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dreamii-yume · 3 years

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New Episode Update Let’s GOO!!!

Warning : This is just Yume having a mental breakdown, seriously. This episode update was WHACK.

~ MAJOR SPOILERS FOR 68-75 ~

I know we ain’t participating and all but the game reminding you that there’s 10 minutes left to prepare is seriously bad for my heart.

Aah, shiet. Vil is still hurt.

He still has small wounds and scratches that he hid make up. Daddy, I’m worried.

Apparently, yeah, I’m not the only one cause my homeboy, Epel just asked to switch the center role with Vil. THE CONFIDENCE.

Aw, he’s worried about him falling over during stage (And make the performance look bad) Come on, Epel just be honest-

...He finally became the ideal poisoned apple that Vil wanted, huh?

Vil being proud a mom.

But the queen inside him is STRONG.

He’ll embrace the villain in him, OUR QUEEN CAN STILL GO. INJURED, WHO?

...AAND he proceeds to roast Epel again lol Typical Vil.

I love how Epel just accepted a nickname like “Doku Ringo-chan” lol It’s so cute, senior-junior relationship goals right there.

HERE WE GO.

Everyone is actually really confident hahaha

I really wish Deuce’s mom, Ace’s brother, Jamil’s sister, and Vil’s dad were here in person to watch.

HECK I WANT KALIM’S WHOLE FAMILY HERE WHY NOT

T-THEY’RE REALLY LETTING US HEAR THE FULL SONG.

IS THAT JAMIL RAPPING.

Look at Jamil’s solo SD dancing. LOOK AT IT.

I really fucking love Vil’s singing voice aaa

HIS VOICE IS SO GOOD.

Album when disney.

Is Vil okay.

...aight im hearing some high quality panting here

...dont mind me listening to it a bit too much...

...they’re going to be great reference for some spicy- leave me alone

Vil panting is making me feel SOMETHING.

ANYWAY. THE CROWD IS A MOOD.

IS VIL OKAY.

Unmei no megami is giving me idia ptsd here.

Heartslabyul Senpais are watching their kids, looking all proud *sniff

Oh god, after playing Obey Me, it just occurred to me how similar Cater and Asmodeus’ voices are...

Watch these Senpai dorks act like Ace and Deuce’s second family. Trey being the dad, Riddle being the mom, and Cater being the supportive big bro. It’s so beautiful.

Riddle’s voice is a lot more softer now, I just realized...It’s so soothing...

God i miss u too octavinelle never change

Yeah, why tf did Floyd not audition for this

Bro, can you imagine Nobuhiko Okamoto in the squad as well??? IMAGINE-

Of course, he wasn’t in the mood back then. Of course. Why did i even ask.

IMAGINE FLOYD BEING IN VDC NEXT YEAR.

Omg i miss u too octavinelle never change

Azul’s gonna overblot again with Floyd’s marketing skills lol

Jade coming in like welp i guess thats that. Too bad, huh Azul?

GOD i miss u too octavinelle never change

SAVANA BITCHES HI

I wonder if these mfs knew that Vil just overblotted and malmal was the one who fixed the stage lol

oooh Leona’s sus about something he a sharp boi

Speak up my guy—

still so weird leona taking his job seriously

Malleus looking happier seeing this performance rather than Lilia’s lol

I miss the simpery in Sebek

Silver’s not in the verge of falling into a coma for once wow

Chenya’s so cute.

AND WE’RE BACK TO CUTE HEIGH HO TEAM

fcking shotacons man...im not one to talk

Aw, they didn’t show Neige performance...

The simping in the crowd is a MASSIVE mood.

WHO WINS TELL ME

These night raven fuckers better vote for us and not pull a “oh shie my hand slipped lololol” i swear to god- im gonna throw hands

*me holding my phone and pretending to vote as well

Suspense music intensifies be like-

HAAA

BOIS, ITS ONE VOTE DIFFERENCE WHO IS IT AAAA

WHAT.

HOW DARE- HOW!? HOW DID WE LOSE!?

WE LOST BY ONE VOTE!?

EVERYONE’S SO SHOCKED LOL

vil pls dont overblot again-

Noooo grim’s tuna cans-

WE REALLY LOST TO A LEGIT KIDS SONG.

These children do not have the right to be this cute. I wanna take Timmy, Toby, and Shelpie home.

I swear to god one of these dwarves sounds like Cheka lol Is it Toby?

EPEEELLLL DONT CRRYYYY

KALIMMMM DONT CRRYYYY

KALIM HAVING THE AUDACITY TO SOUNDING LIKE A BIG BROTHER AND THEN CRYING HIS OWN RIGHT AFTER LOLOLOL

I HATE THIS EPISODE YALL MADE MY TWO BOIS CRY IM FIGHTING THIS EPISODE. BURN THIS.

This background music too though im deeeeddd

KALIM IM SO SORRY FOR MAKING A SINFIC ABOUT YOU PLS DONT CRY-

Jamil impressed about Vil being “calm” and Vil just going “h e h. you dont even know.”

....ha...

Monsieur Rook. WHAT did you say.

ROOK VOTED FOR ROYAL SWORD. Are you kidding me. You snek how could you- i loved you

WHAT DID I SAY- Ya’ll night raven fuckers shall not slip by their fingers when voting rook.

Vil is in the brink of passing out aaaaa

I have never heard Ace this pissed before whoa- lol he sounds like Deuce in his delinquent mode

Aw...Rook felt that Neige’s performance carries a stronger bond than theirs :’( it’s hard to put the blame on him when he’s saying all these stuff

It’s just like what they said in the past episodes that it’s really hard voting for your own team when you know the opposing team is better.

Aww...He just wanted Vil to believe in himself more...Rook is such a best man. Im crying-

Oh noooo is Vil gonna cry too nooo- daddy turned to baby really quick SOMEONE GIVE HIM AN EMERGENCY HUG

Well- at least...at least the 100 year record of not being able to win is still going, yeah? Um...bad joke? Sorry, i’ll see myself out-

NEIGE NOT NOW AND YOUR VII-KUN BULLSHIT- we’re having a moment here

Neige is such sweetheart but aaaahh— This makes it worse, we can’t even hate him aaa—

OMG JUST WHEN I THOUGHT THINGS COULDN’T- AAAAA

MONSIEUR ROOK. YOU’RE A FAN OF NEIGE!?

MOTHERFUCKER just got exposed by Neige himself lol

Going to Neige’s shake hand events, sending him letters, buying all his merch and shie- HE’S A FULL BLOWN NEIGE STAN

WTF YOU SNEK GET OUT OF THIS SCHOOL-

OOOOHHH THAT FUCKING ALBUM- HIS “LIFE’S WORK” or whatever bullshit IS FULL OF NEIGE

...actually- my japanese is lacking- im not sure lol what is a ブロマイド??? Lol I feel like a clown.

Rook is sweating profusely LOL

...what do you have to say for yourself, monsieur rook.

Wait- huh is that-

IS HE GONNA CRY-

WHY IS EVERYONE CRYING!??!?!?!

HE’S SILENTLY CRYING AS HE INTRODUCED HIMSELF TO NEIGE WHAT. THE. FUCK IS THIS EPISODE.

Neige fanclub??? Eternal Snow??? What kind of creepy-ass- OH, HE EVEN HAS A MEMBERSHIP NUMBER TOO-

Props to Neige with his :) expression unfaltering.

I’m- I’m speechless.

Vil is just looking down at Rook in disappointment like- “you’re more pathetic than I am”

Queen just went “I think you need this handkerchief more than I do now” THAT’S RIGHT. REPENT MOTHERFUCKER.

Rook crying is cursed.

But damn, I’m kinda liking this new relationship this bitchy relationship they have

Neige just dragged everyone’s ass back on stage and his snow white energy just said “LETS ALL BE FRIENDS AND SING”

NEIGE IS FUCKING GREAT- HE REALLY DID GOT THESE BITCHES TO SING HEIGH HO LOL

ACE’S RELUCTANT SINGING AND DEUCE LOOKING LIKE HE’S HAVING FUN

KALIM IS SUCH A MOOD, SINGING EVEN WITHOUT KNOWING THE LYRICS AND JAMIL JUST HAVING THAT “i want to die” ENERGY

AIGHT. ROOK IS HAVING WAY TOO MUCH FUN AND EPEL IS TRYING HIS BEST. HE’S SO CUTE-

OMG NEIGE AND VIL HAVING SUCH GOOD HARMONY—

YAHOO Y A H O O TANOSHIINDA~~

YA’LL SURE ABOUT GIVING ME THIS BLESSED MOMENT??

What a somewhat happy ending, even though Rook just backstabbed us I’m crying Beauté 100 points!!!

LOL Vil realizing he’s having fun singing with Neige- “SOMEONE JUST END ME RIGHT NOW-“ The desperation in his voice-

I love how Neige’s yahoo yahoo is messing with everyone’s head, even Vil wants to pass out lol

haha Crowley is so depressed lol

WHA- WHO-

HEADMASTER OF ROYAL SWORD!?

He looks like your typical grandpa- and his outfit looks like that one mickey mouse wizard outfit but blue—

Old man just went “we won lol” just to piss Crowley off I like this guy’s energy already-

Crowley being most likely as old as this guy—

ooohh this man just sensed something in this stage- Leona did too, didn’t he???

* Damn. Crowley talking so fast sounds like he’s making a load of bullshit lol

Anyway, I’m just glad that it’s not mickey mouse who’s the headmaster— I would’ve lost my shit.

We’re back in our dorms and I forgot that the squad doesn’t live with us anymore. It’s suddenly so lonely now...

Grim is getting the yahoo yahoo ptsd too lol it’s too goddamn catchy

oooohh shiet- mickey is calling us again

YES we finally got a good picture of this motherfucker

It seems like nothing is disrupting our communication this time, so MC thought to call Grim but—

Grim is not here.

Uuhhh...Grim? Where you’ve gone??? We’re getting flashbacks of the first parts of the game.

We went out to find Grim and HE’S CHOMPING ON ANOTHER BLACK STONE ON THE STAGE-

GRIM SPIT THAT OUT YOU LOOK TERRIFYING

AAAAAHH GRIM HAS GONE FERAL— He’s attacking US

Is this because we didn’t win his tuna canss nooo

NoOO SWEET BABY COME BACK.

Legit I’m sad, please baby don’t overblot like this...

He learned a new move though- SCRATCH

Ooh— We’re seeing some Ignihyde scenes here~

P U H I H I

Idia getting a lot of emails from bigshot companies whoa—

THAT OLYMPUS—?! EXCUSE ME??? Ortho what- Are we finally getting that Hercules episode—

Damn getting a hot chance in olympus only to put them down the recycling bin oof— Idia why edit : Yume was informed that olympus is kind of a company that sponsored VDC sorry she was mind-fucked at this moment and the ability to understand proper Japanese just went whoosh lol Thanks to @starshiningsirius for pointing it out for Yume~ ♥︎ HONESTLY YUME’S JUST GONNA WAIT FOR ACTUAL PROFESSIONAL TRANSLATORS AT THIS POINT LOL Don’t trust me for important situation too much lol

Aaaahh...We’re getting this shut-in out of his room in the next episode, are we?

And that concludes the whole Pomefiore Episode! JESUS CHRIST 75 CHAPTERS ALL IN ALL!? How long is the Ignihyde chapter going to be, huh!?

This was a really, really fun episode lol I’d consider this a fan service episode actually cause of all the things we get to experience— The singing, dancing, and the new songs, THE DRAMA. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

But then, the plot thickens, no? What’s going to happen to Grim? In the Ignihyde episode? And those reoccurring memories of us? And our relationship with Tsunotarou lol ALSO WE NEVER REALLY DID FIND OUT WHAT ROOK’S UNIQUE MAGIC IS. DISNEY EXPLAIN—

Thanks for reading this shitpost of Yume losing her shiet lol See you all in the Ignihyde Episode~ ❤

#twisted wonderland #spoilers #episode 5 #Talk with Yume

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haroldtea · 3 years

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i wrote something!!

soooo I’m a pathological “i have a fic idea and i’m never going to write it or I write a few pages and then fall off” writer buuuut I had this very cute idea and wrote 4k words of it! I wanted to post it here before ao3 because 1) not sure if I’m a fan of starting a multichapter WIP because I still may abandon it like my other stuff 2) i want feedback before i continue!!

here’s the gist: it’s princess prom except it’s a high school au and princess prom is actually homecoming. Adora is very happy and supportive of Glimmer and Bow running for king/queen. Glimmer is very, very passionate about winning. The problem is they’ve naturally got competition, in the form of Perfuma (who is equally as passionate about winning, for her own reasons) and her new girlfriend Scorpia. In a sitcom-style mishap, Adora sort of accidentally signs up to run as well...with Catra, Scorpia’s best friend who Adora doesn’t not have a crush on. The two decide to go through with it with the intention of getting eliminated from the race as soon as possible. Then, their friends come up with a different plan for them.

so, take a read below at 4k of stupidity and let me know what you think, and if you would be interested to read more :) (fyi there is a lot of swearing lol)

“I’M GONNA BE THE QUEEN!”

Adora shrieks, flailing her arms and almost knocking her lamp over in the process. She whirls around in her desk chair to face the intruder, arms raised in karate chop form (she does not know any martial arts), and finds Glimmer, who has flung her bedroom door open and has that crazed Glimmer look in her eyes that only means trouble.

“Fuck! Glimmer, you can’t just sneak up--wait, how did you get in my house?!”

“Didn’t you hear what I said?! Also, the door was unlocked,” Glimmer replies, kicking off her shoes and launching herself onto Adora’s bed, which she had just painstakingly made.

Adora presses her hand into her face, sighing. “I was kind of busy trying not to piss myself. Haven’t you heard of knocking? What if I was, you know...” she says, gesturing vaguely.

Glimmer rolls her eyes. “Please, Adora. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Anyway--the student council decided to bring back the homecoming pep rally!” she squeals, gleefully kicking her feet in the air.

Adora leans back in her chair, brows furrowed. “Bring back? Didn’t we have one last year?”

“Yes, but after the water balloon thing they weren’t gonna let us have it anymore, but it turns out that one senior who wasn’t gonna graduate did graduate so I guess they figured it would probably be fine, ‘cause like, who’s ever gonna try and top that?”

“Right,” Adora hums, thinking back to last year’s pep rally. Just before homecoming court was announced, a group of rogue seniors had risen from the bleachers, unleashing dozens of water balloons they had stashed in their backpacks. What ensued was a pandemonium Adora could only remember in flashes, resulting in almost the entire student body and the school’s hallways being completely soaked.

The catch was that the seniors had filled the balloons with blue paint. It had taken the janitorial staff weeks to get the gym bleachers, the lockers in the science wing, and the cafeteria ceiling (don’t ask) to look normal again. Classes were cancelled for almost an entire week because the paint had messed up something with the internal plumbing. It was single-handedly the coolest thing Adora had experienced in her living years.

It was all led by the legendary Mara Hart, notorious for sticking it to the man during her K-12 years. The prank had all but gotten her and her friends expelled, but given that she was otherwise an A+ student and no one could technically prove who was behind it (her friends were loyal to each other to the bitter end), she walked at Bright Moon High’s graduation to uproarious applause from her classmates.

Adora knew some of the more grisly details because Mara had been captain of the girls’ lacrosse team last year--effortlessly cool Mara, endlessly caring Mara, definitely part of Adora’s gay awakening Mara--but it had become something of an urban legend at BMHS over the past year.

“Wait, how do you know any of this?” Adora asks, because while she was personally connected to Mara in a small way, she hadn’t been aware that they were going to cancel the pep rally indefinitely.

Glimmer arches an eyebrow. “Um, hello? My mom’s the principal?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“And Mermista totally let it slip when I asked her about it after the student council meeting,” Glimmer adds, then pauses. “Okay, it was more like I didn’t even wanna be there and I wish no one had ever voted for me and I’ll tell you whatever, but still. I’m...” she props her face in her hands and bats her eyelashes, “in the know.”

Adora smirks and rolls her eyes fondly, turning back to her desk to shut her textbook and put her notes away. She can never get anything done when Glimmer’s around. “Okay, so, pep rally’s back--that’s cool,” she says.

“It’s not just cool, Adora,” Glimmer scoffs. “Being homecoming queen is literally all I’ve wanted since I was a kid. I thought my dream had died with Mara’s academic career, but now there’s hope again--it’s meant to be, Adora. It’s destiny.”

Adora had literally never heard Glimmer talk about this, but, “Um, okay.”

Glimmer huffs and dramatically rolls onto her back, flinging her arms out and further messing up Adora’s sheets. Lesson learned, it isn’t worth the effort for Adora to make the bed anymore. “My mom was the homecoming queen like a hundred years ago, and my aunt was the homecoming queen before that. It’s, like, my birthright!”

Adora lifts a shoulder, twisting around in her chair to look at Glimmer. “Okay, then we’ll just get you to be the homecoming queen too. Can’t your mom just...make it happen?”

“Ugh, no,” Glimmer sighs. “I already asked. It’s a student vote.”

“Oh!” Adora brightens. “That’s easy, then. Everyone loves you.”

Glimmer pouts. “I know, but it’s not just a popularity contest--it’s, like, a whole thing. Me and Bow are gonna have to do a talent show, and there’s a relay race, and other stuff that if we don’t do well in we won’t even get to be in the final vote.”

“Wait, what?” Adora doesn’t remember any of that from last year. “What do you mean, Bow? Is...he's running for homecoming queen too?”

“Ha! No,” Glimmer laughs, then her expression darkens, eyes narrowing. “I would crush him.”

“Right...” Adora says. Actually, Bow would make a pretty good homecoming queen. But Adora values her life, so she decidedly does tell Glimmer this.

“No, every queen nominee has to also have someone to run with them as their ‘king,’” Glimmer explains, making air quotes with her fingers. “There’s no boy/girl bullshit, but you do have to be in a pair.”

“I don’t remember any...talent shows, or whatever,” Adora points out. “I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of one of those happening in real life.”

“Well, obviously you never went. It would’ve all been during your lacrosse thingies and you would've been too busy making googly eyes at Mara Hart,” Glimmer replies, wiggling her fingers at Adora.

Adora crosses her arms and blushes a deep red. “I would not. I would’ve been playing lacrosse. And stuff.” Okay, maybe she did make googly eyes at Mara, but only sometimes, as a treat, and Glimmer doesn’t need to know that.

Glimmer flips back over on her stomach and levels Adora with a pout. “Adora, this means a lot to me. We’re gonna need your help to win this.”

Adora has no idea how she could possibly be of any help with this, but hey-- “Of course, Glimmer. Whatever you need. I’m there.”

Glimmer grins, eyes sparkling. “Yaaaaay. Also, my mom’s making meatloaf tonight, you in?”

Adora pumps her fist in the air. “Sweet. Hell, yes.”

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“This is a joke, right? Like, you’re joking?” Catra says into the receiver as she shoves another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

“I am usually a pretty funny gal, it’s true--but, ah, no. This time I’m serious,” Scorpia replies on the other end.

Catra hoists her phone higher up on her shoulder while she adjusts her grip on her Xbox controller. “Okay, please explain,” she says between chews.

Scorpa sighs, and Catra visualizes her sitting cross-legged on her bedspread, hugging one of her many stuffed animals to her chest. “I know it’s kind of silly, but Perfuma sounded really excited about it, ‘cause I guess if you win, you get to pick what charity the proceeds from the dance ticket sales go to, and...I just couldn’t say no?”

Catra smirks, mashing a series of buttons on her controller as her TV screen lights up in front of her. She’s been trying to get past this level for weeks, but she’ll probably die right before the end again whether she’d answered Scorpia’s call or not. “You are so whipped,” she says.

Scorpia sighs again, but this time Catra can hear a smile in it. “I guess so, kitty cat. Still, it sounds kinda...fun? I mean, it’s more time spent with her, if anything else. She’s talking about writing an original song together for the talent show and incorporating her Tibetan singing bowls into it.”

Catra takes that in and barely suppresses a laugh. Her New Year’s resolution was to make fun of her friends less. Some days are harder than others. “Um, wow,” she says instead. “That’s, uh...that’ll be interesting. Do I have to call you Queen Scorpia if you win?”

“Oh, Perfuma doesn’t believe in gendered royalty,” Scorpia replies. “She wants us to be known as Homecoming Monarchs.”

“Of course she does,” Catra mutters. Perfuma is endlessly kind and patient and makes Scorpia smile, so by default Catra likes her, but otherwise they...don’t exactly share identical values, let’s say. Catra brings her own point home by pressing a button on her controller and chainsawing an alien in half on screen.

“Do you...think it’s a stupid idea? The whole...running for homecoming thing, I mean.”

Catra hears the telltale signs of Scorpia-doubting-herself in her reply, so she pauses the game. “Nah. If it’s something you guys wanna do, you should go for it. Fuck what anyone else thinks.”

“Okay, thanks,” Scorpia says, sounding lighter. “I think it means a lot to Perfuma. It would be cool to win it for her.”

“Well, hey,” Catra continues, un-pausing her game. “If you need any help, let me kn--oh, fuck!”

“Catra?” Panic sets in Scorpia’s tone. “Kitty cat, speak to me--do I need to call 911?!”

“No, no, Scorpia, please don’t do that,” Catra groans, tossing her controller aside. “I just got blown up in my stupid game again, that’s all. I’m never gonna beat this final boss.”

Scorpia sighed in relief. “Aw, don’t give up, kitty cat. One of these days, you’re gonna really give it to--what’s the dude’s name again?”

“Prime something-or-whatever,” Catra grumbled, reaching for her popcorn.

“Yeah, that guy. He’ll never know what hit him.”

Catra snickers into the receiver. “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Scorpia.”

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The lunch period at BMHS is, naturally, chaotic. Being a regional high school, every inch of the place is usually crawling with students, and the cafeteria is no different. The student population is small enough and the cafeteria big enough to condense into one lunch period, although Adora has oftentimes heard Perfuma lament about the ethics and health concerns of overcrowding.

Adora likes chaos. She likes that the overlapping sounds of chairs scraping and garbled chattering combine to form a comforting din that allows her to drown out whatever weird TikTok plans Bow’s making (ok, to be real, she will be asking about them later) and quietly observe the antics happening at tables around them.

She takes another bite of her pudding and her eyes land on the table to their right where Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio from her math class always sit together. Lonnie is mechanically chewing her gum as she stares into a compact mirror, examining her eyebrows with fierce concentration. Across from her, Kyle is holding up something on his phone to Rogelio with one hand and gesticulating wildly with the other as he holds a corn dog. Rogelio is nodding along but is staring down fondly at Kyle rather than at the screen Kyle’s pointing to, one arm hanging loose around Kyle’s shoulders. Lonnie slaps her compact shut and shouts something at them, pointing emphatically to her eyebrows. They all pause for a moment before bursting into laughter. Then Kyle drops his corn dog.

Adora pointedly does not observe the table across from theirs. She’ll gladly watch the Star siblings silently and intensely do their homework for the next period, or listen to Mermista fight off Seahawk’s PDA attempts, but nothing could compel her to look at the table straight ahead.

That table was where Catra Weaver and her friends sat.

Including: Perfuma’s new girlfriend, Scorpia Garnet; Entrapta Dryl, who was dating one of the Hordak twins (Adora was ever completely sure which one); the Hordak twins in question, one of which who usually broods silently and one of which who usually stares around smiling at nothing and everything; the stylish and blonde ruler of the theatre kids who has been nicknamed Double Trouble for as long as Adora can remember; and finally: Catra Weaver. Effortlessly cool, effortlessly gorgeous, effortlessly effortless Catra Weaver, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed, coolly regarding the rest of the cafeteria as she holds court at her table of wonderful misfit toys.

Today’s effortless ensemble: cool jean jacket, a cool crop top, cool black jeans, cool combat boots, she got a haircut recently so--

“Um, Earth to Adora?”

“Huh?” Adora says, jerking her head up.

This is why she avoids looking at Catra Weaver’s table. Or Catra Weaver in general.

“We were talking about homecoming,” Glimmer says from her seat across from Adora, raising an eyebrow. “You were totally spaced out.”

Adora clears her throat, willing herself not to blush. “Sorry,” she replies, digging back into her pudding.

“Glimmer’s trying to convince me not to run for court,” Perfuma continues, crossing her arms.

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s totally lame and stupid and a waste of time,” Mermista answers from beside Perfuma, inspecting her nail polish. She glances up when she senses everyone at the table staring at her. “What?”

“Mermista, you’re on the homecoming committee,” Bow says.

Mermista shrugs. “So? I said what I said.”

“Look, Perfuma,” Glimmer starts, sliding her hand across the table toward Perfuma. “I just don’t want you to be disappointed if you lose. Homecoming’s a really big deal to me, and I really want to win.” She smiles saccharinely, tilting her head at Perfuma, eyes gone wide. Bow and Adora exchange a look.

Perfuma smiles back. “Oh, don’t worry about me, Glimmer! I’m sure our classmates will select the most deserving and talented couple to win,” she says, then goes back to stabbing a fork into her salad.

Glimmer’s eye starts twitching. Bow slowly and gently takes Glimmer’s hand and slides it back to her side of the table. “Glimmer, we’ll do great. The most important thing is to have fun,” he says, patting her hand.

“The most important thing is the charity,” Perfuma mutters.

“That too.”

“Is anybody else we know running?” Adora asks. Glimmer and Perfuma both shake their heads in response, until Mermista sighs dejectedly.

“Unfortunately,” she groans, raising her hand.

“Wait, what?! You just said it was stupid and lame!” Bow squawks.

“It is,” Mermista rolls her eyes. “But the rest of the student council said it would look really bad if I was on the planning committee and didn’t run. I was forced against my will.”

“Isn’t that a conflict of interest?” Glimmer asks, gripping her lunch tray so tight Adora wondered if she was going to launch it at Mermista’s head.

“I don’t know? I guess not? I’m planning on getting cut as soon as humanly possible though, so whatever,” Mermista replies, flicking her hair behind her shoulder.

“We won’t win with that attitude, my love!” Seahawk roars, throwing his arm around Mermista’s shoulder and raising a fist triumphantly. “You and I are going to be the greatest King and Queen this school has ever seen!”

“Oh my god, please stop,” Mermista groans, hiding her face in her hands.

“Picture it: you, me, newly crowned, gliding down the science wing--the students stop and stare! Could it really be our King and Queen in the flesh? The teachers stare too! I am going to give them both straight A’s!”

“Please just sit and eat your sandwich,” Mermista begs.

“Never,” Seahawk says, then kisses her on the cheek and acquiesces, taking a big bite of his sandwich. Adora tries to hide her smirk when she sees Mermista blush a deep red. She elbows Glimmer and nods in their direction so she can see.

“Aw, how cute. I’m going to destroy them,” Glimmer whispers in Adora’s ear.

“I know,” Adora whispers back. “But try to at least be nice about it.”

“No promises.”

“Ok, I have to pee,” Adora announces to the table, grabbing her lunch tray as she stands, grinning at Bow’s groan of TMI, Adora!

She makes her way over to the trash cans by the cafeteria exit, waving to her friends on the lacrosse team as she dumps her leftovers in the trash and sets the tray in the dish bin beside it. She should probably go over and check in with them about practice tonight, but she really has to pee, which reminds her that she forgot her water bottle all the way back to the table and needs to refill it before her next class.

“Damn it,” she mutters to herself, still smiling at her lacrosse friends as she whips around to head back--

And crashes right into someone, their heads knocking smack together.

“Ow!” Adora yelps, losing her footing for a moment. She rubs at her stinging forehead, glancing up as she apologizes, “Shit, sorry, sorry, that was totally my fault, I--”

And stares right up at Catra Weaver.

“I...I...I...”

She blinks a few times, but yes, that is Catra Weaver, rubbing at her own forehead and fixing a few strands of hair that had come loose from behind her ears. Catra Weaver, up close and personal, who she hasn’t talked to since...

“Your forehead is fucking hard. And big,” Catra says, holding her tray in one hand as she narrows her eyes up at Adora.

“Oh, um, you too...I mean! Thanks? I grew it myself,” Adora replies spectacularly, and then promptly wants to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Catra raises one eyebrow at her. “How hard did I hit you?”

Adora scrambles to answer. “Oh, not at all! I mean, not hard. It was my fault. Are you, um, are you okay?” This is going amazingly.

“I’m fine, Greyskull,” Catra replies, sending a tingle up Adora’s spine. She goes to deposit her tray. “Just watch where you’re going.”

Adora grins dopily. “Yes. I mean--I will. Sorry. Again.”

Catra glances Adora up and down, eyebrow still raised, and goes to say something else, when they’re interrupted by a foreboding, familiar voice.

“Ah, Adora! I’m so pleased to see you taking an interest in student affairs.”

Adora turns to see Glimmer’s mom looming over them, hands neatly clasped together. Maybe looming isn’t the right word as she’s smiling brightly down on her and Catra, but she’s tall, ok? “Oh, hi Ang--,” Adora starts before remembering they’re at school, “um, Mrs. Moon. What’s up?”

Angella gestures between her and Catra. “I was just observing how wonderful it will be that Glimmer will have a friend to share the homecoming experience with.”

Adora tenses again, remembering that Catra is still standing very close to her. “Oh, haha, yeah, super great. Wait, what?” Sharing?

Then she notices that her and Catra are standing in front of the wall where the Homecoming Court Signup Sheet is hanging. A sparkly pen tied to the clipboard is dangling within Adora’s reach.

“Oh, um, actually, Perfuma’s already--”

“I think this activity will make a fine addition to your college applications, Adora. And you know how Glimmer gets,” Angella leans in conspiratorially, not bothering to lower her voice. “I think it will calm her nerves to have a friend by her side. A bit of friendly competition, even!” she claps her hands together, delighted. “I remember having so much fun with my friends back in my day.”

“But, I’m already on the lacrosse team...” Adora mumbles, scratching the back of her neck. She glances down at the pen.

“Oh, but you know schools these days, always looking for that something that makes a student stand out,” Angella says, waving her hand dismissively. “And don’t worry, I’ll speak to Coach Huntara about any scheduling conflicts. You’ll get to have the best of both worlds!”

Wait, but lacrosse was Adora’s whole thing--does she not stand out enough? Will she seem boring to UEternia? “I...”

“Oh, Ms. Weaver!” Angella says, as if she’s just now noticing Catra. “I didn’t take you for the...school spirit type.”

“I’m not,” Catra replies, crossing her arms. She smiles saccharinely and adds, “ma’am,” for good measure. God, she’s cool.

“Ah,” Angella says, creating an awkward pause before brightening again. “Well, still, here you are. Are you Adora’s running mate?”

So, sometimes Adora panics.

Look, she’s in a high-stress situation. The girl she doesn’t not have an embarrassing crush on bumped into her, talked to her, and then her best friend’s mom swooped in basically saying that lacrosse is boring and dumb and running for homecoming court will get her into UEternia. At least, that’s what Adora got from all that. And then she insinuates that she’ll be doing that with Catra Weaver.

So, she panics. She panics, and she grabs the glittery pen, and she continues to panic.

“Yep! We’re running together!” she says, grinning.

“Say what?” Catra hisses.

“Oh, wonderful!” Angella squeals, clapping her hands together again. “I must say, I think this will turn out to be a very interesting competition. You’ll have to come dress shopping with us, Adora.”

“Haha, yeah...” Adora says, quickly scribbling Adora Greyskull & Catra Weaver on the signup sheet. Oh fuck, oh god.

“Hang on a fu--” Catra starts, then clamps her mouth shut, because the goddamn principal is still talking to them.

“Oh, I wonder what you’ll do for the talent show! I can’t wait...well, I’m off. It was great catching up, girls!” Angella says, and winks, and does weird-mom-finger-guns, and then she’s gliding away as quickly as she came.

Adora continues to grin and wave awkwardly until Angella is out of sight, then she deflates. That was so weird.

Then she turns and sees Catra reach for the pen that’s still in her hand. Adora has half a mind to snatch it away. Or half a brain cell, at least. “Hey!”

“Cross our names out. Right. Now,” Catra growls through gritted teeth, still trying to grab the pen. Adora tries to hold it up out of reach, but it’s still attached to the clipboard, so the best she can do is weave her hand in and out of Catra’s way.

“Um, no? I just told her we were running!”

“Well, we’re not. Give it to me!”

“No!” Adora grunts, yanking the pen away. “You heard her--she’s gonna talk to Coach Huntara. I can’t back out now.”

“Well, I can!” Catra says, grabbing at Adora’s arm, where she has the pen tucked under her armpit. “Find someone else to run with you!”

“I can’t! They’ll want to win!” Adora says, twisting her body away from Catra. She’s having a slight meltdown over Catra touching her so much, but she’s focusing on the pen for now. “No one’s gonna want to run with me anyway.”

Catra mutters something under her breath that Adora doesn’t catch, then she snakes her hand under Adora’s and takes hold of her wrist. Adora stifles a gasp. “Wait, you don’t want to win?” Catra asks, eyebrow quirked.

“Noooo,” Adora furiously shakes her head. “No, no, no. Glimmer would kill me. She wants to win. I just, um, panicked. I guess?” The heat from Catra’s hand is searing into her wrist.

Catra glances down at their hands and back up at Adora. “So, your friend will kill you if you run for homecoming. And you just signed up in front of her mom?”

“Um...” Adora thinks for a second. “Yes?”

Catra huffs out a laugh. “Wow, you’re even more of an idiot than I remember.”

Adora feels her face redden, shocked at Catra’s casual mention of the past, and glances away. “Look, let’s just get eliminated as quickly as possible and then we can forget it ever happened. Deal?”

“Ugh,” Catra lets out a groan, leaning her head back. She tugs at Adora’s wrist a few times, finding that she isn’t budging. “Fine! As quickly as possible.”

“As quickly as possible,” Adora nods, finding herself grinning as Catra loosens her grip and pulls away. “I’m gonna take this pen home, by the way,” she calls out as Catra begins to head back to her table.

“Fuck!”

After Adora finally pees and refills her water bottle, she gingerly sits back down beside Glimmer. Poor, sweet, deadly Glimmer, who’s chattering away excitedly with Seahawk about some new music video or something.

She says, in a very tiny voice, “So, um...I think I’m running for homecoming queen?”

Glimmer whips her head around, nose flaring. She stands up, slamming both hands down on the table with a smack.

“You WHAT?!”

And then the bell rings.

#she ra #she-ra #spop #catradora #catradora fic #scorfuma #glimbow

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marvelmadam08 · 4 years

Text

Baby Blues 11/?

Summary: Ace goes to his first doctor’s visit, and Alex checks in with her doctor.

Warnings: First shots, crying, doctor visits, slight jealousy. Fluffy Dad!Chris content. Body insecurities, health concerns, and mentions of sex.

A/N: Rest in Power to Chadwick Boseman, our Black Panther and King. He gave us so much while battling cancer, not just Black Panther. The work he has done in the amount of time he had left a mark, and cannot be replicated. Chadwick Boseman has been such a force in Hollywood that no one could ever forget him. My heart goes out to all his close friends and family.

Also, let’s not make this about Black Panther 2.

~~~~~~

6 Weeks Old

“I mean they can program a robot to perform surgery on a grape but they still have to jab a n-e-e-d-l-e into my baby’s skin for vaccinations.” Alex glared at a few of the other moms in the waiting room, eyeing Chris up and down with Ace.

Chris fed him while Alex filled out the medical file. He was noisy drinking from the bottle, but he took to bottle feeding easier than Alex expected. She watched from the corner of her eye, Chris was a natural, jumping right into action whenever Ace needed something. Seeing him walk around the house with Ace never got old. He was always singing songs to him, some made up. Alex’s favorite so far was the one called ‘Doggies Are Friendly’, in attempts to get Ace to warm up to Dodger. No luck.

Overall seeing Chris Evans with a baby was enough to get any woman excited, and willing to give him more. So she could understand the gazes he got from the other moms, but that didn’t mean she had to just sit there and let them undress her husband with their eyes.

“Al, he can’t understand you.” He watched Ace, unaware of the extra eyes lusting after him

“He’s intuitive Chris, he knows what I mean." Alex frowned, thinking about the how upset Ace would be once he got his shots. She always thought her mother was being overprotective when she was younger but now she understood it completely. She could hear him crying now, and the thought made her eyes sting.

Chris finally looked up, after hearing the infliction in Alex’s voice ”What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t say that, we’re not gonna bottle up our feelings.”

She half shrugged “I guess it’s a mental thing. I mean I know he has to get the shots- I just feel like I’m a monster, purposefully putting him through pain.”

“Baby, it’s a required check up, the first of many shots down the road. You aren’t a monster, you’re a mother.”

“Evans?” the nurse called out from behind the counter

“Are you gonna be okay?” Chris asked as they stood, shifting Ace against his shoulder to burp him

“If you’re asking me if I’m gonna cry, I’m making no promises.” she quickly admitted

Alex hovered over the nurse while she weighed and measured Ace, and checked his heartbeat. Ace’s face when the cold stethoscope touched his chest was adorably deadpan. However, Chris was the one with all the questions, discussing development stages with the nurse the entire time. Going over Ace’s feeding and sleeping routine, asking if the amount of sleep was too little or too much. Would changing the baby wipes would cause any rashes. How soon would it be before hiding out if he was actually allergic to food or animals. And he jotted it all down in his phone, Alex stopped the nurse short when she offered to give Chris her number for any future questions.

“Al, I can hold him.” Chris offered once it was time for the vaccine shots

“No, it’s fine. I can handle it.” She kept Ace’s head turned away facing Chris. The nurse took a step closer, syringe in hand, Alex moved away slightly. “Sorry.”

The nurse tried again, Alex turned the other way.

“Mrs. Evans, I need you to stop moving him.”

“Al-”

“Okay, you hold him.” she conceded, before handing Ace over to Chris

She chewed her nail and watched from her new spot. Ace cried the second the nurse stuck him, Chris felt tears rising to his eyes. He went to wipe them away before anyone could see but more spilled over hearing the cries getting louder. Ace fidgeted against Chris, a heartbreaking attempt for him to move away from whatever stuck him.

“It’s okay baby.” Alex did her best to soothe him while the nurse prepped for another shot. She looked up at Chris, his cheeks wet but he kept his face straight, Alex wiped the tears away from her husband’s face before repeating “It’s okay baby.”

Seeing Ace’s lip poke out while the nurse moved in to stick him again nearly made Chris go into full defense mode, but he bit the inside of his cheek when the crying started again. Ace’s, not his.

“It’s okay honey, we’re all done with the shots.” the nurse soothed, covering the puncture points with small smiley face band-aids

“Yay, all done!” Alex clapped while Chris kissed the top of his son’s head to calm him “You okay?” Alex gave her husband some comforting back rubs

“Yeah, I’m okay.” He sniffled

"Good because now we have to go to my appointment."

***

After chewing down the nails on her left hand, Alex was half through her right one when she was called into her doctor’s exam room. Chris offered to go in with her, but she quickly declined, knowing she would have to be undressed for part, if not most, of the check-up. She done her own self-examination last night, seeing how different she looked down there.

She didn’t want to be vain about it, but the first thing that popped in her head once she looked was how much she needed to get a wax. The second was equally as vain as it was humbling when she thought about having sex with Chris again. Her husband, AKA, Captain freaking America, who could eat to his hearts content and still come out looking as cut as the day she met him. Alex wanted to kick him and kiss him at the same time.

“Well Alex,” her doctor spoke, going over her notes “my main concern for you right now, is your blood pressure. It’s a little higher than usual, what’s your diet like at home?”

“More red meat than before, loads of pasta.” Alex paused to think “I tried string peas, y’know just for research purposes, surprisingly good.”

She chuckled “I tended to lean towards the squash when my first kid was born, but peas were a close second. What about stress?”

Alex shrugged “Fine, I guess. I mean, I can deal with it.”

“Alex, you can’t take this lightly. Stress can be just as harmful as smoking, for both you and your son. You are still breast feeding right?”

“Yes, and I started pumping.”

She jotted down some more notes “Mhmm, and how’s that going? No issues? Low milk supply? Pain while nursing?”

“Aside from the nipple chaffing, not really.” Alex picked at her nails, her doctor noticed

“Alex, I can’t help if you’re not one hundred percent honest with me. It’s bad enough we have doctors that downplay our symptoms because of a bullshit theory that Black people, specifically Black women, have higher pain tolerance. Don’t put on a brave face, not when it comes to your health.”

“Well when you put it like that- I hate pumping, I hate feeding sometimes too. It’s like a bunch of pins and needles sticking me when I do it, just sucking the life out of me. I don’t recognize my body anymore, and I’m warning you now, it’s not pretty down there. As for the stress, my husband and I have been fighting over what’s best for Ace, and our marriage. Which makes me concerned for when I go back to working. My Dad damn near broke his back, my son won’t sleep for longer than an hour, and I think he hates our family dog.” Alex exhaled a sharp breath

“You feel better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“If you don’t like the feel you have when pumping when why do it?”

“Chris wants to be included in feed Alexander, my son, which I get. He’s gonna be back and forth between working and home again, so he wants his chance to bond with him.”

“But breast feeding is also uncomfortable to you?”

“Only when he fights trying to latch, but once he does and he’s calm, it’s worth it.”

“Have you ever considered formula? Lots of new moms do it, even rotated between that and breast milk. It’s actually proven to help both the mom and the baby.”

“We’ve talked about it, I voted against it.”

“I’m not saying you should, ultimately it’s your choice, but I will recommend, giving it a shot considering the stress you might be going through.” she scribbled down a few more notes “Now physically, how do you feel?”

“In my vagina?”

“There too. Please scoot forward and lay back for me.”

Alex followed orders and put her legs in the stirrups “Mostly tired, out of everything I’m exhausted. I’ve been walking to try and slim down a bit, but the weight isn’t going anywhere.”

“That’s to be expected, a lot of new moms hope for the baby weight to drop right off.” Alex’s doctor explained while pulling on her gloves “However, a lot of it is your uterus trying to shrink back to it’s regular size after being stretched out for nine months. Perfectly normal to like your body isn’t the same anymore, because it’s not. It gets easier the more kids you have.”

Alex chuckled “I don’t plan on having another one for a while.”

“Are you taking birth control?”

“No, Ace’s spit up on my clothes is all the birth control I need right now.” Alex shifted slightly “Plus I don’t really get in the mood too often now a days. Not sure if it’s emotional or mental but I’m just not ready to bring intimacy back in just yet.”

“Well physically, you’re good to go. Stitches are all healed, no signs of infection or tears. I will recommend going easy though, as well as a birth control, in case your mood changes.”

“Thanks, what do you recommend for my marriage?” Alex asked jokingly

“I have an acquaintance who’s a marriage counselor. I can give you her contact information if you like.”

“Um- I think I’ll pass this time Doc.”

“Okay then, I’ll let you get dressed and just talk to Toni at the desk before you leave to set up your next appointment.”

Chris stood once he saw Alex reenter the waiting room, Ace was fast asleep in the carrier.

“What did your doctor say? How are you doing?”

Alex did her best not to hesitate “A little concerned about my diet, said my blood pressure was a bit high, but overall-”

“Are you okay?”

“Chris, let me finish.” she gave him a reassuring smile “I gotta fix my diet, limit my stress and my blood pressure will be fine.”

“What did she say about- other things?” he hinted, a light blush creeping to his cheeks

“Well- my insatiable husband- I should wait a little longer. Nothing is wrong it’s just what she recommends.”

Chris nodded “Okay, not a problem.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders “We’ll wait, doctor’s orders.”

“Doctor’s orders.”

#chris evans x ofc #Chris Evans #Black Writers #OFC #babyblues #marvel #Avengers #Defending Jacob #devil all the time #Sebastian Stan #black reader #the falcon and the winter soldier #rip chadwick boseman

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wu-sisyphus-gang · 4 years

Text

Motion Sickness 61.1 Goodnight

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

“Jaune?”

“What’s up, darling?”

“What kind of cake do you want?”

“Are you serious?” I wondered.

“Well, what kind?” Ruby pressed.

I sat up on the leather couch I was reclining on in the living room. “I don’t… I don’t give a fuck. What kind of cake? I don’t give a fuck.”

Ruby pouted at me.

“Come on. What makes you think I’d give a fuck. Chocolate, vanilla, marble, some other weird option. I do not care. This is what you want my input on? The cake? I don’t care.”

“Jaune…” Weiss grumbled.

“This is what you want my opinion on? Of all things? Not, like, colors or other arrangements? The cake is what I get a cut of? I do not care about what kind of cake it is. Ruby said she wanted our weapons on top. So that. I guess. But other than that I don’t care. You know I don’t care. You knew that when you asked me. Before you asked me. I don’t give a flying fuck.”

“We need you to make a decision. We can’t decide,” Ruby pleaded. She was in a pair of tights and a tight ‘t’ shirt.

“So do half and half? What’s the hold up? This is it? This is what you absolutely must have my input on? Really? I don’t care. It’s a cake.”

“Well what do you want to eat?” Weiss asked. She was wearing a blue sweater and white jeans.

“You!”

She hit me for that. But she rolled her eyes with a grin. Like she was mad at me but couldn’t be mad mad at me. “Stop it. We want your input.”

“Hardly. This is literally the only thing you’ve ever asked me besides setting places out for the deceased.”

“Well we do with this.”

“No you don’t. You want me to take your side. That’s not the same thing. And I really don’t care. About the cake? Are you serious? I want it to taste good and I want to mush it into your faces when I feed it to you because I think that would be adorable. All covered in frosting. Your little tongues poking out to lick it off. I like that shit. Give me some of that.”

“Do not get any on my dress,” Weiss demanded.

“Sure. Fine. Whatever. And I really don’t care what color the cake is either. White is fine. Black is fine. I mean… What are you two wanting from me? Let's get a nice multi-tiered, multi-flavored cake and call it good. Alright?”

“Where do you want to go for our honeymoon?” Ruby asked me.

“I don’t…”

“Do not say you don’t care. Where do you want to take us?” Weiss demanded.

“Listen…”

“Sure,” Weiss agreed, folding her arms. “I’m listening.”

“A beach…? Resort…?” I hazarded.

“Well at least you gave us some measure of input.”

“What do you… what do you want from me? The whole point of marrying you, darling, was that you would do all the planning.”

She huffed. “I hope that’s not the whole point.”

“Well it’s a perk. It’s for sure a perk. I mean I get some other stuff out of it too I guess.”

“Like a wife and kids?” Weiss raised an eyebrow. “A family. Emotional connections.”

“Yeah. Those things. I like those things. An emotional connection is all I ever really wanted with you. Ever since Beacon freshman year. The rest can sorta kinda hang.”

She huffed. She was trying to be mad at me but couldn’t because I was being too sweet to her. She turned a little rosy around her cheeks and ears. She rolled her eyes but there was a smile to them.

I stood up. I took both her hands in mine. I bent down and kissed the back of each of her hands. “Darling,” I began slowly. She looked up into my eyes. “I couldn’t give a fuck about the cake.”

She ripped her hands away and smacked me in the chest. “Asshole.”

“Am I?” I wondered.

“No,” Ruby purred. “You’re sweet. Deep down you’re just a honey.”

‘Am I?” I wondered again.

“You are,” Ruby swooned at me.

“Anyways don’t ask me about the cake or color arrangements or what dinner should be for the guests. I don’t care. I barely care about the honeymoon locale. Like at all. So don’t come at me with that. Ruby likes planning this kind of bullshit. I’ve seen you. You liked planning Valentine's Day that one time with me. You liked planning your team activities. You like that kind of stuff. Don’t entangle me into it unless you really need my input but we already all know you don’t. You don’t need my input. You want me to take your side and say ‘chocolate’ or ‘vanilla.’ I just don’t give a fuck about that and you know it. So, darling, what kind of a cake do you want?” I demanded of Weiss.

“Well I want it to be chocolate and Ruby wants vanilla.”

“So how do we resolve this without having to resort to ‘asking Jaune?’ Because ‘Jaune’ doesn’t care,” I referred to myself.

“I suppose we just get a really big cake with different flavored layers.”

“Bangarang,” I snapped my fingers at her. “Was that so hard? Did you really need to involve me? You don’t have to answer. We already know. We just do.”

“But you do care about the honeymoon location?” Weiss pressed.

“I mean… I’ll do whatever you both tell me to. But I like the idea of you two wearing very little clothing. So… beaches? But I’m not picky.”

“You’re a pumpkin,” Ruby kissed my nose.

“Grr,” I growled. “My soul is a dark place.”

“No it’s not. Your aura is the color of sunshine or the sky on a sunny day,” Ruby disagreed.

“Grr,” I growled again. “I’m a bad murder man.”

“Oh shut up,” Weiss demanded. “You’ve never once been more violent than the situation called for or directed your aggression at people who didn’t deserve it. Not once. Not in your life. Stop it.”

“I’m brutal,” I warned.

“You’re a puppy,” Ruby told me happily. “What color arrangements do you want to set out for your team?”

“Pink and orange, pink and green, red and gold,” I told her almost automatically. I didn’t really have to think very hard. “Is that really okay to do? I don't know anything about weddings.”

“People put out arrangements for the dead all the time,” Weiss waved me off. “It’s not like a unique thing we’re doing that would turn heads.”

“Okay, cool, I guess,” I managed. I would obviously rather have my team than arrangements but I couldn’t have that because I got them all killed. I sighed. Ruby hit me. She slapped me hard on the inside of my leg.

“I heard that,” she threatened.

“Heard what? I sighed!” I defended myself.

“You bad mouthed yourself. In your head. I heard you,” she turned her chin up and crossed her arms over her chest.

“You can’t thought police me,” I managed.

“I can and I will,” she leveled.

“I’m not allowed to diss myself aloud you can’t stop me from doing it in my head. That’s not allowed. My thoughts are mine. Off limits. No touchy.”

“Oh we’re gonna,” Ruby carried on. “I’m gonna ‘touchy.’”

“Weiss, help me out,” I demanded.

“You want me to take your side? After you wouldn’t take my side on the cake. I’m taking Ruby’s side anyway. You’re not allowed to bad mouth yourself in your head. That’s called depression.”

“But that’s all I do in here. You can’t take that from me,” I went on pointing at my own skull.

“It’s against the rules. I’ll put it to a vote if I have to,” Ruby warned.

“No voting,” I protested.

“Yes. Voting what an excellent idea,” Weiss bobbed her head.

“But-”

“All in favor say ‘yay.’ Yay!” Ruby cheered.

“Yay,” Weiss agreed.

“But-”

“Tough bananas, big guy,” Ruby marched forward over me. “Your reign ends here.”

“It’s not healthy. If you think malicious thoughts about yourself you may as well be slitting your wrists or burning your hands,” Weiss agreed. “It’s self harm and self harming is expressly forbidden.”

“I’m in charge here,” I managed. “I get to choose what I think about me.”

“Not anymore,” Ruby wagged a finger in my face.

“You can’t be trusted to do a good enough job,” Weiss nodded.

“Listen…” I trailed but I didn’t have anything. I had nothing for them to listen to. “Weren’t we talking about cakes?”

“Nice try,” Ruby patted me on the shoulder.

“Honeymoon locations?” I pressed. Literally anything. Get me out of this.

“I’ve always wanted to go to Costa Del Sol,” Weiss agreed. “It’s a beach resort town near Vacuo.”

“Costa Del’cation!” Ruby pumped a fist.

“White, sandy beaches, cocktails, swimsuits, the works,” Weiss nodded.

“Lovemaking. Plenty of lovemaking,” Ruby sighed. “We’ll get off the pill and really try.”

“Think you can keep up, Jaune?” Weiss asked.

“Um… probably not. Right? I mean… how many times per day do you think I can go?” I wondered.

“Eight?” Ruby asked. I laughed.

“Ten?” Weiss pressed ambitiously.

“Maybe six. And that’s pushing it. Probably four. I need time for my gentlemen to regroup and recoup,” I informed them. “Otherwise it starts to hurt and it becomes less effective. And it isn’t a fun type of hurt like what you ladies sometimes describe. It’s a painful hurt.”

“Poor little Jaune,” Ruby admonished and stroked my hair. “We’ll take care of you.”

“Are you talking about me or my dick?” I asked.

“Both,” she hummed.

“You really think you can only do six shots per day? That’s only three a piece for the two of us…” Weiss looked thoughtful.

“‘Only?’” I cut in. They ignored me.

“Doesn’t sound like a lot. But if it’s every day,” Ruby shrugged. “If it’s every day we should get somewhere with it.”

“Only three, though,” Weiss shook her head. “That’s not a whole lot of times. Maybe if it’s a ‘dangerous’ week for our cycles.”

“Yeah… should we plan it that way? Or just…”

“Just try all the time. Yeah,” Weiss finished the thought for Ruby.

“Three ought to be plenty,” I layed down the law. “How many shots does it take to get pregnant? Just one good one right?”

“We can probably also start trying a little before the honeymoon and wedding day. We won’t be showing for sure,” Ruby ignored me.

“That’s true. It wouldn’t hurt to at least get off the pill before. What do you think? Like a month?”

“Plus the honeymoon and afterwards. That gives us two months of three hits per day. That should probably do it. And if it doesn’t we should see a doctor.”

“Jaune and I tried for at least two months. If you don’t get pregnant Jaune should see a doctor. If I don’t get pregnant I should see a doctor,” Weiss continued.

“Um… two months? Every day?” I asked.

“Is that a problem?” Ruby intoned.

“Buck up, Jaune,” Weiss demanded.

“I’ll just drink plenty of water…” I trailed. But there was only so much drinking water could do. It took time for me to grow more of my shooters.

“Does that help?” Ruby wondered.

“It doesn’t hurt?” I answered vaguely. “I’ll be honest. Six every day for two months is a lot. It’s like… well, it’s a lot. And there are two of you. I mean… I always dreamed of disappointing two girls at once but never thought it would go down quite like this. But I’mma need some rest days in there. I just am. If I’m a revolver-”

“Rifle. Little Jaune is a rifle. We’ve gone over this,” Ruby interrupted me.

“-I’m going to need some time to reload,” I finished looking at her. “I literally don’t have it in me to do what you’re asking.”

“What about with Limit Breaker?” Weiss asked.

“I still get tired. When I’m out of juice, I’m out of juice. I just am. It’s like in those commercials where they squeeze a ketchup bottle only a puff of dust comes out instead of ketchup. Only for my dick. And when you try and squeeze my dick and its a dry well, it fucking hurts, bro. And not in a fun-pleasant kind of hurting. It fucking hurts. That’s the gods’ way of telling you to stop. Stop it. You’ve had enough. Seriously quit trying.”

“Well I don’t care what the gods think,” Weiss tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I want my three hits.”

“I’m saying ‘no.’ It’s not happenin’. I need rest days. More than one,” I cut in.

“More than one a month or more than one a week?” Ruby asked. Ambitious! Was she fucking serious? I’m not a god. I can’t ejaculate and evacuate like that. I’m not a sperm dispenser with legs.

“More than one a week probably. Six is a lot. After, like, three in the same day the gods start frowning down upon you. You can feel the negative energy. They start making their disappointment known.”

“What’s the most times you’ve ever jerked off in a day?” Ruby wondered.

“Two. It starts becoming uncomfortable after three. It starts to hurt after that. The gods start shaking their heads at you. If we’re going to do six we’ll have to space them out over the day. Start early, drink plenty of milk, finish late.”

“Finish often, more like,” Weiss murmured.

“Okay. I’m telling you guys it starts hurting and I can’t get it up after three in succession and I need something like a twelve hour break to even fit one more in there,” I said. “Four every day would be a lot. You ought to be grateful if I can pull off four.”

“That’s only two for each of us!” Weiss smacked me on the arm.

“I’m doin’ the best I can!” I shouted back.

“I want my three hits!” Weiss demanded.

“You can’t… you can’t have three! I’m sorry! The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak! You just… you’re probably not gonna get three! You’re just not. And hitting me and yelling at me won’t suddenly make me ejaculate more. I only make the stuff so fast. And it fucking hurts! Quit hitting me!”

“Fine,” Weiss huffed. “Two will have to do.”

“You’ll be lucky to get two. I’m probably done at three a day. The most powerful one is the first one. It really fucking hurts. Stop hitting me, Weiss. I mean it.”

I caught her hand when she whipped it at my shoulder. I think she just liked hitting me.

“You good, you done?” I asked.

“We want more,” Ruby demanded. “More.”

“I’m only one guy. You want more sperm, go to a bank. You want my kids, you're gonna have to be patient with me. I’m not a talking pair of gonads. I need time and rest and recuperation periods. That means we’ll seriously be pushing it at six a day, we’ll be fortunate to have four a day, and I will still need days off. I just will. If you can’t handle that you can’t have my kids. I’m sorry! You just can’t! You’ll need someone else. Someone, who from the sound of it, is literally just testicles and nothing else. There’s a person attached to this dick. I will not be objectified!”

Weiss smacked me with her other hand.

“Weiss hit me again and I won’t have sex with you for a month,” I threatened.

“You wouldn’t dare! Our wedding day is only a month off. We can probably start trying now! I want to start trying now!”

“Hit me again,” I challenged. “I’ll give it all to Ruby. Ruby, you want to start trying now?”

Ruby hummed at me softly in a contented fashion and wrapped her arms around my neck.

“Behave or all three shots are going to Ruby,” I leveled at Weiss.

Weiss’s eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared but she didn’t hit me again even though I could tell she wanted to. And I was mostly playing anyway. It wasn’t like she really hurt me.

“I thought you said four,” Weiss growled.

“I said four if you’re lucky. Are you feeling lucky?” I asked.

pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq pq

-WG

#jaune arc x weiss schnee #jaune arc x ruby rose #weiss schnee x ruby rose #war of the roses #rwby #jaune arc #ruby rose #weiss schnee #jaune arc x ruby rose x weiss schnee #motion sickness #fanfic #whiteknight #lancaster #white rose

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openheart12 · 3 years

Text

I Did Something Bad

A/N: Today is my lovely adoptive mom’s @burnsoslow birthday! I never thought me making a post about yk what would lead to our friendship and Kryce! I hope you have the best day ever and that it is every bit as amazing as you are! I’m so thankful for your friendship and how you make me laugh until I cry or pee fvhujskdghfn and you’re the only one who could ever make me into a Drake stan. I love you so much! Eat all the cake you can for me! Happy birthday, love! I hope you know how much I adore you ❤

A/N 2: This is very much full of Donald Trump hate and despitement because who wouldn’t hate him anyways jkhkdjgh there’s also quite a bit of cussing

Word Count: 2,613

Thank you @rigatonireid for pre-reading!!

“This is bullshit,” Kurns exclaimed as Bryce and Dick were watching the events unfolding at the United States Capitol. “This is why you don’t vote for oranges.” She said while rolling her eyes.

“Agreed,” the two men replied in unison.

“Jinx!” They replied again at the same time that led to twenty minutes of them saying “jinx again” in response until Dick finally gave in and let Bryce win.

“You win, Bryce-y poo,” he had said. Kurns had kept her attention glued to the television during their little game.

“You okay over there, banana flavored moonpie?” Dick asked, directing his attention over to Kurns.

“No, look at all those turnips. And the cult leader himself told them to do this shit. People actually voted for this moron? They should all get head CTs to check for brain damage which they undoubtedly have.”

“Would it make you feel better if we overthrew the government while kidnapping Donnie?” Dick asked seriously.

“Yes, actually,” she answered with a wide grin.

“Okay, let me make a few phone calls and can you download some episodes of My Little Pony on Netflix for Bryce?” Kurns nodded her head in response, she also took the liberty of downloading Among Us on their phones so they wouldn’t be bored on the flight.

The flight from North Delanois was a little over eight hours and being on a plane that long with a toddler, well Bryce, was going to be a challenge.

It was a private jet so hopefully it would be more bearable, but just in case she also downloaded a few episodes of Max and Ruby and Yo Gabba Gabba. She also downloaded some episodes of Parks and Rec and Friends for herself.

After packing the essentials; clothing, toiletries, handcuffs, whipped cream, ice cubes -who knew- and My Little Pony gummies, they were off to the airport.

“Dick Kock,” Dick said introducing himself along with Kurns and Bryce.

Kurns was decked out in a Taylor Swift 1989 t-shirt and a pair of leggings with her trusty white vans whereas Bryce was dressed in a rainbow colored polka dot shirt, black and white striped pants, one blue croc and the other was yellow, and socks with weed on them. Him and Kurns had forgotten about meth since it already landed them in jail one. Chris P. Bacon was still a sore subject for the pair.

They boarded the plane and Bryce immediately went to find his gummies. Kurns took a seat next to Dick and pulled up CNN news to get an update on the attack on the Capitol.

Suddenly breaking news flashed across her phone screen: Taylor Swift set to release her tenth studio album later today.

“OH MY GOD! BRYCE LOOK!” Kurns exclaimed, jumping up out of her seat to show Bryce.

“OH MY GOD! TS10! TS10! TS10!” He chanted.

“Oh wow, that sure is exciting!” Dick chimed in.

“By the way, D, I think we should call this Operation ‘I Did Something Bad’ in honor of Taylor’s new album.”

“That’s a spectacular idea, Kurnel Mustard!” Bryce said with a smirk, it had been a new nickname he had given her after the three of them had played Clue one night.

“Shut up, Apple Bottom Jeans, Boots with the Fur,” she retaliated, mocking the Little Pony named Apple Jacks.

“Stfu,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You must be really mad if you’re talking in text.”

“Dick,” he pouted, “she’s doing it again.”

“Be nice you two, we have a long flight ahead of us.”

For the first two hours, they each did their own thing; Dick was reading a hunting magazine, Kurns was watching the news, and Bryce had already finished the entirety of My Little Pony.

“Do you guys wanna play Among us?” Kurns asked out of the blue.

“Hell yeah! I just bought the baby crew mate and I’m dying to use it,” Bryce responded.

“I’ve never played before but sure!”

“Okay so you’re either a crew mate or impostor and if you’re a crew mate, you have to do these tasks whilst trying not to die and if you’re an impostor, you go around killing other crew mates trying not to get caught in the process. You’ll get the hang of it eventually,” Kurns explained.

“Thanks love bug,” Dick placed a quick kiss to the side of her head.

The three of them found an open lobby and talked in the chat box waiting for the game to start and when it did, Dick asked the question of, “why is my name red?”

“Oh my God, Dick! Don’t say that. It means you’re an impostor,” Bryce explained at the same exact time Kurns called an emergency meeting.

“It’s purple,” Kurns typed in the text box, referring to Bryce’s color.

“What the frick! It’s so not me. I’m not playing anymore,” he pouted, turning off his phone and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Now, children, can you two not get along? Think about the bigger picture,” Dick intervened.

“True, but I’m still not going to play with her.”

His statement didn’t affect Kurns in the slightest and she went back to playing the game. Dick joined her while Bryce was running away from an imaginary dragon and he ended up colliding into one of the seats, face first.

“Ow,” he rubbed his forehead that was now bright red.

“That’s what you get for being a baby,” Kurns said, not looking up from her phone while Dick went to go check on his blueberry muffin.

“You okay, strawberry flavored fig bar? That’s quite a hit you took.”

“Yeah, a kiss would make it feel better though,” he said, using his puppy dog eyes. Dick smiled softly at him before kissing his forehead all better.

The three of them spent the next six hours playing games, eating, and watching movies from the age of the dinosaurs that Kurns had saved since she was over 10,000 years old.

After landing in Washington D.C., the trio headed straight to the Whitehouse, if people could storm the Capitol, how much harder could it be to kidnap the president? That was Kurns logic at least and as it turns out, it wasn’t that much harder.

Kurns went to the Oval Office while Dick and Bryce went to the bunker since that apparently seemed to be Trump’s favorite place in the Whitehouse. But unexpectedly, Kurns found the Donald Duck under the office in the Oval, tweeting away on his iPhone 4s.

“Mr. Racist,” she called and he immediately turned to look at her.

“What? I’m tremendously busy if you can’t tell.”

“I see that, Mr. Pigman.”

“That is hugely racist towards me. I happen to be winning very bigly at the moment. I’m trending on Twitter!” He said proudly, he then proceeded to show Kurns his crusty ass phone.

“Come on, I have some candy for you if you come with me,” Kurns coaxed him out from under the desk and led him to the white van they had brought with them, you know, the kind your parents warn you to stay away from.

“Fake news!” Trump exclaimed with a huff. “You must be friends with sleepy Joe.”

“You’re right,” she winked.

“You know, frankly, this doesn’t make America great.”

“I disagree, I think this definitely makes America great again,” Kurns retaliated.

“Does Mikey know about this?”

“Yeah, we planned it with the fly,” she snickered.

“Well, it’s fake news, believe me.”

“What?”

“Nothing you libtards wouldn’t understand it anyways. Anyways, what's that thing on your face?”

“My mask?”

“Yeah, what’s that for?”

Kurns shook her head, not even being surprised by the question. “We’re in the middle of a pandemic, Donald Dump.”

“What’s a panoramic?”

“Don’t worry about it.” She got out her walkie talkie to talk to the boys. “The orange has expired. Over,” she said, their code word for getting Trump out.

“Okay, bet, we’re on our way out. Over.”

“Good job, K!” Dick said.

“See you soon and thanks! Over.”

Fifteen minutes later, Dick and Bryce arrived with a six foot cutout of Donald.

“What the fuck is that?”

“Hey, that’s me!” Trump chimed in.

“Shut the fuck up,” Kurns said, she was quickly losing brain cells being in his proximity.

“That is rude, quite frankly.”

“We found it in his bedroom… along with some other, uh, questionable things,” Bryce explained.

“Like what?”

“Like a, uh, dildo with Pence on it.”

“Ew…” they all turned to look at Trump who was looking away and whistling, trying to pretend he wasn’t there.

“Oh, um, about that. That was a tremendous invasion of privacy.”

“Shut the fuck up,” they all said in unison and he pulled an imaginary zipper over his lips and threw away the key like a literal child.

“I can’t be near him anymore,” Kurns said suddenly, getting out her phone to call someone.

“Who are you calling?” Dick asked.

“Joe, I was gonna invite him to go get some ice cream.”

“OMG! I wanna go too!” Bryce exclaimed.

“And me!” Trump said.

“No, to both of you. You two have to keep an eye on Don and make sure he stays off of Twitter.” She was explaining when Joe picked up the phone. “Hey, Joe, do you want to go get ice cream somewhere?”

“Duh! Taylor is actually here right now and you don’t care if she comes do you?” He asked to make sure.

“Of course not! You can bring Champ and Major too! I know Jill is busy right now.”

“Okay! On our way!” He said before hanging up.

“Where are you going to go?”

“Probably McDonald’s or something, Taylor is also coming with us, he said.”

“YOU MEAN THE TAYLOR?” Bryce asked in shock.

“Yeah, him and Taylor are like BFF’s.”

“I still like her music 25% less, okay?” Donald brought up.

“Shut the fuck up,” Kurns said again.

“Fine, fine. But could you make sure Barron is fed?”

“Oop,” Bryce slapped his hand over his mouth.

“Yes, now shut up.”

Kurns was getting ready to go meet Joe and Taylor when Melania walked up to the van. “You have Trump?” She asked quietly.

“Yeah, why? You need him?”

“Yeah, could you make him sign this?” She placed some papers in Kurns hand. She read them and wasn’t shocked after realizing they were divorce papers.

“No problem, hold tight real quick. Dick, make him sign these!”

“Of course, ladybug.” He took a hold of Trump’s hand and wrote his name for him since he wouldn’t do it himself.

“Here you go,” Kurns handed the papers back to Melania and she left without looking back. “Okay, I’m leaving. Be careful with that moron and for the love of God, don’t let his supporters know you have him.”

“Roger that!” Bryce responded.

“Don’t worry, vanilla brown sugar! We’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone. Have fun!” He called after her.

She met Joe and Taylor at a local McDonald’s and greeted both of them with a hug. “Congratulations on winning the election and congratulations on album number ten!” She reached down to pet both of the German Shepherds who happily wagged their tails.

“Thanks!” They replied in unison.

“So how are the boys?” Taylor asked.

“Good! They sent their regards. They’re actually, uh, holdingtrumphostage,” she said fast enough so hopefully they couldn’t understand but they are actually educated.

“WHAT?” Joe exclaimed.

“Miss gurl, how did y’all pull that off?” Taylor asked while hysterically laughing.

“It was easier than I thought! Either security sucks or they wanted Trump gone and I can’t blame them for that.”

“Amen sister!” Joe replied.

“Can we see him?” Taylor asked.

“I mean, yeah if you want!”

“Okay let’s go!” She went to get up when Joe gently grabbed her arm.

“But the ice cream…” He reminded her.

“Of course, how could I forget?” She playfully rolled her eyes. They all ate their ice cream before heading back to the Whitehouse.

Once arriving, Taylor and Joe headed straight to the front doors while Kurns stood there like 🧍‍♀️. “Hey guys, he's actually right there,” she said, pointing to the white van.

Taylor opened the door to find Bryce half asleep on the ground, Dick was listening to ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ and dancing in his seat meanwhile, Donald had his lips glued to the side of the door, making out with it.

“What the fuck?” All three of them asked at the same time.

“OMG TAYLOR! HI! HOW ARE YOU?” Bryce shouted, jumping up off of the floor and pulling her into a hug.

“Hi!”

“Hello, Ms. Swift,” Dick greeted, gracefully bowing. “Mr. President,” he nodded.

“How did you all meet?” Don asked.

“We actually just met, our hate for you is what we bond over!” Joe explained in terms he would understand. Hopefully.

“Oh,” was all he said and started to play with his fingers. “I don’t know if you knew this, but Washington D.C. is actually the capital of the United Stats. Did you know that?”

“What did you think it was? And it’s the United States, not… Stats.” Kurns asked in a surprisingly concerning tone.

“I thought it was like a stat… or well state. Whatever it is.”

“Oh,” Kurns said while Taylor called him an idiot under her breath.

“That’s embarrassing miss gurl,” Bryce chimed in.

“ARE YOU TALKING TIKTOK TO ME? I WILL BAN YOU,” Trump threatened.

“Please, these empty promises you keep making are getting really old just like your term,” Dick said, making the others die of laughter… no literally, some Trump supporter that had been walking by had just collapsed and died.

“And I oop-” Kurns and Bryce said at the same time.

“IFHCBXNZNZ, HAHAHAHA,” Bryce barked out.

“Can we get something to eat? I really want some Dino nuggies 🥺,” Trump pleaded.

“No,” they all replied.

“So what are we going to do with him?” Taylor asked.

“I don’t know, what do y’all want to do with him?”

“Excellent question, K, I say we feed him to some alligators!” Bryce exclaimed, flapping his two arms together to make an alligator jaw and started running towards Donald who jumped back in fear.

“That’s not nice,” he pouted, a lone tear trickling down his cheek.

“Fuck you, but not literally or physically,” Taylor said, making sure to explain what she meant.

“I want some My Little Pony gummies!”

“Me too!” Donald said with a smile now on his crusty, orange ass face.

“No,” they replied again.

“Fine,” he crossed his arms over his chest and turned his back to them, like the toddler he is.

“Anyways, y’all want to go get Cookout?” Kurns suggested.

“Yeah, of course!” Joe responded.

The five of them headed to the nearest Cookout to get food and milkshakes, leaving Trump behind all alone. After hanging out with Taylor and Joe, it was unfortunately time to head back to North Delanois. With promises to meet up soon, the trio were soon enough taking off at the airport.

“What ended up happening to Trump?” Bryce asked seriously.

“He went to prison.”

“As he should, period,” Kurns said with a smirk.

“What are we going to do when we land?”

“Sleep!” Kurns and Bryce said.

“Of course, my love doves. I’m going to try to do that right now, so please try to get along.”

“Promise!” Kurns said, holding out her pinky finger which he took and kissed. The rest of the flight was surprisingly peaceful, Kurns and Bryce were able to get along while Dick slept. It had been a fun trip, one they hoped they would actually never have to make again.

Tags: @burnsoslow @ao719 @callmeellabella @rigatonireid because no one else should have to read this :)

#kryce and dick chronicles #happy birthday burnsy!!

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sceptilemasterr · 5 years

Text

Catalysts Play Open Heart: Chapter 2

Summary: The shenanigans continue as Michelle and the others play through the second chapter of Open Heart!

Previous Chapter: Link

Note: The things in bold are scenes from the actual Choices chapter. Ian and Alyssa are my twin Endless Summer MCs.

“Guys?” asked Raj, poking his head out of the kitchen. “Has anyone seen Furball?”

Estela turned to look at him, frowning. “Huh. Now that you mention it… no, not for a while. Think Quinn would know?”

Ian, sitting beside her on the couch, shrugged. “Yeah, probably. Furball seems to like her the best, after all.”

“Good point,” said Raj. “I’ll see if I can find-”

He was interrupted by a blue blur zooming between his legs and out of the kitchen, followed a few seconds later by Alyssa and Craig, holding glasses of water that were spilling everywhere as they ran past Raj. “Get back here, you stupid fox!” yelled Craig.

“We need you to make ice cubes!” Alyssa yelled. “So Craig can pay me ten bucks!”

Ian rolled his eyes and scooped up Furball as he ran past them. Raj rubbed his forehead in confusion as Estela sighed, trying desperately not to laugh. “Alright, ‘Lyss, what the hell…?” asked Ian.

Alyssa hid behind Craig. “Are you… hiding from him?” asked Raj.

“...Yes?”

Ian held his stern expression for about two seconds before bursting out laughing. “You’re lucky that worked out better for you than it did in the story,” he said, and Estela, Craig, and Raj all started laughing as well when they realized why the situation seemed so familiar.

“Mrrrr?” mrrrred Furball. Ian rubbed his head and set him back down. He immediately sprinted as fast as he could away from Alyssa and Craig.

“Speaking of the story, by the way… shouldn’t we keep going?” Raj asked. “We’re done with the dishes. Wonder where everyone else is?”

“Dunno, somebody should go find them,” Craig said, pointing to Ian.

“What? Why me?”

“Uhh… because… I pointed to you?” Craig explained.

Estela let out a dramatic sigh and stood up. “I’ll do it, then,” she said, walking off to go find the others as Raj, Alyssa, and Craig all sat down in the same chairs as before.

Several minutes later, Estela had managed to get everyone rounded up and back in the lobby, ready to continue playing Open Heart. Michelle and Quinn were sitting by the projector as before, so that they could use the phone. Quinn had gotten another fruity drink from somewhere, and she’d made one for Alyssa as well. Jake, Raj, Craig, Zahra, and Ian all had fresh glasses of whiskey. “Same rules as before?” asked Jake.

“If there’s as many one-choice options as last time, we might have to cancel that rule,” Quinn suggested. “That was a lot.”

“It was pretty funny, though,” said Zahra. “Alright, let’s do this.”

“LEEEEEEROY JEEEEEEEENKINS!” yelled Craig, right in her ear.

“God dammit Craig, ever heard of inside voices?!”

“...No?”

“Come on, let’s just start the story already!” said Diego. “I can’t stand another minute of waiting on that cliffhanger!”

“Okay, okay, calm down,” said Michelle. “I’m starting it now!”

Everyone cheered as she selected the option to start Chapter 2.

OPEN HEART: Chapter 2

Code Blue

“Hey, it says ‘Code Blue’ and it’s written in blue! I wonder if that was on purpose?” asked Quinn.

“There is a slight possibility,” Aleister deadpanned.

Jackie: What were her symptoms?

“Are we voting?” asked Michelle, hesitant to pick what she knew was the right answer.

“It was the hemo… thing, right?” asked Jake.

“No, that was the President’s secret vampire twin,” said Diego.

“I do not understand,” said Varyyn, looking bewildered.

Aleister rolled his eyes. “You certainly aren’t the only one, Varyyn,” he said.

“Come on, let’s not mix up the patients,” said Sean. “Michelle, just go ahead.”

Michelle shrugged. “Okay,” she said, picking the ‘headaches and nausea’ option.

Jackie: Look! She’s breaking out in hives.

“Sounds like an adverse reaction to the antibiotic,” observed Michelle.

MC!Michelle: She’s in anaphylactic shock!

“Damn, Michelle!” said Estela. “Good call.”

Michelle smiled at the compliment before continuing.

MC!Michelle: Allergic?

“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” asked Michelle, frowning. “She said she had no known allergies…”

Quinn giggled. “Your reaction is right there as one of the options!” she pointed out.

Everyone laughed. “Alright, guess we’re picking that one,” Michelle said.

Defibrillator: Pull it closer!

Everyone stared at Jake expectantly. “What?” he asked, before he tore his gaze away from Alyssa and noticed the one-choice option on the screen.

“If you’re done gazing into your wife’s eyes, you’ve got a line to say,” Zahra reminded him.

“Right… Drink, y’all!”

MC!Michelle: What do I do?

“Whoa, timed choice alert!” shouted Diego in surprise. “All you, Michelle!”

“Got it,” Michelle replied, easily clicking through the correct options. “It’s funny, we’re going to be doing our actual ACLS training next month.”

“‘ACLS?’” echoed Craig. “Wait, does that stand for… Awesome Craig Likes… uh… Spatulas?”

Everyone facepalmed. “Since when do you like spatulas?” asked Zahra.

“What?” said Craig defensively. “It was a good guess!”

“No. No, it really wasn’t,” snarked Michelle.

“Oh! I know!” said Raj. “Actual CPR, Lives Saved?”

“An acronym inside an acronym!” said Diego. “Acronym-ception!” He air-fived Raj.

“That was… actually pretty reasonable,” admitted Alyssa. “Better than Craig’s guess, anyway.”

“Hey!” shouted Craig.

Michelle shook her head. “Good guess, Raj, but no. ‘Advanced Cardiac Life Support.’”

“My guess was more awesome, though!” said Craig.

Zahra sighed. “Literally nobody cares.”

“Alright, let’s move on,” said Quinn.

Defib paddles: Clear!

“Drink, y’all!”

The monitor beeps once… twice… Annie’s heartbeat returns, accelerated but constant!

Everyone cheered. “We did it!” exclaimed Quinn excitedly, hugging Michelle.

“Cliffhanger resolved!” crowed Diego triumphantly.

“CHYEEEEEAH!” Craig bellowed into Zahra’s ear.

“God dammit I am going to buy 500 pairs of earmuffs now…” muttered Zahra, annoyed.

Dr. Ramsey: What the hell is going on in here, Rookie?

Diego started humming the Imperial March from Star Wars. “Dun, dun, dun, dun da-da, dun da-da…”

MC!Michelle: Dr. Ramsey!

“Shall we vote on this one?” suggested Grace.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” offered Michelle. They quickly had everyone raise their hands for the different options, and ‘We have it under control’ won 3-7-4.

Jackie: Just doing my job, Dr. Ramsey.

“Hey! Why does she take the credit?! That’s bullshit,” complained Jake.

“...And that is why you’d make a terrible doctor,” Michelle snarked.

Jake glared at her for a moment as if he was about to snark back, but then sighed and relaxed back into his seat. “You’re not wrong,” he admitted.

“You all have no idea how many times we had ‘Professionalism!’ drilled into our heads since day one,” Michelle told the group.

“Professionalism is an admirable quality in any profession, not simply medicine,” Aleister pointed out. “I vote we maintain professionalism in this choice.”

“Oh, are we voting again?” asked Estela, glancing up to look at the choices. “Well, I say we need to stand up for ourselves!”

“Professionalism, Estela,” Michelle reminded her.

They quickly tallied the votes, 8-6 in favor of “Dr. Varma really bailed me out.”

Jackie tries to read you, knowing she just took full credit for the save.

“She knows what she did…” muttered Sean, annoyed at Jackie.

Ethan pinches the bridge of his nose, mumbling something about ‘interns’ under his breath.

“Wow, twice in one day. Two chapters. Whatever,” observed Ian.

“Maybe that’s just his default reaction to everything,” suggested Diego. Everyone laughed.

Intern: Yeah… Too bad he doesn’t actually need to see Dr. Ramsey.

“Ha! Nice!” exclaimed Zahra. “Love this girl already.”

“Z, can you do that for me next time a professor asks me to stay after class?” asked Craig.

“No.”

MC!Michelle: You lied to Dr. Ramsey for me? That was so…

Another unanimous vote followed, for the “Sweet” option.

“Best character, seriously,” said Diego. “And she doesn’t even have a name…”

Sienna: I’m Sienna, by the way. Or Dr. Trinh. Whichever floats your boat.

“...Uh, spoke too soon.”

“Sienna is a nice person,” said Varyyn, stating the obvious.

Diego just smiled at him. “Yes. Yes she is,” he said.

When the next choice came up, everyone once again unanimously agreed to support Sienna with the “Safety in numbers” option.

MC!Michelle: I’ve already met a couple of sharks today.

“Wait, sharks? When did that happen?” asked Craig.

“Obviously not literal sharks, dumbass,” said Zahra.

“Oh. I was wondering how they’d swim in a hospital, anyway…”

MC!Michelle: So long as I don’t have to make the dolphin noise.

Before anyone could comment, Michelle turned around and glared at Craig. “The answer is no, I won’t try it,” she said. Craig opened his mouth. “And no, I won’t make a whale noise, either.” Craig closed his mouth again.

MC!Michelle: Am I really cut out for this?

“Um, YES!” chorused everyone besides Michelle.

Michelle smiled gratefully at all of them. “Aww. Thanks for the confidence, guys.”

Suddenly, the door swings open, and somebody walks in!

“Wait, if the person already stepped in, how do we get to choose who it is?” asked Diego, frowning. “I’m confused.”

“Uhh… Vaanu did it?” suggested Grace. Everyone laughed.

“Let’s vote, then,” said Estela, “though I’m still annoyed at Jackie. Backstabber.”

There was an awkward pause as everyone stared expectantly at Aleister. “What?” he asked. “I’m not the official vote-counter or anything. Why doesn’t one of you do it?”

“Uhh…” said Jake.

“I’ll do it, then,” said Ian, standing up and taking everyone’s vote. Bryce won, 11-3.

MC!Michelle: …

“‘I’m just looking for something?’ Worst excuse ever,” Diego commented.

“You’re not wrong,” Alyssa agreed. “Besides, this isn’t the moment to brush it off! You’ve gotta have a heart-to-heart!”

“...Pun intended?” Ian teased.

“Shut up,” his sister snarked back, throwing a pillow at him, which was easily caught by Estela. Everyone quickly voted for the ‘My first patient almost died’ option.

Bryce: But if every hospital employee who ever hid in a supply closet quit, there’s be nobody here but the patients.

Michelle chuckled at the line. “Ha. That sure sounds true enough,” she commented.

“No one at the hospital but the patients? That would be awkward,” said Craig. “Who would take care of them?”

Nobody responded to this.

Bryce: You’ve got two options. One, breeze through life with an unshakeable self-assurance like me.

“Amen to that,” said Jake, raising his whiskey glass in salute.

“Self-assured? Jake, yesterday you were calling yourself a failure because you forgot to bring along a blanket for me,” Alyssa teased him.

“That doesn’t count!”

“Do you have any idea how many blankets there are at a resort hotel?”

“...You’re never gonna let that go, are you?”

“Nope!”

MC!Michelle: ...Okay, I’ll try.

“No! Do, or do not. There is no try,” quoted Diego.

“That was a scarily good Yoda impression,” Sean told him. “What’s your secret?”

“Oh, I’ll never tell!” Diego responded, grinning broadly.

Bryce: Is there anything else I can get you?

When the choices appeared, Quinn giggled. “Ooh, we should definitely ask for a hug!” she said.

“Does this count as shameless flirting?” asked Jake.

“Only if we choose it,” Raj reminded him.

Jake considered this. “Okay, voting time,” he said. “Who picks the hug?” Everyone raised their hands except for Aleister. “That settles it, drink, y’all!”

You look up at him, your faces close.

“Please let there be a kiss option!” said Quinn excitedly.

“Seconded!” agreed Diego.

“Thirded,” said Jake, before adding “...So we can drink again.” Alyssa playfully smacked him.

Everyone laughed when the next choice appeared, and there was indeed a “Kiss him” option. But before anyone could actually vote, Michelle simply selected it without waiting for the vote. “Screw it, we all know it would’ve won anyway,” she pointed out.

“Sure, why not,” Zahra muttered, looking expectantly at Jake.

“Drink, y’all!”

You throw a leg around his side, pulling him even tighter.

“Damn, is it hot in here, or is it just me?” asked Alyssa.

“Why? You gettin’ any ideas?” teased Jake.

“Get a room,” grumbled Zahra.

“Aww, Z, don’t be like that,” Craig said.

...When suddenly, the door opens!

“Cockblocked by a door,” groaned Diego. “Ouch.”

Resident: Or, if I may be so bold… might you hand me a suture kit?

“Wow,” laughed Sean. “Nothing fazes this guy.”

“It’s just another Monday for him, I bet,” Ian said.

MC!Michelle: Maaaaybe we should get back to work.

“You don’t say!” Michelle said to her MC self, laughing.

Bryce: Hope I cheered you up a little.

“Oh, he sure did that!” blurted out Estela, before quickly covering her mouth with her hands and blushing furiously.

“Hey, no shame!” said Alyssa.

Ian looked at his wife, confusion on his face. “I’m not sure if I should take that as an insult or not,” he said.

Estela leaned in, speaking softly and intending for only Ian to hear. “He’s super attractive, mainly because he looks a lot like you,” she said, and now it was Ian’s turn to blush.

“Ian and Estela, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” chanted Craig, who had managed to overhear her.

“Craig. We’re literally married,” Estela reminded him, glaring daggers for good measure.

“Oh yeah…”

“Ahem!” said Michelle. “Back to the story!”

You look up, and realize you have no idea where you are.

“Sounds like the first day at Hartfeld, all over again,” Grace says. “God, that was nerve-wracking. I hate getting lost.”

“On the plus side, you met me!” Quinn reminded her. “So it wasn’t all bad, right?”

Grace smiled. “No, I guess you’re right. Silver linings?”

“Silver linings!”

Intern: Hey! It’s Harry Potter, M.D.! You know… living under a staircase and all.

Diego frowned. “Hey, he copied my reference!”

“Well, you predicted his reference, technically,” observed Aleister. “Since he is a fictional character and cannot hear you.”

“You know what I meant.”

“Indeed,” said Aleister, a hint of a smile forming at the corners of his mouth.

“Hang on…” said Jake, “was that… a joke? From Slytherin of all people? Somebody call the press, the apocalypse is starting!”

“I decline to respond to that.”

When the next choice appeared, Aleister was again the one to call for the vote. The choice went 10-4 in favor of “I’m completely and utterly lost.”

MC!Michelle: I swear this hospital doesn’t look this huge from the outside!

“Plot twist: The hospital is secretly a TARDIS!” shouted Raj excitedly.

“Hey, I was gonna say that!” said Diego, exchanging another air five with Raj.

As you get in, she shuffles away, her bare butt showing out the back of her hospital gown.

“That wasn’t a mental image I needed today,” Zahra said.

“At least they didn’t actually show it?” Jake pointed out, laughing.

“Oh my God, there’s an option for ‘Your butt is showing?!’ We’ve got to pick it!” exclaimed Raj.

“Why are butts funny?” asked Varyyn, confused.

He looked at Diego for clarification, but Diego was equally confused. “Honestly, I… have no idea. They just are.”

“Come on, guys. Professionalism,” Michelle admonished the group.

“Yeah, but this isn’t real life,” said Zahra. “Live a little! Alright, whoever votes ‘your butt is showing’ gets to drink.”

“Hey!” protested Michelle. “You can’t bribe people for votes with drinks!”

“I just did.”

Thanks to Zahra’s bribe, the vote swung 8-6 in favor of ‘Your butt is showing!’ Michelle sighed and reluctantly picked the option.

Mrs. Martinez: I’m teasing you, my dear. I like the breeze!

At that line, everyone burst out laughing, even Michelle. “Okay, I have to admit, that was pretty funny,” she said. “Mrs. Martinez seems super fun.”

Elijah: You should’ve seen your face, Michelle.

“That’s true IRL, too,” said Craig, still laughing.

“Excuse me, did you just say ‘IRL’ out loud?” asked Aleister.

“...Maybe?”

MC!Michelle: Ohmygod! I know what’s wrong with Annie!

“That was random,” Quinn commented.

“What is she, Dr. Sherlock?” asked Jake. “That was way too fast.”

“Hey, it’s Michelle,” Sean said. “Sounds about right.” Michelle blushed but said nothing, continuing the story. When the next choice came up, they ended up voting for “I solved the case!”

MC!Michelle: You also told me that you were prone to panic attacks when you were stressed out.

“Isn’t everyone, though?” said Diego.

“Ain’t that the truth,” agreed Sean.

“Hey, speak for yourselves. I never panic,” said Jake.

Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Sure, Pinocchio,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

MC!Michelle: And you resurfaced too quickly.

“Of course! Decompression sickness!” exclaimed Michelle triumphantly.

“Too bad your other you beat you to it,” said Craig.

“To be fair, she’s still got two more years of med school, you know,” Quinn reminded him.

Craig frowned. “Wait, real Michelle, or Choices Michelle?”

“Great, now my brain hurts…” complained Raj.

“Real Michelle, obviously!”

Dr. Ramsey: I wanted to give you a chance to right the ship, first.

“That’s… weirdly generous,” observed Estela.

“Shouldn’t he have just treated her, then?” asked Grace. “I think that would be more important.” A few moments later, she giggled when the next choice came up, and the ‘You should’ve treated her right away’ option appeared.

“Well. I believe we know which option we ought to select, then,” Aleister said. “Let us go with Grace’s comment.”

“What happened to democracy, Malfoy?” Jake said, smirking knowingly.

“I… er…”

Michelle sighed and selected the option before Jake could continue putting Aleister on the spot.

Dr. Ramsey: But if I don’t push you to grow, then how many lives will be lost down the line because you’re not ready?

“That’s… actually a fair point,” conceded Zahra. “Glad I’m not gonna be a doctor. That kinda pressure… no thanks.”

“He’s still a jerk, though,” Jake said.

“You’re not wrong,” agreed Michelle.

MC!Michelle: (Oh, crap! I totally forgot that I was working with Aurora on this case.)

“So did I, to be perfectly honest,” admitted the real Michelle sheepishly.

When the next choice came up, everyone was surprised. “So, what, we can throw her under the bus like Jackie did? Payback time!” said Estela, a little too excitedly.

“Or we could be the bigger person, seeing as Aurora isn’t even the person who threw us under the bus last time in the first place,” Quinn suggested.

“Yeah, I’m gonna have to go with Quinn on this one,” Michelle said. “Sorry, Estela.”

“Are we not voting?” asked Aleister.

“Uh… apparently not,” said Sean, watching Michelle go ahead and pick the “Apologize to her” option.

Aurora: ...It’s okay. I wasn’t here. This was your win.

“See? Kindness prevails!” said Quinn.

Sienna: Hey! You survived!

“Wow, I like that outfit,” Alyssa said.

“This is the first time we’re seeing any of the characters in casual clothes, isn’t it?” asked Grace. “She looks good!”

“They all do,” observed Diego, as the other characters appeared in their casual outfits.

Then the outfit choice appeared. “Hang on, if we say ‘no,’ will we still be in our scrubs?” asked Michelle. “Because that would be… awkward.”

“Don’t forget, Michelle, I have already offered to purchase-” Aleister started to say.

Jake interrupted him. “Only one way to find out, Michelle! C’mon.”

Michelle sighed. “Thanks, Aleister… but I really am curious.” She selected ‘No thanks.’

MC!Michelle: I’ll stay in this. This is all I brought with me.

“Drink, y’all!” said Jake.

“Man, I should’ve bet somebody on that,” Craig complained. “I could’ve won ten bucks!”

Elijah: Who cares? We’re all a hundred-K in debt anyway.

“God, don’t remind me,” groaned Michelle.

A toast! Cheers!

“Drink, y’all!”

“That’s hilariously great timing,” said Raj. “Should we make that count double, since they’re actually drinking in the story?”

Zahra shrugged. “Why not?”

Another toast! To new friends!

“On second thought… this might be a little much,” Zahra admitted. “Scratch that double-drink rule.”

“Aww… you’re no fun,” said Craig.

“Trust me, your liver will thank me in the morning.”

“Aah! Timed choice!” exclaimed Raj when the next choice appeared. Michelle quickly picked ‘To making the world a better place.’

Landry: And this… human needs to switch to water for a while so he doesn’t puke in a potted plant.

“Sounds familiar,” Zahra said, looking knowingly at Craig.

“I don’t remember that,” Craig said.

“Not surprising.”

MC!Michelle: She’s cute! Go and talk to her!

Both Ian and Alyssa shot knowing glances at Diego. Diego blushed and laughed softly. “Okay, okay, yeah, that’s me all right,” he admitted. “But it worked, didn’t it?”

“We’re forever in your debt, Diego,” said Ian mock-solemnly.

“Best wingman ever,” Alyssa told him, wrapping an arm around Jake.

“Well, that settles it,” said Michelle when the next choice appeared, picking the ‘Good thing I’m your wingman’ option.

MC!Michelle: Who knows, maybe she’ll think that whole staring-across-the-bar thing is romantic.

Landry: It is my go-to move.

“Sounds like somebody else we all know,” laughed Alyssa, gesturing at Ian and Estela, “though in your case, it was on a plane…”

“Hey! To be fair, Estela did the same thing,” protested Ian.

“Not going to comment,” said Estela. “Let’s just move on…”

Sienna: Or were you raised somewhere they didn’t teach manners?

“Ha! Sick burn! Take that, dick-rocket,” said Craig.

“‘Dick-rocket?’ Huh?” echoed Varyyn. “What is a-”

“NOT IMPORTANT!” shouted Diego quickly. “NEXT SCENE!”

Everyone laughed when the next choice came up. “She’s about to kick his ass!” everyone chorused. Michelle smiled and picked the choice in question.

He looks down at Siena, whose eyes are on fire.

“If this girl’s death glares are anywhere near as terrifying as Estela’s… yikes,” Craig said. “You do not wanna be on the wrong end of one of those.”

“You’re damn right,” Estela agreed.

What do you do?

“Alright, official decision time: are we gonna buy diamonds, or not?” Michelle asked the group.

Aleister nodded. “Honestly, it’s no trouble at all. Besides, it isn’t like we have anything better to do with our time.”

“Either way, since it apparently costs money to hang out with people… drink, y’all,” said Jake.

“So who do we pick?” asked Quinn. “Bryce?”

“Well, we went with him for the closet scene,” Michelle pointed out.

“Jackie, then?” suggested Jake.

“Yeah, let’s give her a second chance to make a good impression!” said Grace.

“Agreed,” said Ian.

Aleister crossed over to the phone and put in his credit card information to purchase some diamonds before Michelle selected “Dance with Jackie.”

Over Jackie’s shoulder, you see Sienna grinning at you. She gives you an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

“Oh my God, she’s a girl version of Diego!” laughed Raj.

“Was I really that obvious?” asked Diego.

“Umm… kind of?” Ian said. Everyone giggled.

When the next choice came up, Michelle looked back at the group. “Alright, the most important question ever: Sexy or Silly?” said Diego in an overly-dramatic voice.

“Umm, sexy, duh,” said Craig, getting up to demonstrate a supposedly ‘sexy’ dance.

Zahra facepalmed. “I have never seen a less sexy dance in my life. If you were going for ‘silly,’ though…”

“You know what?” Michelle said while trying not to laugh at Craig’s dance. “Just for that demonstration… I’m going with ‘silly.’”

“What, no vote?” asked Grace.

“Sorry, Grace! I already picked it!” said Michelle apologetically.

You do a ridiculous dance, kicking out your legs and flailing your arms.

Everyone laughed at the description that almost perfectly matched Craig’s demonstration. “What?” he asked them, oblivious. Then he read the screen. “Uh… that’s nothing like what I was doing! It’s a dance from Legends of-”

“Nobody cares, Craigslist,” snarked Jake.

Jackie: Where on earth did you see that?

MC!Michelle: A video game.

At this, even Craig had to laugh this time. “Okay, okay, this app wins the Craig-prediction game,” he admitted.

“What if… Quinn, is your phone psychic?” asked Raj.

Quinn looked at him, trying to decide if he was serious or not. “Uh… I don’t think so,” she said, not really sure what else to say.

“Whoa, now that would be a plot twist!” Diego said.

“Do telephones often predict the future?” asked Varyyn, completely seriously.

“Not… usually…” Sean told him.

Raj shrugged. “Hey, it could happen! I had a dream where my phone could talk to me in my mind once!”

“Fascinating,” said Varyyn. “I must obtain one of these telephones.”

“I’ll buy you one!” offered Diego. “Er… wait, when’s your birthday?”

“Twelfth Sanell, Rahena,” answered Varyyn.

Diego stared at him for a moment. “In our calendar,” he said finally when Varyyn didn’t clarify.

“Oh! Right, my apologies. I shall look it up later, for I do not actually know your calendar very well yet.”

Zahra held up a hand. “Hold on, back up. You two have been together for how long and you still don’t know his birthday?!”

Diego blushed. “It… just never came up!”

“Dumb excuse alert!” Alyssa called out.

“To be fair, Varyyn doesn’t know either,” Sean pointed out. “At least not in our calendar. And ‘Twelfth Sanell Rahena’ doesn’t really help Diego, or any of us for that matter.”

“See? Thanks, Sean,” said Diego gratefully.

“Anytime.”

“Alright, I’m continuing…” muttered Michelle impatiently, as she clicked through more of the chapter.

Jackie: It’s a cutthroat business, Michelle. I’m just trying to survive.

“You know, as much as I hate to admit it… if I’d been put on the spot like that I might have done the same thing, now that I think about it,” admitted Michelle. “She’s got a point.”

“And that’s why I’d never be a doctor,” said Raj. “Too intense. Cooking, you get plenty of time to just sit back and enjoy life. Besides, if everyone was a doctor, then who’d make the food?”

“Amen to that,” said Jake, raising his glass. Raj raised his and they air-toasted from across the room.

Then the next choice popped up, and Michelle shrugged when she saw the options. “Alright, maybe you’ve got a point about Quinn’s phone being psychic,” she joked as she chose the ‘I’d have done the same thing’ option.

MC!Michelle: What matters is that Annie survived. And now she gets to go back to school and live a full life.

Quinn smiled. “I can relate,” she said. “Michelle, I know you’ll make the same kind of difference in real life, too.”

“Meeting you, and hearing your story… honestly, Quinn, it really made me appreciate my career path that much more, on a different level,” Michelle told her. “It’s definitely a lot more personal. I want to give my patients the same kind of chance you’ve been given. Though, admittedly, I probably won’t have a magic Vaanu crystal in my medical bag…”

“That’s so sweet, Michelle. Thank you!”

“Oh God, I’m gonna get diabetes from this conversation,” groaned Zahra, and Quinn and Michelle both laughed before everyone turned their attention back to the screen.

Jackie: Oh, god.

“Wow, it’s even predicting you now, Z!” Craig said.

“No comment.”

Jackie: You’re smart, you’re pretty good under pressure, and way too good-looking…

“Sounds about right,” said Estela.

“Seconded,” added Sean, and the others nodded their agreement as well.

“Wait,” said Craig as Michelle blushed at the compliment, “are you talking about the character, or the real Michelle? I’m confused.”

MC!Michelle: (What do I do?)

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” chanted Quinn.

“Drink! Y’all!” chanted Jake, as he and the others took another sip.

Aleister huffed and crossed his arms as Michelle picked the ‘Kiss’ option. “So we’re completely ignoring the concept of democracy now, is that it?” he complained loudly.

Grace rubbed his back soothingly. “It’s a phone game, Aleister, not a company board meeting,” she reminded him.

Aleister’s entire body blushed. “Er, you’re quite right, I’m not sure what came over me, it’s nothing to get worked up about, indeed,” he stammered.

MC!Michelle: (The night’s still young. What should I do next?)

“What, we get to pick more than one?” asked Alyssa. “That’s nice!”

“Yeah, but it still costs money,” said Quinn, frowning. “And I really don’t want to keep borrowing Aleister’s money.”

“I’ve told you all twice now, I honestly don’t mind,” Aleister said. “I can afford it easily!”

“Rub it in, why don’t you,” snarked Michelle.

“Well, to be fair, we did already get a scene with Bryce and Jackie,” Sean pointed out. “So let’s save the diamonds for something else.”

Michelle shrugged. “Fair enough,” she said, choosing Landry’s option to stay at the table.

MC!Michelle: How’s that long game working out for you?

Landry: Great! I think she glanced at me!

Alyssa burst out laughing. “Sounds like Ian, all right!”

“Shut up,” her brother snarked, but then he started laughing in spite of himself. “Alright, I’ll admit it’s kinda funny, though.”

Glass of Water: Take one.

“Drink, y’all,” said Jake.

“Okay, but do you mean actual waterrrrrr?” asked Zahra, clearly drunk. “B’cause it says ‘glass of water.’”

“You know what he meant!” laughed Raj.

Sienna: What if we all got a place together?

“Hey, that’s an awesome idea!” agreed Craig. “We should all do that!”

“Craig, our schools and jobs are all literally in different states,” Sean pointed out.

“Jake could fly us!”

“Absolutely not,” said Alyssa, crossing her arms.

Jake frowned at his wife. “I’m not that bad of a pilot-”

“YES, YOU ARE!” chorused everyone besides Jake and Craig.

Jake sighed and shook his head. “You just don’t appreciate my maneuvers,” he muttered.

“You mean the completely unnecessary maneuvers that make me vomit?” Alyssa asked him.

“...Point taken.”

MC!Michelle: It would be a 24/7…

Michelle looked around at the others. “All right, since Aleister cares so passionately about this… let’s vote.” Aleister scowled while everyone else laughed. “Study fest?” Only Michelle herself, Grace, and Aleister raised their hands.

Zahra snorted. “Predictable.”

“Okay, party?” This time, Varyyn, Craig, Raj, Jake, Alyssa, Quinn, and Zahra all cheered and raised their hands (or drinks, in Jake’s case.) “Alright, that one wins, but… Netflix binge?” asked Michelle, just to be sure. Ian, Estela, Sean, and Diego raised their hands for Netflix binge. Michelle shrugged and pressed the ‘party’ option.

“By the way, Malfoy… Michelle voted ‘study fest,’ so you would’ve gotten your pick if we hadn’t done democracy,” Jake pointed out with a smirk. Aleister glared at him but said nothing.

Elijah: To Craigslist!

“What?” asked Craig.

“Not you, the actual website,” Michelle pointed out.

“Oh. Jake, stop confusing me with your nicknames!”

“Sorry, it’s my thing, y’know? ...Craigslist?”

Craig frowned, looking more confused than before. “I think… I think you, like, uh... broke him,” slurred Zahra, waving a hand in front of his face.

Michelle clicked through a few more times, and they got to the end of the chapter. “Whew,” sighed Diego in relief. “I was afraid we’d get another cliffhanger again!”

“That was a cute ending, I like it!” said Quinn.

“Yeah, honestly, this is surprisingly kinda fun,” admitted Jake. “Do we have another one?”

“Can we… uh… do this… tomorrow?” asked Zahra, before she fell asleep instantly and slid onto the floor.

“Lightweight,” snarked Estela, before yawning heavily and leaning on Ian’s shoulder despite being fully sober.

“Aaaaand that’s our cue to finish,” said Michelle, handing Quinn’s phone back to her. “Let’s do some more tomorrow, same time?”

“Sounds like a plan,” agreed Sean. “Doctor Nguyen.”

Michelle smiled at the title. “Just a few more years,” she reminded him. “Night, everyone.”

“Zahra, what should we do with…” Diego started to ask, before spotting Craig picking her up. She was still completely sound asleep. “Guess we just leave this projector stuff here, then… nothing bad could happen to it overnight, right?”

(Credit to @endlesshero1122 for the “Awesome Craig Likes Spatulas” joke!)

Next Chapter: Link

Tag List: @brightpinkpeppercorn @endlesshero1122 @endlesssummerfan @marmolady

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dkronpa · 5 years

Text

Chapter 2: Lost in Sacrificial Fate ~Trial~

Wooo! The trial is finally done, this is a pretty long one so hopefully you guys don’t mind that. Hope ya’ll enjoy

Bold are blue statements

Bold and italic are yellow statements

“Now, let’s begin with a simple explanation of the class trial! You’re votes will determine the outcome of this, you will debate on a variety of topics regarding the murder and then try to identify ‘whodunit’. If you can correctly guess the culprit, then the culprit alone will be punished…but if you guess the wrong one. I’ll punish everyone besides the culprit! Now…where will this trial go? I hope it’s good!”

“There’s not really much to discuss though, is there? It’s kinda obvious who the killer is in this case.” Shinko-san started off.

“It’s obvious? But I still don’t have any idea, even after the investigation.” Yokozawa-san said.

“No need to worry, that’s why I’m here to show you all how this case went down. Simply put, Irunami died because of a freak accident when the lighting rig fell. Everyone in the audience is a witness to that. So, whoever was working the lighting must be the one that’s accountable. So, it has to be Okanaya that’s the culprit of the case!” Shinko-san declared.

“E-eh?! Me again?!”

“Did you seriously not even put that together? Of course, if the lighting rig was what killed Irunami-chan, then the one working the lighting rig would be the most suspicious.” Kurosaki-san sighed with a smirk.

“Bullshit! You can’t just say I’m the killer because of that! B-besides, surely that wouldn’t be reason enough for me to be responsible! M-Monokuma?!”

“Weeeeeell…even if its an accident, the one who ultimate caused the accident is still gonna be the culprit for that death.” It was an ambiguous answer that didn’t say Okanaya-san was the culprit.

“Aren’t we moving a little quickly?” Ishikawa-san interrupted. “To simply decide Okanaya-sama as the culprit at the start of the trial would be foolish. Shinko-sama, please keep your rash accusations to yourself, I would prefer it if you didn’t hurt our chances passing the trial.”

“Huh?! The fuck did you say to me?! Do you know who you’re talking to, bitch?!” Shinko-san growled.

“Save your breaths for the discussion, would you?” Amaterasu-san stepped in. “The problem here is if this case is an accident or not, and if it is an accident, does that necessarily mean it was Kobo-chan’s fault.”

“It definitely wasn’t me! I’m telling you all now!” Okanaya-san said again. Was Irunami-san’s death an accident…? We need to figure that out first.

-Non-Stop Debate 1-

Truth Bullets/Lie Bullets:

Broken Spotlight/Undamaged Spotlight

Okanaya-san’s Account/Okanaya-san’s Mistake

Lighting Rig/Metal Pole

Amaterasu: If you guys don’t decide whether this case is an accident or not, we can’t progress…

Toson: Obviously…The murder happened on accident….and Okanaya is responsible.

Kobo: Don’t just say that! This could’ve been on purpose!

Karma: You do realise that if it was on purpose then you’d have to be the killer, right…? You were the only one working the lighting rig

Kobo: N-no way! It ain’t that easy! The killer…could’ve sabotaged the lighting rig!

Karma: Oh! I guess that’s true! Then maybe the case is a real homicide!

Ryuu: (We first need to decide if this case is a homicide or an accident…how am I supposed to prove that?)

“No, that’s wrong!”

“Shinko-san, I don’t think Irunami-san died from an accident. When I was talking to Okanaya-san during the investigation, he told me that he made sure that the lighting rig was secured last night. So, if it really was secure, I doubt it would’ve just fell on accident at just the right time to kill Irunami-san.”

“Okanaya told you that…? Hmm…usually I wouldn’t believe the words of a suspect-“

“Didn’t we do that for you the last trial?” Kurohiko-san pointed out.

“-but I checked the lighting rig as well, just to make sure Okanaya didn’t fuck it up…and yeah, it was secure. Totally forgot about that.”

“How convenient of you to forget that.” Okanaya-san snarled.

“However, that doesn’t mean the killer isn’t Okanaya. It just means the murder was on purpose. With his own testimony, we know the lighting was secure the night before and that means the lighting rig needed to be released by someone. Namely, the only person working the lighting rig.” Shinko-san said.

“Huh…? Well, maybe it was sabotaged or something the night before and it had nothing to do with Okanaya-kun.” Yokozawa-san suggested.

“We all finished at 9 every night, so it’s not impossible to say that someone just snuck into the auditorium after we all left.” Ram-san said. No…simply getting would be pretty difficult because…

My logic follows!

“Shinko-san, you locked door at night after rehearsals, right? Then the door wouldn’t be unlocked until we started again in the morning.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I didn’t want anyone going in and messing with stuff without supervision. And because of that, nobody could’ve gotten into the auditorium outside of any rehearsal times.” Shinko-san confirmed.

“Could someone sabotage the lighting rig before the performances began that morning? We did not start the show until 12:30 or so.” Asano-san suggested.

“No, that’s not possible either. I was by the ropes for the lighting rig as soon as we got in that morning and didn’t leave until the murder happened, nobody had the chance to fuck around with the lighting rig.” Okanaya-san shook as head.

“I feel like you’re too honest for your own good.” Graves-san laughed.

“The honesty is appreciated though. Makes our job a lot easier.” Sly-san said.

“Did you do it though Okanaya-kun…? Did you kill Irunami-kun…?” Hachi-san’s voice trembled with a mix of anger and anguish.

“Hell no! Now that I know it wasn’t an accident, I’m gonna prove I didn’t have anything to do with this! Don’t worry Hachi, we’ll find out who did this and sent them straight to hell!” I believe him. I really don’t think Okanaya-san is the killer, so I need to prove that either there was a way to sabotage the lighting rig, or that the lighting rig didn’t need to be sabotaged.

-Non-Stop Debate 2-

Truth Bullets/Lie Bullets

Cables/Razor Wire

Shinko-san’s Account/Shinko-san’s Mistake

Lighting Rig/Metal Rod

Vent System/Bolted Vent Grates

Kobo: I’m not the killer…! I’m gonna prove it to you all!

Doi: Since Irunami’s death was on purpose…doesn’t that mean the killer had to be near the lighting rig?

Kobo: Yeah, but somebody else could’ve done that!

Ram: The door was locked…

Tsukiko: Could there be another way into the auditorium?

Tomoe: Maybe the killer used a set-up!

Kobo: Or the lighting rig didn’t need to be sabotaged!

Ryuu: (Something someone said…I think that might be the key to this.)

I agree with that!

“Ishikawa-san may be right. Even if the door was locked, there should’ve been another way to get into the auditorium. During the investigation, Graves-san decided to check the vent system and found that it went throughout the whole building. ‘Every floor, every room’ were her words.”

“It’s true! Look at all the dust on me!” Graves-san spread her arms to show off her dirty outfit.

“I wasn’t gonna mention it…but if there was another way to get into the auditorium…” Yokozawa-san nodded understandingly.

“Yeah. Then it’s way too early to say that Okanaya-san is the killer!”

“God, fine!” Shinko-san conceded defeat.

“So, at some point the killer went into the auditorium after we all finished up for rehearsals and messed around with the lighting rig. That’s good and all but where do we go from there…?” Graves-san asked.

“Well…I don’t know if this is worth out time or not, but…I wasn’t there for the moment that Irunami-san was killed, so I don’t fully get what happened. Could we maybe go over what happened?” Kurohiko-san asked.

“Same for me. I was backstage when it all happened, so I want a clarification too.” Amaterasu-san second.

“It’s important we all stay on the same page, so we should go over it.” Ram-san agreed.

-Non-Stop Debate 3-

Truth Bullets/Lie Bullets

Lighting rig/Metal Rod

Fog Machines/Dry Ice Buckets

Broken Spotlight/Undamaged stagelight

Kurosaki-san’s Set/Kurohiko-san’s Set

Shinko-san’s Filiming/Shinko-san’s Absence

Shinko-san’s Account/Shinko-san’s Mistake

Ram: When the show started…everything seemed normal…

Doi: I know that Kurosaki-san and I went on first…but after that I didn’t come back….

Tomoe: Shinko-kun’s movie played fine as well…There was nothing wrong with the movie.

Amaterasu: And afterwards was Sadao-chan.

Tomoe: Yeah, Irunami-kun came on stage…but when he called Shinko-kun to the stage…that’s when the lighting rig fell and struck him over the head…!

Yuuki: There was a broken stage light on the ground too. It must have broken off on impact.

Ryuu: (…this is just supposed to be a recollection of what happened…so why does something feel off?)

No, that’s wrong!

“…um…” Even though I objected, I don’t really know where I’m supposed to go with this. Everyone’s staring at me, so I need to at least raise the concern. “K…Kurosaki-san, about what you said…you said the stage light broke off of the lighting rig when it hit Irunami-san, right?”

“Is there something wrong with that? You’re not gonna suggest the lighting rig wasn’t the murder weapon, are you?” Sly-san asked.

“It’s not that. The spotlight had blood on it, so I don’t that it’s the murder weapon…it’s just…the part of the spotlight that attaches to the lighting rig…it isn’t damaged.”

“Huh? What do you mean it’s not damaged, does that matter?” Yokozawa-san said.

“Yeah, it’s definitely weird. The lights have this kind of metal hoop that goes right around the lighting rig’s pole. Makes it fuckin’ difficult to position then right. There’s no way one could fall off without that hoop being broken off.” Okanaya-san explained.

“Oh! Then it’s like a condom!” Graves-san nodded.

“It is definitely not like a condom.” Yokozawa-san said with disgust.

“Eh…? So, you’ve used one before?” Graves-san tilted her head.

“I see. It is good you are enjoying life, Yokozawa-sama.” Ishikawa-san smiled and giggled.

“Th-that isn’t it! M-more importantly, why isn’t that spotlight’s attachment broken off?!” Yokozawa-san threw us back into the discussion. It’s suspicious. Really suspicious.

“Ah~ Maybe we should take a step back!” Kurosaki-san suddenly chimed up.

“Oh great. I almost forgot about you and now my headache is back.” Shinko-san complained.

“Ehhhh!? Shinko-chan, don’t be mean to me!”

“Wh-who the hell are you being so informal with?! Die, will you?!” Shinko-san’s face flushed.

“Kurosaki, what do you mean by taking a step back?” Sly-san interrupted.

“Well, it’s pretty easy to tell why the spotlight’s attachment isn’t broken, right? There’s no need to discuss it at full length.” There’s no reason to discuss it at full length…then is the reason the spotlight’s attachment isn’t broken something simple…?

My logic follows!

“You’re saying that the spotlight that hit Irunami-san was never attached to the lighting rig, right? That’s why it’s attachment was never broken.”

“Perfecto! Nagata-kyun, we think so much alike!” I definitely don’t want to hear that from you…

“Wait, if the spotlight was never attached to the lighting rig then how did it manage to get onto the stage? Furthermore, how on earth was it able to strike Irunami-sama?” Ishikawa-san asked. That’s the new question, huh…seems we’ll need to figure that out next.

-Non-Stop Debate 4-

Truth Bullets/Lie Bullets

Fog Machines/Dry Ice Buckets

Broken Spotlight/Undamaged Spotlight

Kurosaki-san’s Set/Kurohiko-san’s Set

Air Cannon/Fog Vacuum

Trap Door/Regular Floor

Kurohiko-san’s Clothes/Irunami-san’s Clothes

Tsukiko: There must’ve been a chance for the spotlight to make its way onto the stage.

Kobo: Maybe it was always on stage…? But we just couldn’t tell.

Tomoe: Or maybe Irunami-kun brought it on with him?

Amaterasu: Or there was some kind of fancy trick used…like balancing the spotlight on the lighting rig…and it fell onto Sadao-chan.

Doi: Talk about suspension of belief…

Tomoe: Are we overthinking it…?

Ryuu: (How did the spotlight get onto the stage…? We need to figure that next…)

I agree with that!

“I think Amaterasu-san said. There was a trick used to get the spotlight onto the stage. When I was investigating underneath the stage, I found that there was a trap door that worked by alternating two different wooden panels between the stage and underneath the stage.”

“Ah! If that trap door was used, then the killer could get the spotlight onto the stage!” Ram-san concluded.

“Exactly. I think that’s exactly what the killer did!”

“That can’t be real!”

“Hold on now Nagata-kun, there’s a massive problem with that! Sure, I can understand the killer using the trap door to get the spotlight onto the stage, but if that’s the case then now did, they manage to hit Irunami-kun with the stage light and kill him?!” Hachi-san objected.

-Rebuttal Showdown Vs. Tomoe Hachi-

Truth Blades:

Broken Spotlight

Trap Door

Ram-san’s Account

Kurohiko-san’s Clothes

Kurohiko-san’s Account

Tomoe: Sure, the trap door could have used to get the spotlight onto the stage, but that doesn’t tell us how it struck Irunami-kun! Irunami-kun died right there on stage so how could the spotlight have hit him when it was underneath the stage?

Ryuu: Isn’t it possible that we’re missing something? There could’ve been some sort of set up used!

Tomoe: Some sort of set up…? There’s no kind of set up that would work! And there’s no way Irunami-kun hit himself so if there was no way for it to happen…then the spotlight wasn’t brought to the stage by the trap door!

Ryuu: (I can feel something in the back of my mind…some kind of new possibility with the evidence we have…)

I’ll cut through that argument!

“Actually…Irunami-san might’ve not died on stage like we originally thought.”

“H-huh?!” Hachi-san frowned.

“When I was investigating Irunami-san’s dressing room I found Kurohiko-san’s regular clothes in a bag-“

“You found my clothes and didn’t tell me?!”

“You wouldn’t have wanted to wear them. When Nagata-kun looked at those clothes there was blood found on them, if I remember.” Yokozawa-san recalled.

“B-blood on my clothes…?” Kurohiko-san paled. “H-hold on, y-you aren’t gonna accuse me, right?!”

“Doi-chan isn’t the killer.” Amaterasu-san said.

“I agree! I cannot see Kurohiko-kun being the killer!” Asano-san added.

“N-no, I’m not saying that. Kurohiko-san was in his stage clothing ever since his set with Kurosaki-san…after all somebody should’ve seen him enough times to prove that…”

It’s you!

“Kurohiko-san told me that he saw Amaterasu-san a lot whilst searching for his clothes. I’m sure she can confirm that Kurohiko-san was in his stage outfit the whole time after Kurosaki-san’s set.”

“Yeah, he was.” Amaterasu-san stated.

“Though how exactly does this all mean that Kurohiko isn’t the killer?” Sly-san asked.

“Th…that’s not really the point I was trying to make. Rather than proving Kurohiko-san can’t be the killer…his clothes actually prove that Irunami-san didn’t die on stage in front of us like we originally thought. Nobody would’ve been close enough to Irunami-san when that lighting rig fell for blood to get on those clothes…”

“So…you’re saying that Sadao died somewhere else?” Graves-san thought for a moment. “It makes sense…between that blood and the broken spotlight, it’s obvious that Sadao never made onto the stage.” Never made it onto the stage…come to think of it…someone mentioned something else that points to the fact that Irunami-san never made it to the stage.

Here’s my proof!

“Ram-san pointed out that Irunami-san died in his regular outfit despite the fact that she and Asano-san made a stage outfit for him.”

“Are you saying that…Irunami-kun was in his normal clothing because he was dead before he got on stage…? But, if that’s the case then what did we see on the stage?” Ram-san asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking for a while that we kind of believed all this way too easily. I mean…we all saw Irunami-kun from the audience. So, that must’ve been him.” Hachi-san said.

…they have a point. I’m positive that Irunami-san wasn’t alive when he was on stage, so who was it that came on during his set...? “Let’s think of it this way then. If Irunami-chan being in his normal clothes proves he didn’t make it to the stage, then whatever had his stage clothes would be what appeared during his set.” Kurosaki-san said. Whatever…was in Irunami-san’s stage clothes?

Here’s my proof!

“There was a stunt dummy underneath the stage that was wearing Irunami-san’s clothing. Kurosaki-san, are you suggesting that what we saw on stage was that dummy…?”

“Oui! Very well done, Nagata-kyun~! If the killer utilized that dummy, then it becomes easy to act as if Irunami-chan is on stage!” Kurosaki-san explained.

“No, it doesn’t.” Hachi-san disagreed. “It explains the silhouette. But it’s not that simple…but there’s two other problems. One, why didn’t we notice? Second, how did the dummy move around the stage?”

“Okanaya-kun was right next to the stage, shouldn’t he have noticed if the figure on the stage was Irunami-kun or not…?” Yokozawa-san said. Not necessarily…if the killer used that thing then they could’ve stopped anyone from realising that it was actually a dummy.

Here’s my proof!

“Couldn’t the killer have disguised the dummy with the fog machines? There was a lot of fog on the stage that we could barely see who it was on the stage. Because of that, we just assumed that Irunami-san was on stage because it was his set.”

“And it explains why Okanaya-kun wouldn’t have realised despite being so close to the stage.” Ram-san continued.

“Okay…that takes care of problem one, but what about how the dummy was moved around the stage…? That still hasn’t been explained.” Kurohiko-san said.

“We’ve come too far to be wrong here! I’m sure if put our heads together we can figure this out as well!” Ram-san smiled. Yeah, she’s right…the solution is somewhere, we just need to find it.

-Non-stop Debate 5-

Truth Bullets/Lie Bullets

Kurosaki-san’s Set/Kurohiko-san’s Set

Remote Control Car/Broken Toy

Cables/Razor Wire

Air Cannons/Fog Vacuums

Dummy/Undamaged Dummy

Ram: The killer must have had a way to move the body around the stage! I’m sure we can find it!

Kobo: Should we just guess…? Maybe the killer used wires? They could’ve controlled the dummy like a puppet!

Tomoe: Did they use magic?! They could’ve done it with a trick!

Sly: Also, possible they carried the dummy around.

Karma: Or the dummy is haunted…and levitated around the stage by itself!

Doi: D-don’t say it’s a ghost!

Ryuu: (Someone brought up an idea that might be possible given what I know…)

I agree with you!

“Sly-san might be onto something. There might have been a method of carrying the dummy around the stage. When I was investigating underneath the stage, there was a remote-control car sitting there. The same car that Amaterasu-san was looking for to use in her performance.”

“Amaterasu was gonna use a remote-control car…? For singing…?” Sly-san raised an eyebrow.

“Not just any kind of remote-control car. This car was specially equipped and suitable for someone like the Ultimate Thief. This car was modified with a claw that would be used to pickpocket people.” I explained.

“I was gonna distract everyone when I was singing and use the car to steal stuff. Had it all planned out.” Amaterasu-san said.

“Right. If the killer used the claw on the remote-control car then it’s possible to transport the dummy around.”

“He’s right…the arm the claw is attached to is super long and I made sure the car wouldn’t tip over despite any weight on it. It totally should’ve been able to carry around the dummy.” Amaterasu-san confirmed.

“Then it’s settled. There are no more problems with Irunami-san not dying on stage like we originally thought-“

“I see your flaws!”

“Don’t fuck around now, Nagata-kun! There’s still a massive problem that you haven’t answered!” Yokozawa-san interrupted.

“H-huh…? There’s still more?”

“Geez, you didn’t even realise it…? Guess I have no choice but to explain…”

-Rebuttal Showdown Vs Junpei Yokozawa-

Truth Blades:

Asano-san’s Account

Kurohiko-san’s Account

Shinko-san’s Account

Okanaya-san’s Account

Ram-san’s Account

Junpei: You’re saying that everything has been proven but that’s not the case. You still haven’t explained Irunami-kun’s voice when he came on stage to do his set. If you can’t explain the voice then you haven’t really explained anything!

Ryuu: Are you really saying that after all the evidence presented that Irunami-san was still killed on stage?

Junpei: We all heard Irunami-kun’s voice, that’s undeniable! It was clear as day, he even called up Shinko-kun to the stage! There wasn’t anything unusual about his set until that moment, aside from the fog machines!

Ryuu: (I get Yokozawa-san’s point, but even so…)

I’ll cut through that argument!

“No, there was something unusual about Irunami-san’s set. When I was talking to Shinko-san about the performance he said it was strange. It was like Irunami-san was repeating everything he was saying during the rehearsal stages word-for-word.”

“Now that you mention it…” Amaterasu-san murmured.

“But that’s not all. Hachi-san, you and Irunami-san recorded your sets so you could watch them back, right? Would it not have been possible to use Irunami-san’s set from there when they sent the dummy out on stage?”

“P-probably…there are speakers underneath the stage. If you plugged the recorder in there, you could play it out over the speakers.” Hachi-san nodded.

“So…Irunami-kun seriously didn’t die on the stage…? And all of that stuff we talked about is seriously what the killer did…?” Yokozawa-san said in disbelief. “How…? How the hell did someone even come up with a plan like that?”

“It’s obvious, right? The killer’s just one crafty bastard.” Okanaya-san said.

“If that’s the case we can finally rule out Kobo-chan.” Amaterasu-san said.

“Oi!”

“But even though we’ve established the method, are we actually any closer to finding the killer…?” Ram-san asked.

“Hmm…well, the Monokuma File doesn’t mention the time of death, right? Maybe we should try and figure out when Irunami-kun died?” Yokozawa-san suggested.

“Check everybody’s alibis, right…? Yeah! We can do that! Let’s figure it out ASAP!” Hachi-san said with determination. The time of death…I wonder, do we have anything to show when it could’ve been?

-Non-Stop Debate 6-

Truth Bullets/Lie Bullets:

Monokuma File 2/Monokuma’s Mistake 2

Kurohiko-san’s Account/Kurohiko-san’s Mistake

Talent Show Line-up/Scraped Line-up Plan

Rehearsal Schedule/Night-Time Announcement

Shinko-san’s Filming/Shinko-san’s Absence

Kurosaki-san’s Set/Kurohiko-san’s Set

Junpei: Since the Monokuma File doesn’t include the time of death…do we have any way to pinpoint when Irunami-san died?

Mami: Irunami-kun must have died during the talent show

Kobo: During it…? How do you figure that?

Tomoe: It’s not impossible…did someone see him?

Mami: I do not believe anybody saw him…however, something could have happened…something that could have only happened during the murder. That would give us the time of death.

Yuuki: Was Senorita Asano always so cryptic?

Ryuu: (We can’t determine alibis without figuring out the time of death…so how do we go about figuring that out…?)

I agree with that!

“Yeah…something did happen. Something that could have only happened during the murder. Remember how I mentioned earlier that Kurohiko-san’s clothes had blood on them? Well, Kurohiko-san’s clothes could have only went missing during the set with Kurosaki-san. That must have been around the time of the murder!”

“That’s not necessarily true. Couldn’t Kurohiko have killed Irunami before the talent show and then simply changed into his stage outfit…?” Shinko-san asked.

“Nope! I can disprove that theory right now!” Kurosaki-san chimed. “You see, Monsieur Kurohiko and I shared a changing room and we were in there the whole time getting prepared for our set-in various ways, so he had no opportunity to kill Irunami-chan in his regular clothing. Not to mention that, even if he did, I would’ve noticed the blood.”

“V…various ways…?” Shinko-san repeated.

“Wh-why the hell are you saying weird things?!” Kurohiko-san protested.

“So that is the kind of man you are, Kurohiko-kun.” Asano-san nodded understandingly.

“And there wasn’t a chance for Doi-chan to kill Sadao-chan after his set either. I saw him too often backstage while I was searching for my car and not once did, I see him in his regular clothing.” Amaterasu-san joined.

“And in turn, I saw Amaterasu-san way too often for her to have a chance to sneak underneath the stage and set up all that stuff with Irunami-san’s body. In fact, I saw Amaterasu-san only a few seconds before the lighting rig fell and she should’ve had the remote for the toy car with her, but she didn’t.” Kurohiko-san said.

“So, you two are each other’s alibis. At least that sorts them out.” Yokozawa-san said. “So we know there’s about half an hour of time where the killer could’ve killed Irunami-kun whilst Kurosaki-kun and Kurohiko-kun were on stage.”

“A whole half an hour of knife tossing…” Kurohiko-san shivered from the memory.

“And majority of the others were in the audience at the time, right? So, they obviously have alibis.” Sly-san said. That actually brings our suspect list down…huh?

“Wait…is there anybody left then…? Wasn’t everyone either on stage or in someone’s sights in that time frame…?” I asked.

“Okanaya was working the lights in the wings. Would anybody see him…?” Sly-san asked.

“I was standing with Okanaya during Kurosaki’s set waiting for my turn, so he has an alibi for that time. We saw Amaterasu a lot as well, she was really pacing back and forth around backstage.” Shinko-san said. Then…who’s even left at this point…?

“One person.” Kurosaki-san said. Huh? “One person is left. Out of our whole group, only one person standing here doesn’t have an alibi for when me and Kurohiko-san were on stage. One person who nobody saw until the murder.”

“…w-wait…” It suddenly dawned on me. Out of everybody here, the only person that wasn’t seen until the murder…that was…

…that person is the culprit? That can’t be right though…

The culprit…is you!

“…Hachi-san?”

“Huh? What’s up?” Hachi-san asked, not quite realising it yet.

“If we go by everybody’s accounts, the only person left without an alibi for Kurosaki-san’s set would be you…” But can that be right…?

“Hold on, there’s clearly a problem with that! A big one!” Ram-san cried. “H-Hachi-san and Irunami-kun were best friends! It just doesn’t make sense for Hachi-san to be the killer, don’t you think?!”

“Friends?” Kurosaki-san repeated slowly. “Sorry, but if you start saying lines like that then I’ll start laughing. Laughing so hard I might piss myself, so please don’t start joking around.” It was quick. It’s always quick when Kurosaki-san’s malicious expression reveals itself that I can’t help getting caught off guard. “Friends don’t exist in the class trial, only victims and killers. Those are our only relationships to each other…”

“That’s not true!” Ram-san yelled, surprising everyone in the room. “…a-ah, what I mean to say is…I want to believe in the friends I made here, if I can’t believe in them then there’s nothing I can believe in…s-so, I want to believe in the friendship Irunami-kun and Hachi-san had…”

“R-Ram-chan…” Hachi-san murmured. They let out a breath and looked at me. “Okay…if you’re gonna try and point to me as the killer then I want some serious proof because not having an alibi by itself doesn’t mean anything.”

“If that’s the case, where were you during Kurosaki’s set?” Sly-san asked.

“I was preparing for my tricks and stuff. Irunami-kun and I had a switching places acting at the end of his set, so I had to set up for that, but I also had to set up for my own tricks. I didn’t have any time to go and kill Irunami-kun.” Hachi-san explained.

“So pathetic…” Kurosaki-san sighed. “I don’t even want to get into a debate because this is so pathetic…you were killing Irunami-chan and setting up all your tricks for the murder. Not the show.”

“Th-that’s not true…!” Hachi-san said.

“Kurosaki, can you just shut up…?” Okanaya-san growled. Kurosaki-san looked at him for a moment and smiled with a nod. “Let’s actually talk about this shit properly. Hachi, you’re saying there ain’t any evidence saying you’re the killer, but you actually got anything specific…?”

“S…specific…?” Hachi-san thought for a second. “…ah! I got it! The lighting rig! The killer obviously had to make the lighting rig fall somehow, but it’s not been established how that was done! If you can’t prove I could’ve knocked the lighting rig down, then I can’t be the killer!”

“They’ve got a point. The lighting rig was part of the killer’s cover-up so if Hachi-san didn’t knock it down, they can’t be the killer.” Kurohiko-san frowned. The method of knocking down the lighting rig…it’s true we didn’t decide on what it was, but will that really prove who the killer is?

-Non-stop Debate 7-

Truth Bullets/Lie Bullets

Okanaya-san’s Account/Okanaya-san’s Mistake

Lighting Rig/Metal Rod

Hachi-san’s Magic Classes/Irunami-san’s Hypnosis Classes

Rehearsal Schedule/Absence List

Air Cannons/Fog Vacuums

Tomoe: If you can’t connect the lighting rig falling to me…then I can’t be the killer!

Kobo: So, the issue is how the lighting rig fell.

Tsukiko: Perhaps the cables were severed?

Kobo: It’s stupid to say, but…maybe the wind knocked it down?

Toson: Dumbass, we were inside…there was no wind!

Amaterasu: Couldn’t Tomoe-chan have climbed up and released them?

Toson: You’re just acting to be voted for, aren’t you? Nobody could’ve climbed all the way up there!

Ryuu: (Let’s think carefully about this. The answer might be a little ludicrous, but if it’s the only answer…)

No, that’s wrong!

“No, Shinko-san…I think Okanaya-san may be onto something by saying it was the wind. When I was talking to Yokozawa-san, he started talking about these air cannons that Irunami-san was planning to use during his performance. Pretty powerful ones.”

“Powerful is an understatement, they could send a person flying from the other side of the stage.” Kurohiko-san said.

“Urp!” Hachi-san went pale. So…that really might be it.

“Who was in charge of setting up the air cannons for Irunami-san’s act?” I asked.

“That was…Hachi. Hachi and Irunami were helping each other set up their sets.” Shinko-san spoke, realising what everything meant. “H…hold the fuck up! Are you really gonna say that Hachi set up an air cannon to knock the lighting rig down?!”

“E-e-easy now! That doesn’t mean anything! S-sure, I set the air cannons, but someone could’ve changed their positions! Amaterasu-chan was walking back and forth between the wings and backstage, right?!” Hachi-san argued.

“Can you prove that Amaterasu touched the air cannons?” Sly-san asked.

“Can you prove she didn’t?! B-besides, if that’s all you got then I don’t have anything else to say! Those air cannons don’t tie to me at all! You can’t tie the air cannons to me!” Did I not already do that…? So, Hachi-san wants something more than what I already showed…something that might link to the air cannons…

Here’s my proof!

“Hachi-san, I have just one question. How do you do your wind trick?”

“…huh?” Hachi-san somehow went paler.

“You told me about those magic classes you gave to some of the group, and a wind trick. How did you do that magic trick…? Did you maybe use the air cannons?”

“I…I…”

“Not to mention that everybody who was at those magic classes has an alibi for the murder…! So even though some of us knew how to do that trick, none of us could’ve actually killed Irunami-kun!” Yokozawa-san said.

“So…it’s really true, huh…? Hachi-san really killed Irunami-kun…!” Ram-san covered her mouth.

“HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD ON!!!!” Hachi-san bellowed. “It’s all…circumstantial! Because…because…you still haven’t established where Irunami-kun died! Where did Irunami-kun die?!”

Irunami-san…the most likely place he died would be…

My logic follows!

“It would’ve been to risky to kill him underneath the stage. Kurohiko-san had left his clothes there, so he was definitely going to go there at some point. The only place I can think of…is Irunami-san’s dressing room.”

“But, other than on Kurohiko-kun’s clothing, there was no blood in there, correct?” Asano-san said.

“Irunami-sama had thick, curly hair, when he was hit, a lot of the blood would’ve been soaked in by his hair, so a lack of blood isn’t so strange.” Ishikawa-san said.

“So, you’re saying Tomoe-chan killed Sadao-chan and then took his body underneath the stage and set it up for the switch when the lighting rig fell.” Amaterasu-san clarified, “Then…isn’t there another problem, isn’t there…?”

“Another problem? What do you mean?” Kurohiko-san raised an eyebrow.

-Non-stop Debate 8-

Truth Bullets/Lie Bullets

Vent System/Bolted Vent Grates

Costume Rack/Empty Rack

Trap Door/Regular Floor

Hachi-san’s Account/Hachi-san’s Mistake

Amaterasu: The killer must’ve had a way to get Sadao-chan underneath the stage…the problem is that Tomoe-chan would’ve had to pass through the backstage area to get underneath the stage…wouldn’t that have been impossible…?

Toson: Right…Amaterasu was going back and forth around backstage…but she didn’t see Hachi at all….

Tomoe: Yeah…! Yeah! See? I’m not the killer then! Thanks Amaterasu-chan, you’re the best!

Ryuu: (I don’t doubt that Irunami-san was killed in his dressing room…was there a method of getting Irunami-san’s body underneath the stage without being seen?)

No, that’s wrong!

“That wouldn’t be a problem at all. Remember earlier how I mentioned the vent system? It’s possible for Hachi-san to move Irunami-san’s body through there, right? That way they could’ve gotten Irunami-san’s body underneath the stage without being seen.”

“Oh yeah! The vents are huge, it would be super easy to push a body through there or drag it!” Graves-san said.

“Nononononononono!!” Hachi-san pleaded. “It’s all wrong! This is all wrong I’m telling you!”

“With this…all the mysteries have been solved. Hachi-san killed Irunami-san, took his body to underneath the stage then set up the switcheroo trick to make it seem like he died on stage, then joined us in the audience.”

“…huh?” Hachi-san thought for a second. “…yeah! That’s not possible, Nagata-kun! Not possible at all…! Because if I was in the audience at the moment of the lighting rig falling, then how could I have pulled the lever to activate the trap door?!”

“A-ah…!” Th-they still have more in them…but I can feel it. This has to be the final hurdle before Hachi-san confesses…okay, I’ll break through this and end this trial!

-Argument Armament Vs. Tomoe Hachi-

Tomoe: There’s no way I could have been in two places at once, so I couldn’t have pulled the lever for the switcheroo trick! Your whole basis is wrong because I’m not the killer, I could never be the killer!

Tomoe: Stop it already…I just want to find Irunami-kun’s killer! I want to find the truth more than anyone, so why are you accusing me?! I’m innocent I tell you, I’m innocent, I won’t let you say I killed my friend!

Tomoe: Just leave me alone! It’s all a trick by the true killer, you’re being tricked! I won’t allow this killer to get away, so just stop it already! It’s impossible, completely impossible for me to be the killer!

Ryuu: This is the end!

Tomoe: How could I have done the switcheroo from the audience?

Remote Control!

“You could have easily activated the trap door from the audience, as long as you had its remote control.”

“R-r-remote?!” Hachi-san repeated.

“Kurohiko-san told me about it when he was explaining the trap door to me. He said that practically everything in the auditorium was remote controlled. Kurohiko-san, that includes the trap door, right?”

“Y…yeah. Trap door, speakers, fog machines, lights…everything.” Kurohiko-san confirmed.

“And if you were using remote controls, you wouldn’t have had a moment where you could safely dispose of them, right? After all, Hachi appeared right after the lighting rig fell…so, if we searched you, would we find the remotes?” Sly-san asked.

“Gh!”

“You clearly blundered when you volunteered to watch over Irunami-sama’s body, but if you did not it may have been suspicious that you did not wish to be with Irunami-sama after his passing. A conundrum you clearly had not prepared for…” Ishikawa-san theorised.

“And that’s that…any more objections, Hachi-san?” I asked. Hachi-san simply let their mouth hang open, unable to form any kind of coherent words or phrases.

“Hey, I’m still kind of fucked here…this was really complicated, so can we go over it all from the start?” Okanaya-san asked. Yeah…I’ll summarise these events and end this case once and for all.

“This is the truth of the incident!”

Act 1

This case is a pretty complicated one, so I'll try my best to explain it all thoroughly since it relied heavily on a certain trick. First the killer needed to prepare beforehand for the actual murder so they decided, with the work of Irunami-san and Shinko-san, that they would all work to put on a talent show as a cover for the murder. They were going to use their set time in the talent show as their alibi and as a way to frame Okanaya-san.

Act 2

First the killer prepared a dummy and dressed it up as Irunami-san. Then rigged the lighting bar for the actual talent show by setting up some of the air cannons to hit the lighting rig at full blast. They did this all the night before the talent show, knowing that nobody else from the stage crew would be around so they were free to do what they needed to.

Act 3

Next was the actual day of the murder, the first few acts went on as normal. However, at this moment, the killer went backstage to Irunami-san's dressing room and used a spare stage light to bludgeon him to death, dressed in Kurohiko-san's clothes to avoid the blood getting on their clothes. Next the killer got changed out of Kurohiko-san's clothes and into their own.

Act 4

Then they took the stage light and Irunami-san's body and placed them on the lift for the trapdoor underneath the stage by transporting them through the vents and swapped their bloody clothes out for the stage outfit on the rack, then hiding the bloody clothes in a bag in Irunami-san’s dressing room. Then they took the dummy dressed as Irunami-san and used Amaterasu-san’s remote control car to hold it up. Now it was ready to go on stage.

Act 5

The dummy went on as Irunami-san and the killer joined the audience through the vent, saying it was part of the trick Irunami-san was planning and waited until the dummy was hovering over the trap door and released the lighting bar by using an air cannon, letting it crash onto the stage. They then used the button for the trap door to switch the dummy with Irunami-san's actual body and feigned innocence, thinking we'd all believe the tech crew was to blame for Irunami-san's 'accidental' death and we didn’t even realise Irunami-san never made it to the stage because of the fog machines.

And this was the trick you used to fool us all...it’s curtains for you: Tomoe Hachi, the Ultimate Illusionist!

“And that’s all…did I get anything wrong…?”

“I…” Hachi-san was quiet for a moment before letting out a sigh. They then flashed a smile. “Wow, Nagata-kun! You really did it! You figured out all of my tricks and saw past my illusions!”

“H…Hachi-san…” Ram-san murmured.

“Oh? Is that it? Have you all decided now…? Well, if that’s the case, let’s all proceed to the voting tim-“

“Can we hold off for a moment?” Ishikawa-san interrupted. “I apologise, but before we proceed to the voting…how do we wish to handle this matter?”

“What do you mean?” Amaterasu-san asked.

“Do you not recall…? The motive for this particular trial?” Huh…? The motive…the motive, if I remember…

My logic follows!

“A wish…if the killer wins the class trial, they get a wish granted. Any wish they want.”

“Y-you’re not gonna suggest we let Hachi win the class trial, are you?!” Shinko-san growled.

“Why not…? If we allow Hachi-sama to win then we may be able to end this killing game. I fail to see any problem with this idea.” Ishikawa-san smiled.

“Th-that true…” Shinko-san murmured.

“Hold on now, we can’t trust someone like Hachi-san! They killed Irunami-san after all!” Kurohiko-san argued.

“Nagata…what do you think…?” Okanaya-san looked at me. What did I think…? I can see it from both sides…if I’m honest, my gut is telling me…

“…I don’t think we should let Hachi-san use their wish.”

“N-Nagata-kun?!” Ram-san squeaked.

“I’m sorry! I know it sounds cruel but…there’s no way this killing game would end that easily! There’s a trick to Monokuma’s motive, I know it! We just can’t take the risk! Please…Ram-san, I know it’s hard but you have to believe in me…I don’t like it either…”

Ram-san looked to the ground, tugging at her hair so much that her hairband was shifting out of place. “…alright then…I’ll…I’ll trust you.” She said with determination.

“No way! We can end this once and for all! We can’t let this opportunity pass us up!”

“It’s too risky! We can’t!”

“I sense the discord!”

“Ah…I suppose it’s pretty late in the trial, but if seems you’re all at an impasse. This is a very important topic, so I think it’s time for the morphing trial grounds…!” Monokuma announced, pulling out the key from before and causing the trial podiums to change formation.

-Scrum Debate, begin!-

"Should we let Tomoe use their wish?"

"We shouldn't!" - Ryuu, Kobo, Ram, Mami, Sly, Amaterasu, Yuuki

"We should!" - Tomoe, Toson, Karma, Doi, Junpei, Tsukiko

Junpei: We should let Hachi-san use their wish to end this killing game!

(Okanaya-san!)

Kobo: It’s way too risky! We don’t know if Hachi will use their wish the way we want them too!

Toson: We’ve already trusted a killer in our group, so what’s the difference here?

(Sly-san!)

Sly: I may be a killer, but I’m not the culprit in this case. These are two different matters.

Karma: We can prevent anyone from having to be executed. Isn’t that a good thing?

(I’ll deal with this!)

Ryuu: There’s no way Monokuma would let us fail a class trial without anyone being executed!

Tsukiko: Can we not trust Hachi-sama to do the right thing in the end?

(Asano-san!)

Mami: Hachi-san sacrificed their best friend in the group. Are we expected to trust them even after that?

Tomoe: Please, let me end this killing game once and for all! I can do it, I promise!

(Ram-san!)

Ram: Even if you say that…we can’t guarantee the killing game will end because of the wish!

“This is our answer!”

“I’m sorry everyone…I’m sorry…Hachi-san…but if we don’t vote correctly, who knows what might happen?! Our lives are on the line, can we really afford to be taking risks right now?!”

“You…you are right…” Ishikawa-san conceded. “Even though I do not wish the endless slumber upon anyone…what am I to do when there are so many other lives in front of me that could be jeopardised?”

“Shit…shit! Fuck this! Fuck this whole class trial, why can’t we just have it be easy?!” Yokozawa-san slammed his fists onto the podium.

“Then…you’re done…? We can proceed with the vote…?” Monokuma asked. “Great! Then please select who you believe is the culprit from the screen in front of you! Will you pick the right choice…? Or the dreadfully wrong one…? What’s it gonna be? What’s it gonna be…?”

We watched as the Monokuma roulette wheel spun around, out faces each passing the needle before it eventually stopped on Hachi-san’s icon. Bouquets of flowers popped from the sides of the roulette wheel…we had voted. And the class trial was over.

#DKronpa #Chapters #fanganronpa #fangan ronpa

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stilesxeveryone · 6 years

Text

Pack of Two - Steter Week

~It’s day 4! I went with touch-starved but idk if I really hit the brief. I kinda don't like this, tbh? Like I feel like I forced a lot of it and it doesn't flow very nicely. Idk, hopefully you guys like it more. You can find this on AO3, where my account happens to be!

You can request fics, moodboards and drawings!~

Peter wasn't going feral. He wasn't. He had a pack so he wasn't going to go feral.

Sure, sometimes he growled when one of Hale-McCall's pack shouted at him. It was just because he was more in touch with his animal side, and there was no point in hiding it if everyone in the room was in the know.

Sure, on full moons he found himself out in the woods, eating little creatures, even though he didn't remember how he got there.

Sure, his gums ached as he almost let his fangs slip out every time he caught the scent of something delicious—whether it was a deer or Stiles didn't seem to matter to his wolf. They were both bambi anyway.

Sure, he wasn't really part of the pack because all of them either hated him or didn't trust him to even get within five metres of them.

Sure, the last time anyone touched him was when the wendigo from two weeks ago tried to bite a chunk out of him.

It was fine.

He wasn't going feral.

Except he was definitely slipping into the state of being an omega and no one seemed to notice or care.

It was a normal day.

Well, it had started off as a normal day.

Peter woke up, did his business in the bathroom, and made himself some coffee before starting on breakfast.

It had continued to be normal, right up until the toast popped out of the toaster and someone knocked at Peter's door.

Peter paused and listened. He recognised the heartbeat as belonging to one Stiles Stilinski and had very conflicted feelings about the fact that the boy knew where he lived and had decided to come visit.

Maybe if he didn't make any noise Stiles would think he wasn't home and would leave.

Except he really wanted to know why the kid was here.

Sighing, he grabbed his toast, moved the eggs off of the pan and onto the toast, then went to open the door.

"Stiles, it's a pleasure to see you. Come in." His smile was off as he hid his fangs from sight. Stiles' scent was almost overwhelming when none of the pack was there to dampen it.

"I wanted to talk," Stiles started, not bothering with a hello as he sat down in Peter's kitchen, where Peter had led him.

"What about?" Peter asked, turning away to grab his breakfast.

"Well, for starters you're growling more," Stiles said and Peter almost froze. Thankfully, he showed no outward sign of surprise.

"There have been animal remains found in the preserve, but none of the pack is owning up to killing anything. I don't know for sure if it is you, but it's certainly likely."

Peter turned to face him then but did nothing else.

"No one in the pack trusts you and no one in the pack touches you."

He didn't reply. He could tell what conclusion Stiles had come to, which was fine and true, but he wasn't sure of what solution he had come up with. He was somewhat concerned that it would be, 'If you go too far then I'll kill you.'

"So, obviously, you're now an omega and it's kinda not good at all for anyone," Stiles concluded, stopping as if he had nothing else to say.

"Congratulations on your fine deduction, Sherlock, but what do you propose as a solution?" Peter asked with a raised eyebrow, as the Hale prophecy predicted.

"Well, uh," for once his scent turned rotten with nerves, "I was kinda hoping even just having me in your pack would help? I know we wouldn't have an alpha and I'm probably not the best for a pack, but one is better than none, right? I mean, it's either that or I kill you if you go too far off the rails again." Stiles finally got a hold of his rambling and looked away from Peter, blush rising on his cheeks.

It was adorable.

"Stiles, I would love for you to be my pack, always have and always will. I offered you the bite, remember?" Maybe not the best memories to bring up. "But would you really be fine with all the touching and scenting?"

Stiles looked up at him with wide eyes before nodding. "Yeah, of course! I'd probably already be touching you and shit, but you're always on the staircase or in a corner or something so I can't, you know?"

It was Peter's turn for his eyes to widen with surprise. He grinned a second later though and asked, "So, I can hug you now?"

Stiles grinned back and stood up, "Yeah, sure."

As he breathed in Stiles' scent, face hidden in the crook of the boy's neck, he could feel his fangs lengthen and the burn of his eyes flaring blue. Hopefully, with time, with Stiles, he'd be able to control it a lot better.

For now, he revelled in the touch and the smell.

Three days later, he was at another bullshit 'pack meeting'. Derek and Scott were arguing, trying to work out how best to deal with the new problem in the woods. Peter was tired of the monotony of it all.

"Have you two ever thought about getting a divorce?" he asked when there was a lull in conversation.

"Shut up, Peter," the two yelled together. It seemed the only thing the two could agree on was that Peter was annoying.

He could feel a growl bubbling up in his throat, but it never came to fruition. Instead, as Stiles bumped shoulders with him, he felt a small amount of tension leak out of him.

"Who do you think's gonna win?" Stiles asked as he leaned into his side.

Peter raised an eyebrow at the question but responded seriously anyway, "Well, Erica and Boyd always vote for Derek. Isaac looks confused and more puppy-ish than normal, so he'll probably vote the same as them. Allison looks stern and sad, so she's probably going with Derek. Lydia looks like she's about to kill Scott, and Jackson always votes the same as her."

Stiles nodded, eyeing everyone in the room. "Interesting take. But what if we entertain the idea that Lydia gets so mad at Scott that she storms out? Jackson follows her. Allison and Isaac both end up voting for Scott, so he doesn't feel like everyone's attacking him. Makes it a tie, instead of all for Derek."

"I like the way you think, but if it ties then the vote goes to you and Derek wins."

"Actually," Stiles started with a bump of their hips, "we win because I get to make a plan for a middle ground if they tie."

"We?"

"You don't wanna help make the plan?" he asked with a pout.

Peter laughed and replied, "Of course I do, darling."

"Good."

Stiles was the first to leave the pack meeting, after everyone voted on Derek's plan, as he had to make dinner for himself and his dad. Peter was making his move to leave as well but suddenly there was a fiery banshee, excited but concerned werewolf and suspicious hunter in front of him.

"Are you and Stiles sleeping together?" the banshee, Lydia, asked with a glare.

"What?" Peter blanked, blinking several times. He had certainly entertained the idea of sleeping with the guy, dreamed about it, fantasised even, but never expected it to happen.

"Are you fucking Stiles?" the werewolf, Erica, repeated more crudely.

"No, I'm not," he said after recovering from his surprise.

"Then why are you and him suddenly so close?" the hunter, Allison, demanded to know.

"Have you ever heard of a thing called pack? Or even friendship?" He raised an eyebrow.

Lydia snorted. Somehow it was still a very regal action.

"Well, I was thinking friends with benefits, rather than a romantic relationship." Erica shrugged.

Peter sighed. "Right, so, interrogation over? I can go? I do have things to do."

The three girls all glared a moment longer, and Peter would be stupid not to be at least concerned that they'd kill him, before stepping out of his way.

He nodded to them before leaving the loft as well.

Later that night, Stiles showed up at Peter's apartment. He knocked and waited impatiently for Peter to open the door. Once it was open, Stiles brushed passed him without a hello. Instead, he got an,

"I brought you dinner. It's leftovers from what I made for dad."

"You brought me dinner?" Peter was confused but happy to let it happen if it meant Stiles would brush passed him more. Jesus, that was a weird thought.

"That's a thing, right? Providing for pack?" Stiles asked as he set the food down on the kitchen table.

Peter quickly fought back a grin and flash of eyes as he nodded. "Yeah, that's a thing."

He growled as he ate, though Stiles commented that it was very much a purr, and contentedly listened to Stiles' chatter the whole time.

As he washed his plate, Stiles began to fidget more than the usual and his scent turned rotten with nerves. It took Peter back to the last time the boy showed up at his apartment.

"Um, so, I was wondering if I could stay over for tonight?" Stiles paused before he decided it would be better if he explained himself, "It's just that dad's working again, and I really hate the house when it's empty, and you obviously don't have to say yes, and I'm sorry, I don't know why I bothered asking, I'll just go."

Before Stiles could take more than a step, Peter had wrapped a hand around his wrist, then around his waist and tugged him into a hug.

"Of course, you can stay, Stiles. What kind of pack would I be if I kicked you out? You can stay for as long as you like, whenever you like." Peter rubbed a hand up and down his back, soothing the boy's nerves until he was limp and too tired.

"Let's get you to bed, pup," he murmured. Gently lifting Stiles up, he walked them to his bedroom and onto the bed.

As he was pulling their shoes and socks off, Stiles spoke with closed eyes, "You called me pup, dude, tha's weird… Are we gonna make a two-man puppy pile?"

Peter huffed a laugh, not quite what he was expecting. Stiles rarely was.

"Most people tend to call it cuddling."

"You called me pup so now it's a puppy pile 'cause you're a pup, too."

Stiles was about ten seconds away from falling asleep and it definitely showed.

Instead of replying, Peter slipped in next to him and let Stiles' scent, even breathing and heartbeat lull him to sleep.

#steter #steterweek #steter week 2018 #teen wolf #fic #my fic #stiles stilinski #peter hale #touch-starved #stiles is peter's pack

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timeisacephalopod · 6 years

Text

Never Have I Ever

A Peter Q/ Tony/ Bucky AU in which they play NHIE at a party. Hence the name of the ficlet lol. (Also this was written on my phone if formatting gets weird I’m sorry 😭😭.

***

“Okay,” Tony says as he sits down. “We’re playing never have I ever hard edition. No mention of sex, drugs, or alcohol,” he tells the group. Everyone groans but it’s Clint that says what they’re all thinking.

“Dude, what the hell? That’s literally the whole game.”

Tony rolls his eyes, “well it gets fucking boring when you used to do a shit ton of drugs, had a lot of sex, and used to be an alcoholic. I’m tired of drinking like five jugs of apple juice because thirty five years of life hasn’t resulted in a single one of you finding a drinking game fifteen year olds don’t play. Also Peter used to deal drugs so he ends up taking way too many shots and I worry about his body’s tolerance, and Bucky is asexual so he’s fucked out of ninety percent of the game. No pun intended,” he adds when he realizes how that sounds.

“I’m asexual and I have no problem playing this game,” Sam mumbles, glaring at Bucky.

Bucky flips him off, “oh fuck off, just because you’re slutty doesn’t mean the rest of us are.”

“Don’t be rude,” Tony tells them.

“No, fight, I want to see which one of you wins!” Peter says excitedly. Tony gives him a look a but it doesn’t seem to curb Peter’s enthusiasm.

“Fine,” Natasha mumbles. “Never have I ever kicked a dog,” she says.

Steve takes a guilty shot and they all frown at him. Tony would have guessed Peter if he guessed anyone. “I was running late for work so I was trying to hurry and the dog wasn’t there and then it was and I almost died tripping over it,” he says, staring at the table.

T’Challa pats his back, “I don’t think that counts,” he says sympathetically.

“No,” Steve mumbles. “It counts.”

“If it makes you feel better cats are the superior animal,” T’Challa offers. It doesn’t seem to help.

“Birds are the superior animal,” Sam says. “Specifically falcons, none of this budgie apologist shit.”

Clint flips Sam off, “fuck you, hawks. Ok then. Never have I ever laughed so hard I threw up.”

Everyone but T’Challa takes a shot. T’Challa looks mildly horrified. “Um. Never have I ever punched an extremist,” Tony says, trying to find something ridiculous that he hasn’t done. He’s unsurprised when Steve takes a shot, when Bucky takes a shot he wants the story, but when Peter takes a shot he really wants the story. That disappears when T’Challa tentatively takes a shot too. They all stare at him and he sighs.

“Wakanda has a problem with an extremist group of isolationists and one time I got fed up and punched my former best friend. In my defence he tried to assassinate me,” he says and all their eyeballs just about pop out of their heads.

“Dude you’re a badass!” Peter says.

“What’s your story?” Bucky asks him.

He shrugs, “asshole drug dealer who was also a white supremacist, not nearly as fun as fun as T’Challa’s but there was two million dollars of meth so I feel like I should earn brownie posts,” he says.

Steve blinks rapidly, seemingly unable to process that. “What do you even do with all that meth?” He asks

Peter squints, “sell it, dumbass.”

“What about you?” Tony asks Bucky to break the tension.

He sighs, “I saw a guy with a swastika tattoo and panicked. I’m a gentle Jew and I was threatened. Ok so I instigated the fight but still.”

“Are you talking about Schmidt?” Steve asks. Bucky nods. “Fuck that guy, he was a piece of shit.”

“Well I guess he deserved it,” Tony mumbles.

Sam squints, “the swastika didn’t tip you off?”

“Some people make dumb mistakes,” he says even though that’s an admittedly extra dumb mistake to make. Like unfathomable, really.

“I swear to god if you have a swastika tattoo...” Sam mumbles.

“He doesn’t,” Bucky says. “I’ve seen every inch of his body, including inches he probably wouldn’t want me to see.”

Tony frowns, “what’s that mean?”

“It means your booty hole isn’t pretty,” Peter tells him bluntly. “What, don’t look at me like that. No one has a pretty booty hole.”

“Ok Natasha is glaring at me we’re moving on. Never have I ever been abducted by aliens,” he says no no ones surprise. Bucky and his fucking conspiracies. Dude has an obsession.

When Peter takes a shot though they all squint at him suspiciously. “What? Like I wanted to be abducted after my mom died. That big blue bastard was an asshole. He was always ‘when I picked you up on terra my boys wanted to eat you, they ain’t ever tasted no Terran before. But I stopped them-‘ it continued for a bit but I tuned it out and eventually they decided I was useless and dropped me off in Medicine Hat, Canada. Yeah, that’s a real place.”

“Medicine Hat was the most believable part of that,” Sam tells him, frowning.

Bucky laughs, “that was some world class meth, Peter.”

Peter squints, “drug dealer 101- don’t fucking smoke your supply. Also I was nine, nine year olds don’t- okay most nine year olds don’t sell drugs,” he says. “Or do them,” he adds.

T’Challa looks horrified, “you knew nine year old drug dealers?” He asks.

Peter shrugs, “I was into some shady shit.”

“This country is in peril,” T’Challa mumbles.

“Ok chill it black panther the youngest dealer I knew was 13 but they probably go younger, I don’t know, I refused to deal with anything that wasn’t in the double digits,” Peter says like this is an improvement. “But back to this seriously bullshit game that obviously displays our total lack of creativity. Never have I ever eaten out of the trash.”

Bucky takes a shot and everyone makes a disgusted face. When Clint takes a shot no one reacts. “How come you guys think I’m gross but Clint isn’t?” He asks.

“We expect you to have standards,” Tony says. “Please don’t kiss me with your garbage mouth.”

“Seconded, I love you but fuck that noise with something hard and prickly,” Peter says.

“Don’t look at me like that! People throw away perfectly good food away in your neighbourhood, it’s a fucking sin to let that go to waste,” Bucky tells Tony.

Tony sighs, “you’re the one the homeowners association keeps whining about,” he mumbles more to himself than Bucky.

“Alright Bucky nope, can’t do it, I gotta dump you,” Peter tells him.

Bucky looks offended, “I didn’t dump you for claiming to be abducted by aliens!” He says

“Aliens that are inexplicably from the southern United States if that speech pattern is any indication,” T’Challa adds.

“That’s a real story! His name was Yondu and he was the ugliest sonofabitch I’ve ever seen,” Peter tells them. “Except maybe Taserface, he looked like uglier Hagrid.”

Sam throws his head back and laughs with the rest of them. “Taserface? What the hell did nine year old you drink?”

“Why did he name himself after a human weapon?” T’Challa asks.

“Also how come these aliens seem to follow the human gender binary?” Steve asks.

Peter rolls his eyes, “I was nine, assholes. I wasn’t about to sit down and have a fucking discussion about gender theory with a blue fuckstick making vague threats about letting his crew eat me. I was shitting my damn pants.”

“Who thinks this is a more dumpable offence than liberating food from rich people’s trash?” Bucky asks. Everyone but Clint raises their hands. “Clint doesn’t count because he’s gross,” Bucky says. “So everyone has voted that you shouldn’t dump me,” he tells Peter.

“That’s not at all what we just voted but fine. Canada is a fake country also, Medicine Hat can’t be a real place,” Peter says.

“I remember why we play this stupid ass game now,” Tony says.

“So I can find out I choose to waste my precious time with two dumpster divers and a man who claims and alien named ‘Taserface’ abducted him?” T’Challa asks. “Don’t look at me like that, I’m a prince. My time is precious, that is an objective fact.”

“Yondu abducted me, Taserface was just there,” Peter corrects.

“I’m dating two out of the three mentioned people. How do you think I feel?” Tony asks. “But no, it’s because we all have ridiculous stories we’d never tell unless asked and this game never fails in its quest to make us reveal dumb obviously made up alien stories.”

“That was real!” Peter says in his own defence.

“Sure honey,” Bucky tells him, patting his thigh.

#peter x bucky x tony #alternate universe #fanfiction #my writing #crack fic #isk bois inspiration hit and this is the result

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geminimoonbeamx · 7 years

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Sweet Tooth: Part One

A/N: Okay so I’m happy you guys seemed to like this idea as much as I do. Let’s see where this takes us. In the movie I don’t think they ever mention Lance’s hometown, but I’ve always freaking LOVED Oregon and I figured he might as well be from one of the prettiest places in the country. Oh and in this story Lance isn’t a pedophile who fucks his gymnasts okurrr?

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: This story is going to have some very colorful language, this is Lance Tucker after all.

Summary: Lance Tucker has come back to his hometown with his ego bruised and his look on life more tainted then ever. When he runs into Y/N; a vibrant plus size woman he went to high school with at her bakery ‘Cake Faced’, he leaves the shop with the taste of sugar on his lips and a hunger that has nothing to do with the cupcakes

💘💘💘💘💘

Everything’s too green.

He’s still trying to re-acclimate his eyes, his corneas still tender to the vivid shades. There was no colors like this back in LA; where he had happened to spend the last decade or so of his life. He missed the blur, the sea of muted tones and bright lights that came with living in the big city.

That taste- the bitter one at the back of his throat that he had become accustomed to over the last couple months returns and he swallows it, just as he slams on his breaks. His body jerks forward violently and he snaps back to reality, his reality. Where he’s back in his old town, the shitty one where’d he’d grown up.

Hillsboro Oregon.

He was currently in the middle of main street, out to run errands for his mother. Like some kind of high school, warped other dimensionally nightmare come to life.

“Learn to drive” some asshole shoots at him from their car, the one that he’d cut off when he was stuck in his head and he jumps on the opportunity to bitch at someone other then himself.

“Go fuck yourself, cocksucker!” He bellows at the unnamed, practically un-faced man out of the window of his Audi and it’s sad, but its a relief.

Lance Tucker is once again stricken by the shit show that his life had become.

He pulls into a parking space in front of the grocery store, the stone building one of many little mom and pop owned stores in the square and sits in the car for a moment, just a moment of self loathing and pity before he adjusts his Ray-Ban sunglasses in the rearview mirror and sets off to put a dent in the list his mom had sent him off with.

Nothings really changed in this town. How sad is that? Everything’s just as he remembered it from growing up, yeah, gentrification is real and there’s a Starbucks and a Target now but not on main street. No, on main street it’s still the little stores that have been there forever. The Wilsons still owned the Pharmacy, the Karsbougs surprisingly still had their little photo studio. Huh, he thought at that. Who still wanted to get their pictures taken with some outdated 90’s back drop?

Fucking small towns.

Lance hated them. He hated them when he had, had to go recruiting and he hated them now.

Even if they did have a bit of a shrine for him here. His pictures; the one of him back when he was a teenager with him and his metals.

Gold and Silver.

At least someone had the decency to remember, to show case what he’d worked so damn hard for all those years ago.

Worked hard for what? a little, snarky voice in his head hisses at him. To end up living in the apartment above his childhood’s home garage?

Fucking bullshit is what it is.

He could kill Zach. Zach, one of the assistant coaches who just HAD to go dipping his dick into the girls. Underage girls- and who just HAD to knock up Maggie Townsend. Little bitch. He should have let Hope keep her.

He’s nearly halfway through his list, and is on his way to the hardware store when something catches his eye, sends his head turning. He cant seem to walk by it, the little shop that seems to draw his attention.

It looks so…different then everything else. Maybe it’s just because he’s never seen it before? And he thought he’d seen everything this town had to offer. A bakery? When had this popped up. He’d been here last Christmas and he could have sworn this was still the Martinez’s Liquor store…

‘Cake Faced’ the bold sign reads. In the window their showcasing their ‘Spring time Florals’.

He figures, he might as well. But really it’s like his feet operate of their own accord.

The shop is modern looking, sharp crisp lines and yet it has a warm, homey air about it. It’s also the fullest place he’d been in all day, people littering the small space.

Total hipster bullshit, he shakes his head a little bit as his eyes scan over the brightly lit impressive array of different baked goods. From macaroons to cinnamon rolls that look so lush it’s almost ridiculous.

“Hi” One of the workers behind the counter doesn’t seem overly friendly. He’s a little bit flamboyant with his bleached hair and monotone voice but he looks familiar…

“I think I went to school with your brother” Lance decides “Shane right?”

“Yeah, like it says on the name tag” Shane gives him a near sarcastic look, flicking said name tag “You seein anything you might want to sample?”

Lance chuckles at the man. He’d fit right in in LA.

“Um, to be honest kid I’m a little overwhelmed here” the 42 varieties of cupcakes glare at him dauntingly. He’s definatly holding up the line.

“I’ll grab this one, Shane” a sparkling voice breaks his thought process as you appear, seemingly, out of nowhere.

Shane cocks one eyebrow before reaching for the next waiting costumer.

It doesn’t take Lance long to recognize you at all. You’re different- yeah. Your hairs lighter and you look older, more put together then you had in highschool. Mature, maybe? Prettier, definatley. Your big e/c eyes framed by incredibly long lashes are still the same though. Your dimpled smile and chubby cheeks are still there too.

“Look what the cat dragged in” you start, your arms are folded over your chest but the look on your eyes is friendly.

“Well hello to you too, sweetheart”

You scoff at that “What can I get you, Lance?”

He’s honesty surprised to see you working at some random bakery. Hadn’t you always been like really smart? Voted most likely to end up in the Times?

“Surprise me. What’s good here?” He notes at you challengingly over the counter and you fight the urge to roll your eyes. Same Tucker.

“Well I’m incredibly biased so I think everything is good, but-” you crouch down to get a spoonful of cupcake “these are new”

You hand him the mini spoon and he sticks it into his mouth, his blue eyes not leaving yours as his plush lips close around the untensil.

You chuckle when they bulge a little bit.

“Damn that’s good” Lance moans at the bursting flavors in his mouth.

Lavender lemon cheesecake. Just about the last flavor he would have chosen himself, but it leaves his mouth watering.

“Thanks” you shrug proudly. He says he’ll take four of them and you start to box them up for him. Trying to ignore his gaze on you as you do so.

“You make those?”

“Well not that batch but it’s my recipe so you could say that”

“Really?”

“Really” you verify and half of his mouth pulls up. He remembers you being a smart ass.

“So what? Do you work here?” Lance wonders as you go to ring him out and you give him a half stupid look as he hands you his card.

“I mean obviously you do- you just don’t have a uniform on so I was just- uh” you laugh at his ramblings, or maybe it’s at the fact that he’s trying so hard not to look like he’s rambling.

“You know not having to wear a uniform is just one of the many perks of being your own boss” you inform him as you place the sage green box in a bag and hand it over to him.

“Wait- you own this place?” Lance puts two and two together. Manager? Maybe, he’d would’ve guessed but owner?

“Yup. For almost two years now” your so factual with him, in his memories you were…warmer. You and your big circle of friends and your social nature. He still recalled the people waiting outside of the classroom for you when the bell would ring. The two of you had even been friends, hadn’t you?

“Damn. Look at'chu” Lance whistles and you quirk your mouth, trying to keep your grin in check.

“Hey Y/N” your interrupted by by Max, one of the girls who works for you. She has questions about inventory that’s coming in. Lance watches you with amused, curious eyes as you play the role of boss bitch flawlessly.

He can’t help but think it’s hot, if he’s being perfectly honest.

“Welp, duty calls. Have a good rest of your day and enjoy your cupcakes” you have a buisness to run, and you’d spent too much time on him already.

“I most definatley will. You have a good one, too” Lance takes the bag and turns to leave, he doesn’t care. He reminds himself of that. But why were you so cold to him? And on that note, why had you never accepted his friend requests?

“Hey Lance?”

He turns at the sound of your call, his face a little confused.

“Welcome home”

His broad grin and little quirk of his eyeballs before he exits the store makes you sigh through your nose. He doesn’t hear that though.

He leaves the shop, lips sweet and buzzing with curiosity.

———————

@huntressxtimelady @i-had-a-life-once @zombiewerewolfqueen @spookyscaryscully @adyseesbeauty @geekyweed @maximum-effort-minimum-life

Okay guys this is short and sweet. Pretty much an intro, but I had to pump something out for you guys today. Happy Samhain, my fellow tumblarians😂💛🎃

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

#lance tucker #lance tucker x reader #lance tuckerxreader #plus size reader #Lance Tucker x plus size reader #the bronze #Bucky Barnes #chase collins #sebastian stan

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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Exclusive Excerpt: The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen

https://ift.tt/2yb7sjp

Check out this exclusive sneak peek from Lauren Shippen's The Infinite Noise, a queer superhero coming-of-age story.

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Mainstream superhero storytelling tends to do better when depicting physical powers than emotional/mental ones, which is one of the many reasons why the premise of Lauren Shippen's upcoming young adult novel, The Infinite Noise, so intrigues me...

Based on Shippen's award-winning podcast, The Bright Sessions, The Infinite Noise follows 16-year-old running back Caleb Michaels who has the supernatural ability to feel other people's emotions. High school is a hard place to have the power of extreme empathy, and classmate Adam is an emotional calm in the storm. Told from both boys points-of-view, The Infinite Noise is a coming-of-age story with a supernatural twist (not to mention a queer love story!), and I can't wait to read it.

Check out this exclusive excerpt from The Infinite Noise...

CALEB

“School starts tomorrow, correct?” Dr. Bright asks after a few moments of silence. “Yep,” I say. More silence. I’m getting used to these standoffs. I just wish I was better at winning them. But Dr. Bright pins me with a stare and I eventually give in, every time. “I don��t wanna go back,” I mumble, face heating. “Why not?” she asks, like the answer isn’t obvious. “Because being in high school when you can feel everyone’s feelings is a complete nightmare?” I answer dryly. “You’ve made some good strides since November, Caleb,” she soothes. I sense it more in her emotions than her voice, and it grates. I don’t want to be soothed right now. “Yeah, whatever,” I bite. “Caleb”—there’s that stare again and the soothing hardens— “what have we talked about?” “Don’t deflect emotion with being an asshole,” I recite, and there’s a small, quick glow within the perfectly even Therapist Mode that Dr. Bright’s emotions operate in. “I don’t remember putting it quite that way,” she smirks, “but yes. When you’re overwhelmed or refusing the input from your ability, you respond with anger. And we don’t want a repeat of what happened with Tyler.” “Yeah, I know,” I sigh. “It’s just easier, you know?” “What’s easier?” “Feeling annoyed or mad at stuff,” I say. “It might be an easy way to push away the other feelings,” she tells me, “but it won’t help you process them.” We sit in silence again but this time Dr. Bright is the one to break it. “How was it being with your family the past few weeks?” she asks. “Um, it was good, I guess,” I say. “I mean, I feel like I’ve gotten used to their feelings, you know? So, like, I’m able to balance them a bit. But it’s not like that in school.” “What helps you balance your family’s emotions?” “Well, there’s only three of them, so that helps. And even when their feelings are annoying or whatever, I can kinda tell who they belong to. They’re familiar.” “Has the color system proved useful?” she asks. “Yeah, I guess so,” I say, thinking about how Dr. Bright feels warm and yellow right now. “Like, it doesn’t always make things easier, but it’s definitely something.” “Do you think that could help at school?” “I don’t know,” I admit. “There’s just so much. There’s too much, you know . . .” “Input?” she suggests. “Yeah, exactly. And so I can’t process, like, any of it, and that’s when I get overwhelmed.” She purses her lips and I feel the itchiness that I’ve come to know as Dr. Bright working through stuff in her head. It feels like I’m trying to solve a math problem I don’t understand. “The familiarity of your family’s emotions makes it easier for you to balance your ability,” she repeats. “Is there anyone at school who could do the same thing?” “What?” “Is there someone—a teammate or friend—who you feel comfortable around? Someone whose emotions you could focus on when you get overwhelmed?” The itchiness settles as she says this, like this is really a solution to my Problem. “Um, no, not really,” I admit. “I have friends and stuff but no one . . .” I find myself thinking of the last day of school, going into the library and knowing, just knowing, that Adam Hayes was there. And then he was so startled and his feelings were all over the place, but there was something— “No one . . . ?” Dr. Bright prompts. “No one whose feelings fit,” I finish. “I don’t know that focusing on anybody at school is actually going to help.” “Well,” she says, “something to think about?” “Yeah.” I nod. “Something to think about.”

But I don’t have time to think about it, because the first few days of school are lost in a haze of other people’s bullshit. I got to English early today so that I’d have time to settle in before the onslaught of emotions, and it’s not exactly working. I have to close my eyes as the other students start coming into the room. I try to sift through the feelings; focus on the colors and try to figure out what I’m going to be up against for the next hour. Red. Anger. That one’s pretty obvious. And it’s an emotion that I’m super familiar with. Black sludge. I think that one is disappointment. But this is worse—this is dripping sludge. Hot and cold all at once. Ugh, I hate this one. I feel it all the time but I can’t figure out what’s different about it. And it makes me want to jump off a bridge. Soft blue. It settles behind my eyes and makes my head heavy. Exhaustion. Dr. Bright tells me that being tired isn’t a real emo- tion, but I don’t buy it. There’s a certain kind of tired—a bone-deep weariness—that definitely qualifies as an emotion. Off-white. Soft. Suffocating. Sadness. Red again. Black sludge. Black sludge. Black sludge. God, it’s literally the first week of the semester, can’t people just chill? Pins and needles under my skin. My breathing picks up. Traffic- cone orange. Stress. Oof, a lot of stress. And then. Quiet. Blue-green. Not sharp like red and orange, but deep. Endless. It fills me up, empties me out. Clears out the sludge, the pins and needles, but makes me tense. Restless. I open my eyes. Find his. Adam.

ADAM

Caleb.

Why is it that, for the past week, every time I walk into a room, he’s staring at me? It’s like he has some sort of radar—he catches my eye wherever I go. If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume that some dark, omniscient power was out to make my life miserable. Not that I am particularly bereft in the misery department. But this just seems especially cruel. His eyes. His fucking eyes. Sad and curious and beautiful and angry; like he’s angry that I’m there. Like he resents my existence. Part of me wonders if he’s still upset about the stupid library encounter last semester—the staring started just after that—but Caleb doesn’t seem like the type to hold a grudge. And yet here we are, a new semester, and his eyes are always on me. So who’s going to turn away first? Every time I want it to be him—I want to stare him down until he gets scared and has to look away. There’s something about him that makes me want to fight. But every time his eyes find mine, they look straight into me and make mincemeat of my insides. So I don’t fight; I cave. I’m always the one to look away first. Even if I wanted to fight, I couldn’t hold my own against Caleb Michaels. Not many people could. Tyler has been significantly subdued since the fight, and that’s Tyler—I thought the guy was fearless. I take one more quick glance at Caleb and try, for the thousandth time, to imagine him breaking a guy’s nose. I know it happened, but there’s something about it that just doesn’t compute. I don’t feel threatened when I catch him looking at me. I feel . . . Never mind. Not a productive train of thought. I walk toward the back of the room to my desk—conveniently and purposefully located behind Caleb so I don’t have to look at his face. The back of his neck is still visible and provides its own unique brand of torture, but it’s an easy battle compared to his eyes. Enough about him. What are we doing today? I squint at the board. We’re still on Macbeth. Good. No romance in that, not really. Just murder and politics, the best distractions. “I can’t believe he said yes! That’s amazing.” “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, Caitlin.” Perfect. Jessica and Caitlin have settled into the desks behind me and seem particularly excited about the day’s gossip. Yay, hooray. “Sorry, you know what I mean,” Caitlin says, trying to soothe her. “It’s just that taking the quarterback to Sadie Hawkins is kind of a big deal.” “I know!” I can hear the smile on Jessica’s face. I guess she asked Ryan to the dance, then. Even I have to admit that they’ll make a nice-looking couple—with their shiny hair, tan skin, and perfect Colgate smiles. It’s exhausting. “Now it’s your turn,” Jessica says. “You need to grow a pair and ask him!” “Ugh, I know,” Caitlin says, “and I will. I promise. Just . . . let me get through this week. I need to nail this Macbeth project and then I’ll ask him. Seriously.” “Okay, okay,” Jessica concedes, “but you need to stop stressing about this paper. You already have an A.” “And I’d like to keep it that way, thank you very much.” I can’t see her, but I just know Caitlin is preening while she says this. I find her early-morning chatter irritating beyond belief, but the girl is smart. And she never lets you forget it. “Fair enough. Just don’t wait too long.” Jessica’s voice drops to a whisper. “Caleb’s one of the cutest guys in our class. Someone is gonna snatch. Him. Up.” I freeze. Mr. Collins has turned to us and started speaking, but all I hear is blood rushing in my ears. I should have expected this—I know I should have—but it still catches me by surprise. Caleb is the cutest guy in our class, even if I would be the last person to admit it (though the first one to think it). But he’s never dated anyone. I’ve never seen him so much as check out a cheerleader. For a while, I thought maybe I’d gotten crazy lucky, maybe Caleb didn’t want to chase girls like the rest of the football team, but now I’m not sure. He doesn’t check out anyone. Since the beginning of the school year, he’s gotten quiet and kept to himself and goddammit if that doesn’t make him even more appealing.

The Infinite Noise will hit bookshelves on September 24th. You can read another excerpt from the book on the Tor Teen Blog. The book is available for preorder now.

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

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Feature Kayti Burt

Jul 25, 2019

Tor Teen

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