#the one cool thing that happened was her validating that my tic is an actual tic | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

genoc1d3r · 3 years

Text

my turn to cry - thoughts on 3-1b

ok this has actually gotta be my favorite chapter cause holy shit so much stuff happened.

I played the Alice/kanna route and afterwards I watched a vod with the reko/shin route in which ranmaru and naomichi died before the banquet, so BIG SPOILER WARNING FOR BOTH ROUTES

Mafia Princess Sara??: Ok so first off, back in the beginning of 2020, I had a theory that Sara was a mafia heiress and that the death game was supposed to be something to “prepare” her. And that her memories were wiped or she was initially supposed to be kept blind to this whole thing (In 3-1a when everybody saw the consent form for the very first time everybody felt a sense of deja vu, except for Sara. Because why would they need her consent when she is the sole focus of the game and it’s all for her) This theory was mainly supplied by my confusion surrounding the hiring of Kai, cause why would mr Chidouin hire a former assassin to protect her?? How did he even know Kai??? But yeah, the whole thing with Shinobu Gokujo and deciding a new don through a death game just adds a lil more validity to this theory.

Sara’s real father: I also had a mini theory that Gashu Satou was her real father, but that was mostly cause of their hair color and how it would def make Sara’s hair color make more sense genetics-wise (but kai has black hair, so its most likely that his mother had black hair, which would also disprove this mini-theory but yk im not here to prove it just talk about it). And that Gashu knew of Mr. Chidouin and gave Sara to him, and it would also explain why mr Chidouin chose Kai of all people to look after her and why Kai could only watch her from a distance, in case she realized the truth that he was her brother/half-brother or something.

GREENBLINGS CANON AAAAAAAA: I love this, I love this so much oh my god. Now I can replay and cry after 2-2 cause nankidai hates us :’). I dont have an issue with this specifically, I’m just a bit bothered by how the whole thing went. There was some buildup yea, and the cg with kanna, kugie, and shin was amazing. And that lil bit about nice hallucinations made me tear up a bit. But, then everybody kinda just moved on? and idk this whole chapter was a fuckign roller coaster I could barely keep up.

Autistic Gin <3: I’m autistic myself and I have seen many characters who are autistic-coded or exhibit many signs of autism but have never been straight up confirmed (Ex: Vera Misham from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney). And even then, these characters usually share similar personality traits like being aloof and reserved. So it’s nice to see that Gin is representing autism in a relatively realistic manner with his hyperfixations, vocal tics, and issues with socializing. Even after nearly dying like 17 times he’s still doing well and I genuinely wish for his survival and happiness.

Ranmaru’s death: Both of Ranmaru’s deaths, (if you or if you don’t fail the electricity absorption minigame) the death feels so... off? I was really attached to him as a character, yet his death didn’t impact as much as Joe’s or Nao’s did. During his Banquet death, one second he had his really cute smiling sprite but then whoops oh no guys weird drill screw thing kills him (again). I still can barely comprehend it because it all just happened so fast. Like no cg or anything. I was honestly kinda disappointed. The “delayed” one does a better job at his death scene, but again, it was wayyy too quick and completely dismissed as everybody just moves on to defeat Maple 2.0. I at least would’ve appreciated a better transition than Midori just saying “well anyways–”

Ranmaru’s extremely quick descent into madness in the shin route: I actually liked this idea of Ranmaru willing to go to such extremes for Sara. However, theres barely time for any of this to develop? Like again, everything just happens so fast??? I would've definitely liked if there were little hints around before the body discovery that ranmaru was gonna do something like this, just a little time for development would really be cool.

Mr. Policeman/Mr. Tazuna???: After I finished, I actually looked on the wiki to see if it said anything about his son that he mentioned and I found this:

But yeah thats cool

The thing about Q-taro: I’m gonna say it now, I’ve liked Q-taro ever since the aftermath of 1-2, and Q-taro haters have added absolutely nothing to this fandom. Everybody saw him as a child-hater, I see him as a guy who’ll do anything to survive and succeed. I mean that wish is kinda what got him into the death game. And yeah he did try to leave that one time, but that’s what getting thrown into traumatic killing games does for you, most people don’t want to die, they want to live, no matter what it takes. We can’t all be the main character and choose to cooperate with everybody and be the “good” person in that situation. Even Sara has those extremely selfish moments and those intrusive thoughts of winning and leaving.

This whole thing should also be applied to Ranmaru. Ranmaru has gone through so much shit in such a brief amount of time, to the point where he was considering to/actually kill people to escape with the one person he trusted in this hellhole. In that situation, Sara’s kinda at fault here, cause without Joe she’s lost her sense of morality which resulted in her becoming selfish and well... honestly kinda toxic. This emotional manipulation is really what set Ranmaru off, however it was 100% his decision to fucking kill somebody and murder’s bad. Still love him though.

But back to Qtaro, I really enjoyed the extra substance given to him in this chapter, it’s nice to see the development from being selfish to feeling deep remorse to protecting the dolls of the first trial victims, most notably Mai. As he completely forgives her for stabbing him. The chapter did a great job at fueling my already intense love for Q-taro (and it actually convinced my best friend who claims to hate Q-taro with every bone of her body to like him too!) I also love the father-son dynamic between him and Gin. I find this relationship to be really important cause Gin’s father is an abusive alcoholic and Q-taro’s an orphan who’s never had a proper role-model in his life. So it’s beautiful that despite not having anybody there for him when he was younger he can still be a good figure for another child.

Predictions/hopes for the next part:

I just want to see whether Shin already knew about Kanna being his sister, and if he doesn’t I want a reveal. Right. Now.

A Ranmaru/Joe/Q-taro/Kai/ “Hinako” revival, p l e a se they died so soon

More info about the people involved in the Hades Incident/Shinobu Gokujo

More info regarding Meister

Sara going on Maury

Who tf is “Hinako”????

I really hope that there isn't any specific good/bad ending. Like I want every ending to be equally bad and good yk? like equal consequences and good stuff.

Yo wtf happened to Sara’s mom?? Is she gonna come back and play a more important role in the story?? Are her parents gonna come back as floor masters???

I want things to actually change depending on whether you picked Alice or reko, cause so far they’ve played extremely minor roles.

#3 1b spoilers #yttd #yttd spoilers #q taro burgerberg #sara chidouin #ranmaru kageyama #joe tazuna #gin ibushi #kai satou #keiji shinogi #alice yabusame #reko yabusame #shin tsukimi #midori yttd #kanna kizuchi #greenblings #sou hiyori #mai tsurugi

168 notes · View notes

reannabeth · 3 years

Text

Couple more tiny complaints about Rott that no one cares about, but I just gotta get them off my chest.

RET-CONNING

there’s the most obvious example of this: the resetting of the entire series to be done once again but differently. So many different levels of wrong here, but we all know that by now so I’ll just move on.

The center of the universe thing? Goes against one of the first episodes of 3 Below, where Krel says the center of the universe is actually far far away from Earth, least of all, California. That was stupid anyway.

Why the frick-frack tic-tac paddywhack did the heartstone come back, full commission? You’re telling me Jim and Claire and the whole of Trollmarket had to endure a long, tiring journey TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE US, only for it to jump up into bellroc’s waiting arms? W H Y

((Also, I still really wish they’d done a season 4 of trollhunters about that journey and such. Like, c’mon. Such an interesting concept, and we could’ve seen more troll interactions and Jim leaning into his trollish ways a bit more. I want more of troll!jim anyway, because I needed more time to get used to his new voice))

Don’t even get me started on time-travel. Why? Why did they feel the need to include it, AGAIN? We had d’aja vu, unbecoming, and Wizards. Now this too? I mean, COME ON. Why isn’t there two Jims? Why can’t everyone else go too? Is it a different timeline now?

And destiny too! Apparently the amulet didn’t choose Jim for his pure heart, just for him being human. This makes Unbecoming less impactful and simultaneously makes Merlin out to be even more of a buttsnack (am I supposed to be sad that he died?)

now for the long one: CHARACTERS

Douxie: horribly side-lined, other than that, his character was pretty spot-on and I love him all the more for it. That being said: WHY WASN’T HE A MAIN PLAYER? C’MON!! HE IS NINE FREAKING CENTURIES OLD!!

Claire: Kind of reduced to “oh no J I M” again. She’s so experienced now (somehow) and yet they sideline her too? They are cowards for not almost having her die, and even more cowardly for not making her hair all the way white.

Toby: Toby was the wingman, and proud to be. He never wanted to be the main man, so the fact that they chose him to be the new trollhunter was stupid and I will forever be bitter about that. He was proud of being moral support, and he could’ve still helped in the minimal ways he does. Or they could’ve just let him die. Would’ve been a real ballsy move, me thinks.

Nomura: :’(((

Strickler: Love him, but he’s stupid. His death (and Nomura’s for that matter) were totally and completely avoidable and DANGIT I wanted a Stricklake wedding 😡

Barbara: Where the frick did she even go? Would’ve been cool if she was on the sidelines, helping with injuries and such.

Not!Enrique: Gone :(

Same with Chompsky

Zoe: *cries in so much potential*

Aja: Actually pretty intelligent, yet made out to be harsh? Her points were valid what the fuzzbuckets

Steve: No explanation needed. Hate Mpreg with a passion. Killing off potential.

Eli: glow-up and sidelined

Krel: My boy was side-lined so hard, I’m pretty sure he was just goofing around in akiridion for a while

Varvatos: honestly didn’t need more of him, he was fine :D

Skrael: Wanted him to turn sides, ended up cheering his death

Nari: bby N O

Bellroc: wish I understood them more. Kind of two-dimensional

Jim: boy, I freaking love this kid. He’s definitely one of my favorite characters of all time, ever. So to say I am mad about his characterization in this movie is the understatement of the year. SO many things off about him in this.

1. Voice. I barely got used to it for his troll-form, as I mentioned before. This movie didn’t help much. I appreciate the thought that Emile was Anton’s friend, but the truth of the matter is that his voice simply does not fit the way Anton’s did. Either they should’ve tried to make it sound like Anton (mixing in some sounds from trollhunters, or getting a vocal coach) or they should’ve found someone that sounds like him.

2. His role. Why, oh WHY, was he the head honcho in this movie? Huh? He was the TROLLHUNTER. These are NOT trolls!! This was more of Claire and Douxie’s expertise, or even Zoe (I am still crushed they didn’t involve her, btw). Even at the end of Trollhunters, Jim was no match for Morgana. Why is everyone following his lead? Especially now that he doesn’t have his amulet. It just does not make sense. At all.

3. His Arc. The truth of the matter is Jim’s character has been very thoroughly explored already. He already went through the whole why was I chosen? bout in unbecoming. The teamwork thing, too. Both of which were very poorly handled in this movie. And not to mention, his lack of empathy overall. When Douxie finally got his body back after the switch (which seemed very draining and excruciating), Jim immediately grilled him about Nari’s council instead of checking in on his friend/new brother figure. That is so out of character for him, wow. When Nari died, he pulled Douxie back (so did others, but still). What exactly was the purpose of that? Is Jim this all-knowing leader that you have to listen to? NO! Douxie is 9 centuries his senior.

4. Giving up the amulet. It seems for all this movie’s messages, it even happens to ret-con those as well. Jim spent the whole movie trying to be worthy of having the amulet, and for a dashing moment, the pay off was worth it! Seeing him use it again sent chills all over my body. And then he gave up and shifted the responsibility to his best friend, who had just died in the other timeline, and decided to help from the sidelines. What kind of message even is that? Imagine kids like, “Oh yeah, Mommy! I’ll be just like Jim, step off to the sidelines and have you do my project and take the fall if it goes wrong! Have fun!” Like,,, w h a t.

5. Leaving Claire. I am especially mad about this one. As beautiful and heart-wrenching that good-bye moment was, it was completely and utterly unnecessary and I actually found myself unable to feel super bad for them, simply because there was the simplest solution:

GO BACK IN TIME TO BEFORE THE EVENTS OF THE MOVIE HAPPENED!!!

Why did they start all the way over? Just… why. W H Y

I just wanted closure. teamwork and rainbows and slicey-slice and sprinkle of death, and then college graduation and stricklake wedding and the end. But NoOoOo

They just had to be all revolutionary, using one of the oldest and most hated tropes since the beginning of mankind.

#animation was stunning tho #the first 30 mins of the movie was actually good #which made the downfall hurt even more #rott rant to the extreme #i think this actually may be my first posted one #outside of friend chats and such #says I’ll say a few words: 10 paragraphs later:#oops sorry #rott #jim lake jr deserved better #douxie deserved better #jlaire deserved better

17 notes · View notes

bunnykass · 3 years

Text

INARIZAKI AS FEELING IVE HAD WITH GUYS IN HIGH SCHOOL

this was supposed to be funny but became very reflective and sorta emotional for me. therapeutic tho😌

TW: mentions of underage n*des, cursing, grammar and spell errors

KITA - the senior in my law class freshman year.

He was country, would wear cowboy boots to class and levi’s (i live in texas). He was a eagle scout. very sweet boy. always brought coffee in those cups to class,and he drove a range rover. i’d share sunflower seeds with him all the time and id make fun of him cause instead of breaking the shell and eating the inside, he’d just eat the shit whole. but like i said he was 18 and I was 14. more of crush we never really did anything, one time though he did argue with me on snapchat about immigration and the annexation of hawaii. He had a brother who was a freshman, and in the beginning of the second seamstress I would flirt with him but again me and never did anything.

OMINI - my freshman english teacher

(tw mentions of sexual assault, grooming, teacher-student relationship)

LMAOO. i had just gotten really into lolita (gross🤮) and so I would literally talk to older guys on the internet (one time i met up with marine even though I was like 15) ANYWAY, so when I started his class i was like damn we about to have a ezra and aria shit. he was super nice to “pretty girls” and “pretty boys” what I mean by that if you weren’t the beauty standard, he was kinda a dick to you. one time he pissed me off though cause he lost a assignment, made me re-do it but only gave me a 70, and i lost interest in him after that. he also accused me of defamation of character because i found his mugshot and was showing everyone.btw he was accused of SEXUAL ASSUALT??? but apparently the mugshot was fake or wasn’t him i don’t remember. he never counted me late or absent tho

ARAN - my best friend

been friends with this kid sense 8th grade. He was in love with this girl though that was leading him on all though out middle school but i really had a crush on him by the time high school started he had gotten over her. when we were freshmen’s he told the whole football team I was a whore cause i wouldn’t send him nudes (i know this sounds bad but i promise it wasn’t plus this was 3-4 years ago) so we didn’t talk to each other till summer going into sophomore year. me and him are still friends and we literally hang out almost every weekend, i love him and he’s loves me. he’s very thing i’d want in a boyfriend but because we’ve been friends for so long doing intimate things with each other like sex seems weird. While we both wish we could be in a relationship we both realstically know it wouldn’t work :(. <3

GINJIMA - my freshmen boyfriend

had fallen in love with me when like school started but like my best friend aran said, i was whoreing’ (not really tho cause i’m still a virgin) so when he asked me to homecoming I was like no. but eventually through out the school year me and him got closer we had like 3 classes together, 2 of them were back to back so we were jus cute like that. my first legit relationship, he was nerdy as hell and the biggest fucking dork. my freshmen year I was what the yt would call a hot cheeto girl and i weighed a lot more back then and he was 6’2-skinny white boy so we fucking looked like glora and melman from madagascar. were like discord moderator and daddy’s kitten shit. he was funny but he was really mean to me and because i was very insecure at the time i lacked setting boundary’s so i’d just take it. he also bought me a roku which i still have today, he was always buying me shit, and i taught him how to take dick pics. he was the first guy that didn’t just like me for my fat tits but i felt like the only way i could keep him around was by oversexualizing myself which ultimate let to him breaking up with me :( honestly no hard feelings though we were both like 15. him an his current girlfriend are so cute, and me and him are cool.

this is a conversation we had a few weeks ago.

SUNA - my yubo boys

my take away from being in highschool is guys do not give a shit about what you look like or how you’re built, unless they’re insecure, and also self-worth. I got on yubo my sophomore year and had it till my junior year. if you don’t know what yubo is its essentially a teen dating app. now i never went to meet these guys irl i have friends who did... and i just want to stay ted bundy would’ve had a field day with these hoes but would engage in online sexting. which ig is illegals cause i was still under 18. at this point in my life i was just so insecure and seeking male validation that i was throwing ass for people over the internet to people i would never meet. this isn’t one person either this is a collective of i don’t even know how many boys. i feel sick thinking about this but i cant take it back and i just have to encourage my sister and potentially future daughters about this.

Miya twins - my tower moments

these two, like the miya twins are very similare but different. I consider them both tower moments because after them two i change completely how i viewed myself and life. if you aren’t familer with tarot the tower card represents sudden and necessary changes usually the situation tends to me negatives and the outcome following is good. these two are also my most recent compared to the other and i’m still dealing with them today which is why i wanted to give a lil intro. idk if yall believe in astrology but those two have gemini in there big 3 and idk i feel like that has a lot to do with our situationship

OSAMU- my theater teachers son

so technically majority of our relationship was middle school but it carried into high school.he was so mean to me up until 8th grade like i said he was my theater teachers son, and he hated her class. at that time his family had so many issues and i think he didn’t have a outlet. my brother had died around the same time so i too was going through shit. while our issues weren’t the same he definitely confined in me a lot and trusted me with so many things, i don’t think a boy/guy ever just laid everything on me like that and it wasn’t in a “be my therapist” kinda way. he fucked up though, we were in musical theater behind the stage in a closet. his mom was just a couple feet away in the audiences teaching class. me and him were talking per usual, and without a warning he put his tongue down in my mouth. and tried putting his hand down my bra. i was so fucking scared i had never been touched like that. it was my first kiss and i didn’t even tell him he could do that to me. i obviously stopped taking to him after that until the summer going into freshman year when we started sending nudes back snd forth. i don’t like to blame people for my problems but i think i began to hyper sexualize myself because of him. when i wouldn’t send him shit he’d block me, ive finally outgrown him as i now my self worth know occasionally i’ll unblock him and hang out with him for fun but it’s nothing serious. he’s stuck on me like tic though and always bring up the fact he kissed me once in 8th grade 🙄

ATSUMU - my “twinflame”

he was a year older then me and i met him on snap chat that should’ve been a red flag. we started by sending nudes but eventually we started to develop feelings however as soon as things got serious he’d pull out. when his relations with other girls wouldn’t work out he’d always come back to me during that time together he’d love bomb me. take me on dates make out with each other in front of hobby lobbies on sunday, my happiness started to depend on if he talked to me or not and this went on forever. by the time quaratine happened he blocked me because he got a girlfriend? idk if that’s why he blocked me but i assumed that eventually he unblocked me because pussy that good. i gave this man so much power over my life that when i took it back i truly learned by self worth. i will never tell this man this but because of all the shit he pulled on me i’m actually confident. i don’t regret meeting him. occasionally he does try to pull his shit on me and i play along with him. i think the reason i can’t let my gemini boys go is because i’m too scared for a relationship but i know that no matter what they’re both their for fun 😌.

#inarizaki #tw #aran ojiro #kita shinsuke #osamu miya #atsumu miya #suna rintarō #ginjima hitoshi #haikyu

2 notes · View notes

bluepenguinstories · 4 years

Text

Happiness Overload Chapter Forty-Seven

I woke up in the middle of the night, which wasn't something that usually happened, unless...

Okay. So the night before I also woke up in the middle of the night, but that was because a certain someone got up and knocked me off the couch and hit the floor. How rude, I know. But most nights were different. Most nights, I slept like a baby, unless...

I looked down. Aha! There was the culprit. Doing what I should have been doing. She looked like she slept without a care in the world. But then if she was on the floor, and I was on the couch, then...

Argh! Not fair! That bed was ours! I mean, mine! All mine!

“She didn't even sleep on the couch next to me...” I pouted.

Wait. No I didn't. That wasn't how I acted at all. Get it together.

But still, why did she sleep on the floor instead of next to me? Has she finally gotten tired of my attitude and this is her way of punishing me? That must be it. She finally wised up and realized how unhealthy it is to be around me. Yet it's me who's the one who sticks around when I claim I can't stand her. Whatever the reason, any of them valid, I don't care. I just wanted my sleep, and with her on the floor and not underneath me, I couldn't get back to sleep.

Then it hit me: I knew what I would do.

Ugh. So tired. Five more minutes. No, hours. No, days. Five weeks, five years, even. It didn't matter. Just a little longer. My weak eyes couldn't bear to open.

Yet open they did. No, they weren't weak in the vision department, but if you asked them to stay open, they would refuse. It took much effort, effort that I didn't want to have.

Remember, you only have three days now.

So heavy. So, so heavy.

When I could finally manage to pull myself out of the realm of sleep, I found myself still lying on the floor, the messy apartment illuminated by the morning sun.

I tried to pull (or was push the right motion?) myself up, but I found myself in a rather strange predicament: I only had one hand to use.

What? That didn't make sense.

I turned my head to the right, where the couch was, and noticed my hand, raised up, and holding the hand of another.

“Did...did she?”

In what must have been an involuntary stir on my part, I yanked my hand and that was when the war began.

“What do you think you're doing?” I heard a low, but also sleepy, growl.

Great. Bad mood. Was not having it. Especially when I even tried to be considerate last night. Upon hearing that, the yank was deliberate and I pulled my hand free. Now there I was, sitting next to the one with the mood.

“What? I'm getting up. It's...” I reached into my pocket and brought out my phone. “...noon. Well, still morning to me.”

“First off,” oh boy. She was already starting a lecture. “You should have woken up bright and early no later than 7 AM.”

“Jeez. I'm up now, aren't I?” I looked around, no sign of Blanc. “Besides, Blanc's still asleep, too, aren't they?”

Spoke too soon. From behind the couch, up popped Blanc.

“Here I am!”

Butch pointed behind her. “You were saying?”

I needed coffee. Or six more hours of sleep. Yeah. That was it right there. All I needed was to sleep and not be woken up until I didn't have to deal with anyone and their expectations.

“Second of all,” she continued the lecture, not letting me live out my dream of going back to sleep. “I thought you said we'd get the bed tonight, but here I am, on the couch, you on the floor, and I find out Blanc got the whole bed to themselves.”

“Look, that was the plan,” I explained. “But then you passed out on the couch and I didn't want to wake you, which is also why I decided to sleep on the floor, as uncomfortable as I may have been. I was trying to be considerate.”

Butch grunted. I couldn't tell if that was a positive or negative grunt or just one of her tics.

“Considerate?” She balked. “I was cold! I didn't get a blanket or nothin'! I didn't even get something to sleep on!”

“Uh, the couch? A pillow? If you wanted to sleep on something so bad, why didn't you get a stuffed animal.”

“I'm not talking about couch cushions! I need something soft underneath me to get a good sleep, something that covers my whole body! Furthermore, you weren't even next to me.”

“Again,” I groaned. This was getting really grating on me. “I was trying to be con-fucking-siderate! If I got on the couch, I could've woken you.” Yes, I was aware of my own mood, so to soften the blow, I tried the best thing I could think of. “You're so cute when you sleep.”

“Oh, so I don't look cute when I'm awake? See, I can't stand you! You make excuses and then you don't even do what you set out to do! I want action! I want to beat up some Flashbulb goons! But I can't do that if I have no way to get there! I bet I can find a way to get there, myself, just by being around anyone else!”

“You're the one who came along with me. You said, and I quote, 'I have nowhere else to go'.”

“Yeah, well, that was true, but my statement still stands. If I find someone else to hang with, I will, and I'll find a way to The Flashbulb's lair without you.”

“Fine. If that's how you wanna play it, I saw a man and a woman yesterday when I went out. Maybe see if they're interested.”

“Ew, a het couple? Gross! I'd rather deal with a thousand you's than a couple of straighties.”

“ALERT: THE GIRLS ARE FIGHTING!” Blanc cupped their hands and paced around the apartment.

“No, Blanc. We're just in a bad mood because we just got up and haven't eaten. We're tired, that's all.”

“Yeah, tired of your shit,” Butch grunted. “Y'know what? Yeah. I'll find someone else to be with. Can't be that hard.” I watched her get up, slip on some sneakers and her jacket, then place her flat brim baseball cap on her head, backwards, no less.

From out of her jacket pocket, she grabbed a remote and pressed a button. What was her workstation (her desk, computer, gadgets and gizmos galore) soon began crumbling. But not like they were being destroyed, but more like they were folded. Before my eyes, everything that was hers (including her Nintendo Switch) had shrunken and folded until they formed a cube, which she placed in her pocket.

“You said I couldn't take it all with me? Guess again,” she sneered.

“Ooh! Cool!” Blanc exclaimed.

Butch opened the door and before leaving, called out. “See ya, suckers!”

“Fine! Good luck out there! See if I care!” I yelled back as I watched her close the door behind her.

I continued to sit. The realization of what transpired had yet to set in. All I could think to do was lay my head on the couch and groan.

“Oh no! I'm sorry, Velvet! I hope I didn't ruin your guys' relationship!”

“There is no...” I started to reply. But then it hit me: she just walked out there, in an unpredictable environment where anything could happen. What's to stop her from something distressing her, or being attacked by someone else's frenzy? “Shit. She's gone.”

“Yeah...” Blanc looked away. “Off to a fated encounter with who-knows-who.”

“Or what. God damn it. What was I thinking?” I looked at Blanc. “You didn't ruin anything. But I may have if I don't hurry. I don't care about any sort of relationship, but I want her to be safe out there!”

What a fun way to start my day! At first, I thought it was gonna be boring, what with Velvet asleep and Butch not wanting to do anything but hold Velvet's hand until Velvet woke up, but nope! Not boring after all! We got to go out and what's more, with the chance to meet new people! Good gosh, I sure am glad I picked a good couple of friends to spend time with!

“Ugh...I sure hope she's okay. I sure hope anyone else is okay. What was I thinking?” I watched Velvet grind her teeth in frustration and pinch her arms as we walked. “This is all my fault...or maybe it's not all my fault, but I still feel responsible. Argh!”

“Don't worry, Velvet!” I reassured. “Everything'll be fine, and if it won't, at least we'll have fun along the way!”

“Thanks, I think...but I don't think that really helps me right now.”

Her pace was brisk with her nervousness and worry on full display. Oh, I would call for some divine intervention, but that didn't really mean anything, and, by the looks of things, I wouldn't have to.

“Hey Velvet!” Her head was toward the ground. Hot damn, that bummed out? “There she is! See, she's fine! What's more, she's with a couple of...” Wait a second. I knew those faces anywhere! Without hesitation, I ran toward them.

“Wait!” Velvet came to her senses. “Wait up!”

From behind me, I could hear Velvet running after me, or better yet, maybe she was running toward Butch. Either option would have been fine. But my sights were set on the (new) familiar faces.

“Trent! Juniper! You're here too!” My excitement to see them just couldn't be contained. “Wait...where's V...Ve...” Hm...names. Nurse lady, has a bit of a blood fetish, it'll come to me... “Volcano girl!”

“Hey, buddy,” Trent greeted. “Though I don't actually know you.”

“Volcano girl? Sounds like Sharkboy and Lava Girl! I love that movie, though I always have to cover my eyes during the scary parts.” Juniper added.

“Scary parts?” Butch chimed in. “What are you, ten?”

“Oh. Right. Alternate dimensions. Of course.”

“Wait, what?” Juniper seemed confused. “First I'm hearing 'bout this.”

“Never mind them,” Butch shrugged. “They're just a little loopy.”

Behind me, I heard Velvet approach, and hunched over, huffing to catch her breath.

“Yo, these two are the people you saw yesterday?” Butch asked. Velvet looked up, then nodded.

“Yeah, no,” Butch explained. “Those two aren't a straight couple. They're brother and sister. Which would make it double gross if they were a couple.”

“One of us isn’t straight, anyway,” Trent gave a chuckle.

“Trent! You just came out!” Juniper gasped. “That's so brave of you!”

“I'm talking about you, you dork.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Hi, how goes it?” Velvet waved, still hunched and catching her breath.

“Great!” Juniper replied, always a little cheery in her voice. “Though I don't know what all the excitement's for.”

“Oh!” I did my best to explain. “Well, you see, I know you guys, but not like, 'you guys', y'know?”

“Nope! But that sounds cool!”

“Oh, well actually, I've seen a few sci-fi movies, so I think I've heard of this kind of thing,” Trent began to explain in his 'well, actually' nerdy way. “Like, if there's infinite possibilities, then surely, hm...well, doesn't matter, because this is real life.”

“Oh, that is so you, Trent!” I laughed. “Still, there's one person missing, I'm sure.” Yes. There was. There totally was. I was supposed to see a happy couple, and here I was, just seeing the siblings. Oh shit. I knew what was going on. “You guys must have never met her, huh?” Now I was a little bummed with the realization.

“Her? I've met a lot of her's in my day,” Juniper thought aloud. “Mostly online, though. I don't really get out much. But there's all sorts of girls who play Final Fantasy XIV, and I've even started an all-girl guild before.”

“Oh please,” Butch groaned. “Real adults play Animal Crossing.”

“Well, whatever happened with this world's version of her, I hope she got to live the life she wanted,” I lamented. “Aw, and I wanted to see the lesbians get together!”

“There, there,” Velvet gave my shoulder a pat. “We all want the lesbians to get together.”

Butch cupped her mouth and I heard her whisper to Velvet. “What're they talkin' about?”

“No idea,” Velvet whispered back. “But I agree with the general sentiment.”

“Oh hey!” Juniper pointed to my arm. Looks like I switched to my clunky arm without even thinking about it. “That's a cool arm you got there.”

“Thanks!” I beamed. “A very smart and kind lady made it for me.”

“Aw, that's so cool! I wish I could do something like that!”

“I'm sure you can!”

I mean, you've done it before, after all.

“Nice to meet you guys, by the way,” Juniper looked in Velvet and Butch's direction, then back to me. “I guess you already found out who we are, huh?”

“Yeah, you could say our friend was rather loud with the introductions. Well, anyway, I'm Willow,” Velvet greeted, giving an obvious fake name.

“I'm Birch,” Butch added. “'Sup?”

“Oh! I see what you guys are doing!” I joined in on the fun. “Then I'm Professor Oak!”

“Hey, wait a second...” Juniper pointed to each of us. “I have a feeling one of you isn't telling the truth.”

“Yeah, you're right. Name's Velvet.”

“And I'm Blanc!”

“I'm still Birch,” Butch (or Birch now?) crossed her arms and gave a sly smile.

“What? Since when?” Velvet protested.

“I just decided. I'm Birch now. Take it or leave it.”

“Oh, I'll take it, alright,” Velvet teased.

Birch leaned in and grabbed Velvet's hands. “Yeah you will.”

Velvet leaned in closer and it looked like the two were about to make out when Juniper, who looked a bit red in the face, spoke up.

“I'm not interrupting anything, am I?”

On cue, Birch let go and turned toward Juniper. “N-No! I don't know why you would think that!”

“Well, it was nice to meet you guys!” Juniper waved. “Maybe we'll catch you around.”

Trent and Juniper turned to leave.

“Let's go back home,” Birch motioned. “I think I decided, as disappointing as you are, no one else is going to top you.”

“Except you?” Velvet suggested.

“Hey! That's not what I mean!”

As I watched the siblings leave, I came up with an idea.

“Hey!” I called out to them. “Wanna check out our place?”

“Sure!” The sister called back, and started running toward us. Trent followed behind.

“We've still got time to kill. I just try to encourage her to get out of the house every now and then. I know it's a scary time, but being cooped up in the house all the time can't be good for you,” Trent explained to us.

“Yeah, Velvet!” Birch sniped at Velvet.

“No you! I go out all the time!”

Just a little further up ahead, thank goodness the apartment wasn't far. Soon they would see how great our humble abode was, right above a convenience store. They would see that, or they would see, ah, shit...

“H-Here we...are?” Velvet's jaw seemed to drop to the ground as what was supposed to be an introduction turned to a eulogy for a destroyed building. “What's going on? What happened to our apartment?! Why does it smell so bad?!”

Birch sniffed. “I smell beef jerky.”

Crows and ravens and magpies alike swarmed around the wreckage of the apartment and convenience store. Many murders of crows, doing just what their group namesake suggested – massacring the building. One crow turned to us and yelled, in perfect high pitched English:

“EATING CARCASSES MAKES US HAPPY SO YOUR HOUSE TURNED INTO ROADKILL.”

I noticed Birch cringe from that remark and Velvet wasn't looking too great either, probably broken up by the lack of house.

“Never have I ever seen this before,” Juniper murmured, otherwise left speechless.

“No. This is no time for 'never have I ever'. This is serious,” Velvet complained. “Now where are we supposed to sleep? What are we supposed to do for food? I mean, there's my ship, but...” She looked at us. “I'm sorry, guys. I didn't imagine something like this would happen.”

“Hey, it's not like there was anything you could do,” Trent pointed out.

“Nah, I could've stayed at home, and then the apartment would've probably been fine. I could've totally done that.”

“Dude, you know what would've happened?” Birch tried talking some sense into Velvet. “The crows wou've still appeared, but you'd be in the house, and then they'd probably peck you to death.”

“Yeah, you're right,” Velvet sighed. She reached her arms out to try to hug Birch, but I watched as she backed away and then crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air.

“Nope! I still haven't forgiven you for last night!”

“What?! Are you serious?!”

“Again, I must ask: am I interrupting something?” Juniper chimed in.

“No, we're good, thank you for asking,” Velvet reassured, then turned back to Birch. “Now will you tell me what's really going on?”

“I already did. If you don't get it, that's on you.”

“Argh! I don't like it when you do this! You drag something out that doesn't need to be all because you don't want to admit what's really bothering you.”

“Uh, guys...”

“Oh, don't mind them,” I waved my hand away at Juniper. “They're just doing roommate things.”

“Roommate things...” She stared, fixated at the arguments. “Do you think I could get a...roommate?”

“What? You want that?” I pointed to them.

She shook her head. “It just seems like they're really passionate about each other.”

I laughed. “Passionate. Sure.”

“Wait!” Trent jumped into the conversation. “That just gave me an idea!”

Velvet and Birch stopped their theatrics and turned to the guy with the idea. Juniper and I listened in as well.

“You guys are out of an apartment, and although we all just met, how about you stay with us? I know it's not something we usually do, but what do you say, Juni?”

“Yeah!”

“What do you say, Velvet and Birch?”

They turned to each other. I could hear them whisper, but this time, I couldn't tell what either of them were saying.

“This is all happening so fast, but I'm down,” Velvet gave her answer.

“It only seems like the logical move at this point,” Birch also answered, in what I believed to be a yes.

“Well then it's settled! Come on!”

We followed the siblings and along the way, Velvet tried to make conversation.

“So what's your crib like? Got a nice setup?”

“Crib? You make it sound like babies live there. I mean, not that there'd be anything wrong if they did, since as we all know, apple sauce is the bomb!”

“Oh my god,” Velvet turned to Birch. “She is too precious. Can we adopt her?”

“Adopt her? What do you think she is?” Birch replied in disgust.

“By the way, you guys, I'm 32!” Juniper looked pleased to let the two know.

“Ah, I see. She's a little older than both of us. So she would be the one doing the adopting.”

“What's wrong with you? Why can't you act normal?”

“To answer your guys' question, we live in a condo. We used to have an apartment, but we moved about a year ago, a little before this whole mess happened. There's five bedrooms, most of which are just open guest rooms, since we never actually expected to have people over. It's quite nice, really, plus we only had to pay rent on it for a few months seeing as landlords no longer exist.”

“One positive from this whole ordeal, huh?” Velvet reflected.

When we approached the door, we noticed other condominiums next to it. Trent explained how there used to be other tenants, but each of them died due to various circumstances related to the pandemic.

“Well, here we are,” Trent motioned for us to go in.

Velvet extended her hand for Juniper to shake.

“I'm thinking of starting up a harem, wanna join?”

“Um...”

“If you want to be in a polyamorous relationship, you should first try being in one relationship,” Birch remarked, and walked past Velvet toward the door.

“DID YOU HEAR THAT?! DID YOU HEAR WHAT SHE SAID?!” Velvet pointed toward the culprit and cried out. “THE GALL!”

“I don't know what to say so I'm just going to nod and pretend I do,” Juniper muttered through gritted teeth. Oh boy. It seemed this one didn't like being put on the spot so much.

“Come on, you dork,” Birch beckoned Velvet.

Velvet rushed in. “Well, see ya inside!”

Juniper tugged at her pigtails and went inside. I followed suit, but not without the name of the third party member in the other universe wracking my mind.

“Veronica Sawyer? No, that's not right. Veruca Salt? Hm...I might be close that time...”

I didn't think I knew her last name, so I was pretty sure there was no way it began with an 'S'. But still, something told me it began with a 'V', and it wasn't Velvet. “Ve...Venus? Hm...maybe...”

Oh well. It would come to me. That I was sure of. Then I could go and focus on more important things.

Inside was the living room where two couches sat on both ends of the room, across from each other. Next to the couch to the right of us when we walked in, was a chair, and next to that chair was a coffee table. Of course, there was a much longer and wider coffee table in the middle of the room, between the two couches.

Blanc took to jumping onto the couch at the left end of the living room, and bounced on the cushion. “Ah! It's so soft! It's...joy flavored!”

“Joy flavored, huh?” Juniper remarked. “That's one way to put it.”

Okay, so she said she was a few years older. Big deal. She was cute, like, damn. Maybe it was just the whole innocent aspect to her that made me think so. Dunno. Maybe it was the pigtails. I watched as she sat next to Blanc. Maybe those two just paired together well. No, not in the romantic sense, but, like, similar vibes.

As for me, I elected for the couch on the right end. That way I could face my audience directly. There would come a time where I had to lay all my cards on the table and reveal that not one of them was a Joker, and in fact, one of them was an ace. The rest were Queens, and a Jack. I think. Look, this analogy got way out of hand. Fact is, I would need to be open and honest with these folks we just met. They deserved to know who they were hosting.

So I sat at the far end of the couch, resting my arm on the arm rest. If that wasn't what that thing was called, I'd start a war.

Speaking of war, Birch sat at a chair next to me. Looks like my analysis was wrong. There were two chairs at both ends of the couch. What an odd thing to have.

“So, Juniper,” I got right down to business. “Can I call you Miss Per?”

“That would be cute! Like whisper! Or whisker!”

Oh my. She was just way too cute. Too pure. Too...per?

“Yeah, sure. Or even Pepper. But not Pepper. That stuff makes me sneeze.”

She gave a soft laugh in response to that. Good. Ease them in before dropping the bomb.

“Anyway, here's the deal: my associate and I cannot stay long. In two days, we plan to raid the headquarters of The Flashbulb and put a stop to this. If all goes well, you guys will live, and Earth will go back to normal.”

“Ooh, this sounds interesting! Okay, so is this like a roleplaying thing or...?”

“No.” Shit. Of course. Most people don't know what the fuck a 'Flashbulb' even is. “You know anything about the ETNA Corporation?”

“Yeah! Ms. CEO had a press conference a few months ago! Apparently this whole thing is her company's fault and she's looking to clean up the mess and contain things. Ah, but we haven't really heard anything from her since, have we? Hope she's doing okay.”

“Okay, first off: she's a robot. Programmed to say certain things to appease the public. I don't mean that in a figurative sense, I mean that literally. There is no reason to feel any sympathy for 'her'. Second, what the fuck? She's a CEO.”

“Not like you'd care, if you were still with the CIA. Paycheck's a paycheck, right?” Birch butted in.

“Oh? And what about you, Area 51 goon?” I shot back.

We both crossed our arms and looked away from each other.

“Now, now,” Blanc also jumped in. “I love how eager you two are to put on a show, but weren't you telling sweet little Juniper about The Flashbulb?”

Shit. They were right.

“Okay, so yeah. ETNA is just a front for The Flashbulb. Apparently they go around screwing things up and they've been able to get away with it because very few know about them and they're also incredibly powerful with a buttload of resources.”

“Heh. Butt,” Juniper giggled.

“I know the name's gonna come to me...” I could hear Blanc muttering. “Venusaur? Veterinarian?” They shook their head. “That doesn't sound right, either.”

“Hey bud, what'cha doin' over there?” I asked them.

“Oh! I'm trying to remember the name of a friend I met back when I stole one of The Flashbulb's devices and crash landed in a park sometime in the past. Though it wasn't the past in this universe, I guess?”

That's right. There was still much about this Blanc I didn't know and that just reminded me further of that.

“Well, what were they like?”

“Oh! She was very sweet! She saw me unconscious on the grass so she took me to an apartment and she acted all nurse-like! Later she tried to poison me, then she shot me, then she dug into my wound and took some of my blood and drank it!”

“Uh...and this was a friend of yours?”

“Oh yeah! Don't worry! It's not like she sucked it out of me, I would never let anyone be that intimate with me! She just took a syringe and filled a vial and then drank from the vial!”

“That still sounds. Hm. What's the word? Not good.”

“It wasn't bad, though! I mean, at first it kinda was, because it hurt a lot, but I think even if I wasn't totally on board with the idea, it was for the best! We both got superpowers, and sharing is caring!”

Okay, at that point I wasn't sure if Blanc was just making shit up or if most of that was actually true.

Beside me, I could hear Birch's stomach growling, and she must have noticed as well.

“Say, you guys got any food?” She jumped up.

“Yeah, help yourself to the kitchen,” Trent, already in the kitchen, called to her. Damn, he could hear her from there.

“Well, see ya, suckers! I'm off to raid the kitchen!”

Eh. It was for the best. It would calm her down and keep her out of our hair. I really wished that I could have enjoyed this moment more, but it felt like I was still stalling and making no progress. All I could do instead was hang my head in shame.

“Aw, cheer up, Velvet! If anyone can defeat The Flashbulb, it's you!”

“Thanks,” I shook my head, which still fixated on the floor. “But I still don't know how we're going to get there, or what we're going to do once there. How am I going to be an optimist about this?”

“Oh! Speaking of Pompeii! I feel like her name's on the tip of my tongue!” I looked up. They were still trying to think of the name of their “friend”. At the least, I had to commend Blanc for perseverance. “Hm...nope. Still not sure. Oh well, she'll come to me sooner or later! Probably tomorrow when we're all sitting out here and having lunch.”

Birch came back into view, holding in her hands bagels, muffins, apples, and bananas. In her mouth was a straw, which the straw belonged to a juice box.

“Sorry, guys! I tried to stop her, but she was relentless! Plus, I think she growled at me.”

“Snack attack, motherfuckers!” She roared, and plopped back down in her hair.

“Jeez, you're worse than my sister.”

Birch growled in response.

“Don't beat yourself up,” I told Trent. “There wasn't much you could've done to stop her.”

“Hey, you like bananas too?” Juniper pointed out.

“No,” Birch replied as she shoved a whole banana into her mouth.

So she says she doesn't like something, and then she takes it anyway. I see how it is.

“Mm...but Velvet, I know what you mean,” Juniper turned to me. “This whole thing's been crazy. If that is the right word to use? Sorry if it's not. But yeah, I never really liked those elevator things, as I've had a fear of elevators since I was little. Living upstairs is fine because stairs you at least know how you're getting up, but it's a little freaky.”

“Wow. Elevator phobia. Never heard of that one before,” I replied.

“I think I noticed how dire the crisis was when my usual customer stopped purchasing from me. Hope she's doing okay...”

“Customer?”

“Oh! Yeah! I have an Etsy! I make little bead bracelets and sometimes I make metal sculptures. I have, or I had, my own workshop. Now I mainly stick to beads since I lost most of my tools!”

Birch burst out laughing, kicking her legs up.

“Etsy? Really? That shit's for three kinds of people: teenagers, girls in their twenties who think they don't need a job, or middle aged moms who are bored staying at home all the time!”

“Hey!” I scolded. “Don't be rude!”

“I'm a rude dude with 'tude. Deal with it.”

“Maybe if it was just us two, sure, but we're guests here. In this house, we love and respect Juniper and Trent.”

“Oh, it's okay! I took zero offense to it! In fact, I started when I was in my twenties! I guess the word for it would be NEET? It means Not Employed Extra Terrestrial, I think.” That Juniper. Too precious for this cruel world.

“Uh, I think that's a different ET,” Birch pointed out.

“Oh, you may be right, there, too!”

“Look, I'm sorry about not being so nice or whatever. I'm just a little mad at my associate right now because she doesn't know proper sleep etiquette.”

“WHAT?!” I spat. “That's not true at all!”

“Hey, it's totally fine! I'm just glad to have company for once!” She waved it off.

“Anyway, you're like pretty or whatever, so feel free to spit on me if I get to be too mean to you, 'kay?”

“Aw, thanks!” She shook her head, swooshing her pigtails from side to side.

After we had a dinner of nothing but a whole bunch of pizza rolls (honestly, goals), Trent showed us to our rooms. Blanc decided they weren't interested in a room and were fine just sleeping on the couch. What a weirdo. Just as I was starting to warm up to them, they do something stupid like that. On second thought, I should've thanked them, since after all, they took the bed the night before.

“I assume you two probably want to share a room?”

“No,” I replied.

“Oh, okay, well then, sorry for assuming. I'll show you to one of the other rooms.”

“I changed my mind. I'll share a room with her.”

“Are you sure you want to?” Velvet nudged me.

“Yes.” Oh boy, was I going to regret this.

The siblings went into their respective rooms, as did I. Inside was nothing but a queen sized bed and an empty space by the way. In other words, perfect. With the press of a button, my workstation unloaded and presto! Even my chair came along with me! Everything was in order. Except for one thing: Velvet took to the chair as soon as it appeared.

“Hey! That's my seat!”

“Too bad. I'm not leaving this chair until you tell me what's been bugging you.”

“That's not how that works!”

“I'm staying right here.”

I huffed. I knew that was going to happen and I still gave her a chance. What a pain, what an absolute pain in the fattest rear end that ever existed!

“Fine!” I plopped on the bed. “There's enough pillows here. I can spread them all in a line and lay on my belly right over them.”

“You know that wouldn't work if you had bigger boobs.”

“What?! Why are you being the mean one?”

She turned around in the swivel chair.

“Because this is bugging me, too. I deal with your attitude because I know you better than that, but you can't just be like that with everyone you meet. First there was Blanc, then these siblings who were kind enough to give us a place to stay.”

“Okay, but you know I had a valid reason for not trusting Blanc.”

“Yeah, but everyone? Come on!

“I apologized, didn't I?”

“Yeah, just like you apologized for losing control at the restaurant the other day.”

How could she? Just bring that up. The gall. My hands formed a fist.

“That's not fair! You know I can't control that! I just do what I can to prevent it!”

“You're right. I'm sorry. But you can control how you act with other people.”

I hated this. All of this. None of it was fair. I didn't need some lecture, especially not from her of all people. All I wanted was a good time.

“You can't change someone,” I growled. “You should know that.”

“I-I wouldn't want to! I don't think you need to change, I just wish you'd treat people better.”

“Okay. Deal. Can we be done?”

“No. Because you still haven't told me what it is about last night that's got your panties in a twist.”

“Okay, first off, I wear boxers, so jot that down.”

She glared. Why? Why was she being all serious? She was supposed to be the jokey one!

“You can be so hot and cold. Sometimes, you're brutally honest and I appreciate the honesty, but then whenever it concerns me you're still brutal, but you get all coy and evasive. I don't care if we don't go any further--”

“Good,” I interrupted. “'Cause we won't.”

“--But I would like it if you were more honest with me.”

“Big talk coming from you.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I know. My whole life is shrouded in lies. But that's not what this is about. This morning, I caught you holding my hand, but then you acted like I'm the worst thing that's happened to you. So I want to know, do you like me or do you hate me?”

“I...” No. No. Stop. Don't make me say it. “I'm neutral. If you want me to be nicer, fine, but I can't have any strong feelings toward you one way or the other.”

“Can't or won't?”

“Don't do this. Please.”

“If you hate me, fine. I can live with that. I'll just sleep on the floor tonight and leave you be.”

“I DON'T WANT YOU TO SLEEP ON THE FLOOR!” I snapped. Oh god, I hope my shouts weren't too loud. That wasn't what I wanted. I could feel myself shaking. Velvet turned wide eyed.

“Are...are you okay?”

“Yes! Just. Please. Let's stop.”

She turned back around in her chair. “You're right, I'm sorry. I probably hit too many buttons.”

I got up. I didn't know if this was one of her tricks or not, but I didn't like where it was going.

“What are you doing? I thought we were done.”

“I'm going to try figuring something out on this laptop. Maybe I can find some information, somewhere. You were right, too, I wasn't taking things seriously enough. I feel like I literally have the world on my shoulders. The last thing I need is a relationship.”

“Hey, uh, let me see those shoulders.” Deary me, what was I doing? She leaned forward in her seat and I began massaging her shoulders.

“That feels nice,” she sighed.

“Yeah, yeah,” I turned my head, embarrassed.

“Can you say one good thing about me?”

“Let's see...you're quick on your feet, you're funny. Er, sometimes. You care a lot about others, and you're quite smart, even if you don't always act it.”

“That was more than one thing.”

“Look, I...” Yeah. She wasn't done just yet. “I don't hate you.”

“I don't expect you to like me, either, though. Even if I tease you. I know we were only partners back in Area 51 because the place was going to explode and we had to work together to survive. Otherwise, one of us would have killed the other.”

“Look, that was a different me. Maybe my feelings on you are still complicated, but I don't want to kill you. I don't even want to hurt you.”

“Aww,” her voice went back to her usual tease. Almost a relief. “Almost sounds like you care.”

I wiped my eyes. There must have been a smudge on my face or something. “I do. I just...”

“You just?”

“Can you just come to bed. Please? I don't want you on the floor. I didn't want you on the floor last night.”

“Are you sure?”

“YES!” I covered my mouth. “I want to sleep on top of you. I can't sleep well otherwise!”

“Was this what all this was about?”

At once, she got up and walked over to the bed. Her expression didn't seem to change much, which was still a bother, but she moved the pillows aside and laid on her back. Then, she raised her arms up and motioned for me. “Well, come on, then.”

I ran over to her and laid down, my head resting on her chest. She wrapped her arms around me and without warning, I started to cry.

“I don't hate you. I just don't want to feel strong feelings toward you the other way. I'm afraid of what might happen.”

“There, there...” She gave my back a rub. “I understand. Whatever happens, I'll still be there to try to keep you safe. I don't care if you say you don't care.”

“I do.”

Oh jeez, I was already getting tired and I was in no position to turn the light off. Likewise, there was no way I was going to let her get up.

Later in the night, I awoke. It just happens sometimes. Not anyone's fault, even if all is well. Honest, I loved that Birch was able to finally get that off her chest, and I enjoyed the position we were in, but it may have just been my thoughts waking me up. Or it could have been the light being left on.

No, pretty sure it was my thoughts.

Maybe in the morning, I'd be able to do some actual research, but then, part of me doubted that would happen, either.

First, Blanc showed up the day before. Then, Blanc, Birch, and I meet these siblings who apparently Blanc knew from another universe, our apartment got destroyed, and we moved in with them. Yet I still had no idea about the whole Flashbulb thing. There was also the matter of this friend that Blanc seemed to keep forgetting about, which just served to remind me that maybe, even if it is still them, there's still going to be a lot I wouldn't know about them.

It was all going so fast, and by the looks of things, it wasn't about to stop. All I could do was hope that in the midst of it all, something would come together.

#happiness overload #writing #Drama #comedy #weird fiction #alternate universes #surreal #relationships #friendships #stories #scifi #etsy #animal crossing #bastille

1 note · View note

firebirdsdaughter · 5 years

Text

Special Valentines Day Post...

... Zi-O 22 subbed.

Okay, maybe special in name only.

... I’m kinda scared, actually.

In no order:

GTFO Kuro Woz, I’m mad at you right now.

Poor Sougo gets Rider Kicked out of the Mirror World. Poor baby. DX

GEIZ! HONEY! BABY! You’re fine, stop it! God, why are you like this? I mean, I love you, but... Honey. Stop. Tsukuyomi, smack him. Actually don’t, that wouldn’t help.

God he’s so dramatic, though. I mean, it’s Geiz. Can’t do anything by halves here.

Okay. Wow. That was... Actually kinda a jerk thing to say, Tsukuyomi. Talk about not helpful. So he was wangsting a little, you didn’t have to go there.

Like, Geiz is upset bc he was looking at things purely as a, well, soldier, and briefly considered going through w/ Shiro Woz’s idea to stop the attacks and other people getting hurt, and is clearly being like ‘I’m such a terrible person for this.’ He expresses this to Tsukuyomi, and her response is ‘Yeah, Sougo didn’t even think about it.’ Like... I’m sorry, what? He’s clearly hurting over this already and all you say is basically imply ‘yeah, you’re not as good as Sougo’???? I will totally buy that she didn’t actually mean it that way, but that was very much how it sounded. You really couldn’t say something like ‘Sure, maybe you thought about it, but you didn't go through w/ it, why don’t you consider that?’ Man, no wonder he’d turned away from her when they camerawomen pulled back...

And then she just follows it up w/ asking about if he thinks Sougo will become Puma Zi-O. Tsukuyomi, how about comforting your friend a little? You’ve apparently got enough compassion to save the life of the person who murders your father in the future, but you can’t be bothered to show any for someone who is allegedly your childhood friend? Sweetie, I love you, really, but... Really?

Especially since it’s immediately followed by Ryuga attacking someone else. Like... Yes, I don’t agree w/ Shiro Woz’s plan, it probably wouldn’t work and sacrificing an innocent person is never a good course. But I can totally understand Geiz, esp given his background, thinking about it, given the circumstances (since there’s apparently no other way to beat Ryuga w/out a Kamikaze attack). He deserved a better response than essentially being told Sougo was a better person.

Again, I absolutely want to think she didn’t mean it that way. But that was what it sounded like to me.

Speaking of Sougo... Eh, he’s fine.

Alright, I may been a little annoyed at Tsukuyomi rn, but her and Geiz’s reactions in this scene remain gold.

Geiz just closing his eyes like ‘someone please shoot me...’

Also, the urge to punch something is just emanating from him in waves...

Sougo’s just lying there giggling like ‘whelp, no way out of this one...’

I... I thought you guys established this in the previous ep...

Oh, I’m sorry Tsukuyomi, you care now? Okay, okay. I’m being overly critical, I know. That earlier scene just really hit a nerve for me.

Sou is really cute, and also really good at the ‘sad puppy’ kind of look.

Geiz teleports to the front door again.

THANK YOU SOUGO. See? THAT’S a good response, Tsukuyomi. Not something that’s basically a guilt-trip. You want to mention it after, fine. It’s something to consider in the ‘will Sougo become Puma Zi-O’ brainstorming, absolutely. But you could’ve at least tried to reassure him a bit first, so it doesn’t, you know, come across as you telling him he’s a bad person compared to Sougo.

Again, I’m really sorry for going on about this one little thing. Like I said, hit a nerve.

Has Sougo tried to sacrifice himself at this point? Like, I don’t doubt he would, but... I guess she’s just saying theoretically? Or she’s referring to the ‘take me out if I go evil thing?’

Oh, wait, I guess he did try to kill his future self. I don’t know if that counts, though.

This is sweet and all, Tsukuyomi, but I’m still mad about what you said to Geiz.

I think ‘subjects’ is just gonna be Sougo’s little cute-though-also-obnoxious personal tic...

Now really starting to wonder if the ‘reason’ Sougo becomes Puma Zi-O was just... Always destined to be tied to Geiz somehow? I have wild and unlikely theories, but...

Angry puppy is yelling at sad puppy.

Seriously, as long as it’s also Sou I can’t feel threatened by Mirror¡Sougo.

Still trying to get used to Shiro Woz.

So... Did he write that, or... Did it appear? If you wrote it... Well, like I said. He’s strangely tolerable for this episode.

Oh, yeah, and:

WAGA KYUURANGERS.

Make up your mind, dude. Are you for helping, or not?

I still say bring back Woz.5.

Well... Technically he’s Kamen Rider Ryuki... Was... You know what, not gonna go into it. I already spoiled Ryuki up the wazoo in my Raw post.

I’m not even listening, I’m just watching him make the Shinji faces. XD

dude, it’s literally an evil, warped version of you. I’ve met the real you, he’s a sweetheart. Even Ron liked him. And Ron didn’t like anyone.

I love how every time we see this fight now, it’s just Geiz sitting down somewhere watching Shiro Woz get blasted. Which is a valid pastime.

Puppy debate! ^^

Mirror¡Sougo has the cutest ‘evilly confused’ face ever.

Still hoping for the thing to be that being a king doesn’t necessarily mean ‘ruling over’ people? If that makes sense? Like, he could be called the ‘King of Time’ bc he’s got powers over time, and it’s cool, rather than ruling it? Like, and I know many people didn’t like it, but, the way Daigo was nicknamed ‘King’ in Kyoryuger? He wasn’t a ‘king’ King, but he got called ‘king.’ If that makes any sense whatsoever.

See, I definitely believe she cares about him very much, but she really choose her words poorly in that scene, and I feel like she should apologise for that. Just a ‘I wasn’t trying to imply you were a bad person or Sougo was better than you, I was just considering what this meant for him in regards to Puma Zi-O.’

Aaaagh! There I go again! Man, that one line just really got under my skin somehow...

Love how it does, like, a little laser-pointer effect.

WAGA KYUURANGERS.

In my defence, I wrote the most recent chapters of It Is The Clock’s Pendulum before this episode came out.

This scene is very serious, and heartbreaking, and sad. Geiz is my favourite.

...

I am losing it at Another Ryuga just chilling over by the tree.

Shiro Woz.exe has stopped functioning.

Weird sound effects when Sougo shows up???

Still wish they coulda given him more of a reaction. He does kinda do the sad puppy look, I suppose. Still.

Also wish Tsukuyomi could have had a better response to Geiz earlier... Can I just pretend those things happened?

How did he see the future? Did he just... Turn into Zi-O II on the way over? What does that even MEAN?

Sougo: ‘Fuck this timeline!’

The brief Woz-Fight is still funny. during this episode, I’d actually prefer that Shiro Woz win. But just for this episode.

I would always prefer that Woz.5 win.

I love how Geiz just... Doesn’t deHenshin. Like, He and Tsukuyomi are trying to follow this battle, but he just... Refuses to drop his transformation. For whatever reason.

Seriously? Your sword has your face on it and it compliments you? Who made these?

Yeah, Geiz is just literally blaming himself here. What do you mean ‘this time’ though? I guess... You mean all the times it was Woz? I actually think we can totally blame this on Woz, too. Though the Kamikaze stuff might have been a trigger, I’ll admit.

No, wait. What am I saying. This is obviously Decade’s fault.

The fact that it literally is is the best part.

Tsukuyomi, would it kill you to not let Geiz blame himself for everything this episode? -_-

Though I guess this is the ‘Tsukuyomi is suddenly weirdly angry’ scene...

Like... I’m really starting to think this is personal. I guess this is the power he used to kill her father? Pity we never brought that up before.

Though now that I think about it, that could be it. Puma Zi-O did use some sort of time-stop-manipulation ability when he dusted Dad, so that might be why she’s reacting like this.

Geiz, on the other hand, is really unsure.

Tsukuyomi, are you really that shocked that people have darker sides to them? You never met Kisaragi Gentaro, you have no excuse for (apparently) assuming Sougo has no traits that would ever lead to him becoming Puma Zi-O in some way.

Though I am admittedly not clear on what exactly those traits were... I guess his habit of being wily and the fact that wanting to be ‘king’ comes w/ wanting power? So... Ambition is evil here? I dunno.

I guess it’s all or nothing w/ Tsukuyomi. Though she could specifically be referring to ‘We have to actually decide whether or not we’re gonna kill him’ rather than saying ‘we should kill him.’ TV show cliffhanger tactic, make everything round more threatening than it actually is.

It’d be interesting if she and Geiz do switch up, though. Bc he’s the one who was super black and white (no references to any Wozes intended) about it at the start. ‘If I even think you’re going to turn into Puma Zi-O, I’m taking you out,’ and how quick he was to go for it in the Genm arc. But here... He seems really uncertain still (probably not helped by the fact that Sougo did this to save his life), while for Tsukuyomi, a line has clearly been crossed. It’d be an interesting way to twist things up if they do go that way.

Oh, yeah, and the two times Tsukuyomi talks at the camera this ep are still creepy.

I’m winder if the look Geiz just gave her was meant to be a ‘wtf?’ look. Bc it kinda looks like one? It also could be something else, I dunno. Maybe he’s just looking serious.

SHUT UP KURO WOZ.

I love how we don’t even see him, Kamen Rider Kikaider just freaking steals the shot.

Also, hi Kikaider!

Why is he punching me, though?

Freaking Zi-O II Watch is freaking huge in the end cap.

Kamen Rider Zi-O takes notes from LuPat and only schedules this actor for two episodes.

Man, he’s very good looking, though. Even in that outfit. Bet he uses the wrench to transform.

The fact that this ep ended w/ Tsukuyomi, of all people, apparently saying they need to kill Sougo (like I said, could just be a cliffhanger scare-tactic), then it goes to the preview of Sougo running around w/ some sort of ‘studying’ bandana on (I assume it’s studying bc the summary said he’s cramming for finals, essentially. Or midterms.) talking to some dude in a yellow turtle neck and a denim jacket that’s just a little too short. Whiplash.

Oh, wow, he’s from 2121? So that makes him the first/only future Rider we’ve had that’s from after the year that Geiz, Tsukuyomi, and the Wozes come from (in any timeline)!

Also interesting, bc it means he definitely won’t be around in any way in 2019. Not even as a baby.

Oh, hey, Sworz. I... Honestly almost forgot about you. Sorry!

This preview is trying to make me think the boys are competing, and I refuse to accept it until proven.

Or if it is, maybe it’s friendly. Or maybe it’s just ‘let’s both fight this thing, and, I dunno, one of us can take it down.’

My guess is Sworz is talking to Shiro Woz, but my knee-jerk reaction was ‘no, I don’t want to play a game w/ you.’

That’s all, folks! Virtual pond cake for anyone who read all that.

Anyway, I’m sorry I had such a reaction to that one line (well, two, kinda) of Tsukuyomi’s. It reminded me of a bad experience I had once and just really got on my nerves. I promise I still love her, and I know she does care about Geiz. I think some of her reaction to the Zi-O II power may have been bc of (well, I at least presume he was) her father? Bc remember, Puma Zi-O used the time powers to vaporise everyone, and he pushed her into the trench to protect her? So this may be her being like ‘I want to believe in him, but that’s the power that I literally watched kill my father, so now I’m freaking out.’ Also, it’s a beloved style of cliffhanger for any sort of tv show to make things sound more threatening than they really are. I dunno if Toei even remembers that (WHO IN TIME IS GOGGLES THE DEAD PERSON?), but that’s my initial thought.

Geiz looks super unsure, though? Like I think a line was crossed w/ Tsukuyomi now, but the line started crossed w/ Geiz. And I feel like it’s been getting... Uncrossed? Like, he started this so certain of what he needed to do and what was going to happen (I still think his plan was to go back, do it as quickly as possible, then get out before he had a chance to think about the fact that 2018 Sougo was still technically innocent, bc he knew he’d be too conflicted if he did), but he’s been steadily becoming less convinced of it? So, like, even now, he’s the one who’s still thinking they can still change things? Oh, well. We’ll see.

Special treat for anyone who actually read all this way (or just skipped to the bottom; in that case don’t read any further! No JK, you’re fine, I ramble a lot, I’m sorry), is a random concept/theory I had: What if Sougo’s recurring dreams when time is ‘altered’ (Shinobi, and now Kikaider no I will not stop) indicate that he’s somehow... Super connected to time? Like... If it were electricity, he’d be a conductor, or something? But then, like, Geiz and Tsukuyomi aren’t like that, but they’re like... ‘Anchors.’ Like, there are people who are sensitive to time, and kind of ‘flow’ w/ it, but then there anchors who keep them/it moored/grounded or something? Feel like this was a thing in Den-O, but I don’t remember the details. But, like the reason Sougo is able to get all these ‘time powers’ is bc he’s so sensitive to it? But it also means that it’s really easy for him to get... I dunno, absorbed by the time flow? And, like, Anchors can’t get all the wild powers, but they also are either impossible or significantly more resilient to the time flow? So, like... The wouldn’t get erased/absorbed (at least, not right away/as fast) if they like... Fell into the time stream? Augh! I’m bad at explaining. Point is, Sougo nearly gets absorbed into time stream, but the other two pull him back bc they’re anchors and they ground him in a particular time/location/time plane.

I don’t think that made any sense.

#Kamen Rider Zi-O #it's just partially based off their personalities too #anyway #i rambled a lot so not much to say here #remain impatient for Birthday Sentai #have I mentioned I love Geiz?#more than everyone else apparently #no I'm being mean #anyhow #my precious tsundere son #Timey Wimey Rider

3 notes · View notes

fanforfanatic · 7 years

Text

To The Hilt - 4/13

Dean Winchester/Original Female Character

Summary: When they run into her for the fourth time in a fourth state, Sam and Dean don't think it's a coincidence anymore. Maybe they kidnap her to get to the bottom of things. Maybe they accidentally put her on a path of destruction. Maybe Dean falls in love with her a little. Serves her right for stalking them, to be honest.

3730 Words

Chapters: 1 2 3 - you are here - 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Read it on ao3

Chapter 4: The Crushing of the Egg of Creation

It’s Day Four of La Gran Investigación and Castiel has joined their ranks. There is little news from Heaven other than a confirmation that there has been spikes in evil activity but only in the locations Robin and the boys were in and an angel who used to assist Metatron, the scribe of God, thinks he might be able to alter and decipher the Cosmos’ message. No one knows what ‘alter’ means, in this case.

As far as the research goes, Castiel answers their questions when they have them. Debunks some of the lore, confirms some of the mythology and lets them know when he has no idea. He reads in an armchair placed slightly to the side. Robin thinks it’s adorable, and oddly human, the way he tucks his feet under himself.

Unbeknown to her, Castiel does some observing of his own. He’d always thought there was something almost symbiotic to the way the Winchesters work together and he is surprised to see that Robin Fera has fit right in, slipping into their routine, harmonizing effortlessly with the brothers. The only oddity being a weird tic she has where she waves a hand around by her head, at eye level.

“I think we need to pool everything we’ve got together and try to figure out where to go from here. I don’t think we’re going to get any further with this research.” Dean suggests.

“I agree!” Robin exclaims a little too enthusiastically. “Besides, at this point, the books are repeating themselves.” She adds more calmly. Robin hasn’t sat down and researched this much, this consistently, in a long time. Sometimes she breaks away to work on her blog or to meditate in her room, but she still struggles to focus. Especially considering the subject matter.

“Uh-huh, sure.” Sam laughs. “So we have very little but here’s what we do have.” Sam starts referring back to notes on his laptop on and off as he speaks. “The Cosmos is basically balance. The maintaining of balance in the universe. Order in the universe. The way it’s spoken about, it’s almost like a sentient version of the universe, which would explain the voicemail the angels got.”

“So is it...a being? How can the universe be a creature?” Dean asks.

“I don’t know but it was said more than once that the Cosmos is born of the big bang, so maybe it is part of God’s creation. A deity in its own right? Like Ganesh or Odin.” Sam replies.

“That’s not far-fetched.” Robin chimes. “The closest thing I found on a personified version of the Cosmos is Ananke,” She thinks for a second, trying to recall the specifics, before continuing. “Goddess of force, constraint and necessity, daughter of Chronos and mother of the Fates. There was information on how to invoke her, too.”

Castiel nods and moves to stand at the head of the table. “For the Greeks, she is the equivalent of the the Kosmos, with a ‘K’, like the Kardashians.” The brothers share a look and Robin laughs.

“You guys get cable up in heaven, Cas?” Dean teases.

Cas looks at him oddly. “I get cable everywhere.” He deadpans pointing to his mind. Then he continues reciting from memory. “Whilst often thought of in terms of a stern woman, Ananke is also often depicted in serpent form, and it was said that the serpentine coils of Ananke and Chronos crushed the egg of creation to bring order to the cosmos and then encircled the universe, directing the passage of the heavens and the forward motion of time.”

“So we think the Cosmos helped set off the big bang? Wouldn’t that make it an entity outside of the universe? Outside of time and space?” Sam wonders.

“Not if they’re born from the big bang like we read,” Robin says, working out the confusion in her mind. “If they are, then they can’t exist outside of the space-time continuum.” She thinks for a moment. “The only way would be if they belonged to every universe. If they were the multiverse. That’d mean they’d be able to exist outside of our space-time by existing in another. The point is moot, though, because they wouldn’t be able to do something from outside of our universe to our universe if they can’t do it from within our universe.”

“How do you figure that?” Sam asks impressed. He knows she didn’t read all of this in the past few days because he’s been through the same books as her.

“The Copernican principle stipulates that Newton’s laws on Earth are the same laws of physics the rest of the universe is bound to. You can extrapolate that and infer that the multiverse follows the same rules as the universe. Ergo moot point.”

Dean looks between her and Castiel a few times. “Is this legit, Cas?”

The angel sits. “It is scientifically valid and makes sense contextually. It is ‘legit’.”

“My head hurts,” Dean complains leaning back in his chair, massaging his temples.

“Where did you get all this?” Sam asks smiling.

“I studied physics in college.” She shares.

“You were in college?” Sam asks excitedly while Dean, dumbfounded, asks “You were in college and now you’re a blogger?”

She laughs. “Yeah, I double majored in theoretical physics and creative writing.”

“That’s why you stopped hunting,” Sam concludes.

“No, actually. I hunted throughout college and a few years after that. I only stopped about a year and a half ago. I used to run with other kids of hunters, a younger generation, like you. We’d mostly work cases in our college town but we’d make trips every couple weekends.”

“And now you’re a blogger,” Dean repeats.

She laughs again. “Yeah, I didn’t want to settle down. So I drive around the country. I take pictures of food I eat and then I write about it. I’m paid kind of decently for it too.”

“You live on the road?” Dean asks but it sounds like an accusation.

“Um yeah,” Robin hesitates. “That rust bucket you like to pick on is what I call home.”

“You live out of your car?” Dean’s tone is grimmer now.

There’s a tension in the air. Sam and Castiel are quiet.

Robin isn’t sure where Dean’s agitation is coming from so she picks her words carefully, to justify her lifestyle maybe. “Yeah, like a lot of hunters do.” She shifts uncomfortably in her seat, under his gaze.

“But you don’t hunt.” He all but convicts, leaning forwards.

“Dean-” Sam tries to interject but Robin speaks over him.

“No, I don’t.” Her voice is calm and leveled if a little pained.

“You got out of the life, you got out, and you still choose to live like this. What’s the point? You know how many hunters try to get out like you did.” He’s almost yelling now, it’s angry but it’s more desperate angry than fury angry. “Sam tried, y’know? He was at Stanford.”

“Dean-” Sam tries again.

“I’ve tried.” Dean barrels on, his voice cracking. “You’re throwing it away. If you can stop hunting then you’re not a hunter and that’s a good thing.”

“I...” Robin isn’t sure where to start. His attitude whenever she brings up not hunting anymore makes even less sense, now. “You get pissy because I don’t hunt, now you’re getting pissed because I’m not living a normal sedentary life. How about you pick a cause, buddy?”

Dean glares at her. “No hunter I know has ever quit and no hunter who’s tried has continued to live on the road. No one chooses that. So how about you tell me all about how you’re not just a kid who played at being a hunter one too many times and now is pretending even more with the dumbest road trip, sweetheart.”

Robin glares right back at him, her lips set in a hard line, blood boiling. The arrogance this man has. Robin has never been a kid playing a hunter. She’s been a kid and a hunter at the same time but that’s not the same thing. He doesn’t get to be angry with her. She doesn’t owe him anything and she definitely doesn’t deserve him throwing his own crap at her. Which is what this is, Robin knows. She gets that it’s not about her. She gets that most hunters come with baggage, hers just happens to be lighter than most. She gets that sometimes the only way to put it down is to toss it at someone else.

She has a carry-on. Dean Winchester, if the rumours are anything to go by, has a cargo ship.

“I didn’t have a choice.” Her voice is quiet- no point in having this escalate- and so is the room. Even Dean seems to have regained his senses. “I...” She sighs. “I have this thing called synesthesia.” She says finally, casually. “It got in the way of my hunting, made it dangerous. Or more dangerous, I guess.”

“Synesthesia, that’s an illness where a person’s senses get scrambled in their brain,” Sam explains to no one. “They can see sounds, taste words, feel scents on their skin.”

Robin nods. “It varies, from person to person, like most things do. Before my... When I was younger, it was mild. Kind of cool, actually. But after, when my parents died... I know you know who they are. You’ve known since you had me tied up in that quaint cellar of yours.” She laughs, the humour doesn’t reach her words.

It’s true, the boys knew as soon as they’d found out her last name. Every hunter knows who the Feras were. How they died. In a blazing fire taking down the largest vampire nest ever reported. The nest was decades in the making and taking it down was years of work for the Feras. The boys knew they’d raised their daughter in the hunter life, they didn’t know if she had been there though, they had never given it much thought. Other hunters didn’t come onto their radar until after Sam left school and by then Robin wasn’t advertising her full name anymore.

“When they died,” Robin repeats. “The disease got worse. Where before I’d get a bad taste in my mouth when someone said the word ‘Monday’ or I’d feel like I was tripping on acid at concerts, now my vision goes almost completely black when I hear people so much as talk about creatures. I hear ringing in my ears and there’s a taste so vile in my mouth, at first I considered ripping my tongue out.

“I tried. I tried to keep hunting. I did with other hunters for a while, until I realised I was more of a nuisance. Putting them in danger. So I started hunting alone. I didn’t want to stop. Hunting had been my entire existence up until then. It’s what I thought I’d spend my life doing. Eventually, though, I had to face the music. I was going to get myself killed.” She sighs. “I wish it was different. Hunting was such a big part of me. It still is. It’s still part of who I am. So I’m living my life the best way I know how. And, yeah, that’s on the road. I know what the hardships are when you’re a hunter, Dean.” She turns to him, her eyes focusing on someone for the first time. “The responsibility. I’m sorry, you’re stuck shouldering it.” She says to him. Meaning every word. Wishing there was something she could do. “I’m sorry I can’t contribute.”

Somewhat shell-shocked, Dean nods, a lump in his throat. It’s his silent apology. A lot makes sense now. Her odd reactions at the gas station. The weird hand-wave thing which he now realises she did whenever they were talking about creatures while they researched. Even the fact that she had so many changes of clothes, never needing to borrow from the boys. She lives out of her car. If you can even call it a car.

“Robin-” Sam starts but he’s interrupted again, this time by the scraping of chair legs on the floor.

Castiel, Angel of the Lord, angel in a trench coat, rises to his feet and walks over to Robin. When he stands before her, he touches two fingers to her temple. Seconds, during which nothing happens, pass before he retracts his arm. With a soft smile and perhaps with what is a little regret, he speaks words that change Robin’s entire life. “You’re healed.”

“I’m what?”

“I’ve healed you. The illness is gone.”

Robin rises to her feet slowly. She keeps a hand on the chair, though, afraid she might lose balance. “You wha...” She swallows. “How?”

“I’ve corrected the chemistry in your brain.”

Sam opens his mouth to speak.

“Everybody shut up,” Robin says agitatedly.

This is getting ridiculous. Sam thinks, unable to get a word in edgewise. He does shut up, though. Everyone does. Everyone is quiet eyes peeled on the girl who looks so tense her muscles might rip and bust. Minutes pass, minutes during which Robin does nothing, stares into nothing, eyes wide and unblinking. Her lips tremble. Dean realises she is trying to form words she’s afraid to speak.

It’s in the smallest voice ever when she finally tentatively whispers, “Vampire.”

The clock ticks thrice and nothing happens.

Then Robin repeats, more forcefully, “Vampire.” A smile breaks out on her face. It is both hesitant and full of abandon. “Ghouls, ghosts, werewolves, rugaru, demons, specters.” And on she went naming monster after creature after monster, her smile getting bigger with each passing word. She’s moving in the room twirling on herself, looking every which way as if daring something to taint her vision.

She’s on the other side of the table, now, next to Dean. She grabs one of the books off the table and flips through it stopping only when horrific images of beasts appear. When the only taste in her mouth is that of the grilled cheese she had for dinner, she laughs. She turns to Dean grabbing him by the shoulders. “You say something now.” She demands, blissed out.

Dean hesitates for a second. “Euh, Djinn. Hellhounds. Chupacabra.”

Robin squeals and lets go of him, running back around the table. Sam laughs at her antics enjoying seeing someone so excited for the first time in a long time. Robin stands in front of Cas and grabs him by the lapels of his trench coat. “Thank you.” She exclaims before laying a wet one on him. Cas flushes, Dean frowns, Sam averts his eyes laughing. She pulls away grinning maniacally, then wraps herself around him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She repeats tears stinging her eyes.

Then she’s off again, running around the room screaming about being ready for the goddamn zombie apocalypse. Daring the universe to come at her. The three men look at her, amused. Finally, she slows downs and stands at the head of the table, where Castiel, her angel in a trench coat, had stood before. “You guys don’t understand. I can hunt again.” Her smile now is softer. “I can become who I was raised to be.”

One second, she’s basking in the moment, enjoying finally, finally, having her life begin to take the course it was always meant for, and the next she’s bent over, her face pressed into the hard wood of the table, her wrists pinned at the small of her back.

“You need to train again before you go out there to hunt anything. Sam and I won’t fix this thing with the cosmos just so you can get yourself killed.” Dean commands.

He expects her to resist. To say she was raised on hunting. To assure she doesn’t need training. That, in fact, she can take on whatever the cosmos is warning her about on her own. Which is what he fears she’ll try to do. Because he wants her safe, but also because he wants her here. He doesn’t know why he expects her to react like that, later he thinks he should have known better after the few days he’s spent with her, should have known her better. Yet he’s surprised with what she does say.

“Okay! Okay, yes! I need it. Besides, fuck yes! Training with the Winchesters. I’m all over that like glitter in a drag club.”

Dean lets go of her and steps back. “Well, alright then.” He says chuckling. A twinge of guilt remains however because of how he spoke to her. “I’m gonna get some beers. Celebrate.” He adds and then leaves for the kitchen.

Sam hasn’t stopped smiling. “I’m happy for you, Robin.”

Robin sighs, deeply satisfied. “Thank you.” She breathes, falling back in the chair behind her. “I’m happy for me.” She’s calm and zen as she feels everything fall into place. Thinks that maybe she was brought to the Winchesters if only to meet the angel in the trench coat. “Dean’s right.” She finally says. “We should celebrate.” She sits up, more animated. “We should go out. Let’s go out.”

Sam laughs. “I could use a night off.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” She exclaims. “Cas? Angel of mine. You’re in?”

Cas gives her a fond smile. “I’m afraid not, Robin. I am needed in heaven. The angels are distraught, to say the least.”

She nods and stands. “Alright.” Her tone is weightier. “Thank you.”

Castiel nods, a smile gracing his lips. He prays he has not condemned her to an unfair life, an unfair death. Then, he bats his wings and he’s gone.

“I’m gonna go shower,” Sam says cheerfully, standing to leave the room.

“I’m going to check with Dean.” She calls after him and skips to the kitchen.

She finds Dean leaning against a counter, one hand gripping the edge, the other holding a beer to his lips as he pulls a long drag. She leans against the counter opposite him.

“Did you not want to share?” She reprimands with a toothy grin.

He looks at her and smiles but it falters quickly.

Her own smile slips off her face. “What’s wrong?” She asks. She moves to touch him, hesitates and then does it anyway placing a hand on his forearm slowly.

The contact, small and light as it is, feels, for lack of a better word, nice, to both of them.

“Dean?”

“I owe you an apology.” He chokes. He’s so bad at this. He doesn’t even remember the last time he’s admitted to being wrong let alone apologised to someone. He’d been so shitty about her not hunting since the first day and he had no goddamn right to be. “I was jealous.” He says in a breath, realising it for the first time for himself. So this is what it means to be in tune with your emotions.

“It’s okay, Dean. I forgive you.” She says, smiling genuinely up at him. It’s a small smile but Dean thinks it helps him forgive himself a little.

“Just like that?” He tries to joke, but it comes out forced.

“No,” Robin replies with a smirk. She takes the beer out of his hand and places it on the counter behind him. She steps into his space, pressing their bodies together. “Maybe.” She continues dropping into a huskier tone. She sees his eyes on her lips and it only spurs her onwards. She’s never been happier to have waxed her upper lip. “If you promise to come out and celebrate with Sam and me.”

Dean swallows. He feels overheated like he could set the place on fire. Like he could set them one fire. He thinks they might already be, where they’re touching. “Yeah, okay.” He answers almost entranced. He leans forward to finally touch his lips to hers like he’s been waiting for this moment his whole life, but she steps away, smirking.

“Good answer.” She approves, and the sound goes straight to his groin. She turns to walk out of the kitchen. “It is a momentous occasion after all.” She sings, winking at him over her shoulder.

Dean thinks he isn’t a puddle on the ground only due to an act of God himself. He grabs his beer and drains it. She wants to play dirty? Game on.

Robin is back in her bedroom. Blood courses through her at a mile a minute and she feels elated. Like she might actually levitate off the ground, she’s so blissed out. She was healthy. Really truly healthy. Fit enough to hunt. Some training wouldn’t do her harm, though, Dean was right about that. She was still good, great dammit, if only a little dulled. Her heart races even faster as she thinks of training with Dean. Their sweaty bodies having carte blanche to touch and feel and take and have.

“Jesus, get a hold of yourself.” She says shaking her head, the glee still on her pink face.

She goes to the wardrobe, one of the only pieces of furniture in the room, and opens the doors. Over the past few days she’d brought up quite a few things from her car but no more than what was necessary. A voice in her head warned her that she was overstaying her welcome but she smothers it since the brothers had never made her feel that way.

She contemplates what’s hanging in the closet and decides on the black high-wasted pencil skirt that hits just below her knees and hugs her figure nicely, usually reserved for FED work or the few business meetings she’s had. It snuck in between two pairs of jeans when she first brought some of her clothes in.

She keeps the white cropped t-shirt she has on and pulls her hair out of the elastic. She had put it in a bun at the top of her head, early that morning, but slowly the blob had migrated to the nape of her neck. She’s happy to see that the frizz isn’t too insane. She gives herself a once over in the mirror and taps her stomach, that doesn’t lay perfectly flat, affectionately. Satisfied, she leaves the room to go to where she quickly learned was the meet spot for the brothers, the foot of the stairs.

Sam’s already there, looking dapper.

“Dashing as ever, Samuel.” She greets and continues to her seat at the library table.

“Thanks.” He says, smiling with his eyes. “You look...barefoot.” He looks down at her feet that weren’t barefoot but fuzzy-sock clad. “Nice. But barefoot.” He adds.

She laughs. “Thanks, Samjamin. (Sam and Benjamin but also like jammin’ Sam. Jesus fine okay. I’ll work on it. You’re never happy, y’know.) I have heels in my car.” She explains, walking back to him, now with her phone in hand. “I’ll meet you guys in the garage?”

“Yeah, okay.” Sam nods and then yells, “Dean hurry up!”

Robin laughs all the way to the garage where she slips on simple chunky heeled (for endurance!) shoes with ankle straps (so they don’t fall off if she’s running from bad guys!), chucking her socks in the trunk, and then leans against the impala, body turned towards the door that leads into the bunker. Her heart had calmed since being goddamn healed, but she still feels an electric energy running through her. She’s ready to enjoy the night after almost a week of little other than books upon books.

The boys make it to the garage minutes later.

“Sam said you’re shoeless and-” Dean stops when his eyes land on her. They roam her body appreciating her curves but not for nearly long enough when Sam walks into him from behind.

“Dude.” Sam says.

“Dude.” Dean counters.

Sam doesn’t pay him more attention than that and makes his way to his seat. Robin’s eyes haven’t left Dean, though, and when his meet hers she winks and smirks. She thinks it might be a language for them, now. All they do is wink and smirk at each other.

“Considering the circumstances you wouldn’t let me drive would you?”

He walks right up to her, presses his hips to hers just like he had all those days ago by the bathroom, and leans down so his lips are to her ear. Robin, who’s now trapped between the car and Dean, holds her breath. She thinks he just might say yes.

She hears the sound of a door open and for a moment thinks it’s Sam getting back out, that he’d see them like this, but then Dean whispers, “Not a chance.” The feel of his breath on her ear sends shivers through her entire body.

He steps back, opens the door to the backseat fully and waves for her to get in. She does, grumbling, still catching her breath. If Dean checks out her ass guiltlessly, she is none the wiser.

Chapters: 1 2 3 - you are here - 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Read it on ao3

#dean x ofc #dean winchester x ofc #dean x reader #supernatural fic #supernatural #spn fic #spn fanfiction #supernatural fanfiction #dean winchester #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester x reader #to the hilt #to the hilt supernatural #fanforfanatic #my writing

5 notes · View notes