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albakore · 3 years

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Away From Home

Characters: Zhongli, Diluc, Kaeya, Childe, Thoma/Tohma (fem!reader) (fic)

Synopsis: (office!au) Even your boss Zhongli has moments where self control goes out the window to make way for carnal desires.

Warnings: not sfw (18+) reverse harem, (an orgie?), semi public sex again, creampie, oral (giving), petnames (angel, princess, gem), squirting, umm? did i miss anything?, not proofread because im lazy if you catch any errors feel free to shoot me an ask,

A/N: This is a part two to Office Adventures but t's not necessary that you read it before this. I don't know if people were expecting a direct continuation of the last one but I took some creative liberty because I felt like that would be boring and instead created a whole new scenario, I hope you all enjoy it just the same!

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The sexual tension in the office since that (ahem) eventful meeting had been nothing short of palpable, as Lisa had been ever so kind to point out. Even Jean and Eula were starting to grow frustrated with the way Childe and Kaeya made it painstakingly obvious their lust for you, and as you explained to Jean apologetically, they just wouldn't seem to take your request to tone it down seriously. Though you couldn't deny that even you often found your mind wandering as you sat alone in your office, frequently coming to remember the way you wobbled out of the meeting room that day, cunt quivering and leaking cum.

Luck seemed to be on Jean's side however, because this week you found yourself away from the office on an important regional business conference accompanied by none other than the men themselves, leaving her alone in charge of the office for a few days. The adventure of being in a new place was always exciting; there was light in your eyes as your plane touched down just outside the city, the skyline stood shimmering off in the distance. Though, as Diluc so gracefully reminded you, this was not a vacation but a business trip and most of your time would be consumed by meetings and other work-related affairs.

"(Name)!" You heard someone call from behind you. You were walking back to the hotel after another boring day of drifting in and out of meetings with people you hardly knew and topics you hardly cared about.

"Hm?" Your head turned to see three familiar figures waving at you as they approached.

"Care to join us for dinner? It'll be our treat." Childe asked once they had caught up to you, falling into step beside you.

"Where are you guys going?" You asked. You silently took in the appearance of the boys beside you. You hadn't gotten a chance to see them all day since you greeted them at the complimentary hotel breakfast bar this morning, and you had to admit they cleaned up nicely. You admired the three's formal dress, remembering the way Zhongli had specifically lectured them on the importance of appearance at an event like this. You notes Thoma's expensive looking watch and Kaeya's tailored button-up shirt that was, of course, unbuttoned halfway now that the workday was over. Childe had his suit jacket thrown over his shoulder, one hand holding the jacket the other shoved in his pocket.

"Mr. Zhongli found this fancy looking French restaurant a few blocks away, he wanted us to get there before we missed our reservation time." Thoma answered.

"Where is he?" You asked, taking note of his and Diluc's absence from the group.

"He and Diluc got caught up in some last minute business they had to attend to. It's times like these I don't envy the higher up positions of our company's cofounders." Kaeya answered you this time. "No matter how attractive the pay increase may seem, I can only handle so much overtime."

"You can say that again." Childe chuckled in agreeance, "I can't tell you how many times I've left the office only to come back in the morning and find Zhongli still hunched over some paperwork."

"Hey, guys, I think this is the place." Thoma motioned to the building you were approaching, and you immediately realized that 'fancy looking' was an understatement. "Will you be joining us, Lady (Name)?" Thoma questioned, extending his hand as an invitation to you.

"I don't see why not." You flashed him a smile before placing your hand in his, allowing him to tug you along. Kaeya opened the door for you, gesturing to allow you to step inside first. You were awestruck by the inside -- if you thought ‘fancy looking’ was an understatement for the outside, then the inside could be described as nothing short of grandiose. There were round tables covered in white cloth and fancy silverware, a fountain sat in the middle of the room behind the hostess desk and elegant trimmings lining the staircase off on the far side of the room. You quickly quelled your shocked expression as the hostess approached you.

"We have a reservation for six under the name Zhongli." Childe told her. "We'll have two more joining us later."

She checked her ledger and quickly crossed off the name. "Right this way, sir." She said to Childe with a polite smile. She led your group away from the main room, opening the door to a nicely decorated single-table room with a pleasant and romantic vibe, most likely accredited to the soft lighting.

“Thank you.” Childe told her as you four took your seats. One side of the table had booth-style seating and the other side had individual chairs. She closed the door with a click, and before you knew it you were sat in between Kaeya and Childe on the booth side, with Thoma directly across from you. You picked up a menu and began flipping through it to get a feel for what items might interest you. Before long, Childe’s hand had found its way onto your thigh. You looked down at it before looking back at him, a silent prompt for an explanation. “What?” He inquired mischievously, thumb rubbing your skin gently.

You opened your mouth to respond, but before you could your server opened the door with a brief knock. Childe’s hand stayed firmly in place as the server introduced themselves before asking if they could get you guys anything to drink. Thoma and Childe ordered regular fountain drinks, and requested two extra waters be brought out preemptively for Diluc and Zhongli whenever they should arrive.

“Ah yes may I have a glass of your finest red wine.” Kaeya asked with a smile once it came his time to order, earning a look from you. “What? It’s coming out of Diluc’s pocket not mine, might as well make good use of it.”

"And I'll have a..." You started, feeling Childe's hand inch upwards as the servers gaze remained fixed on you. "Just a r-regular glass of water please." You managed to force out while trying to ignore the growing feeling of need that Childe's attention was causing you. You smiled at the server as they stated that they'd be right back with your drinks.

Moments after the server left, Thoma's phone started buzzing. He answered it and paused for a few moments before he stepped away saying something about needing to meet Diluc and Zhongli in the lobby. That left you alone trapped in a booth with two mischievous gazes focused on you. "I must say, (Name)," Childe started, "you look absolutely stunning tonight. You really took Zhongli's 'Dress to Impress' speech to heart it seems." His flirty demeanor was predictable, earning a chuckle and an eye roll from you. His fingers were tracing patterns into the flesh of your inner thigh, head resting in his other hand as he studied you. You felt Kaeya's arm snake around your torso, hand coming to rest on your hip.

"He's right, you should wear this outfit more often." Kaeya whispered into your ear.

“You know, typically you’re supposed to wine and dine me before you-“ A knock resonated from the door, cutting you off and causing Kaeya to pull away from you but neither him nor Childe made any effort to remove their hands from where they were situated. The server entered with the table’s drinks on a tray, dishing them out to their respective spots on the table before asking if anybody was ready to order. Kaeya told them politely that we would wait for the rest of the group to join us first, and with that they turned and exited the room again.

You watched as Kaeya reached for his no doubt expensive wine, taking a sip and letting out a satisfied hum. "This wine is absolutely divine, it's not often I get the chance to indulge in such luxury. Would you like to try some, angel?" Kaeya asked you while his fingertips traced your hips.

"Sure." You hummed back, reaching out to grab the glass but Kaeya stopped your hand. You looked at him quizzically, watching as he dipped two fingers into the glass and let the crimson liquid pool at his fingertips. He brought his fingers to your lips, waiting for you to part them. You did, but only ever so slightly, letting your tongue drag along his slender fingers with a hum of delight as you maintained eye contact with him. Once upon a time you may have been flustered by his actions, but ever since the incident in the meeting room you have become no stranger to these types of occurrences. You pulled away before pressing a kiss to the pads at the tip of his finger.

"Divine indeed, captain." You added teasingly, the nickname a reference to a costume he wore to a halloween party last year that had caught on and stuck around even months after. You watched his unreadable expression closely as you awaited his response. He grabbed your face, tugging you toward him so he could plant a firm kiss on your lips while he caressed your cheek gently. You felt Childe's hand inch upward yet again further and further before finally reaching your clothed sex. Your breath hitched as Kaeya deepened the kiss, Childe rubbing you through thin material at a teasingly slow pace. You shifted your hips, trying to gain more friction from his fingers.

Kaeya pulled back from the kiss to let you catch your breath. "You know, there is one thing that would make this wine taste better." He kissed along your jaw and down your neck, breath fanning your skin as he continued. "If I could pour it over your chest and lick it off of you, slowly, inch by inch while you squirmed under my touch. That would make this experience undeniably perfect." You felt a shiver run down your spine, hand intertwining with his hair. As if working in tandem with Kaeya, Childe took this opportunity to slip his fingers past the barrier of fabric, your slick making his fingers run smoothly over your folds. Your free hand extended over to Childe's lap so you could palm him through his pants, thumb caressing the imprint of his erection. He let a breathy moan right next to your ear, fingers slipping into your heat.

"This is our reserved room, correct?" Zhongli’s voice resonated from just outside the door before the door swung open. He stepped in, followed by Diluc and Thoma. Your eyes met with Zhongli's as you tried futilely to push the lustful duo off of you. You filled with embarrassment when you thought about how sleazy you must look with Kaeya's lips attached to your neck and Childe's fingers squelching in and out of you. "Thoma, switch with (name), please. Evidently these two are incapable of practicing self control."

"W-what?" You protested, stomach sinking at the thought of disappointing your boss.

"Seriously, you two wouldn't know good timing if it hit you in the face. Your hotel rooms are literally a few yards away from each other." Diluc scoffed, tossing his suit coat over the back of his chair before pulling it out and sitting in it.

Childe pulled away from you, frowning at Diluc's words. "If I'm not mistaken, it was you who was moaning her name last night while you were alone in the shower, no?"

"And if I'm not mistaken, I'm still your boss. Watch how you talk to me." Diluc shot back immediately, crossing his arms over his chest. You scooted out of the booth, over Childe's lap, effectively pulling away from the two.

"Sorry.." You fiddled nervously with the hem of your skirt, still trying to recover from the embarrassment.

"You misunderstand me, gem, I'm not upset at you in the slightest." Zhongli smoothed over some of your hair comfortingly. "I specifically had a talk with these two about keeping things professional on this trip. This has nothing to do with you or your actions." You stared at him for a second before nodding. You took your place in between Zhongli and Diluc, directly across from where you had been previously sitting.

"How did your meetings go?" Zhongli asked you, tone much softer than the one he had just taken with Childe and Kaeya.

"They were boring for the most part, I managed to make a few connections though so that's good. What about you?" You responded, tuning out Diluc and Childe's bickering in the background.

"Stressful, I had many presentations to give, and only few bode over well."

"That's just how it goes." Thoma chimed in. "Tomorrow is a new day filled with new opportunity, I'm sure you'll do better."

"Stressful, eh? Fortunately for you, I know of the perfect way to relieve stress." Kaeya, ever the troublemaker, fixed his gaze on you pointedly for a few seconds to allow his point to get across. He just couldn't help himself when the ball was set up fo perfectly for him to spike it. You studied Zhongli's expression, his face remaining stoic as he processed Kaeya's innuendo.

"Unfortunately, the rules I set for you two apply to me as well. It would be wholly unfair to not hold myself to the same standard I hold my staff." Zhongli answered effortlessly. Seems like all these years of press conferences seemed to have really sharped his ability to form charismatic responses. Wait, 'unfortunately'?

"C'mon, Zhongli, (name)'s had eyes for us just as much as we've had eyes for them. You should see the look they get on their face when they're alone in their office." Childe laughed after ending his bickering session with Diluc. Your eyes went wide at that, having whole-heartedly believed you were being careful about when to indulge in your fantasies. "Besides, doesn't fucking them senseless sound like the perfect pick-me-up after a long day of meetings."

Zhongli seemed like he was still struggling to process his comment, resolve chipping with every second. He couldn't deny the nights he spent replaying the image of you bent over that table while he pleasured himself, and tonight was shaping up to be no different -- well, that would have been the case had he not attended this dinner. His eyes shifted over to you, inner turmoil apparent in them. Evidently, your response would be the deciding factor that pushed Zhongli to either side of the fence.

"He's not wrong." You shrugged, offering Zhongli a small smile. It was a simple sentence, only three words and yet… You watched his expression darken in that moment, his half hard erection already apparent in his pants.

"Thoma," you immediately noted the way his voice seemed to have dropped an octave. His gaze never once left yours.

"Yes boss?" Thoma responded almost instantly.

"Lock the door." Zhongli growled. Your heart skipped a beat, you felt heat rush straight to your core. The way Zhongli was looking at you made you feel bare even though not a single article of clothing had been removed from your form, at least not yet.

"The waitress is going to come back to place our order though." Diluc seemed to be the only voice of reason in this scenario. Thoma returned, scooting back into his spot in the booth, forcing Childe to be the one trapped in the middle this time. "That's gonna look awfully suspicious."

"Frankly, I can't seem to bring myself to care about that right now." Zhongli stood from his seat. He turned toward you, motioning for you to stand as well. "We'll tell them I had an important announcement that I didn't want getting interrupted or something." He lifted you at the hips and set you down on the table, placing himself in between your legs and pulling your core to meet his crotch. His lips caught yours, deep and breathtaking, as his hands roamed over your body. He tugged your shirt to untuck it until his fingers came into contact with the hem. He pulled it up, breaking the kiss to allow him to discard your shirt.

You found yourself rocking against him as his lips worked down your neck and chest. A new pair of hands hooked themselves under your bra clasp. You looked back to see Childe's arm extended. He pushed the straps off your arms, allowing the bra to fall away and expose your breasts. The cool air made your nipple perk instantly. You felt Childe's hands tug you down gently, allowing your back to lay against the cool cloth. You looked over to see Diluc's hands full of your table's drinks as he set them off to the side to avoid any accidents. Thoma eagerly took one of your nipples into his mouth while Kaeya's cold hand cupped the other.

Childe scooted the table away from him to provide him with the room to stand up. Your cheeks burned as you found yourself face to face with his still clothed erection. He chuckled at your expression, fingers caressing your cheek. He let his pointer finger trail delicately down your jaw to your chin, and then from your chin down your exposed neck. You shivered slightly at the way it tickled.

You felt someone tug down your skirt and your underwear, cool air rushing over your core. Zhongli had managed to free his member from his pants and was pumping himself outside of your field of vision. His other hand was pressed to your hip. He admired the way your chest heaved. Thoma and Kaeya littered your skin with bite marks and kisses. You watched intently as Childe followed in Zhongli's lead, freeing himself from his pants. Your lips parted slightly in anticipation, breath fanning the tip of Childe's dick with every exhale. Zhongli lined himself up with your entrance, you clenched your fists when you felt his tip push in. He sunk the rest of the way into you, a sigh of relief falling from his lips. He silently thanked Kaeya and Childe for prepping you so well before he had even arrived. Childe repeated this same process with your lips, slowly sinking into your mouth and relishing the feeling of your warm tongue wrapping around him.

The men both started thrusting at the same time but at very different paces. Childe was eager and less restrained, holding you steady while he fucked your face. He was also louder, not seeming to care if the staff or other patrons heard how good you were making him feel. Zhongli on the other hand was slower, drawing all the way out of you before slamming back into you. Though, after a few moments he seemed to compromise with himself and picked up the pace slightly, only drawing partially out of you, but still enough to let you feel his tip hit deep inside of you with each powerful thrust. You felt Diluc's familiar fingers come into contact with your clit, rubbing you in just the right way to make you clench around Zhongli and moan around Childe. Diluc left kisses all over your lower half, his long hair spilling over his shoulder and tickling your stomach.

The lewd sounds of slapping and kissing and sucking were all that could be heard in the room, along with Childe’s occasional unrestrained noises of pleasure. He moaned your name, head thrown back and mouth agape. His cheeks were flushed bright pink, and they only seemed to glow brighter the closer he got to cumming. Childe's pace became sloppy and erratic as he drew near to his own orgasm, thrusts becoming shallow as he chased euphoria. He pulled out right as he hit his high point so he could paint your chest with his cum. He moaned your name particularly loudly as he did, using his own hand to slowly lower himself down from his peak.

Kaeya pulled back and marveled at the marks he left on your skin, the imprints of his teeth visible in several spots. "My turn already?" He hummed, fingers tracing over the splotches and bruises on your skin. "A shame, I wasn't finished with my work of art yet." He stood up nonetheless as Childe fell back on the seat behind him, still trying to catch his breath. Kaeya quickly took his place, much to Thoma's disappointment. Kaeya's signature smirk hadn't left his face once while he admired the way your breasts glistened with a mixture of sweat and cum. He slowly undid the button to his pants, pushing them partially down his legs before moving to his underwear. You swear his cock bounced when it sprang free, tip flushed and absolutely beautiful. It seems this man truly didn't have an ugly bone in his body.

You felt Zhongli slowly coming undone inside you too, his cock twitching more and more every time he pushed himself into your smooth walls, even more so whenever Diluc's added stimulation made you clench around him. You felt yourself rock against his fingers, your own climax on the horizon. Zhongli gave one final thrust into you before you felt him spill his hot seed into you, his fingers digging into your hips in an attempt to ground himself. You moaned at the feeling of your walls being coated white. Kaeya took this as an opportunity to muffle you with his cock. He stuffed your mouth full of him, watching in a sort of satisfied sadistic fashion as you choked slightly on his length.

Zhongli pulled out of you after he finished cumming, panting heavily. You whined around Kaeya's cock at the loss of contact, hole clenching desperately around nothing. You squirmed your hips and mewled, hoping someone would get your wordless plea for some form of stimulation. Diluc, ever so observant, was the first one to pick up on your discomfort. "Aw, does my little princess want to be filled up again?" He asked tauntingly. "Do you want my cock inside of you?" His fingers continued to push you toward your orgasm. He chuckled at the way you jerked your hips into his touch, whines becoming louder still even with your mouth full of Kaeya's erection. As he felt your body start to tense, he withdrew his hand from your clit before you could cum. You pressed your thighs together while a groan left your lips, feeling frustrated tears well up in your eyes.

Diluc switched spots with Zhongli and unzipped his pants loud enough to get the anticipation in your stomach building rapidly. You heard fabric bunching and shuffling, and in turn took advantage of the adrenaline rush you were getting to eagerly please Kaeya. You hollowed your cheeks and allowed your tongue to work over him, lewd sucking noises escaping your lips. Kaeya groaned in response, his grip on your head tightening still as he bucked his hips into you frantically. You felt Zhongli's rough hands run over the skin of your breasts, centering on the nipples. You felt him wipe some of Childe's cum off you, and moments later the feeling of his fingers got replaced with his tongue as he sucked slightly on the soft flesh.

You sucked in a sharp breath when you felt Diluc's tip at your entrance, face contorting as you prepared for him to stretch you out just like Zhongli had. You paused as he pushed in -- not all the way, just an inch or so -- to truly revel in the feeling the he was providing you. He sunk in a little bit more to let you get used to the feeling of him in your tight sex, he was a little more girthy than Zhongli. Finally, he pushed into you until he bottomed out, filling your cunt to the brim with his member. A quiet groan escaping his lips; you would give anything to see the blissful look on his face right now.

You squirmed as he started to move. He went slowly at first, letting himself become coated in your slick to make his job easier. He took a few moments to find a good rhythm, one that was much different from Zhongli's. He was steady and consistent, pulling out an inch or two only to push back into you. He lifted one of your legs to give him a better angle, you let out a muffled moan as his tip kissed your sweet spot. Kaeya groaned again at the vibration of your voice. You felt Kaeya’s thumb press slightly against the center of your throat where he could feel himself thrusting in and out of you. You swallowed around him as he gave his last few thrusts before he was sent over the edge, cumming in spurts over your tongue. He let out a long moan that you wanted to keep on repeat forever.

You caught sight of Thoma eagerly awaiting his chance to feel your mouth around him. Kaeya pulled out slowly, stepping to the side (albeit a little bit grudgingly) to let Thoma have his turn. Thoma has already freed himself, precum leaking from the tip. He seemed a little nervous as he found himself finally aligned with your awaiting mouth. “Are you sure this is alright?” He asked, closely watching your face for signs of discomfort. His gentleness was refreshing after the way Kaeya and Childe so unceremoniously face-fucked you.

You giggled, kissing his tip causing his ears to flush red. “Mhm, of course. You’re so good for me~” His eyes went wide at your praise. You let your mouth hang open as an invitation for him to enter you, a high pitched whine escaping him almost immediately after sinking into you. He cupped your head gently, pulling out of you slowly before pushing back into you, truly appreciating the stimulation you were giving him.

Kaeya truly could never sit still with an opportunity so grand in front of him. His fingers found their way to toy with your clit, his cold fingers making you squirm under his touch. Childe, who was still on the couch, had gotten hard again and was pumping himself as he watch you slowly get your holes stuff full of cum. You moaned as Diluc’s dick hit your sweet spot again and again, Kaeya’s cold fingers causing your head to spin. You could feel your orgasm coming fast, and it felt like it was going to be an intense one. You arched your back off the table, whines becoming increasingly more frequent the more pressure built up. Diluc also seemed to be nearing his release, you could always tell by the way he moaned your name. A few more thrusts into you was all it took for you to come undone. You cried out, thighs quivering as you squirted all over Kaeya’s fingers and Diluc’s cock alike. Diluc followed a few seconds after, burying himself inside of you as he came hard, eyes intently watching the sight of you during and after your orgasm.

Thoma’s cock twitched as he watched you make a mess over Diluc’s cock, his breathy moans of your name getting louder and louder. He knew it wouldn’t take long for him to finish, not with the way your tongue traced his veins and your hand assisting him with whatever he couldn’t fit in your mouth. You felt the knot come undone and Thoma’s sweet cum flooded your mouth. He pulled out, gently wiping the spit from your face.

The room was filled with nothing but the sound of heavy breathing as everyone came down from their highs. Zhongli was even nice enough to grab your water from where Diluc had set them off to the side and offer you some as he dabbed away some of your sweat with a napkin. Diluc finally pulled his now softened member out of you, admiring the way your cum-filled hole leaked. He had to fight the urge to fuck every last drop back into you.

A knock resonated from the door, causing everyone in the room to freeze. “Um, sorry to interrupt,” the servers voice sounded meekly from outside the door, “you guys reservation time is up…” You cringed at the idea of having to walk back to your hotel room in this state, legs still wobbly and cum all over you.

“I supposed to ‘important announcement’ excuse won’t work now..” If you didn’t know any better, you’d say Zhongli sounded amused. “No need to fret, I’ll just pay them a generous tip to overlook this little.. endeavor.”

“You mean I’ll pay the tip.” Diluc cut in flatly. You all were lucky the company had the money to be avoiding scandals like this or else you’d all be done for. Maybe he could convince you to, uh, thank him for it later…

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micer2012 · 3 years

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no cure is coming, you know (LLSMP Fic)

A few months into Last Life, Skizz and Tango are some of the only members to still hold onto their humanity. With Tango the only member on dark green and Skizz on yellow, Skizz is cursed as the Boogeyman at the beginning of their session. He knows that without hesitation, without question Tango will give one of lives to him… and that’s exactly the problem. [3k words] [crossposted on ao3]

just trust in me, my dear… no cure is coming near.

“Skizz! Countdown time!”

Skizz heard Tango’s voice coming from one of the top layers of their castle, their home. He put down the axe he had been using and ran inside the castle, shutting the door behind him.

“Boogey time?” Skizz called. “Boogey time, my brother!” Tango responded, barreling down the stairs to meet Skizz.

And right on cue, as the moon hit the highest point in the sky, the countdown began in their heads. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

Silence filled their home.

“Nothing. You good?” “Yeah! Yeah, ob-viously. What, were you worried?”

Tango laughed. “I- I mean a little. I gotta be worried a little. There’s what.. 5 non-reds left?”

“And MY teammate is the only one who’s still on dark green.” Skizz boasted, hand on his chest.

Tango punched him playfully, snickering. “Don’t get so high and mighty! I went from.. What, 11 lives? Down to a measly 4.” “That’s only because you were such a good sport about it, Tango Tops. You coulda kept those for yourself, y’know. Been the schamaze of all time.”

“Ha!. Suppose it would have been. But- but I bet we’d have FAR more enemies. It would not have been a good idea to be on that many people’s bad sides that early…” “I coulda took em.”

Tango laughed again. “Y’think? Etho and Bdubs? Cleo?” “I coulda took em. If they were trying to hurt my best friend.”

Tango smiled sadly at him, before looking down. “I wouldn’t want you to lose any more of your own lives because of My theoretical jerk move.” Skizz just looked at his friend, before sitting down on the floor, gesturing wildly with his hands. “Well, Theoretically, I wouldn’t lose any lives then! I’d just do a super good job, and kill them down to 0.” Tango let out another laugh. “Says the guy who lost his life to a mob!”

Skizz pointed his finger accusatory at Tango, still criss-cross applesauce on the ground. “Hey, it wasn’t a ’’’mob’’’ it was a BABY ZOMBIE. You KNOW how much I hate those Lil’ annoying kids! Those- Those are more dangerous than most of the people on this server. THEY are the ones with the bloodlust, I’m tellin you.”

Tango laughed again. “Heh, suppose you’re right. At least it wasn’t an enderman, right?” Skizz narrowed his eyes. Yellow, but the sclera were still tinted purple from the… events of the previous season. “Tango Tops, if I had lost my first life to an enderman AGAIN, I think I would have just quit the server.” Tango snickered. “True that! True that. Alright, I’m gonna go back to my scouting.” Skizz pushed himself up from the floor. “Of course! I’ll be.. I think I might go caving.” Tango turned back to meet his eyes. “W… Will you be far from the base?”

Skizz paused, and then shook his head, hands up. “No, no! Just like, tunneling nearby. I won’t.. I’m not leaving our base, I’m not leaving you here with the.. With those Swarms.”

Tango nodded. “Of course, of course just.. Just checking. Are.. Are you sure you want to go out alone? The boogeyman just got chosen and- and you’re… one of the 4 victi-”

“Hey, don’t you talk like that. You’re a much higher target than me, and you Know I can take care of myself, right?” Tango looked to him, then looked away. “I’m just.. On- on second thought, you’re sure you don’t want me to come? We can go mining together, better- better to have eachother’s backs.” “Then the castle will be unprotected.” “I don’t care. Better it get raided than us.” “No, this- this is our Last bastion. We CAN’T let this fall, then.. Then we’d have nothin’, Tops!”

Tango’s eyes were soft when he looked back up at Skizz. “If I lose you, then I’ll have nothing.”

Skizz was taken aback. He froze for a few moments, before walking over and putting his black-stained hands onto Tango’s shoulders. “Hey, d-don’t talk like that. I’m not going anywhere! F-FIRST sign of danger, I’m calling you and running back home. Okay, buddy?” Tango nodded. “Yeah.. Yeah. Okay. Be-be careful.” Skizz patted his shoulders, before walking out to leave the base. “Of course, Tops! Nothing bad’s ever gonna happen to your buddy Skizz.”

❤❤❤

You are the boogeyman. You must by any means necessary kill a green or yellow name by direct action to be cured of the curse. If you fail, next session you will become a red name. All loyalties and friendships are removed when you are the boogeyman.

Skizz looked down at the message sent to him on his communicator, hands shaking so much it was hard to read the screen.

But he didn’t need to read the screen, he had heard the message beamed loud and clear into his own head. He- He had lied and Tango had believed it. Tango would believe anything he said. He knew that- He- He knew the second he told Tango he was the boogeyman, his friend would immediately let him take one of his lives and free Skizz from the curse. He probably wouldn’t even be mad that Skizz had lied to him earlier.

Skizz had dug himself a hole in the wall of one of the mountains near their base, 10 deep and covered up. He paced the 3x2 room he had made now, this tomb, ranting to himself. He needed to get his thoughts out SOME way.

“Ok. So.So I-I’ve gotta get SOMEONE. A green or y.. Oh, this WHOLE time too I thought killing one of the reds would be fine- THAT would be too easy huh?? We’ve got HOARDS and hoards of hostile reds trying to hunt us down every moment, targeting us like mobs- but NOO. Nooo, it’s gotta be one of the people who’ve still got humanity, huh? Cruel. CRUEL trick to play on Skizz.”

Hand on his head, he scrolled through the list of names on the communicator. He and Cleo were on yellow, BigB and Lizzie were on green… Tango was on dark green. He scrolled back down, cutting off Tango’s name. No. No, that was off the table.

“T..Tango Tops has got the best chance of winning right now out of all of us. Even- not just Life wise, but he’s sharp. Tango’s a sharp cookie. Right now, he’s got the best shot of winning.”

He kept looking at his communicator, before shoving it back into his pocket and groaning, hand on his face. “GAAAGHH, WHY DOES IT GOTTA BE A GREEN OR YELLOW?? L--Lizzie and BigB and Cleo, they’re still up this long because they’re Set up. They’ve Got an alliance, they- they’re untouchable to the reds. I surely won’t be able to be touching them!! ‘Specially without Tango’s help!!” He gripped his face, growling again, before punching the cobblestone wall to the side of him. “And-And I CAN’T tell Tango this. I’m not bringing him into some.. Into some yellow and green fistfight. He’s gotta stay safe, he’s the biggest target on the server.” Skizz was breathing heavily, adrenaline that had been building up leaving as his hand stood in place in the small crater he had made in the wall. “He..He’s gotta stay safe. He’s got the biggest chance of surviving out of everyone. I..” Skizz withdrew his fist, balling it up and rubbing it with his other hand. It hurt. “I can’t do that to him. I’m not gonna be the one who hinders my buddy’s chance.”

The adrenaline gone, Skizz just stood in his little 2x3 box, the chill of what he had to do running up his spine. He kept running his hand over his other hand. “I...I can’t do that to him.”

❤❤❤

He had memories of being reckless and running into battle. Of- Of the loyalty to his friends and the stab of betrayal overcoming his senses, along.. Along with the drive to kill. The drive to dig his sword through Impulse’s heart, through Grian’s, through Tango’s, it.. It was the worst feeling he had ever felt in his life, and it had completely enveloped him.

He remembered Ren crying out, asking him what he was doing. He had convinced himself he was doing it for their benefit, right? Skizz had screamed, as he ran towards the castle, he was doing it for the Red Army. For the only people who defended him. For the only people who gave him a chance. And that chance he had immediately squandered, leaving the Red Army with 1 man less the coming week and.. And leading to Skizz having to watch his friends run into a battle that all of them knew they weren’t going to be coming out of. Skizz had known that when he surged the Crastle too. This was a death game, only one person could make it out alive, and they were all resigned that they were not gonna be that lucky winner.

Skizz ran his hand over the scars around his mouth. Vertical slits where his face had torn itself open, enderman hostility Not mixing well with his human anatomy. His arms were stained black too, not that he had noticed, taken how often they had been stained with blood.

A voice that sounded like his own was talking in the back of his head, reminding him that He was the boogeyman, and reminding him of what he needed to do. Like he could forget.

❤❤❤

Tango was holding his hand, and the two of them were bolting. A swarm of reds, what used to be the southlanders, was chasing them, and their base was already compromised. There were only a few minutes left of this session, if- if the two of them could just get to safety-

“HERE! TANGO, FOLLOW ME!” Skizz let go of Tango’s hand and started digging into the wall, into the cobblestone he had used to patch up his Vent Hole from earlier today. Tango followed after him, panting, as they dug their way into the wall and closed the opening behind them.

“Th...D’ya think we’re safe here?” Tango managed between breaths. Skizz was breathing heavily too, holding his chest. It sounded like the man was about to pass out, whole body leaning onto the cave wall. “Skizz.. Woah, Skizz buddy, take some breaths. The sessions almost over I- I think we’re good.”

When Tango went to go put his hand onto Skizz’s shoulders, he jolted back, chest still heaving.

“Th.. The sessions almost over?” The words sounded incredibly pained.

“Y-Yeah. Few minutes til midnight.” “Few minutes til midnight…” Skizz stuck on the words, and then slumped down against the wall, falling into a sitting position. He was still holding his chest.

“I don’t think anyone’s been killed by the boogeyman yet, right? All the deaths have been red.”

Skizz, still slumped over, did not react to this news.

“...This’ll be the first week where the killer fails, if something doesn’t happen in the next minute..”

A pained sob was expelled from Skizz, shaking his entire body.

“S-Woah, Skizz? Are you- did you get hit? I have regen potions, are- what’s wrong?”

Skizz was shaking now, trying to not make noise as the tears ran down his face. He was failing.

“Talk to me man, use your words. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.” Tango was kneeling next to him, also on the floor now.

The tears hurt Skizz as they surged down his face.. A kind of singing burn, like his cheeks were being branded. It had been happening ever since 3rd Life ended, a side effect of the whole enderman thing. It was excruciatingly painful when he was crying big, painful, tears like now, but not as painful as his mind was. Not as painful as knowing what he had to do was.

He could hear the countdown in his own mind. Second by second it ticked by, and the letters filled his brain and his vision with large red text. It was screaming at him. He was screaming back at it, desperately trying to get it to shut up. There were other voices in his mind too, screaming and crying and tugging at him. He can’t do this, He has to do this, Why won’t he get it over with and do it already? He’s learned nothing from last season, keeping this in is just gonna make this more painful for both of them, he deserves all this pain for what he put Tango through.

He was gripping himself with both his arms now, shaking. All of his senses were screaming that he had T-60 seconds left to kill a green or yellow name.

“I.. I-” Skizz managed, voice cracking. “Yes?” “I feel like I’m gonna throw up.”

“Oh!” Tango moved away from his best friend slightly. “Uh, Here, I have a bucket. Let me pour out the water.. Here. Here you go, buddy.”

Skizz was holding the bucket now. His darkstained hands were holding on so tight, it looked like the steel might crack. Not just his hands now, it looked.. It looked like his entire arms were turning black in a veinlike pattern. Tango couldn’t see his face.

Skizz kept hold on the bucket. T-50 seconds left. He had to get on with it.

Skizz slowly moved his hands to the buckles of his chestplate, and started undoing them.

“Wh- What are you doing? Are you hot?”

Skizz pulled the chestplate over his head, and set it aside. “I-I uh Drats I just. Poured out the water. Um, I’ve got.. potio-”

“Tango. Look at me.”

Tango turned back and focused his eyes on his friend. The tears were still running down his face leaving burnmarks on his cheeks, his eyes were still covered, his.. His chestplate was off. The blackness in his veins ran across all the space his skin was visible and.. and he was shaking like an egg about to crack.

T-40. “You- you remember what you said about the boogeyman not killing yet, right?” His voice was shaky, like the words hurt to get out.

Tango’s face was frozen, and then dropped.

“Skizz.. No. NO.”

Skizz’s grip on the bucket got tighter. T-35.

“Skizz I- Skizz, you KNOW if you had just told me I would help you get a kill ri- Ok.Ok, No I’m not mad. There’s no time to get mad, I’m not mad at you, I’m just.. Skizz, you know this isn’t going to break our alliance, right? I’ve told you countless times, I trust you.”

Skizz convulsed like he was trying to hold in another sob, eyes still not meeting Tango’s.

“I’m… I’m not mad. I’ve got 4 lives left, I in no way think less of you. This was inevitable.”

T-25. “Here.” Tango took Skizz’s hands, cold and limp in his grip, and placed his Netherite Sword into his hands. They had only had enough to make a sword for Tango- of course, Skizz had found the Netherite first, but insisted it was used on his buddy.

“Do what needs to be done. I won’t think any less of you.”

Tango spread his arms out now, crouched in front of Skizz.

15.

Do what needs to be done. Skizz..Skizz needs to do what needs to be done, alright. It didn’t make it hurt any less, knowing this was what he had to do. It didn’t make him any less scared.

10.

This was the worst case scenario. Tango had the greatest chance out of all of them of living.

Skizz certainly had no chance. And he didn’t want to drag his only friend, his brother down with him. Like he had dragged the Red Army with his own selfishness.

Tango had the best chance of winning out of all of them.

His hands were shaky as he moved the sword into the correct position, inches from his heart.

Skizz was scared.

“DO IT ALREADY!” Tango yelled, arms thrown out and eyes squeezed shut.

Skizz drove the blade through his chest, piercing his heart.

Piercing his heart.

“Wh-” Tango opened his eyes, and screamed. That scream was the last thing Skizz heard before his vision went black.

“N-NO WHAT- WH NO.NONO” Tango was holding his body. “NO, N- I’VE GOT HEALING ITEMS. I’VE GOT POTIONS, OKAY? ST-STAY IN THERE BUDDY-”

Tango was frantically shifting through his inventory, holding Skizz’s corpse in his other hand.

The second his hands found his way upon an apple, lightning was heard outside the cave.

It pierced through everyone’s hearts, a shot in the air heard serverwide.

When Tango looked back to the body it was gone, the only sign left of his brother being a pile of still items.

“No. N-No. No, I- I was at gr.. No, No h..this. This has to be a dream, th- this has to be a nightmare I- I can’t.. I, I can’t……………” Tango’s voice trailed off into incomprehensible quiet sobbing. He was curled up in a pile around the items, holding close the only remainder of his friend. The only thing that he had left period, since the castle had been taken… But he would have took a thousand structures falling to keep his friend. He… He would have done anything to keep his friend. Both Skizz and him knew that.

❤❤❤

Skizz had respawned in the spruce forest. He was leaning against a tree, still weak on his feet. There was a hole in the middle of his chest, and it hadn’t stopped bleeding.

The reds weren’t gonna hurt him now, he had become one of them. A murderer, just like them.

The curse needed a green or a yellow’s life taken to be broken, and he sure had a spare yellow life.

He wasn’t gonna let his own incompetence, his own selfishness doom the fate of his friend again. Tango had the best chance of winning, and he needed to keep all 4 of those lives.

As-as a red he could help too, right? Pick off any other reds that make claims on his friend. Of.. Of course, he couldn’t speak to his friend anymore. He couldn’t see him. He couldn’t even get his stuff.

It was better this way. Tango had the greatest chance of winning, and he was only going to hinder that chance.

He took his communicator out of his pocket, hands still shaking. They were covered in red now, and the communicator’s screen was splattered with red as well.

Skizzleman was killed by Skizzleman using [YOU BET YOUR LIFE]

LDShadowLady> …

Grian> WHAT

SolidarityGaming> ?????

Skizz looked down at the screen.

Tango hadn’t typed anything.

He put the communicator back into his pocket.

This session was ending now. And the next session might be his last. But he didn’t care, his own life didn’t matter, as long as he used his corpse to lift his brother to the win.

He had learned from season 1, hadn’t he?

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votederpycausemufins · 3 years

Text

john mulaney voice: Hey... What's [this story] is a lot LONGER than I first thought. that being said, this chapter itself is shorter than the others.

Before Tubbo could say anything, Tommy was in the air, a trail of smoke from his firework left behind. He held a sword in hand and flew towards where the summoned monsters were. As he reached them, Tommy saw another Hermit also in the air. “Scar? Did you summon these?”

“What?! I would never. I thought it was you or Grian!” The mayor responded, offended that Tommy would think such a thing of him.

“No way. How about we take care of them before we figure out who made them.” Tommy suggested and Scar nodded, the two of them diving at the withers, getting their attention and drawing their fire. It went well. Though there were three withers firing at the two of them, Scar and Tommy focused on damaging one of the three while dodging the rest of the attacks. When they killed the first one, Tommy dove to grab the nether star. He caught it before it reached the ground, but it was close enough he could see the damaged terrain. Another hermit was below, sword out as they fought someone with an axe. Someone Tommy recognized.

The wither sounds above filtered into Tommy’s mind as he remembered before. Back on the SMP. “You want to be a hero Tommy? Then die like one!” He didn’t realize his grip on the nether star loosen, or the fact that he was currently plummeting to the ground. “Chaos!” He was trying to find everyone. Where had they- “TOMMY!”

Tommy snapped out of it, looking for wherever Tubbo was, why he had shouted, and then he saw the ground. The island rushing closer towards him. He fumbled with his items before grabbing his fireworks just in time to launch himself back into the air. He stared down at the ground once more, trying to find Tubbo, before items started raining from above. “No! Scar!” And he flew back up towards the withers.

One of the withers was slowly falling back down to the ground, Scar having gotten it to half its health on his own. And that was with him not being a fighter like Tommy. He slashed at the wither until it died before flying further up and attacking the final of the monsters. It got a number of attacks to hit Tommy and the teen quickly flew higher, far enough away to quickly down some golden carrots and make sure he wasn’t killed as well. After a few more attacks, the final wither was also killed and Tommy started back down to the ground. He quickly pulled out his comm and read the death messages that were reported.

GoodtimeswithScar was shot by a skull from Wither

Keralis was slain by Technoblade

GoodtimeswithScar was slain by Technoblade

GoodtimeswithScar went off with a bang

BdoubleO100 went off with a bang

Renthedog went off with a bang

Jrumbot went off with a bang

Looking back at the ground as he put the comm away again, Tommy could see the fading colors of fireworks being launched. He dove down, even using a firework of his own to get there quicker, but as the smoke cleared, he pulled back to slow his descent. On the ground Grian was fighting Technoblade and holding his own, sword parrying the blows from Techno’s axe.

Tommy scanned the rest of the area. Tubbo was on the ground a number of blocks away, coughing from the smoke. Phil was nearby, but couldn’t move due to some of the debris managing to have landed on one of his wings. While Tommy wanted to help Grian out, he didn’t look like he needed it as much as Tubbo and Philza did, so he changed his path to go in their direction.

“Tubbo, are you okay?!” Tommy asked as he landed, quickly helping his friend up. Tubbo tried to speak, but instead it all came out as coughing. “Just go to town hall.” Tommy pointed at the large building on a nearby hill. “I know it’s gonna sound weird, but find the cat there and hold onto her for dear life! Got it?” Tubbo was hesitant at first, but then nodded and ran towards the building.

Tommy ran the opposite way over to Phil and helped him out of the rubble. He had to be a little careful with breaking everything so he didn’t hurt his dad, but it wasn’t the hardest material to deal with, so freeing the avian wasn’t too difficult of a task. “Was that Techno? How’d he get here?”

“Dunno.” Tommy answered, helping his dad to his feet. “He’s fighting Grian right now, so we better stop them.”

Phil nodded and the two of them ran towards where Grian and Techno were still fighting. Grian was looking very angry, to the point where he seemed to be using some Watcher magic at least slightly as his wings were their alternate colors and he had more than just one pair of eyes.

“It won’t matter once you’re dead!” Were the first words Tommy could make out, the sentence coming from Techno.

“I don’t plan on dying for good anytime soon. You, on the other hand, will probably wish you could die.”

“Grian!” Tommy shouted, and the Watcher looked away from Techno and up at Tommy. The piglin hybrid tried at use that as an opening to attack, but Grian hadn’t completely looked away since he could control his various eyes independently. “Techno! Stop fighting him! Even if you win it’s not going to end well!”

But Techno ignored Tommy and attacked once more. Grian pulled his shield up to block the attack, but the axe didn’t connect. In all of the commotion, no one saw someone new enter the area until now. All eyes were on Grumbot as he had stopped the axe with a hand and then pulled it out of Techno’s hands. “Hello Uncle Technoblade.”

Everything was quiet. Tommy was pretty sure the robot was doing the same thing as when Grian and Phil had been fighting, shocking them into doing nothing. But Techno wasn’t Phil. He pulled out another crossbow and aimed it at Grum. Tommy shouted as he watched as the trigger was pulled.

Tommy ran toward where they had stood. His comm buzzing in his pocket. He couldn’t see the messages, but he knew what they were.

Grumbot went off with a bang

Grian went off with a bang

Technoblade was slain by Tommyinnit

Tommy panted, unmoving as he just held his sword in place, the blade left where Techno had been standing moments before. For a moment he was glad, but then he panicked. Had Techno gone back to the SMP when he was killed? Was he back at spawn? Was he nowhere and gone from existence? His comm buzzed again and Tommy immediately pulled it out.

Xisuma was slain by Technoblade

Okay, at the very least now he knew Techno had respawned. The question is where Xisuma was. His best guess was the spawn island since at least with Tubbo, Phil and himself, they were brought by Grian. Tommy took a moment to catch his breath slightly before rocketing back up into the air and heading to spawn. On his way there, he saw a boat heading towards the main island, so Tommy dove down towards it. “Technoblade!”

The hybrid looked up just in time to see Tommy land into the boat with a ‘thunk’ making it shake and letting a little bit of water come over the sides. “Tommy.”

“Oh my god is that Xisuma’s gear?”

Techno looked down at himself before looking back to the main spawn area. “If you mean the guy that was over there when I respawned, yeah.” Techno huffed. “Now I think you should get out of this boat before I make you.”

“No. You need to hear me out first.”

“No I don’t. You were helping the guys that kidnapped you and Phil. He said that guy was a Watcher. Phil told us stories about them growing up.”

Tommy crossed his arms. “He told you and Wil those stories. He never told me any of those. Plus, they were wrong.”

“You honestly expect me to believe you after you’ve been living with them for months?” Techno growled, moving his stolen weapon closer to Tommy.

“I believe them because they’re family.”

“We’re your family Tommy.”

“So’s Xelqua.”

Techno’s eyes widened and the sword lowered just enough from his shock that Tommy quickly stole it away before showing it into the water. “Did you just say that to-”

Tommy shook his head. “No! Of course not! It’s a plus, but I’m telling the truth. Dad knows too. None of use were sure at first, not even him. Like you said, I’ve been living with them for months, but until yesterday we didn’t know.”

“Then for all we know he’s lying. Or maybe he’s not really someone to trust.”

Tommy just sighed. “Can we just fucking go back to the spawn area so X can get his shit back? While we’re there I can tell everyone else what’s going on.”

Reluctantly Techno agreed and turned the boat around just as Xisuma was arriving with his emergency bee elytra out from his suit.

“Alright, give him his fucking stuff back.” Tommy said as he pushed Techno out of the boat, making the hybrid grumble and take off the pilfered armor and other gear. “Alright then. Techno, this is Xisuma. He’s the admin of the server. He’s not like Dream but can be so much worse if you give him any reason to.”

Xisuma tilted his head slightly at the unfamiliar name, but mostly ignored it to take his items back. “I would welcome you to the server, but it seems you’ve already made yourself known.”

Techno huffed. “Yeah, just tell me where Phil is and I’ll be on my way.”

“Bitch what about Xel?”

“I doubt he wants to go back with us.”

“Hey I’m not fucking leaving. And I’m not sure Phil is either.”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“He’ll want to stay with Grian for a bit probably.” Techno raised an eyebrow at Tommy. “He changed his name to Grian ages ago. Don’t know the full details though. He only really ever said he got bullied for it growing up and changed it in highschool or some shit.”

“Fine, I guess we’re staying here a bit.” Techno crossed his arms before getting back in the boat.

“Um, I seem to be missing my sword still.” Xisuma piped up, and Tommy jabbed his finger in the direction they came from. X nodded when he saw it floating on the surface of the water and flew over to grab the weapon.

While he did that, Tommy jumped back in the boat and rowed with Techno back to the island, going right up to Tommy’s beach area. Phil and Tubbo were both there, Tubbo with a certain gray striped cat in their lap.

The moment they reached land, Techno got out of the boat and walked over to Philza, who handed him the gear he lost when Tommy managed to kill him. “Is what Tommy said true? About Xel?”

Phil nodded. “Yeah. In fact he’s the Watcher that showed up. He’s gone through a lot since we last saw him.”

“How do we know we can trust him.”

Phil looked off to the side. “Well, he’s done better for Tommy than we did.”

The two of them were quiet to the point where Tommy broke the silence by going over to Tubbo. “Ey Tubzo, looks like you and Jellie are getting along. Very cool, very cool. She’s not upset at you bringing her along?”

Tubbo shook their head. “No, I tried to leave her back in that big building but she followed behind me.”

“Yeah, she sort of has a mind of her own. Grian’s not even completely sure she’s really a cat.” Tommy then looked up as he noticed something in the sky. “Speaking of which, looks like that’s him.”

The others also looked skyward and saw the bright red wings of Grian spread out as he was gliding. The avian noticed the group and pulled them in, diving down. However, shortly after doing that, Tommy watched as Grian pulled out a sword. The moment he landed on the ground, the blade was against Techno’s throat, Grian glaring up at his taller brother, his eyes red and puffy.

“Grian! Stop stop stop stop! That’s Technoblade, that’s Technoblade!” Tommy rushed over and tried to stop Grian but the avian pushed Tommy to the side.

“I don’t care who he is! He killed them and they’re not respawning!” Grian shouted, pressing the blade further, drawing a few drops of blood.

Tommy took a slight step back. “Wait, who? What do you mean? What happened?” But he was pretty sure he knew. Tommy saw the death messages. Scar was obviously respawning, and the other hermits would too. But two of those on the list wouldn’t.

“What are you talking about?” Techno looked down, showing no emotion to Grian.

“You killed my kids!” Grian yelled at him. “They’re dead and they’re not coming back! And it’s all your fault!”

It looked like Grian wanted to yell even more, but Philza grabbed him in a hug and the younger avian just dissolved into crying. Tommy and Techno met eyes, and even the powerful Technoblade flinched at the glare he received from his youngest brother.

Back on the SMP, Ghostbur kept floating around where the people had been before. He couldn’t quite remember why they had disappeared. He remembered something big with wings. He was pretty sure it was a giant bird. It looked kind of like his dad! And Tommy had been there too, but then everyone but Technoblade left. And then even Techno had left. Ghostbur was pretty sure he was supposed to stay there, but he wasn’t sure.

Then suddenly he felt something. As a ghost, he didn’t have access to a communicator, so the supernatural powers that allowed him to exist as a ghost also allowed him to interact with what would be the chat. So he was very aware when some people showed up. And since his friends and family had left, that had to be them coming back! It was a little strange they weren’t right there, but maybe they were just back where everyone else appears. Yeah, that was probably it!

Ghostbur went back towards spawn, ready to see Phil and Technoblade and Tommy. And he was happy to see there was someone right where there should be. Two someones in fact. But they seemed a little short. Techno and Tommy were tall, so it couldn’t be them, and Philza was short, but not that short. So that must mean it was someone completely different.

“Hello there! I’m Ghostbur!”

The two new people jumped slightly before turning to look at him. “Oh! H-Hi!”

“Who are you two? Unless we’ve already met. I don’t think we have, but I also have trouble remembering so maybe we have!”

“No, we have not met you before. I do not believe the two of us have even been to this world before. Can you tell us where we are?”

“Oh! You’re in the Dream SMP!” Ghostbur answered, just as one of the two newcomers checked what they had in place of a communicator.

Jrumbot joined the world

Grumbot joined the world

#hermit!tommy au #hermit!tommy #tommyinnit #tubbo #technoblade #grian #watcher!grian #grian xelqua #avian!Grian #goodtimeswithscar #philza #grumbot #jrumbot #ghostbur #wilbur soot

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spir1tfar3r · 3 years

Text

Everything Stays

Summary: Kageyama made a promise to be your best friend through everything. But he didn’t seem to like that promise when you moved to Hyogo when he needed you the most.

Warnings: my awful writing, spoilers for the Inarizaki game

Words: 1646

a/n: this is a repost from my other account

Masterlist | Haikyuu server | Ao3

reblogs are appreciated <3

You’ll find something waiting right there where you left it, lying upside down

“Hey Tobio? Promise me that we’ll always be friends. Even if one of us is gone.” Staring up at the familiar ceiling, you had missed the way your best friend looked at you. He didn’t understand where the question came from when you were previously talking about how much you missed seeing Oikawa and Iwaizumi. Maybe it was a rhetorical question? You’d tell him if something was going on like you always do right?

Feeling a bit uneasy with the silence, you looked at him, wondering why he was taking so long to answer. “I’ll promise if you do.” He replied and you playfully rolled your eyes, trying to keep your eyes from watering. You were afraid he wouldn’t catch on but still said nothing to confirm anything.

“I promise Tobio-chan.” As he got ready to speak up, to make his promise in return, your parents had called for you. Grabbing your things quickly, you waved goodbye. You knew this was your last time seeing him, yet you didn’t give him time to say anything else. ‘I could tell you tomorrow’, he thought. Little did he know he wasn’t going to be given that chance.

When you finally find it, you’ll see how it’s faded

“Y/n! I was asked to see what was taking so long. Kita-san doesn’t want us to be late.” Akagi called as you finished filling up the last water bottle for the team. Going to the third year, you began to head back to the gym Inarizaki were currently practicing in before their game. Making it to nationals was definitely not a surprise to you. When you began school, you were aware of how impressive their team was, especially with the Miya twins on it. Though you certainly didn’t expect to be asked if you could be the manager.

You already had plans on becoming one, if given the opportunity. It was certainly challenging with how much the twins fought but you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Pulling the door open, you heard an all to familiar voice. “Y/n watch it!” Atsumu yelled and you stepped to the side, barely dodging the ball.

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” You ask, placing the water bottle with the others. He stood for a moment, placing his hand on his chin like he needed to think about the answer before he shrugged. You roll your eyes at him and toss another ball so he could serve again. Five minutes until they needed to go on court and go against Karasuno Highschool.

You always wondered why the place sounded so familiar to you. Sure Kageyama has talked about it before when you were younger but it never stood out to you. Thinking of your friend, you wondered if he made it into Shiratorizawa or if he was going to follow in Oikawa’s footsteps and go to Aobajohsai. The longer you thought about your former best friend, you realized why Karasuno sounded familiar. “Atsumu! Who was the other setter at the training camp and what school did he go to?”

“Tobio Kageyama and he goes to Karasuno. Why?” By now everyone’s attention was on you. Not very surprising considering you had asked rather loudly and stopped the setter from serving for the last time. You weighed your options on telling them or not for a moment before speaking.

“Yeah, we knew each other before I moved here.”

“Well you’ll see him in a few minutes if that matters.” Akagi spoke, not sure if you even wanted to see him. Honestly you weren’t even sure if you wanted to see him either. It had been so long since you were friends and made that promise that you didn’t really want to open any old wounds. Before replying, the coach called for the team to head into the main gymnasium. Your stomach began to churn, the nervousness of what could happen when you saw him began eating at you.

A hand lightly touched your shoulder and you turned your head, meeting Osamu’s gaze. “You’ll be fine.” That was all he said before going past you and heading out with the team. You took in a breath before exhaling and following the guys. Your eyes roamed the court, looking for the familiar black hair that you had grown up with. It didn’t take long for you to see him talking to the coach and the number ten. Although nothing about him changed, the way he held himself was much different than the way he had when you were younger. You regretted not being able to grow up with him and seeing the progress he had made.

Water’s getting higher as the shore washes out

“Tobio? Do you think you’ll become a professional volleyball player?” You carefully set the ball over to him before he set it back. You knew he was starting to become relatively serious about the sport so you were curious on how far he was wanting to go.

“I hope so.” He replied, holding onto the ball whenever you had sent it back over to him. “I want to play as a setter too if I can.”

You hummed in acknowledgement, heading to your home as he followed behind you. There was only 5 days until you were moving and you still hadn’t told him. It’s not like you didn’t want to but you were worried about how he would react whenever you told him. The guilt was already eating away at you since you’ve known about the move for a couple of months. You had plenty of opportunities to tell him what was going on and you knew that you owed it to him to tell the truth but you just… couldn’t.

“You ok?” Kageyama asked, pulling you away from your thoughts. You gave him a fake smile, knowing that he wouldn’t tell the difference.

“Yep! Just thinking about how much of a nerd you are.” You reply, messing with his hair. He rolled his eyes in annoyance, smacking your hands away from his hair before fixing it to how it was originally.

“You’re the nerd, nerd.”

“Woooow amazing comeback Tobio-chan.” As the words left your mouth, he narrowed his eyes, rolling the volleyball in his hand around. You glanced at it, realizing what he was about to do before running. The two of you spent the rest of the day chasing each other with the volleyball in a game of tag.

Everything stays right where you left it

“Damn it! I can’t believe we lost.” Atsumu complained as you walked with the team. Kita let out a sigh, knowing there really wasn’t anything to say to make the team feel better. Especially after he made the comment of wishing he could say that he was proud of his team one last time.

“I can’t believe you declared to set for Hinata in front of everyone.” You joked, wanting to help lighten the mood. Atsumu glanced at you, playfully smacking into your shoulder with his. It had worked, just a little bit, but enough to make a ghost of a smile stay on his handsome features. “It was sweet.” You spoke up again, a little softer for just his ears. “I hope you actually get to do that at some point.”

“I do too.” He muttered. Before you had stepped into the locker room to clean things up, Atsumu grabbed your wrist lightly, stopping you in your tracks. You turn, furrowing your eyebrows in confusion and a little annoyance. “Want to go with me to wish Tobio luck?” You didn’t have to say anything, he knew exactly what your response was by the way your eyes seemed to soften at the mention of his name.

The two of you excused yourselves, letting Kita know where you were heading in case he needed you later. It took a lot more time than you both anticipated. But whenever you finally found him and Hinata, Atsumu wasted no time calling out to him. They began to speak as you quietly stood behind Atsumu, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. After they had spoken Hinata made a comment about the two needing to head back to the rest of their team.

You panicked momentarily, not sure if you’ll ever see him again. Atsumu nudged you forward so that you would be seen. Finally taking the opportunity you finally spoke up “Tobio-chan?” You were scared, not sure if he’d even remember you anymore. He froze, recognizing the voice that called him. Turning back towards you, he silently encouraged you to continue. “Um… we used to be friends when we were younger. I just wanted to say good luck with your next game.”

“Thanks. But I don’t remember who you are.” That was a lie. He knew exactly who was speaking to him. But after being abandoned by you in his childhood, he didn’t want to acknowledge the fact that he knew you. It was fair. You knew that. But it didn’t stop the pain that grew in your chest. Glancing at Atsumu, he nods, knowing you wanted to say more but didn’t know if you should.

Sighing, you looked back at Kageyama. “I didn’t expect you to. I moved during our second year of junior high. We made a ridiculous promise to stay best friends even if one of us was gone. But um, good luck again! We probably need to head back.”

“I didn’t make that promise. You left before I had the opportunity.” Kageyama admitted. As you went to look at him, he was already lost in the crowd of people. ‘Next year, I promise to talk to you more.’ You promised to yourself before following Atsumu back to where your team was waiting.

In little ways where everything stays

#kageyama tobio x reader #tobio kageyama x reader #Kageyama x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu!! x reader #haikyuu!! angst #haikyuu angst #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu!! imagine #—sanctuary

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pearl-star · 3 years

Text

Disappearing Act

Lila had done it and gotten everyone to turn on the bluenette. The class sneered and yelled at the girl, cursing her out and telling her to get lost. If only they realized that the girl would take their words to heart.

“How could you hurt her!”

Deep breathes.

“Are you really so shallow?”

Must stay calm.

“There’s no way I can be friends with a bitch like you.”

Don’t get akumatized.

“Maybe you should just leave for good. Save us from having to see someone as heartless as you ever again.”

Marinette rocked herself, arms latched around her knees, trying to block out the voices. It had happened so fast, she was still processing it. Within a week of her return, Lila had done well with her threats. Everyone who once loved the bluentte now loathed her. Her friends. Her teachers. Her parents. And even Adrien, who once stood by her side now stayed with Lila. False promises of getting him more freedom. False hopes of overall class peace. False love. Tikki was outside of the building, purifying any akumas that got sent her way. As Ladybug, she couldn’t let her self get akumatized. Of course, trying to push this aside had only caused a higher panic attack, and Tikki decided it was worth the risk of exposing her identity to let her have a few minutes of peace.

The other kwamis comforted their guardian. Trixx and Wayzz were silent, in disbelief and horror that their temporary holders could do such awful things to the girl. Tikki, on the other hand, wanted to have a moment with Adrien to slap some common sense into him. Plagg flew over to Marinette’s house and spoke to Tikki. “Kid’s officially lost all hope. Spots needs to take away his miraculous and now. He is planning to do work as Chat Noir to help Lila. He is still deciding if he should also expose himself to her.” Tikki was horrified. Adrien was a dumb, sheltered kid. However, he should know that secret identities were meant to be a secret. “I’ll tell Marinette the news. Just, give her a few more minutes.” The two kwamis sat in silence. Tikki did a growl as another purple butterfly approached. “Serious! Does Hawkmoth have nothing better to do? Like how tired is Nooroo at this point?” Tikki grumbled as she grabbed ahold of the akuma and purified it. She flew over to a plate of cookies and angrily bit into one.

After ten minutes and no approaching butterflies, Tikki and Plagg phrased into the room. Marinette had calmed down a great deal, and was working on tearing up every photo she had with her old ‘friends.’ Tikki and Plagg exchanged a look before approaching her. “Let me guess, Chat Noir has left me too.” It was a statement. One that Marinette had just assumed would happen. Plagg paused before nodding. “You need to take the ring away from him and stat.” Marinette sighed as she spun around her room, like she was in a daze. “I’m done here too. Let me pack up some stuff and then I’ll meet up with… him. I don’t want to come back here afterwards.” “I’ll have him meet you at the usual meeting spot in an hour.” Plagg promised as he flew off. Tikki had only growing concern for her chosen one. “Marinette?” Marinette turned to face her kwami. Her eyes were red from her tears and were dueled. Her hair was a mess and her clothes were still the ones from today. Ripped and stained from when the class attacked her. Marinette even spotted a few scratches on her body as well as a faint mark on her face from when Alya slapped her.

“I’m fine. I’ve realized that I am no longer welcomed here, yet I am still needed. I will just have to adjust myself for that.” The girl began to move around her room, grabbing two different bags and stuffing them with some essentials. “I am the guardian, and with that comes some… perks. I can go anywhere outside of Paris and still will be able to help defend this place from Hawkmoth. I’ll find some way to survive.” She paused as she let a smile cross her lips. “And I can cry and scream as much as I want without fear of Hawkmoth getting to me. Ah, it will be wonderful Tikki. All day not having to worry about being optimistic when I don’t feel like it. Being able to be angry and sad without fear of Paris’s downfall. I can’t wait!” Marinette’s eyes lit up, and Tikki calmed down. She hated that it had to come to this, but there really was no other choice.

Marinette managed to gather her essentials in the two bags and packed a cooler of food that would suit all the kwamis needs. Then she transformed, keeping the bags on her other form. She took one last look around her room. It was a mess. Her parents had searched around earlier that day, looking for more reasons to hate their daughter. They even went so far as to rip a dress that Marinette was working on. It was going to be for her birthday, but there would have been no point to finish it anyways. She glances over to the trash and notices something hanging over the edge. It was the lucky charm that Adrien had made her for her birthday. She decided to grab it before leaving. She can leave it at his place tonight to let him know that she’s gone for good. Marinette arrived to the usual meeting spot. Chat Noir was already there. He smiled when he spotted her, unaware of everything happening. “Hey bugaboo, so glad we can meet. I need to talk to you about an important issue.” Weighing out the pros and cons, she nodded for him to continue. Perhaps he has gotten some common sense since Plagg had left.

“There’s this school, Collège Françoise Dupont, that is having some issues with this girl. Her name is Marientte.” Marinette controlled her anger, despite wanting to slap him. “That’s enough.” If he was gonna continue off of where her class and parents left off, then he can save his breath. “I’ve heard from your kwami that you plan to help out a girl for private reasons and possibly reveal your identity to her. Explain yourself. Now.” Chat looked taken back. “We’re superheroes. We’re supposed to help people.” “But for petty reasons? And besides, a secret identity is secret for a reason. What if the girl gets akumatized and exposes you to Hawkmoth? You would be targeted in your civilian form and get overwhelmed from trying to fight back.” Chat clenched his jaw. “No. I’m keeping her from getting akumatized. It’s Marinette who keeps getting her akumatized. As long as Lila stays happy then everyone else will be happy.” Marinette realized that Chat was a lost cause, as well as sounding a bit too familiar for her taste. She grabbed his hand and cupped his face, kissing his cheek as she pulled the ring off his finger.

He couldn’t even let out a gasp before his transformation came off. Plagg flew next to her. “My lady?! What are you doing?” She took a deep breath before speaking. “Adrien Agreste. You are no longer worthy of being Chat Noir. You will not tell anyone about the miraculouses and anything else relating back to this superhero identity. It is not a decision I like to make, but I cannot risk Paris falling to Hawkmoth because of your poor judgement.” She placed the ring into her yo-yo and held out the lucky charm he had gifted to her. “The Marinette you speak of is already gone. I noticed her leaving the city and asked her what was wrong. She said that she had been casted off by her family and friends. Swore at and told to get lost forever. I tried to stop her, but it was her decision to make. She requested that I would give this back to you and give you a heads up.” She dropped the charm into his hand and closed it. “I hope whatever you do in the future is better than what you’re doing now. Goodbye, Chat Noir.” Marinette turned and leaped off the rooftop, waiting until she was a mere ten feet off the ground before yo-yoing away. She hid behind a building before calling on Kaalki and teleporting away.

The class hated the bluenette. How could she be so rude to Lila? They never could have guessed how shallow and low that girl could swoop. They had all yelled their heads off earlier that day. Telling her that she should just leave. Of course, they didn’t expect that to actually happen. They assumed a few different things from the girl. First she would step up her atrocious behavior and continue to harm Lila. Another where she ignores them and acts petty. And a third of her coming in and begging for forgiveness. But they wouldn’t give her that. She would have to work much harder to earn back a spot in the class. Even their teacher hated the bluenette. So when the girl didn’t make it to school, they were happy. Currently they were comforting Lila, and ensuring her that the wannbe designer would never harm her again as long as they were with her. They were in such high spirits that they didn’t notice the blond model walk in late. However, Lila did, and she called out to him.

“Adrien! Come and sit with me. Alya can move to sit with her boyfriend today. Wouldn’t that be fun?” The girl hid her smirk the best she could. It took so little time to turn these students against their best bud, it was a new record. All she really wanted to do now is bask in the glory, date Adrien, and gain a following from modeling. Adrien had been on her side this time around, and was quick to push that brat down. She was shocked when she noticed his vacant look. “Hey dude? What happened?” Adrien had bags underneath his eyes. His eyes were red from tears. His body was hunch over as he slowly walked to his regular desk. He dropped into his chair and shakily dropped something from his hand onto the desk. Lila wanted to scoff when she saw it. It was some dumb string of beads. However she controlled her expression, making herself appear worried for the boy. “It’s Marinette… she’s gone. Forever.” Marinette gone? Now this was great news for her. She didn’t have to worry about Marinette ruining her new reputation. Alya laughed. “Servers her right! We don’t need to see that bitch around here anymore. What poor school is getting her?” The class murmured about how happy they were about this news, but Adrien shook his head.

“No.” Although quite, it left an impact and the class stopped. “No? What do you mean?” Rose questioned. “I mean she’s gone forever. No one will see her again.” They decided to not press the model for details, even as tears started to fall down his face once more. Miss Bustier came in to start class but she paid no mind to the students. After all, she stopped caring after everything that has happened. Adrien couldn’t believe everything that had happened. He had sided with Lila after promising Marinette he wouldn’t. He knew that the girl was lying, but decided to stick with her instead. She had some hold over his father, that much he was certain, and if she could help him get more freedom then he wanted to take it. Even if it meant making sacrifices elsewhere. Now he would never see the girl again. One of his first friends he had ever made. The girl who went out of her way for everyone else. The girl who just yesterday had admitted that she liked him before running off and crying from his words. He could never get the memory of her face out of his mind. How her soul seemed to shatter before him. Her eyes filling with tears. Body shaking from her shallow breathes. He should have stopped her. He should have. But ‘should have’ doesn’t do a whole lot now. Now he lost his friend and Plagg. He can never be Chat Noir again.

Marinette’s parents were the next to feel the effect. They had banged on the trap door, demanding that the girl came down to apologize for her before. When they came up to her room and noticed the torn up photos and the balcony trap door opened, they debated calling the police. Debated if they should care enough to find her or to just plan her punishment for when she comes crawling back home. It took three days until they began to worry more. A week after she left the police came to the bakery. Apparently a customer who was fawned of the girl overheard the couple complain about their missing daughter and called the police. They inspected the whole house and filed a missing person report. They also visited to the school. Mr. Damocles and Miss Bustier were fired that day. An investigation started up on exactly what had caused the girl to go missing. Adrien sung like a canary. He would be getting pulled out of school due to his shift in behavior and he decided that now it would be time to admit everything. Well, everything excluding the fact that he was Chat Noir.

He said how Lila threaten and pushed around Marinette. How she lied about her connections and trips. How she got the whole class to turn on her. Every single last thing that the class ever said or did to Marinette was told. A lot of people got in trouble that day. Parents were called, including Lila’s mom who was not thrilled at learning how her daughter had been acting. Cholé was actually the only one who got off relatively scot free, since she had been pushing for her dad to do something about Lila but never bothered to listen. Sabrina was even free since she tried to tel her father about the issues before, but listened to the rest of his class. Alya’s blog got taken down, everyone was grounded and forced to do community service. Lila was expelled and being transferred to a discipline school in Italy so she wouldn’t get akumatized. The students were told that if they got akumatized because they were getting punished for their acts that they would be fined.

Everyone wanted someone to blame because of this. The easiest scapegoat was Lila. After all, she had lied and promised everything to them. It was her fault that this got so far. Adrien slammed his hands down on his desk and looked back to his class once last time. “No.” He stated. “It’s not just Lila’s fault. It’s all our fault too. We shouldn’t have just believed her. And we shouldn’t have just hurt Marinette like that. We became just as bad as Lila made Marinette to be in her stories. We’re no different.” With that Adrien left the school forever. He would probably never go to a physical school again until college. The rest of the students discovered the void that the girl filled weeks later. Whenever they wanted some fresh baked goods. Whenever they wanted a new outfit made or a thing patched up. Whenever they just wanted someone to rant to or laugh with. Their trusted friend, their everyday ladybug was gone.

The real Ladybug was still showing up to battles. Each time alone. It took a few months before Ladybug showed up to a fight. She spoke three words that only a few understood. “Plagg. Tikki, Unify.” She became a stronger force than ever, and Hawkmoth and Mayura came out of hiding for a chance to capture the miraculouses. However, Noirbug was able to defeat them easily. She captured their miraculouses instead, revealing a tired Gabriel and Nathalie behind. She didn’t care less about who they were. Her job was done. When the reporters came after the fact, she informed them that she would be leaving Paris forever. “I was no longer welcomed here but still needed. Now that my job is done, I will finally leave you all in peace. To the people who loathed me. Hated me. Told me to leave. You’re welcome. I’ll finally be able to do just that. Goodbye forever.” With those words she shot off. Away from the confusion of Paris. Away from her past. As Marinette fed the kwamis in her little cabin and watched the news, she felt like laughing. Paris was confused where their hero ran off to. Oh, they would soon realize everything. Even if the rest of Paris won’t, they will. And she truly hopes that they would be happy at her actions. After all, she left just like they wanted.

#miraculous fanfiction #miraculous ladybug fanfic #miraculous marinette #miraculous ladybug #fanfic

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wejusthereforthefanart · 3 years

Text

Team BRNZ Oneshot

"I don't wanna be here."

With a sympathetic smile, Roy patted her back, "It's alright, May, we'll get through this together."

"Ugh, you guys are so dramatic!" Brawnz groaned, "Remember, we're here to build connections. Which means I want you--all of you--to socialize."

"Wha-I'm not talking to anybody here! I look absolutely ridiculous!" the girl lifted a section of her a-line dress, small sequins that covered its brassiere shimmering under the luminous chandelier before she unceremoniously dropped the hem with a huff.

Beside her, Nolan looked down at his own suit, "I don't know, I think we look pretty good."

While Brawnz wore a standard tuxedo, the only splash of color being a faded purple bowtie, Nolan had replaced the rented white dress shirt with a maroon button-down and rolled up the sleeves of his blazer.

"We might look the part, but we are hardly prepared," Roy said, "What exactly are we supposed to discuss with these people? They're in a whole other society from us."

“Uh, just, you know, talk like Team NDGO. They go to these things all the time, somehow.”

May hunched over, covering her well-endowed chest behind her arms, “That’s because Gwen’s aunt is a higher-up in the Schnee Dust Company. She’s invited to Atlesian parties so she can promote their future business.”

“Oh.”

Nolan scanned the room, “Are we going to get kicked out when they figure out we snuck in? ‘Cause I saw some awesome finger food over there, and-”

“Alright, alright,” Brawnz combed a hand through his hair, slicked back with a sheen of gel, “Let’s split up into pairs. May, you’ll come with me while Roy keeps an eye on Nolan-”

“Hey!”

“-and works on his social skills.”

“I resent that, but won’t deny it,” the man frowned.

“I know you guys feel like fish out of water, but just think of these folks as potential clients after we graduate. We’re Team BRNZ, we can handle a party in a fancy mansion, right?”

By then, Nolan and Roy had disappeared, the former dragging his boyfriend across the dance floor to a long table covered in platters of food. Before him stood May, hugging herself uncomfortably tighter as a curtain of short purple hair fell over the left side of her face. His eyes softened, and with a gentle touch, he brushed it behind her ear.

“When we get back to school, I’ll let you play any game you want, okay?”

She glanced up at him, “Even two-player?”

“I mean, I don’t know why you insist on playing with us since you always win, but… sure.”

“I like winning,” the shadow of a smile graced her lips, and she lowered her arms. The pair stood in a comfortable silence while the music flowed in a soft, slow cadence. From the other side of the room, Roy watched Nolan devour another pastry until he heard an unfamiliar feminine voice nearby.

“Oh, hey, are you Vacuans?” a woman dressed in a strapless white gown walked up to them, “It’s just that I’ve never seen you before.”

Roy avoided the sight of her cleavage peeking out from the tight corset, his cheeks warm with a blush hidden under his dark skin.

Nolan swallowed a mouthful of sugar, “Yeah, we’re students at Shade Academy, just a little ways from here.”

“Ohhh, you must be friends of little Gwen! Ms. Darcy is an associate of mine, with dust exports into Vale.”

“Gwen’s pretty cool,” he spared a glance at Roy, “We share a few classes with her and her team.”

“I see. Well, I hope you tell her that if she ever finds herself in Vale, she can just find me,” pulling out a small card from her clutch, she reached it out to Nolan. However, once she noticed the remnants of chocolate icing on his fingers, she swiftly passed it to Roy.

“And, if you boys really do know little Gwen, I suppose I can extend the offer to you.”

Roy turned it over to read her name and contact info under ‘Schnee Dust Company’, “Thank you, Ms. Linen, and you can call me Roy Stalli-”

“She’s already gone.”

He looked over to see her speaking with another lady, and Nolan licked his fingers clean before wiping them discreetly against his pants. With a sigh, he tucked the card into the chest pocket of his pinstripe vest before adjusting the ascot wrapped around his throat. Soon, the classical piece faded, and an upbeat rendition of some jazz song boomed through the parlor. A group of drunk patrons flailed about in the center of the dance floor, laughing as their drinks sloshed out of glasses and spilt onto their clothes.

“We should find the others,” Roy took Nolan by the hand and led him along the row of tables, searching for their partners' red dress or gray locks.

“I need to find a bathroom,” Brawnz said, “Are you okay waiting here?”

She nervously ran her tongue over the grooves of her molars, before nodding.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I can do this,” May offered a small smile.

Her boyfriend returned it with one of his own, “Alright. Be right back, babe.”

She watched him weave around men and women to ask a server for directions when a low chuckle rumbled beside her. A man, who looked only a few years older than herself, stepped into her personal space with a cocky smirk and a tall glass of champagne.

“Oh, dear, please tell me what such a beautiful young woman like yourself is doing with someone of his caliber? I hope he hasn’t been fooling you with that cheap suit.”

“Um, we’re, um,” she mumbled, too flustered to finish a single sentence. The stranger was far too close for comfort, and she could smell the stink of alcohol on his breath. She took a step back, but felt her rear bump against the table behind her, trapping her as he loomed over and shamelessly leered at her curvy figure.

“May-May!” Nolan called, “How’s it going?”

Quickly stepping behind his girlfriend to rest his arms over her small shoulders, Roy aimed his steely gaze at the newcomer, “Is this man bothering you?”

“Nonsense, I was simply indulging her with the presence of a true gentleman, after seeing her about to fall victim to one of the pathetic frauds that tend to sneak into parties like these,” the dirty look he shot Nolan was followed by another smirk, “My name is William Rudolf, a pleasure to meet you.”

“Roy Stallion, of Team BRNZ at Shade Academy, and I believe the ‘pathetic fraud’ you were referring to was my team leader.”

His mirth simmered into a pert frown, “I see, well, perhaps you and your… befitting partners should take your leave back to school.”

Once he soaked up another eyeful of May’s body, he turned on his heel and sauntered off, leaving her with an embarrassed blush and a pit in her stomach. Brawnz suddenly returned from the restroom, confused to see his boyfriends with her.

“Did something happen while I was away?”

She curled her arms to hook over Roy’s, trapping him close in an embrace while she stared down at her feet, “Can we just go now? Please?”

He exchanged a look between the others, but took May’s shaky fidgeting as a sign not to press. He led his partners through the crowded ballroom, shouldering a surly woman who nearly spilled wine on her suit.

“Hey, watch it!” she yelled, but a glance at the girl made her blink, “Wait, are you Team BRNZ?”

May turned her head, her shoulders relaxed once she saw the fascination in her eyes.

“Um, yeah, that’s us,” she answered shyly.

“My wife’s a professor at Shade Academy, and talks about you all sometimes. You’re Ginger’s favorite students, you know.”

Nolan hip-checked Brawnz out of his way, “Aw, yes! Finally, I get to call a teacher by her first name. So long, Professor Goldgoose; hello Miss Ging!”

“Here, I’ll give you my card,” she offered, “I’m sure you’re in Atlas to promote yourselves for future work?”

“That’s right, but it hasn’t been working for us. Some people here are either creeps or uninterested because we don’t have any connections yet.”

She smiled at Roy, “Well, now you have me. That has to count for something, right? As for the creeps, you just have to point them out, and I’ll take care of them.”

Watching the head developer of Human Nextwork chew out Rudolf was the highlight of their night. They were eventually escorted out of the party, however. Once they returned to their hotel room, the group took turns showering and Nolan reinserted his insulin pump as soon as he changed into his sleepwear. May played on her scroll until Brawnz wrestled it away from her, and hid it in his bag for the night.

“Hey,” he said, “I wanted to apologize for leaving you alone like that. It was stupid on my part.”

She closed her eyes and stretched her slender legs under the covers, “Mmh, it’s not your fault. I just don’t like crowds.”

“But I should’ve been there to defend you…”

“And you will next time,” she scooted closer and rested her head on his shoulder, “I still trust you, Brawnz. I’m not just going to lose faith in you after one pervert waited for you to leave my side for a few minutes.”

He smiled down at her, her damp hair sticking to his skin like a warm, messy kiss. When he planted one of his own on her cheek, she barely stirred, and fell asleep. Nolan soon followed after his friend, spread across the other bed like a starfish and drooling a puddle on his pillow. Brawnz had never seen Roy asleep, as he always managed to stay awake the longest, but no matter how hard to he tried to stave off sleep, it consumed him.

And finally, Roy was alone. In the darkness, he rose out of bed, threw on his jacket, and slipped out the door.

“Rudolph, you have no idea what you’ve just done,” he hissed.

#rwby #fanfic #fanfiction #oneshot #Team BRNZ #Brawnz Ni #brawnz #roy stallion #nolan porfirio #may zedong

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kyber-heart · 3 years

Text

Lightsabers for Hire

- Anthony C [Kyberheart]

Hey everyone! This is the first piece of writing I’m publicly sharing here! All comments and criticism are not only welcomed but appreciated! This fic can also be found on AO3, the link to which can be found here: [Link]

From: Hylo Visz

To: Aidrien Keyett

Subject: Need to talk.

Hey Commander.

Got a new lead for ya’. I think you’ll be personally interested in this one! Meet me in the cantina at thirteen-hundred hours, we’ll talk more about it.

Hylo

The message was short, sweet, and accurate to Hylo’s assessment, intriguing. The vagueness of her message, and her emphasis on finding it ‘personally’ interesting, had made it so to Alliance Commander, Aidrien Keyett. Rien arrived at their agreed meeting point a couple minutes early, however Hylo had already been waiting. She lifted her hand to him in a casual wave from a seat in the back. A server droid approached only an instant after Rien sat down.

“Afternoon, Commander. Glad you could make it. What’ll you have?” Visz greeted him. Rien raised an eyebrow, amused. The smuggler was a legend, she commanded respect and was a force to be reckoned with. Yet it was surprising just how laid back the Mirialan actually was.

“It’s kinda early isn’t it?”

She shrugged in response to him. “I like to get a head start.” She glanced to the droid “Juma Juice, neat. Commander?” she prompted again with a smirk.

Rien smirked back at her “Water’s fine, thanks.” the droid chirped and rolled away from the booth “You said you had a lead for me?”

She chuckled “Straight to business. I like that about you, Commander.” she leaned forward, her posture taking a more formal air, with her arms resting on the table “We’ve recently hired a few of the Corellian Run boys to help smuggle spare ship parts to us. Well, to make a long story short, we’ve been hearing some tales from them of a mysterious bounty hunter on Corellia. Nothing out of the ordinary so far, right? Here’s where it gets interesting.” The droid returned with the two drinks on a mounted tray. Hylo took her drink and took a sip before continuing.

“So, allegedly, this new bounty hunter uses Lightsabers.”

“A Jedi?” Rien asked before taking a sip of his water.

“Possibly. No offence to you and your order, but with the rate you and the Sith have been dying in the last century, Lightsabers have flooded the black market. Taken off the bodies from battlegrounds.”

“And Corellia was a combat zone in the last war.” Rien adds rhetorically.

“This could be nothing, or it could be something, but I figure it’s ‘something’ enough to at least follow up on.”

“Do we know anything else about this hunter?”

“The stories refer to him only as Ke’dem Guerlle”

Rien’s brows knitted together. ‘Ke’dem Guerlle’. It was Old Corellian.

“Fallen Guard?” he guesses at a translation to which Hylo only looks at him with surprise.

“You know your Olys Corellisi...”

The statement was partially true. He studied as a Jedi Initiate on the planet Socorro, one of the first major Corellian colonies. The settlers had brought their language with them, yet over the generations it mutated into it’s own distinct dialect, Midys Corellisi or ‘Middle Corellian’. Though mostly similar, Rien had remembered being made keenly aware that the two were not the exact same after a slight miscommunication ended up with him walking away with a black eye once. Still, the wording of this name seemed deliberate.

“It’s an odd name for a bounty hunter. Sounds like he could be a Jedi, or he wants people to think he is. Anything else?”

“Not much but I can get my people working on it.”

“I’d appreciate it. I’ll see if Agent Shan knows anything.” He finishes the rest of his water. “Thank you for bringing this to me.”

Hylo waves her hand dismissively “Part of the job isn’t it?” her own rhetorical statement “Later, Commander.”

---

“I’ve scoured my contacts, called in a few favours, even called Teff just in case, our man Ke’dem Guerlle is practically a ghost story. No known identity or useful information of any kind that might point to a location. All we know is that both CorSec and The Corellian Jedi are looking for him as well”

Two days had passed since Rien’s meeting with Hylo. Rien had brought the information to his other advisors immediately. Now Theron offered his findings.

“I’d rather not get either of them involved if we can help it.” The Commander sighed “So we’re still at square one?”

“I didn’t say that.” The agent’s voice dipped deeper and more playfully. “Ke’dem just seems to pop up places, he was spotted yesterday at the racing club of one Zuurgessh The Hutt.” Theron pulled up a holo image of security camera feed. A being, dressed rather plainly if not for the large domed helmet covering his face, was frozen mid-walk in the flickering blue image.

“He’s a racer on top of a hired gun?”

“I doubt it. Witnesses say he went in, spoke to Zuurgessh and left about fifteen minutes later. Zuurgessh prides himself on being a ‘legitimate businessman’ but it’s common knowledge that he’s crooked in almost every way.”

Rien stared at the holo-image

“How do we know that’s even Ke’dem?”

Theron smirked “The helmet is part of his legend. No one knows what he looks like, allegedly. Which would make it easy to blend in when he’s not working.”

Rien only nodded in return. “Well then Zuurgessh is the one I need to visit. He’s our best shot at finding him at the moment.”

“I thought you’d say that. I can have my shuttle ready in about thirty minutes.”

Rien’s head snapped up from the holo-image

“You want to come with me?”

“I figure you could use some help. I made a pretty big name for myself as a swoop racer on Manaan. I know the type of place Zuurgessh runs, and maybe I could use that name to get a face to face meeting with him.”

Rien’s confusion morphed into disbelief “You were a racer? How come you never told me?”

Theron grinned “You never asked.”

Rien rolled his eyes “Alright, you got me there. But hey, if you want to come with me, I’d like that” His voice trailed into a softer tone as he spoke, to the point of near fluster at the end. Theron moved slightly closer to the Jedi Knight.

“I’d like that too.” he leaned in, giving Rien a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll get the ship ready. Thirty minutes, don’t be late.” he joked as he rounded the holotable and headed towards the hanger.

Rien couldn’t fight the blush on his cheeks as he too left the ops centre. He made his way to his quarters, still blushing. A couple of days alone with Theron on a ship, he could think of a few ways to pass the time. He smiled to himself. The damn agent made it impossible to focus on the mission. Shaking his head he tried to focus. Ke’dem Guerlle, Fallen Guard. If he was a Jedi, that also complicated matters. Worse if they were a fallen Jedi like the name suggested, or worse again, a former Sith.

---

Corellia was almost exactly as he had left it ten years ago. The buildings were still scarred from the Imperial invasion, though repair work was still being done to fix the damage. Still, the Corellians had earned their reputation as a resilient people. The city streets were alive with activity. Street vendors yelled their offers into the bustling crowds. Speeder traffic was as hectic as ever, which is where they found themselves now. Theron piloted their currently stopped swoop bike, waiting for the automated lights to allow them to proceed. Rien sat behind him, observing Coronet City.

“We should have just taken the tram.” Theron grumbled.

Rien chuckled “Wasn’t it you that said it wouldn’t ‘look good for a racer to show up without his bike’?” he teased.

“Shut up...” he continued to grumble. “Finally!” he exclaimed as the lights turned green. However, the speeder in front of them remained stationary. A loud horn sounded behind them.

“WANNA MOVE THERE, WAGYXOL?! I GOT PLACES TO BE!” a loud voice shouted from the speeder behind them. It got the attention of the front speeder which awkwardly lurched forward and took off at a speed slightly higher than the zone permitted. Traffic began to flow again.

“What’s your plan for when we go in here?” Rien asked, his voice needing to raise slightly to compensate for the sound of the engine and the velocity.

“I’m gonna introduce myself as Theron Shan, former Swoop Racer on the Manaan circuit. You’re going to be my manager.”

“Your manager?!” Rien began to protest “Theron, I have no idea-”

“Don’t worry” Shan cut him off. Rien could feel Theron chuckle though his body’s sudden vibrating “We just need to play it enough to get us in a room with Zuurgessh.”

“I have a bad feeling about this...” Rien muttered to himself.

It took them very little time after that before they were pulling up to a rather large establishment. The building seemed to be a converted tram station. The neon signage that decorated most of the front of the building made it stand out and look completely unlike a tram station, were it not for the actual track that went through the top of the building. Theron parked the swoop beside a number of others at the front of the entrance. Their arrival earned several glances. A pair of Twi’lek women took notice of Theron and began to blatantly eye him up, giggling to each other once they caught Rien looking at them.

“Looks like you already have fans.”

Theron smirked “Jealous?”

Rien rolled his eyes “Sure.”

Actually, if he were honest with himself, he was feeling a tinge of jealousy. They had only recently begun to cement their relationship. He had to promise himself that he would not let Theron and their relationship affect him in the field. Yet sometimes, slips like these happened.

The pair walked into the racing club. The floor was sticky and covered in old betting slips. Large screens projected live footage of races to the mass of rowdy patrons. In the middle of the floor stood an old ticket desk that had been converted into a bar and a betting desk. An Aqualish woman and a Torguta man ran the bar, while a Nautolan male ran the betting.

Rien glanced to Theron “Show time.” he grimaced.

“Just... act casual” Theron advised as they made their way over to the Nautolan.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” The bookmaker asked.

Rien took one last glance at Theron before stepping forward.

“Actually, I am hoping that you’ll help me!” Rien said with all the enthusiasm he could muster. “I need to speak with the esteemed Zuurgessh. I have a very profitable en devour for him.”

The Bookie paused his typing and stared at Rien. At least that is what the Jedi assumed. The man’s large black orbs could have been looking anywhere for all he could tell.

“And what would that be... Mister?...”

“Keyett” He introduced himself, offering his hand out to the Nautolan. “Rien Keyett. I represent this extraordinary man right here.”

The Bookie didn’t bother to take Rien’s hand, who sheepishly lowered it. The Bookie sighed.

“Lemme guess, you’re trying to get your friend in to see Zuurgessh, probably to get a racing contract because he’s the next Zorrin Darklighter or whatever, right? You know how many people come in with the same story every week?”

Rien was left speechless, he glanced at Theron who seemed as collected as ever.

“Hey I don’t claim to be the next Darklighter but surely you’ve heard of me? Theron Shan? two-time winner of the Manaan Open and runner up in The Progenitor Classic?”

The Bookie’s eyes suddenly widened. A large smile forming across his face “Of course! I see it now. Theron Shan! Well in that case, no.” The man’s voice was saturated with sarcasm. Glancing to Theron, Rien had to fight the urge to snicker at his Boyfriend’s irritated and almost insulted expression.

“Hey!” Theron began to protest. “I’m serious. Look it up.”

“Listen, Mr Shan. I’m not saying you’re not who you say you are, but Manaan hasn’t been a hotspot for famous racers for nearly half a century. So while I’m sure those are impressive feats on Manaan, they don’t mean a thing here. So, do you wanna place a bet or not? If not, move along.”

“This is going nowhere.” Rien sighed. The Jedi walked right up to the desk, looking straight into the Nautolan’s eyes. Lifting his right hand, and extending his thumb and two fingers, he waved them in front of the other’s vision. “You will take us Zuurgessh and tell him that a promising racer wants to see him”

The Nautolan blinked slowly, his words slurring for a moment as his mind tried to fight against Rien. “I-uhhh. I will-will take y-you to Zu-Zuurgeeessh”. The Bookie proceeded to come out from behind the desk. He made his way to a door off to his left. The Bookie began to speak Huttese into an intercom system. After a few exchanged words, the door was opened by The Bookie who gestured for them to follow.

“And you said you wouldn’t be a convincing manager.” Theron leaned forward to mutter, chuckling at Rien’s actions.

---

The Bookie led them up to the second floor. As the three men reached a large set of doors, they were stopped by a Weequay and a Nikto who guarded the doors. The Weequay and the Nautolan exchanged a few words in Huttese before the Nikto opened the door for them. Stepping inside, Rien took note of the opulent and lavish office of the Hutt. A large window overlooked the start and finish lines of the swoop track. The wall to the left was covered from ceiling to floor with various trophies and holographic picture frames of racers over the decades. The opposite wall held a massive series of screens showing camera footage feed from around the track. In the centre of the room sat the Hutt himself.

Zuurgessh was a smaller than average Hutt, the Jedi noted. He held a large cigarra between plump fingers adorned with at least one massive and gaudy ring on each digit, his other hand mirrored the ostentatious display. The Hutt also wore a trio of large gold necklaces around his neck and a set of five rings that went up his tail. The gold, silver, and platinum metals stood out against the Hutt's navy and gray toned skin. The Hutt sat behind a desk with a Rattataki woman across from him. They both looked up to the source of their interruption.

"What's this? I thought I told you lazerbrains not to bother me right now!" The Hutt barked out

The Nikto and the Rattataki exchanged a few words in Huttese as well while Zuurgessh took a drag of his cigarra, exhaling a large cloud of smoke through his nose. Rien wasn't going to waste any more time with this.

"Esteemed Zuurgessh. I am Jedi Master Aidrien Keyett" Rien bowed to the Hutt, attempting to be as respectful as possible. "I've come to you seeking information about a man that visited you last week."

The Rattataki spoke up "I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific, Master Jedi. Zuurgessh sees a lot of people on a daily basis." The Rattataki walked slowly around Rien as she spoke, her voice low and paced. The body suit she wore was a simple deep maroon affair though it served to highlight her slender yet solid physique. The Hutt's bodyguard, Rien assumed. A deadly seductress that would solve any dispute, either with charm or wrath.

"This man here."

Rien turned slightly to see Theron holding out a holoprojection of the man from the briefing on Odessen. Turning his attention to Zuurgessh and his bodyguard, they were staring at each other, faces impassive as they exchanged this non-verbal communication.

"I-" the Hutt spoke up first then proceeded to pause for a beat "- may have met this man. What business do you two have with him?" The Hutt asked as he flicked at the end of his cigarra, letting the ash fall into a tray on the desk.

Rien’s gaze flicked between Hutt and Rattatakki. He could sense the strong emotions from them. Fear. It radiated off them in waves, yet there was also a hint of hope. “We only wish to find him, good Zuurgessh”

The Hutt took one more pull from the cigarra and nodded to his Bodyguard. Her demeanour changed to one of pure professionalism as she spoke now. “We might be able to reach an agreement then.”

“Is that so?” Theron’s voice cut across “What happened between you and Ke’dem?”

“Ke’dem has been acting on behalf of a racer who wants to end their contract prematurely. We reached an agreement that Ke’dem would work off the racer’s contract and invested credits by taking-” she paused, glancing to her boss with a sly smirk “- private jobs.” Turning her gaze back to the Jedi, she was quick to reassure him “Don’t worry, Master Jedi, nothing too scandalous.”

“Lately the hunter is getting restless. He’s accusing us of prolonging the arrangement” Zuurgessh interjected “He’s becoming insufferable, threatening me. Me!” The Hutt’s voice raised.

“The problem is, that he does have information now that would jeopardize us. He’s threatening to go to CorSec with it if we don’t terminate the contract immediately and refund them for the extra work.” The Bodyguard continued.

Rien and Theron shared a look. The business of The Hutts was often too messy to bother oneself getting involved in. Rien didn’t even know these two men, but a part of him felt sympathy for Ke’dem and the racer he was helping.

“So what is it you want to do about it?” Theron questioned.

“We want to be free of this. We want Ke’dem to be removed from the picture. We’re willing to cut the contract of the racer. Frankly, it’s become too much trouble to be profitable.” The Bodyguard spoke.

“When you say ‘removed’?...” Her choice of words left Rien concerned.

Zuurgessh exhaled more smoke and shrugged his shoulders “Killed, pressured into backing down. I don’t care as long his threats stop.”

“We might be able to help, but we need to find him first.” Theron replied.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. We can contact him, tell him that we have decided to concede to his terms and that we wish to hand over the money in person.”

“That would work?” Rien asked, he had to admit, it seemed too simple.

“It could be passed off as an ‘off the books’ transaction. No records of a transfer meaning a quiet solution” Theron piped up.

Zuurgessh smiled, his wide mouth breaking his face almost in half, “I like this one.” The Hutt began to chuckle.

“Let’s do it then. Contact Ke’dem.” Rien was less than convinced that this would be so smooth.

---

They had been waiting for nearly two hours. During which time, they had been treated as guests of The Hutt, they watched a couple of races with Zuurgessh, drank from his personal stock of expensive wines and Theron was even offered a job. As the afternoon drew on, there seemed the probability that Ke’dem was a no show.

“You think he suspected a trap?” Theron’s voice, barely a whisper, drifted into Rien’s ear.

“I’m not sure. I didn’t sense an-”

Rien was cut off as the double doors slid open with a low hiss.

“I’m here Zuurgessh. Where’s the money.”

Rien and Theron stood to see the Bounty Hunter. The masked man realized the presence of extra attendees. As quick as a bolt, Ke’dem dashed back out through the doors before they could close.

“Stop him!” yelled The Rattataki as Theron sprang to action, vaulting over the sofa and running after the Hunter. Rien followed suit, sprinting past the bewildered door guards. The Hunter ran back through the bar, pushing through the crowds, an angry chorus erupted at being pushed and shoved. The duo followed their target out of the establishment and watched as he straddled a blue and silver Dasta speeder.

Theron instinctively rushed to his own swoop.

“Get on!” he called to Rien.

The Jedi complied, quickly straddling the bike.

“Hold on.” Was Theron’s only warning as the Swoop lurched forward and took off in pursuit.

Rien could only watch as Theron whipped through the traffic. The chase caused a number of travellers to sound their horns and yell profanity at the two bikes. Still, Rien couldn’t help but be impressed at Theron’s handling of the swoop. Ke’dem was a skilled rider it seemed, and Theron was able to match him and more. Theron was closing the gap on Ke’dem, The Hunter pulled right hard into a less busy stretch of road. The Hunter turned in his seat slightly. Suddenly a series of red blaster beams came straight for Rien and Theron. Theron was forced into decelerating and taking evasive manoeuvres. Ke’dem took another sharp turn to the left.

“He’s gone into that warehouse docking area!” Rien shouted

“Yeah I see it.”

Theron sped back up to follow, as they turned the corner, they caught sight of the other speeder using a sloped piece of equipment to launch out of the area and onto the tram tracks.

“Dammit!” Rien cursed.

“it’s not over yet.” Theron kicked the bike into it’s highest speed, heading for the same ramp.

“Are you crazy? If a tram hits us, we’ll be killed!”

“Then we just gotta make sure not to get hit.” Theron yelled back as the swoop took the jump. Rien could feel his stomach twist. The Bike dropped onto the track with an inelegant bounce once the stabilizers re-engaged. As it did, Rien’s guts also bounced which forced him to bite back the urge to vomit. Theron sped faster to catch up with the other speeder which Rien could still make out a head of them on the track. It was a desperate move on The Hunter’s part. On a section of track above them, Rien could see a tram hurtle by at a breakneck speed. If either bike couldn’t make it off the track in time, it would be completely destroyed by the tram. Theron was quickly gaining on the speeder. Rien looked over the side. This area of the track was rather close to the ground.

“Try and knock him off the track!” He yelled over the sound of the roaring engine.

“I’ll try!”

Theron was gaining fast, the two bikes took a smooth left turn until suddenly, they were face to face with an oncoming tram. Theron, broke hard and Rien watched as the other bike began to decelerate slightly when suddenly, the Hunter shifted into a crouching position on the body of the bike. The tram was almost upon them. Rien watched The Hunter continue to head towards it. With almost no time to spare, The Hunter lept into the air and came down upon the tram with a rolling land. Now they had proof the man was a Force User.

“Theron, move!” Rien yelled and Theron reignited the Swoop, pulling to the left. The turn was sharp, and the loss of momentum caused the speeder to struggle to reach the speed demanded of it. Rien used that moment to leap up and land on the tram himself. Theron kicked the swoop to action to try and avoid being hit. Rien landed awkwardly on the roof of the tram, hurting his left shoulder in the process. He glanced down to see that Theron’s swoop had been tipped by the tram in trying to avoid it. Rien watched as the swoop was sent into a spiral. Theron was flung from the seat and rolled across the sidewalk while the swoop connected with the road, bouncing along it, damaging it irreparably.

Every thought in Rien’s mind screamed to go back. He had to check on Theron. His panic left him vulnerable. He was caught off guard when a force hit him in the back, knocking him down. Rien’s vision spiralled. He could feel his body slip over the edge of the roof. He scrambled to grab something, anything, to hold on to. His hands touched a lip in the durasteel and he clung to it. His body fell, righting itself as he clung to the side of the tram, his feet scrambled for a footing. He managed to awkwardly climb back on top of the roof, he laid on his back to a moment as his breath was racing. A steady beeping began to sound and Rien lifted his left arm quickly to accept the transmission on his communicator.

“Theron! Are you alright?!” His words rushed out. He began to sit upright.

“Couple of scrapes, nothing too serious. Listen, I’m headed back to the ship. Our chase caught the attention of the authorities. I’m going to try and track their movements. Find Ke’dem and hurry!”

Rien sighed in relief. “Alright, just... please take care, Theron.”

There was a pause on the line “Yeah. You too.”

Rien heard the channel close and looked down the length of the tram roof. Towards the back half of the tram cart, he noticed a still mouldering cut out in the durasteel. Ke’dem had cut through and gone into the tram he assumed. He jumped down into the tram cart. It was dark inside with the majority of light coming from the newly created hole in the roof. Rien’s eyes adjusted to the lack of light. They had gone into the cargo cart. Large boxes, crates and containers were all stacked high creating a maze. He began to move quietly into the maze. He reached out with the Force, hoping to use it to locate Ke’dem. Yet, there was nothing. He could sense nothing in his vicinity. Could it be that this was a diversion? That seemed unlikely. Rien continued forth into the darkened cart. He turned the corner of a wall of crates when he felt something hard jab into his spine.

“Move and you’re dead, Jedi.” with that, an orange bladed lightsaber was activated by his neck. The Hunter’s mask distorted his voice with a more disturbing quality to it.

“You’d kill one of your own? A Jedi like you?”

Ke’dem gave a dark laugh through the modulator. “There are barely any Jedi left, and there are no Jedi like me. Who are you? Why were you with Zuurgessh?”

Rien felt the blaster at his back dig into his flesh slightly deeper. “My name is Aidrien Keyett I-”

“Sith spit. The Hero of Tython died five years ago in The Unknown Regions.” Ke’dem interrupted him. Both of his weapons seeming to close in on Rien. “Who are you really?!” The Hunter demanded.

“I’m telling the truth! I didn’t die on Darth Marr’s ship. Marr and I were captured by Arcann and brought to Zakuul. We were taken before the Sith Emperor who was calling himself ‘Valkorion’. He claimed that Zakuul was his passion project and that Arcann and Vaylin were his children. He tried to have us submit to him, but Marr refused. He tried to kill ‘Valkorion’ but died trying. Arcann then turned on his ‘father’ and gave me the opening to kill Valkorion myself. I managed to destroy Valkorion’s body, but a blast of energy rendered me unconscious. Next thing I knew, Vitiate was in my mind and Arcann had placed me carbonite for five years. I was freed by the former head of Sith Intelligence, Lana Beniko and my old droid, T7-O1. We managed to escape Zakuul with the help of a Zakuulan officer named Koth and an assassin droid, aboard a starship called The Gravestone.”

Rien rushed through the summary of the events. Ke’dem was quiet for a few seconds afterwards, with only the sound of the tram’s engines and the hum of a lightsaber breaking the silence.

“That’s the stupidest story I’ve ever heard in my life. I’m gonna give you one more chance t-”

“Look. You’re a Force User, clearly trained too. Reach out, search my feelings and tell me that you can detect deceit.” It was Rien’s turn to interrupt. The Hunter was obviously not going to back down easy. It was a bold attempt, but Ke’dem was quiet for a moment. Rien allowed himself to be open, putting his feelings and thoughts on display for the other man to sense. It was quiet again for some time. Then, the lightsaber was deactivated with compressed screech.

“I-it’s really you.” The voice of the hunter had dropped and even through the modulator, Rien could hear raw emotion in the words. He felt the other’s grip on him release completely. When he turned around, he saw The Hunter lifting his mask off. A young blond man stood before him, with gray eyes and stubbled jaw, a chin stripe goatee and sideburns. He was much older now, but Rien would recognize this man anywhere.

“Jost?” He asked in disbelief. Jost Colton, the Padawan of Kira Carsen. A former crewmate and a good friend before his incarceration in carbonite.

Without warning the smaller man crashed into Rien. His arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace. Rien returned the gesture. Aside from T7, Jost was now the only other member of his past life that he had come into contact with since waking up.

“I thought you were dead. We all did. Except Kira.” Jost’s voice was soft and filled with emotion still.

“Kira... is Kira here?” Rien asked, his mind began to get a head of him, were all his crew here on Corellia? T7 had said they were all separated. Jost broke the hug and looked up into Rien’s eyes. Despite the years, in that moment, he looked like the teenager he had once known. His eyes were saddened as he spoke.

“No, she ... she isn’t. It’s a long story.”

Rien’s wrist comm began to chime once again.

“Commander, do you have Ke’dem?”

“Technically, he got me. I’m fine, he’s fine. You won’t believe what I’ve discovered.” Rien smiled softly at Jost, who gave a weak smirk in return.

“I can’t wait to hear it, but right now you both need to get off that tram. It’s making an emergency stop in Axial Park, there’s a squad of CorSec officers waiting on the platform to search the tram.”

“How long do we have?”

“At best? Five minutes.”

“Alright, we’ll meet you back at the ship.”

With that, Rien and Jost made their way back out through the hole in the roof. They didn’t wait for the tram to stop before jumping off and back on to the track. It took some work, but the pair managed to climb down from the tracks to the ground and took off for Coronet Spaceport.

---

Theron let out a raspy hiss of surprise as Rien applied the antiseptic cloth onto one of the small cuts on his forehead.

“Oh c’mon it’s not that bad.” Rien smiled, playfully teasing the agent.

“Hey, I’m the one that got hit by a tram” Theron pointed out, though it was obvious he was biting back a smile.

“I’m sorry about that.” Jost piped up.

The two Jedi had rendezvoused with Theron at his ship and the three of them were now sitting in the small lounge on the craft as Rien tended to the small scratches and cuts Theron had suffered from his fall.

“I’ve had worse.” Theron turned his head to look at Jost. The smirk had broken through his restraint.

“Hold still” Rien chided

Theron angled his head for Rien to continue working.

“You were able to ride that speeder very well, where’d you learn that.” Theron asked Jost. The younger Jedi smiled at him “I had time to practice while I was here.”

“Anything to do with the racer you were helping?” Rien pursued. He glanced over to Jost briefly. ‘Was he... blushing?’ he wondered.

“Yeah, it was. They are of the friends I made while I was here. The first one, actually. Helped me get on my feet.” Jost explained. “After I got separated from Master Kira, Scourge, and Doc on Begeren. I wasn’t sure where to go so I came back here.”

“What happened on Begeren?” Rien asked as he began to pack away the first aid kit.

Jost shifted in his seat. “Master Kira had never given up hope you were alive. She believed you had been captured by Arcann. She began trying to gather resources, and assistance. Pretty soon we had a small little band of rebels. She began leading missions against Zakuulan outposts, looking for intel, weapons, resources of any kind. The Empire and The Republic had surrendered, Master Satele had just vanished one day. Doing what we did, it felt right. It felt good. We had made the move to Begeren and had established a small, temporary base there. We planned to make an attack on a nearby listening post, but Arcann was waiting for us. We fled back to Begeren, but The Eternal Fleet followed us.” Jost pause, his whole body seemed to have shrunk smaller than it was. His eyes were staring at the floor.

“They attacked our group. So many had died. Scourge and Kira saved me from a Zakuul Knight and I just ran. I found a small fighter and took off with one of the other transports. We had just broken the atmosphere when one of the Eternal Fleet warships opened fire on the transport. It was torn to shreds. I was targeted next, but I was able to barely just evade and jump to hyperspace. I don’t know what happened to the others.” He barely spoke above a whisper when he said, “I had to accept they were probably dead.”

Rien moved around the small table that the circular couch partially surrounded and sat beside Jost. He draped his arm around the younger man and pulled him closer. Jost let himself be embraced.

“You and I both know that she’s tougher than some Zakuul Knight. She made it out. I know she has, and we’ll find her.” Rien spoke softly, he could feel Jost’s pain radiating off him in waves.

Rien observed Theron lean on the table. “Jost. We were looking for you, well ‘Ke’dem Guerlle’, because we’ve formed a similar group, an alliance of Republic and Imperials who wish to fight back against Arcann and his Eternal Empire. We hoped Ke’dem Guerlle would join The Alliance. So, would you?”

Jost sat up, out of Rien’s embrace. “Seriously?” he asked, eyebrows meeting in a frown “You’re actually taking the fight to Arcann?”

“Not yet, but we’re trying. Right now, we need resources, intel, and people” Rien explained.

Jost chuckled “Damn. Yeah, of course I’ll go with you.” His eyes suddenly lost their sparkle. “There’s just one thing I need to do first. Actually, I need you guys to do it.”

“Anything” Rien assured him.

---

The next morning, Rien and Theron had returned to Zuurgessh the Hutt. They informed him that Ke’dem Guerlle had died last night in their chase. Rien presented evidence of The Hunter’s decimated speeder bike, and produced the domed helmet, now cracked and broken, to the Hutt as further evidence. Rien ensured that the racer Ke’dem had been helping was freed of the contract as a personal favour that Hutt was all too happy to oblige with.

After leaving the racing club, Rien, Theron, and Jost swung by the latter’s old apartment building to pick up the few items he owned and say goodbye to his friend. Rien and Theron watched from their rented speeder as Jost exited the building with a slightly taller Mirialan. They held each other’s hands as they walked out together. They exchanged a few words, something which made them both laugh. Then, the Mirialan lifted a hand to Jost’s face, holding his jaw and lifting it while leaning forward to kiss him. Rien looked away from the private moment and smiled at Theron, who took Rien’s hand in his own and gave it a light squeeze.

Rien caught movement out of the corner of his eye as Jost walked back to the speeder. As he climbed in the back seat, tossing a small bag into the far seat, Rien piped up.

“You never said you had a boyfriend.”

Jost froze in the act of putting his seat belt on. A slight blush rose upon his cheeks.

“Shut up. Wagyx...” Jost mumbled.

The two older men began chuckling as Theron piloted the speeder back to the spaceport.

22 notes · View notes

thatgoblin · 3 years

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Small Town Affairs Chapter 2

Summary: Hazel is an Omega in the small town of Tin Springs, Midwest America. She's trying to live her life after breaking up with the local sheriff, John Walker, and his mate, Brock Rumlow. New people aren't something that happens often, but when a new pack comes to town her whole life goes from a small mess to a complete disaster in the best way.

Warnings: Domestic Violence, Assault, Sexual abuse, Himbo Bucky, Misogyny, will update as story goes.

Chapter 2

The rest of the day went by smoothly. The lunch and evening rush came and went, making time pass by quickly.

At a half hour till close, Clint came back in.

“Hey,” I said, waving to him with a smile. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going. Got our stuff unpacked and put up so that’s a relief. I was on my way to pick up dinner from the restaurant and decided to stop in and say hey, also thanks again for helping out our first night,” he said, moving the lean against the counter as he talked to me.

“It’s not a problem. Like I told one of your packmates, Helmut, we’re a pretty friendly bunch here,” I said, tidying up my area before shutting down for the day.

“Oh, he came by?” Clint asked, his brows raising.

“Yeah, him and I think his name was Bucky. They came by to get some groceries and Helmut asked about a plant nursery. I pointed him to the one on the west side of town,” I said. “Why do you look surprised?”

“Well, Bucky and Helmut usually keep to themselves. Especially Bucky. I guess it’s the small town just bringing it out,” he said with a chuckle as he began to fold a piece of trash paper into something.

“They were nice. Well, Helmut did most of the talking, but Bucky was courteous. It’s not often we get Alphas that aren’t forceful or dominating. Even if they don’t mean to, it happens a lot around here,” I said, printing out my end of day numbers.

“Yeah, I got that sense the other night,” he said with a cringe. “Does the sheriff always greet new people like that?”

I paused a moment, chewing on my lip as I thought of my answer carefully.

“It differs. Like I said, Alphas around here tend to be more old school and domineering,” I said softly, my smile gone. Any time John and Brock were brought up directly to me I couldn’t help but go quiet and submissive. It took me so long to start breaking out of my old shell and still I’d slip right back into it at the mention of their names. “I’d be careful of him. Just don’t get on his bad side.”

“Is he that scary?” Clint asked, his fingers pausing in their movements to lean forward as if we were sharing a secret.

“Hazel, why don’t you head home early today?” Peggy said as she stood in the office doorway, stopping the conversation. Whether it was to protect me or put a barrier up for Clint, I wasn’t sure and I wasn’t going to argue. “I’m sure you need to get cleaned up for your other job before heading over. I’ll finish up your register for you.”

“Alright, thanks,” I said, not wanting to argue. “Uh, I’ll see you around Clint.” Handing the sheets and keys to Peggy, I grabbed my thermos and purse before heading out the back door. Peggy was my boss and felt like family, but there were times that she was different. Mostly when it felt like she was trying to hide something, a switch flipped and she turned into almost a commanding officer. I liked my job and knew there was a limit with her if I tried to push back, so I didn’t bother trying to figure anything out. Some mysteries were better left unsolved.

I drove home to get ready for my other job. I told people I was a bartender at a hole in the wall in the next town over, but if they knew the truth, they didn’t say a word. Probably because they weren’t supposed to be there themselves. I packed my small bag before grabbing a quick nap and snack. It was dark when I left the house and twenty minutes later I was backstage at the Pink Pony strip club. The other girls and guys were all in various stages of getting ready as I stepped into a smaller, private dressing room.

First things first was, well, to strip. I put my comfy, warm clothes in the small bag before pulling out my costume for the evening. It was a black mesh and bedazzled number that left little to the imagination. The mesh kept it together and on me as well as double sided tape, lots of tape. I quickly ran a baby wipe over my arms and legs to dry my skin a bit which would allow for the smaller crystals and stones on sticky strips that were for decoration to stick better.

Well, for decoration and hiding blemishes and marks I didn’t want others to see. I had a lot of those that would identify me, but the sparkle helped cover them nicely with some make up as well. I moved on to fix my hair into a wig cap then pinned it down with almost a thousand bobby pins and nearly a whole can of hairspray to help keep everything in place. I would glue the front of my wig down before doing my makeup to blend everything together. Lately I've been using a dark ruby colored wig with lots of curls, I got a lot more tips with that one than my other neon yellow wig. Coming out of the dressing room, I spotted a work friend Kira who was just finishing her own costume.

“Hey, Kira, can you get my back spots please?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure,” the other woman said with a smile. Her own costume of chains and feathers jingled like tiny bells as she walked over to me. Almost all the dancers got along well enough to help each other out as much as possible. There were a few dancers that didn’t get along very well, but they were at least able to either avoid each other or were at least courteous. It made the job 100 times easier if things were hunky dory backstage. A few minutes later, Kira had finished and I was set. I thanked her as she went to go do her own show. I pulled my knee high boots on, double checked my makeup, then went to work.

The seating areas at the front of the house as well as the other four smaller stages for one person were filled and still there were people standing at the bar. It was busy for a Friday night, but I wasn’t about to get mad about it. The drunker people got, the more money they’d spend.

“Hey, Carrie,” my manager said, waving me over to the bar. All the people that worked there had a stage name, some for safety and some because it was fun. I wanted to fly under the radar and be left alone when I wasn’t on the job. I walked over to him, waving and smiling to everyone that paid me any mind.

“Hey, Nick, what’s up?” I asked, leaning against the bar next to him.

“I know you’re my girl when I need extra sessions, especially private sessions. You wanna take this group coming in later? There’s supposed to be six or so. Includes lap dances and pole work, maybe a few body shots. They’re paying extra for my best girl. You want it?” He asked as looked around the floor of the club with his one eye.

“Sure. I never say no to extra tips,” I said with a shrug.

“I knew I could count on you,” he said. “They’ll be here in about an hour. They called ahead for some reason. No one calls ahead.”

“Great, hopefully they’re out of towners and get drunk easily,” I said, looking over the floor as well.

“Let’s hope so, go ahead and let Holly know that you’re not on the main stage tonight so she can have it,” he said, motioning to a brunette who was chatting up a table.

“Yes Sir,” I said, giving him a mock salute and getting an eye roll in return.

I let Holly know of the update and made myself useful by helping with serving drinks, making sure to give the tips to the servers I was helping, did a few lap dances, and mingled on the floor to pass the time till my party got there. My shifts were shorter, just five hours, compared to others because I only worked the weekends and was lower on the pecking order, but I still made a good amount on the weekends.

A little bit before my group got there, I headed to the room I was told we were using to double check that everything was clean and in order before getting on stage. I was swaying on the pole when the group came in. I nearly tripped over my platform heels when I saw who it was. It was the new pack in town, including the Alphas I had met at the store.

Fuck me.

Thankfully I was able to grab the pole and make it look like I meant to swing further, spinning myself around.

“Hi ya, fellas,” I called, making my accent thicker and my voice higher to hide my real voice. “Glad to see ya’ll made it. I’m Carrie, what’re your names?”

Taking seats around my stage, they all ordered drinks when a server came in. At first no one said anything, looking at one another almost nervously before I stepped down the stairs towards them.

“Oh come on, don’t be shy. I don’t bite,” I said, giving the dark haired man with a salt and pepper mustache a wink. He was dressed in a wine red button up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black slacks. It was all tailored to him instead of the usual baggy church clothes most men around the area wore. The material didn’t look like something from Walmart either. As I slid my hands over his shoulders and straddled him, getting a feel for his disposition, the shirt had to be a mixture of expensive fabrics. There was no other explanation for how soft it was without looking cheap.

“That’s disappointing,” he said with a chuckle, leaning back in the leather seat. “I’m Howard, that’s Thor, Bucky, and Helmut.” Howard pointed to each in turn from the blond with a beard and shoulder length hair that was pinned back in a half ponytail to Bucky and Helmut. “We’re new in town and figured we’d see what this place has to offer.”

“And what do you think so far, Sug’?” I asked.

“I think we found a good place,” he said, smirking looking me up and down.

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said, standing from leaning over Howard. “Now, who wants a lap dance?”

“Bucky, why don’t you go first?” Howard said.

“Me?” Bucky choked as the drinks were brought in, set on the small side tables between the seats.

“You shy, Sug?” I asked, moving to pull an armless leather clad chair to the front of the stage. “I promise, I’ll be nice.”

“Go on, live a little,” Thor chuckled as he picked up his drink. Even in the dim, colored lighting, I could still see a bit of blush across Bucky’s cheeks as he begrudgingly stood up. The men cheered as he moved to the chair in front of everyone.

“Now, some small ground rules, boys,” I said, sliding my hand along Bucky’s shoulders as I walked behind him. “No touching unless I say so, ask like good little boys and you’ll get body shots, AND the bigger you tip, the more you get.”

“I like her,” Helmut said as he watched. The music started for me, something with a good beat that allowed me to tease and taunt. Bucky’s clothes were different for tonight, more like Howard’s really. It was a dark navy blue button up with the sleeves buttoned around his wrists. What was odd was that he had leather clothes on. They were tight around his hands and while I usually wasn’t one to question someone’s fashion choices, I also wasn’t complaining as I took his hands to slide down the sides of my body as I faced away from him. My ass was inches from his face, letting me lean over to twerk for him.

It was common to smell arousal, the need from Alphas and Betas and Omegas alike when I gave performances, but Bucky was different. His scent was coming off in wafts, no hindrance at all. It was intoxicating and easy to get lost in. Especially being so close to him. All the dancers used neutralizing spray to keep our scents to a minimum, adding manufactured floral or fruity scents. I was so glad that I had put on an extra layer that night. When it came time for the tips from Bucky, it took a bit of prompting to put the bills in fun places.

“Put the bills down your shirt or the waist of your pants,” Howard said with a laugh. Usually I hated when customers did that, but with this group I didn’t mind. With slightly shaky hands, Bucky slid a few bills under the belt of his slacks as well as down the front of his shirt to peek out.

“Jesus, Howard, you’re going to get us kicked out,” Bucky huffed at his friend, shooting him a glare before looking down when I had squatted in front of him. Slowly, I slid up his body, making sure to grab the bills with my teeth to end with the tips of our noses touching. His steely blue eyes were wide open, his small gasp letting me smell his breath that had traces of mint and whiskey. Had it been just us, I would have been even dirtier, but with an audience most customers didn’t want to get too turned on.

“You did good, Sug,” I said with a grin, moving to sit directly in his lap as I plucked the rest of the bills from him to shove down my top. I gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning to the group.

“Who’s next?”

Thor took his turn, much happier to have a scantily clad person in his lap. He was fun too. Apparently he was from Scandinavia or something and was new to this type of club. I figured they had strip clubs abroad, but he seemed to be tickled to be in one now. Howard had his, showing off exactly how much he knew about dancing with how he knew where he could touch without getting in trouble. Then there were body shots between the dances that all the men took part in. After a couple, they were all pretty loose and goofy, even Bucky who was laughing and smiling wider.

The last dance of the night was for Helmut and that man was the one I was most worried about. Despite being the smallest Alpha there, the man had something about him that was alluring and almost dark. It was the same with Bucky and when both of them were together it felt like I was in one of those cartoons where the scent of fresh baked treats floated through the forest to beckon the lost ingenue to it. While Bucky had been nervous though, Helmut was not.

He wasn’t cocky like Howard or playful like Thor, no the man was steady and was moving with me almost. I would go to one side and his nose would follow, barely touching my neck and shoulder. His beard would tickle my chest as I peeled off a layer of mesh to let him motorboat me. The dance was intense and when I was done, I was sure that the neutralizer wasn’t working. Just like the others, he got a kiss on the cheek before letting him up.

Despite my fear of being recognized, no one said a thing. Overall the group had a good time, tipping generously as I finished on the stage.

“Now, I hate to say it boys, but that’s all the time there is for us. Make sure to come back and see me Sug’s,” I said, winking at them. They had paid for almost 4 hours and my shift was nearly up, but I would have rather kept servicing them the rest of the night. Especially Helmut and Bucky.

I waved to them as they all got up and left, Howard leaving more tips under his empty glass as he held back. “How about one last lap dance? Hmm? I’ll make it worth your while,” he said. The man had been leaving hundreds all over the place in my room, Nick would understand if I spent an extra fifteen minutes getting the house tips that way.

“Sure, have a seat, darlin’,” I said with a smile, sliding from the stage to the floor. I pushed him back into the chair when he hadn’t sat just yet, earning a surprised look.

“So, out of curiosity, do you do parties?” He asked, looking up at me as I straddled him, holding onto the back of the chair as I moved my body to the music.

“Never been hired to do one out of the club. Usually we keep them in house,” I said, rolling my hips over his thighs.

“I see. So, if I wanted to book you specifically for an event, would I just ask the manager then?” He asked, his eyes roaming over my body. It wasn’t out of the norm for customers to do that as they talked with us, but it felt off with Howard. Like he was acting the part of a customer instead of being one.

“Yup, his name’s Nick. He’s at the bar right now probably, he’ll be the guy with the eye patch,” I said with a hum. “Why are you so curious how things work here? I heard you new people were from New York. You must have fancier clubs there than this nowhere town.”

“True, but there’s a certain charm to this place,” he said. “My mate seems to have taken a liking to the town, especially a certain Omega at a grocery store he’s been seeing.”

“Oh yeah? Good for your mate, though if you’re here and not at home, I’m not sure how good that is,” I said, feeling my heart pick up pace. What the hell was he doing? How did he figure it out without even seeing me at the store?

“Clint, my mate, says the sheriff here is kind of odd. I haven’t met him yet myself, but small towns always have those sort of secrets don’t they?”

“You’re in the middle of the midwest in a small town, Sug’. There’s secrets everywhere. Everyone wants to save face despite hating the people they wanna impress,” I said. This was Clint’s Howard? Did Clint know then? He added me on Facebook, but I rarely posted more than work stuff for the store and even then I had nothing to say that I worked at the club.

“What about you? Do you have any skeletons in your closet, Hazel?” He asked, whispering my name. I stiffened, standing up to glare down at him.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing, but leave the money and go,” I said firmly.

“Look, I’m not trying to cause any trouble,” he said, holding up his hands.

“Uh huh,” I said. “I don’t care what you were thinking or doing, but your time is up and you should go. Now.”

“Look, Clint said some weird stuff about the sheriff and said you acted funny around him and when pressed about it. Why?” Howard asked, standing up as he pulled out a wad of bills.

“It’s entirely none of your business and honestly, stay away from the sheriff if you know what’s good for you,” I said, reaching out to snatch the money from him as he held it out.

“Well, I would, but he likes to make house calls and greet everyone,” he said. “I wouldn’t make a big deal out of it if it didn’t worry Clint and my pack, okay?”

“What do you mean, house calls?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

“The sheriff came by to see us, going almost door to door to introduce himself. Usually people don’t do that unless they’re trying to prove something or if they have something they want to stay hidden,” Howard said. “I was out when he came by, but enough of the pack was put off by it that it became a concern.”

“Just don’t put your nose in other people's business and you’ll be fine. Sheriff Walker just likes to make sure everyone knows he’s the one in charge,” I said.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Howard said with a sigh.

“How’d you know it was me anyways?” I asked as he turned to leave.

“Clint said you had a weird birthmark under your left ear, that it looked like a crescent moon. Also when I pulled up the website, he recognized you from a promotional picture,” he said, his eyes trailing over my face. “But it’s not a birthmark is it?”

“You better go before security thinks you’re holding me hostage,” I said, gathering all the money as well as the glasses onto a server’s plater. If Clint figured it out, did Bucky and Helmut? Fucking hell.

“I’ll see you around, Carrie,” he said, giving a small wave before leaving the room.

I watched him leave the room before exiting myself, going right to the dancers room. There I sorted the bills before giving the house mom a tip and paying the house a cut. Sitting down, I took a bit to catch my breath and grab a snack. Things that had been simple were suddenly getting so very complicated. I had my second job for nearly six months now and was doing fine with keeping that part of me a secret. Things were steady, kinda boring, but steady. I needed that to get on with my life. Maybe it was time to start saving up to move to a new place. Somewhere far from the small town that was eating me alive.

“Hey, Carrie,” Kira said, coming into the room. “Your weekly visitor is here.”

Another thing to just make the night crap.

“Thanks. Tell him I’ll be out in a minute, I’m just changing,” I said, giving up on the last half hour of my shift. Usually I would have worked the floor more, but he was early this week. As quickly as I could, I took off my costume and accessories before wiping myself down then changing into my usual clothes.

Walking out the door for the night, I had made sure to get the money ready beforehand, wanting to hand it off then leave.

“Hey Sweetheart,” a gravelly voice called from a picnic bench next to the back door. I looked over to see Brock sitting there with a stupid smile on his face as he smoke a cigarette. He was lit up by a lamppost that was supposed to give us a good range of vision. Most of the time it just made everything orange and looked like it was from a horror movie. With Brock waiting for me, it felt like one. “I didn’t cut your night short, did I?” He asked, standing up to his full 6 foot four height, to throw the butt of his smoke on the ground and grind it out with his boot. I put my shoulders back as I marched over to him, pushing the envelope of money into his stomach. With Brock I couldn’t show hesitation or weakness, the man was a predator that would go for the throat the moment it was shown.

“There’s your cut,” I said, turning to leave.

“Uh-uh, you know the rules,” Brock said, grabbing my elbow tightly. Growling, I moved back over to him as he counted the money.

“Can you hurry up?” I hissed, pulling my hoodie sleeves down over my hands as I shifted my feet in wait.

“Calm your ass. I’m just making sure,” he said, not even looking away from the bills. “Ah, see, this is why you wait. You’re $300 short.”

“That’s because John decided to stop by the grocery store this week and bother me,” I said. “Per our deal, if either of you interact with me beyond necessary needs, you get less money.”

“Not $300 worth,” he said, looking up at me.

“He was an ass and I’m in a mood, so just take it and go,” I sighed, adjusting my bag strap on my shoulder.

“Not how this works, Sweetheart,” he said, holding out his hand. “Fork over the other $300 and we’ll call it even. I’ll talk to John and remind him of our agreement. After that, if he still decides to be an idiot, then you can give less money, but not till then.”

“That’s not what you said,” I snarled. “I’m not paying you to sometimes stay away. So that’s what you’re getting and nothing more till next week.”

“I don’t know who you think you’re dealing with, but I can assure you that it’s not nice guy John who you can just sweet talk,” Brock said, grabbing my arm hard to jerk me close. “Now, either give me the money or I make things really hard for you at your regular job. You know, the one where everyone likes you enough to pity you instead of whispering about what you really are.”

“Let me go, Brock,” I growled, trying to pull away from him.

“See, this is making the price go up. Now we’re at $400 that you owe me. Wanna fight me some more and make it higher?” He asked, tightening his grip on me.

“Fine.” Pulling out my wallet from my bag, I grabbed the extra money for him. Waiting as he counted it out, he slipped it into the envelope with a smirk.

“See, was that so hard?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Fuck you, Brock,” I said, wanting to just go.

“Oh no, no, no,” he growled, his hand shooting out to grab my face and force me to look at him. “We are not going to start that attitude. Understand? I can remind you why you hate me so much if you really want me to. It’s no skin off my back to take you home and fuck that look off your face.”

“Let go,” I grunted, struggling as his grip tightened.

“Not until you promise to be a good girl,” he sneered. The music to the club was loud, making it impossible for anyone to hear me scream for help or even know there was something happening. The music also covered the sounds of footsteps approaching us as Brock easily lifted me onto the picnic table to pin me down, making me lose my bag as I held onto his arm to try and pry it off with a cry.

“Hey! Get off her!”

Brock’s tight grip on my face kept me facing him, hiding the people who were coming over to us. It didn’t stop me from struggling though.

“This isn’t your business, fuck off,” Brock snarled, making my hair stand on in. John was a bully, someone who could only get so rough before feeling bad. Brock was a fucking monster. Something I’d wished I’d known before being with him. Just the sound of his voice raised and angry had me trembling.

“That’s not how this works,” another voice said as they got closer. “Let her go now.”

“Or what? You’ll call the cops?” Brock scoffed.

“No, we’ll just kick the shit out of you.” That voice I knew, making my stomach roll. They should have all left by now, what were they doing still there?

“Brock just go,” I managed, hoping he wouldn’t do anything. “Just take the money and go. I’ll pay extra next time.”

“Damn right you will,” he grumbled as he let go of my face before backing up. “She’s all yours. A heads up though, she likes it when you bite her.” Brock chuckled as he walked away, probably planning something for next week. My stomach rolled at the thought.

Sitting up, I swallowed hard as I hopped up on shaky legs to grab my bag. I kept my face down as shame threatened to set it on fire with how hot it was. I was near tears as I picked up my bag, my hands so unsteady I almost had to drop my stuff.

“Are you okay?”

My hair only covered so much of my face, but the people had seen everything already. I wasn’t hidden anymore.

“Look, uh, just. . . It’s fine, okay? It was just a misunderstanding,” I said, seeing Helmut recognize me. “You guys should go.” There was a confusion of sorts as his brows furrowed together, but he didn’t say anything. Before anyone else could say anything, I started off towards my truck, hoping that I would be able to make it without tripping over my own feet.

“Wait,” Helmut called as he followed. “Please.”

“I’m leaving for the night. It’s fine, I promise,” I said, putting on a nice smile as I stopped. Everyone loved my smile at the club. They said it was warm and friendly with a little spice. “It was just a mix up, that’s it. Thank you for checking on me though.”

“At least let me walk you to your car. You look shaky,” he said, trying to be a gentleman. I wanted so badly to let him, to have someone who wanted to help me instead of use me, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do that to him when there was so much more that could hurt him and the others.

“I think your friends are waiting for you actually, but thanks,” I said, my eyes watering as I kept forcing my smile. The last thing I needed was anyone getting involved between me and my exes That would just make the mess even bigger. Worse, I liked Helmut and his friends. Him and Bucky specifically. I didn’t want them to get in trouble or tangled up in my stuff. They didn’t deserve that.

On the way home, I had to pull over to keep from driving off the road. My vision was cloudy from tears and I couldn’t breathe. Things had been so good for me and now shit was hitting that fan. Why me? I didn’t do anything wrong! I played by the rules and got nearly killed only to escape and think I can leave it all behind. Why can’t I just be free of this!? I screamed as I hit the steering wheel, so mad and hopeless that nothing else had work. About ten minutes later I had calmed down to a sniffle and was able to see properly. I put my truck into gear and drove home.

I pulled into my short driveway to see everything was still the same there at least. I trudged in to put things up before bed, almost not caring enough but knowing I would be pissed in the morning. As I flopped onto my mattress after changing into my pajamas, I got a text.

[Brock SMS:] You owe double next time for the trouble.

Fuck.

#zemo/oc #bucky/oc #john walker/oc #helmut zemo/oc #bucky barnes/oc #brock rumlow/oc #zemo/bucky/oc #john walker/brock rumlow #john walker/brock rumlow/oc #zemo/bucky #abo au #marvel

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imaginetonyandbucky · 4 years

Text

The Buy In

Chapter 7: Just One Night

by @dracusfyre

Bucky waited nervously for Tony to show up, forcing himself not to pace but unable to stop tapping his fingers against his knee as he sat on the couch and ignored the show he’d put on the television. In the past few hours he’d come to terms with the difficult realization that he was going to have to go to his handlers and recuse himself from this assignment. Having already made the decision to protect Tony from the raid, he couldn’t trust himself to not tamper with the investigation further, which would violate everything he believed in. Removing himself would set the investigation back for months, maybe even longer – which he couldn’t bring himself to feel bad about – but he couldn’t go through the motions for a mission he didn’t believe in. That was the whole reason he’d gotten out of the Army all those years ago. He knew he’d probably get busted down to traffic cop for his trouble, but it was the right thing to do.

All of which meant that Bucky had given himself permission to not be on duty during this dinner – he wasn’t going to try to glean more information about Tony’s operations or ask any probing questions so he couldn't make the conflict of interest any worse. Instead, Bucky could be nervous about the real matter at hand, which was that he was about to go on a date with a guy that Bucky liked way more than he should.

Not that it could go anywhere, Bucky told himself. He was still a cop, and Tony was still a crime lord, and he’d been lying to the man for months now. In any event, once he recused himself from the case, he would have to disappear from Stark’s life and reach completely; if he was being honest with himself, the smartest thing to do for his career would be to start looking for a new position outside of New York City right now, but he shied away from that thought for reasons he didn't want to think about too deeply.

But all of that was for future Bucky to worry about. For now, he was about to go out to dinner with a man who had been a runner up in People Magazine’s Sexiest Man of the Year contest multiple years in a row and who still made it onto the list of New York’s most eligible bachelors despite his “alleged” criminal ties. A man who liked chocolate chip cookies and fed bits of chicken to stray cats when he thought no one was looking.

Bucky blew out a breath and realized that he hadn’t brushed his teeth, so he got up and was headed for the bathroom when the buzz of his phone against the coffee table made him jump.

Here! The message came from an unknown number, but it had to be Tony. Bucky quickly swished some mouthwash and grabbed his wallet as he stepped into his shoes.

As soon as he got into the car he realized he had been so busy having a third-of-life crisis that he hadn’t even thought about where to go for dinner. “Hey,” he managed, feeling all of the excruciating awkwardness of a first date. Tony was dressed a lot like he had been earlier, with a suit coat over a plain shirt, but tonight it was black on black with a gleam of silver at Tony’s wrist. Bucky did his best not to stare but judging from the way the corner of Tony’s mouth was curling up, he probably failed.

“Hey, yourself, Blue Eyes,” Tony said. He gave Bucky an appreciative glance, lingering on his freshly shaven face, before he pulled away from the curb, which went a long way towards making Bucky feel less awkward. “You like Italian?”

“What’s not to like?” Bucky said philosophically.

“Good man,” Tony said. “My mother was Italian, so when I say this place has the best Italian food in the city, I know what I’m talking about." The drive went by quickly despite city traffic; Bucky asked about his mother’s family and in return got a ton of entertaining stories about Tony’s summers on his mother’s estate, including getting locked outside naked when a girl’s parents came home unexpectedly early. Soon enough they drove past a restaurant with people waiting outside, and Tony pulled around into the alley behind the restaurant that had at least four NO PARKING signs posted with a varying number of exclamation points and underlining. When Tony saw Bucky looking at one, he shrugged. “I don’t count,” he said, which Bucky could believe. They went in the back door of the restaurant and were immediately greeted by a smiling waiter, who escorted them to a private room where a table was set for two. The table was dwarfed by the space; this was clearly a room meant for a wedding or birthday party, but Tony must have reserved it just for them. The waiter took their drink orders (“Your usual, Mr. Stark?”) and as he left pulled a heavy curtain across the entrance to the room and the noise of the rest from the restaurant was muted. The lighting in the room was dim, the table was small, and the intimate feeling was exacerbated by the candle on the table.

Bucky started to say something about it, then realized he probably shouldn’t call attention to how romantic everything looked for the sake of his own sanity. He grabbed his menu and studied it, aware that Tony, having probably already memorized the menu, was studying him from across the table. “Are you going to judge me based on what I order?” he asked, meeting Tony’s eyes from over the top of the menu.

“Yes.”

“So it’s a test.” Bucky narrowed his eyes at Tony, as if trying to read his thoughts. After a moment, he folded his menu. “What do you recommend?”

Tony’s smile was blinding. “The eggplant rollatini with the tartufo for dessert.”

“Sounds delicious.” The waiter came back for their orders, bringing with him a bottle of wine that was so old its label was brittle and peeling away from the glass. He poured Tony a small amount, who tasted it and gave his approval, and then poured them both glasses. Bucky promised himself he would stop at the one glass – getting drunk tonight would be so stupid – but after he tasted the wine his conviction wavered. Whatever type of wine this was, even Bucky could taste that it was the Ferrari of booze. How often was he going to be wined and dined like this, after all? A bottle had what, like two glasses of wine apiece? He would be fine.

“So,” Tony said after the waiter left, crossing his arms and resting his elbows on the table. His eyes glinted with amusement. “Let’s talk about your five-year plan.”

Trying to smother a smile, Bucky crossed his arms as well. “Let’s talk about where you think your organization is going to be in five years, and I can tell you how I think I’ll fit into that plan.”

“Uh-huh,” Tony said skeptically. Then he sat up straight, cleared his throat and became what Bucky could only call Corporate Tony, face serious and tone strictly professional. “Well, I think this organization is best described as embarking on a period of rapid expansion while simultaneously consolidating the gains that we’ve made in the past few years. In many of our key industries we are working on horizontal and vertical integration in order to capitalize on economies of scale. Proceeds are invested back into the capital base and workforce, with the remainder being banked against future shortfalls. At the most recent shareholder meeting, members voted to waive the first quarter’s dividends in order to acquire assets for novel business ventures, putting us in a strong position for next year despite moderate economic headwinds.”

As Tony spoke, Bucky’s eyebrows climbed higher and higher. “Impressive,” he said. “You came up with that on the fly?”

“Well, I’ve been spinning bullshit to board members since I was old enough to vote, so I’ve had a lot of practice,” Tony said dryly, taking a sip of wine.

“Do you really have shareholders?”

“Yep. So many shareholders, for so many different businesses.”

“Is that-” Bucky was about to ask if the shareholder thing was related to the mysterious buy-in, but he reminded himself that he wasn’t working tonight. “Never mind. Well, the truth is, I don’t know where I’ll be in five years. The past few months have made me rethink a lot of things, and I’m trying to figure out my next step.”

“Oh?” Tony leaned forward again, gaze intent. “Want to talk about it?”

Bucky had self-preservation enough to know that talking about his crisis of conscience with the reason for that crisis was a bad idea. “Not just yet,” Bucky said. “I think…I think I need to figure out what I want, first.”

“Yeah, that’s usually a good first step.” Tony opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but he closed it and took a sip of wine. “What would you like to talk about instead?”

The conversation paused as the server brought out an appetizer (“Courtesy of the Chef, he’s trying a new recipe”), the service amazingly fast given the crowd that Bucky knew was on the other side of the curtain. Guess that was one of the perks of dining with the Tony Stark.

“Do you still have time to invent?” Bucky asked when they were alone again, scooping some of the appetizer onto his plate. Looked like calamari. “Like robots and stuff?”

Bucky could tell that he’d caught Tony by surprise with the question. “Someone’s been looking me up on the internet,” Tony accused with a smile, pointing his fork at Bucky.

If Bucky was a lesser man, he would have blushed – googling Tony Stark on his phone before going to sleep had become a guilty habit, from the early articles about him when his parents were alive to his college exploits to the frequent scandals of his twenties. Between all those, however, were periodic articles in scholarly journals attributed to “T.E. Stark” and more substantial think pieces in popular science magazines. “I like knowing who I’m working for,” Bucky said defensively, feeling the back of his neck get hot.

“Uh-huh. I do still tinker in my spare time, what I have of it,” Tony said. “Right now I’m working mostly in artificial intelligence. I have one, his name is JARVIS, that I’ve been tinkering with since college. I think machine learning algorithms are fascinating.”

“I read up about some AI initiatives when I was in the Army,” Bucky said. “For targeting and whatnot.” He had read even more about it once he became a cop, and he wasn’t at all enthused with the projects he’d heard about. “What do you do with it? Him,” he corrected.

“JARVIS helps me with work,” Tony said vaguely, fidgeting with his silverware before spearing a piece of calamari. “I got into AI when Stark Industries got awarded a cybersecurity contract. I kind of ran with it after we fulfilled the contract and JARVIS was the result."

Bucky almost dropped his fork when he got hit with a startling suspicion. Helps me with work. Was Tony’s mysterious accountant, that no one had ever seen or spoken to, that was able to hide his money from every regulatory body in the US government, an AI? The implications were staggering, not just for the case but for the tech industry as a whole. Bucky covered for his stunned silence by eating, washing down the food he was barely tasting with expensive wine. The irony was not lost on him that he just had the biggest scoop of the operation so far, hours after he’d decided that he was quitting the case.

“So how about you? What do you do in your free time?” Tony asked, topping off their glasses.

Bucky stared at him across the table, brain blanking. It took so long for his brain to shift gears from thinking about JARVIS to trying to think of what he did in his spare time that Tony started to give him a funny look. “Uh, nothing special,” Bucky said after a minute. Googling his boss certainly wasn’t a hobby, after all. “After spending so much time in military cafeterias, I’ve been trying to get better at cooking. I work out, it’s a good release. Read. Visit museums when I can. One of my friends is trying to get me into indy games, but we can't play often.”

“That sounds nice. Gotta maintain that work-life balance, right?” Tony said. “Smart.” There was a soft chime and Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket. Bucky tensed; he’d forgotten about the raid until he saw Tony’s phone, having turned off his own ringer so that his notifications wouldn’t drive him crazy. He watched Tony’s face warily, wondering if the chime was related to the raid. Surely there would be a phone call, though? From his lawyer, or his security at the garage? But whatever the notification was, Tony just scanned it briefly and put his phone back in his pocket. “Sorry,” he apologized. “The boss is always on the job.”

“It’s fine,” Bucky said, smiling faintly, but the rhythm of the evening had been thrown off; thankfully their food came out and Tony got them back on track by asking about Bucky’s time in the Army, which got him on a roll of telling funny stories about the stupid things he’d seen as a sergeant. Turns out Rhodes, Tony’s right hand man, had been in the Air Force and Tony threatened to get him on the phone to defend himself against Bucky’s digs against the “chair force.” Before he knew it, dessert had come and gone, the bottle of wine was empty and their glasses had been replaced with tiny cups of espresso. The sound on the other side of the curtain to the rest of the restaurant had died down considerably, and the check had been dropped off so subtly that Bucky hadn’t even noticed it until Tony picked it up and put a healthy stack of bills in it.

“Want to go for a walk?” Bucky said impulsively, not quite ready for the date that shouldn’t be a date to end.

“Can’t,” Tony said regretfully. “No long walks for me anymore, not in the city at least.”

“Right.” Given the number of enemies Tony had, it was risky enough for him to be out without more protection than just Bucky without parading himself up and down sidewalks. “Guess its time to go home, then.”

“I could take you home, yes.” Tony said slowly, lining up the silverware in what Bucky realized was a show of nerves. After a moment he pushed them aside and met Bucky’s eyes across the table. “Or…”

Bucky’s heart leapt. “Or?”

“Or we could do something that we shouldn’t.”

Bucky’s breath caught in his lungs. There was a hopeful and hungry look in Tony’s eyes that made Bucky flush hot and then cold. It would be such a mad, bad idea to go to bed with Tony Stark; if he got caught, he’d go down in NYPD as the casebook example for how to fuck up an undercover assignment. On the other hand, tomorrow he would be requesting reassignment and would never see Tony again, so there would be just this one night. He could have that, right? Just one night for himself, this one selfish thing he could have before he left for good?

“Okay,” Bucky said. His heart was racing and he suspected if he didn’t have his hands wrapped around his empty espresso cup they would be shaking. “Tony, would you like to have another drink with me at my place?”

“I’d love to,” Tony said with a smile.

#Tony stark #bucky barnes #tony x bucky #winteriron #no powers au

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johannesviii · 3 years

Text

Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2020

You know, when I finished my latest list and realised every decade had the same pattern and that we were slowly going towards a series of great years for pop, I didn’t realise how good that year would be.

What’s at the top? Am I boringly predictable because I already said I loved that song all the way back in January 2020? Let’s find out.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will probably be stuff in French somewhere on this post. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

So. Uh. How was your 2020?

Mine was actually surprisingly good, considering. I’m lucky enough to have a job that I can partially do from home, and I was extremely paranoid from the get-go and nobody got sick under this roof so far. Turns out I’m even better at my job from home and I got permission to work from home one day per week even after the health crisis is over! My first name was also finally officially approved and I can’t tell you how happy I feel about that. I almost feel bad to have had such a good year considering the circumstances. I feel like an asshole just because I’m happy, haha.

The only frustrating part was that I was supposed to see Hatari in concert in Paris in early April which, as you can guess, was cancelled. I’m not too mad about it though, since their tour was called “Europe will crumble” and the message saying the tour was cancelled started with “since Europe is actually crumbling due to Covid-19″ and that’s hysterical.

Good or interesting albums that came out in 2020 now, let’s see.

Nightwish released Human/Nature, which was a huge letdown compared to their previous album, but I will relisten to it at some point to make sure I wasn’t just in a bad mood that day.

The Birthday Massacre released Diamonds, which might be their weakest album since their debut, but contained some real gems (I listened to The Last Goodbye on a loop, it floored me. Flashback and Enter are also very good).

The 1975 released Notes On A Conditional Form, and let’s be real, it’s a f█cking mess. You could cut half the tracks and end up with an excellent album, but as it is it’s like, yes, a collection of notes ; however there’s some truely excellent shit on it (see unelligible songs).

Thanks to a friend on a discord server I was exposed to Dorian Electra’s music and I haven’t been quite the same ever since. I’m so happy to be alive to see other enbies making such great music with an insanely good aesthetic surrounding it and asking so many interesting questions about gender. Also the arc the ‘gentleman’ character goes through over the course of the entire tracklist of the 2020 My Agenda album is absolutely hilarious, don’t @ me.

I also discovered 100 Gecs this year. Why are most of you guys saying it’s unlistenable garbage. It’s just as abrasive and over the top as industrial music is, but with none of the edginess or drama. I love it. What the hell. But yeah Tree of Clues was released this year. Good.

Speaking of industrial, in March 2020 Nine Inch Nails were like “hey remember when we released Ghosts I-IV a decade ago entirely for free and how amazing that was? Well we’re all in lockdown and bored as hell so here’s Ghosts V-VI and it’s also free. Enjoy” and I f█cking died instantly. And it’s even better than I-IV. What the hell was that year

Jonsi released Shiver. It’s strange and highly experimental. I’m pretty sure it’s a good thing I was into hyperpop this year, otherwise going from his previous material straight to this album would have been brutal.

Yadda yadda yadda After Hours by the Weeknd good yadda yadda.

I’ve joked about that already but if you had told me in 2019 that 2020 would have fires, a pandemic, riots, monoliths appearing and disappearing, and also a super good Machine Gun Kelly album, guess which part I would have found the most ridiculous. But yeah uh. Tickets to my Downfall good

So uh this year I tried to listen to some hyperpop and liked it a lot, and I also dipped my toes timidly into screamo and listened to Svalbard, who released When I Die this year, and the entire album was a very beautiful, very intricately decorated punch to the face. It sounds like God Is An Astronaut except with a shit ton of yelling. I love it. Open Wound is my favorite track on it.

But no, despite all of this, my album of the year was from a band I had never even heard about before that year, called Spanish Love Songs. The album is titled Brave Faces Everyone and it’s line after line after line of extremely relatable generational angst but yelled with complete sincerity and it’s so propulsive and energetic you can’t help but feel both exhausted and ready to fight the entire universe. I don’t know how it works, but it’s incredible. The entire album is wonderfully brutal, so it’s kind of difficult to pick my favorite songs on it, but Beachfront Property and the title track stand out.

Unelligible songs, now, and there’s, uh, quite a few of them too so I’m also gonna use bullet points. Good lord this post is gonna be long.

First, let me say I have literally no idea why Midnight Sky by Miley Cyrus wasn’t a bigger hit. It’s not on the year-end US top 100 and it feels extremely wrong. Would have made it to #4 on this list otherwise.

I still entertain the vague hope that stuff from Machine Gun Kelly will chart higher in 2021 but I doubt it will happen so I might as well tackle it now and say that Bloody Valentine and especially Forget Me Too are both excellent and that it’s a shame radios aren’t playing them more often.

Heaven by the late Avicii featuring Coldplay should have charted in 2019 and still didn’t chart in 2020 and that’s a real shame.

If the world was a bit less unfair, Lovesick Girls by Blackpink would have been a hit rather than the awful Ice Cream.

One day I will stop complaining about my bafflement concerning the lack of mainstream pop charts success of The 1975. Today is not that day. I just love how they keep making songs about extremely awkward relationships full of weird details, and I haven’t grown tired of that yet. So yeah If You’re Too Shy is about a guy who’s crush is asking him to get naked on Skype in his hotel room and he’s, uh, not too sure about that idea.

And Me & You Together is about a guy who never finds the right moment to tell his best friend he’s in love with her, and he manages to do so at the end and it’s cute as hell. My fave part is “I'm sorry that I'm kinda queer / It's not as weird as it appears / It's 'cause my body doesn't stop me (Stop me) / Oh, it's okay, lots of people think I'm gay / But we're friends, so it's cool, why would it not be?”. Relatable as f█ck.

And now for an international hit that should have been bigger in the US and/or in my country but wasn’t: Head & Heart by Joel Corry and MNEK.

I’ve heard Nos Célébrations by Indochine extremely often on French radio for months now so I was very surprised to see that it didn’t crack the local year-end list. What happened.

I can finally hear the appeal of Bring Me The Horizon. It took me ages. And also Death Stranding. The song Ludens isn’t in the game per say, but it’s among the ones you can pick to broadcast briefly when people drive by your constructions, and long story short it's been living rent-free in my head for months now.

Phew.

It’s time for a round of Honorable Mentions for elligible songs, containing a couple of guilty pleasures, which is saying something considering the kind of shit I put on some of my previous lists.

Ne Reviens Pas (Gradur et Heuss l’Enfoiré) - Heuss is a French artist that kept baffling me while making my lists for the previous years, and I was like “??? ok, that’s it then, I guess I’m getting too old to get what teenagers find funny”. This one worked for me, though. And the music video doesn’t hurt. Really dumb and really fun.

Adore You (Harry Styles) - Perfectly good little pop song, very pleasant to listen to, never outstayed its welcome for me.

Mood (24kGoldn) - This doesn’t sound like a very good relationship, my dude, but that’s still a super pleasant song.

WAP (Cardi B & Megan Thee Stallion) - This song is absolutely hilarious and I will hear no argument from any of you.

Control (Zoe Wees) - Was clearly a hit here. Should have been even bigger though. What a powerful but comfy voice. If I had better taste it would be on the list.

Hot Girl Bummer (Blackbear) - I. Uh. Listen. I keep saying I have bad taste and nobody believes me. Do you believe me now. But yeah. “F█ck you, and you, and you~, I hate your friends and they hate me too” is gonna pop in my head every single time someone is being a jerk anywhere near me now. It’s been happening all year already. Someone trashed my documents at work? Someone isn’t wearing a mask in public? That guy has filled his car with rolls of toilet paper? Brain goes “F█ck you, and you, and you~”. Every. Single. Time.

Come & Go (Juice WRLD & Marshmello ) - Damn, that’s a pretty good little song. I’ve seen plenty of people saying it’s ruined by the drop, but may I remind you I’m the person who loves Blue by Eiffel 65 with all my heart. If the song was ramping up consistently until the end instead of ending like that, it would have made the list, definitely.

And now, the actual list. This one actually feels pretty solid, I genuinely like everything on it, there’s no filler here for once.

10 - The Box (Roddy Rich)

US: #3 / FR: #23

Now this is a weird case, because for the longest time I couldn’t figure out why this song was so popular and I was completely neutral about it. Then, one morning in September, my mental jukebox (which always, always puts a song on a loop in my head when I wake up) decided to play it. And I was like oh wow?? I never noticed the atmosphere in that song before? It’s so great. And that hook too. Let’s listen to it.

So yeah, I don’t know what happened. It just clicked one day and everything fell into place, I guess.

9 - Alane (Wes & Robin Shulz)

US: Not on the list / FR: #93

Come on. You can’t do a remake of one of my previous #1 songs and let it chart in 2020. That’s cheating. Even with this subpar drop, I have to put it on the list, now.

I’ve already said my piece about the original, so I’m just going to send you back to my 1997 list.

8 - Kings and Queens (Ava Max)

US: Not on the list / FR: #76

[BBC documentary voice] After Lady Gaga decided to make piano balads and left her musical niche vacant, Ava Max quickly took her place as the top predator pop diva. Even after Lady Gaga was re-introduced to her natural habitat in 2020, she still hasn’t fully recovered in Europe, where Ava Max still reigns supreme on the charts -

(tldr I think it’s hilarious that this isn’t on the US Billboard while Lady Gaga isn’t on the French year-end top 100)

7 - Roses (Saint Jhn & Imanbek)

US: #19 / FR: #3

What an earworm. It doesn’t even bother trying to have an intro or an outro, so it loops almost perfectly. It’s like entering a party that started long before you arrived, and it will go on long after you leave it to go back home. Kind of hypnotic in a way.

And yes, my mental jukebox was very fond of using it to wake me up this year, so this is another song that’s here almost solely because of that.

6 - Physical (Dua Lipa)

US: Not on the list / FR: #69 (hehehe)

“Hey I’m not that old” says the guy who’s definitely a sucker for this kind of retro throwback that was so popular this year. Oh well.

I don’t have anything interesting to say about this one, though. Apart from the fact that everyone seems to have a different fave song on that album. Guess that’s quality for you.

5 - Rain on Me (Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande)

US: #48 / FR: Not on the list

That is far from being Lady Gaga’s best song, but it was a joy to listen to everytime it was on the radio anyway. Also Ariana Grande has surprisingly good chemistry with Gaga! This year was full of strange duets mostly made for commercial reasons, and this one isn’t an exception, but unlike a lot of them, it really, really works.

4 - Dynamite (BTS)

US: #38 / FR: Not on the list

I’m still not 100% sold on k-pop even if a ton of it sounds super good, but come on. Even if some bits of this song (especially the beginning of the second chorus) sound a bit like they were made on autopilot, it still sounds just as happy and fun several months after I first heard it and I never got tired of it. That’s quality. You hear it and you can’t help but tap your feet and smile.

Actually, I’m sure there’s people somewhere that don’t smile when they hear this song. And they must be avoided at all costs.

3 - Godzilla (Eminem ft Juice WRLD)

US: #62 / FR: Not on the list

What are you doing so high on this list, old man. Why are you still here in the year 2020. I thought we left you in the previous decade. Who gave you the right.

I’m gonna tell you who did, and it’s actually Juice WRLD. Because that chorus is incredible, and like a lot of people I’m pissed off because the guy died super young and this shit shouldn’t happen to anybody. No, his early material wasn’t great, but I’m sorry I’m gonna say it again: have you heard this damn chorus? It’s suspenseful and dark, it’s got this lowkey menacing quality, it’s an earworm and a half, and it’s more convincing in like six lines than Eminem’s own flexing is in the entire song.

The beat is extremely good as well, and the flow, obviously, impressive. The weakest link is Eminem’s writing, which is as usual full of puns and weird wordplay, except here a lot of it isn’t great, and that last ultra fast part at the end is technically impressive but it also drives the song up a cliff and stops it dead in its tracks once it’s over. But frankly the lines fly by so fast it’s difficult to be too annoyed by them.

Can I sincerely put this extremely flawed song so high on my list? A better question would be “did I spend hours trying to learn how to sing this shit without choking on my own spit?”. The answer is yes. To both.

2 - Heartless (The Weeknd)

US: #28 / FR: Not on the list

I’ve said it on my 2015 and 2016 lists already, but just for the record I’ll say it again: it took me ages to like The Weeknd, mostly because I found most of his songs fairly boring, or disliked the lyrics, or both. Also I never really liked the general vibe of his “sexy” songs like The Hills, they felt dark but in an unpleasant creepy way. Felt like miserable hedonism, if that makes sense.

So, because I’m a person with extremely consistent and logical tastes, here’s the exact same shit he was making before, except that this time I absolutely adore it.

What is he doing differently that makes the whole After Hours album click for me whereas almost all of his previous material failed to do so? Is it the energy? Is it the reverb? Is it the fact that the narrator sounds properly unhinged and, frankly, scared to be spiralling out of control? Why are the colors so beautiful yet full of anxiety? Why is that bridge so fantastic? How can you make your voice look like a glowstick in the dark?

I give up. I have no clue. At least I’m done talking about-

Oh.

1 - Blinding Lights (The Weeknd)

US: #1 / FR: #1 (listen sometimes something’s just that good, ok)

Surprise. Or not.

Wow, look at that, Johannes has put this year’s number one pop song at number one on their personal playlist. The audacity. The edge. What a hot take.

I discovered that song when it first came out at the end of 2019 and I adored it instantly. And I was so scared it wouldn’t be a hit. Which means I’m a f█cking dumbass considering it ended up breaking all sorts of records in 2020. But what can I say, overplay can be a blessing when you love a song that much.

Like every single song I put at number one on one of my lists, I will draw this one at some point and you will understand how incredibly satisfying it is to listen to a song called Blinding Lights, talking about city lights looking blurry when you’re driving at night, while looking itself like a bunch of blurry city lights passing by super fast. Perfect in every way.

Also it sounds exactly like A-ha, and that never hurts.

See you next year! Pretty sure it will be even better music-wise.

#Johannes’ bad not good pretty terrible music lists #music #long post #eye contact tw

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some-cookie-crumbz · 3 years

Note

Huwumi betting kiss in a bar?

I had way more fun writing this than I should have! Flirty Fuyumi is something I’ll have to indulge in more often!

Gonna say this is rated T/ PG 13 so behave yourselves!

Also, Minor Trigger Warning: Aggressive Swearing, References to Sexual Content (Non-Explicit), Cheating (Don’t worry; neither Hawks nor Fuyumi are involved in this one!), Of Age Binge Drinking

Every time Misa had a rough break up, Fuyumi knew that their whole group was going to end up spending a night in a bar making questionable life choices. For as much as she loved Misa, the girl did not handle her heartaches well. Fuyumi was willing to wager that it was most likely because Misa wasn’t exactly the best judge of character. Many a time, she ended up letting partners slip into her life without focusing on the glaring red flags. She’d fuss and accuse and scream at everyone else in the group that they were being unfair, that her newest sweetheart had just been mistreated and needed love to guide them back on to the proper path. Every single time, the rest of them would agree that this was the last time they were going to deal with this from Misa. If she couldn’t be bothered to listen to their concerns and cool her heels just a little, then why should they constantly dab her eyes and pat her back when her ignorance got her hurt?

Because everyone has their weak moments, just like Misa, Fuyumi thought wistfully. She sipped at the sparkling water in her hand while Taigen slipped into their booth. “Well if it isn’t my most favorite people in the world,” he said with a tired huff, slumping down beside her.

“Hey, Tai,” Akiko, sitting to Misa’s left and rubbing her back, said with a quick wave of her other hand.

“Howdy hey Tai-Kins,” Nagisa sang, her tone only the slightest bit less chipper than usual. She was on Misa’s right, gently patting her head.

Misa herself had thrown her whole upper body against the table, hiding her face in her arms, and was wailing shamelessly. A part of Fuyumi was almost jealous at how unbridled her friend was in her grief. There had only been one or two instances in her own life where she’d ever dared to make such a spectacle of herself over anything. And she learned quite quickly to never do it again.

“So what was it this time?” Taigen asked, leaning over to flag down one of the servers, and then leaning back in his seat. “What caliber of douchebag are we labeling this guy as?”

Misa let out a particularly loud, hysterical wail at the prodding, making the other’s at the table wince. Fuyumi motioned Taigen closer to whisper, “Misa-Chan caught him and Akane-Chan touching each other in places where they really shouldn’t be.” He balked and stared at her, expression jumping between horror, anger and then settling comfortably to mortification. Fuyumi couldn’t blame him, though; she had probably made very similar expressions. And she couldn’t really blame Misa for being particularly upset, either, since she didn’t think she’d feel much better if she caught her significant other getting down and dirty with one of her younger siblings.

“Okay. Wow. That’s… certainly something,” Taigen trailed uneasily.

“That filthy motherfucker!” Misa outright shrieked, causing a few patrons at the bar proper to give them a sideways glance.

“That’s right, get it all out,” Nagisa encouraged quietly.

“They’re all motherfuckers, hun,” Akiko agreed, her own tone taking on a soothing note.

Taigen made quick work of ordering their first round of drinks – excluding Fuyumi, who insisted she really couldn’t tonight – and some appetizers to get started. When the food and drinks arrived, they managed to coax Misa up enough to eat and down her first two drinks, which seemed to put her in higher spirits. They let her vent what she felt comfortable venting and took her lead on when to sidetrack to a new subject.

The distractions were clearly having a good impact on Misa as she moved on to her third, fourth, fifth and sixth drinks.

“You bastards,” Misa slurred with a small hiccup, waving her glass about in a semi-circle to indicate them all, “make it seem so easy to just meet someone! Like I can just pluck any ole’ person off the street and BAM! SOULMATE FOUND!”

“Don’t you already just pick the saddest looking sack o’ flesh outta the gutter? At least if you pick someone off the sidewalk instead they might have their shit more stitched together,” Taigen scoffed, a sly smirking taking over his face as he sipped his own drink. “Well, that or if you just gathered your courage to actually make the first move instead of waiting for these parasites to catch a whiff of your desperation.”

Akiko started to outright cackle while Misa’s face turned a much darker shade that had nothing to do with the alcohol. Fuyumi was quick to set her drink down and lift her hands, ready to step in between any ensuing fight. Nagisa took everyone else being distracted as a chance to stuff another pot sticker in her mouth. “Say that again, you angsty twink!” Misa squeaked angrily.

Taigen’s eyes narrowed, the dark blue tint of them gleaming dangerous. “What did you just call me?”

“Ya heard me!”

“Okay, Misa-Chan, Tai-Chan, how about we settle down and take a breath? We don’t ended things to esca-!”

“Sorry for giving you some practical advice, damn! Maybe if you actually listened you wouldn’t constantly be getting pumped and dumped!”

“Oh, no! Tai-Chan, that is incred-!”

“Well not all of us can hook up with some dimwit from work! Besides, a truly worthy suitor prefers a lady who waits to be chased!”

“Misa, I don-!”

“Masaki is an absolute angel and you fucking know it, you jealous little asshole! And you know what? I’m gonna prove my fucking point that your fucking point is stupid!” he snapped back, slamming a hand on the table. There was a beat of silence before he whirled his head around to face Fuyumi. “Yumi! Go over to the bar and get you a smooch!”

“What?” she squawked indignantly.

Akiko started giddily giggling into her hand. “Oh, yes, yes! It has to you, Yumi, babe!”

“But why me?” she argued. “I wasn’t even involved in their little wager!”

“But you’re the only one that’s single, aside from Misasasasauce,” Nagisa slurred, swaying a bit in her seat. “You’re the only one that can really prove Taikadaikado’s point.” She shifted the glass in her hand to take another sip but then stared at in horror as she realized it was empty.

“‘Sides, it’s good for ya!” Akiko chimed in, swaying to lean heavily on the table. She looked about to topple over at a moment’s notice.

“There’s no way for me to get out of this, is there?” Fuyumi sighed.

“Nope!” Taigen said, making a popping noise with the word as he shimmied out of his seat. He gestured grandly towards the bar across from them. “Now go, dearest Fuyumi, and find yourself a hottie to mack on! Make me proud!”

“No, make me proud, Fumi!” Misa shot back.

With a resigned sigh, she carefully slipped out of her seat and made her way towards the bar. She loved her friends, but they were ridiculous, honestly. She slid into one of the many empty seats at the bar a few spots away from a cute young woman in a halter dress, but opted against making the pass when she noticed the ring on the woman’s finger. There were mostly just groups there, all settled up together in proper booths. The only other two people that were at the bar proper were all the way at the other end from her and seemed much more focused on some hushed debate they were having. She flagged down the bartender, instead, to request a fresh water and a small bowl of cherries.

“My, what an odd order to place at a bar,” A deep voice chimed from beside her, dripping in amusement. She jumped and glanced at the young man making his way into the stool beside her. He seemed to be about her age with just the right amount of scruff gracing his jawline, baggy clothes that screamed workout attire to her, and a hat tugged down low over his head, hiding most of his hair. What caught her attention most, though, with the blazing gold eyes fixed on her like a predator on prey.

He didn’t strike her as being her usual type, but she kind of liked the way he was watching her. She admittedly did like the ones that seemed confident. Nine times out of ten they weren’t nearly as self-assured as they played at, so it was always cute watching them get flustered when she called a bluff. A smile flitted across her lips as her water and dish were set in front of her. “It’s called the Responsible Friend drink. Not for the faint of heart or low of impulse control,” she purred teasingly, plucking a cherry from the dish.

He hummed quietly beside her as he watched her split the cherry open and drip the cherry juice on top of the ice inside, being careful not to drip too much on herself. “That seems like an insult,” he hummed back.

“If you take offense,” she hummed, stirring the juice in, “that seems more like your problem than mine.”

He seemed taken aback by that, tilting his head at her curiously. “Do you… Not know who I am?”

She cocked her head and gave him a look at that. She tilted her head to try and get a better look at him, letting out a thoughtful hum. Now that she thought about it, there was something familiar about his face, but she couldn’t place it. Perhaps a model or something? Or maybe he’d had a short guest role on one of her television dramas? She shrugged instead and began dripping another cherry into her drink. “Kinda but… Not particularly. Why? Should I?”

He opened and closed his mouth a few times before shaking his head. “Actually, you know what? I like this better,” he mused, leaning one elbow on the counter and cupping his head in his hand. “So, you’re the friend staying sober? Or just keeping your wits so no creeps try to take advantage?”

Fuyumi nodded her head back towards her friends, who had seemingly forgotten their beef and were now aggressively singing some anime opening at each other, just barely keeping their volume manageable. “Those are my wards for the night,” she said.

He snorted. “You sure you don’t want something a little stronger than cherry water? Which, by the way, is still incredibly unusual. I mean, lemon water I expect, or even lime water, but cherry? Not so much,”

“But you’ve never tried it,” she retorted, taking a sip and resisting the urge to sigh contentedly. He made a small noise of agreement as a thought occurred to her, her smile turning mischievous. “I could give you a little taste if you want.”

“Oh?” he mused, perking up. He shifted a bit closer, clearly intending to swipe her glass, but instead she moved closer to him herself. He seemed a bit stunned as she leaned forward to press her lips to his, one of her hands cupping the side of his neck. The spark of surprise left his eyes quickly enough as he melted into the kiss with a throaty groan, instead sliding shut to bask in it. She tilted her head to give a playful nip to his lower lip. Getting the hint, he opened his mouth and allowed her tongue to slip inside, prodding his to press along her own. The taste of spearmint from his mouth mingled with the cherry juice on her tongue, making for an odd but not entirely unpleasant combination.

It was the scandalized squeals of her friends that pushed her to pull away from the stranger, making a show of smirking and licking her lips at him. There was a blush dusting up along his cheeks and, if she was honest, she couldn’t help but think about how good he looked like that. “There, I gave you a little taste. Maybe we’ll see each other again, sometime,” she hummed, grabbing her drink and cherries to head back to her table. She would blame her behavior, uncouth as it was, on the energy her friends had been pumping out all night. Plus, she reminded herself, she was likely never going to see the guy again. Despite what he’d said, she doubted that he was anyone that noteworthy.

Three days later, Fuyumi’s heart leapt into her throat when, grinning up at her from glitzy headlines about Number Three Pro Hero Hawks, was her bar stool beau.

#crumbles grumbles #Huwumi #my fics #I hope this was a fun one!#I actually struggled a little to get this to work #But man am I really happy with how it turned out!

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whispersafterdusk · 3 years

Text

Lost in Time - ch 17

"How's that?"

Stewart vibrated as his back and facial panels slid back into place; his metallic body buzzed loudly against the table he was sitting on, and the noise made Petra and Merlin both jump. Eli started returning various tools and spools of wire to the toolbox she'd borrowed from Selene (a second, different set of borrowed tools - that woman had no shortage of miscellaneous tools, materials, and doodads sitting around) and then waited for Stewart's systems to reboot.

A flurry of images and briefly flashing text projected out in front of the AI's "face" as he came back online then his usual polite, smiling expression was staring them down as he stood up. "I do not detect anything out of place. Who would you like me to test this on?"

"Arlo. He's up top waiting."

Stewart's face blanked for a brief instant before being replaced with a stylized speaker icon. "Hello Arlo. Are you able to hear me?" ((Continued below cut))

There was a pause, then sounding out from somewhere near Stewart's shoulder came "I hear you, Stewart. I'm not hearing any static or interference either - you're nice and clear."

"Good. Ending transmission." Stewart's face came back and he gave Eli a nod. "It would seem you've successfully patched me into your Hi-Def's network."

"Good to hear. That was easier than expected." Eli flipped the toolbox closed and turned to Merlin and Petra. "And thanks for the extra hands."

"Not a problem. It was quite educational to watch someone who is knowledgeable about the inner workings of an AI work," Petra replied with a smile.

Merlin nodded at her. "Indeed. When we first obtained Wendy we didn't feel confident to examine her components too closely -- we simply patched in her new power supply and that was it. Having now seen Stewart's inner parts I feel much more at ease with the thought of potential future repairs."

"Here's to hoping it'll be well in the future before anything gives out," Eli replied. She glanced to her Hi-Def - it was just past noon. "I'm going to go check in with Selene, then I have a training session with Arlo and I might also be checking in with Martha this evening. If you guys need anything I SHOULD, assuming nothing goes wrong, be either at the Civil Corps building, Martha's, or out in the fields near Selene's place."

Petra nodded and took one of the toolboxes from the table. "We planned on checking on some of the plumbing down here, which shouldn't be more than we can handle."

With a wave over her shoulder Eli left and began to trek to the elevator; Selene was down in Stewart's room, inside Stewart's docking station. There was a hatch-style door in the floor that supposedly led down to the final sub-level that held Stewart's severs and, since Stewart was unable to release the locks for it, they were having to painstakingly cut their way through the thick steel.

They'd managed to weasel out a bit more information on what Stewart claimed was the absolute, last, bottom floor to this place: it had been a late addition to the facility - added nearly nine months after the rest of the place had been constructed. It was built by tunneling underwater from the nearby river (a river that she remembered well but it didn't exist anymore) and had been used as a sort of secretive, non-disruptive way to move equipment and people in and out of the facility. By Stewart's explanation it was quicker and more efficient; it seemed to make perfect sense to the AI but with Eli it didn't sit well with her since he'd seemed to imply that the majority of people working within this facility hadn't even been told it was there.

At the very least, since the river was gone (there's no way the marsh could be THIS deep) and Stewart showed no signs of damage anywhere in his connection to his servers, Eli was fairly confident that it'd be an easy job to get his server banks out of there once they managed to get to them -- no water meant no current flooding and no apparent damage likely meant no previous flooding had happened either.

Though, to think that the river that provided all of Dubei with water was-

Don't think about it.

It was a bit of a walk to get down to Stewart's room; when she entered through the glass doors she could already smell the metallic tang of burnt metal, and could just barely make out the flicker of flame within the pillar that housed Stewart's docking station.

"How's it going?" she called. There wasn't an immediate answer but the flicker went out; she reached the pillar and bent to peer around the corner. "Selene?"

"Yeah, it's going," came the woman's disgruntled response. The builder was kneeling on the floor with a cutting torch in hand, and there was a pile of what looked like severed bolt heads sitting on the ground next to her knees. "Stupid dumb door and its stupid dumb lock."

Eli laughed quietly; Selene flipped up the heavy welding facemask she was wearing and shifted to look up at her.

"Just a few more bolts to get out and then I can flip the top half of this hatch back and get inside at the lock," Selene continued. "I have no idea what you all used to tighten these damn things but they may as well be cemented in place."

"AIs with impact wrenches, probably. And a lack of lubrication over the centuries is likely why they're basically bonded to the hatch now."

Selene blew out a sigh that quickly turned into a raspberry. "Pain in my butt. Anyway, it'll probably be another day before I punch through the top, and then no idea how long it'll take to get the lock to release or cut through it."

Straightening with a nod Eli glanced back toward the door; she thought she'd heard footsteps and would rather not get cornered in a room with the scholars. "If you need any help let me know."

"Will do - though at the moment there's not much anyone can do to help. Not enough room in here for too many people and I only have this one torch that's strong enough besides."

"Want me to stand here with a palm leaf and fan you?"

Selene snorted and flashed her a brief smile before flipping her mask back down. "Talk to me in another hour or two and I might take you up on that. It stinks in here."

"I'll ask Stewart and see if he can up fan speed in this room to get some higher airflow temporarily - see if that helps with the smell any."

"Thanks Eli."

She left the builder woman to her work and made the long trek back to the surface; Arlo was sitting at the (currently extinguished) firepit, with Asher and Mali. The three of them looked up as she walked over.

"Arlo was telling me you had a busy afternoon but when you have some time I'd like to speak to you about some security methods I think we could try," was Mali's greeting when Eli was close enough.

"Sure thing." She glanced between the three of them; Adam was likely still asleep since he'd taken the overnight shift. "Any particular reason or are we just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks?"

"Seeing what sticks," Mali answered. "Still no sign of our guest - they're either gone or not falling for the plan."

"Or being overly cautious since whoever it is knows at least one of us is armed," Eli said after a pause, gesturing toward her waist. Currently the gun was holstered at the small of her back but it was clear what she was referring to.

Speaking of guns Selene had recently shown her some blueprints of rifles that her little factory could make -- assuming that Selene could get the needed materials. It was mostly a metal-and-springs issue, something that Selene assured her could all be gathered in the ruins around Portia. It was on Eli's To Do list...she might not be able to quick draw a rifle like she could the revolver but her accuracy at long distances would go up dramatically.

"Wish they'd just get it over with - either make it clear they've left or let us catch them," Asher grumbled. "Hate feeling like something is watching me."

Eli shrugged. "It'll sort itself out one way or the other." She looked to Arlo. "Ready?" He nodded and got up off the stump he was using as a seat; she turned around and took a few steps then stopped. "Oh, right-" She tapped a pair of fingers to her Hi-Def's screen. "Call user: Stewart."

The screen highlighted Stewart's name, then a moment later enlarged the text so that his name was all that showed on the screen. After a few seconds the screen took on a green tint. "-hey, Stewart?"

"How may I assist you, Eli?"

"Selene's still down in your station and the smell is starting to get to her. Could you adjust the air circulation for that room only?"

"I can, yes, but instead it may be more efficient to adjust my station's circulation."

"Whichever will help with the metal fumes. Might even cool that area down some."

"I shall do so then. Anything else?"

"That's it, thanks." She palmed over the screen to end the call and put the Hi-Def back on stand by then glanced over her shoulder at Arlo. "Right, ok. NOW I'm ready."

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

"Hello!"

The cheerful call came from the direction of the door; Xu couldn't actually see the door from where he was bent over organizing a drawer in his desk but he recognized the voice easily enough.

"Good afternoon Lily. I haven't seen you in awhile."

There was the sound of footsteps approaching and by the time he straightened the girl was standing at his desk smiling politely.

"Oh I know. I went home for a week to catch up with my mom. Is Harrison not working today?"

"I'm afraid I sent him on an errand right before you arrived so he'll be gone at least a half hour, if not longer."

Lily nodded, scrunching up her lips and nose for a moment. "Well! That's ok. I'll see him eventually. I actually wanted to ask YOU something too."

"Oh?" Xu bent again to quickly push the drawer shut; it wasn't a pressing matter to get the new patient files in alphabetical order right this instant, after all. "Are you feeling ill?"

"No no, nothing like that," Lily said with a wave of her hand. "Harrison told me how you had a machine that changed hair color and I was wondering how it worked and how much it'd cost."

"Ah, yes," Xu replied with a chuckle. He gestured over at the Uplifter and Lily followed the gesture with her eyes. "That's the machine there and, from what I understand, it interacts on a molecular level to temporarily instruct your body to use an injected dye rather than your naturally made melanin to color your hair. It also adjusts the melanin already present so that the hair you already have matches the color that will be growing out of your scalp. It IS, as I said, a temporary measure however and will only last three or four months. I am uncertain about the long-term effects of this procedure however so I would caution you to think it over."

Lily hummed and rocked back and forth, staring at the machine. "Has anyone tried it yet?"

"A few people. So far they've not reported any issues though they would be beyond the time period that the procedure would still be working...at that point I imagine it would be no different than having applied a dye directly to your hair -- your natural hair color would be returning."

"Cool..." she sighed. She continued to stare the machine down for a moment before looking back to him. "What colors can it do? Can it do purple?"

"Well..." he started. "I believe so. I know it can handle the full spectrum of what one would consider natural colors. I would need to find the manual for it to provide a full list of examples."

Lily blinked at him. "Manual? Like an instruction book?"

Xu nodded. "Indeed. My assistant recently moved into her own practice so we had to separate out our belongings, so to speak. The manual has been misplaced but I'm certain we'll find it once she's fully unpacked. I would need it to know what settings to use to get the intended color."

"Ah... Ok! I'll just have to wait to see if the book turns up then. I had another question too -- Harrison said it could...alter faces?"

"Yes," Xu said slowly. "Based on the information we found with it this machine was originally a gift to a woman who was known to be very beautiful. The face-altering function seems to have been aimed at allowing her to look young and lovely, no matter how much she aged."

Lily wrinkled her nose. "That sounds weird. All that effort to not even look different... Is it permanent?"

"I can't see how it would ever revert as its a surgical process. Thus far I've managed to turn it into a medical procedure to help those with facial wounds."

She nodded. "I think he said something about cleft lips. THAT sounds way more useful than...the other thing. How does THAT work, anyway?"

"Well..." Xu said, scratching at the top of his head; he glanced to the Uplifter, wishing more than ever that the manual hadn't gone missing. "There's terminology in that particular part of the manual that I still don't fully understand but based on my best guess, the machine scans your face, saves a picture of it within itself, and then somehow makes a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional one and fills in any imperfections or removes any blemishes, then somehow recreates that corrected image from your own flesh and blood. You do have control over what it will or won't do, mind you, but a lot of it is...how was it worded... "artificial intelligence-guided algorithmic corrections."

He looked back to her and saw the utterly blank look on her face and smiled. "Believe me, I felt just as you look right now when I read that part."

"I haven't the faintest clue what any of that meant but at least it can still help people," Lily said after a pause. She then straightened her back and gave him a smile. "I'll be back later if I don't see Harrison before then -- and DEFINITELY will be back for my purple hair!"

Xu smiled and waved as she bounced toward the door. "Have a good afternoon, Lily."

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

"-and Carol said your fabric was on back order," Harrison said. "She's hoping it'll be in next Tuesday with the rest of her missing order."

"At least we're not in any danger of running out of bandages before then," Xu replied.

Harrison waited for Xu to take the last few bottles out of the basket before he returned the basket to its place inside a cabinet. Most of the supplies Xu had ordered had come through - empty glass bottles for storing liquids, small sealable pots for salves and lotions, tongue depressors, cotton-tipped swab sticks. He'd also ordered a large roll of plain cotton fabric to cut and fashion into bandages; there was a woman here in town named Carol who tended to order fabrics in bulk so Xu always put in his order with hers to save them both on shipping costs but apparently her entire order had been held up somewhere.

"Did you happen to run into Lily on your way back?"

Harrison spun around to face Xu. "What? No, I didn't. She's back?"

Xu chuckled at him. "She is. She came in asking after you, and also after hair color. I certainly hope Phyllis finds that manual among her things... I still can't see how it got misplaced, I'm so certain I always return it to same place each time."

"Yeah..." Harrison hummed - he had only half heard Xu; the bulk of his brain was celebrating the fact that Lily had come back like she said she would. "Did she mention if she'd come back here, later?"

"Yes," Xu laughed. "Go on - go find her then. You've already completed today's lesson AND the errand I needed you to take care of so I don't have anything else that was planned for the day."

Harrison stood, unable to keep a grin from his face. "Thanks, doctor!"

He grabbed his jacket and hurried out the door; where would Lily have gone... Maybe the town hall? She would need to rent another room at the Happy Apartments while she was here. But maybe she'd already done that...well. He had to start SOMEWHERE. He hurried down the hill with his jacket flapping over his arm, scanning around him as he went; she wasn't at town hall, and she wasn't at the Round Table. Portia wasn't a large place but it would still be pretty easy to miss her if he just ran around like a madman.

He hurried down to the central plaza - it was large and open and if she was there she'd be easy to spot... And it didn't appear she was here either. Oh well. From the plaza there was a set of stairs that led up to the hill that the clinic and Civil Corps building was perched on; Harrison hated climbing these particular stairs but from here it'd be quicker than walking all the way around to go up the hill near the cemetary. With a huff he started his jog up, and was puffing and out of breath by the time he reached the top.

But, he did spy a familiar figure approaching the clinic from the other direction.

"Lily!"

She looked up at his shout and then waved happily at him.

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

"He's been reading more now than he ever has..." Martha murmured, glancing toward a door behind her that Eli assumed led to Toby's room. "It's honestly shocking. He never was one to take to homework."

Eli smiled and helped herself to another slice of the raisin bread that was on the table between the two of them. "Well, he's technically doing homework he wants to do now so I guess that's the difference."

Martha smiled and took another piece of bread herself. "It's such a relief, even if it does mean that he's thrown himself at the...at the adventurer's path." Her smile faltered a moment and she limply dropped the bread onto the little saucer in front of her. "I can't bear the thought of losing him like I did his father."

"I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't have a high chance of happening. I can't promise it never will though," Eli added after a moment. "He is, however, doing well and actually focusing on the lessons I'm giving him. I thought all the bookwork would bore him but...well, it's not. Which I find surprising for someone his age."

Martha nodded; she seemed to force herself to take a bite of the bread and it took ages for her to swallow it. "-he's been quite the chatterbox about your lessons so I know what he's learning. I just hope it'll be enough."

"When he becomes an adult it'll be up to him to make all the right choices and keep himself safe," Eli said after a moment. She offered the woman a sympathetic smile. "Who knows - you might be raising the next big hero. I'd say the next Peach but I fu- I freaking hope not because that'd mean the world went to hell again."

That managed to bring a smile back to the woman's face and she seemed much happier when she took her next bite. From the other side of the door she'd indicated a moment ago there was a loud scraping noise then several thumps before the door was flung open with Toby framed within it with his arms full of papers and books.

"Mom, I nee- hi Eli!"

"Toby, stop yelling in the house," Martha sighed as the boy came hurrying over. She very narrowly managed to move a plate of butter out of the way before he plopped the books and paper down in a haphazard pile. "Toby!"

"Sorry mom. Eli - what's the difference between venomous and poisonous?"

Eli scooted her plate out of harm's way and dusted cinnamon off her fingertips; the papers were full of Toby's messy handwriting but she could read it well enough to see that he was dutifully copying (and even illustrating) notes out of an animal guide she'd managed to buy and give to him. "Venomous means if IT bites YOU you'll die. Poisonous means if YOU bite IT you'll die."

Toby snickered. "That's dumb - I wouldn't just BITE an animal. But that's the answer?"

"Yep. Venomous basically means an animal can't poison you unless they bite or sting you first. Poisonous means you have to touch it, eat it, or otherwise inhale or ingest the poison to be poisoned. A simple rule of thumb is to be watching for stingers, fangs, or bright colors, but THE safest way of dealing with either poison or venom is watch where you're putting your feet or hands and avoid touching any animal or insect as much as possible -- and even if said animal or insect is something you know for a fact isn't harmful you shouldn't be bothering them anyway. You never know if an animal or insect is capable of spitting something at you either so it's best to just leave them alone."

"Got it..." the boy muttered, shuffling through the rumpled pile of papers. "So I'm going to have to put poisonous in a pile and venomous in a pile and make sure I got it right because I thought those meant the same thing and they don't..." After a moment he slapped all the papers back into one pile. "Oh, mom! I need more paper!"

"I'll buy more tomorrow," Martha replied.

Toby scooped everything up again and hurried out the door with a few scattered pages fluttering to the floor behind him. Martha sighed and shook her head, and stood to go collect them.

"Well... Anyway. When it gets warmer out and he's out of school I'll start the physical stuff," Eli said after a pause. "If you're still willing, that is."

"No, no, I can't walk back on our agreement or else he'll think he can't trust me if I promise something," Martha said. "I may not like it but at least I can rest easy that he's not just...just running headlong into things like he usually does." She took a steadying breath and came back over with the sheets of notes that had been left behind.

"I'll do my best to make sure he doesn't do something dumb," Eli said. She stuffed the last bit of the raisin bread on her plate into her mouth and then dug into a pocket. "-how much for a loaf of this?"

"Oh, uh - I actually don't have any more baked at the moment. This was the last one."

"That's fine." Eli dumped a handful of gols on the table and started sorting them into piles of 100s. "Can I pay now for two loaves and come get them in the morning?"

Martha laughed. "Absolutely. Two loaves would 180 gols."

Eli shoved 300 at her. "I'll donate toward more paper since I'm the reason he's burning through so much."

Martha carefully swept the gols up and slipped them into her apron pocket. "Thank you, Eli. I may hem and haw and fret like an old hen but I really do appreciate that you're teaching him how to be safe."

With a chuckle Eli headed toward the door. "If he actually sticks with the training all the way through he'll know how to survive pretty much anything. -- oh, right. I meant to ask - I was going to rope Dr. Xu into this eventually, for some first aid training since mine is...oh, about 300 years out of date. Are you all right with that?"

"Well, of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I have no idea how squeamish you might be and up until today I didn't know how much he was sharing. If he's being the chatterbox as you claim and it'll bother you then I need to set some pretty firm boundaries up front."

Martha blinked. "Oh. Ah. That's a good point. I wouldn't say I'm squeamish but..." She took a steadying breath. "I'll manage. He needs to learn if he's going to be safe."

Eli nodded and put her hand on the doorknob only to jump a bit as someone knocked on the door; Gale was on the other side and he started as she opened the door to find his fist raised mid-knock.

"Oh! What timing - I apologize for knocking in your face, Eli."

"No worries, I was just about to leave is all."

"Ah, well, I suppose 'what timing' applies a second time. I came looking for you."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong but time IS of the essence," the man said with a chuckle. He leaned around to peer in at Martha. "Sorry to intrude on your home and steal your guest, Martha."

"It's no trouble, Gale."

The man chuckled and hurried out of the way so Eli could step outside.

"So what's so pressing?" Eli asked as she carefully shut the door behind her.

"Let's walk and chat," Gale suggested. He waited for her to take the few steps needed to reach his side and then they began a leisurely stroll up the street -- Eli assumed this was going to end at the town hall.

"So! The scholars have decided to take everything they've learned back to Atara next week and spend a few months there sharing with their peers," Gale went on. "That will be one less thing to juggle schedules with. However: I'm expecting that shortly after their departure the pledged monetary assistance is going to arrive, and at that point we'll begin construction on expanding the clinic. We've finalized plans with Dr. Xu to expand the building to house both more space to treat patients in, as well as a few spare rooms to use as classrooms."

Eli nodded. "I'm aware. I did have a question though."

Gale looked up at her. "Yes?"

"Moving Stewart out of the facility is a good idea but I don't want the place to be abandoned except for the occasional poking about by scholars. What are your long term plans for it?"

Gale slowed to a stop, rubbing at his chin. "...to be frank, I haven't really thought a lot on what to do with it. I don't think anyone gave much thought either to the other ruins around Portia - we've been scavenging what we can out of them for ages, but those ruins aren't even close to being in the same fantastic shape as the facility is so I can at least confidently say we won't be taking it apart. Why do you ask?"

Eli blew out a long sigh. "Well...at the risk of sounding sentimental, I just don't want to see it go unused or be torn apart. We've been working on plans to transition it to a new, and renewable, power source, Petra and Merlin are checking that all the plumbing is still intact and working... I had thought once that maybe we could turn it into a college where Stewart could teach generations of doctors while treating patients of his own."

"That thought HAD crossed my mind but as it would be inconvenient to move the clinic itself I'll admit I'm uncomfortable with the thought of him traveling between there and the facility. Not just from a security standpoint either, mind you -- I'm worried that if, in the future, we have a medical emergency that's beyond Dr. Xu's expertise that it would then take too long for Stewart to get back to town."

"Yeah...that's a good point," Eli said after a pause. "Still. I'd really love to see the place being used again. Maybe more housing?"

Gale nodded, and then chuckled after a breath. "Goodness knows we're going to need that soon. The Happy Apartments can only hold so many, after all, and there's only a handful of empty residences available for buyers. If anything we could utilize it for short-term available housing, or long-term if someone is genuinely wanting to live there. We'll definitely have work to do to make it all livable again, and we'll have to look into expanding our transportation along with..." Gale paused and waved a hand. "Look at me going off on a tangent, ha! Come - let's go sit in my office and I'll get to what I I needed to speak to you about."

She nodded and they started walking again. He led the way to the town hall's door and held it open, gesturing for her to enter ahead of him; the office was spacious and a bit chilly, and smelled of paper and old books. As he closed the door behind them Eli moved over to sit in one of the plush chairs in front of Gale's desk and a moment later Gale shuffled around the desk to lower himself into his own chair.

"Portia's fiscal year will be starting soon and I need to have our budget settled. I wanted to ask you again if you're interested in becoming one of our Civil Corps members."

Eli leaned back in her chair, taking in a deep breath. "...I am, but do you think Portia's folks would be all right with that?"

Gale waved a hand at her. "I think they'll be more than all right with it - by now I'd argue you fit right in and I can't see any problems aside from the usual ones, and as I've said before if there ARE any problems you just let me know and I'll have a talk with the troublemakers. But, from what I've seen, there's really only one person who would continue to be a problem and I like to think he'd know better than to try anything now."

A half smile twitched across her face then she cleared her throat. "Well... What would happen with my position in the Research Center? I don't want to leave them hanging."

Gale laughed. "Pardon me for assuming but I didn't think for an instant that you would abandon Merlin and Petra, or anyone else for that matter. Any and all instances of you being consulted on technological matters would be properly paid for, and your position's salary would be converted into a fund to cover such."

She smiled and shook her head; just by virtue of being alive she WAS the world expert on "Old World" tech-

Don't think about it.

"You don't need to pay me for helping out with anything. What it sounds like to me is most of my chosen duties won't be changing - I'll just be adding on the Civil Corps bit, right?"

Gale nodded. "That sounds accurate...do keep in mind that if it seems like you're being buried in tasks you only need to say something -- there's a balance between being helpful and being taken advantage of. Now...in addition to you becoming a Civil Corps member, I've had one other person requesting to sign on here for a time."

Eli blinked at him. One other person...was it one of the Pigs? Could they even do that? She didn't have any real grasp on how the Flying Pigs's organizational structure worked. "Really? Can your budget handle two more town guards?"

Gale nodded again; he shuffled through some of the papers on his desk and pulled out one that was covered top to bottom, margin to margin, with tidy handwriting. He turned it around toward her and picked up a pen to begin gesturing at underlined areas and numbers -- this must be a part of the budget paperwork, she realized.

"It can. We've had additional positions budgeted for for years, just with no takers until now. You can see how things add up here and here. I intend to have all this printed, dated, signed, and on file for anyone to reference within a week."

With his nod of permission Eli took the handwritten budget plan and looked it over; she was somewhat familiar with budget balancing as she'd always had to sign off on anything coming out of HQ to confirm that all the numbers matched with what she had on hand or had requested for her squad. So far as she could tell Portia's numbers all lined up nice and neat, and she could even see a few "emergency" funds had been created with the influx of trade that had come to the city over the last few years.

Of course, these numbers were way smaller than she was used to seeing and dealing with...

Don't think about it.

She handed the paper back. "Seems in order. To make it official on the books consider my answer to be "yes."

Gale smiled and returned the paper to a stack on his desk. "All right! I'll consider this finalized for now and have the paperwork ready for you and Asher in a few days."

Ah, so it was Asher that wanted in... Well, that was an interesting development. It at least made more sense than anyone else she could think of.

"Anything else?" she asked then. "Not that I'm rushing out of here or anything - I just want to be sure everything is in place."

"I think we've got everything covered," Gale replied. "Oh, yes - being as I already mentioned that this will be available for anyone in Portia to reference..." He hopped out of his chair and motioned for Eli to follow him over to one of the bookcases.

Now that she was actively looking at them she could see that while a large number of the books seemed to be regular reading material there were several shelves full of leather-bound ledgers that were bursting with papers (and some looked old -- Eli spied more than one spine that was flaking leather and heavily worn at the middle where countless numbers of hands had touched and handled them). Gale pointed and then, with a sweeping motion, indicated one of the lower shelves of ledgers.

"This shelf here holds what amounts to all of Portia's governing history for the last two decades. Anyone is welcome to peruse the old records as needed. All that's asked is you don't take the ledgers out of this office."

"Noted," she said. "Do you get many takers on that?"

"Yes, actually," Gale chuckled. "The budgetary highlights are usually printed in our newspaper a month or two after it's all been settled but there's a small handful of people who want to read it before the ink's even dried."

She smiled at him and glanced to the door; there wasn't much else needed here, and not much else she had to add. Gale noted where she was looking and bustled over to the door to rest a hand on the knob.

"Thank you, Eli, for agreeing to this sudden meeting. I hope I haven't derailed your evening too much."

"Nah, not at all." She walked toward him and he opened the door for her. "Have a good evening, Gale. Let me know if you need anything else."

"I certainly will. Good night."

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

"Gale's already told me" was Arlo's greeting when she got out to the facility the next morning. "I'm excited to welcome you and Asher aboard."

Eli smiled as she knocked a clod of mud off the side of her boot before coming over to sit on a stump next to the firepit. Adam was up and had eggs and bacon in a pan over the flames; Mali and Asher weren't in sight but she assumed they were both still in the tent. "Excited to get back into my career field."

Arlo nodded, then studied her in silence for a moment. "...is it going to be awkward for you, taking orders from someone else?"

She offered him a sly smirk. "Not really, assuming you don't issue an order I consider stupid."

His face tinged red ever so slightly. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Then we're all good. I spent years taking orders before I reached a rank where I was giving them -- I know how chains of command work and I'll do my best to remember I'm NOT in charge anymore."

Again Arlo nodded; he crossed his arms and shifted to look out over the marsh in the general direction of Portia. "Right. Remington is on patrol as we speak, and Sam's patrol starts when his ends. We'll sort out a time to properly welcome you and Asher to the team and then shift patrol patterns around -- since Asher will be staying here anyway this region will be his, for sure."

Adam flipped a few pieces of bacon and grunted, looking up to them. "Might not need the patrols if Mali's idea works."

"I know but I'd rather plan for what we can handle if it doesn't," Arlo replied.

Eli looked between the two of them. "I haven't gotten to talk to Mali about this new idea yet so what am I in for?"

"A bunch of heavy lifting and electrical work," Adam responded before Arlo could answer. "Assuming we can find a working door that'll fit."

"Even if it doesn't we can probably widen the hallways," Arlo picked up.

"Hang on, a door? What kind of door?" Eli interrupted.

Adam jerked a thumb over a shoulder toward the southeast. "Mali's convinced we can repurpose some doors out of a ruin out that way. Twice as thick as what's down in the facility now, lockable, and should prove to be a right pain in the ass to get through if you're not supposed to get through 'em."

Thick doors... "Blast doors?" she asked, though more to herself than to the others. And if it was to the east -- WOW Industries? Or from somewhere else around here? "A standard sized blast door is...I've no idea how we'd get blast doors out of there, much less down into here. We'd have to remove the elevator car entirely and pray it fits down the shaft."

Adam shrugged. "All I know is Mali remembered having to get through what she called security doors back when we first found the All Source AI - I'm not sure where she saw 'em and she didn't say when she had the idea. She checked with your research folks and we seem to think that if we can just get 'em here and installed then we wouldn't need a constant guard up top because no one's getting in through those things if they're shut tight."

"We could still have a guard but move them down into the facility itself..." Eli mused. "Out of the elements, in a proper apartment. That would solve the question of what to even do with this place once Stewart's out too."

"A nice perk, if it works."

They turned around in unison to see Mali approaching them from the tent.

"The question is: do you think it's possible?" she went on as she came to stand at Adam's shoulder, gaze fixed on Eli.

"Well... Possibly. The biggest hurdle is going to be getting it to fit down the elevator shaft - wiring is the easy part."

Mali nodded and shifted around Adam to sit on the far side of the pit from Eli. "Then after I've eaten you and I can go looking to see if we can make it work."

"Sounds like a plan," Eli said. After a pause she looked back to Arlo. "I'll keep the rest of my day open so we can all meet, if that's all right?"

"I'll check in with Remington and Sam and let you know where to meet," Arlo answered with a small nod. "And Asher, too."

"We've all got our marching orders for the day then," Eli chuckled. She got up and stretched and, out of habit, scanned their surroundings for anything out of the ordinary.

In the distance she could see a familiar smudge of blue against the grass -- that was a gaggle of scholars heading back out this way. She probably should have clarified with Gale on the exact date they'd be heading back home but oh well; depending on how long it took to dismantle and move a set of blast doors they might not be underfoot anymore anyway.

WOW Industries would probably have the doors that Eli was thinking of; she'd never given any thought to what it would take to move one of those things but knew they were strong enough to take heavy fire, literal fire, could seal to contain gas leaks, and also were built to immediately shut if there was ever a fluid leak too. She had her doubts that the rubber seals would be in workable condition after all this time but so long as the doors hadn't rusted out then they'd still suffice as a security measure.

Granted, there were those doors along the elevator shaft...those were technically still vulnerable access points. Maybe, just maybe, they could turn the blast doors flat and have them open to let the elevator down, rather than try to seal up the other doors and rely on a single door at the bottom floor. They'd have to do some digging and run new wire, but...

She turned back around to the others. "Just had an idea where size isn't going to matter much."

#Lost in Time #lit #Lost in Time - ch 17 #Arlo #Mali #Dr. Xu #Gale #Martha #Toby #My Time at Portia

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jokercity21 · 3 years

Text

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Table of Contents

What Products Does Bluehost Offer?

Bluehost Pricing: What Do Their Shared Plans Include?

Bluehost Pros & Cons

Bluehost Shared Hosting Details

Bluehost Performance Tests

Bluehost Review: Do I Recommend It?

Bluehost Alternatives

Review Updates

What Products Does Bluehost Offer?

This US-based hosting provider offers loads of different hosting-related products,from domain names to dedicated servers. Let me quickly go over their large catalog.

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Bluehost Pricing: What Do Their Shared Plans Include?

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ProsCons

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The first term is cheap: But be aware of the renewal rates, they are high.

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Unmetered bandwidth: Bluehost won’t limit the traffic that your website(s) can get.

Constant upsells: Their system is packed with continuous upsell pitches, which gets annoying.

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When to Use Bluehost Hosting?

If you are looking to host a small-medium project (e.g. a bakery site) and you won’t be getting tons of traffic, Bluehost can be an OK alternative

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When Not to Use Bluehost?

If you are managing a project that depends on your website and you need the best performance, Bluehost isn’t for you. Look for alternatives if you own an ecommerce, are a thriving blogger or provide Software as a Service.

Bluehost shared hosting won’t be for those looking for advanced hosting features like staging areas or Git repositories either.

Bluehost Shared Hosting Details

criterion rating comments

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Security Features

Bluehost offers a couple of extra paid add-ons to enhance security. For example, Site Lock prevents hacker attacks and Code Guard gives you more backup options. I liked the fact that they have an optional two-factor authentication system, even if a hacker breaks your password, they won’t gain automatic access to your Bluehost account.

Server Speed

In my experience, Bluehost’s speed isn’t terrible, but it’s not the best either. Difficult to understand their l wish performance as they are quite expensive – more about this below.

Uptime

In our tests, Bluehost showed solid uptime results, it wasn’t the best one though. This is important to offer solid user experiences and SEO.

Backups

‘As a courtesy’, Bluehost creates monthly, weekly and daily backups that you’ll be able to download and restore. So yes, only 3 backups and they can’t assure you they’ll have them – other providers offer over 20 backups to choose from.

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CDN

Bluehost don’t offer a CDN themselves, however, Cloud Flare is pre-integrated so you can easily enable it – I would suggest you do.

Server Features

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You can contact support via live chat and phone. The support agents were nice and helpful, I wish they had an easier way to verify the account owners.

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4/5

Although Bluehost’s

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Is Bluehost a slow provider? Is their uptime OK?

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justkindaoverhereobsessing · 4 years

Text

Ellick Week Day Four (AU!)

@ellickweek

________________

‘How many potato chips can I eat without dying?’

As the question appears on Nick Torres’ screen, he makes a face. There’s no way anyone would really need to Google that question, right? He looks at one of his adjoining screens to see a slightly unflattering selfie-camera live view angle of a blonde woman with a dusting of crumbs on her top; she’s frowning as she scans the question’s search results.

Nick is the FBI agent who has just been assigned to keep covert tabs on former NSA agent Ellie Bishop, and he’s not sure what to make of his new task. He’s to pay attention to her internet usage, primarily, and watch her through her webcams as necessary. Someone far higher up the food chain than Nick thinks Bishop might be spilling state secrets.

The mere fact that she Googled her potato chip question five minutes into being watched makes Nick doubt the higher-up’s assessment entirely, but a job’s a job.

________________

Three weeks later, he hasn’t seen anything that makes him any more suspicious of her, but she’s made him raise his eyebrows at least a couple of times a day ever since that first potato chip.

On day three, she starts aggressively typing in Arabic so quickly that Nick’s translating software lags in trying to keep up. Before Nick can wonder what she’s writing about, though, the translator catches on… Bishop is merely making notes to herself on a recipe for Dolmeh-e-Kadoo, an Afghan dish consisting of stuffed squash. ‘Cook rice for two minutes longer than advised,’ Bishop types. ‘Fresh tarragon is preferable to dried.’

Someone really thinks this woman is a threat to national security?

On day nine, her biggest crime is using fifteen minutes at work to Google something called a Tater Tot Queen, clicking links that lead her to small Oklahoma newspaper websites. Nick checks into the background info he was given on her, and the Oklahoma thing starts to make sense. The Tater Tot Queen thing, though, remains a mildly endearing mystery.

Day eighteen brings drama. Ellie has her laptop open and facing the living room of her apartment, giving Nick just the view he needs to watch her fight with her husband.

“You could communicate if you wanted to, Jake! I’m not asking for classified details! I just want to know how your freaking day was!”

Her husband—who Nick decides quickly he doesn’t like at all—doesn’t respond kindly. “Hey, you’re the one who quit the NSA, Ellie. You’re the one who made it so we can’t talk about anything anymore. Surely your memory isn’t that short—you know damn well how strict the rules are about sharing information!”

Though Nick should really agree with Jake here—especially given the reason Ellie is being investigated—he finds that he can’t after Jake storms from the room, leaving Ellie on the verge of frustrated tears.

He wonders when he started thinking of her as Ellie.

________________

Four months into the assignment, Nick starts to strongly suspect that Jake is cheating on Ellie, and he does something stupid.

His department of the FBI has a number of highly secure servers that are untraceable. Anyone trying to pinpoint where an agent is working from will be bounced by a proxy from location to location all over the world at a speed human hackers just can’t match. That makes anonymity possible in a world where secrets are hard to keep, and Nick takes advantage. He just can’t help himself.

He sends Ellie a text masked by the servers. Don’t trust Jake. Trace his steps last week and you’ll find out why.

He watches through her cell’s front-facing camera as Ellie’s expression morphs into one of suspicion. Who is this? she replies.

Nick: A friend.

Ellie: Sorry, “friend”, but I think I’ll trust my husband over you.

Nick knows he has threatened his own life and livelihood enough as it is, so he doesn’t reply. He watches Ellie start to consider what he said, though, and the risk feels worth it.

When Ellie discovers a few weeks later that Nick was right and her marriage subsequently falls apart, Nick finds that watching her pain is almost unbearable. He sends one more text.

He never deserved you.

________________

Six months in, Nick watches in disbelief as Ellie eats her third junk food snack of the day… first, it was a honey bun. Then, it was hot Cheetos. Now, it’s half a sleeve of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. How on Earth does she manage to stay so fit?

Though it’s a moronic thing to do, he reaches out to her again. Ellie, I’m concerned about your health. Don’t forget to eat real food in between snacks, woman.

She responds almost instantly, making Nick grin. Seriously, who is this?

Nick: I meant it when I said I was a friend.

Ellie: Friends don’t text friends creepy, cryptic messages.

Nick experiences a stroke of genius—he’ll just tell the truth. She’ll never believe him. Okay, you caught me. I’m the FBI agent assigned to watch you. ;)

He can see Ellie roll her eyes. Ha ha, very funny. Who are you really?

You can call me Nick.

Okay then, “Nick.” I’m blocking your number now. Bye.

For some reason, though, she doesn’t, and Nick feels absurdly like he’s won some sort of unexpected prize.

________________

Talking to Ellie becomes the highlight of his job. Though she continuously asks Nick who he is and gets frustrated when he never really answers, she never stops replying to him. Something in that analytical mind of hers seems to think that if he was anything other than a benign—if slightly eerie—mystery in her life, he would have acted against her already.

In the beginning, she puts a lot of effort into figuring out his identity. She traces the IP address and the spoofed phone number he uses to contact her. She Googles a variety of increasingly unlikely questions trying to find clues as to his identity. She even has one of her coworkers dig deeply into the servers he’s using, but the FBI is nothing if not thorough in covering its tracks.

Then one day, she seems to decide that she doesn’t really care who he is, and she starts to chat with him more casually.

Sometimes, they talk about whatever Nick has observed her doing, but sometimes, they just… talk. Nick eventually realizes that she’s become something of a confessional for him; she’s both intelligent and unbiased enough to give solid advice, and kind and funny enough to make him feel better about whatever he happens to be going through. It hardly matters that they’ve never met and that there’s a constant veil of secrecy between them… they’re friends, as ridiculous as that is.

________________

Nick has been assigned to watch her for an entire year before he starts to realize how much he hates doing this. Surveilling unaware people never really bothered him before, but he realizes that he doesn’t want to keep invading Ellie’s privacy like this. He wants to be a part of her life organically. He doesn’t see a single reason she’s being watched at all, and it feels increasingly wrong to target her when she hasn’t done anything wrong.

In his latest report to his superiors, he details the mundane things Ellie does in her spare time. At the end, he notes ‘suspect displays no suspicious behavior. Recommend terminating surveillance.’

Then he decides all at once that he’s done.

Officially done.

He types up a letter on his computer, prints it, and drops it in his boss’ mailbox. Then he takes his phone off of all the FBI servers and unspoofs his number to text Ellie one more time.

My name is Nick Torres. I told you I was an FBI agent assigned to monitor you, and I was telling the truth. I just quit my job. If you don’t believe me, or if you do and you want to talk, I’ll be at Sweet Science Coffee this afternoon. I’ll be the one with the muscles.

Then he stands up from his desk for the last time and says goodbye to the J. Edgar Hoover Building.

________________

She doesn’t show up.

Nick sits at the coffee shop in NoMa sipping Guatemalan dark roast for two hours before eventually concluding that Ellie has no interest in meeting him. He understands, honestly—he stole her privacy for twelve long months, and that has to be hard to look past.

Doesn’t mean her absence doesn’t suck.

As he leaves, though, he physically runs into her just outside the door. She stumbles and he reaches out automatically to steady her. “Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I—” she starts, and then cuts herself off. “Nick?”

He gives her a little grin; his heart is racing, and he’s not used to not being utterly confident around women. “The one and only,” he replies. “Nice to meet you in person, Ellie.”

She blinks at him. “Nice to meet you, too—I think?”

Nick chuckles, his hand rising up to scratch awkwardly at the back of his head. “I can understand the confusion. I wasn’t sure you’d come, actually. I waited for a while.”

Ellie gives him an incredulous look. “Well, that’s your own fault, isn’t it?”

Nick winces. “Yeah. I mean, I was just doing my job, but—”

“No, not that, you idiot. I mean that you texted you’d be here ‘this afternoon’. You never specified what time, and then you turned your stupid phone off!”

“I… Oops. Sorry, Ellie.”

She laughs, shaking her head. “Why did you want to meet me, anyway? I was too curious to stay away.”

Nick gives her a look. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“If it was obvious, would I have asked?”

Nick rolls his eyes to the high heavens. He adores her, but she has a unique ability to try his patience. “You must be blind. Here, I’ll spell it out for you—I think I’ve been in love with you ever since you Googled how many potato chips you had to eat before it was lethal.”

“Oh.” Her voice is suddenly very small, and her eyes are suddenly very wide.

Then she’s jumping at him and knocking him over as she presses her lips to his.

His last thought before he gets lost in the utter bliss that is her kiss is that he’s going to have to make sure they serve potato chips at their wedding.

#ellickweek #ncis #ncis fanfiction #ellick #ellie bishop #nick torres #this started silly and got sillier as i wrote lol #i love aus!

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angelofrainfrogs · 3 years

Text

A Recollection

Fandoms: The Bartimaeus Trilogy

Description: Upon finding a book about unexplained events in human history, Bartimaeus recalls one of the many times he and Faquarl were forced to work together towards a common goal.

Rating: K+

Genre: General/Humor

Read on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28322109

Note: This fic is dedicated to rat man and was written for the 2020 Holiday Secret Santa in the Bartimaeus discord server. The request was to write something including Faquarl and as I was thinking of historical events to write about, the one included in this fic came to mind and wouldn't leave and, well... here's the result! Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

A Recollection

“So, Nat… any pressing tasks I need to take care of?” I asked, leaning on the corner of the boy’s desk and resting my chin on my palms, staring up at him with wide, imploring eyes. “Would you like a cup of tea? A shoulder massage, perhaps?”

A noncommittal grunt was the only response I got, Nathaniel’s eyes glued to the stack of papers in front of him.

“Maybe you’d like me to go fetch some fresh water from the Thames? I’m sure it only has a few hundred toxins that could kill you.”

Another grunt, this time accompanied with a vague hand gesture to go away. I sighed, annoyed.

“Or maybe, you’d like a kick in the—”

“Bartimaeus, will you shut up?!” Nathaniel snapped, finally acknowledging my existence for the first time that afternoon. “I don’t need anything right now; just go read a book or something and stop bothering me. I have a lot of paperwork to review about these recent Resistance attacks.”

“You know, you could always dismiss me if you have no need of me…,” I suggested, a hint of false hopefulness in my tone. I knew full well the boy would do no such thing, and the withering look he gave me proved as such.

“Ugh, just…” He paused, then pointed to a bookcase on the other side of his fairly large office. “I charge you to go read a book from that shelf over there.”

“Doesn’t work if I’m not in a pentacle,” I said smartly, but he merely rolled his eyes and went back to his work.

I sighed again, deciding to it not worth the effort of my waning essence to harass him anymore[1]. Instead, I walked to the other side of the room and looked at the decently-sized bookshelf, wondering what sort of texts a young member of the British government read in his nonexistent free time.

I pulled one out at random; the title read “Unexplained Phenomenon of the Americas” and had a grainy black and white picture of a forest with some unidentifiable, luminescent creature on the front cover. I opened it to a random page, curious to see what sort of things were in here that could easily be explained by magic. My eyes widened as they scanned the page.

“Unbelievable,” I murmured, reading the heading and date of the event. Instantly, my mind drifted back a few decades, remembering a time I’d been working with an all-too-familiar djinni…

***

“So… where exactly are we meant to be dropping this stuff off?” I asked, one beady vulture’s eye trained on my companion.

“We weren’t given a specific place; it’s up to us to make sure that whatever we do with this, it’s ‘untraceable.’” The other, slightly bulkier vulture[2] said, metaphorically rolling his black eyes. “Weren’t you listening to the instructions?”

“Eh… not really.” I attempted a shrug, a difficult gesture to do with wings, let alone ones that were currently being used to fly. “I was more interested in trying to figure out what in the world this stuff is…”

“It’s none of our concern, is it?” My cohort let out annoyed sigh. “Let’s just find a place to dump this and get back; the sooner we can be rid of this charge, the better. My essence is starting to ache.”

I hummed in affirmation and focused forward, scouring the ground for a perfect spot to release our mysterious packages.

As most would surely have guessed, we only appeared as vultures on the first plane. The packages we were carrying were a bit too bulky to conceal with magic without some complex maneuvers that, frankly, neither of us had the strength for.

Faquarl and I had been summoned together a few months ago, an unexpected surprise[3]. The magician was some shady man living in rural America during the 1870’s. He seemed a bit mad, honestly, but to our dismay had at least enough wits about him to perform a summons with all the correct seals to keep us from escaping our bonds. Thus, we were once again forced into servitude by the will of a human.

He had some sort of nasty hobby that I tried not to speculate about, but I never actually got to learn what it was[4]. Our main assignment was to constantly transfer mysterious packages to and from the man’s farmhouse in rural Kentucky. I hadn’t spent much time in the Americas and was curious to explore, but the constant travel was exhausting… not to mention the company I was forced to keep.

Faquarl and I had never gotten along at the best of times, but being the only two spirits around for miles and connected by the same magician forced us to spend much more time together than either of us would like.

“Can’t we just drop this and be done with it?” I asked, debating whether to just go ahead and let the mysterious package fall to the ground. I didn’t need Faquarl’s permission to do anything, of course, but our mutual charge meant it was best to be on at least somewhat of the same page[5].

“Just wait, Bartimaeus,” Faquarl snapped, and I could hear the snarl in his voice. I glared at him as best I could.

“I’m trying to suggest an easy solution, but you just don’t care what I think, do you?”

“No, not really.”

I gasped dramatically, affronted. “Well! Excuse me for trying to make our lives a little less difficult. You’ve always been so stubborn.”

“I’m stubborn?!” Faquarl barked a laugh. “Remember that time in Indonesia when you had to-”

“Hey, hey, we agreed never to bring that up again!”

“You agreed with yourself; I made no such promise.” The vulture’s face remained passive as stone, but I caught a glimpse of Faquarl’s snide grin on the 7th plane[6]. I grumbled something under my breath, and then a brilliant idea occurred to me. If Faquarl wouldn’t go along with my plan willingly, maybe there was a way to make him follow along unintentionally.

Still keeping partial focus on my wings to assure I stayed in flight, I skillfully reached into the sack hanging from my claws with a talon, took out a chunk of undistinguishable meat, and hurled it directly at the djinni beside me. It missed him by a mile[7], but the gesture had certainly been noticed.

“Oh, really? Now you��re going to throw a fit?” Again, Faquarl rolled his eyes on a higher plane. “How childish.”

“I’m not ‘throwing a fit,’” I retorted. “I’m trying to add some entertainment to this incredibly dull task.” I quickly grabbed another piece of meat and threw it, this time hitting Faquarl in the side. He squawked indignantly as I let out a gleeful laugh.

“Alright, two can play at this game!” he responded, and I managed to dodge as Faquarl lobbed a chunk of meat at me. It broke into two pieces as it fell to earth, and I jerked my beak towards them in a huff.

“No fair!” I exclaimed. “You can’t throw two at once!”

“I don’t recall there being any rules to this challenge.” I could hear the grin in his voice and suddenly a soft, wet sensation hit my right wing. I nearly lost my balance in the sky but managed to right myself just in time.

“Alright, that’s it!” I yelled, and thus the battle commenced.

I’d like to say it was a brilliant affair, full of wild tricks and subterfuge, but it was hard to do much when your only weapon was various chunks of mystery meat[8]. The fight lasted only a few minutes, stopping when we both realized that our sacks were empty. We glanced at the ground far below to see it littered with pinkish-grey dots. Some pieces had landed on and around a little house, outside of which a woman was currently standing with her husband and looking quite frazzled.

“Oh, now look what you’ve done…,” Faquarl groaned, surveying the damage. “Now we have to go clean all this up!”

“Do we?” I asked, and he trained a questioning beady eye upon me. “I mean, our charge was to dispose of the contents in the sacks, correct?”

“In an untraceable way, yes.”

“We’re miles away from our master; I doubt the humans would be able to trace this back to him. Besides-” Faquarl looked about to speak again, but I continued. “Have you been able to tell what this stuff actually is?”

“Well… no,” the djinni admitted reluctantly. I knew he always hated when I was right[9].

“Then do you really think mere humans will be able to distinguish it?”

“…Probably not.”

“Exactly!” I did a summersault in the air, one of the only flashy gestures I could make in my avian form. “So, technically, our charge has been complete.”

Faquarl remained silent for a few moments, desperately trying to think of how to prove me wrong. I did realize that my logic regarding the situation wasn’t rock-solid; I knew a particularly clever human could probably figure out the type of meat, and maybe enough investigation would eventually trace it back to the magician. Faquarl could easily bring these things up, but I knew he was just as tired as I was and presumably wanted go back to the Other Place equally as bad.

“…Fine,” he relented with a sigh. “We’ll go back and tell our master that our charge is complete. But if this comes back to bite us, you’re taking all the blame.”

I made an astonished noise as we simultaneously turned around and began flying back towards the magician’s house. “Now, now, you were a big part of that fight; you can’t go blaming me! I thought we were in an equal partnership here!”

“Only in your dreams are you in any way equivalent to me, Bartimaeus.” I heard the sneer in Faquarl’s voice and wished I’d saved one last piece of mystery meat for a surprise attack. As it was, I merely grumbled back something that I shall not be repeating here, then quickly sped up as my fellow djinni let out a screech of rage and dashed towards me.

A few days after we returned to our master’s house, we were dismissed. I bid Faquarl a not-so-friendly farewell and blissfully returned to the Other Place, not knowing when I’d see my unwilling compatriot again.

***

“What in the world are you smirking at over there?!” Nathaniel’s shrill voice cut violently into my reminiscing. I glanced at the boy to see him staring at me with a pinched expression on his face.

“Oh, just remembering the old days,” I said, sighing wistfully. “The days when I had masters who knew how to buy clothes that fit properly, and to wash their hair more than twice a year—you really ought to take a shower, though, Nat—and who—”

“Be silent, demon!” the boy hissed at me, and I placed a hand to my heart in mock horror.

“Goodness, someone’s in a bad mood today!”

“I’m trying to work and you’re over in the corner giggling and grinning like a maniac. If you can’t be silent, I’ll send you out on your rounds earlier than usual tonight.”

“Alright, alright,” I grumbled, not in the mood to go out into the dreary streets of London any sooner than was necessary. “For the next few hours, you won’t even know I’m here.”

“See to it that I don’t.”

I rolled my eyes as Nathaniel focused back on his papers. I closed the book in my hands, lingering over the cover for a few seconds before slipping it neatly back into its place on the shelf. Then, I flopped down on the rather uncomfortable couch and waited for night to fall, casting my mind back to my most recent encounter with Faquarl a few years prior and wondering what, if anything, the djinni was up to now.

***

[1] At the current moment, that is. I’d be back at it again by suppertime.[Return to text]

[2] Though he would never admit it, I knew the slightly more formidable appearance was an unnecessary but very deliberate attempt to ruffle my feathers. It didn’t work, of course.[Return to text]

[3] Yet surprisingly not unwelcome. Though we considered each other nemeses by this point in time, it had been so long since I’d seen a familiar face during a summons that it was a welcome relief to be around someone I knew, even if we did hate each other’s guts.[Return to text]

[4] I was quite happy about this, mind you; most humans are weird, but some are just plain depraved. I had a feeling this man fell squarely into the latter category.[Return to text]

[5] I don’t need permission from anyone to do as I please, but the threat of a magician’s crippling fire can be quite convincing at times.[Return to text]

[6] Though it was hard to tell exactly what expression his true form was wearing, what with all the writhing tentacles and other assorted bits.[Return to text]

[7] What can I say, I was out of practice. I hadn’t tried to physically fight Faquarl for decades, since the last time nearly ended with my ear being sliced off by a wayward kitchen knife.[Return to text]

[8] Although I did perform some particularly stellar acrobatics in midair in my attempts to dodge.[Return to text]

[9] I, however, rather enjoyed watching Faquarl fume when he was proven wrong.[Return to text]

Notes: The Kentucky meat shower was a real event that happened in on March 3, 1876. For a few minutes between the hours of 11 and 12 in the morning, what appeared to be chunks of red meat fell from the sky in a 100x50 yard (91x46 m) area near the settlement of Rankin in Bath County, Kentucky. There are several explanations as to how this occurred and what the "meat" was, the most popular being the vulture theory, in which a group of vultures regurgitated their meals; and the pieces fell to earth from a reasonable height. The exact type of meat was never identified, although various reports suggested it was beef, lamb, deer, bear, horse, or even human.

#fanfic #fanfiction #bartimaeus #the bartimaeus trilogy #the bartimaeus sequence #faquarl #nathaniel #the golemn's eye #flashbacks #based on real events #ao3 #phantomhivemast3r

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