing into and returning it, we pulled apart and smiled at each other,

"I love you too. Since we were Robin and Batgirl, if I'm honest" He confessed, I chuckled giving him a quick peck,

"And I've loved you since then as well, Jason Peter Todd" I smiled.

DEAR❤VOCALIST Wired 「Vocalists’ 4th CR-Sponsored Training Camp ＠GU・A・M!! ～The Complete Documented Coverage～」Part 1 (Translation)

This short story is一according to Climax Records’ Public Relations一a transcript of recorded footage of what went down at the boys’ training camp held during Golden Week last year. Since the main training camp went on for 3 days, this translation will be split into three parts. This first part will focus on Day 1.

Please do not re-translate or post this translation anywhere.

NOTE: I didn’t include every instance of sound effects/onomatopoeia. Because I’m not very good at translating/describing sfx, I felt that my descriptions of them would only make things sound too tautological (especially when the actions are already inferred from the dialogue) and interrupt the flow of conversation between the characters.

♢ Destination

United States of America, Guam. A 3 hr and 35-55 min direct flight from Japan, it is an island in the southernmost point of the Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean. Ahead of Japan in time by 1 hour.

♢ Accommodation

HOTEL・GUAM REEF & COCONUTS SUPER RESORT

Room allocation is as follows, and no changes are allowed for any reason whatsoever.

Japanese Suite: President Panda Room 1111: Ciel Room 1112: CR’s PR Room 1010: Re-o-do & Joshua Room 1011: Judah & Momochi Room 1012: A’ & Yuu

※ Smoking is prohibited in all rooms.

♢ Day 1 Timetable

DEPARTING FROM NARITA　SPECIAL CHARTER FLIGHT　NIGHT FLIGHT

All entries below are in local time. 

7:00 AM:

Everyone meets up in front of the hotel. Bus transfer.

※ As President Panda and Ciel will be engaging in business matters while playing golf, their plans all day are different from the others.

7:20 AM:

Arrive at private beach @ Hagåtña.

Objective: Aim to increase stamina through all kinds of beach activities.

※ BBQ will be prepared for lunch.

※ Smoking is prohibited at the beach.

6:00 PM: 

Arrive at hotel.

7:00 PM:

Dinner.

※ Buffet at the hotel’s restaurant.

♢ DAY 1

@ IN FRONT OF HOTEL・GUAM REEF & COCONUTS・SUPER RESORT

───Late at night, the CR group arrived in Guam. Local time is 7 the next morning.

Ciel: ───Because of that, I will be with the President and playing golf. In the meantime, all of you will take part in the training camp program...

Re-o-do: ...I can’t do this, I’m sleepy. So sleepy... What time is it in Japan right now...?

Ciel: There's only an hour in time difference. In short, it is currently six in the morning in Japan.

Re-o-do: S-Six...? No wonder...

A’: Anyway, playing golf first thing in the morning after getting here... How much energy does that shitty Panda have www

Yuu: Well, Panda-san was apparently the only one in first-class. He must've been sound asleep on the plane, am I right?

Joshua: Heeh, first-class? As expected ♪

Judah: Hah? You've gotta be kidding me.

Momochi: You’re right... And yet we were on economy... Anyway, to be in the same hotel room as Judah-kun... There’s no way I can sleep...

A’: Eeeeehhh? And I have to be in the same room as Yuu-kun for three nights? No waaayyy.

Yuu: What's with that. It's not like I want to be in the same room as you. Why this idiot out of all people...

A’: Hah~~~?! Idiot~~~~?!?! Shut up, you! Anyway, what are you gonna do if I lose all my hair from the stress of being stuck with this guy who's like a nagging hag~~~~~?!?!?!

Yuu: Hah!? Who are you calling a nagging hag!!

Ciel: Oi, you lot. You’re being noisy. In any case, training camp has already started. Quit complaining and be serious about this...───Hmm?

Ciel: It appears the bus has arrived. Come now, everyone, get on.

Re-o-do: Where is it taking us this time?

Ciel: I hear that the place you’ll be going to is a private beach in the area of Hagåtña. President’s instruction for you all day today is to cultivate stamina so that you will be able to endure the menu that starts tomorrow.

Momochi: Stamina...? Letting us rest at the hotel would’ve be better then...

Yuu: I know right.

Joshua: A private beach, eh. I wonder what's there. I'm looking forward to it ♪

A': Maybe this means we get to do stuff like beach activities?! That means I’ve gotta try out everythingggg!

Yuu: Just how lively are you guys...

Judah: Anyway, I'm getting on the bus. It's so hot if I stand around here any longer, I'll die.

Re-o-do: ...True. We’ll be off then.

Ciel: Right. Good luck, everyone.

@ IN THE AREA OF HAGATNA・ON A CERTAIN PRIVATE BEACH

A’: We’re hereeeeee~~~~~~~~! THE・BEACH!!!!

Joshua: Hey, hey, A-tan. Look! There’s a banana boat over there!

A’: Yayah?! Then there’s no choice but to ride it, huh?! How ‘bout we all ride it together~~?!?!

Yuu: I am not getting on it. Anyway, are you really going to ride that when you just got here.

Momochi: I’ll pass as well... If I suddenly go into the water even when I’m sleep-derived, my legs will cramp up...

Judah: Anyway, don’t they have anything to drink around here. ...Oh. That thing over there—well if it isn’t a cooler box.

───*leaves*

Joshua: Ah, Judah-kun! ...He left.

Yuu: Hmm. That thing over there—could it be a BBQ set? So this means we can go ahead and grill and eat as we like?

Re-o-do: BBQ, huh. Somehow, that reminds me of the training camp at that deserted island... 

Momochi: But since there are parasols and beach chairs here, I guess it isn’t that bad compared to that time~

Yuu: Well, this place does feel like a resort, more or less.

Momochi: In any case, I’m going to rest over there... If I don’t preserve my stamina at least during this time when President Panda isn’t here, my body won’t last.

Yuu: I also need to take some measures to prevent sunburn. At this rate, my skin will be in trouble.

───*leaves*

A’: Haaaaah? Why is everyone being such party poopers? Shitty Panda isn’t here either,  and we get to play as much as we want~~~~

Re-o-do: ...Alright, this should do.

Joshua: Oh? Re-o-do-kun. That outfit...

A’: Th-The charismatic prince wearing flippers wwwwww Hold it, Joshua wwww Take a photo wwww You'll fetch a good price, selling it to Minettes wwwwwww

Joshua: Heeh, snorkling, eh. It does look like there would be fish around here.

Re-o-do: Right? Drawing experience from all the previous training camps, this time, I’ve brought something good from Japan.

Joshua: Something good?

Re-o-do: Of course, I'm talking about this...!

A’: HA wwwwww A disposable waterproof camera wwwwww Reo-sama wwwwww

Joshua: Waah. This is something you can take photos with in water as well, right?

Re-o-do: Yeah, that's right. As long as I have this, I can get by without bringing my smartphone to places where it’s at a risk of being submerged in water. Also, I can take photos of fish when underwater. Convenient, right?

Joshua: That's true! As expected of Re-o-do-kun!

Re-o-do: I'm off then. Just to warn you, you better not touch my smartphone. I’m leaving it in the shade of the tree over there... But do anything unnecessary and I’ll seriously kill you.

───*leaves*

A’: ...Saying that only makes you want to touch it, doesn’t it~?

Joshua: But I think he put a lock on it, you know? In the bus earlier, he also reverted his home screen to the default, and seemed to really be on his guard.

A’: Wait www How observant are you wwww Scaaary wwwww

Joshua: Eh? I just happened to catch sight of it, that’s all ♪ By the way, everyone has already gone off, but what now?

A’: Hmm~ We don’t have much choice so why don’t us two just play for now~?

Joshua: You’re right ♪ Then, what should we start with? Banana boat?

A’: That sounds good too but~~~~ Don’t you wanna jet ski? I actually researched about it in the plane but~ apparently you can ride one without a license in Guam~~~~

Joshua: Eh, sounds fun! Then let’s ride it right away!

@ IN THE AREA OF HAGATNA・ON A CERTAIN PRIVATE BEACH・IN THE SHADE OF A TREE

Yuu: Aaah, it’s still scorching hot even though I’m in the shade. The sunlight here really is on a completely different level from that in Japan.

Yuu: I need to put on some sunscreen before it’s too late. Sunscreen, sunscreen... Found it.

Yuu: Leaving that aside, “Cultivate stamina so that you will be able to endure the menu that starts from tomorrow.” ...What on earth are we going to be forced to do? I feel nothing but worried... *rubs sunscreen*

Judah: Who knows. Not me. Mm... *gulps down drink*

Yuu: Owah! How long have you been here for? Don’t scare me like that!

Judah: Hah? I was here first. You were the one who came up to me.

Yuu: ...Is that so. My apologies then.

Judah: Anyway, there’s nothing but juice and water in that cooler box. Are they tryna mess with me or what. Damn it... *rubs sunscreen*

Yuu: Heeh. So you also brought along sunscreen. *rubs sunscreen*

Judah: Something like that. The sun’s intense. *rubs sunscreen*

Yuu: ...? By the way, that’s the same one I have. You brought that along with you from Japan? You’re unusually well-prepared...───Hmm?

Yuu: Aah, I’ve already used this bottle up. Let’s see, the new one is...

───*rummages through bag*

Judah: Sunscreen made in Japan are the most effective was what the staff said earlier. *rubs sunscreen*

Yuu: Yeah, they aren’t wrong about that... Speaking of which, where’s my sunscreen? That’s odd. I could have sworn I brought it along...

───*rummages*

Judah: Where are you even looking at. There’s one right here.

Yuu: Aah, I see, I see. You own one... Hold it! Isn’t that mine?! Why are you using it without permission for?!

Judah: Don’t mind the minor details☆

Yuu: Of course I’d mind! Not to mention there’s absolutely none left! What am I going to do about tomorrow!! THIS IDIOT!!!!

@ IN THE AREA OF HAGATNA・ON A CERTAIN PRIVATE BEACH・IN THE SHADE OF A TREE A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY

“───WAAAAAH! GYAAAAAH!”

Momochi: ... Everyone sure is lively~... Ahaha...

Momochi: Well, on a different note... Time to take a bit of a nap while I still can...

Momochi: It’s a little stuffy, but it’s better than getting sunburn. If I get about two more towels...

Momochi: Alri~ght, perfect ♪ I applied sunscreen on my face and arms and legs so it’s all even.

Momochi: And with that, good ni~ght♥️

@ IN THE AREA OF HAGATNA・ON A CERTAIN PRIVATE BEACH・IN THE WATERS

Re-o-do: ───Puhah! Alright, I was able to get a good shot.

Re-o-do: If I show her these... I wonder if she’ll be happy. Since I want to surprise her, I might as well keep this a secret until I get back. Fufu... Fufufufufu...♥️

Re-o-do: Alright, let’s take a few more snaps. This time, a different group of fish...───Hmm?

───*reckless driving* *SPLASH SPLASH!!!!*

A’: Wait wwwwwwwww What is this wwwwww This is freaking fun thoughhh~~~wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Joshua: A-tan! That was awesome just now! It was like you were drifting! Do it again!

A’: AAAAALRIIIIIGHHHHHHT! Make sure you don’t fall off YO!!!!!!

───*WHOOOOSH!!!!*

Re-o-do: Uwaah!

───*SPLAAAASHHH!*

Re-o-do: OI! CUT IT OUT! IT’S DANGEROUS!!!!

A’: HYUUUUUUUUU~~~~~~~~~~~~! THIS IS THE BEEEEEEEEST!!!!

Joshua: This is super fuuuun!!!!!! Hey, I’ll drive next!

A’: Very well! Squad member Joshua! We shall return to base for a brief moment~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

───*reckless driving* *SPLASH SPLASH SPLASH!!!!*

Re-o-do: ...They can’t hear me at all... Damn it, I’ll have to complain directly to them after this...

Re-o-do: Anyway, it isn’t the time for that. I need to quickly take photos of the fish...

Re-o-do: .........

Re-o-do: ───Puhah! The fish are all gone...

Re-o-do: Argh! Geez! This is all A’s and Joshua’s fault!

@ IN THE AREA OF HAGATNA・ON A CERTAIN PRIVATE BEACH・IN THE SHADE OF A TREE A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY

Re-o-do: ...Hah. I ended up not finding any fish... I absolutely won’t forgive those guys...

Re-o-do: Anyway, smart phone, smart phone... Ah. Found it.

Re-o-do: Ah! I just got a message! I need to reply to her ASAP. Fufu♥️

Re-o-do: Oh no. My screen got wet. Let’s see, my bath towel... Hm? It should be around here somewhere...───Hmm?

Momochi: Zz... Zz...

Re-o-do:  ...Momochi? Is he asleep? And just how many bath towels is he using... It seems hot and stuffy just from the looks of it... Hm, ah!

Momochi: Zz... Zz...

Re-o-do: He’s got some nerve, using my bath towel as well... Oi, Momochi. Give that back.

Momochi: Zz... Nn, nn......... Mm...

Re-o-do: ...It’s no use. He’s fast asleep. Geez, I’ve got no choice... I’ll be taking this back.

───*yanks*

Re-o-do: ...Momochi?!

───*Thud!*

Momochi: N, nn......... Tch, what is it. That hurt...

Re-o-do: S-Sorry. I just wanted you to return my bath towel. I didn’t think you’d fall from the chair...

Momochi: .........

Re-o-do: ...Momochi?

Momochi: Zz... Zz...

Re-o-d-o: .........Are you sleeping?

Momochi: Zzz...

Re-o-do: ...That’s a relief. That was him sleep-talking earlier too then.

Re-o-do: Ah, she replied! This isn’t the time to be doing this.

@ IN THE AREA OF HAGATNA・ON A CERTAIN PRIVATE BEACH・IN THE SHADE OF A TREE A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY

───Evening.

Joshua: Momochi-kun, wake up. All of the meat will be gone.

Momochi: Un... Nn? Eh...? Ground...? Why am I face down...? Eh...?

Momochi: Did I fall from my chair while I was asleep...? And then I continued on sleeping...?

Joshua: You must’ve been awfully tired. Have you been sleeping the entire time...?

Momochi: Ahaha... Y-Yeah. I had only intended to take a bit of a nap, but it looks like it’s pretty much evening now, doesn’t it~?

Joshua: I see. Ah, right. Everything is all set up for the BBQ so I've come to get you. The person in charge said that they’ve started a charcoal fire and that all that’s left is for us to grill the food we like ♪ Come over quickly.

Momochi: Really? Thank you~♥️ I’m coming, I’m coming♥️

Joshua: Oh? Speaking of which, Momochi-kun. Is your back okay?

Momochi: Eh? Back? Now that you mention it, it does feel tingly...

Joshua: I mean, it’s all red, you know? You should quickly get it cooled down, I think.

Joshua: The sunlight here really is on a different level from that in Japan, isn’t it. I applied sunscreen, yet my shoulders have gotten pretty tan.

Momochi: Y-Yeah... That’s true. Since it’s Guam, right. Haha... Ahaha...

Momochi: *mumbles* Wait a minute... What condition is my back in right now? I need to cool it down immediately... This isn’t the time to be casually having BBQ...

Joshua: ...? Is something wrong?

Momochi: Nope? Nothing at a~ll♥️ Leaving that aside, look! It’s a beautiful sunset, don’t you think~!

Joshua: You’re right! As expected of Guam ♪

@ IN THE AREA OF HAGATNA・ON A CERTAIN PRIVATE BEACH・IN THE SHADE OF A TREE

───*Shup!*

Yuu: The meat just now should be just about cooked. Huh?

Judah: *chews* Mm, so good.

Yuu: OI! First my sunscreen, and now this! What’s your problem! How much longer are you going to keep on stealing other people’s things until you’re satisfied?!

Judah: Hah? Ain’t got a clue. Oh, this one’s also cooked.

───*swipes*

A’: AH! The meat I was raisingggg~~~~~~!!!!!!

Judah: *chews* Mm, so good. Those who don’t pay attention are at fault.

A’: HAAAH?!?! Just how self-centred are you~~~~~!!!!

Yuu: I know right!!!!

Joshua: Now now, you two. I’ll give you mine ♪

A’: Joshua, are you an angel~~~~~ Wait, HAH?! What the hell is this! It’s just veggies?!?! You tryna pick a fight with me!??!?!?!

Joshua: Eh? That wasn’t my intention though...

Yuu: I’ve had enough. I shall be cooking by myself while defending my portion. No one come near me please.

───*trudges off*

@ HOTEL・GUAM REEF & COCONUTS・SUPER RESORT・ROOM 1012

───That night...

Yuu: Hah... I’m glad the first day has safely gone by... But the problem is tomorrow...

A’: HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!

Yuu: SHUT UUUUUP!!!! What’s with you all of a sudden!!!!

A': DAAAAAAAAHHH! Yuu-kun!! The shower tried to kill meeeeeee!!!!

Yuu: Hold it, why are you coming out here naked! Do you want me to beat you up?!?!?! Anyway, saying that the shower's trying to kill you, what do you even mean by that!!!!!!

A': Isn't it obvious! The shower made a direct attack at my sunburnt skin! It hurts so much I could die!!!!!!

Yuu: How would I know?! It's your own fault for not putting on sunscreen! Anyway, if you're going to get out, then put some clothes on!

A': I'm not getting out ye~t! In fact, I'm just about to get in~~~~!

Yuu: Then why did you even bother getting out for?! Arghh, geez! Seriously can't believe I'm in the same room as that guy!!

@ HOTEL・GUAM REEF & COCONUTS・SUPER RESORT・ROOM 1010

Re-o-do: Fu... About the area that’s sunburnt... Like you said, Joshua, it feels a little better if I cool it. However, with normal water, it melts in an instant...

Joshua: Since there should be a convenience store downstairs, do you want me to go and buy something that will cool it?

Re-o-do: Are you sure?

Joshua: Yup, it’s fine. I was actually thinking of going to buy sunscreen for tomorrow anyway ♪ Ah, Re-o-do-kun, you also need sunscreen, right?

Re-o-do: Then, if you don’t mind, thanks. It’d be bad if I get sunburnt any further too.

Joshua: Okay ♪ Then I’ll buy the one that looks to be the most effective!

Re-o-do: ...Say, Joshua. You're a really good guy, huh.

Joshua: Eh, you think so? That makes me happy ♪ Anyway, I'm off, okay!

@ HOTEL・GUAM REEF & COCONUTS・SUPER RESORT・ROOM 1011

───*opens sliding glass door* *walking footsteps*

Momochi: Ahhh, it hurts... I won’t be able to sleep tonight like this...

───*rummages through pockets* *lights cigarette*

Momochi: It hurts just having my clothes brush against it so I definitely won't be able to lie on my back... *puffs*

※ NOTE: Smoking is prohibited in this room. (CR's Public Relations)

Momochi: Aaahh... I want to go home already... I can't sleep, there are barely any smoking areas, cigarettes are super expensive, and what's worse, I'm stuck in the same room as Judah... *puffs*

───*Zoom!* *Smack!*

Momochi: GYAH! THAT HUUUUURTSS~~~~~~~~!!!!!!

Judah: It fucking stinks!

Momochi: Even though I tried to be considerate by coming out here to the verandah, what's with that attitude?! I can't believe you'd throw a pillow at me out of nowhere! And at my back out of all places!!!!

Judah: Hah? You’ve got something on your back? Anyway, who cares about that, hurry up and open the windo—Owah!

Judah: Don't go throwing it back!!!

Momochi: You threw it at me first! Anyway... If you don’t want to be killed, then don’t touch my back ever again! Got it?!?!

Judah: Hah? I didn’t touch it. I only hit it with a pillow.

Momochi: Like I care about your hair-splitting! Aah, I'm seriously annoyed... *puffs*

Judah: ARGHH! I’m telling you! It stinks!!

───*SMASH! BANG! CRASH!*

To be continued: PART 2

Top Candidate  [Pre-DRV3]

Chapter Eight

Length: 2070

Rating: 16+ish?

Prefer AO3 format? Click here. Otherwise, below the line lovelies!

Today was painful. All of a sudden TS decided to give us back our full memory. It’s been difficult to cope with the constant personality changes within me. It’s sorta bullshit that I had my personality replaced in the first place. Who did that blue-haired cunt think she is? My body felt worse  once I had been introduced to my old memories. During scenes we ran today, I kept switching between normal me and this fictional persona of me. My body often struggled to follow through with what I actually wanted. For example, TS had to drag me here today because I refused to leave my room. Oh, yeah, we have rooms now. Apparently of all the high tech things they can do, they can’t organize what our rooms for the killing game will look like. I kept mine simple. Our talent rooms, however, were designed by high-end roleplayers from across the world. Mine happened to be a pretentious fuck that “ironically” decorated my talent room with things to use to kill others. Poison, the most stupid killing device ever in a video games, was put in my room without a second thought.  After getting really pissed off there, I was dragged off by TS into a classroom. After that, Kokichi was walked here with Rantaro(Kodaka likely is on the panel for whatever this fucking audition entails).

The classroom had been strange, the desk arranged in a circle. The chalkboard wasn’t a traditional one; it had been replaced with a high tech board with a blue landing screen. I hadn’t been let near it due to TS insisting we needed to take pictures before the auditions tomorrow. Well, whatever tomorrow comes. Time was hard to track here. My old personality had nothing to help or offer when it came to getting my bearings in such a weird electronic space.

Another weird quirk about the current classroom I was in was the desk arrangement. All of the desk were arranged in a circle, with lighting fixtures all around them. Kokichi and I sitting next to each other, the light from all the equipment starting to piss me off.

“I bet they’re setting up for our headshots for the audition,” Kokichi said, smiling as he adjusted his scarf, “I think we’ll at least be shot fairly this way.”

“Then where’s the blonde bitch then,” I questioned, my eyes scanning the room for other personnel. It appeared empty besides the two of us. I didn’t understand this at all. It would be helpful if those assholes running this could give us clear directions. But, no, apparently this would all lead up to some big despair-inducing event.  I looked over at Kokichi now, whom seemed to have frown on his face. What was the matter with him? Kokichi placed both of his hands on either one of my shoulders, his face staring up at mine.

“Ah, don’t talk to your lover like that! She’s yours, remember,” Kokichi stated, his lips frowning. He looked serious. Was Kokichi being a dick or did he actually not regain his memory of our past?

“Er, sure for the game. But, in reality…” I said, leaning closer to Kokichi’s face. I watched as his face turned scarlet, closing his eyes as we met for a kiss. I heard several cameras flicker as our lips met, my eyes opening and looking around at the flashes.

Once my eyes settled from the brightness, I saw TS and Kokichi standing next to each other. I looked to see who had really been in front of me. Of course, it had to be the blonde bitch instead of my actual person of interest.

“There we are! We have all the pictures we need for your picture reference book! Are we excited for auditions, everyone,” TS asked, morphing into Sayaka.

“Why give us back our memory if we’re just going to lose it again,” Kaede said, seeming just as upset as I am.

“Yeah, and at least warn me before I’m forced to kiss blondie,” I added, exchanging intense glares with Kaede and TS. TS just laughed. Her eyes felt cold when she looked at me with a serious stare. I tried to glare back at her in attempts to show something of a backbone. I was tired of playing the pantsy they oh so desired. When I saw that TS was moving her shoulder, my eyes followed her hand.

On the desk in front of TS lay a black-and-white folder with a Monokuma plastered on the front. TS placed her index finger over the eye, causing the file to blink red before being absorbed into the desk.

Before I was able to voice further complaints, I felt the area around me shift.

A surge of heat and cold collided in my body, my vision blurring to darkness. The cold of a summer night had overtaken my exposed skin, my body holding something warm, small, and squishy...my eyes tried to focus, but the most I could make out is purple hair.

“Koki..chi? I think I just woke up from a bad dream,” I muttered, noticing the low battery notice flash on the vita screen. I saw the purple hair turn into a face. As it got closer, it did turn out to be him. I could feel a smile form from my lips, and for the first time, I actually *felt* real. I could feel the warmth from inside my body, blood pumping from and to all corners. I could feel the weight in my eyelids, struggling to stay awake. I could feel my hands securely around Kokichi’s waist.

“I don’t want to waste time. After this, our lives will be at the whim of some stupid adults...this is the only moment we get,” Kokichi whispered to me. As Kokichi adjusted himself in my hold, I could feel his body begin to pin me down against the treehouse wall.  Despite his small stature, Kokichi seemed stronger than usual.

“Take me, detective,” Kokichi said, his voice soft but demanding.

I could feel fingers pull at the buttons on my uniform. I wanted to grin, but for some reason, it felt like something was overriding my body. My hands stayed at their sides, only moving when Kokichi slipped off my shirt.

I could feel Kokichi shift to straddle one of my legs, his knee grinding against my groin. I jerked back, hitting the wooden wall of the treehouse several times before Kokichi held me steady against his knee.

As much as I wanted this, to say all the things I wanted to when Kokichi wasn’t ready, it felt like there was cotton in my mouth. I hadn’t been the slightest bit nervous. My hands wanted to explore many areas of Kokichi. Before all of this, before we were thrown into this madness...it was Kokichi who was too scared to do anything. He kept ranting and raving about parent paranoia, the stink in the treehouse, if Keebo or Rantaro stopped by and watched, and any bad scenario in between the spectrum.

But, as Kokichi’s knee teased me, my body felt helpless to his touch. I was beginning to suspect there being an error with porting my consciousness back into my human-esque body when my hands jolted to slap Kokichi’s back, grinding his knee further against my groin. I let out a soft groan, looking up top the treehouse. How much of this would I end up remembering? Why were we giving up so easily to the team and doing stuff like this instead?

I felt Kokichi’s lips glide against my neck now, leaving bite marks along the way.

“I better make sure that cunt Kaede knows who you belong to,” muttered Kokichi between bites, before crashing into my lips.

I hadn’t wanted to give up, but I also didn’t want to miss this chance. Kokichi was always too nervous to go further than 2nd base with me. I guess, with the prospect of dying in front of us, we had to make due with whatever freedom they gave us.

.   .  .

“Are you sure it’s ok to let  #154 and the top candidate use their bodies for the night? What if they decide to run off,” asked #2002. I scoffed at such a question, pounding my cane into the marble flooring. Around me were people scrambling to get the place looking just right for tomorrow. My throne room had to be best, of course, passed down 52 generations. My help staff had to help the current event staff, which could easily surpass one thousand. But I couldn’t retain a dedicated team like last cycle, or else disaster may strike. I needed to keep tasks as spread out as possible to avoid any colluding. If  this cycle was anything like the last, I’d make a mockery of who I am. Who I stand for. What I believe in.

The throne chair was being polished as I sat down, multiple teams of mine were rushing about and discussing different sections of tomorrow.  

The blue haired, glasses wearing, oddly average girl in front of me was on one knee. It was tradition for candidates and participants to address us like this. Otherwise, they’d be killed off or otherwise disposed off. Her eyes appeared distant as they stared at the marble flooring underneath her. If she hadn’t been in cahoots with Team Danganronpa, I would’ve killed her on the spot. And, I guess, I saw her as worthy of going through auditions. We can’t let cycle 52 be repeated at any cost. I’m anxious, ok? What if we fuck up and let a fucking, er, I won’t spoil it. Not to myself and not for anyone out there who like secrets. I needed to keep my head cool and confident. I had to find the perfect vessel to make this the best killing game yet.

“Duh. Those two boys think they’re gonna die tomorrow. What’s the point of speeding up that process? I’m not gonna like let #154 die a virgin with what promise he’s shown during training,” I answered, a few of my assistants crowding my hair. Guess I am  cutting it a bit close with my personal presentation. They’re using those ultra-HD cameras this year so any imperfection will be viewed for the entire black market.

“Perfect and impeccable as usual, dear Junko.When should I fetch their data for tomorrow?” #2002 asked, her eyes still to the floor.

“Promptly at 5AM. Once their data is loaded back in, they will likely forget the event ever happened. Despair inducing, right? To force them into their old bodies, let them fuck, and then have them forget it ever happened?” I replied, laughing loudly. I listened as that laugh echoed onward, between those who worked for me and the natural good acoustics of my throne room. Ah, how beautiful it feels to be alive and living on the Junko legacy.

“Yes, understood. Andyes, very despair inducing...perhaps, something we could incorporate that in the killing game?” #2002 said, starting to stand on her two feet. I wasn’t expecting her to keep rattling on, but, she did make an interesting point. Besides Cycle 27, there had been no legal cotial relations setting for the participants. And the despair that could come from it...it would be a possibility good enough for any remaining funds post production. I couldn’t let  #2002 get away with leaving her respectful position. A smirk curled up from my face, a cutsy look overtaking my persona.

“Ah. Speaking out of turn, I see?” I said, pressing a button on the side of my throne. Large spikes shot from the ground, scrambling the data and pixels of #2002.  

“Y҉ę͚̣͇͇̻͇̤s̛͉̯͇̮͙̪,̘̥͓͈̝̝̬͠ ̮͍̕I͍͇̥͔̖̺ ̷̙̖̱̭̲͎̦lo̤̙͚͞ͅv̹̱e̙͇͢ͅ ̴t̪͉͍h̬͇̜̦̱̙͜i҉̰͎̖͙͙̜ͅs͔̰̤̩͢

͕̰͉̥͡

͕̜̜͇̼D̵͖̹̠̘͇E͕̼͎̬͍̞S̖P҉͔̰̳̮͖̞A͓̗̦͠I͉͝R͖Ḑ̯̹͖̬̥̬E̪̫̥̱S͈̫͎̩P̖A̞̣̥͓I̠R̲̯̙͉͡D̵̰Ȩ̟͉S̱̦̱̕P̩͕̩̗̪̙͟ĄỊ̳̥̮͠RD͉̱̠͖E̱̱̣͉̼̭S̰͍̖̝̮̜P̫̺̻͜AI͇̙̖̥̳̝͈͘R̮̫D̪͕̜̼͎̗ͅE͚͎̜͓͔͚S̖̖̞P̧̭̝̩͈̙̖A̖͈̘̬͎͍I̬͙R̥D̜E̯̞̫̹͍ͅS̡͔̳͙͈P̧̦̗̻A͔̣I̟̤̩͚͉͈̘R͕” #2002 voice still managed to speak out, the dead pixels causing her voice to sound more like some sort of vaporwave song. Huh. I guesss I should fix her. She does need to load back in #154 and the top candidate.

“Assistants, fix #2002 so she can proceed with wor--” I began to say, but the dumb cunt couldn’t stop saying despair. Her words were beginning to dirty my throne room, random black pixels scattering against the marble floor. It was disgusting but….so despair inducing. So beautiful. So honest.

“Also, advance her roster to the 2nd audition,” I added, footsteps rushing across the room with their fair share of paperwork. This should prove to be interesting.

Leo and Stacy Fight

Leo

After the day with @AllieMasonRP, we continued to text and snap each other silly things. It was late on Saturday and Allie had to work I decided to just enjoy the ocean breeze on the patio with a beer. @StacyRoss_RP was due back soon from work, and I was on my phone studying places nearby to take the motorcycle and my camera for my new shoots. I was due some pictures soon for my contract. I took a long sip on my beer when I heard @StacyRoss_RP come in the apartment.

Stacy

I’d not been in the mood for work today, usually I was all smiles and  chatter but somehow I couldn’t even muster up that. Progressively the day went downhill, it was like I had this overbearing weight on my shoulder and as much as I tried to shake it I just couldn’t It came to a head as I felt his hand grab my ass as I walked by “Bring me a beer darlin” He slurred as he mauled me, I shot around and without thinking I slapped him right across the cheek “Take your slimy hands off me” I said, I’m a time that made most people look Around to see what was happening within seconds it escalated with the manager scurrying over apologizing for MY behavior....My behavior? He grabbed MY ass...I screamed. I couldn’t do this anymore, no one had the right to touch me without my permission, I undid my apron and Threw it on the table, slimy guy still screaming for his beer. “You can stuff your job where the sun don’t shine” And before I knew it I was leaving, heading home with an anger raging inside me. Slamming the door behind me as I let myself in my apartment. LEO! Are you here?

Leo

*hearing Stacy call out, I yell back* I’m outside having a beer. Weren’t you supposed to work till close?

Stacy

I grab two beers from the cooler and head outback, drinking the first one almost straight down as I reach you* That was the idea! But I just fucking quit!

Leo

*my eyes grow wide as I see you down the beer and tell me you quit* what the hell happened? I thought you actually liked that place? *I take a sip on my beer*

Stacy

*I slump down beside you and flip the lid of my second beer* I just flipped, some dick grabbed my ass at the restaurant and I lost it, told them to stuff their job *I look away from you and gaze out over the ocean* I need to get drunk! Are you up for a night out or Have you got plans?

Leo

*finishes my beer and looks at you, then back out to the beech* you’re looking at my plans so going out would be great. Shall we go to The Crossing?

Stacy

*managing a smile for the first time today* Good! Let me do a quick change and then I’m ready....hang on to your hat because I’m in for a long night of alcohol. I hope you’re up for it!!

Leo

*laughs and gets up* I am good as long as you don’t drink yourself sick. *I grab the empty bottles and we head inside*

Stacy

*It takes me less than 10 minutes to change, I’m trying hard to suppress this feeling that I have inside me, I know what’s causing it but I don’t want to face it. Hopefully alcohol will drown it out* Ok are you ready?

Leo

*I dispose of the bottles and quickly change. I walk out* definitely and you look great. I called an Uber. It should be here any minute.

Stacy

*after a short Uber ride we head inside the bar, it’s already pretty lively and the music is drowning out the thoughts I my head. I order four beers and shots to accompany them. Your face is a picture as I slide them over to you* What? I told you....I’m in for the long haul

Leo

*laughs* ok, do I get to drink any of those? Are we going to dance any or just drink? *I don’t wait for your answer, I grab a shot and down it. I proceed to sip on a beer*

Stacy

*I stifle a laugh when the memory of you drunken dancing pops into my head, I knock back the shot, the warm nectar burning my throat* Dancing! After your display back in college? I’ll stick to drinking thanks

Leo

*taking another shot, my throat burning. I glare at you* hey I wasn’t that bad and working up a sweat will feel good *I take a few big sips and finish my beer* but getting drunk could be fun

Stacy

*I beckon to the barman and order some more drink* I have no desire to work up a sweat Leo, drinking is far better! Anyway what is going on with you. I barely see you at the moment?

Leo

*The waitress brings our order and I down another shot. I start to feel the effects of the booze. I take a huge swing of my beer* well I’ve been riding on the bike looking for places to get pictures mostly

Stacy

*I match your actions and down my beer, the negativity and bad feeling slowly starting to ebb away...I watch you as you drink, the occasional flashback flitting inside my head, i honestly don’t remember how or why we ever got together. It seemed like forever ago* So why did You come here Leo? You never did tell me

Leo

*my head spinning, I sip my beer and music pounding. I look down* I like this place. You do too remember

Stacy

*shrugs* I knew you always talked about it but never thought for one moment you’d come all this way, especially as I figured our friendship was done

Leo

*shakes my head* oh you meant here as in Australia *laughs* I needed some place to go. I didn’t like the way things ended with us so why not here? I’m glad we’ve reconnected.

Stacy

*laughing* always the goof ball. Of course I meant Australia. *I hesitate for a moment and wonder if I should say something to address the elephant in the room, but decide against it* Yeah I am glad we have too...you’ve been spending a bit of time away from the apartment Have you hooked up with anyone? *grinnimg and sliding you another shot  across*

Leo

*smirking, I down the shot and look back at you* well your little trick got me with Allie and yes we hooked up. But that was a one time thing, we’re actually developing a friendship

Stacy

*nudges you* well get you!! Finally developing a “relationship” *I make little air speech marks and the hint of sarcasm isn’t lost on you* The mighty Leo finally able to have some kind of commitment with the opposite sex....really though I’m kidding I’m pleased for you What is she like?

Leo

*glares and starts to correct your assumption about our /relationship/ but stop myself. I down a shot and then sip on my beer* she is trying to make it as a singer, she puts up a strong, independent front, but I think deep inside she is hurting. I need to tell you something. *I sip my beer and take a deep breath*

Stacy

*I smile to myself as I listen to you talk about her, sounds like you’ve got it bad. I’m about to trade you about it when you suddenly become all serious* What? What did you do....you didn’t knock her up too did you? *the minute the words leave my mouth i regret it*

Leo

*I slam my beer down when you ask that question and glare* fuck no! I didn’t. Damn it Stacy! *I down the rest of my beer then look at you* I told her!

Stacy

*I almost spit my beer out over the bar and a noise come out of my mouth that resembles a high pitches squeal, it certainly gets the attention of people around us* You did what? Told her what exactly?

Leo

*taking a deep breath and looking around. I down a shot* I told her, about us. About what happened. I’m sorry, but I needed to open up to someone. I trust her

Stacy

*I can’t look at you and for a split second I think I’m going to throw up* How dare you, some tart who you barely know.... *my voice shaky* How dare you tell her about me, she knows nothing about me and YOU needed to open up to someone?? How do you think I feel Leo? You never wanted to talk to me about it??

Leo

*my eyes narrow and the booze still making me dizzy. I hiss* she is not a tart, she’s my friend. And yes, I needed to talk to someone, and till I told her I couldn’t talk with you about it. You didn’t bother to include me in on it when it happened. Fuck, you didn’t want me around to even help you through it. So why should I talk to you about it?

Stacy

You never tried very hard....as soon as I told you, you ran out of my life as fast as your legs could carry you *I catch the barmans eye and hold up 4 fingers, within seconds the beers are in place, I take a long drink* And she is no one to me, you had no right to tell some Stranger you met when you “swiped right” on Tinder about my personal life. People make judgements Leo, when they have no fucking idea what really happened. *the words catch in my throat and I nearly lose it but I can’t let you see just how much this is weighing down on me*

Leo

*I grab a beer and drink half of it quickly. I glare back at you, but try to keep my anger in check* first off you swiped right not me, remember. Second off, it’s my personal life too, so I damn well have the right to discuss it with whomever I choose. Look you’re my friend and we’ve shared a lot of good times and bad times together. You made the right decision for you, I just wish you had included me in it so I could be there for you then. I don’t want this to come between us again.

Stacy

It wouldn’t have come between us, but now I don’t know how to feel. *I inhale deeply and look at you, noting the frown that’s now replaced your once smiling face* Look Leo people judge and condemn women for terminating a pregnancy *the word termination resonates in my head* You think it was easy for me? An abortion to a woman is a form of spiritual self-harm, it isn't an action I would have taken if the alternatives didn't scare me more. We / I / was reckless and I’m paying the price every goddamn day.....the last thing I need is her To pass her judgement over me with hour even knowing. I get you needed to offload, but surely you owed it to me to talk to me first.

Leo

*I take a huge drink from my beer and start my reply* look Allie isn’t like that. I needed a friend, someone that wasn’t involved. *I pause* you know what my mom does for a living. Do you know how many of her friends and coworkers have had unwanted pregnancies and ended up terminating the pregnancies? *just as I ask the question, I look up at the entrance and the line to get and I see her, @AllieMasonRP, waiting in line. I try to look away but our eyes meet. The blood leaves my head and I’m instantly sober. I look at Stacy* look, this is no place to be having this conversation. Let’s get home now. *Stacy looks at me stunned but nods. I put enough money on the table to cover the tab and a nice tip. We get up and head to a side entrance. I look back and see Allie staring with a frown as we walk away. I feel like a total jerk, but this was definitely not the time or place for Stacy and Allie to meet. We get outside and slide into a cab and make our way back to the apartment. We don’t say a word to each other on the ride back and agree that sleep is needed when we get back.* #SLClosed

Photographer Spotlight: Discover Live Photo Tips And Tricks From Seasoned Photographer Kyle Dehn

If a photo is worth a thousand words, what about the person who took that photo? In a day and age where, thanks to Instagram, everyone thinks they’re a professional photographer, it’s important to remember the people who actually do this for a living.

People like Kyle Dehn – the self-taught, Arizona native who balances work and his love for live photography shooting for bands like Jimmy Eat World, Real Friends, Knuckle Puck and more.   

Today, in a time where all we have are photos to remember some of our favorite shows by (since no one can attend any at the moment), we’d like to take a second and shine a light on the hard working people who took them.

So, to learn a little more about Kyle, be sure to check out our newest installment of our Photographer Spotlight series below. Afterward, make sure to follow Kyle on Instagram here.

Who or what got you into concert photography? 

When I was a kid, I always bought disposable cameras. There was just something so cool about photography to me. My dad always had a good SLR and I was fascinated by it. I remember spending so much time scouring through photos and as I started playing drums in bands I gravitated towards photos of shows. I remember bringing a disposable camera to a Fall Out Boy show and I was hooked (even though the images were terrible). 

What was the first show you ever shot?

Around the time I was getting comfortable with my camera and taking photos of friends bands at tiny venues, I started interning at an awesome venue in Tucson, Arizona called the Rialto Theatre for graphic design. They had two great people there who would take photos of the shows. As I was around more, I started being able to get passes to shoot some of the shows that I was a fan of. The first real show I ever shot was Norma Jean/MyChildren MyBride in 2008. I started working there and it gave me some opportunities to shoot as the in-house photographer for them. Eventually that grew to more bands, venues, festivals, newspapers, blogs etc. in the area. 

What was your first touring experience like and who did you shoot for?

Unfortunately, I don't really tour with bands. I grew up playing in bands that did small regional tours, but that was playing and not for photography. I have a full-time job, so it really limits my availability to do one-off stuff for travel. Luckily there's lots of great opportunities where I live to shoot multiple shows a week. 

What's your preferred camera setup? 

Currently I shoot two Canon EOS R bodies, mostly Sigma f/1.4 Prime Lenses and a few Canon f/2.8 Zoom Lenses. It's expensive, but find what's comfortable to you and in your price range. It's amazing what you can do with an entry level DSLR and a plastic 50mm f/1.8. 

For young photographers who are still learning, what’s your time management like or the schedule you give yourself day-to-day while shooting?

Definitely get to editing as fast as you can. This is easier said than done when you get home at midnight or later. I have a full-time job outside of photos, so I usually can't edit the next day. It obviously depends on the artist or client you're working with, but make sure you get them the images when they need them. I try to get through the bulk of my editing the night of the show if possible and then look at it with fresh eyes when I wake up before I send off. If a band wants something super fast or I'm at a festival, I'll bring my laptop with me and edit between bands so I can get a few off to management. 

Lastly, make your shots count. Going through 300 photos is a lot easier than 1000 so pick your spots. Also, backup, backup, backup, BACKUP. There's nothing worse than losing a hard drive if it's the only copy you have. 

Any other tips for future concert photographers?

Keep your cool. If something doesn't work out and you get denied a pass or something, don't let it get you down. Things take time and there's probably 30 other people who all want the same pass.  Make friends with other photographers, people in the industry, others around you as much as you can -- just be yourself. Be cool, personable, don't be needy and definitely don't overstep your boundaries during a show (don't get on stage, don't go over song/time limit, follow any instructions TM/management/band give you). People remember things like that and they'll think twice about hitting you up again. Lastly, just be grateful for the opportunities you get and don't complain.  

Personally, who are some of your favorite concert photographers?

When I was younger, I would always scour Todd Owyoung, Joey L and Adam Elmakias' work and online content and learned so much from them. They're incredible at what they do. A few of my favorites these days are Mitchell Wojcik, Matty Vogel and Lupe Bustos. I love looking at all their work, they're all extremely diverse and inspire me to keep pushing myself in new directions.

Lastly, who's your dream artist to shoot?

Top 3 - Kendrick Lamar, Chance The Rapper and Action Bronson. They're the top of my list that I have yet to cross off. I love shooting big production hip-hop shows. The level of detail and production that goes into some of those shows is mind-boggling and gives the show such incredible energy. Also it gets me out of my element when it's something different than I usually shoot. 

The Plot Thickens, Part II

I went back to my office to get some work done before getting ready for my date. It sounds silly, but I am almost giddy about going on a real date with the Captain. The heat from the furnace is inviting as I sit at my desk and go over the details of the case.  There must be some link to all the recent chaos. Why did One-Hand-Willy just now show up? Where has he been? Where the hells are the rest of the people that were in the home? The most irritating question still nagged at me: Who the hells blew up my condo? Someone owed me for all the damages. They blew up some of my favorite shoes. Someone will pay for the Italian leather boots and Prada pumps. And don’t get me started on the clothes and purses that were ruined. I want to find the asshole and beat the crap out of him.  The phone rings, interrupting my internal rant about my ruined girly stuff, and I look at the caller ID to see if I even want to bother answering it. “Captain Renard, our date isn’t for hours. Is everything okay?” “Yes, and no. We may have to reschedule our date. We got a positive ID on the victim’s dental scans. His name is Raphael Rollins. He is linked in the system to the Consweighas.” The name hits me hard. “As in the Consweigha Cartel? The drug and human trafficking ring?” “The one and same.” His voice sounds grim. I understand why. “Okay, thanks for keeping me in the loop. Let me know if you find anything else out.” “I will, and you do the same, okay?”  He sounds like he suspects that I know something I’m not telling him, and he’s right. I know one of the sons in the cartel. I have had dealings with him in the past. I am not ready to share the information yet, though. I hang up the phone after a quick goodbye. I need to find out where Julio Consweighas is and get to him before the locals, or the feds, do.  *** After extensive research and interrogating a few personal CI’s, I trace ol’ Julio to a house in the southern part of the county. I approach the home silently with my .45mm drawn and ready. I don’t want to shoot anyone, but I will if I must. Everything is quiet. If he is here, he isn’t broadcasting it. Swiftly, I go around the back of the property, avoiding any cameras. He is careful, but not careful enough. There is a security system, but it’s not hard to hack. I have more than my fair share of toys from my time with the FBI. They come in handy in times like these.  The light on the security scan clicks green, and I enter the dwelling. Fifty feet from the back door is an armed guard. I silently take him down and drag his body into a nearby closet. I handle three more armed guards the same way and continue to clear the home. Julio isn’t on the first, or second floors. That just leaves the basement. What is it with bad guys doing their nefarious deeds in basements?  I open the door and scan the stairs, then silently descend. Finding the first room clear, I peer around the corner to the second room. There is Julio with two armed guards, a huge pile of money, and a money counter. I can also see an assortment of illegal drugs. I know that if I make my presence known, they will shoot me. I am not in the mood to get shot today. I have too much to do and don’t have the time to sit and heal. Quickly I pop off two precise shots and take out both of his guards. My silencer muffles the sound, so the outside world is none the wiser. Julio immediately grabs his gun and goes for cover. “There is nowhere to run Julio, and no one to save you,” I yell out to him.  “Then come and get me, bitch!”  “You kiss your momma with that mouth?” I yell back. “You keep mi Mama out of your mouth.”  Good, I hit a nerve. If you piss them off, they are more likely to make a mistake. “Ah, aren’t you just the badass? Gonna get your ass kicked by a woman.” “We both know you aren’t no woman, bitch.” “Your Spanglish hurts. It would probably hurt more if you were not such a pussy, hiding behind your gun.” “Put yours down, and I’ll show you what a real man can do.”  “You first!” He puts his gun down and comes out—cocky little fuck. I holster mine and shift into the open. “Oh, I hope you are ready because you fucked up a good day for me.” He charges at me, and I easily avoid the blow. When I was younger, my father taught me that brawn is great, but if you don’t have the brains to back it up, you are in for a real ass whooping. It’s a lesson that I am going to teach Julio today. He turns and rushes me again with a scream.  I sidestep and even kick him in the ass as he rushes by. “I can do this all day. Are you going to keep running by, or hit me? This isn’t tag. Of course, to play you would have to touch me first.” He screams again. Good, I have him nice and pissed off. This time when he rushes me, I swing and plant a good blow to his head. If it surprises him, you can’t tell. The punch knocks him out cold. He falls and hits the floor with a loud thud. That should keep him out for a while. I walk over and nudge him with my foot just to make sure. Yep, he is out. “Good night, asshole, I hope that you have terrible dreams”. Yeah, I am trash-talking someone unconscious, but hey, no goddess is perfect. I pick him up and hoist him over my shoulder, carrying him out like a sack of potatoes. For a mortal, he would have been heavy, but for a goddess, he is nothing. I know exactly where I want to take him. I have a place that I keep just in case I need to be under the radar. I stuff him in the trunk and leave. He should be out for a while. *** I arrive at my safe house and turn off my phone. I don’t want any interruptions during this part. As I open my trunk, Julio tries to jump out at me. Little fucker recovered sooner than I expected.  One well-aimed punch remedies that, and he falls back into the trunk. If he were smart, he would have kicked out a taillight and tried to alert traffic of his situation. If I am ever locked in a trunk, that’s what I will do. It’s hard to ignore a waving hand sticking out of a busted taillight. Thankfully ol’ Julio isn’t that bright. He just waited, thinking he would get the drop on me.  I bend down and pick him up, for the second time in as many hours, and carry him into my personal interrogation room. I slump him into the chair and cuff his hands. Once he is secured, I leave the room and lock it behind me. Even if by some earthly miracle he wakes up and escapes his cuffs, he isn’t getting out of that room. I built it myself. It could double as a bomb shelter. He is stuck until I deem otherwise. I stretch as I walk over to the full kitchen. I make sure that all my places have a full kitchen, bathrooms, a bedroom, and all the clothes and toiletries that I would need if I were stranded for two weeks. Some say I am paranoid; others say I am a preppers wet dream…I just say that I am prepared for anything life can throw at me. I start a pot of coffee and pop a couple of hot pockets into the microwave. Then I shower to remove any sweat and dirt from the night, and put on clean clothes. Once I am finished, I clean my dishes and get ready to greet my guest. Before I enter the room, I watch Julio from the two-way mirror. It’s completely impenetrable. Shy of a rocket launcher, he isn’t getting through it. Julio is awake and struggling with his restraints. He looks scared. Good. I hope by the time this is over he is terrified, as terrified as his victims. I walk into the room with a smile. This is going to be fun. I worry for a moment what that says about me. I’ll have to worry about it later. Right now, I have work to do. *** The interrogation room is silent as Julio sits motionless. He thinks he knows what is coming. He has no idea.  I walk in, as cool and calm as a psychopath disposing of his kill. Julio watches my every move, eyes tracking me. The room is so quiet I can hear him breathing.  What comes next is something that I excel at, and have even come to enjoy. The compassionate goddess that I once was, vanishes, leaving only determination and adrenalin. I carefully unbutton my suit jacket and fold it over the first chair. I don’t need to do it, but it has a nice effect. The room looks like any standard interrogation room with wooden chairs and a metal table. I find that it gives the bad guys a false sense of security. The one big difference is that in my interrogation room, I make the rules. The table is all that stands between him and me. I wondered if it makes him feel safer. It won’t do him any good. I am still wearing my shoulder holster and .45mm handgun. I would be required to remove it in a typical interrogation. They are worried about the perp gaining control of the weapon and using it. I don’t have such reservations. “Good morning, sleeping bastard,” I say with a wicked smile. He isn’t sweating yet, but he will. “What am I doing here, bitch? I want my lawyer!” he says calmly.  I laugh at him. A full-throated laugh, and I let the amusement show on my face. “What are you laughing at? Where is my lawyer? I know my rights. I got a phone call!” His voice shows some anger. Good. I stare at him as I unbutton my long sleeves and roll them up to my elbows. I am wearing wrist sheaths complete with double-edged throwing knives. I admit that I feel naked without my guns and knives. Usually, I have a small arsenal of assorted weapons strapped to me. It’s comforting. The last interrogation that I was in, I had to remove all my weapons. I then had to promise that it was all of them. Honestly, I had to stifle a small laugh as they all looked at the pile of weapons on the table. It’s my little magic trick—nothing to see here, folks. “Hey, you can’t have those in here!” he yells as he sees them.  The gun didn’t faze him, but seeing the knives meant that the rules were out the window. “Who ordered my condo to be blown up, and where is the missing family from Harrisburg?” I ask calmly without even looking at him. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Chica. Chinga tu Madre!” he yells at me.  “Oh, I am sure you know a whole lot. I am going to get the information from you estas pero si bien pendejo.” The first look of fear crosses his face but quickly changes to anger. “I want my lawyer. You can’t touch me, puta!” He spits at me. “Spit again, and I’ll cut your fucking tongue out, puto.” “Suck mi cojones! Lawyer! LAWYER!” he starts to yell.  Apparently, he isn’t taking me seriously. My only response is another full-throated laugh. I let the humor of his ignorance show in my eyes before allowing rage to fill them. “Oh, you’re an ignorant little shit. Do you think you are in a mortal interrogation? You are with the Gods now. You get nothing. You will be lucky if I don’t crush every bone in your body while I’m extracting the information I need.” I let the smile curve my lips. His fear and distress become evident as he starts to sweat.  “So, Julio, we can do this one of two ways.” I pause before continuing, “Either you can tell me what I need to know, or I extract it from you. You can try and resist if you are stupid, but I think you are smarter than that. You’re not stupid, are you, Julio?” His hands start to tremble slightly. “You’re afraid, that’s good. It means you know how this can go. Who rigged my house to blow? What happened to the family in Harrisburg? Are they connected? What does all this have to do with me?” He looks at me and musters some courage. It’s a lie, though, he cannot completely mask his fear. “I have no idea what you are talking about. LAWYER!” He draws out every syllable of lawyer, to make a greater impact. I stand up and slam my hands on the table. The sound vibrates through the room, echoing and bouncing off the walls. My hands sink into the metal, and the table makes a groaning sound as it threatens to buckle. “I ain’t telling you nothing. You don’t know what will happen if I talk. He will kill me!” “I will kill you if you don’t talk!” I shout at him.  He jumps and starts yelling, “Someone help me, this bitch is crazy! She is going to kill me! You can’t let her do this! It ain’t legal! HELP! HELP! HELP!” I laugh again and throw the table. I only need to take a couple of steps to close the distance between us. Grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, I slam him against the wall. The chair falls apart from the force, leaving him dangling from my grip.  “No one is going to help you. Now tell me what I want to know.” “Okay, okay, okay, I’ll tell you anything, just please don’t kill me,” he whimpers. I drop him to the floor where he falls into a slump. I walk over to my chair and kick it over to him. “Get up and sit your ass in the chair,” I tell him coldly. I have no sympathy for scum like him.  Slowly he gets up and sits in the chair. His eyes are wide and showing too much white. He never takes them off me as I smooth my clothes. “Ready to talk, or shall I make you bleed first? For instance, did you know that the body’s most sensitive areas are the fingertips? That’s why acupuncturists never put the needles there. If I were to drive wooden spikes through them, you would be in unimaginable pain.” “Please, no, no, I’ll tell you anything.” “Good, now we are getting somewhere. Now, answer my questions.” “Si, I’ll tell you anything. The family was taken. Most of the blood was from the father. Si. He tried to put up a fight. The wife and ninas were taken. They are to be sold.” “What does this have to do with me? Why try and kill me? I mean, it won’t happen, armies have tried and failed.” He swallows audibly. “Because we know what you are, Chica. You are a danger to our operation, and mi familia know the only way to continue is if you are dead.” “What do you mean? What am I? Because I work with the FBI and am a Private Investigator?” Not everyone knows that I am a goddess, although it is not something that I try to hide. Typically, I don’t care who knows. It only helps my reputation and keeps people from interfering with my affairs. If the cartel knew and decided to put a price on my head, let’s say that life would get a lot more interesting if I didn’t do something about it. “No, Chica, we know that you are the Athena. We know that you are the daughter of Zeus. You are a goddess.”  Well then, there goes that. “You said that the woman and children are going to be sold? Sold where?” “I don’t know, I swear. All I know is that a big meeting is going down tomorrow, I can give you the address, but that’s all I know. I swear por favor no me mates.” “I’m not going to kill you. You hijo de puta.” I figured I would put it in words that he could understand.  He broke out in tears, sobbing wildly. I have broken him… good. “Buenas noches, puto,” I tell him as I punch him in the face.  He immediately slumps over and falls out of his chair. He hits the ground hard. Sure, I could have stopped him, caught him, so he didn’t hit the floor, but I don’t. He doesn’t deserve it. I pick him up and exit the room. It doesn’t take long to stuff him back into my trunk and drive him back to his house.  Once he is cuffed and bound, I call in an anonymous tip to my contacts in the FBI. I am sure they would love to arrest him and his surviving buddies. Of course, seizing all the drugs, weapons, and cash, will be the final nails in his coffin. I leave the scene and go home. I have to get ready for my date. Read the full article

Books and Reading

There are a few books out there, any screenwriter/filmmaker has searched for them, but, often a few come to mind when thinking of how to deal with two major things that are vital to telling stories: structure, plotting, and formatting. I say two because between those three things, one is always flexible. For every film I can name that follows the go-to formulaic approach of every aspiring, big-money making screenwriter, I can name 15 that don't follow typical structure, plotting or were written on a napkin with a stain on it; that have substance and longevity for cinema. I don't name drop, so I'm only going to give the titles and important information about the book (which is name dropping). When I think back to the start of my long filmmaking journey to the small innertube I'm floating on now, a couple of books come to mind that I came across far too late. So, I'd like to give them to you in hopes they reach someone sooner rather than later-- assuming you're a young, or maybe old, aspiring filmmaker or writer. There are things about aspiring filmmakers that people often forget or simply don't care about (I forget which is predominant). They're impressionable, they don't like to read, they feel watching movies and imitation is the shortcut to the promise land and there is no real need to understand how the engine was built, what parts were used, or even who put it together: all they care about is ideas they have in their head with no real direction and that the engine runs. Think about this for a moment as you ponder how much you hate reading even this. Every filmmaker that has made anything worth a damn; with meaning, has read and seen more movies than you would believe. Now, if you think you can achieve what you want without even attempting that, stop reading here and go do your thing. And so, you're serious about filmmaking. You've searched everywhere and you cannot find anyone who is as motivated about filmmaking as you are, and everything you read you don't like because it doesn't fit your sensibilities, you don't understand it, or just fuck everyone else you're a jack of all trades and don't know what to do. Does any of that sound familiar? Well, it isn't unique and you're not alone, so: Your Screenplay Sucks! - This book is looked over by many, and by many I mean the people in Starbucks and places like fuckin' reddit (which are really the same thing). It doesn't matter who wrote it, what matters is the material inside that is invaluable to an aspiring screenwriter. Why? Because the formatting tips. That's it. That's all. Formatting. You don't know it, you need to know it. This is A-to-B on how to do just that, ignore all the other stuff because it's subjective fluff, but the format information in this book is no where else-- not even in the screenwriter's bible-- not even in scripts you read, because every script you read, while they have sluglines and exposition, they are still different. They are all different. No two scripts are written the same, they may use the same margin and slugs (some don't), but the grammar used, the notes, and camera shots all make them unique in regards to format. The formatting that you must know before writing should be taken from this book (before you even start reading scripts). Why? Because without understanding the general foundation of formatting, you can misinterpret scripts by professionals as the common way of writing which is incorrect and could cause damage that may take you years to reverse. Writer/Director's write scripts much differently than career screenwriters. This is fact. So, if you don't know dick about formatting and you scratch and worm the internet for tips and easy tricks about formatting, but all you get is contradicting answers-- start here. Don't rely on a program to do the job, either. Start with this book. It's an easy read, the guy is nice (even if the title isn't), and trust me, the formatting in the book is 100% accurate and regardless of what any other screenwriter tells you, the foundations of formatting never changes. You can take Citizen Kane and read it, and then read your favorite space movie, and the only thing you're going to notice is that the exposition is longer or shorter. That's it. Start here. Story - The book says it all. There's a lot of mixed feelings about it, but who cares; it's a must read. Why? Because the writer has studied storytelling structure of film, both foreign and domestic. The hardest part of this book for you depends on your film history. If your film history starts with Star Wars or She Got Game, you're going to find this read difficult. However, if you're serious about writing that won't discourage you and you'll get the points. A lot of books use their own jargon, their own languages that are often repeated by shitty writers, like "character arc" (good writers never use words like "arc intelligence" or "central character space")-- this book has that, but in a language which has already been used because he stole it from Hitchcock's writers and Billy Wilder; Plot methods, good vs sad vs neutral endings, and want vs needs and blocks (and all the other things writers know about, like reversals (acts)). The only difference between his jargon and some you may of heard on a podcast, is he puts them in a manner which you can relate directly with: the level of conflict that's vital to your story. There are also comparisons that he uses in regards to "classic" films and why they're significant in the world of storytelling. This book is a bit advanced if you're just starting out, and something may go over your head, but that's okay. You can always re-read it. Don't be afraid to read. You will learn valuable film-storytelling tools from this book. One thing I must stress is that a lot of people misinterpret the way he writes and what he says as being make or break/mustn't do, when it isn't. The man is passionate about good stories, foreign, domestic, commercial, it doesn't matter. And if you read it with this in mind, that he wants substance not more garbage from the garbage factory, you will understand that when something is said like, "Don't you dare use voice over in your story," he is talking about a level of story which relies solely on narration to spoonfeed rather than tell with pictures, which is a sin in cinema. I suggest you read this only after you've watched at least these films: 400 Blows, Chinatown, Kagemusha, Tokyo Story, Barton Fink, Weekend, Through a Glass Darkly, La Dolce Vita, and Casablanca. If you have not seen those films, you will only have limited perspective. On Directing Film - This book's title is misleading. It isn't only on direction, in fact, if you haven't figure it out by now, I hate reading how-to books, I'd much rather read actual stories (novels and scripts). But, this book has a special place in my heart. I don't care for David Mamet's films, personally. I find them stagnant and wordy, but the man is a master at writing and there is simply no denying that. He may not have anything to say in his goal to entertain people with impressive dialogue and plotting, but he has a lot of important things to say about how to go about doing what you want to do. He understands story, and he understands that different people like different stories, and they can be and tell what they want to tell, for whatever reason they want to: money, art, poetry, morals, existential philosophy on life, or even how to bore people. He knows it, and he tells this in the book. Those important lessons of storytelling and why they're approached the way they are is important to storytelling, and that is what writer and filmmakers do. It isn't for everyone, but I found it valuable because it gave me peace of mind. It made me realize that I can do what I want to do and who gives a shit if I fail, at least I tried and I'm truckin' on-- which is more than most ever do because most give up. This book can give you that reassurance, too. And since it isn't complicated or a hard read (which other books he has written most certainly are), it is worth reading even if you have zero interest in directing. It's about storytelling and what it's like to tell a story, which is what this is all about. Save the Cat (alternative) - I was asked once during an interview at Dreamworks (this isn't a joke), how I felt about this book. I told the executive that I hated it. It was formulaic and everything wrong with film today, it encourages a cinema with no heart which isn't cinema at all, and it is an insult to everything I stand for and it teaches filmmakers that film is just a machine and this is the only oil to grease that machine (I didn't think I was getting the job anyway, so I was blunt about it). I worked for them for a couple years as a ghost writer as a result, and then I was fired. Now, that's for a different time and my opinions on this book, just like the others, belong to me. Some people swear by this book-- swear by it. I often read this in these exact words, "If you want to be successful in this industry and make it your career and make money, you must have this book in your back pocket at all times," (which is also said about the book "Movies for fun and Profit") Fuck those people. Those types of people wouldn't make films if there were no money in it, and that's the exact poison which is killing the art in cinema, the personalization of cinema, and the heart of cinema. It's that consume and disposal: eat, and then throw in the gutter that kills but does not grow. Ignore those people and you'll be saved a lot of grief-- nobody knows what makes a film "successful" or how to crowbar your way in without nepotism. These people are liars. This book teaches you how to make a protagonist lovable (hence the title), how to write sentimentally (not sentiment), and why the audience is important (for money). It is filled with familiar, inescapable jargon that is used by screenwriter slash how-to novelists. I'm biased about this book as you can tell, I do not hide it. I get nothing from it other than the overwhelming feeling that I, as an artist, must aim to be a player without integrity because the audience is the only thing that matters, money is my god, it is only an industry, blah-blah-blah fuck everyone else-- do this-this and this and collect your fat paycheck. You may have a different opinion, though, which is completely fine. As I said, some people swear by the book and you may be one of those people. But, you have to read it for yourself to find out. I will give it one thing: read Story and this, and you will have all sides covered when a producer asks, "Hey, have you read this, which do you like better and why?" On Writing Well (alternative) - Not going into a long description about this because my fingers are tired and this is way longer than I wanted it to be. This book has to do with novels; it teaches you how to edit; how to get rid of the bullshit and be concise. Concision is important. This book has that. It is written concisely, proving its importance and giving actual examples, too. It's old, but its points remain and it may help you with your exposition abilities, who knows. It isn't always necessary to say, "John is exquisitely handsome, extraordinarily round around the hips, and whistles profusely while he ethereally walks, and he's twenty years of age." I fell asleep writing that. If you want to learn how to cut, this book might help. It also reassures you to be personal with your work, "John, twenties, is fat and black, and he stutters." Who the fuck am I to give you this advice? No one. I am no one at all. But, these books may help you, and if there are other people out there helping you you probably don't need to be reading my advice. If you want to write, if you want to make films you have to read, you should read, and you must read. Read-read-read-read-read-read (as Herzog said). I know, it's a pain, it's a bore, it's all of those things that you don't have time between work and smokin' weed for, but you have to do it. It's the secret. You must do it. Not just scripts, either. Let me tell you a secret about reading scripts: you'll get to the point where you'll fall in love with the aesthetics of how words look on a page rather than story, and you'll completely forget about story, which is the only damn important thing. You'll imitate instead of innovate, which is what you started for. Reading scripts is good to learn, but once you've read 25, if you're not reading them simply to dissect why a scene worked a certain way or merely out of interest of the writer's way of writing it, or to do coverage for an asshole boss, you're wasting your time. You can read the same 5 scripts over and over and learn everything any script will have to offer you as a writer. You must read, though, everything: novels, screenplays, magazine articles, old news articles from masters you never knew wrote for a newspaper (Vonnegut). Read. There is no other way and all the behind the scenes DVD featurettes in the world aren't going to replace one masterly written book. Reading is the only way you will learn about good story, and good story is the only thing you should be interested in if you're a filmmaker or screenwriter.

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