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in-my-feels-probably · 3 years

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INEFFABLE - Kaz Brekker

Prologue - Before

If you would like to read this on Wattpad, it’s on there as well, my @ is in_my_feels_probably and there’s a few visuals and better descriptions and stuff on there. otherwise, enjoy, let me know what you think, and you can check out my masterlist for updates and more.

INEFFABLE -- Kaz Brekker

ineffable (adj.)

too great to be expressed in words, utterly indescribable; too sacred to speak of.

Prologue - Before

Elham Creed had never known what it was like to be part of a family. From a Ravkan orphanage, to the Little Palace, finally landing in Ketterdam, the Barrel, she had never felt the sense of safety and security she had longed for as far back as she could remember. She wouldn’t find it in Ketterdam.

At 13 years old, with nothing but a collapsable sword belted around her waist and the clothes on her back, she had spent the first few days in the Barrel stalking around, stealing scraps of food where she could, trying to get her bearings. The frigid air sweeping over the harbour into the edge of town at night where she slept was enough to make Elham almost miss her room at the Little Palace.

Almost.

She wouldn’t go back, not after her mentor, Baghra’s, warnings. All she could do was push forward and move on. She spent nights alone ducked away into abandoned shacks, using her powers to spark warmth and light, practicing control. Being an inferni had its perks, but Elham was special. She didn’t need a starter, or a piece of flint to create a spark she could turn into a flame. She could create the flame all on her own. She kept this and her powers a secret, however. If the Darkling had taken interest in her abilities, there’s no doubt one of the Barrel bosses would bait her into doing their bidding.

And Elham Creed would do no one's bidding. She would be no one’s puppet.

---

Elham remembered the first time she killed a man. Coincidentally, it was also the first time she met Kaz Brekker. She was now 14, making her way towards the harbour, working on one of the odd jobs she could scam her way into. She headed past the White Rose on the way, one of the most frequented brothels in Ketterdam.

She headed down the alley behind the sorry excuse for an establishment, when she heard a scream. She rounded the corner, to find a man with his hand wrapped tightly around one of the employed girls' wrists, the other hand making its way up her hip, pinning her against the wall.

It’s a shame. Maybe if he had heard her coming, he could have avoided the sword held up to his neck. He could have avoided his death.

Most men in the Barrel, as Elham had come to realize, were not good men. While the ��pigeons,” as she had come to know the tourists as, would have tucked tail and ran, this man did not. He only scoffed.

“A sword?” The man had slurred at her, clearly drunk. “You do realize I could have you shot and dead in a second, and get back to this lovely girl you so rudely interrupted me from. Although, you’re a pretty thing. Exotic. Maybe I’ll have you instead,” he had said, reaching for the pistol strapped to his hip.

Big mistake.

With her eyes glossing over, and a rage building inside her, she quickly removed the sword from his throat, and ran it through his back. He sputtered, and fell to his knees, choking on his own blood, or maybe his last words, Elham didn’t take the time to figure out which. She walked around to face his front as he gazed up at her, clutching his stomach with wide eyes. She breathed heavily, eyes wild.

“Good riddance.”

She lifted her foot and sent him sprawling back against the street, blood pooling around him. She glanced back at the girl who was still frozen against the wall, and her eyes softened.

“Thank you,” she whispered, before hurrying back into the White Rose. Elham only nodded, taking a breath, before turning to head towards the harbour.

That’s when she saw him.

A boy, no older than 14, dressed in black, gloves fitted to his hands. He seemed to be analyzing her, gears turning in his head. Kaz hadn’t mastered his pokerface yet, and Elham was good at reading people. She was unsure why she didn’t feel threatened by his presence, especially since he had just witnessed her kill someone, and she had no idea what his intentions were.

“You just killed a Dime Lion.”

Elham had heard of the gang before, and their leader, Pekka Rollins. She knew she was going to regret interfering with gang business, but her head was beginning to cloud, tears forming in her eyes. But she had saved that girl, she had saved herself, it was a split second decision. Unable to form words, she met the boy's stare.

She only slowly nodded in response.

After pondering for a moment, he had offered to take her to his boss, claiming that she’d be a valuable asset to the team. He’d never admit to her that it really was because he couldn’t bear to see the Barrel swallow up and harden another innocent kid, and maybe it was the way her eyes had glazed over, or how tattered her clothes were, or simply because she didn’t look at him like he was some sort of monster, but he took her in.

It was true, Haskell had been needing a new asset to the team, someone young and quick who could take care of themselves. Bringing a girl back to the Dregs was a risk, and Kaz was in no position to make himself look weak around the gang, but he just couldn’t leave her there in the street. That part of the Rietveld in him hadn’t died yet.

To this day, Elham isn’t sure what made her accept his offer to come with him. After almost a year in Ketterdam, she trusted no one, got close to no one. She had no business getting involved with a gang, she could have walked away, continuing to the harbour for the job assigned to her. There was something about him, though. And going with him was arguably the best decision she has made, she had decided.

---

Elham had been part of the Dregs for a few months, slowly gaining a reputation for herself. Kaz had taken a liking to her, almost admiring how fast she had taken to a life of crime, to the rigidity of the Barrel. He found a secret comfort in her presence, and in the fact that her story was similar to his. She hadn’t revealed much about her past to him, just enough to keep him intrigued.

And he was, despite his brain demanding he think otherwise, intrigued. She was ambitious, and cunning. Most interestingly, however, she was ruthless.

She had killed many men since the day she met Kaz. Barrel men were not good men. Elham made it a point to seek out the men who only caused pain. Men like the first man she had killed, men like Pekka Rollins and his Dime Lions. Men like them didn’t get to cause all the pain and suffering they did, and live.

Kaz had dubbed her, “The Valkyrie,” once, while on a job. The other Dregs took a liking to it, and it stuck. She asked him many times what it meant, why he would call her that, but he only smirked to himself, amused by her new found reputation, much to her annoyance.

He finally explained it to her, the night he broke his leg. They had been paired on the job together, and it had gone disastrously. They were sprinting along a rooftop, when Kaz made a bad landing, completely breaking the bone in his leg.

It was the first time she touched him.

When she first joined the Dregs, she had quickly picked up on the fact that he didn’t want to be touched. She could sense his unease when they had to be close together on jobs in tight spaces, or when one of the drunken Dregs would pat him on the back for a job well done, or during a brawl with a rival gang. She always kept her distance, respecting his space.

But this time, she had no choice. Kaz was crying out in pain, and Elham knew she had to get him back to the Slat to get his leg reset, and out of harm's way. She clicked the button on her belt and grabbed for the hilt of her sword, and with a flick of her wrist, it unfolded into place to its full length. Kaz had pulled himself to a kneeling position, desperately trying to hide his vulnerability, eyes frantically looking for an escape. She offered the hilt of her sword to him.

“Kaz, you have to let me help you. I’m sorry, but you have to let me. Hold onto the hilt, and on three, I’m going to tug under your arm to get you standing. We’ve got to get you back to the Slat before you pass out from the pain or we get ourselves killed out here.” He only gave her a pained look, before nodding, and they slowly made their way back to the Slat, with him putting as much weight on the hilt as he could, Elham trying her best to make sure he couldn’t feel her fingers through his jacket as she dragged him along.

Hours later, while he lay unconscious on the cot in his room, Elham had anxiously waited in the chair in the corner of the room. She hadn’t realized how much she had grown to care for Kaz, for him and her life with the Dregs. She knew she would have killed for him that night if it came to it, no doubt about it in her mind. Kaz only awoke for a few minutes that night, and had mumbled a few words to her.

“Do you know what Valkyrie means? It means ‘chooser of the slain.’ It seems like you choose who lives and dies around the Barrel. Killing men, making sure I don’t die. It’s fitting, isn’t it?” He had joked to her, the faintest of grins tugging at his lips. Elham had sucked in a breath, and offered a small smile at him, standing to leave as he drifted off, knowing he was going to be alright. Broken, as she knew he would think of himself, but alright.

---

It had been a few years in the Dregs, as the Crows slowly formed. First Jesper, then Inej. The Dregs had become a force to be reckoned with in Ketterdam. Despite their ages and newness to the life of a gang, The Sharpshooter, the Wraith, the Valkyrie, and Dirtyhands were well known identities around the Barrel.

They had hardened over the years, Kaz more so than any of them, the Barrel being a quick teacher in offering harsh life lessons.

Elham remembered the first time one of them uttered the words, “no mourners, no funerals.” Inej had been interested in what Elham’s name meant, Elham meaning inspiration, Creed meaning belief or law. A particular favorite member of the Dregs, and a friend of Rotty’s, had been killed on a job. Elham took this particularly hard, he was one of the men that had made her transition into the gang easier.

They sat silently in her room together, when Jesper spoke softly. “You know, I’ve been thinking about your name. Creed. Maybe, ‘no mourners, no funerals’ could be our creed.” Elham had let a tear roll down her cheek at that, and she nodded at Jesper, letting him grab her hand, while Inej, perched on the window ledge, laid her hand on Elhams shoulder. Kaz had lifted his eyes from the floor when Jesper spoke, his eyes landing on the girl. He slowly slid his cane towards her, softly tapping the end at the base of her ankle, before returning to his original position.

It was one of Elham’s favorite memories of them. Of him.

The Crows were chaotic and an odd group, but they were Elham’s family, as close as she would ever get to one. Saint’s forbid she ever told them that, it would go straight to Jesper’s head. But they were enough for her. Her Crows were enough. And they were about to raise a little bit of hell.

---

A/N - hi everyone, omg im so excited about this book, i hope you liked the prologue, im working on the first few chapters and will have them up soon. let me know what you think so far, and thank you for the support!

#kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker #six of crows #shadow and bone #wattpad #prologue #original character #ineffable #in_my_feels_probably

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kateis-cakeis · 3 years

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This analysis is specifically for this anon

HELLO, Ghostbur did some SHOUTING today! Do you know how amazing that is? Do you know how long I’ve been craving that?! HOLY FUCK

Hi... Let’s reset. Ghostbur shouting at Phil was a big step, and even though he forgot all about it, it shows a lot about Ghostbur and what he cares about, and that in turn shows why he’s changed his mind on being brought back to life.

(All these quotes are from Wilbur’s stream, First Time Ghostbur Live: 6th Jan)

When he begins talking to Phil, he’s... calm.

“Why- Why did you- Why did you blow up L’Manberg?” - (17:19)

The way Ghostbur says this with such sadness, such sorrow. It hurts.

I MEAN LOOK AT THE POOR GUY! He’s emotionally destroyed by it. Because of Friend, because Friend’s dead, again, and we know what that does to Ghostbur, it hurts him. Because he loves Friend. (Which suggests that canon deaths in the Dream SMP are real, painful deaths, which is why they’re so serious in their nature.)

And then he shouts, and he makes Phil listen (after he tries to make the excuse that Friend has infinite canon lives like that makes it better):

“You knew Friend was in your house! You knew! Stop! Stop! Stop! You knew Friend was in your house! You knew everything everyone owned was in this town!” - (17:39)

This line shows how Ghostbur is thinking, him putting his head in his hands, him shouting, it shows his emotional state. He’s full of anguish and pain, sadness and anger.

But what does it suggest he’s thinking? That he puts value on people’s belongings. (Including books, because like rip to them, that one hurts.) Friend is a physical being, something he loves, but he applies that same love and value to what people owned in L’Manberg.

It causes him great pain to think of this, that those things are gone, without ever getting them back (a bit like death, huh).

Then we get this line, where he’s completely done with Phil’s explanation:

“I don’t- I don’t- I don’t- I don’t want to listen- I don’t want to hear what you have to say. I don’t want to have to hear what you have to say. I- I- I’ve read the history books, Phil. I’ve read the history books. You- You- You slayed the dragon, you slayed Alivebur. You were the- You- You are the St George of the Dream SMP. We understand, everyone understands that, Phil. But, look what you’ve done. How can you look at this and still see yourself as a hero. Sending a message, Phil. Sending a message?” - (17:58)

So, that’s a big quote, and every single part of it is so important.

His repetition shows his struggle with his emotions. But he makes the point again that he’s read the history books (no one else, but that’s a separate thing entirely). He knows what Phil did, hell! He remembers it! He sees Alivebur’s death as a good thing, and the parallel to him being a dragon and Phil being St George, where do I even start with that???

Because dragons in legends hoard things, right? So you could see Alivebur’s hoard as L’Manberg itself, that’s his gold. And Phil is the hero for slaying the dragon who wanted to keep L’Manberg from anyone else (which shows how Ghostbur doesn’t remember Alivebur’s final motivations for blowing it up).

But Ghostbur understands, he’s telling Phil that everyone understands why he killed Alivebur, only to point out that the destruction of L’Manberg removes the title of hero from him. He can’t be a hero when he caused so much destruction. (At least Alivebur knew he was the bad guy. Phil and Techno think they’re in the right, that they’re heroes.)

He specifically calls out Phil’s wording of sending a message. Ghostbur can’t understand that, because it doesn’t make sense. Sending a message. I get the implication of what Ghostbur is suggesting, that sending a message makes Phil the villain, makes him as bad, if not worse than Alivebur.

At least Alivebur had cause! Sending a message is pure evil, through and through. (but that’s just my opinion :P)

“So you make me suffer? I- I don’t know what Alivebur did, and I’m really trying to remember. But I know what I did, and I just wrote books. I built- Remember the lanterns we used to make? I built them. I- I built a house for people- I- I set up this area- I built this town just like I built Logstedshire, and I watched them both blow up. And I didn’t- I- I didn’t- I didn’t hurt anyone, and yet I’m the one who pays. Tommy didn’t even live here, Tommy didn’t have a house here. I sowed the seeds of peace, and yet I’m the one who pays for war.” - (18:47)

I picked out this screenshot specifically because he’s making this expression as he talks about the lanterns, the anguish in his expression, the way he’s looking out at L’Manberg, head slightly tilted up towards the lanterns. It shows how Ghostbur holds onto the good memories, but he feels the deep sadness of building up L’Manberg again, making it look nice, houses, the main area, he built that town more than anyone else, gave it a personality, only to lose it.

And he feels that, as well as the pain of losing Logstedshire. He makes the point that he hasn’t hurt anyone. And he hasn’t. Not physically anyway, the only damage he’s done as Ghostbur is the pain others feel knowing he doesn’t remember the bad.

And this line, this 30 second line, it shows so much. It shows how Ghostbur still feels how Tommy never even lived in L’Manberg (I know he had that house under Ranboo’s but he never really lived there like the others). It shows that Ghostbur feels like he’s paying the most because he built it, because he lived there, because he had the history books, because.... “Everything for L’Manberg. For L’Manberg, my L’Manberg.” (Wilbur’s Amangus with new and old friends :): 1:46:29, 24th Nov)

And he’s right, he set up peace. He called out Tubbo, he made sure to remind him of the values. He made his point to Phil that L’Manberg wasn’t doing things right. He made the same point to Ranboo. He tried. He read the history books, he kept telling people! But they didn’t listen, and in the end... he paid for it the most because he thought he had done enough, but it’s not enough. With L’Manberg it never is... was, I suppose.

“I know I’m forgetful, I know I’m an amnesiac, and I know I’m the comic relief in all of your stories, but I still feel this, I still feel things. And I try my best to make sure no one else feels it... And I just.” - (19:32)

This is Ghostbur’s turning point for the quote that comes after this.

You know what all of this is? All these quotes, Ghostbur making someone listen to HIM for once. All people have done since Ghostbur has been around is shout at him, belittle him, treat him like he’s stupid, patronise him, go against all of his wishes. Finally, this talk with Phil allowed him to take control again and speak his own mind without being beat down, he was loud, not quiet, he even banged his fist, something Alivebur did a lot.

He had his fire.

But this line... He’s calling people out, calling them all out. He knows he’s forgetful, an amnesiac, the comic relief in their stories (is that why he’s inserting himself back in the narrative? to put himself back in, to take control of his story again?)

And he makes the point that he feels this, he still feels things! And why would he make this point? For what I said above. He’s only ever been beaten down by others, or patronised. He’s reminding Phil that he’s still very much a being that can feel, he isn’t devoid of emotion, in fact he’s full of ‘em. All the emotions, especially sadness.

You can see it in his expressions too, the way he puts his head in his hands, the way he covers his mouth. He’s full of pain.

His goal though is to make sure no one else feels what he does - the sadness - which makes sense to why he hands out Blue like it’s gone out of fashion. It may be his unhealthy coping mechanism for his depression, but he’s trying his best. He just wants people to be happy.

But, as I said, this is his turning point. He hangs up on Phil and thinks for a moment, in complete silence, nothing but the sounds of the surviving campfires in the apiary to keep him company. He realises that Alivebur needs to come back, he knows that in being forgetful, he isn’t helping people like he wants to.

He knows as Ghostbur he can never make any progress (especially since he forgot the entire conversation with Phil).

And so...

“I take it back, Tommy. Tommy, I take it back. I’m burning in the rain right now, and I just- Tommy, I want you to bring me back to life.” - (20:07)

“Tommy, I know- I know I said- Tommy, I know how I said I didn’t want- I didn’t want to be brought back to life because I didn’t want to- Because that would mean me as Ghostbur would stop existing. But I want- I want you to bring me back to life. I don’t want to be Ghostbur anymore.” - (22:12)

These quotes are so important. They show how Ghostbur’s mind has changed from:

“Hey, Tommy, I was having a think about it, and I don’t think I want people to bring me back to life.” - (Tommy’s Alone?: 47:38, 19th Dec)

“If I am given a life, does that mean I die? Like Ghostbur dies? And Alivebur is alive but Ghostbur is dead.” - (Tommy’s Alone?: 48:11, 19th Dec)

To now wanting to be resurrected. He’s made peace with the fact that he must die for Alivebur to exist again (which is sus, like this poor depressed boyyyy). But he’s doing it for noble reasons, it seems, not uh.... not other reasons, I don’t think. He wants Alivebur to exist because Ghostbur can’t help as much as his alive self could.

And hell, maybe he’d be able to make up for his mistakes.

Overall, his conversation with Phil shows many things. Mainly, that Ghostbur saw what he was doing in L’Manberg as sowing peace, that he relates his love for Friend to people’s belongings, that this is his turning point in how he sees himself (and how he can’t stay dead), and that it’s him putting himself back in the narrative.

This one conversation had so much to tell, and I’m sure I could analyse it further but this is far too long (1.8k words). So, if you made it this far, thank you for reading <3

#dream smp #ghostbur #pls pls dont let this flop #this is the most intense analysis ive done on ghostbur so far #it's his turning point #he's putting himself back in the narrative #he made someone listen to him for once #he thought he had brought peace to l'manberg #i was gonna add a read more but idk where to put it #so uh sorry for the long post #dream smp analysis

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petri808 · 3 years

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I3+Bakudeku mutual pining idiots Actor AU @miss-lorali request. I’m an idiot cause my idea is gonna be waaaay longer then I was aiming for lol.

“Okay,” the hiring director motioned for the pair to move closer. “Mr. Midoriya, remember you’re a scientist and Bakugou’s character is here to take you to safety. But you don’t understand why just yet. So, if you are ready, please begin the reading.”

Katsuki gesturing wildly, “pack it up quick nerd, we gotta get out of here before DAV gets here!”

Izuku pretending to complete a file download. He slammed his fist on the imaginary desk. “I can’t make the computer move faster! I don’t even understand what the hell is going on!”

Katsuki, “you’re science experiments aren’t important, we—”

Izuku straightened out, walked over and placed a finger on the larger man’s chest, running it slowly down from his collarbone to his pecs, while lowering his tone and narrowing his eyes. “Oh,” his brow raised, “and what would a grunt like you know about science?”

Katsuki slapped his hand away in annoyance, though a light flush arose on his tinged cheeks. “F-Fuck off!” He gritted back. “Just hurry the fuck up!”

“Yeah, yeah...” Izuku went back to the imaginary desk and pretended to type something. “30 seconds, fast enough for you? Probably like your bedroom speed,” he mumbled the last portion.

“What?!”

“And cut!” The hiring director yelled. “That was perfect!! Midoriya you’re hired!”

“Oh hell no!” Katsuki screamed at the director. “He added lines at the end! How is that okay?!”

“Because,” the woman countered. “It was still perfectly in character, and you know very well that the Director allows actors to ad lib if it fits the scene.”

Katsuki crossed his arms, “I refuse to work with him.”

“You’ve already signed the contract,” her brow perked up, “and may I remind you of the penalty if you quit now?”

“Find someone else!”

“No. The chemistry between you two came through perfectly on camera. It’s done. He’s it. End of discussion.” The woman then ignored the raging blonde and turned to Izuku. “I’ll let your agent know so we can sign the contracts, and I’ll have the full script sent to their office by end of day along with the filming schedule. You did a great job today holding your own and not getting lost next to Bakugou. I’m glad to have you on board with this project.”

“Thank you so much, Ms. Ashido. I was quite excited when I heard about the project and look forward to being part of the team.”

“Kiss ass,” Katsuki sneered. “You’re in. No need for simpering.”

But Izuku played it cool. He wasn’t about to play into the leads temper tantrum. “You might be top as an action star, but I have my own credit successes. So, stop treating me like the hired help, or I’ll make you scream in another way.”

Katsuki’s eyes flashed wide and mouth hung agape. It’s been a long time since anyone’s stood up to him and this smaller, green-haired, freckle-faced mouse just grew a set of balls to rival his own. “H-how dare you?!”

“I dare,” Izuku grinned brightly. “See ya later Kacchan!” He waved as he walked away.

Ms. Ashido giggled. “Oooo, this is gonna be so good! I must say I’d chalked him up as iffy, but he really proved me wrong.”

“Little shit is already giving me a nickname? Who the fuck does he think he is?!”

“Your new co-star.” She patted his chest twice and walked away with a smirk.

“Fuck!” What did he just get himself into?!

That afternoon, Katsuki left the studio in a total huff. And to think, he’d gone in excited to be working with Izuku Midoriya. Their movie credits ran in different circles, but he knew exactly who the man was. Izuku was from all he’d seen a great actor, and the perfect person to play his opposite. The guy looked like a handsome office worker, lean but built well, smaller then himself, and would fit snuggly against his chest in a romantic scene. In fact, it was after one of Izuku’s very first movies as a lead that a crush bloomed for the man. He had expected a quieter guy, but oh, boy! Had he been blindsided! And if that didn’t just turn him on even more!

Hence the dilemma he now found himself in. He’d have to act side by side with a man he was extremely attracted to, but only pretended to be. Katsuki was certain that Izuku’s attitude during the read was the same as his— pretending. Because that’s how you sell a movie. If the audience buys into what you’re selling, box office sales will go up. It’s not supposed to be real emotions. Heaven help him this just might kill him!

At home, he read through the script again noting the section that would be his hardest to overcome. The love scenes. No full nudity, not even close, but there is a section near the end where in a moment of pent up emotions, and the exhilarating rush of emotions, they end up lip-locked. Granted, the more realistic it is, the better, but Katsuki felt the nerves kicking in just thinking about it. He could only pray that in the real moment, and energies are heightened, he simply runs on instinct and acting prowess.

‘Come on, dumbass! It’s not your first kiss scene!’ Katsuki growled to himself in the safety of his own home. “Stupid!” He was making himself all flustered like some virginal teenager about to kiss his first crush! Fuck that! He wasn’t about to show Izuku any weakness! The last thing he wanted was for the man to figure out he was really just an overgrown pining fool behind a mask of anger. He didn’t even know which way the man swung because Izuku kept his life private, very private. A miracle in their world of paparazzi. It meant two things, Izuku really was good at hiding, or simply wasn’t seeing anyone for them to catch. Either way, Katsuki couldn’t figure out what he desperately wanted to know. Did he have a chance?

A month later, Katsuki and Izuku found themselves on location in Europe where most of the scenes would be filmed. The premise of the movie is of a top-tier scientist in the field of chemicals played by Izuku, who is to be kidnapped. But because MI6 caught wind of the plan, they sent in one of their agents played by Katsuki to get Izuku to safety. They barely make it out of the lab in time and now they’re on the run, being hunted by a group called the DAV who want Izuku to create chemical weapons for them. Katsuki needed to somehow get Izuku safely from his home in France, back to England where the MI6 brass waited to secret him into permanent hiding.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Izuku screamed and yanked Katsuki to halt. The moment they stop moving, he collapsed onto his knees, clutching his chest trying to catch his breath from all the running. “W-what is going on?!”

“Look,” Katsuki tried to yank the man back to his feet, but Izuku slumped and played a dead weight. “Damn it, we gotta get out of here before someone sees us!”

“No! I-I can’t keep running like this! I’m not exactly athletic! Now, tell me what the hell is going on!”

Katsuki growled and ignored Izuku’s pleas. He grabbed him instead and dead lifted him up, hoisting the man onto his shoulder in a fireman carry. Izuku bucked, but Katsuki literally slapped his ass to behave. “Just shut up for now,” he snapped and took off running down the alleyway. “I’ll explain everything when I get us somewhere safe!”

“If I’m the victim, shouldn’t you be nicer to me?!” Izuku retorted.

“I’ll be nicer if you stop causing me a headache!”

As soon as they exit the alley, Katsuki quickly surveyed his options. The bad guys blew up his car, so he needed transportation. He saw a man exiting a vehicle and rushed over, pulling a gun on them.

“Gimme the keys,” he aimed at the man’s head, to which they immediately complied. “Now scram!”

Katsuki put Izuku back on his feet. “Get in!”

“Where are we go—”

“Just get in the fucking car!”

Once Izuku is inside the passenger side, Katsuki got into the drivers and hightailed it out of there, heading towards the outskirts of town.

“Trailing car... And cut! Perfect!” The director called out. “Thirty minute break to reset for the next scene.”

“Kacchan, wanna get some lunch with me?” Izuku asked as they stepped out of the car.

“No,” Katsuki replied and quickly walked away, leaving his co-actor standing there with a sad, pouting look on his face.

‘Don’t turn around!’ He screamed at himself. Just co-workers, he reminded. Don’t get too close to that cute... freckled... “Fuck!” Katsuki screamed the moment he slammed his trailer door behind him and fell back against it. ‘Why’d I slap his ass!’ He groaned and ran a hand down his face. It wasn’t in the script and apparently the director didn’t mind it. ‘You did it cause you wanted to...’ his conscience chimed back. “Fuck you.” That’s not true...

A few minutes later there was a knock at his door. “Go away!” Katsuki snapped, he didn’t want to be bothered. Then a second knock, and a shuffling sound. “Go the fuc—” He whipped the door open to find no one standing there. “What the?” That’s when his looked down and saw a wrapped sandwich and a piece of paper tucked under it. Katsuki picked it up and closed door, opening up the sandwich to eat it. He was hungry, just didn’t want to take Izuku up on his offer. As he ate he opened the note:

I just wanna be friends :) that was a taxing scene, so you must be hungry. See you back on set. -I

It had been Izuku.

“Tch.” Katsuki bit down on the sandwich. ‘Didn’t have the balls to stick around though.’ But despite his grumping, he couldn’t help the light blush filtering onto his cheeks and warmth filling his body. Izuku was just too damn nice.

Filming an action movie was a lot more taxing then the consumers might realize. Thankfully, stunt doubles did the hardest scenes for the pair, but close ups and cardio elements were all them, and to see Izuku keeping up with him left Katsuki pleasantly surprised. Too pleasant. Moments in close confines, of him holding or dragging the man around left his libido in agony by end of day only to be relieved by a hand it didn’t want. Almost four months of agony had left Katsuki’s mind a buzz, trapped in a cycle of false realities and wishful thinking.

It was the last day of filming, and the scene Katsuki had dreaded had finally arrived. So much so, that he’d convinced the producer to hold off on filming it till the very end despite it taking place two-thirds of the way through the movie itself. Screw it, they can edit and splice it in. For a lot of actors, the intimately romantic parts were the hardest to accomplish, because conveying such raw emotions and making it believably real for the audience took great finesse.

They were holed up for the night in a small run down inn Katsuki managed to find after crossing the French border into Belgium. They were both exhausted, Izuku’s character more so, unused to such physical demands. DAV always managed to catch up to them within a day or two, so it left them little time to breathe, and Izuku was at his breaking point.

The smaller male pounded on Katsuki’s chest while tears streamed down his face. “I can’t keep doing this! Why can’t they just leave me alone?!”

Katsuki grabbed Izuku’s flailing arms gently to stop him. “I don’t know why.” He pulled the man towards the bed to sit down, taking a place beside him as he did his best to console. “But I promise I’ll keep you safe. We’ll get to safety soon and it will all be over with.”

Izuku sobbed harder, burying his face in Katsuki’s shoulder. His fingers gripped tightly to the man’s torn shirt. “You can’t promise me that,” he mumbled. “I’ve caused you so much trouble, maybe it’s best if I gave myself up to them.”

Katsuki pushed the man back and forced Izuku to look up at him. “Don’t you do that! Don’t you dare! You think I’m gonna just let them take you?!” His voice cracked as he channeled real emotions of the fear of losing this man. “You... I’m not letting them take you away from me Hitomu!”

Izuku looked up when he heard the pain behind Katsuki’s words to find tears pooling and clouded ruby red eyes. He held the man’s gaze for several seconds, staring, lip quivering. “I don’t want to leave you either, Takeo.” Izuku’s fingers slowly uncurl, smoothing out and lowering to Katsuki’s firm abdomen where it came to rest just above the waistline and pressed in firmly. “I feel safe with you.”

Katsuki’s breathing slowed as his eyes widened. Shit! He’s not ready for this scene! He thought he was, oh how he wanted to just rush in and steal Izuku’s lips! But his mind froze as glistening emerald eyes held it hostage. What was his lines? Are there any lines? Fuck! He couldn’t think straight!

“Cut!” The director yelled. “Bakugou, what’s the problem? You hold the gaze for a second then kiss him. Do you need a break?”

This was the first time since making it big that Katsuki’s messed up a scene like this. He took a moment to snap out of his trance, then yelled back. “No! Let’s just get this over with.”

“Alright. Places people, let’s take it from the last line Midoriya. Action!”

Izuku repeated the last line, “I feel safe with you,” adding a deeper grip to the waist band of Katsuki’s pants.

Katsuki’s eyes lower, half-lidded as he reached out and caressed Izuku’s face gently, cupping the man’s cheek before leaning in and landing a solid kiss. His mind was barely holding it together to keep his actions gentle.

Izuku reacted accordingly, once again his fingers gripping to the fabric of Katsuki’s clothes as the kiss was deepened considerably.

Katsuki’s hand trailed up and behind, tangling into his co-actors green curls. He let go of any control and lost himself in their embrace, in the feel of Izuku’s supple lips against his own. In that moment, they were no longer filming a movie scene, but transported into the blonde’s fantasy, of so much more that he’d love to do this man’s body. His eyes rolled back and fluttered as Izuku trailed heated kisses down to the nape of his neck, pressing firm nibbles and light mewling whines.

“Kacchan...” Izuku huskily whispered too low for the microphone to pick up.

But Katsuki heard it loud and clear, and he responded with a rumbling groan that went straight to his groin. Izuku had used his nickname... Not the characters name! His nickname! And damn did it sound sweet to his ears! Katsuki’s too far gone and doesn’t stop the decent, even as the smaller male applied pressure, allowing Izuku to guide them deeper onto the bed. Hands followed curves and groped flesh as they moved under the confines of shirts in the makings of a sex scene. Izuku truly felt wonderful against him, moving in time with his movements like a perfect dance. It was only once on his back, with their bodies semi-entwined, that the director finally yelled cut, and Katsuki’s fantasy came to a screeching halt.

“Brilliant work guys!” The director congratulated his two stars as they made their way off the bed. “I think we can call it a wrap!”

Applause rang out on the set as everyone was high-fiving or shaking hands, patting the two men on the back and adding to the job well done message. Izuku was blushed and beaming, but Katsuki still flustered from the scene, ignored the jovial repartee and beelined it to his trailer for some privacy. It was a miracle no one noticed the slight pitch in his pants, because now he was fucking horny! If the director hadn’t stopped them, who knows how far things would have gone. The sound of Izuku’s voice whispering his name continued to repeat in Katsuki’s mind like a siren, but he couldn’t give into it.

“This was just acting!” Katsuki screamed in the safety of his trailer as he punched the wall as hard as he could. It’s a fantasy! A goddamn fantasy world! And it’s over! “Stop thinking about him!” At that moment, there’s a knock on his trailer door followed by his name being called out.

“Kacchan? What was that loud bang?”

Fuck! It was Izuku again!

“Kacchan?” More determined pounding on the doror. “Kacchan, c-can we talk, please, I need to talk to you.”

“I’m fine, go away!”

“I’m not going away, we need to talk about what just happened!”

Katsuki growled and slammed the door wide open, ignoring the throb of his hand. “No, we don’t! It was just a scene Izuku!” But after shouting his piece-of-mind, he’s taken slightly aback at the teary-eyed man who looked like he was on the verge of crying.

“It wasn’t just a scene for me, Kacchan.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Katsuki questioned, though again his whispered nickname sprang back to the forefront. Had Izuku said it on purpose?!

“Did you feel nothing between us?” Izuku’s lip quivered as he spoke. “Was the passion that came out on set just acting?” His voice cracked. “If you say yes, I-I’ll leave you alone. It’s just— I took this job because... I like you, Kacchan. I’ve liked you for a long time and thought maybe... but— that’s okay, just forget it,” he turned to walk away unwilling to take the rejection face-forward. “Thank you for the opportunity to work with you.”

Katsuki stood in his spot completely stunned by the confession. But the further Izuku moved away from his trailer, he quickly realized he was about to lose the very thing he’d come to desire. He raced after the man and grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around, and slammed his lips into the stunned Izuku. It was filled with an even more heightened passion then before, now that there was no audience watching them. He nibbled at the man’s bottom lip, eliciting a groan, while Izuku’s hands grabbed desperately onto his shirt, holding tight.

“Fucking nerd,” Katsuki mumbled with a smile while threading his fingers through Izuku’s hair. “How could I not want you too after you’d riled me up since the day we met.”

Izuku blushed in embarrassment. “S-sorry for coming on so strong. I just got in my head that I needed to look cool and not a pining mess. I really wanted to work with you.”

“Tch, I guess I can’t really talk, because I acted like an asshole, so I didn’t look like a pining idiot.” Katsuki laughed. “Guess we’re both pining idiots.” He kissed Izuku again and lowered his voice to a sultry tone. “Wanna finish what we started?”

Izuku giggled as his hands tugged at the man’s waistband. “Most definitely.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Silly Bonus: from a chat with a friend lol

As they start to walk back towards Katsuki’s trailer, Izuku takes hold of the man’s hand. But now that the adrenaline had worn off, Katsuki immediately flinched from the pain. Izuku stopped and lifted it up for inspection, seeing the slight swell of the man’s knuckles and drying blood. “Oh my goodness, Kacchan was that noise from you punching the wall?”

“What? No!” He pulled his hand back and hid it behind his back.

“You’re bleeding, we should get the medics.”

“I’m fine, it’s fine, it’s just ketchup.”

“Ketchup?” Izuku’s brow raised. “Really?”

“Really.”

Izuku:

#bakudeku #bkdk #katsudeku #ktdk #bakudeku au #actor au #katsuki bakugou #izuku midoriya #bakugou katsuki #midoriya izuku #bakudeku fan fic #bakugou x midoriya #bakudeku fan fiction #bnha #katsuki x izuku #I’ll be cleaning this up for ao3 later #when I think of a title lol

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everyhowlmarksthedead · 4 years

Text

❛ A DATE WITH A PIRATE ❜

with Johnny ‘Coco’ Cruz.

Request: Hi! Could you write a fic where the reader is a tattoo artist and Coco is getting a tattoo? Maybe Letty's name or something, idk, you choose!

BY ANON

Word count: about 500.

Aurora says: this writing hasn't been edited, you may find some grammar mistakes, I'm sorry about that! I'm sorry it took me too long, because it was requested on 07/18, but I had a break of Tumblr and then I didn't have any inspo to write for Coco.

Gif credits: to the author.

Masterlist. You can subscribe to my broadcast list, to be notified whenever I post a writing!

“I can't fucking believe you're gonna use me to earn a date”.

Leti rolls her eyes, when they reach the tattoo studio in the principal avenue of the town. Coco looks at her, squinting with his healthy eye.

“Listen, I really like her. I have never felt anything like this, so… just help me. Please”.

“I feel like one of those dogs people adopts to flirt with strangers”. The girl rubs her face with both hands, heavily snorting.

“Una perra muy bonita”. (A dog bitch very pretty).

“Coco!” She hits his chest, making his father laugh loudly.

Putting an arm over her shoulders, the two Cruz come into the studio. He has been there a lot of times, because he really likes your tecnic. He likes how you draw, how you tattoo, the way you touch his skin, the way you stir him up just with a smile. For him, it's simply amazing how easy it looked to fall in love with you.

“Hey, pirate”.

Your happy tone of voice pushes him out of his thoughts. He is already smirking at you like a simpleton, and his daughter can't help but raise one of her black eyebrows. The mexican comes closer to slightly hug you, before pointing at his girl.

“This is Leti”. Coco says then, with that strong mexican accent that only appears when he's nervous.

“Hey, what's up?”

You are happy to meet her, finally, after all the things he has told you about that girl. You hug her as you hugged her father, even if it's a little awkward. Looks like she's not used to that kind of gestures, but you totally understand it.

“So… What brings you here?” You ask with curiosity, coming back to your desk to cross out some postponed dates on your schedule.

“Ah…”

Your eyes go straight to Coco's ones. He has his lips parted, watching him collapse for a second as if his brain was doing a reset. Leti frowns looking at him too. Is he about to falter? The girl slaps his nape, making him land onto real life again.

“She wants a tat—We want a matching tattoo”.

“Yeah, and he wants a date with you”.

“LETICIA!”

You're sure that you have heard his heart racing for a second, before suddenly stopping. You can't deny that there is some kind of connection between you two since the first day he came to your studio. You also have taken care of his eye some times, since he suffered the accident. You probably know him better than the ones he calls his brothers. But you weren't expecting that he would really want to have a date with you. So now, you're the one who is in shock. Leti knows she's in front of two idiots. Without a single word, she walks to the desk to grab your schedule and to look for a good hour to have done her new tattoo. Once she finds it, she writes her name by herself. Offering you the helmet she was wearing some minutes ago, the younger Cruz leaves the studio in silence.

“Ahm… sorry, ma'”.

“It's okay, I think…”

“If you don' wanna hang out, I will… totally understand it”.

“No, no! I wo—would love it. I mean… I would like it”.

“Good, did you have lunch already?”

You just shake your head with a soft smile getting drawn on the corner of your lips.

#mayans mc x reader #mayans mc imagine #mayans x reader #johnny coco cruz x reader #johnny coco cruz imagine #coco cruz imagine #coco cruz x reader #coco cruz

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kitkat1003 · 3 years

Text

Who Are You Really?

Spirit Masterpost (Ao3 link there)

Chapter 2: Find A Way In

Summary: This town's got quite the cast of characters

Spirit spends the next couple of months on reconnaissance. They hop over rooftops and monitor the town where the supposed successor lives. They hadn’t had the time to ask for a description after getting their orders from the Demon Bull Family, and they’re afraid to go back to the trio with their query.

Something about that home is broken. Spirit has spent enough time in a broken home to know it’s not a nice place to be in for long. Best to stay away unless they’re needed.

The town that the successor lives in is pretty lively. They only assume this is where the successor lives, though, because the successor had arrived to fight Demon Bull King rather quickly and would likely need to be close by.

They watch the city from the rooftops. Bright colors, people, loud noises—they would hate to be down there, lost in the madness, but from a far enough distance it’s tolerable.

The people are so...loud. There’s so much stuff here. So many things, sights, sounds. It’s awful pretty, especially the glowing stuff. Spirit tries touching it, but it’s really hot. Whatever it is, it burns.

They’re sitting on top of a skyscraper, taking a break with some cheese tea they got because they were curious about it, when the sky shifts. The weather begins changing without reason. That gets them to jump down, because it sounds like a storm is brewing and the higher up you are the more likely you are to be hit by lightning. Getting hit by lightning does not sound appealing.

They duck down into an alleyway, shifting into human form just as Red comes onto the myriad screens all over the city.

Spirit has to give him credit, it’s certainly a foreboding speech. They don’t do well when giving speeches. Often when they’re sent to intimidate or kill they either write up a script on their way there or stay silent. Whichever is more effective, anyway.

They lean against the wall as mortals panic, pulling out their nifty little phone. It’s sturdy, which is good, since they can be a bit clumsy with their things.

‘Red’ They type out. They gave him their number when they got a phone, excited to have one. He’d texted them a lot of boxes. They don’t know what the boxes mean, but they hope they’re nice.

‘I heard your speech up on the screens! It was very articulate and polite, and threatening! I think your dad will be mighty impressed with you.

Do you need my assistance? Please let me know. I’m in the area, so I can come quickly!

From,

Spirit’

They rock back and forth on their feet, turning their head to the side and watching as the mortals all vanish into their buildings, the streets becoming empty in minutes. Spirit has to admire the speed of it. Maybe they got more vigilant after the attack by Demon Bull King. It’s only been a few months since the attack, long enough to set in some sense of safety but short enough that they would still be on edge. Spirit knows the timeline of overcoming traumatic experiences. They start to fade out of the forefront after about half a year if you’re lucky.

Their phone buzzes. It’s from Red!

They blink at the deluge of boxes, using the little arrow buttons on their phone to scroll down.

‘i don’t need anyone! Thnx for the compliment’

Spirit blinks a few times, and shrugs. Red never is very eloquent in text form, and they’ve heard that brevity is the soul of wit! Whatever that means. Spirit isn’t quite sure. Plus, they can understand the desire to do everything by yourself, especially when you’re doing something to prove yourself to someone.

Since the town is pretty much deserted, Spirit takes the time to walk around, get to know the place. They know it plenty from a bird’s eye view, but whenever you scope out a territory it’s best to know all the angles. They trace the different side streets with their eyes and memorize the street signs. They might make a diagram, to make sure the layout sticks in their head.

They’re pretty calm, until they feel the ever ethereal power that comes only from one source.

The Monkey King.

Something like primal terror freezes them in place for a split second, before they race away running as far away from the outpouring of heavenly power that comes with the Monkey King’s presence. They can’t even think about where they’re going, feet pressing hard against the messy street pavement. T, crunching on glass and debris without thought because they just need to get away. They know who Monkey King is. They know that they would mean nothing to such a monarch, to such a being. They have no favors to spare, nothing to keep themself safe, so why wouldn’t he jump on the chance to get rid of them?

Considering their reputation, considering the times they’ve colluded with Monkey King’s enemies, there’s no reason to believe he’d let them live, if he saw them. No reason to think that he wouldn’t leave them a bloody stain on the pavement the moment they appeared in his line of sight.

Or worse, he’ll \tear out an eye for your insolence. He clearly doesn’t have a problem pulling out organs, from what you’ve heard in the stories, and with what he did to Macaque? He’ll ruin you. Well, at least you’d finally have a normal amount of eyes, right?

Their breaths come in short bursts. They climb up to the roof of a short building, curled into a little ball, and shut their eyes.

They don’t manage a single normal breath until they feel the energy of the Monkey King fade out. He must have left, back to his mountain. Good. That means they won’t die today, which really is something! Every day they manage to live is kind of a surprise, really. They’re consistently shocked by their ability to keep going.

They carefully sit up and glance down at their feet. Bleeding, apparently. Not a surprise, given how they weren’t careful when sprinting through the street, but annoying nonetheless. They pull out the pieces of glass, clean off the wound with some antibiotic ointment they keep on them at all times (Mom used to make it herself with stuff they scavenged in the forest, and now you can buy an even better version in the store for cheap), and wrap their feet in gauze.

Once that’s done, they lay back, spread eagle on the roof, staring up at the cloudy sky as they try to regulate their breaths. They’re not exactly steady yet, but at least now they can breathe. Soon, though, the sky clears, and Spirit has to squint to keep the sun from burning their retinas. Their phone buzzes in their pocket, and they pull it out, holding it up so the shadow of it falls over their face, blocking the sun a little.

‘The garbage noodle boy will pay!’

They type out a reply.

‘Red.

I don’t know who the noodle boy is, but I’m sorry he made you upset. Did you have to leave the weather tower? Do you need anything?

Let me know!

Spirit.’

They get a bunch of boxes and a very hard to follow explanation, but eventually they parse it out. Noodle boy is the nickname Red has for Monkey King’s successor, and apparently he came in and kicked Red out of the weather tower.

Spirit asks if Red needs help with his next scheme, but Red declines. That’s fine.

Spirit knows when they aren’t wanted.

As the sky clears, people begin to peer out their windows, and a few brave souls actually leave their homes. Within an hour, the city is back to its bustling state, if a little slow as it tries to reset from the panic. Spirit watches this happens with a fascination one would have with watching ants build a colony. Well, not in the sense that mortals are just like ants, but they are simple in many ways and complicated in others. Peril is unknown to them in a way Spirit never could understand, and to see them grapple with the appearance of it and work it into their community and lives is ever fascinating. Mortals are very tight knit, after all. Everything affects the collective.

Demons are typically solitary creatures. They create small clans, sure, but they do not settle, create towns for themselves.

Spirit flits between the different factions and never settles themself. They have a few caves that could become homes, if they stayed, but they never do. Not when there are favors to hand out, places to explore. Besides, an empty home isn’t a fun one to return to.

They’re about to head out, disappear into the forest areas outside of the town for the night, but the roof door to the building opens.

“Hey,” comes a gruff voice.

Spirit freezes. They turn their head around, slowly, eyes wide.

The figure that stands before them is a stout pig demon, wearing what appears to be a chef’s coat. He’s got stubble, sharp blue eyes, and small tusks that peek out over his upper lip. He stares at them without animosity. Mostly interest and confusion.

Spirit, at a glance, suspects that they’d be able to take him, should he attack. A second glance, more a read of a soul, proves otherwise. Whoever this is, there’s a power they’re hiding. A lot of power.

“Don’t see a lot of monkeys around here,” The demon says.

“Sorry,” Spirit replies, immediately. “I-uh-I didn’t know this was your roof, I was just sitting up here for the view-I-I’m leaving, so—”

They don’t want to get in a fight. There’s no point in trying to throw on glamour, appearing human. And they don’t know how to really explain themselves, either.

The demon raises his hands in a peaceful gesture, trying to put Spirit at ease. It doesn’t exactly work, considering it reveals the demon’s claws. Dull as they are, Spirit is sure he knows how to use them. But they do recognize the sentiment.

“Hey, hey, no need to apologise, ‘s long as you’re not causing trouble,” he gives them a sort of half grin. “Just figured I’d see what you were up ta, if you were alright. Not often I find anyone hiding on a roof for a good reason.”

Spirit stares. They don’t exactly know how to react in this situation, so they just. Don’t. Their tail curls around one leg and they wish they could just. Run. But then he might chase them. That wouldn’t be good at all.

“Uh.” He scratches the back of his neck, seemingly uncomfortable with the silence. “I’m Pigsy.”

How...appropriate? Spirit fights a giggle, because of course his name is Pigsy, what else could it be? The smile worms its way onto their face anyway, and their ears twitch as they look anywhere but at Pigsy.

Pigsy smiles back and chuckles a little.

“Yeah, I know it’s kind of on the nose. Not my first choice of a name, but apparently it’s everyone else’s,” he snorts.

This time, Spirit does giggle, their nose crinkling with the motion as their smile reaches their eyes. They relax a little. If Pigsy is at ease enough to joke, it’ll probably be okay. They’ll probably be okay.

“You, uh, mind telling me your name?” Pigsy asks them, and they freeze again, suddenly shy.

They fidget, then sigh. It would be rude to not tell him, even though they wanted to keep a low profile, but Pigsy is asking nicely, and he doesn’t seem mean. What’s the harm?

“Spirit,” they reply.

With a wave, they leap across the space of the street between the two buildings, sliding down the back side of the building. It’s easy enough to slip into human form and disappear into the crowds towards the outskirts of the city.

They sleep leaning against a tree. It isn’t terribly comfortable, but Spirit is used to that.

The next month is spent really getting to know the town. It’s a huge place, and Spirit wants to be aware of every nook and cranny, just in case. They’re a bit on edge, too, because Monkey King was here, which means he’s unafraid to come back. If they’re around when he does, that wouldn’t be good.

But if they know all the secret passageways, just maybe, they’ll be able to outrun him. From what they hear, the Monkey King cares about mortals, so he’d probably try and mitigate collateral. If they disappear into a crowd, or get underground, they’d likely escape.

They have plans. They make them whenever they stop on a skyscraper and let the wind blow through their fur, when they look down at the steep drop and think about catching a hand over a thousand years ago, when they think about every step to the present. They have a plan for every street corner and alleyway, should they be caught. They have to. It’s the only way to survive.

Their plans come to a halt when they feel a soul split. Well, not split, because that’s not possible, but at the very, least spread out. All kept together by a thin, golden tether that ties them to their source.

It starts as just one tether. Then two. Three, seven, fifteen, thirty-eight, a hundred—Spirit goes dizzy trying to count them all, up on the tallest building in the town. The weather tower’s roof basically has seats built into its design, if you push a window open and sit on the glass tile, so it’s fun to climb on top of it.

Eventually, they have to see what is happening, because the city is dancing with golden lights scattered across it, and it’s making Spirit dizzy.

A group of tethers coalesces in a single building, an anti gravity arcade. Spirit hasn’t gone in, because they like when their feet stick to the ground, and the amount of noise and bright lights is enough to leave them dizzy for decades. They hop to the roof of it, peering over the ledge to see just who is inside.

“Monkey King?”

Spirit whirls around, and comes face to face with a mortal, wearing a bright orange jacket, red pants, a white shirt with a target on the chest (which, not that Spirit would say, is a bit odd, and is asking for a chest injury), and a red headband.

Then, an identical copy of that mortal appears. Then another.

Suddenly, Spirit is surrounded.

“Uh,” they start. “No?”

Regardless of their valiant effort to make it known that they are not the Monkey King, they’re dogpiled quickly, grabbed by tens of hands and carried into the sensory hell that is the anti-gravity arcade.

Considering they’re not being hurt, and considering they can’t move their arms, Spirit doesn’t struggle much. They just shut their eyes, coiling their tail around their leg and staying as limp as possible. Resistance seems a bit futile, and if they’re malleable instead of stiff they’re less likely to be damaged during their, uh, transport.

“I’m really not the Monkey King,” they try again, though their voice gets muffled by the many, many figures holding them.

The group stops. There’s a buzz of chatter before one voice cuts out above everything.

“Alright, alright, what’s the haps? What’s got y’all making me step away from the porty?” The voice has a very casual lilt to it, but it’s recognizable as the same voice of all the other mortals.

“We found the Monkey King!” One of the clones pipes up.

“You what?!”

“We got him, boss!”

“You—okay, okay, lemme see! Drop him!”

Spirit is dropped onto the ground unceremoniously, and the crowd parts so they can look up to this supposed leader.

He looks like the rest of the group, but his orange jacket is tied around his waist and his shirt doesn’t have the target on it the rest of them do. He’s got his pants bunched up at the base of his boots, blue headphones hanging off his neck, and when he glances down at them, Spirit sees a flash of a sharp tooth poking up over his bottom lip.

“Sorry,” they say. “I’m, uh, not the Monkey King.”

The ringleader groans, leaning his head back.

“Of course you’re not,” he says, though the tone doesn’t indicate that he’s angry at them, which is nice. He turns to the group standing behind Spirit, and glares. “C’mon, boys! I told ya if you saw the Monkey King, you report back to me. No goin’ after him, no makin’ a fuss. If this was the real deal, he’d’ve had you poofed quick! The Boss might not know how to make us go away yet, but the King definitely does.”

He gives a quick, cursory glance over the group.

“We lose anyone?” he asks.

The group shakes their heads.

“Good. Now, next time, listen to me!” he shouts.

Spirit flinches at the sound.

The group, thoroughly chastised, all mumble apologies. The leader sighs.

“Alright, alright. Half of you keep on look out, and the rest of you go and play. We got the arcade to ourselves, after all,” he waves them off, and they scatter.

Once they’re gone, he turns to Spirit. Spirit stiffens and very carefully picks themself up.

“Sorry ‘bout them,” The leader says. “They’re not the brightest bunch, and any monkey demon is gonna get them excited. I told them to look out for the Monkey King, not kidnap him, but you spread one brain cell thin enough and things are bound ta’ get lost in translation.

Spirit glances around. They look to be backstage somewhere. The hum of pounding bass is muffled, but they can still hear the music. There are no flashing lights, which is nice.

“Haven’t seen or heard of ya’, though.” The leader speaks up again, drawing back Spirit’s attention. “What’s your name?”

“Spirit,” Spirit replies. “And, um, it’s okay. They weren’t very rough handling me, so it was fine.

“Um,” They can tell the leader isn’t an original, they can see the tether, but they have to ask. “You’re, uh, like them, right?”

The leader shrugs.

“If by ‘like them’ you mean a clone? Sure,” he leans in close toward them. “But, uh, keep that on the DL, you know? Don’t want it gettin’ spread around.”

Spirit blinks a few times. So, clones. That isn’t surprising. Macaque can make clones from his shadows, and he told them that Monkey King can make clones out of hair. The successor must have inherited that power.

The thing that does confuse them, is

“DL?” they ask.

The leader raises a brow. “The down low?”

“Uh…” Spirit fidgets and glances at their feet.

The lingo makes no sense. Is it a new thing? They’re really bad at keeping up with trends and dialogues. Their ears burn with embarrassment. They must look really stupid.

“Just don’t go tellin’ nobody, alright?” The leader clarifies.

Spirit nods.

“Okay! But, uh, why are you hiding?” It doesn’t seem to make sense. If the successor made the clones, why do they feel the need to run from him?

“Cuz the Boss made us, made us do a bunch of his dirty work, and I don’t think he’s gonna like that we got tired of it.” The leader glares out toward where Spirit assumes the rest of the arcade is. “Free will ain’t something clones are supposed to have. I’m a little more, uh, on the wild side. The rest of the boys are pretty simple, so I keep ‘em close so they don’t get into trouble. And hey,” He smiles, all sharp teeth. “Can’t have a porty if you don’t got a roaring crowd.”

Well then. That certainly changes things. Spirit has never wondered about the sentience of clones, considering they’ve never interacted with them for long. Macaque’s shadow clones are more extensions of himself than they are sentient creatures, and they never talk. But, if clones really do become sentient, it’s a rather cruel thing to strip that sentience away, right? So long as they aren’t hurting anyone, anyway.

“That’s fair,” they shrug. “But, um, if you want to really stand out, maybe some new clothes will help?”

“That a fit check?” The leader smirks.

“A what?”

“Nevermind,” The leader waves a hand. “What you got in mind?”

Spirit tilts their head to the side in thought.

“I think, um...your aesthetic,” they start. “It doesn’t fit with, uh, the others, so I could get you some new clothes. Accessories. As a favor?” They shrug, a bit self conscious.

The leader is pretty confident, and Spirit is decidedly not. It’s awkward to think that they could be of service.

A blade has a use, but if you have claws that are just as sharp, why buy the tool?

The leader considers this, and then shrugs.

“Sounds good, 3 eyes,” he agrees.

Spirit blinks. “It’s Spirit,” they clarify.

“Sure.” The leader shrugs them off. “Exit’s down the hall to your right.”

Spirit nods and dashes off. Slipping into human form is easy as a new set of clothes, though they always have to be wary of their tail, wrapping it around their waist like a belt so as not to arise suspicion.

Sure, demons live in this town, but the ratio seems 10:1 and Spirit prefers to blend in. Besides, if they get mistaken for Monkey King again, they might just scream, if only to startle the crowd so they can get away.

They flit between stores, looking for something fitting for a character like that clone had been. Spirit isn’t good at fashion, Macaque picked out their outfit after all, but they do have several eyes for flashy things (two, the third isn’t as entranced by such things). They grab a pair of visor glasses, pink to accent the blue. They have these weird lines through them, probably to see through. Spirit thinks they’d be mighty useful to counteract all the bright lights.

Then they look for something orange to replace the jacket, since it seems to be a fixture on all the other clones. They find a kind of garish orange tiger print coat. It’s pretty wild, and, well, the leader said he was pretty wild. They toss it over their shoulder and head back toward the arcade.

They come in the same back way, because anything to spare themselves the sensory overload of the arcade is worth it, though they feel eyes from all around watching them as they approach the backstage.

Two large bouncers step in front of Spirit, as they approach the backstage, and Spirit nearly trips and falls in their haste to back away. They’ve never been a fan of looming figures, and even though they’d probably be the same height as the bouncers if they stood up straight, they’re far too used to hunching down to do anything else.

“U-um,” they manage a whisper, clearing their throat before they continue, trying to speak up above the din of the music blaring in the other room. “I-uh-I-the boss, uh, wanted me to get him some clothes, so…”

They hold up the items they found as proof, giving the two bouncers a shaky smile.

The two share a look, before one walks toward the stage, leaning down for a moment to talk to someone before straightening back up.

“3 eyes!”

Spirit fights the urge to wince at the nickname, because they don’t like that they only have three eyes, they don’t like the reminder. Instead, they sigh and smile awkwardly, waving as the leader saunters over.

“Hello,” they show off their pickings. “I thought these would fit. Since, uh, neon pink and blue go well together, and, um, I thought this jacket could, uh—”

“It’s way better than the old one!” The leader snatches both items out of Spirit’s hand.

The shades go on his face quick, and he tosses his old jacket so fast it’s a blur as it hits the wall. He slides the new one onto his shoulders and leans back, hands in his pockets.

“Do I look good?” he asks, then continues without waiting for an answer. “Nevermind, course I do! Look at me!”

“I am,” Spirit agrees with a half shrug.

“Nice work, 3 eyes! The fit fits!” He chuckles, and did his teeth get even sharper in the half an hour or so Spirit has been gone? They can’t tell.

He plays with the sleeves of the new coat, and glances down at his feet.

“Anyway, uh.” For a moment, he’s almost shy. “Picked out a name for myself. Figured keepin’ the old one made no sense and all.”

“Oh?” Spirit keeps their tone carefully neutral, tilting their head to the side.

“Yeah. Porty.” Porty gives them a wry grin. “If I say it weird, might as well be my brand, right?”

“Sure?” Brand? Spirit thought a brand was when you put hot iron on something. Macaque wanted them to do that to a cow he found, but they couldn’t. It was too mean.

“Anyway,” Porty’s voice cuts through their confusion. “I gotta get back to my DJ stand. Wanna stay for the porty?”

Spirit lets out a nervous laugh.

“Oh, uh, no thank you,” they say, and when Porty frowns, they scramble to explain. “Not that I don’t, uh, like parties-I—” Well, they’re no good at lying. “I just have uh, really sensitive eyes and ears. It would be too loud and bright for me,” Spirit lands on something truthful as they finish, giving Porty a hopeful smile.

Porty’s expression stays carefully neutral, before he bursts into a sharp toothed grin that stretches wide across his face.

“That’s fair, but don’t be a stranger, kay? Us wild ones gotta stick together!” He nudges their arm.

Spirit thinks Porty is awfully nice and cool, but he talks in ways that make their head spin.

“Got it,” they reply in lieu of asking for clarification, and they disappear out the back door as the music swells again.

They write Porty’s favor into their book just as they start to see the tethers vanish. One by one, like dying stars flickering out, they disappear. Spirit watches, wide eyed, as each of over a hundred vanishes.

There's a pit in their stomach, as they think of the giggly, desperate for approval, mostly kind clones suddenly ceasing to exist. Thinks of the many voices going silent.

Macaque would tell them that clones are a means to an end, a weapon to be discarded after use. But the successor didn’t discard them after use, he used them and left them, abandoned them. And now has the audacity to get rid of them when they’re becoming too sentient for his liking?

Spirit doesn’t know the circumstances. It’s rude to judge a person over things Spirit doesn’t know the full story of. But they didn’t hate the clones, and Porty, for all his faults, seemed to just want to make a good time for people. Not the type of good time Spirit would enjoy, but they know others might.

Curled up on the roof of a skyscraper, they watch the lights disappear. The arcade, a veritable lighthouse of stars, loses its many tethers in an instant. The mass of light vanishes as if blown away by a gust of wind, until there’s only one left.

The final one, Spirit knows.

It disappears like the rest.

They break into the arcade that night, and find the coat and glasses on the floor, abandoned. The arcade is dark and there is broken glass all over the floor, but Spirit steps around it, eyes only for the coat and glasses. The things they got for him. To prove that he was more.

Now all that’s left.

They pick the two items up gently and bury them out in the woods. Maybe Porty wasn’t a real person, maybe he was a means to an end that got out of hand, but Spirit can’t fault anyone who lets them do them a favor. And besides, sometimes all that’s left of people are memories, and Spirit wants to remember.

They remember Mom, and they know they’re the only one who does. They can carry that weight for the clones, too, if no one else will.

They get a call from the Long family a month or so after meeting the clone, and isn’t it funny how one of the most affluent, mystically inclined families lives just on the outskirts of the town that Demon Bull King was sealed in? Spirit wonders if they settled here for that reason, perhaps guarding the staff that the Monkey King left behind, since Monkey King had left it there without any thought.

Spirit doesn’t hate anyone (their father doesn’t count, because they made sure he wasn’t anyone ever, just a memory in Spirit’s mind, forgotten by time as his body burned on its pyre) but they severely dislike the lack of responsibility Monkey King takes. Not only did he seal away Demon Bull King (Spirit is aware that Demon Bull King was destroying villages and causing a stir, but Monkey King took Red away and what parent wouldn’t be angry?), but he didn’t even stick around to watch over his seal! He just left it, like the staff alone would be the end-all.

Spirit would be too anxious to ever leave something that could even possibly be broken. Maybe they’re paranoid, but they would have at least stuck around, or left a guard, or something!

Honestly, it isn’t surprising that Red managed to break it, eventually.

They arrive at the Long residence to a sight of a broken down door and demolished artifacts scattered across the entrance hallway. They blink, three eyes darting around to try and drink everything in.

“Ah, Spirit,” Comes a prim voice.

Spirit jumps, and turns to find a couple, dressed in green and gold, staring at them. They’re dolled up, makeup and everything. Spirit bows, polite.

“Hello,” They greet. “You’re in need of a favor?”

“Yes,” the woman answers. “Yesterday, there was an attack on our home by the Demon Bull Family. Many priceless artifacts were destroyed in the process. We would like you to salvage as much as you can from the wreck, and clean up the rest.”

So grunt work. That’s fine. Typically Spirit is called for that sort of thing, if there are secrets involved. And when you have priceless artifacts, you don’t want just any random person handling them. Spirit doesn’t think they’re terribly trustworthy, but if someone asks them to be, they can be. Keeping their mouth shut is easy because people don’t usually come to them for conversation.

Macaque told them once that they were awfully chatty, but that was when they were younger. They grew up. They usually only talk to themselves now.

“Okie doke.” They nod, turning back to the wreckage.

This should take them a few days, if they pull a few all nighters. They’re pretty bad at sleeping anyway, so at least this time it’ll be on purpose.

They pointedly don’t think about how they told the Demon Bull Family of the artifact that was here. They pointedly don’t think about how the Demon Bull Family likely attacked this home for said artifact. What people do with the information they give out is none of their business. It’s not their fault.

Well. It is. Spirit isn’t stupid. Actions have consequences. A domino falls and starts a chain reaction. Regardless of intent, the first domino is the issue.

And Spirit pushed the rest of the pieces down, so the aftermath is their fault.

They start with the biggest pieces of the wreckage, moving out broken stone and whatnot, so that salvaging the finer pieces will be easier. They’d ask where they’re supposed to move the large pieces of stone, but the two mortals didn’t seem to like them, so they just bring it to the side of the house. Out of sight for the moment.

They start collecting pieces of broken artifacts, sorting them into different piles for reconstruction later. They cut their fingers a few times and decide to wrap up their hands in gauze to spare the rest of their fingers from mutilation.

While they’re doing that, someone comes up behind them.

“Hi!”

Spirit jumps a full foot in the air and stumbles to regain their footing, nearly slipping on the dusty tile before steadying. The gauze not yet secured sticks haphazardly to their sleeves, and they fidget with it as they turn around fully to see who it is that interrupted them.

It looks to be a girl around their age—a little younger, they think. She’s got the same fine makeup as the two adults who Spirit wagers are her parents, though hers is made less refined in application, instead more youthful and in the form of self expression. Her green varsity jacket fits in line with her parent’s outfit, green and gold, but the rest of her outfit is a bright white only seen in the marble of the home’s interior.

And then there’s the dragon blade, strapped to her back. She seems comfortable with it there, which leads them to believe she’s the new wielder. Which certainly gives her presence weight.

Spirit lowers themselves to appear non threatening and demure, and they wave, awkwardly, before continuing to affix the gauze to their hands.

“Hello,” they reply.

“I’m Long Xiaojiao.” The girl bows politely in response. “But you can call me Mei.”

“Mei,” Spirit repeats, getting used to the word on their tongue, getting over the confusion of someone actually coming up to talk to them when they’re on a job. “I’m, uh, Spirit.”

“Nice to meet you!” She smiles sunnily up at them.

Spirit stands and fidgets, a little, trying to figure out how to respond. They don’t know how to interact with people much. Interacting with Red is easy, they’ve known him for centuries, but with new people, it’s hard. They’re terribly awkward, and they’re a monkey demon with three eyes. It isn’t as if they can have conversations with mortals without that becoming a factor.

In fact.

“You know, I haven’t seen a monkey demon before. Do you know the Monkey King?” she asks.

Spirit winces. “No,” They respond, quietly. “He-uh-from what I hear, he’s kind of a recluse, and I don’t interact with many monkey demons,” Spirit shrugs, trying for a smile.

Mei doesn’t seem perturbed by their lack of knowledge, shrugging nonchalantly right back, and Spirit relaxes a fraction. Like with Pigsy, Mei doesn’t seem to have many expectations on Spirit’s behavior, or requirements of knowledge and or ability. So far, anyway.

Then again, that could be because they know not to expect anything from Spirit. Spirit is well known in the demon world to be as worthless as they are useful, and Mei is from a powerful family that Spirit has done favors for before. The two of them probably knew of Spirit already. That’s why they’re good at knowing that Spirit knows pretty little.

“Yeah, that’s fair. My friend MK’s met him, since he’s his successor, but from what I hear from MK, Monkey King doesn’t talk to a lot of people.” She drops the information down in front of Spirit as if it isn’t a bombshell.

Spirit blinks a few times, trying to process the information. Huh. So, this girl knows the successor. Interesting.

“MK?” they ask, curious.

Information is important. If they perform a favor for Mei, that might get them an in with the successor, which means they’ll have something against the Monkey King and then they can be safe.

“Yup!” Mei whips out her phone, dragon phone case and everything, and shoves the screen up at Spirit, bright light pressing up towards their eyes.

Hand reaching toward their face, reaching digging scraping pain—

Spirit’s back hits the wall. They don’t remember backing up, just like they don’t remember their breaths picking up, nor do they remember starting to shake. Eyes wide, they glance around, until they lock eyes with Mei, whose phone is still held up in the air near where their face used to be.

“Oh,” Spirit murmurs, ears rising up from their previously downturned position. “Sorry.”

Mei drops her arm, brow furrowed in concern.

“I, uh,” Spirit scrambles to explain, because they don’t want her to tell her parents that they’re easily startled, that they’re not good enough, because that could ruin their reputation, that could stop the favor from being kept, it could ruin everything. “I don’t like. Things thrown at my face. Without warning.”

“Oh,” Mei says, softly, gently, glancing at Spirit with something softer and kinder than pity.

“Sorry,” Spirit mutters again, standing up straight.

They shuffle off, getting back to work at getting the many cracked artifacts off of the ground. They don’t usually have visceral reactions like that around other people. The last they can remember is when they were with Red. He’d waved a hand too close and they’d jumped back. He didn’t apologize, because Red hates admitting fault, but he did hover over them for a moment, as they regained their bearings.

Mei scuffs her boot on the tile, and then idles over.

“Nah, I get it,” she waves off the apology, though Spirit does question how she could possibly understand when they never told her why. “Hey, do you have a phone? I could send you the picture!”

Spirit turns to her, glancing down at the earnest smile on Mei’s face.

“I don’t know if my phone takes photos,” they reply, pulling out the brick of technology out of their pocket.

Mei’s face drops in shock at the sight of it, hands jumping up as if to snatch it from Spirit’s grip. They hand it to her instead, because Spirit can tell she wants to hold it, and Mei looks at it like one would the priceless artifacts shattered around the hall.

“This is...ancient,” she says, delicate, like she doesn’t want to insult them. “It doesn’t even show emojis!”

“What’s an emoji?” Spirit asks.

Mei drops her face into her hands and groans, before perking back up.

“Can I upgrade it?” she nearly begs, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Befuddled, Spirit doesn’t immediately agree. Should they? They already made Mei upset because they freaked out, it would be rude to deny her something that brings her joy, even if it could come at the expense of Spirit’s phone.

Even more confusing is that, rather than think them stupid for having an inferior product, Mei just wants to fix it up for them.

“Um,” they start, haltingly. “I like that my phone’s pretty indestructible, and I’ve had it for a while. Aren’t, um, newer phones more fragile?”

“Not when I make them,” comes Mei’s cheeky reply. “I’ll even use the materials from this one as a base! It’ll be the same, just better! And I’ll be able to send you photos!”

She puts on what Spirit can tell are puppy dog eyes, and Spirit caves instantly. Mei needn’t use those on them; Spirit knows they’re a pushover.

“Okay,” they acquiesce.

Mei cheers.

“Perfect! I think I have a charm that will look nice on your phone, too, so I can give you that!” She rocks back and forth on her feet, looking up at the ceiling in thought.

Spirit smiles to themself, setting a collection of pieces on one of the pedestals spared of the destruction. Tonight, they’ll have to get special glue somewhere to make the cracks nearly unnoticeable. There’s a demon marketplace a few miles outside of town, so there will probably be some there.

They walk over to the other side of the hall, glancing over at Mei, who follows them. She fiddles with her phone, and a cursory glance of her screen shows that she’s researching the model of Spirit’s phone for reference. Huh. Spirit didn’t know phones could do that.

Their eyes travel from Mei’s phone to the legendary blade on her back.

“You can wield the Jade Dragon Blade?” they ask, aiming for nonchalant and landing on incredulous. They’re not a good actor.

Instead of puffing out her chest and acting proud, something Spirit would find more characteristic of Mei based on the twenty minutes they’ve spent around her, Mei hunches down a little, looking shy.

“Yeah, I just found out. It’s, uh, pretty cool.” She shuffles her feet, seemingly reluctant to acknowledge her newfound importance. “I was never really, uh, what was expected of by my family, so it’s kind of a surprise that I can use it.”

There’s a lot to unpack there, Spirit knows. High expectations for children of powerful families are to be, well, expected, but it doesn’t mean it’s pleasant. Spirit doesn’t have to see the tired slump of Mei’s shoulders, with the weight of something wearier than just exhaustion, to know that. They’ve known it since they saw the fervor and desperation Red worked, the way he swallowed hurt at dismissal.

It’s a bit sad, they think, that they see it in Mei, too.

“I, uh, I know how to use a bunch of weapons,” They offer off handedly as they continue to work. “I could teach you some things. If you want?”

Macaque taught them to use a wide variety of weapons, before they settled on their combat sickles, so they know how to use general blades. They aren’t a sword master, but they’re sure they could teach Mei the basics.

Mei perks up again.

“Really? That’d be super helpful. I think my parents kind of expect me to already know how to use a sword, since I can wield this one, and if I told them I don’t know they’d get me some stuffy tutor or something,” she rolls her eyes at the idea.

“Once I’m done with this,” Spirit gestures the mess of the entrance hall. “We could meet up somewhere to start? Call it a favor.”

Spirit tries not to seem too excited, but opening up a new line of favors with someone is always a fun experience. A new layer of safety, a new token, even. If they’re lucky, Either way, to have Mei’s name in their book would be awful nice.

Mei opens her mouth to accept, but the hard slap of heeled slippers against the marble floors makes them both freeze.

“Xiaojiao,” comes the cold voice of Mei’s mother. “Spirit is here on a job. Don’t talk to them.”

“But—”

“Either find someplace else to be or stay in your room. Now,” Mei’s mother is unrelenting, eyes sharp.

Mei gives Spirit a commiserating smile, and then bounds down the hall, disappearing around the corner.

Once she’s gone, Mei’s mother turns on Spirit, a snarl on her face. Spirit knows the Long family is one of dragons, but maybe they might have forgotten just how protective dragons are of what is theirs.

“Never,” The voice is a hiss, and Spirit hunches down, curling in on themselves. “Never talk to my daughter. You keep away from her.”

Spirit trembles, and nods. They didn’t want any trouble, really! They just wanted to help. And Mei owing them a favor means they could interact with her without being as scared as they are, in general.

But, then again, they suppose having a reputation like theirs does work against you.

They work until nightfall, managing to get most of the hard work done. There’s still the matter of reconstructing artifacts, which means they need special glue. So they depart late at night to the demon market a few miles out of town.

It’s more a flea market, not exactly as concrete as some of the other shopping centers Spirit has perused. It’s actually kind of new, popping up because now that the Demon Bull Family is up and running, demons are crawling in droves to get a piece of the new economic boom.

They find a stand a half an hour into their walk that has the type of glue they need.

“Oh, well there’s a familiar face,” The shopkeep says when Spirit steps up to the stall.

Spirit tilts their head to the side, but doesn’t comment. “I would like that glue, please,” They practiced saying it a few-fifty-times in their head before stepping up, so they would get it right. They point to the jar they want with a small smile on their face, to be pleasant.

“Alright,” The shopkeep, a fox demon by the ears and swishing tail, takes the jar and wraps it gently.

Spirit reaches into their pocket and pulls out their coin purse, but when they do, the shopkeep laughs.

“No, no, your money is no good here,” The shopkeep says. “Let me return a favor, to you.”

Spirit blinks a few times, but it isn’t a surprise. People try and return favors all the time, as if they could ask for anything of Spirit and then return the favor on their terms. Spirit may do anything for a favor, but they don’t let anyone decide when that favor is returned for a reason.

White splattered red, a smile made dull with crimson spilling over lips. Returning the favor, returning the favor and dying and never coming back and it’s all your fault why didn’t you stop her—

They sigh, stand up straight, and put on the intimidating smile like Macaque taught them to. Wide eyes but with a glow that is more a promise than an effect, and a grin with just enough teeth to show that it’s sharp. It feels weird on their face, but it always works.

“No,” They respond, voice ever quiet. “I’m the one who deals in favors. I make the terms. And I want to pay.”

The marketplace has gone silent. The shopkeep is frozen in place. Spirit smiles.

“A-Alright,” the shopkeep finally says, rattling off the total.

Spirit blinks once, letting the glow in their eyes vanish. Their shoulders fall as they fumble with their coin purse until they pull out the total. The shopkeep hands them the bag, and Spirit waves cheerily, turning around and heading toward the exit of the market.

The demons in the market give them a wide berth, but Spirit prefers that. They like their space.

The whole project for the Long family takes a total of three days, two of which are without sleep. Spirit is used to not sleeping, whether it be from the usual nightmares or a lack of forethought to go to bed, and so they manage. Being without sleep leaves them jittery and off kilter, but Mei has seemingly taken her mother’s warning to heart, and Spirit is undisturbed as they work.

They like reconstructing the artifacts. The heads of the Long family tell them that the family can handle the actual reconstruction of the house, which is a relief considering Spirit knows very little about architecture. Putting artifacts back together is just like putting together a puzzle, and Spirit loves a good puzzle. Gets their brain working.

Macaque had puzzles, but his were always more...violent. Spirit prefers these ones, with the artifacts and without danger.

When they’re done, they’re regarded with distaste but not disappointment, which is nice. Spirit is pretty sure most people they do deals with don’t particularly like them, because no one likes owing people something. That’s not Spirit’s problem though! They always allow people to refuse, but people like convenience, and Spirit is malleable, quiet, unobtrusive, and generally willing to be used as any sort of tool. They’re more an object than a person, on the job, and that’s good! It means Spirit is good at whatever they need to be.

They almost forget that they’ve given Mei their phone, because they’re leaving the property when she shouts their name.

They jump a full foot in the air, turning around.

“Hey!” Mei comes sprinting across the courtyard, skidding to a stop in front of them. “You almost forgot your phone!”

She holds it out, and it looks very little like what Spirit expects. Gone is the black brick of an item, replaced with a wide, reinforced screen. The case is sturdy, black with purple accents. Spirit feels the familiar material in the black sections.

There’s a little purple lotus charm dangling from one corner.

Spirit holds the phone gingerly, almost afraid they might break it. They tap on the screen, and it glows! Spirit taps it a few times, but nothing else happens.

“I have no idea how to use this,” they say, looking over at Mei with wide eyes.

Mei laughs, kind and not at all cruel, which is confusing in and of itself. Spirit half expected her to think them stupid for not knowing. But Mei directs Spirit to a stone bench by a pond in the gardens, and carefully explains how the touch screen works, and how to get into the different apps, like contacts and messages.

“I put my number in there,” Mei says, pointing out her contact. “So that way we can text each other!”

“Oh,” Spirit stares, and then smiles, small and shy and pleased. “That sounds nice.”

How often is it that someone wants to talk to Spirit? How often is it that Spirit is told how to contact someone for fun? For something besides work? They can only recall Red bothering which is somewhat depressing, but it does nothing to stop the swell of elation that makes their hands shake with the desire to move, at the thought of a new friend.

But to flap their hands like that is childish behavior, so they grip their new phone tight instead.

That doesn’t stop their tail from wagging beneath the bench, though.

Once Mei is done teaching them the basics of modern phone technology, she stands, giving them a sheepish grin.

“I should get going. If mom finds me here with you, she’ll get real cranky, again,” She smiles. “Text you later?”

Spirit stands, and their shoulders don’t ache so much. Subconsciously, they feel the wherewithal to stand tall, for the moment, when Mei gives them such a blinding grin.

“Yeah!

They send their first emoji to Red, a little purple heart and the message ‘Red! I just learned what emojis are! I hope you like this one! From, Spirit.’

Red responds with a bunch of flame emojis, and a single red heart back, stuffed between the fires. It makes Spirit giggle. Has Red been sending little fires in every text? It’s certainly on brand, though they feel it might be a little redundant. Maybe it’s his theme?

They get a text from Mei.

‘Hey! I got a race a couple of months from now. Wanna come watch? Call it a favor ;D!’

Spirit rocks back and forth on their feet excitedly.

‘Mei,

Sounds fun! See you then :)

From,

Spirit.’

They add a little purple heart emoji to the end of the text, and receive a barrage of green ones in reply.

Spirit smiles.

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #Yin Spirit #kitkat1003 #monkie kid oc #monkie kid mei #monkie kid pigsy

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spinchip · 4 years

Text

As in Lonesome South

Summary: After returning to Ninjago from that Lighthouse prison, Dr. Julien decides it's time for him and his son to move on.

Warnings: Dr. Julien is not a good dad. Memory alteration and Controlling behavior. ask to tag? Pairing: gen Wordcount:1700 A/N: The name for this fic comes from Hillbilly Man by Gorillaz lol

Packing up his meager room is not a difficult feat, Dr. Julien is glad to note, even in his advanced age. He doesn’t have many belongings now, his life spread out across Ninjago and across the sea, the things left behind and abandoned worthless in his eyes now that he’s been reunited with his son. His greatest creation. It’s not as if he couldn’t stop by that ancient bunker out in Birchwood Forest and gather up his old blueprints, maybe pick up projects left half-finished as his hands wrinkled and gave out, but there’s a clean and simple sort of appeal to a fresh start. Out with the old, in with the new. He had time to start again now. He and Zane could travel down to the outskirts of Metalonia, there’s raw materials there, new construction. Its growing fast with the upcoming tech giant Borg Industries basing it’s manufacturing plants in the heart of the city. It’s an easy place to get lost in, an old man and his son blending in with the crowd, a perfect spot to camp out at and get back to work inventing something new. Something to show up all those slip-shod messes he’d slapped together to appease Samukai.

In a way though, he can’t help but be grateful to the skulkin and his cronies. Without the elixir of life they’d handed him, without the resurrection tea poured down his throat, he’d have been lost years ago. The gift they’d given him had come with a price, seasons passing wondering if his son was safe out in the world without him, stuck up in that lighthouse tinkering away at inventions he felt no passion for. All alone except for the silly little bots he cooked up in his spare time. Now thought, free from the sea salt and stone, he had time laid ahead and a million projects he thought he’d never have the years for suddenly at his fingertips. Zane was his life’s work, and he’d turned out wonderfully. What could he do now, with another life to dedicate?

Organizing his meager things, he pulls out a duffle bag from the School's storage with DARKLEYS slapped on the side, not quite dusty but on its way there with the rebranding they were undergoing. Gutting the School’s unsavory past and installing a new, more healthy learning environment was a big endeavor for the ninja, especially since they wouldn’t be able to rely on his son to help pull it off. He and Zane pitched in when they could, helping repaint, clean up, and discuss a new curriculum, but it was a shame they’d never get to see it come to fruition. It reminded him of his days teaching to pay the bills while he chased his masters degree, there was a comforting nostalgia he almost didn’t want to leave. A shame it was time to go. Zane might have been a good teacher, too, if given the chance- he was as smart as his old man sometimes! Remarkably patient too, always willing to try and talk it out and find the best in people. Too bad. Maybe they could come back and visit, if work didn’t get too busy. He wouldn’t mind getting into the swing of things and whipping up a lecture for the kiddos. He could decide all that later, though. Now it was time to pack. He shakes out the bag and stacks his items neatly inside: a few notebooks of ideas he’d already cooked up, spare clothes Zane and Sensei Wu had graciously paid for, a few old books from the Library he was positive no one would miss. He was even sure to grab a copy of Zanes old favorites, maybe he’d like to read them again when they got settled. He made a mental note to grab his toothbrush and comb from the bathroom before they departed, puttering about his meager living accommodations to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

The room itself was a modest little thing, an old student live-in dorm repurposed into more permanent lodging for himself and Zanes other team members. They were nice, a bit more long-term than he thinks Master Wu is willing to admit, but Dr. Julien found them quite cosy. Though anything was a step up from that damp and dreary prison he’d been locked in. He’d always loved the beach, but if he never smelled salt water ever again it’d be a blessing… He frowns, stepping over to the map spread out across his tiny desk, mapping out a possible route down to Metalonia. Sticking to the outskirts would take them closer to the coast, but setting up shop in town might bring unwanted attention. It could be worth it to take the longer route along the east if he really wanted to avoid the sea… it’d put him close to Ignacia, but it might work.

There’s a knock on the door, bright and sharp, and Dr. Julien isn’t surprised when he hurries over and opens the door to his son on the other side, “Zane!” He greets warmly, ignoring the troubled look on his face and pulling him into an embrace, “Have you finished packing yet?” He asks, breaking away.

“That is what I came to speak to you about.” Zane says hesitantly as his father begins to tidy up the room, closing the door behind him for privacy despite the others doing their best to give them space and clearing out for this conversation, “Father, we have discussed this, I…” He frowns openly, “I do not wish to leave.”

Julien stops where he’s folding up his map, staring up at his son with a scrutinizing look, “Zane, I thought you said you didn’t want to be separated from me again? Are you feeling alright, son? Come here, let me check.” He beckons Zane over as he tucks the map into his coat pocket, moving out of the way so he can sit on the edge of the mattress for a diagnostic.

Zane obliges on instinct alone, sitting down, “I am fine, Father,” He says, moving his gi aside to open his chest panel anyway, “And I do not want to be apart, which is why I think you should stay.” Dr. Julien moves to sit next to his son, running a quick inspection of Zanes internal wiring as he speaks, and Zane zeroes in on the way he collapses onto the bed- his knees aren’t what they used to be, “At your age, you shouldn’t be traveling anyways.” He says, obviously trying to be gentle.

Dr. Julien laughs, smiling up at his son as he shifts through the mechanics in a confident routine so familiar it came second nature, memories of them going through these exact motions surfacing faintly, “You don’t need to worry about me, Zane, I have plenty of time left. The ressurectea has given me another lifetime, and I want to spend it with you. It could be like it was before, just the two of us. I was happy.” He examines the connection points on his switchboard, making sure they’re all attached properly, “Weren’t you?”

“Of course!” Zane says instantly, cupping his father's hands to send the confirmation home, “I love you, and I’ve missed you ever since I got my memories back.”

“But now you want to go our separate ways?” He squeezes Zanes fingers, before letting go, going back to his ministrations inside his chest to distract himself, “You and I are family, Zane. I’m disappointed you want me to spend my final years alone.”

Zane shrinks, curling in on himself at those words. Dr. Julien has to hold onto the door of his chest panelling so he won’t pull away too far, where he can’t complete his check-up, “I don’t. I am sorry.”

“Come with me.” He insists, smiling up at Zane as if to say all will be forgiven. They would be, these moments of hesitance. He could let them go.

The checkup is comfortingly familiar, but Zane shakes his head, “My friends are here, they are my family too. I cannot leave- I have responsibilities. I am the white ninja, I am protecting people who cannot protect themselves. Is that not what you wanted?” his vocal processor goes small at the end, soft and uncertain.

“It is, and you’ve done a great job. I’m so proud of you, but now it is time for us to move on to better things… You’re my son, Zane. My greatest creation. I love you, and I won’t leave here without you.” Dr. Julien trains his eyes on his inner workings, his hands stilling, a slight nod as a silent decision is made.

“And I am not leaving.” He says firmly, his own decision giving his words strength, then, “Will you stay?” Zane’s voice has the slightest hint of hope, complex emotions coming so easily now that he’s lived a long and complex life. A shame to lose all that progress.

He sighs deeply, a sad put-upon thing, “No, Zane.” and there’s no need to elaborate.

He watches his facial expression as he does it, half a second of shock and raw hurt, a snap of devastation and fear before his mechanics register that the memory switch has been flipped, the click of it near deafening in the room- the expression vanishes, his wide eyes go glassy and half-lidded and his jaw clenches shut, his body locking and freezing as he goes into limbo. Shoulder stiffly casual, his hands dropping into his lap where they’d made a last-ditch attempt to stop this and stalling short, sitting open and useless on his thighs. All at once his humanity is stripped from him, leaving him a blank canvas, empty and waiting for either a reboot or specific command. He was his son. He was his creation. He was his.

Dr. Julien closes up his chest panel calmly, tying his suit back up properly. He’d need new clothes, these would make him ask questions when he reset him. Dr. Julien didn’t want questions. He didn’t want refusals.

“Come now, Zane.” He says, tapping the nindroid on his forehead, watching those hazy eyes try to focus while in forced stasis. There’s nothing behind his eyes, no recognition other than the need to obey that has been programmed into him, “Follow me. It’s time for us to go.”

Zane carries his bag as they walk right out the front door.

#zane julien #dr. julien #ninjago #spinchip fic #memory alteration

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isnt-it-loverly · 3 years

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little birdie (5)// five hargreeves

Warnings: very tiny trigger warning for self harm

Summary: When Five lands in the Sparrow Academy, he must convince one of them to help him reset the timeline.

Word count: 1650ish

Author note: finally done with exams and back to writing! it felt good to write something I wanted to, instead of essays for school.

part one, part two, part three, part four

Remember when you said The Umbrellas were not that bad, well most of them weren’t. But they were hesitant to welcome you with open arms. Luther stared at you intently, fire and rage seeping from his demeanor. You tried your best to sink into the burlap couch, the fibers itching away at your skin. You had delivered their brother safely, mostly unharmed but at least he was alive.

“Does anyone else think that this is- I don’t know, dangerous? That thing is a killing machine, she could be raiding our minds,” Luther snarled.

“I have to agree with King-Kong, she could be satelliting our location to Dad as we speak,” Diego, you assumed, spoke.

“That’s not entirely how it works,” you spoke up timidly.

“Oh yeah? Then how come you know everything about Five? Or how about how you tried to kill Klaus? I’m sure you’ve already told your little flock of drones all of our secrets,” Luther yelled.

“First off,” you started, “I am number five. I’m not the ringmaster, I’m not the leader of the group, and I have the body of a teenager. So let’s assume I hold no power when it comes to my family. I am an object to them. If I was in league with them- believe me, pea brain, you’d be dead.”

The room fell silent as you raised your voice, and Five gave you an encouraging smirk. He was going to enjoy you putting his egotistical brother in his place. But boy, did his family make your blood boil.

“And another thing, Mr. Age-of-enlightenment, don’t try to use my ability against me. Because I can bet that you will lose every single time. Brain beats brawn, tough guy,” you spat.

You were in his face now, on your tippy-toes, but still making yourself eye level. You could do it if you wanted to. Take over his mind and make him do unspeakable things, but you decided against it. You needed them to trust you, but more importantly, you needed their help. You took a deep yet shaky breath and backed away from Luther slowly. The anger was suddenly gone and replaced with immense dread. You looked around at your surroundings, they were all staring at you harshly but with fear ever-present on their faces. You knew that all they saw was the beast who stole lives, who knew every secret and thought, the monster who could never be trusted.

“This was a mistake,” you whispered, tears brimming your eyes.

“(Y/n), wait,” Five called. You felt him reach out for you but it was too late, you were already out the door.

You could hear him yelling at his siblings from outside the door. It was strange how much he cared, you’d known him a couple of days- and half of that was fighting with your families. You looked around cautiously, where were you gonna go. You made your way through the old and dusty hallway of the rundown apartment complex. It was a good hiding spot. The other side of town in a secluded and forgotten area, your siblings would never think to look down here. They thought the umbrellas were too egotistical to be smart. The stairwell, you thought, was the only way to rise from rock bottom. You must go up. You run up the stairs as fast as your feet could carry you, hearing the loud boom of your stomps echo off the concrete walls.

You reached the rooftop in a matter of seconds. The chill of the April air lingered around you. You made your way to the edge, the streets were barren and quiet. There was no one to help you escape from this nightmare you had created. What a mess you had managed to create in less than a week. You peered over the edge trying to find any living being to take over so you could be rid of all these conflicting emotions.

You were a member of the Sparrow Academy, and yet here you were fraternizing with the enemy. The Umbrellas would never see you as an equal, just as someone who stole their life. Then there was your family, how would you ever come back from this?

“You really shouldn’t be leaning over the edge like that. You could fall and that would be quite unfortunate for the both of us,” Five’s unempathetic voice pulled you from your thoughts.

Five carefully grabbed your forearm and pulled you away from the edge. Not that he thought that you’d intentionally hurt yourself, but he was not about to lose someone he cared about. Five thought for a moment, did he care about you? Or were you just an important asset to resetting the timeline? He didn’t have time to sort that out at the moment, he had more important matters to attend to. You looked up at him, the tears made your eyes shine more than they usually did. He didn’t know if it was your power drawing him in or if this was just a moment of weakness. He just couldn’t help himself. He wiped a tear that had managed to escape, though he could tell that you were trying your best to keep them in.

“They’re a lot, I know, but they’ve been through hell and back. They’re scared. They’ve lost everything, and they see you as Number Five not as (Y/n). A replacement for us. You’re better and far more powerful than any of us,” He explained.

You liked this version of him. This Five was gentle instead of hostile. You wiped your eyes and nodded, showing him that you understood.

“I can’t believe I let my temper go, I just- it’s been a hard couple of days. I’ve never disobeyed an order, I’ve always done what my father told me, was always there when Number One needed me. Yet here I am, standing in the presence of my most dreaded enemy,” You explained.

“I’ve told you, I didn’t ask you to help me,” He remarked coldly. There he was, there was that hardened exterior. There was a silence for a moment before you decided to continue.

“I’ve heard about you my entire life, the boy who could travel between space and time. I used to be afraid of you, how could I possibly compete with someone who could be anywhere they wanted. I used to have nightmares about the day when you and your family would come,” you finished.

Five cleared his throat with an unreadable expression. You could look into his mind and see what he was thinking, but you did not want to destroy the foundation of trust you had built with him. He placed a comforting hand on your shoulder.

“Our father really has a special way of sculpting young minds. When we met him in the sixties, I should’ve been more careful...if I had known that’s why he was taking notes at that dinner- I would’ve watched what we said,” Five said solemnly.

He blamed himself for all this, how could he not. Not only had he managed to ruin his entire family’s life, but he had managed to drag someone as good as you down with it. He thought for a moment about where you would be in his timeline. Maybe you had learned to control your powers, and you had grown into a young woman. Maybe you had a life, a job, a family, a house mortgage to pay. But yet his stupidity had cost you everything. Now you were just as broken as he was.

“You’re not stupid,” you spoke up.

Five gave you a quizzical look, and then it dawned on him.

“You were in my head,” He responded in a monotone voice.

“I couldn’t help it, you blanked out. I had to make sure I didn’t say anything wrong. More importantly I had to make sure you were okay,” You said reaching for his hand. To your surprise, he didn’t pull away, and for that you were thankful.

“Why do you care?” He asked sharply. It was meant to hurt you, but you’d faced worse than a moody old man.

“Because you’re my friend. We are friends, right? I mean, I saved your life...twice. You held me while I bled everywhere,” You said with a small yet hopeful smile.

Five cautiously looked at your hand holding his. He wouldn’t let anyone else do this, he really shouldn’t let you do it. Something about it felt right, your touch was comforting. It was like a breath of fresh air and if he concentrated really hard it almost brought a sense of normalcy. He could imagine that there was no danger and definitely no world in need of saving. It was you, he concluded, it had to be. Somehow you must have been drawing him in, making him feel this way. He hadn’t felt like this since he first saw Delores. This had to be one of your mind tricks, and yet he didn’t care. The feeling was worth having.

“Yes, I suppose we are friends,” He confirmed.

That brought a smile to your face. You both liked the sound of that. Five gave your hand a gentle squeeze and you felt your heart melt. Surely this was not the same Five Hargreeves your father had warned you about. You were sure that there was no way you could ever hate him, you just didn’t have it in you.

“Come on,” Five spoke up, “We better get inside before my siblings think you murdered me.”

“You know that I’m not always in your head, or anyone’s for that matter. And I’m not a cell phone tower, I can’t satellite your location,” you explained.

Five gave you a small chuckle, “I know.”

With that he lead you back into the warm and safe, yet slightly smelly, hallway. Having Five by your side made you feel safe and you knew with him there- you could face anything.

#number five #The Umbrella Academy #tua #five x reader #five hargreeves #five hargreeves x reader #five hargreeves x you #umbrella academy five #aidan gallagher #sparrow academy #number five x reader #number five x you #five x you #umbrella academy #five #the umberella academy #the umbrella academy #five x y/n

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tsrookie · 4 years

Text

This Is Me Trying

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Dr. Alyssa Brooks)

A/N: Hey everyone! Soooo I was actually planning to scrap this fic, since I seriously couldn’t think about practically after Chapter 11. But then Chapter 12 came out, and boom! My brain finally decided to finish this! @kaavyaethanramsey Thank you so much for pre-reading! And a special thanks to @openheart12 for being totally chill with me taking this song for inspiration even though she had plans to do the same!

Song Inspiration: This Is Me Trying by Taylor Swift. I’m going to do some shameless promo for Taylor since her label ain’t bothering with that🙄

STREAM FOLKLORE!

Word Count: 3600+

Warning(s): One curse word

Summary: My version of Ethan’s thoughts after the MK heist. This man is NOT EASY to write!

——————————

Edenbrook was mostly quiet during the night shift. Most doctors left as soon as their time was up, not wanting to spend any more time in the hospital than they already had to.

But that wasn’t the case for a certain diagnostician.

The lamp on Ethan’s desk shone with a clear light in a stark contrast to his confusing thoughts. His mind was clouded. Clouded with thoughts of her.

Dr. Alyssa Brooks, the one he had hand selected from a thousand applications, the resident who had taken Edenbrook by storm as just a mere intern, and the woman who now held his heart.

He’d kissed her twice in less than two days. He couldn’t be the emotionless robot he had pretended to be for 10 years. He wanted to throw away everything to just hold her in his arms without a worry in the world. He didn’t want to just stand next to her. He wanted to be with her. But he had no idea how.

I’ve been having a hard time adjusting

I had the shiniest wheels, now they’re rusting

I didn’t know if you’d care if I came back

I have a lot of regrets about that

His mind automatically took him back to one of the most painful nights of his life: The night he’d returned from the Amazon.

“You’re an idiot Ramsey. An absolute moron. You know she’ll be there, then why the hell are you going there?!”, he’d scolded himself as his legs, as though they had a mind of their own, took him to Donahue’s.

He had no idea how she would react to seeing him. He was, after all, the man who was a complete coward and ran away from her and his feelings for her.

He wouldn’t have blamed her if she was in the arms of that scalpel jockey. At least he would treat her the way she’d deserved to be treated. Unlike him, who only knew to run. He had hoped that she would’ve buried her feelings for him.

The look on her face said it all. The pain, the betrayal, but also the care and concern, was plain to see in her brown doe-like eyes. Two months apart had done nothing to help either of them. He’d still cared for her way more than a mentor was supposed to care for a mentee. And then she’d kissed him.

In those few seconds, he’d felt more air in his lungs than he had ever felt in two months in the Amazon forest. He’d desperately wanted to kiss her back. He’d wanted to let her know that he cared about her more than she could possibly comprehend. But he didn’t.

It almost killed him to tell her that they had to reset. But he didn’t know what else to do at that point. That would forever remain one of his biggest regrets. He’d put them both through so much of pain that he could never forgive himself. He’d hurt her so much. Yet, she’d never given up on them.

He shook his head to bring himself back to the present. He looked into his wristwatch. 12:30 am. It was past midnight. He had to go home as he was past the point of trying to get any work done.

Pulled the car off the road to the lookout

Could’ve followed my fears all the way down

And maybe I don’t quite know what to say

But I’m here in your doorway

He drove out of the hospital and his eyes caught a flash of red walking on the pavement. “Alyssa?” She whipped her head around, recognizing his voice. She looked exhausted, but he wouldn’t blame her, knowing the day she had. Her ginger roots were all over her face and her clothes were completely wrinkled.

“Hey Ethan...”, she croaked in a raspy voice.

“Why on earth are you walking home? I thought you always took the train.”

“The station seemed overcrowded. Wasn’t in the mood to bump into any frat boys.”, she chuckled lightly.

“Get in. I’ll drive you home.”, he said. She opened her mouth to protest, but decided against it seeing the deadpan look on his face.

Her eyes were trained on the road. He glanced at her a couple of times but it didn’t seem like she noticed. She didn’t seem as lively as she was after they’d returned from Mass Kenmore. Something was nagging her, and he was determined to find out what.

“Is everything okay?”, he asked gently, not wanting to push her.

“Hmm... yeah it’s fine... everything’s fine.”, she replied unconvincingly.

“Alyssa...”

He took her hand in his and pulled over at her doorstep. “What’s wrong?”, he asked again, looking straight into her eyes. They were glassy and rimmed with red. His eyes slightly widened, realizing that she had been crying.

“It’s... a lot Ethan. First, it’s Kyra. She’s going to have major surgery. An extrapleural pneumonectomy. It could either save her, or...”, she trailed off, biting her trembling lip. He held her hand tighter, to try and give her the strength to continue. She took a deep breath and continued.

“I’m terrified about what could happen to her. I know I said that I could handle it this morning, but having her in this literal life of death situation... I just can’t”, she choked out a sob.

He immediately wrapped his arms around her on instinct. Her fragile frame trembled as she cried into his shirt. His heart broke to see her like this. He knew that Kyra had a slim chance of survival, but seeing the impact on Alyssa was too much to bear. He’d been through the same situation when Dolores died, and she’d helped him get through it. No matter what was to happen to Kyra, he was going to stand by her side through it all.

“And Raf...”, she suddenly said in receding sobs. “Raf’s leaving town and I have no idea why. It’s completely out of the blue and I’m really worried about him. He hasn’t been the same since the beginning of this year, and now he just decides to leave Boston.”

Ethan was surprised as well. He had known the paramedic only for a couple of months and even he was surprised at his decision to leave. He seemed to love his hometown and it seemed completely out of character for him to leave like this.

He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know that she was going through so much. It hurt him beyond anything to see her in her most vulnerable state.

I just wanted you to know that this is me trying

“Alyssa, I...”

He searched for the right words to say. He had comforted plenty of patients in the past, but nothing had prepared him to hold Alyssa in his arms.

“I know that I can’t take all this away, no matter how much I want to. But if you ever need anyone to talk to, or just want me around, I’ll be there. That’s a promise.”

He owed it to her. He owed her the world and more. She’d stood by him and been his rock through all his issues with his mother. He wanted to be there for her. He had to at least try.

“Thank you Ethan...”, she said with a soft smile that was enough to light up his whole world. He reluctantly let her go with a kiss to her hand. “Sleep well Alyssa.”

They told me all of my cages were mental

So I got wasted like all my potential

And my words shoot to kill when I’m mad

I have a lot of regrets about that

His lips still tingled from touching her hand. “Heaven knows how I’m going to keep up this pathetic act.” As he drove along the nearly empty streets, his mind went back to the most stupid decision of his life...

“You can’t live life like this Ethan. You can’t keep isolating yourself from her.”, Naveen had told him when he had made the foolish decision to run away to the Amazon. The old man had always known what went on in Ethan’s mind. There wasn’t a day where Naveen hadn’t chided him for locking himself up in his own cage. But he didn’t know what to do. His walls were up too high for anyone to climb over them.

But then Alyssa barged into his life. She broke into the invisible cage he had alienated himself in. All his high walls came up short for her. No one else had broken through his soul like her. He watched the walls he had built for over twenty years come falling down for her.

But despite all that, he had majorly screwed up. He had been nothing but rude and cold for weeks in her second year thanks to Gwyneth Monroe and Leland Bloom. He was furious at the board, but deep down he had known that the team would change a lot due to the budget cuts. He knew that it was completely unfair to direct his anger at her and everyone else in the hospital. But he didn’t know what else to do. His values and Naveen’s vision had been compromised, and that clouded his mind from thinking of anything else.

The regret and guilt in her eyes had pained him immensely. As time passed, he had accepted the fact that the fault wasn’t hers and that he was truly thankful to her for making the decision he was dreading. But he had no idea how to tell her all of that. His words and actions had hurt her and there was no going back and changing them. And it wasn’t even the first time. Hurting her repeatedly was all he ever did.

I was so ahead of the curve, the curve became a sphere

Fell behind all my classmates and I ended up here

Pouring out my heart to a stranger

But I didn’t pour the whiskey

He remembered his days from med school. After Tobias had betrayed him by stealing Serena Jane, he didn’t bother with romance. He completely submerged himself in his studies. His peers found true happiness and love while he had accomplished more than anyone could have dreamed of, but stayed unhappy.

Whenever he opened up, he would just go through a world of pain. Tobias was the only person who he had truly trusted. But then he had stabbed him in the back in every way possible. He hadn’t planned to let Naveen in, but the old man had become like a second father to him. And then he had nearly died, which had terrified Ethan more than he had let on. He shouldn’t have let anyone in after that.

But then there was Alyssa.

His Rookie. He knew damn well that that nickname had become a term of endearment. That was why he rarely called her that after her second year began. He didn’t want to get her hopes up only to hurt her again.

He fell asleep with all these thoughts tormenting him.

The next day was pretty dull. He hadn’t seen her in the morning since the team didn’t have any new patients. He knew that she was probably working on Kyra’s case in her free time and didn’t want to impose. By the end of his shift, he was questioning his decision to even show up at work as it was incredibly tedious and monotonous without Alyssa by his side.

He found himself sitting at Donahue’s, with his eyes flicking to the door every once in thirty seconds in hopes that she would walk in. “You look like you haven’t slept properly in days”, said Reggie’s voice. “I mean, I know you’re busy as hell, but you at least used to look like you were a normal human back then.”, he chuckled. Ethan let out a heavy sigh as he stared at his untouched glass of whiskey. “You okay?”

Ethan considered Reggie to be a... good acquaintance, which was more than he considered three-fourth of the people in the hospital to be. But was he about to pour his heart out to him?

He looked down at his full glass and realized he didn’t even need the alcohol to express his agony. He just couldn’t take it anymore.

“It’s... Alyssa.”, he said as his eyes filled with pain.

“Tell me.”, Reggie said as he leaned on the bar countertop.

“I don’t know what to do about her. She’s a brilliant young doctor and my mentee. She has the skill and potential to become one of the greatest doctors the world has ever seen. And I need to push her to be that. Caring about her... that’ll get in the way. I might start being lenient with her if I’m with her. And I don’t want that to hinder her development...” He trailed off as a lump formed in his throat.

Opening up like this brought the bitter truth to light. There were too many professional obstacles for them to be a normal couple. But those were nothing compared to their emotional issues.

I just wanted you to know that this is me trying

At least I’m trying

He took a deep breath as he continued, “I don’t even know why she would want me. I’ve done nothing, absolutely nothing but cause her pain from the very start. I was the one who first kissed her. I was the one who lead her on. I was, sorry, am the coward who broke her heart by running away to the Amazon. I dragged her into the mess that is my personal life. But she still wants to stay. She’s by my side whenever I need her and I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay her for everything she’s done for me.” He choked out a small sob. He loathed himself.

She was the last person on the planet who he ever wanted to hurt, but that was all he had ever done. Trying to make up for all that pain seemed nearly impossible.

“I don’t deserve her Reggie... I just don’t. I don’t even know how I fell in so deep. It all just... happened. And now I’m stuck in a dilemma where I need to be the best mentor I can be for her but I also can’t live a life without her as something so much more than just my mentee! I want her to be my-”

He stopped as he suddenly realised what he was about to say. He was about to admit that he wanted her to be his girlfriend. He wanted an actual relationship with her.

Reggie smiled knowingly at him. “Say it Ethan. Say it out loud so that you can finally accept it for yourself.” “I... I want to be in a relationship with her.”, he said. He let out a breath that he didn’t realized he’d been holding. He felt free.

And it’s hard to be at a party when I feel like an open wound

It’s hard to be anywhere these days when all I want is you

You’re a flashback in a film reel on the one screen in my town

He suddenly heard a laugh. Her laugh. His favourite sound in the whole world.

He whipped his head towards the source of the sound and sure enough, she was there. She was in the middle of what seemed like a drunken dance off with Lahela. But he didn’t look even half as drunk as Alyssa. Her eyes were hooded and worn out. Her clothes were all wrinkled up, but she didn’t seem to care at all, which was quite a surprise.

Something told him that she had overworked herself and was drinking to combat the exhaustion. But the way she moved made him feel otherwise. The way her hips swayed slowed in the dim light of Donahue’s sent his thoughts into the gutter.

His mind flashed with memories of the night she had won her ethics hearing. The way she had flashed a lopsided grin at him when he’d lied to a resident while leaving the bar. Her incredibly messy yet perfect room. The night they’d last slept together. The night he’d last felt her body perfectly intertwine with his. It all seemed like nothing but a distant memory now, with all that had happened. But he could never forget that night, no matter how hard he tried.

He let out a sigh as he looked at Reggie. “I think it’s better if I left now... It’s for the best if she doesn’t notice me.”

“Too late for that, since your Rookie is on her way to the bar right now”, came a reply with a smirk. Ethan let out a frustrated sigh, but he found himself unable to suppress the slight smile on his face as she made her way towards him.

“Ethaaan! What a *hiccup* wonderful surpriiise! I had noo idea you’d *hiccup* be here!”, she said in a singsong voice.

“Dr. Broo- Alyssa, what exactly do you think you’re doing near the bar in this state?”, he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Juuuust a few more *hiccup* drinks. I’m purrrrfectly fine.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. It seemed like it was now up to him to make sure she could at least walk straight.

“No. You are not having any more. I can’t handle a hungover member on my team when the Senator arrives.”

“You’re not the boss of me!”

“Actually I am.”, he smirked as he ushered her out of the bar.

And I just wanted you to know

That this is me trying (Maybe I don't quite know what to say)

I just wanted you to know

That this is me trying

The cold Boston air hit them in the face as they got outside. Winter was coming, and it seemed that his favourite resident had forgotten to bring a coat to combat the chilly weather.

It didn’t take him more than a second to realize she was shivering. Wordlessly, he took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She looked up at him in surprise, her glassy eyes filling with life. He looked away on instinct, but couldn’t suppress the smile at the corner of his lips on seeing her in his clothes.

“Hey... I dunno if I’ve *hiccup* said this before, but I’m really glad to have you in my corner *hiccup* ya know. The past few days have been... so overwhelming and... I would’ve *hiccup* lost my mind if it wasn’t for you.”

He turned to look at her. Her brown eyes were filled with sincerity and... something else. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Something new. Something... affectionate.

If she could be wasted and still manage to talk to him with complete honesty, then his sober mind could do just the same.

He took her hands in his. They were cold, and sent a jolt of electricity through him. “Alyssa, I meant what I said yesterday. If you ever need me, for anything, at any time, I’ll be there. Nothing will ever change that, no matter what... changes between us.”

He saw her face light up at his words, and he realized that he had quite the same expression himself.

He didn’t know whether she was going to ask him anything further of the topic of... them. It seemed like she decided not to, and he was grateful for it. He still didn’t know what exactly to do, but he knew that it was foolish to keep pushing her away.

“Alyssa where on earth- Oh!”

Doctor Trinh’s eyes widened as she witnessed the tender exchange between them. Her expression morphed from shock to utter delight as she saw their joined hands. If it was someone else, Ethan would’ve immediately pulled away. But this was Alyssa’s best friend, and a doctor who he knew he could trust with their secret, especially since she had seen him come out of her room the previous year.

“I’ll umm... tell Jackie that it’ll take a while.”, she said sheepishly as she turned away from the pair.

“No it’s alright. I need to *hiccup* get some rest before tomorrow. We’re done here. Unless... there’s *hiccup* anything else you want to say?”, she asked as his eyes locked with hers again.

“Yeah... just that I don’t want you to worry too much. Everything’s going to be okay Alyssa.”, he said with a smile that mirrored hers. He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her temple, as she reluctantly pulled away from him for the night.

“Thank you Ethan... for everything.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The ghost of a smile adorned his face as he went back to his car. He wasn’t sure about how she felt about everything. Hell, he still wasn’t sure about how he was feeling. But it was something beautiful. Something he hadn’t felt for anyone he had been involved with. Something that filled his heart with joy. Something he had thought that was impossible for him to feel since his mother had left him at eleven.

Love. Ethan Ramsey was in love with Alyssa Brooks.

The very idea terrified him. The worry of losing someone he loved had been rooted his mind since childhood. But she was different. His heart opened up to her in a way it had done with no one before.

It was going to be a long road, filled with obstacles and barriers. He didn’t even know if she felt the same about him. But he wanted to try. His life would never be complete without her in it, and the thought of a reset could never cross his mind again. Changing his view on the world was worth a try when it came to her. Because she was worth the risk. “She always has been.”

At least I'm trying

——————————

A/N 2: Hope you guys liked it! I’ve shamelessly included Louis Tomlinson and GoT references even though it’s supposed to be inspired from a Taylor Swift song😬 Let me know if you found them! And I hope I managed to stay true to the fact that our man is super oblivious to the fact that MC is head over heels for him as well😅 I tried to make this one seem like an actual fic instead of a kinda boring narration that I did last time. As always, constructive criticism is much appreciated❤️

Taglist: @kaavyaethanramsey @ohramsey @aylamwrites @caseyvalentineramsey @ohvamsey @starrystarrytrouble @dxnicaramsey @decadentwinnerjudgedream @nithya @mrsmatsuo-ramsey @imonlybibecauseofethanramsey @rookiefromedenbrook @bratzlahela @eramsey28 @the-pale-goddess @ohchoices @wellhelloramsey @pitchblackstars @mvalentine @swiftlydarcy @utterlyinevitable @angela8756 @akshara16 @sushiharrington @drethanramslay @lion-ess24 @whippedforethanfreakingramsey

Sorry if some of the tags don’t work😓 Let me know if you want to be added or removed!

#ethan ramsey #dr ethan ramsey x mc #ethan jonah ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x mc #open heart #open heart second year #playchoices #dr ethan jonah ramsey #mercy writes

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themadauthorshatter · 3 years

Text

It's been a while since I did one of these, I was doing some catching up with other fandoms😅

If you haven't read the previous parts, they are here:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4/Part 4 extension/revision

Recap time: Charles has realised that with the twins knowing where the Aztec Sapphire is, they are in danger. Thankfully, he was targetted instead. Right chases him and Charles is almost captured, but he escapes with returning character Terrence Suave, who returns him to the military base.

With that out of the way, ONWARD!!!!

We start with Charles groaning as he wakes up in an infirmary bed, sore from the chase and his torso aching from his ribs getting reset and his gash stitched shut. The twins are asleep next to him, and Galeforce is outside the room yelling at someone(I wonder who?).

He sucks in a breath and gets out of bed, careful to not overdo it, because he's still injured, and finds Galeforce yelling at Terrence Suave, who's simply drinking some coffee and enjoying himself as he pulls the General's leg. At least until he looks over his shoulder.

"Morning, Pilot."

Galeforce turns and almost hugs Charles, stopping himself when he notices Charles holding his side and with bad posture; he's too tired and sore to stand straight.

Regardless he asks how he's doing, and Charles says he's fine and inquires on what the two were talking about, more specifically what Terrence knows.

What were they talking about exactly? Simple, Henry and his next move.

Charles re-affirms that he needs to skip town because Henry's on the hunt for him, and he's a good cover/scapegoat for the twins, so they can stay safe.

Galeforce says no to that immediately; Charles is like his child. Regardless of how old or experienced he is, Charles is still his baby and his first instinct will always be to protect him. He doesn't say this out loud, of course, but it still makes Charles disagree as politely as he can.

I should probably explain why Charles is tunnel visioned on this whole thing:

Well, Henry was awake for a couple hours during his flight to the Toppat Airship. During that time, Charles got to mingling, talking about how he knew Henry had ot kind of rough and offered to be a roommate, if Henry needed a place to stay.

Henry declined and said he'd consider it.

Charles was silent for a second, and admitted that he got it if Henry was scared, seeing as how they didn't exactly ask him to help, at least until after they "picked him up," but he'll have Charles talking to him through an ear piece the whole time to guide him.

Henry smirked at that and nodded, thanking Charles for his kindness, as it was welcome against all the other soldiers.

They talked a little more, and even talked about personal stuff, before Henry got to his mission.

Then Henry betrayed them. And, to rub salt in the wound, shot at them with a bazooka as Reginald open fired with a semi-automatic.

They were forced to retreat, but it twisted the knife for Charles when Henry thanked him again for being himself and leading him straight to the Toppat Clan's leader; Henry would have started off with the government private investigator and ended with rapidly promoted executive.

Back on track, Charles sits down as he explains they don't have a lot of options. It's either Charles leaving or Henry attacking the base and finding the sapphire or taking the twins, who know where it is.

There isn't anything special about the Aztec Sapphire, it's just really big and really expensive. And it's a national treasure, so they need to protect it.

Galeforce is still against the idea because it could be a trap, like an orchestrated path for Charles to follow until he's captured.

Terrence agrees, knowing Henry and how lucky he is.

Charles groans and turns to him asking who the hell he even is.

"I already told you who I was," Terrence barks.

"But who ARE you?" Charles asks. "How did you find me in the city? Why are you out here? Who's side are you even ON!?"

Terrence huffs through his nose and leans against his knees. "I don't take sides. The clan screwed my over and you government lapdogs screwed me over. The only side I'm on is my own."

Galeforce and Charles glance st each other before Galeforce asks, "Then why'd you help Charlie?"

Terrence smirks and shrugs. "Got bored."

The two glare at him, but get back on track when Terrence says, "Anyway, I'm with the pilot on this one. If you're still here, and Henry figures out you are, kiss Earth goodbye on your way up to that station." At that last part, he points to Charles.

Charles gulps and nods.

Then he looks up from the floor to the wall. "I think I know somewhere I can go."

Before he can finish, he exhales and stumbles back; guess he needs more time to rest before acting in his plan.

CUT TO THE ORBITAL STATION!

Henry is thinking of every possible location Charles could be and narrows down on a couple places he'll send spies to: the prison Henry was sent to, the outskirts of the city, the military base, and even the jungle; maybe Charles found a small town to stay in, though hide is a better word.

He's been working on this plan since last night Earth time, so it's a good thing Ellie comes in with some breakfast and water.

"When was the last time you slept?"

Henry shakes his head and signs, 'We need to find him. Can't wait.'

Ellie crouches next to him and rubs his arm. "He's injured. He's not going anywhere any time soon. Rest."

Henry groans, but takes a bite of breakfast sandwich and goes right back to planning.

Ellie has none of that; she may have known Henry for a little while, but damn it if she's going to stop having his back now, and she has to get him to stop and rest by force, so be it.

She drags him over to his bed and judo/jiu jitsu style, straddling his waist when he tries to get up.

"What part of 'get some rest' do you not understand?"

Henry scowls at her before signing, 'You're not my mother.'

"I might as well be, if you're not going to take care of yourself," Ellie replies as she folds her arms. "And if you try to throw me off, I'm tying you to this bed."

It draws a snort out of Henry as he shakes his head, chuckling a little. 'Pervert.'

"You're the one with the dirty mind, mister, not me."

Henry shrugs and gestures back to his desk, but Ellie only grabs his hands and leans down, pinning him.

"No. Now rest."

Henry groans and nods, agreeing to rest; laying down made him realize how tired he was.

Ellie, however, just to be safe, stays right where she is, so he doesn't go back to planning.

"Don't worry. We're going to get that sapphire. And your pet pilot."

Even though he's drowsy, Henry still nods and makes a gesture between the two of them and points to his eyes; 'I know. Same eyes.'

Just to clarify, Ellie's told Henry she has the same 'powers' as him, so he's basically saying he knows because they're seeing the same thing and can get it done.

Anyway, BACK TO CHARLES!!

Charles groans as he's told to stay in bed, but it gets worse when Rupert handcuffs him to said bed to keep him from going anywhere; he has a day off, anyway- or at least he HAD one before Charles woke up and left his bed.

Regardless, Charles only scowls at Rupert as he reads a book.

"That's the first time we've seen you read," Charles remarks.

"Careful. I'll tell the doctor you tried to get out of bed again."

Charles holds up his hand and shows the handcuffs. "How?"

Rupert shrugs. "I'll think of something."

Charles rolls his eyes and lies back, staring at the ceiling.

"So do you have a plan?"

Charles nods. "I need to go to The Wall. I think there's someone I need to talk to."

"Right now, you're not going anywhere until you heal up a little. What if you get found by the Toppats and end up bleeding out somewhere we can't get to you?"

Charles sighs and lies back, staring at the ceiling as Rupert gets up to go grab some food for both himself and Charles.

Charles continues to stare up at the ceiling as he hears Rupert leave, though he spots something on the table next to his bed:

Keys to the cuffs and a note from Terrence reading, Have fun getting to The Wall. Keep your headlights off in the open, when there aren't any trees around. Remember: Her name's Hadiya Wrenley; I never married her. Good luck. Terrence Suave.'

When Rupert returns, Charles is gone, having written, 'Sorry!' on the back of Terrence's letter.

Good thing he's left because the Toppats have arrived in a surprise ambush.

It's a 50 to maybe 24, so it's easy for Henry to have a group and Galeforce rounded up and held at gunpoint.

"Scumbag," Galeforce snaps, though Henry, who's refreshed from some rest and relaxing(Ellie took over planning), only smirks at him.

'Where are the sapphire and Charles?'

"He's gone," Rupert growls. "He left town and he took the sapphire with him."

Sick of his shit, Henry gestures for Rupert, who is pulled forward, the other soldiers objecting and demanding Henry choose one of them instead.

The toppat shoves Rupert to the ground and Henry draws a gun, aiming at him, the two glare at each other; believe me, after the airship, there's been A LOT that these two did to piss each other off.

Everyone jumps when they hear gunfire, but not near the assembly. Henry especially jumps and covers his head before turning, panicked before he stands straight and smirks.

TV perspective, we see Charles standing in the open as he holds a gun toward the sky, glaring at Henry, even when Charles lowers his gun.

Henry takes a few steps toward him and Charles raies his gun again, aiming right at Henry.

Ellie, in a moment of quick thinking, snatches one of the twins and holds a gun to his head. "Try it!"

Henry gives her a gesture to calm down and not do anything because he raises his own gun and aims it at Charles.

The two glare at each other, though Henry smirks at Charles, who occasionally darts his eyes to Konrad to check on him.

"Go 'head," Charles eggs on. "Take the shot. I'm right here."

Henry fights a genuine laugh from that. "That's my line. And if I do that, I'd lose the sapphire and the only enjoyable person in this dog pit."

Charles shudders at that, but stays resolute.

"Where is it, Charlie?" Henry asks as his smirk drops. "Tell me where it is, and I'll leave. All of us will."

With a sigh and an inward, 'I hope this works,' Charles lowers his gun and glares at Henry. "Catch me first."

"Charles!" Galeforce shouts as Right holds him back; he's stronger than he looks.

Henry, however, smirks at this and lowers his gun to rub his eyes as he laughs again.

"'Catch me first?' You're hearing yourself, right?"

"Give me two days," Charles dares as Henry approaches. "If you can catch me after that time, I'm yours. If you can't-"

"Charles, let me stop you," Henry says as he puts a hand on Charles's shoulder and leans into his ear; Charles is wearing his headset around his neck.

"I'm the leader of the Toppat Clan. I have the world in the palm of my hand." Henry points up to the sky, Charles looking up to see the Toppat orbital station. "There's nothing that's out of my reach, but I'll indulge you in this game. Try running, try hiding, but know this, Charles: I'm always going to get what I want."

With a pat on the shoulder, Henry backs up and nods at Charles. "Fine. Two days. You on your own discretion with no one following."

"Leave eveyone one else out of this. This is between you and me."

Henry shuts his eyes and groans. "Fine. The base is off limits, as long as I don't find you back here." Henry holds out a hand to Charles. "If those are the terms, are we agreed?"

Charles looks over at Galeforce and the other soldiers, nodding at them and Henry, taking and shaking his hand.

With one more glance back at the military, Charles walks away and hops into a jeep, driving off as Henry waves goodbye at him.

He's got two days to get the The Wall, do he'd better not waste time.

As he watches him drive off, Henry calls a retreat, saying to the toppats to leave the base and soldiers alone.

Once he's free, Galeforce essentially curses Henry out and calls him a lying bastard.

Henry shrugs and admits that while he's both, he's also winning, so he can't complain.

The Toppats leave and Gakeforce grits his teeth, hoping Charles knows what he's doing.

With Charles, he speeds down the road again, taking the fastest route to Canada as he calls an acquaintance on The Wall.

Hadiya Wrenley is a voluntary inmate, and Charles REALLY needs a word with her.

#henry stickmin #ellie rose #charles calvin #toppat henry #toppat!henry #completing the mission #completing the mission au #oc mention #gun tw #stickrose #ellry #what is the ship name for Henry x Ellie?

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spaceorphan18 · 4 years

Note

What are your headcanons/thoughts about Blaine (by episode) during season 6 after Kurt comes back to Lima? I've read your Finding KH meta and I think you nailed your interpretation of Kurt, but I've never been able to tell what was happening in Blaine's head. Obviously, there's some complex emotions going on- anger at Kurt, a bit of longing because Kurt wanted him back, sadness when Kurt tells Blaine about his date, etc. Season 6 Klaine was very much Kurt-centric. I want to know about Blaine.

Hi! So -- this is just, wow, a thesis of a question, lol! Which is fine! But it’s not a quick answer. So, yeah, let’s have a nice long conversation about Blaine and season 6. I’ll see if I can keep it concise for everyone, lol

Pre-Season 6

So, here’s what we know -- Kurt and Blaine broke up. And, there’s an interesting parallel to the previous break up. Before -- Kurt had too much faith in the relationship, and Blaine didn’t -- hence Blaine ultimately breaking the relationship. This time, Blaine has too much faith in the relationship, and Kurt doesn’t, hence Kurt breaking the relationship.

As we see in ep. 2, this sends Blaine into a tailspin downward into a deep depression. And while that sucks, I don’t think the break up is the worst thing that could have happened to him. Because, here’s the thing. Remember back in season 4, Burt said Blaine shouldn’t be marrying an idea -- but a person? Well - part of the reason for the break up is that Blaine was holding on, maybe too tightly, to this idea that if he and Kurt got married, that would solve all his problems and they’d live in a nice little fairy tale world of perfectness.

Well, real life doesn’t work like that -- and the break up kind of pushes Blaine to see that despite his best efforts, Kurt is a person (who really really hurt him) and marriage isn’t just an idea. It also forces Blaine to deal with some inner demons that he hadn’t before. When they broke up the first time, Blaine held on to his pursuit that he could get Kurt back. This time -- Blaine is under the impression that it’s done and over. That’s it. And for the first time (ever in his adult life) Blaine is forced to face a reality that he has to function as his own person (that’s a good thing).

As we see in the flashback, Blaine’s downward spiraled into depression (something that he’s struggled with off and on throughout the series, and unlike Kurt who has bouts of situation depression, my headcanon for Blaine is that he’s dealt with a longstanding, low key depression most of the time we see him). He isn’t really able to /do/ anything for a while -- until he works his way up from it, starts to go to therapy, and starts to work on himself.

He ends up moving forwards and backwards at the same time. On the one hand, he begins changing things up, playing with his hair and wardrobe, going outside his usual norms such as dating someone like Karofsky. Meanwhile, he goes backwards in that he retreats back to Dalton -- it’s a reset (as well as narratively for the show, which is resetting back to season 2 rules). It’s a safe place for him -- the place where he last felt the happiest, and yet, it is also a place that holds him back. That’s fine, for now, as he’s using it as a place of healing. The ironic part is that this is the place where he can’t quite get rid of the ghosts of Kurt -- this is where they met, fell in love, and where Blaine proposed. No matter how hard Blaine tries - he won’t truly be over Kurt until he leaves Blaine behind. (Lucky for us, he doesn’t choose to.)

Loser Like Me

By the time we meet up with Blaine in Loser Like Me, we see that he’s doing relatively well -- more so than Kurt because he’s had a lot of time to process the break-up and work on himself. One of the things that comes out of all the therapy, and coming to terms with living without Kurt (or, really, any guy) is that he knows he can make it on his own - and that’s a good thing! And while he’s sad about how things ended with Kurt (and still very angry in the manner in which Kurt did it), he’s in a decent place.

He’s happy coaching the Warblers (even if it’s a distraction) and he’s relatively happy dating Karofsky. I made a whole post about why Blaine dates Karofsky and you can FIND IT HERE. Like everyone in this episode (notice the episode only focuses on the ‘losers’ of this show) Blaine is not at his final stop in life. The whole point of this first episode is to show everyone coming to a cross roads where they need to pick themselves up and start again so they can eventually reach the destiny they were went to be - at the end of the season.

One thing Blaine mentions in the first episode is that he was kicked out of NYADA. This is also a thing heavy on his mind, but it’s not a bad thing! NYADA was Kurt’s dream (and really a scam school) -- and in order for the two of them to be individuals in their relationship again, Blaine finding a new place to go to school -- in turn finding his own path in life -- is healthy for their relationship. It just happens to be sucky at the moment.

So, I go into the final Klaine scene a lot during the Kurt meta, but to touch upon it a little from Blaine’s side....

So, keep in mind that Rachel sets this up -- and probably doesn’t tell Blaine much as to why Kurt wants to see him. This is probably the first time Kurt and Blaine have seen each other since the break up -- and probably the first time they’ve been in contact whenever Blaine left the loft. Remember -- Blaine wasn’t just upset about the break up, he was angry that Kurt so ruthlessly and seemingly uncaringly broke his heart. There’s a lot of anger still festering there -- as much as he’s dealt with the fact that he’s on his own now, he hasn’t dealt with his leftover feelings for and about Kurt.

He’s probably of mind that Kurt’s coming to tell him how wonderful his life is now that they’re apart, and how great New York is, and how it’s better that they called off the wedding. So, Blaine’s prepped to engage in this --- bringing Karofsky is one part shield for Blaine and one part shoving him in Kurt’s face to say that he has also moved on and is “fine”. What he doesn’t expect is what actually happens.

When they meet up Kurt lays it out on the line -- he is not only seeking out Blaine’s forgiveness, but he came back to win Blaine’s heart. And Blaine is a little... whoa, what??? Cause that is not what he intended to happen. Blaine plays it cool -- because as much as his heart is probably -- yup, let’s do it -- he’s gotten hurt, too, and he’s not going to forgive Kurt so easily.

And then there’s also Karofsky to consider. He does like Karofsky, and everything is easier with Karofsky, and he can take the easy road that isn’t as satisfying, or risk his heart getting broken again with Kurt. He’s definitely not ready to take that risk. So they all go through the little charade of Karofsky being cutesy. But it doesn’t go unnoticed by Blaine how much the idea of Blaine with someone else -- especially Blaine with Karofsky -- hurts Kurt. Blaine had probably liked the idea that Kurt would not be thrilled with the idea, but actually hurting him -- Blaine doesn’t like the taste of it as much as he thought he might.

I also want to mention, probably as the night grows to a close, and Kurt and Blaine maybe have a moment alone -- this is when Kurt might retract a little and use his typical defense of -- maybe we’re better off being friends. WHICH IS TOTALLY FALSE THEY SUCK AT BEING FRIENDS -- but Blaine probably half-heartedly agrees, and they all try to move forward from it.

Homecoming

So - we play a lot of catch up with Blaine in this episode -- which I detailed more so above. A lot of this episode is Blaine with the Warbers, and helping the new student - Jane - becoming one of the Warblers. A couple of things to point out with this...

First of all... we get to see Blaine as a teacher, and how he’s a good guy, willing to put all of himself into a thing, even if it’s not going to work out (more on that in a second). We see that -- despite his thoughts that Dalton never changes, we see that it indeed does! Not only is he out of touch with this wacky group of Warblers, but he’ll be able to get them to change a tradition and let a girl into the group. Despite Blaine claiming he’s happy with his life staying the same as it is -- he’s still at a crossroads at his life, and things are going to change. Kurt coming back into town set things in motion, and whether he likes it or not, his life can’t stay the same as it was when he was back in high school.

Blaine is a bit distant to Kurt in this episode. In the beginning, he mostly ignores Kurt -- as a way to just not deal with him at all. Later on, he’s mad and frustrated that Jane has defected -- like I said earlier, he’s once again poured himself into a thing only to have it not work out. His anger that Kurt would be in on at this at all, let alone enjoying it, is him lashing out his anger over the break up that he’s still not over. (And it’s especially annoying that Kurt’s being kind and mature about the whole thing.)

We also see the emergence of sassy Blaine at the end -- Blaine isn’t going to back down and he isn’t going to play nice. And while it’s a tad on the dramatic side -- the point is, unlike whatever the hell Will has going on with Rachel, Blaine has learned to stand his ground and stand up to Kurt. And, while this thought might seem a little weird -- his pushing back against Kurt is actually a good thing! And even Kurt seems to be amused during the scene. It means that Blaine will allow himself to stand on his own two feet instead of just following whatever Kurt’s lead is. They’re getting to a place where they’re on equal footing instead of one of them seeing the other as an idyllic partner. It’s a better foundation for their later, more mature, relationship.

Meanwhile - we have Homecoming itself, where Blaine is seen cuddle up with Karofsky. It is his homecoming, too -- he did graduate from McKinley, but he does seem out of place there. Ironically, the song is about being ‘home’ -- but while everyone is literally home, they’re still on their journeys to where their real homes will be. With Rachel it’ll be New York. With Mercedes, it’ll be touring. With Kurt and Blaine, it’ll be each other. Kurt looks sadly on, but Blaine is, again, purposely ignoring Kurt and using Karofsky as his shield (and excuse) not to deal with the Kurt of it all.

I also want to take a quick second and talk about Blam! Because we don’t get a lot of it in this season. A lot of that is due to the fact that we’re playing by season 2 rules again, before Blaine and Sam were friends, and part of it is the nature that these plot lines don’t allow us to see much of it. But I do think Sam played a nice part in helping Blaine get out of his funk. Sam’s a good friend, and probably did everything he could to help Blaine on his feet again. And despite the fact that at the end of the season (reminding me a lot of how Kurt and Mercedes started to go their own way in season 2) Blaine and Sam are just on different paths. And that’s okay! I think their friendship means the world to both of them -- but they don’t need each other the way they did back in season 4. And that’s fine.

Jagged Little Tapestry

We don’t get to see Blaine much in this episode - but there’s still a little bit here for us to look into. First of all, Blaine and Kurt accidentally meet up at the sheet music store, and for a moment it’s like old times. Though - fascinatingly, they’re more adult in their interaction with each other. (I do think this entire story would make more sense set five years into the future, but I digress...) It’s funny, Blaine tried hard to play the grown up when he (and more so Kurt) weren’t ready. But there’s an easiness between them that really wasn’t there before -- they are adults now -- in these adult roles, and I think these two without the baggage of their past, would easily fall in line and in love with each other if they were meeting for the first time.

Unfortunately, the baggage named Karofsky is still around. But what is different is that Blaine doesn’t need the shield (roadblock) that is Karofsky as much as he did. Blaine feels... a little embarrassed by Karofsky now, and the more he and Kurt begin to reconcile, the less Karofsky feels like an actual option for romantic partner.

But here’s the thing -- as we see in this shared fantasy of a song, Blaine begins to look back through all his old memories of Kurt, as they haunt him as much as they haunt Kurt. There were good times, and Blaine’s beginning to remember that. There’s still a lot of pain, too, though, which is why Blaine doesn’t just ditch Karofsky right there.

So -- Blaine does the dumbest thing ever, and moves in with Karofsky. Here’s my headcanon around that... I’m guessing it’s not entirely out of the blue -- Blaine probably still lives at home, as probably so does Karofsky, and I’m sure Karofsky floated the idea out there. It’s an enticing offer to Blaine even without Kurt in the picture. He likes being in a solid relationship like that. He likes the domesticity of it. And while it’s totally playhousing again (oh Blaine), by the time Kurt comes around -- Blaine decides to move full forward with the idea.

In a way -- it’s his (bad) attempt of fully moving on from Kurt -- see Kurt, I can totally be fine without you. And Karofsky’s an easy enough partner that he’ll just go with the flow. Blaine gets his mock domestic life, and a shield against the pain of Kurt. Is it real? Not really -- if Brittany’s decorations say anything -- other than gay-diddy-gay-gay-gay, they say -- not a real home, but a mock up of one. (Did she do this on purpose? I’ll let you decide.)

The Hurt Locker pt. 1

And we get more Sassy Blaine - telling Rachel like it is. And, again, I reiterate that this is a good thing. Blaine’s still that charming, debonair guy we all know and love. But he’s not afraid to speak his mind anymore, that’s a good thing.

So -- now we get to start seeing all the cracks in the Blaine/Karofsky facade. Yes, Sue is a meddling, pain in the ass, but even without her, the fact that this is still a rebound for Blaine is still there. I truly believe that everything that happens between Kurt and Blaine would have still happened -- only at a much slower rate.

So, yeah, before we get Sue showing up at the date, we get Blaine and Karofsky chatting -- and Blaine talking about how much Karofsky has grown. Part of this is exposition to fill us viewers in as to why the fuck this even happened in the first place, but, it’s also there for Blaine to continue to convince himself that Karofsky is a decent guy whom he’s actively choosing over Kurt.

Then Sue shows up and starts making things awkward -- look, there’s all of Karofsky’s old baggage -- clearly, that’s not something they’ve talked about before. What is Karofsky getting out of this relationship? And why has he slept with half the guys in Lima? Is Karofsky even the guy Blaine’s wanting (needing) him to be? And then Sue sews the seeds that they’re related. Which... ew.

Speaking of ew, let’s take a second and talk about Blaine and Karofsky having sex! Okay, now that I’ve lost a majority of you, lol, yes, they’re definitely having it. Yes, it’s probably like a Uhaul mounting a Moped. Look - they’re both adults who enjoy sex, and Blaine definitely is going to jump head first into that kind of thing. As much as we don’t want to think about it, they have that aspect to their relationship. That said -- is it any good? Meh. It serves its purpose - but I don’t think that’s any kind of defining point in their relationship. And in fact, I’m guessing Blaine ends up liking to cuddle way more than he enjoys the sex.

Anyway.... after this disaster of a date, who does Blaine end up talking to? Kurt. Why? Because at this point -- they’ve slowly started to let each other into their lives again. I do think they’ve slowly begun to chat with each other again - though it’s about mundane things. Not the deeper aspects of their lives. No matter how hard they try, though, they can never really get that far out of each other’s orbit. At the end of the day -- Blaine and Kurt were best friends before they ever dated, and that was one of the foundations of their relationship. It’s interesting -- but something the creators (and Darren and Chris) said at the time that no matter what happens between them, they have a unbreakable bond of friendship that goes deeper than fractured romantic relationship. They are fundamentally apart of each other’s lives, and /like/ each other -- which at the end of the day -- is what truly makes their later, fully committing relationship work.

So, Blaine goes on about Sue, and unintentionally reveals the cracks in his and Karofsky’s relationship. Kurt doesn’t say it, and Blaine doesn’t fully grasp it yet, but Blaine’s complaining is more than Sue’s meddling. It’s more so the fact that Blaine and Karofsky aren’t right for each other -- and Blaine’s finally beginning to see that. Sure, maybe possibly being related a zillion generations back and the fact that Karofsky has made his rounds are pretty superficial reasons to not be with Karofsky -- but the underlying theme is that Blaine’s not ultimately happy with him. His heart, as he’s about to get a reminder, is already taken.

Kurt then - in an honest attempt at maturity, tells Blaine he’s going on a date. And Blaine is uncomfortable -- why? Because for the first time, it’s no longer about their past, or Blaine’s anger, but the reality that if they don’t try again -- maybe this really is the end of the line for them. That thought is echoed when Blaine regurgitates Kurt’s line about being friends, and being each other’s first love is special, but not everything lasts.

The sad thing is -- the subtext of the scene is how much they really want each other here, but are both trying to save face. They are trying to move past each other -- but neither is really wanting to do that, even if Blaine isn’t ready to ditch Karofsky and be back with Kurt. Blaine then gets out of there before they’re really forced to deal with feelings

An interesting thought about their physical intimacy -- back in Loser Like Me, they shared an awkward hug, one where they had muscle memory of being each other’s lovers, but remembering they were, in fact, not together. Here, it’s not as awkward, but it’s still weird. It’s a sign, though, that they are getting more comfortable with each other again.

The Hurt Locker Part 2

Where I wax poetic about an elevator....

So, the important thing... before the Sue of it all, Kurt and Blaine meet up and chat -- the thing is, as they chat, they’re warm and comfortable with each other. There’s an ease going on that wasn’t seen in earlier episodes. What changed? Well - they’re fully getting back into each other’s lives at this point. Maybe they’ve talked a lot about how insane it is to be teachers, or Rachel as a crazy person, or Will being insane with VA. Maybe Kurt told Blaine all about his date with a dude who is older than his dad, and/or Kurt helped Blaine figure out if Karofsky really was related to him. Whatever happened in that week -- these two were already clearly on their way back to each other before Sue, as seen in the friendliness before we get to the elevator.

So -- I talk a lot about the elevator in my meta for Kurt: KURT META. A lot of it transfers to Blaine, so I’m not going to go into it as much here (read the meta!) -- but mostly, the elevator is a metaphor. It’s a place where they can recreate what their issues were with each other, and a place where they can take the other path and talk things out with each other. It’s a place where they can fall back in love with each other (not that they ever fell out of it) and a place where they can discover that they can deal with each other long term. It’s something that I do believe they would have discovered on their own -- but Sue just gave them the extra push.

In addition, the kiss is formative. It reawakens that sexual desire in Blaine -- that never really left (though Kurt feared it had) but plays upon the fact that it’s not just a friendship they have (or had) but a passionate and a lust for each other as well. They’re compatible not just as friends - but as lovers as well. And having physical contact in this way reignites something that never really went away -- but creates more cracks in their attempts to move on from each other.

(There’s a lot more going on here, clothes coming off like layers being unraveled, it’s all good -- I cover it in the Kurt meta - go read it!)

So in this bizarre set up, it’s kind of like a fantasy land where they can rediscover each other outside of the baggage of reality. Once the doors open - it’s back to reality, and the clothes go back on, and they have to go back to their regular lives. But something has shifted again -- as they share a smile during the Inventational.

And as they berate Sue on her kidnapping schemes, it’s clear that they’re friends again, and comfortable with each other. (Notice Blaine touching Kurt during their last scene together? This is purposeful as that layer of intimacy they’ve gotten back. It’s so delicious.) But even more so -- Kurt mentions being over the anger and resentment of the break up. While Blaine doesn’t say it, that speaks volumes. Blaine’s no longer angry with Kurt, because he’s finally put that particular pain behind him - whoo!

What the World Needs Now

There’s really not a whole lot going on here, and that’s fine -- they’ve had a lot of the season 6 story lines so far, I’m so used to them being so in the background that this seems par for the course. (Do you see why I find Season 6 so delicious when it comes to Klaine - we get so much!) Anyway, we get a sassy comment from Mercedes about Kurt and Blaine having to deal with each other, but the thing is -- they’re already pretty cool with each other.

And then we get the end -- where Blaine shows up... without Karofsky! Cause here’s the thing. Blaine dealt with his anger towards Kurt during the whole elevator thing -- he’s no longer angry at Kurt. He’s no longer harboring the baggage he was carrying around with him. And -- because of that, he no longer needs Karofsky as a shield. He and Kurt can hang and be cool with each other, and it’s okay, Blaine finds. He can let Kurt into his heart again, because he doesn’t fear being hurt.

Transitioning

This episode is for all those people worried that Sue meddling was what got Kurt and Blaine back together. It wasn’t -- this episode is what really did it. Had Sue not meddled, what goes down here probably would have still happened in its own time. Sue just helped speed up the process.

Also messing with fate? Kurt... I mean, look at that boy rig that wheel -- singing duets are a sacred thing on Glee, and he’s not going to let the opportunity slip by.

This episode, however, is mostly from Blaine’s POV as we finally get some insight as to what’s going on in his brain. He knows Kurt is screwing around with the wheel, and he’s a bit awkward because of it -- because he knows that duet, in Glee’s symbolic world, is more than a duet. It’s a reaffirmation of what they had. It’s an indication that Kurt’s still interesting and waiting. It’s a chance for Blaine to slip out of the Karofsky-armor he’s been carrying around and see what his heart really wants.

So, Rachel’s party - a ‘transitioning’ moment in time if you will. They goof around and have fun and are probably a little relaxed from the alcohol Sam is slipping them. (I’m a little iffy about that around minors but whatever...) And then they sing a flirty duet together. And then Blaine realizes... he’s gotta go. But not without confirming something for himself.

You see -- outside, when they are alone, it’s a chance for Blaine to realize his feelings and act to act on them. He needs to find out for himself -- not being pressured into it by a sadistic puppet if he still feels all the things for Kurt. And guess what -- they kiss, and he does!! Which is why he jettisons out of there so fast. He’s on the verge of letting Kurt all the way in again, and that’s scary! And there’s also the issue of Karofsky - but more on that in a second.

I need to say this -- look, I get that this story isn’t perfect. While I adore this conversation, it does look a little too towards the past, and not enough about how far they’ve come or the future together. I do wish Glee had done just a little more than pull on nostalgia strings, but alas, that’s where fanfiction comes in, so I’ll just do that myself, lol.

So, let’s talk about Karofsky! Or more so, I’m gonna copy and paste what I put in my Kurt Meta because I’m too lazy to write it all out again:

Obviously, Kurt’s not in this scene, but I feel the need to go over it, because it does, in part, pertain to Kurt. And because I think it’s a nice scene. I’m going to give Karofsky a little bit of credit here, and say he isn’t entirely dumb. He knows Blaine’s been acting weird, and he’s known that since Kurt’s been back in town, their relationship wouldn’t last that much longer. (So then why did you move in with him, weirdo?)

Blaine’s been feeling guilty - because Karofsky turned out to be an okay guy, and Blaine had convinced himself that he really had moved on past Kurt. Well, no, everyone and Karofsky could see otherwise. And Karofsky is pretty nice about the whole thing (which I think is to show just how much Karofsky has grown, too, over the years). He’s got a whole bunch of guys ready and willing to date him. It’ll suck - but Blaine can’t change his heart and more than Kurt can. So Karofsky let’s him go.

I think one of the interesting things in this conversation, is that Karofsky tells Blaine to just tell Kurt, not sing it. And I feel like that goes with the whole growing up theme. A lot of the time, these boys have sung their emotions through song - and that’s fine, but it’s also been part of the fantasy – but part of the Klaine narrative has been a shift from fantasy to reality, and this is one of the last parts. And Blaine’s ready to take that step - to grow up and be a real boy, and be okay in his not-ever-changing feelings towards Kurt.

So - Blaine gets running and goes for Kurt. How does he know Kurt’s there? Is this just after school? Why is Walter meeting him there of all places? Idk - the set up of this scene is a little awkward when you thinking about it too much, but I’m really not supposed to. The point is – Blaine is ready to confess his love to Kurt – again. He even wears the bowtie he wore at the proposal (do you think Kurt didn’t notice that? He did). But — one awkward little thing. Kurt’s about to go on a double date with Walter, Rachel, and Sam. So Blaine – doesn’t say anything. And actually – this is a good thing for Blaine! Honestly, it is – it shows growth. He let his life be dictated by his relationship with Kurt once, and he’s going to do what he didn’t before – let go and let it be. It’s not an appropriate time for Blaine to tell Kurt that he and Karofsky broke up. But even more so, it’s also not his place to intervene in Kurt’s dating life and more than it was Kurt’s to intervene in his relationship with Karofsky. Blaine’s trying to give Kurt the space he hadn’t given Kurt before.

Kurt lingers just a little as they all head out. He knows Blaine’s lying about being there for Rachel. There’s a little bit of longing there, and a lot of concern. And oh the angst is hard core in this moment, as Blaine just stands their alone. Kurt knows and is aware that Blaine’s feeling something. He’s ready for Blaine to say something. Look, Walter does not matter (and by the sound of it, Kurt’s been talking to Walter a lot about Blaine - since Walter clearly knows who he is, and is slightly feigning politeness when Blaine shows up). But Kurt’s ditched both Chandler and Adam pretty quickly for Blaine, and he’ll do it again with Walter. Just this scene – isn’t the right time.

If you’d like to read more about why Kurt continues to go on his date with Walter: READ META HERE. And if you’d like the continued conversation as to why Kurt and Blaine didn’t get back together at /that/ second, here’s my A Wedding Meta.

A Wedding

So, here we are -- at the wedding episode which is... slightly insane of Glee, but typical really.

Blaine came a long way -- he had to work through is feelings of anger and frustration over the break up, as well as feel at peace in being his own person, to really come back together with Kurt. (Kurt has his own journey as documented elsewhere.) And, the final ball lands in Kurt’s court, Blaine’s okay with waiting. Maybe they will get back together -- maybe they won’t. But Blaine’s become okay in not only his feelings but understanding that life maybe just doesn’t work out the way you want it to.

Or sometimes it does.

We see boxes of Karofsky’s stuff in the apartment -- meaning that the playtime is over. And then Kurt comes running back into Blaine’s life again -- desperate and sure about his love for Blaine. And Blaine just... let’s it all in. He’s ready and willing to let Kurt back into his arms, and into his heart, and they fall into just as if nothing had ever happened -- except it did -- they both managed to grow up a bit and be okay with themselves enough to be secure in their relationship.

So, um, yeah -- I’ll be the first to admit that there are a few missing pieces here that I would have liked to see. Mostly -- they kind of wall paper over their previous issues with Kurt’s line of - ‘everything was a mess before but now it’s fine’. And while I can piece it all together from subtext from what we’ve seen -- it still would have been nice to actually see that conversation where they talk about being in a relationship again, and how they’re going to move forward. Alas.

That said -- I don’t think it’s insanity that they go from getting together to jumping into a marriage. (I mean - it is insane - and not some thing that I’d recommend in reality) But one of the things that I think the marriage does is solidify their commitment for each other. The ring around their finger is a reminder that they’re in this together -- and I think that gives them both a security in the relationship. Blaine’s feeling committed and good, and therefore he doesn’t get clingy, which means Kurt won’t pull away, which means Blaine won’t freak out, etc, etc -- the cycle is spinning in a good direction!

Okay, most of the stuff about the Wedding, I’ve said in the Kurt meta already (go read that, too! - or I can answer specifics, this is getting long enough, lol) The only other thing I want to mention is Blaine letting Kurt make the ultimate decision to get married. Because now that they’re happy and back on track -- Blaine’s back to being, well, the one who always wanted to be married. And he still does -- so he let’s Kurt be the one to call it -- because Kurt’s the one who said he didn’t want to be married before. But we’ve come full circle, and when push comes to shove - at the end of the day, Kurt does want to be married to Blaine.

(Oh, and here’s the part where I make the obligatory comment -- Brittany and Sue didn’t force them into this either -- they could have said no had they not wanted to.)

Child Star/The Rise and Fall of Sue Sylvester

Well, here’s the part where I joke about us not being able to see Klaine’s honeymoon, and where I lament that we really don’t get to see much of anything about Klaine’s marriage. Which is unfortunate.

But - let’s talk about Dalton burning down for a second, because I do think that’s important. Remember when Pavarotti died and Kurt was set free from Dalton? Well this is the universe (coughthewriterscough) doing a similar thing. There is no more Dalton -- no more safe place for Blaine to go -- he’s literally forced out of the cage he had built for himself. And granted, he’s on the path to leaving anyway now that he’s back with Kurt, but it’s an interesting metaphor all the same. And yeah - it’s more so about bringing Dalton and McKinley together, too -- but Blaine’s being pushed out of the nest, literally, to go off and fly away. ;)

We Built This Glee Club

There’s really not much Blaine here, either - but Kurt later confirms that Blaine has gotten accepted to NYU -- and while I really wish we could have gotten more of Blaine’s story about how he decided where and why and when he was going to go back to school, at least we get this little bit. And like I said way earlier -- this is good for Blaine. He’s got his marriage, and his life is back on track moving in a forward direction -- and NYU is a great fit for Blaine, because it’s a place where he can stand on his own, separate from Kurt.

There’s also a bit, too, a slight (literal) nod at the future - where Will talks about the future - and the idea of their future kids, and Blaine and Kurt share a knowing look.

2009/Dreams Come True

Well... here we are, at the end of the story. I’m not going to say too much (cause I’ve said too much already) but mostly -- Blaine (and Kurt) get their happily ever after. They take off New York and live their life and are successful in their own right as they expect a daughter.

The point of the entire season is to not give us fans everything we ever wanted -- but to tell a story... one about how you can be the lowest part of your life and climb your way back up, and still be happy and successful and get the ending that you’ve always wanted.

(And, unceremoniously, here’s the Kurt Meta again - which mostly gives my Blaine thoughts, too -- cause, love ya Nonny, but I’ve been writing all day, and I’m tired, lol)

And that’s... all I’ve got. I mean if you’d like to untangle something more specific, let me know! I’ll be happy to answer. Hopefully, this makes Blaine’s season 6 story just a little bit clearer. :)

#Anonymous #that's how s.o. sees it #omg this was a lot #hope you guys enjoy #i worked on this all day - someone please at least give some feedback lol

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recentanimenews · 3 years

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Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy – 11 – Playtime’s Over

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains a sequence of graphic violence.

The last nine episodes and change of Moonlight Fantasy have largely consisted of Makoto, Tomoe, and Mio basically goofing off while demonstrating their immense powers in this world. Then, just when he’s gained a third companion in the newly-humanized Lich he names Shiki, Tomoe starts bleeding profusely and keels over.

Like most of Moonlight’s cliffhangers, I expected this one to be resolved in the first five minutes, possibly in a comedic way. It…didn’t. Shit suddenly got real at the end of last week’s episode, and it stays real and very dark for the vast majority of this week. It’s almost as if Moonlight wanted both Makoto and us to experience the sudden realization that we don’t really know the first thing about this new world.

The adventurer woman and her two associates raid the Illusory City, and the magical ring Drahpnir explodes in an ensuing fight, killing an orc who was just doing his job as well as Tomoe’s Fragment, hence her keeling over. In response, and after reading her deeply prejudiced memories, Makoto takes his revenge on the adventurer woman by stalking her, cutting off her forearms, and then stabbing her through the throat. Fuckin’ Yikes.

It is without doubt the most dark and disturbingly violent this series has ever gotten, and it doesn’t spare the blood. Like Tomoe’s collapse, it comes out of nowhere, but maybe that’s the point: this show is done taking it easy on Makoto, and is now treating him more like Re:Zero treats Subie: like the new world he’s in is always trying to kill him and those he holds most dear, and surviving is a constant struggle.

While it’s laudable for Moonlight to take a chance at going dark, it kind of undermines that a bit by throwing us back in its usual goofy comedic milieu before we’ve even had sufficient time to process the shocking gore we just witnessed. Makoto brutally murdered a woman, and is back to being the straight man in between Mio and a recovering Tomoe bickering. After a memorial service, it’s just tonal whiplash. It’s…odd.

But while things return to “normal”, the reset button is not hit on Makoto’s psyche. His experience that night changed him forever, and also told him that if he wants the Demiplane to be safe, he’s going to have to learn a lot more about this world. For him, that means leaving Tomoe and Mio and enrolling at a university in the neutral town Rembrandt told him about.

But in the first instance since the first episode of the Goddess interfering in his existence on this world, when he goes through a mist gate to the city with Shiki, he ends up materializing alone in the middle of another wasteland, and is immediately attacked by Sophia and Mitsurugi, who don’t just look like a couple of tough customers…the former is able to lop off a couple of Makoto’s fingers!

The shit truly hit the fan at the start of this episode, and by the end Makoto finds himself just about neck-deep in it. I appreciate the show’s ambition in picking the path of grim drama, but I can’t deny my neck still aches from that sudden direction change. All that said, this episode, the second-to-last of this cour, makes the previous ten feel like an extended prologue to the real story.

P.S. It remains bizarre that nearly all humans think Makoto without his mask is some kind of hideous monster, when his character design just doesn’t read that way. The show could at least show us how they see him through their eyes…

By: magicalchurlsukui

#Anime #News #RABUJOI – An Anime Blog

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btsslowburnfic · 4 years

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BTBY Chapter 5

Series Summary: For Namjoon, the moment he set his sights on being the #1 rapper, he pushed the symbol to the side and hated it. Love should be chosen, not forced on you. He didn’t believe in fate and this mark on his wrist was a big “fuck you” to all that.

Chapter Summary: Practice Day 2. There’s some electricity in the air.

Previous chapter found here

The morning goes as normal as it can for you. The studio is a little hectic with the extra clients from Robert’s studio but everyone is very cool about the changes. You teach 2 yoga classes and sub out pilates. You decide to watch the BTS interviews while in your office; purely for professional purposes. Clearly. You hear a knock on the door, “Come in!” you yell as you scoop more oatmeal into your mouth. It’s Xavier.

“Hey babe,” he says carrying coffees.

“You are the best!” you yell from your desk. He looks over at the TV.

“Oh yes, I like this.” he says as he watches the performance.

You laugh, “Oh my God you brat.” you walk to the other side of the desk and grab the iced coffee. “But...I’m not complaining either.

“Are you coming to my class?” he asks, stretching as he sits his drink on your desk.

“Yeah, my arm feels better, I’ll just baby it.”

“Is lunch catered today? I can’t remember.” he continues to do some warm up stretches.

“No. BTS is having lunch on the set of their last show so we’re on our own. Let’s get something delivered to Robert’s. We have to head there right after your class to meet the backup dancers. What do you want? I’ll schedule it now.”

“What’s for dinner?” he asks.

You pull up the catering order “It looks like a Korean/Italian/American blend. I think each guy just said what they wanted. There is no theme to this menu,” you laugh.

“Just order some burritos. Get one for Rafael too. And Joe. He might stop by.”

“Oooo your boyfriend and your bias in one place? Are you going to be able to handle that much sexiness?” you joke as you start typing in the food order.

He laughs, “ Honey please, Joe sat down with me last night and we watched like a hundred of their videos, why else do you think he’s going to stop by? Anyways. Enough about me…...Any updates on YOUR soulmate front? Did you tell Ben? Bribe a hotel staff member?” Xavier asks.

You audibly groan. “No,no, and I’m poor, what the hell am I gonna bribe someone with? Free Pilates class? I don’t think there’s going to be much to update considering my soulmate clearly doesn’t want anything to do with me. And I haven’t told Ben. If I tell him I’d want to do it in person and I haven’t seen him yet.”

“What do you mean, “if”?”

“We agreed that we didn’t care about that thing when we started dating.” you shrug.

“Can’t we try and solve the mystery though?!?! You tracked him down to the hotel. Maybe we can go stake out the lobby or something….”

“That probably means he’s visiting from out of town and I’m never going to see him again. And we have a packed day. Dance class, set up the studio while we shovel burritos into our faces, and then rehearse with the back up dancers, and then rehearse with everyone.” You pack your half-lies into the truth about your full day. And you feel a little guilty. Maybe you should tell him. Maybe. Fuck it.

“Annnndddd I sort of already found out who it is?”

“WHAT?! WHAT WHAT WHAT!?!?!?! How? Did you go spy without me!??!?! How you dare (how you dare how you dare)” he gets distracted for a second breaking out into song. “But seriously, WHAT?!?!”

You are suddenly very sweaty and nervous as you try to form the words…”It’s uh...someone in BTS.”

“WHAT WHAT ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” he grabs your shoulders, coming face to face with you. “Are you being serious right now or are you fucking with me?!”

“Unfortunately I am being serious.”

“That means one of them is secretly an asshole...which one of them could it……” he trails off for a second, lost in thought, “Holy shit it’s RM isn’t it??!?!” he whispers dramatically as he pieces together the awkwardness of yesterday.

Your silence and scrunched up face confirm it.

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah.”

“WOW”

“Yeah.”

“But he’s so nice and cool.”

You sigh, “Yeah to you and everyone else. Apparently he hates the whole “soul mate” thing on principle which is fine by me. I just need to get through these next few days and then we can part ways and continue on with our lives as normal.” you say. Like it’s the simplest thing in the world. If only. Xavier’s alarm goes off signaling 15 minutes to class.

“Well, way to drop a bomb on me right before class darling.” he jokes as he gathers up his phone and studio keys.

“I know, right? How do you think I felt walking into our meeting or that car yesterday?” you also gather your belongings. “36 more hours. Let’s just get through this.”

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

The backup dancers all arrive on time and are prepped and ready. They run the dances several times through with Xavier. All of you had rehearsed a few times last week after Xavier’s dance class so the only real challenge today would be to run it with the group. You were glad you had got most of the dancers you requested; they were professionals who wouldn’t act like a bunch of idiots in front of famous people. Unlike Xavier. Who kept checking his watch.

“Are they here yet? I wanna see….” he says, peering down the hallway.

“Oh my God, it’s been ten minutes since you last checked. They are on a tight schedule and not supposed to be here yet. And see what?”

“The sparks of attraction and forbidden romance between you and RM.”

“Ew. No. Get away from me.” you shove him back into the studio. “And stop saying things, people might hear you. We are taking this shit to the grave.” you pull him close to you “TO THE GRAVE.” you hold up your pinky for a promise.

“Nope. I’m not promising shit.” he says and hops over to the console to talk to Rafael.

Dammit. Oh well. At least one of you was enjoying this. You thought telling someone else would give you some relief, but so far it had just done nothing. If anything you were more nervous today because you’d had time to anticipate what this evening and tomorrow would be like. Ughhh. You go down to the kitchen and grab some coffee and graham crackers. You scroll through your phone enjoying the brief moments of silence before you go back upstairs and find your mind wandering to RM dancing yesterday and you feel your face flush. You wish you could stop yourself but like with most things, the more you try not to think about them, the more you do. Dammmmit. You make sure light snacks and beverages are set up for the backup dancer break and head upstairs to relieve them for an hour.

“Ok everyone! You have about an hour break. Please stay on premise. There are snacks and drinks on floor one as well as your green-room. Remember, if anyone takes pictures or recording once the band gets here, you are fired. This time it is written explicitly in our contract with them, got it?” you hear a bunch of “yeah’s” from the crowd. Like you said earlier, these were professionals in LA, they knew the drill. “Ok, I will come get you all when it’s time to rehearse again. Break.” you say, dismissing them.

“They look really good, great job Xavier,” you say as you walk over to the front of the room.

“Thanks! I can’t wait to see it all together.” he responds. “What do you need help with?”

“I just have to get the lav mics set up again but they’re ready from yesterday You’ve been dancing for hours so why don’t you go grab some water?” you say.

“Okie dokie doll. Come grab me when you need me,” he says as he picks up his satchel and heads downstairs.

“Rafael, do you need anything?” you ask your other coworker.

“Me?Nope. Just looking forward to the group getting here so I can do more than just look pretty.” he smiles at you.

“You know what, same?” you laugh.

“Do you need anything from downstairs?” he asks as he steps down from the booth.

“No, I’m fine, thanks!” You wave him away as you get the room reset in preparation for the group’s arrival. You put on some BTS music while you clean up random water bottles and towels.

You are in your own zone singing along when you look up and see RM standing in the doorway and you give a light shriek. “Shit fuck. Sorry. You scared me.” You scurry over to the console and turn the music off.

“Nice taste in music,” he smirks at you.

“Thanks, just doing my research. You’re here early.” you say double checking your watch.

He fumbles with his hands and seems way less confident than usual and you instantly wonder what the heck is going on. He seems so much different from yesterday, “Yeah. They'll be here soon. I just, uh. Wanted to talk to you. Now that I've had time to kind of process everything. "

"Oh. " you are extremely shocked.

" I just want you to know that I don't dislike you. You're a great producer and you seem like a really nice person. Anyone would be lucky to have you as their soul mate. I'm just not into… that." he says as he looks mostly down and off to the side.

You take a deep breath. This is not what you were expecting today. "Well thanks a lot. I appreciate it. Like I said, the whole thing is kind of weird and shitty for me too. You're a cool dude and you know, famous and hot, but I'm also not into the whole destiny thing. And apparently you’re not a total asshole." you agree as you continue to pick up the room. You hear him chuckle," What? "

"You think I'm hot,"

"Oh shut up, I'm sure you hear it all day, everyday from the internet." you tease as you wrap up the garbage bag." Here, I'll unlock your guys’ dressing room for you." you lead him down the hallway. "Can I grab you anything from the kitchen while you wait?”

"No thanks, I'm going to read for a bit and yeah they should be here in about half an hour"

You stand in the doorway for a minute to make sure everything is set up for the arrival. You suddenly become extremely aware of the fact RM is still standing right behind you in the doorway. “Ok well, I’ll bring the other up when they get here.” you feel your face blushing as you brush past him. It feels like you just got zapped by electricity. You ignore it and head downstairs to clean up after the backup dancers.

The rest of the afternoon goes according to plan with the group arriving and practicing solo again, with the dancers, and then with full audio and music. It looks amazing and you are impressed but also super irritated because you SHOULD be able to watch this at the actual venue tonight, not at a gym studio.

Xavier sneaks up behind you during one of the breaks. “Soooo…...how’s it going?”

“I think they look amazing! Don’t you?”

“Yeah yeah they look fine. I meant about the other thing. You know….that thaaaaaanggg.” he wiggles his eyebrows.

“Oh God. No. There is nothing.”

“....don’t tell me that, he keeps staring at you.”

“Yeah probably because I’m the director. Everyone is staring at me.” you roll your eyes.

“Really? Nothing new?” he asks and you sigh.

“Oh my god, fiiiiiine. Here, let’s go get some coffee.” you grab a mic “Ok everyone, grab some water if you want and meet back here in ten for our last 2 sets and then we’ll review the plan for tomorrow. Break!”

You grab Xavier’s arm and head down to the kitchen. “Coffee?” you ask.

“It’s 8 pm.” he responds.

“...iced coffee?” you amend.

“No. I don’t know how you can do that.” he wrinkles his nose at your late night caffeine habit.

You shrug and walk with him down the hallway to the locker room and shut the door, locking it. You give him an overview of what RM had said to you earlier in the afternoon.

“I knew he wasn’t an asshole. The internet never lies.”

“Ok but he WAS an asshole yesterday,” you roll your eyes and sip some coffee. “And then he accidentally touched me and it felt like I was mildly electrocuted and I kind of liked it and I AM CONFUSED.”

Xavier starts to laugh at you, “Yeah well that’s because everything with your soulmate is more intense. It goes along with the emotions and pain. What feels good also feels REALLY good if you know what I mean.”

“I touched him yesterday when putting his lav mic on and nothing happened soooo i don’t think your theory works but ok.” You pull out your phone to check the time.

“Oh no honey, my theory is spot on. And I predict if he wasn’t leaving in a few days y’all would be all up on each other. Bye Ben. Bye BTS. Hello sexy soulmate time.”

“Um No. Rude. I have a boyfriend. Also catering is here.” you put your phone back in your pocket.

“I HaVe a BoYfrIenD…” Xavier mocks you jokingly and you smack him as the two of you exit the locker room.

30ish hours. You could make it 30ish hours. NEXT CHAPTER

#bts fanfic #bts x reader #bts rm x you #namjoon x you #bts fanfction #rm x oc #bts rm fanfic #bts au fanfic #bts namjoon #bts scenarios

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Text

Hobbit Soulmate Pt 38

‘Mate Rings, new fashion trend? Jaqi Pear, newly named to be added to the King Kong epic directed by Peter Jackson due to be filming soon and star of Beast of Bards in which she is opposite her Mate Richard Armitage, on their latest project a mini series called North and South for BBC have been spotted with matching emerald rings. Myself personally, I love the trend, we should see more of this.’

“Oh my goodness,” you murmured smoothing your hands over your face listening to the gossip news playing through the wardrobe trailer for the Van Helsing film. Behind you the makeup woman was readying your blonde wig for your maid/villager role.

David Wenham however from the doorway said, “Not a clue the lot of them,” the words turning your head with grin creeping out in his crossing the room to give you a hug, “Glad to see you sweetheart, how have you been?”

In his lean back against the makeup counter already in full costume Hugh came in smiling as well, “I want to see this ring,”

Giggling softly your arm extended and he came over taking your hand admiring the ring, “Rich found them in a cabinet we bought he promised to fix up for me.”

David, “You told us about that, that looks crazy expensive.”

“It does, and he won’t tell me what it was appraised at either. So, fifteen bucks for the both of them.”

Hugh chuckled and came in for his own hug, “You are well worth the funds no matter the worth.”

The makeup woman asked, “Is that legal? Keeping them?”

Her bashful smile when you glanced her way was answered with a smile, “He found some receipts in the cabinet and tracked down the family and they signed a paper saying he could have them. Spent the whole day tracking them down and planning a meet up to return them. He thought the same thing and didn’t expect for them to say he could keep them.”

That had her chuckling in relief, “Sorry, parents are contract lawyers, second nature.”

You giggled shaking your head, “Oh no, I get it, my dad insisted I take a course on contract law too so when he found a music box and expensive pens and gloves in there too I was glad to hear he hunted them down, ‘cus those can go for thousands to collectors.”

Hugh, “At least there was a receipt there, had a friend who got taken to jail for trying to have a necklace he found on the beach to be reset to a necklace when it was reported stolen. That can go mad so fast.” He said watching while the woman got to braiding your hair back for the wig cap to go over. “Did you get enough sleep?”

“Ya, off yesterday since we’re switching back to day shifts for me in a few days, you?”

“Yes,” the pair smiled in replying remaining there for your basic makeup to add some exhaustion to layer the role of living in such a dangerous place. Simple wardrobe was added with your things locked up for you to be driven to the right town set. A sharp whispered “Yes,” had David chuckling at the Director stating he wanted you and David to have a steamy kiss after his request to sleep with your character.

Lowly he said, “You are not happy about this when I’m next to Hugh,”

To that you turned to Hugh teasing, “I get to kiss David and you don’t!” Sticking your tongue out leaving the pair chuckling in your split to head to your marks for the start of the scene.

From the inside of the home Van Helsing and Carl acting as Maid to the village scenes fleeing away the most fun of your week did come in the teasing line before the amorous and slightly comical kiss to the post coital scene to follow. Your giggles brightened the mood for those watching after the grueling fleeing and fight scenes filling the day when David exited in a sleeping gown. He came over to fix the couch up to be joined by you in a under shirt and skirt with corset over with a stunning lack of stockings hinting that it was just your under things to be removed in this cold town. Smiles and chuckles filled the talks on the right cuddling position before Carl would leap out of the post coital nest of blankets sending the couch flipping over for you to roll off onto the mat laid out behind it finishing off your blip in the film.

To be honest when all was said and done from the final butterfly inducing station kiss scene Richard milked as long as he could for several ‘options’ to end off the North and South Series and back to the beginning. Back when John and Margaret are just being intermingled through her father’s lessons with him the Mate Ring rumor did seem to be the best angle as you were told by his Agent at least. True it was best to seem available to an extent and to have a bond to his Mate while being presumed available did grant Richard some freedom for his image and even more so for yours. Which once you thought about it only enforced that you both could manage to keep your relationships somewhat private compared to other public couples. Both Jens and Naomi, the latter who just jumped from a relationship with Heath Ledger to Liev especially you could see just blasted across the news back home. True babies would one day give it away but there were always ways of trying to bolster that security by utilizing your camouflaging family if you had to.

On the eve of your arrival back in Canada once in bed you hung up the phone having heard that in your flight out of England Beast of Bards had over its opening weekend in Eastern Europe and Asia broke out $33 million in earnings adding even more to the grand title for the last stretch of it being in theaters. A fact that through Peter had bolstered hopes in his production team for King Kong even more that you could pull off something of this magnitude since the indy film had earned more than ten times the 15 million put in it to shoot it and was still gaining.

Wonderfalls beckoned you back again to set with a weekend pop by to drop in on the X2 premier that Lee would join you at while Richard tried to find a way to slip another trip back out to Canada into his schedule between is next few auditions. Nice and cuddly Richard soaked in all he could as for time with you and his family together eager as ever to have the big day come. Where all the relief came in just asking the question the gaping canyon of possibilities as for what the ceremony might be one day no one could tell, especially should you take hints from the fellow big name actors you had befriended with plans brewing for their own ceremonies. No matter what you had truly wished for deep inside he knew it would be something special between the pair of you without pomp or fanfare for the guests emptying the ceremony’s true meaning. The pair of you didn’t like to be the center of attention outside of character, but for one day who really knows what plans might come up.

Nearly tackled by Tracy in glee at your news the show was off on a roll again with Lee prouder than ever to tug you close to his side soaking up all the time with you he had until his work and your work tugged you in opposite ends of the world again. Easily melting back into the show to get to the more absurd episodes even bringing you into the path of some exotic birds you loved to get a closer look at on the episode you had to pretend one of them attacked you. That had to be one of your favorite ones to lead up to as the zoo that you were to film in gave you all a private tour, and even seeing the same animals a million times there was just something about a zoo that brought out your inner child. Right up there with museums and aquariums and planetariums you frequented on their discount and free days out in New York whenever possible.

Guest stars began to roll in and with the day you were filming a debacle between two women each claiming to have gone over the falls some decades prior a bout of unplanned rain had given you all an early afternoon off. Once changed again your eyes lingered on your ring and Tracy smirked moving closer saying, “Saw that. Admiring it again? It is stunning, if I got a ring like that I’d stare at it for a few days minimum.”

With a chuckle you replied, “Rich said when he got the rings the shop he got our rings cleaned at said I could drop by to pick out a wedding band.”

“Ooh, I smell a shopping trip,” she said with a smile making your creep out, “Come on, we’ll grab Lee and have some fun adoring some shiny things.”

Her arm looped in yours and together with the surprisingly excited Lee you were off to the expensive brand of jewelers. Where Richard had been mistaken as a non-earning slob right away your face had the two suited men perking up, even the woman currently helping another woman choose a necklace. The focus right off triggering your smile reflex on the stroll through the amply lit shop full of cases holding tons of shiny things, all of which you stole glances at along the way. “Miss Pear, welcome, how might we assist you today?”

“Well, some months back by fiancé brought our rings in to be cleaned up and while he was waiting the topic of wedding bands came up. He was told I could drop by to browse a bit on styles.”

Salesman 1 with a buzz cut, “You are welcome to look through any of our selection, any time.”

The Manager crept over asking, “Did you have any hint of what you might be looking for?”

“Yes, my cousin for her wedding band has an eternity band with hearts and I was thinking of one with emeralds, and maybe an onyx one to match his ring a bit.”

In the move of your hand to the top of the case between you the Manager drew in a quick breath recognizing the ring right away and smiled offering his palms upwards to accept your hand, “Yes, I remember this masterpiece.” Smiling wider in tilting it side to side seeing it was still well taken care of, “An eternity band will suit it perfectly.” He released your hand and asked, “Have you had any thoughts to carat size?” gesturing your group to the next row of cases that he walked around his to enter that ring of glass walking right to the section of eternity bands.

With a key ring he opened the case to bring out a row of options, after a quick inhale you replied, “Not really, I’ve never been very, attentive I guess, to jewelry and all that till I met my fiancé. He actually got me my first bracelet that wasn’t made from string, so very new to this.”

The Salesman snuck in asking, “Well this would not be the first time a man wants to bring his love to a better livelihood.”

Lee almost said something until you said, “Not so much that, just most of my money went into my University studies while he’d already graduated when we met.”

The Manager smiled saying, “As it should be, and now you have your name in lights and require something lovely to flash to the cameras. How the world took this as anything but an engagement ring I have no clue.”

Tracy said, “All in all her and her guy outside of characters love their privacy so this way the plans won’t be hounded by cameras.”

Lee grinned as you said, “If anything we could always run off and elope in a horse costume.”

Lee, “Oh we could do better than a horse for you.”

The Manager said, “We do not have any colored heart eternity bands in store however we can order anything you like to custom.” The first row of rings was lifted for you and he said, “We have open designs, or full stones.”

Tracy said, “My mom loves open rings like that.”

Lee in a reach over shifted your hand for his view saying, “Might be a bit big.”

You nodded and said, “Also, I don’t think it would match to have all the metal visible around the stones.”

The Salesman smiled saying, “Very true observation your stones are seamless.”

Luring the Manager to bring over the next row while the Salesman put that one away, alternating directions the hearts on the next ones in sizes from large to small. Beside those came a selection with hearts on bands all upright and a third with them laid sideways. “I really like the sideways ones, my cousin picked the up and down alternating style.” Unlike the alternating hearts these hearts were formed of three stones each, a square and two rounded off squares upping the carat weight but keeping the size from being ridiculous.

Tracy, “I think the small one is a bit too small,”

Lee pointed at the one in the middle, “I think that size would work,”

The Manager lifted the ring out and passed it to you smiling as you did ease it on and the duo around you joined you in eyeing the ring in comparison to your engagement ring. “Doesn’t match,” you muttered to yourself.

The Manager said, “I do believe this one would fit the best myself.” Accepting the ring you took off trading it for the largest one. “A nice one point seven five carat for each heart set to go with your eight and single carat stone ring.”

“I do like this one.”

You said and with nods your friends agreed with Lee asking, “Were you thinking green, white or groups of colors to fit the black?”

On a diagram sheet from the Salesman the Manager showed you a few options while you eased off the band to not forget you were wearing it while the Salesman hurried off with a lift of his finger. Back to you he brought a choice of bracelets of round stones in various combinations of emeralds, onyx and diamonds, “Just for the color schemes.”

Tracy asked, “Were you thinking more emeralds?”

“I think maybe more diamonds and onyx.”

Lee tapped one, “I like this one,” he said tapping the bracelet with three diamonds next to three onyx stones, “Maybe pop an emerald in the middle of the onyx.”

“I like that idea, nice pattern.”

The Manager said, “Very lovely choice. And with this size the pricing will be fitting, four grand for stones will be a fine partner to its $800k engagement ring. Now to choose metals, I will get the samples.” Hurrying off while the Salesman took the bracelets back Lee’s brows furrowed in the drop of his and Tracy’s jaw while you subtly gripped the belt on his side.

Barely above a whisper you asked, “$800k? That’s over my whole check for the show!”

Tracy whispered, “That’s a house, two houses down south.”

“And four cars. You could probably buy a plane for that! I have house, plane and cars on my finger.”

Lee looked you over murmuring, “How do you do that? First Porn Man stash, then you found that cabinet for under twenty bucks.”

Tracy, “You’re taking me furniture shopping after this.”

“It’s not every time.”

Lee cut in as you let go of his belt, “There was two hundred in the cushions on the lounges you picked for me.”

Tracy, “How do you know? Is there like a glow? Because this role for you is seeming perfect if you have a voice telling you to buy this stuff.”

“It’s,” you sighed at her brows arched up curiously, “My uncles call me money bunny.”

Lee, “Why? They refused to explain.”

“I used to be the one to find lost wallets or keys since I was three. No glow or anything, even found a lost watch my gramps lost in the fields gathering the sheep in a storm. Dad’s the same way.”

Tracy, “After this,”

The Manager returned and choosing 24 karat white gold to match the other ring he got to finalizing the order sheet for the now 5.5k ring and the more he filled out the more your heart raced having picked all this out without Richard. He did tell you to browse and see if you could think up what you wanted but you sure hoped he wouldn’t feel left out of the designing process where you might not have felt the weight you were feeling now to have to dip into your savings to pay for this right away. Though the Manager said with a smile, “This ring should take five weeks to complete, if you would give us a number to contact you at when it is complete.” His grin crept wider, “Normally we ask for a deposit but for our elite clientele we waive that restriction and have much better terms for credit when the pieces are ready to be picked up or delivered.”

It all was a bit awkward to simply leave with a receipt slip for the walk to the second hand shop. Through the aisles you wandered until you stopped at a jewelry display. And from the selection between two boxes you pulled open a hanging display case to find a necklace of nine strands of what looked to be jade flat beads secured by a golden clasp you lifted and turned to show Tracy like the bloodhound she and Lee had been treating you like. Seeing you had brought something to show them the pair turned and Tracy lifted the ends of the necklace that parted her lips. After stealing a glance towards the shop owner behind the distant counter she leaned in whispering, “Is this real jade?”

Mid shrug you said, “You said see what I end up picking. It’s something.”

Lee and her shared a glance and he found the price tag saying, “7 bucks, and it’ll pop on you against your skin, for the premier of the show, could be nice.”

She nodded and pointed to you, “I know you, there’s something to this. I’m buying it.” She led the way to the registers, a few feet away your hand reached out for a butterfly shaped decoration out of painted wood you picked up and brought over to set beside the necklace she decided to wear out once the tag was cut off. Food was picked up on the way back to your place where she’d planned to get a taxi to get back in time for a late brunch with her parents that had flown in to visit her. “So are you gonna tell me-,” gripped around the waist she was tugged out of the way by Lee behind you with a loose dog that you turned and ducked to grip the collar of for the massive hockey player chasing the peppy husky. Off to the side her arm swung and open mouthed she gawked at the bag that collided with the brick building behind her while you tried to calm the husky now bounding around and between your legs wiggling for attention from his new friend. “My butterfly,” she murmured as the man came to a stop in front of you.

“I am so sorry about Leap Frog. Just took off out of the car, his first road trip.”

Shaking your head you giggled saying, “No problem, my cousins puppies were all the same way.” You said handing over the leash while he all but paled realizing who you were.

“Thank you,” he murmured again and turned to head back to his car with the dog where his friends were waiting for him.

Inside the bag Tracy peered and open mouthed she eyed the broken pieces of the butterfly then looked at you, “You have got to be kidding me.” You looked from her to the bag she pulled a folded wad of cash out of and you simply shrugged and she shook her head dropping it back into the bag before anyone else could see it. “You got skills. Like able to sway millions of cult followers skills.”

“Oh ya, come on up to my place, I got some kool-aid.” That had her rolling her eyes through your shard giggle, “When we die we get a whole bushel of golden geese and a bunch of mountaintop villas with a one of those terrifying pools that drops into a waterfall with a hele-pad and all the frills as our place as Kings of all the universes and dimensions.”

Teasingly she replied, “I got plans, so I’m gonna have to rain check on the kool-aid.”

“Missing out,” Lee teased while you smirked saying, “Have fun looking into that jade.”

“So how’s your day going?” Richard hummed through the line while soaking in the bath washing off a long muggy day of auditioning for some more ridiculous commercials and a spot on another tv show as yet another stunning adulterer.

“Had to call it early for rain and Lee and Tracy came with me to that jewelry shop you mentioned.”

“You saw what I mean then? Right in the door judging.”

“Oh yes and pushy. Which is what I was getting to,” you said seated while stirring your food up into a jumble waiting for it to cool.

“You picked out what you wanted?”

“Yes, and before I could say I’d come back with you later they wrote up the ring to be made.”

“Just determined for commission aren’t they.”

“And that’s the thing, five and a half grand total and they let me walk out without a deposit, apparently I’m elite clientele now fitting for their credit. Don’t know me from Adam, but it’ll be done in five weeks is what they said.”

“Good, should be there in three.”

“I don’t think it works like that.”

Lowly he chuckled, “I’ll be there in three, Dearest.”

“Oh, oh, you got a ticket back?” You squeaked our happily smiling at your empty apartment and muted tv.

“Yes, just for two and a half weeks but I get to see you before you fly out to New Zealand for Peter. Then when my shows are done I can fly out there with you for the tail end of that maybe take him up on his offer as a doomed extra.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, now, details about this stunner you drafted up, my Dearest Love.”

“Ok,” you smiled repeating the details of the ring warming his heart even more at the symbol of marriage you would be wearing sometime in the future that was coming up to being planned.

“Simply fantastic choice, and don’t worry on the price I have it and the Bard should be out of theaters soon so we can set part of that aside for any possible other nuptial plannings or purchases you feel up to.”

“What else, oh right, a dress and all that.”

Again he chuckled saying, “If need be pick a few options and if funds run thin I’ll pick the most forgiving to wear myself.” That had you laugh through his chuckle and he added, “I’d wear anything to marry you.”

“If I did have spares I’d make my cousins wear them. Go for traditional, confuse those demons after us.” Widening his smile imagining what you might want to wear for the distant big day.

“Any weird roles today?”

“There is one where I’m dancing with limes.”

“Wow,”

“Floor cleaners, odd ones, are you doing well otherwise?”

“Weird dream I saved William Shatner from drowning and then he turned into a llama and hopped into a convertible and drove off with Burt Reynolds.”

“Wow,”

“So weird. Just an odd day, and Tracy had me take her furniture shopping thanks to finding out I have a house, airplane and five cars on my finger.”

“They told you the price?! Oh Love, you deserve it you know that.”

“I, know, just, I’ll handle the price tag when I get over my heart attack of a paycheck for Kong and whatever Bard is going to be with our two percent box office check. Gran called and the managers are thrilled, said that it’s climbed to over $200 million, so whatever that stops at-,”

“I love you, clearly they didn’t expect you to turn a phenom and blow this out of the water like this.”

“As if your brooding didn’t have anything to do with it Mr Blue Eyes.” Making him chuckle again. “You are going to be quite famous ya know when this is on disc and everyone can see your face on movie shelves instead of just at the theaters. Not to mention when they see you as Mr Thornton.”

“I prefer you being the famous one and I just happen to be talented enough to have producers pick me to have your name attached as hey we hired Miss Pear’s Boy Toy.” Again he chuckled through your giggle knowing he was beaming proudly at the still lingering title. “Has your dad talked to you about his plan yet?”

“Plan?”

“About the brownstone the Landlord has out there?”

“I mean, I know about it, but, he has a plan with it? Like an actual plan?”

Again he chuckled lowly, “I love you, you know that. I suppose it was meant to be a surprise then when he dropped by again. Said he wanted to take you out there, Landlord had the wiring, plumbing, water heater and ac updated for it. Plaster should be redone when you get back as well.”

“How, do you feel about that?”

“I think it would be a home for you to own that I could cuddle up to you in. I do like the idea, we stay in mine out here and I want you to have a place where when we’re all there in New York with tons of space. It sounds amazing I know we can make it a home and there’d be tons of space for all your stuff from the apartment there and ours in Canada. Plus, Lee’s been having it rough with rent.”

“Ya,” you chuckled out, “I fronted him some cash on his place here he forgot Will had a card on his account and he ordered some ‘really rad sneakers’.” Making Richard chuckle, “Rules have been set, lesson learned on both ends. He is doing well though his parents are pleased he’s still alive.”

“Have you told him yet about the place?”

“Not really, I mentioned it that Dad had talked to the Landlord about it. He was flipping through our fuzzy channels at the time for something recognizable.”

“I am going to love cuddling with you to that cable, no lies, you will too. Just imagine those romances you love without z shaped heads on the lovers.” Luring a giggle from you.

“Imagine that, all those actors actually having heads.”

Spenser Breslin was the latest famous guest to drop in and on one of your night shoots this week between takes of a dinner between your on screen love interest and the Russian mail order bride who made him and you food the bag you’d tucked in the cupboard of your trailer began to ring. “Oh shit,” you said easing up out of your chair to the Director’s chuckle, “Thought I shut it off.”

You said about your phone and from the bag nestled between his and hers you pulled the phone to silence it only to mutter, “Why is she calling me? She never calls me.”

The Director said glancing at the teen seated on the couch bench you had left reading a book he’d brought, “Go ahead, we have to shift lights for Spence’s entrance.”

Answering the call from your cousin all eyes shot to your phone you pulled from your ear at the loud shrieking sea of obviously more than one of your cousins. “Bell,” You said easing the phone closer to your mouth but not your ear. “Not a dolphin.”

Muffled in a group the group shouted, “UNCLE’S ... NOMINATED!!!”

Their shouts died down and you brought the phone closer to your ear trying to make out the gist of what they all were saying. “I got ‘nominated’ and ‘uncle’, which uncle?”

A collective throat clearing was had and they said, “OUR UNCLE!!”

“Oh, your, my dad got nominated for something? What?”

One apparently chosen cousin said excitedly, “Uncle Joe got a letter today from MTV that he’s been nominated for the Best Villain Award!”

“No! Where is he?”

“We tackled him when he read it, so he’s hiding in the barn.” They all giggled out making your smile creep wider.

“When is it?”

“End of the week out in New York.”

“Least it’s not in LA, he want to go?”

“He has to! And he’s got a plus one!”

“Well I wasn’t gonna send him alone.” You glanced over at the still staring group smiling as you said, “Actually on set, but I’ll call him after I get off and love you guys try not to drive him up a tree.”

Giggles followed and they shouted, “LOVE YOU TOO BUNNY!!” Then promptly hung up making you shake your head and shut off the phone you put away again.

Joining the others with an excited squeak to your voice for a moment you said, “Dad got nominated for best villain from MTV.”

“Oh that’s awesome!” Rippled around while you took your seat again.

“Yes, his first award on acting sure he’s thrilled once my cousins stop swarming him.”

Spencer joked, “Well I’d be scared too if I had dolphins in my family.”

That had you giggle, “They don’t mean to be like that, just happens when they’re excited. “Quads, about your age.” You said bumping Spenser’ arm.

Love interest asked, “Quads?”

“Four babies at once.”

“How-?” He asked with voice trailing off in astonishment.

“I have a lot of cousins, mostly twins or higher.”

The mail order bride asked, “Scared to ask how many siblings you have.”

“Just me, lost mom when I was little. I don’t think her parents could have handled more than one of me. Got a bit of her unruly streak they battled with for years in her till she ran off with dad.”

She said with a smile, “Ooh, sounds whirlwind and like a fairy tale.”

That made your smile grow and you nodded, “Met when they were young and her parents didn’t want her running off with some rancher from Texas, she danced in the Bolshoi Ballet.” Parting their lips, “Which my grandparents have been on the board for since they retired and she chose the guy they said wasn’t good enough and it was a fairy tale for a little while, even had me. Hasn’t been that bad from them since they wanted to get involved, my schooling helped studying abroad they got to drop in and out when it was easiest for them. And Babu gets to try and spoil me with traveling and shopping funds he pretends to be very cross with me when I don’t spend it all.”

Spencer asked, “You went to a school in another country all alone? Why didn’t your dad go with you?”

Catching his eye you smiled answering, “He took a job on an oil rig to help me pay the difference on my tuition after my scholarships.”

“Weren’t you scared?”

That had your smile creep wider, “Absolutely, and I had terrible stage fright. And I was in England and when I got a job waiting tables everyone saw me as the sore thumb for my accent and my eyes. And I just didn’t talk to people past my Professors till I got locked out of my dorm one too many times studying past curfew and some guys let me bunk with them in their flat. They were from Chelsea all the way out alone in Oxford and I found some more sore thumbs to hang out and bunk with, that helped a bit.”

The guy said, “I thought Lee said you went to Julliard with him and Tracy.”

“I did both, Oxford for my Drama and Science degrees, Daddy said I needed a back up plan. Did that for a year then Julliard accepted me so his friend who owns apartment buildings got me a place and kept an eye on me for fall to spring between summers back in Oxford.”

She said, “I don’t like to fly how can you fly so often?”

You shrugged and love interest asked, “So when did your dad start acting?”

“Few years back, he was going to be an extra with me on the Lord of the Rings got put as an Uruk-hai after his rig got hit in a storm and they had to evacuate it. Been helping him to get work on film since so he didn’t have to go back, and I’ve graduated now so he’s just got baby fever waiting for grand babies to watch after while I work. He didn’t dream of being an actor now he’s got an award he must be so excited. I hope he wins.”

Spencer asked, “Which film did he play the villain in that he’s getting the award for?”

“Beast of Bards.”

That had his jaw drop, “The villain was your dad?! That guy was huge!”

Making you giggle, “Well he’s 6 ft 9,” dropping the love interest’s jaw too, “got his hair and eyes but I got my mom’s travel sized stature.”

The Director gave the signal that the lights were ready and Spencer added his book with the others on your shelf in the trailer and wiggled past your lifted legs to go outside to take his own mark while you readied to be the irritated third wheel and storm to the sink where love interest would come cuddle behind you. Right in front of the tiny window where the camera with a hat standing in for Spencer on this shot would see you and grow jealous enough to try and frame love interest for beating him up.

On his way to his car to take him to his hotel Spencer caught a moment at your side again and asked, “Hey Jaqi?” Getting a kind smile in return, “I got a question, you have all that family back home. Why would you want to act if it means you don’t get to be there with them and you have to be alone?”

“Well, my Mate said something to me once when he was switching from musical theater to drama school to act traditionally. If you can picture yourself doing anything else and still being happy you shouldn’t act. But if you can only see yourself content while being an actor and living with the rough times, the dry spells between roles, the rejections and bad reviews but you still couldn’t do anything else then you should stick in there and put in the work. Back in school they tell us it takes ten years on average to be an overnight success. And the way I figure it I could always call, we mail tapes all the time. So ya I miss home and my family but I have all these amazing stories to tell my little cousins, and if you could just see New Zealand, that trip alone could have fed my fire for a decade alone and I get to go back again for King Kong, with my favorite Director and crew that feels like family. Roles are hit and miss, but I wouldn’t be happy behind a microscope in a job to be back home by nightfall. And my Mate acts too along with most of my friends so we all sort of mesh in together on our own adventures. You’re still a kid, you don’t have to iron it all out now, just see where the road takes you.”

Sheepishly he said, “I do like music. But my agent says I don’t have a look for musical films.”

You scoffed at that, “You think the big bands before the 90’s got universal approval on their looks? No, they had a killer voice and a sound no one could touch, and doesn’t matter what you look like if you got a song in you no one has heard yet you go and belt it out. Someone’ll turn their head. Keep working on your music too, hone your craft. Never hurts to have some versatility. Ten years, you got tons of time.” Making his smile creep out in his nodding turn for the car that pulled up with his dad and manager inside talking about his next plans for travel for another role.

Once inside the taxi a crew member had guided you to they called you pulled out your phone calling your dad with a smile. “Hey Daddy, congratulations.”

“They swarmed me.”

You giggled hearing the sounds of the sheep he was clearly still hiding with to pretend he was busy to go back in again. “I heard. We’re all just so proud of you. Can’t wait to go with you, we going fancy or casual?”

“No way we can’t go fancy. Gonna be in front of people. What if I have to give a speech? I don’t know what to say. It’s different with a camera there’s no reaction from a camera but I’ve seen those shows and there’s a crowd.”

“Well a simple thank you might be ok, I mean-,”

“I didn’t even talk that much on film, and it was mainly to you.”

“Well Anthony Hopkins wasn’t all talk in Silence of the Lambs, had his silent intimidation moments. It doesn’t have to be long. Loads of villains are silently intimidating.”

“I’ll figure it out.”

“Uncle Joe!” You heard faint through the line making you smile wider.

“Oh they found me.”

“Love you, Daddy.”

“I’ll get Jim to help me write something. He talks all the time at his job. Love you Pumpkin, see you in New York.”

Pt 39

Hobbit – Soulmate - @evyiione, @deepestfirefun, @rhaenaatargaryen, @anastasialovers

X all Rich. A - @abiwim, @deepestfirefun, @thestorybookmistress

X Lee P - @tigereyesf

All –

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars, @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore, @mariannetora, @shes-a-killer-kween, @ggbbhehe4455

#Van Helsing Filming #Back to Wonderfalls #Shopping Trip #Elite Clientele Benefits #Ring Design #Second Hand Shop #Money Bunny #Nomination News #Richard Armitage x Reader OC

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