#i was expecting him to get worse but nope! he has realize that his crew is more important than the “beauty” (the shards) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

c-midori · 10 months

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PICKING UP PIECES

In the name of our lord and savior Terry Crews I deeply apologize for how long this chapter will be. Enjoy.

"Everyone has a thousand wishes before a tragedy, but just one afterward."

- Fredrik Backman

"Flappity flippers! Captain! You’re… YOU'RE ALIVE!" Peso tightly hugged the polar bear, his orca flukes waving slowly. "You were out for hours. Had I not noticed you, I’d think we were all on our own!"

Barnacles smiled, still unaware of his transformation. "Well, it IS good to be back," he said. "That crash was faster than I expected!"

"We may or may not have made the right choice to NOT go to the HQ. If anything, I should’ve come back for you." Shellington’s ears drooped. "I should’ve stopped crying."

"Yar, don’t say that! I know you were in pain, and I could totally understand… Everybody needs to cry sometimes, Shellie." Kwazii patted the otter on the dorsal fin.

That last word echoed in his mind. Shellie? As in… Shellington? Cute nickname, he thought. Made him blush a little. Fluttered his pectorals too.

He felt MUCH better knowing he was the reason why everyone was STILL here.

"So, you all got turned into mermaids, huh?" Barnacles kept looking at the leopard shark merotter, then at the lemon shark merkitten. "That’s interesting… seems like I’ve gotten myself into it as well!" He looked down and realized he too was like this, now hauling the tail of a beluga whale. "Seems to fit me very well." He didn’t mind how it was rather small compared to the rest of his crew, who all gained oversized tails bigger than their waists. “It’s not hard to swim in those, is it?" he asked, to which he got a bunch of head shakes and nopes.

"So, Captain, now what? The Octopod is flooded, the only thing that isn’t is Kwazii's room, and we likely don’t have any way to contact any of the Octo-Agents." Dashi raised her paw.

"Oh, that’s not a problem! Here’s your Octo-Compass, Captain! I was holding onto it this whole time. Didn’t want to lose it either, I bet!" Peso swam next to him and took the device out from under his hat. "I assume everyone’s looking for us as of now, so do try to call back… even if they haven’t, it’s still good to inform them of what happened to us! Bet they’ll be surprised, too!"

Tweak kept watching from behind the shattered window, still pissed but not as much as she was earlier. The bunny was starting to question just how bad this REALLY was. Maybe it wasn’t that awful, but perhaps that was only because of Barnacles.

She ducked down, hoping nobody could see her. Not that she was going to attack again, but she needed some time for herself. Maybe she’d go explore the surroundings.

"Yeah, that’ll help take things off my mind. To be surrounded by so many things without needing any gear? Perfect."

~~~~

Barnacles had been looking through the lower floors of the main area with his crew. To him, it felt… quite saddening. This thing he’d have piloted for 13 years? Lost for real this time.

Sure, the last time it crashed in Namibia, Tweak modified it to walk on land, and was usable again, but this time it was destroyed and uncontrollable. And now it was left to rot away.

Hopefully this thing went to good use, as well as all the GUPs. Maybe an artificial reef like last time.

With no way to get on land with these tails, the Octonauts were merely nomads once again. If anything, they pretty much didn’t exist anymore. At least that’s how it felt. Being confined to the sea without the Octopod was virtually a nightmare. And that nightmare was becoming real.

"Well, can’t stay silent forever. That’ll only make matters worse. What do you say, Peso?" Barnacles curved his tail towards the penguin.

Peso nodded, looking around in dread. "You might as well. I’m surprised I only became a mermaid. Would’ve expected myself to become a WHOLE orca…" he looked back on his flukes, and chuckled a little.

"Unless there’s many more mythical things and beings out there!" Dashi chimed in. Why else was it specifically this, Captain? Why else do Kwazii and Shellington spend so much time together? It all makes sense now! There’s probably a world we STILL haven’t discovered out there, and it’s RIGHT here on Earth, down HERE!"

"Father" and "Son" stopped swimming and just looked at the dachshund in disbelief. What was she going on about again?

Another world down here? Kwazii and Shellington? What about them? The two were kinda lost in her words, especially Peso.

Dashi had then realized how odd that truly sounded. As excited as she was, she did realize her words. Seemed like those two got to her fast, and now they were in her mind.

"Uhh… Hey, anyone seen Tweak? I’m gonna go look for her." She swam off.

"You know what, Captain? Call everybody."

"My thoughts exactly. Leaving them in silence is NOT OKAY."

~~~~

"No, no Paani, you do not just lose contact with the Octonauts, EVEN when I’m in Hokkaido and they’re in California. Or something like that. Since when did this happen anyway? Last night?"

5,400 miles away, in Sapporo, Japan, another Dachshund was sitting inside a 7-Eleven, chatting with a few Octo-Agents on his netbook.

"Last night, Yeshi. Last night. They were trapped in hurricane Selma. I fear they’ve either lost power or even crashed… AGAIN." Paani responded. "Now, just making sure… to whoever else is here, please say your names!"

"Koshi!"

"Professor Natquik."

"Min here."

"Pearl. Hiya."

As everyone announced themselves, Yeshi he started to think about what happened particularly to his sister, Dashi. Knowing she was on there when signal was lost made him deathly scared. He couldn’t believe this kind of shit had to happen only a few months after reuniting with her and meeting the other Octonauts, too.

Before joining the Octo-Agents, Yeshi was the singer for a local band in Hokkaido, DE LEET. A dacschund among humans, it was a little awkward, but he managed to make things work. If anything, the people didn’t mind much. They might as well have liked that more, which they DID.

"I knew I shouldn’t have been away for so much," he groaned. He was in heavy grief just like his youngest sister, Koshi, who was calling from Australia.

"Everything okay, Yeshi? You’ve stayed silent for a little while now." Paani tried to get his attention. The dog immediately looked at his laptop. "Yeah… I mean, I might be grieving right now. I feel like throwing up, you know?" He rushed off, and went for the restroom.

Pearl had felt his pain just as much. Her brother, Shellington, whose back she always had, was in the same predicament. No one in the group call was aware of what had truly happened, and were left in mystery and misery.

But the most damaged was probably Koshi. "A Junior Agent doesn’t deserve to be involved in a disaster of this scale, especially when their relative is potentially lost," Natquik told Paani. "I say we should let her stay at her sta-"

"N-no, no, I’m okay! I… I can go!" The pup interrupted. "Sis might be waiting for me! Right, bro?"

Yeshi had just returned from the restroom, a grieving look in his eyes. "Yes… yes Koshi. She’s waiting for us… I hope." He looked right at her, then navigated for an image of Dashi. "I promise."

"It’s what all of us would’ve wanted. Inkling's there," Pearl looked at Min.

"Barnacles' is there too." She looked at Natquik.

"As are Dashi and Kwazii…" Yeshi and Paani too.

"And then…"

The sea otter couldn’t keep talking. All the thinking of her brother got to her, and likely Periwinkle next to her. The thought of his uncle, possibly gone.

Yeshi just sat there, unable to throw up again. He didn’t want to bother anymore. That would be a pain for the janitor here. But thinking about all this was gonna make him suffer an anorexic feeling.

"What are you waiting for, you dumb stupid fuck?" He cried to his laptop screen. "Koshi's right, you know. Koshi's RIGHT. They gotta be waiting for us."

Natquik nodded, ignoring the profanity. "Like my friend Barnacles says, there’s no time to waste. Yeshi? Paani? Koshi? Min? Pearl? All of you, get ready. The Octonauts are out there and need help themselves. I’ll be headed for the Octoray in just a few minutes. Pack everything we need because this is an EMERGENCY."

Yeshi slammed his laptop shut. He was NOT wasting a MINUTE, even if it meant waiting a whole day for this thing. He grabbed it and his instant ramen, then rushed home to his base in the mountains west of Sapporo.

"Someone's acting fast. I like that…" Natquik watched as the dachshund hung up.

"Now, I should mention that I AM bringing a special guest with us for help on this mission… you’ll have to wait and see who it is."

~~~~

"Tweak?" Dashi swam to the cave where the bunny was curled up in. "You feel any better?"

The green mermaid looked up, opened her eyes, and saw Dashi floating over her, with that iridescent dolphin tail in full view. The bunny did crack a small smile at the sight of her.

"…I think I’m okay. Starting to reconsider some stuff." Tweak sighed with a crackle of electricity. "Y’know, what I did to y’all, and… Well, I don’t think I can talk to Cap just yet."

The dachshund swam down, sitting next to her. The two figured it wouldn’t hurt to make a little company for each other.

"You know, I think I’ve been… thinking a little different. Like, you know how Kwazii is?" Dashi asked, rabbit nodding in response. "Those tales he tells about myths almost every night that delve into lengthy informational conversations with Shellington and scare Peso into his breakcore mixtapes? Well, seeing how we’re mermaids, do you… think any more of his stories are real?"

Tweak just sat there, thinking of them. "Kwaz? His 'spooky pirate stories'? Well, yes… I mean, no- I mean… Well, Dash, it might just be a sheer coincidence. But then again, Shellington was responsible for our transformations, and he’s really close to Kwaz, so…"

The two went silent again. "We’re just overthinking. I should get some more rest… You could use some too." The bunny closed her eyes, and shook her tail until she felt comfy enough.

The merdog figured she had a point too, and turned on her side.

"Well, see you in a few hours. Zap me if you… need anything."

~~~~

A polar bear watched as the Octoray slowly landed on the south tip of Mackenzie King Island. She’d have only heard about these folks for a while from her brother, who she was still completely unaware of lately.

"Don’t worry, you two. These are your uncle’s friends. They need us for a special meeting, so please stay calm."

Natquik disembarked the ship, approaching the three. "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bianca. I assume you have everything ready by now, so I advise you get on board immediately." He turned around and went back inside the Octoray, the three polar bears following.

Once all four were inside and with seatbelts on, Natquik slowly but immediately took off. "Next stop is Campania Island, then onto Sapporo, I suppose…"

"Odd how Paani hasn’t shared a location yet. He best hurry." The fox pondered under his breath.

~~~~

It had been about an hour now. Barnacles and Peso sat on the edge of the HQ, looking through the former's Octo-Compass. "Natquik's contact should be in here. I’m hoping he’s available right now." He kept looking around in the list. "You know, Peso, I’m glad you and I could do this together." The polar bear looked at him, twitching his whale flukes. "These last few hours have been… out of focus, and being with someone I know makes me feel safer."

Peso smiled, giving his flukes a twitch as well. It really was nice spending time with the boss, now that he had the chance to. "Thanks, Captain. For that, and finding my xylophone in the wreckage. It still sounds great, too!"

Barnacles wrapped an arm around his assistant, just as he finally caught sight of Natquik's image. "There it is."

"Now to just speak up."

~~~~

Above the Northwest Territories, Natquik noticed his Octo-Watch was ringing. He stopped the Octoray mid-air for just a moment and answered.

*HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY, HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY- boop!* "Still can’t believe I have a Bill Wurtz ringtone. Who’s he anyway?" The fox sighed, as he noticed the caller.

"Wha- I-I don’t believe it! Barnacles?! You’re alive? So, did everything go well?"

The polar bear laughed a little. "Well, I am and so is everyone else here. As for the Octopod… yeah, it’s gone."

Natquik freaked out. "WHAT?! Gone? Like… destroyed?"

"In a way, yes. It’s unusable. Everything's flooded, it’s down in the sand. Abandoned for good, if anything. The Namibia incident was merely a close call but this is IT."

The Arctic fox was worried. "Oh dear. Did you make it to dry land?"

"Nope! We’re still down here!" Peso sounded in. Natquik was quite shocked. "You two STILL have air?"

"Of course, Nat! Turned out we all got turned into mermaids, so now we’re just… waiting here."

Like many others, the Arctic fox just… stopped working, and fainted. Bianca made sure Orson and Ursa were okay, then looked at the fox worrisomely and took control. "Natquik, is everything okay?" She held onto his arm, noticing his Octo-Watch. "Barnacles? Is that you?"

The captain on the other side was excited to hear his sister. "Bianca! I haven’t seen you in forever. Did Natquik pick you up on the Octoray? Sounds like it."

"If that’s what it is, then yeah. Me, Orson and Ursa are the only passengers, I guess. What’s happened over there? What did you say that made Natquik… fall like this?"

Barnacles felt insanely awkward. To explain this to his sister was gonna be difficult. So, to combat those fears, he told her without a hitch.

"I’m a mermaid, that’s all."

Bianca found that a little hard to believe. Her brother? A mermaid? How? And why? She asked, getting the "crash and chemical spill" response that many others did. She quickly jotted it down, completely unaware of where she was at this point.

Although, I do guarantee you the people of Yellowknife and Hay River won’t forget seeing a big-ass manta ray in the sky. That’s the stuff of urban legends on old online forums. Maybe something of actual mythology. Who knows?

"So, is that why Nat needed me? To meet up with you and the others? That’s great! I mean, I know you’re like this probably forever… but it’ll still be nice to visit again!" Bianca chuckled, before getting a tap on her shoulder. Natquik had recovered from fainting, and was now holding the polar bear's note.

"What’s this about?" The fox looked at the paper, regarding what had happened. It was signed with Bianca's name in the corner. "You wrote this? Let me see here…"

The polar bear held onto Natquik's watch. "Sorry… he’s back up. I’ll have to get going now, Barnacles. See you soon."

At that, she hung up and handed it back to the Arctic fox, who seemed just as worried. A little annoyed by the sudden hijack Bianca did, too.

"I didn’t want to leave this thing on autopilot. Orson and Ursa were a little scared when you passed out, you know. Now, let’s keep going."

Natquik sighed. What he read was making complete sense now. He knew he’d have to speed up now.

All for Bianca.

~~~~

*Ker-zap!*

Dashi immediately got up. Tweak was sitting at the edge of the cave, looking towards what was left of the Octopod.

"Hm? Tweak? You called?" The dachshund swam over to her, and sat down again. The green bunny was spaced out, still contemplating her actions.

"Might as well‘ve. If anything, I just need somebuddy to come with me… y’know, back to the Octopod. Everyone still remembers me, don’t they?" Tweak sighed. "They hate me too, I know that for a fact."

Dashi did feel a bit wrong for supporting her rabbit, but at the same time she knew it was right to stay with her while she recovered. Otherwise it was likely she’d only get worse. And nobody would want that.

"Can we go now? I don’t want the bad feelings to roll back in, gotcha?" Tweak got up and slowly swam forwards. Dashi nodded and hugged her from behind, only to keep getting shocked again and again.

"Owwwww… Yeah, we can… owwww… we can go." Dashi shook her tail again and again to numb out the pain.

"You’ll get used to it, Dash. It’s gonna hurt but it’ll be worth it in the long run."

~~~~

Peso didn’t even know it was possible to play his xylophone underwater. But he was giving it a shot, and while it was quieter than before, it WAS making noise.

"I’d hit harder but that’s only gonna break it… at least I fear that’s the case. Sorry, Captain."

Barnacles had no issue. On the bright side, they could both breathe air, so playing on the surface was no issue. Maybe this would be a good opportunity to try again at the accordion, too.

"Uh, hi…" suddenly came a voice in front of them. "Can we… all talk? All 4 of us?" It was Tweak and Dashi, having returned.

Peso was a little surprised by the bunny’s appearance, but he wasn’t as scared right now.

"I wondered where you went. Yes, we can talk…" Barnacles moved a little bit. "Here good?"

Tweak pointed down, signaling for a more private area. The other mermaids followed, until they reached the FUCKING SHATTERED launch bay. "Right, this looks good." The merbunny sat down in the sand. "Mind the tail."

Dashi sat a little closer to Tweak, giving her a hug. Her green ears drooped a little in comfort, before she spoke up.

"So, I doubt any of you are aware of what I did, but I think I should explain. And if you DO know, trust me when I say I’m sorry."

"So, I went berserk earlier. Peso, you were busy with medic stuff, and I attacked you and Kwazii. Y’know, I saw Cap as the culprit for this crash, but a little while back I realized things may not be what I thought. Like, it’s not just Cap's fault… we’re ALL at fault!" The bunny happily laughed, before stopping once again. "Which is kinda disappointing. Everybody, we can’t mess up like this again. We were doing so well and now…?"

She gave off a few crackles of electricity, just looking at them.

"Octonauts, the best we can do is learn from it, and move on." Barnacles spoke up. "This may be our lives now, and while it may be difficult to keep going, this is NOT the end of it all. As long as we stay together, I promise that things will go swimmingly. Now, are there any questions?"

Dashi, Peso and Tweak all just sat there, as was Shellington in hiding. Barnacles nodded in understanding. Everything was feeling more surreal. Maybe that nightmare last night, but he couldn’t even recall it so it didn’t matter.

"Okay, so are we just gonna wait here, or what?" Tweak tilted her head.

The captain then remembered. "I almost forgot. Professor Natquik is likely headed here soon. I’ve sent him the location of the nearest landmass: Isla Guadalupe."

Inside her mind, the bunny couldn’t figure out what the point was. To get him turned as well? That didn’t make sense at all, but oh well. If that was what they both wanted, so be it.

Just don’t say she didn’t warn anyone, she thought.

~~~~

Bianca had fully understood everything about the situation. Whoever Natquik was heading for was, apparently, also investigating this. As of now, however, the polar bear was the only one made aware so far.

The Octoray slowly descended towards Campania Island, where two sea otters were standing.

"Don’t let Yeshi touch your Octo-Watch, unless you want an existential crisis." Natquik scoffed, as he touched down. "Now, Bianca, try not to bring this up until we reach Sapporo. I need everyone to know at once, for simplicity."

The polar bear nodded, as Pearl and her son slowly walked in. The mother was clearly distressed, but Periwinkle was still unaware.

Bianca had a bad feeling about her. She and Natquik knew Barnacles and the others were fine, but others didn’t. And seeing how glum this sea otter was, it was clear she was not liking this at all.

Pearl immediately sat next to her, sulking in despair. For a moment, the polar bear felt like talking to her, even for one second. Yet, it looked like she wasn’t even interested.

Orson, Ursa and Periwinkle didn’t seem too bothered. If anything, they were just busy with themselves, having little conversations on their own. It was helping the otter pup too.

To Bianca, it was cute. Just seeing them talking about how nice the weather was getting and how there were more fish swimming around than before made her feel warm.

But to Pearl, it just kept her cold. She couldn’t bear to see herself and Periwinkle alone like this. Sure, her brother WAS away most of the time, but knowing he was doing well was what mattered most to her.

The more Bianca looked at the otter, she was only feeling worse and worse for her. Right now, they were merely strangers, but she knew she couldn’t just leave her in the dark.

After all, they were in this together.

“Uhh… hi.” The polar bear tapped Pearl’s shoulder. “You seem really down. Wanna talk?”

The sea otter looked at her with her tired eyes. As much as she wanted to be left alone, she DID want to be heard at the same time. So, she nodded, shedding a tear.

“It’s my younger brother,” Pearl sniffled. “Shellington was his name. He was on the Octopod when it went offline. And, like, it hit me so hard because… we always had each others backs. Like, when he kept getting teased, I…” She was breaking down once again, and everyone was watching her, except for Natquik who was still focused towards taking the red eye to Australia.

The 3 younglings were clearly concerned, especially Peri. He’d have never seen his mother so sad.

“It’s okay, sweetie. I’m okay.” Pearl rubbed her eyes and clinged to Bianca. “I just… need a break.” The two walked to the back of the ship, near the cargo bay.

“I knew I shouldn’t have put Paani in charge.” Natquik groaned in unrelation.

Now in privacy, the two were just sitting there. Pearl was still crying, and Bianca kept trying to comfort her. The polar bear knew she had to speak up again.

“Hey, it’s okay. Everybody needs to cry sometimes. I know how you feel. I lost my brother too…” Bianca took a deep breath. “Or, at least I thought I did.” She held her paw. “I know Natquik told me not to tell anyone… but this is for the good of both of us.”

At that, the otter’s ears perked up. “You thought? As in… he’s still alive?” She stopped crying for a moment, as Bianca smiled at her.

“That’s right. He managed to make contact with Nat, and he told him all about what happened. If he’s alive, the same could go for your brother… Oh! And another thing~?”

Pearl was trembling in worry, but at the same time ambition.

“My brother is a MERMAID!”

“M-mermaid~? He got turned into one? Does that mean…?” Before the otter could ask, she noticed her Octo-Watch.

It was Barnacles. Pearl was surprised. The polar bear was most certainly right. She quickly answered.

“H-hiya? Is this Barnacles?”

“Ah, Pearl! Is this a bad time?” On the other side, Captain Barnacles was sitting with another sea otter.

“What? No, not at all. I’m on the Octoray with somebody who looks like you. Is she related or some-” The other bear tugged her on the arm. “Wait, excuse me…”

“…sorry, I just…” Bianca blushed a little out of embarrassment. “You know, I think we should introduce ourselves. My name’s Bianca. That’s my twin brother you’re talking to, by the way!”

The otter giggled. “Ah! That’s wonderful! I’m Pearl, by the way! I’m glad we could meet like this…” She patted Bianca on the back, then got back to her other conversation. “Anyways, Captain, is it true you became a mermaid? Your sister’s with me and she told me all about it!”

“Well, I have been quiet for too long, but I can confirm… All of us got turned into mermaids. And I mean ALL of us.”

Pearl’s jaw kept dropping lower and lower as she heard all of this. “Does that mean… Shellington…?”

And as she stood there in the most worry ever, she got her answer.

“Pearl, when Captain says everyone, he means everyone.”

Shellington’s voice. The one thing his sister wanted to hear this whole time.

He really was okay.

Bianca really was right.

And now, she meant everything to Pearl.

Neither of the two mothers thought they’d get into a situation like this. Ever. But on the bright side, it brought them together, from the deep darkness, back into the warm light. Knowing things were gonna get better.

The sea otter had never been so happy before. She was finally at peace. And it was all thanks to Bianca.

HER Bianca.

These next 15 hours were gonna be totally worth it.

~~~~

Paani walked through the cold sands of Coronado. Beyond the sea was the weakening Hurricane Selma, now just a category 1 at this point. He was likely losing track of time, but he was aware of how close he was to the Octopod.

“It’s gonna take them forever, but at least I have a whole sea to look at while I wait!” Paani laughed. “Brilliant! Just look at all of that… not a single worry, as I just… OH… WAIT…”

His happiness vanished quickly as he realized why he was here. “Right… The Octonauts. I’m the one in charge of… Operation No Signal. I HAVE to be serious…”

The macaque sat down in anger. He was thinking of telling Natquik where he really was, but it was definitely too late now. He checked the radar and now the Octoray was over southwest Oregon. Pearl had already been picked up, the monkey never said a word, and it was either headed for China or Australia.

“Shit. I’m on my own, it seems.” Paani facepalmed. “Might as well do my own thing, even if it means being considered incompetent…”

He stood up again. Was anyone behind him? No. Good. He could think for as long as he wanted.

Paani started at the vast ocean. He knew the Octonauts had to be out there. Dead? Likely. But at least he knew they were there at some point.

He had no equipment with him at all, but that wasn’t stopping him from… anything at this point.

“Kwazii, Shellington… I’m coming!” He got back onto his paddle board, parked on the sand, and went off to sea, southbound. To go straight to the west would put him in Selma’s storm surge, and now possibly Todd’s, so no way.

It seemed hard to figure out exactly WHERE the Octopod went missing, so Paani took a quick glance at the radar archives on his Octo-Watch. The last time the Octopod was online was around 10:00 PM PDT, October 4, 2023. Turned out it was really close to Selma’s eye as well. Now all the monkey had to do was get to the coordinates, then swim. Or something like that.

“I’m doing this on my paddle board, alone in the Pacific Ocean… and I’ve likely already figured everything out!” Paani couldn’t figure out why Natquik needed so many of the Octo-Agents. Sounded like a lot of hoopla if anything.

Maybe he needed to calm down for a moment. That Arctic fox probably did have a reason and he was just throwing it away.

Paani stopped paddling. He sat down, looking at the fading skyline of San Diego. The ambition was just killing him, he realized. And maybe it was too late. Getting back to dry land was NOT gonna happen at this point.

All he could do was wait.

This was quite peaceful anyways. Or at least when he realized it was.

He should’ve also realized how bad of an idea it was to just book it into the open ocean.

But hey, at least they’ll hopefully find him as well.

~~~~

Tweak was brooding a little bit. Like yeah, now she was getting used to her new tail, and she wasn’t hating Barnacles as much, and it DID make sense that he wanted Natquik over, to confirm their existence, but in the end it was just gonna lead to him being lost as well.

All that lesirena was getting over the ocean, and it still looked transformative as ever, even though it was a little overshadowed by the seawater.

She wondered how far that was gonna go. Hopefully not too far north. That’s where all the humans were. Would suck for them to get turned.

Hopefully these currents would keep it away. The only ones getting turned were the Octonauts. Maybe these humans had some kind of resistance. No one could really tell. Not even Shellington.

This was the greatest thing ever. And yet it wasn’t.

“Cap, I’m getting worried.” Tweak swam over to him, who was picking away broken glass over the HQ.

“Something wrong?” Barnacles stopped, and turned around and looked at the bunny, flicking her tail around in concern.

“Well, all this lesirena… I feel like it’s becoming too widespread. Like, it’s gonna reach the coasts, y’know?”

That made total sense. The Captain looked around him and shook his head in disbelief. He’d have never seen water so pink before… except for all that jellyfish once.

It didn’t help that most of the GUPs were still in the launch bay and most certainly needed repair. Tweak had to figure out how she and the others were gonna clear that out.

Maybe THAT was why Cap had invited Natquik. Maybe he never had a reason until now. Maybe… he was aware the whole time. Whatever.

She just couldn’t let humanity go down like this, even if it did suck.

~~~~

“So you decided to just abandon us like this? When I made YOU in charge? You think you’re funny, Paani?” Natquik scolded the monkey. “You leave me dead worried for you and all you’re doing is doing this alone! My, you just DISGUST me in every single way possible!”

Paani tried to reason with him but he was just too angry. “Sir, I didn’t… I didn’t mean to just leave you out like this! I should’ve just-”

“I’ll make sure Barnacles hears about this. You’re DONE for.”

####

Paani quickly woke up in fear. He had taken a nap on his paddle board, waiting for the current to keep carrying him. But that only made him have that nightmare.

He realized the consequences were WORSE than he thought. Being fired from being an Octo-Agent would SUCK.

The macaque got his Octo-Watch and figured it was better to tell Natquik now than never.

~~~~

OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN, NORTHEAST OF HAWAII

Pearl was resting her head on Bianca’s shoulder, feeling much better than before. Neither of them couldn’t wait to head to Isla Guadalupe, to finally see how things went for their brothers.

Natquik was getting a little bored. Turbo mode was switched off for the sake of avoiding an overheating problem. So now he and the others were just waiting endlessly here. But at least they WERE getting somewhere.

“…Hm. I’ve never thought about how this music actually sounds. Still don’t get why Yeshi did this, but it can’t be THAT bad…”

He went through his Octo-Watch and into the music player. Sure enough, there were lots of things in it, but the first thing was this shit called “alphabet shuffle”.

Natquik facepalmed. This was not gonna be good, he thought.

As the voice of some guy he didn’t know sang out on his earbuds, the Arctic fox sat down in slight regret. But the more he was listening, he was starting to realize… No, this wasn’t as bad as he thought.

Natquik laughed a little. “I’ve only known Yeshi for a week and I must say, his music taste is interestingly nice.” He took a look at the rest of the songs, in which there were a LOT of them. Most of them were made by this one guy named Bill Wurtz or whatever.

He kept listening along, watching the clouds above him and Hawaii below. The fox was starting to resonate with these lyrics, even if they were utter nonsense. He concretely remembered that Barnacles was safe, as were the others. They were waiting.

“And I’m alright, and it’s just fine… and I’m going to make things right.”

For 45 seconds, Natquik felt total bliss.

Well, up until his Octo-Watch received a call.

Unfortunately, Paani finally woke up.

“H-hi Professor! Sorry I went silent! Just preparing a bunch of stuff! Where are you?” He eagerly asked.

Natquik sighed. Took this guy long enough. And yes, he was in charge. What an idiot. Who decided he’d do this? Those kinds of thoughts ran through the fox’s mind.

“We’re over Hawaii right now, headed for Australia to pick up Koshi. Where are YOU?”

Paani felt super awkward but he didn’t want to make matters worse, so he straight up admitted everything. “Off the coast of San Diego. I’ve got the last known coordinates of the Octopod, so no worries!”

Natquik would have spared no mercy for him, but remembering that the Octonauts WERE safe calmed him down. But of course, he couldn’t tell anyone.

“…Paani, if you can get back to land, please do so. I’d rather we all be together.” The Arctic fox slowly facepalmed. The macaque monkey looked back at where the shore was and figured he had a point.

“Well, I’ll see you by tomorrow morning. I’m headed for Imperial Beach now. BYE!” Paani quickly hung up.

That call had a better outcome than he thought. But did he have to really go back? Like, he knew he was getting close. He knew he couldn’t just… turn back outta nowhere. He had to paddle for even one more minute. Isla Guadalupe was 275 miles away. Seemed quite far, but the monkey didn’t mind. He just had to stay focused. Selma and Todd weren't in the way anymore, so that was a good thing.

“Isla Coronado is up ahead… maybe I should call it a day and stop there for tonight.” Paani sighed. A few more paddles, and that was it. Not like the others were gonna be here for some time anyways.

He could wait, and so could they.

~~~~

Early the next morning, about 3 AM, Tweak managed to make a document regarding what to do with the lesirena.

Her idea? Send everyone to absorb it—everyone being the OctoMers. As much as they could. The rest would be all contained and handed over to Natquik, or whoever was coming here. It sounded easy, yet difficult. But like Cap said, as long as we stay together.

“If only this thing hadn’t happened in the first place. What the fucking shit…” she muttered under her breath, as she handed it over to the beluga bear. “Put this in a safe place, got it?”

As Barnacles read the paper, his Octo-Compass was getting another signal. An Octo-Watch nearby.

“Cap, is that Nat?” Tweak swam over next to him. The polar bear shook his head, noticing the name.

“It’s Paani. All this time he was here and I didn’t even notice. He’s off the coast of Ensenada, apparently.”

The bunny shrugged. “I’m sure he’ll be okay. If anything he’s gotta be on his paddle board… We should be on standby.”

Tweak swam up to the surface and looked for any lights, but she was only met with the vast night sky. There was nothing out here but that.

Paani tried again. He'd been going at this for half an hour now. And for trying so hard, he made little to no progress throughout those 30 minutes.

The trouble was, he had a heavy feeling that they were out there. The Octonauts. Alive? Most likely now. So, why forget all about this?

“Speed up,” the voices in his head called out, again and again. “You have to find them.”

All Paani could do was listen. It was killing him from the inside, but at the same time, he was fulfilling a goal, and now he wasn’t gonna stop.

The more he kept going at it, he felt himself becoming increasingly tired and frustrated. He shook his head and realized what he was doing.

He stopped. He let the waves carry his board. He was ashamed. This was becoming an addiction and it was NOT okay.

The monkey would’ve gone back to land, but that meant more paddling, and that would make matters worse.

And so, he jumped off.

Like Tweak, Paani just… floated there. Watching the night sky. They both had their own issues, too. Tweak still felt bad about her mental breakdown yesterday, and Paani let everyone, and his guard, down, by not following the rules.

Both were hoping things were truly gonna get better, but those hopes seemed distant.

Paani decided it was time to truly take action.

Almost immediately, he took off, swimming. He’d have never done this much, as he was an Octo-Agent, but this seemed more practical than the paddle board. And even if it was the dead of night, nothing was getting in Paani’s way.

But as he kept going, he started to feel VERY uncomfortable, to the point where he didn’t feel like swimming. He felt like something… or someone, was after him.

His fur got warmer and warmer, in a sea of iciness, and he could’ve sworn there were shadows surrounding him again and again.

The macaque monkey finally relished up the courage to look back, flashlight his Octo-Watch, and what he saw was nightmare fuel.

“Hey, Paani! We missed you!”

A kitten, and a sea otter. Both with shark tails. Both surrounded him. In utter darkness, lit up only by that watch’s screen.

The only way Paani could respond was through the loudest he’d have ever screamed, in all his life.

~~~~

Roughly 4 hours later, 10PM in Shanghai, 7AM in LA, Natquik prepared for takeoff from China, now with Min and Koshi on board, he decided to give Paani a call, making sure he DID listen.

He just stood there, looking at his Octo-Watch, waiting for a response. Nothing. He tried calling him a second time.

STILL nothing.

“I’m pretty sure he’s still asleep. What do you think?” Min looked at the Arctic Fox. “He’s gotta be tired from all that paddling earli-”

Natquik knew exactly what happened. “No, no, NO. You know where he stopped? Middle of the ocean.” He showed the other Octo-Agents where Paani’s last location was. “Sure, he is a little… stupid… but he wouldn’t do that!”

The red panda tilted her head. “Maybe he was knocked over and swept away by a wave. We shouldn’t be waiting here, if that’s the case… Get Yeshi and go, go, GO!”

Bianca wasn’t even aware of what happened to Paani, but she was still happy to be meeting all these new folks.

“So much commotion, so much conversation… Pearl, what’s all this about~?” She curiously asked the sea otter, who kept watching this unfold.

Ironically, the other mother had been sitting with Periwinkle in the corner, and really didn’t pay any mind to Paani’s disappearance either. The two moms just looked at each other, blushing with no reaction to Min yanking Natquik by the ears for calling that macaque monkey stupid.

“Well, all I can say is… Welcome to being an Octo-Agent, Bianca. I’ll be your guide!” Pearl leaned over, and nuzzled up against the polar bear, met with a warm hug from her. None of the surrounding brawls could pull them from each other’s love, stronger with every hour on board.

“This is where it ALL begins~!”

In a world where others thought everything was falling apart, the couple knew this whole thing was just an opportunity for PICKING UP PIECES.

Yet, nobody knew where Paani was. To be continued…

#mermaid #mermaid au #alternate universe #octonauts au #octonauts #octonauts mermaid au #reclaimed by nature

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writing-gifts · 3 years

Text

both sides of the viewfinder ch. 2

adult film star!bruno x afab!reader (they are also gn)

18+ content

chapter 1 || chapter 2 || chapter 3 || chapter 4

-----

A/N: okay so this story is actually 4 chapters long now, the 2nd chapter was way longer than i would have liked (and taking too long to edit all at once) so i split it in half

um ig that's it, there’s a cheating scenario porn being filmed this chapter, like its literally the beginning of this chapter so warning for that

other than that i hope you like the chapter!

-----

You hold back the laugh in your chest and try your best to keep a relaxed face. But you didn't have great control when it came to stuff like this and realized quickly in life that you probably wouldn't make it as an actor. However the director still thought it was fine to put you in as an extra with speaking parts.

He said your acting didn't need to be believable or good just that you need to say the lines. That was objectively true--it was porn--but if you cracked a smile people would definitely notice.

You were playing the oblivious person having a conversation with your "best friend". And said friend was getting railed in the shower by your boyfriend who was being played by Bruno. Why you were trying to have a serious conversation while she was showering was completely lost on you. But it didn't have to make sense.

You stare at yourself in the mirror above the sinks. The way the restroom was set up had the shower and toilet in its own separate, little room. So it wasn't completely easy to tell what your friend was really up to.

"My boyfriend's been acting strange recently," you say. You try to sound down but come off more inconvenienced.

"What do you mean?"

The door to the shower room was open so you could hear your friend well even with the water running. So of course you notice her voice wobble at the end. You can't tell if she added that intentionally or if Bruno found a particularly good spot. You ignore it though since you weren't actually supposed to notice anything just yet.

"He doesn't seem very interested in me anymore? Like he doesn't want to have sex with me. And it's kinda weird since he always wanted to before!"

"Ah--!"

“Huh?” you reply, genuinely confused. That wasn't on the script but you knew pretending you didn't hear it would be worse.

“Ahhh, maybe something has been upsetting him recently?” she suggests.

"Oh...perhaps you're right." You move to pull out your phone from your pocket. "It's been bothering me so much so maybe I'll call him right now--"

"D-Don't stop!"

You turn towards the shower room. "What? Are you good? You sound like you're exercising in there."

"Yes yES--I'm good! Just hot in here…"

That sounded so real and it has you wondering what the hell Bruno's doing.

You pause for a split second too long and almost forget to say your next line. "Uh so you...don't want me to call him?"

"No, don't call him. You should s-speak to him in person!" Your friend seemed to finally get her voice under control.

"Oh! That's definitely a better idea." You put your phone away. "I think I'll head home now actually and wait for him. Thanks for hearing me out!"

With that you exit the bathroom set and breathe a sigh of relief. Now all that was left to do was wait for filming to finish and then you could head home for the day.

You join the crew and from where you're standing you can easily watch the two actors go. It was actually kind of nice to watch.

While you stare, Bruno seems to glance in your direction. You raise a brow, wondering why he looked over here and turn around to look behind you, but there's nothing of note there.

-----

"You're not going home yet?"

You turn in your chair. Bruno stands at the door watching you with crossed arms.

"Nope. I'm finishing this up for one of the editors--they weren't feeling well--and I don't want to take it home with me."

"I see," he says. He then walks in the room and pulls up a chair next to you which catches you off guard.

"You don't have to stick around! I'm probably gonna be here up until midnight."

"That's okay. I don't want to leave you here all alone. What are you editing anyways?"

"Well I'm working on one of your porns. The one you did last week."

Bruno leans forward, getting in your space, to see the screen.

"Ah, the one with Leone! That one was really nice, but I always enjoy working with him."

"Yea the two of you have great chemistry."

Abbacchio was a grumpy bitch but somehow the two of them got along pretty well. Bruno seemed to get along with most people easily though.

The man places his elbow on the desk and rests his head in his hand.

"So did you like it?"

"Like what?" you ask.

"The film."

The look in his eye was one that was quite familiar but why it was there, you weren't completely sure.

You feel your heart skip a beat. "I mean...I did."

Bruno smiles and you immediately feel yourself getting hot.

"What did you like about it? If you don't mind me asking."

A small smile comes to your lips. "W-Well you're in it, that's one. I like when I can tell the actors are genuinely having a good time. And both you and Abbacchio are attractive. Your m-moans were pretty nice too."

"They sound better when they come naturally hm?"

"Can't disagree with that!"

You turn your attention back to the screen. As much as you'd like entertaining Bruno you still need to get this done.

"You seem less reserved in person compared to when we message on Twitter."

"Really? It's usually the opposite for people…" you say.

"I know that's why I find it interesting." The man pauses for a moment before talking again. "Remember when you said you watched some of my work?"

You nod.

"For fun?"

You raise a brow but still answer. "I like to judge the camerawork, but sometimes I do for fun.”

Even though you were kind of over porn, there were the few times that you used it to help get off. And when you did you usually found yourself seeking out media involving Bruno.

Bruno lets out a laugh. "That's good to know."

You purse your lips at his smug expression. The man is definitely trying to mess with you. Of course you didn't mind some teasing but being the only one receiving wasn't your forte. Also you didn't want to be here all night.

"I need to finish this. You can stay but you can't keep distracting me like that..."

"Of course."

You look at him warily before getting back to work. Even though Bruno didn't really seem it, he definitely had a mischievous side.

The man watches the screen (and sometimes you), keeping you company with more innocent chat while you work. It actually makes time pass by faster.

You end up finishing earlier than you expect and thank Bruno for staying with you. The man offers to drive you home but you decline and take the bus instead.

The moment you're in your bedroom, your body hits the bed--no night routine or clothes change. You'd just have to deal with it in the morning.

It barely feels like you've been asleep before you hear your alarm go off. You grab your phone and shut it off.

Sighing, you risk closing your eyes for a few more seconds. You weren't ready to go back to work but after a minute you force yourself out of bed and stretch.

You head straight to the bathroom to start your day by brushing your teeth and multi-task with your phone--checking your work email and replying to any missed messages that you didn't get to last night. Other than that your morning starts off pretty uneventful.

While you're eating breakfast you get a message on Twitter.

Bruno: Morning.

You reply with your own good morning. The message surprised you but it was a pleasant one.

Bruno: How are you feeling? Not too tired I hope.

You: i'm okay now that i've had some coffee

You: how's your day going so far?

Bruno: The usual. I'm walking over to a restaurant nearby to get something to eat.

You: ooo sounds yummy 😋

You: what ya gonna get?

Bruno: I'm not sure yet but I'll send a picture when I do.

you: noo i'll be jealous, i'm literally eating cereal right now. but also please do send it

Bruno: I can bring you a to-go box if you want.

Your spoon stops halfway to your mouth.

You: i mean it's still good cereal so you don't have to

Bruno: It's fine. I like feeding people, at least that's how one of my friends phrased it!

You: well…..okay 👉👈

You: thanks ❤

Bruno: You're welcome.

Bruno: ❤

-----

"Off day today?" you ask.

Bruno drags his fingers through his hair and sighs. Other than that, he doesn't show any frustration.

"I planned for today to be short, then I could head home but as you can see it's not really going as planned. And all these lights…." He looks at you. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you're tired too."

"No, no it's okay. It’s totally my fault! We can take a break if you want?"

The studio had been dabbling with more amateur work lately so the director had left you and Jocelyn to handle this, and Jocelyn had decided it would be fine if you were on your own for this film. You weren't sure why you agreed since you had only been here about a month at this point and didn't feel completely comfortable. But you did and it was proving to be very nerve wracking. It affected your work and dragged this out longer than necessary.

“And honestly, I should probably take one too," you add.

Bruno agrees and you grab the man's robe and place it on his shoulders. While He slips back on his briefs you turn to the small crew.

“Guys lets take a 15 minute break.”

Everyone gives their okays and most of the crew leaves the room while a few check the equipment or their phones.

You tell Bruno where you're going and head outside to get some fresh air.

You try to use the time to relax but instead end up walking back and forth, worrying about the film and Bruno. The man was still able to act the part but you stopping and going so often was definitely affecting his performance. And you really didn't want him to have to act out every motion.

You stop walking and lean against the wall of the building. While waiting for the break to end you see someone approaching from the parking lot. The editor you helped before when they weren't feeling well.

You push yourself off the walls and meet them part way with a greeting.

"Hey Eli."

"What's up ____...You good? You look kinda stressed."

"I guess I am. Sorry for asking so suddenly but could you do me a favor?"

"What type of favor?"

"I'm supposed to film this amateur video of Bruno masturbating, and I've been having a hard time for some reason. I don't want to keep Bruno trapped here all day for something like this. But I don't know if my shots are usable...Do you think you can check for me?"

They hum in thought. “____ I'm going to be honest with you. It sounds like you're overthinking this. I mean, it’s called amateur for a reason. It doesn't need to be super high quality or “perfect” shots! That's probably why they let you direct it on your own."

At that moment everything clicked.

"I didn't mean it in a bad way though!"

"No, you're right. Thanks!"

You leave before they can respond and head back to the set room. On your way there, you go find a different camera. Something smaller and less complicated that will still capture good quality shots--perfect for what you were about to do.

When everyone returns from their break you have most of the lights brought down and let the whole crew go.

"Bruno I know you do videos on your own. So we're pretty much gonna do it like that now. Except that I'm here...uh.” You laugh. “You know what I mean."

Bruno smiles at the camera in a way you could only describe as cute.

"I understand. I’m ready to go whenever you are."

You nod and give the signal.

Right away, his light smile transforms into something more alluring. He leans back on the multiple soft pillows set against the headboard and lets out a relaxed sigh.

You give Bruno a moment to prepare himself and when you see the outline of his cock already hardening through his briefs, you internally breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's been awhile since I've last done this."

He props a arm atop the pillows. "Now that it's happening, I just realized I've missed it."

You want to ask what he means but bite your lip instead. Maybe it was some type of roleplay.

He drags a hand up his thigh before stopping at the bulge between his legs, and you can't help the thought of running your own hands against those legs.

He hums. "You know, I have a hard time keeping you out of my mind at night."

Your stomach flips but you make sure to keep your breathing controlled.

His thumbs hook under the band of his briefs and you lean a bit forward without thinking, anticipating what you had seen many times before. But for the first time in a long time you feel yourself slipping from your work frame of mind. Maybe it was inappropriate but you were sure Bruno wouldn't mind.

After teasing you for way longer than you would like, the corners of Bruno's lips quirk upward and he finally pulls down the band to reveal himself.

Bruno's cock stands erect and his brow furrows. "Look what you're doing to me..." His head lolls to the side to rest against the pillows and his breath hitches when he begins to stroke himself.

You focus on his handsome face for a moment. His blue eyes are piercing and it feels like he's looking past the camera and straight at you at you.

Your fingers twitch on the camera. You'd never wanted to touch someone so bad in your life.

-----

Bruno: Can I get your advice on something?

You: yea, what is it?

Bruno: I want to post some photos on my OnlyFans but idk which one to use on Twitter though. Can you help me decide?

You: ooo of course!

He sends 3 pictures of him wearing different elaborate lingerie. They must have been new since you're sure you'd never seen them before. Anyways, you're a millimeter away from sending a photo of a cartoon character with their jaw on the floor.

You: idk if i can decide! any of them would be enough to get me on your onlyfans...

Bruno: Thank you but you still have to pick one.

You scroll back and forth looking through them. The pictures were teasing, hinting at what was to come and they were all very sexy. But after staring for too long you finally make a choice.

You: the third one!

Bruno: Why?

You: ….it shows your tiddies the most 💁

Bruno: I thought you were going to say something about the framing or lighting...

You: LOL

You: i can look at them again?

Bruno: No it's okay. I'll use the tiddy picture.

Bruno: Thank you.

You: no problem!

You: soooo when are you posting the full set?

Bruno: Trust me, I'll let you know right beforehand. 😏

You: 😳

-----

You walk down the hallway slightly annoyed. Jocelyn just informed you that you would be covering for one of your coworkers last minute. It was inconvenient but not that big of a deal. That is until you found out that Melone was one of the actors.

When you first met him, he seemed to keep to himself for the most part. But recently he had become fixated on you. Every break in filming he’d approach you.

At first it wasn't so bad and you thought he was trying to be friendly, but it didn't take long for you to start feeling uncomfortable. Some of the questions he asked made you feel weird--it wasn't anything you weren't used to but the way he asked them... And when you tried to steer the conversation into a different direction he didn't take the hint. On top of all this, you didn't see him do this with anybody else.

You walk into the breakroom and find Bruno snacking. He greets you but quickly realizes something's up.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

The leather couch that you hate creaks when you fall back on it.

“Well I have to unexpectedly help with more camera work today. And Melone's going to be there so he's definitely going to be talking my ear off.”

You try to sound indifferent about it but Bruno says something you don't expect.

"I can talk to Jocelyn and get you out of it."

"Huh? No, no you don't need to do that. That's a silly reason to try to skip out."

"Well, how about I say it like this? I'm done for today and I would like to take you out to eat with me."

You smile. "That does sound nice..."

"Okay, it's settled then. I'll go talk to her and then we can go."

Once Bruno comes back the both of you walk to his car.

"Eating mostly oatmeal and vegetables for the last 2 days hasn't been very satisfying," he says as he opens the passenger door for you.

You get in and wait for him to walk around to get in the driver side.

"It sucks but at least you can eat whatever now. Where are we eating by the way?"

"Bertolino's--it's nearby. I'm craving pizza. Or pasta."

You feel your stomach grumble pleased with the thought.

"You could do both, kinda like macaroni pizza."

Bruno glances at you. "That sounds...unpleasant."

"Oh so you've tried it?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

You watch him try to wrack his brain for a rebuttal and fail.

"...It still sounds bad though," he says.

"Try it first then we can talk."

You reach out and poke the man's cheek. He immediately shoos your hand away and throws a miffed look at you.

"Hey, I'm trying to drive."

You grin but leave him alone. This was the first time you'd get to spend time with Bruno outside of work so you were a little restless and couldn't help messing with him.

"This is probably the most excited I've seen you," he says.

"Yea--just happy to be outside of work!"

"Is Melone that much of a problem?"

"No...well he can be a lot but it's not really a big issue. I'm just happy to get to spend time with you is what I meant."

Bruno's doesn't respond right away and you wonder if you said something wrong.

"If he's bothering you I can handle it," he finally says.

You let out a laugh. "Are you going to beat him up?"

"If necessary."

You stop smiling when you realize he isn't joking and conclude that he doesn't like Melone. You wonder what the man could have done to get on Bruno's bad side though since he seemed to get along with everyone.

"I feel the same by the way," Bruno says.

"Huh?"

"About getting to spend time together."

You and Bruno spend the next hour and a half sharing a pizza and talking. And the two of you learn a few things about the other that didn't involve work. Like that he wears glasses to read and that he had a dyeing "accident" with his hair recently.

Afterwards you didn't really feel like going back to work so Bruno drives you home.

You unbuckle your seatbelt. "Thanks for the meal and ride."

Bruno smiles. His mood seems better now that he's eaten. "You're welcome. We should do this again sometime."

"Yeah, I'd like that." And instead of saying goodbye and getting out of the car, you sit there expecting--expecting something.

The both of you stare at one another until Bruno leans towards you. His lips meet yours and for some reason his breath smells like mint.

Before you can worry about your own breath, Bruno's hand is on your thigh and sliding up. His tongue presses against your lips, coaxing you to part them.

The beating in your chest feels so hard and your hands clinch next to your thighs. You want to reach out for Bruno and make a mess out of him, but you feel like you're running out of breath way too quickly.

You pull away.

Bruno immediately moves his hand off your leg. "What's wrong?"

You weren't really sure yourself. You just knew something was bothering you. Or maybe that was just the food you ate trying to digest. Either way it was preventing you from fully enjoying this.

"I'm not sure but I think it's best if we stop for now."

He nods but you worry he might be a little disappointed.

"That's fine," he says.

"It's not because I'm not interested! It's just something's off. Please dont think I'm not attracted to you."

"I'm not upset ____." He smiles. "I want you to be comfortable."

"Whew, okay.."

"Do you want me to walk you to your apartment?" he asks.

"That's okay. Thanks though."

You brush a misplaced hair behind his ear and press a quick kiss to his lips. Once you pull back, you open the car door and step out.

"Stay safe," he says.

"You too. I'll message you later."

#i sure do love dragging things out!#im excited for the last chapter cause i wanna post something resort-y #like hell yea vacation!#ive never been to a resort in my life so we are going to pretend lmao #bruno buccellati x reader #bruno bucciarati x reader #bruno x reader #not sfw #n$fw

127 notes · View notes

extemely-thoughtful-person · 3 years

Text

50 followers special theory!!! (Prepare for a brain rot!!!)

Even MORE Chapter 6 Predictions: the Olympus Tech Company, RSA vs NRC details, and mini theory regarding the release date.

Now, your probably all getting impatient about Chapter six's release date. The events are something to look forward to, but it just doesn't answer what happens next in the main story line. But because of impatience, I would like to say something: it could be worse.

Seriously, I was (and still am) a fan of RWBY, and let me tell you. Their yearly hiatus is pure torture. Their release dates are in late October to early November, with their volumes ending anywhere around the end of February to early April. This leaves a time span of anywhere from 8 to 10 months between each volume. And the writing for that show isn't even close to as good as Twisted Wonderland's.

So I'm taking a second to appreciate not just the quality, but the speed of the writing and development of each chapter. Along with the effort that goes into each event, repair and update. Your doing great TWST crew! Keep up the good work!💕♥️

So, with that said, let's get to a few issues I've been thinking about for a while now.

The Olympus Tech Company

What We Know So Far

The Olympus Tech Company is one of the best tech companies in Twisted Wonderland. They sponsored the VDC voting system, and are a pretty big deal in the world. Upon receiving an invitation for an internship from the company, we learn from Ortho's reaction that getting something like this is a huge deal. It's probably a very rare occurrence for the company to undertake interns.

Idia got the intern easley enough, most likely due to his skill, and not social status. But, instead of accepting the invitation, he tossed it in the trash. Along with the rest of his invitations to work for other smaller companies.

Many people have been asking the very fair questions: Why would you throw away a great opportunity like that? What kind of past events would lead a person to toss away something that thousands of people would jump at the chance to do?

These kinds of questions are good, but this is the questions I've been asking: Did Idia make the right choice by throwing a valuable invite in the trash? Will his choice come back to bite him in the rear later on?

The reason why I ask these kinds of questions is because we don't know anything else about the Olympus Tech Company (OTC). For all we know they could premote enslavement there. (They obviously don't, but we don't really know that)

So because we know so little about the company, I decided to consult the next most accurate source besides the game, the Hercules movie. More specifically, mount Olympus, and it's residents. And I gotta say, some of the stuff I found at the beginning of the film was more than enough to make an educated guess as to what kind of company the OTC is really like.

And it's not as good as the universe makes it out to be.

My Research and Opinions regarding Olympus

Before I formally begin, allow me to cast some light on a very important factor that will change your whole output on the movie. Remember the first song that's preformed by the Muses, the Gospel truth right? This song is preformed throughout the film in smaller parts, but the whole concept of the song is very disturbing if you think about it like this. Although the title Gospel refers to the type of music used in the song, it is also a reference to something else: the perspective of the whole story. Gospel means "good message" or " good word" but it is also referred to as "the word of God".

And in this case, the word of the gods of Olympus. Or even Zeus himself. But do you realize what that means? This story is told from the perspective of the Olympians. But what about any input from a neutral party? Or even a question or two from Hades himself about the situation from his point of view?

Nope. It's just the Olympian's perspective. That's probably why Hades is depicted with more monstrous features, because they saw him as the villain.

Keep this Gospel detail in mind, because it comes in as a very important factor later on.

Now, where to begin?

The Titans

From what I could gather the titans are the primal monsters of this whole movie. They're mindless powerhouses that walk the face of the earth until Zeus comes along and traps them under the ocean. The only way to free them is to wait for the planets in the solar system to align perfectly, which in turn should cut a path through the waters and, with the help of a god, free them.

And right off the bat, there are several things that I'm questioning. Like, If Zeus put them down there in the first place, then what's to stop him from doing it again? Why is Hercules the only one who can beat the titans in round two? And despite the almighty power of the Olympian counsel, how did dozens, if not hundreds of gods lose to the titans when Zeus defeated them by himself in the first place? And how in Hade's name did Hercules beat them all? And he's lesser than all the gods at this point! How?! HOW?!??!!!

Besides that, there's not to much else to say about them. But they could be important...

Olympus

Okay, there's a lot of things I've noticed about Olympus itself. Btw, I'm not talking about the gods of Olympus, just the place itself.

Firstly, everything is made of clouds. If something gets destroyed, then it automatically repairs itself. But I think that the cloud structures of the buildings isn't just a callback to the heavens, but it reminds me of a place that seems unreal. Like, something like this isn't supposed to exist. "It's too good to be true" kinda place. It looks like a paradise, like a perfect place to live, like a place everyone would want to live.

Which brings me to my next observation: the gates to Olympus are closed. I feel like this detail is more important than you may realize. It could mean that only the gods and goddesses are allowed up here, it could mean that you need to earn your ticket there as well. One things for sure, not just anyone can waltz up there like they own the place, there's a certain type of person that's allowed up here. If you don't fit the status quo, then you aren't welcome.

Besides the gates being closed, anyone who can go over or are authorized can and do go in. But don't expect to get there without a ticket.

The gods

This is where things get dark.

The gods and goddesses of Olympus are very chill up close the first time we see them. They seem like nice people, just hanging out in heaven enjoying a paradise. They got invited to a party to celebrate a reasonable event that anyone should enjoy. Nothing seems to be wrong about this, right?

Well, when Hades enters the picture for the first time the atmosphere gets dark. It's because it's a very rare occurrence for the god of the underworld to be in Paradise. Even the other gods are wary of his presence. But Zeus did invite him because they're brothers, right? Family inviting family for a nice reunion? Hades is just being ungrateful, he's killing the mood and it's his fault, right?

No. It isn't Hades fault for anything. Mostly.

Remember what I said about the Gospel truth? How the story it told from the prospective of the Olympians? This is where that prospective comes into play.

Hades is just terrible from the olympian point of view. Is he actually bad though? No. I think that Hades is better than all the gods on Olympus combined. And the interactions tell us a lot, and give us information to back this up.

For one Hades says that most of what the gods actually do is just...well... nothing. They just hang out on Olympus partying and enacted what they call "divine justice" on the mortals. They just cash royalty sacrifices from their temples on earth, get human worship, and laze around while they do next to nothing. We even see this later in the movie.

Hades on the other hand has the full time job of ruling the underworld, which I might add is a huge responsibility. You gotta make sure that the dead come to the underworld, make sure they get the proper judgement, and you need to make sure they don't try to escape into the living world. This job takes up most of Hade's time, but like I mentioned in a previous post about Ignihyde being about adapting, Hades manages to make the job doable by only one person keeping the underworld in order. But even with the shortcuts involved, it's still a pretty hard job.

And get this, Zeus gave...no forced this job on to Hades. The poor guy didn't even get a say in the matter. He didn't get to choose, but instead a cosmic rando of a brother just walked up to him and said " Hey, bro! Imma gonna give you a job away from home that's gonna be a bit tough, but don't worry! All you gotta do is keep an entire realm that is just as big if not bigger than Olympus under control. Make sure the dead don't come up to the surface to start a zombie apocalypse! Okay? Okay! Love ya! Thanks!"

And Zeus doesn't even bother to help Hades in anyway. So basically, while the gods just sit on cloud cushions doing next to nothing, Hades is down in the underworld doing an important, thankless job just because his younger brother gave him that responsibility without his input.

I did say Olympus was full of nice people, I never said they were good.

And what Zeus did to Hades? It's disgusting because Hades did nothing to deserve this treatment. And wanna know something else? Inviting Hades to a party on Olympus is just a huge insult rather than a nice reunion. Because Zeus is basically saying, " Hey bro! Welcome back to the paradise we practically kicked you out of! It's such a nice party we're having, reminding you of everything your missing out on! Isn't my son adorable? It's so nice that he was born into a place like this, and loved by everyone just because his father is the king. Btw, no one finds your jokes funny because, if we're being honest, you don't really belong here!" And Zeus even has the audacity to tell Hades to stay longer. Wanna know why he does that? It's because if Zeus just told Hades to leave then it would make Zeus look bad, telling his own brother to go. In reality, it would be nicer to Hades to just tell him he's not wanted than making yourself look better by keeping him in a place that's out of his league.

So I'm asking the question, is Hades right to try and take Olympus?

In many cases, yes. However the way he goes about it isn't that great. But honestly, I don't blame him for wanting to tear his deadbeat family apart.

Another question that I ask myself: If Hades was allowed to stay in and rule Olympus, would he do a better job?

Actually, yes. I believe he would, because even though Hades would enjoy himself up there, he has a productive personality. He managed to make running the underworld easier for himself, so it would be cake for Hades to be in charge of Olympus. Not only that, but he could do so much better because he would not just find ways to cut corners with quality work, his presence would make things farer for everyone else.

Remember what I said earlier about the status quo? That only the gods are allowed on Olympus? Hades may be a god, but it's made clear from his first appearance and the Olympian's reactions that he doesn't fit the status quo. Monsters, and other creatures don't fit the mold either, and are gazed upon as, well, monsters. But, if Hades was in charge, then I'm willing to bet he would try and find a use for the cast outs. After all, in the underworld, he has Cerberus guarding the dead, Pain and Panic working as minions carrying out smaller jobs for the god, and the Fates, who are informants giving Hades accurate information. All of the characters above don't fit the status quo, and yet, Hades still relies on them to lend a hand and trusts they'll do their jobs. (They don't always, but at least they try.)

If I'm being honest here, I don't think that Hades isn't worthy of Olympus, I think Olympus isn't worthy of Hades. Because as far as we've seen, none of the gods even come close to doing something as important or as difficult as Hades.

The Olympus Tech Company And what it might be like

So, taken all this information about Olympus, what do we think the OTC is like?

The answer is a garbage company.

Its probably just like any mega corporation that hires underpaid workers who work in poor conditions while the higher-ups do next to nothing, living a life of luxury while certain people below them are working hard to earn a living.

That's the basic gist of the company. They probably don't let anyone move up the ranks unless that person is appealing in some way. Basically if you fit their status quo, then you get a raise, maybe a better position. Who knows? Maybe they steal ideas from their lower employees. They don't actually care about any of them though.

And the stuff they program and produce is probably something like today's corporations would be able to produce. Their company is modern, but not advanced, though they probably think it's advanced compared to lesser companies. The type of technology their company produces is most likely the equivalent to our modern day tablets, phones, and computers. Just stamp a brand on it and OMG you've got the latest tech from the OTC. They probably also care about quantity over quality, meaning that they're willing to sell more of their products rather than products of good condition. Unless you wanna pay more for quality.

What about interns? What sort of treatment do they get?

Idia got an invitation to become an intern during his fourth year, and that's supposed to be a big deal, given how rare they are. But if we're right about the company being garbage, would they show that to interns? Probably not because that could cause a dent in their reputation. As for treatment of the interns, they would get treated well enough, definitely better than the factory workers who have been in the company way longer.

So comparing the OTC to Ignihyde, The OTC would definitely have more respect (which they do not deserve) and Ignihyde would be more advanced (but they're not too big on credit).

Olympus and OTC comparison

What do both places and people have in common?

Both have Lazy higher-ups who take all the credit

Both have a class in the company who don't fit the status quo

While the Olympians do nothing, the OTC's technology refects the higher-ups lazy attitudes

Both the highest don't care about the people below them

Both will use whatever means necessary to secure their reputation, wealthe, and possition

Hades and Idia comparison

Both do important jobs that they had no say in getting ( they didn't ask for this, guys)

Both feel left out, but have gotten used to it overtime

Both are good at finding shortcuts and making good use of resources

Both can change their strategy when the situation calls for it

Both don't fit the status quo

Both disapprove of the normal people ( Idia thinks they're just NPCs while Hades thinks the dead are boring)

Both hate people, and they both probably have bad blood within their families

So basically Idia's reaction if he ever got to see the OTC up close? He'd either nope the heck outa there, or if he ever took the opportunity and made it big in the company, he'd turn it on it's head and completely reform it.

OTC vs Ignihyde

So what kinda conflict is gonna strike between these two very different places?

Well, to start off, I wasn't sure what kind of conflict would strike out between an NRC dorm and an entire company. So, again I looked at Hercules and picked out the first big enemy. So, let's look at the threat at the beginning of the movie, the Titans.

I said they would be important somehow, and at first, I wasn't sure. I tried thinking of something that could fit as a titanic threat. Maybe an unstable invention, a nuclear weapon, or perhaps a powerful discovered Magical artifact? All things considered, no matter what is was, it was going to be imprisoned by the CEO of the Olympus Tech Company for not just safety reasons, but for research purposes. The problem was coming up with what exactly.

And then, the realization hit me with the force of Ares's chariot.

Ortho Shroud is based off of the Titans from the movie.

Yes, yes, I know. Outrageous claim. But there is a lot of evidence to support this Theory.

Firstly, the Titans were seen as huge primal monsters causing endless natural disasters such as hurricanes, volcanoes, and earthquakes. They were left unchecked until Zeus imprisoned them all.

Taking a look at Ortho, we've seen time and time again that he's capable of causing mass destruction as well. His archetype gear fired a powerful beam of magic that destroyed a tree, his star gazer gear is capable of punching through storm clouds (which, btw are huge) tearing up the sports field in the process, and he almost leveled the entire college during the Ghost marriage event. And these are only a handful of times we've seen him ready to use violence and destruction as the solution to the problems at hand. Basically, Idia is good at designing destructive weapons, and Ortho's outfits are perfect examples of this. Not to mention there was more than one Titan and Ortho has several different outfits each one capable of causing a different kind of mass destruction.

The next, and probably the most important tie these two groups have in common is this: lightning.

Zeus imprisoned the Titans with his thunderbolts, and they hold a grudge against him because of it. They don't like lightning.

Well, guess what? Ortho doesn't like lightning either. Now, we don't know exactly why. There a number of different reasons, and here are a few guesses:

Lightning killed the original Ortho

He can malfunction due to a lightning strike

It's a part of the Shroud family curse

He thinks its annoying

We still don't know exactly why, but a distaste for lighting is a definite connection.

And what happened to the Titans? They were imprisoned by Zeus.

And what do you think's gonna happen to Ortho in the next chapter?

Once the OTC finds out the truth about Ortho, and that he's actually a robot, they're gonna want answers. Why is your brother a robot? How did he manage to build something like this? It's just an AI, right?

And when they see how much damage Ortho can cause, the head of the company is going to want him contained. So the base of conflict between dorm and company? It's not just Ortho that's at stake, but the entire dorm. The OTC may be a bigger deal than Ignihyde, but the dorm is probably centuries ahead of any tech company. In a previous post, I listed off a few things I wanted to see as Ignihyde's unique feature. One of the things that I mentioned is a data archive. If the dorm has a library for all their knowledge, which probably contains lots of info for magical technically, then who wouldn't say that could be of some value to the Olympus Tech Company?

I wouldn't be surprised if the OTC took some of it's inspiration from the actual disney company in america because those guys are basically known for taking something, rewriting and rebranding it, then claiming all the credit for whatever they did. It would make perfect sense to have the company based off of the real life company who it's owned by. The whole Hercules movie was written by two people who highlighted disney's flaws of merchandising and branding and threw those into the movie. A subtle but realistic joke about Hercules's popularity and how it's used by the company.

The OTC and their possible ties to RSA

Now, it's not just going to be The Olympus Tech Company vs Ignihyde this chapter, we've still got RSA to worry about. Throwing an entire school towards an entire dorm would be a little unfair, so the rest of NRC would definitely be involved with the annual school vs school Magift tournament.

I've already covered the possibility of RSA cheating for a century in a row. I'm holding on to that theory because if these bozos win without some kinda godly trump card or rule violation and just because they're the perfect players from the perfect hero school, I'm gonna burn that prep academy to the ground, sow the ground with salt, and throw the ashes of the school into a volcano! I'll take great pleasure watching that volcano erupt, destroying the remains of that blasted, stupid institution once and for all!

Alright, you get the point. Making a perfect academy would be the worst thing you can do.

But what if it's not just the Magift tournament? What if they were cheating at the VDC as well?

How could they though? It's decided by a majority vote which is done in real time by the people. How could they tamper with the people's votes?

They messed with the voting system. And the OTC were sponsoring that, right? The Olympus tech company is responsible for NRC losing again. Now, I'm not saying that they convinced more people to vote for RSA, I'm saying they actually messed with the numbers. And since they sponsored the system, all those votes were completely at their mercy. They could've made some invalid, deleted a few, and in the end the results were the same. RSA came out on top.

But do you notice how close the match was? By just one vote. I think that originally, NRC was ahead by a few, so the OTC cut some votes off from the original winners to make it look like it was a close game, but RSA was victorious.

I think Neige's supporters were in on the secret. They knew the game was rigged in their favor, and they knew they would win. Did you really think that they were just reassuring Neige just to make him feel more confident? They were stating the fact. They were definitely in on it.

Now the question: why would the OTC go up against NRC? Why help RSA win?

There are at least two possibilities as to why. But both depends on a certain factor, the character based off of Hercules himself.

Possiblity #1: Vil Schoenheit is also based off of Hercules

Both have a similar pasts (minus the godly background) but both do have a father in a higher possition.

Vil is going up against Idia in the next chapter. The chapter might have an important element of heros and villains. And we may see where Vil tries to play the role of the hero.

So, what does this have to do with the OTC?

The Olympus tech company's reason for cheating would be in this case that they were bribed by RSA. They tampered with the voting for money.

Very dirty of them, but because of corporate greed? Why not?

Possiblity#2: there is a new character who fills the base and the role of Hercules

This one is probably the more likely one, as it would not only give us a chance to meet more RSA students, but also the head CEO of the OTC.

In this case, the CEO would be based off of Zeus, and he would have a son based off of Hercules. The Hercules character would attend RSA, and maybe have a few friends who are based off of Hercules's friends (Random thing where he's gay for Twisted!Megera, but that's just a joke.) Basically, it would follow the equivalence rule about the hero and villain counterparts. After all, Hades went up against Hercules, not Zeus. Having Idia and Twisted!Hercules competing in Magift against each other would make the most sense.

Now this would be where the OTC motive for rigging the voting system come in. Twisted!Zeus is the head of the OTC, and his son attends one of the academies with a representative from that same academy. It would make RSA look bad for losing, the same academy his son attends. Why not push the votes in RSA'a favor to ensure that the students of the academy keep their flawless reputations?

Of course, it's possible for it to be a combination of both possibilities.

And if the OTC is sponsoring the score boards for the Magift tournament, who's to say they won't do the same thing again?

But, there's something they never considered about this year's Magift tournament.

Tipping the scales

RSA students most likely have been taught to work together. This is a good thing for them. They've been taught how to function as a unit, how to help each other through hardships, and to come out victorious together. This is all fine, and I'm willing to bet that the teachers at RSA have taught this lesson to the students as a traditional one. It's always been there. And it's known for this tradition

NRC students have always been asked the question: what do you want? They persue their own goals and dreams, rarely working with others to come out on top. And when they do work together, it's usually on conditions. Crowley's probably been at the college since the start, and has not just taught the students to not rely on anyone but themselves, but also the harsh cruel reality of the world: Happy endings don't just happen on their own. You need to work for them. The students don't rely on each other, and never have.

Both academies's greatest strengths is the others greatest weakness. RSA's weakness is it's students falling apart and being separated. NRC's weakness is the students working together with no motivation, because they aren't used to working with people they hate, it's constant fighting among themselves.

But that system is about to be broken by one person: MC

MC has been teaching the students to work together and establish friendships with each other. Through the NRC students misadventures, MC has been teaching them to overcome hatred and ban together. So now, not only are the NRC students capable of working as strong individuals, but they can now function as a unit as well.

This eliminates the system of strength and weakness because now, RSA has the weakness of not being able to function as individuals. Not all students suffer from this, but most would. But the ability to work with others as well as by yourself would give NRC the advantage in a fair game. But if we count the fact that RSA has the cheats and support, this game was never ment to be fair.

So to sum it all up:

The OTC is a company full of jerks

Ortho is based off of the Titans and needs to be protected at all costs

Ignihyde must protect their entire dorm from the dark crime of plagiarism

The OTC may be helping RSA cheat due to bribery and/or family connections

We can't trust anything sponsored by the OTC

And MC is going to help our bois destroy the competition

Or, again I could be horribly wrong.

Thanks for reading!!! And....

Before i official end the post, I'd like to say two quick things. The first is a mini Theory regarding the release date for Chapter 6. It could either be with the chapters story line time in late May, or the sixth chapter is released on the sixth day of the sixth month, or more specifically, June 6.

Secondly, thank you for 50 followers!!! Even though I don't spend all of my time on tumblr, it's a great comfort to me knowing someone does read what I write ( even though most of it seems outrageous and incredibly farfetched.) You all mean the world to me! Thanks!!!

#twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland theory #i did a thing #twst #ignihyde #Olympus Tech Company #ortho shroud #twisted wonderland idia #rsa we're doomed #rook i swear if you know what's going on but don't tell us i give you a taste of my shoe #vil schoenheit #MC #Crowley #we're doomed #disney twisted wonderland

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vannyvancan · 3 years

Text

"mr assassin" Roommate!Shinsou Hitoshi X F!Reader Part 2

Part 2 of your Roommate/Assassin!Shinsou is here! First of all I wanna thank y'all for liking the first part so much! In this part we go deeper in darker theme of it, so just a fair warning.

my masterlist. Hope you have a great day and happy reading!

Tw for : Assassin!Shinsou theme, female reader, gun usage, slight insecurity, NSFW for the most part on the later chapters, drug usage, corrupt government talk, harrasment

Day five of living with your new roommate. He hadn't shown much of an interest in harming you...

That was swell.

You huffed out a breath of relaxation when the realization hit, but not also that, things weren't as bad as you expected! The thought you'd get a nasty roommate who would leave much more bigger mess than you was on the mind... but he seems to be the one who cleans as well? A welcome surprise indeed.

Shinsou was an enigma, waking up early at five am, neatly sorting his clothing and coming back late at 11 pm, he didn't seem restless, which could only mean he probably has a second accommodation where he rests and eats as well. It also explains why he only had one bag with him which you had decency and never saw what was inside. Besides...

He had given you a glare yesterday when you stared at it for long with those white pupils of his.

Even though he was soft spoken, he always managed to find a way to poke fun at you before he left. Granted, you were quiet surprised when he made you a french toast every morning! He barely knows you, but you were grateful to have found a roommate that in one way or another showed his gratitude. Afterwards, you felt obligation to one up him and return the favour. Now dragging your dear friend out, you giggled at the phone text from Uraraka as she immediately started spewing jokes about your potential 'future' with him.

„What an idiot.“ You grinned to yourself, walking down the street to the meeting place, you were about to go shopping with her, you still had to supply yourself with comfortable winter clothing.

„Y/N!“ Uraraka's voice reached your ears.

„Hey! Long time no see!“

„Very long time indeed!“

Uraraka rushed her step to give you the biggest hug there was. She was the sweetest friend and was always there for you no matter the circumstances. Now both of you dragging yourselves in the clothing store

„You just got off from work right? How was it?“ She asked, looking at time, it was now 5 pm.

„Tiring, its even worse because they fired colleagues before summer so now all of us have extra hour of work.“

„Oh no. But at least you will be rewarded more no? More hours equal more pay.“

„Nope, it's the same job in the end, they just extended work time.“ Frowning at the work contract on the mind, it was a very high chance it will drastically change soon as well.

„It's very... bad.“ You nervously laughed as you walked together.

„One time they fired someone from storage, only to replace them with boss's relative. By law its forbidden, but they made up a name for the new position that does the same job in storage. So it seems valid, but its not.“

„Ah... it happened here as well, but uhm.“ Uraraka started

„Hmm?“

„There's been some disappearances from our parent company, we are having a bit of a rescheduling on our own as well.“ Uraraka nervously chuckled and scratched the back of her head, it was quiet obvious there's been some action going on on her end as well.

„But enough about that, how's Shinsou~?“ She teasingly leaned in and poked her pink cheek.

Your mind shifted to the now roommate, the intimidating figure had you stuttering for a second. Obviously, Uraraka shouldn't of hung out with Mina so often back in college days, because it was so obvious she wanted to pull out some flustering on your end as well. Her curiosity especially hit the peak since she heard your voice hit higher notes when talking about him.

„I-I.. U-um. Okay, fuck! I can't!“ Both of the palms now covered your face to hide the embarrassment.

„Ahah! Is he that hot? You didn't react like that for so long!“

„Shut up!“ You huff out „It's enough that he made a toast for me yesterday, now I don't know how to return the favor. I want to get close to him, but he's unapproachable.“

The brunette put a finger on her lower lip in deep thought.

„Maybe if he's so busy, you can make him little lunches in a box, since he's so busy.“

„Uraraka, that's so childish.“

„It's not! You have to show him your soft side! Poke around, maybe he likes it.“

„My soft side?“

Grimacing as she advised, you were afraid of getting your feelings hurt. Now hesitantly picking up shirts and pants from the shopping stand, you managed to pick decent clothing for the upcoming winter before the prices skyrocket, it was expensive already but you managed to find something cheap. Your eyes trailed to find a plain white scarf, it was really nice quality, and rather cheap, but the sudden thoughts redirected to Shinsou as fingers tried out the material.

Maybe its not a bad idea to try and open up, you'll try but there should be equal effort on his end as well. Now snatching the scarf from the stand, you both bought your things and left the store, suddenly being nudged on the shoulder by the pink cheeked individual, you let out a relieved laughter while walking home for today.

...

„No, no! Please, Spare me!“

„I'm afraid job's a job.“

„No, please! My wife-!“

-SNAP-

„... Operation successful, returning to the main area. Prepare for body disposal.“

„Roger that Mindjack.“

On the broad daylight, Shinsou had eliminated yet another target for today, this time it was a business man whose life spiraled down in gambling addiction, the man who had hired him said he owned too much and knew too much to be kept alive.

Drugs and gambling went hand in hand, it was no different that the client probably had some shady stuff going on on their end as well. Shinsou had to keep his eye open on this one as well.

„Dispatched him quickly?“ Shoto came by side to Shinsou while adjusting dark gloves on.

„Yeah.“

„Good. Let me help you up.“

Several moments later, a truck came by to pick the dead body up, Kirishima's disguise as a trash driver made both of them cringe for a moment, but quickly brushed it off as Shoto and Shinsou threw it away. The cleanup crew should get rid of their traces now, all he has to do is get away as fast as possible from here. Shoto and Shinsou entered in the truck and drove in silence.

„You blocked the spot quiet nicely Shoto! Made a nice clearing for Shinsou to execute.“ Kirishima praised

„I merely blocked the parking lot. I don't see it being worth a mention.“

„Man, but missions like these always for newbies rely on stalking and timing. And this was perfect.“

„Nothing is perfect in this line of business.“ Shinsou ripped off his gloves and cracked his own neck to relieve tension. „Karma will hit you back hard if you don't know what you are doing.“

„Yeah yeah, it isn't very manly if you're in it just for cash, I mean... I'm rooting for justice and y'all, don't go thinking I am blind to what you guys are doing.“

Shoto and Shinsou fell silent. It was hard to swallow the truth, the car ride to the safe house wasn't long, soon Kirishima hit the brakes and came to a stop to the small abandoned storage house on the outskirts of the city. Shoto jumped out to take care of the body while Shinsou assisted with it, after they were done, Kirishima checked the contract for the job well done and handed the payment. A block of dollar bills now in their hands, the digital transfer of money would raise eyebrows in eyes of banks, so the money transfer was best if it was physical.

„Here you go boys! Boss says that the next contract is gonna be handed out tomorrow, you are free for the rest of the evening.“

„Tomorrow already?“ Shinsou asks.

„Yeah, what did you mean with that question?“

„I was thinking of looking into the client of the previous contract. Do some research and possibly eliminating him.“

Kirishima clicked with his tongue while Shoto huffed out and fiddled with the block of money in his hands.

„Sorry man. Solo contracts wont get you money, and gateways like us wont help you since we put too much at stake. You are on your own if you are gonna kill someone who is off the list.“ Kirishima explained

„Why would you even do it?“ Shoto asked, „Its not like the guy did you anything bad.“

Before Shinsou could answer Kirishima pat his back two times before turning on his heel to store his equipment away and head home himself for today.

„Mindjack has always been like that, even before you started working with. He sorta goes off on his own at times, seeking who needs killin' and who doesn't. That's why we hired you Shoto.“

„Can't blame me for doing what I think its right.“ Shinsou lowered his head, „All I need is time, That's why I was taken aback when a new contract was announced for tomorrow.“

„Alright alright, Mr. Assassin. You'll get your time. Someday. For now, this handsome manly man is going to go home for tonight! I'm going to get myself some hot bath.“

„See you Red. I'll be going too, Goodnight Mindjack.“

The departure was short, Shinsou took his bag and changed clothes before heading back, the bad smell could of easily rub off on him and he didn't want you to start speculating things. Even though he mostly ends his victim's lives in a way where no blood can be shed, it was a close call when she started eyeing the bag yesterday. He hated it, but he had already planned out way's to kill the roommate he was living with for any situation if she found out his true work.

'I don't need any of you to help me in my solo hunt.' He thought to himself, putting his black leather jacket on and helmet, he checked out his surroundings before revving up his bike and driving away.

The evening was busy as people were going back from work, it was 6 pm after all and he was stressing out on the fact that he will have to see his roommate. Maybe he could take a spin? Or start investigating on his own, but he didn't have time, he needed it. Rumbling of the bike eased tension he had from the committed crime, but only barely. As he came to a red light he slowed down and realized he was shaking badly, he knew it was not only from the setting sun and chilling air slowly creeping in, but also of stress. The realization that he might get caught always hit him harder after it settled in his mind. He inhaled deeply and eyed the nearby passengers. His eyes land on a woman in distance he never thought he would run into.

It was you, and you have been on your way to the flat with things you've gotten. The fact you saved up on the flat made you relax and indulge in the little shopping spree with Uraraka and groceries. You smiled from ear to ear nevertheless the tiredness creeping on you from the day.

„Mm...“ You sighed and rolled your shoulders.

„Maybe I'll make the thing she told me.“

You honestly looked like a happy child after realizing now that you have a roommate who pays for half of the expenses, you have extra cash to buy for things and make food at home. It wasn't a big deal to go out and buy something since it was cheap to buy a box of instant meal, but you wanted to cook your own food for a long time now. As you looked in the grocery bag and already beginning to think of the recipe you'd think for it, you suddenly bumped onto a stranger who didn't quiet follow his surroundings either. The harsh impact almost made you fall behind flat on your backside, but you managed to find balance. 'How rude-!' you thought.

„Ah-! S-sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you sir-„

„Watch where you are stepping wench-! I swear, women like you need to fucking know their place and stay at home.“

Excuse me?

Since when did this idiot have any right to find you to get his frustrations out?

You frowned at his sentence, knowing better not to engage with a random incel on the streets at evening hours, whose breath reeked of beer and bad hygiene, you decided to clutch your bags and pass by him hurriedly.

„Don't fucking ignore me!“

„Hey! Let me go!“

The man captures your wrist harshly and doesn't let go, now pulling you towards himself, he makes your belongings and your body stumble forward. His other hand wrap around your waist and starts dragging you along with him. Trying to shake yourself away only resulted in him recapturing you. He started laughing and you only now realize he quiet probably meant to bump into you.

He was trying to kidnap you-

„I said you are a bitch! Now you'll know your place-!“

„Let me go!“

Closing your eyes, the strong grip bruised your wrist and you yelped in pain, Your eyes veiled with tears as his disgusting sweaty hands found their way on your thighs to try and attempt to carry you, but the hold that was on you was suddenly broken free and a strong impact of a punch made the man fall flat on the ground. You were quiet sure you heard something broke as well.

„Agh! Son of a-!“

The adrenaline spiked in your veins and you immediately snapped out of it to see what was going on. Another hand rested on you almost protectively, you raised head to see a dark dressed figure that was very familiar. You were quiet shocked to find Shinsou held you close to his chest, wasn't he supposed to work until very late? You hear his quickened heartbeat and deep breathing as he gazed into the eyes of an attacker. Clutching onto him, you immediately felt more sorry for the drunken individual that had attacked you. Hooded eyes with dark eye bags were visible with blood rush, he stared down at his victim like a prey.

„I honestly can't believe how uncool you are, attacking a woman.“ He tilted his head on the side „Piss off before I do anything worse.“

The drunkard scrambled to his feet, he held onto his nose, groaning in pain inflicted by just his one punch.

„You fucker-! You broke my fucking nose!“

He charged again at Shinsou and you. This time, Shinsou quickly dispatched him by a high kick in his stomach, stealing all the air from his lungs. He hunched over and fell flat face forward, deeming him now unconscious. Your mouth went agape at his form, even though there were no visible passerby's, the drivers could certainly call police and at any moment and both of you would get caught.

„Shinsou!“ You panicked, finally reacting at the scene.

„Come on, lets get the hell out from here. He's bad news.“ He pat your shoulders and helped you scramble the bags that were on the ground.

He led you to climb on his bike that you were quiet hesitant to get on at first, he didn't let you get acquainted as the time was limited and you let out a noise of protest at first.

„We have no time, grab onto me.“ He revved up his bike and it rumbled.

„You just gonna escape like that!?“ You asked „What gives he's not gonna blame it on us? The police-“

„Police is not going to do shit.“ He glared at you „Unless you want to call them right now and deal with this sort of mess on Thursday evening, be my guest.“

You whined again, thinking thoroughly on his words you knew he was right so you followed his orders. If anything Shinsou was a witness if both of you ever end up getting caught. Holding onto the bags in your hand, you decided it was a better option to leave. Now climbing on you adjusted yourself in back of seat, the view in front of you were of his back, now starting to get illuminated by the street lights. He smelled nice, despite it being closed off by the leather jacket, his vibrant purple hair was flattened by the helmet, and you couldn't shake off the thought that you were about to hold him. You let your left hand slip around his stomach while your right one grips his shoulder.

Fuck, he was solid.

The gas made you back up a bit and grip on him tighter as he violently sped forwards to escape the scene. You hid your face in his back and held onto dear life. You weren't acquainted with bike's, most of your life was spent driving in cars and public transport, but you were quiet thankful to have him tell you when to lean on sides as you took turns.

„Just like riding a bicycle“ He claimed.

You relaxed after he talked more about it, there was something about him being calm in this situation made you very thankful. If he hadn't shown up...

Well, you wouldn't like to think about it.

He slowed down and stopped as the lights turned orange, then red, he took this opportunity to check on you. Shinsou leaned back and turned to you.

„You okay?“

„Y-yeah, still a bit shaken up about it. I... think I'll be fine. What about you?“

„I'm good.“ He replied shortly, his curt expression not giving anything else away.

In his mind, there wasn't anything he could do to help, the thought of comforting a victim was very alien to him. He could manage dispatching the person quickly, but he would rather much leave a therapy session to others. There was something about how he emotionally closed off himself that helped him do what he was working for, but it was never in favor when someone needed emotional support, like you right now.

His thought process was interrupted by a white scarf now gently falling around his neck.

„Your facial expression doesn't quiet match your body language Mr. Shinsou. Here, have this, your body is shaking.“

„What is this?“ He asked, tenderly reaching for the soft white fabric and letting the warmth of it settle around his neck.

„Its a scarf... I was planning on giving it to you. You are a good roommate to me.“

His eyes lit up at the realization, his knee was thumping up and down in nervousness from what he had been overthinking about, whats wrong with this woman? Is she going to be the one giving him the therapy session? He better not go soft now. The light turned green and you took a last turn to your place and he parked nearby. Both of you got off and he helped you by giving you a hand and with the bags.

„You didn't have to.“

„That's not true, I had to! I know work's probably putting a lot of strain on you just like mine is, and I know you mean only well, hell, you've been cooking an extra toast just for me.. and now you saved me.“

Both of you came to a stop as you entered the building. You sighed a little bit as words of gratitude escaped you

„And I just want to say.. Thank you."

Wide eyed like a kitten, he seemed so innocent if he didn't act so suspicions all the time. But this time you were so happy on seeing your roommate warming up to you. He was speechless for a solid second, he raised the scarf just a little bit to hide his mouth and nose.

Was he blushing?

"You really think that huh?" He asks, it was a simple question, but it got you stuttering madly and you looked onward, taking big steps as suddenly your flat was the lifeline of a place to be in right now. Shinsou himself didn't want to admit it but looking at you being cheerful after the events set his mind at ease.

"O-of course! A-and don't think that that you are ever a bad person, whoever is telling you bad things at work... They are wrong, because you are actually a really nice person... I think." You said without looking back.

„Now you are just sprouting nonsense.“ He chuckled and followed closely behind.

„Come on! I'm gonna cook us dinner. We are gonna feast.“

#bnha shinsou #bnha shinso hitoshi #shinso hitoshi x reader #shinso hitoshi #shinsou hitoshi #mha shinso x reader #mha shinsou #shinso #shinso x reader #shinsou hitoshi x reader #shinsou #bnha reader insert

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my-writings-and-musings · 3 years

Note

I was wondering if you could do something with ambulon, possibly fluff? Love the imagines btw

Thank you for giving me an excuse to love on my favorite underappreciated boy. Also, thank you, I love all the inspiration!

The chipping paint was a sore point for Ambulon, like so many other things about himself, but unlike all his other unfortunate traits it was made so much worse by the simple fact that it was impossible to hide. Having an embarrassing altmode, the true reason for his name, even his past as a Decepticon... he could cover all that up no problem. But the constantly chipping paint job? No shielding that from anyone close enough to simply see him...

It was made worse by how often bots tried to offer tips; use a primer, pay for a proper redo, try some new sealant... He knows they mean well, but none of them know what they're talking about, not really. If it was that easy, did they really think he wouldn't have fixed it by now? The Decepticon purple paint underneath was just as fragmented as the medic coded red and white on top, and that wasn't going to be fixed by anything simple.

The truth was "Flaky Paint Syndrome" could have many causes despite manifesting as a single, embarrassing result, and while most bots had poor application or easily irritated mesh to blame, his problem was rooted in something far less corporeal.

He was anxious. Every hour of every day, something had him on edge, and the constant strain on his nerves resulted in chips of paint cracking away from his always agitated frame. It was lucky really, most bots as unsettled as he was developed spark static or overheated and warped joints, his constant buzz of disquiet just made him look somewhat sloppy. Such a personality probably made his occupation seem like a bad choice, but he was content to endure the struggle for the satisfaction of saving lives, and now that he was on the relatively stable Lost Light he was managing better than he had in a long time. Thus, he hadn't had any plans on changing his status quo anytime soon.

Until you had showed up.

He hadn't even met a human before you'd joined the crew, but even if he had, he never could have expected that you'd get tangled up in his life the way you did. Something about you had just... connected with him. Maybe it was the fact that you didn't make fun of him, either for his altmode or his appearance, and also hadn't judged him for his past... Not even the reason for his silly name had made you laugh! He just liked spending time with you, even if it was to do nothing in particular.

As a result of these feelings, a desire to impress you had formed, and he'd actually made an effort to keep up with his looks for a change. Granted, that meant daily repaints completely unaided and in secret, all in his room where he twisted and turned in a ridiculous effort to look good for the person who probably only saw him as a friend. Logic didn't play much of a role in feelings, however.

Of course, it was just his luck you'd walked in on him at this most embarrassing time for the kind of friendly visit he ordinarily would have been thrilled about.

The cry of surprise that had escaped him when the doors whooshed open was impressively high pitched for a bot of his size, but you'd probably been more focused on the paint his startled jump had sent spattering in all directions, though none of it had flown far enough to hit you by some miracle.

"Ambulon, are you okay?!" You shouted in alarm, seeing the flash of red but not his paintbrush and immediately thinking of blood. Though you knew bots bled glowing pink, the instinct to offer aid at the first impulse was just too hard to ignore. Without hesitation, you hurried to get to his side, only growing more concerned as he hid his hand behind his back. Even if this wasn't how you'd wanted your visit to go you cared far too much about the medic to be concerned about such petty things. "What's wrong? Where are you hurt?"

"Who? Me? Hurt?" He rushes in ongoing panic, backing up against a desk to put as much space between you and him as possible. Despite looking ridiculous backing away from someone as small as you, all he can think to do is hide his paintbrush in an effort to save his dignity. At least, what's left of his dignity as he sputters through an excuse made up on the spot. "I'm just, uh... You know..."

Painting a landscape? Applying color to his hab suite? Decorating his medical supplies!?

"Are you painting something?" You asked, moving your small body to catch a glimpse of a bot sized paintbrush in the hand he hadn't done a good enough job of hiding. You figuring out the problem actually seemed to make him panic more, and he twisted again to hide the offending object behind his back, looking down at you as if you'd just stumbled upon him burying a body.

"Of course not!" He said in a rush, lie falling apart when the thick application of bright red he'd applied to his chest dripped downwards from the force of his rapid twisting around. Cringing, he avoided your eyes like a criminal. It would be bad enough if you simply knew about his troubles in any level of detail, but to have personally seen his juvenile and ridiculous efforts to cover up his humiliating condition... Would it be too much to ask that he dissapear at this very moment?

"Ambulon, are you okay?"

Nope, he's not, he won't be ever again but it's very nice that you thought to ask-

"Seriously, look at me."

You're firm but not at all angry as you issue the command, starting to put the pieces together in a way that makes some sense. The medic has had paint troubles more or less his entire life, as you've heard, but they had started to dissapear right about when you showed up. Though you hadn't pried, it had been logical to assume he'd been fixing himself up. Regardless of the accuracy of your guess, however, you know that this bot needs help. As much as you care for him, you simply can't let him suffer needlessly. No matter how often he switches between seeking you out and avoiding you...

"I'm... I'm fine, I promise." He mumbles, feeling like a pitiful failure for not even thinking to lock his door. There's so much to be embarrassed by he doesn't even know where to begin being mortified, but it's obvious the fallout will be a spiral into further humiliation, so he still wants to stall. You'll laugh when you hear he's been fixing himself up in a ridiculous attempt to impress you, because of course it's absurd, and he'll never be able to show his face again...

"Why are you embarrassed about some paint? I figured bots touched themselves up every now and then." You said innocently, baffled as to why he'd react in such a way. Rodimus bragged about redoing his colors all the time, so you'd figured there were no issues in doing so. Was there some other reason this could be considered embarrassing? The only possible explanation required you to go on a bit of a limb, but for his sake you decided to chance it, gulping once before you hesitantly spoke up. "Did you do this for me? Have you been redoing the colors since I got here?"

Ambulon flinched, and you realized you'd hit the nail on the head.

"I'm sorry-"

"For what?" You asked incredulously, head swimming with emotions clustering to be felt first. There was surprise, giddy delight, bashfulness, and even confoundment at the idea you could be in this situation. A part of you wanted to celebrate, but there was still far too much to sort through at the moment. His look of hopelessness exemplified the problem.

"For being ridiculous! Look at me! Pretending if I touch up some rough patches, it'll actually do anything? Ha!" He said, giving voice to the unpleasant uncertainty that lurked just below the surface. Drowning in his insecurity, he frowned hard, the absurdity of what he'd been trying to do all but slapping him in the face. Forget the species difference, you were a vibrant and charming individual who deserved far better than he. What had he even been trying to do? The answer came out of him as he sunk down to the ground and let the brush fall, hugging his knees as the weight of it all pulled him down. "I wanted so badly to look good for you, I lost track of common sense..."

"But Ambulon-"

Unable to hear you, he kept right on going, lost in his own little fog of shame. "You weren't supposed to know... Nobody was supposed to know... But I blew it-"

"Ambulon!"

You couldn't take it any more. The heartbreaking sight of the bot you thought was so delightful tearing himself apart was too much. Ignoring any common sense, you put yourself out for his sake, opening up your heart in the hope that your own vulnerabilities might help him feel better. A tender hand on his own preceded a gentle expression of reasurance as you looked into his optics.

"I'm flattered you want to look your best for me, really. But it's not necessary." You said, suddenly aware that your heart was hammering as you prepared to confess. It was probably about time you cut to the chase, after spending these months bobbing along in uncertainty, but that didn't make it any less scary to be so open. Hopefully it would all end well... "I think you look fine just how you are."

Ambulon felt his processor go blank, and all that he could do was fall back on his usual attitude with a surprised retort. "But I'm a mess!"

You laughed, but not in the way he'd feared. It was a good natured, loving, laughing with him and not at him kind of sound. "I don't care about some paint chips now and then, you goof. Why do you think I'm here?" All of a sudden your fear seemed to be turning into confidence, the anxieties you'd created for yourself melting away as the truth came out. Seeing a towering alien laid low by your simple feelings definitely made it much easier to express them. "I wanted to see you, purple and red and all, because I like you."

Something clicked inside of him upon hearing those words. So much shame and fear dissolved in what felt like an instant, his optics pushing up with his cheeks as he smiled the biggest and happiest smile he could, optics brightening the whole while. It was what he'd wanted more than anything but feared he'd never receive. Unfurling his legs, he leaned down just a tad to get closer. Heedless to everything about himself that had bothered him so much, he spoke softly in return.

"I really like you too."

"I know." You replied softly, looking to the brush that had fallen to the floor and the paint still drying on his frame as an idea hatched in your head. The two of you had a lot to talk about, it seemed, and you had the perfect way to pass the time while doing so. "Now, how about I help you finish up? Don't want all this to go to waste."

Realizing what you were suggesting, he picked up a much smaller paintbrush and handed it to you, still smiling as he helped you onto his desk where the paints laid out for use.

"I'd like that."

#ambulon #ambulon x reader #transformers #maccadam #tf #idw #more than meets the eye #mtmte #lost light #human reader #self insert #my writing #requests #my asks #anon

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witchcraft-in-wonderland · 3 years

Text

Ships and Shells (Pt.2)

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

Virgil was already aware he wasnt the best tracker of time, but this was getting ridiculous. How long had he been trapped here? Two? Maybe three weeks? Was it more? Was it less? He couldnt tell, all he could count on to tell time was the appearance of Roman with trays of food at exactly six in the morning, noon, and six at night.

"So I take it we're still not close to land hm?" Virgil growled as he heard footsteps yet again.

But then he realized, these were different, these were heavier.

"Ah, Mr. Duke." Virgil said with a smirk and a snarl.

"Now your highness I know you dont like me but downgrading my title so harshly? Have you no heart?"Remus said, faking hurt.

"Nope, not one," Virgil responded, which, oddly enough, earned him a laugh from Remus' end.

"Aaawwweee, you poor thing, it must be so hard to breathe," Remus purred, Virgil rolled his eyes.

"What do you want." Virgil said lowly.

"We're almost to the next town, so we need to establish some rules," at this, Virgil straightened up slightly, this could be it, his chance at escape.

"There will be guards on all exit points, and no other ropes will be far enough down to reach, so dont plan anything stupid," Remus said, Virgil smirked slightly, pitiful, he thinks ropes being a little high up is going to stop me he thought.

"You will only be allowed in the main part of the ship, not the cabins, those are reserved for crew members," Remus continued, that was probably a given, but Virgil would find a way to break that rule to.

"And finally, Don't. Touch. Anything." This last rule was said with such aggressiveness that it nearly caused a shiver down Virgil's spine, he felt mildly betrayed by that.

"Is this understood?" Remus said coolly, Virgil merely nodded in response.

"I meant for you to respond verbally, your highness," Remus said.

"Understood." Virgil said, slowly regaining his composure.

"But, I do have one question," Virgil said, turning slowly.

"And that is?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

"If I cant touch anything," Virgil wrapped his hands around the bars of his cell, "then I've broken rule three every day since ive been here," Virgil smirked.

Remus stared at him for a few moments, dumbstruck, or at least, Virgil hoped he was.

"I meant, dont touch any items outside of your cell, floor and walls are fine, but no papers, books, ropes, wheels, candles, none of it," Remus said. Virgil ran the phrase over and over again in his head to try and find some type of loophole, but when none presented itself, he went quiet. He watched as Remus produced a key from his pocket and began working the lock on Virgil's cell.

Virgil rushed out nearly immediately after the gate swung open, half expecting Remus to grab him and shove him back. But no such moment came, soon he was out in the open air, the scent of salt water enveloping him, the feel of the breeze on his skin was almost comforting now.

"Keep him alive, please." Remus stated to the guards. Virgil watched as he, Roman, and Janus, jumped off the boat, each dragging something behind them.

And then Virgil was left with two guards on each side of the boat, standing beside the openings that would allow for Virgil to rush off onto the mainland. But he'd worry about that later, the twins and the snake were still all to close for him to run for it now, so it was unsafe for him to attempt anything just yet.

So he waited.

And waited.

For what seemed like years, he waited.

And finally, he noticed a slip up, and once he did, it was showtime. He knocked the closest desk over and waited for the guards to attempt to restrain him, only to sneak under their arms and rush out through the now open exit.

He landed with a thud on the harbor, and ran into the town as fast as his legs could carry him. He ignored the shouts from his captors, ignored the staring, ignored everything that was keeping him trapped in that ship.

The buildings in this town were a lot smaller, and there was no wall around the outside. The docks were lined with shops, jewelry and clothing and all sorts of other things hung from booths and lay on counters. It was then that Virgil realized, he didnt have money. Lucky for him, most of the people in the crowd were nearly a foot taller than him, which made it much easier to snag a cloak and an apple from the booths on which they lay.

This was alright for a while, until he ran into other people. Though in this case, the couple seemed far to focused on each other to even realize he was there, until the shorter man, dressed in light blues, with a grey scarf and cap on his head, broke away from his partner and turned in Virgil's direction.

"Oh dear- my apologies- didnt see you there-" said the shorter of the two.

"That's the idea," Virgil said quietly, this earned a worried expression from the first boy, the second, dressed in a blue long sleeved shirt with a black bandana around his neck, merely seemed intrigued.

"Are you hiding from someone? Is everything alright?" The first man stepped forward a little, cautiously.

"Oh yeah it's great, been stuck in a pirate ship cell for like two weeks with nothing to go off of but cryptic messages but its fine!" Virgil exclaimed with a sigh, barely caring about the fact that he didnt even know these people.

"Oh dear- that must've been awful," said the first boy.

"You'll have to excuse him, hes never actually interacted with pirates before," said the second boy, fixing his glasses.

"And you have?" Virgil said, looking him up and down.

The boy quirked his mouth slightly, into a sort of half-smirk that he couldnt quite finish.

"Former Lord Admiral Logan Sanders, at your service," Logan said, bowing slightly. Virgil's eyes widened slightly, he pulled the cloak further over himself. If Logan had been in charge of ships at one point, he likely knew about Virgil, and he had no plans to go back to the castle either.

"Nice to meet you," Virgil replied.

"And this is my fiance, Patton Boleyn," Logan said, gesturing to Patton, who gave Virgil a wave and a nod.

"Nyx," Virgil said plainly, though the word felt like bile as he tossed it out, it was the safest thing he had for now, but he certainly didnt want it.

"Oh have I been getting it wrong then? I couldve sworn the queen called out for a Virgil when we brought you on the ship," Virgil froze as he heard Remus' voice, and then he ran. He didnt care where he was going or how long it took to get there, but he wasnt staying on that ship, nor in that castle. He could hear footsteps racing after him, the sound swinging and wind blowing through the air.

And then again, cold metal pressed against flesh.

And then he woke up back where he'd started, a cell with wet wooden planks and a falsely comfortable looking bed.

Only this time he wasnt alone, this time he heard crying, and yells, fury like he'd never heard before.

"Oh quit whining, we're not going to hurt any of you, but we cant have you running off to tattle on us, now be a good prisoner and shut it," Virgil snarled as he heard Remus' voice, he was beginning to hate it, hate every joke that fell from his lips, hate the way he twirled that stupid mustache of his when they talked, all the flirting and the compliments, it was like the captain thought he was to foolish to see what was really going on!

"Ah! Our perfect prince has awoken from his slumber, now tell me Virgie, did you really think it would be that easy to escape?" Remus said, leaning on his morningstar and flashing a grin.

Virgil was about to open his mouth so he could tell Remus where to stuff it, when suddenly, he began to feel sick. Not just a fleeting sickness, either, no, this was like someone had set his insides on fire. He held back the screams for a few seconds, and was surprised to find a worried expression make it's way up Remus' face when he let loose.

"JANUS! MEDIC!" Remus turned and rushed out of the cell room.

Virgil couldn't tell what happened next, because one second, he was curled in a corner and clutching his sides from pain worse than anything he'd ever experienced before, and the next, everything was swirling away into a deep blue and black, almost like a dream.

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

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katdvs · 4 years

Photo

When Riley Matthews was in high school her life changed, now as a professional dancer she’s got a new challenge when she’s paired with professional football player Lucas Friar on the latest season. Can they win the season, or will their past get in the way?

Cross Posted to FFN & AO3

Chapter One |

Author Note: Hi, how is everyone? I’m glad to be back. I’m writing this as I go, I know where I want it to go, but let’s hope that’s where we end up. Thanks for all the reviews on the first chapter. XOXO

Chapter Two:

“Eyes on me.” Riley reminded Lucas as she paused the music that they would dance to on live television tomorrow night. This season the network had decided to keep everything secret, except with Pros were returning They figured it would keep people guessing and have them tune in to see who made it.

Lucas nodded, “Okay.” He got into the hold he needed to be in for the dance, following her lead, the cues she had taught him over the last couple of weeks.

Riley felt Lucas lead her around the dance floor, feeling like they were as ready as they could be for the live show. Whatever happened out on the dance floor tomorrow night, live in front of all of America, was what was meant to be.

“We’ve got this Riley.” Lucas told her with a smile as he broke away to grab his water bottle.

“I certainly hope so.” She couldn’t recall the last time she was this nervous before the dress rehearsal. She was just thankful she hadn’t had to do most of the pre-show press that they normally had,

Lucas watched her, amazed he could notice something so subtle, “You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

“Yeah I am.” She confessed, feeling the cameras zooming in on her. Never in all her years on the show had she admitted it, no one had called her out on it.

He took a few steps towards her, “We’re going to be fine.” He saw the shadow of something cross her eyes, and he realized what she was more nervous about, once the world knew that he was on the show, that they’re partners, it would take them from the bubble of this studio.

“I’m glad you have confidence.” She went to grab her water bottle.

Lucas stopped her, “I do have confidence because you have confidence. Don’t let it fade. We’re gonna win this.”

Riley cocked an eyebrow at him, “You realize this is more then one night right, we hopefully have weeks of this.”

“I know, and I know that next week we’ll crush it and we will each week, because you’re my teacher, my partner, and I believe in you.”

Damn they made great TV, Riley knew right now the executives watching the feeds and later the dailies would love this stuff. “Grab your stuff, we’ve got to get to the studio for the final dress rehearsal.”

“Whatever you say, you’re the boss.” He smirked.

***

Riley hated the costumes that had been picked for them this week. The song choice had been bad enough, but she was literally here in a cheerleader shirt and top, with fringe. Lucas was in a sparkly varsity jacket, and to make it even worse it just happened to be their high school colors.

She was on the stage right now, the lights out as they crew set up during what would’ve been a commercial break. She could hear the banter between the hosts and then the start of the package. She glanced at the monitor, their was for the whole world to see, her falling into his arms. Then of course clips of them dancing over the last few weeks, teaching him the moves, and what had to be a last-minute edit, the two of them just a few hours ago.

She shook it off as the music swelled and she made her moves towards Lucas as everything started to fall into place on the stage. He kept his eyes on her during the entire dance, though he lost his footing on the final move, and stumbled a little bit.

“It’s only a rehearsal, you got it out of the way.” Riley told him afterwards, as they pretended to get scores from Judges that weren’t present.

As they moved off stage Lucas leaned in close, “Did you suggest these costumes in these colors?”

“Nope, I don’t know why they decided on these, but I’m just going along with it until the waltz next week.” She stood tall as she stopped at the monitor to watch Zay and his partner dance. “That’s what we need to be worried about.”

Lucas watched as Zay danced with Connie Patrick, a sitcom star that Lucas had run into occasionally at charity events. She also came with a major social media following.

“They’re good.” Lucas admitted.

“Yeah, Zay has won several times, he could win again.”

“Not this season, we’re going to win.” He told her and he moved towards the dressing trailers.

“Riley, Lucas!” Sheryl was rushing towards them, “Tomorrow night you’re going on last.”

Riley froze, “What?”

“Yeah, you’ll be our final dancers of the night.” She smiled, “America is going to fall in love with the two of you tomorrow night.”

“Is that good or bad?” Lucas wondered.

Riley looked at her first love, “Well, you won’t be able to go off the grid until after the show ends.”

***

Riley sat on her bed, replaying everything that happened today. She knew the storyline that the show was going for. They saw the chemistry between Riley and Lucas. They would be fools not to play into it.

She would just have to get through the next night, and then at least the first week would be behind them. They would move on to the next dance, the next song. Another week of grueling rehearsals during the day, at night she was plotting the choreography for the next network musical, she had one more number to do and in a few weeks, rehearsals would start for that. When they did, she would be beyond busy if Lucas didn’t get eliminated.

Picking up her phone she began scrolling through social media. A lot of guesses about who her dance partner would be this season, none of them correct. A few of the names were on the show this season, but no one she saw was mentioning Lucas. Probably a good thing.

As she moved through her feed on Instagram she stopped when she saw a picture of Maya, her former best friend. She was showing off a ring. She realized it was a picture that Farkle had posted, and tagged Lucas in.

She felt her stomach sink as she read the caption, “#SheSaidYes to my good buddy @LucasFriar. She’s so excited for their journey together, she insisted I buy her champagne.”

If Lucas were involved with Maya, when did he propose, he’d been here in LA for the last few weeks in the bedroom next to hers.

“My only comment is that I am not engaged to Maya Hart.” Lucas’ voice carried from his balcony, “I’m not dating her. I didn’t propose. What picture are you talking about?”

Riley opened her door and saw him pacing as he spoke on the phone.

“Jerry, you know I’m in LA. The show is tomorrow night. I don’t know what game Maya is playing this time, maybe her sales are slow again, I don’t know.”

Riley attempted to wave to get his attention when he turned around in his pacing, she waved her cell phone at him and he leaned as close as the edge of the balcony would allow.

“I’m calling Farkle and finding out why this is happening, okay. I have no idea where she got that ring, but I didn’t give it to her. I have never dated Maya Hart. I will never date Maya Hart, she can keep trying to make it happen, but it hasn’t worked since middle school, it’s time for a new game.” Lucas growled before ending the call.

“I take it you’re not actually engaged to Maya.” Riley enlarged the photo, something about the ring was familiar, but how different were gaudy giant diamonds from one another?

“I would rather get trampled by a bull.” He sighed as he scrolled through his phone, “She keeps doing this, anytime she can she uses my name to get hers out there. Farkle keeps going along with her on this, I don’t know why, I’m not sure I want to know why.”

Riley pretended to understand, she wasn’t sure she understood the dynamic of her former friends. “I was confused when I saw the post, it’s the kind of thing you probably would’ve mentioned.”

“Yeah, if it were true.” He sighed looking out to the ocean, the moonlight reflecting on the waves. “You two were best friends at one point, but once you and Zay went on tour, she changed. It was like whatever anchored her was gone. But at the same time, no one could ever expect you to spend your entire life being the good angel on her shoulder.”

Riley hadn’t realized just how much she needed to hear that; years of guilt washed away from her. “I’ve always felt like I abandoned her, but Zay and me, we had to do this.” She smiled, “Do I wish somethings had worked out a little differently, maybe, but I love my life, I love my job, I could never really be Riley if I spent my life keeping Maya out of trouble. I lost part of myself doing that once, I couldn’t imagine still doing that now.”

“I’m glad you found something that makes you happy.” Lucas confessed, catching the moonlight reflecting off her messy bun as he looked over to her.

“Are you happy, playing football? I always thought you would be a baseball star.”

Lucas sighed, “Football paid for college, and then I got drafted. I’ve made good money; I get to do stuff for the community. Is it the path I expected to take, not at all? Did I ever expect to be dancing with my first love on national TV, no.”

“Goes for me as well.” She chuckled, “You know once it’s revealed that we’re partners, how long do you think before our past is revealed?”

“Depends on who tweets during the show. If someone who remembers us as together from high school, maybe ten minutes. If not, maybe a day, if we’re lucky.”

“Well hopefully we’re lucky.” Riley breathed in the ocean air one last time, “You, bed.”

“Oh Riley, I thought you’d never ask.” He teased, watching her roll her eyes, “I get it, I need to sleep. I should call Farkle and get the picture taken down.”

“Let it stay up. Maya is probably selling a story about how you proposed right, the date, the restaurant, all of that, when you and I dance together tomorrow night, she’ll be scrambling, and you can get the truth out.”

“You think?”

“Yeah.” Riley told him as she clutched her cell phone in her hand. “Good night Lucas. We’ve got a big day tomorrow. America is either going to love us or hate us.”

“How could America not love you Riley?”

She shrugged as she went back into her room, “sweet dreams.” She called out before looking at the picture again. She pinched it open to enlarge the ring, exactly as she suspected. She looked back to make sure her door was closed before she dialed the number, she’d saved for years but hadn’t used since high school.

“The number you’re calling using a screening service, please say who you are and why you’re calling.”

“Riley Matthews for Farkle Minkus, I was just wondering why Maya was wearing his mothers ring in the photo announcing her engagement to Lucas.” She felt her stomach knot as she waited to see if the call connected, it didn’t.

She turned her ringer off, putting her phone on the charger before she went to take a shower.

***

Farkle Minkus often wondered why he went along with Maya’s schemes, her little teasers to the press. Lucas rarely spoke to him anymore because of them, and he had a feeling he wouldn’t speak to him anytime soon after the latest one.

How had Maya even figured out his Instagram login? Farkle hadn’t used it for anything more then charity promotions in ages. For a genius, he sure could be a dum-dum at times.

He was sitting on the balcony of his New York penthouse, the city alive below him while an odd sense of serenity surrounded him. No stars visible in the night sky, but he knew exactly where certain constellations were at any moment.

He was waiting for Lucas to call, asking for him to take the picture down. At least then he could explain he hadn’t willingly posted it. This was Maya looking for attention.

Lucas had stopped giving into these whims in college, perhaps being across the country had mad it easier. Maybe Farkle gave in because Maya was the only friend, he really had left. Riley and Zay had long gone so many years ago, Lucas became a big football star, Maya held on to him, while Smackle found her way to a new Biodome project in the south west.

When his phone rang from an unknown number, he tapped the screen call option. As the message came in, he couldn’t believe it. He sat in shock, holding his bourbon close to his lips but not drinking it, frozen and missing a chance to take the call.

His eyes scanned the transcription. Riley called him. She reached out because she knew Maya was lying.

Maybe it was possible these games would end. If Riley could tell from an Instagram picture, then the world had to know that Maya and Lucas weren’t a couple. Perhaps there was a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

He finally took a sip of his drink, starting to feel that perhaps a weight was being lifted off his shoulders he never intended to carry.

***

Lucas was oddly energized as he’d spent the last half an hour pacing in his trailer, waiting to be called to set to be ready to dance live on television. He’d ignored his phone all day after his morning call with his mother, it was the only way he could focus.

He stood backstage now, waiting for the cue, watching Zay dance on the monitor. His friend was amazing, he’d always known that. He had always had an idea that this might just be where Zay ended up, and he’d been right. Lucas had never anticipated Riley would be with him, not until the night he watched them dance at the talent show.

He shook away the memory as he watched Zay and Connie get their scores a six, seven, and another six. Not bad at all for the first night from what Zay had explained to him the other day. Lucas could only hope he and Riley did that well, but he believed they could.

The introduction package played as he and Riley took the stage, the lights down as the video showed their “first meeting” and the pep-talk he’d given her the day before.

“Lucas Friar and Riley!” The announcer declared before the music filled the soundstage, the lights went up and Lucas did every step Riley had taught him as best he could as they moved to the music. Each step she had drilled into him, his eyes on her as they danced to a song about love, while dressed in ridiculous high school themed costumes.

As the dance ended, he didn’t stumble this time, they twirled together before ending with a dip.

The audience applauded, at the very least they had impressed them. That was a good start. His heart was racing as they got feedback from the judges. Riley had told him to expect exactly what they were saying. She knew what his weakness was, and already zeroing in on it.

The scores came in, seven, seven, seven, the highest score of the night. Riley was hugging him as the hosts asked for viewers to cast their votes online.

“You did amazing Lucas, I’m proud of you. Tomorrow, we waltz!” She told him as they made their way off stage.

“Riley Matthews.” Sheryl was right behind them, her tone let Riley knew she had to stop.

“Yes, boss?”

“Why didn’t you tell me the two of you went to high school together?”

“We didn’t think it mattered to the show. We haven’t seen each other since Riley and Zay started touring.” Lucas answered.

“Besides, aren’t surprises more fun?” Riley chewed her lower lip.

Sheryl looked at the two of them, “And you didn’t want me to exploit that you were high school sweethearts, huh?”

“No comment.” Riley told her as they walked towards the dressing trailers, “Hey Sheryl, hope we’ve got good music next week.”

“I make no promises.” Sherly laughed as she watched them walk away, setting her eyes on Zay. If anyone knew the story, it would be him.

#Rucas Fanfic #Riley and Lucas #Riley Matthews #Lucas Friar #Girl Meets World #Girl Meets World Fanfic

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popculturebuffet · 4 years

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Jake’s Reviews: Amphibia: Quaraller’s Pass and Toadcatcher

On this week’s episodes, Sprig and Polly won’t stop sibling arguing forcing Anne and Hop Pop to leave them on the side of the road to figure it out.. or else. Either way the fighting stops so good times. Meanwhile Sasha and Grime are both reeling from the end of last season with Sasha burying her feelings wide and deep and Grime sinking into a pile of trash, junk food and depression.. so he’s basically become me then and both must rise out of it when the Newts send someone to collect him. We’re on the road to Keith David, come on inside after the cut. Also in more serious stuff suicide trigger warning since.. well the finale of season 1 and all.

And we’re back.. and this time on the actual day! What a concept.. I kid of course I had good reason last time but it’s still nice to get this out when people will actually care.

Quaraller’s Pass

We open with Anne and Hop Pop driving the Fwagon, and yes i’ve given up and called it that i’m not made of stone, and remarking about the fact their halfway to newtopia and it’ll only be another two weeks.. a nice meta joke that actually gets to land this time due to the show getting to air week to week for a change. In fact things have gone smoother than Hop Pop thought though both would change one thing: Sprig and Polly have been fighting non-stop.. entirely off screen. Ugh. This annoys me for two reasons: 1 we don’t get an actual on screen scene of them fighting to properly set it up and 2. they’ve been just fine up to this point. Now I will grant shit happens while we’re not looking in shows, that’s fine, life happens and we can’t see every second of characters lives.

Steven Universe for instance, while falling into forgetting to show us important stuff too sometimes, did this really well in season 5: While the Steven and Connie sepearation arc is a mixed bag, to be sure, they did use the fact Steven couldn’t use lion to check on lars fo ra few weeks well, and by the time we saw him again, he’d gone from hiding with the rest of his newfound friends in the catacombs of homeworld to having not only stolen one of homeworld’s best ships, but having a rivalry with the ships previous owner and having fought her several times, as well as he and the off colors both taking several levels in badass. It was a nice way to speed up things with Lars, as with this probably being the last season as far as the crew knew they didn’t have time for a full episode of lars getting off homeworld, and was a really nice twist when it was revealed and good character development for Lars, showing that seperated from his old baggage and with his self loathing having gone down, just what Lars was capable of. Here though? It’s just a lazy excuse to have a fued episode. Like the above it is plausable and it’s not a stretch that two siblings would argue nonstop on a road trip. Having an older brother and having been on several your going to fight eventually. Close proximity mixed with lingering tension will do that. The problem here is.. it’s just not in service of anything new or intresting. WIth the above example, the offscreen movments put lars in a new an dintresting place.. and then contrasted it when he started freaking out upon finding out Sadie had gotten a new intresting life herself while he was gone. Here it’s just “Oh wow they’ve been fighting and it’s not funny aside from one brilliant gag we’ll get to” and leads to the obvious conclusion. I don’t expect a huge character thing but I expect more comedically and character wise from this show. So yeah the two are fighting and bring it outside as they apparently tend to do which, credit where it’s due, is the second funniest gag of the episode, as the two do impressions of each other.. by which I mean Polly and Sprig’s voice actors do the voices for the impressionss, so Sprig’s voice is coming out of polly’s body when she does an impression of him and vice versa. It WOULD have been nice to see the voice actors do the impressions themselves, but it still works on sure surrelaness and on both sides acting obnoxious as polly yells in hop pop’s ear and sprig keeps punching anne. Naturally both , like the audience, want this to end already and faking his death won’t work again.

Thankfully Hop Pop soon finds a solution: Quarallers Pass, an upcoming pass that works to end fueds and force qualring travel companions to work together.. and it dovetails into the wagon trail so Anne and HOp Pop aren’t just leaving the other half of their family to die. So yeah Hop Pop dumps the two out of the wagon, explains it and the dovetaling thing I just mentioned and when the two start obnoxiously fighting again, he and Anne just leave em. We do get another good bit though as Anne leaves her phone with Sprig to call her, only to realize they only have one phone and sprig has no idea what she wants him to do. We only see anne and hop pop again once before the finale, with Hop Pop unable to take the silence as Anne enjoys the peace.. until Hop Pop makes the mistake of asking her if she has a boyfriend back home and she responds apporiatley.. but literally kicking him out of the fwagon, and wordlessly suggesting he let that one marinate. I mean.. ther’es no unvierse where that went well, including the one where she said “Nope, Girlfriends” before doing it and let the obvious implications of that given how this series started and who she’s hoping to see soon sink in.

But yeah the episode goes about how you’d expect, the two fight, then find an obstacle, as the pass is set up to force them to work together, which they do, and the two bond again and enjoy being a team. Because i’ts an effed up world but it’s a two player game. They have a thankfully breif song nad end up finding the exit blocked by a painting, and go into a cave, then fight again and yeah.. this episode is very slight and the laughs mentioned above are the only ones for miles. We do however get another small saving grace for the episode as the two each find a monster wnatin got eat them only to discover it’s ONE beast, split down the middle, a blind eel worm thing that can’t see but it can hear them. The two then manage to escape it and hide and the two eel heads bigger, with Sprig and Polly realizing that’s annoying before using their super vintrloquist skills to escape. If this summary is breif that’s because it’s just.. I really can’t think of many jokes because this episode annoys me though the monster design IS cool and a neat concept, it’s just wrapped in an otherwise weak episodes. The two escaape, deciding to call truce and hug. Awww. Soon after Anne and Hop Pop arrive with Anne not carring if they passed as she’s been in the middle of a lecture on romantic relationshisp with hop pop.. a fate worse than death to be sure, and end sthe episode shoving him off a cliff when he brings up the boyfriend thing again as he dosen’t learn. The end. Final Thoughts: As you can tell by how I tried to get through it as fast as possible this time around, I REALLY didn’t like this one. Ther’es a few good gags and an intresting monster as the show is still really good even on it’s off days.. but otherwise it’s just really weak. I HOPED like last week a seemingly benging episdoe would be good but it’s just yoru standard “two characters sudeenly have beef” and getting into sibling rivalry would’ve been fine.. if they hadn’t DONE THIS ALREADY with the movie night episode last season, which was far more intresting and had a solid reason for htem fighting: Polly always gets what she wants and SPrig’s tired of caving to be a good big brother. its a MUCH stronger conflict than “siblings fight sometimes’ hwich they do and would on a road trip, but sometimes realisim dosen’t mean a stories GOOD or should be told, it just means we get two cahracters annoyingly bickering when not teaming up for 5 minute,s and one or two good gags stretched over a very thin 11 minutes, not helepd by it being RIGHT before a far more important and presumibly intresting episode. It’s just.. forgetable, slight and not very good. I coudln’t even find many jokes to make out of it out of a combination of lack of any good material and me just not wanting to dwell on this nothing of an episode for long outside of the great bits of Anne and Hop Pop.

A really weak episode with some great gags and a waste of a great monster idea. It COULD have been used to have them quarrel, but even siblings who fight over the littest thing still fight over something other than the minor annoyances and a little more substance from a show that’s usually better about providing it would’ve been ncie. Just.. a frustratingly bleh episode.

Toadcatcher: Onto our Main Event and the reason the previous episode was even more insufferable. We catch up with Sasha mid-training montage, and naturally given what we saw in the finale she’s swift as a coursing river, with all the force of a great typhoon, the strength of a raging fire and the mystery of the dark side of the moon.. which is to say not a lot. We all know it’s where Cyclops put his house.

Of course what starts out sorta inspriing ends up.. kinda disturbing as she’s set up training dummies of the plantars and destroys all but one easily and angrily... the last one of course being Hop Pop.. maybe she sees him as a grandpa figure or feels bad about i’m just fucking with you of course it’s Anne. She does get her at sword point. but not before flashing back both to Anne taking her on, and to her own attempted suicide. And already this episode is really engaging just on this one scene: We see WHY Sasha hasn’t reformed overnight and it makes sense: The last time she felt like that, realized the weight of her actions and felt guilt for how she treated Anne and the Others.. she nearly took her own life.. to save them sure, but she still just couldn’t take the sheer weight of it because again 13, and because while Amphibia MIGHT have therapists, she has no acess to one. She probably feels if she lets herself feel like that, THINK about her actions and THINK about what she’s done she might not make it. IT’s a REALLY sobering thought and a really dark place for me to go.. but it’s the place she’s in, lost.

As a rap musical version of George Washinton put it “I know you have dreams of fighting and dying like a martyer. Dying is EASY young man, living is HARDER. “ It’s one thing to go out in one big gesture, clear away all the things you’ve done, and be done with it.. it’s another to wake up the next morning and realize your still here. She Ra also dealt with this recently with Catra doing largely the same.. sure she didn’t DIE or nearly die, but she was brainwashed, nearly lost herself and then was nearly killed out of spite. It’s the same principal: neither expected to come back, and both have to deal with it. And as I said Sasha is fucking 13. Grown adults can barely deal with tis sort of thing and sometimes they really can’t. How the hell is a child supposed to cope? SO she copes unhealthily, burying her guilt, seeing her attempted saviors as enemies and blaming them. If Hop Pop hadn’t stood up, if they hadn’t taken Anne for her they’d be gone, she and Anne would be happy and Grime would still be in top shape and Sasha.. she woudlnt’ be FEELING guilt or derpession or rage or all this complex feelings. It’s their fault, not hers not grimes not anyone elses. When it’s NOT that easy, it’s not that simple and it’s in now way their fault. And it’s shown by the fact that unlike with the Plantars , who she barely knows and can demonize easy.. she can’t with Anne. Anne’s her best friend, she loves her.. she can’t just.. make her a bad guy because she’s on a diffrent side or demonize her defying Sasha when even if she wont’ admit it Sasha know she was wrong. It’s why I ended up liking this directoin: Change is hard and you have to WANT it for it to stick, and Sasha’s in no mental place to want it right now. She just , much like Anne, wants to get back to some form of normalcy and try and bury it down.

But with Toad Tower gone things arne’t normal as seen when Sasha calls for Grime to see how she did.. and he’s not there. Grime is instead in a nearbye shack having basically turned into me: a depressed blob of a person binging tv and eating copius amounts of junk food while wondering where time and his life has gone. Okay maybe not the last part but yeah. Also in a nice continuity odd he’s binging on Suspcion Island, the delciously over the top , though given Riverdale which as I mentioned in a previous amphibia recap, yes really, was the show where Archie got mauled by a bear and lived with little to no scars after fleeing to Canda to avoid a cult based around a d and d knockoff and a drug called jingle jangle. I mean when that’s the reality of teen drama these days they only have to crank the knob up by so much. But yeah Grime’s in a really bad place, can relate obviously, and it’s not what I expected: I expected in grand villian manner for him to have some evil plan and still be corrupting sasha and what not.... but this is actually better. Instead he’s just done, and just lazing about despite Newtopia putting a bounty on his head.. also revealing that he was given the Captain job by them which is all kinds of worrysome for obvious reasons, but it’s a neat twist, revealing the toad’s were simply used by the Newts as a tool to hold down the frogs. Sasha TRIES breaking him out of it by having percy and braddock stage an attack.. but gives up when it’s clear Grime is just out of fucks to give and not moving from this chair. Nope. Not getting out of this chair. He actually takes it well though, as he’s not only apparently on better terms with the two, but even invites them to watch tv, though Sasha quickly puts the kibosh on that and sends the two into town for suplies.. which really isn’t that bad and they clearly are still happy about it.. I Mean their a brand new couple and the last time they got alone time was when Sasha passed out trianing in the woods and that was ruined when Grime walked in on them during and asked to watch and no one’s talked about it since. Sasha tries to convince grime to attack the frogs and get his old self back on track.. but he points out that most of their army abandoned him during his downward spiral, and they are in now shape to go on an authritarian rampage and Grime is sure he can handle whoever newtopia sends after him.

In town we meet our newst antagonist: General Yunaan. Scourge of the sand wars, defeater of Ragnar the Wretched, and the youngest newt to ever achieve the rank of General in the great Newtopian Army, who does that every time she meets someone new and is annoyed no one around her knows about any of that and just wolverine claws a plate in half to intimdate the dishwasher, but gets nothing.. but WE get reactions from the various townies who reveal that Grime si famous for being a toad who rose from poverty and squalor as a gladiator to glory as a captain. It’s an intresting wrinkle and adds to his backstory: he puts on airs of sophisticaion so much because he came from nothing, and brutally fought his way and explains his lack of people or leadership skills: He was given a simple post intemdating the local helpelss townsfolk for beign good at punching people for the delight of the 1%. They don’t give you managment classes in gladiator arena’s.. at least not since that lion ate his whole class. Lucky for her Braddock and Percy are taking some time for themselves to have a meal and their first date in weeks probably and loudly talk about Grime because they aren’t exactly compitent on a good day. Yunnan tries getting it out of them, feigns giving up when they transparentntly lies, then hides in the ceiling nad finds out Grime’s position when the two naturally blab the minute they think she’s gone because while their sweethearts and I hope they have a long and happy life together, their loyal not compitent. Sometimes you gotta pick one or the other. It’s why Megatron keeps starscream around: He’s not LOYAL, but he can be compitent in the right continuity.

Back at the camp, which we now know is an abandoned mill, Sasha tries to light a fire under Grime.. when Yunann approaches.. and interputs her title schtick to wonder if that’s really grime, which he confirms and she confirms she’s there to kill em. Sasha isn’t impressed wondering why a general dosen’t have an army behind her.. but she gives a slasher smile, cuts down the trees and what not around her with no effort, and says “they slowed me down’> Bad.. ass.. she really is this universes wolverine.. and as such Sasha decides to super run away because Grimes in no shape to fight and she dosen’t want to get snkited in the kidneys. The two go on the run, with Sasha once again understandably complaning about Grime’s lack of skills, even if she does keep up with her decently. Grime however, decides to push back this time and tells Sasha to at least admit the real reason she’s buried herself in training. Sasha TRIES to wave it off as just being about loosing the biggest fight of her life.. but Grime sees right through that bullshit.. she’s not mad about loosing the fight, any good warrior especailly grime himself knows one lost battle dosen’t mean the war.. she’s mad she lost Anne. That Anne defied her and that their friendship will never be the same again, if there’s one left to save. The two are stopped by a waterfall, and Sasha’s prepared to stand and fight.. while Grime refuses.. not out of cowardace or due to being out of shape but to protect HER. It really shows his saving her at the end of last season wasn’t just saving his best weapon.. he’s grown to genuinely care about her like the daughter he never had because he took one too many shots tot he sugarlumps in the arena. Here’s an honest reinactment of that.

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I still don’t know why he dove in crotch first. Sasha refuses though revealing she’s not just training to swallow her feelings.. she’s doing so she’s strong enough to protect the one friend she has left: Grime. I’m as shocked as Grime is honestly, as I genuinely thought she was just using him for her own benifit.. but she cares about the guy. It also adds a nice wrinkle to things as it’s one thing for her to leave an an asshole who needed a good pawn.. it’s another for the two to be every bit the family Anne and the Plantars are. She can’t just.. walk away from him and he can’t do the same. It’s not easy and it makes Sasha reforming that much harder as now BOTH must want to change , or Grime must do something really bad to her which is doubtful, to make changing a good prospect for Sasha. Yunan naturally shows up to fight, rattling off her titles, the repettition helps, and preparing to gut them, but when she knocks Sasha down grime is actually ready to fight now he has something worth fighting for and the two unite. While Grime gets knocked down pretty quick Sasha’s training/emotoinal avoidance pays off and she takes yunan one on one even breaking one of her claws with her neat pink sword. It’s a quick, furious and goregiously animated fight and an utter delight to see. Sasha ends up loosing at the alst minute thanks to Yunan’s tail.. but Grime has recovered by then and sneaks up on her while Sasha stalls her by getting her to mention her titles again so Grime can push her off a cliff. Both recite their own titles, and Grime is back in the saddle again, the two now friends for life and Grime deciding fuck simply taking the Valley back. That’s thinking small.. he’s tired of working for someone else. He’s raising an army and TAKING Newtopia and thus the world.. after finishing his binge watch.. because while this is the old determined grime he’s also now the very dad new grime too. And because i’d do the same if I was an evil wannabe dictator bent on taking back what should’ve been mine. Sasha swears to anne that while she has a new path it’s not over. whelp this can’t end well. Final Thoughts;

Easily the best of the season so far. The episode deepens both sasha and grimes characters and while setting them up to once again meance where our heroes will be hanging their hat it does so intrestingly: instead of dominating the frogs because that’s how it’s done, it’s setting up a three way dance between our heroes, the newts who clearly have some caste system issues, and Grime who wants to take it all for himself, as well as putting our three lost humans up against each other eventually before they even reunite. I mean as synopsis show Anne and Marcy will be on good terms and what not.. but it’s also clear that this c an’t last with the way the newts are acting. War is a coming, and it’s going to be intense. But yeah the episode has stunning action and even better character work and Grime is the standout here: Taking what was a one dimensonal villian and not only giving him a humorous side with his downward spiral, but showing he genuinely cares for sasha and changing that dynamic for the better, while also giving him an intresting backstory that will likely get even more fleshed out as the season rolls on. This episode was well worth the wait and is just behind “Reunited” as the series best so far. Outstanding. And since the end of my previous review and final thoughts got swept away as it turned out, and I didn’t notice till this week the episodes, there was no ranking soooo... Toadcatcher Truck Stop Polly Anne Hunter Handy Anne Fort in the Road The Ballad of Hopidiah Plantar A Caravan Named Desire Quaraller’s Pass Next week Kermit the Frog is here fresh off Muppet’s Now!, which was pretty good by the by to do a voice, while we get the long awaited Gravity Falls Homage! Excitment! Until then like, subscribe, check here for my previous amphibia reviews and here for my most recent reviews looking at x-men evolution and until next time, courage.

#Amphibia #anne boonchuy #hopidiah plantar #sprig plantar #polly plantar #captain grime #sasha waybright #percy #braddock #general yunan #toadcatcher #quarralers pass #reviews #weekly recaps #recaps

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fuckyeahscootmcnairy · 4 years

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Scoot McNairy On Lightening Up In HBO Max’s ‘Love Life’ And The Making Of A Great ‘Narcos: Mexico’ Scene

By Kimberly Ricci

The first few times I interviewed Scoot McNairy, I got a little aggressive with rampant questions about his righteous mustaches. In my defense, these discussions of facial hair often lightened the mood as we discussed his recent heavy roles on True Detective‘s third season and the most recent round of Narcos: Mexico. Scoot’s always a good sport about answering the most bizarre of inquiries, but for his latest project — an HBO Max dramedy, Love Life, starring Anna Kendrick — no such lightening was required.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that there isn’t a mustache present with this Scoot project. There is one, although it’s not as plentiful as those that he sported in the above two projects and Godless. So, the Halt and Catch Fire actor was off the hook (this time) for any facial hair talk. Fortunately, he’s still gracious enough to discuss this latest role (a wealthy entrepreneur and slightly older man who plays a key role in helping Kendrick’s character develop) with us, including how much of a relief it is to step into the shoes of a less-stressed-out character. I also wished to discuss the latest Narcos: Mexico season finale, which ended with a fantastic, fictionalized, and quiet confrontation between his DEA agent character, Walt Breslin, and the drug lord (portrayed by Diego Luna) that he put behind bars, and Scoot was game for that, too.

Love Life is a nice piece of an escapism. Would you characterize it as a romantic comedy or dramedy?

I haven’t seen the project as of yet, but after reading and talking with [showrunner] Sam Boyd, it feels like it’s more of a dramedy, and also a sort-of slice-of-life over the course of ten years, well, basically a decade.

Even though it’s not 100% cheery, this role’s definitely more lighthearted than anything you’ve done lately. Did that feel like taking a load off?

You know, it was a lot of fun. I started in this business twenty years ago, and for the first ten years, mostly what I did was comedy, and I haven’t been able to do that in eight or nine years. So, I was really looking to try and find something to do, comedic-wise, and Sam had this project that I really liked. So yeah, I really enjoy doing comedy or dark comedy, so this was really fun to step back into that — a lighter role.

Whenever I think about artists switching up genres and entering different phases, I think of an old Ethan Hawke interview, where he expressed his surprise at how shooting horror movies was a lot more silly and less terrifying than he expected. Was making a romantic comedy the same or different than you expected?

That’s a really great question, but you know, it just felt familiar. Comedy is something that I’m somewhat uncomfortable with but obviously very, very scared of and stuff, and it’s also about challenging yourself with something that you haven’t really done in a long time and something you really enjoy doing. And also just moving around, switching it up, and trying not to get pigeonholed into a sort-of genre, just to stretch your wings, I guess.

I don’t know if you’re aware, but one of the Love Life promo shots zeroes in on your character, Bradley, with a martini. You’re playing a character who drinks martinis!

Yeah! He’s a New Yorker, really into art and very motivated and ambitious. That being said, there’s also a lighter side to the character. I just hadn’t done comedy in so long, so I was really itching to do it. And Anna Kendrick is genius, and incredible at what she does, and I was really looking to work with her on something that was comedic and in her wheelhouse. She’s incredible in this, and it’s such an amazing project for her and role for her, so I was really excited to just be a part of that.

And the writing feels realistic and without too much reliance upon clichés.

Sam Boyd, the creator, he’s a really really smart guy. He was incredibly great to work with and collaborative and all that, but he wrote an incredible story. Really heartfelt and funny and sad at times, so I think it should be a really fun, wild ride.

Do you have a favorite romantic comedy?

Some of the older ones like When Harry Met Sally and Richard Linklater’s earlier stuff, including Before Sunrise. I loved those movies and the big, broad comedies like the Will Ferrell stuff.

Producer Paul Feig’s helming of Bridesmaids might bring a lot of curious eyes to this project. There are some similarities.

Yeah, definitely, I hope so. It’s really special and unique and also brings us back to movies like Reality Bites. It’s kind-of like a version of that for the newer generation.

That newer generation has been embracing romcoms on Netflix. Do you have any take on why those movies are doing so well there?

I don’t, to be honest, I didn’t know that. But as of right now, in the position where people are in quarantine, romcoms are movies that make you feel good, so maybe we’re seeing a lot of that just because of the times we’re going through.

Talking about your Love Life character any more would lead to spoilers, so do you mind if I ask you about the Narcos: Mexico season finale?

Nope. You mean the one we last finished?

Yes, and specifically, the conversation between Walt Breslin and Félix Gallardo. I’ve been comparing it to other great confrontations like Pacino and De Niro in Heat and FX’s Justified ending.

Wow.

Did you draw inspiration from any movies or TV shows, or was it solely about those two characters to you?

Oh, I was terrified to do that scene, to be honest to you. A lot of what you’re seeing is just terror, but I know that there’s always, in these sort-of male-driven shows, there’s always this reference back to Heat. You know, Carlo Bernard, one of the creators of the show, he worked with Michael Mann and actually worked on Heat, so we’re always throwing that around and stuff, so yeah, in so many ways, it’s going to resemble that scene. But I don’t speak Spanish, and that whole scene was in Spanish. It was a long one, so I am very glad to hear you say that it turned out so great because it was a very nervous one for me.

Aren’t you a Texas native? I grew up in Oklahoma, and Spanish wasn’t required but strongly encouraged. I can’t imagine going into that scene dry.

I learned a little bit in the time that I had, but even as a kid, I never picked up much Spanish living in Texas.

So when you think about Walt and Félix, do you sense any admiration there as well as contempt? Or was I reading too much into that?

Oh for sure! You develop, in law enforcement, when you’re going after a case for X amount of time, I’m sure you develop a relationship with that person, and you know so much about them that there is a sense of admiration and respect when you’ve kind-of got your guy. The very thing I think about that scene is that, like, there’s this idea that Walt got his guy, and he’s won. And throughout that scene, he [realizes] that’s he’s only created a worse problem. And I love the sort-of dynamics that shift in that scene. And him going through what is to come because of what [he’s] done. Like, [he] didn’t do anything but cause a worse problem.

And on a personal level, Walt didn’t even get the closure that he wanted.

Yeah, neither one of them. It feels like they both lost.

Have you heard anything about another season?

No, I would gladly be open to doing more. I had a wonderful time on the show and loved working with the crew down there and all the people on the show, executives and Netflix. It was a dream job, so I would happily jump back down there.

The first three episodes of ‘Love Life’ premiere on May 27 with the launch of HBO Max.

[x]

#Scoot McNairy #Love Life #HBO Max #Narcos: Mexico #True Detective #interview #Bradley Field #by aline

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keelywolfe · 5 years

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FIC: Beneath an Aurora Sky ch. 10

Summary: The South Pole Station is equipped for research and Edge has always made sure things run smoothly for the inhabitants. His charges are meant to follow his rules and regulations, and in turn, he makes sure they survive in the arctic temperatures. It takes plenty of hard work and determination and Edge, along with his crew, can handle both.

He wasn’t counting on one of the newest researchers. He wasn’t expecting Rus.

Tags: Spicyhoney, First Time, Arctic AU, Hurt/Comfort

Notes: So, bourbon came up with an amazing AU and did some lovely art for it: please look at it and love it.

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four

Chapter Five | Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Read Chapter 10 on AO3

Read it here!

~~*~~

When they walked into Alphys’s lab, Rus at Edge’s side and Red dangling over his shoulder like a sack of flour, all their resident scientist did was sigh loudly and take off her headphones.

It was good to see. When they’d first come Aboveground, Alphys had not been in a good state. The years Underground had not been kind and if it hadn’t been for her skills, the old King would have likely given her what he considered a merciful dusting.

Seeing her recovery was warming, proved that the station was the best place for them. The cold weather was a struggle for Alphys but she never minded staying inside anyway, preferring her lab and the occasional company the permanent residents provided. That and Undyne; they were an odd couple, loud and boisterous coupled with timid and softly spoken, but whenever they were together, their souls practically shone with love.

Also sexual tension, but Edge made a point of ignoring that, lest nightmares haunt him.

Her scolding wouldn’t have been possible when they first arrived; her stutter had been nearly complete and she still sometimes lapsed into Hands to get across certain points. But today she walked over with her fists on her hips and said sternly, “I t-t-told you not to force him to come.”

“this ain’t force, leapin’ lizard,” Red called from behind Edge’s back. “i was just tired a walkin’”

Alphys’s look told how much she believed that. But she allowed Red the pretense. For whatever convoluted reason, Red never wanted to admit how much he hated the treatments; it was possible he didn’t want to hurt Alphys’s feelings, but doubtful. That possibility had never stopped him from making his opinion known before. As always, his reasons were his own and Edge didn’t care to pry, so long as he eventually got his brother here.

“Well, c-come on, then,” Alphys gestured then towards the machine. Now that they were safely in the lab, Edge could set Red down with the reasonable assumption that he wouldn’t vanish the moment Edge took his hand away. It was a petty revenge to dumped Red roughly to the floor, ignoring the profuse swearing that rose up as he turned his attention to Rus.

Who only stood with his hands in his pockets, casting an idle glance here and there at the lab. It was almost disappointing; Alphys’s lab wouldn’t have been out of place in an old mad scientist movie. The machine alone was impressive, massive tubes fed into it along with a slender wires and electric cords, all leading to a simple cushioned chair. One that Red hopped into, settling in with the nonchalance of one about to take an afternoon nap.

There were very few people who would notice the slight tremor in his hands, and two of them were in the room. Before he settled in completely, Red whipped off his ski cap, exposing his skull.

Edge noted grimly the way Rus’s sockets widened when he caught sight of it, eye lights flaring in shock. His reaction was typical, most people that possessed a shred of compassion would be horrified to see the damage, the cracks that still webbed over the entire parietal bone. Few would believe that before the treatments it had been much worse. Once there had been a gaping hole in his skull large enough to fit a hand through, his entire left socket destroyed.

Over time, the machine forced the bone to regenerate and now the hole could hardly fit a finger, perhaps two. His brother no longer teetered close to dusting with any small injury and Edge owed Alphys a debt that could never be repaid.

Sweet creature that she was, she only blushed and stammered at gratitude and Edge no longer gave it; instead, he focused on giving her a safe place to work, a home where she could do her experiments and be happy with the person she loved. Hardly a fair trade in his opinion, but it wasn’t his that mattered.

But he had refused when Alphys offered to work on the crack that ran through Edge’s socket. That scar was a badge of honor, not one of shame. He’d wear it until the day he dusted.

Rus took a step closer and Edge wondered if his curiosity was over the machine, or more morbidly on Red. It was no surprise that his brother didn’t seem to care which option it was, only that Rus was here at all.

“don’t think you need to be poking around at shit that ain’t none of your business, fashion victim,” Red grumbled, although his sockets were closed.

Rus only shrugged amicably, holding up his empty hands. “i’m not touching anything. i learned how to keep my hands to myself as a baby bones. well, mostly,” he offered Edge a leer that made him roll his eye lights and Alphys titter from where she was working at the machine controls.

“H-he’s been here b-b-before,” Alphys offered softly. Her fingers were moving rapidly in an efficient contrast.

That was news to Edge, “When was this?”

“eh, couple days ago,” Rus said easily, “alphys and i were talking about some stuff.”

“what stuff?” Red said suspiciously, cracking open a socket. That Red hadn’t known Rus and Alphys were talking would not sit well with him and Edge found some discomfort in it, too. Alphys could be fragile and Undyne was very protective. He made a mental note to ask her if she was aware of their resident fashion victim making yet another friend to add to his collection.

Rus only smiled cheekily, “just stuff. science stuff.”

“oh, yeah, grad student?” Red sat up, scowling, “alphys knows her shit, you askin’ for theories? what’s your thesis on, anyway?”

“Don’t move!” Alphys squeaked. She left the controls and darted over to push on Red’s chest until he reluctantly subsided back to the chair. “He’s only t-t-teasing you, we talked about anime!”

“oh, ain’t that kawaii,” Red cooed, though his sugar-sweet tone did not match his scowl. “still didn’t tell me about your thesis.”

“nope, i didn’t,” Rus agreed cheerily. “it’s about this and that.”

That maniacal gleam in Rus’s eye lights was terribly reminiscent of Red and Edge was starting to think it might be better to for them to leave. This was partly his fault, he knew Red was on the fence about Rus, he shouldn’t have dragged the other skeleton into helping him corner his brother. Even if he’d been terribly effective at it.

“so, tell me,” Red challenged.

For all that his teeth were blunt, Rus’s grin was sharp enough to cut glass. “dunno, it might be over your head. your understanding might fall short.”

For a moment, Edge was honestly concerned his brother might attack Rus and that would lead to a very uncomfortable talk with the Institute.

Then Red threw his head back and roared a laugh, pounding on the armrest hard enough to jar the entire chair. He ignored Alphys’s hiss, turning in the chair to toss back at Rus, “that’s kinda high and mighty of ya, think it’s a stretch to assume.”

“maybe, but you’re probably used to low blows.”

“it’s a tall order.”

“yeah, i wouldn’t want to overlook you, don’t want to stoop that low.”

The entire exchange was making Edge regret several life choices, but Alphys was smiling faintly. With a jolt, Edge realized she’d already begun the treatment and Red hadn’t even noticed, too busy defending his honor as the resident punster. Normally, his brother would be lying in the chair, fists clenched and sweat dripping while he struggled to allow the machine to do its work. Now he was distracted and gleefully antagonistic, firing back pun after pun. The machine finished before they did and it was only Edge taking hold of Rus’s arm, pulling him along, that finally ended the war.

“—need to work on your low standards!” Rus called as Edge tugged him out the door.

Before it could swing shut, he could hear Red crow triumphantly, “you already used that one! next time i’ll hafta ride on your shoulders and teach you the way of the jedi!”

Rus laughed delightedly, finally allowing Edge to lead him away. “he’s a goblin, but he’s got jokes.”

“Very apt,” Edge said dryly. They were in one of the walkways that led to Alphys’s lab with few overhead lights. Not as open as the umbilicus that she was testing, but still filled with portholes that revealed the aurora starting overhead. The soft greens cast shadows that moved eerily in the dimness. “Thank you for your help, I’ll let you get back to your work.”

“nah, it’s cool,” Rus tucked his hands in his pockets, rocking on his heels. “i’ve got some numbers to compile before i can do anything else.” He paused, sockets hooded and his eye lights soft, then asked, “did you want to come back to my room?”

It was as blatant an offer as they’d ever exchange, no safety net of teasing flirtation, and Edge hesitated. It was tempting, the warmth of invitation in Rus’s eye lights promised a very good time. Despite Undyne’s insinuations, Edge was not a virgin, but it had been a long while, since before they’d come to the surface. The urge to see Rus’s face twisted with pleasure, to hear the delightful sounds he would make waged a brief war with his sense of responsibility.

So very tempting, but he had duties to fulfill, ones that he’d already set aside to deal with Red.

“I can’t,” Edge told him, quietly. He braced himself for some form of persuasion, some new enticement he’d need to resist, wondered distantly at the limits of his control.

But Rus only nodded. “okay. see you around.”

“Wait.”

He stopped, head tilted curiously, and his pale bones were tinted with the aurora light creeping in. Edge stepped in close, lifting his chin to press their mouths together. The taint of cigarettes had faded and there was only sweetness, his tongue moving boldly against Edge’s, sharing that honeyed flavor even as he stole a taste of his own. A hand settled on Edge’s face, cool bone against his overheated skull and Edge was forced to swallow a moan. They parted reluctantly, and Edge could feel the pocket of warmth between them, their magic responding with mindless eagerness.

“I can’t right now,” Edge corrected his own words.

Rus gave him a small, secret smile. “yeah. soon then, edgelord.” He started to turn away then stopped, “wait, shit, all my equipment is still in the locker up front.”

Edge barely hesitated before taking out his keys, the mass of them jangling loudly as he removed one and tossed it to Rus. He nearly fumbled it, managed to grab it before it fell to the ground. “Don’t lose it.”

“oooh, exchanging keys already,” Rus winked at him, ignoring Edge’s exasperated huff. Edge only gave him a hard look until Rus smiled wryly, making a little cross over his soul with one finger. “i won’t lose it, promise.”

“See that you don’t.” He turned and walked away then, before the simmer of temptation became too much to bear.

~~*~~

He had cause to regret it later.

On his last check of the station before he went to bed, Edge heard muffled laughter coming from the kitchen. Familiar, loud laughter and he sighed inwardly and went to check.

What he found made him sigh again, this time in aggravation. Undyne, of course, with two of the female researchers and Rus. One of the bottles on the table in front of them was a dead soldier and the other was half-empty. Not much for Undyne, but from the glassy eyes and giggles from her companions, they'd had their fair share.

Rus beamed at him, only slightly more enthusiastically than the researchers, and an echo of slurred 'boss!' carried towards him. He shook his head. "Undyne--"

"Aww, calm down," she hiccoughed, laughing raucously, "didn't hurt the precious! he's only had like two!

"Yes, and skeleton Monsters don't possess a liver,” Edge crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his second-in-command. “Our tolerance is completely dependent on our weight and level of magic. Would you care to hazard a guess as to what he weighs?"

Undyne blinked owlishly, considering, and then to his horror, she scooped Rus up, hefting him as he squealed a laugh. She laughed with him, spinning around sloppily before finally dumping him gently on top of the table where he sagged, sprawling across it.

“again!” Rus giggled weakly.

“Huh,” Undyne prodded at him with one clawed finger. It must have tickled, because Rus nearly spasmed, his laughter doubling. “Prolly enough that two drinks hit him like a sledgehammer.”

“You think?” It took a little effort to gather him up. Drinking made Rus surprising noodly for a skeleton, limbs escaping to hang limply while Edge tried grimly to hold him close. “Come on, time for bed.”

That got his attention. Rus squirmed in his arms, ostensibly trying to help Edge hold on as he wound his arms around Edge’s neck. "you're taking me to bed? again?”

Undyne snorted loudly and Edge felt his cheekbones heat. He liked to think they hadn’t been entirely blatant in their flirting, but now the two researchers were perking up with visible interest. Lovely, the rest of the station would know by morning. He wondered grouchily if Rus had inadvertently just won someone a bet. Probably his brother.

“Can you get these two to bed?” Edge asked her, ignoring all looks, both curious and knowing, along with Rus snuggling happily into his arms.

“Yeah, I got ‘em,” Undyne gave him a needle-sharp smile, “Have a good night, boss.”

Tomorrow, he was going to remind himself why he couldn’t kill her. For tonight, it was simply a good thing that his hands were full.

“Come on,” Edge sighed, shouldering open the door. Rus wasn’t heavy, but he was awkward to carry, and his hands weren’t still, tracing his cervical vertebrae with only slightly clumsy fingers. The touch made him shiver and Edge walked a bit faster.

“I hope you have a laundry token,” Edge told him, “Your shirt needs washed, you smell like a distillery.”

“s’your shirt, isn’t it?” Rus slurred. One of his hands slithered down, making Edge bite back a hiss, and plucked at his shirtfront.

He almost denied it, but, “Yes,” Edge agreed, softly. “I gave you some of my clothes.”

Rus’s beamed up at him triumphantly, “knew they were yours! they smelled like you.” He lifted his head, whispering too loudly into Edge’s audial canal, “firs’ i was thinking you felt sorry for me, but then i thought...i thought maybe you liked me? did you like me?”

The hopefulness in his voice hinted at something desperate, perhaps only drunken melancholy, Edge couldn’t know. Better if he didn’t acknowledge it, and Edge said, lightly, "What's not to like?"

Rus scrunched up his face and blew a sloppy raspberry, and Edge bit back an exasperated smile. “lotsa people don't like me.”

“I can't even begin to imagine why, Rus,” Edge told him honestly. Certainly he’d charmed his way into the station, Monsters and researchers both.

“i dunno, either,” Rus said, sullenly. “but they don't. He looked up and his sockets were engulfed with his eye lights, hazily wide and pleading. “do you like me?"

It was far too easy to admit. "Yes. I like you.”

“i knew it!” Rus crowed. “only, i didn' really know it. but i thought it. i hoped it.” He fell silent, snuggling into Edge’s arms as he whispered, “you’re not staying in my room, are you.”

Again, that faint hint of unhappiness, of desperation. But staying while Rus was like this, drunkenly tempting, was out of the question. Edge settled on a compromise. “I can stay until you’re asleep.”

“’kay,” Rus agreed, and Edge thought ruefully he was in for a short wait. Possibly only long enough to settle him on the bed, Rus was already drowsing in his arms, one hand clutching the front of Edge’s shirt as if to keep him close. It loosened easily enough as Edge set him into his bunk, taking off his shoes and tucking his blanket around him.

Rus barely stirred as Edge pressed a light kiss to his browbone. His scent was whiskey-tainted, but Edge breathed it in anyway.

“I do like you,” Edge whispered to him, tracing the angular line of his jaw with a single finger. Rus didn’t so much as murmur an acknowledgement, only breathed softly, evenly in sleep.

Next time, Edge told himself, next time he would stay.

Whatever his misgivings were, he no longer cared. Rus was a growing temptation in body and soul, Edge was finished resisting.

~~*~~

tbc

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #underfell sans #alphys #undyne #beneath an aurora sky

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timelock97 · 5 years

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Time Never Stops

Chapter Twelve: Remember When

Word Count: 3454

Prologue Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9 Ch 10 Ch 11

Warnings: Mentions of vomiting / FLUFF

(Y/F/B): Your favorite breakfast

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I let out a soft groan as I drop my duffel bag and finally sit down at the kitchen table in the Holland's family home. It's six in the evening, and I am utterly exhausted. After PAX had ended, I flew out to L.A. for two weeks to record videos with Mark and crew before flying home to my apartment. Tom went back to filming another movie in Atlanta. I spent the two weeks I had at home packing and pre-recording videos so I had enough on file to post for about three weeks, while Tom and I looked and settled into our new home. The worst of everything from the last few weeks was that my landlord argued with me when I wouldn't sign for another lease, even though I told him that I was moving out of the country. At one point I just walked out of his office, leaving my notice on his desk the following morning because I was done with his bullshit.

When I got finally got to London, I had planned to stay at Tom and Harrison's flat. However, since the both of them were gone filming, I decided to stay with my future parents-in-laws. Staying with Tom's parents had its perks, it meant I could relax, look up apartments for Tom and I to move into, edit what was left of the videos, and get all my medical stuff re-situated.

Tessa barking at the opening of the front door catches my attention, my head lifting from its place on top of my arms. "Mum, is (Y/N) here yet?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" I tease, turning in my chair to see Paddy run down the hall, Tess on his heels, and skid to a stop in front of me.

He throws down his backpack, heavy with textbooks, before hugging me. "When did you get in?" He asks, pulling away to reveal a large smile on his face.

"Like, ten minutes ago I think. Mum?"

"Yeah, we got in about that time. Be careful, love, her flight was not pleasant for her and the little one." Nikki responds, working on dinner at the stove.

Paddy smiles, looking at me nervously, motioning to my stomach. "Can I um..."

I nod, "There's only a little bump, but they are in there." I state as he crouches down in front of me and places a hand on my stomach, smiling at the little bump. The sound of a camera going off tears my attention from the youngest Holland up toward the sound. I smile at Nikki who has her camera in hand, capturing the moment to memory.

"When will you know if they are a boy or a girl?" Paddy asks, moving to sit in the chair beside me, pulling homework from his backpack.

"Not long now, once Tom is home in a few weeks we will go to the appointment," I hum, propping my head on my hand.

"Do you know if you two are going to find out what the gender is or are you going to wait?" Paddy continues, making me smile.

"Pads, why are you bombarding (Y/N) with all these questions?" Dom asks, walking over and kissing the top of my head before greeting his wife with a kiss on the lips.

"Because Tom won't tell me anything and I'm nosy." Pad says, making me chuckle.

"To answer your question, Pads, I think we wanted to do a gender reveal, but we don't know when exactly we will do it. I am hoping that we can do it while Izzy is in town so she doesn't have to plan another flight. Right now, I just want to worry about finding a flat."

"Why a flat?" Paddy asks, looking up from his notebook.

"Well, we want to have everything set up before the baby gets here, so while Tom is on set, it's my job to look for an apartment-"

Paddy looks at me in confusion, "I thought Tom already-"

"Paddy," Nikki cuts in, "Why don't you call Sam and Harry and see if they are coming over for dinner or if they are going to their flat from their latest job?" Paddy gives her a sheepish grin before packing his homework and leaned across to kiss my cheek before leaving the room, grabbing my duffel bag on the way out.

"I am just going to assume I shouldn't ask," I giggle, running my hand through my hair, detangling the strands. I jump, accidentally yanking my hair, when something loudly land on the table.

"Sorry, darling, made you a cup of ginger tea, Tom said that you had been drinking it for your morning sickness." Dom chuckles, sliding the mug closer.

"Thanks, Dom," I smile taking it in my hand before sighing, whining. "I shouldn't be this tired."

"You had a long day, it's to be expected. Being pregnant is tiring," Nikki smiles.

I nod, feeling my phone buzz in my hoodie pocket. I dig it out and see that I had missed a call from Tom. "Tom called me, I'm going to go sit outside and call him back, that okay?"

"Of course, love, I'll come get you when supper's ready." Nikki responds, smiling at me as I shuffle over to the door, slipping outside with Tessa.

I redial his number, bringing my phone to my ear as I sit down on a patio chair.

"Hello, love," Tom coos.

"Hey," I rub my eyes sleepily, "sorry I missed your call, I was in your- well, your parents' kitchen talking to them and Paddy."

"S'okay, just wanted to make sure you made it home alright."

"Yeah, I did." I sigh, rubbing my eyes.

There is a pause on the other end of the phone, "Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah, little love made me sick the whole flight. Didn't help we had rough air."

"Well, don't stress yourself out, okay? And if you feel like you need to get some sleep, my parents are not going to judge you."

"I know, just wish I felt better. Honestly, I wish you were here. I love your family, don't get me wrong, I just-" I cut myself off, my emotions getting the better of me.

"Hey, only a week, then I will be home." His voice comes through the speaker comfortingly.

"A week, I thought it was a month?" I ask in disbelief, Tess placing herself between my legs and laying her head on my lap.

"Nope, just a week," he states, I can hear the smile on his face. "It was a miscommunication. I have to go back in November, but only for two weeks to finish filming."

"Well, I am excited to see you."

"Me too, love. Oh, do me a favor? Don't bother looking up flats."

"I thought you wanted me to look-"

"I don't want you to stress out about it, besides I actually have a surprise for you when I get back, if Paddy doesn't spoil it beforehand."

"Oh," I come to the realization, "Paddy almost did, but Mum stopped him." I giggle, making Tom sigh.

"Well at least she is looking out for me, but you will have to wait a little longer, love."

"That's okay, I can wait." I turn to the door opening seeing Sam. "Hold up, love," I pull the phone away from my face "Hey, Sam."

"Hey, Mum has supper ready."

"Okay, thanks." I smile at Sam as he slips back inside before placing my phone back to my ear, "Tom I gotta go, Mum has food ready."

"That's okay, I have to get back to set. I love you, (Y/N)."

"I love you too, see you soon, Tommy." I hang up after a minute, running my hand over Tessa's head before standing. Only a week til he's home, it'll be fine.

I lay my head on my arm as I lean against the bathtub in the upstairs bathroom. It is two forty-seven in the morning, and I have never been sicker. "Fuck morning sickness, its every fucking hour sickness," I grumble as I move to grab my water bottle from the floor. I groan at the realization that it was empty.

"(Y/N), are you in here?" Nikki's voice comes from behind the door, before I can answer, my stomach lurches again, causing me to puke. The door creaks open and a hand runs up and down my back, "Oh, darling."

"You know, this happened the night before Tom and I told you all that we were expecting." I let out a humorless laugh as I lay my arm back down on the side of the tub to catch my breath. "But tonight is about ten times worse."

"How long have you been up?" She asks as she moves to sit down beside me.

"Didn't fall asleep, but I've been in here since one."

"I'm sorry, darling," She coos.

"Not your fault," I whisper as I lean my head on the cool, porcelain tub.

"Is everyone alright in here?" Dom pokes his head in to see his wife and I on the floor, "We wondered why you two weren't in bed."

"'We'?" I ask, opening my eyes to look at him. After a second Tom joins his side, backpack hung over his shoulder and suitcase in his other hand.

"Hey, love," he mutters setting his things down before walking into the bathroom.

"There are too many people in this bathroom," I mutter, Tom slowly moving his hands to try and help me to stand, "Tom, I can't-"

"We are just going down stairs, settle on the couch for the rest of the night, yeah?" Tom says, lifting me carefully into his arms. "I'll be back up to clean, Mum."

"We can take care of it, Tom. Just worry about (Y/N/N)." Dom says, moving Tom's bags before we pass. I bury my face into his neck, breathing him in.

Tom chuckles at my reaction, "Love, I think it is a little strange to be smelling me-"

"You're not the one with the upset stomach, so shut up." I mutter into his neck, making him laugh. "Besides, a different smell might help a bit."

He sets me down on the couch before pressing a kiss to my forehead. "No, I am not, but I do have some things that might help and get you back to sleep." He mutters, standing back up, grabbing a trashcan to place near the couch, flipping the t.v. on, and finally leaving me in the living room while he retreats into the kitchen.

"Why did you leave?" I whine, hearing him chuckle as he moves around the kitchen. I smile as he walks back with my water bottle in hand.

"Wanted to get you more water," he stands next to me, handing my bottle to me. Tom motions for me to carefully lean forward so he can settle behind me so I can lay on his chest.

I go to take a sip and am hit with the overpowering smell of lemons. "Did you put lemons in this?"

"Yeah, lots of websites say that lemons help with morning sickness, like how ginger does too. Also, one of the makeup artists told me that lemons helped her a bunch when she was pregnant." He tilts his head to press a kiss to my cheek, running his hands under my shirt and over the bump, soothing me. I sip slowly on the water, focusing on the movement of his hands and the buzz from the t.v., slowly lulling me into a dreamless sleep.

I wake the next morning when I feel something brush against my nose. I flutter my eyes open, only to close them again when Tess licks my cheeks. A squeal escapes my lips, as I pull the sheet back over my head while Tess tries to show how happy she is to see me awake.

"Tess, leave her alone." Tom laughs, pulling her away from me and shooing her the other direction. Then he crouches next to me, carefully pulling the sheet away from my face. "How are you this morning, darling?"

"Better than when you found me last night." I mutter, my hand going into his hair to run through his dark locks.

"Good, how about we get some food in you, I'm thinking (Y/F/B), then we can go for a walk?" He suggests, squeezing my hip under the covers.

"Only if you have tea ready for me."

"Already on the table." He states, giving me his hand to pull me off the couch.

Tom and I spent time talking over breakfast, the house quiet since his parents are gone for the day while Paddy is at school. He squeezes my hand before grabbing our now empty plates. "Why don't you go upstairs and change, then we can take Tess for a walk?"

Tess jumps at our legs as the two of us stand and move about the room, "Sounds perfect, baby boy." I smile as I see Tom's face flush a bright shade of red, but his smile is undeniably the brightest that I had seen in a long time. I walk upstairs, slipping into his childhood bedroom to change. I pull out a pair of shorts and a plain white t-shirt with a pocket on the chest, but my shorts won't button. I groan, stripping out of them and kicking them away. After I look in my bag and spot something else to wear and toss my shirt over my head. I grab a light blue, white vertical line button up t-shirt dress and button it into place. I slip on a pair of flats, wander to the bathroom and brush my teeth, before I walk down the stairs to smile at Tom, who has Tess already on a lead ready to go.

"You look lovely, bug." He mutters, pulling me into a quick kiss.

"And you look handsome as always." I giggle, taking his hand before walking out the door with him. The two of us start up the street, Tess tugging us along happily.

After strolling for a few minutes Tom tugs my hand so I fall into his side, making me laugh. "Do you remember when we were like, maybe six or seven and we would walk to the end of the block and go to Mr. and Mrs. Freeman's house?"

"We used to tell our parents we were going to visit the 'neighborhood grandparents' and we would go play in their front yard until Mrs. Freeman would invite us inside to help her bake some sort of sweet." I laugh, leaning into his side as his arm wraps around my shoulder.

"Or Mr. Freeman would take us into the backyard to show us how to build a birdhouse," Tom chuckles. "Do you remember when we used to say we would raise our kids in that house?"

"I do." I smile, wrapping my arm around his and leaning into his side, Tom presses a kiss to my forehead. "We only said that because we couldn't believe that it was the first and only house her and her husband lived in. Even as little kids we knew we wanted that."

"We did," Tom states, smiling at me. He doesn't say anything for a minute, the two of us slowing our paces. Tom stops us in front of a house, opening the gate for me, and at first glance I don't recognize it. The two story home looked well loved and inviting. A new coat of dark blue paint caused the white windows and trim to pop. The path lead to the front porch, a small patch of roof covering the entrance from any weather that would bombard guests, with windows on either side of the turquoise door, the same shade as the cottage door back in Oregon.

"This is Mr. and Mrs. Freeman's house, or was?" I mutter, Tom only reaching out and taking my hand. "Tom, what is going on?" I giggle as he tugs me toward the door. I watch as he fishes a key out of his jacket pocket before he unlocks the door.

He turns toward me and gives me a nervous smile, "Don't freak out."

I let out a laugh and squeeze his hand in reassurance as he pushes the door open and leads me and Tess inside. I let out a gasp at the sight before me.

The front room that I remember was completely changed. The wallpaper had been stripped away and is now painted a pale gray. The carpet had been ripped out, uncovering warm wood floors that led down to where the kitchen had been. A dark blue couch and love-seat sprinkled in different colored throw pillows framed the fireplace, a t.v. hanging above it. The stairs that were directly in front of the entrance no longer had the old, fuzzy carpet running up it, replaced with a textured carpet that would make a person less likely to slip and fall down them. God, I could remember sliding down those stairs right at the forefront of my mind. Pictures of Tom and I through our life litter the space, some going up the stairs to the second floor.

"Tom, what, how?" I look at him in shock, unable to really speak my mind. Tom only smiles, tugging me further into the house. He stops in the kitchen, letting go of my hand as I look around the room. The room had been completely gutted and redone. Sky blue cabinets and cupboards with white marble counter-tops are nestled against two of the walls. Stainless steel appliances nestled into the spaces left for them, and white subway tiles decorate the walls between the cabinets and counter-tops. A small wood island with two stools sit in the middle of the kitchen, a vase filled with bouquet flowers sitting in the middle of it. On the wall across the entrance is a sliding door that leads to the back yard, showing the freshly painted white fence. A small, wood table sits a few feet from the door, rounded corners as for no one to knick themselves with simple chairs all around it.

Tom lets me slowly move about the house, looking at all the old rooms that are now either completely changed, or just have a fresh coat of paint, new flooring, and decorated to a t. He follows me up the stairs, watching me as I slip in and out of each room in amazement. I stop when I find a room painted a soft shade of gray with a plain wood floor sitting empty on the second floor.

"I thought," Tom's voice pulls me from my thoughts, making me turn to look at him. He is looking at the floor, a small blush on his cheeks. "I thought this could be the baby's room."

I walk over to him, cupping his cheeks. "When did you do this? When did you have time to do this?"

"Um," he lets out a laugh before pressing his forehead to mine, "We were in London for a few days for the premiere. I was out on a run and I saw Mrs. Freeman's family moving her out, her husband died a few years back and she was having a hard time living home by herself. I walked over and offered her family a hand, then went inside to say hello to her. She eventually asked about you and I told her that we were together, and expecting a baby. She was beyond excited. She somehow remembered that conversation we had with her in her kitchen when we were little; the one where we told her when her and her husband could no longer stay here, we would buy their house and raise our children here. She looked at me with the brightest smile, and offered to sell us the house. Her kids didn't even fight it, she gave me her price, I sighed a check for a little more than what she asked, and got the deed for the house, all before noon."

"You bought the house, while you were touring for your new movie, that's insane!"

"Stan and Mackie would not stop teasing me, made comments about how we haven't been together long, blah blah blah."

I giggle, pressing a quick kiss on his lips before looking at him in amazement. "But what about all the remodeling, you've been on the go for months."

"My family kept an eye on the place and helped me with all sorts of stuff." He laughs, pulling me into him again. "You haven't even gotten to the best of all the rooms in the house."

I giggle as he pulls me down the hallway. He opens the door, showing off the master bedroom. He smiles as I speed walk into the room and plop on the plush bed. He joins me, laughing along with me.

"Welcome home, love."

"Home sweet, home, Holland."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! Reblog and comment!

Chapter Thirteen

#cg writes #time never stops #tom holland x reader #tom holland fanfiction #tomhollandxyoutuber!reader #bestfriendstoloversau #bestfriend!tom holland #best friends to lovers #dad!tom holland

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eclectic-fanatic89 · 5 years

Text

Locked In: A Fire Hazard

Book: HSS CA

Paring: Ajay x mc

Word Count: 2774

AN: I told myself that I would post one of the fanfics I’ve written someday. I wrote this probably two weeks ago but kept tweaking it. I realized that I will keep tweaking unless I finally posted it.

This takes place in Book 1 Chapter 6 sometime after the diamond scene. I’m attempting to fill in some of the time between the beginning of the semester to the play in November. I dislike the loose timeline and what could have happened during that time. Also I’m trying to show Ajays internal struggle with keeping his walls strong and the MC uncanny ability to tear them down. Please let me know how I do.

The setting for the school year is that this takes mid-end September. At least one week before Homecoming. In my HS homecoming game happened Friday before homecoming dance and was always against rival school. But Pixelberry did it different. Here’s my take on the timeline: School started in the last week of August. Homecoming game against Hearst and Amber's party is mid-September Friday. That Monday is chapters 5 (rehearsal) and 6 Locked in. One week before homecoming.

Please leave constructive criticism and review (if you want)

*These characters belong to Choices game from Pixelberry.

Breathe in. Breathe out, Ajay told himself as he inhaled and exhaled his breath, doing his best to keep from panicking. Repeating these words inside his head helped keep his thoughts from dwelling on his problems and his current circumstance. Star was right, panicking because they were locked in the theater would only make things worse. Instead they had to focus on what can be done. Right now, that was breathing in and out. Ever so slowly he felt heart-rate decrease. Laying here on the stage floor gave him serenity.

This was one of his happy places, had been since he was a freshman and would probably always be a happy place. Lately however, he was starting to think this play was cursed. With all that happened since the start of the year he was amazed none of the cast and crew were voicing their superstitious concerns. Any day now he expected Trevor or one of the cast members to try and “cleanse” the theater.

Why has no one came looking for us? Ajay thought. Surely my parents would have contacted the police, or Mr. Olson by now. His parents would have called every student from the theater club, questioning them on his whereabouts. It would have been only a matter of time before they heard from Stars parents and they all realized both students were missing. This should make them or even the cops to start looking at their last known location- the school. This how it happens on crime dramas.

Even though he told Star some of the Techs were going to come in the morning Ajay secretly thought they would have been located by now.

Surely someone-anyone would have come to their last known location. They would have seen my car in the school parking- except I’m parked a few blocks away from the campus. The one day I couldn’t get a parking spot on school grounds. Damn, I guess we are here until morning. Sighing aloud, Ajay checked his watch once more. Only forty-five minutes since Star and I last spoke and about ten minutes since I last checked my watch.

With time slowly ticking by Ajay tried to keep himself mentally occupied by going over the play over and over. He’d visualize each scene and made mental notes of changes he wanted to incorporate. However, this little mental review didn’t last long, the play was close to perfect and soon he was left alone with his thoughts. He continuously found himself replaying the day’s events.

He’d been crouched on the floor in front of the locked doors, wringing his hands thorough his hairs. Panicking and berating himself for getting them in this predicament. All my fault. Heartbeat was racing, the thumping getting louder, drowning out all sounds. His vision was fading when he felt her hands grasping his own. She was in front of him, kneeling trying to get him to notice that she was there, angling her neck to place her face in his line of sight. They’re faces had only a foot apart, so close he could smell the floral fragrance she wore. The smell was light, sweet and calming to him.

When Star noticed she had his attention, she calmly spoke, keeping her tone light and reassuring. “I know things look bad but focusing on what the bad will only make you feel worse. Let’s take some deep breaths and instead focus on the good. Remember let’s focus on what we can do, not what is out of our control.” Somehow, she knew what to say to stem the rising panic and helped his logical regain control. Star hummed to him while he took several deep breaths. Ajay nodded signaling he was alright, and she could continue.

“Worst case scenario we are locked in until Monday, but you have techs scheduled to be here for set design tomorrow morning. All we can do is wait until help arrives. The lights are on, we have a bathroom, water, and we have each other.”

Ajay felt his face heat up once more at her words. Why am I effected like this? He thought, but he knew the answer. While his brain told him, he admired her acting abilities, his heart and the small voice that he was always at war with, believed his admiration was a crush.

“Never have I ever kissed anyone” Star proclaimed during their game sometime after his episode. Her face had been flushed with embarrassment and she wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

“But you’re so” (Nope- we are not going there!) Ajay scolded himself, slamming a door on the thought. Would he ever get over this nasty habit of speaking before thinking? It’s bound to get him into serious trouble one day.

But what Ajay? Finish the thought. His treacherous inner voice whispered. But you are so kind? Or were you going to say charming, funny, pretty? Perhaps you meant to say beautiful, alluring, captivating, radiant? Why won’t you finish that sentence.

(Shut up!) Ajay snarled internally. Doing his best to bury his inner voice before it got bolder.

What if you had kissed her on the lips at Amber's party, like you wanted to? The sly voice uttered, encroaching on a more dangerous topic. You would have been her first kiss. The voice sardonically continued. Only you would have never done it. Such principals you have, it’s no wonder you’ve been single and dateless for such a long time.

(Please stop.) He begged to himself. He didn’t need this; he could handle this right now. Since her performance at auditions, he’s had this back and forth struggle with himself. It’s going to drive him crazy one day.

Ajay became cautious when he noticed his inner voice taking on a whimsical tone. “You know this is the perfect setup. Like in those ridiculous Rom-coms that your exes used to make you watch. The protagonist and their love interest trapped...trapped together overnight.”

(Enough! whose side are you on anyway?). Ajay demanded of himself, his control on the verge of shattering. He needed his heart to see reason, lest he does something stupid like admit to having a crush on her. Logically he knew nothing good will come from this, he’d only end up hurting himself and making things awkward again. Having feelings for someone like Star would only bring him misery.

Ajay decided an external distraction would stop the thoughts that plagued his mind. There is nothing to do, he thought dejectedly. His schoolbooks were in his locker and anything that could provide entertainment was locked up for safety. Except for Star, they were here together, and he could admit to himself that he did enjoy talking and playing her silly games. Turning on his side, with his arm bent and his head resting on his hand he looked over to where Star sat. She was sitting on the edge of the stage with one leg dangling off. She was checking her hair- once more- for possible spiders.

Ever since falling out of the vent, she jumped when any threadlike substance that touched her skin. Would immediately recheck her hair and clothes. Such an adorable dork, Ajay thought as a slow smile spread across his face. Her hair was not in its usual style- two small buns on the top half and the back half curly and loose. Though he trampled any feelings he had for her, he could admit to himself that he had grown fond of that hairstyle on her. While her usual hairstyle made her look adorable, this one made her look sweet and he constantly found himself disarmed by her. Her hair was still curly but framed her face differently.

He recalled overhearing her talk with Erin about trying a new natural hair product and a “twist out,” he had no idea what that meant, but Erin seemed to understand. They rattled off recommendations of products, and various Facespace videos before Rory interrupted them. Frowning now, Ajay recalled her disastrous slip up and waited for the anger to return. Only this time it didn’t.

Dammit, he thought. He needed to be angry with her, if he was angry, he could ignore his traitorous inner voice and bury his feelings for her. Still no anger came, instead he recalled her response when he grilled her about it.

“About that, I have no real explanation about what happened. Heck, I hope I can repress that memory as quickly as possible. In thirty years; I will be lying in bed trying to sleep when my brain decides to dredge this up and it will still be as humiliating as it is now. I want to partly blame my excitement about Homecoming after Erin brought it up. A part of me was excited that Rory would ask me to go as friends.

Honestly, I miss my best friend and was excited to finally hang out with him. We are neighbors but for the past three years we’ve only said ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ in passing. We drifted apart, until he randomly texted me over the summer about auditioning for the play. I was hopeful that we’d get to reconnect, and I’d have my best friend back. But outside of rehearsal we rarely speak. I always feel as if I’m chasing after him and no matter how fast, or long I run, I’m just out of reach.” Her words had been a low unsteady whisper, as if she wasn’t talking to him, but to herself. Star avoided eye-contact with him and instead focused on picking invisible lint from her dress, while biting on her bottom lip.

_____________________________________________________________

Star finally finished checking her hair for the tenth time since falling out of the vent. She’d been covered in dust and cobwebs and feared a spider in her hair. Shuddering at the thought of a bug in her hair, she recalled the last time it happened; when a fly landed in her hair, got stuck and died. Her twin Rowan had teased her so much that her retaliation got her grounded for three weeks. With another shudder at the thought of a spider eggs hatching in her hair, Star tore her thoughts and hands away from her hair.

This is not too bad, being locked in the Theater was not as scary as she first thought, Star mused. At least she wasn’t trapped by herself; Ajay was with her. He was in the top four of the Theater Troupe that she would prefer to be trapped with. Rory, Skye, Erin and Ajay, in that order was her preference on who should would like to be trapped with. After their failed escape attempt, and her confession about her slip up, they made the best of their situation. Playing games, talking, and getting to know each other.

“Never have I been kissed…” Ugh, Star inwardly groaned, curse her stomach. She just needed to win the last goldfish. “Foot meet mouth-again”. Even now my face is heating up. Add this to the long list of humiliating memories that will keep me awake for the rest of my life. What if he thinks I’m hopeless?

Oh, no what if he thinks-No let’s not even go there. No, no, no. Gradually her disloyal imagination won the internal struggle and painted a picture of Ajay and her playing the game but ending with them kissing. Stop! Star chastised herself. Thinking like this is dangerous, Ajay is probably a mind reader and any second now he will yell at me. We need a distraction from these thoughts.

“Hey Ajay!” Star shouted, as she spun around to face him. Eyes wide, a smile on her face. “Let’s play another game. Let’s plan what we would do in the event of a zombie attack!”

“I overheard your conversation with Rory before rehearsal, this must have been some book to leave such a lasting impression. Just what was so scary about it?” Ajay finished with a chuckle. A ghost of a smile forming on his face as her face turned red with embarrassment. “Are you afraid of zombies?”

“The scariest part of the book was that zombies retained different levels of awareness or maybe their intelligence from when they were human. Like how a vampire hierarchy works in books and movies. The stronger ones -ones that kept their intelligence- were able to control the lesser zombies that they infected, and they could speak as if they were still human. You wouldn’t know the difference, until it was too late.”

His eyes widen in shock as he imagined the possible scenarios those type of zombies would bring. “You could lead a horde of zombies straight to your door” his voice was barely a whisper, Star nodded in agreement. “It makes you to wonder do you isolate yourself, kill any and everybody that comes near you or take the risk and help someone who may be a zombie?”

“That’s what happened, a radio host led a horde of zombies to his radio station, they ate everyone but him. ‘Thanks for the meal’ was what the horde leader said as the host found his colleagues, friends and other survivors dead.”

_____________________________________________________________

Finally, he was home. Though Ajay only lived ten minutes away by car, his thoughts kept him preoccupied. After missing his street twice, he decided it was better to drive around for a while. He knew he should be rushing straight home, but the thought of entering his house filled him with turmoil. Panic slowly rose to the surface, his hands trembled on the steering wheel. He dreaded going inside, to face the music. He knew he wasn’t in trouble; thanks to Star he spoke to his mother on her cellphone. She was relieved that he was safe and on his way home. Told him she would finally be able to sleep once she saw his face. He could feel her exhaustion through the phone; however, he knew part of her exhaustion was not from her worry.

“They probably fought for hours, blaming each other for my disappearance. Blaming it on some nonexistent slight the other perceived happened. Probably accused each other of being the reason he ran away.” As if I would leave Mohit alone with their fighting. Did their argument reach shouting levels again? Did the neighbors hear them fighting this time? Did Mohit? Of course Mohit heard them; whenever they fought, they forget about everyone else in their danger zone.

Looking at himself in the cars review view mirror Ajay attempted once more to calm his rising panic. “Focus on what you can control Ajay. The fight is over, once we get inside, let them know we are okay we can talk to Mohit. Make sure he’s okay, spend some time with him” Still he his body wouldn’t move from his seat. Sighing miserably, Ajay took a few more deep breaths, rested his head on the steering wheel. In through your nose, out through your mouth. He repeated that phrase over and over in his mind. Gradually a light sweet floral smell filled his nostrils, and the serenity returned. The scent cleansed him of his panic. “My jacket smells like her.” A peaceful smile formed on his face as he remembered how she hugged him goodbye. She’d been amused that he was capable of affection.

As if any thoughts about Star were an invitation, his inner voice began its defiant attack. Just tell her you admire her. Ask her out! Take her somewhere FUN Ajay. She cares about you, maybe even likes you. She could have kept your jacket, but she gave it back so YOU wouldn’t suffer! And how do YOU respond? By making her walk home. Its tone becoming more disparaging as it continued. Real smooth. You could have driven her home, spent more time with her. How is she ever going to see you anything other than Ajay the Student Director?”

“Ajay the Student Director is all I am.” He was done with battling himself over this. Ever since auditions he’s suffered through this vicious cycle. This battle between what his stupid heart wanted and what his brain deemed acceptable. “Have we forgotten about Kelly?” He hated thinking about his cringe-worthy past but recalling that disastrous summer always doused his emotions and dominated his inner voice.

“Because this is how we end up with another Kelly and Marvin disaster. There’s too much riding on this play to let my personal feelings interfere. At most I can be her friend and it will never be more than that.” Ajay got out his car and headed inside.

“She was sent from Hell to destroy us.”

#playchoices #choices: stories you play #choices stories you play #choices fanfic #choices fanfiction #ajay x mc #ajay bhandari #hss #hss: ca #hssca #choices hss #choices hssca #hss ca #high school story class act #high school story: class act #high school story

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memoirsofamessybitch · 5 years

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In My Mind; Part 1

@lizgarxo this one is dedicated to you! and to anyone who has been looking forward to a continuation of this!

the prologue can be found here: http://memoirsofamessybitch.tumblr.com/post/180457816968/in-my-mind-prologue

Joe X Fem Reader

Sometimes it's hard to get settled into a new gig that's so different from the one before. I'd worked on a lot of T.V shows, a few stage productions but a film...it's a whole different ball-game. You're working even longer hours, getting treated even worse than any job before, and most of the time you're just touching up miserable featured extras. I spent the whole first week getting coffee, as my expertise wasn't needed to it's full extent. The second week I started doing make-up tests, the leads were still having wardrobe fittings to prep for initial shoots. I glanced at the main casting, I recognized a few names, but not all.. My crew dealt with prosthetic and make-up. Which meant a lot more time with actors in my chair and in my trailer, lots of touch ups and by the look of it lots of airbrushing and fake blood.

You could say I had very little job satisfaction, the dream had turned to complete dust after getting so much abuse and fetching about a million Starbucks orders. So much so I can't even stand walking past one. I must sound like the most cynical bitch on the planet, and you're fucking right.

It was by the third week when my interest began to peak however. Not only in my job but in fact my own personal life.

When people tell you they've been unlucky in love, you're pretty sure they are just exaggerating. But me, I could write the book sweetheart. I'd grown pretty used to rejection and heartache, so I made sure I tried my best not to catch feelings. Meaningless sex with multiple hookups kept my appetite for human contact at bay, who had time for a significant other. So when I tell you, I met someone who makes my stomach ache with butterflies, who makes my skin tingle and burn with excitement at the very mention of his name. You can understand the severity of how much of an impact he has on me.

By the third week, around 6 am an actor sat in my chair and completely changed my perspective on life forever. I didn't even realize at first I had my earphones in listening to (favourite album) and sipping my drink unaware of what was going on at first. Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention and with a loud sigh and got up from my leaning position and began my day.

I didn't see him, not right away if you know what I mean. It wasn't till he spoke to me, that’s when I really saw him. I noticed his kindness initially, then the rest followed of course.

“Morning! I'm Joe, nice to finally meet you” he had on this really kind and trusting smile, like he'd known me for years. I smiled back, not forcibly either. I could even feel my cheeks flush a little. Now that I wasn't expecting.

I eventually noticed he had his hand out so we could shake. I quickly snapped out of my smiling gaze and grabbed his hand.

“I'm y/n, so uh....it seems like we're doing some scarring and wounds on the face and neck” I picked up my photos for reference.

“Yeah I'm not muscular enough to have gaping scars on my tight bod” He pointed to his chest and grinned, followed by a soft chuckle. I wasn't expecting a genuine laugh to come out of me either that day, but it did. I covered my mouth and snickered “You've seen those studs in action films all bloody and dirty, yeah...bet you’ve airbrushed a few muscular men in your time I can tell” I kept laughing, more noticeably this time. “Sorry I'll stop” his chuckle died down. I was a little disappointed, I was enjoying it.

“NO....dude it's fine. It's been a while since I've had a laugh like that” I was preparing my brushes looking at him through the reflection in the mirror before us. I examined him bit by bit. Firstly; his dark auburn hair, it was thick and slightly wavy on top. Hair department obviously hadn't seen him yet. In fact it looked like he'd just woken up. His nose dimple was the second thing I noticed, and it was ridiculously adorable. I bit my lip briefly as I made very quick eye contact. Just had to check them out too. In the light they looked kinda olive coloured. I smirked at him as he continued.

“Why! make-up trailers are where you're supposed to have fun, or you go insane from boredom!” he crossed his arms and looked at me with intrigue.

“You're right with the last one, the last couple of jobs I've done have been so BORING, films are hard work though, I think I'm gonna be a shell of a person after this one” I picked up my prep spray and held it up. Joe closed his eyes and tilted his head back slightly.

“Ready?”

“As I'll ever be, just make sure it doesn't go up my nose” He pointed to his nostril and I rolled my eyes.

“Alright your highness” He chuckled softly again as I sprayed away. “You done a lot of acting then?” He scoffed at my question. Okay maybe it was dumb but actors come and go, I'd met so many, names and faces really escaped me.

“You could say I have, you ever seen Jurassic Park?” He looked up at me as I put some putty onto my fingers and began to massage it between them, my eyes widened.

“Oh my god you're Raptor number 3 aren't you! I love your work” I put on some dumb fan girl voice and stuck my tongue out. He threw his head back and laughed. “For real though...were you like the little boy or something?” He nodded sucking in his bottom lip. “Damn son that's pretty fucking cool”

“Okay okay...you ever seen the show The Pacific?” he was really testing me now. I shook my head pushing my tongue against the inside of my cheek.

“Nope, Sorry I'm shit at this game dude” I started to stroke the putty onto his cheek bone as gently as I could.I focused on his side profile for a moment. It certainly wasn’t the worst thing I’d seen in a while. I licked my lips and continued stroking carefully.

“Damn your hands are soft....” He whispered as his eyes closed slowly. I stopped for a moment and sucked in my bottom lip. His freshly shaved cheek felt pretty good too to be honest. I watched his body relax at my touch, it was oddly satisfying.

“Thanks?” I said with slight hesitation in my voice.

“Sorry was that....sorry I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable” the way he looked up at me made my chest feel odd, almost full of something. He was looking as if he was genuinely worried about what he had said to me. I put my hand on his shoulder and shook my head.

“No...NO no no...I'm not....just” I hesitated for a moment before I continued.

“I struggle taking compliments is all” I carried on applying. I could feel his eyes on me. “What, you're looking at me like I just said something ridiculous” He shook his head. I sat back on the desk facing him this time, and began swirling around the brush over the applicable make-up. I watched each fiber pick up the pigment, trying my best not to let the butterflies in my stomach distract me from my work.

“How long have you been working on sets then?” I sighed, leaned forward and started stippling the make-up on his face.

“Long enough” was all I replied with. Glancing into his eyes for a second then away again.

“Sounds like you're not a fan” He sounded intrigued for sure. But I wasn't sure how I felt delving too deep. I'd only just met him.

“It's a job, and of course I'm grateful for it I guess I'm just feeling....stagnant” I pulled back and added more to the brush. “This is getting a bit deep now man maybe we should tone it back” I laughed nervously, still unable to look at him longer than 5 seconds. Which was fucking hard because I was painting his face. But this guy was causing me to feel things I hadn’t felt since I was very young, dumb and naive. I felt excited to be near him. I felt a little foolish too, I barely knew him, and i knew he didn't really give a shit about if I liked this job or not, as long as I did it correctly. Right?

“Well regardless of how you feel y/n this looks incredible, you should be proud” I couldn't hold back my beaming smile, my cheeks ached slightly from the reaction.

“Thanks Joe, means a lot” was all I replied with as I carried on painting.

#joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello #joe mazello

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pricefudge · 5 years

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Avengers Endgame Rewatch - Spoilers!!!

So, I went and gave in to my baser desires and watched Endgame again. Beware, massive spoilers ahead, especially on the ending and my opinion on it. Because I need to shout it into the void. Long and Rambly.

I know a lot of people have a problem with how characters were treated (Thor’s depression as a joke? Not okay.), but I see the sense behind it. To be honest, and as much as I live in the timeline Thanos got out from and IW never happened, Tony Stark had to die. Because, we all know, we fans are craaaaazy sometimes. We would have bothered the creators so long until they revived the Iron Man Franchise with RDJ at the head and we would have lost our collective shit because it wasn’t what we wanted or expected (I mean, look at the whole Fantastic Beasts shitstorm) or worse gotten another actor - ha, no. Let’s let the poor actors retire. Same thing, but to a lesser extent, with Captain America and Black Widow.

So. much.

foreshadowing

I mean, with Tony it was obvious from the beginning. Movie rule - every character that gets happiness and domesticity dies (a dog gets mentioned? Character dies. Kids to go home to? Character dies. I won’t risk everything! Character dies. That whole fucking Howard Stark the Greater Good Scene? Character. effing. dies.) Believe me, the second time around I almost cried every time Tony was on Screen. That whole Morgan interaction? Cryyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Like every Tony fan, I felt vindicated at the beginning of the movie, the little argument he had with Steve. Yes. Tell him. First time around it was more cringe. Second time, YAS MAN. And, god, I can’t stop gushing about Dad!Tony. The growth. The love. The moment he was finally able to give Peter a hug. My heart was so open, my crops are watered (with my tears) and my skin is clear (due to tears washing away everything).

But I hadn’t expected the foreshadowing to hit so hard with Natasha. Like, whoaaaaa. Don’t do anything stupid. See you in a sec. Until later. Like whoaaaa, there were so many goodbyes directed at Nat and in my panic for Tony I completely missed it the first time. At least she got to say some kind of goodbye. Whoa.

And I imagine, Clint went back for her bones sometime. Or sent Carol. Because due to Soul Stone teleportation and very important goal, he couldn’t get her body back to the future, but like hell is he leaving his family there. She’s the girl he gave a second chance, the one he watched grow from machine to person, who pulled him out of the darkest spot he’s ever been in. The only reason she was even alive these last five years is bull-headed determination that there has to be something that can be done - she was the only one to stay at the Avengers compound. Did Not Move On. This was what she lived for and what she gave her live for. He probably interred her on compund grounds or next to the plot his family’s going to be resting in.

Now Captain America, Mister Steven G. Rogers. I do absolutely dislike his ending, but. BUT. Imagine the absolutely mind-boggling shenanigans he had to go through to keep the timeline intact. No, Sir, I am not Captain America. No you didn’t see me lift that car to get my son’s toy from under it. No, Peggy just married someone who looked extremely alike. No my name is Steve Rodgers, with a d, you see? Peggy probably took Howard Stark into the know, so he could hack all official files and exchange the picuters of Steve with some other dude. Probably explains his obsession with finding Steve, And their kids! Well kids, you’re gonna see Daddy in a lot of pictures and movies, but you must never tell anyone that he’s at home. And you’re gonna meet him at my funeral in the future, but don’t tell him anything! He doesn’t know yet he get’s the girl! It is a bit hilarious.

But people being mean on him for leaving behind Bucky - boy knew what Steve was gonna pull. “I’m gonna miss you, Bud! and “How could ? You’re taking all the stupid with you” for like the next five seconds? NAH. Bucky knew Steve wasn’t gonna come back spry and shiny. He was gonna pull some bull-headed thing. Bucky probably saw a picture of Older Peggy and Older Steve and thought - huh, she definitely got a type! - and suddenly time travel is a thing? Light-bulb moment! Ding ding ding! Get the girl :D. Don’t forget, Bucky was always right next to Steve during doing stupid things. He knew and approved. Don’t forget, he got a lot of healing done in Wakanda. Time for some healing for Steve.

On the other hand, Thor was just absolutely mistreated. I mean, props to Marvel for realizing emotions and trauma exist (again), minus points for handling. At least he is not magically healed and fit at the end through some heroic-fight-panacea. I loved Thor in Ragnarok. Why did you do this to him? I mean, I heard that Chris Hemsworth wasn’t interested in any more movies after Thor 2, understandably, so maybe it was in part to honour that decision. Shitty, but well........ And Bruce’s growth, puff. Where is it gone? Bye, Hulk, gonna miss your smashing. But at least he got in touch with his inner self. Even literally, hi Ancient One.

Every. Ducking. Character. Loved it. So many people, stories, faces, all together.

And for all the very, very dedicated Loki stans out there - do it like me, live in timeline a) where Thanos left and nobody died or timeline b) where Loki got the Tesseract in NY, noped out of there and lived happily in shenanigans until Thanos went to get the Tesseract. Or timeline b.1) where Loki gave the Tesseract to Thanos and became one of his Children (like, Yikes). This evolves into b.1.1) where Thanos wins or b.1.2.) where the 1 in 14 million happens again and Loki also lives, because Hulk like Puny God and wants to redeem him. And to further these shenanigans let’s make b.1.2.1) where Loki long ago learned healing magic from his Mom, who Loves Him tm and manages to keep Tony alive, injured, but alive. Happy endings for all!

I mean, Endgame gives us ALL THE POSSIBILITIES. Endless timelines, endless headcanons, endless fic.

Once again, and louder for the ones in the back, THANK YOU TO ALL THE ACTORS, FILM CREW, SUPPORTERS, DIRECTORS, SCRIPT-WRITES, CATERERS AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO MADE THIS JOURNEY WITH US!!!!

#Avengers endgame #avengers #spoilers #Endgame #marvel endgame #tony stark #iron man #captain america #steve rogers #natasha romanoff #black widow #thor

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undertakinggraveshift-blog · 6 years

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I need to post more of their talks. Also not finished, but if I didn’t post this now I’d forget it LIKE ALL THE OTHERS

@dilldaydreamer

ClonecloneYesterday at 8:38 PM

Death, laying out on the bed. "Oh no. I am alone. Unprotected and cold. If only I had a heat generating blanket to ease the harsh tundra that is the world. Woe. "

AmbaaarghYesterday at 8:39 PM

A shuffle sound, followed by a single hand reaching up....and attempting to grab onto one of Elliot's unprotected feets.

ClonecloneYesterday at 8:40 PM

Death SPOOKS, and makes some noise that's similar to a chip bag doing its best impression of a dog getting its tail stepped on. Figure that one out. KrrrK-YIPE! He yanks his feet underneath him. No tickle.

AmbaaarghYesterday at 8:41 PM

The hand blindly pats around the base of the bed in search of its victim...before sliding back down and shuffling sounds around the edge of the bed are heard.

ClonecloneYesterday at 8:43 PM

....Okay, Death knows it's Pembrooke, but listen that's still really creepy. He scoots back up to the middle of the bed and settles. "Pembrooke?"

AmbaaarghYesterday at 8:48 PM

"Rawr." Pembrooke pops up and props his head onto the mattress, his fingers tapping at the edge.

ClonecloneYesterday at 8:50 PM

"You scared me! In my time of need, as well. Now I am cold AND frightened."

AmbaaarghYesterday at 8:52 PM

"Oh no." He climbs onto the bed to lay down next to Elliot. "I am sorry. I just could not resist wiggley toes. It's in my nature. Please forgive me."

ClonecloneYesterday at 9:04 PM

"You are the toe inspector now. Inspector of toes."Death rolled over, being blanket for Pembrooke. Even if heat really isn't a source he produces.

AmbaaarghYesterday at 9:11 PM

"It is a job title I take very seriously." Pembrooke nods as he wraps his arms around his colder companion. Seriously Elliot you should eat more iron how do you get so chilly. Brrr.

ClonecloneYesterday at 9:15 PM

"I finished packing for the most part. Tomorrow I'm going to contact Aradia and go about making things final."

AmbaaarghYesterday at 9:19 PM

"Eeeeeee...." happy wiggles. "I need to finish packing. Go figure I'll be the last to pack." You hug him...then frown. "Ah...Elliot. May I ask...what may be a possibly uncomfortable question?"

ClonecloneYesterday at 9:20 PM

"Hm?" Death looked up, trying to play off the nervous twist in his stomach.

AmbaaarghYesterday at 9:23 PM

Pembrooke gives a slight shift and a sigh. "It's about uh...the Baron. I was curious how you two met...and such..."

ClonecloneYesterday at 9:27 PM

OH OKAY. Lord. Death could have come up with a million and one questions that were so much worse. This wasn't so bad. Tilting his head, Death mulled over the question... "Hmm... Online, like most. We shared a similar interest in death, though his ah- far different. Especially considering his religion I only barely grasp. I was planning on sitting him down and having him explain that plus Alternia in general. He actually posted some of his clowns around the parlor when ah..." Death rubbed the back of his head. "Amir found evidence that damned one of the Felt to a prison stay on one of my bodies. I had some mm, thugs who kept coming by and giving me troubles." He reached up and lightly papped Pembrooke's face. "I'm well aware he's not a good man though. Has... something happened?"

AmbaaarghYesterday at 9:31 PM

He exhales, alright that wasn't the worst case scenario. You look up at the ceiling. "There was well...an attack against Mr. Spektor at the festival. Public, gruesome. While not pre-planned, it does look like the Felt is behind it. Ah...well lets just say someone took his arm clean off." He tilts his head as he rolls the amount of details he feel comfortable sharing. The difficult of not being too candid about work.... "I mention it mostly because while the ambulance arrived...Baron Makara burst onto the scene. Ignored police barriers, essentially pulled rank on one of our own officers over what happened...before going over to well...nuzzle Droog, rub the blood from his arm across his face...then whisper things back and forth with Slick before Slick left with parting words of "go home and keep an eye on everyone." A pause. "Which...I guess is my way of saying I suspect he is very much not a good man. So please be careful."

ClonecloneYesterday at 10:33 PM

...Okay that wasn't... one of the many skeletons in his closet as someone so elegantly put, but... that was still a pretty big surprise. The Felt? Death, for a moment, mulled over the thought of asking Die... then realized where a future problem may lie. Ah. He was joining the law and had family in the Felt. Hm. Death sat up, glancing up and to the side in thought. It dragged a little longer than what might be comfortable for most but... Death really had a lot to mull over as his thoughts jumped all around. This was quite the pickle he found himself in, that he needed to inspect. "I find myself with an issue."

AmbaaarghYesterday at 10:40 PM

Pembrooke nods, before putting an arm around Elliot's waist. "The last thing I want to ever do is put you in a spot. I know it would be hypocritical of me to pish posh friendships you have formed considering who I have gotten chummy with. I suppose...I'm just concerned." He rolls so he's on his stomach and looking at the wall. "This is not the kind of action that I imagine the Crew is going to just forgive and forget. It's possible things are going to get rather ugly. And while I trust your judgement, I know very little about the Baron so I'm just cautious because well...I don't know. So I fret."

ClonecloneYesterday at 10:56 PM

"Oof!" Death flopped over as Pembrooke rolled, now on his side with one leg caught under Pem and the other draped over him. "Hmm... I just realized though... joining the law force, with my brother being part of the Felt. ...I wonder if that will ever come into question. I am sorry though, this isn't about the Felt or me. Hmm... Sam and I are on friendly terms, I wonder if a change of profession would change that though. ....But the Crew would already know I'm giving up the funeral home. They don't know about the coroner part however. Mmm."

AmbaaarghYesterday at 11:05 PM

"I am uncertain. I mean, there has never been any secret to the fact you have a brother. Though I expect that....uuf....you may end up with some different reactions once the coroner part is revealed. It's possible that your friendly terms will stay friendly...just a bit more guarded." The inspector wiggles his legs slightly as talks. "I like to imagine that you will never have to have loyalties tested. But...that is also the insidious nature of crime. Trying to find footholds where they can." He gives a shrug and a concerned face. "Which...sounds very doom and gloom of me. It's possible all my huff and puff is simply paranoia."

ClonecloneYesterday at 11:54 PM

"Mmmm." Death reached out, taking up one of Pembrooke's hands to fidget with. He brought it to his lips, gently kissing the inspector's knuckles. "Well. I will be wary of the Baron, I promise. I've gone on a few dates with him though, I won't lie. I mean, not RELATIONSHIP date ahah. Just, strolled about and talked. I worry more for your interactions with the different factions- you're the person of authority here. You're the one standing against everything they do that they feel is right when... well... What are they going to do to a humble mortician?"

AmbaaarghYesterday at 11:56 PM

There is an attempt to wiggle closer to said humble mortician. "They could steal you away with promises of riches and hedonistic delights. Something this person of authority will likely never be able to offer on his humble authoritarian budget. Just sweep you off your feet to far off lands and dazzling parties and arms that are like...three times the size of my waist."

October 6, 2018

ClonecloneToday at 12:08 AM

"Pembrooke, I want you to know not even the most glittering of gold, and most tantalizing of harems would pull me away from you. I love you, Pem. I know you're jesting, but still I want you to know the Crew nor the Felt are going to tempt me. ...At least not willingly. Despite my brother, and despite the friendly face I keep with a few others, I do it knowing what side they've chosen or... in Oliver's case... been forced into. And what they're made to do, or willingly do. But I think we just had this discussion in regards to Fin, ahaha- so I do know how you feel. Entirely.""Entirely." Death gently bumped his head against Pem's.

AmbaaarghToday at 12:15 AM

The head bump is received before Pembrooke lifts his head up to gently peck the tip of Death's nose. "I love you too. And I do say that in jest. Well...save for the arms. I never actually met the Baron physically until then. Hoo. He could probably sweep half the force with those." He chuckles. "I love you and trust you. Entirely."

ClonecloneToday at 12:31 AM

"Oh yes, he's... very big. I call him the lion, because of his hair." The kiss was returned, nose, chin, cheek. "And you're more a mongoose. You look super cute and unassuming. But really, you eat cobras for breakfast. You don't need big lion arms, massive teeth, venom or poison. You're smart, and you'll figure things out. I'll prefer dates with mongooses than lions."

AmbaaarghToday at 12:39 AM

"Eeeheeheee....I shall accept my mongoose status." Kisses returned simply meant he now had to return said kisses twofold. Tiny smooches as he drapes his arms over and around the mortician. "With the festival ending, going to be...well quite the whir-" there is a pause in his expression and a halt in the kisses. "Aradia is buying the funeral parlor? Oof...well that's going to be. You know what. I'm not going to think on that. No. Nope. Nope nope nope. The place will be sold and we'll move into a nice building with a spa and a gym and many officers and it will be wonderful."

ClonecloneToday at 12:56 AM

"Yeah... I already thought about that. After I accepted the offer, to be honest. Trust me I've ah... I've... sat on my concerns with that for a while. I wonder if there will be repercussions but... I've decided I'll be staying near the precinct and probably not leaving too far for a while. Hopefully the grocery store will be nearby." He frowned for a moment, before knitting his brows and smiling again. "Free from one cage, into another I wonder. But... it's a better one."

AmbaaarghToday at 12:59 AM

"I think so. If only because we can possibly....set up tiny bat houses on the roof of our fancy new cage." He gives Elliot a squeeze. "Whatever happens, I'll be with you each step of the way. Maybe they'll get upset that you sold the funeral home, but that's their problem. And it isn't like anything done to you will somehow change the fact the funeral home is sold and they have to deal with that. But I personally suspect they have bigger things to worry about."

ClonecloneToday at 1:08 AM

"Haha, yeah." ... "I don't know how to make a bat house, or how to attract bats... or how to take care of them honestly. I do hope we get an entire dorm of law enforcement. I think I'd feel safer than you and I singled out in an apartment."

AmbaaarghToday at 1:12 AM

A tighter hug. "I agree. I think with all that is happening, the decision to band together into a large dorm will be good for everyone's safety. Also, bat houses are just little wooden boxes bats sleep in during the day. No taking care of on our part. Just giving them little homes to rest in while they take care of themselves." Pembrooke reaches up his hand to brush Elliot's bangs aside. "You feeling and being safe is my top priority."

ClonecloneToday at 2:04 AM

"..." Death's lip quivered some, eyes going wet before rubbing his glasses up so he could get at them. "Oh Pembrooke, you know how to make me feel all melted on the inside." He nuzzled into the hand before burying against.

"I want to raise a bat box with you."

#I want to be bat dads with you Pem :U

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