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paintingwhiteceilings · 10 months

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❃Seventeen and buying concert tickets❃

a/n: Sooooo apparently, my first post has been doing really well. I came home from visiting my friends over the weekend, only to find out that it has over an 100 notes???? Thank you to everyone who has been liking and reblogging it. I genuinely didn't expect so many people to enjoy, or even see, it, and I feel so incredibly grateful :')

Anyway, I stumbled upon Scoups trying to buy their own concert tickets and thought it would make for a fun prompt. Enjoy!

Scoups/Seungcheol: 7/10

❀ What deity has he disrespected to be suffering this much? When he promised some of his friends to get them tickets as well, he did so out of the assumption that good karma would aid him in increasing his odds of getting good seats. Isn’t that how karma is supposed to work; you do a good deed and get rewarded?

❀ For some reason, the entire website seems to be working against him. He has an abysmal position in the queue, giving him a false sense of hope in obtaining tickets. After he finally is let in, the website seems to continuously glitch. The only reason that he ultimately gets to pick out decent seats is because he spends an absurd amount of money on them.

❀ No, it truly can’t be a higher power toying with him… Instead, he blames himself for picking the wrong location, date and zone. Somehow, he even manages to misplace his credit card, resulting in him having to turn his room upside down. He is about to completely lose it before discovering that he accidentally placed his keyboard on top of it.

❀ After struggling a ton, he finally manages to get decent tickets, ageing at least ten years in the process. Give him some time and space; he needs to properly process the entire experience. Maybe it is time to pay for an exorcist.

Jeonghan 1000000/10

❀ God has favourites, and it shows. Jeonghan decides to get concert tickets on a whim, pulling out his phone to check whether they are still available. Somehow, precisely at that moment, the tickets go on sale, making him first in the queue.

❀ He doesn’t really understand what Coups is complaining about. He has the seats he wants with a perfect view of the stage. The site runs smoothly, and he is able to buy the tickets without it buffering even once. He doesn’t even have to remind his friends to transfer him the money, either. They did it beforehand.

❀ Even worse, after he successfully purchased the tickets, he decides to never buy tickets for himself ever again. Why would he do it himself when he could ask his friends to do it for him instead? It gives him an additional ten minutes to nap. His ticket buying luck will become a memory, a legend that all those buying tickets tell each other.

❀ Is that Coups crying in the corner?

Joshua 8/10

❀ You have heard of chick-magnets, and now I present to you, Mr Hong, a ticket-magnet. Joshua has no interest in ticket buying. Rather than spending those hours sitting behind a computer, he could be enjoying one of his thousand hobbies instead. Joshua could’ve made at least four bracelets and watched a full season of anime in the same time span. Why worry over Maroon 5 tickets when he can sing Sunday Morning himself.

❀ Instead, his friends end up giving him their spare tickets whenever someone cancels. Over the years, he has gone to a wide arrange of concerts. It is kind of impressive. One time he went to both a classical and a heavy metal concert on the same day. It gave him whiplash; he almost started a mosh pit as the third movement played.

❀ Considering that Joshua never checks his phone, he wouldn’t even be aware of what concerts are happening. Not that it really matters. Somehow, he will end up going anyway. All concert tickets lead to Hong Jisoo.

Jun 2/10

❀ Have you ever tried buying tickets in a language that is not your native tongue? No? Well, let me tell you, it is hard. Jun has been staring at the screen for the past five minutes, trying to figure out the fine print. He is having a hard time deciphering the very legal and formal Korean.

❀ He is pretty sure that he is misinterpreting half of it; it seems rather odd for a concert ticket site to be talking about saving the cows when he is looking at insurance options. It truly is weird. Still, Jun cannot help but be a bit concerned about the cows.

❀ Before he is able to buy the tickets, he runs out of time. He had tried to call his members, but he should’ve figured that him reading the confusing Korean out loud would result in a weird narrative telephone game where the members have to guess the word from his shaky pronunciation. At least it made for a fun new game for GoSe.

❀ Fortunately, he is favourite child number 1, and the other members have zero faith in him being able to buy his own ticket. They made sure to get him one whilst he was calling with them. Of course, they gasslight him into thinking that, by some miracle, he had managed to buy the ticket himself. They don’t want to hurt his feelings.

Hoshi/Soonyoung: -100000000000/10

❀ I should probably add more zeros, but that would ruin the aesthetics. Hoshi's problems already start upon him trying to turn on the computer. No matter how often he smashes the power button, it does not respond. He thinks he broke it, but in reality, Hoshi doesn't understand the concept of a charger. Nobody told him that computers need energy to function.

❀ When Wonwoo told him that the computer needed to be fed, trying to explain the concept of charging and electricity, Hoshi tried giving it a piece of his fried chicken. He left it there for a full hour, but it didn’t eat it. Hoshi thinks the laptop might be mad at him for letting it starve for so long. Someone, please help this man; he is crying.

❀ Maybe instead of using his computer, he can use his phone to buy tickets. Oh, wait, no. He tried showering with his phone because he thought it was waterproof. Why did he think it was waterproof? Nobody knows. He has put it in rice to see whether it will turn on again. The others haven’t told him yet that it is hopelessly fried; they don’t want him to get another phone only to ruin it within seconds.

Wonwoo 100000000/10

❀ With his gaming set-up and ridiculously fast internet, Wonwoo makes ticket buying look like a sci-fi film. To the untrained eye, watching Wonwoo buying tickets might seem rather boring. To those more experienced, his skills at clicking on the right things at the exact right time are insane. Internally, he has an entire dramatic inner monologue when he does, recounting his months of research on how to optimize ticket buying.

❀ It has become a game for him; he has an insane track record for buying the best seats, and at this point, he does it more so for the thrill. He resells them to the members, increasing the price a bit as he does. He doesn’t tell them, of course; it makes them feel indebted to him, owing him a favour he can cash in during GoSe, whilst he, unbeknownst to them, is making a decent profit. Truly, he is hitting two birds with one stone.

❀ It is only after Wonwoo uses his hard-earned money to buy five extra computers to further optimize the buying of tickets that the other members begin getting concerned. They ultimately decide to hold an intervention for him, explaining that his obsession with ticket buying is borderline unhealthy. So far, he is doing well. He hasn't bought a single concert ticket since the intervention.

Woozi/Jihoon: 9/10

❀ Concert tickets seem to magically appear on his doorstep, paired with letters full of admiration. Woozi has no idea how they got there. Whenever an artist is going on tour, the tickets seem to materialize out of thin air without fail. He fails to realize that by being the legendary producer Woozi, THE Lee Jihoon, everyone wants him at their concert. He truly is a humble king.

❀ To be honest, he doesn’t really want to go. Unless it happens to be Bruno Mars, he would rather stay indoors, focusing on his own music. He decides to give all the free tickets to Joshua, figuring that it would be a waste to throw the tickets out. However, he stopped giving Joshua the free tickets after he discovered that Joshua was pretending to be him. Not that anyone believed him, but still, Woozi no longer wanted to be associated with the guy who was shamelessly dancing around, executing the cringiest of dance moves.

❀ On the one hand, it did somewhat work. The artists have stopped inviting Woozi to every single concert that they hold, afraid to get his insane friend instead. Joshua, to this day, claims that it was all part of his plan.

DK/Seokmin: 1/10 but 1000/10 for the vibes

❀ DK is truly trying his best to get tickets for the concert he wants to go to. He has invited all his friends over to buy the tickets together. Everyone brings their own laptop to increase their chances of getting good seats. However, by the end of the night, it has kind of turned into a bit of a party.

❀ Initially, DK put on a playlist to decrease the tension and stress that everyone was feeling. That being said, as time passed, the tickets were kind of forgotten as it turned more and more into a karaoke session. Suddenly more and more people seemed to appear, somehow hearing of this dope party that was being held at DK’s. DK surely didn’t invite them, but the more, the merrier, right? He can’t help but feel like he is forgetting something as the night progresses, but it must probably not be that important.

❀ It hits him only the morning after. It is not completely hopeless, though. When DK goes online to share his funny anecdote with other fellow fans, he inevitably ends up charming someone who has a spare ticket. They end up inviting him along because, well, we all could use some little DK in our life.

Mingyu: 7.5/10

❀ He thinks he is really good at finding resell tickets for cheap. What he doesn’t know, however, is that everyone takes one good look at his profile pic and decides to risk it all. Unknowingly, Mingyu has broken up a lot of friendships with his posts innocently asking whether anyone has a ticket to spare.

❀ He has no idea that concerts are essentially all dates. The other person always treats him so nicely. They get him food, flowers and give him so many compliments. Honestly, he doesn’t understand how people can be so pessimistic about the world. Look at how many wonderful people are in it, treating him so kindly.

❀ Unfortunately for those who intend the concert to be a date and the start of a new relationship, he is too oblivious to see it as such. At the end of the concert, he will simply shake their hand and thank them for the fun night, never to contact them ever again. Still, nobody gets truly upset about the outcome. His obliviousness is kind of charming.

The8/Minghao: 5/10

❀ It is all up to faith. Does he understand the Korean on the website? No. As a result, Minghao has decided to make peace with whatever comes out of the ticket buying experience. He has meditated quite a bit before the tickets go on sale, trying to tell himself that it won’t bother him if he doesn’t get the tickets. He is cool, calm and collected.

❀ He makes all his decisions based on a coin flip. Is he struggling to choose between two zones? Coin flip. Should he click the first or second option for insurance? Coin flip. He has a very pretty dice that he can roll for the choices with multiple options. In other words, Minghao puts his trust completely in the universe so that he doesn’t have to admit that he has no idea what he is doing. Honestly, the method allows him to, at the very least, make quick decisions regardless of the outcome. Consequentially, he outspeeds everyone else on the website.

❀ Does it work? Half of the time. Sometimes the universe seems to be favouring him, giving him incredible seats. Other times he is sitting in the nosebleeds, squinting at the stage as he is trying to make out the artist. He comforts himself with the thought that he is there for the music, not the visual experience.

Seungkwan: 9/10

❀ Welcome to Seungkwan’s military mission to get concert tickets. Drill Sergeant Boo has decided that he will be assembling the best team to get the concert tickets he desires, and there will be nothing stopping him. Not only did he insist on everyone meeting up at the place with the best Wi-Fi, but he also made an entire overview of the best zones and seats, including information on which seats tend to sell out the fastest.

❀ He has set five alarms for when the tickets go on sale, and if anyone dares to goof off, they will meet an early grave. This is a life-or-death situation! Sergeant Boo has no time for those that slack off or test his patience. If you are not taking this seriously, you do not deserve to see Adele in concert.

❀ Let’s just hope that he gets his tickets through regular ticket sales because if not, he will set up an intelligence mission in order to find out as much tea as he can on someone to blackmail them into handing over their tickets. Is it legal? Not really, no, but all is fair in love and war or when Beyoncé tickets are on the line.

Vernon 8/10

❀ Getting tickets is really no problem for Vernon. All he has to do is connect himself to the internet. He is an AI/NPC, after all. It is incredibly easy; all he has to do is hack into the system and get the tickets before they even go on sale.

❀ Okay, okay, all jokes aside, Vernon, with his refined music taste, mostly attends obscure bands. He is not even snobby about it; he genuinely enjoys their experimental music. Most of the time, the band's tickets do not sell out because the band is, well, questionable at best. Wait, you have not heard of Order of the Metaphysical Rat? They are really good! What about the Tree Rioting Bishops? No? Well, he had a blast at their last concert; you should totally join next time.

❀ Occasionally, he stumbles onto real gems, bands that are on the up-and-coming and about to blow up. He somehow manages to attend their concert at the right time, and when he checks the tickets the next year, they've tripled in price.

❀ However, more often than not, the concerts he attends are an… experience. Dancing Politics truly was something special with their remixing of political speeches, and his ears are still ringing from the Screaming Orchestra. He doesn't understand why none of the other members want to join him.

Dino/Chan: -1000/10

❀ He is incredibly determined to get the tickets, but Dino has a massive problem: he is a boomer at heart. He is not hip and happening and has no idea how this whole process of buying tickets works. What do you mean that they do not physically mail concert tickets any more?

❀ To be honest, he was kind of hoping one of the other members would take him instead. This whole concept of the internet is truly beyond him. He literally just figured out how the landline works; he blinked twice, and suddenly there is something called the internet.

❀ Somehow, in his attempt to get tickets, he clicks on the wrong thing, and now his computer has crashed. He has no idea how he managed it, but it is refusing to respond. So now he's paying for a hefty bill to get his computer fixed instead of the tickets.

❀ It gets even worse when he trusts a Nigerian Prince emailing him that he has some tickets to resell. Yeah… Dino gets scammed out of a lot of money. It is safe to say that the other members have decided that he no longer gets to shop online.

masterlist

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swanimagines · 2 years

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I haven't stopped listening to Mr Sandman since the end of the serie, can you do a one shot where F!Reader is quietly singing(unconsciously) the song and Morpheus asks him what is that? please

Fandom: The Sandman

A/N: Not really a oneshot because the scenario isn't detailed enough for one, but here's little something I wrote from your prompt.

Also a note that this is the last Morpheus request I have in my inbox rn, but you're welcome to send more! It's kinda weird how I don't crush on him (yet?) but I've really enjoyed writing for him for some reason as I build my queue and see the love they get (which encourages me to write more) so more requests for him are welcome 😊 Reminder that you may also use my prompt lists if you don't have ideas of your own!

Word count: 627

Visiting Morpheus' palace every night as your physical self was comfortably wrapped up in your bed was something you didn't think would happen. You were surprised that it had happened so often, but Morpheus had told you that he liked having company and since you had shown him so much kindness, he wanted to offer you company too.

In the Waking World, you were quite lonely. There were some people you saw on a regular basis—your work colleagues, neighbors, acquaintances—but they all had their own lives outside of yours. The few friends you made only ever called or met when there was an occasion, which made you feel unappreciated and like you were contacted only if someone was bored, not because people actually wanted to talk to you.

You had told this to Morpheus when you were plotting freeing him from his glass prison, knowing how he was treated in there and the moment you had learned he was there purely because Roderick Burgess was greedy for power, and not because he had done something horrible, you started laying out a plan of freeing him. He didn't speak, and seemed to doubt your honesty until you actually filled your promise, but now he did trust you. He enjoyed you sitting there with him as he worked. Sometimes you read, sometimes you doodled something or then you spoke with him if he wasn't too busy.

Tonight, you seemed to be deep in thought as you doodled into a parchment of paper, smiling softly at each stroke. Morpheus was deep in his own work, but he was distracted as he heard you hum a tune.

"Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream, make him the cutest that I've ever seen, give him the word that I'm not a rover, then tell him that his lonesome nights are over, dum dum dum..."

He frowned as he lifted his gaze at you, and you noticed it and realised the next moment what you had just said, and you felt heat creeping up to your face.

"What is that?"

You laughed nervously, placing your hands over your cheeks and trying to hide yourself from him momentarily. "Um... nothing." You shrugged, turning your eyes back at your doodle. "Just... something silly I've been listening lately, it's quite an earworm."

Morpheus raised his eyebrows and then an amused smile spread on his lips. "A song about me?"

You smiled at him bashfully, fiddling with the quill in your hands. "It's a really old song and when I started visiting you here, I just... I don't know, I ended up listening to it in Spotify quite often. It brings me comfort when I'm not here."

His eyebrows rose slightly, before he smirked at you smugly. "I am flattered to be remembered so fondly by you when you are awake." He chuckled at your embarrassed expression, before getting back to his work.

You bit your lip, your face still feeling hot and your heart thumping, but managed to continue your doodle anyway.

And once you relaxed, you had started to hum the tune again without noticing, but this time Morpheus didn't react to it apart from a small smile on his lips. He wouldn't say it aloud, but he was pleased that you enjoyed something that reminded you of him, even if it was only a song.

He had offered you kindness in return to you freeing him, and it felt good knowing you were enjoying your nights with him, even if your nights went by just sitting together, barely speaking.

Maybe one day he'd appear in the Waking World and spend time with you in your world for a change, surprise you by taking you out on dinner, show you how much he appreciated you too...

---

The Sandman taglist: @jesllianaquilesrolon @stygianoir // send in an ask to be added, and specify which of my fandoms you want to be tagged on! Don’t just say “can you add me to your taglist” as I can’t know what taglists do you mean by that!! ALSO IF YOU WON’T INTERACT BEYOND LIKING, I’LL EVENTUALLY TAKE YOU OFF THE LIST!!

#morpheus x reader #morpheus #dream of the endless x reader #dream of the endless #the sandman #the sandman x reader #morpheus fic #the sandman fic #morpheus x y/n #my works #female reader

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sturniolos-blog · 5 months

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-okay this is my first like part of anything and i think it’s gonna come out like shit but womp womp anyway hope yall like it.

warnings: swearing??

Band - Matt sturniolo (part 1? lmk if i should do a part 2 and continue making stories)

9:37 pm

I walked into a bigger bar than usual, hearing my phone buzz,

bae i’m sorry, please come back home, i miss you

I rolled my eyes at the message, jonathan being a fuck head, we had just gotten in a big argument, bigger than the ones we have everyday. crazy i know.

why i’m still with him? good fucking question, but i also live with him, it’s harder than you think.

come home right fucking now Y/N i’m not playing around no more

I sighed as i shook my head, my eyes scanning over the last message,

don’t fucking play with me i’ll beat your ass and you fucking know it i can’t wait till you come home you know you’re going to have too at some point,

I swallows harshly, putting my phone away before walking to the bar, smiling at the guy that was bartending,

“2 shots of tequila and a beer, please.” I said as the bartender nodded,

“coming right up.”

I sighed playing with the bracelet jonathan got me for our 1 year anniversary,

love you forever

it read on it, what a load of bull shit, didn’t know love came with a black ey-

“Let’s make some noise for the sturniolos plus rachel!” My thoughts get interrupted as I hear some guy announce that from the stage, the small bar crowd all clapped.

My eyes lock on three guys and one girl, the first guy I noticed had a sort of mullet, reddish hair, noticing some tattooes as he had headphones around his neck, wearing jeans and a light brown khaki colored shirt, a design on the front of the shirt that i didn’t really care to look at, he was standing in front of a DJ set up, interesting.

My eyes wandered to a longer haired boy, looking exactly like the last guy, no tattoos, sitting down in front of a drum set with chains around his neck, wearing an all black outfit, he flipped the drumsticks in his hands, waiting for the song to start.

I then looked at the last guy, the one who was right next to the singer, he had tattoos going up his arm, wearing a black T shirt with cargo pants, followed with a black vest, he was holding an electric guitar, tooth pick in his mouth as he clenched his jaw, looking at assuming her name is rachel since that’s what the announcer said. Waiting for a queue.

holy shit.

they all may look the same but this one is-

“here you go ma’am, sorry it took so long.” The bartender smiled kindly, placing the two shots and the beer bottle in front of me.

I thanked him and told him it was okay, downing the first shot before looking back at the stage as a tune starts,

“Oh yeah, don’t need permission, made my decision, to test my limits, cause it’s my business, god as my witness. start what i finished,” Rachel sung, dangerous woman by Ariana Grande, she wasn’t that good of a singer, but who was I to judge? I make my own shitty music in my studio at home with my abusive boyfriend, i don’t think i can criticize much.

The song went on as i kept my eyes on the guitarist, his fingers strumming with delicacy but still really into the song, i didn’t even notice the rings that were just on his pointer and pinky fingers. god that’s hot.

“All that you got, skin to skin, oh my god don’t ya stop, boy..” She continued singing as the guitar and the drums got louder.

Downing my other shot, I decided to move on to my beer, watching the guitarist some more, i scrunch my face up in disgust as i sip on my beer,

“why the fuck would i get this..” I muttered to myself, beer taste like shit, i knew that. must’ve forgot or something.

I put down my beer before looking back to the stage, it was a guitar solo, he was stringing the guitar with a lot of power, his forehead was sort of sweaty, probably from the spotlight, but he kept playing,

His part sped up as rachel began again,

“Something about you! makes me feel like a dangerous woman!” She belted, not bad seriously, but i could give her some tips. As i subconsciously criticized her my eyes wander back to the guitarist, his eyes were on me, still playing as rachel sang,

I tilted my head and licked my lips, looking down at his guitar before looking back up, he smirked at me and looked down at his own hands, still playing as the song came to an end.

“Something bout you..” Rachel finished.

The small bar crowd erupted in a bunch of applauses, i clapped to from my spot at the bar, guitar boy was still looking at me when i looked back at him, I gave him a confused look before I saw him smirk once again and bite his tongue, looking away as his group made their way off stage, I saw the DJ, the drummer, and rachel go to the back of the bar, but guitar boy came up to me.

I saw him walking up and I immediately turn around in my chair, facing towards the bar now, really hoping he doesn’t come up to me.

I hear a grunt next to me and at the corner of my eye see him lift up his guitar over his head and place it down between the stools we were sitting on.

He clears his throat,

“you’re new, never seen you before.” He said, taping his fingers on the wood that my elbows were rested on, I let out a sigh and looked towards him, shaking my head,

“I come here all the time, maybe you’re the new one.” I said, playing with my bracelet.

“huh..” He says before it goes silent, “That’s pretty.. where’d you get it?” He asked as i looked up at him, noticing his eyes were on my bracelet,

“from someone not important at all..” I shook my head, obviously not about to tell my life story to this extremely fine man.

“Must be someone important if you still wear it,” He shrugged,

“not at all.” I scoffed, breaking eye contact as i look back down at the bracelet.

As we sat in silence for a couple more seconds, i asked, “Okay do you need something?”

“Me? no no.. nothing.. it must be you that needs something,” He says as he plays with one of his rings,

“Huh?” I looked at him as i was so confused.

“Oh please you were eyeing me up and down the whole song..” He pointed out, saying it in a duh tone.

“I was enjoying it..” I mumbled, looking away.

“Sure.” He says quietly.

“plus I like the guitar..” I mentioned.

He let out a breath of air, “oh yeah? you play?”

“Uhm.. you could say that, i play a mix of everything, but electric guitar is my favorite.” I told him.

“Damn that’s cool.. so what do you sing or something too?” He half joked.

I looked up at him before looking away.

“no way! I was just joking but that’s awesome, seriously.” He let out a laugh as I shook my head.

“So what’s your name?” He asked me.

“Why would I give you it? I don’t know you,” I scoffed.

“Well you could get to know me starting off by giving me your name..” He nudged my shoulder, I let out a laugh.

“Y/n, now what about you, guitar boy?” I joked,

“Guitar boy? that’s new..” He tilted his head and swallowed, “Uh the names Matt.” He put his hand out.

“Nice to meet you Matt..” I shook his hand,

“We should talk more, what’s your num-“ He started off saying before someone came up behind him and hugged him.

“Baby!” She giggled and kissed his cheek, I looked at the girl, it was the singer.

I swallowed harshly and looked away. Damn.

Matt let out a chuckle, “Hey rach..” He said lowly.

The red haired girl looked at me, “and who’s this?” She asked as she went and sat on matt’s lap, staring at me.

“um this is y/n, she was telling me how much she liked the song..” Matt covered up for his girlfriend, i nodded.

“Yeah nice to meet you, i thought you did great.” I put on a fake smile and put my hand out, but she looked at my hand and the looked away. I nodded and put my hand down. okay then.

Feeling very uncomfortable as rachel starting kissing matt, my phone buzzed in my pocket,

Get home right fucking now

who are you with rn huh?

fucking brace yourself when you get home, come home now and i’ll make it easier for you

i decided to text back,

i’m on my way now, sorry my phone died

I sent. Seeing jonathan start typing before stopping, i sighed and turned off my phone, shoving it in my back pocket.

“Um nice to see you guys.. I guess.” I rolled my eyes in disgust as they made out. I walked out of the bar and got in my car.

What the fuck.

#matt sturniolo #chris sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #nick sturniolo #matt sturniolo x reader #bar #electric guitar #matthew sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #nicolas sturniolo

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annoyinglandmagazine · 9 months

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I have a very specific take on the first meetings of Elrond and Celebrian that I am very obsessed with. So picture this. Celebrian during the Last Alliance is a pretty senior commanding officer within some of her parents forces and when she accompanies her mother to Imladris for the White Council she’s still largely fulfilling some of those duties for most of her stay, she’s out for a lot of the official events on patrols and such. She also spends most of the time around Imladris in her uniform, she has status of her own thank you very much she doesn’t need to introduce herself as Galadriel’s daughter to garner respect (Galadriel herself of course approves of this very wholeheartedly).

So in general she’d appear fairly masculine ( this was definitely not deliberate butch presentation to signal to queer elleths what are you talking about?), it’s mainly ambiguous on her part but she got her mother’s tall genes and built up a decent bit of lean muscle so people will draw their own conclusions. And while she’s in the training yard she hears someone humming what sounds like a Song of Power to enhance the stock of healing herbs kept nearby. She spots a stunning raven elleth in the corner that she was relatively certain she would be able to lift off her feet with shocking ease by the size of her.

Her conclusions were correct, the elf maid had a healer’s apron fastened over her dress and was most likely come from the Healing Halls, she was surprised she hadn’t seen her before though she hadn’t now until she’d started singing so maybe she was just good at blending it the background. She most certainly did not flex her sweat soaked muscles a little more than necessary with the next thrust, though the elleth most certainly seemed to think she had because she snorted to herself. Celebrian threw her a wink as she strode over to lean against a pillar.

She gets the name of Elwen, though she does not give one herself to the other’s great amusement. They flirt rather outrageously over the following weeks when they run into each other, sparring on occasion (and for such a tiny thing, by the Valar that Elwen was vicious. She was only two victories off drawing even with her, not that she was keeping track). Elrond was always fond of the anonymity offered by indulging his femininity, it was frankly shocking how few people recognised him when he did so, it was a pleasant way to both fulfil the need for a change that could not be ignored for long stretches of time and to experience things (and people) without the constant expectations to be a thousand different things at once. The opportunity for affairs of every nature without sullying the propriety of his reputation too thoroughly was another advantage.

So this all culminates in the first proper banquet Celebrian attends. ‘Lord Elrond, oh there you are, I was wondering if you’ve met my daughter Celebrian?’

Queue Celebrian going ‘oh shit, oh shit, I’ve been absolutely scandalous to one of my mother’s friends, oh Valar she’s going to kill me.’

And Elrond going ‘fuck, of all people you had to pick Galadriel’s daughter? Galadriel’s going to kill me, they will never find the body. Was that indecent corset really necessary?’

Galadriel finds this whole story hilarious when they tell her several centuries later (she knew the whole time and was just stirring shit up). Elrond and Celebrian are both bi so it works out anyways once they figure out exactly what happened.

#silmarillion #tolkien #Celrond #genderfluid #genderfluid Elrond #celebrian #elrond #galadriel #How queer can I make them

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ventiij · 9 months

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This is the first request I've ever sent lol, I was wondering if you could write NSFW! Xingqiu Alphabet?

sure! after all, it’s not always that you get Xingqiu as your first …👀 request.

(boy is so underrated help)

i apologize in advance if point q doesn’t really make sense smh, i just couldn’t find anything more suitable lol. anyway enjoy.

minors run away in 3, 2, 1

a - adoration (is he into it?)

yes, very likely. even if he is the gentleman type there’s just something in him.. and of course, as much as he loves taking compliments, he will give them back, if you like.

b - bottom (ntm to say)

yeah he’s definitely submissive towards you, maybe power bottom at times? still tho: not long after you get started, he can’t help but submit and be good for you. make him do anything, after all, he’s been waiting for it since he read that one book (of his many, all for the same purpose) and imagined you two as the main characters.

c - cock (lenght)

slightly less than 15cm but doesn’t really care, like, dear… TRUST anything above that is just extra not just on him but where is all that going? nowhere near me ty

d - dress up (what kind of clothing does he wear during it or beforehand?)

you could have him dressed up like in any dress, ex. a maid one, litterally use imagination he’s chill, may act a lil shy at first but gives up soon enough. after he acknowledges that you’re into it tho, you can clearly see how he found his new favourite way to tease you.

e - embarassement (how does he take teasing amd such while he’s sensitive?)

after you tease him with words, he’s all red with his eyes closed just listening, not saying a word and just enjoying the feeling

f - face (best face he pulls)

eyes closed, small pout ad he drools a little

g - g-spot (how does he act when you hit it?)

he becomes super loud and he whimpers so much. ability to talk? gone. he doesn’t even realize what he’s doing unless you point it out.

h - horny (where, when, how much?)

after reading a book about it and just imaginating the things you could’ve done to ruin him. not that much unless it really got him into thinking about you and his thoughts just run wild.

i - impact (that the first time had on him)

he liked it so much and then you comforted him right after, so he understood he could come to you in case he’ll want it to happen again (he will)

j - juice (again, explains by itself)

the quantity depends on how much he’s in the mood and how much you tease him and vice versa, but nevertheless feels so good to him. tries not to be too loud the first time, but if he’s really overwhelmed he won’t be able to control his voice.

k - kids (pregnancy kink yes or no)

no and don’t question this.

l - lemon (what does he think about it)

right before having sex, he loves it. it turns him on and he immediately gets the message.

m - masturbation (yes or no?)

not usually, only if he’s really really down bad to do it and you aren’t there. if you are there tho and you order him to do it, he will. he wants your eyes on him the whole time. give him more orders and pass your time like that, he’ll put on a great show for you and you only

n - no (things that aren’t allowed)

don’t ruin his tender, porcellain skin: no knifeplay or anything like that. you can tie his hands, sure, but don’t use ropes all over his body too often, if he feels too much pain that will be an extreme turn-off.

o - osmanthus wine (tastes the same as i remember but where are those who share the memories)

o - obedience (featuring point b)

he’s so obedient, yes. he knows if he’ll be obedient you’ll reward him and he’ll look forward to it the whole time.

p - positions (which one does he prefer?)

when he’s sitting on your lap: he prefers to be close to you, to feel everything he can.

q - queue (do you have to wait to have sex, in case he’s busy?)

depends on what he’s doing. reading a book? alright, he’ll stop for now. just a few dozens of pages left to finish that huge book he bought last week? hell no, know your place.

r - rest (after it)

he needs a lot of rest because he puts a lot of effort into both pleasing you and feeling a lot of sensations at the same time. he’s exhausted and he’ll love it if you take care of him, after all, he’s been good, no?

s - stress (not during it)

defo uses it as an excuse to get some attention from you, something like: “can you take my mind off of some things..?” and then becomes the naughtiest thing you thought could come out of this

t - tongue (does he like when you use it or when he’s using it?)

oh yeah, definitely. boy liked having all your attention in general so pushing it even more will just please him as much as possible

u - urges (during it)

to cum. if you deny it, he’ll start whining and play victim, deny it even more. he’ll be so desperate and cute for you that he just fulfills your desired until you give him consent to finally release.

v - volume (is he loud? quiet?)

he tries to be quiet most of the time, but as soon as he cums, he’s so loud. he’s so sensitive so he can’t help it.

w - wow (a thing you didn’t expect from him)

that he tends to come to you whenever he’s feeling horny without being all that shy. no big words or so, he just asks you to fuck him right away and, how could you say no? he really does rely on you for this one.

x - xoxo (kisses before, during and after it)

before it, it’s just as i said in point l, during it, they’re even hotten and expecially wet. after it, the kisses are just soft and cute, as a form of appreciation and trust.

y - yummy (using mouth - jobs, eating out etc)

yeah as said in point t he likes every bit of attention from you and will carve it no matter in which way you plan on giving it to him.

z - zappy (things he’s excited to do, featuring the previous points)

g, j, l, p, u

#sub xingqiu #xingqiu x reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact #genshin #genshin impact x reader #genshin smut #genshin impact x you #xingqiu

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moremoyokean · 3 months

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Veronaville/Académie Le Tour Makeovers

I'm finally sharing my Veronaville/ALT stuff! Hi, if you're just finding me I'm Moyo. Here's my primary blog, where you can see my Strangetown/LFT gameplay as well as where my CC and everything else is. But I didn't want Veronaville stuff to be mixed in and be confusing. So here we are. Anyways, ⬇️

Consort, Tybalt, Juliette and Hermia. Yes, I'm keeping Tybalt's mask.

Patrizio, Isabella, Mercutio and Romeo. Idk how Mercutio ended up so adorable.

Oberon, Titania, Puck and Bottom. I did make them fairies and gave them wings after I took this screenshot. I went back and forth whether I liked the wings or not for a long time but decided yes while playing them.

Albany, Goneril, Miranda, Hal, Desdemona and Ariel. I kept Desdemona's facepaint because it's kinda cute.

Cornwall, Regan, and Kent. I've heard a lot of people have Kent be asexual and/or aromantic so I gave him both traits. But his in-game preference is men so that'll be fun.

Antonio, Beatrice and Benedick. Benedick's blue eyes threw me for a loop and I spent far too long looking all over the wiki to see where he got them from.

Bianca.

Max Flexor and Mitch Indie.

Delilah O'Feefe. I've been waiting for a reason to use those glasses for ages.

Roxie Sharpe, Edwin Sharpe and Jonah Powers. I might change Jonah's hair because I've since downloaded one that I might like better idunno.

And then to save myself households to play I've just lumped the bin young adults into one dorm all together so Tom Freshe, Emily Lee, Phineaus Furley, Chaz Whippler, Ellen Frost and Marla Biggs.

At the moment I've played the Veronaville households all for their 1 day of summer. I've not played the ALT households yet. Now to start filling up my queue.

#moremoyokean #sims 2 #the sims 2 #ts2 #sims 2 veronaville #sims 2 academie le tour

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ludicrousimaginings · 1 year

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None of my friends have read or watched Lockwood and Co(tragic) and I am having /thoughts/ about this show and have no one to share them with.

Enter; Tumblr

There are so many things I could rave about, the lighting; the cast; the score; pretty much EVERYTHING. But I really want to talk about George.

I loved George Cubbins from the book, how could I not? And I admit that it's been a while since I read the books, but I honestly don't remember a whole lot about Cubbins or his relationships with the characters, aside from him being... NOT Lockwood. Lockwood is tall, dark haired, immaculately dressed and perfectly polite. George Cubbins is described as short, blond, always messy and never cares about social niceties. He was simply created as a foil for another character, and I don't think he evolved a whole lot passed that.

Now, foils are great! Excellent literary devices, but unless they're given room to expand and grow, they aren't as memorable as other characters. I don't remember much about Cubbins from the book, it was always 'Lucy and Lockwood' ... Oh and George too. Nothing wrong with that, I didn't feel there was anything missing from the books in that regard, myself at least.

What surprised me about the show wasn't that the character's ethnicity was changed or anything like that, it was that I immediately felt it was a refraction of a character I had previously overlooked. I remember Cubbins being gross and rude, just because he apparently doesn't care. Any more nuanced characterizations admittedly went over my head.

To those of us who have radar like ability to find other people similar to ourselves, George Karim opens the door and is immediately recognizable as neurodivergent. The scene where he is introduced cracks me up everytime, right from the moment he opens the door and and STARES DIRECTLY INTO LUCY'S EYES. Wide eyed, clearly intentional, uncomfortably direct eye contact. Every tiny detail I pick up each time I rewatch the show makes me think that George Karim is almost definitely on the autism spectrum, and I can't tell you HOW WELL IT'S DONE. The forced eye contact with strangers, but not with Lockwood, and later on Lucy. The fact that the only problem he has with Lucy is her messing up the biscuit rotation system. Before that, he shows no outright discomfort, cheerfully trading barbs with her. A wonderfully consistent detail, is his sensitivity to touch(which seems to be his most powerful Talent too??!?!)

Hypersensitivity is a bitch, I personally have a mild touch sensitivity, overstimulation or experiencing a "Nope Not Good" texture or sensation can Suck™️. His wacky t-shirts are all oversized and well worn. His aversion to wearing pants/trousers when he's at home, also the way he holds his hands directly in front of him, perfectly straight, when he is wearing rubber gloves for cleaning. That's how I feel when I have to touch a microfiber cloth.

None of this is a drastic change from the book, it's just MORE. George Karim's lack of social prowess isn't because he's an ass or is rebelling against polite society, it's just more difficult for him to pick up the queues and nuances. Well... He's also rebelling against polite society, but more out of principle than true disdain.

Anyway yeah that's my rant on that subject, have a wonderful day

#lockwood and co #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #george cubbins #george karim #lockwood & co #lockwood and co tv show #lockwood and co book #character analysis #just my thoughts #neurodivergent #neurodiverse stuff #neurodiversesquad #book vs show

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playertwotails · 1 year

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Kitsune Tails AU time.

This is mostly coming from the fact that Tails two tails plus the seven chaos emeralds is nine and my brain won’t stop trying to make a connection between the two. (i know basic math wow so amazing have a whole college degree and everything to show for it). Is there a connection lore wise absolutely not...but that wont stop my string and cork board conspiracy brain from trying to find a connection anyways.

So this Au starts when all the characters are just a little older (like maybe by like 5ish years or something idk) and Sonic and Tails are fighting Eggman for the chaos emeralds their age old song and dance. And for what ever reason just Tails goes super by himself for the first time to beat Eggman.

When he gets out of super form though only 6 emeralds leave him and scatter the 7th stays....and now he has a third tail.

Queue panicked and confused screaming from Tails and Sonic cause

“WHY DO YOU HAVE A NEW TAIL?????!!!!??”

“I DON’T KNOW YOU USE THE EMERALDS ALL TIME AND I DON”T SEE YOU SPROUTING NEW LIMBS!!!”

So they’re both distressed cause WTF??? is going on and take that confused screaming panic all the way to Angel Island to visit the only expert they know, Knuckles.

He has no idea either what is happening and is somewhat freaked out too (he’s a lot freaked out but he’s not gonna show it cause even he didn’t know the emeralds could give people limbs) and queue his yelling hysterics of

“SONIC WHAT DID YOU DO???!!”

“I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!!!!”

But Knuckles does try the age old tradition of punch the emerald out of Tails....the emerald stays in and Tails goes through a tree.

After a bit of meditating on it though Knuckles can sense the emerald inside Tails will eventually come out and it’s transferring some kind of power to Tails. As for the extra tail he has no idea what the fuck that’s about they’re on their own with that one.

Sonic is of course concerned cause his little brother just gained a new limb randomly and no one has any idea what that means. So him and Tails set off to go find out what all this is about (Sonic gets real bad at hovering over Tails and constantly checking on him through all this, cause like people don’t just grow tails, lol, randomly and he doesn't know how this may effect Tails and is just worried)

Eventually the chaos emerald does pop out and scatter off to one of the random four corners the emeralds tend to go off to to recharge (it’s not drained of power just low battery pretty much from what ever it just did to Tails). And it’s around this time that they find information on Kitsune and all that lore.

Queue another freak out from Tails cause “WHAT DO YOU MEAN I MAY POTENTIALLY LIVE HUNDREDS OF YEARS!! WHERE’S SILVER DID HE KNOW ABOUT THIS??? DOES HE KNOW ME IN THE FUTURE???!!” (somewhere Silver just suddenly has a sense of dread someone’s mad at him for some reason)

Idk just a silly little AU that’s been on the brain have fun people.

#kitsune au #tails kitsune au #miles tails prower #tails the fox #knuckles the echidna #knuckles the enchilada #sonic the hedgehog #tails just having an existential crisis

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fraserstanclub · 4 days

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IRL Post/Life Update

below the cut so scroll on by if that's not your thing <3

the TLDR is I got a job....

a full time job that will pay very well...and that's going to leave very little room for fandom stuff as I am finally essentially doing a whole ass career change.

This is something that I have wanted to do since I retired from EMS in 2018. I was raised to be a working woman and being a stay at home parents/housewife, while it had its own rewards, and I have lauded the privilege of watching Pup grow up these last 12 years, I longed for something more. To be something more. Life and it's various nonconsensual dildos have prevented me from being that working woman I used to dream about. Now, life has finally started asking for consent to raw dog me and I now have the power to say no.

This is going to be a big step for me and my family as we navigate these uncharted waters. Wolf has always been the primary breadwinner, and if I did have a job, it was always part time and something I had the privilege of quitting whenever I wanted to. Those days are over, and while I am SO eager to leave that privilege in the past, it's also a very daunting feeling that I will have to grow accustomed to.

I won't go into the details of the job itself or what I'll be doing as it's not important, but I FINALLY feel like I am able to give my boys the life we deserve. We have struggled for so long, tightroped the poverty line for SO goddamn long, choosing what bills got paid and what went to collections. I finally feel like we're going to be able to actually LIVE for once.

I am SO excited for what the future holds. I am not going anywhere, I will still maintain a queue of sorts (I've been trying to get back into using the blessed queue function for some time) mostly Outlander and 911/LS, but the occasional Supernatural or non-fandom related post will pop up in there. And while my ask box is always open, I am placing my last fic Sutures on an indefinitely hiatus, and gifset requests are now also closed for an indefinite amount of time. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I have not been keeping up with fic reading for some time (mostly because I have developed a habit of waiting til a series is complete, then I download it to my kindle so I can binge read at a later time) so in my mind, that's not going to be a great concern (I'm subbed to those on AO3 I truly love anyway lol)

All that being said, while I owe no one on social media of ANY kind any kind of explanation or details about my personal life, I have always held any audience or following I manage to acquire with the same privilege of being a housewife and have learned to never take yall for granted.

I love y'all so much <3

obligatory @wolfsilverlight tag he's my husband, what do you want from me?

#irl shit #irl post #life update #wolf tag

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imagine-lcorp · 2 years

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Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (One Shot)

Request

Hey! Can you write a fic where fem reader and Lena go on a vacation to a nice beach and have a nice and Lena actually gets some peace and quiet for once lol. Can be NSFW if you would like

A/N: Hey beautiful beans! Just so you know I’ve not abbandoned this ship, sorry it took lo long to come back. There’s still lots of requests in my queue and I plan on fulfilling each one of them. I promised I was going to after all. Pls forgive, I’m a slow writer but I always enjoy writing for you guys. Tho I’m still deciding if I should do a second part nsfw... Anyway, hope you like this little piece, and let me know what you think!

Lena Luthor x Fem!R//Word Count: 1,060 -------------------------------------------------------

When you planned this little trip, you were thinking it was going to be all about fun and relaxation. You would sleep late, wake up until late morning, have some nice breakfast in bed, take long baths, and enjoy the Caribbean paradise as much as you could.

And so it was for the first couple of days, until you noticed your always busy girlfriend wasn't enjoying herself as much.

"Lena, I swear, if you don't put your phone down I'll take it and throw it away so hard you will need Supergirl to retrieve it back from outer space."

Lena froze mid-text and turned to look at you with a sheepish smile. You pulled your sunglasses down and narrowed your eyes at her.

It was the second time you visited the beach, and it was again the second time Lena seemed to be busy with something else. You couldn't entirely blame her for it considering she was the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, a consultant for the DEO, and best friends with National City's superheroine, Supergirl. Someone, something, somewhere, was always going to need her attention but you knew even someone as amazing and powerful as her had her limits.

"Sorry, darling. You want me to get us more cocktails?"

"Nuh-uh, don't darling me." You sat straight on your deck chair. "What I need is for you to stop working for a minute, alright?"

Part of the reason you had organized the trip was because you had started to notice some changes in her demeanor. She was leaving work late, barely sleeping at night, and you weren't sure if she was keeping up with her meals. You had spoken with her assistant, Jess, about it and she had confirmed your suspicions about it all. Work seemed to pile in her office, the DEO and Supergirl called her every now and then to help them deal with considerable threats, and Lena still had to manage her business and her own scientific projects.

The cherry on top of it all had to be you, as she always did her best to find time to spend with you.

Lena Luthor was the most wonderful human being but it was costing her so much just to exist. That's why, when Jess suggested her boss was in dire need of a break, you didn't think twice about planning a little get away for you two alone.

The plan was simple, take Lena to another country with a beautiful beach, preferably on the other side of the planet, spend at least a week in a great five-star hotel overlooking the ocean, take her to the spa, and do whatever necessary to keep her mind off responsibilities. So far, it wasn't working.

"You know I can't." Lena said doing her best impression of puppy eyes.

"What's so important this time?" You pulled yourself closer to her as she too sat straight on her chair to show you her screen phone.

"The gala for this years charity?" You frowned in confusion. "Don't you have like a whole team organizing it already?"

"I do, but I need it to be perfect." She retrieved her phone and looked at it. You could see the worry slipping in her expression.

"Here, give me." You reached over with your hand, prompting Lena to give you her phone. She did after a moment of hesitation and you smiled at her as you could read her thoughts. "Not gonna throw it, I promise."

Instead, you locked her phone and left it on the table near you, between your cocktails, and raised your hands again for Lena to hold them. She watched you with some suspicion in her eyes but followed suit as she reached for your hands. She caressed them with her thumbs and you felt your heart melting at the gesture. You couldn't stay mad at her when she did that.

"Hear me out for a second, okay?" Lena nodded. "You have been planning this gala for a year, making everything in your hands to get more and new organizations and people to join. You already did the hardest part, so let your team do the rest. They know what they are doing."

"I know, but what if someone backs down from the event? Or if they need me to take care of something personally and I have to go back and-"

"Hey, hey." You searched her eyes. "They got this. They are the best at what they do, you know why? Because you, Lena Luthor, only hire the best of the best. Ask Jess if you don't believe me."

That made her smile. "I do believe you."

It mean the world to her that you were always there to remind her what was important at times like these, helping her realize nothing was as bad as it seemed and that she shouldn't waste the rare and precious moments she got to live with you without a catastrophe at hand.

"Good. Now, believe me when I say you deserve some peace and quiet. We are already here, let's enjoy ourselves."

"Peace and quiet, sounds good." She leaned to give you a kiss abut you raised a finger at her as she got closer, stopping her midway.

"Before that, you gotta promise me, no phones or other electronic devices, and no business calls. At least for the rest of the day. Alright?"

"Do I get my kiss if I say yes?"

"You can get more than a kiss of you do." You smirked.

"Oh, what else are we talking about?" Lena raised a brow with a new found interest and for a moment she seemed to really forget about her worries.

"We could have a little more fun." You said teasingly and looking at her lips. "The kind that is more enjoyable at night, after a nice dinner and that sweet wine you like."

"Sounds good to me."

"Do we have a deal then, Miss Luthor?"

"Deal." She said, and you couldn't help but smile as she closed the distance between you two.

For the rest of the day, as promised, Lena kept her hands off her phone and tried her best not to think about whatever happening back in National City. She was too busy thinking about what the end of the day would bring instead and how happy you made her.

#lena luthor #lena luthor imagine #lena luthor imagines #lena luthor x reader #lena luthor x you #lena x reader #lena x you #fem!reader #female reader #one shot #request #girls just wanna have fun #lena luthor x female reader #fem reader

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detroitbydark · 1 year

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Soul Lies Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Title: Tell Me That Your Soul Lies Now

Relationship: Sev/OC/Scorch

Rating: Teen

Characters: Jessa, Sev, Scorch, a smattering of commandos and nulls

Warnings: None

Summary: It's time to shine girl. The boys talk about The Rules.

Thank you all for your patience. as you know life happens and I'm so happy to get back to this story. Thank @fractiouskat for being an A+ cheerleader and thank you to @royalhandmaidens for the greatest banner ever!

What role should she play? Jessa wonders idly as she and her Mandalorian bodyguard move

up through the queue to check in and receive her bidding number. Wal’buir had discussed her options and the pros and cons each entailed. The first option had been the bubbly, dumb socialite, someone who wasn’t taken seriously and was easily looked over. The problem with that was that no one would take her seriously. In order to complete her given objective, she needed to be seen as a legitimate buyer and not a brainless waif playing with her Daddy’s money.

The second option had her channeling her own history, her mothers ability to look down her nose and her father’s ability to become the most important person in any room. Mix that with her recently acquired buir’s imperious, cool nature and she had a pretty good idea of the character she’d need to portray.

As they reach the front of the loose line Jessa is halted by a sour looking young man.

“Ma’am, we need to check for weapons.” The man in front of her towers, dressed in Imperial gray, he’s thin with birdlike features that give his face a tight, pinched look. He was put upon and not above letting the galaxy at large know his poor mood. He must have drawn the short straw. She couldn’t really blame him for the poor attitude he radiated. He was a soldier not a doorman. He probably hadn’t had the option of saying “no” and that had landed him babysitting elite for the evening.

“Do I look like someone who would carry a weapon?” Her arms cross loosely over her chest and her painted lips curl in disgust for good measure. The door man cringes before he can school his features.

Yes, option two felt better.

The gray-clad imperial attendant makes little attempt to hide the contempt in his eyes. He persists.

“House rules. I’m sure you understand.” Technically she did, but she also didn’t care. The thought of throwing out a “do you know who I am?” does cross her mind, but it feels like that’s a card she can only play once and get away with it. It would be a shame to waste it on someone that didn’t matter.

“Fine.” she huffs, making no move to hide her disdain. The Imp moves cautiously to kneel in front of her. He eyes her like a hungry nexu eyes a mouse. It’s a strange feeling. The attendant's hand wrapping around her ankle jolts her violently from any thoughts she’d have further on it. She kicks out and the man's grip tightens.

“No pat down. No entry.” The grin he’s trying to smother makes her feel like the power’s shifted and her heart rate changes in compliance, beating faster in her chest.

Luckily for Jessa, a Mandalorian bodyguard came with certain perks. The first, Jessa notes is the sudden and immediate halt of the man’s hands as he looks up and- Jessa doesn’t need to look over her shoulder, she can feel Mereel there at her back. She looks anyway. Intimidating is not a strong enough word to describe a clone commando in full Mandalorian beskar’gam. The t-visor lends a certain menace to the already imposing figure Mereel cuts.

“The lady doesn’t need a pat down.”

“I-”

“You were just finishing up.”

“Yeah. Fine. What about you then?” The man's gaze lingers as he draws back up to his full spindly height. Jessa’s reminded of a toothpick and she doesn’t attempt to stifle the smile that crosses her face. The imp’s eyes narrow but Mereel is inserting himself between the two.

“I’m Mandalorian. I have weapons to check. Obviously.”

—---------------------

“Well that was delightful.” Mereel grumbles as they enter into the makeshift ballroom set up for the auction. A twi’lek waiter passes, and he reaches out and snags a flute of something bubbly from his tray. At her side again, he presses the stem into Jessa’s hand.

“Take a drink and relax.”

Jessa bristles as a string quartet situated off in the corner tunes up. His words feel accusing and it brings up her hackles.

“I’m fine.” She asserts, taking an absent-minded sip. The bubbles tickle at her nose as the dry drink slips down her throat. She preferred it sweet. She takes another swallow.

“Relax.”

“Don’t tell me to relax.” She can hear the amusement lacing his voice.

“Would you rather I make that an order?”

She pointedly ignores him. The room is large with a low-slung stage at the front. They’ve done an excellent job making it feel like something other than what it is. Jessa can’t even begin to imagine why a military outpost required a crystal chandelier or red velvet panels padding the walls.

Tiny enclaves of participants to the festivities have gathered in various circles about the room. Jessa studies, remembering what she’d been told. While Kal had seen this as a snatch-and-grab rescue mission, Walon had been very clear that there was more to be accomplished on top of the mission at hand. Who were the Imperials in bed with? How did their networks function? Little details she could bring back could be invaluable in deciphering it all and, in the larger scheme of things, keep them all safe.

The Mandalore system was rapidly approaching a tipping point- years of neutrality could not save them from the pressures the new Galactic regime was beginning to exert. Fenn Shysa was a good Mand’alor but years of the Kryze sisters infighting had created a rift that wasn’t soon healed. Mandalore would either crack or it would become something far more resilient, far stronger then it had ever been, but it would not happen without work. That work began with intelligence.

The Pyke contingent is easy to pick out, standing in a semicircle speaking quietly amongst themselves. Their fish-like features were distinct and they could be mistaken for nothing else. In a sea of human participants they stood out like a sore thumb. Spice lords and drug runners, Jessa was sure their sights would be set on the half dozen decommissioned Imperial ships set to hit the auction block. While she was wary, the Pyke’s were not an immediate concern.

Jessa notes their orientation and the way their tiny almond-like eyes focus across the room. A pair of human guests, a man and a young woman, converse quietly. The woman has an arm wrapped around his forearm as he guides her toward the front of the room. She can’t place them on the side profile alone. As if drawn by her gaze the man’s head turns and Jessa recognizes him from one of her Buir’s holos. Dryden Vos of Crimson Dawn.

“Some heavy hitters here tonight.” Mereel’s voice catches up with her thoughts. Jessa hums quietly.

“There’s no shame in saying you can’t do this.”

Jessa takes a slow drink from her fluted glass. "If I didn’t know better, I’d say you had a wager out that I couldn’t do this,” she offers dryly. “There’s all the shame and you know it. Stop worrying about me and let’s do this.”

Mereel says nothing else, be it from a place of self preservation or another conversation in his comms she’s not privy to. Jessa doesn’t care. She’s set in this course and there’s no other option but to see it through to the end.

The string quartet finishes their warmup and begins playing soft classical music. She recognizes it as something distinctly inner rim- Chandrillan. They may be in the system, but nothing about tonight was for Mandalorians. To her side a group begins to form, looking distinctly less crime syndicate and far more too-much-money-for-their-own-good. It’s what she’s been waiting for.

“Miss, may I?” A passing waiter gestures to her mostly empty glass. Jessa hands it over, fighting the urge to not wastefully abandon the last mouthful. In return he hands her a fresh one. She gives a small nod of thanks before casually making her way to the new group.

Don’t stand out. That’s what Wal’buir had said. These people offered the best option to remain unmemorable, as, outside of inflated bank accounts, they were entirely unremarkable themselves. Rich human men and their far-younger trophies; an ancient beady-eyed heiress; the exact people she’d been brought up to be one of.

That time seemed so long ago. She was a different person now, but she remembered. Skirata and Walon had counted on the fact and she was loath to disappoint her new-found aliit.

She doesn’t need to look to see Mereel taking up position a few feet behind her. He knew his job better than she knew hers. She trusted him with that. He may be playing the dutiful bodyguard, but she knew he and Scorch had words about it days ago- the same way she knew she was safe as long as she followed the plan.

“Lovely evening, isn’t it?” A man who seemed to be a round, amalgamous shape in a suit asks in greeting. On his arm his wife shifts, her eyes scanning the crowd with a boredom that Jessa can relate to.

“It really is. They’ve set the tone for such an interesting event. I’m thoroughly impressed.”

“Right.” He glances behind her and then makes a point of looking about her, “Are you here on your own then?”

Jessa bristles, “My father trusts my judgment.” That was true, her Buir had said as much.

“And who is your father?”

She’s honestly been waiting for this since they’d landed. Both Jessa and Walon had pored over the gossip sheets, him begrudgingly and her like she had when she’d been young. They’d found the Chandrillan family, heirs to a munitions fortune, in short work. Elderly patriarch that rarely left home and erstwhile daughter who was just as elusive. Unphotographed since childhood due to an unfortunate spice habit that had her family covertly shipping her off to rehab facilities on the regular, she’d been a perfect cover.

‘The Count of Wester.’

The man of shapes nods his head. Jessa offers him a droll smile as she glances over her shoulder.

“I’m hoping to find something special for my security. Mandalorians are well and good but,” she lowers her voice conspiratorially. “As I’m sure you know, they’re only loyal to money.”

A hearty chuckle wheezes from the man, “I’m sure money is no issue to your Father.”

“Agreed but I don’t feel like being extorted for my own safety by unscrupulous business practices.” She ignores the grumble from Mereel behind her, leaving her feeling quite pleased with herself indeed.

“Clever girl.”

“Very. Thank you.”

———————

They went dark before they hit atmo, emergency lighting casting a dim glow about the bay. The Duke slides smoothly through space with Kom’rk at the controls. Sev stares ahead, eyes locked on a small red safety light. At his side Scorch fidgets. He’s been doing it since they left the airfield. It’s a genuine surprise he hasn’t been asked what was eating him yet. Maybe he was learning some patience. Maybe he should just assume Sev knew-

‘I screwed the bantha with this one.’

Atin doesn’t seem to notice the statement, but he’s become an expert at ignoring anything without a Skirata last name. Corr, though, allows his eyes to twitch to them. Scorch ignores it, focusing on his brother's lowly grumbled statement.

“Whadda ya mean?” Scorch feels itchy about the whole thing.

“Nevermind. Changed my mind. It’s fine.” Sev mutters gruffly, his head rocking back to find a new point of focus on the ceiling. Scorch has whiplash from the sudden change of tune.

“That’s great. Not my question.”

The Duke rattles quietly as they transition from the black of space further into the moon's atmosphere. They’d lay low, out of range of the outposts scanners until absolutely necessary. Scorch uses his boots to hold tight the bag of detonators between them as they threaten to vibrate away.

“Sev?”

“I didn’t-“ a rough burst of air is forced through his lips, “I didn’t say why.”

“You didn’t…” Scorch lets the answer swirl in the air between them until, ‘You didn’t tell her why we were giving them.”

“Nope.”

Scorch slumps into the jump seat. Fek. That wasn’t ideal.

“Sev’s telling who what?” Corr asks with all the tact of exuberant massiff pup. Great. That was just what they needed. Rule 10 had been created for a reason. Keep Kal out of it. As much as Scorch found common ground with the former demolitions expert he also knew right where he’d run when they hit the tarmac. There was nothing Kal Skirata loved more than being in the know. Strike that, there was nothing Kal Skirata loved more than sticking his nose in business that didn’t concern him. Their (hopeful) relationship with Jessa was not something that needed the Skirata touch. He wasn’t even sure it was going to survive their touch.

“Nothing that concerns you.”

“But-“

“I gave Laseema the ugliest Lekku harness known to man for a courting gift.” Atin husks out a laugh. Scorch catches a small grin and a shake of the other commando's head. “She wore it too. Didn’t have the heart to tell me it was too small and the dye stained her skin.” There’s a fond look in place as he stares into the middle distance in front of him. “You can’t do much worse than that.”

“Can if she doesn’t know they were courting gifts.” Scorch zips his lips when Sev speaks. If he knew his brother- which he did- he was already feeling the sour twist of failure in his gut. There wasn’t much to say to change that.

Atin waves him off, “she’ll figure it out and you’ll be chasing around tiny psychopaths in no time.”

It’s a struggle to ignore Corr obviously storing the intel away but no more so than trying to pretend he couldn’t picture Jessa with ikaad of her own. That was an image he needed to be shove haphazardly into a box and pretend didn’t exist.

He catches Sev’s eye. His face is impassable. He makes a note to throw some dets in that particular mental box.

—————

“Who are you?”

Jessa raises a perfectly arched brow at the heavily modulated voice. Mereel towers over her right shoulder, her imposing bodyguard/handler.

“Not sure what that’s supposed to mean.” She takes a lingering sip of sparkling wine. Small talk with the wife of an Imperial connected merchant had been enlightening. Seems there was a lot of interest in a retired beskar mine in Sundari.

“You’re a natural.”

His tone lets her know it’s not necessarily a compliment. She doesn’t offer acknowledgement. If he wanted to pay backhanded compliments she’d pay them back with silence.

You know your worth. Wal’buirs voice echoes in her head.

She gazes past the small crowds of people and the rows of red velvet chairs to the stage at the front of the room. People are beginning to congregate as holobooks are passed out, presumably lots and their corresponding numbers. The room she’d been auctioned off in had lacked the opulence of the one she now stood in. The thought comes to her, intrusive and unwanted. She’d been to one other auction in her life- but she’d been the merchandise.

She finishes the wine in her hand, setting the glass on a table as she makes her way to the front of the room. She hears a soft huff through Mereel’s vocoder. To everyone watching, he worked for her and she was not about to ask his permission for anything, lest that carefully cultivated ruse be damaged.

A matte gunmetal droid begins handing out holobooks to the gathered crowds. Jessa takes a proffered tablet as a curtain to the left of the stage is pulled back. A disembodied voice smoothly announces the beginning of the preview. According to the holobook the auction would begin twenty minutes after the preview. She skims the contents. Rules. Schedule. Payment options. All seemingly above the board.

“I want to see if my money is well spent here.” She announces to the armored Mando behind her. She’s prim and haughty. “I assume you’ll be able to comment on the quality?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She smiles to herself, dipping her chin to hide her amusement at the Null’s tight response. Scorch would enjoy watching her acting. She’s sure of it. But now is not the time to let the thought of him warm her heart. She spots the rows of merchandise lined up and steals herself. They still had work to do.

She strolls, languid as a cat, toward the gathering crowds. She keeps her features neutral and passive, looking nothing more than the slightly bored debutante she’d assigned herself to play.

The first cluster of auction-goers has set up shop around various displays of weaponry. Heavy guns, smaller blasters, thermal detonators. Her boys would be in heaven. Her fingers graze the durasteel lid of a munitions crate as she moves toward more desirable merchandise.

“Could do a lot of damage with those.” Mereel’s reassuring presence is close. She can feel the bulk of him at her back.

“Looking to do a little shopping of your own?”

“If the situation presents itself.”

She smiles despite herself.

It disappears quickly as it appears. The mission objective- objectives loom ahead. A row of men stand at parade rest. Clones. Five In total, identical as physically possible though small differences in build and stature are noticeable even with them at rest.

‘Different classes” Mereel offers quietly as if he can see the question on her face. “Two standard spec troopers. Next two- probably pilot class. Last one is a commando.”

“Anyone you know?” She glances at him and catches a shrug.

“They’re keeping them more in regs. GAR frowned on individuality but most generals didn’t bother to enforce regulations. Our glorious new Empire seems to feel differently.”

Jessa steps closer, stopping in front of the first captive in-line. He stares ahead with eyes familiar but dead. They don’t twitch to her as she takes in his appearance. He looks average in every way. Confusion and some other unnamed emotion flit at the edge of her consciousness. They were told there’d be more commandos . Maybe they were tucked away with the others in reserve? She takes a step further down the line, past the second trooper and to what Mereel had claimed were the pilots. She pays little attention, flipping through the holopad to find the list of goods.

“Skid, Cap, Kivo, Rev, Merri…” the pilot she’s come to a stop in front of is mumbling to himself in a rapid, quaking voice. He’s worse for wear, obviously in poorer condition than the others around him. He’s thin and the high and tight haircut they all sported only accentuates his stark cheekbones and the dip at his silvered temples.

“Poor kid.” Mereel sighs, now at her side.

“What’s wrong with him?”

The pilot continues his rapid nonsensical mumbling.

“Look at his eyes. All their eyes.” He tips his helmet down the line. “They drugged them like fathiers.” Disgust laces his words. Jessa feels the sick pull of it bubbling in her own stomach.

“It wasn’t good enough to put restraining collars on. They gave them all tranqs too.”

The holopad offers a small blurb on each item for auction. Each of these men’s lives broken down into a line or two touting their usefulness, “what does this mean?”

She points at the number following each description. The broken pilot has an 0458 behind his. Mereel takes the pad, his hands dwarfing it as he scrolls.

“Son of a bitch…”

“What?”

“It’s his serial number. All of their serial numbers.”

Jessa scans the list and the seemingly nonsense numbers. One sticks out. Wal’buir had scolded Sev and Scorch days before, using their numbers like other parents would use the middle name of a contrary child.

If Four-Oh were here we wouldn’t have this issue.

Scorch’s expression had soured at the mention and her brows had furrowed in confusion. Wal’buir had noted and seemed to take pleasure in repeating what had made the demolitions expert so uncomfortable.

Eleven Forty, one of their lost brothers.

The second glass of champagne threatens to make a reappearance as her eyes travel to the last man in line.

One of two lost brothers.

1140

Fixer.

——————-

‘Clear!’ Scorch’s crisp voice rings through the comms of the three commandos at his back. The adrenaline from the fast rope still pumped gleefully through his veins as the exterior door gives an electric pop as the bright flash of micro dets flare to life. The four commandos ready for entry as the faint lights of the Duke above, disappear from sight. They were on their own til rendezvous.

Sev and Corr slide past him as he gathers his supplies back into his kit. Atin covers his shebs, blasters at the ready.

It’s a clean breach. Buir would approve, he thinks in passing, swinging his pack back on and moving into the wide hallway. The muzzle fire of a blaster rings out with comforting familiarity. One down.

The gray clad Imp lays at Corr’s feet as the commando crouches down and does a cursory check of his pockets. He palms a keycard. Sev holds steady behind him.

With only the soft clatter of his beskar’gam, the former commando rises and gives Sev a nod. A rumbling, ‘move out’ echoes through their comms.

A few long strides eat up the distance between them, Scorch slotting in behind him as they stalk down their predetermined route.

“May as well head back to the yaim, Scorch’ika. I’ve got the golden ticket.” Scorch can imagine the smug smile on the younger clone's face as he holds the keycard between gloved fingers.

“Yeah, if you want to do it the boring way. I thought you knew better?” They fan out from their hallway to the open T of the next, Sev and Atin sweeping right while he and Corr clear the left.

“The boring way means I don’t risk these fancy new hands.”

Scorch guffaws. “The loss of your sense of adventure concerns and saddens me.”

Atin chuckles.

“You can’t hold it against me that I like to feel my own-“ the banter is cut short as a door a foot in front of Corr slides open with a shink. White plastoid invades the passage.

Sev’s large frame is already prepared. His arm raises and the butt of his blaster. comes down across the front first troopers helmet with enough force to crack the plastoid. As they crumble, Sev steps into the other's space, his beskar clad arm snaps up and makes contact between the edge of the unfortunate sentient's helmet and neck.

Scorch flinches at the clatter of armor as the second trooper slides down the corridor wall.

“Gonna ruin the surprise, vod.”

Sev’s buyce turns toward him. “Sorry”. His voice is as flat as the expression Scorch knows he wears underneath.

Moving forward, Scorch takes a knee with his vod’e safely covering him. The first trooper has a fracture running up the length of his helmet. Katarn would never. He loved his beskar’gam, it made him feel like he was part of something greater. His katarn had done the same once and he’d grieve (just a little) the loss of that part of his life.

Without his usual flair, he pulls the useless helmet off. The trooper is out cold. Scorch takes in his appearance. Pale skin. A smattering of freckles over the bridge of their nose. Light brown hair.

He moves on to the next, unceremoniously yanking the helmet from the storm troopers head. He finds skin shades lighter than his own, thin blonde hair and a smattering of matching stubble along their jaw.

He lets the ruined helmet fall with a clatter next to the trooper. Rising to his full height he aims his blaster and places two bolts center mass before giving the first trooper a matching set.

Corr stares at the two lifeless stormtroopers, ‘what was that about?’’

‘Needed to make sure I wasn’t sending vod’e’ marching’ Scorch explains. Another set of plastoid rounds the corner and Sev answers the clatter of cheap armor with two quickly placed bolts dead center.

“Rule 17 is in effect now.”

“About that,” Corrs voice asks through their comms. “What’s rule number one?”

Atin, Sev, and Scorch answer in unison, “Eat your vegetables.”

taglist: @bylightofdawn @leias-left-hair-bun-again @skdubbs @passionofthesith @haloangel391 @fractiouskat @clonewarslover55 @jedi-mando @shadylightbearherring @poppunkdee

@royalhandmaidens @wolfswing @generic-geek-girl @captainrexwouldnever @ahhrenata @apathetic-catastrophie @littledragon @my-own-oraclen

#soul lies #sandwich fic #delta squad #scorch #sev #Sev/OC/Scorch #clan vau #republic commando

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isekai-crow · 4 months

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Doctor Elise Ep 2

So much for trying to do individual episode posts every week! We gonna do them in clumps and queue-away instead because life gets in the way some times! Trying to still break them up by episode though~

If episode 1 was the introduction to how the reincarnation stuff works and her previous life, episode 2 is the introduction to Fantasy Britannia/Germany/Russia before the Fantasy Crimean War, and setting up the premise of the show. The royal family are the de Romanoffs but they're blond haired and blue eyed, and the world feels more German than British, so FANTASY EUROPE IT IS YALL.

BY THE WAY Elise is from the de Clorance family which is hiLARIous play of FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE!!!

Also. We get a character that WAS NOT IN THE MANHWA and LOOKS LIKE HAKU FROM SPIRITED AWAY. I didn't completely forget this man from the manhwa did I???? It's been a year or two since I read it but I wouldn't forget a long haired man.

Spoilers and Pictures below the cut

HELLO WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU??? THE SNARKY KING'S GUARD??? (IS THIS GOING TO BE A RARE PAIR SHIP because I'm here for it. A guard who demands that everyone respects the king but keeps interrupting the man himself??? yes, hello, thank you lmfao)

MAN I wish I had hair as gorgeous as this king. (Who is voiced by Inoue, Kazuhiko who plays Kakashi (Naruto), Madara(Natsume), and fricken YUKI FROM GRAVITATION BTW LMFAO)

and HERE he is.. Prince Sparkly Himself!!! Prince Linden de Romanoff.

He looks like he's going to be your typical Ice Prince, but this man blushes SO DAMN MUCH ITS REALLY CUTE.

I was trying to figure out why he has two voice actors and... Well. His main voice actor is Azakami, Youhei who plays a ton of supporting characters, including a dozen of small roles in Aggretsukko which is hilarious to think about.

Anyways, we get a lot of set-up about who Elise was before she died in her first life, and a declaration that she no longer wants to marry the crown prince and instead wants to be a doctor, setting up the stakes for the story, and gives us some fun Doctor flavored power fantasy tidbits, with a fairly accurate(?) diabetes diagnosis!

She's not trying to hide her knowledge at all, including knowledge about what's to come like war tactics, but the hand waving of (OH, I read about it in a book! Oh, I was just thinking about the topic very hard!) is very powerful magic in this world it seems.

Elise makes a wager with the King that if she can pass the medical exam, she gets to call of the engagement. Everyone thinks she's craycray, but this girl has a one track mind that has jumped of the rails of PrincePrincePrince and on to ScalpelScalpelScalpel.

But also. This girl legit smiles at him while thinking about surgery and doctor stuff, and has him blushing. This man has zero interest or experience with women up until now, and it shows, or will show in later episodes.

ELISE is also oblivious to this as she apologizes for everything she's done up until now, and everything she hasn't dont yet in this time line. And is like.. "I know you don't want this engagement, so sorry for forcing you and always stepping over your boundaries."

YOU DID BRUH. IN YOUR PAST LIFE.

It feels like your typical self sacrificing female protag in a shojo. BUT. She's self-sacrificing for the selfish (positive) sake of CUTTING PEOPLE OPEN!!! It's cute to know the romance will have a base to build off of though, and hopefully be realistic.

My favorite take from this episode, and in the series so far though is...

Capybara: THERE IS NO CULTURAL TOUCH STONE IN THIS WORLD FOR MOTHER TERESA!!! Crow: YOU DON'T KNOW THAT. Capybara: ...I don't know that. But there's no Christianity in this world!!! Crow: You don't know that. Capybara: ...I don't know that. NO CHRISTIANITY IN MY ISEKAI PLEASE!!!

Moral of the story: Anything goes in an Isekai. Just don't look to closely or you'll break it. lolol

#gekai elise #medical drama #isekai #manhwa recommendation #doctor elise #anime #shojo anime #villainess #fantasy europe

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crystalninjaphoenix · 6 months

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The Infiltration

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

Totally forgot to queue this last night, but an hour late isn't too bad XD Anyway, it's time. Schneep and JJ try to infiltrate IRIS to find Jackie, along with some help from Rama. And yeah. They find him, but does everything go well? I don't know. You'll have to read to find out :)c This is 7000 words of stuff happening, so have fun!

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter

“I am still surprised Marvin didn’t want to come,” Schneep muttered, staring out the car window at the fields passing by.

JJ turned around in the passenger seat so he could sign for Schneep in the back. I know. He was so insistent on being included when we thought we’d need to rescue Anti. But I think he’s discovered something new with his cards.

“Ah. That is probably a good thing to explore then. Besides, his leg is still broken, yes?”

JJ grinned. It wasn’t going to stop him before.

“I’m going off-road now,” Rama said. Even though it was JJ’s car, they were driving so Jameson could concentrate on the tracking spell. “There is a chance IRIS will have people on the road, it is better to deal with the grass.”

If my tires get popped I’m billing you, JJ said jokingly.

Rama laughed, and then turned off the small road and onto the grass. The shift was immediate, from mostly-smooth to increasingly bumpy.

“We should probably stop out of view of the facility,” Schneep suggested. “One person walking up is much less noticeable than a car.”

Jameson nodded slowly. Are you sure about going in alone? I can help, and I’m sure Rama would like to, as well.

“I very much would like to help, but I know that I probably won’t be able to,” Rama admitted. “You two have magic and weird electricity powers. Meanwhile, I don’t remember the last time I picked up anything heavier than Michelle’s backpack. The most I can do is wait out here to drive you away once you’ve found Jackie. But I still think Jameson should go in, too.”

Schneep shook his head. “We need to be fast. I know what to expect, and Jameson does not. That little bit of delay could be deadly.”

If you insist, JJ said. But I do have something that might help. I’ll wait until we park to get it out.

It didn’t take long. Sparse trees were starting to show up on the fields, getting closer together. Until the car dipped over the crest of a slight hill and the IRIS facility came into view, right on the edge of a larger forest. Schneep leaned forward to get a better look at it. All he could really see from this distance was the high wall, stone brick with a couple guard towers. “Looks like a prison,” Rama muttered.

I think it was, once, JJ said. IRIS must have repurposed it.

“Alright, what is the thing you wanted to show me?” Schneep asked.

JJ reached into his pocket and pulled out a small glass ball. Not his black crystal ball, this one was clear, and a bit smaller than his fist. He passed it back to Schneep, who turned it over in his hands. When I went to the Magic Circle for help finding the facility, Persephone gave me this, JJ explained.

“What is it?” Schneep asked, examining it. There was some masking tape on its surface, with black marker reading BREAK ME. “I am supposed to break it? That will be difficult.”

It breaks easier than it should, JJ said. Magic and all that. This is a signal glass. Magician groups use them a lot, especially the Circle and the ABIM. When you break it, it sends out a pulse of magic attuned to one magician, telling them your location. Persephone helped me attune it to my magic. So if you get into trouble, smash the glass and I’ll be able to teleport right to you.

Rama raised an eyebrow. “You can teleport?”

JJ grimaced. I haven’t had too much practice... but if I know your location, it’ll help.

“Why did this friend of yours give it to you?” Schneep asked.

She knew what we were planning. JJ looked at Rama. If I teleport away, you need to drive right up to the wall. Save time on the escape.

Rama nodded. “We should agree on a place to break in, then.”

“Around the back,” Schneep said, pointing. “It is not blocked off by trees, so the car can get there easily. And there is bound to be a back entrance of some sort.”

“Well, I suppose that’s the best we can do from this distance,” Rama said. They turned back to look at Schneep. “And you’re sure about being on your own?”

“Yes, I am completely sure,” Schneep said, irritated. He looked down at the signal glass and softened a bit. “But... if I need help, I will call you. Please come quickly.”

Of course, JJ said, nodding firmly. Good luck. Try finding an office area. I... think he might be there...

“Bring Jackie back to us,” Rama added.

“I will.” Schneep opened the car door and stepped out. He closed it behind him and started towards the facility.

It was a fairly long walk. Gave him plenty of time to think about what to expect. Though he’d already been thinking about that on the drive out. Really, it just gave him more time to wonder what the hell he was doing. He was walking straight into the lions’ den! And the lions inside probably knew that he’d escaped once before and would be all too eager to pounce the second they noticed him. The fear of that had been driving him crazy all morning, a sick, jittery feeling in every one of his nerves. But he wasn’t about to leave someone else to the lions. Especially not his friend, and especially not when his friend didn’t even know they were lions in the first place.

He circled around the facility through the forest, getting a good look at the wall. It really did look like something out of the prison. The facility up north was the same way. Maybe JJ was right and they’d been converted from abandoned prisons. That probably meant it would be hard getting in or out.

But, as he expected, IRIS had a back way in. They were too careful to have only one entrance to a place. It was on the corner of the back wall, sort of near the forest but not close enough that the trees would be a problem. It looked like a simple metal door in the stone wall. But Schneep knew better. There would be cameras everywhere. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any defense against said cameras. So speed was key here. Get in, find Jackie, and get out before IRIS could mobilize. This was a big facility, surely it would take a while for them to coordinate all the guards they surely had.

There wasn’t much cover to speak of, so Schneep took a deep breath and ran right up to the metal door. Locked, of course. But Schneep was familiar with IRIS’s locks—and their fatal flaw. Though it was a flaw that only he could exploit. He reached up past the top of the doorframe and pushed his hand against the stone above the middle of the door. It felt like normal stone. Schneep took a deep breath and sent a shock into the cold surface. Instantly, the surface warmed, and a light above the door’s handle went from red to green.

Electronic locks—and the batteries were always above the door. Disconnected from the main power grid so they could still lock in case of a breach. A good idea... if the intruder trying to breach the facility didn’t control electricity. Schneep grinned a bit as he slipped through the door. Funny that IRIS had created something that could exploit this weakness of theirs.

Through the door was a short hallway—with two people inside. They wore black uniforms with the IRIS logo on the sleeve in white. Guards. They were relaxed until they noticed them. “Hey!” One shouted, while the other reached for their belt.

Schneep leapt forward, grabbing each of their arms. He sent an electric shock through their systems. Both of them cried out and then fell to the ground.

He continued down the short hallway and out a door, arriving in an open green space. The wall wasn’t right up against the actual buildings. He glanced around, seeing no one, and then bolted, sprinting across the grass for the nearest door. It was about 20 meters of stress, and then he was there. He did the same unlocking trick and hurried inside the building.

Inside was... surprisingly normal. It looked like any other office building out there, with undecorated white walls and cheap carpet. The fluorescent lights in the ceiling were a bit dim, but that was all, really.

Office building... Offices. JJ said that Jackie might be in the office area. Well, looked like he lucked out, then. Schneep’s eyes darted around—then dropped as he noticed a camera dangling from the ceiling.

They knew.

He made sure that his cloth mask was sure, and then ran down the hall.

There were doors on either side of the corridor. Most of them were locked, and Schneep didn’t have the time to try and open them. Some of them were labeled with little plaques on the door—boring stuff, like ‘Janitor’ or ‘Computer Storage’—but most of them simply had a little black number stamped on the wood. As Schneep ran, turning corners at random, going deeper and deeper into the facility, the numbers decreased. They’d been in the 120s back near the entrance. Now he was seeing 116, 115, 114, etc. Some of these were unlocked. And through each of the numbered doors was an identical office space. This was what he was looking for.

He kept going, luckily not seeing any guards as he ran. That did make him a bit uneasy. But that feeling changed when he tried door 107. It was unlocked. But unlike the other unlocked doors, it was not empty.

The office was dark, but Schneep could see inside well enough. Filing cabinets lined the wall, and there was a trash bin in the corner overflowing with crumpled paper, but the main furniture was the desk with the computer. The only light in the room came from the pair of monitors on its surface. Their blue and orange glow lit up the face of the man sitting there. A face that Schneep almost didn’t recognize. Until the man looked up from the monitors and saw him. He blinked. “Wh... what the hell?”

“Jackie,” Schneep breathed. He couldn’t say anything else; the wave of relief he felt was too overwhelming. So he simply hurried over.

“H-hey.” Jackie stood up—causing some more crumpled paper to fall to the floor—and reached into his pocket. “Don’t come any closer.”

Schneep stopped, taken aback. Was it the mask? He quickly pulled it down. “Jackie, i-it is me. I’m here to—”

“Is it really you?” Jackie’s eyes narrowed behind his glasses. His hair was a bit longer than it had been when Schneep last saw him, but not quite as long as it was before his disappearance. It just reached his chin, and was pulled into a half-up bun style.

“O-of course it is.” Schneep glanced back through the open doorway into the hallway. He quickly walked back over and started to close the door.

“Leave it,” Jackie said.

Schneep stopped. “Sorry.” He stepped away from the half-closed door. Jackie didn’t ask him to close it further. “I... I think I understand. The others—I-I was not there, of course, a-and I am so sorry for that, but the others said... you were worried about Distorter. Jackie, I promise you this is no trick. I am really here.”

“Why?” Jackie demanded. “If you’re really here, then why? A-and I can tell if you’re lying.”

Schneep didn’t doubt that. IRIS probably had that technology. He glanced around the room uneasily. There were no cameras in sight. But that didn’t make him feel better. “I... I came to see you,” he said slowly. “To... convince you to come back home.”

Jackie stared at him for a moment. He looked down. Schneep saw him take something out of his pocket and fiddle with it. He was tempted to step closer—the less time he spent here, the better—but he didn’t want to upset Jackie. After a moment, Jackie took a deep breath and looked back up at him. “Okay,” he said, nodding. “I believe you. And... you’re not Distorter?”

“No, I promise you, I am not,” Schneep said.

Jackie glanced down again. Back up. “What are you doing here?”

“I—Jackie, I just told you.” Schneep glanced back at the door. He really didn’t like being in sight of it, so he walked up to the desk. Jackie tensed but didn’t move away. “I need you to leave this place. W-we need to go now. There is not much time before they realize I am here—”

“Wait, did you break in?” Jackie laughed. “Why did I expect anything different? You know you can apply for a visitor’s pass, right? Or you could’ve called me. Anyone could have—”

“No, we could not,” Schneep interrupted. “Again, I was not there for this, but the others have been trying to reach you since you left. Rama has been trying to reach you!”

Jackie blinked. His faint smile disappeared. “They... have?”

“Of course they have!” Schneep said, exasperated. “You mean to say you haven’t heard from your friends—from your spouse—in weeks? And you did not think that was odd? Rama and Jameson are outside right now! They are so worried about you!”

“I’ve been busy...” Jackie said slowly. He put the item in his hands on the desk and started digging in the pockets of his coat. A white coat, with IRIS’s logo on the sleeve. It made Schneep sick to see his friend wearing the same uniform as the people who’d tormented him. He walked a bit closer, circling around the desk. “Hang on,” Jackie said, holding up his hand. Schneep stopped, waiting, as Jackie took out his cell phone and started looking through things. “I don’t see any missed calls or texts. Huh. Weird. Y’know, I’ve been wondering if we’re in a bit of a dead zone out here, the WiFi is surprisingly bad—”

“Jackie, can you shut the fuck up?!” Schneep suddenly snapped. “Why are you—Y-you are being so—Do you not realize—”

Jackie took a step back from Schneep, looking at him with both concern and wariness. “Calm down, Volt. It was a mistake. A misunderstanding. I’m fine, see?” He gave him a reassuring smile. “These guys are alright. They’re a bit intense with their security, but it’s understandable, really.” The smile disappeared. “I... should’ve tried to call everyone earlier. But when I got here, I wasn’t... good, mentally, not really in a state to even think about that. And the longer this has gone on the more I’ve wondered what I could even say. They made me sign this pretty intense NDA a-and I didn’t want to slip up and...” He let out a breath. “I was just scared. I... didn’t want anyone to think I was... abandoning them.”

“That... deserves a conversation,” Schneep said, “but this is not the time for one! Jackie, their cameras here are—They will know I’m here soon! If they don’t already! We have to go!”

“What? No!” Jackie shook his head. “Look, I’ll call C&C and explain everything to them, you’re not going to be in trouble—”

Schneep laughed hysterically. “Oh, Jackie, you do not even know!”

“What the fuck do you mean? Did you assault someone getting in here?”

“No, and that is not what I am speaking about!” Schneep walked closer to Jackie, who once again tensed but didn’t move away. His hand drifted to one of his pockets. “Jackie! Jackie, you say these people are ‘alright.’ They are not. They are the farthest thing from ‘alright.’ If you get security in here, it will not end well. Definitely not for me, and maybe not for you, either.”

Jackie didn’t say anything. He glanced at the computer monitors. Schneep followed his gaze, hoping that there wasn’t some ‘Call Security’ option on the screen. There wasn’t. Instead, both of the monitors displayed a strange, shifting spiral of blue, orange, and yellow light, an angular tunnel constantly coming closer to the screen. Some sort of screen saver, maybe. Jackie looked away from it and back at Schneep. “I... don’t know what you—”

“They are evil, Jackie,” Schneep said vehemently.

“Jeez. Schneep, no corporation is gonna be truly good, per se, but IRIS isn’t evil.” Jackie reached out slowly, gently pushing Schneep away from him.

“They are, Jackie.” Schneep grabbed Jackie’s wrist. Jackie’s eyes widened and he tried to tug his arm free. Only then did Schneep realize how tight he was squeezing. He immediately let go. “I-I am sorry. Did that... hurt?”

“Not too much,” Jackie said, flexing his hand. “Heh. Were you always that strong?”

“No.” Schneep took a deep breath. “And it is because of IRIS.”

Jackie looked at him, confused. “What? Wait, have you been here, too? But didn’t you break in—”

“I did not want to be here, Jackie!” Schneep grabbed Jackie by the shoulders—then backed away, remembering what just happened. “Jackie, I—They have done things to me, Jackie, things that cannot be undone.”

“I... what?” Jackie whispered. “Schneep, I’m sorry, I... don’t understand. IRIS wasn’t even in the area until a couple weeks ago, how could you have—”

“Jackie,” Schneep interrupted. He was shaking slightly, but he forced himself to be still. “Do you know about their office in Henshilling?”

“Huh? They don’t have a—”

“Of course you don’t.” Schneep laughed. “They would not tell you. Not too long after I left the city, I went there. I found them. People were going in that building, they were not coming out. I watched. Until I noticed two of their soldiers—because that is what they are, really—carrying out a long black bag in the dead of night, moving it to the incinerator. I knew I had to go in, then. So I did. A-and they saw me, Jackie. They saw me right away. They knew who I was. They said I-I had seen ALTR 53815, I did not know what that was, but they did not care.”

“What? No, you’ve never been in the house,” Jackie said. “They wouldn’t—even if this is true, they wouldn’t—”

“‘Even if this is true’?!” Schneep repeated incredulously. “Jackie, are you saying I am lying to you?!”

“No, I just—”

“I have never lied to you once, Jackie, you were the first I told about Von Voltage, you know I would tell you everything. And I assure you, I was on my medication.”

“I didn’t mean to say you weren’t,” Jackie said. “I just—If you were trespassing, of course they would interrogate you, and—and now that I’m thinking about it, with how much Distorter’s fucked with you, they would probably pick up traces of 53815 on you. But... you must’ve misunderstood what you saw. It probably looked like a body bag, but I bet it was something el—”

“You don’t know what they’ve done to me, Jackie!” Schneep screamed. He grabbed Jackie by the coat, pulling him closer. “Don’t you understand?! They cut me open, Jackie! They put things in there! I-I don’t even know what they were! I don’t know what is inside me, Jackie, a-and it’s—it’s fucking—I-I am sick just thinking about it! In my brain, Jackie! My hands, they—I-I could not control it for so long, I was hurting myself, and then they put something else in there and it no longer hurt at all.” Schneep gripped Jackie tighter. His vision was starting to blur as hot tears filled his eyes. “I-I do not—I remember it happening, once. Do you know what it is to lie there, when you cannot move, you cannot speak, you can only breathe and try to endure it a-as strangers tear the flesh above your spine and go poking around in there? No! Of course you don’t! A-and no one should, but I know—I know I was not the only one, there were other rooms down there, Jackie, a-and I had to leave them o-or I wouldn’t get out at all—Jackie, Jackie. Please, you cannot be one of them.” His knees felt weak. He let them collapse, falling to the floor, clinging tight to Jackie. “Please. Y-you are still my friend, right? You... I know you would not... do this. Right?”

Jackie was silent. Schneep didn’t look up at his face. Partly because he didn’t want to see his expression, partly because he didn’t want Jackie to see the tears flowing down his face. He closed his eyes, trying and failing to stifle the sobs that shook his body.

“...Henrik.” Jackie’s voice was quiet. He gently pulled Schneep’s hands away from him and knelt down so the two of them were level. “Are... you... okay?”

Schneep finally looked up. Jackie was... horrified. There was no other word for it. “No,” he whispered. “And it is because of IRIS. Please, Jackie, I-I am not lying to you. This is not a trick, this is not a mistake. They have made me into something else. They could do the same to you. Even if you think you are safe now.”

Jackie stared at him. He wrapped Schneep’s hands in both of his. “Can you... show me?”

“H-huh?”

“I believe you,” Jackie said gently. “But... i-it’s hard for me to... IRIS has been so... helpful. I can’t imagine... but I believe you. I just... I can’t... Those two things don’t work in my brain. So... can you show me?”

Schneep took a breath, slow and shuddering. “This may hurt.”

“Wha—ow!” Jackie jumped, instinctively yanking his hands away from Schneep’s. “You—oh.” He realized it quickly. Schneep was not wearing his gloves. That shock came from his bare hands. “Oh. Oh.” He covered his mouth, eyes wide, face pale. “Oh god. I—They—f-fucking hell, I—oh, god. Oh god.”

Schneep wiped his eyes. “Th-there is no time,” he said. And, unfortunately, he was right. As much as he wanted to sit on the floor and break down, he couldn’t. Somehow he knew they were coming. “Jackie, will you leave with me?”

“Y-yeah. Yeah, holy shit, o-of course!” Jackie scrambled to his feet. He reached down and pulled Schneep up, too.

“Good. Let’s—”

“Hang on, i-if I’m leaving—I’m probably not going to be allowed back here anyway, so—” Jackie began picking up things from the desk surface—mostly pieces of paper, but there was also that thing that was in his pocket earlier—and shoving them into the various pockets on his coat. “Volt, open this bottom drawer and grab the headsets inside.” He kicked the side of the desk, indicating a drawer.

“Okay.” This was no time to ask what Jackie meant. Schneep pulled open the heavy drawer. It was one of those large drawers meant for files, but inside this one there were only two things. He first thought they were a pair of sleeping masks—one white, the other black—but then realized they were more like VR headsets. Just much smaller and thinner than the ones he’d seen before. The part that went over the eyes was no thicker than a phone case, curved to fit the average shape of someone’s face. Schneep stopped only long enough to take in these basic details before scooping them up. “What are these?”

“They’re—uh—it’s like—So you know how sometimes in scifi movies or shows there are things that can view other people’s memories?”

Before Schneep could respond to that, the half-closed door to the office swung open, slamming against the opposite wall. A figure in a black uniform stood there, the IRIS logo in white on their sleeve, their face hidden by a helmet with a reflective visor. They raised their hand to the side of their head. “Intruder found in—”

“No!” Schneep lunged forward, vaulting straight over the desk, knocking down one of the monitors, and was in front of the figure in seconds. He grabbed their wrist in one hand and their shoulder in the other. An electric snap! sounded off and the person dropped to the floor.

“Holy shit!” Jackie stared at Schneep, mouth open in shock. “What just—Are they—”

“They’re fine,” Schneep said curtly, pulling his mask up again. He was experienced with electricity by now and knew how much would stun a person. “But they’re not alone.” Outside the room were two other black-uniformed security guards. They were turning towards the sound. “Let’s go!”

Jackie nodded. He scooped up the headsets from where Schneep dropped them and ran after him. “Guess we’re doing this now, then!”

“Of course we are,” Schneep said. “Stay behind me!”

“Hey!” The two guards ran towards Schneep and Jackie the moment they entered the hallway.

Schneep pushed Jackie back a little and ran right at the guards. Each of them took something from their belt, a long baton-like object, but Schneep wasn’t worried. He jumped out of the way as one swung a baton and then ducked as the other did the same. Then he grabbed their hand as it flew past him and shocked them. That guard dropped immediately. The other one smacked him in the shoulder, causing a similar snap! sound as Schneep’s electricity. It hurt, but didn’t do much else. Schneep grabbed the guard’s arm and stunned them as well.

“Holy shit,” Jackie breathed. “Th-that was—How did you—fast???”

“No time to talk,” Schneep said. “Remember that I am different. Now let’s go!”

“R-right.” Jackie nodded.

The two of them broke into a run. Schneep had to force himself from blazing down the hallway so that Jackie wouldn’t be left behind. He’d been athletic before, but now, it was so easy to move quickly, to lift and push heavy things. No, this wasn’t the time to reflect on this! He had to be sure he wasn’t losing Jackie!

The two of them ran down the halls of IRIS. Schneep remembered the way he’d come in and was heading back there. Jackie didn’t question his sense of direction, just following. As they turned a corner, they ran right into a group of more of those guards—C&C, as Jackie had called them. There were four. “Here!” one of them barked, pulling out another baton.

Jackie slowed down. Good. Schneep didn’t want him to get caught up in the fight. He kept running right at the guards, throwing a punch at the nearest one and knocking them down. Two others hit him with those batons, causing more electric snap!s, but he simply kept moving. He ducked down and swept one’s legs, stunning them after they landed. Then he rolled out of the way of the other three attacking and yanked one of them down to the ground. Another stun. He quickly stood before the last two could hit him while he was down and briefly backed up before jumping forward again, launching himself at the last two. As soon as they made contact, he stunned them.

“Holy shit,” Jackie whispered. He crouched down and checked on one of the stunned guards. Then, reluctantly, he took their baton. “I should probably take this, just in case, right?”

“Good idea.” Schneep nodded. “But do not stop!”

They continued to run. Two more squads of guards tried to stop them—five people, then seven—but neither of the fights lasted longer than a minute. Schneep wondered if he should be worried about that. If he should take a moment and see if he was killing any of them, like how Jackie was doing. But there was no time. They had to get out. There would be so many more guards in a facility of this size. If he had to fight twenty people, or even ten people... well, he doubted those odds. The frantic fear of thinking about what would happen if they got caught spurred him onward. He wasn’t going to go back, and he wasn’t going to drag Jackie down with him.

They were almost to the door where Schneep had broken in, when another group of guards came out of a door on the side of the hallway. Only three, but one of them was wearing a slightly different uniform, with white highlights against the black, and the two others were holding strange guns with long, square barrels. Almost like a taser. “The EX subject is taking a staff member with him,” said the one in the different uniform, putting his hand to the side of his head. “Permissions?”

Schneep growled. “Get out of our way!” He jumped at the two guards. One of them fired their strange gun, but Schneep dodged the projectile and went for the other one, stunning them. It looked as though these strange guns were similar to tasers in what they fired, too. A long, thin metal string trailed from the end of the projectile, connecting it back to the barrel of the gun. But unlike tasers, the projectile more resembled some sort of thin dart. The guard who’d fired the gun pressed a different button and the string disconnected from the barrel.

“Understood,” the man in the different uniform said, and reached for his belt.

Schneep glanced at him, but then noticed the remaining guard’s posture tense. He whirled back around and darted forward, wrapping his hand around their wrist and shocking them just as they fired the gun again. They gasped and dropped to the floor. Schneep turned back to the remaining guard and—

AAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAIIEEE!

—he screamed, clapping his hands over his ears. What was that sound?! Where was it—AAIIEEE!—coming from?! It sounded like it was right next to—AAIIEEE!—him. He could feel it in his teeth, in his eyes, in—AAIIEEE!—his very bones.

“Schneep!” Jackie gasped.

“Ja—” AAIIEEE! Schneep cried out, staggering backwards. He soon lost his balance and collapsed to—AAIIEEE!—the floor, feeling suddenly weak and shivery. Tears came to—AAIIEEE!—his eyes. He couldn’t think! He couldn’t move! That sound was—AAIIEEE!

“Don’t worry, sir,” the guard said, clearly looking at Jackie. “He’s not going to hurt you.”

“I-I-I didn’t think he—”

AAIIEEE! Schneep twitched, wanting to scream. The sound was still going. A continuous screech. He wanted to shout—AAIIEEE!—at the guard, demand to know what happened, but he couldn’t move. All—AAIIEEE!—he could manage was a weak whimper.

“Schneep, are you okay?!” Jackie started for Schneep, but the guard stepped in front of him, stopping him. “What—What did you do?”

“It’s a disabling signal.” The guard held up the device he’d taken from his belt. Schneep could only catch a glance of it from here, and bizarrely, he was reminded of a Gameboy. “All of the EX subjects are built with them.”

Schneep tried to get to his hands and knee—AAIIEEE!—s, but collapsed. ‘Built’? He wasn’t built. Fuck these g—AAIIEEE!—uys. The guard was still saying som—AAIIEEE!—ething to Jackie,, but Schneep couldn’t focus enough to hear it. It—AAIIEEE!—... it hurt... It hurt... so much...

Jackie’s eyes kept darting between Schneep and the guard. The guard finished talking, and he stood there, looking unsure. Then he slowly nodded. The guard relaxed slightly, saying something more as he turned around—and Jackie immediately shoved the point of the baton he’d grabbed into the guard’s back. SNAP! The guard instantly collapsed, a soot-black circle on the white of his uniform. Jackie let go of the baton and grabbed the strange device from the floor where the guard dropped it. He fumbled with it for a moment.

AAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAIIEEEAAI—The sound wasn’t stopping. The only thought passing through Schneep’s head was a directionless plea for it to stop hurting.

“Shit!” Jackie cursed. These buttons weren’t labeled! For all he knew, he was making it worse for Schneep, who was still lying on the ground. His eyes were rolling back in his head, tears flowing down his face. His body twitched occasionally, but other than that he was completely still. “Schneep, d-don’t worry, I-I’ll get you out of here!” Jackie stood up, grabbing Schneep. If he had to drag him out of here, he would!

Something rolled out of Schneep’s pocket and onto the floor. Jackie glanced down and saw a glass orb bump into his foot. He hesitated, then reached down and picked it up. There was some tape across its surface with black marker writing: BREAK ME.

...worth a shot, right?

Jackie threw the orb to the ground. It smashed immediately, even the tape disappearing, and a wave of bright blue light rippled out from the spot of impact. He’d know that shade of blue anywhere. Magic.

Suddenly, the hall was filled with blue smoke. Jackie coughed—more out of surprise than anything. And when the smoke disappeared, he saw JJ standing there, wearing his stage mask and looking ready to fight anything. He saw Jackie and Schneep immediately. His eyes flicked around the hall really fast to be sure no one was coming, then signed, What happened?

“I-I don’t—Sch-Schneep collapsed, they—there was a—something about a disabling signal?” Jackie stammered, just as shocked to see JJ as he was to see Schneep. But, thankfully, a lot more trusting. “Th-there’s this thing to control it, but I don’t—I don’t know how to—”

JJ nodded. You work on that, he signed, hands moving almost too fast to interpret. I’ll carry him. If we run into anyone I’m sure I can take care of them.

“Okay.” Jackie passed Schneep to JJ. He was still twitching slightly, breathing shakily. “Can you—how did you—”

Been practicing teleporting, JJ signed awkwardly. Don’t know if I can do it with others. So run!

“Right!” Jackie nodded. “I-I think Schneep was taking me to the side entrance. This way!” He started to run, trying to fumble with the device as he did.

They sprinted down the halls. Jackie knew them well by this point, so he didn’t need to fully concentrate on navigating them. What the hell was this device? Why was there a screen that wasn’t working? Why weren’t any of the buttons labeled? He was so focused on it that he almost didn’t notice when they turned the corner to the side entrance hallway. Almost.

The small space was absolutely crowded with C&C members. Most of them wore the standard black uniform, though Jackie could see a handful with that white-highlight outfit that the guard with the disabling signal had been wearing. He’d never seen that uniform before. Had there been people here with those outfits all this time? Why had he never seen them?

One of these new-uniformed guards raised a hand. “You are outnumbered,” she said. “Surrender peacefully and no harm will come to you.”

“Bullshit,” JJ spat, and Jackie’s head snapped to look at him. He’d never heard Jameson so angry before. He rarely heard JJ be angry at all, but the rage in his voice now... was only outmatched by the increasingly bright glow coming from his eyes.

Jackie’s own eyes widened and he scrambled backwards, giving Jameson space. Just in time, too. Jameson whistled sharply, and a flurry of bright blue magic burst outwards, shards of power flying forward. The C&C guards shouted, some of them aimed weapons, but they were too slow. The magical storm only lasted for a few seconds, but by the time it was done, every single guard was covered in a thin layer of crystalline blue magic. “Jesus fucking christ,” Jackie whispered. “Since when could you do that?”

Jameson shook his head, the glow from his eyes slowly fading. His hands were full, carrying Schneep, so he whispered in his hoarse voice, “Since... now, apparently. Move! It won’t last long.”

“Right!” Jackie nodded, and the two of them edged around the frozen C&C squads to the side entrance. Jackie reached into his pocket and pulled out a keycard in a plastic sleeve. He pressed it against the sensor... but nothing happened. Confused, he tried the door. It opened. Right, Schneep had broken in. Those efforts must’ve included breaking the door somehow. “Let’s go,” he said.

They stepped out into the courtyard and were immediately met by more C&C guards. So many more of them. A few raised gun-like objects and fired, but a crystalline shield weakly flickered into being just in time to stop the various projectiles. Jameson blinked. He was swaying a bit on his feet.

“What now?” Jackie whispered. They were completely surrounded! There had to be at least fifty guards between them and the outside wall. He didn’t know there were so many C&C members in this facility!

“...Run when I say run,” JJ rasped.

Jackie nodded slowly.

JJ took a deep breath. The shield expanded, surrounding the two of them and Schneep in a dome. Outside of their small safe haven, the guards were reloading weapons. One of them was shouting on a megaphone, but the magic shield muffled the sound. “Run!” JJ shouted.

They both broke into a sprint. And the magical dome came with them. Some of the C&C guards instinctively leapt out of the way of the rapidly-approaching glowing sphere. The ones that didn’t were forcibly pushed to the side. Jackie couldn’t help but be a bit worried... until he noticed that they were all recovering quickly and immediately attacking the dome with weapons. Mostly dart-like projectiles, but as they dashed towards the wall, a few real bullets ricocheted against the dome, causing small, inch-long cracks. Then, as they got closer, the darts stopped, leaving just the bullets.

Jameson was showing no sign of stopping as they approached the solid stone wall. Jackie glanced at him, concerned, but didn’t stop either. The wall was ten feet away—five feet—Jackie stumbled for a bit, balking, but then closed his eyes and forced himself to trust Jameson. He braced himself to smack against the wall in a most painful way—but he didn’t. Instead, everything went dark for a moment. He felt pressure in his ears, like elevation changing in the mountains—and then everything was light again. He opened his eyes and saw them on the other side of the wall.

Parked on the grass nearby was a car. Jameson’s car. They ran for it. The passenger side door was thrown open, and Jackie looked inside and saw Rama had leaned over to open it. The two of them held eye contact for a silent moment. And then Jameson’s shield died and he stumbled to the side, falling against Jackie for a second before righting himself. Rama looked at Jackie. “Open the door for them, corazon.”

Jackie’s heart leapt. He nodded, and opened the door for the back seat. JJ climbed in, taking Schneep with him, and Jackie got into the passenger seat.

As soon as everyone was inside Rama hit the gas, not even waiting for the doors to close. The tires skidded on the grass and then the car was off, the ground jolting beneath them.

Nobody said a word until they were back to the main road. While they were driving, Jackie continued trying to figure out the device, but it was like it wasn’t on at all. In frustration, he flipped the device over, found the battery compartment on the back, and opened it. IRIS didn’t use regular batteries, but the device still died when Jackie pulled out the power source: a pair of flat squares made out of green metal. They were glowing very slightly, angular patterns shifting on their surface. Jackie put them in his pocket.

In the backseat, Schneep gasped, bolting upright.

“Schneep!” Jackie gasped. “I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t figure it out! I-it might’ve been Locked, I’m—How do you feel?”

He didn’t answer. His wide eyes darted around the car. JJ, concerned, asked, Do you need any healing? I know some spells.

“N... nein, I mean no, I-I...” Schneep’s voice was quiet. “I think... it was just... in my head...”

“In your head? Y-you were clearly in pain,” Jackie said. “Is it... do you still feel?”

“No, i-it’s stopped,” he said. “J-Jamie, do not worry about me. You must be low on magic after all that you just did.”

Jameson nodded slowly. I think I’m just about out, he admitted. Once I’m sure we’re not being pursued... I’m going to sleep the rest of the way.

Schneep laughed.

“You are all safe, then?” Rama asked. “Besides... that?”

“Safe, yes.” Schneep nodded. “It did hurt, whatever that was, but it stopped the moment you broke that thing, Jackie. Thank you.” He paused. “And... thank you for coming with me.”

Jackie gave him and Jamie a nervous smile. Then he turned to look at Rama. They couldn’t fully look at him, needing their eyes on the road, but they were glancing at him as often as they could. “R... Rama, I...”

Rama shook their head. “Not now. They may be coming after us. We should wait until we are safe.” They paused. “But... know that I don’t blame you, Jackieboy. For anything.”

Jackie blinked. That felt like more than he deserved, honestly. But he nodded. “Alright. We can wait. A-are we going to meet up with the others?”

If by that you mean Marvin and Anti... you’re half right, JJ said.

“Huh?” Jackie blinked. “Wh-what do you mean? What happened?! Does Distorter still have Marvin?!” He shouldn’t have run out like that! He never should have—what the fuck was he thinking?! Well, he wasn’t thinking much, to be honest, but that wasn’t a fucking excuse—

“Calm down, Jackieboy,” Rama said. “Don’t panic. Things are... not good, but they’re not as bad as you’re thinking.”

Schneep sighed. “I suppose we must explain, Jamie. No nap for you yet.”

That’s fine, this is more important, JJ said, sitting up straight. Hold tight, Jackie. This is a long story.

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