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gren-arlio · 9 months

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I did it. I finished translating Schezo's storyline in Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon...for the most part.

So why don't we do a story, gameplay, AND character retrospective?

Hey everyone, Gren here.

As the story ends, my work doesn't. Schezo's route as a whole (as of July) isn't FULLY done. I'm still missing some stuff like small differences in talks, minor talks I missed, menus, etc. However, the main story route is about finished, minus the things I mentioned.

Which is why I'm posting this huge blog today. Finished it much earlier than I thought.

For those who don't wish to read post after post, I thought it'd be a decent idea to just throw it all neatly into one ultra large post that, while a long read, is simple enough to understand and gather. (Trust me, there's like 70+ paragraphs of this stuff.)

The game was pretty fun to translate, I won't deny it. Learning about the characters and more about what they are was super fun.

This post will cover the following:

The story of Schezo's storyline itself, and the gameplay revolving around it.

Some characters that properly got screentime. So characters like Mamono, Cockatrice, and all characters who basically say a single word and such won't be included. Some mentioned will be the ARS Trio, Draco, Witch, Succubus, and Satan.

Atmosphere of the game itself. The tone that's given usually and how the games OST (which spoilers: Is really good,) helps.

Hopefully, this is both enjoyable to read and helpful. For the people who've been here for a while, have fun reading the THIRD super large pinned post, easily the longest I've done.

Welcome to the Story, Gameplay, & Character Retrospective of Schezo's storyline of Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon.

This'll be a very long one, so take your time with this. Hope you enjoy.

Story of the game:

The story itself, for Schezo's story, is fairly simple all things considered. It begins with Schezo clearing a Dungeon, telling us that the layout of the place changed every time he went outside, forcing him to retry several times. All of the work was worth it though, as he acquires the Space-Time Crystal, a powerful item that'll make Schezo all the more stronger. However, the crystal instead absorbs his power, and Schezo gets warped away.

Woken up by the encounter, Schezo notices he can barely use his magic, questioning why this happening. However, Fufufu, a traveling merchant, comes up to him to talk about the new amusement park in the area; Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land, a place said to give a special item for magic if all 6 attractions are completed. Schezo wonders if he can regain his powers from doing this, and after getting a map by Fufufu to go to Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land, Schezo heads out to regain his powers.

(The map itself.)

Schezo runs into Arle first, who's not even there for the treasure itself, and is there to enjoy herself and have fun with Carbuncle. Schezo realizes that she's telling the truth, as she's unaware of a treasure to start, and after getting teased, leaves.

Then he runs into Rulue, who's accompanied by the guy we only remember for Quest, Minotauros. Schezo and Rulue begin arguing right off the bat, and Rulue says she's here to get the magical item to get magic, to beat Arle with it, and to win over Satan. Schezo calls the plan stupid because it overlaps with HIS plan, and he gets chased off by Minotauros. Schezo then laments that he has to deal with these two women again.

Throughout the journey, Schezo meets various characters we know and love, and keeps hearing a voice, a mysterious one who never tells their identity, yet explains where each magic orb (the Macguffins of this game.) is, leaving Schezo confused.

After collecting all 6 orbs and defeating Satan, the owner of Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land, a huge tower appears from the sky, The Ultimate Tower, a gauntlet of every single area in the game. There, he meets the real main antagonist, Doppelganger Schezo, who mentions that he was both the Space-Time Crystal and the mysterious voice, and the two duel.

In the end, the real Schezo emerges victorious, as the doppelganger's body begins to crumble. Doppelganger Schezo explains how he was behind all of this, much to Schezo's shock, before Schezo himself tries to steals his doppelganger's powers.

Yet Doppelganger Schezo says otherwise. Schezo has gotten much stronger, so much so that absorbing Doppelganger Schezo's powers won't do him any good, before The Ultimate Tower begins to collapse due to Doppelganger Schezo's lack of power.

(Doppelganger Schezo admits he's the Space-Time Crystal)

An explosion occurs, destroying the amusement park. Schezo stands in all the destruction, unhurt from it all, thinking about his final fight, realizing he's become stronger and better than his formal self.

Arle and Co. appear, all seemingly okay from the blast. Schezo deduces that everyone was okay because of Doppelganger Schezo saving them all, much to his surprise.

However, they're not exactly happy with the real Schezo as a whole. In fact, they're really upset at the fact that Schezo destroyed the amusement park, especially Satan and Arle, and chase him down for various reasons. Overall, it's a fun, simple, but occasionally serious story that's easy to grasp.

Now of course this isn't the entire game, there's a ton to explain for that section. For a lighting round of things that occur:

At the start of the game, Skeleton-T goes from a Boss to working at shops before getting evicted by Succubus. This changes when you beat her.

Draco is still pretty dumb at times, not even checking if Schezo has the tickets to enter. He just says "Yeah I have em lmao" and she let's him into the dungeon.

Serilly is supposed to be a boss, but can be completely avoided if you become her friend.

Kikimora plays a semi-big role as the usher guiding Schezo around. She also kinda dislikes Succubus.

Witch chases Schezo after she meets him for one goal: To get his clothes. One track mind does wonders to people.

There's obviously a ton more, but I'm picking the interesting stuff. Like most Madou/Puyo games, it's not serious at all besides a few scenes with Doppelganger Schezo. Madou games aren't exactly serious, contrary to popular belief. It's full of light hearted and goofy fun.

So what about the gameplay?

I mentioned this in an older post, but it's similar to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. (Best game I could relate it to.)

Every move and action you do is considered a "turn" and as such, the enemies move with you. As such, you can use this to your advantage, or die because Witch decided to do a long-range attack. As of typing, the menu translations aren't really...done, yet, neither are the moves the bosses do. Might have to do those someday for Extras.

(Witch doing Firestorm, decided to translate this one on the spot because it's convenient.)

Schezo is unique in this game because he's the only one to run solo. In the other two routes, Arle runs with Carbuncle, and Rulue goes with Minotauros. As such, you're on your own, and have no one to help ya out, but Schezo himself is quite strong, so don't worry.

Floors are obviously a big thing in this game, and they can range from 5 floors at the start to 100 at the final place. With places that have 10 floors, you fight a midboss who get their own dialogue with the protag of the route. At the 10th floor, the boss appears, usually with very comedic dialogue before the fight. Or be Serilly and just not fight if you become her friend.

Speaking of characters, time for my favorite part:

Character Personalities and Changes:

The characters are most of the time quite different from what we're accustomed to in the more modern Puyo games, but they're also fairly different from their older Madou counterparts. It's a fairly balanced mix of both sides, leaving to either well rounded characters to pretty one note characters.

So let's begin with the ones we all know and love: The ARS Trio.

The good ol' Arle Nadja, Schezo Wegey, and Rulue.

This'll only cover their versions in Schezo's Route, so please keep that in mind. They may be different in the other routes. If they are, lemme know.

With that, let's start with the man himself:

Schezo Wegey:

Schezo starts off as the Madou version we're used to, a man trying to make himself even more powerful by absorbing power, though this time the plan backfires pretty badly. He's cold, not wanting to get a partner because he thinks they'll slow him down, reflecting his gameplay. However, throughout the game, he slowly changes into a more caring person, but still the Schezo we know in Madou.

Take when he first meets Kikimora, for example. Schezo asks her a question that she couldn't answer, and he immediately calls her useless, causing her to get very upset. However, midway through the game, a similar scenario happens, leading Kikimora to cry, but Schezo apologizes and says to stop crying. It's a small, yet noticeable change.

The same goes for his friendship with Serilly if you choose to be her friend. At the start, Schezo's already hesitant to fight her, as she doesn't exactly seem like an enemy. After giving her advice, she happily leaves, but Schezo questions why he even cares about the girl to begin with.

At the Endgame, Schezo can meet up with Serilly again, and they have a genuine conversation about how Schezo has changed since they've last met, and Schezo questioning himself about how much he's changed. After Serilly herself gives advice, albeit in her own way, they can talk one more time, and Schezo properly thanks her for the advice she gave, even if Serilly feels like Schezo's being more distant. In a surprise twist, Schezo actually tells her that he's here for her before internally realizing he's changed drastically. While it's a major moment for Serilly herself, it also shows the huge changes Schezo went through.

And the last change is with him and Arle. At the start, it's the typical, Arle teasing him and him defending himself while trying to get her power. Hell, he tries to after a whole misunderstanding and gets blasted by a beam from Carbuncle. However, you can meet with Arle at the Endgame, before entering the Ultimate Tower. After Arle teases Schezo yet again, he snaps and properly yells at her, prompting her to call him a jerk and leave. Schezo, shocked at his own reaction, asks for forgiveness from Arle, and that he shouldn't have been so ticked off by a few words. It's unusual of Schezo to apologize, let alone to Arle, yet it's a defining moment in his route. He's even glad that she and everyone else is okay from the explosion from Doppelganger Schezo.

However, he's not perfect. He still very much bickers with Rulue, gets annoyed with Arle and many of the midbosses, and gets annoyed at Witch at every moment she's around. He's still very much Schezo, but he grows a lot throughout the game. In my opinion, it's one of the best written Schezo's out there.

Arle Nadja:

Arle isn't too far from most of her older and even newer iterations. In Schezo's route, she's only at Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land to play around, unaware of the treasures hidden in the park until the end of the game. In a weird way, she's blissfully unaware of what's going on, merely there to enjoy her day and have fun.

However, like stated in Schezo's bio, she can still be snarky and angered. When Carbuncle blasted Schezo, Arle was surprised, but said Schezo deserved it for being a pervert. She openly insulted Schezo on an occasion or two because he was internally thinking that all of his issues begin with women. (Yes. This is real and is an actual piece of dialogue.)

Rulue:

As per the usual for the R of the ARS, Rulue kinda got shafted in Schezo's route. Lot of her talk is with Minotauros, and she's fairly stagnant as a character. Her goal is simple: Get the magic item before Schezo so she can beat Arle and win over Satan, the classic.

She does it decently, but besides that and arguing with Schezo and/or Minotauros...she doesn't exactly do much in his route, which is fairly unfortunate. But what can ya do, really? She's still the Rulue we know and love today.

Side Characters:

With the ARS Trio out of the way, we may as well speak about the other side characters who got a fair bit of screentime. For this, I'll be going in the order the videos I translated went through. Be warned though, when I say "Endgame," I mean "Yeah the videos I saw kinda went through them all at the end of the game," so if they're not exactly AT Endgame, you know why.

With that out of the way, the first character is...

Kikimora:

Yeah. Not kidding. She plays a fairly big role in the game itself, as she works usually in the Information Booth, giving tips and tricks as an usher and leading the player (I say player because she's in all routes.) around Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land. Later in the game, she teaches Schezo how to see traps with a certain scroll, which is invaluable to the player. Fun fact: She isn't really a boss in Schezo Route. Dunno about the others.

Schezo meets her where she usually is and talk about the amusement park as a whole. When Kikimora can't answer a question Schezo asked, he's quick to call her useless, much to her sadness. However, she still helps Schezo out.

Kikimora is fairly honest, giving the same advice to everyone she meets, though is prone to being upset by people making fun of her, which can lead to her crying at times, to being annoyed at the fact Succubus was running amok and luring guests in. She even admits when she doesn't know the answer to a question, which is commendable. She's surprisingly well developed as a character, and I've grown to like her a lot more. She really doesn't speak about cleaning much, if at all, contrary to the Nexus. You learn something new every day.

Draco:

Draco is about the same from all of her other renditions, without the obsession with beauty that we usually see from her. In her first encounter with Schezo, before even the dungeon she's supposed to guard (Fire Mountain), she asks Schezo if he has tickets to enter the place. Schezo says yes without showing them, and Draco flat out believes him and leaves, making Schezo confused on how easy it was to do that. He did have the tickets, but even I'd be flabbergasted.

The boss fight encounter is fairly goofy. Draco is glad Schezo arrived, and waited for him. Schezo's flustered, trying to say that "Women..." Before getting cut off by Draco saying who cares if it's between man and woman, and that she's ready, making Schezo more embarrassed. Finally, she mentions that she's ready for the match, making Schezo feel stupid for thinking of "That". Absolute lunacy.

You then run into her after the fight, training to beat you next time, which I believe you can in the Endgame via a place I forgot the name of. Battle Palace I think?

Speaking of Endgame, you run into her again, telling Schezo that if he didn't look so moody all the time, he'd be even more popular with women, a statement kinda backed up in-game and in the manga, where Honey Bee kinda had the hots for him. Schezo says he's not really interested in women, causing Draco to ask if he's into men, which he quickly denies. She ends up confused, asking how a good-looking, popular guy like Schezo doesn't understand women, leaving as Schezo is surprised that he's popular. She's funny in this game.

Serilly:

Serilly has the current award besides Kikimora as the most well developed side character for absolutely no reason. At least in Schezo's route, she has such a large character change, least in Puyo standards as a whole.

Schezo first meets Serilly at Water Paradise, before entering the dungeon. Seeing Schezo, she's the version we know for the most part, afraid of Schezo and asking if he's there to bully her, which mostly confuses him more than anything. However, Suketoudara comes around (he's the exact same guy we know,) and asks her to dance, and she agrees, both leaving Schezo more perplexed.

She appears as the boss, thinking that Schezo was there to bully her, but Schezo surprisingly says otherwise, that if she doesn't want to fight, he won't fight either. Serilly takes this as Schezo wanting to be her friend, and asks him the all important question.

Schezo (In the run) said yes, why not. Serilly is genuinely baffled by him saying yes, like anyone would, really, and asks if he really wants to be her friend. Schezo says to quit not caring about herself and that the life she's living isn't exactly fun or happy. He mentions that if Serilly decides to walk (or swim) the path she's currently going, her life will never be happy, and if she's able to change, then Schezo will be her friend. In shock, she agrees and just...leaves the dungeon. Yeah, no boss fight. Nuts. Schezo then questions why he even cares for her, which is more a Schezo thing.

He runs into her again at the Endgame, and Serilly asks if he's there to see her, which Schezo replies with no, but he's here to ask a question: Is she afraid of him still? Serilly says no, she isn't anymore and has no reason to, leaving Schezo in a midlife crisis about how much he's changed, and to most likely the players and I shock, SERILLY gives advice to Schezo, telling him that the way he's thinking now isn't the way he usually thinks, before apologizing. Schezo takes the words to heart and thanks her for telling him that.

And with the final encounter, Serilly worries that Schezo is going to go far away, and she begins to cry about it. Schezo tells her that he's literally right there in front of her, and that he's not planning to go anywhere, and tells her to stop crying, which she does with her new confidence...making Schezo question why he did that and he really has changed.

She changed...quite a good amount compared to the usual Serilly. And I adore it, easily the best written Serilly we've gotten.

Succubus:

Yeah, if this post taught you anything, it's that for some reason she of all characters get development. Can't believe it myself, trust me. Besides the obvious change of how she looks compared to her Puyo self, her role in the game...is kinda odd tbh.

She starts off not named yet, mostly coming from a poster saying that she'll "Take people into a world of pleasure," that Kikimora really doesn't like at all, asking who in the world she is and why is she even trying to this, but Schezo is...let's just say curious, about her, and goes to see her.

Meeting her, Schezo is for some reason surprised to see her there, and Succubus is saying what she advertised, which in reality is becoming her servant, which Schezo says no to, even when she adds "benefits". Take that as how you will.

An odd thing to mention is that she appears in the (not released yet) Extra episodes as a boss, once again trying to get Schezo to become her servant. Thought I'd throw this here.

After that, you meet her again at... you guessed it, Endgame. But what she's doing is quite different; She's an usher now like Kikimora, guiding guests to attractions. Though she does take this opportunity to tease Schezo and such before explaining what she does. It's a small change, but it's...certainly a surprise to me and maybe a few others.

Black Kikimora:

Unlike her original counterpart, Black Kikimora doesn't exactly get a lot of screentime compared to Kikimora. She gets introduced in a pretty unique way compared to everyone else, even though she's a midboss. She gets introduced by Kikimora... kinda showing her off via giving Schezo a VIP pass to somewhere after beating Succubus.

Black Kikimora leads Schezo to a special room, where they... learn how to use traps to their advantage. Schezo completes this, and quietly remarks that she looks kinda ugly (gotta disagree,) and gets smacked by a broom.

Schezo then sees her again at the Horror House, trying to enter, and tells Schezo that he can enter. Before trying her best to open the doors and...not doing well. Sadly her midboss isn't too special, just Schezo asking why she's here and her not exactly answering it.

However, like many others, Schezo sees her again at Endgame. This time, she's quiet again, like usual, before Schezo AGAIN calls her ugly before getting yelled at. And their final talk? They're quiet until she yells "Say something!" and Schezo says he won The Quiet Game, before she gets salty, leading to Schezo asking why.

Overall, while it's not much, she still has something going for her. I like it.

Witch:

Witch... My third favorite character in the series behind Lagnus and Lemres. You're definitely a weird one in this game. She's first mentioned by Skeleton-T in the Horror House inside the dungeon itself, saying she had some of his tea, leading Schezo to ask who the hell she is.

When Schezo meets her as a boss, she's...fairly happy to see him, saying she'd "Love to have it," while saying "Ah, you..." and the I Want You shenanigans. Schezo, as expected, is perplexed, smeckledorfed, even confused on what Witch even means. She's starts to beg Schezo for "It," and she finally says what she wants from him... His clothes. And if he doesn't give them, she'll just rip them off. I can't make this lunacy in my dreams.

HOWEVER. Even though I haven't released it yet, in the extras, you find her after fighting Succubus... again. And after giving Schezo not one, not two, but THREE hearts in 3 different text boxes, what does she want this time? Take a wild guess.

His cloth-

Nah, for once its normal. A grimoire. But the clothes would be nice too. Schezo gets upset, saying he's NOT stripping for her, but gives her the grimoire she wants, the Meteor Grimoire, her unique spell and stuff. What does she give?

The fucking Areiado Grimoire. Schezo's signature spell before leaving while saying she'll get the clothes later. Even Schezo's shocked.

Like every boss, you can see her at Endgame, but she's in a unique spot. She's hanging around Arle, Rulue, and Satan like she's part of the team. Draw your conclusions as to why.

Schezo runs into her again before entering The Ultimate Tower, and she STILL thinks Schezo is cool, giving him another one of those hearts in text boxes, saying that the treasure and his clothes will be hers, and she'll be working extra hard for it. Schezo... doesn't really want that, though.

And at the final encounter, Schezo literally says, "Here we go again..." but instead, she asks if he's looking for the treasure too, which he says yes. But this time, Witch says that everything that's beautiful is hers, from the treasure to his clot- Are you kidding me

One track mind and STAYS committed to that goal? ...I have to partially respect it. It's absolutely ridiculous yet hilarious. I know Schezo's a pervert on accident, but at this rate, I think Witch might be genuine. Or is stupid committed to a goal.

And finally, Satan:

(Just hit the 10 image limit.)

Satan is honesty kinda similar to how he is in the other games. Which is quite shocking, I thought he'd be a little more goofy in this game considering how everything is in Schezo's route. However, he's fairly well written in this game, which is always a pleasure to see.

You don't ever see him until near the end of the game, as Schezo assumes the mysterious voice he keeps hearing is Satan, when in reality it's Doppelganger Schezo. Satan acts pretty grandiose in his fight, saying that he's glad Schezo got this far and is ready for their fight to be the final event of Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land, and from the gameplay, he goes one hell of a fight.

After defeat, he stands back up pretty quickly, shocking Schezo, who thinks he's a monster when in reality, he's just the Ruler of the Underworld. Differences, folks, they matter. They start to bicker about the magical item, which Satan genuinely had zero clue about, but tries to say that he totally knew about it.

After the Ultimate Tower rises, Satan is about as surprised at Schezo that it exists, and Schezo asks if he even knew what was here. Satan tries to explain, but he obviously can't, being left behind.

However, this moment is fairly interesting. You can meet him at the start of the Ultimate Tower, and speak to him. There, he genuinely wishes Schezo good luck and not to be super confident, as that'll make him slip up. Like I was, Schezo was shocked that he's hearing this from SATAN of all people, the guy he hates, and thinks he's gone mad.

Satan is at the final scene as well, along with Arle/Carbuncle and Rulue/Minotauros, incredibly upset that Schezo basically blew up the entire amusement park. Like any sane man would be.

In this game, he's fairly goofy like his modern self but is occasionally serious. Honestly, it's a solid version of Satan.

Finally done with characters. Time for the final section of this, Atmosphere and the OST:

Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon has a very...fun atmosphere, owing to the fact that its a literal amusement park. Each area is incredibly vibrant, so full of life, colorful even. The colors pop out, when in places where it's supposed to be more gloomy, and I think COMPILE did a fantastic job with it. I won't go into complete detail of every area but a few highlights:

(...That I can't show due to the 10 image limit.)

Water Paradise is incredibly pretty, the water itself looks really good, the paths taken pop out, and the boss stadium itself is incredibly pretty, with all the water around the bridges while Serilly...floats? Swims? One of those things.

The Horror House probably has my favorite look in the game. It goes from a graveyard to inside the actual house, all ending up in the boss stadium, an almost church-like area with seats scattered about.

I like the look of Fire Mountain. It looks like you're genuinely inside of an volcano, lava basically everywhere but practically useless because you can't go on it.

The game knows when to look good, when to give you that visual quality. But that's only half the battle, really. Music is another majorly important part on what makes a mood. And they nailed it.

Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon has one of the best OST'S I've heard for a Madou/Puyo game. Most of the songs are genuine bops.

To give a few:

(Puyo Puyo Dungeon Still Never Ends:)

youtube

(Hi, Honey:)

youtube

(What A Lucky Find:)

youtube

(The Final:)

youtube

(And finally, Fiend Empire:)

youtube

If I could drop the entire Playlist, I would, but we'd be here for a while.

So, all in all:

Translating this game and learning a ton about it was a blast, even if it was difficult. The game itself is very good, besides the Ultimate Tower taking forever with 100 floors and such. The artstyle and look of the game is charming, you get to learn about some other characters for once, and along with an amazing atmosphere and one of the best OSTS in Madou/Puyo, I'd say...

Yeah. Try it out. Just hope the translation makes sense.

Few quick things before we're done here:

This doesn't mean I'm done translating. Quite the opposite, even for Schezo's route, I got a lot to do. I'll be making "Extra" episodes to show off the things I missed, starting most likely next week of the release of this post.

If you want something translated, like a scene or the sort, lemme know. I'll try to help.

Most of the character talk is my opinion, it's fine to draw your own.

With that ending, that'll be all. Thanks for reading.

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beastenraged · 2 years

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the other side of the mirror pt1

@hallowed-nebulae

I stare into the eyes of another me. Another Ruse.

...how? This shouldn’t be possible, should it? I’m certainly no canon character, not canon enough besides the body I’ve possessed for myself. Not enough to fracture out into different versions of myself.

Yet. Somehow. There’s another Ruse. If her name is even Ruse, or if she’s even a ‘she.’ But if she’s me, we would share that much. Wouldn’t we?

There’s other people to see, what looks like another Riku with wings. A Dream Eater Riku, most likely. Maybe one that screwed up with handling Sora’s dreams in DDD, why else would he be here? Also, just crowds of people around us. Some familiar, some not. Most I could probably name, if you gave a moment. And maybe a few reminders. Just one or two.

But none of that is nearly so mind boggling as another Ruse.

"Riku! Why is there another me!"

And it seems this ‘other me’ agrees.

That Riku yawns. Looking pretty tired, his tail lashes at the ground. His wings flutter as he blinks open red eyes. Nightmare eyes.

"Every world has similar worlds to it. Every worldline has another worldline similar to it. There's many Rikus, so it makes sense that there would be more than one Ruse, right?"

But wouldn’t that be really rare? Especially if I don’t exist in a wider canon?

“But Riiikuuu,” she draws out. "Wasn't the whole thing about my worldline the fact that me existing is one of those really rare events?"

Same thoughts that I just had, pretty much. I trace along my face scars, careful not to dig in too deep. It’s kind of scary? Creepy? I don’t know the right words for seeing someone else do exactly what I would do with the Riku I know but being someone else at the same time.

We’re not the same, even if we were the same person once. It’s like with Harper, the bones that I came from. Our paths have clearly diverged if she’s hanging out in the Mirage Arena still where I am not.

(Is...Naminé still with her? Is Rook? Has some version of me not ruined everything?)

"What, like Ven being Ven and not some other Ventus?" Vanitas speaks up. He seems very comfortable with other Ruse, sliding up to her. Like a friend.

“Hey idiot,” she greets him. Her hands are on her hips as she looks him up and down. Focusing more specifically on his leg. "Have you decided if you wanna get Rinoa to heal your leg yet?"

Vanitas hums and smirks. All snarky. "Nah. I'll pass. Scars mean I lived, right?"

Well. He’s not wrong. I fight the temptation to touch my own scars again.

She scoffs. Almost laughs as she shakes her head at him. “You didn't live, you just got your leg ripped off 'cause I had you trapped and you didn't want to admit you were going to lose."

I know Kairi and Xion are busy being horrified by this. I know this. I turn my head, swallow the bile itching at my throat. They’re horrified by this, and they would be horrified by me because I would do the same. I would laugh too, have laughed about something just like this.

At least...Xehanort gets it. His hand is on my shoulder. Warm. Comforting. More than it should be, from someone like him.

Wait...she said something about ripping off Vanitas’ leg. Vanitas...said something about a friend I would like? Like this person who ripped off his leg? Which must mean-

Those jerks! They were totally messing with me! ...I have to admit, that is kind of funny. Thinking about it. Just a little.

But I’m more interested in staring at my doppelganger, as she stares back.

She flexes her hands by her side. I want to do the same. I don’t. One of us has to keep to reason here, seem unaffected by this...this...whatever.

The movement in her hands transforms into a loud clap. I almost flinch. I don’t.

"So! Why are all of you here, anyways? Didn't come for a fight, right?"

Not that I’m aware of. Pretty sure Vanitas wouldn’t mind, it seems raring to go even after the revelation of its near loss of its leg. Kind of makes sense? Vanitas isn’t one to calm down about a fight, whether this version or the version that showed up in the games. Not in real life, not like this.

The Chirthy of the other Xehanort quickly steps in with a head shake and words of their own. "No fights! Not immediately, at least."

She nods, taking that in. The entire group kind of shifts back and forth, instead of saying anything. C’mon, aren’t we here for a reason? I’m about to say something, when my alternate speaks first. Just as impatient as myself.

(Some things never change, huh?)

“So...?” She asks, leaving the words dangling. Waiting for us to fill it in, to give up the facts. A familiar tactic. But not one that lasts long, the other Ruse growing impatient enough to ask more as she bounces up and down on her feet.

"What are you looking for? I'm not in a fight any time soon because Rinoa says I'm not allowed--"

"-- Because you tripped out of the layer last time you were in a fight, I am not putting you and Will in the regular arenas ever again,” the Riku-looking Nightmare inserts dryly.

Will? I pull my attention to focusing on the other Ruse again, putting whatever that is away for later. Because it couldn’t be the Lingering Will, could it?

"-- so I have the free time to help!" She announces with hands on her hips and a soft smile. A Naminé kind of smile, the one she would always use on me to convince me to talk.

My fingers do dig into my face at that. Can’t help it.

Only the flash of another person moving towards us stops me before I burrow in any deeper with sharp nails.

That’s...that’s another Riku Replica. Some part of me just knows, the rest of me recognizes him from the brief encounters I had with myself before...before I lost him.

Rook. Rook, Rook, Rook. Oh Rook.

"Rook! Hey Rook! I'm over here!" She waves frantically to him, calling him over in excitement.

He hurries over in response and I...I...

As the other Ruse explains to him everything about what she knows right now, what’s going with us visitors, I...I look away. I have to. Because if I don’t move away now, I’ll never take my eyes off Rook. Not my Rook, never my Rook,

“Ruse...” Xion whispers. She tugs at my wrist. “Are you okay?”

I force a smile on my face. The same soft smile that went on a mirror of my face. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, we just need to get home. Right?”

She eyes me critically but slowly nods. “If you say so.”

Man, Xion is totally going to talk with me later. Capital T-Talk kind of talk. Annoying, who’s the big sister here? I help her, not the other way around.

I move closer to Xehanort, out of Xion’s reach. The Xehanort that I know, watching everything in his distracted observer fashion. Completely ignoring how uncomfortable he seems to be making everyone in the process, especially the other Xehanort.

Everyone but me and the other Ruse, who is really focused on whatever she’s talking about. Guess all Ruses don’t get bothered by Xehanorts, huh? Weird thought.

"That one's disaster parents." Vanitas says, jabbing a thumb in the direction of his Xehanort.

Wait, they’re talking about something else? What did I miss? And hey, my Xehanort’s looking a little surprised by the revelation that his alternate has parents, peering carefully at the individual in question. Since he’s looking a tiny bit surprised, he must be really surprised. Honestly!

Crazy to think, such a huge difference.

The other Xehanort glares at Vanitas as he speaks up to clarify to the interested party.

"We're looking for Sephiroth. We were doing a medical checkup for Ven and Vanitas, but then we realized we don't really know how mako works, so we're hoping Sephiroth can help us, since he's. . . y'know. . ."

Huh, that makes sense. If this Sephiroth has a background with Hojo (fuck that dude), of course he would know mako science stuff. Enough to function, at least.

But Sephiroth? Most likely not actually related, though I’ll keep the possibility in mind that somewhere, somewhen, a Sephiroth helped give birth to a Xehanort. Weird as that may be...

I lean over to whisper in Xeha’s ear. “Probably adopted.”

His shoulders relax, though I’m the only one who could and would notice such a response. He gives me the shortest nod possible. To avoid notice, of course. He hates anyone catching onto possible weakness.

"I can probably find him," the other Riku says. The Nightmare one. Judging by how nearly everyone else kind of jumps, they forgot he was there. I didn’t. I can’t forget a Nightmare so close, the feel of that heavy Darkness and the gleam of red eyes.

(My mouth waters. I’m so hungry.)

Shake my head. Ignore. Don’t eat people, don’t eat people...honestly, if I was a proper Replica or person or whatever, I wouldn’t be thinking about eating people in the first place.

It’s the worst, isn’t it?

Turning my attention to my surroundings always serves as the best distraction, so I decide to do that. Careful to keep close to everyone else, careful to keep an eye out.

So very different from the Arena I wandered. But that only makes sense, right? Dreams of different universes would be different from what I know, making this Dream-built place different too. Also, I have a strong feeling that a Nightmare that isn’t Ultimecia runs this Arena. No version of me would linger with a Nightmare like that around, threatening to feed me to people. The other Ruse seems to know where she’s going, yet she relies on the other Xehanort for most of her directions. As bad as I am, then. What a weird thought. Again, more similarities than differences between us.

Would this be more comfortable, if there were more differences? Like between the Xehanort I know and the Xehanort of here that apparently isn’t an orphan?

(I...don’t know. What can I say?)

She rushes up after a...Cloud? From FF7? I think so, at least. Probably. After a lot of time in the crowd. The other Xehanort sighs but doesn’t bother holding her back. Because no one can hold a Ruse back. Ever.

Well. We’ll see where this takes us. Because I don’t have a plan.

(I never do.)

#storm whispers au #my kh writing #tell me verse #tempests crossover #oc ruse #DOUBLE RUSE #knowing yourself too well and not well enough #2nd part to come with RN!

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skayafair · 7 months

Text

TST Old Notes Re: Echo's Origins

Ep 9 These Dark Battlements Ooooh boy do we have material! So, Echo first appeared sometime in spring, 2008. It was just radio interferences, singular words people in Wyoming could barely make out: Help! Listen! Alone! The traces led Anna to a certain cave. She went there with a ranger who waited for her outside, and they used walkie-talkie to communicate. Then Anna niticed she wasn't talking to the ranger anymore. Once the entity acquired a voice, it created a body as well - a carbon copy of the ranger. It walked out of the cave following Anna, and, well, the ranger was armed and freaked out. THAT copy was dealt with. But Anna lost her recorder in the caves. A lifetime worth of personal stories and musings. Echo didn't have to sweat too much to copy her, now. Also, this is the incident Anna mentioned in ep 1, that's why she talks about "just another cave". A year later, on April, 15, 2009, she asked her sister Kate to help her track and kill Echo who has been apparently following Anna (?). They failed, didn't even have a chance to encounter the entity (if that officer wasn't them).

All this gives plenty of grounds for some wild guesses. In autumn, 2018, Anna Sheridan has disappeared. If it wasn't her doppelganger, we also know she came to her literature agent to warn him that she's going to do so. She didn't explain anything other than the fact that it wasn't just another inspiration trip, or a writer's whim, or a trick. She was going to actually disappear for some time. Then there's a timey-wimey thing. Dr. Ren Park had an insight related to this right after meeting Anna, which is too much of a coincidence if you ask me. The result if that insightful night was a small black hole in the middle of the lab. Dr. Park went out of the lab, and when he closed the door, soon he heard something like a sigh, one a person might give, and everything went back to normal.

Then there's this whole Echo thing (who seemed to imprint on Anna for some reason or idk how to explain this intense interest in her specifically... unless my guess is correct); Anna's phone call (Echo didn't do it, they had no idea about it when Sam asked and at that point they had no reason to lie); Anna's only will found in her car together with her tapes, consisting of just one word, "Listen"; a girl who disappeared from the world entirely and possibly drown in a well, Amy Sterling (although her existence is still debatable); and, finally, a voice from underwater, asking every time: "What would you do to save yourself? What will you give? Who will you give?". These are all clearly connected. My hypothesis is that Anna somehow found a way to slip through the worlds, to exist in a different form, outside time and space. Why? Good question. Maybe to fix something - her life? Or a fate of a girl who doesn't exist anymore? Amy seems to hold a huge meaning to Anna, starting the whole doppelganger and weird water things. Or maybe Anna found out how Amy did that and repeated her way.

Anywho. I think Anna had a purpose and a plan in mind, this wasn't an abrupt decision. Knowing Anna, it most likely wasn't a well-thought plan, but she had an idea of what she was doing.

And hey, there's even an example of a being vaguely like this! The Echo! Echo is basically an energy field with a mind, which can also manipulate matter somehow. But why not go further? I think Echo may actually BE Anna, or a part of her, but amnesiac anyway. Why? Because it appeared in 2008. There were no signs of this entity before. Why would something this strange just appear out of nowhere? And the words it said - help, listen, alone. Go on and try to convince me this wasn't Anna. There was a moment in Santa Lucia mines. When Anna was trapped underground, she threw a small rock to check what's in front of her. This same rock hit her leg, coming from behind her back. There was a loop. I think she might have used this and Ren's research to do what she did. A phone call to Sam just confirms she became something like Echo, being able to interfere with the world only through a very limited number of ways. Why was Echo created? I don't know but suspect this has to do with Sam. He's closely tied to the underwater entity who makes deals asking everyone who's drowning 3 questions. Anna met it, too, more than once. I think she's setting things in motion starting from 2008 now that she can influence any time she wants, creating Echo to attract Sam into all this. Why not just going to him, talking and stuff? Well he's a sceptic, and if I were him, I wouldn't believe I was some weird hybrid thing, an idea of who a kid who drowned in a lake decades ago could become, unless I encountered some REALLY weird shit. And now Sam has to face it, he has no other choice. Maybe he can influence this underwater entity. He's kind of unique. This underwater entity can also manipulate time or dwells outside of it, by the way. Why? Because people who were found dead at Agate Shore, which brought its eventual demise, drowned. They were all found at the dried lake bed, with seawater in their lungs and in a body condition corresponding to drowned people. Were they suddenly transported back to the time when the lake was full?

Anna and Sam are both somehow related to that underwater entity. We know about Sam now, but why does Anna keep crossing her ways with it? Does the well from her elementary school have anything to do with it?

I wondered how the stars fit into all of this, the only element that kept being repeated but stayed out. Now I get it. It's not about the stars. It's about the time when there's no stars. Or, rather, being outside time. If you don't abide by it, you can see the Universe when all the stars are gone. That's how this all is connected, the two parts. Anna is time (or, rather, NO time) - stars. Sam is water. And they must be connected by the underwater entity existing outside time and space. I wonder what this is going to lead to... and if I guessed right at all.

#the sheridan tapes #the sheridan tapes spoilers #the echo

0 notes

slightlymore · 3 years

Text

hardest to love

part of the ‘soulmates collection’

surgeon!doyoung x surgeon!fem reader

others: haechan, jaemin, jeno

genre: medical au (but the medical part is not heavy), romance, angst, smut, fantasy elements, “enemies” to lovers, mutual pining

warnings: +18, esplicit sexual content: doyoung is a hard dom and a soft dom in different scenes, short instances of sub doyoung, finger sucking (I know, I have a hand kink), spanking, raw, ice play, fingering, dry humping, thigh riding, choking, use of "sir", orgasm control and denial, edging, overstimulation, light degradation, oral f, brat taming, safe word, wine play?; lots of teasing; swearing; discussion around death; doyoung is a jerk but gets better

words: 13k

note: you can read this as a stand alone without having read the other works in the soulmate collection. what you need to know: haechan, jeno and jaemin travel different universes with the purpose of getting doyoung and yn be together. mark is trying to do the opposite. sometimes doyoung can remember past lives and sometimes he can't. this life takes place in a hospital. if you're confused by the three boys’ story everything will be explained in their backstory fics coming soon.

__________

Haechan let out a single deep sigh.

“Damn it. Doyoung is a fucking jerk in this life.”

The three young men were standing in the corner of the room watching two students trembling mortified in front of a pissed off Doyoung before he could turn around on his heels.

“I thought he was a jerk in all lives,” Jeno commented while dusting off imaginary lice off his jacket.

"I’ll be honest. When you said 'hell' I didn't expect the ER."

“Well have you ever been to-” Haechan continued but stopped when noticing Jeno not listening to him anymore but observing their third friend instead.

“Hey, Jaemin?” Jeno put one hand on his shoulder.

Jaemin was weak and paler than usual, eyes wide and with a slightly trembling chin. He then followed the direction of the younger gaze and gasped himself.

“Yeah,” Haechan grated the back of his head. “I’m sorry. I told you this one is going to be hard.”

Jaemin gulped, looking at himself walking around the bed and checking on the patients.

That Jaemin looked exactly like him.

The only difference was the clothes. That doppelganger had a doctor gown instead of a sweatshirt.

“How is this possible? I don’t understand how I can be here and there at the same time.”

Haechan sighed at Jaemin’s comment.

“You could consider it time travel. Now, listen to me.”

Jaemin let himself be grabbed by Haechan’s hands, pressing on both of his arms and looked at the other’s intense eyes.

“You have to avoid yourself while we work and-,” he stopped as if making sure to have Jaemin’s whole attention, “-you can’t talk to her.”

As if Haechan’s voice was a spell that summons people, Jaemin raised his gaze from him to look behind Haechan’s shoulder where a woman was slowly walking the corridor, eyebrows furrowed trying to understand the medical records she was carrying.

“Shit,” Haechan silently cursed and, placing one hand on Jaemin’s cheek, he indicated to keep quiet by putting one finger on his own lips.

If Jaemin weren’t so weak in the limbs upon seeing her, he would have felt the tingle on his skin coming from Haechan’s palm, or he would have realized that the woman walked past them as if they were all invisible.

Jeno, arms crossed on his chest, followed the woman with his eyes then nodded once as to indicate that the path was clear.

“Why can’t I talk to her?”

Jaemin’s head wanted to turn around and catch another glimpse but Haechan didn’t move his hand from his face yet.

“You might, I promise. But only when I say so.”

“Haechan and I can shapeshift and become invisible but you can’t and we won’t be around to babysit you all the time. Do your part and stay out of trouble.”

"You look mean,” Jaemin mumbled.

"I am. Now move."

__________

A breath.

A deep and heavy breath.

He was hearing it inside his skull. His own irregular breath inside his own skull.

Then a loud ringing suffocated every other sound in Doyoung’s ears. Like tinnitus, he thought, so used to elaborate information by classifying it into boxes.

The man was looking at his hands as if they were not his, fingers gripping the defibrillator pads, watching how the chest underneath them rose and fell.

Again.

And again.

A machine. The defibrillator and Doyoung.

And that body as well.

But it was too broken to be fixed.

And when he barely heard the nurse’s question he straightened his back. “Time of death,” he inhaled, his hands now uncovering the wristwatch, “2:41 am,” he exhaled.

__________

Doyoung felt it inside his hands, under the skin.

It was uncomfortable.

He looked at his left palm and wished it trembled.

"A surgeon," the announcement came in the form of a hard pat on the shoulders.

Doyoung blinked surprised and put his glasses back up on the nose.

"Great hands," the professor shook them with vigour, his eyes wide open and intense. "Steady," the old man continued his litany of compliments.

Doyoung let him wiggle his arms for a few more seconds before sighing as another student grabbed the professor's attention.

The young boy looked down at his hands as well after the man turned his back.

His eyes scanned every line in his palms as if seeing them for the first time.

"Those hands will do big things in the future" and Doyoung now, shoulders heavy, moist fringe patted on his forehead in the humidity of the terrace, felt like cutting his hands off.

Yes. Big things.

Like playing with life and death.

Didn't you just kill a man? he asked his hands, lower lip trembling instead of his steady fingers. Huh? and you're fine?

Doyoung tightened his fists with disgust and punched the air while letting them fall with force to his sides.

The rain intensified and he stepped in the front further until feeling the cold and heavy drops hit his face. Their sound was chaotic and it calmed Doyoung's heart.

Again.

I can do it again. I've done it before.

I do it again.

I can get over it.

He opened up his hands under the rain until he started to not feel his fingertips anymore.

Then he walked back inside the hospital.

__________

When you had to deal with the first dying patient, you were paralyzed.

It was very early in the morning. Your head was still full of the dreams you had just a while ago. Your heart was full of life and excitement for finally being able to work in the field.

"Get your shit together."

That voice startled you.

Doctor Kim, the most ruthless and cold person you've ever met, was your supervisor as an intern.

You looked up at him and caught his dark eyes on that spectrally pale face.

You just moved. You had no idea what you were doing. Terrified, you let your body work automatically.

Doctor Kim was calm and efficient while your whole mind felt out of place.

Oh, God. Oh God, please.

And when his voice finally reached your ears as if from far away you sunk down on your knees.

"Good job everyone."

The kindest thing he has ever said to his interns.

The other vaguely kind thing was his introductory discourse.

"I know that interning at the ER is dreadful, but that's life."

He was staring you all down, a short line of fresh out of med school trembling kids, no one having the courage to meet his eyes.

"You have to be ready to see all sorts of things here. Okay, let's go."

And that was it.

The encouragement of his introductory discourse.

You'll feel like shit here, welcome.

You hated him and you swore to yourself that you won’t behave the same.

Ever.

He was like a souless machine, walking around and tending to his duties. Lost in thoughts as your eyes scanned his figure walking busily around the hospital, you actually wondered if he had feelings at all.

The first time you saw Doctor Kim actually show some type of sentiment, was when he exited the surgery room one day.

You were walking around with the others and checking on the patients when he walked through the corridor like a storm. It was unclear what type of feeling that was but it made you unable to stop staring at his side of the face and back as he entered his office.

The anaesthetist came out soon after, slowly and sighing deeply.

And then you understood.

You've lived many of those days afterwards until you had to welcome your own row of interns.

You smiled and did a nice short welcoming discourse.

And at that moment you, unfortunately, got what Doctor Kim meant when he was brusque with you in the beginning.

It took you all three years of residency to finally get it: there were no actual right words to tell the students and there was no point in giving fake hope that everything is going to be alright.

Still, there was no point in being a rude ass like him. So you at least smiled kindly and encouraged your students.

God knew they needed it even more now.

You've never spoken much to Doctor Kim besides what was needed or the routine good morning sir and the short morning he would answer with.

So it was strange that on the first day of your career as a real surgeon, after your hands and those of Doctor Kim near each other worked, barely moving, his muffled voice ordering the tools, your muffled voice doing the same, you hugged him.

You hugged him that day for no reason besides the overwhelming feeling of being alive.

Doctor Kim, after every surgery, good or bad, would always walk out on the terrace.

You followed him that night and stopped behind his frame. You had to talk to someone about what just happened and he was the only one who might understand.

He was facing the city lights and the wind breeze ruffled his hair. He didn’t care to push it off his forehead.

"You did well today," he said quietly without looking at you.

Oh, you blinked fast.

Your first surgery was a success but your heart was beating so fast that you couldn't understand your feelings.

Were you happy? Were you about to cry? Did you want to scream and jump? What did you want?

But Doyoung just complimented you.

So again, you let your body work automatically and you looked at yourself, as if going through depersonalization, timid feet filling the space between you and Doctor Kim, your hands touching his waist and going around it until meeting each other on his stomach. You placed your head on his shoulders and closed your eyes.

"I was so scared," you whispered.

Doctor Kim's body was stiff, no reaction from his posture, no words coming from his mouth.

Was he shocked? Was he wondering what the hell were you doing? Was he about to tell you to get your shit together again like that first time three years prior?

But he didn’t do any of these things.

He sighed once and you imagined him closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth of your body.

Even if for a moment. Even if it was all in your head and he actually hated it.

Then he took a step forward and you had to let him go.

And when he turned around and placed one palm on your shoulder without looking at you in the face, you remained alone on the terrace, breathing the cold air deeply and longing for his hands to hold you a little longer.

__________

Doyoung didn't speak to you again after that night.

Nor did he look at you once.

While you found yourself staring at his nape every time he walked around. Or turning your head as if following the trail he left behind.

You couldn’t wear perfume in the hospital but it was as if Doyoung did because he’d pull your senses towards him by something invisible.

As if that first touch you shared connected you to him in obscure ways.

“Here’s the coffee that you asked for, sir.” You entered his office after his dry “come in”.

His expression was priceless and for a moment you felt the urge to look behind you and see if there were a ghost scaring him.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Bringing you the coffee?”

“I asked a student to do it, not you. You’re a surgeon.”

Your lips were dangerously trying to form a smile while you placed the coffee on his desk.

“Why does it matter? I am free while those students are busy learning how to be doctors.”

“You think that just because you hugged me once when you were emotionally unstable, now we’re friends?”

That question was so sudden and cold to make you snap your head upwards.

His eyes were darker than usual and you almost gulped.

“No, sir.”

Your voice came out as a tiny exhale and if he felt sorry for his sudden and out of place tone, you couldn't see it on his face at all.

"I was just being friendly as all colleagues would," you added a new note to your own tone, trying to perhaps make him feel guilty.

"You can give me up."

His reply shut you up and you furrowed your eyebrows. “What?”

"I'm saying," he spoke slowly, "that I don't want to be friendly with you. Now, please leave."

________

"I'm going to fucking kill him!" you threw your head back to drink your espresso shot as if it was alcohol and slammed the paper cup back on the counter.

Jaemin sighed pouring sugar into his coffee.

"Why did you even try? He's a jerk."

The man sipped on his drink slowly, the warmth of it misting his glasses.

“I just-” you huffed, crossing your arms on your chest. “We’re colleagues. It made sense for him to be a piece of shit with us when we were interns but now? ‘I don’t want to be friendly with you’” you mocked his deep voice. “Who the fuck does he think he is? I swear I’ll accidentally stab him with a knife!”

“Hm. Do you like him?” Jaemin asked with an unimpressed tone.

You almost grabbed the coffee from Jaemin’s hands and threw it in his face.

“Are you insane? What does that mean? Why would I like him? Kim Doyoung? Me-” you pressed your index on your chest, “liking that asshole? I hate his guts! I can’t believe you said something like this! What’s to like about him?”

Jaemin felt his fringe move around his forehead at your intense voice as if it were wind.

“No need to get so worked up about it. You’re just talking so often about him lately. Also, he’s objectively good looking. He’s also smart. I understand.”

“He’s the ugliest man I’ve ever laid my eyes on! And he’s an idiot! And I don’t talk about him! I have no idea what you’re all about.”

Jaemin rolled his eyes and finished the drink.

“Talking of ugly. What’s that shirt you’re wearing?” you asked.

The man’s head snapped down to look at it. “What’s wrong with it?”

You chuckled once. “Where did you buy it?”

“It’s a normal Polo.”

You laughed even harder. “A Polo you say? And what’s that? A knock off Holo?”

“What’s Holo?”

Jaemin’s face was genuinely confused and it amused you even more.

“Are you getting enough sleep? You’ve been acting weird lately.”

“Or,” he relaxed his expression, lifting one index up, “I come from an alternate universe.”

You chuckled once and hit his shoulder lightly as a greeting, liking his new joking side. “See you later then, alternate universe Jaemin.”

__________

Doyoung wanted to hit his head on the desk.

Your expression, hurt and shocked because of his stupid remarks made his heart tingle in a very uncomfortable way.

One thing was being severe and one thing was being rude for no reason at all.

But the thing is that you were everywhere and he hated it.

Doyoung hated that you were trying to get under his skin.

Like a scent. Like some kind of drug.

He’d scrub his hands and forearms even harder before going inside the surgery room as if with the water and soap he could get rid of the feeling of your arms around his torso under the rain too.

What were you even thinking? Asking for reassurance? From him? Reassurance from the most hated man in the whole hospital? What did you even expect? Why would you even try?

What a reckless person.

He noticed it the first time he saw you as well.

Eyes wide with curiosity and surprise, looking around the ER like it was the best place in the world. Doyoung hated your happiness but he also hated the fact that he would have to assist that light slowly die out with time.

Or at least he thought that would happen.

Days after days, months after months, he paid attention like a scientist looking at his object of study, taking mental notes and registering results. Doyoung would jolt with secret joy when his theories would reveal themselves to be true but then, like a rollercoaster, he’d feel weighed down with grief seeing you in the same state as his one.

Until he didn’t know what to desire to see anymore.

Until one day he lifted his eyes, head full of a soliloquy towards you. “How are you today? Tell me you got better. Tell me you still have your light because no one needs too many black holes in here.”

Until he realized that he couldn’t remember anything about his life before you.

And when you hugged him that day, he felt proud. For your success and your light.

You were a star and he bathed into that warmth for a little before remembering he was still a black hole and black holes attract stars until engulfing them whole with no turning back.

_________

“Why are you always around?” he blinked annoyed.

You straightened your gown that shifted after bumping into him and sighed loudly.

“In case you forgot, I work here.”

Doyoung sighed.

“This is the farthest yard from where you’re always playing with your friends.”

“I had business coming here.”

“What business?”

“That’s my business.”

Doyoung’s corner of the mouth twitched.

“It’s our business.”

“Are you a communist?” you placed your hands on your hips, tilting your head to the side.

“I’m your superior. What are you doing here?”

A few nurses whispered passing you by and you cleared your throat, trying to relax your face muscles. Doyoung rolled his eyes once upon seeing your new fake cordial expression.

“Apparently I’m doing such a good job that Mr Jung wanted to compliment me,” you raised your chin.

“Mr Jung?”

“Yes.”

His nostrils widened as if he had too much air to inhale and didn’t have time to get it little by little.

“He doesn’t just summon people to compliment them. Stay away from him.”

You scoffed incredulously at his innuendo.

“Are you hearing yourself?”

“Very well. Get back to work now.”

“Are you perhaps jealous?” the words slipped from your mouth before you could stop yourself.

But Doyoung, to your biggest surprise, smirked a little, lifting his eyebrows once.

“And if I were?” he asked, then walked around you, leaving you still for long moments in the corner of the corridor before being able to walk again.

_________

“And then he said, “and if I were?”

Jaemin gulped his food and chuckled. “I can’t imagine that.”

“I know right? Was he crazy?” you asked with your mouth full, swinging your knife.

“Maybe the director does have eyes on you. And-” he leaned in mischievously, avoiding your cutlery, “that’s why he acts as if he hates you. Because he has feelings for you.”

You chuckled nervously.

“He hates you too!”

“He doesn’t even know I exist,” Jaemin shrugged.

“Hey, Jaemin.”

“Like once I asked him something and he thought I was a patient and when I said that I’m actually-”

“Jaemin! I’m pretty sure I’ve just seen someone looking like you pass that door just now.”

The young man turned around quickly, right in time to see himself exit the food hall.

“Damn,” he laughed for a few moments. “Someone else copied my hairstyle. I guess I’m not that unnoticeable as I thought.”

You opened your mouth to comment on that since you were pretty sure it wasn’t only the hairstyle that the man copied when Doyoung approached your table like a storm scaring the shit out of you.

“What is it now?” he asked, eyes piercing through you.

You let out a long “uhhh” before talking, staring him up and down.

“Are you talking to me?”

Doyoung scoffed then sighed. “A doctor told me you were urgently looking for me.”

You furrowed your eyebrows. “Who?”

“Do I look like someone who knows people’s names?”

Jaemin shook his head.

“Well, I don’t need you,” you let him know.

Doyoung sighed again and the long look you exchanged made Jaemin awkwardly chuckle once.

“You can sit down with us for lunch, sir,” he offered and you inhaled sharply, kicking his leg under the table.

Doyoung looked firstly at you then at Jaemin then at you again as if not believing he was actually talking to people like you.

But the tray in his hands was getting heavy and there were no other empty tables.

He walked around Jaemin and sat down near him.

Then he rolled his sleeves and started to eat in silence.

But only for a moment.

“What?” he asked as you were both staring at him with hanging open mouths.

“It’s our first time seeing you eat,” you whispered.

Doyoung gulped the food. “I’m putting on a show for you guys. I’m a vampire that doesn’t need food.”

“See!” you hit Jaemin’s hand as if catching his attention. “He’s making jokes!”

Jaemin leaned back in his chair as if a little afraid.

“So you talk about me instead of working,” Doyoung commented.

His eyes were on you and you suddenly realized what you’ve just said.

“No,” you quickly grabbed your glass and sipped the water.

Doyoung looked at Jaemin and the young man secretly nodded a little.

And for the first time in years, you saw Doyoung smile.

Like a full-on smile. A big open smile with all the teeth out.

You blinked fast and before realizing your own lips were stretched in a smile too.

He was breathtaking.

You wanted to run away but also crash into him. You were at the top of the world and down in the dumps.

__________

The grunt you let out after hitting a hard surface resonated in the whole hallway.

For the second time.

"You are always where you shouldn't be."

You lifted your pained eyes while massaging your shoulder just to see Doyoung do the same.

"Where am I and where am I supposed to be then?" you asked.

"Around me and you should be far away from me."

"And if I say that I'm doing it on purpose?"

Doyoung's pupils trembled.

"To make you mad," you explained, the little smile creeping on your lips making him tighten his.

“You’re trying to make me mad?”

In your head, all of the conversations you would have with Doyoung sounded fun and risky in a good way.

In reality, you realized, it was so overwhelming that you felt your limbs shake.

“I’m joking, sir.” His intense eyes made you look over the windows.

“You don’t like to look at me in the eyes?” his voice was mellifluous just as his movements, getting slowly closer to you.

“Your eyes make me uneasy,” you replied honestly.

Doyoung tilted his head to the side, curious, inviting you to say more. You looked at him again.

“As if they don’t know fear,” your voice was tiny.

A little smile curved the man’s lips. “Oh, but they know what fear is.”

“And what is that?”

“What you’re feeling right now.”

"I am not afraid," you whispered.

"Then why are you stepping back?"

“I am not stepping back.”

Yet the air got softly knocked out of your lungs as you felt the wall on your shoulder blades.

Doyoung didn't reply and just got as close as to lightly brush your lower lip with his knuckle.

"You're cute when you pout," he whispered, eyes smiley under the strands fallen from his styled fringe.

You opened your mouth to talk but he walked away, leaving you alone and with an abnormally beating heart.

Again.

__________

If Doyoung’s newly humorous side was something interesting to share with Jaemin, his newly flirtatious side was something you felt the need to keep a secret.

Heated up, you walked the corridors like a storm.

Kim Doyoung?

Did your body really react that way towards Kim Doyoung?

Pulse throbbing in places you didn’t want to think of?

Because of Kim Doyoung?

Face buried in your wet hands, the cold water running in the sink, you imagined telling this to your younger self.

Then you lifted your head and turned it off, raising your gaze to look at your dilated pupils in the bathroom mirror.

_________

Doyoung didn’t care about people much.

Hours upon hours of surgery, he only needed to see his colleagues’ hands and hear their breaths while desperately trying to save yet another life. How they looked without the caps and masks was not something of interest to him, especially knowing superfluous details like their names.

Yet, when he briefly noticed the eyes of the second surgeon entering the room, Doyoung furrowed his eyebrows.

Those were not your eyes and those were definitely not your hands in the latex gloves.

And for the first time, he needed to know who that person was.

“I’m Lee,” the man whispered.

“I didn’t know you were on schedule today.”

“Yeah, heard about it last minute as well.”

Were you avoiding him?

If Doyoung’s body could show tremor, he’d had trembling legs under the desk he sat at after the surgery, and if he’d had the habit to bite his nails, he’d be ferociously eating them by now.

Unfortunately, he was stoically sitting in his office, elbows pressed into the hard iron surface, veins missing adrenaline but aggravated eyes.

Walking the corridors while people took a step back to make him pass, looking away when he’d look at them and whispering angrily behind his back, was a bliss.

The protection shielded Doyoung like a fuzzy blanket even if it sometimes felt itchy at night when he found himself the most lonely.

So when you did the same, passing him by as if hating him, he surprised himself at the sudden discomfort. Especially after

well,

after that.

He wasn’t sure himself what it was but it must have been something if it made you uncomfortable enough to not show up to a surgery.

He lifted the corner of his blanket for a moment and he fucked up.

__________

“Y/N.”

You stopped in place.

And so did most people around you.

Many found Doyoung scary but also interesting to observe when his spite wasn’t directed at them.

What did she do? you could almost hear the whispery words passing from ear to ear, amused voices, grateful for not being in your place.

“See me in my office,” Doyoung ordered after you slowly turned around.

His voice was low and no one could have heard it if the whole yard didn’t just collectively hold its breath.

“Yes, sir.”

“You all are surely not working enough if you have time to be useless,” his voice sounded louder and clean all of a sudden. “Do you want some hours assigned?”

Like a spell, everyone looked around and the buzz filled your ears back, leaving yourself and Doyoung the only still figures.

Then he moved as well, the swoosh of his cloak touching your hand when he passed near you.

You inhaled deeply and followed him.

_________

“I am sorry.”

You wished you’d accepted his offer to sit down because that single sentence floored you.

“For what?” you asked with a tiny voice.

“I know I often say things that I don’t mean. And I know that I might have made you feel uncomfortable. So I apologize.”

His eyes were round and filled to the brim with such sincerity to make you swallow hard.

“You don’t have to apologize. It was necessary to make me who I am,” you minimized.

Doyoung looked away for a brief moment. “I mean the corridor incident.”

You blinked at him.

“I made a mistake,” he added.

The first thing that came to mind was the urge to use that to your advantage.

Scold him. Make him feel guilty.

Kim Doyoung making a mistake.

Exhilarating.

The power suddenly surging in your veins went to your head so you suppressed the smile that so desperately wanted to bloom on your lips.

“Yes.”

His expression darkened even more at your reply and his adam apple moved as he swallowed. He actually hoped it wasn’t the case.

“I’ll make sure to keep the surgery schedules separated so you won’t feel uncomfortable working with me. You could have asked me first though before changing it yourself.”

The excitement died out with these words.

“What are you talking about?”

“Thursday’s surgery.”

“I was told you appointed another person yourself.”

“I did not.”

“Well, I didn’t either.”

“So-”

“It’s not like I’m trying to avoid you, no. But if you-”

“I’m not trying to avoid you either. But you said I made you uncomfortable, so-”

“I was messing with you.”

He finally went silent.

“You looked so guilty that I wanted to get a little revenge,” your voice came out a timid whisper.

Doyoung sighed, closing his eyes a little, then he stood up.

“Did I seriously cause you that much pain all of this time?” he walked towards you as if actually concerned.

“You made me cry almost every day.”

He opened his mouth like a fish before closing it. The shocking confession made him lift one hand to cup your face.

You both looked at it with fluttering eyes as if it wasn’t his.

He tried to put it away quickly but you pressed your palm on it to keep it in place.

“I’m joking. I only cried a few times.”

Doyoung’s pupils danced around just like his brain trying to process the information you were giving him. His face, confused and not knowing anymore what was a joke and what wasn’t, amused you a lot.

“I’m sorry I’ve been harsh. I’ve been-”

“A jerk.”

He gulped, his thumb slowly brushing your cheekbone.

That little gesture made you close your eyes for a moment. And when you opened them, you just leaned in and placed a quick and chaste kiss on his closed lips.

“If the corridor thing was a mistake for you, I just did one too. Don’t be too hard on yourself. We can pretend nothing of this happened."

You let his hand go and moved to take a step back just to feel his hold on your face tighten.

Pulling you towards him again, he added the second hand.

His lips were not closed anymore, but very much open to welcome your lower lip between them.

Your hands flew to his hair and pulled him towards you too. He hummed and you whined. And when you both needed air, you let yourselves go, panting against each other’s lips.

A little smile curved your lips, eyes unable to look up. Fingers on his neck, you let them slowly descend to his chest and you took a step back.

You took your lower lip inside your mouth for a moment, as if still trying to taste him and walked a few steps back.

Doyoung followed you, unable to let your body go until you touched the door. His eyes were blown out and he kissed the corner of your mouth again, and again, and again, until kissing you fully on the lips for the second time. Hands on the glass behind your head, you heard his nails grating at it slowly as you let your tongue twirl with his. Then you breathed out and he couldn’t do anything else than just moving his arms away for you to slowly open the door and leave in silence.

After the door closed, Doyoung pressed his forehead on the cold window.

“Fuck,” he whispered to himself, the fuzzy blanket he carefully wrapped himself with all of those years slowly slipping away to his feet.

__________

It didn't surprise you to see Doyoung pretend nothing happened between you as you passed each other in the corridors.

But his avoidance felt weirder than usual, even to external eyes, as if something happened indeed and he tried so hard to conceal it.

"Perhaps it's the 5th coffee talking right now, but doesn't Doyoung look weird?"

Jaemin asked lazily as he rested his body on one elbow placed on the little resting room counter. Said man passed in front of the open door and the furtive look he took of you was interesting enough for someone bored like Jaemin to notice.

You shrugged, quickly stirring the sugar in your own coffee.

"Hm?" your friend smiled at your silence, getting closer.

You sipped the drink.

"Hmmm?" Jaemin put his face into yours.

"Oh my God, get away," you tried to push him away.

"You had sex."

You spat the little coffee you still had on your mouth. Jaemin giggled and took a step back before it could land on his own.

"We did not have sex! What's wrong with you?"

"Okay. So you at least kissed," he looked up to you under his wiggly eyebrows as he handed you a few napkins.

"We-," you wanted to deny but your lips formed a frustrated smile instead. "Shit. I can't believe it either."

"Wow."

"He was- so delicate," you murmured.

Jaemin winced amused.

"But also intense you know? Like it felt-"

"Okay wait. I didn't ask for a full-on description," he made a puking expression at you.

You lightly hit his arm.

"I was just so surprised. I've never seen this side of him."

"Him liking people?" Jaemin giggled. “Yeah. That’s weird.”

__________

"So it's done. We're done. Let’s get the fuck out of here. Seeing myself around is creeping me out."

Haechan sighed, rolling around in his chair. "Not so quickly. They only kissed."

Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows.

"They have to confess," Jeno explained with a sleepy voice, sprawled on his own chair.

"But they love each other."

"They have to say the words."

Jaemin put his hands on the hips. "That's so stupid."

“Tell this to Doyoung. This is what he wrote in the contract,” Haechan mumbled amused, patting his chest where the Book was snuggly packed near his heart.

Jaemin grabbed another chair and sat backwards on it, resting his chin on the folded arms.

“So you know the job is done when they confess? What if they break up afterwards?”

“It has never happened before.”

“And what if it does happen?”

Jeno opened one eye. “Don’t manifest doom.”

“I’d probably have to come back and get them together again,” Haechan replied.

“I still don’t know why you’re doing this. Can’t you just recede from that contract?”

Haechan sat up properly and grabbed his water bottle. “And do what? Go back to the pits of hell?”

His eyes twinkled with mischief.

“I’ve never had this much fun in a very long time.”

__________

He brought it upon himself, he could admit that.

Ignoring you was more difficult than he anticipated and the first reaction he managed to put out when you talked back to him in front of all of the other surgeons was his usual skin cutting one.

You didn’t like it, he could see it.

You’ve never liked it and, honestly, Doyoung could not think of a single person that enjoyed being on the other side of his table.

Perhaps you were getting a little comfortable with him though because you leaned back in your chair and smiled. As if for once he couldn’t get to you.

It made him even more eager to scratch that nonchalance.

So he did.

Until the meeting was over and he got back to his office with a weird sensation on his shoulders. It somehow tasted like defeat.

And when you opened his door with a loud bang and got in, he inhaled and took a few steps back, imitating the steps you took forward.

You pushed him down on the chair, your gazes mixed together just like your breaths as you leaned down.

Only the sheer anticipation of you touching him made him lose his mind a little.

One hand on his thigh and the other going down from his lips to his extended neck and chest, dragging your nail on his shirt until reaching his stomach and belt.

Then you hit one of his feet to the side with yours, making him open his legs even wider.

He jolted and you could visibly see the way his breath stopped for a moment.

"I don't think someone else tried to put you in your place before."

Your voice was dark and his eyelids fluttered before his pupils could fall on the way your palm brushed his crotch. It twitched under his dress pants and he inhaled deeply.

"Unfortunately, it has to be me."

"We're at work-," he tried to speak but the words died in his throat as you cupped his balls.

"Sorry? Didn't hear that."

"Shit Y/N-," Doyoung closed his eyes, jaw muscles tightening as you gently massaged him.

"Hmm, Doctor Kim is at a loss of words?"

You cooed, leaning down even more until almost brushing his lips with yours.

"So cold and composed while you spit venom all day. I really want to see you lose your mind for once."

He opened his eyes right when he started to pant lightly and you gulped upon seeing his dark gaze.

"You'll regret this."

"Can't wait to feel regretful."

"Be careful."

"Don't want to."

His smile grew suddenly wicked and it threw you off as he suddenly stood up, grabbing your wrists and pushing you gently backwards.

"You’ve been loving fighting with me lately. I think that you just need to get laid."

You smiled. "Do you want to help me with that?"

Doyoung scoffed once. "I can't stand you."

"Then sit down."

He put his tongue inside the cheek, staring at your raised chin.

Then his hands suddenly crept around you and grabbed your ass. They squeezed, pulling your hips towards his, making you pant and palm his chest in the meantime. Body pressing on his and his low voice buzzing into your ear made you light headed.

"Arguing with you turns me on so fucking much."

You gulped and noticed the way Doyoung’s eyes fell on your open mouth.

“This is a very pretty shade of lipstick. Makes me want to ruin it.”

His thumb opened up your shocked lips even more by tugging at the lower one, your eyes getting hazy from his expression cutting you in half.

“Suck.”

The order made your legs buckle a little. Your pupils trembled when you slowly let your tongue touch his fingertip. Doyoung got impatient and pushed it until it was all in. You fought the urge to gag and just whimpered, grabbing his shirt into your fists as he watched you hollow your cheeks on it.

“I’ve always wanted to make a mess out of you,” he murmured, his other hand cupping your face and feeling your jaw, going down to your neck and wrapping it into its warmth. You raised your face to give him more space and your hooded eyes trying to look at him as he pressed around your throat made him smirk.

“You like that?” he watched your squirming body trying to get closer to him. He took a step back and rested his hips on his desk, pulling at you until you felt his thigh between your legs.

“What a slut,” he took out his thumb and spread the saliva on it on your lips. “Bet you wanted to suck me off under the desk, didn’t you? Fuck your superior?”

You started to breathe through your mouth, the hand wrapped around your throat making it difficult for you to form any thoughts.

“Or you wanted me to bend you over it?” he murmured, eyes glazing over your breast, his free hand painting one line from your collarbones to the cleavage of it. And when he suddenly squeezed one, feeling its softness in his palm, you almost cried out and dug your fingers into his shoulders.

“Yes, sir.”

Doyoung’s corner of the lips lifted as if curiously surprised.

“And if I don’t do any of those things?” his eyes were on your face now and it made you want to hide away or just beg him to just please do all of those things.

“What are you going to do?” he asked again.

The pool of wetness inside your panties was so embarrassing that you pressed your forehead on his shoulder.

"Then just let me go," you whispered in a tiny voice.

"You're free to g-" he caressed your jaw with one thumb.

"No. I hate it," you went on, lifting your gaze on him, and he exchanged the look, slightly taken aback.

"I dream about you every night. It's not about sex, it has never been just about it. Everything about you makes me go crazy. I hate it and I want you to just let me go.”

Doyoung blinked and cupped your face with both hands.

You just breathed out, ignoring the little voice screaming inside your mind to shut up, palming the back of his hands with yours, suddenly unable to raise your eyes on him.

"I just can't understand and I hate being like this," you added after a quick gulp.

The man opened his lips and you noticed the way you started to breathe in unison.

"There's something so darkly attractive about you," the tiny sigh coming out of your lips made their way on Doyoung ones and he licked them once, his own breath warm on your skin.

"No matter how much I try to know you, there's something that escapes me. I can't pinpoint you and it keeps me up at night."

Doyoung gulped and his hands twitched as they palmed your arms, going down to your hips and pushing you down, gently.

You gasped silently, your core so swollen that the feeling of the friction of your bodies as you rubbed on him could have been enough to make you orgasm.

"Sir-," you found the force to talk but he took his tongue out and you just dove in, catching it inside your mouth and sucking on it the way you sucked on his finger. Your eagerness made his hold even tighter, guiding your body rolls, loving the way you squirmed in his arms.

When you pulled away to whine he raised one hand to bury in your hair.

"You haunt me too," he confessed. "Sometimes I feel so pulled towards you to make me question everything I know about myself."

Your eyes fluttered and your exposed throat looked so vulnerable in Doyoung's eyes to make him lean in and bite on it.

The little moans escaping your lips caressed his ears and when he licked the spots you shivered, your hips not stopping for a second.

It was intoxicating and you didn't dare to speak again but your thoughts were seeping through all of your pores.

"I want you to tell me what you want me to do," you whispered, words broken.

"Don't cum," Doyoung ordered and it snapped something in you.

Your breath grew irregular and he chuckled.

With a little groan, you forced your hips to still but he looked down and clicked his tongue, pushing his thigh upwards and making you bounce on it a few times.

"Don't stop."

"But you said-"

"Don't cum and don't stop."

"I can't last," you mewled, twitching against his body and he pouted.

"Baby girl can't keep that in?"

You shook your head, feeling all dizzy as his hands squeezed your asscheeks, making you rub against his leg again.

"But I said what I said. Are you going to be a bad girl?" he accompanied his last word with a harsh slap on your ass that made you inhale through your teeth.

"Sir- I am begging you."

His hand dropped under your skirt that moved to your thighs in a single movement, the coldness of it on your hot clit making you cry out.

He hummed amused, slowly pressing into you and circling your sensitive bud until your legs started to twitch.

"If you want to cum," he stopped, "you'll have to do whatever I say. Is this an agreement?"

You nodded quickly, so close to orgasm that you started to ride his fingers by yourself.

He retrieved his hand and pressed it on your stomach, making you step back until you barely could keep your balance.

"You know where I live, right?"

You nodded confused.

"See you later then," he smirked and gestured to leave the office.

You inhaled deeply, the arousal so high that you considered just finger fucking yourself in front of him.

"Cruel," you whispered.

"And you love it," was his amused reply.

__________

Timid feet in front of Doyoung's entrance door, you questioned if you actually lost your mind.

Were you really willing to go this far for a single orgasm?

Or multiple, you considered.

Okay. Well, perhaps it was all worth it in the end.

Your eyes darted upwards to take in the view of his house.

The windows were lit on the first floor and it looked like a place you'd love to spend your life in. It was too huge for a single person anyway.

When he opened the door after the ring announcing your arrival you didn't expect to see him in casual clothing. It looked so off that for a moment you couldn't speak, eyeing his feet in warm socks instead of rubber shoes.

Then you hit yourself in your mind. Of course, he won't wear his doctor gown at home.

"Good evening," you finally smiled and he eyed your body with a relaxed gaze, stopping when noticing the bottle of wine you carried in your hands.

“Good evening,” he gestured to you to come in and you walked the distance from the doorstep to the hallway. His hands draped your shoulders and you sighed when he took your wet coat away.

You put in a lot of effort in your appearance, choosing the right clothing and accessories.

And he put a lot of effort into arranging his house for you, lighting up the right candles, you noticed after he indicated a room to the left.

Yet all you wanted to see was him.

And all he wanted was to see was you naked.

Venturing in slowly, you turned around looking at what you figured out was the living room. With the corner of your eyes, you saw the grey of Doyoung’s sweatpants disappear upstairs and it suddenly got silent, safe for the crackle coming from the chimney and the hard rain hitting the windows. You took off your shoes and cautiously walked on the dark wine-coloured rug, close enough to warm yourself. A black glassy mirror was hung on the wall in front of you showcasing the pitiful state you were in because of the storm. Then you looked at the piles of books scattered around your feet placed down in a chaotic path leading to the velvet couches behind you as if someone read them while circling the room and suddenly let them fall on the ground when bored. You followed the spines with your gaze trying to figure out the language they were written in when two feet made their appearance in your peripheral vision, making you snap your head up.

He approached you with a little smile, getting closer and closer like a black cat.

New thick energy made it difficult for you to breathe too deeply so you resorted to short inhales and exhales especially after he stopped so close to you.

Doyoung's hands wrapped yours as he took the wine away and placed it on the coffee table on his left. Then he sighed and you found yourself shivering under his gaze.

"Take this off," he lightly felt your shirt's material with his fingertips.

What? You inhaled, mind buzzing at how easy it was this time. No dinner and fancy courtship?

He did look like someone that'd rather take you into seclusion and have you for himself as quickly as possible though.

With slightly trembling fingers that you'd never get in the surgery room, you started to unbutton your top. Doyoung tilted his head to the side with a little smirk as if enjoying the show.

And when you actually found yourself with only your bra on he smiled, even more, eyes grazing your skin slowly until you felt a heatwave shake your limbs.

“This too.”

He slowly touched the bra fabric and you gulped.

“Take it off yourself.”

Doyoung chuckled once and went around your torso, unclasping it with quick and expert fingers.

You jolted and you felt your eyelids flutter as it slowly fell down your arms.

Doyoung grabbed the front part of it and dragged it down to the floor, adding it to the weird maze of books making the eccentric design of his living room.

His eyes caressed your perked nipples and you tried hard to resist the urge to cover yourself.

“Pants,” he ordered and his voice was deeper than usual.

You wavered a moment and he lifted his eyebrows once. Do it.

You inhaled and slowly opened the zip.

He bit his lower lip when you bent down to discard the piece of clothing and when you straightened your back he hummed.

“Wear this,” he gently threw a piece of fabric towards you which you caught quickly. It was soft and it smelled like him.

He looked at it, then slowly raised his eyes to meet yours, not moving a single muscle.

You inhaled in again, trying to calm your nerves, desperately wanting to ignore the way he was dressed himself. A white and see-through shirt with the deepest neck you’ve ever seen, barely covering any of his chest. You barely could see his sweatpants as well, but his bare ankles were fully on display, just like his forearms that you could catch glimpses of as he absentmindedly revived the locks blocking his pupils with one hand.

A raw playfulness made his features even scarier in the dim lighting.

“I want you wet. But not from the rain,” he explained, eyeing your confusion.

“You could have just told me to change into it and end it there,” you mumbled, buttoning the shirt up. It was deep blue and oversized, short on your thighs but hiding whatever you had to hide.

“Why? Did you hate that I made you undress in front of me?”

“It was embarrassing to stand naked like that.”

You wanted to sound offended but the pout your lips formed on its own betrayed your secret amusement.

“Nothing that I won’t see up close soon.”

His voice was a whisper that forced you to look away. You wanted to reply but he turned around walking towards the kitchen.

"Besides, I made some spicy sauce. You don't want to spill it on your nice clothes."

“Who said I was going to spill food on myself? I have steady hands.”

You walked over him, taking the plates from his hold and placing them down on the dining table yourself.

You wanted to look unbothered by him just like he looked unbothered by you, but the truth was that you just had to do something to not feel that overwhelmed.

“You don’t,” he argued following you near the table.

You scoffed lifting your head to look at him. “Excuse you? I’m a surgeon.”

“Your hands don’t look like the hands of a surgeon when you’re around me.”

You scoffed.

“I think that the biggest thing in the world is your ego.”

“You haven't seen my-”

“Don’t say it.”

He closed his mouth as the little smile he had on kept lingering on his lips.

Domestic and flirty. It was getting to your head and you hadn’t had the opportunity to sip a single drop of alcohol yet.

As if reading your mind, he grabbed the bottle of wine you brought and fumbled slowly with the cap.

"That's my favourite shirt. And I want to fuck you in it."

The shivers that travelled down your spine almost made your body twitch and your hands stopped in mid-air as you were placing the cutlery.

He smiled at you when you looked at his expression.

His lips. His eyes and cheekbones. His skin under the lights.

Fuck. You really needed a drink.

And after he popped the bottle open with a loud sound that disrupted the silence, the red wine erupted out of it, dripping off his hand up to the wrist you had your drink right off his fingers.

Doyoung’s pupils trembled as you leaned in like a cat and his lips opened to breathe better seeing you lick the drops off his fingertips. Rested with his hips on the table, it creaked when you came forward, even more, hands pressed on his open thighs and reaching for his face. You finally caught his lips in yours and you let him taste the wine on your tongue.

It was rich and slightly sour, then it became sweet as only Doyoung’s taste remained lingering on his lips.

“Delicious,” he commented after the slow kiss. “You have good taste in wine.”

“And men.”

His expression was hidden under his long fringe but you could sense that he was smirking.

Then he raised his head a bit and had a gulp out of the bottle himself.

You had the first row to the show that his adam apple moving up and down gave you. Then your eyes naturally fell to his collarbones and bare chest, his white shirt barely covering anything.

Your fingers gently darted to his skin and you palmed it, then to his prominent collar bones, feeling the warmth of his chain around his neck.

He hummed, letting his head down to catch your hand with his lips. They kissed your fingertips then he finally dove in and let you taste his tongue again, hands quick to let the bottle go and grab your body instead.

Closer closer closer you needed him more and more.

“I need to feed you dinner first,” he grabbed your wrists as your hands tried to unbutton his shirt.

“If you won’t fuck me, I can find someone else to do it,” you whispered.

His eyes tightened and he exhaled once.

The movement was so quick that your head spun and the spank that arrived at your ass made you jolt on your toes before you could lean down on the table, fingers trying to grip the tablecloth.

“Yeah? I want to see you get fucked by someone else while my name spills out of your filthy mouth.”

His voice was raspy and it made you bite your lower lip, ass eager to push back and to rub against Doyoung's crotch. He hummed at your movements and lifted the shirt up to your waist, palming your skin and looking down at the way your ass cheeks engulfed your pretty lingerie. You strained your neck upwards at the feeling of his fingers slowly caressing your lower back, feeling the lace of your panties, then you whimpered as he grabbed the material and stretched it towards him before letting it go.

"You want this little hole all filled up, don't you?" he murmured, hand sliding between your thighs to rub on the soft and thin fabric. Your legs shifted in place at the sensation and you arched your back for more. The little 'Doyoung' making him exhale.

"And I thought you'd keep calling me sir."

You tried to turn your head towards him, wondering if his suddenly absent hand meant that he wanted you to actually call him that.

But then you saw that hand around you, reaching for the bucket of ice prepared for the wine on the table in front of you. And at that moment you realized that it was for you instead - his drink for the night.

The ice cube wetted his fingers when he took it out and he first placed it on your open lips. You sucked on it for a moment, the warmth of your skin already melting it, strands of water slowly descending on your chin and inside your cleavage.

"Say 'blue' and I'll stop," his voice was deep near your ear.

You nodded breathlessly and you shivered feeling his hand hover over your back.

And when you first felt it on your spine, your fingers independently grabbed the edge of the table. Then it went down and down, forcing goosebumps out of you.

Doyoung’s palm soothed your skin, warming it up before reaching to the front to grab at your hard nipples poking through the fabric. And when the cube reached your clothed core you mewled, lifting yourself on the tiptoes.

“Shit-shit-,” you curled your neck down, jolting under his touch, wanting more of it and running away at the same time.

Your panties were all wet and you were unsure if for the ice or your own body and when Doyoung took away the cube, giving you a break by gently pressing his own wet fingers between your lips you wished for the fabric to not be there anymore.

“More?” you whined, chest rising and falling at a crazy speed.

Doyoung snickered once, his hands grabbing your sides and turning you around.

Mind hazy, you didn’t have the time to wonder where the ice cube went, the only thought roaming your head being the need to pull him closer to you.

And you did just that, wrapping his waist with your thighs after he lifted you on the table with a thud, making all the cutlery and glasses jingle.

And you clasped your fingers into his hair while his hands roamed your naked body under his shirt.

It was when he pressed his cold, open lips on yours that you finally mewled, feeling the ice cube travel from his tongue to yours.

It got smaller and you sucked on it, giving it back, hearing him hum deeply into the kiss.

Then he broke it suddenly as if unable to control himself from kissing your neck instead, biting and sucking on your skin as hard as he did on the ice cube. You rolled it on your tongue until it became nothing, finally opening your lips to moan, feeling his cold touch on your breasts as his quick fingers unbuttoned the shirt.

The material of your panties grazed your legs at Doyoung’s rough pull. You watched them fly and land on the lamp behind him.

Then you felt his fingers finally rubbing your clit and you inhaled deeply. You were so horny that you were embarrassed to admit that just a few rubs would be able to throw you over the edge.

Doyoung saw it and from his expression, he was enjoying himself maybe too much.

“Come on love, cum for me,” he murmured on your open lips. You whined, nail digging into his shoulders and you shook your head.

“You’ve been begging me for an orgasm and now you want to be a brat about it?”

His hand worked quicker and when he inserted one of his long and slender fingers inside, you actually moaned loudly.

“Sir-” the title slipped from your shaking lips and he chuckled against your cheek, pushing another one and curling them both, pressing into you and trying to find the sweetest spots you had.

“Right here?” he whispered amused.

You start swearing, moulding his biceps under your tight grip, the table and everything on it shaking at the fast pace of Doyoung’s pumping.

And then it was too much and it overflowed.

The gasp you emitted made you fall forwards. Your arms wrapped Doyoung’s body tightly as you came in spasms, legs trying hard to meet each other around his wrist but pressing into his sides instead.

Doyoung let you whine a little bit more, hand slowing down but never stopping, fucking you through your orgasms as long as he could. Then your jaw got grabbed by his other hand and he lifted your face to meet his gaze. His eyes caressed your fucked up expression before kissing your lips.

"Good girl. I know you can give me another one."

You gripped his shoulders for dear life as Doyoung's fingers came back outside to desperately rub at your over-sensitive clit.

“Doyoung-Doyoung-” you writhed in his hold before he could slip away from your arms and fall on his knees.

You’ve gotten head before, but this time, maybe for the overstimulation or your secret feelings for that man, it felt like the first time ever.

Not knowing what to grab to steady yourself as his tongue danced in circles around your engorged clit, you buried your hands in his hair. His hands pressed into the softness of your thighs just as hard and when he raised his gaze up to look at you from underneath his messy fringe, you felt like falling.

And you almost fell when he resorted to quick short licks that drove you insane, making you cum for the second time in such a short time to make you lightheaded.

The single fuck got prolonged as much as the orgasm Doyoung gave you and when he started to kiss your inner thighs, coming up towards you, on your stomach, pressing his wet open lips on your skin until meeting your breasts, you were ready to admit that you were madly in love with him.

His kiss felt as if you were underwater, unable to breathe and understand space. You felt his arms around you and suddenly you felt weightless and he carried you around until you felt the velvet of the couches underneath you and his body pressed flushed on yours. His waist got automatically wrapped by your legs again as if that were their place and they weren’t aware of it before.

He slipped his hands on your hips, grabbing your ass hard as he murmured against your lips. “Are you going to be a brat with me again?”

His voice was calm but deep as if a storm was incoming, making your knees feel weak.

“Words,” he spoke again, pressing himself a little more between your legs.

You breathed out.

“I don’t know,” you managed to say before pushing him away. He fell to the side, grip softened mostly for the surprise than your strength.

“Are you going to be a brat to me?” you asked, straddling his lap and pressing your palms on his stomach, going up on his hot skin and lifting his shirt until he couldn’t do anything else than take it off.

Then his hands found their way on your skin too, unmercifully squeezing your soft breasts. He didn’t care to be gentle and lifting himself up he sucked on your skin so hard until it was almost painful. You wrapped your arms around his torso and threw your head back, stretching out your neck. He left bites all over it, travelling down, tightening his teeth grip around your nipples, making you pant softly.

“I don’t know,” he finally replied.

He looked at you from underneath his fringe and you smiled at each other. You caressed his stomach from below his belly button and going up until reaching his collarbones and he leaned back on his elbows to support his weight. He followed your hand going down on him then his eyes shifted their focus to watch how your pelvis started to move back and forth on his sweatpants, right on top of his hard cock.

“Mm,” he exhaled as finally getting some relief and you imitated him. You placed your hands on his shoulders and closed your eyes and Doyoung flexed his thigh muscles.

He was enjoying seeing you like that, vulnerable and whiny, needy and horny, while he did nothing to help you with it and leaving you desperate.

His eyes caressed your whole body, his lips parted slightly at the sight of your breasts bouncing softly, at how you were spreading yourself on him. You felt hot and plump, your thoughts were blurry and foggy.

"Look at you," he talked. “What a cute little slut.”

You replied with a whine, locking eyes with him but not being able to do that for a long time as his gaze pierced through you, adding to the sensation his pants gave to your raw clit.

So you kissed his lips, messily and sloppily, breathing on his mouth and he finally caressed your thighs and ass, pressing you down even more and closer to him.

Your arms got tighter around his neck and he buried his face into your chest. His hair tickled your chin and you intertwined your fingers into his locks.

So close to cum, you closed your eyes and just let yourself go, your rhythm lost, your muscles aching, without expecting Doyoung's fingers to suddenly get inside of you.

You squeezed yourself onto him with a cry.

"I repeat. Are you going to behave again as you did today?" you heard him ask as his fingers pumped fast into you.

"No, no, oh fuck, please, no," you managed to answer while gasping for air.

"I'm going to-" you whimpered about to orgasm and Doyoung at that moment got you off of him, pushing you down on your back and lifting your legs around him, edging you.

"You're going to cum when I say so," he commented. "You're lucky I'm even giving it to you at all today," he added.

You bit your lower lip frustrated.

"Babe, please-" you begged.

He smiled brightly at the sudden pet name, shushing you as he began to kiss your legs from the knees down, going lightly on the inside of your thigh, making you twitch as he approached your dripping pussy. But he passed over, nudging at it with his nose just to make you jolt and kissed your lower stomach, passing his tongue on the spots he bit before and continued until reaching your lips.

Then, getting on his knees he finally got rid of his pants and underwear.

You felt your core pulsing at the sight and breathed heavily. He tugged at your legs, dragging you until the back of your thighs touched his hips and holding himself he nudged at your entrance. You let your arms fall around your head and bit down on your hand as his tip caressed your clit.

"Doyoung," you whined as your muscles jolted intermittently. You then felt his fingers drag on your leg until grabbing your knee and putting it on his shoulders he humped your folds.

You let your head fall back into the couch, exposing your neck and making your breasts tighten.

It was too much. You just wanted him to penetrate you and to make you scream.

"I want to cum so badly, please," you begged again.

But he acted as if not being able to hear from you.

Your muscles twitched in pain and you lifted yourself to meet him. He pushed you down and distanced himself.

"Behave," he warned.

You looked at his half-closed eyes and plump lips as he bit it with his teeth.

He was suffering as well. He couldn't take it anymore, you could tell.

And when you took your hand to your mouth and licked two fingers, slowly, without breaking eye contact he gasped.

You were about to suck on them, you wanted to see him going crazy, but you didn't manage to as he penetrated you right at that moment, quick and deep, with a grunt.

"Fuck," he swore picking up the pace until the wet sounds overwhelmed the storm.

_________

It was dark. The only light came from the fireplace bathing the living room with a red and yellow hue.

You were both sprawled on the rug under fuzzy blankets.

"Come sit on my face. Show me where I belong."

Doyoung’s voice was a low buzz, imitating the storm still going on as it has been the whole night.

You rolled your eyes to the side amused, ignoring his warm hand palming your knee, nudging you to come closer.

“You still want to go? I can’t cum again,” you pouted.

“But I want you to cum,” he pouted as well.

You sighed and gently got on top of him with the intent of ignoring him and finally fall asleep.

But his expression changed when you were near enough. “I want you to be completely fucked up when I’m done with you.”

You lifted one hand to cup his cheek and kissed his nose.

He blinked at you amused.

“I love it when you smile like this,” you whispered.

The dying flames danced on his face as he stared at you for a few moments.

Then you clicked your tongue.

“Don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Don’t get all dark and distant.”

Doyoung exhaled. “I am not.”

“There’s so much to be proud of, don’t you think?” Your fingers gently started to draw patters on his forehead, going down on his eyes as he closed them, then on his cheeks. He opened his eyelids again after the touch and you talked again.

“Like striving to do good. Trying. Surviving.”

His lips opened to let out a small puff of warm air. Then he hugged you tighter and hid his face in the crook of your neck.

You exhaled too, closing your eyes and lulling his exhausted soul.

“I am so proud of you,” you whispered but you didn’t know if he heard you.

_________

You woke up in Doyoung's bed.

It was huge, warm and it smelled like his laundry detergent. The sheets were soft and luscious, caressing your naked body as you shifted underneath them to look to the side.

Your eyelids fluttered and your lips turned their corners up.

Fighting the urge to squeal and hide your face inside the pillow, you resorted to admire Doyoung's sleeping face.

Resting on his stomach with raised arms thrown around his head, only his eyes and ruffled hair poked out behind his bicep and shoulder. And when he slowly opened one puffy eye you giggled and it curved, showing that he was smiling too.

"Good morning," you whispered.

Doyoung sighed once first. "It's probably afternoon."

His sleepy voice made your body heat up and without thinking you just got closer. He turned on his side and wrapped your body with his arms, pulling you closer to his chest.

"Did you sleep well?" he murmured.

"Like a baby. You exhausted me enough."

The little kiss he placed on top of your head was so unexpected to make you lift your face.

He smiled.

"You inspire so much tenderness in me,” he explained timidly.

You smiled back, resting your chest on his. His hands automatically wrapped your sides as if they've always belonged there.

"I'm glad I'm softening your edges. Now you need to behave like this with everyone else too."

"You want me to kiss the whole hospital on the forehead?"

"Metaphorically."

"Also, I thought you loved my hard edges," he purred, shifting your body to fully rest on top of his.

His hard cock deliciously poked your clit with its tip as his hands slowly made you roll on it.

You exhaled and leaned down, rubbing your lips on his as you whispered. "I do."

His smirk was lazy just like your movements.

"So you want me just like this?"

“I want you. I want everything you are. I want everything that you hide.”

Your hands caressed his chest and came to cup his face. His expression wavered and you found him so vulnerable all of a sudden to make your guts twist.

“Unleash the darkness that you have inside. Engulf me with it. I am not afraid. I want it.”

Doyoung wrapped your body tightly and pressed you down on himself even more.

"There's no darkness inside of me anymore. Not when you're around me."

__________

From “I will not vanish” - Haechan’s backstory

The heavy door opened and closed.

Doyoung looked over his shoulder to see a stranger approach him with slow feet. He raised his eyes and gave Doyoung a small nod.

The other did the same and when the stranger aligned himself with Doyoung, looking over the cold city, they both exhaled.

The silence was so deep, safe for the ambulances screaming in the distance that Doyoung found himself restless.

The stranger leaned on the rail, resting his weight on the elbows and sighed again.

“You know,” he started.

Doyoung looked at him with the corner of his eyes.

“What I like about life,” he paused, “is that you can die.”

The stranger bit his lower lip for a moment then looked over to the other. His gaze felt so heavy that Doyoung’s arms skin got goosebumps.

“Imagine being immortal,” the man continued before letting out a dry snicker.

“Around forever. A pathetic being with no reason to exist besides existence itself. Forever and forever and forever. With no purpose. Until you’d beg someone to kill you but they can’t.”

Doyoung’s fingers twitched on the cold metal of the terrace rail and for a moment his rational mind wanted to ask that stranger just what nonsense he was talking about.

But lately, Doyoung and rationality didn’t match well so he didn’t.

“Immortality sucks only if you’re the only immortal one.”

The stranger smiled bitterly. “Do you want to be immortal?”

Doyoung put his hands inside the gown’s pockets. “I’d die tomorrow.”

“But you wish immortality was a thing.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t have a job anymore,” Doyoung smiled. “But yes. I wish people didn’t die.”

“You’re very selfish.”

That remark made Doyoung frown. “How’s that selfish?”

The stranger turned around and rested his back on the rail instead.

“Why do you want people to not die?”

“Because-,” Doyoung started but didn’t know what to add. “Because it’s painful.”

“For them or you?”

Doyoung sighed. “Okay. I see what you’re doing here.”

The stranger smiled a little.

“It’s not like I think only of myself when others die. I think how unfair it is when I know they didn’t have the chance to do everything they wanted to do first.”

“And what’s that?”

Doyoung thought about it for a moment. “Just- living. Experiences. And most of them actually had enough time to do it. They just took it for granted. And it’s so- painful.”

“And what about you? If you said that you’d be ready to die tomorrow, I guess you’ve been living your life to the fullest with no regrets.”

“Actually, I don’t know if I’ve been living all of this time.”

The stranger shrugged. “Just start now.”

“You make it seem so easy.”

“Living? Hell yeah. You just need to give less fucks.”

Doyoung didn’t reply.

“If you’re ready to die tomorrow, then you should not be afraid of living.”

The stranger’s tone deepened and Doyoung looked his way.

“Who are you by the way?”

“Oh,” the stranger straightened his back and extended his hand. “I’m Haechan. Nice to meet you.”

Doyoung imitated him and shook his hand.

It was warm and in a moment so many thoughts came to Doyoung’s mind to make him breathless.

"I thought I had my life figured out and yet after meeting you I got shocked into awareness."

"You inspire so much tenderness in me."

“I became obsessed with you and it scares me.”

“You could have just told me. You could have told me that you fell apart. Instead, you acted like it didn't bother you at all.”

“You are worth the wait.”

“I can't let go of you.”

Doyoung took away his hand so quickly to almost fall backwards.

He took a few steps on the concrete of the terrace as if trying to get as far from Haechan as possible.

“You good?” the other asked but his face wasn’t mirroring his question.

Instead, a plain expression was adorning his feline features and for an instant, Doyoung felt terror.

“You’re not Haechan,” he found himself whispering.

The man in front of him cracked his knuckles once. “And who’s Haechan?”

“My friend.”

“Friend? Is someone that uses somebody else a friend?”

“He’s not using me.”

“Isn’t he now?”

The man started to walk towards Doyoung slowly, one finger on the rail, grating at the metal with his nail.

“Do you believe in soulmates, Doyoung?”

Doyoung flinched at his name on that man’s lips and started to retreat slowly.

“I do.”

“Soulmates are people that always find each other regardless of everything, aren’t they?”

“Yes.”

“And are you and Y/N soulmates if Haechan is always there forcing you together like some sort of cheap mismatcher?” the man spit out the last words.

Doyoung gulped and his brain tried to remember how he punched him in some past life and actually win. His surgeon hands would definitely get broken in a second.

“Don’t you want to break this cycle? Find your true soulmate?”

“That’s Y/N.”

“Because you say so.”

“I don’t give a fuck about your orthodox theory, Archangel.”

The man stretched his neck to the side and Doyoung didn't have the time to run away.

#doyoung #doyoung smut #neosmutcollective #nct-writers #nct smut #doyoung angst #nct angst #nct fanfiction #doyoung fanfiction #nct doyoung #doyoung scenarios #nct scenarios #soulmates collection #doyoung doctor au #nct doctor au

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beauty-and-passion · 3 years

Note

Silly fun challenge prompt: what languages do you associate with the Sides/what would be the 2nd language each Side learn?

For example I am a big fan of Hispanic (Spanish speaking) Creativitwins fanon. And c! Thomas too could've learnt Spanish in high school and the fact his love interest is hispanic too just makes perfect sense-

And in contrast to Hispanic twins I headcanon Janus as a francophone (French speaking) for two reasons: 1) it was still lingua franca around Victorian era, his aesthetic inspiration and 2) dividing American high school by Spanish class vs. French class is like causing Civil War (I was and still am a language nerd, so I learnt both languages, which was a mistake but the kind of mistake that was worth it when you think about it later)

German suites Logan since lots of famous philosophers are German. I associate Japanese or Korean with Virgil since those two are really dominant in the current subculture world (and maybe our emo could've been inspired and turn into E-boy - wow that sounds terrifying)

I don't have strong preference on Patton's but Italian sounds nice, since all those music and dessert and anything sweet are often from Italy. And maybe 'Orange' can be some language that sounds harsh like Russian, so he can murmur in that in sleep and scares everyone else

I know you're in Europe: 1) you use GMT and 2) Americans wouldn't care about Eurovision. So I wonder how you would think based on your European experience!

Oooh, I like this! As European Who Studied Languages, I definitely approve this and I'll gladly add my two cents about which languages the sides should learn.

_________

Roman: He canonically knows Spanish and that's perfect like that. Spanish is a romantic language, someone speaks Spanish and you can't help but swoon. It’s a great choice for the Side responsible for romance and passion.

_________

Remus: Remus isn't just intrusive thoughts, but there’s a very high chance he’s also responsible for Thomas' sexual urges. So, what is the language made for sex? You’re right, it’s French. French is sexy. You can say anything in French and bam, ✨sexy ✨.

"Je sors la poubelle." Sexy, isn't it? Well, I just said "I'm taking out the trash". See? Very sexy.

(French people, please confirm my words. We all know it’s true)

_________

Janus: Your points are incredibly valid and I love them. But if we should choose among all languages, I would love Janus to be one of the very few (extremely few) people in the world who can speak Latin.

I know Latin is a dead language, but it would be great - and not just because of the connection with his name.

Let’s consider that the other Romance languages, despite evolving from Latin, cannot entirely understand it, because they all changed a lot through the centuries after mixing with the Germanic ones. On the other hand, the Germanic languages (English, German, Swedish and so on) are part of a completely different group, only slightly influenced by Latin, so they cannot understand it.

In other words, Janus would speak a language that only sounds familiar - and maybe you can grasp a couple words here and there if you know a romance language, but the true meaning is hidden. What is he actually saying? Who knows. Is he actually cursing someone? Who knows. After all, do you understand Latin? Yeah, me neither.

If I have to pick a language that is still spoken today instead, I think I'll join you with French. Your points are valid and French is a very elegant language, fitting for Janus’ whole aesthetic. So yes, French could work.

_________

Logan: German is a great choice and you are absolutely right with your point about the philosophers. Also German is a language of harsh sounds and strict grammar rules - for example:

declensions that should be used accordingly for articles, adjectives and nouns

specific verbs for specific meanings

words made by putting together shorter words (like Haustürschlüssel. Haustür means “front door”, Schlüssel means “key” -> this word means “front door’s key”)

sentences that should follow a specific construction, with parts of the compound verb after the noun and part at the end of the sentence. And secondary phrases also have a specific syntax and should always be introduced by a comma

In other words, it's a very organized language and I think it would fit Logan.

But also, considering that almost all words related to science and philosophy come from Greek, I think Logan should at least understand some Greek. As a treat.

(Also because Greek is another incredibly complicated language, so if someone has the patience to learn it, it’s definitely Logan.)

_________

Virgil: oh my gosh, I never thought about an eastern language for Virgil. In a way, it would be a very peculiar choice and I kinda like it. Japanese and Korean are extremely complicated languages, they have a very specific alphabet (I'm especially thinking about the Japanese one, that even asks for a specific direction to write words) and require a lot of work (and memory) to learn them.

But Virgil is also a poet and when I think of poets and sonnets my first connection is with the french ennui, le mal du vivre and especially Baudelaire and his works. Virgil would appreciate Baudelaire a lot. So French, again.

But hey, there’s too much French now. So I’ll pick the other european literature full of sadness: the russian one.

Russian is supposed to be a big scary language and its alphabet is weird and omg what if they're cursing us? But if you learn it a little bit, you’ll find out that Russian has a lot of soft/open sounds (due to a good use of vowels) and it's very poetic.

So the language itself is a bit like Virgil: he seems scary and evil at a first glance, but if you learn about him, he's actually kinder than he looks.

But never underestimate Russian, because just like Anxiety, fear is just behind the corner: you start learning it and wow, there is just one present tense, one past tense and one future tense? This is great, what a wonderful language!

And then, before you’ll realize it, you will find out that each verb has a “doppelganger” used for entirely different purposes AND there a gazillion verbs of motion and you will end up crying on the floor, because there are just too many verbs - and look, there are also one trillion particles you can put before these verbs and they give them EVEN MORE MEANINGS.

No, this isn't entirely based on my personal experience, what makes you think that.

_________

Patton: I have never thought about Patton learning another language, because English just fits him too well.

But when you proposed Italian... well, my heart just wiped out everything else. There is nothing here, only Patton speaking Italian.

So yes, Patton's second language should be Italian. No, it must be Italian. Because French is the language of sex, Spanish is the language of love, but if you want to declare your eternal love to someone, you use Italian. Do you want to marry someone? Italian. Do you want to tell your significant other how much you adore them? Italian. Italian has one million ways to express love and Patton should use them all with his kiddos.

And yes, Italian is also associated with warm people, warm places and good food, all things Patton deserves and should enjoy. So Italian is a big yes.

_________

Orange: since Orange is a mystery, I am a bit torn between these two languages:

1) Esperanto: This language is amazing, because it isn’t a natural language, born like all others, but it has been built by a man, who wanted to create an universal language in order to foster world peace and international understanding.

So this language has been created to be as simple as possible, with a very regular grammar (unlike all other natural languages) and its words all have references to other language groups (romance, germanic, slavic, indo-europeans, finno-ugric languages and so on).

And if you actually listen to it (especially if you know some latin languages) you will find it weirdly understandable. I found this video in particular and I was impressed by how strangely familiar esperanto sounds.

And... that’s it, I just think it would be kinda poetic that the last side knows a language that all others can use and understand.

2) A Greenlandic language. Why? Because they are insanely polysynthetic.

What does that mean? If in German you can make words by putting together other two/three words (like in the example I used before), in the Greenlandic languages you can build an entire sentence by putting together nouns, verbs, articles and everything else. All together in one single word, whose meaning can be translated with an entire sentence in another language.

Do you want an example? Here is an example from Wikipedia: tuntussuqatarniksaitengqiggtuq.

Yes, this is a word.

This word is from the Yupik language and means "He had not yet said again that he was going to hunt reindeer.". And this word is made of:

tuntu- (= reindeer)

ssur- (= hunt)

qatar- (future tense)

ni- (= say)

ksaite- (negative)

ngqiggte- (= again)

uq (3rd.sing.IND)

Is this insane? This is fucking insane. Do you want to be scared? This is real fear. What the heck. How. Why.

You know what? This is perfect for Orange, I’ll leave Esperanto to Thomas. Orange deserves to be this scary. I can already see the other sides quiver before him.

_________

And so, here are my guesses! If someone has other ideas, feel free to add yours and tell us why, so we can all have a nice discussion :D

#sanders sides #ask #roman sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #orange side #thomas sanders #this is a great ask #also I may have been a little too involved #but I studied these languages #and there's even my own <3 #side note: Americans don't know what they're missing #eurovision is the best #it's our trashy glittery camp show #with arson and gays included #sides and foreign languages

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fakecrfan · 4 years

Text

I see sooo many time travel fix it fics for the Magnus Archives. It’s gotten me thinking about my own little scenario. Where Martin dies and Jon goes back in time from the apocalypse (as is standard) hopeful and determined to Fix Everything and… well.

When Carlos Vittery’s statement comes up, Jon has already decided long in advance how he is going to deal with it. Martin suffered from the whole Prentiss incident. There is no need to put him through that again. So, Jon gets rid of the statement. Doesn’t even record it. Now Martin will be safe and happy.

Jon forms a simple but effective plan to get rid of Prentiss without being marked. It involves a lot of fire. After all his failures from the previous timeline, he has learned. To his own surprise, he carries out his plan successfully alone.

Then… well. He stumbles back into the archives after that whole chase, tired, and instinctively goes up to Martin and…

...and Martin leans away where he’s sitting, almost cringing as he withdraws from Jon’s presence.

“Uh, Jon?’’ he asks. “Something wrong?’’

Jon hadn’t exactly paid attention to Martin before the whole Prentiss thing in the past timeline. He had never noticed exactly how… timid Martin had been around him, before. Now that he is zeroed in on all things Martin, he can see it--fists clenching, shoulders hunching to make himself small.

To this Martin, Jon is still the boss who yells and makes snide remarks at him. Martin is nervous to please his boss--but also just nervous around him in general.

Jon backs off.

“Nothing,’’ he says quickly. “I’m just...tiring weekend.’’

He decides to wait. To ease off and lighten up until Martin is comfortable around him. It will happen. It happened before, and Jon can wait.

From there--small talk. Questions about Martin’s life. But everything just… lands flat. Jon knows Martin too well. He knows that Martin is giving evasive non-answers to everything he asks.

Jon tries compliments.

“Excellent work on the followup,’’ he says.

Martin doesn’t look happy, or even relieved. Just confused. Nervous. “Thanks?’’

Jon can wait. Jon does wait. He slowly amps up the friendly behavior to all staff, doing his best not to single out Martin in an uncomfortable way. He gives compliments. He asks Friendly questions. It all comes out stiff and forced.

The table to which the NotThem is bound arrives. Jon takes appropriate precautions. Now, he decides, Sasha won’t look at it and be taken. No one will. He steals it away from the Institute, puts it in a crate, fills the crate with cement, and drops the whole mess into the ocean--all successfully carried out alone.

He itches to confide in Martin. But Martin still is the same around him. Always shrinking back or leaning away.

“I don’t get it,’’ Jon overhears Martin confiding to Sasha. “Just overnight he seemed like a completely different person. And he’s all--’’

“Maybe something happened in his personal life,’’ Sasha says. “You never know.’’

“It’s weird. He keeps asking me things and I don’t know what expects...?’‘

Jon’s heart sinks. But he decides he can wait.

He gets less pushback from Elias than he expected. Elias, after all, is not working on his apocalyptic project on a deadline. He is immortal. He is used to taking his time. The last few archivists took decades to achieve powers, so he doesn’t expect Jon to progress very quickly. Jon obfuscates ignorance and skepticism every step of the way to slow things down, and Elias is too lazy in his assumptions to check Jon’s mind. Jon can keep this charade going for decades, if he plays his cards right.

So, after the threat of NotThem is dealt with… things are peaceful.

There is no discovery of Gertrude’s body. No murder of Jurgen Leitner. No being framed for the murder and running after Jude Perry or Mike Crew. In lieu of all of this, working at the archives becomes practically a fantasy. Slow. Peaceful. Plenty of time to set up his own machinations to prevent Jonah’s apocalypse. Perfect, except--

Except Martin.

It takes Jon embarrassingly long to realize that Martin falling in love with him was not a fixed event. He had never known before the exact moment Martin had fallen in love with him, when nervous desire to please had turned into something deeper. He had never asked Martin what exact sequence of events had led to that development.

He had taken Martin’s love for granted.

As though it had been some sort of fairytale magic that bound them. As though it had been love at first sight, or fate. A damn foolish mistake for a cynic.

Now, whatever sequence of events had led to that blossoming has been disrupted. Jon is simply… a boss who used to terrorize Martin, and now is acting nicer.

“Nicer’’ is not a trait that makes one fall in love.

“Hey,’’ Tim asks Jon one day. “For a month or so I just thought you were having some weird manic moodswing or something but now I gotta ask… did you have a near-death experience? Convert to some new religion?’’

“Uh,’’ Jon shakes his head confused. “No?’’

“Okay, because you have been acting weirdly nice,’’ Tim says. “I think you’re scaring Martin with it. He’s half-convinced you’ve been replaced by some weird doppelganger like in Amy Patel’s statement.’’

That actually hurts. But Jon makes a face and bites out the lie he has prepared. “...I started therapy, actually.’’’

Tim claps his back, and congratulates him.

“Just don’t scare Martin too bad, okay?’’ Tim said. “He’s delicate, alright? The unexpected freaks him out. He… he takes a bit to believe niceness, you know?’’

Jon nods, and does not take note of the warmth in Tim’s eyes.

The word about his therapy excuse gets around. Jon hopes that will ease some nerves--but none of that turns out to matter. Because one day, Tim comes in late, shivering from a cold winter rain.

It wouldn’t be anything out of the ordinary, except--except---

Martin jumps up at the sight of Tim. In a second Martin is all over him, fussing in a way Jon achingly recognizes.

“Oh dear, are you okay?’’ Martin asks.

“Fine, fine,’’ Tim says. “Just forgot my… jacket. And umbrella. Ugh, it’s bloody cold down here!’’

Martin takes off his own jacket and drapes it over him. Tim freezes. Martin goes red and hesitates, before taking his scarf too and furiously wrapping it around Tim’s neck.

It’s the instant Jon realizes he’s lost.

“Sit down,’’ Martin says. “I’ll make you some warm tea.’’

‘’You’re such a grandma!’’ Tim shouts after Martin as he hurries out of the room.

Neither of them catches Jon watching their moment, so Jon lets himself sink slowly down in his office and bury his face in his hands.

Nikola’s Unknowing will collapse on its own, of course. It doesn’t require any intervention--except insofar as Nikola herself will eventually target Jon as the Archivist, and the Institute, and that could get messy. So Jon heads over to Gertrude’s secret storage and gets her C4 to deal with Nikola before Nikola thinks to make a move on the Institute.

Jon deals with Nikola as with Prentiss and the NotThem--quickly, efficiently, and completely alone.

#jonmartin #jmart #martim #martin/tim #the magnus archives #tma fic #time travel comes with unintended consequences

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memelover1024 · 3 years

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The Original Hunter Part 1

Supernatural/TVD/TO

Mini Series

Sam WinchesterxMikaelson!Reader

Elijah MikaelsonxReader

1500 Words

AN- this is a sort of AU where the originals never left New Orleans and Klaus and Elijah are the official kings of the vampire species, they are only in Mystic Falls for Elena and the hybrid curse. Klaus only has Finn daggered at the time this series is taking place. Also in this Katherine and Elijah were a couple in the 1500s not Katherine and Klaus.

I pulled my cruiser into the garage of the Bunker, and parked it next to the Impala. I grabbed my backpack and made sure the cooler at the bottom was closed and hidden, and walked inside. When I walked into the library and saw my boyfriend Sam at the table looking for a case. When he heard me walking in he looked up at me and smiled.

“Hey babe,” he said before turning his attention back to whatever was on his laptop.

“Hey, i'm just gonna put this stuff in my office then i'll come help you,” i said to him and then turned down halfway to my office. When I reached the door I pulled out my key and unlocked the door. I walked in and locked it again behind me. When I first moved into the bunker the first thing I did was get a room all to myself that the boys wouldn't go in. At first they were suspicious as to what I had in there, but over time they ceased to care. They have grown to learn that I like my privacy. Privacy isn't a problem for me though, it was that I didn't want them to know what I am. After I locked the door I went and put my keys and backpack on my desk and dug the cooler out from the bottom. I looked behind me at the door to double check it was locked before I opened it. I grabbed a blood bag and drank it. I was so hungry. I had ran out of blood bags 3 days ago and I hadn't had any time to visit my dealer in town to get more since we were on a hunt. A vampire, how ironic. It was a different type of vampire of course but still similar. The vampire the boys and I hunt are a larger and more cruel species of vampire. Notice, I didn't say dangerous. My species is a thousand times more powerful than them but we have humanity ––most of the time–– they do not. They were created by Eve to be a better version of us, but they are only feral weak leeches. My species was created by my ex mother-in-law Ester. Yes, I said mother in law. I used to be married to Elijah, one of the kings of our species. I always loved Elijah, I probably always will but it took him a while to learn to love me. We were an arranged marriage, me as the richest young unmarried lady in the village and him as the best fighter in the village, other than his father, and the son of a powerful witch. I was ecstatic about the match, but he was too busy with my younger sister Tatia to notice me.i was pretty, i'll admit that. But tatia was the most beautiful in the village, every man wanted her, even before her husband died. Elijah and his brother always fought over her, while I was there just waiting for him to notice me. He was furious at first about the marriage, he didn't want to marry anyone but Tatia. On our wedding night was the first time he even gave me a second glance. I never cared though, I always saw him and I always loved him. After Tatia died and we were turned into vampires he began to love me. Life on the run will do that to you. We were happy for 500 years and I thought that it would last forever. It didn't. All because of Tatia, or her doppelganger. They’re the same to me, they had the same face, they both took him from me. I was pulled out of my thoughts by a knock on the door. I jumped to hide the blood bag but then remembered the locked door.

“What?” i asked.

“Come on, Sams found us a case,” Dean called through the door and then his footsteps faded down the hall. I zipped up the cooler with the rest of the blood bag and put them in the mini-fridge which was locked with an electric lock. I grabbed my keys from the desk and made my way to the library. Dean was standing over Sam's shoulder looking at the computer.

“What did we get?” I asked, sitting on Sam's lap and looking at the computer. I read the headline of the newspaper clipping and my heart stopped.

I took a deep breath and regained my composure.

“Looks like a werewolf, only one. So?” I asked, trying to steer them away.

“So?” Dean said confused, “what do you mean so?”

“There are only two victims in a place with many wild animals, there's no evidence, and it's five states away. It says the marks match a mountain lion, this is most likely nothing guys, and it's far away, there's probably another hunter already on it.” I told them my tone was calm, but my soul was desperate.

“I hear you babe and your probably right but i have a feeling about this one, i don't know, but i think we have to go,”

Sam said. I nodded, I couldn't fight anymore without raising suspicion.

“We leave in an hour,” Dean said, making his way back to his room.

I watched from the back of the impala as the Welcome to Mystic Falls sign whizzed passed me as we drove down the road towards my old home. I was so engrossed in the memories of my past that I didn't notice Sam looking back at me.

“You know this place don't you. Y/N?” Sam asked me, a concerned visage. I looked back up at him and sighed.

“Yeah, um, I used to live here,” I whispered silently, still staring out the window. Sam looked back ahead at the road, knowling i didn't wish to speak about it. The clocktower in the center of the small town came into view, slowly growing larger and larger, as if to taunt me and my fear to face my torments.

We pulled up in front of the mystic grill and Sam Dean and I got out of the impala. We walked in and I looked around. No familiar faces, that's good. I'd heard Niklaus had come home in order to break his curse. I was happy for him, but that didn't mean I had any interest in seeing him any time soon. We walked up the bar and I ordered a whiskey and the boys ordered beer. We sat there for a bit and chatted about the case when I heard a voice from behind me and a smile grew on my face.

“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in, finally decided to come home?” I turned and threw myself into Kols arms. Klaus had daggered him several years before I left, he'd told us that he'd never wake him. I thought I'd never see my brother again, thank god i was wrong.

“I never thought I'd see you again,” I told him, still clutching to his jacket.

“Sorry to disappoint,” he laughed back. We stood there for a few moments before we heard someone clear their throat behind us. I slightly let go of Kol and turned to find Sam and Dean looking inquisitively at me.

“Come to dinner tonight at the house, we can catch up, all of us together.” Kol told me.

“I don't know, i dont want your cook making a whole feast just for my return and I don't want to intrude.” i told him

“Nonsense, this dinners been planned for a while, and i'm setting a place for you so you best come,”

“Alright i'll come, but nothing extravagant for my sake okay, i pointed a finger at him.

“No promises,” he laughed. I rolled my eyes at him. He kissed me on the cheek and made his way out of the restaurant. I smiled after him, so happy to see him again. Maybe this visit would be so bad after all. I mean anything was possible with Kol.

“Who was that?” Sam asked me, jealousy obvious in his voice. I laughed at his protectiveness.

“That was my brother,” I told them, still smiling widely. They gave me a shocked look. I had never told them about my past or my family. I guess they just assumed that my family was dead and that it was too painful. They never knew I had a brother. And they were probably wondering what else I was hiding.

#sam winchester fanfiction #sam x mikaelson #vampire hunter #supernatural #tvd au #elijah mikealson x reader #Elijah mikaelson x ex reader #original vampire

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ordinaryschmuck · 3 years

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What I Thought About "Yesterday's Lie" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who absolutely won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons!

Here it is! The midseason finale of The Owl House Season Two! An episode featuring Luz going back to the human realm, is hyped up to heaven about how painful it'll be for the audience, and features more anxiety by how Creepy Luz is a thing. And BOOOOOOOOY howdy were fans not ready for this. I'm sure as hell not ready for when I wrote this intro at *checks time* thirty minutes before watching the official premier. Yup, the words you're reading right now are from me in the past, when everything was still pure and simple. Whereas future me is still probably destroyed by the events that transpired. Isn't that right, future me?

Future Me: Actually, it wasn’t that bad. The ending hurt, sure, but other than that, it wasn’t too painful.

Wow, that is some neat input! At least, I think it was. I wouldn't know because I literally wrote that after watching the episode. With the words you're currently reading being written at *checks time* twenty-six minutes before the premier...this whole intro is confusing, isn't it, future me?

Future Me: Sure is.

Yeah, it's definitely confusing. In any case, let's dive into this spoiler-filled review as we find out together just how painful this episode was! Take it away, future me!

Future Me: Will do! Major spoilers ahead, folks!

Now, let’s review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Luz’s Room: We only see it for a short time, but everything about it just screams Luz. The pile of weird-looking stuffed animals, the witch hat in the center of the floor, and the fact that she has bunk beds, a single child's dream (Or so I've heard). It's a small thing, but I love it.

Vee: Here she is! The character previously dubbed Creepy Luz who now turns out to be yet another new addition to the ever-growing list of characters that we, as a fandom, would give our lives for. Because holy s**t was Vee the best type of expectation subversion. Showing us all the ominous ways of how she basically took Luz's place made fans assume that Vee was an evil doppelganger. Turns out, she was just a tortured soul that was desperate to live a new and better life and lucked out in finding Luz's. What Vee does is...questionable at best, but seeing what she went through with the experiments Belos pulled on her, you understand why she would do it. And I personally love it's that same background information that makes Vee resentful of Luz of all people. Luz's life is a relative dream come true, and running away from that would be insane to someone who spent most of their existence through imprisonment and experimentation. It's an intriguing point of view, even though it's admittingly flawed given how it's mostly Camila that seemingly made Luz's life bearable. But the flaws don't matter. What matters is that you can see where Vee is coming from, and to me, personally, I think she's understandable enough to make me root for her to have some kind of happy ending. Whether as Luz or as herself, I'm hopeful to see Vee get some semblance of peace.

Camila: *Round of applause* Don't mind me! Just taking the time to love how all them sons of b**hes who thought Camila was a bad mom are now heavily invalidated. 'Cause, guess what? Camila is a fantastic mother, both to her daughter and her daughter's doppelganger! Allow me to walk you through the highlights:

How Camila looks like she’s not okay with the fact that "Luz" is clearing out her weird stuff, seemingly acting too different to the Luz she knows. Added to the fact that Camila doesn't like it.

How Camila drove Luz to camp whether than letting her take the bus

The fact that Camila takes that box of junk back in, not willing to part with the tin foil sculpture Luz made.

The way she was willing to play along with the game she thought Luz was doing, supporting her daughter's creative mind that Camila admits to being glad to see.

And, best of all, the willingness Camila had to help this poor creature, despite the lies it lived.

It's that last part I really want to touch upon, though. Because an action like that shows just how much Luz's heart comes from Camila. The kindness and generosity of helping this poor creature, who she has every right to run out on, proves how Luz learned to be everything she is today through Camila's own loving heart. Vee was scared and hurt, and the second Camila saw that she was then more than willing to help because of it. It's something that Luz would do, and it proves that even though Camila didn't exactly get everything right, she's still a great mom where it counts.

“A new life”: A perfect line.

Initially, it makes audiences think that it has everything to do with replacing Luz. It's only through future context that we know it's about escaping the s**t show Vee once lived through that it's clear she's talking about starting over. It hits us with intrigue on the first viewing, only to hit harder with the feels during a second. Really well-done.

Luz in the Mirror: A well-done surprise that makes fans curious about how this even happen in the first place. Kudos to you, writers.

The New Portal: I don't mind that they found a way to build this off-screen. Showing Luz and the gang slowly building a new portal would have been a little too tedious to watch, and it's so much better to just start this episode out with it. Besides, maybe we'll get the slow and steadier version now that we've seen how quickly building one might not have been the best way to go, given how fast that thing fell apart.

Luz Between Dimensions: I have no clue what the hell that place she was in is called, but it's awesome! The overall design of the realm is the correct type of unsettling, like it's oozing with mystery, but it's somewhere that you probably don't want to be in for too long. Whoever designed it deserves all of the credit because I don't want to even think about all the hard work that went into making this look as well-made as it was.

Luz Resisting to See Amity: What? Luz and Amity are adorable, and seeing Luz's immediate thought about seeing Amity makes my shipping heart scream with glee. Don't judge me!

Hiding Luz’s Dad’s Face: Well, that was a fun story while it lasted.

So, it turns out that Luz's dad really was a part of Luz's and Camila's life at some point, but not anymore. As for why remains to be seen, as we don't really know yet if we'll see him make an appearance. I'd say that the odds are high that he will, given how much of a point this episode made about keeping his face hidden. Shows don't usually do that unless the goal is to hype up some official reveal, and I can't wait to see what comes of it.

Luz Telling Herself to Count to Five: Hey, more evidence for how I relate to Luz! I know how it feels to be all panicky about a specific situation, and I only got better when I took the time to calm down for a bit. Sometimes, I even tried the "count to x" method that Luz used...it never worked, primarily because it made me feel worse when people told me to do it, but I still tried it! Plus, there's also some narrative foreshadowing when after Luz says five, the realm shows her Vee, or Number V, which is a pretty cool detail you'll notice on a rewatch.

Luz Helping Vee: I gave Camila praise for helping Vee in the end, but that doesn't abstain Luz from her own set of recognition. The second that Luz realized that Vee wasn't really a threat and is far from evil, our favorite human does what she can to help and even makes a deal where they're both happy. Because, of course, Luz is that perfect of a protagonist who is more than willing to help others in need. And it's why we love her so.

Looking for Magic that Eda Left Behind: A pretty cool idea that gives Luz and Vee a chance to bond and giving us an insight into Eda's past antics and misadventures in the human realm. Not much I can add to it, though.

Gravesfield: It's surprisingly not as jarring as I thought it would be to spend an episode in the human realm. I thought for sure, after all that time in the Boiling Isles, there would be something off about walking around a normal environment for a change. Turns out, it's almost easy to get used to. Or, for me, it is.

But I will say that there's this neat use of colors when comparing Gravesfield with the Boiling Isles. In Gravesfield, the coloring looks dulled down and standard, which is a stark contrast to the bright vibrancy of everything we've seen in the Boiling Isles. It's a subtle way of showing how things are different, aside from the major discrepancies we could come to expect. And I think that's why I appreciate it much more.

Eda’s Called Herself Marylynn in the Human Realm: Hang on...hang on...do you mean to tell me that the crack theory about Eda being Stan's ex-wife is actually true?

...

...What even is this show?!

Vee Making Friends with Camp Members: This shows the most apparent difference between Luz and Vee. Where we see Luz is already fearing the many ways that could go wrong with interacting with teens, Vee revealed that she adapted to her situation and had a chance to make friends. The implications of this are worth discussing another time, but for now, I'll say that it's pretty intriguing that we gain this much insight into both Luz and Vee through such a small thing.

Belos Wanting to Learn How Basilisks can Drain Magic: ...Didn't Raine say that Belos was taking away magic? If so, I think we can figure out how he's doing it. The question now is: Why?

Jacob (The Curator Guy): This guy was a riot. At first, Jacob seemed like a threat with the way he trapped Vee and was apparently stocking her, but the second he goes off about his conspiracy theories, it becomes clear what type of character he is. And was it a blast seeing how much of a crackpot this man is. It wasn't cool seeing him wanting to dissect the precious angel that is Vee, but I still chuckle about things like his "Flat Eather's Certificate." So while he's not that much of a threat, he's still fun to watch.

The Owl Beast was in the Human Realm: ...How did that happen? When did it happen? And how the hell did Eda get out of a situation like that?! Who knows, but it's still a shocking piece of news to learn.

Luz Telling Camila the Truth: Hey, she faced her fear after all! Although, the results aren't as pleasant as when Amity faced her fear two weeks ago.

Camila is a Veterinarian: ...One insignificant reveal...managed to destroy so many fanfics. I mean, we probably shouldn't have just assumed Camila was a nurse...but what the f**k else were we supposed to think?! Sorry for seeing the scrubs, and the first thing that came to my mind was "nurse" and not "vet."

By the way, that had to have been intentional, right? There's no way that Dana Terrace didn't think we'd assume Camila was a nurse. She'd had to have put off a reveal like that just to trip up her fans. And if that's the case, then that is a major d**k move...but that's why I mildly respect it.

Two Human Brothers went to the Demon Realm: Turns out we don't have to be in the Boiling Isles to learn more about it. Because now we have more information about how two humans were taken to the Isles with the help of a witch, thus setting up a grander reveal if it turns out that one of the humans was Philip and the witch was Belos. Because if that's true...then there's more of a history between those two than we thought.

Jacob has a Training Wand: This helps me believe that it's highly likely for Jacob to make a return and to have a power boost for when he does. After all, focussing all that attention on the training wand is way too convenient for it not to come up again in the future. Meaning we're most likely going to get more pain from Jacob if he shows up again.

Camila Beats the Crap out of Jacob for Vee: ...Writers, don't make me choose between Camila and Eda on who's the better cartoon mom. I know Eda's technically not a mom...BUT I STILL DON'T WANT TO CHOOSE DAMNIT!

Also, the sandal...just...

Why the f**k does Camila have a sandal in her purse? I don't know. Is it still funny that she does? Most certainly.

Camila and Luz’s Talk in the Rain: Ooooooooh, I was not ready for this...

I wasn't ready for the crying.

I wasn't ready for the hurt in Camila's eyes when she found out Luz chose to stay in the Boiling Isles.

I wasn't ready for Camila asking if Luz hates being with her that much.

I wasn't ready for Luz profusely stating how it was never Camila's fault.

I was not ready for Camila to tell Luz that she'll try to do better.

And I definitely was not ready for Luz to barely have enough time to promise that she'll come back.

This episode wasn't the twenty-two minutes of nonstop angst that I thought it was going to be...but this short scene more than make up for it.

Luz Tries to Stay Strong: Yet another thing she unwittingly learned from Camila. Camila tried to keep a brave face when Vee was with her and Luz, most likely not wanting to tear either of them down in the process. Luz does the same thing here as she avoids talking about the details of what went down in her sort-of journey back home. And seeing her clearly fake smile slowly droop into an uncertain frown, it uh...it definitely tore me up inside.

WHAT I DISLIKED

I want to say it's perfect, but there's one major issue that really bogs this episode down.

Continuity Error in How Vee Replaced Luz: Having Vee take Luz's place the same day Luz appeared in the Isles is a smart idea on paper...if it wasn't for the fact that it's impossible.

Because Eda closed the portal door the second that she saw Luz, meaning that there's no way for Vee to go to the human realm. It's a major plothole that makes no sense, and it might just be the first time ever that this series wasn't so closely knit with its story. Which ends up taking a dive in quality in the process.

IN CONCLUSION

I'd say that "Yesterday's Lie" is an A-. Everything about Luz, Vee, and Camila is incredible, combined into a story that ends in tragedy and uncertainty for the future. That plothole may drag things down a bit, but everything else is handled so well that I'm not lying when I say it's easy to forgive and forget.

(And that's ten episodes in a row without a single stinker. HOW THE F**K DOES THIS SEASON KEEP WINNING?!)

#the owl house #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers #luz noceda #camila noceda #camila is a good mom ok!#toh vee #emperor belos #what i thought about #the owl house reviews

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gingerbreadmonsters · 2 years

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omg spain how lovely!!!! I bet it's amazing over there, I hope youre traveling safe <3 what kind of things did you do there, or was it more of a just enjoy the sun kind of holiday? and rest the hell up when you get back! or I'm gonna come over there and put you on bedrest myself 😠 and that'll be nice! it's funny bc I'm actually planning to meet an old friend from sixth form this week too 😂 we haven't seen each other in two years and we've been meaning to meet up for ages

I'm not up to much tho, I'm just at home for the holidays (I'm caring for my mum since she's been sick) but I'll be going back to uni after easter break for exams. after exams, I don't really have any plans other than earning some money and an anime convention in july.

I am convinced we are living the same life!!! you must be my doppelganger or smth wth. I also have zero romance/dating experience, we can be single pringles together ❤ I feel the exact same way about love tbh, I feel that I sometimes have my expectations way too high bc of it, and that's why I stick to fictional characters 😌 they never disappoint. It's amazing how you can put it into such beautiful words the way you do. I often try a poetic prose but it's very inconsistent when I do, so I just stick to the basics in my fics so I don't sound dumb 😂

I just call it sun lotion haha

I finally checked out the asmr! I don't know how I feel about it ngl, it definitely needs time to grow on me. there's definitely a lot of information to take in but I'm pretty sure I checked out the vampire one and there was another, I think it was the most recent video of paperwork? yeah, idk, there's something about the accent that sounds cool but also makes me not like it. like you, I know jack all about the regional accents but I do prefer different american accents over his. it's not that I don't like it, but it needs some getting used to. or maybe it's just asmr in general, it kinda feels uncomfortable with headphones, so maybe I'll try playing it in the background on my laptop rather than hearing it right in my ears. there is something appealing about having a nice voice playing in the background, I often have obey me voice lines or the podcast/boys in the house playing as background noise to cough cough kill the loneliness lmao

at this point tho I'm still trying to get my head around the whole universe he has going on, it's really impressive. I think I'll be hooked when I understand it more. also it is so friggin cute that he has specific nicknames for listeners for each character!!!!! I don't even know him much but that makes me wanna sob

- 🌻

hey hey lovely!! aah spain was v nice - spent some time exploring madrid and valencia, plus a day on the beach which is always good :) but definitely resting this week!! got big plans for lots of hitman and for finishing an azure moon run...... for the fourth time....... not my fault dimitri's hot.....

hope you and your mum are alright - all my love to the pair of you (because it's tough being sick! but it's also tough taking care of someone who's not feeling too well, so you look after yourself too!) and i hope she feels better soon 💕💕

singles club!! omg one of my flatmates asked me to pick a celebrity crush/someone who was 'my type' and i fully bluescreened like....... i CANNOT admit that he's 2D i just CANNOT do that to her (i ended up choosing hu yitian because he's beautiful but that's beside the point)

YOU WRITE TOO?? bro!!!! that's so cool!!! and i won't stand for this self-slander - everybody's got different ways to go about it, different things they like to highlight or show, different ways of wording stuff....... there's no one kind or style of writing that's necessarily better or worse! (plus if you ever want to share it..... lmk i would love to read your writing 😍😘)

mmmm redacted.... if you're totally new to the universe, i suggest starting with the "Freelancer Season One" playlist on youtube - canonically, freelancer is new to the world of magic, so the basic outline of the world and the rules of magic get explained very well! i will say that freelancer's early story does contain descriptions of assault - if that's not good, i reckon that asher ("Sweet Werewolf") and david ("Tsundere Werewolf") - or the Valenweek and Afterfluff playlists too tbh - probably have enough background detail to fill you in :)

plus, if his accent is yet to grow on you, sam ("Vampire Mate") and milo ("Feisty Werewolf") both have quite strong regional accents that are distinct from the rest - milo's is my favourite, but i recommend both if you're not feeling it just yet ✌️✌️

#milo's voice >>>>>#can somebody teach me how to write in his accent?? i am begging you #i want to write for him so badly but i SUCK at his dialect #and i do NOT want to be the cringelord who fucks him up #redacted asmr #might have to pull a 'soft focus' and just not give him dialogue but that SUCKS bc i WANT to give him lines he deserves them #:(((((#🌻 anon #ginger speaks to anons #gingerbreadmonsters

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dangerouscommiesubversive · 3 years

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Don’t know if this is feasible, but would you do a crossover between Build and Cherry Magic? Maybe with like Kurosawa and Adachi going over to the cafe for family dinner and they meet the whole squad, not just Sento and Banjou, but Misora, Kazumin, Sawa, and maybe even Gentoku? With the prompt “Why are you staring at me”

Darling, your brain is massive.

15. “Why are you staring at me?”

“How did you find this place?” Yuichi says as they round the corner into the little alley.

“Fujisaki recommended it to me, actually.” Kiyoshi grins up at him. “Apparently she and a couple of her girlfriends like to go here sometimes. She says the coffee’s only ok really, but the pastries are really nice. Here, this is it, Cafe,” he squints at the sign, “Nas--nascita.”

The only other customers inside are a group of people who seem to be friends, clustered around a couple of tables pushed together in one corner. Not wanting to intrude, Yuichi goes to get a table in the opposite corner, and Kiyoshi heads to the counter to order.

The barista’s a middle-aged man with a pork pie hat and tinted glasses who looks like he should be playing jazz at a nightclub, not serving coffee to bored twenty-somethings. He’s cleaning a glass as Kiyoshi approaches, and he glances up, says, “Good afternoon and welcome to Nascita, I’ll be with you in just a--” and then cuts off for apparently no reason.

There’s a long, awkward silence before Kiyoshi says, “Uh, why...why are you staring at me?”

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, you just.” The barista shakes himself. “You look a great deal like someone I--”

“Hey, do you have a problem with me or something?”

The barista looks past Kiyoshi, frowning, and Kiyoshi himself turns around and nearly runs into...

...himself. Except...different.

The other him is scowling at Yuichi, who’s looking at him wide-eyed. “No, seriously, do I have stuff on my face or something? You’ve been staring at me since you sat down, it’s making me--” He turns towards the counter, nearly runs into Kiyoshi himself, and stops dead. “Uh. Sento?”

Someone else stands up from the cluster of people in the corner and blinks at Kiyoshi several times. “Well, this is unexpected. Banjou, is that you?”

“That’s me. I thought there was only supposed to be one other me.”

“No, uh, I’m me. I’m fairly sure.” Kiyoshi laughs nervously. “Kurosawa, help.”

At this point Kiyoshi’s getting the worrying feeling that their new friends might all be insane, which makes it very nearly a relief when Sento, who says he’s a physicist and whose hair has been standing up at the back for most of the conversation thus far, says, “You must think we’re all insane.”

Kiyoshi suppresses a hysterical giggle. “Of course I don’t think you’re. You’re.”

“Oh, no, don’t worry, it wouldn’t be an unreasonable assumption. I mean, we aren’t, I promise there’s a scientific explanation for all of it, it’s just really lengthy and in some places kind of stupid.” Sento peers at him. “You look exactly like him, it’s amazing.”

“Actually pretty sure Banjou’s taller.” That’s the man at the far end of the tables, who speaks with a broad country accent and whose name Kiyoshi vaguely remembers being Kazumi. He keeps looking back and forth between Kiyoshi and his double--Banjou Ryuuga, who’s got red hair and a silk bomber jacket with a dragon on the back, Kiyoshi’s never met someone who looked so much like a comic book character--and sort of gesturing vaguely, as if he’s trying to figure out how tall they are exactly. “By, like, an inch or two.”

“No. He can’t be. Can he?” Sento frowns. “How tall are you, Adachi, if you don’t mind my asking? Strictly for science, of course.”

Next to Kiyoshi, Yuichi seems much more comfortable. In fact, he’s practically giving an impromptu sales pitch to Banjou and Sento’s friend Sawa, who’s a journalist, and who’s listening to him talk about Toyokawa’s new organizational tools with unfeigned interest. Next to her is the cafe owner’s daughter, Misora, who Kiyoshi feels like he recognizes from an idol video he saw Rokkaku watching the other day, although she’s dressed much more simply. She seems less interested in planners than her friend, and after a moment she turns to him and says, “If Sento keeps getting on your case just elbow him or something, he’s always like this.”

Kiyoshi feels his face go red. “No, no, it’s fine.”

“You know,” Banjou says around a mouthful of pastry, “under the circumstances I feel like this worked out pretty well.”

Kiyoshi blinks. “What did?”

“This whole double-whatsit thing. The Swedish word Sento used before.”

“Doppelganger.” Sento rolls his eyes. “And it’s German.”

“Yeah, that one. I mean, it could definitely be way worse. I mean, there’s the other actual me, the one with the same name, but apart from that you seem cool? Like, I’d rather share a face with an office worker than, I don’t know, a cannibal serial killer or something.”

“Was that...likely? I don’t think another version of me would be a cannibal serial killer...”

“Me neither, but you never know, yeah?”

“I mean,” Kiyoshi says, frowning absently into space, “I wouldn’t have expected to have the same face as someone who does shoot fighting, that’s sort of a surprise. Not a bad one, though.”

“Yeah, this isn’t so bad.” Banjou pauses, blinks, and then stands up. “I’m gonna be right back. Hey, babe, if Gentoku shows up before I’m back tell him I said why the hell is he late, I thought politics guys were supposed to be on time for stuff.”

“I’m not telling him that.” Sento leans his face up for a light, brushing kiss, and then Banjou’s off in the direction of the bathroom. “Besides,” called after his retreating back, “you know Kazumi’s going to say it anyway.”

Kiyoshi stares in his direction for a moment, looks back at Sento, and, suddenly, smiles. So we’ve got that in common.

The bell at the cafe door rings, and Kazumi lurches upright in his chair with an abrupt, bright smile and waves. “Hey, Beardy, you’re late! I thought politicians were supposed to be on time for shit!”

At Kiyoshi’s elbow, Yuichi says, weakly, “I’m sorry, Ms. Takigawa, is that the prime minister’s son?”

Kiyoshi looks up in alarm at--the prime minister’s son, who’s wearing a black leather jacket which he opens to reveal a t-shirt that reads:

I HAD TO PLAY TENNIS WITH THE BRAZILIAN AMBASSADOR’S DAUGHTER

Kazumi snorts. “Oh, poor you, you had to play tennis.”

“Fuck you too, Potato, just because you can--I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize we had compa--Banjou?” The prime minister’s son blinks several times and then shakes his head. “Did Banjou dye his hair?”

“No, I’m,” Kiyoshi scratches the back of his head, “I’m Adachi, hello.”

Sento beams up at the prime minister’s son as Kiyoshi stifles a nervous giggle and Yuichi shakes himself. “They have the same face, it’s very exciting.”

#adachi kiyoshi #kurosawa yuichi #kiryuu sento #banjou ryuuga #cherry magic #kamen rider build #fanfiction #nearlybanjou #not tagging all the other characters because most of them barely have lines

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nyanbinary-zack-foster · 3 years

Text

Blight - A Friday Night Funkin Corruption Mod Fanfic

[WARNING - THIS FANFICTION HAS A MENTION OF GUNS AND OTHER CANON-TYPICAL SUBJECTS.] [This fanfic also includes minor mentions of Pico x BF x GF, and is based around the corruption mod.]

Pico leaned against a lamppost by the railway, idly twirling the gun he always carried in one hand. Nothing was really going on on that particular day, then again, for him at least, that was a good thing.

But something felt off today. Maybe it was just his usual issues, he had always been paranoid, especially since a certain day when he was younger. Maybe it was nothing.

Being near the railway reminded him of his fight with Boyfriend. Shortly after that, they’d ended up meeting back up, it had been who knows how many years since they’d last seen each other, and leaving off on meeting because of a hit taken out on him wasn't the way he wanted to meet his ex. But hey, it did give him the chance to see him again. No regrets there. His partner, named Girlfriend strangely enough, was pretty nice too. It had been a while since then, they’d all ended up dating. It was nice.

… where was Boyfriend anyways?

Pico hadn’t seen him in a while, and they all usually kept up. Texting each other when they got the chance, checking up on each other… why hadn't he heard from him? In fact, he hadn't heard from Girlfriend either. She would have texted him if something bad had happened, right?...

Just then, Pico looked up. In the distance, a little ways down the tracks, there was Boyfriend and Girlfriend. Pico let out a sigh of relief. Just in time, he knew it was just his mind getting to him again. Nothing bad had happened.

… right?

Something still felt wrong. Sure, the sun was setting, it was getting dark, but he couldn't see either of them aside from a silhouette. An outline against the light, nothing else.

Calm down, Pico, it's nothing, it's just the light.

But even when the two got closer, it didn't change. Still nothing but an outline. Even their movements seemed off. Too rigid and twitchy, almost robotic. Like whatever was there was just trying to simulate them.

Pico took a more defensive stance at this. Something was definitely wrong. This wasn't them.

When the two got close enough, he could finally make out the figures better. It wasn't just light, they seemed to be covered in some kind of black or dark pink material. A sharp grin on both of their faces, too wide for a normal human’s. Their eyes wide and scleras dark, pupils pink. There was… something dark on their hands, mostly Boyfriend’s. He- no, it looked almost like… Pico didn't have time to complete the thought. They were both getting closer. Whatever this was, it wasn't Boyfriend. And that definitely wasn't Girlfriend. But while the Girlfriend doppelganger looked more passive, the imitation of Boyfriend seemed far more aggressive. It was looking directly at him. Pico took a step back-

Suddenly, out of nowhere Boyfriend lunged at him, grabbing his arm roughly. Pico could feel the sharp pain of it’s claws digging into him. He screamed, both out of fear and pain, slamming the grip of the gun into the hand now on his arm. That was, thankfully, enough to make it back off enough for him to quickly back away. He then looked down at his arm.

From the scratches on his arm, there was the same kind of black material coming out along with the blood. It wasn't oozing- it was more like it was spreading from the wound, slowly.

“What the hell?...” Pico looked back up at the two figures. Boyfriend - or whatever this… thing was - was holding a microphone. This felt too familiar.

But that gave Pico an idea.

Maybe if he had a rap battle with this thing, something would happen. He didn't know what, if this thing was a doppelganger maybe beating it would scare it off or weaken it or something. Or if it was actually Boyfriend, it would bring him and Girlfriend back.

“Fine then, if this is what you want, I’m not gonna back down from a challenge.” He got out his own microphone, and the battle began, albeit this time, Pico kept his gun pointed at his opponent.

By the end of the first round, Pico was slightly out of breath. It was probably just out of stress rather than actual exhaustion. Being panicked will do that to you.

But something did happen due to this.

The Boyfriend lookalike let out a strange sounding beep - he’d noticed its beeps were different than Boyfriends - and gripped its eye like it was in pain, doubling over.

When the clawed hand dropped, pico saw something.

Part of the strange material had cleared, about half of its face, and under it there was… Boyfriend’s face.

The creature from before didn't speak, it could only let out beeps that barely resembled boyfriends. But when this happened, when Boyfriend saw Pico, he let out a tired and rough-sounding voice, as if it was hard to speak. “... Pico?...” The infection on Pico had spread through the course of the fight. It covered about half of him - but seeing this had some effect on it. It cleared up to only about his shoulder.

“Its working-” he couldn't believe it. So far there hadn't been an effect on Girlfriend, but that could come later - this was progress! “Boyfriend, its okay, listen, just- just keep going, we can do this!” he wasn't the best at encouragement - never was - but he tried his best. It seemed to work, Boyfriend weakly smiled a bit and nodded, gripping the microphone. They had to keep going.

Another round complete, things were looking up. Boyfriend seemed to have regained a little bit of strength. This had to work.

But afterwards, Boyfriend let out a pained cry. “Boyfriend?? What's wrong, what-” But what happened next spoke for him. The microphone dropped to the ground, and Boyfriend let out another scream, this one worse than the last. Then the material that had cleared up before spread back over his face.

Oh no.

No, this can't happen, it was getting better, it-

Then Pico felt a similar pain. He winced, and watched as the strange black substance spread back over him. The vision in one of his eyes went dark. His body felt stiff.

No, he wouldn't let this happen to him too. He had to stop this.

Pico aimed his gun at the other figure.

“I don't know who or what you are, but I'm not letting you do this. Not to him, not to her, and not to me.” the figure just stared at him, with the same sick grin it always had. Almost daring him to pull the trigger.

And yet he couldn't.

‘What are you doing,’ he asked himself, ‘just pull the trigger!’ ‘But that's still him. I can't just shoot boyfriend!’

‘THAT'S NOT HIM!’ And yet, after what he had seen, he couldn't deny the idea that if he did shoot, it would hurt the person being held captive by this thing.

His hands were shaking. He couldn't do this. He’d done this dozens of times to people he didn't know, but he couldn't do it to someone he did.

He lowered the gun and held the microphone up again with shaky hands.

“Fine. You win. We’ll fight on your terms.” The imitation picked up its own microphone.

‘This is the last chance we get. Let's do this.’

Pico was used to losing to Boyfriend. He was good at this. But this time it hurt. Not just emotionally, but physically.

The creature he was against seemed to smile even more as he collapsed. He could feel himself crying, even screaming, but he couldn't hear it somehow.

Finally, Pico’s vision went dark.

“..co? Pico, wake up!” Pico jolted awake, the memory of what had just happened still fresh in his mind. His whole body ached. And there was Boyfriend. He looked just like he had looked that morning.

“Hey, dude, you were shaking and crying in your sleep again, you okay?” He had been asleep? Was that all that was, some weird nightmare? He hadn't had one like that before, usually it was about… “Y-yeah, im fine. Just a nightmare.” His voice was shaky, as it usually was after a nightmare like that. Was he crying? God, that’s embarrassing.

Boyfriend smiled, almost like he could tell he was embarrassed for crying. “Hey, it's okay. You’re safe. Do you wanna talk about it? You don't have to, but if it would help…” He sat on the bed next to him, wrapping his arms around Pico. It was nice. Warm. “Maybe… it was weird, I was at the subway and you and Girlfriend were there, but you guys looked… weird. Then something happened and I... “ He tried to think of how to describe it, but landed on a blank. “I don't know how to say it. It was just weird and…” “That's okay. Lets get your mind off of it, okay? Y’know, Girlfriend said she’d be at this cafe downtown. Wanna come?” Pico smiled. That's just what he needed. Some food and some time with his two partners. “Sounds great. Lemme just get ready.” Boyfriend got up and headed over to the door of Pico’s room. “You got it! Come out whenever you're ready.” “Thanks.”

Pico got up. Or, what used to be him did. He didn't look any different to Boyfriend now. He picked up his gun, it had dropped on the ground when he collapsed. Boyfriend and Girlfriend had left, off to take care of others.

Pico had his own plans in mind. He’d take care of those they couldn't.

That's what he was supposed to do after all.

#friday night funkin #girlfriend friday night funkin #pico friday night funkin #boyfriend friday night funkin #friday night funkin mod #friday night funkin corruption mod #fnf pico #pico fnf #pico x bf x gf #pico x boyfriend x girlfriend #boyfriend fnf #bf friday night funkin #bf fnf #girlfriend fnf #gf fnf #angst #YALL ARE GONNA HATE ME FOR THE ENDING BUT IM PREPARED.

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shewantedtobeasecretgirl · 3 years

Text

12. Granny Out of Control a.k.a. headless chickens, Gene Simmons’ girlfriend and Rapunzel

In the previous chapters: Judy and Stone act after their embarrassing encounter in the shower as if it hadn’t even happened; they implicitly agree on not telling Mike that his one-night stand was just the consequence of Judy’s revenge-fueled rumors about Stone’s sexual preferences. Ed loses his voice so the show has to be canceled, Jeff offers to give guitar lessons to Judy instead in his spare time. Granny buys a metal magazine to learn more about Seattle-based rock bands; the picture of Pearl Jam makes her think the perfect match for Judy isn’t Jeff but Stone. Krisha picks Effie up in the city to tell her that Kelly Curtis and Susan Silver have plans with her as a photographer; she also gives her the list of codenames the band and crew members use at hotels. Effie also joins her when she feeds Stone’s unsociable cat, Red who is incompatible with all girls who try to approach him.

„I don’t know, man… Are you sure you saw them?”

“Don’t piss me off, Schmitty, of course I’m sure. I know whom and what I saw.” I mumble as I put the flashlight back between my teeth. I can’t believe I’m doing this. Not only makes he me do this stupid act, he even drives me crazy with this weak-minded questioning in the meantime. The guy obviously watches too much TV. Especially detective shows about drug cartels.

“But let’s go over it again. Maybe you were wrong or misunderstood the situation or…”

I sigh, and take the flashlight out of my mouth only to direct the blinding ray of light in his face.

“Okay, but this is the last time. And I’m only willing to tell it again because I have nothing better to do and because technically, I can’t do anything else until we finish this. Open the bag and hold it.”

“Yes sir... so you went having a shower…”

“Not that it matters if I went showering or shitting but yes, I went to the restroom.”

“And you opened the door…” he goes on with the storytelling like a small child who already knows his favorite bedtime story by heart.

“And there were they, standing at the sinks…”

“Stop. Are you sure it was them?”

“Of course I am, I could recognize Judy and Stone from miles!”

“Are you 100 % sure?”

“No, I’m only 99 % sure because there’s a very small chance that they both have doppelgangers right in this town but let’s say I’m very likely to have seen them.” I confirm while I start portioning the green leaves into the plastic bag Schmitty is holding.

“And they were…”

“…basically naked.”

“Basically?” he asks like he’d never heard the word before.

“Yes, basically.”

“How do you mean “basically”?”

“What? I’m fucking around here with sharing my weed with you and you’re already high? Unbelievable…”

“No-no-no, seriously, man, you didn’t say “naked”, you said “basically naked”. Define the difference. It’s important.” he flails fussily.

“Stop shaking the bag, it’s difficult enough to do this only with one hand. So, uh, they weren’t completely naked, they both were wearing a towel…”

“The same towel or…?”

“Hah, interesting idea, but no, they both had their own towel on. But I assume none of them was wearing any underwear…”

“That’d be normal, I mean, after showering… but that’s the weakest point in your theory, them having a shower at the same time… it sounds so unreal.”

“Yeah, I thought the same until I found the only logical reason.”

“What? That you only dreamed the whole thing? Or that it was just an intense trip due to the shrooms Mike gave you?”

“I know it sounds unbelievable but at this point, I’m pretty much convinced they did it on purpose.” I close the bag and throw it at Schmitty who hides it immediately in the inner pocket of his jacket and pats himself on the chest satisfied.

“Thanks. But I can’t follow your thinking, Scully. Why’d they secretly meet in the shower?”

“I don’t want to shock you but… I think they had sex right before. I almost entered but then I glanced them and they were almost naked, both giggling and Judy was groping Stone and… I backed out, I was so surprised, I didn’t even know what to do…”

“But they hate each other.” Schmitty protests shaking his head.

“And? Since when can’t people who hate each other have sex with each other?”

“Man, this is too much to me, Stone has Amber at home, Judy is like a nun, they can’t stand each other so obviously, they have sex??? Bullshit, that’s all I can say. I don’t know what you saw but it definitely couldn’t be a post-coital scene.”

“Look, I don’t understand the exact reasons either but…”

“I’ve always been told that as soon as we start touring, girls will try to drag me in the tour bus all the time but I imagined it somehow different…”

We both freeze at the hearing of Stone’s smug giggling and our surprise only grows when we recognize the voice that belongs to his companion.

“Sorry for ruining your wet rock star dreams but it’s impossible here to talk to someone face-to-face, even the walls have ears in this crew.”

Schmitty and I exchange a meaningful look and to his nod, I turn the flashlight on the lowest level. Walls might not have ears here but this bunk bed curtain we’re hiding behind definitely does. Even four, to be exact.

“So what’s the purpose of this conspired, hyper-secret meeting, Camden? I’m hungry so let’s get over with this as fast as possible!”

Hungry, yeah, I can imagine. So you prefer quickies, Stoney?

“I just wanted to talk about yesterday.”

Schmitty stares at me with popped eyes, even his jaws drop of shock.

“Ha. So you were thinking about it?”

“Yes but not the way you think. I’m not gonna tell you tirades about how much I regretted it or stuff because I didn’t. I only want to ask if you talked to Scully about it?”

Schmitty grabs my forearm, digging his nails into it, his other hand is shaking uncontrollably.

“No and I don’t know why I should force it, I mean it happened, it’s embarrassing enough for both of us so let’s draw a veil over it.”

“It’s embarrassing for both of us? Do you really think I give a damn about that? I mean, okay, I lost control, which doesn’t happens really often to me but who cares, I can handle the consequences. You feeling embarrassed, now that’s the last thing I care about. But have you already thought about the feelings of your friend at least for one single second?”

We both furrow our eyebrows and her words probably found their marks since Stone doesn’t answer, which makes Judy go on with the pep talk.

“Okay, neither of us is going to say a word since we both have selfish interest in keeping it in secret but if Scully shoots his mouth off and he finds out about what happened… just think into it, it’d ruin his self-esteem. I mean, it’s inevitable that it turns out later but the best strategy is discretion. Now, it’d be too fresh for him, let’s wait until he forgets about this little… intermezzo.”

Schmitty covers his still opened mouth in complete horror and even I start feeling uncomfortable now that my intuition is basically confirmed.

“So, would you finally promise to talk to Scully?”

“Dunno… I’ll consider it.”

“Jesus Christ, Gossard, would it hurt not to piss me off once in a lifetime?”

“To answer your question, yes, it would but this time it’s not about you, Miss Fussy. I was just thinking that we should let it slide since after all, it’s not as a big deal as you think.”

You fuck her and then try to ditch her? Come on Stone, I thought you were better than this.

“I mean, you make such a fuss but I don’t think Scully would let it slip, he’s probably already forgotten about the whole scene. And if I came up with it, he’d just start overthinking it; when he knows he has to shut his mouth, he becomes gossipy all the more.”

Ha, thanks Stoney but just for the record, I don’t gossip, I just process things by discussing them with other people, see also at “coping mechanisms”…

“It’s you who’s overthinking it. Just stop protesting and do what I ask you. I even use the word “please”.”

“Fuck, okay, I’ll see what I can do, just leave me finally alone with this. Can I ask you something too?”

“It depends…”

“Could we stay here for ten… fifteen minutes? You know, it’s about my reputation…”

“Fuck off, Gossard!!!”

We both exhale with a deep sigh when we hear them leaving the bus.

“Holy. Shit.”

“Holy. Fucking. Shit. Dude, you were right!”

“Of course I was right, I always am, you just never believe me.“

“But… damn… I didn’t see that coming… Gahhh.” Schmitty facepalms, rubbing his forehead worried.

“I’m surprised, though, I thought they didn’t notice me.”

“Apparently, they did. Jesus, I doubt there’s something serious between them but now that I heard it with my own ears, it all makes sense! They hook up, they are both embarrassed since they are enemies, plus the Amber-factor… and poor Jeff, he has a massive crush on Judy and she knows it, maybe she tries to have two irons in the fire… So she convinced him to keep the fling in secret not to ruin her chances at Jeff… She looks so innocent and now she turns out to be an actual snake… Do you think Karrie knows about it?” he jabbers staring desperately in front of himself.

“Whoa, stop, dude, are you insane? She’s not a bitch, they just made a mistake and she freaked out. Her worrying about Jeff sounded genuine, after all, Stone is no perspective for her, he’s got that… he’s got Amber, whatever she is for him. And I don’t think Karrie knows anything, even if she does, she’ll pretend she doesn’t.”

“But this changes everything! Jeff is our friend too and I don’t want to lie to him.”

“Trust me, he’ll never ask “And tell me Schmitty, have Judy and Stone had sex?”, so you don’t have to.”

“You’re making fun of me but you know too how dangerous information these are so you’d better have a good idea what are we going to do know.”

“I’ll tell you, Schmitty: we’re gonna act casual. Just watch me.”

***

„There’s no chance I could reach that string. Just… no. I don’t have that muscle, I’m done.” I moan as I desperately try to stretch my pinky finger to play the next chord following Jeff’s instructions.

“Hey, relax, just reach a bit further, you’ve almost got it.” he chuckles and makes an insecure move to help me out but he changes his mind in the last moment and pretends he only wanted to scratch his arm. And I pretend not to have noticed it.

“No, it’s impossible, I can’t twist my wrist that much. I don’t have freakishly long fingers like Stone, it’s enough.” I give up and put the guitar aside. We’ve been practicing for like one hour, I played him my still rudimentary sounding song idea, of course without telling him what exactly it was. He improvised a bass line to it on his acoustic bass guitar, his fingers are still running back and forth over the strings despite the fact I stopped playing. When I was a kid, Grandpa would tell me that if you cut the head of a chicken, it can still run around for a few seconds before collapsing, maybe it’s a similar phenomenon. Or maybe it’s like when a freight train hits a car and it pushes the vehicle in front of itself for miles before stopping. Headless chickens and train wrecks, why am I thinking about stuff like these while hanging out with a nice guy?

“I’m sure you can do it if you practice it. Look, my fingers aren’t long either.” he raises his palm. Is he expecting me to measure mine to his by placing them together? Could we rather just draw them around and compare the drawings like small children? Okay, he’s got strong, manly hands, that’s not bad at all. But how can he stuff those thick fingers between the strings? And those jewelries, God, they are terrible. Would he mind if I asked him to put them off?

“No, I can’t. I’m not good at these moves, I’ve already tried to play the violin, it didn’t go well. It went awful.” I protest, rather to overtalk my racing thoughts than to argue with him. I hope he’s not going to ask me about the details, I don’t feel like telling him that story at all.

“Okay, it was you who asked me for help, so…” he shrugs with a half smile, his fingers are still nerve-wrackingly torturing the instrument.

“Actually it was you who offered to help so…”

“Fair enough. I don’t want to force it so… if you want to finish all your future performances by saying “sorry, now comes the chord which is incompatible with my wrist so go the fuck home” – then okay, I don’t care.” he puts down the guitar. I try to decode the expression on his face, is he disappointed or just casual or…?

“How do you do that?” I ask quickly, I can’t bear that look.

“What?”

“This… everything…” I flail helplessly.

“I don’t know… I think I got bored with doing nothing and wanted to try something new and I realized I could do everything instead of nothing.” he leans back with a challenging smirk.

“Geez, you spend too much time with Stone.” I roll my eyes. “I mean… I played you something and you immediately knew what to do with it. Your head is full of ideas and variations, can you hear the harmonies instinctively or…?”

“I don’t know… when I hear a melody, I start hearing the other parts in my head… but sometimes I just mess around and try different things to check if they can work as a song or as an idea that I can use later. I try to keep my ears fresh, I fight against crafting only bass lines in my head, that’s why I pick up the guitar from time to time. You know, if a bass player never leaves his comfort zone, after a while, he’ll tend to operate only with the same five or five notes, it’s like a tunnel vision… or tunnel hearing…” he ends his explanation with a shrug and a lopsided smile, as far as I’ve observed, he does that pretty often.

“That’s amazing… I envy you so much. I’ve been studying and playing music for as long as I can remember but I’ve never felt that… sense of liberty? I practiced my ass off, I learned everything I could, at Juilliard, we basically dissected classical musical pieces into single notes and… I developed some weird perfectionism in the meantime, I know how good music is supposed to be composed but… I myself just can’t do it. I was so busy with studying other people’s works that I couldn’t develop the ability to create something, it’s like… my knowledge paralyzed my creativity… Or that’s just what I keep telling myself because I1m not willing to accept the fact that writing music is a gift you can’t just earn by practicing and learning…”

“Maybe you’re right.” he shrugs again and his reaction somehow hits me hard; I don’t know why, though. “I think I’ve already mentioned you that I took piano lessons but I hated it. I found literally nothing intriguing in it, it was boring, I’ve never been into Beethoven or some shit like that.”

“What?” I frown. I didn’t expect him to like the same things I do but… could he just show at least a little interest in what I like? I even talked about art and skateboarding with him. Okay, he doesn’t owe me anything, we’re not dating and all but if he ever wants something from me… okay, he probably doesn’t, it was obviously just a stupid gossip.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to trash your music, it’s just not for me, I appreciate it but I don’t like it. I’m just a Montanan jerk, did you forget?”

“You’re not a jerk, don’t say that… I’m just… nothing, forget it.”

“No, if you want to say something, don’t swallow it. Did I hurt you?”

“You didn’t… I’ve just spent my entire life playing classical music so I can’t imagine how someone is able not to like it at all.”

“Same here with sports.”

“God, I hate sports!” I exclaim and I immediately begin to laugh realizing I’m not better than him either.

“You see? But speaking of your music studies, there’s one thing I’ve always wanted to ask.”

“No.”

“No what? Am I not allowed to ask the question?”

“No is the answer to the question.”

“But I haven’t even…”

“Trust me, it’s no.”

“If you say so…”

“I’m just kidding. Most people attack me when they learn I’m a musician asking if I’d sing or play something for them, it’s so annoying, it’s like the “grunge question’ of classical musicians…”

“Okay, I get it.” he smiles. “But that’s not what I was about to ask.”

“Thank God. So, I guess you don’t want me to teach you reading sheet music either, because that’s usually the second question, which is usually asked by people with no musical hearing at all...”

“No, it’s more of a… personal one.” he hesitates squinting at me for the final permission.

“Hit me.”

“Why are you here?”

“Here? Like, here and now, with you or…?”

“No, I mean, why are you here, with the band? You graduated from one of the most prestigious music schools on Earth, you could conduct top choirs or whatever… and you’re here, loading our shitty van every single night, smelling sweat and cigarette smoke, spending days in a tour bus with beer drinking ugly dudes… Why? I guess Juilliard graduates can pick whatever job offer they want so...”

“I’m here for the money.” I answer without thinking and it immediately sounds false. Am I? Really? “I came here for the money, I don’t deny it, I had no job and however terrified I was, something told me I had to take this opportunity.”

“But… as a classical musician trained at Juilliard… why this job? I just can’t get it.”

“Well… I’ve known for a very long time that the music of baroque era is in which I’m the most interested. It’s, you know, a passion to me, it’s like punk was to you. And if you want to be really good at it, you have to go to the place where it comes from. Here in the States, you can basically hear nothing that was written before Mozart.”

“Europe?”

“Exactly. So in my senior year, I applied for a scholarship of the music academy in Leipzig.”

“And…?”

“And I won it.”

“So you studied in Europe too?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because my father died a few months before I graduated and the small firm he ran died with him… it was a very complicated period so I asked the academy if I could postpone it by one year.”

He’s chewing his lower lip and speaks up only after digesting for a few seconds what he’s just heard.

“And they refused your application?”

“No, they sent me a kind acceptation letter in which they cited their scholarship regulation that said postponement is allowed once. So I moved back to Seattle and started teaching.”

“Oh. I guess something came up one year later too.”

“Well yeah, my sister’s almost dying, that came up.”

He exhales with a deep sigh, I have the feeling he already knew all the details, he just couldn’t do the math. Maybe Karrie told him our family saga. I don’t mind, though, I don’t feel like telling him those stories either…

“Well, that’s a lot… but it also sounds like… you gave up your dreams.”

Now it’s me who can’t do anything else but shrug.

“Maybe… or maybe, it was just a warning from the universe. I’m not religious but I do believe that everything happens with a reason, maybe you can’t find it out ever because it’s something bigger than you or your shitty little life. My family needed me and they still do, or at least they need my two hands I can make money with so… plus, I’ve always been terrified of performing. I have worst stage fright, I doubt I would be able to conduct in the spotlight of the world’s biggest concert halls… anyways… have you ever heard about famous, female conductors?”

“Normally, I’d say you’re a coward and you should follow your dreams but I understand the family factor, of course. And I don’t want to act like a hypocrite either, I could have looked for another graphic design program too when mine was canceled in Missula.”

“But changed your dream instead.”

“Exactly. And maybe that’s what you should do too if universe or God or Buddha or the spirit of Johann Sebastian Bach is trying to message you that you picked the wrong dream.”

“Are you trying to say I should switch my brain to believe loading shitty vans and smelling Scully’s and Schmitty’s stinky feet is my real dream?” I giggle.

“If that’s your way, than go for it, girl!” he plays the overly enthusiastic motivational trainer. We crack up but none of us is laughing heartfelt. His face finds finally rest in a genuine, encouraging smile. “Let’s raise our glasses to the new dreams!”

We both reach our hands to clink our imaginary glasses.

“To the new dreams!”

***

I’ve been on the road with them for days and nothing. Not a single move or a sound that’d confirm we’re following the right traces. And I’m thirsty. So thirsty. But they are so envious, I know they are hiding spare water in their stupid spacesuits or what but they claim they have nothing to share. Sure. I would never drink recycled pee, anyway. But those two moons look pretty cool, the night sky compensates me for every inconvenience I’ve experienced since we started chasing that gross sandworm… everything for the melange…

However important my mission is, it gets interrupted by three quick, impatient knocks on the door.

“You’ve been shitting in there for forty-two minutes! I know you’ve finished and you’re just reading! I have to pee! Get the fuck out of there! Why do you have to do this all the time?”

Maybe because this is the only place where I can have some progress with my current reading undisturbed? I reluctantly close the hardcover volume of Frank Herbert’s Dune and glance lazily at my wristwatch.

“First of all, it’s been only forty minutes. Second, it’s shorter than a blink of an eye, if you measure it in cosmic time. Not even applicable.”

“Okay, I can use astronomical metaphors too. My bladder is a red giant that is about to explode so…”

“I’m coming, I’m coming, geez, urinary incontinence? You should see a urologist.” I remark opening the door. He basically tosses me out of is his way and almost slams it on my nose.

“It’s rather you who should see a doctor, fuck, Stone, what did you eat? Uuugh, I’m dying.” I hear his muffled indignation.

I lie down on my bed and stuff the pillow under my nape. I turn the pages back and forth for a few times until find the place where I was before Mike kicked me out. So, back to those goddamn pervert Fremen fuckers…

I barely manage to read a few lines, when Mike comes back and throws himself on his bed, unmuting the TV that is showing underdressed ladies caressing their own body and telling their erotic fantasies in seductive voice. I clear my throat. No reaction. I do it again, this time longer and louder. Nothing.

“Sorry, am I bothering?” I ask sharply but our guitarist seems to be completely immersed in the curves. “Okay, busted. I know you only went to the toilet to jerk off. You only watch Playboy TV and noname porn channels, you really need to get laid.”

“Done, last night. Remember?” he answers slowly and mindlessly, his eyes are still glued to the screen.

“No, because I wasn’t there, thank God.”

“You’re just envious because you have to practice celibacy, otherwise Amber would cut your balls off.”

I squint at the girls over my book.

“Not that I feel tempted. Jesus, I’m sick of these… udders…”

“Hey, watch your mouth! Those ladies deserve more respect! Especially her!” he points at the blonde, blue-eyed, busty woman on the screen who is dropping her lingerie standing at a bath tub.

“Why, who is she?” I look back at the text in front of me, not that I understand a word of it. Since I receive no answer I turn my head towards Mike only to see he sat up in the meantime and stares at me offended. “What? I have no idea.”

“That’s Shannon Tweed!!!” he flails outraged.

“… who is…?”

“Who is a goddess, Playmate of the Year in 1982 and last but not least, the girlfriend of Gene Simmons!”

“Oh. So she’s old as dirt.” I summarize laconically.

“Stone, what’s wrong with you? What’s wrong with her? What’s wrong with big boobs? I thought you liked them… I mean, you are the guy who’s entitled to do anything with Seattle’s most spectacular pair of bosoms so…”

“Hey, you’re talking about my girlfriend!” I grunt.

“I’m talking about your girlfriend’s tits!”

“Exactly, that’s it! Don’t talk about my girlfriend’s tits! Anyway, how do you know what they look like?”

“Hey, first, I’m only talking about them. It’s called freedom of speech, First Amendment…”

“What the fuck, parts of the Constitution are printed now on beer tags or did I miss something?”

“…second, it is very difficult not to know what they look like, they basically poke your eyes out!”

“Only talking, ‘course.”

“Certain female anatomical features attract men’s eyes, it’s in our genetic code. Don’t even try to make me believe those features had nothing to do with you ending up with her. Wait!” he exclaims with a finger snapping. “Oh, I get it already. You miss her! That’s why you can’t stand the playmates on TV! But you could have said, it’s not a shame…”

“Dr. ‘Cready, expert of constitutional law and anatomy, psychotherapist. I’ve just said I don’t feel tempted…”

“Because those boobs” he points at the screen “are forbidden fruit and remind you of those boobs in Seattle.”

“You’re pointing in the wrong direction, Michael. You’re pointing at boobs in Indiana.”

“Whatever. You miss her, admit it. My boobies are over the ocean, my boobies are over the sea…”

“Stop!”

“My boobies are over the ocean so bring back my boobies to me…”

“Shut the fuck up!”

“BRING BAAACK, BRING BAAACK, BRING BACK MY BOOBIES TO ME, TO MEEEE!”

“I’m only saying that even huge breasts can be boring after a while.” I overshout his off-key singing.

Mike suddenly stops singing and just blinks at me completely frozen.

“You mean… you want to leave Amber?”

“Jesus, what did I do to deserve this?” I bury my face in my hands. “I mean… imagine your favorite food!”

“But that’s… risotto…?”

“Perfect!”

“But risotto doesn’t look like boobs!”

“Jesus, of course not, just imagine it!”

“Okay. Mmmh, it looks delicious. I can even feel its smell.” he moans with closed eyes.

“So you want to eat risotto now, right?”

“Oh yeah, I want it more than anything.”

“And if you could… or had to eat risotto every single day, would you feel the same?”

“Uhm, probably… not.” he opens his eyes.

“And here we are. If you’re in the position where you can play with huge breasts every day, it’s not such a big deal anymore.”

“Hm, makes sense…” he lies back. “But wait!” he sits up quickly again.

“What?”

“In that case, risotto wouldn’t be my favorite food anymore.”

“Yeah, probably…”

Congrats Sherlock. I drop my book on the nightstand, by now, I basically gave up all hope for finishing the chapter I was reading.

“But that means that you prefer small boobs now!”

“I didn’t say that but obviously, smaller tits have their appeal too. And there are girls who would look ridiculous with big breasts.”

My mind begins to wander involuntarily… Yeah, Amber is a bombshell and she drives me crazy whenever she’s around but I’ve always had a thing for more fragile looking girls…

“Who are you thinking about?” Mike asks greedily like a curious puppy.

“Jesus, no one.” I scoff frowning. “I mean, very slim girls look better with… proportionate breasts, you know, like small apples…”

I catch myself cupping my hands, what the hell, am I honking imaginable tits in the air? Okay, I have to talk to Eric to fly Amber here, I’m going to put an end to this, I’m pathetic.

“Say an example!”

What? I don’t know whom I was thinking about, I don’t even know if I was thinking about an existing person, maybe I was just fantasizing about freaky phantom breasts, I couldn’t even see them, it was just a desirable cleavage… and round hips… and shapely thighs…

“I can’t!”

“Just say an example, I don’t know, someone famous who looks like that, or someone who we both know…”

“Kylie Minogue?” I groan in agony. Hopefully I satisfied Mike’s need for a new protagonist for his erotic dreams because he only nods with an appreciative pout.

The ringing of the phone on the bedside between us interrupts our intellectual conversation and we both stare at the device surprised and confused for a few seconds, it’s usually us who call family members and friends, not the other way around. Finally, I decide to pick up.

“It’s Stone.”

“…” No one answers but I can hear some indistinct noises coming from the other end of the line.

“Hello… who’s that? Wo am I talking to?” I ask, and Mike pulls closer to the speaker of the receiver too.

“Ah… excuse me… I must have dialed the wrong number… you’re obviously not the Notre Dame Hunchbach…” an old female voice answers.

What the hell? Is this a prank call? Old people make phone pranks too?

“Who?” I mouth to Mike who mouths “Judy” as a response. Ah, yes. She also chose a codename, not that anyone is interested in her. “You’re talking to Dr. Hugh Jeego, but who am I talking to?”

“Ah, you must be Mr. Gossard. I’m Mrs. Albertson, Judy’s grandma.”

I almost drop the receiver.

“Ugh… uhm… hi, Mrs. Albertson, it’s nice to meet you… I mean, even if not in person but… I guess you wanted to call Judy so…” I make an attempt to finish this awkward intermezzo but she cuts me off.

“Actually, I am glad that I can talk with my Judy’s new colleague, this job is so different in comparison to what she worked earlier, you know, she taught in a school…”

“Yeah, I know…”

“…and now she’s with a rock band, and there are so many rumors about musicians, they drink and do drugs and…”

“We… we don’t drink… that much… not before shows…” I answer and Mike nods approvingly opening a beer can with a loud fizz. “… and we prefer herbs…”

“And mushrooms…” Mike adds.

“Shut up, you ruin everything!” I hiss between my teeth while I cover the microphone with my palm.

“Who was that?”

“It was… it was Mike, our lead guitarist.”

“Ah, Mr. McCready!”

Mike pats his chest proudly.

“Exactly, Mr. McCready…” I flip him the bird.

“I hope my Judy takes care of herself, she tends to become obsessed with work, she even forgets to eat… does she eat properly?”

“I’ve… I’ve seen her eating… so I guess she does…” I try to reassure her but I’m afraid I don’t sound very convincing; after all, the eating habits of Miss Smarty Pants don’t belong to my main interests.

“I wish she ate more, she’s so skinny, isn’t she?”

“She is… I mean, she’s slim. But like… not too slim. Her body is proportionate… I mean, physically, anatomically… her shape is feminine… and when I say “feminine” I mean she’s not malnourished…” I babble and the small apple tits appear in front of my eyes again, Jesus, I’ve started losing my sanity… For some reason, Mike feels necessary to grab the receiver and yell a gratuitous, cheesy tirade into it.

“My learned colleague is trying to say that she’s a very pretty young lady, with all the respect, of course. She’s the most virtuous girl I know, she behaves well, you can be proud of her, Mrs. Albertson.”

Yes, Mrs. Albertson, exactly, your grandchild behaves well, she brought condoms only enough for a whole fuckin’ football team, safety first… I snatch the receiver out of Mike’s hand and lift it back to my ear but before I could finally get rid of the old lady, the TV catches my attention. While we were listening to the phone call, the harmless playmate fantasies ended and the channel started airing hardcore porn. And either was the petting part very short or it didn’t even exist since the “characters” are pretty much in the middle of things and before we could react anything to avoid the disaster, the actress starts screaming rhythmically.

“What was that noise? Are women with you too?” the old woman inquires suspiciously.

“Turn down the volume, for fuck’s sake!!!” I scream-whisper to Mike.

“No, we’re alone, Mrs. Albertson… we’re just watching TV… Murder She Wrote, someone is being killed!” Mike improvises aggressively poking the remote. “It’s not working…” he groans with a miserable expression.

“Oh, I like that show… which episode? Maybe I turn on the TV to watch it too...”

If you knew… In the meantime the man starts moaning too so the obvious noises grow even louder.

“Oh, the murderer is being killed too!” I try to win some time for Mike, I admit, it wasn’t the most creative lie I’ve ever said…

“I’m saying it’s not working, it must be contact failure or low battery…” he explains beating the remote against his palm at full strength, creating a counterpart to the sound of the bodies snapping against each other on the screen.

“It’s the episode about the slasher.” I maintain the conversation and then address Mike again. “Then use the power button on the TV device or throw it the fuck out of the window, I don’t care, just do something!!!”

“Ah, great idea!” his face lights up and finally, he walks to the TV and turns it off. I swear, I thought for a second he was going to choose the window version, like Keith Moon. I’m sure he was considering it but found the box too heavy.

“It’s over…“ I transmit to Mrs. Albertson.

“It ended with a cliffhanger, what a shame…” Mike remarks and I can barely suppress my snorts.

“I hope for a happy ending…” I grin, Mike presses his pillow against his face, while the poor lady obviously doesn’t even know what to say. After a few seconds of silent, body-shaking laughter, he rearranges his face muscles and takes the receiver away from me.

“It was a pleasure to meet to you, Mrs. Albertson. Judy is a great girl and as far as we know, Effie too, please, hug her for us. I hope we can meet you in person too, when we get back.”

“I admit, I’m relieved, I want you to know I think you are just darling guys. And now, I call the Notre Dame Hunchbach, as I intended to. Goodnight, Mr. Gossard, Mr. McCready.”

“Goodnight, Mrs. Albertson.” we sing in unison.

After I hang up the phone, we stare at each other silently for long moments, before we burst out laughing hysterically.

***

Great. She’s late. She promised she’d be waiting for me at the bar counter at 9 p.m. I’m doing the third circle in this goddamn place and she’s nowhere to be found. Okay, RCKNDY is actually my favorite place and I was happy when Krisha offered to meet me here to unveil Kelly’s and Susan’s “great idea” about which I only know at this moment that it concerns my photos. The cigarette smoke irritates my throat and some unknown band is in the middle of sound check on the stage, the indistinct guitar noises and the female lead singer’s instructions blast at random moments from the speakers causing me mild heart attack every single time and making the crowd members overyell them. Despite the early hour, the place is packed; I can barely struggle through the mass of flannel-wearing guys and girls. Early hour… what am I talking… now that my lifestyle converges on clinical death, both metaphorically and literally, I usually spend my evenings in front of the TV wearing my pajamas. It’s good Krisha picked this day, Mom is working at that new side job again so I didn’t have to make anything up to prevent her from asking suspicious questions.

I visited the restroom to kill some time but it just made me frustrated all the more since I involuntarily became the audience of a bunch of girls, one of them was gushing about the kissing skills of her current crush… gah, I can’t believe I turned into this sour bitch, just because I’ll end up as a spinster, she’s entitled to have some fun…

Almost fifteen minutes have passed by and she still hasn’t shown up yet. I can’t hang out with Victor either, he’s helping with putting the finishing touches at the sound check. I guess I have to wait then. I pick a bar stool and try to decipher the list of beverages on the wall.

“What can I get for you?” a red-haired bartender girl asks. Her question catches me off-guard, since my good old answer “beer” hasn’t been an option for a while and I didn’t have enough time to consider the alternatives. She’s chewing gum with a bored face, reminding me of a ruminant… a hot ruminant.

“Uhm… I… ugh, I haven’t…” I jabber and she reacts with an impatient eyeroll, the countless bracelets are clinking around her wrist as she runs her fingers through her red mane.

“I’d like to have a virgin mojito.” I utter the first thing that comes to mind. She acknowledges my choice with a scornful scoff… Yeah, in case I haven’t felt embarrassed enough yet, she makes obvious that she’s the sexy and cool femme fatale and I’m a straight-edge cripple in a boring, worn, brown jacket.

“Hey, here you are!” someone grabs my shoulders.

“Me? I’ve been waiting for you for like… hours?” I frown while Krisha settles down on the bar stool next to me and places her beer on the counter.

“Gosh, sorry!” her eyes pop as she checks her wristwatch. “I arrived too early and went to the executive office to meet a few friends.” she points at some people talking in front of a door that probably belongs to the office rooms. “That’s Alex, he runs this place, he’s a good friend of Stone, by the way. And that girl next to him works here too, she’s the girlfriend of Regan.”

I observe the girl she’s talking about, she has a nice, bright smile. Fantastic. Krisha knows everyone here… and I have no idea who these people are, and by the way, I’m nobody.

“Regan?” I furrow my eyebrows. “It’s a unique name, I swear I’ve heard it but I can’t place it…”

“He’s also an old friend of mine. And of Stone of course. You might know his name because he played in Malfunkshun with Andy. I mean Andy Wood.”

“Wood.” we say the name at once. “Of course I know his name, I didn’t grow up in a cave…” I explain, maybe in a sharper tone than intended.

“Oookay… “ she raises both hands defensively. “Actually, Regan almost became the drummer of Mother Love Bone, until they replaced him with Greg Gilmore. They made Stone fire him, I was thinking “okay, that’s it, he’s gonna hate us forever” but somehow, he managed to convince him by using logical reasons. If you ever want to fire a drummer, just call him because he’s your guy.” she nods meaningfully and takes a sip of her beer.

“Based on my sister’s opinion, drummers probably leave the band willingly, after having spent some time with him.” I remark dryly. “Thank you.” I reach for my drink and slide the money towards the phlegmatic redhead. I suppress a smile when I see her realizing with disappointed face that I spared the tip. What was she thinking, seriously?

“Oh yes, I forgot your sister and you sew Stone-shaped voodoo dolls in your spare time. By the way, Regan has played with a guy called Shawn for a few years, he’s a huge talent. The dude is a Prince-freak, which is somehow odd in a city where you can’t make a single step without stomping on a distortion pedal but he’s an awesome singer. AND they are planning to jam with Stone as soon as he gets back. I can give you the address of their rehearsal room in case you want to assassinate him…”

“No, thanks, I already know where he lives so…”

“Right!” she slaps herself in the forehead.

“Anyway, can I finally learn why we’re here?”

“Soon. We’re waiting for someone… I’m going to introduce you to someone… who has a job offer for you!”

“Wow… let me guess… healthcare branch has discovered me and they want me to be the face of some firm’s dialyzer portfolio?” I squint at her as I loudly slurp my cocktail.

“Damn, you nailed it!” she bangs her fist against the counter. “Anyway, I’m not going to tell you anything until she arrives, you need to be punished for the self-deprecating joke.”

“Spank me…” I mumble but my retort stays unnoticed since Krisha stares in an indefinite direction next to me sending an enthusiastic wave towards someone.

“Look, Jer is here too.” she points at the target of her smile and I follow her gaze only to recognize Jerry Cantrell… he’s wearing black jeans and a black leather jacket with a white tee.

“Wait… didn’t… didn’t you mention… I mean, you dated, didn’t you?” I ask confused, trying to form coherent sentences. It’s not going well.

“Yeah, we did.” she wiggles her eyebrows.

“But exes are supposed to hate each other…” I try not to turn around too obviously, so I remove a non-existing hair from the shoulder part of my jacket. While he’s slowly walking through the crowd, I notice he’s holding hands with a long, brown-haired girl. She has a perfect body and she’s probably completely aware of it since the tight leather pants highlight every curves of her. Sure, a 10/10 chick for a 10/10 guy, that’s how world has always worked… His hair is let down… I catch myself smiling, Dad insisted on calling him Rapunzel…

“It was just a summer fling and we realized after a few dates that we weren’t made for each other. So no one got hurt.” she shrugs. “Anyway, we share the building with the management of Alice in Chains so we knew we would run into each other all the time. The music scene of this city it’s like a big, incestuous family so…”

We both crack up.

“Oh no…” she sighs annoyed, staring over me again. I don’t know what’s going on in her head but it must have to do something with another twenty-eight people I’ve never met. “DON’T TURN AROUND!” she yells at me when I try to check the cause of her reaction.

“Why, what’s…?”

“It’s too late, I guess she’s already noticed us… or hasn’t she? Bow your head…” she leans on the counter, letting her hair cover her face.

“What the fuck?”

“I said bow your head… avoid eye contact… shit, I don’t have the nerves for this right now…”

“Krisha? Oh my god, it’s you, I haven’t seen you for ages!” I hear a powerful female voice from behind my back.

“Oh, hi Amber, it’s nice to see you!” Krisha groans with a painful smile, lifting her head and letting herself be pulled in a half-embrace resigned. I have to bite my lips to prevent myself from giggling since she sends a cross-eyed grimace to me over the girl’s shoulder. So she must be Stone’s Amber.

“Hey, are you here with your little friend?”

And that must be me. I involuntarily straighten up as much as I can but despite the high bar stool, I’m still shorter than her in her heels. I wonder if Red peed into these ones too… Now that I’m checking her out properly, I realize somehow she doesn’t belong here. Mini dress, heels, perfect makeup… That’d be Stone’s type?

“Uhm, this is Effie, she’s the sister of the band’s new monitor engineer…”

“Ah, Julie, you see, I know everything…” she knocks on his temple with her index finger a few times. “I’m Stoney’s girlfriend.” she grabs my hand and shakes it aggressively. I don’t correct her, I just exchange a quick look with Krisha, her eyes confirm that it wouldn’t make sense anyway.

“And… are you going to stay for the gig too?” Krisha nods towards the stage after a few moments of awkward silence.

“Oh, no, I’m going partying with my girls, I just checked in, I wanted to say hi to Alex and ask him for a favor. We’re organizing a grunge-themed fashion show and this place would be a perfect place for it.”

“A what?”

Krisha’s face radiates shock and disgust at the same time.

“You know, this grunge thing is blowing up, the firm is about to launch a collection, you know, flannel shirts, jackets, shorts with leggings, so we’re looking for a grungy place to present it…” she explains with huge hand moves. As she begins to explain the details of her brilliant idea, I get immediately distracted. Not only because my mind is desperately trying to ignore this nonsense but because I spot Leather Pants Chick at the same sport were Alex and his colleague were standing a few minutes ago. Only a few seconds pass by until her partner arrives too, he immediately pulls her closer by her hips as he leans against the wall… they engage into a make-out session without hesitation. Jerry digs his fingers into her hair and as things are getting more intense, his hands slowly wander along her back until they reach and firmly grab their destination…

I swear it wasn’t so hot in here when I arrived, I can feel my face is burning, I’m sweating like I was in hell… Yeah, being forced to watch a hot guy smooching with a girl who isn’t you but in exchange, is much prettier than you, that’s how I imagine the first circle of hell. I can barely peel myself out of my jacket, my elbow gets stuck when Amber grabs its sleeve. I’m still a little dazed-off and stare at her expressionlessly while I’m trying to pick up the threads of conversation.

“...exactly like this one, thrift clothes are so trendy now, where did you get this one?”

She shakes the sleeve of my jacket impatiently, making me realize that’s what she’s talking about. Should I tell her the truth? That it’s not from a thrift shop, that it’s original, that Judy and I pooled the money we earned at our summer jobs together and made an agreement about taking turns on wearing it six years ago?

“I can’t… can’t remember…” I manage an effortless answer.

“You have a great taste, we three should do a thrift store tour together.” she rants on.

“Totally.” Krisha tries to seem enthusiastic but she rather reminds me of a snarling serial killer.

“Okay, I have to go, oh my god, I’m late and I haven’t even talked to Alex. We could hang out in the city next week, call me, Krish! And bring your new friend too!” she winks at me. “See you, later girls!” she finally leaves us alone, the quick tapping of heels echoes in my head even after she has disappeared behind the office door. Krisha grabs her glass and drinks its content for one sip.

“Ah, I feel much better now.” she sighs. “I’m afraid my phone is about to die. I may not be able to make phone calls for a while.”

I snort into my drink.

“I must say, she’s not the girl I’d imagine as Stone’s girlfriend.”

“Trust me, she’s not the girl whom anyone would imagine as his girlfriend. But seeing them together is always like a free circus ticket, it’s pretty funny, especially when you have coke and popcorn too.”

“Sooo… where’s the mysterious person who we’re waiting for?” I look around, although I have no clue what physical characteristics I should look for, I don’t even know if we’re talking about a man or a woman. As my gaze slowly wanders around the room, I admit to myself unwillingly, that I exactly know what I’m looking for. Long, blonde hair, black leather jacket and a white shirt. The realization makes me blush, I feel like in those good old high school days, trying to casually encounter my current crush who doesn’t even know I exist. Why am I like this all the time? Why? I’m such an idiot…

“Okay, I check Alex’s office, maybe we misunderstood each other and she went in without me noticing her. And I’m sure Alex needs some spiritual support too, the recovery will be tough for him. Do you wanna come?”

“No, I… I’d rather wait here.” I answer quickly, flushing, I’m stupid, stupid, stupid… “So it’s a she?” I shout after Krisha but she just waves me off laughing.

So… what was I thinking? I could have join her and meet her cool friends but I chose to drink here alone, not that I don’t feel lonely enough. And I ran out of drink in the meantime too… I want to procrastinate the next round until the other, friendlier bartender shows up again but unfortunately, the red-haired demon spots my empty glass and elbows on the counter opposite me with a challenging, patronizing smile.

“May I bring you a next lemonade?”

I’m about to snap back but a pleasant male voice over my head makes me change my mind.

“One more of this, whatever it is. And the lady is my guest.”

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much-obliged-timothy · 3 years

Text

So I was reading a fanfic for a different fandom where a character ends up the single father of an oops baby and...

Anyway, here’s a totally self-indulgent “what if Tim accidentally had a child” fic ft. Rhys accidentally befriending the kid and being very panicked about it (and yes I will be more than happy to write more of this weird AU if anyone wants to read it)

Rhys paced his office nervously. “Zer0, did I make a mistake? Oh my god. I can’t believe I agreed to employ a doppelganger of Handsome Jack.”

The vault hunters had contacted him with an absolutely bizarre story. While invading Handsome Jack’s casino, they’d found his sole surviving doppelganger, a man named Timothy Lawrence. Timothy had been all too eager to get out of the casino once they’d claimed it for themselves, but had nowhere to go and, they’d warned, was lacking a bit in his social skills after seven years of being locked in a casino where almost everyone wanted him dead.

Still, the man had apparently proved highly adept at business when they needed help getting issues for the casino sorted. Moxxi thought he’d be an asset to Rhys, appearances aside.

Rhys had them send over a resume and some examples of Timothy’s work, and was surprised to find that Tim was actually highly skilled at business negotiations and research. He had experience helping Hyperion develop new weapons and other various tech, and had worked as a vault hunter for Jack at one point, giving him valuable combat experience.

So Rhys had agreed to take him on, at least on a trial period to see how things went. Today was the day Tim would arrive, and Rhys couldn’t stop fretting that Tim would be too similar to Jack to bear.

“He helped Jack rise to power, they said,” Rhys babbled, his anxiety growing. “What if he’s just like Jack? I don’t think I can take that ego again. This is such a mistake!”

Zer0 watched him pace, but offered no comfort. He didn’t seem to have any concerns over the situation.

There was a knock on the door and Rhys froze, shooting a look at Zer0. Zer0 touched his gun then gestured to the door, a silent assurance that he would handle it if things got out of hand.

Rhys didn’t enjoy the thought of anyone being shot in his office, but he enjoyed the thought of being protected from Handsome Jack 2.0. “Come in.”

The door swung open and in came Handsome Jack. Rhys stared at his face for a long moment before shaking himself. Tim’s hair was longer than Jack’s, the mask on his face cracked. He had a cybernetic hand that was fidgeting with the visitor badge pinned to his jacket. He certainly had Jack’s sense of how to dress for the job; he wore jeans and a hoodie with a jacket over it instead of anything dressy.

Tim noticed Rhys eyeing his clothes and shifted awkwardly. “Uh, sorry. No money to buy anything nicer right now. I’m Timothy Lawrence. I know the mask has to go, too, but I’m arranging to have these stupid clips removed with it.”

Rhys processed his words, but only distantly. When Tim had shifted, he’d revealed that he wasn’t alone.

Tim again noticed where Rhys’s gaze went, and fidgeted more with his pass. “So, the job? Moxxi got me set up with a place to live nearby for now. I just moved in yesterday, so I’m ready to start whenever you need me to.”

Rhys continued staring. He had not been informed that Tim wouldn’t be coming alone.

Tim sighed quietly and nudged the little boy out from behind his legs. The boy stared distrustfully at Rhys, clutching a tattered teddy bear with the Hyperion logo on its stomach to himself.

“This is my son, Phoenix,” Tim explained. “I, uh, don’t exactly have a sitter. Hard to have contacts when you’ve been locked in a casino for seven years.”

Obviously Tim had found a way to pass the time. The boy couldn’t be any older than five or six, with skin a few shades darker than Tim’s, messy, ruddy hair, a splattering of freckles over his cheeks and nose, and hazel eyes. His left eye had a familiar strip of blue amongst the hazel.

“You said I get my own office? Can I see it?” Tim said, shooting Rhys a pleading look.

“Oh, um, right, yes,” Rhys said, fixing his already straight tie.

“Hey, stay here. We’ll be right back,” Tim said.

The boy’s eyes widened in terror, but Tim smiled and ruffled his hair. Phoenix clutched at Tim’s jacket.

“I’ll be right back,” Tim repeated. “That guy there? He was a vault hunter, just like I was. He’ll keep an eye on you for a few minutes.”

Phoenix looked over his shoulder at Zer0. His curiosity seemed to win out over his distrust as he eyed Zer0.

Tim took the opportunity to slip out of the room, Rhys following. They walked in awkward silence until they reached the office Rhys had secured for Tim.

“Okay,” Tim said, shutting the door as soon as they were inside. “Look, I kinda had a, uh, thing with a friend named Ember. We’d been stuck in that casino for a while at that point and everyone was trying to kill me and we just- got careless a few times. Phoenix was born in that damned place. He lived his whole life in there, hidden between me, Ember, and a friend of Ember’s from the vice district. Ember told me to take him with me to Promethea so he could experience life in the real world. Not that this shithole planet is fancy living, but-” He stopped and groaned. “Sorry, injected with Jack’s DNA. Anyways, please, he’s scared to be alone.”

No one had warned Rhys that in addition to getting a traumatized employee, he’d be getting the man’s traumatized son as well. But what was he going to do? Turn him out onto the streets?

Rhys sighed quietly. He hated kids, mostly because he had no idea how to talk to them and they frightened him.

“He can’t go into meetings with you,” he said at last.

Tim looked so relieved that Rhys didn’t even regret the decision. “Thank you. Really, thank you. Oh, finally, a CEO who isn’t an absolute dick. He’s no trouble, really. He’ll stay in my office with me, and he thinks everyone wants to kill him so it’s not like he’ll go bothering anyone.”

At Rhys’s startled look, Tim grimaced. He touched his mask and shrugged.

“Look, I’m not going to lie. My kid is…” He cursed softly. “I didn’t want that for him. But I had no choice. I started teaching him about guns when he was three. We taught him how to hide, and not to trust anyone. It was the only way we could keep him safe. It’s going to take time to break him of all that. B-But I’m a good worker! I won’t make you regret this! Well, I mean, the occasional Jack moments probably will, but other than that, no regrets. I hope.”

This was too much to handle right now. “You need to go get fingerprinted downstairs. Then we’ll get you settled and go over your schedule and duties.”

Business. He could do business. He couldn’t do a traumatized Handsome Jack doppelganger with a paranoid son.

“Right, let me just go let Phoenix know,” Tim said, opening the office door.

“That’s a cool name,” Rhys said as they started along the hallway.

Tim shrugged again. “Ember wanted something with fire. I guess we thought it was fitting, since he was born in the wake of Jack’s death and my, uh, sort of freedom. I mean, I still had a bomb in my face and was trapped in a casino. But no more Jack ordering me about.”

He at least didn’t sound bothered by Jack’s death, so Rhys took some comfort in the fact that Tim appeared not to hold any loyalty to his former boss. Moxxi had claimed Timothy hated Jack, but Rhys was still worried after everything he’d been through with the AI Jack.

They stepped back into Rhys’s office, and Phoenix was immediately back at his father’s side, clutching Tim’s jacket in one hand and his bear in the other. Tim squeezed his shoulder and gently pried his hand off.

“I need to go get fingerprinted, Phoenix,” he said. “I’m just going to be right downstairs.”

The kid looked torn. Rhys felt a flash of pity.

“It should only be fifteen minutes if they’re not busy,” he said. Maybe knowing how long Tim would be gone would calm the kid.

“Fifteen minutes,” Tim said, smiling. “That’s nothin’, pal. I take longer in the shower.”

“You take forever in the shower,” Phoenix said, but grabbed Tim’s jacket again.

Once again, Tim gently pried his hand away. “Fifteen minutes, pal. Then I’ll be back.”

Phoenix watched his father leave the room and began to pace silently, keeping Rhys, Zer0, and the door in view as he did so. He was rubbing the band of a watch strapped to his wrist, far too big for him. Rhys realized it was a digistruct watch, and sat down in the hopes he wouldn’t spook the kid into summoning whatever was stored in there.

Phoenix kept shooting a look to Rhys’s cybernetic arm, looking like he wanted to say something. He kept snapping his eyes back to the door, but his gaze would drift back to the arm.

Rhys finally held it up. “It’s, uh, it’s an Atlas cybernetic. State of the art.”

“Dad has one,” he said, holding up his hand. “He lost his hand in the casino.”

“That’s because Handsome Jack is a controlling asshole,” Rhys said, then snapped his mouth shut. Shit, could he swear in front of kids? Was that legal?

But Phoenix stared at him, slowing his pacing. “You knew him?”

“Sort of,” Rhys said, rubbing the back of his neck. “We...worked together? Sort of? He tried to kill me. Not a good time.”

The distrust on his face evaporated a little. “He locked my mom and dad in the casino. Dad said he’s a freaking asshole. But I’m not s’posed to call anyone else that word.” He pointed to his eye with the sliver of blue in it. “Dad said that was Jack’s last ‘screw you’.”

Rhys stared at Zer0 for help. He hadn’t expected to shit talk Jack with a little kid today, and wasn’t sure what to do now that it had started.

“Much more lively now/He must like you a lot Rhys/You have made a friend,” Zer0 said.

“You talk funny,” Phoenix said.

“He speaks in haikus,” Rhys explained. “Well, mostly.”

Phoenix frowned. “I dunno that language. My mom speaks French.”

Rhys laughed in surprise. “Oh, no, it’s not a language. It’s a type of poetry.”

“Oh,” Phoenix said, then shrugged in a movement that perfectly mimicked Tim’s.

Rhys couldn’t help but stare a little as the boy resumed his pacing. He wondered if any of his features had been inherited from Tim’s original appearance. He wondered if it was hard for Tim to look at his kid and see both himself and Jack in him.

Rhys busied himself with paperwork to keep from staring any longer. However, as fifteen minutes passed, and then another five, and then even more, Phoenix’s pacing grew faster.

He rubbed at the band of his watch more, eyes locked on the door. He looked terrified, checking the time yet again and hugging his bear tighter.

“They were probably just busy,” Rhys said, because as much as he didn’t like kids, he felt bad seeing one break down right in front of him. “He’s okay.”

“What if he’s dead?” His voice cracked a little and he paced even faster, clutching the bear so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

Rhys got up and slowly approached. “Hey. Hey, Phoenix. It’s safe here, okay? No one here will hurt him. I promise.”

“But he looks like that freaking asshole!” Phoenix said, pointing at his eye again.

“I know, but I warned my people he’d be coming today. They all know he isn’t really Jack. No one is going to hurt your dad,” Rhys assured. Phoenix still looked scared and frantic, so Rhys tried a different approach. He held his cybernetic hand out and let an image come up in his palm. “Have you ever seen a skag before?”

Phoenix nodded his head, looking torn between watching the door and looking at the holographic image. “Uh-huh. But just one.”

Rhys let the holograph play out. “Look how they run! I got stuck on Pandora years ago, and these things were scary.”

“Pandora?” He tugged at the ear of his bear. “Dad said it’s a shithole. I’m not s’posed to say that, though. Mom gets mad and says dad has a dirty mouth.”

“It kind of is a shithole,” Rhys agreed. “Promethea is much better. I think you’ll like it here. You and your dad can explore this weekend when he’s not working.”

His eyes shot to the door again. “But he’s not back!”

“He’ll come back,” Rhys said. “I won’t let anyone hurt him while he’s here. I promise.”

His eyes widened and he looked at Rhys. He seemed torn between distrust and hope.

The matter was settled as Tim reappeared in the room, looking out of breath. “Sorry. Some freaking idiot down there couldn’t find her ID and held up the whole line. I- Umph!”

Phoenix launched himself at Tim, wrapping his little arms around Tim’s waist tightly. There were tears silently rolling down his cheeks.

“Hey, hey.” Tim knelt down and hugged him, kissing his head. “I’m okay. I’m right here, pal. I’m okay. I’m sorry I took so long.”

He stood up with Phoenix in his arms, running gentle fingers through his messy hair. Phoenix nuzzled his head against Tim’s neck, wiping at his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Tim said, kissing him again. “I have shitty time management skills. Oops, don’t tell your mom I swore again.”

Phoenix put an arm around Tim’s neck to hold onto him. “Dad, this guy showed me a skag. On his hand!”

“‘This guy’ is my boss,” Tim said. “A skag, huh? Can’t say I missed Pandora’s brand of cannon fodder creatures.”

“You and me both,” Rhys said, standing up.

“Can you show dad?” Phoenix said, pointing to Rhys’s hand. “They look so stupid.”

Rhys brought up the image again. With his dad safely back with him, Phoenix was much more interested, peering at it with curious eyes.

Tim wiggled the fingers of his cybernetic hand. “Yea, mine doesn’t do that. Cool, though.”

“One of the vault hunters who saved us had a skag,” Phoenix said. “And a...a...something else.”

“Jabber. You saw their jabber,” Tim said. “Shit-flinging, obnoxious beasts.”

Phoenix tightened his hold on Tim. “You’re not s’posed to swear, dad.” He gave Tim the hint of a grin. “Gotta shut me up.”

“Ice cream it is,” Tim said with a long sigh. “After work, though. I’ve got to earn money to afford to bribe you, pal. So, let’s get on with it, Rhys.”

Rhys took Tim and showed him around a bit before bringing him back to his office. As Tim had assured, Phoenix was quiet the whole time, just clinging to Tim. When they reached the office, he sat in a chair in the corner, playing with his tattered bear and not bothering either man as they went over Tim’s schedule and duties.

“Well, I’ll leave you to get settled in and do the basic paperwork,” Rhys said, shaking Tim’s hand. “If you have any questions, you know where my office is. You’ll be primarily reporting to me.”

“Hey,” Phoenix said as Rhys headed for the door. He was clutching his bear tightly again, glancing from his dad to Rhys before blurting out, “Can you tell me about Pandora sometime?”

“Oh,” Rhys said in surprise. “Yea, sure. I mean, a lot of my experience involves me being in fear for my life. But, sure.”

“Hey, been there done that on Elpis, kiddo,” Tim said. “Phoenix, let him get back to work. You can help me get some papers organized, if you want.”

Phoenix hopped off the chair. “M’kay, dad. See ya, boss guy.”

Rhys left the office and stared at the door once he’d closed it. Today had not gone as he’d expected, not at all. And he had a sinking feeling he’d accidentally made the kid like him.

Great. He’d been so worried about dealing with a Handsome Jack doppelganger, and now his bigger problem was a small, curious child. Rhys wondered if life would ever let him catch a break.

Part 2

#borderlands #timothy lawrence #borderlands rhys #rhys strongfork #borderlands au #borderlands fic #My writing

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