#funnily enough he had to voice something similar even for law

[1000sunnygo]

Dressrosa Archives: Kappei Yamaguchi (Usopp) x Kamiya Hiroshi (Law) talk (2015)

Here's another interview that was released during Dressrosa, Kamiya was hosted by Kappei (x). The conversation focused on Kamiya's experience voicing Law, analyzing characters (notably Law and Rosinante) and the studio's atmosphere.

It's a long interview that was separated in two parts (bless Kamiya's photographic memory). Starts below the cut!

Yamaguchi: This time on Usopp's 'This is Real!', we have the talented Hiroshi Kamiya who plays Trafalgar Law - a character who has been very active in the TV series lately (applause)!

As we're reaching a crucial point in the battle against Doflamingo, we'd like to delve deep into Law' s character. Thank you for joining us!

Kamiya: Thank you very much!

Yamaguchi: Let's get straight to it. Law is still a character shrouded with mysteries. But what was your first impression of him?

Kamiya: No seriously, he was a mysterious fellow alright (laughs).

I believe Shabondy Archipelago 2 years ago was his first appearance. There was hardly any information other than being a "Rookie with a bounty exceeding 100M who leads a pirate crew aiming for the New World." I had no idea how to portray him. I felt like other rookies stood out more.

Captain Kidd, for example, made it to the back cover of the manga. Since Namikawa Daisuke was casted for the role, I thought he might become a big character in the future.

Yamaguchi: But I felt that Law was the craziest one. For a mysterious role like this one...was there an audition, again?

Kamiya: No. I was approached by the producer from that time. Recently I was told by the producer that he didn't think the role would become so important!

Yamaguchi: Same here (laughs). Law really entered the spotlight during the Summit War, didn't he? That's where he got closer to Luffy, or that's where he might have started considering the off chance of an alliance...

Kamiya: You may be right. Looking back on his encounter with Luffy; after learning about Law's past and his relationship with Doflamingo, I think Law might have sensed some possibilities when he saw Luffy defy the Celestial Dragons.

If that's the case, just my personal speculation, it somewhat makes sense as to why Law saved Luffy during the Summit War. But back at that time I didn't know any of it. It was impossible for me to foresee Law's role there (in the war). I thought he would reappear after like 5~10 years (laughs).

Subsequently, when Law saved the passed out Luffy from Akainu's attack, I thought, "Is this why his character existed?" I was wondering if his role as a rookie pirate was done. But then at Punk Hazard... It was rather a quick reunion (lol)

Yamaguchi: Seeing him at Punk Hazard at that time, I was like, "Huh? Where are Bepo and team? Did he end up alone?!" (laughs)

Kamiya: Same here. I was like, "????" (laughs)

Yamaguchi: Even though Law was a character veiled under mystery, he has gradually revealed his human side in the flashback. You played Law's childhood as well. How was the experience?

Kamiya: When I read the flashback in the manga, I really wanted to voice him. Initially, Law proposed an alliance with Luffy to take down Kaido. But there was also this desire deep down to crush Doflamingo himself.... All these make him rather a suspicious character with unclear motives from reader's perspective, right?

But after knowing his intense past that lead to that point, I decided "I want to portray Law's childhood too!" I was very eager to do it, I expressed my wish to the producer. It turned into an audition.

Yamaguchi: So that required an audition. (laughs)

Kamiya: Exactly. At that time, the manga volume wasn't out yet. So, they gave me a copy of the Jump magazine. After finishing the usual recording, I was reading some lines from it. I remember you asking me, "What are you doing, Kamiya kun?" and I said, "I have an audition after this." (laughs)

Yamaguchi: I remember too. I was wondering, "What audition?" (laughs)

Kamiya: Strictly speaking, it might not have been a traditional 'audition' - given that there were no other candidates. It was more like having my voice heard (by the staffs) and assessing whether I could voice the character.

Yamaguchi: It's common to hire a different actor for flashback roles to match the character visuals. But letting the same actor voice in flashback makes a character more consistent. Law's encounter with Cora san was a turning point in his life, you being able to play that role should become crucial for depicting his character from now onwards.

On this topic, did knowing Law's past influence your performance of his role?

Kamiya: I didn't consciously change my acting. But there are some differences in his portrayal when I know Law's past compared to when I didn't.

In the early days, I voiced Law with a subdued, cool tone; but as the story progressed and his character unfolded, I believe my tone range expanded.

Yamaguchi: I totally get it. Back when Law started interacting with the Straw Hats and yelled "I hate breads!" - it left a strong impression in me. I felt that line alone made him instantly more relatable and easy to like.

Kamiya: That's right. Actually, at the "I'm a doctor!" scene in the Summit War, I was told not to raise my voice. So I focused on acting cool. But I'm more comfortable being expressive and yelling these days; I feel like I've been allowed some leeway since "I hate bread!" (laughs)

Yamaguchi: (laughs) I remember "I hate bread" most vividly, but which line do you think left the biggest impression on you?

Kamiya: Not mine, but Cora san's "I love ya!" made me go, "Uwoh, so that's how it's delivered!"

As for Law's lines, hmm.. "I'm a doctor!" and "Drake-ya, how many people have you killed?" are memorable. Also, "I've broken the gears!" after slashing Suwabe san..No, Vergo.

(Junichi Suwabe: Vergo's actor. Currently acting as Green Bull.)

Yamaguchi: Back when Vergo was slashed, none of us had any idea about the the two's real relationship.

Kamiya: Indeed. But the scene was remarkably balanced. While maintaining a calm expression, Law sliced through everything in the background in half, including Vergo. This spoke of how intense his deep emotions were. This scene really etched in my memory.

Yamaguchi: Amazing, it's still giving me chills!

Kamiya: Since I was under the request to not raise my voice, so I acted coolly. But seeing the intensity transmitted so well in the art... I felt glad.

Yamaguchi: Breaking the gears in Punk Hazard and tying up loose ends in Dressrosa – it feels like even after Dressrosa, Law's journey with the Straw Hats is far from over. They still need to reunite with Sanji's group and visit Bepo and team!

Kamiya: That's right. Hasn't it been about two years since Law mentioned them being left at Zou?

Yamaguchi: In real world, it's been about two years. But in the story, it's like the same morning?! (laughs)

Kamiya: Pretty much like just a moment ago. (laughs)

Yamaguchi: That was insane! When Law told Doflamingo, "You called CP0 this morning", all the cast members made faces like, "THIS morning!?" (laughs)

Kamiya: We've been through some insane times, haven't we? (laughs)

Yamaguchi: This conversation had been insane too. Sadly, it's time to wrap up. Thank you so much, Kamiya kun!!

Bonus talk (website special edition) : Child Law and the Donquixotes

Yamaguchi: Law's past is currently unfolding in his flashback. What were you particularly mindful of while playing Law's childhood?

Kamiya: Since he carries a tragic past, I was conscious of portraying the notion of "no belief in humans" and "humans only harbor malice." It's somewhat a tunnel vision of the world. But considering he was a child, I convinced myself of that. (laughs)

Yamaguchi: When the story transitioned back to present from the flashback, I was a bit sad thinking how I won't hear little Law's voice anymore. But then it felt so natural to hear adult Law's voice. I remembered, "Oh right! Kamiya kun had always been Law." (laughs)

Kamiya: I'm so happy to hear you say that!

Yamaguchi: Speaking of the flashback, Cora san plays a crucial role.

Kamiya: Yes. When I heard Cora san would be played by Yamadera san, I thought, "Woah, a freaking amazing person has joined!" As I mentioned before, his performance of "I love ya!" is so touching that just remembering it makes me tear up.

Well, my first impression to Cora san was "Who's this dude?", though (laughs). He's a guy who gets annoyed by children and throws them out...Frankly, it was hard to believe he's sane. It was inevitable for Law to be pissed off and yell "I'll kill him!"

Yamaguchi: From Cora san's exchange with Sengoku afterward, it seems he intentionally treated Law and the children harshly to keep them away from The Family... but there could be a better way to do it (laughs)

Regardless, Cora san struggled with many hardships from his childhood; I feel sorry for him.

Kamiya: He had a hard time due to his idealist father. His father was a goodie-two-shoes blind to reality, so to speak; unable to recognize the poor intent of others. I think he was the type of person whose survival was meant to be a struggle in the world of One Piece.

Yamaguchi: True. This caused his wife and children to suffer. I felt like telling the father, "you're too naive."

Kamiya: Actually, in the scene where Doflamingo's father says, "I'm sorry I'm your father," I couldn't cry even though it was a tragic scene of a parent being murdered. Instead I was very angry at him.

Yamaguchi: In that scene it's easier to resonate with Doflamingo: "What has father done!"

Kamiya: When I read the manga, I didn't feel much. But once it was animated and I could hear the lines, I really understood Doflamingo's feelings. "Ok, he's an idealist dumbass." "This man's is no good, I couldn't possibly keep up with him either!" (laughs)

Yamaguchi: Being sandwiched between these two, I pity Cora san.

Kamiya: Cora san probably had perceptions of both a Celestial Dragon and an ordinary human since childhood. That's likely why he could handle special missions like being a spy.

Yamaguchi: Unlike Doflamingo who couldn't adapt to the world, Cora san didn't really do anything wrong but ended up being crucified anyway. I felt really bad for him.

Kamiya: The flashback elaborated quite well on Law's feelings. But the mystery behind why Cora san suddenly changed his demeanor after learning Law is a D is still there.

Actually, that's the only part that left me unconvinced. Why's that a man who hit him is suddenly saying let's pack up and run - I couldn't wrap my head around it. But Yamadera san's presence and persuasiveness left me feeling, "this person definitely knows something, I must listen to what he has to say."

Yamaguchi: I get you. Even though Yamadera san is no different from us and knows practically nothing (laughs). By the way, I'm really looking forward to how it'd go when the last bit of the flashback airs.

Kamiya: I'm curious about its reception.

Yamaguchi: Lastly, any message you'd like to share with the fans?

Kamiya: It was fun talking with Kappei san and sharing personal impressions and perspectives, but please forget everything I said! I want everyone to enjoy it naturally, I'll be happy if you continue supporting One Piece from a neutral perspective.

Yamaguchi: Kamiya kun, thanks for today!

Kamiya: Likewise, thank you very much!

Interview #2, Studio Experience and popularity

Source: [x]

Yamaguchi: By the way, I was at the restaurant Baratie for an interview recently, and they were showing the first episode of One Piece. I saw your name credited among the cast and went "Gweeeh?!" (laughs)

Kamiya: (laughs) Yeah. In the first episode, I played pirate A.

Yamaguchi: One of Alvida's henchmen?

Kamiya: Yes. As pirate A, my role was to discover Nami sneaking onto the ship, and then immediately to get knocked out by a groin kick.

Yamaguchi: I didn't show up until episode 9. You were earlier than me! (laughs)

Kamiya: Actually, I debuted earlier than even Kazuya Nakai san (Zoro's seiyuu), since Zoro only had a brief appearance at the end of the first episode.

Nakai san came to tour the recording. I remember asking "what's up, Nakai san?" and he mumbled something like "Ah, well, um" and just quietly sat there.

Yamaguchi: (laughs) Did you have any other roles after pirate A?

Kamiya: I did a couple more after that, but the first episode left the strongest impression on me. I still clearly remember Luffy bursting out of the barrel in his debut scene. Deep down, I got excited during the recoding, thinking "Woah! One Piece has really begun."

Another memorable role was Eddy, the four eyed helmsman of the Bellamy Pirates. It was strange to voice Law facing off Bellamy himself in the Dressrosa arc, having voiced one of his ex-subordinates long ago. (laughs)

Yamaguchi: Wasn't it in Mock Town? When Ueda Yuji san was there?

Kamiya: Yes. Ueda Yuji san voiced Sarquiss, the vice captain of the Bellamy Pirates.

After that was the story of Shichibukai meeting arranged by the World Government. Doflamingo appeared and used his strange power to make two marine officers fight each other to the death. The two marines who were made to fight each other - Marine Officers A and B, were played by me and Ueda san. They knew they were being controlled, but nobody knew how it was being done, or the power of something like Ito Ito no mi.

Yamaguchi: We didn't know anything either! Bet you didn't expect to end up fighting against the same Doflamingo years later.

Kamiya: That's right. I never imagined I'd get to play a character with a connection to Doflamingo. Moreover, at the time of Law's debut, I didn't think he'd be the one to with such connection. (laughs)

Yamaguchi: Seriously. Life is full of surprises. (laughs)

Anyway, changing the subject, how do you like the atmosphere in One Piece voice studio?

Kamiya: I absolutely love the atmosphere on the One Piece set! There are many seniors there who can be called legends, so of course, there's tension. But it's the type of tension that makes you feel comfortable as a professional.

Yamaguchi: It's okay to be honest, you know (laughs)

Kamiya: (laughs) But I am being honest.

In presence of legends like Mayumi Tanaka san who has been leading One Piece for 15 years, I'd always think that I have to give my absolute best. Of course, when it comes to the actual recording, being serious isn't an option for us. But only recently I've realized that it's okay to ease up and have fun outside the recording sessions.

Yamaguchi: Well, that's the captain for you. (laughs)

Kamiya: She's really something else! (laughs)

t/n:the strawhat VAs all call Luffy's VA Mayumi san 'captain.' I've noticed Kamiya doing the same few times. HMmm

Yamaguchi: The Straw Hat crews are scattered during Dressrosa and the team's brain cell Akemi Okamura chan, who plays Nami, isn't around. So, I personally consider you the only remaining brain cell in the current studio, Kamiya kun. You're the last straw that keeps the studio standing as a "workplace". (laughs)

Kamiya: What, really?! (laughs) That's a lot of responsibility. But I've recently realized that even if I'm criticized for it, it's best to get along the flow when I'm high on energy. (laughs)

(T/N: not confident with my translation for this sentence^)

Yamaguchi: (loud laugh) Come to think of it, you sure have been doing that a lot lately! I thought it was quite like Law.

Speaking of which, do you think the One Piece cast resembles their characters in some aspects?

Kamiya: Hmm... Law is such a serious character, so I always feel like I need to be firm with myself, but I often find myself like a puddle (laughs). Especially when Mitsuya Yuji san (Pica) and Mayumi san (Luffy) keep fooling around, I'm all over the place.

Yamaguchi: Those two... even though they're both in their sixties! (laughs)

Kamiya: I can't anymore... They say "Just ignoore", is that really okay?

Yamaguchi: I think it's fine. (laughs)

Kamiya: Even though they're like that most of the time, they completely change when it's showtime. It's amazing. Every time we record, I'm in awe, watching them carry the weight of the series on their shoulders.

Yamaguchi: Despite being small. (laughs)

Kamiya: ...Despite being small! (laughs)

Yamaguchi: Mayumi san's microphone is quite low, isn't it? Because she's small.

Kamiya: That's right. But I still get nervous when I think about using the microphone Mayumi san used. She's an amazing senior, but she also has this quirky side to her. I hope she stays this way forever. (laughs)

Yamaguchi: I also like Mayumi san's quirky sides (laughs) Once we start talking about Mayumi san, we could go on forever. So let's save that for another time!

Website Special Edition #2, More Law talks

Yamaguchi: Law is a cool and chill character, but I like how he playfully calls others "[ ]-ya". (laughs)

Kamiya: One Piece has many characters with distinctive speaking styles, as in the way they laugh or talk. Even a character cool at a glance can have this unique speech pattern that'd make them approachable. Law didn't seem to have any of that. At first I was worried - is this guy just cool? So when he started calling others with "[ ]-ya", I felt a weight off my chest (laughs)

But his accent is still a little troublesome, especially saying "Nose-ya" to call Usopp.

Yamaguchi: It seems he searches for someone's specific characteristic to come up with a nickname, like Luffy. But when he can't think of any, he just adds "ya" at the tail of their names (laughs)

Kamiya: Yeah (Laughs). Like how Nami becomes "Nami ya", Drake becomes "Drake ya". I find it funny.

Yamaguchi: This playful side is what makes 'the attractive guy' Law so endearing.

And he's insanely popular, isn't it? When I went to Universal Studios Japan the other day, there were many children cosplaying Law. Do you have a specific mindset when you're playing such a popular character?

Kamiya: Well...When Law ranked 2nd in the official popularity poll, I felt happy and pressured at the same time. Not because of the result itself, but because it made me more conscious not to undermine Law's charm in my acting.

On the other hand, I think it's a great privilege as an actor to be able to voice a character like this. If even one person becomes Law's fan after watching the tv series, I'll feel incredibly proud.

Yamaguchi: Yeah, I understand. It's a great honor as an actor when people start liking a character because of our performance.

By the way, how was the feedback from the people around you when you started playing Law?

Kamiya: Thankfully, the feedback from Law fans was amazing! On the flip side, the people around me were surprisingly chill. Like, "Oh, the ROOM dude?" (laughs).

Yamaguchi: "The ROOM dude"! (laughs) Which one is your favorite from Law's moves?

Kamiya: Got to be "Shambles." To be more specific, "Shambles" followed by "ROOM"!

Yamaguchi: The combination has such a catchy, memorable rhythm. To mimic Law, "ROOM" and "Shambles" are a must!

Kamiya: I'm a bit relieved. If such a catchy combination didn't gain attention, I would've blamed myself.

Yamaguchi: It's an awfully strong killer move. Depending on how it's used, the power can be invincible.

Kamiya: It's unfairly strong, isn't it? The fact that it can even grant eternal life made me think it's an outrageous Devil Fruit ability.

That said, it's not like magic - having known that using the technique depletes the stamina of the user. Cora san also mentioned that it's an ability that one can't handle without knowledge. Law must've been able to handle it because he studied medicine.

Yamaguchi: Indeed, like it was his destiny to eat the devil fruit.

Lastly, what do you think is the charm of Law?

Kamiya: Hmm, I generally try not to overthink about the charm of the characters I'm currently playing. If I understand the charm too well, I might start acting while thinking about things like, "This is their charm, right? So this is why they're popular?" So, I try to approach my work neutrally and avoid thinking too much.

Of course, there are times when I simply think Law is cool, but I deliberately don't dwell on what made him cool. I hope that when everything is said and done, I can look back and realize, "Wow, that thing Law did was ridiculously cool!", or "This is what makes Law so amazing!"

Yamaguchi: I see, that's an interesting perspective. Thank you for sharing all these insights today!

Kamiya: No, thank you so much for having me!

—

Relevant stuff if you're in for more:

Mattew Mercer (Law's English dub va) talking about Law's unexpected relevance post timeskip (@ 6:10, not time stamped)

Hideyuki Tanaka (Doflamingo) hosted by Yamaguchi Kappei

#that poster in the background 🗿 #both of them beating homing's imaginary ass in their discussion wasn't something I expected but it was funny #i haven't heard a single staff say toei is a bad working place #that's something I took a note of #i hope kamiya gets to talk about the blackbeard fight one day! #must be pretty fun bc/ teach's seiyuu is his old colleague and their characters have a friendly relationship in a different anime #ah right one last thing #kamiya's op debut was voicing a man getting kicked in the groin #funnily enough he had to voice something similar even for law #a peculiar experience shared by all op VAs thanks to robin's dos fleur 🗿 #and that being a playable move in pirate warrior games #one piece #trafalgar law #trafalgar d. water law #usopp #kamiya hiroshi #yamaguchi kappei #koichi yamadera #donquixote rosinante #donquixote corazon #donquixote doflamingo #one piece translations #brief mentions of #monkey d. luffy #zoro #kazuya nakai #bepo #donquixote homing #mine #my translation

[joontier]

Subliminal in Scrubs | V2; report xiii

pairings: dr. jeon jungkook x female reader

chapter rating: NC-17 | genre: humor, workplace relationships

warnings: swearing 

word count: 1.8k

g/n: decided on a bit of a filler for this one as a sort of prelude to future scenes 👀👀 ((likewise manifesting my plan to post another chapter this week))

[taglist]:  @nottodayjjk @ditttiii @zeharilisharaban @btsbunny07 @turquoiseandplaidinautumn @aamxxrii @codeinebelle @btsmakesmehappy @stargukkie @moonchild1​

Subliminal in Scrubs (the records) |  navi. | m.list

Jungkook locks his apartment door behind him, jiggling the doorknob afterwards for ‘double security’ as one would usually call it. He grabs his backpack from the floor and places one of the straps on his shoulders and heads on his way. As he passes by two of his neighbors who live in the same floor, he nods at them, adding a brief hum in greeting. 

“Hey man!” One of the men, Jikwang (as what Jungkook believes this man’s name was), calls out just before Jungkook reaches the elevator. “There was this hot girl asking about you last night.” 

Jungkook raises a brow. He hadn’t really met anyone recently, besides that one cute law student who was looking for a new tenant - and eventually turned out to be your neighbor this whole time. She was cute and all, but she didn’t seem like the type that was ‘hot’ to these types of people. 

Jungkook racks his brain for anything, trying to remember the very few number of his one night stands.Surely,none of them would have gotten pregnant with protection on….surely? On top of that, he hadn’t really disclosed his address to a lot of people too, so there was no way someone would be looking for him, all the more a “hot” woman,as these two would claim. 

“Did she say what her name was?” 

The one beside Jikwang shakes his head, adjusting his beanie. He’d seen this dude a couple of times hanging around, but he never actually got his name.  “Nah bro, I don’t think you’re the commitment type of dude…” he comments, dark eyes looking at Jungkook from his head down to his toe. Who was this guy anyways and who was he to judge whether Jungkook was the type to enter a committed relationship or not? 

“She just...looked rich, rich. She had a driver... who helped her come down from a nice Benz.” 

Jungkook feels his heart drop to the ground. No way in hell. 

“I think her name was Hee something...Junghwa? I dunno man, I’m not good with names. But it sounds similar to that…” 

“Was it Junghee?” 

“Yeah I think that’s it…” bonnet-dude replies, tapping a finger against his chin as he approaches Jungkook. “You think maybe you can set me up? With you know…” 

Jikwang knocks the back of bonnet-man’s head. “I got dibs first, shithead. “If she’s not already yours though,” he adds, delivering a wink aimed at Jungkook. “Her friends will do.” 

Jungkook squints his eyes at the duo. “No. She’s my sister. And she doesn’t have any friends.” A chill courses through his spine as he replies, wondering how she managed to find out where he lived, and why would she even reach out? Why now, when she had so many years to do so? 

Beanie guy simply laughs at him - if it was even considered laughing, when he was practically splitting his sides with laughter - like the thought of having a sister was hilarious to him. “You’re real funny, man. There is no...way...in hell… that that lady was your sister.” 

Ah yes, this man is a health vice personified. Jungkook notes the discoloration of his teeth, the god-awful odor coming from his mouth, and they both reek of alcohol and drugs combined. From a safe distance, Jungkook watches their amusement over the subject that is his sister, thinking about why he even indulged these two in the first place. For all he knows, they might have been shitting on him the whole time. 

“Sorry man. I mean...she’s rich and hot… and you?” Jikwang shrugs his shoulders. 

‘And he?’ What about him? 

What the hell was that supposed to mean? 

Jungkook clicks his tongue silently, clearly taking full offense with Jikwang’s statement. Did they just imply he didn’t look rich and hot too? Well, compared to them though, they’ll obviously have way longer to go. 

Jungkook blinks before equally returning their level of disbelief. “For real, bro?” These men diss him, won’t believe he has a sister whose aura dwarfs his by a million percent, and now they want him to set up a date with her? He shakes his head. Only crooks like these would say insane shit like this. 

If only this wasn’t the cheapest and most convenient apartment he could find to accommodate his daily hustle, Jungkook would have moved out of this crap excuse of an apartment building a long time ago. 

“Keep dreaming man.” 

“Hey, this is what I get for selling you my bike for a good price?” Jikwang eyes Jungkook, taunting him. 

“I owe you nothing. I paid for it ages ago.” Jungkook turns on his heel, leaving the two in the crusty ass corridor of their apartment building. He needs to get a new place. Quickly. 

With a sigh, he pulls on his down jacket, keeping himself warm as he walks to the garage. 

‘King Auto’ 

There’s a certain warmth that envelops Jungkook whenever he sees the garage, a place he’d rather call home than his terrible apartment building. It sits right at the corner of two busy streets, just six blocks away from his apartment. 

Funnily enough, it wasn’t him who first found out about the garage but the other way around. Well, technically, the owner did. Lee Dongmin, owner and manager of ‘King Auto’ repairs and restores almost all types of cars and bikes alike, occasionally servicing high-end cars on lucky days. 

Dongmin would usually see Jungkook pass by the garage in the morning on his way to the university or his part-time job.Well, being located at a busy street in the city of Seoul, there would normally be a lot of passersby but Dongmin knew these people either worked or lived around the area; Jungkook, however, always lingered when he walks past the garage. 

It had come to Dongmin’s knowledge a few months later that Jungkook purposefully used a longer route on his way, walking two extra blocks just so that he could pass by the garage. Dongmin hadn’t initially done anything about it, as he thought Jungkook simply took interest in cars - especially when the shop had its fair share of servicing cars from the western market. 

There was this particular day though one summer, that their paths would finally cross. Jungkook’s bike, the same bike he bought from sketchy Jikwang, broke down. Coincidentally just in front of King Auto too. Funnily enough, no one in the garage was familiar with fixing up bikes, but Jungkook simply asked if he could borrow a few tools and he’d fix his bike himself. 

Ultimately, Jungkook became part of the King Auto family. He’d spend his spare time in the garage when he’s not busy with his part-time jobs and on occasion, Jungkook gets to keep a tiny commission whenever he helps out with the repairs. 

Jungkook goes through the front door greeting the new receptionist, Clark, a good morning before heading straight to the garage. Jungkook spots a familiar shade of blue peeking through the scissor lifts, just by the end row. He practically dashes to the car in excitement, too thrilled to greet his favorite car he had worked on previously. 

“My baby!” The boy exclaims as he rests his chin on the Porsche Panamera’s roof. “Kook! Get your hands off that! I just had it cleaned!” gruffs Mansik from the other side of the car, flinging his towel at Jungkook who mumbles a sorry but continues to cradle the car, a little more gently this time. 

“If you continue doing that, you know a towel isn’t the only thing Mansik is going to throw at you.” Lee Dongmin’s voice is low, careful that the man he’s referring to won’t hear his words. “I’m glad he hasn’t resorted to tools yet...just a couple of smelly socks and a t-shirt that smells like it hasn’t been washed for months... “ 

“Fuckers.” True to Jungkook’s foreboding, Mansik does throw a sock ball from out of nowhere, one which barely misses Jungkook’s face. Dongmin simply shakes his head at his workers, who he has considered family at this point, Jungkook included. “I’m just glad none of that fell into my first coffee of the day.” Dongmin observes, drawing himself father from the Porsche and any flying objects later on. 

“By the way, the owner is actually here to pick up the car. I may or may not have mentioned your infatuation with it.” 

Jungkook almost instantly jumps to his feet, searching for the owner inside the garage, but disappointingly ending up with all the familiar faces at the garage. “Chill, kid. He just grabbed some coffee down the street,” Dongmin mentions as he takes a sip of his own. “Ah, speaking of the devil,” the latter states, nodding his head towards someone behind Jungkook. 

“Seokjin-sunbaenim?” 

“Oh hey! Wasn’t expecting to see you here...Jungkook, right?” 

“Yes sir!” Jungkook’s pupils shake, animatedly looking back and forth between the garage owner and his upper-level resident. “So...you’re the one who owns this Porsche?” Seokjin raises his cup, adding a small nod in Jungkook’s direction. He internalizes his excitement, before confessing his love for Seokjin’s Panamera. 

“And so, Dongmin here mentioned. Also said you were the one who fixed her up. Thanks man!” 

Dongmin looks at the two of them, eyebrows creased in the middle. “You two know each other?” 

“Seokjin-sunbaenim is a senior of mine at Woocheon.” Seemingly shellshocked at the new piece of information, Dongmin turns to Seokjin, “You’re a doctor?” The owner of the Porsche rolls his eyes fondly, “Yes, Dongmin. We can have lives outside the hospital too, you know.” 

“Anyways, ‘Mera’s ready to go yeah?” 

“Of course. Kook fixed it up just fine.” 

“Alright. Got a shift today man? Need a ride to the hospital?” 

Jungkook is tempted to give in, but merely fixing Seokjin’s car is enough honor for him and he can’t take advantage of his generosity. “No thank you, sunbae. I’ve already got a ride to work today.” Jungkook points to his bike on the other side of the garage. 

Seokjin tuts his disbelief. “You’re kidding me right? In this weather?” The older doctor points outside, then rubs his palm against his down coat. “No way in hell, kid. Get in the car.” 

“Really?” Jungkook mumbles, dimple on display as his lips form a thin line. Seokjin makes a hum of approval as he takes off his jacket while Jungkook dashes back to where he’d left his backpack. “He’s a good kid, Jungkook. Can be a bit of a delinquent sometimes, but he’s good. Take care of him, yeah?” 

“Huh,” Seokjin smirks, “this handsome face got nothing he can’t handle.” Dongmin rolls his eyes this time, “Seriously doubt we’re the same age honestly.” 

Jungkook returns to where the Porsche is parked, and Seokjin gets a spur-of-the-moment idea. The surgical resident throws his keys to Jungkook before settling inside the passenger seat. Jungkook, surprised as ever, simply stands there in surprise. “Well?” Seokjin asks, ducking towards the dashboard so he could take a look at Jungkook, “We’re gonna be late!” 

© joontier 2021

#jungkook x reader #btswritingcafe #bangtanarmynet #btsghostie #jeon jungkook #bts aus #bts fic #jeon jungkook x reader #jungkook fluff #doctors au

[ashenburst]

Any Which Way

Mista x Reader, fluff (?), 4366 words - oh GOD do I hate this one and I apologize if it sucks in advance I just aaa had no coherent ideas whatsoever and I was trying to write fluff at the time my brain was screaming angst and - well, it shows. Anyway.

Mista is acting up because you fed the Pistols. Oh no.

When Mista asked you out, you told him his joke was tasteless. When Mista asked you out for the second time, you didn’t feel well enough. The third time, wondrously, your grandmother needed your assistance. He didn’t bother asking you for the fourth time.

It was a long gag running between the two of you, and the run started off wrongly. A marathon ought to begin with a leisure pace, and only by the near end should the contestants accelerate – this method would provide optimal results. Your situation was the exact opposite. Naturally, it did not turn out well enough.

At least for you, because you knew this was a silly mishap, from the beginning to the end. Yes, you may had been mean the first time, but it was an automated reaction: Mista was a jokester, and you enjoyed retorting. Many of the interactions weren’t serious, simply put. You were in Buccellati’s team for around a week and this dynamic had already been established.

So when he casually asked you out, after knowing you for such a short period, you brushed it off with a retort. For a moment, though, you were a mess. To be asked out by a guy this pretty, this… cool? Unbelievable, truly – it was only natural that shock rendered you dazed. Then, you procured a reply fitting to that disbelief you were stunned with: a snarky comeback. Afterwards, he quickly changed the subject, but did not change in behavior. There was no flinch in his voice, no meaningful allusion to the possible date, no, nothing at all. You had a valid reason to believe it wasn’t a sincere question.

And once you borrowed more thought to that matter, logic grounded your idea. You had seen Mista flirt with other girls, which meant he had a social life outside the mafia. This was not surprising, he had quite the unique charm. Therefore, he could certainly get together with people who were better than you.

However, this pondering had a side effect. The gunslinger crept onto your mind, binding your daily reflections into a slow realization that, perhaps, you had a thing for him.

But you didn’t feel bad. If anything, you were glad that he was your friend. Although his company was a gnawing reminder of your growing feelings, at the end of the day, he fulfilled you – and you supposed you fulfilled him too. Not once did he bully you, so you took that as a positive sign.  On the other hand, you had a slight bullying tendency towards him. Teasing him was something he always loved to respond to, dramatically, exaggerated, which would cause much laughter to the both of you. In other words… there was no harm done.

The next two times you were asked out held terrible luck to them. You simply could not make it. Upon uttering your excuse, in both cases, Mista laughed, commented, and moved on. Swiftly and comically, just the usual. You were left to rethink the tinge in your heart.

This third fiasco had occurred just a couple of days ago. What remained of it was – null, just some void of reminiscence that irked your daydreaming. Early in the morning, in Libeccio, you couldn’t enjoy your drink. The haziness of your mind did not carry a pleasant undercurrent. You did not know what to make of it, or what to remake of it. You were left to stare at your own beverage, hand on your chin, as your empty thoughts tumbled.

It was quite peaceful. The kind of peaceful you’d see in the first morning classes back in school. People all around you were barely awake, and quietly agreed to bask in the mutual silence.

That is, until Buccellati strolled in. His lively “buongiorno” made you flinch. Where did that energy come from?

The team leader explained himself. He already had a long discussion with some Mario La-something (you weren’t focused enough to catch that) and its result was a mission. You clenched your jaw. This early in the morning? Damn. You could only pray you wouldn’t be picked, you really weren’t in the mood –

But alas, Murphy’s law was in effect.

Buccellati rightfully deduced that there was something going on between you and Mista. Therefore he stated, “I’m sending (Y/N) and Mista on this mission, due to their remarkable chemistry.” Something that was, allegedly, apparent right from the start.

Not only that. Buccellati’s decision was (objectively speaking) great, as your and Mista’s stand were a powerful combo. Speaking of the Pistols, there was the amusing fact that you would die internally whenever you saw them. You surely were looking forward to that, and… cooperating with Mista too. This might work out well.

Someone tapped on your shoulder, making you jump in your seat. Looking at the culprit, you weren’t surprised to uncover his identity. It was him.

“Let’s go, sleepyhead,” Mista urged, wiggling his thick brows. Your smile was inevitable. “Or you’d rather trade places with Abbacchio?” He questioned with a smirk.

“Huh?” You took a glance at Abbacchio, and immediately scowled. He somehow slid so much down his chair that his chin was touching his chest – and he was sleeping soundly. How come you didn’t notice?

“Too bad, you can’t trade places with Abbacchio. Duty calls. Come on, on your feet,” Mista blabbered, which barely worked on your half-conscious self. You let our yet another “huh” which was followed by a disturbed squeak – Mista started pulling you up. You had no choice but to stand up.

“(Y/N) secured, Buccellati!” Mista proudly announced. Buccellati wasn’t too impressed. You, however, were impressed by the fact Mista was so… awake, all of a sudden.

Mista then put a hand on Narancia’s shoulder. “Okay, before we go, Narancia – you know what you’re supposed to do, right?”

The boy had a similar reaction to yours. “Eh? What?”

Mista nodded towards Abbacchio. Narancia grinned. You bit your lip, both grateful and sad you’d miss this. That was how you were brought back to your senses, and how you departed for the task.

Now, the nature of the mission was simple, but it took so long. Until you got there, until you found the exact location, until Mista talked with his Pistols (and you tried to, too), etcetera, etcetera – in the end, it took you hours to complete it. Funnily enough, you didn’t even take out your own stand. So, in your eyes, this was a complete waste of time.

Luckily, with that over, you two were free to go. Not before Mista had a little chit-chat with his stand, praising them all for a job well done. However, he didn’t really get the reaction he expected – instead of the usual one, just a “yay” in unison, the Pistols began asking Mista for a reward. A snack, to be specific. Mista quickly turned them down.

“It isn’t lunchtime yet, everyone, you’ll spoil your appetite,” he explained himself, only for the Pistols to start loudly pleading him for food. Mista crossed his arms.

“Come on guys, have some patience. We’ll go back to Libeccio just in time for lunch.”

It was a solid argument. Did that help? No, not at all. The Pistols were still floating in front of Mista and screaming with their tiny voices about how hungry they were. Their user, acting like the usual tired parent, tried to subdue them – but to no avail. They continued rambling, almost every single one of them, like spoiled children. Because, although did not want to be viewed that way, they truly were children. Even the fact they denied it supported the idea.

But these were no ordinary crybabies. They were sly and awfully intelligent, all while maintaining their characteristic lighthearted aura. Those childish antics? They lead to chaos, sometimes even to brutal honesty.

Mista got to deal with the downsides of that, but you? You would just stand aside. And whenever you did get to interact with those Pistols, you were exposed to downpours of compliments and almost perfect behavior. The brutal honesty? It came in the form of their heartfelt words and actions, as you were able to discipline them better than Mista could ever hope to. They listened to you, which came as no surprise.

Because Mista always played the role of the bad cop. In contrast, you were the good cop. It was only natural – you adored them, you had every reason to.

Taking all of these things into account, you couldn’t help but feel bad for them. You took their side.

“But Mista, they performed exceptionally well on this mission. On an empty stomach! Maybe they do deserve a little something, look at them. They’re desperate,” you made sure to point out. The Pistols approved of their new advocate.

“There’s no way in hell I’m wasting my money on them when we have free food at Libeccio,” Mista said, causing various sounds of disappointment. Even you sighed. He rolled his eyes.

“Come on now, shush, let’s go.” He waved his hand at the Pistols who did their best to ignore that.

“Aww, but Mista, we deserve a reward! You told us we did a great job! And! And (Y/N) agrees!” One of the Pistols was heard clearly. You nodded in approval, which Mista didn’t notice. He was too weirded out.

“What’s up with you? Why are you so persistent all of a sudden? I told you not to do this,” his tone suddenly hushed down. Now it was your turn to roll your eyes. He had no idea how to handle the situation, evidently – the Pistols wouldn’t shut up unless they were fed. It was as simple as that.

You shot another question at him, “And why won’t you let them have a snack, Mista?”

“I think I’ve been yelling my reasons up until now,” he murmured.

“Look, your method isn’t working. They won’t calm down. Why don’t you just give in and basically do the right thing?”

Mista made a disgruntled “eh” to that.

“Don’t be on their side. Just don’t. Please,” he pleaded, irritation lowering his tone. He kept that act of an exhausted father even with you – and this confused you. “Why?”

“Because,” Mista said, then paused, waving his hand towards the Pistols who were already parading in joy, “they’re impossible.”

“Impossible? Them? Ha, I wonder why. Maybe because you aren’t a good parental figure,” you teased.

“That isn’t true,” Mista quickly responded, clearly displeased. “If anything, they’re acting like this because they are a reflection of who I am. I’m not perfect, neither are they, but as you can see, I’m trying to make them… better.” He took a deep breath, and you had to think that, woah, he truly was invested. “I know them the best, because they are me and mine, so the task is on me,” he finished.

To that verbal essay, you simply shrugged. “Yeah, sure. So you know they’ll get quiet once they have what they want.”

Reluctantly, Mista nodded. “They need to be taught patience, though,” he added.

You were quick to counter. “Or do they need to be rewarded for doing great?”

You assumed this fried Mista’s brain because he couldn’t devise a proper response. His face, however, depicted the reply quite clearly – a pout appeared, such a childish move coming from the user of a childish stand. Soon, however, he had to react. The Pistols were getting too excited.

He waved his arms in a surrendering gesture, and almost hit some of the Pistols while doing so… purposefully or not. “Fine, you win. What’s your grand idea for the reward?”

That was where your little snack came in. Something you carried around in case a mission would appear out of nowhere. You once had the displeasure of going on a day-long mission without anything proper to eat. This instance, you weren’t hungry enough for the fruit. “I… can give them my apple,” you suggested. You were sure they wouldn’t mind. Their appetite was so blind, they would eat anything.

Mista, on the other hand, once again acted baffling. His eyes widened after he had heard your offer, and he denied it. “Aw, no, (Y/N) you won’t –”

But you interrupted him. “Again? Why?” Now, why was he so insistent on not letting them eat? Out of all people in the team, he was the most relaxed one. Even if he were trying to lecture the Pistols and set an example for them, he didn’t have to go this far. It was out of character, to say the least.

Strangely, it seemed as if he too was confused – he paused, as a furrow brought his brows together. “That’s your apple. Don’t waste it on them,” he reasoned strictly. Strictly?

You sighed, already removing your backpack. Mista obviously had ulterior motives, but you couldn’t care less. The Pistols wouldn’t be silenced until they had their meal – and not only that, but they deserved it. If only Mista realized that…

Maybe he did? Nevertheless, something was going on in his mind. You looked over to him. He was staring at you, despite the mess some of the Pistols were making in front of him. Number Five was already on the verge of tears. Oh, he was definitely hiding something.

You reciprocated his stern tone. “I’m not hungry, but they are hungry. Who should eat the apple? Them. Seems pretty logical to me.”

At long last, Mista gave up. “Aw, man, there really is no arguing with you, huh?” He waved his head in disbelief. “Alright, have it your way. I suppose there’s no harm done.”

And on that cue, the Pistols all flew towards you, squeaking their gratefulness. They were already in front of your face, telling you how amazing you were and how thankful they were. Just a bunch of overjoyed little gremlins. You couldn’t help but giggle.

“Thank you, everyone, thank you,” you barely managed to utter, overwhelmed with their excitement. You had to stop and stare for a moment there – they were actually flailing their hand and feet in the air, performing a dance of sorts. They were that happy! It warmed your heart, it really did.

So, to reward them. As soon as you took it out, they were decimating the apple.

It looked like carnage. You were about to look away when you noticed something odd.

Did… did Number Three just push Number Five? Were you seeing that well? Yeah, you definitely were, since Number Three was now shoving his tiny hand into Number Five’s face.

“Number Three! Don’t be such a meanie, there’s enough for everyone,” you warned.

He looked up to you, his eyes squinted, then he huffed. “Sheesh, fine.”

“Thank you so much, (Y/N),” Number Five mumbled, his voice high-pitched on the brink of breaking, as usual.

“You’re welcome!” You offered a reassuring smile, and the little stand mustered one too. Your heart was melting. You had to squeal.

That attracted Number Three’s attention. “Ass-kisser,” he grumbled. You gasped.

That was when Mista came in. He stepped by your side, pointed at them, and ordered, “Oi, Pistols, behave yourselves! You don’t wanna leave a bad impression on (Y/N), now, do you?”

Naturally, they screamed a “nu-uh”.

You heard their user sigh. “Just as I thought, whew,” he spoke in relief.

You looked over to Mista, and he mustered a smile.

“You were asking the Pistols what’s wrong with them,” you told him, “but in reality, it’s you who has been acting weird.”

He chuckled. “What do you mean?”

The apple in your hand weighted so little that you had to give it a peek. Or at least, you gave a peek to of its last fragments as they were being devoured. They actually ate everything.

Redirecting your attention back to Mista, you told him what was on your mind. “You’re too… uptight. Relax a little, will you?”

“Ah, that. Absolutely, relaxing straight away!”

His showcase of relaxation was stretching himself. What an incredible way to put his muscles on display – but you knew better than to ogle. To avoid the possibility of being flustered, you looked away. The Pistols were a much more pleasant sight. Sitting on your palm, just enjoying the aftermath of their meal.

“Pistols! It’s go time, come here,” you heard their user’s demand, and you watched as they flew back to Mista. They vanished, and thus, the entire hassle was over with. Thanks to you, it was done so in no time. You almost felt victorious.

That would mean that only you and Mista were left – alone. This wasn’t a problem on your way to the mission, but now, after everything you had witnessed, some awkwardness spawned in the air. It was a shame, truly. You finally had some time alone with Mista and you were getting these weird vibes from him, and they unsettled you. Perhaps for a good reason.

The only way to find out more was through communication. You decided to be straightforward, and did not hesitate to inquire, “Alright, so, what’s up with you?”

Mista jumped, as if it were a gunshot he heard instead of your question. “M-me?”

“Yes, you. Have you seen the number four or something?”

“Ew, no. Why are you askin’ – have you seen it?!” He was already getting panicky.

Probably yes, but unlike Mista, you didn’t bother noticing and remembering them. “Nope. But why are you acting so weird? You okay?”

“What exactly are you referring to?”

“You being way too strict with the Pistols.”

He laughed. “Oh. That stupid thing. It’s nothing. Dontcha worry.”

“I am worried. You seemed too aggravated. Almost as if you weren’t yourself.”

He placed a hand on his chest, his expression that of astonishment. “Now that is what you call a surprise.”

You shook your head in misunderstanding. “What are you talking about?”

He then placed a hand on your shoulder and offered you his tearful answer. “You worrying about me! I didn’t know you would do that!”

You were partially offended by this act because, by all accords, you cared about him, more than he could ever imagine. Mista probably caught the meaning of your grim face, so he let go of your shoulder and talked on.

“Kidding, I know you care. Anyway, yeah, they messed up big time. We had a chat, me and the Pistols, and would you believe it, they act like brats so they could get you to take their side.”

Despite the annoyed façade you put on, you had to laugh. Those sly little gremlins, brightening your mood even when they weren’t present.

“Are they like this with everyone or?” You had to ask – because as far as you had seen, nobody was as privileged as you were.

“Nah, just you. You’re the only one who’s willing to help ‘em anyway.” He put a hand on his chin, completely discarding your sudden smile. “Come to think of it, (Y/N), you’re too… hm…”

“I’m what?” You tilted your head, and he snapped his fingers.

“Nice! I think that’s the right word. You’re just too nice.”

Well, isn’t that a lovely thing to hear. “Aww, why, thank you.”

“Yeah, now listen up, you should really take care! There are bad people out there who can take advantage of that!” He raised a finger in the air to further emphasize his point.

“Err, Mista, hate to break it to you, but I’m literally a member of the mafia. I doubt that can happen.”

“And yet you’re so sweet! Sometimes, at least,” he whispered the last bit, and before you could say anything to that, he continued. “I’m telling you this for a reason. I mean, did you know that the Pistols were abusing your kindness?”

“Not that I was aware, and not that it mattered,” you replied with staggering indifference. Mista, on the other hand, was overly jumpy. This was so odd.

He went from one extreme to another in a handful of moments. The shift was so unusually stark that it left you perplexed. Lost in thought, you didn’t pay much attention to Mista’s future ramblings.

“You get it? You – you didn’t recognize their scheme! They’re acting all whiny because they know you’ll react. As I said, you’re too good… for your own good.”

Did you hear that well? You looked at him with a raised brow. He winked.

That sort of “joke” or whatever it was, deserved only a snort. That’s what you gave him, and he wasn’t pleased in the least.

“Did you just – oh come on (Y/N), why not actually laugh? Laugher is so healthy! It prolongs life expectancy. Or am I really that unfunny?”

 “You’re the funniest, Mista, don’t you worry about that,” you told him, and as a reassuring act, pat his head (or at least, his hat). His eyes widened and he smiled after the initial shock. You suddenly became aware of what you did, and you averted your gaze elsewhere to continue your explanation. “I… suppose I am simply confused as to why you are so…”

“Worried?”

“Yeah, I guess, among other things.”

He provided you with an elaboration spoken through the smile you had caused him. “Worried, yeah, I am worried because you’re too nice to some people. You see, (Y/N), just like you, I’m simply confused as fuck. Some people get that nice treatment, and sometimes they’re undeserving of that. I mean, just look at you. You’re so weak for the Pistols. Like… why do you like ‘em so much, anyway?”

You looked over to him with squinted eyes. What was this question about?

He leaned in close. “Are they cute? Or just adorably… bratty? Is that what you like?”

It clicked. It finally clicked.

“Mista… oh, Mista…” You began laughing. This was unbelievable.

You were being such a prick towards him sometimes. It was no wonder why he went crazy once he saw you were actually capable of being so caring and sweet for none other than his stand. His stand! The irony! He must’ve been so jealous, even desperate, to see you side with them and not him.

And if he truly suffered from jealousy, well, only one thing could cause it. The revelation, no, the mere possibility was so wonderful –

“You okay?”

Not at all, but he didn’t have to know that. Shit, you had to do something – but what? Maybe this was the opportunity for you to come clean after all this time, and for him to, finally, admit if he was being serious or not. You took a deep breath and decided to delve deeper.

You took him by the arm, which scared Mista, who yelped. You looked in his dark, so comfortingly black eyes, and the lashes that softened their still gaze – and he looked back into yours with unyielding focus.

“You know the saying: it’s not you, it’s me. Well, in this case, it is you,” you chiefly began, and it was enough to bewilder Mista. “You are jealous of them,” you accused, and it did not go as you expected.

Then and there, he broke into a laughing fit. So much so, that you had to let go of him. You thought that, indeed, this was too blatantly exaggerated – but it was no bad thing! It could still, somehow, turn into something good!

He finally calmed down, and naturally, denied the envy. “Pfft. Me? Jealous of them? That’s ridiculous, (Y/N), very funny, ten out of ten, top-notch humor.”

“Aww, top-notch acting, Mista,” you reciprocated the compliment boldly. Despite that sarcasm, he was a grinning mess, and he immediately moved past it.

“Say, hypothetically, what would you do if I were jealous? Just what would you do?” His question was characterized by some shy excitement, as he darted his focus away from your face, then back at it, in rapid repetitions. And you were buying it. You were totally buying it.

But not to accelerate this suddenly delicate conversation, you continued that teasing tone – although your heart was pounding, mind buzzing. You knew things were set in motion and you had to be very careful about what you said next.

And what was on your mind? Mista, who was standing right in front of you, with that heartfelt and yet undoubtedly cheesy smile; his eyes that bore into yours, expectant, so shamelessly looking for a reply. All of that, such a rightfully overwhelming visage, it was too much – and you bent your head slightly, averted your gaze slightly, and with the same rocky smoothness offered him a truthful answer, “Laugh at you, because… it’s adorable.”

His eyes widened, lips parted – now, perhaps he too was having a whirlwind inside his mind. “You think so?”

“Y-yeah, I mean, I…”

And there you have it, the embarrassment you knew would be your doom. You were so unsure what to speak, what to do, even. Should you just say it? Get it over with –

But Mista just ruffled your hair. “Save it for a better time. Say, are you hungry?”

You swallowed hard. “Are you...?”

“Yes, I am,” he confirmed.

That didn’t make any sense, because, as you recalled… “But… isn’t this the fourth time –“

Mista jumped backwards, utterly and wholly terrified. “What the fuck?! Okay, we’re skipping this one too, sorry, (Y/N), but I can’t do this! There’s no way I’m putting either of us in danger because of a date!” He waved his hands around in what you perceived as comical outrage.

In it, you found some amusement. It relieved you, and relief was what you needed. The aftermath of this conundrum left you with an obnoxious heartbeat, and at long last, it was quieting down. Therein laid some peace, and with it, you garnered a brilliant idea. “And what if I invited you to that date? As… attempt number five.”

And he was shocked. Did it align with his logic? Or was the risk of the deadly number too high?

After what seemed like an eternity of processing, Mista’s expression shifted to that of an overjoyed one. He chuckled, commented, “Honestly? I’m sure Buccellati wouldn’t mind it if we were a little late,” and pulled you by your waist, ready to drag you to that goddamned date.

#definitely not my proudest gamer moment #mista x reader #guido mista #mista #mista headcanon #vento aureo x reader #jojo x reader #jjba x reader

[vcidgalpin]

Second Chance at First Line Pt 1

Stiles Stilinski x Reader (Eventually)

Season 1 Masterlist

Word Count: 2074

A/N: Secrets get revealed, suspicions are raised and tensions keep rising between Y/N and Stiles. It’s only a matter of time before things bubble over.

Warnings: None?

After just getting in from school, I got a call from Lydia. I pick up quickly and recognise her worried tone instantly.

“Y/N, It’s Jackson. He got hurt during Lacrosse practice pretty bad. Can you come meet me at the hospital? They kind of creep me out, and I just want someone to distract me,” She needed a friend, so I grabbed my keys and told her I will be on my way. 

  I get there pretty quickly, and hastily make my way to where she said she was. I turn a corner and see Stiles standing talking to someone who I can’t see from where I’m standing.

“I always thought that we just had this kind of connection. Unspoken, of course. Maybe it'd be kind of cool to... get to know each other a little better.” Lydia.

“Hold on just- give me a second. I didn’t get any of what you just said. Is it worth repeating?” A breathy laugh escapes my mouth before I stop it and Stiles whips his head, noticing me finally. He rolls his eyes at me before replying to Lydia,

“No. Sorry. I’ll just sit- You don’t care,” He slumps down in a chair, sending me daggers. “Of course you’re here, why wouldn’t you be?”

“I was just thinking the same thing, funnily enough. What law are you breaking today? Body snatching? You know, breaking into the morgue?” I joke, with a venomous tinge on my tongue, but I hear his heart skip a beat, which caught me off guard. Are they seriously planning on breaking into the morgue? “You know, just because your dad is the sheriff, doesn’t mean you should try and push the boundaries as much as humanly possible because he can get you out of it. Do you want your dad to get fired?”

That clearly struck a nerve with Stiles, because he pushed himself up out of the chair and stood close to me, eyes boring into mine.

“Don’t talk about my dad. You-you think you know everything, huh? God, what is your problem? First you follow me everywhere and then you start coming for my family. Get a life,”

“Get a grip, Stilinski. I am not following you and I would never do anything to hurt anyone on purpose, so get your head out of your ass. This is real life-”

“Y/N! I thought I heard your voice!” Lydia sang out, from a few steps away, clearly curious about the ruckus that me and the buzz-haired boy were causing. I force the anger off of my face and walk over to Lydia, not before shoulder checking Stiles as I passed.

“Lydia! How are you? How is he?”

“He’s almost done, I think they’re going to give him a cortisone shot,”

“Guessing he’s not too happy about that.”

“I think he’s just stressed in general, he does so much,” I hold back a scoff, I don’t want to test or upset Lydia so I give her a small smile for comfort. A moment later, Jackson walked over to us.

“Did he do it?”

“He said not to made a habit of it but one cortisone shot won’t kill me,”

“You should get one right before the game too. The pros do it all the time. You want to be a little high school amateur? Or - do you want to go - pro?” Lydia always knew how to get what she wanted out of people, which is a talent, but it’s also scary as hell. By now, the couple were making out, way too aggressively and publicly for my liking, so I took a step back, looking around. I caught Stiles staring at them from behind a pamphlet on menstruation. Scott rushes over to him and lowers the booklet, scaring the other boy.

“The scent was the same,” They talk so openly, it’s like they want me to actually start following them round, like what I’m accused of doing.

“So he did bury the other half of the body on his property. So we have proof he killed the girl. I say we use it,”

Lydia nudges me in the side to get my attention.

“You coming?” I needed more information, but I didn’t want to seem suspicious. All I need is confirmation of my guess that they’re talking about Derek.

“Are you doing this because you want to stop Derek, or because you want to play in the game and he said you couldn’t?” Thank you, Stiles.

“Uh- yeah sorry I’m coming,”.

“Do you like him or something?” She pushed, clearly investigating why I was watching them so closely.

“Kind of the opposite, I guess. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Where are we headed?”

---

  Around 11pm, I saw Scott walking out of his house as a blue jeep pulled up. I throw on a coat and tie my hair up, rushing out to my car to trail them to the Hale house. Or, I guess, what remains of the Hale house. As soon as I get close enough to walk there on foot, I stop my car and hop out. Quietly, I make my way to the burned building and see Scott and Stiles trying to find where the body is buried. Weirdly, all I can smell is a dead animal, possibly a wolf? I haven’t been around many actual wolves, living in California and all, but the smell is what I’d think one would have. Slowly, I can feel a headache coming on, and I get slightly dizzy as I crouch by a tree near to the pair.

“Something’s different. I don’t know how but…” Scott's words fade out. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  Now that I am here, following them, I do feel a bit odd. Morbid curiosity always seems to get the best of me. It’s not my responsibility to watch over Scott, but I feel drawn to him in a weird, subtle way. He was a lot like me when I first turned. Stubborn, channelled my anger into an activity I never used to be good at, but enjoyed. In my case, that was track. I may be clumsy when I walk sometimes, but when it comes to running it’s a different story. Before I turned, I always wanted to join the track team, but the leaders all didn’t think I was cool enough, or whatever. In Beacon Hills, I never bothered to even look into track, maybe I should get into it. I usually just run in my free time. Anyway, I think I feel some weird connection to Scott because of how similar we genuinely seem to be. Looking back at the boys, I can see that they have finished digging, and are now freaking out about what they’ve come across. 

“I told you something was different.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” Stiles huffed, for some reason upset that they didn’t find a mutilated dead human in the ground. I get wanting Derek in jail, he likely killed someone, maybe multiple people, and if he buried a wolf in the ground, that’s clearly the actions of someone who has something wrong with them, but I still wouldn’t be happy to see a dead girl either.

“We gotta get out of here.”

“Wait, look. You see that flower,” Stiles points at the purple flower sticking out of the ground. Wolfsbane. That explains the headache. It’s basically right in front of me- Crap. Stiles quickly makes his way over to examine the plant further, and he almost immediately sees me, awkwardly crouched down.

“We really need to stop meeting like this,” Forcing a laugh, I speak first.

“Are you serious with this,” He mutters under his breath first before speaking up a bit, “What’s the excuse now, did you just think, oh you know what would be fun? Going to sit and stare at the Hale house at 11 at night? Seriously, what’s your deal?” By now Scott was over next to Stiles. He seemed on edge at the fact that Derek could likely find them at any time. Suddenly Stiles gasps, a thought hitting him. “You’re the alpha. That has to be it!” I accidentally laugh quite loudly, before slapping a hand over my mouth. “It’s either you or Derek.”

“It’s not me. Wait, Derek’s a werewolf?” I question before realising what I had let slip. “I mean… Alpha?” Okay that was a terrible cover up.

“How do you know so much about werewolves? What are you, some kind of hunter or something? Oh my God, do you work with Allison’s dad?!” He is all over the place with his theories. “No. I- I just know a lot about… stuff.” Maybe it would be better if I stop trying to lie, because I’m evidently not very good at it. “You’re a werewolf,” Scott finally speaks. “I didn’t know why part of my smell is different to other people’s, but I just figured it out. You have it too, so does Derek.” He’s got me there. But wow I feel out of the loop. I have never been close enough to Derek to get his scent, or I would’ve known this information before. Quickly, I realised I don’t have a rebuttal for Scott’s accusation, and panic. Guess the cat’s out of the bag, or whatever the wolf equivalent of that phrase would be.

“You’re a quick learner Scott. You got me but-” Before I can speak Scott moves at lightning speed and pushes me against the tree, his arm over my throat. “Wait, I’m not the Alpha okay!? I wasn’t purposefully following you until tonight… And I guess that time when I said I was on a jog- but that’s it!”

“Then what’s your endgame here?” Scott growled out, his voice low and threatening. I could easily push him off me, but I’m scared that a sudden movement would not be good for me, especially with this lack of trust.

“I- I don’t know, alright. I promise I’m telling the truth. Hey- you wanna know a trick, listen hard, find my heartbeat okay? You can tell me if I’m lying. I’m just curious, and I knew you were turned recently, so I felt the need to keep an eye out. I know how it is to be newly turned, and I always wished I had someone to mentor me. I’m not gonna assume that’s what you want, but I know a lot more than you do right now, so if you want to learn, that’s good with me. If not, please just let me go and I will leave you alone, alright?” My words were rushed and my speech was scattered but I think I got my point across, even with my lack of breathing ability. Scott’s arm eased up on me, so I gasped in more air, grabbing at my throat. 

“She told the truth, Stiles.”

“Or she’s learned to control her heartbeat. Listen, you really want to trust this girl who has been spying on us for God knows how long.”

“Hey, what is your problem with me? I literally haven’t done anything to you, I’m here for Scott. And I guess for my own morbid curiosity too, but none of that has anything to do with you, Stilinski.” I spit out, I can feel myself losing control. “You don’t like me? Fine. But I can help you both get Derek in jail for whatever he did, and I want to find the new Alpha. That is if it isn't Derek.”

“New Alpha? Are you not part of his pack?” Scott tilts his head.

“No, I was turned ages ago. Before I even moved here, my Alpha was some douchebag guy from school. But he disappeared a few months before I moved here, so I don’t have a pack.”

“Are you looking for the Alpha so you can join his murder spree?” Stiles snarled.

“Are you stupid? I’m not looking to hurt anyone okay. This guy seems dangerous. Alpha’s who turn random teenagers are always trouble, I know first hand. Scott, we have already gone through such similar things. Do you want my help?” He pondered for a second, sinking his hands in his pockets.

“What can you tell me about Wolfsbane?” A smile crept onto my face. Happiness flooded me, it felt so oddly good to be trusted by him. Stiles muttered under his breath,

“I know about Wolfsbane too,” kicking the leaves around his feet.

Prev  Next

#teen wolf #teen wolf imagine #teen wolf rewrite #teen wolf series #teen wolf season 1 #stiles stilinksi imagine #stiles stilinksi x reader #stiles stilinski #stiles x reader #stiles x y/n #scott mccall

[rwbyremnants]

WARNINGS: Winter/Ruby: teacher/student roleplay, hot wax, scene interruption, under the table action, accidental exhibitionism, accidental parent/child incestuous feelings (no actions).

 (Also, reminder that the Jacques Schnee in this story isn't very similar to the one in canon)

Oh... this chapter. Haha we almost didn't go through with it, since it treads very close to a specific line, but it was just too fun an idea to resist. Hope you guys enjoy it~ and Happy New Year very soon!

=Chapter 7

"Oh wow… yep. That’ll be perfect."

Ruby and Penny had been discussing a few details about the session she would be going through with Winter for the evening, about how she was expected to already be in a particular costume and begin the scene as soon as she entered the door. What had Winter requested? A school uniform. It wasn't something that completely surprised Ruby, but was certainly new and unexpected. Her time at Signal High didn't require a uniform at all!

Thankfully, Penny had come to the rescue. They were both a similar size, and upon hearing Ruby's dilemma, she immediately offered up her old uniform for her to use. Penny had attended a high end private school in her youth in comparison to Ruby's public school, and knew that the uniform wouldn't come cheap. So she saw no point in allowing her girlfriend to go out and buy one when she had one stashed in the back of the closet.

Satisfied with how it fit on her, Ruby turned from the wardrobe to look at her girlfriend. "And you're sure I can use it for this, right? Like, no second thoughts?"

"Of course," Penny said, mostly focused on her laptop screen. "I do think it's strange, of course, but I'm also not using it at all. Why shouldn't you and Winter get some use out of it?" Then she sat back slightly. "There. What do you think about this? 'I am a highly-motivated Berkeley graduate, seeking to enter the workforce and to bring the skills I have gained there and from real life experience to my new employer in a field that offers potential for advancement.' Good, or is it too wordy?"

"Wordy is good! They're always looking for wordy. And if you go for an interview, you're just as smart when you talk as you seem on paper," Ruby complimented. Taking the jacket off the hanger she inspected it closer. Penny's fathers really didn't spare any expense; the material looked wonderful! It almost seemed a shame to use it for some clandestine purpose in Winter’s torture chamber.

"Alright," Penny sighed, finally looking up from her laptop. She gently, not saying anything for a moment. "You look wonderful today. I wish you had gone to my school; it really suits you."

"You think so?" she asked, placing the jacket gently on her bed so it was out the way for her showy little spin, one that made her giggle when she felt the skirt drifting up slightly. "It would have been kinda cool, but I think my dad would have missed me too much to let me stay there all that time."

"Probably true; he didn't want you to go to college where you did, either." Penny giggled as she picked up the little roll of black material that had been on the corner of her desk, standing up and crossing to the bed. "Now, you promised I could do the honours; that's the deal for getting to use it."

"You just wanna see up my skirt," Ruby teased. But not wanting to disappoint her partner, she held out one of her legs, giving her toes a small wriggle to tease further. "Ready!"

"Sit," she ordered, and Ruby did so. Then she took the ankle and gave each toe a delicate kiss. It was different than Winter's reaction to her feet; while she seemed to be drawn to them magnetically, against her will, Penny simply enjoyed doting on the smallest, most insignificant parts of her romantic partner. Who just giggled in response. She always enjoyed how tender Penny was toward the simplest parts of her. From the top of her head to the tips of her toes! Waiting patiently as Penny pulled up the tights, she blushed again.

"And you don't mind if these… rip, do you? The tights, I mean."

"Not the tights. The rest of the outfit, I would appreciate it if you tried your best not to harm it. At least, not in a way that can't be fixed with dry cleaning." Picking up the second stocking, she again kissed Ruby's toes as she said, "But Winter had better not harm these little piggies or I would be very upset."

"Oh, she won't." Chuckling to herself once more, that actually reminded Ruby of another subject to do with Winter. One that she hadn't actually mentioned to Penny yet. "Funnily enough… she actually likes feet. A lot. It's something I didn't expect."

"Really?" Penny asked, hands only halfway raised to put on the other stocking at last. She glanced down at the feet, one covered and one not, then back up at Ruby's face with a slight smile. "Well, why shouldn't she? They are adorable; yours especially."

"Yeah I guess toes are kinda cute and small, but like, sexy? I mean, I got nothing against it, whatever floats her boat." She smiled again, pushing the foot into the stocking as Penny held it open. "Winter's really mysterious like that. I barely know any of her kinks."

Penny's smile was gentle as she tugged the stockings into place perfectly, then reached down and picked up the fabric-covered feet, cradling them fondly in her hands. "They are nice. I mean, as far as I can tell, since 'sexy' is a strange concept for me. So I will defer to Winter." The smile turned mischievous as she kneaded into the soles with her thumbs. "What if… I had control of one of them, and Winter had control of the other? Would you enjoy that?"

"Hmm…" Looking upwards as she allowed herself to relax, Ruby rolled her foot slowly into Penny's motions, softly groaning from how pleasant it felt. "Both massaging? Well, hey, I like being pampered…"

"Massaging for me. I'm not sure what Winter's preferred activities are." Again, she kissed the feet through her stockings and then picked up her saddle shoes, slipping them on. "Have… you talked to her about your romantic feelings yet?"

Deeply sighing, that once relaxed smile faded away. Instead she leant forward again, staring into nothingness. "No… I still don't know if I should. I don't know if Winter's Aro or not, but she's never really had a relationship, or dated or anything. Maybe she doesn’t want that with me, and it might just make things weird."

As Penny continued tying her shoes for her, she said reasonably, "Well, you can't know if you don't ask. Perhaps you should pose it to her as a question; simply find out whether or not she would be open to doing romantic things with you. If she says no, then you don't have to tell her that you're already feeling that way."

"Penny, you know me better than anyone else. You know I'm not that slick. She'll see through that a mile away." Resting her chin on her hands, she continued to stare out blankly, already giving up without trying.

"Oh, Ruby…" The job done, Penny got up and sat next to her girlfriend, hugging her close. "You're a beautiful, sweet, wonderful woman. If she's going to feel romantic feelings for anyone, why wouldn't it be you? And if she doesn't, then I'm sure it's only because she doesn't feel that way about people – the same way I don't feel sexual desire for people." Then she lowered her voice and added, "Though I can make exceptions for my little Rubáiyát."

That had managed to bring a smile to Ruby's face. Somehow Penny always seemed to manage that with her, even when she was in her lowest of moods. Turning to face toward her, she wrapped her arms back around her partner, giving her a big kiss on the cheek before she nuzzled against her. "And you are just as sweet, just as beautiful; inside and out. You're so good to me, Penpen."

"Just protecting my investment," she joked in a gentle tone; an old joke for them. "Love you."

The smile turned into even more of a grin as she nuzzled again, softly stroking her shoulder. "Love you more."

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

For the thirteenth time, at the very least, Winter checked the clock on the wall. Resisted temptation to call Ruby, or text her; to triple-check she was on her way, since she had passed double-check quite some time ago. As she sat in the chair, legs crossed and one shoe bobbing up and down anxiously, the elder of the Schnee sisters again reconsidered why she cared so much. For most subs, if they were on time, that was fine. For Ruby… being on time wasn't good enough. She wanted her there much earlier, so they could begin right away; have plenty of time to chat once their session had ended.

Because you care about this one, a small voice in the back of her head whispered. Too much.

She silenced it with a physical wave of her hand. Yes, she obviously cared about Ruby; she was a friend and a sister-in-law, besides her favourite person to dominate. Those were plenty of reasons to cherish her greatly. And if she found herself fantasizing about more than simply deriving sexual pleasure from the girl…

If she found herself wishing she could wake up next to her more than just the once in her life…

The sound of the doorbell shattered those thoughts, and she now found herself grateful. Pulling out her phone, she sent Ruby a quick text, smirking to herself all the while. It was time to begin.

Just as eager to start, but anxious for what was to come, was Ruby. She patiently waited outside the door to her Dom’s flat, holding her hands in one another to try and maintain her focus. This was to be slightly different from their last sessions, in that she would be thrown straight into the role. No preparation, no film and drink. They had already agreed on the terms over the phone, with their usual safety word in place. As soon as Winter would open the door, they were in-scene.

The text only read: Door unlocked. Come to the office, first door on right; bring in what's outside.

“She really is prepared,” Ruby breathed to herself Quickly pushing open the door and stepping inside, she shut the door tight behind her; she saw no point in locking it, not with Winter's reassurance that her roommate was out for another weekend. Besides, she had not been instructed to do so. Following the message to the letter, she headed straight for the hallway, toward the office.

Sat outside the door was a backpack. When Ruby picked it up, it didn't seem to weigh much. Just an average school bag. No doubt she expected Winter wouldn't want her to look inside until she got in the room, so she didn't. Finally, she turned the knob on the door, slowly pushing it open.

The room was very different from when she had glanced in before; then, it had been a fairly dull office space. A few filing cabinets, a fine oak desk, and a potted plant… and literally nothing else. Just a place for Winter to do some of her work when not upstairs in the main Schnee offices. Now…

Now it was a classroom.

“Whoa...” she couldn’t help breathing as she gaped at her surrounding. The dull painting that had hung on the far wall had been replaced with a blackboard, and the couple of other comfortable chairs vanished in favour of smaller student desks. There were only two, but that was enough for realism's sake, given that this was for play. A globe stood on one of the filing cabinets, and there was now a bookshelf with a full Encyclopædia Britannica racked up along its planks. Winter's own desk was the same, but the contents on top had been changed out for a syllabus, a stack of papers to be graded… and a shiny red apple.

"You're late," Winter said in a firm tone from where she sat. Though Ruby could only see her from the waist up, she could see one of her crisp white blouses that she wore to work had been augmented with a cardigan, the sleeves tied around her neck so the rest draped over her back.

"S-sorry, Miss Schnee!" That seemed to fit the role. Ruby had guessed they were doing a teacher-student thing, but not for the entire office to be changed so drastically! Straight away she went to take one of the seats – the closer one, as Winter expected her to, resting the bag on the table.

"You are already in trouble, so the least you could do is be punctual for your punishment." Then she sighed, a very slight cloud forming in front of her mouth, and set about straightening a few of her papers. "And I am sorry about how cold it is in here; the heat is inferior in this room, and with only the two of us in here to lend our body heat…"

"O-oh…" Thanks to the jacket, Ruby hadn't noticed just yet. She had only just opened the bag: a few blank books, some papers, and a pencil case. Her student didn't know if they would be used or not, but it was worth getting them out anyway just to make sure. "It won't happen again," she reassured, setting them on her desk. "And… do you want me to write lines, Miss?"

"Yes I do." Picking up a pair of square-framed spectacles, she pushed them onto her face as she scooted her own chair back. "Given that you aren't much of a troublemaker in my art class, I see no reason to make it too strenuous. Let's say… fifty times. And nothing too long, either."

Then Winter rose and turned to the board. From there, Ruby could see she had her now-red hair in a bun, and was wearing one of the tightest black pencil skirts she had ever seen. Her hand grasped a piece of chalk, then wrote in loopy cursive on the board:

I, Ruby, have been naughty.

"Okay… I can do that." First thing first, she opened the notebook on the first page. Although she was expecting it to be clean, she was mistaken…

Right there, on page one, was a large heart in brilliant red marker. In the middle of it was written in blue, "Ms. Schnee + Me". There were a dozen little hearts drawn around it, as well, in various hues and sizes. So dark was the press of the marker that the next several pages past it had experienced bleed-through.

Oh GOD. Ruby's face went bright red. Not only was she already distracted by the resemblance Winter had to her teacher that she had once described, something that had prompted double take; but Winter had embarrassingly marked the notebook for her! Straight away she could be heard loudly turning the pages, trying to find a single one where there wasn't anymore bleed-throughs and eventually, halfway into the book, she found one.

Sighing in relief, she then went to unzip the pencil case. Only to find that wasn't the only surprise. The first thing to emerge was a pencil, of course; it rolled neatly up against the spiral of the notebook. After that rolled out a small plastic device, shaped like an overlarge medicine capsule, about the size of her thumb. It seemed to be twistable at the centre. There were other things inside the bag, too indistinct to see without tumping them out, as well… but even in shadow, they certainly didn't look like school supplies.

Blinking again in surprise, Ruby was beside herself. There were rather suspicious items in there, and love notes all over her book. And with how well Winter now resembled her old teacher, she didn’t know what to do besides take the pencil in her left hand to begin writing, and cover her mouth with her right in a vain attempt to try and hide the intense blushing she now has all over her face. This “lesson” was going to drive her mad.

Shivering as she sorted through her papers, Winter said, "This won't do. Hang on, I think we have…" Opening one of the lower desk drawers, she made a good show of rummaging around for something in there. Up came a candelabra of long tapers, and two smaller candle holders with small, squat red candles in them.

"Keep to doing your lines," she said offhandedly as she saw Ruby looking, producing a box of matches. But when Ruby looked up again, she couldn't. She had scarcely even written three lines, before she realised what Winter was doing. She was playing directly into the kinks she described; the teacher-crush, and the wax play. At least, she expected that was what they were for. Winter didn't just do decoration for the sake of it.

But when her “teacher” looked up again, Ruby quickly got back to it before she could say another word, quickly writing more lines as fast as she could. Nodding in satisfaction, Winter finished lighting the candelabra, then blew out the match. The room filled with the acrid smell of sulphur as she flicked it into the bin. Then she used one of the tapers to light the two smaller candles.

"This isn't much, but I hope it will help," she sighed as she stood, carrying the smaller ones over. The minute she came around the desk…

A powerful scent of strawberries filled the air between them. The tapers might have been simple wax, but clearly those two weren't. Unable to help herself, Ruby hummed; the scent was relatively strong, enough to relax her a little more. But not enough to ignore the still wonderful sight of Winter. She had nailed the look of her old teacher perfectly, from the shades to the bun. Not only that, but the outfit she was wearing didn't leave much to the imagination, either.

Hey, I wonder if she's still wearing that plug from the other session. But the instant that thought crept into her mind, Ruby pushed it down, trying to get back to her lines. You dummy! She wouldn't have kept it in for that long!

But after her twentieth line, she thought, Then again, she could have always put it in again for you before you got here, maybe…

The clack of her black heels against the white tile floor gave nothing away, whether or not Winter had a plug inside of herself. When she bent away from Ruby to set down the first candle on the other desk, showing her pert, rounded posterior, there was nothing sticking out too obviously that Ruby could see. However, when she turned back with the other one, she found herself face-to-face with the girl.

"Miss Rose, what were you doing a moment ago?"

Looking up from the lines and toward her, she found her shoulders shrugging as more. Rendered utterly speechless as per the norm with Winter, she stuttered and stammered, trying to come up with some form of response. "U-uh… I-I was, um… w-working on my lines, Miss Schnee?"

"I… thought you were watching…" Shaking her head slightly as if to rid it of a stray thought, she reached to place the candle on the corner of Ruby's desk - and knocked the small pink object to the floor. "Oh, your eras-"

Her voice cut off when a quiet vibrating filled the air.

Immediately, the blushing on Ruby's face got even worse. This was so embarrassing, even if it was part of the session! She looked straight back at her lines again, red as the apple on Winter's desk. All she could say after that was, "That's not mine! I swear!"

As Winter picked it up, Ruby was granted a generous glimpse of cleavage; not as much as Winter might have shown her otherwise, but a little just above the knot of her cardigan. A little pendant hung down, swinging back and forth above her ample bosom, which was cut off by a lacy black bra. She couldn't resist taking a peek at that. Blinking repeatedly while Winter collected her “eraser”, she continued to stare. God, how she wanted to just get on with things and for them both to have their way…

No, she had to wait. Had to wait for whatever punishment Winter had lined up.

"Well, this…" Winter blinked at it in mild confusion for a moment, playing her part well. Then she cleared her throat nervously, twisting the device to end the noise. "You must have taken out this… neck massager instead of your eraser."

"Yeah, I must have! C-clumsy me!" Ruby giggled nervously, though soon got back to her writing again. She had to, it was the only thing keeping her sane anymore. But the fifty lines were done long before she thought they would be. On to whatever she had planned next. "Done, Miss."

Having just settled both candle and "massager" on the desk, she looked down and said, "Have you, already? Then… hmm." She leaned down and placed one hand on the side of Ruby's desk, the other draped over the back of her chair as she leaned down to study the lines.

Her chest was now so close that it was resting just the slightest bit on Ruby's shoulder. Already, she could feel her breath beginning to hitch up, her body temperature heating up. If Winter wasn't an agent for her favourite popstar and sister-in-law, she would suggest a teacher would be a good role for her.

"Very good so far. Now then… how about we try fifty more lines, something else? When you finish that, you can move on to your homework." Her hand trailed very lightly over the back of Ruby's neck as she drew away and walked back up to the chalkboard.

"Hmm…" She lightly shuddered when feeling the soft fingertips, finding herself watching quite closely. Each sway of her hips was alluring. Biting her lip gently, she asked, "What lines do you want next?"

Raising her delicate hand, this time Winter arched her back slightly as she erased the previous line, causing her plump backside to be more prominent. Then she went for the chalk and wrote:

I wanted Ms. Schnee to punish me.

Once again, Ruby swallowed in fear of what was to come. Winter was simply building it up, but it was already going to her head. She could feel herself beginning to heat up more and more as she began writing on the next page, trying to be as neat as possible to impress her.

Meanwhile, Winter seated herself for a minute, pretending to go over her lesson plan. Who knew what was written in there, if anything; perhaps she had even borrowed it from an actual teacher. Either way, she was certainly dedicated to making the scene authentic. That was what managed to get Ruby going the most: Winter had gone all out once again to make this as best an illusion as she could. Right down to the shiny apple.

A few minutes later, she sat upright again. Lowering her pencil, she cleared her throat and announced, "Finished, Miss Schnee!"

Without looking up from what she was "working" on, Winter said in a dispassionate voice, "Bring your notebook up here, please."

Swallowing again, Ruby held the notebook open to the right page as she rose from her seat. Pacing over, she did as she was asked, placing her punishment on her temporary teacher’s desk. Her only hope was that 'Miss Schnee' wouldn't turn the page.

Winter barely glanced at it, too absorbed in her lesson plan. From where she stood, it could be seen that she had filled it out, after all: the page was open to the current date. Written in very bold letters was: Alone time with little Rose. Blinking in surprise, Ruby couldn't help but begin to read the parts of the page she could see. For now, most of her arm had covered the rest up, but she read the next item on the itinerary quite easily: Get her undressed.

Finally, Miss Schnee did glance up at the notebook, then further up at Ruby, as if she had forgotten she was standing there all the while. "Yes?" she asked.

"O-oh! Um, sorry." Ruby anxiously shrugged her shoulders again. "Do you want me to sit back down?"

"Please. You should still have your art homework to complete." She started to turn back to her syllabus, then looked up with a slight smile. "These individual projects were fun to choose for my students. Have you taken a look at yours yet?"

"I-I haven’t," she admitted, slowly walking back to her seat again and pulling the chair out. But before she sat… "Remind me again, Miss Schnee?"

"You should have it in your bag, I hope," Winter sighed in an aloof tone, flipping a few pages back and forth in the lesson plan. "In the envelope I gave you earlier today. If not, then I'm not sure what else you'll do for the rest of detention."

"Oh, sorry! I… Forgot." She quickly made the excuse, taking her seat and picking up her bag from the ground to rummage through it's contents. Sure enough, there was the envelope that Winter spoke of, still sealed. Taking it and opening it up, she took the note from it and began reading.

Please take your time and do as good a job with this as you can, with whatever media you see fit; pencils, pastels, or paints. It counts for a quarter of your grade. Then, behind the note, was a picture…

And what a picture. It was an eight-by-ten glossy photo of Winter, sitting forward in a wooden chair with her wrists bound in the small of her back, facing away from the camera. One eye was looking back over her bare shoulder, but with the blindfold and ballgag, it was hard to tell for sure it was her.

For a moment, Ruby had to hide the photo from view. Winter seemed to have discovered that even though she was no Dom, Ruby enjoyed seeing her in such a submissive state just as much as she enjoyed being dominated by her. After regaining her composure, she pulled the selected picture back out again, taking a closer look. Even if it was presented without context, it was truly a beautiful photo; well-lit, the angle was perfect. How much more had she spent on this good of a photographer alone?

Able to sense she was being watched by Winter, she quickly placed the picture back down, covering it with her pencil case. "U-uh… I was just… Uh…"

"Doing your homework?" Winter prompted with a bemused smile, making a gesture over toward Ruby with her red pen. "That's the idea, isn't it? Just do your best; you know I grade on effort and overall improvement, so don't worry about if it's 'perfect' or not."

"Cool, cool… I think I know what I can do."

Taking out a sketchbook that Winter had placed within the bag, she went through the pencil case again. Perfect; a black ballpoint pen. It had been a long time since Ruby last made art, but whenever she did, her weapon of choice was ink. She began to roughly sketch the basic outline, mastering the different shades by the amount she had to scribble against the page. She began with the darker tones first, the small of her back against her bound hands, continuing up her arms and the rest of the piece. It was quick and rough, but the shape was pretty accurate to the photo.

Ruby was just putting the finishing touches on her masterpiece when Winter's voice reached her, sharp and clear even though it was still on the other side of the room. "What… what is the meaning of this?"

It was enough of a distraction to cause one line to go slightly too far. Probably something Winter wouldn't notice, but something Ruby cursed herself inwardly for. Looking up, she asked, "What? What is it?"

The teacher was holding open Ruby's notebook, still with the other hand gripping the cover as if to close it. As if she had accidentally flipped to the front page and was on point of closing it the rest of the way… when she saw. Her eyebrows were knitted in very convincing confusion.

"Is… this some kind of joke? One of your friends teasing you?"

Her time drawing had completely wiped her memory of the embarrassing notes in the book. And now there they were, right in her face. "I… U-Uh… I don't know h-how that… I-I…"

"This looks like your handwriting," the woman persisted. Her voice had been sharp before, but seeing Ruby's reaction was causing it to grow softer and softer. "Like it…" Finally, she closed the cover as she coughed into her fist, eyes on the other side of the rectangular-framed spectacles averted. "But you can't have feelings like that. This is a v-very cruel joke to play on your teacher and I am not amused."

"I'm so sorry," she began, looking down at the table in shame. Unfortunately the fact there was a picture of her bound and gagged right in her vision wasn't helping; it was only making her core heat up all the more, and the blush to flare up once again. "I-I don't know what I was thinking. I was just… I-I…"

But Winter had opened it again, staring down at the garish heart. Her cheeks were getting a little pink themselves, though not nearly so much as Ruby's. After another second, she closed it again and shook her head, standing up and striding around her desk.

"We can't have this going on. It could lead to a lot of unpleasant questions for both of us, you understand?" Then she very carefully added, "Regardless of… whether or not this is a joke."

"I swear, Miss Schnee, I didn't mean to embarrass you!" Even if it wasn't something she did at all, she still felt humiliated by the sheer insinuation of it. Slowly she looked up toward her again, eyes still wide and nervous.

"I know you didn't. You've always been a near-perfect student. It's… been a real pleasure having you in my class, Ruby. Every day, I looked forward to seeing you most of all." Clearing her throat as if realizing she had gone a bit too far, she instead walked closer to Ruby's desk. "How is your project coming along?"

That filled Ruby with a bit of confidence. Picking up the paper, she turned it in her direction immediately. It was a rough drawing, but more than enough for Winter to see Ruby's style of artwork. Scratchy edgy lines with different pressures tones the piece, with softer lines in the light parts to keep it reasonably neat. It was a talent Ruby rarely displayed anymore, but she wanted to do a good job.

For just a moment, Winter was completely speechless. Her mouth opened several times, closed again, opened. Then she finally whispered, "Strawberries."

That made Ruby raise her eyebrow. She lowered the piece again, suddenly seeming a lot more nervous than she was in play - which was now paused. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Ruby, that's really good," she hissed, barely moving from her position. The Dom seemed to be desiring not to break from their play too much. "Sorry, wow, I just wasn't expecting… I'm honestly really impressed you did that just while we were in here."

"Really?" Turning the drawing back to herself for a moment to take another glance, she began to smile again. Turning it back, she asked, "Did you wanna keep it after this? I mean… it wouldn't be this good if the photo wasn't top notch. Did you hire someone to do that?"

"Yeah," Winter whispered, biting her lip and smiling as she nodded. "It was an ad on KinkHub that I answered; the shoot was free, so long as he could have free reign with the pictures that didn't clearly show my identity. Like that one, because of the blindfold and gag."

"It's… I mean, I know for you both, it's a kink thing, but it's sort of an artsy pic," Ruby noted, placing the drawn image down right by the photos side. Bar a few slight flaws a casual observer would never notice, it was more or less a perfect copy with the shading. Clearly no one had seen Ruby's art skills apart from teachers and her father.

"Thank you. And sorry, I just had to stop play because, I mean, my next move was going to be yelling at you and demanding to know what you had drawn. I wanted you to know first that I thought your drawing was truly exceptional."

Her face was glowing with pleasure as she stood there, still holding the notebook full of lines. Even though she was still blushing wildly, Ruby was grinning from ear to ear, looking down again to her rather quick drawing. When she realised there was one final touch she needed to do. Taking the pen again, she quickly signed and dated one of the corners, before pushing it back beside the photograph, looking up with the still beaming smile.

"I hope you'd like to keep it, then. All yours!"

"It should be in a gallery somewhere, but… I'd be honoured." Clearing her throat, Winter seemed to come back to the moment. "Right, then - sorry, that really was bad form to stop play, but I couldn't have concentrated until I let you know how talented you are. Ready to begin again?"

Scratching the back of her head for a moment to compose herself, Ruby simply continued to smile happily. It was an honour to hear Winter's delight with her drawing more than anything else. But now that she knew where the play was going, she had to sit back down and recompose herself. "Begin play."

Winter's eyes slid closed, and she took a deep, slow breath in. When they opened again, they looked shocked, very realistically. "Wh… what on earth have you drawn, Miss Rose?! What is that?!"

This time, it was a little more obvious she was acting more than normal, and she seemed to withdraw into a shell, drawing the image back toward her. That, of course, revealed the photograph right next to it. "I-I… That was the photo I got! See?!"

"No, you…" The "teacher" gulped, her hand trembling as she reached toward it. "No, no, you couldn't have - there's no… I d-didn't- you were supposed to have a still life of nature, I'm sure- how did you find this?!"

"It was in the envelope, Miss Schnee," she said rather shyly, pushing the photo toward her. "I th-thought… you gave it to me on purpose – like you were making a pass at me or something, I didn't know!"

Her eyes swiveled between the two images, the original and the artist's rendering. Then she looked back up at Ruby, her cheeks a deeper red and a guilty look coming over her. "It wasn't on purpose. I… I know how this seems, but… Miss Rose, I would appreciate you not telling anyone that this happened. I promise you, I didn't…" Her chest began to heave, and her voice turned into a harsh whisper. "I am not the sort of woman who harasses her students!"

"I never assumed that!" she squeaked out. Unfortunately now that she was more clued in about the subject of play, the words didn't sound genuine. Something she would have to work on in future perhaps. "You said that our subject for this assignment was 'helplessness', right? That's what I assumed this was. There are so many ways it can mean that!"

"W-well, I guess that's a funny coincidence…" Under her breath, she whispered, "That was supposed to go to Glynda; I must have sent her the picture of a dog with its head stuck in the bannister. Wonder what she thought of that…"

"Possibly not as sexy as this image…" But in her haste to make a joke in character, she realised what she had let on instead, and immediately looked wide eyed. "I-I mean, I don't- well, n-not that you aren't sexy! Well you are but… I-I…"

Winter's eyes were wide as she stared at Ruby, cheeks still rouged. After a few more seconds, she shakily asked, "You… weren't trying to play a prank on me, were you? When you drew thi- OOP!"

The notebook caught the edge of the candle as she brought it up to show Ruby again, knocking it over. Most of the hot wax landed on the table, but a drop of it splashed onto the back of the student's bare hand.

And instantly Ruby found herself yipping loudly. She brought her hand in by instinct, but by then the wax had already cooled onto her skin. Before then, however, it was very satisfying to feel the warm sensation – just enough to send a tingle or two down her spine and make her sigh with enjoyment.

"O-Ooohhh…"

"Are you alright?!" Winter demanded, laying the notebook on top of the photograph as she snatched up Ruby's hand, bringing it in toward her face to examine the spot of wax closely.

Face reddened again, she realised that she had done the worst thing; moaned out loud in enjoyment. Way to hold back! Drawing her hand away again, she nervously looked down. "Y-yes, ma’am! Sorry, I'm fine! Just… Just surprised me! Y-you know how dorky I am!"

The woman didn't quite look satisfied. "You're sure? I could get you some ice, or…" Almost as an afterthought, she reached back and righted the candle. "What you must think of me today, giving you obscene homework and burning you…"

"No way, Ms. Schnee," she reassured, rectifying her desk a little more to place the photo on top of her artwork. At least then Winter had the option of taking it back if she wished, or even just leaving it till the end. In truth, Ruby just enjoyed seeing it. "You… you could never do anything wrong. You're the best teacher."

"No… no, I am not." Taking up the hand again, she looked at the little disc of wax clinging to it. Her thumb brushed over the spot very gently, frowning down at it. "The best teacher isn't one who… who could hurt her student the way I have."

"It was an accident." With it only being a thin drop, she brushed it to one side. If any more had spilled onto her, that would be a much harder task to get rid of, but this wasn't the case at all. Ruby then looked back up to her, cheeks turning red as she bit her lip. "Besides… wax doesn't exactly hurt me."

"Thank goodness it doesn't." Winter's soft lips drifted so close to Ruby's hand that her shallow breath could be felt, warm on the slightly red spot where the wax had been a moment before. Then she looked up. "I… what am I doing? You don't want me to kiss it and make it better; I'm not your parent."

"You're not, no… but…" How could she keep this going and play into the role? It was proving rather challenging when she just kept imagining it as her previous teacher. But eventually she smiled up at her again. "You are my guardian while I'm in this building. And that means you can."

Unable to hold back any longer, Winter pressed her lips into Ruby's flesh. Once she did, she seemed unable to stop, kneading into it over and over, leaving tiny wet spots as she went. Her eyes closed, in bliss at being granted such an opportunity with her student… who began to smile again. All she could do was push her hand further into the kisses, offering her up more and more to play with. Oh, how she loved being pampered by her favourite teacher; something no other student would get. Despite the fact that the class size was exactly one.

When she finally drew away, Miss Schnee looked up at Ruby with heavy-lidded eyes. Licked her lips, swallowed. Then she whispered, "I… absolutely should not… have done that, Miss Rose."

"I didn't mind." And she didn't at all. Given that she was pushing the hand further toward her again, she more insisted it was kissed than anything. "I was enjoying it, a lot."

"No, no, this is a problem." The teacher stood, taking the photograph with her and staring at it as she strode to her desk, then turned around and gazed at Ruby fearfully. "You should never have seen this. And I should never have seen what's in your notebook. Some lines are… are not meant to be crossed."

"Maybe not, Ma’am." She would have kept to her desk, but when Winter was over there, backlit by the candles present on her desk, it was impossible to resist. Walking over and placing her art by the photo, she looked gradually toward her teacher again, blushing scarlet. "But now… it seems we're on the same page."

The teacher stared down at the desk at the two images, her fingertips running over the ink In the sketchbook. Then she whispered, "That doesn't make it right that… if I take advantage. You said it yourself: I am in charge of you. I should be telling you to go back to your seat right now."

But she wasn't. Instead, Winter stood there, breathing hard as she glanced at Ruby out of the corner of her eye, caressing the drawing as her other hand clutched the edge of her desk. Half closing her eyes, Ruby made her need for her teacher as obvious as she could. She made sure to stand close to her teacher, unbearably close; despite how much her breath was hitching up.

"But you don't want to," she began, looking straight into the icy blues of Winter's. "And maybe I… want to be taken advantage of."

There was a moment of indecision. In that moment, Ruby of course knew that they would progress; it was the point of their play, after all. But still, the acting was superb; Winter's face showed all the earmarks of an older woman, tortured by desiring a younger one.

"Nothing that happens ever leaves this room," she breathed, voice shaking. "Not the photograph, or the feelings in your notebook…" Her eyes raised again to bore into Ruby's. "Or the 'massager' that we both know you're not going to use on your neck. Or anything after."

She had forgotten about that little tidbit. Blushing again as she looked back, she seemed to be weighing the options of Winter's offer. No strings attached, no conditions; sounded perfect to her. If only things were so easy outside in reality. Nodding, she held the back of her hand out to her teacher again, offering it up to be kissed.

"Yes, Miss Schnee."

Then Winter smiled. It wasn't a kind smile, but it wasn't cruel, either. Somewhere in between. "Tell me about your feelings," she urged, voice still shaking but now with more than simple fear. There was excitement building, as well. "One page in a notebook tells so much… but not enough."

Hoo boy… That was the question, in and out of play. It would be extremely difficult for her to answer that one without giving too much of the game away, and would leave awkward questions when they were done. But maybe she could purge these feelings by feeding them into the role.

"It started at the beginning of the year, when you first taught me. When you told me there was no need to be scared; that I should just… go with the flow- with my art, I mean."

Both of Winter's hands raised, fingering the lapels of Ruby's jacket. Fondly, almost affectionately. Their bodies were much closer now, even though Winter had seemingly done nothing to make it worse. "That's when it started, with me being kind. Where did your mind go from there? What changed it from merely being grateful to a teacher to…" She gave Ruby's necktie a little tug. "Something else?"

Pulled in toward her even more, she swallowed nervously. That was a question she couldn't answer, in or out of character. Taking a small breath in, she shakily began, "I-I dunno… I-it just began, y'know? I don't know how…"

"I'm no one special; just an art teacher. There are dozens of boys - or girls - at this school worth developing a crush on. It had to have been one thing or another." Both hands slid further up, one caressing the side of Ruby's face while the other tousled her hair. "Something I did, or said…?"

"N-no… just… you being you." That was the honest truth at the end of it. Out of character, it really was her discovery of how Winter was as a person that caused her feelings. She was kind, thoughtful, underneath her rather hard outer shell. How could anyone not fall for her? Edging herself closer, Ruby was more or less ready to slide into her lap, still smiling nervously.

"Just me?" Winter's fingers hooked around the bridge of Ruby's glasses, drawing them off and setting them on one of the filing cabinets as she walked to erase the board. Then she lifted the chalk and drew Ruby's name in large, ornate cursive. "I… can relate."

"You can?" Still standing herself back, she watched Winter write her name beautifully, waiting for her to make the next move.

"Why do you think I lit candles? To warm us up? They barely give off any heat, at all." Winter turned, biting the corner of her lip for a moment before she said in a low, sultry voice, "I wanted to see you by candlelight. Even if this was the only way I ever could, it… I can only allow myself so much without tipping my hand."

"Then…" Stepping toward Winter, allowing her character a moment of confidence, she half closed her eyes, placing her hands onto Winter's shoulders as she held her closer, fluttering her lashes seductively. "Maybe you should tip your hand now…"

"Miss Rose…" Her hands slid around Ruby's waist, very naturally sitting there. As if they belonged. Then she whispered, "Why haven't I been able to get you out of my mind? Did… I really put that photo in your envelope by accident? Or did my subconscious hope for this?"

"It could be a little both. I know that… this is like a dream come true for me." Gradually, Ruby began to lean forward. Her eyes seemed to focus on one particular part of her; her lips. Slowly she was heading toward her goal, eyes closing all the more…

Until there was a call from the main room of the apartment. One jarringly familiar for the teacher. "Winter! Do you have a moment?"

They both froze solid. Winter looked at the door, listening hard - and hearing the sound of footsteps, she hissed, "Shit, it's my fa- I mean, the headmaster! There will be too many questions if you're seen here!" Pulling out her chair quickly, she whispered, "Hide under the desk!"

Not even asking twice, Ruby immediately did as she was told and ducked down under the desk, scooting herself right to the back so she would be out of sight from anyone coming in. That was her out of the way; what about the rest of the things that were laid out for their scene?!

Seemed there was no time to do anything about it. The door opened, and entering immediately was Winter's father. Thankfully, he was distracted by a tablet in his hands, on which he tapped through a few of the screens, until he looked up toward her. "Ah, there you are! I just needed to confer with you about these few appointments coming u-"

Then he paused, looking at the desks in front of Winter’s. Blinking in confusion for a moment, it seemed as though he was going to figure something was going on, until…

"Are we due for the interns today? I thought that was next week."

"O-oh, it is," she sighed, sinking down into her chair. She scooted it carefully forward until she felt her shins up against Ruby's chest and stopped, not wishing to squish her but also needing for her seat to look as natural as possible. "I mean, they are. Next week. But the desks got here early."

"Hm… very well, that's fair." Leaning against one of the desks, he brought up another list on the tablet, before giving her his full attention. "I've had a few calls from different talk shows; some for FNKI, some for Freezerburn. Anyway, you're better versed in some of the topics they want to talk about than I am, so I need your input before I book these."

Below the desk, Ruby was blushing again. From where she was, she got an excellent view of Winter from down below. As part of her outfit, she didn't wear any underwear, and was freshly shaven just for her – other than the landing strip. Already she could smell that Winter was aroused, and right in front of her.

"That sounds fine, sir," Winter sighed, legs shifting somewhat anxiously. No way was she forgetting about their invisible guest, either, but was doing her best to sound as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on. "If you could forward the dates to me, I'll consult my calendar. Or send them via instant message, if you would ever take the time to learn how to use it…"

"Hey, I've only just joined the twenty-first century learning how to use this thing." He turned the tablet in her direction for a moment, before looking back at it. "Can I go through some of these with you? I need your input on how appropriate these subjects are for your sister."

"Of course." But Winter wasn't budging. She couldn't take the risk that she would stand up and her father might walk around behind the desk, spotting Ruby much more easily. As surreptitiously as she could, she scooted the lesson plan book so that it mostly covered the photograph before she reached out for the tablet.

"Right. The first one is Lisa Lavender again. She's doing a marriage special and wanted Weiss and Yang on, but I have a feeling she's going to bring up the same 'so who's the father' if Fènleng comes up…"

Ruby had more or less zoned out from the conversation going on overhead. She was far too distracted by the sight and smell in front of her. Oh, how much she wanted to lean in, take another taste of it…

And she could; it seemed like something a student would do under these conditions. They weren't exactly playing by the rules here. Giving into her temptation, she placed her hands on Winter's inner thighs, beginning to stroke very slowly. Testing the waters.

"Well, it should be alright; Yang and Weiss are pretty good at redire-AH!" Clearing her throat, Winter adjusted herself in her seat slightly, trying to press her thighs together and trap the hands still. "R-redirecting questions by now. But we could have a word with Lavender before the show."

Alarmed by the sudden yelp from Winter, Mr Schnee raised an eyebrow. For now, he said nothing about it, and simply continued. "Right… well, that could be a possibility. Anyway, she wants FNKI possibly the week after, for both an interview and to perform; that I think would be fine. But I'm more worried about the other few shows on the list that want Freezerburn. I mean, I know they're pretty good with questions but I do worry sometimes on their behalf."

Unfortunately, Ruby wasn't stopping. She only began to smirk more, gradually pushing the legs apart a little more. She was determined to begin teasing as intimately as possible, to continue her habit of getting into risky situations. Wanting to give as good as she got for once.

Not that Winter was making it easy for her. The thighs were opening, but clearly she was pushing back against the hands forcing them apart. As she did so, she hitched a smile over her discomfort. "I know, Father. Weiss is still your baby girl, and Yang is an important part of our family, now, too."

"They are indeed. I just won't tolerate people attacking either of them and spreading rumours. Especially not while they're sensitive right now, I mean; you know what Weiss has been like since Fènleng was born, and the situation with Yang's mental health."

It didn't stop there. As well as hands, a soft pair of lips could be felt against her skin. Ruby was planting more and more kisses upward, giving a brief taster of what was to come. Which caused the scent to get stronger. Winter could only hope that her father didn't notice, but hopefully it would remain trapped beneath the skirt – or masked by the strawberry candle still burning on the second student desk.

"Y-yes, um… you know that I, of all people would never wish any further harm on Yang. But she's strong, she can handle a f- a few reporters."

"Yes… I hope so. I did say ‘no’ to the more infamous shows known to pressure their guests, thought that best. But if you could give a mark on the ones you think they'd enjoy, I'll be on my way."

The kissing continued upward still. Her hands instead moved to Winter's knees, holding them apart so she could continue that journey further upward, more and more until they finally hit home. And she pressed a soft kiss against Winter's petals.

At that instant, Winter had just been reaching up to grasp the tablet… when she couldn't help but let out a low moan, trembling from head to toe and accidentally knocking the apple from her desk as she braced herself against the sensation.

"Y… you can…" Clearing her throat, she sat back again and redoubled her concentration. "You can do as you see f-fit, Father."

Now it seemed he suspected something was wrong, and his brow furrowed again. "Is… everything alright? You seem awfully… on edge."

It could be more felt than heard, but Ruby giggled against Winter's flower at that comment. She could feel herself that Winter was on edge, especially when she delivered yet another kiss. When she saw fit, she allowed her tongue to press directly between her lips, giving a long lap over the length of her.

"S-sorry about that," Winter struggled to say, thighs pressing into both sides of Ruby's head, one of her heels digging into the girl's side. "Cramps, I… think I might have eaten… bad sushi…" She bit her lip to keep from calling out again, bracing herself as best she could.

Her student chose to ignore the mild pain. She continued to lap at the moist petals even more, loving every moment she could feel Winter reacting against her in some way. And all in front of her own father! This was as risky as it got; she was doing great! Winter would no doubt be so proud of her when they were alone again.

"I see. Well, I have some pain killers back in my apartment if you need them, I can go fetch them if needs b-"

But something else caught her father’s eye as he glanced toward her desk. Although she had managed to cover the photograph, Ruby's sketch wasn't covered at all. It was there, out in the open, forgotten by Winter. And was enough to raise both the man's eyebrows.

"Th-that won't be necessary," she told him, attempting to hold his attention away from the photograph. "I… I'll weather it, and if…"

A fresh wave of pleasure cut off the rest of her words. Seemed Ruby was actually not just aiming to tease her a little here or there, but to drive her all the way to orgasm! While Mr. Schnee was still standing on the other side of the desk! Had the Dom created a monster?

"Winter…" It didn't seem to work. Although his attention was away from the photo at the least, he was looking at her instead. There was silence for a moment, until he lightly smiled. "You… never told me that you were also into women."

And from below the desk, Ruby had to stop herself from suddenly laughing. Drawing herself away from the lips for a moment, she quietly chortled to herself, biting her own lip as tight as she could to prevent any sound escaping.

"What? Oh, that's… it's m-merely a drawing a f-friend did." Even though she was breathing easier now that her companion had taken a break, clearly she was still deeply affected by Ruby's attentions. "I… why should that mean I'm… you know, that?"

"Well… I can only assume, a picture of a naked woman – in this context, no less! You must have paid good money for a piece of art like that, and I can't think why you'd want it for general… aesthetic." He was finding himself becoming rather flustered at the subject. Mr Schnee had only just in recent years become more open to his family, including the extended family they now all shared. To his daughter, this would be a strange surprise to hear him talk about, or even see him blush because of the art. "I-I mean, nothing wrong with it, you know. Just… wow, I've been a bigoted old man all this time and both my girls are queer. What a twist."

Winter found herself completely in disbelief. Though she knew her father had come a long way since his old homophobic leanings, she hadn't expected him to very nearly not bat an eye at such an obviously perverse drawing lying out for anyone to see. Even if she had only forgotten about it and not meant for anyone to see it.

But there was something else about his blush that brought a question to mind. She didn't want to ask it, knew the answer would be nothing good. But try as she might, she couldn't resist.

"Do you… like that sketch?"

"I-it's… Uh…" Obviously from a drawing, he didn't recognise the figure; much to Winter's advantage. The last thing she wanted was to try and explain why there was a picture of herself bound and gagged on the desk. Still, he shrugged his shoulders, trying to nervously continue. "I-it's rather… interesting. I don't think you'd want to hear your old man admitting he likes that sort of thing."

"What do-" She hesitated, pushing her thighs together. If Ruby decided she was going to take advantage of the situation again, she wanted her to at least have to fight for it. "Perhaps I would never have asked if the topic hadn't come up this way, but now I'm curious. What do you like about it? The subject matter, the artist's skill… the model?"

And Ruby did. Even if her head was trapped between Winter's thighs, that wasn't going to stop her attempting to push back forward again. As best she could, once more she prised the legs apart, pushed her face to the petals beneath. She was determined not to let Winter off that easily.

And the ever-oblivious Papa Schnee could only look a little more, tilting his head. "Hmm… a-a mixture of the three. Though I haven’t ever seen anything quite like this, the art is very lovely. An interesting style."

"Isn't it, though?" Winter said, gasping as softly as she could when she felt Ruby's mouth attacking her anew, as she feared it would. "You'd… never believe who drew it. Quite a talent, even if it's… well, it's a little kinky, isn't it?"

However, during her brief respite from being eaten out, Winter had thought of a better plan for revenge. As she did her best to lean casually against her elbow, gazing down at the risque art, she raised her feet up and dug the pointed heels down into both of Ruby's hips.

A muffled yelp could be felt against Winter's sex. It hurt, but not to the point she had to stop. Just enough to prove again that she was doing a good job of inflaming her desires.

And further adding to the bonfire were the words of her own father, who could only give a nod of approval. "Yes. If you could give me the details, I may even attempt to commission them, maybe. Though… probably not something as kinky as this! Something more... tasteful, suitable for framing."

Winter nodded, using the time to let another wave of pleasure pass through her, into every last nerve ending. She couldn't stand it. If Ruby didn't let up, or if she didn't get rid of her father within the next few minutes… something unthinkable was going to happen. But she couldn't concentrate. Normally, she would know exactly what to say to get rid of him, or to make him lose interest in the conversation. But all she could do in that moment was to respond.

"I think that… could be arranged. I'll se- I'll set it up. One of the same model? Not kinky, but it could be… anything you want… name it…" Toward the end, her mind had drifted down under the desk again, as ashamed as she was of that.

But once realising what she had said, her heart stopped. No. She couldn’t pose nude for a sketch that her father would be buying – there was a line, and that was definitely over it!

"I may have a model in mind, perhaps… we shall see yet. Though I’ll keep her in mind, as well, of course; she's clearly a beautiful woman indeed. Reminds me of your moth- well, you won't want to hear about that." Thankfully, he did seem to be wrapping up the conversation. That much was obvious when he took the tablet back from her.

What a relief – in more ways than one. Although he did still spend a moment looking at the edits Winter had made to the list. Giving enough time for Ruby to continue. Rather than just lapping at the length of it, she began to focus directly on the clit. Giving a firm circle around and around, she smirked to herself when she felt Winter's legs shuddering. She was close.

The word "Shit!" fell from Winter's lips, soft and stressed. But even before her father could ask, she smiled up at him as convincingly as she could. "Oh, n-nothing, I just… knew the artist is f-fond of that model. Who d-did you have in mind?"

Ruby's mouth was magical! Every lick and nibble at her clit was making her skin tingle all over, her stomach clench and her heart race. A little further and she would be over the edge. The woman hated it, and yet she couldn't stop now; if she tried to get rid of her father at that exact second, whatever story she told him, she knew that one way or another, she would most likely have to stand up – and that when she tried she wouldn't be able to. Those knees were going to buckle. It seemed her only option was to bear down and weather the approaching climax.

Giving a small nod at the tablet, he finally tucked it under his arm. Business taken care of, he refocused on her question. "No one you'll know, I'm afraid. That's… more a conversation for another time, I think."

With a final grin to herself, Ruby went in for the kill. With a few more circles around the clit, she allowed one of her hands to head forward, drifting around her entrance that little bit to tease her. And once feeling the heels stab in a little more, she finally let them enter inside, trying to curl to hit that spot – as a vague revenge for the pain.

Both of Winter's eyes flew wide, her mouth falling open. Even throughout all of the teasing, the segue into earnest cunnilingus, she had never expected for Ruby to finger her! In front of her father! It was all she could do not to call out in ecstasy, to keep her reaction to a mere few breathy sighs despite the grinding through her inner walls. She had been so wet and ready, worked up to receive this pleasure. If they were alone, she would have been rejoicing as vocally as possible; she still wanted to.

But they weren't alone. Looking up at her father, she took a deep breath so as to sound as firm as she could manage. She was too close to wait for him to leave now. She had to ask him something that would keep him talking while she let her end come to the surface. "Ohh, Daddy…." That was NOT good; she tried again. "Y-you can tell me anything. Maybe I would… l-like to see the model's other work before I p-pass it along to my artist."

"Well… she's not a model." Thankfully, he was continuing. It was probably the worst kind of subject to have whilst in the middle of these activities, but it kept him talking. And easily distracted. "Of course, your mother's been gone a fair while… and though I still miss her, very much so, I know she wouldn't want me to be lonely the rest of my life. It's only been recently that I've found the strength to begin searching again. And, well, I've met someone new."

While her father was talking, Ruby was simply intensifying her efforts. It was now or never! She had to do it while he was distracted enough to look away or else Winter would never forgive her.

"O-ohhhhh?" Winter just managed to turn the end of her moan upward so it sounded like a question. It was too late to turn back. Widening her thighs to give Ruby headway, she forced herself to keep it together long enough to ask, "Do you… have a… picture of this new… lady in your life? I'd lo-LOOOOVE to see."

Eyes widening in surprise at Winter's apparent enthusiasm, he blinked back at her, taking the tablet back from under his arm. "You… really don't mind? I mean, I was worried that you or Weiss would be angry at me, or uncomfortable with- this is quite fantastic!"

He seemed to have not noticed Winter's predicament at all. Somehow, Ruby's continued actions on her clit and inside against her spot were going unnoticed by him still, and Winter still wasn't there yet! Probably because him being there made her too nervous. Thrusting faster and faster, she tried to make sure she would be ready to finish her off at the perfect moment…

Which came when Mr Schnee began to scroll through his tablet again, rolling his eyes and groaning to himself. "Where is that blasted Facebook app?! I only just had it open!"

That was the moment, alright. Gripping one arm of her chair to tether herself, Winter stopped resisting, stopped holding herself away from Ruby's punishing fingers as her inner walls clamped down around them, moisture pushing outward as she came. Wave after wave of ecstasy flooded out from the two points of Ruby's mouth on her greedy clit and the fingers hitting her internal spot, down into her shoes and up into every hair follicle on her head. There could be no denying how phenomenal of an orgasm it was.

But it had consequences. They could have been worse, or more prominent, but she had heard herself moan Ruby's name in an undertone during one of the early aftershocks. Even if her father hadn't heard it, she also felt wetness running down her inner thigh, and down her chin from her open mouth. As sensitive as they were rubbing up against the lace, she found herself eminently glad that she had worn a bra so that her rock-hard nipples wouldn't show through her linen shirt; that would have been too obvious to ignore.

Finally, Ruby could be felt backing herself away. She had Winter's liquid splashed on her face, in her hair; a clear marking of what she had just done. Something her student was going to wear with pride when this was all over, and she gradually drew her fingers out to finally stop the teasing.

Meanwhile, Mr Schnee had at last brought forward a page belonging to a Latina woman with shoulder length brown hair, one who seemed a similar age to him, give or take a few years. "Yes, here she is. You might have seen her in the building a couple of times."

"She looks ni-iiiice," Winter let out with a shiver as she was exited, her neck twitching slightly. The drool rolled even further down her chin, but she couldn't quite force herself to raise a hand and wipe it away just yet. "Is… was she the representative from the… from our paper supplier? She's hot."

Inwardly, she cringed. That had not been quite what she meant to say! It was true, but she had intended to be more moderate about it!

"Why, yes, she is! She's actually been helping me a lot when I have bad days grappling with my loneliness; it took me far too long to realise I’m attracted to the woman, however." Although straight after the comment of her being “hot”, he pulled the tablet slowly back again, teasing. "Hey, hands off, you."

Smiling weakly, his daughter finally leaned against her hand in such a way that she could surreptitiously wipe the drool track away. "Very funny. But I am happy for you."

Even in the midst of such a strange moment, Winter realized that was true; her father had found someone to help ease his lingering grief. It was a lucky thing indeed, as she had noticed how bad it was getting over the years. Maybe the relationship would last and she could become part of their odd little family.

"Thank you, my dear. And… I hope, if I was right about earlier, that you're happy. That's all I care about. And if you do happen to find someone, man or woman, I'd like to meet them."

"That may never happen, Father. But… I promise you will if it does." Then she shuffled some papers, purely so she would seem too busy to walk him out, before she said, "Oh, and please send me a few pictures of your new lady friend; I'll forward them on to my artist, see if she would be interested in working with her."

"Shall do." Finally he was going to make a move to leave, drawing the tablet back fully and pacing back toward the door again, not before leaving one last quick remark about the drawing. "Though this model truly is attractive… if I wasn’t already working up the nerve with Amber, I might ask for her number."

And with that, he finally closed the door behind him, and could be heard doing the same to the main door as well. Leaving poor Winter with the knowledge that her father clearly still was head over heels for their mother… even if that knowledge took the form of knowing she would do in a pinch.

#Lady Stardust #ruby x winter #rwby fanfiction #rwby smut #jacques schnee #rwbyremnants #nsfw-Text

[ace-oreos]

Way of the Hunter Ch. 13

A slightly longer chapter than normal because writing... is... fun? 

Check out @deltaturtle26‘s corner if you’re looking for chapter 12. :) Feedback is always appreciated, so let us know what you think! 

Shereshoy and aay’han. 

Parallel concepts, really, but inexplicably linked all the same. Life and... mourning what life once was, I guess, while celebrating what still stands. I don’t really know how to explain it, Wrecker, but I think you would understand. 

Making the best of what we had and ensuring you would be there to see the next day - that’s what shereshoy is at its core. The indescribable yearning to grab hold of life and cherish every experience. That’s what you lived for, I think. I suppose some people would argue that you can’t find a reason for existence in those fleeting moments - that it’s not enough - but you found it anyways. You, out of all of us, and only you. You saw the things the rest of us never opened our eyes to.  

And that’s why you would understand aay’han, too. You know that for every joyful moment, there is a moment of pain to counter it. It’s a strange balance that we rarely take notice of, yet we rely on this balance to shape our lives at any given moment. 

Most beings are lucky enough to go about their lives without ever being fully conscious of that balance. Then there are those of us who are only aware of it because the universe or some other force demanded that we pay attention. We learned that early on, but you were the only one to embrace it. You saw it as a source of strength rather than a target for blame. 

A year ago, I would have given anything just to go back to the way things used to be. But now… I don’t know what I would do now. 

I shouldn’t ask, but if it’s at all possible… keep looking for those moments that make life worth hanging on to. It’s too easy to lose yourself to the other side of things if you don’t have something to keep you grounded. 

K’oyacyi, ner vod. 

Wrecker was beginning to have second thoughts about Nar Shaddaa.

It was, as Tech argued, a suitable location for avoiding the Empire and anyone else who might take exceeding interest in their history. Wrecker knew from long experience that Tech was usually right about these things, and while he knew Tech’s intuition greatly surpassed his own - and most of the galaxy, for the matter - he couldn’t shake the feeling that staying on Nar Shaddaa for an extended period of time was asking for trouble. 

He tried to comfort himself with the idea that Nar Shaddaa was similar to Coruscant - if Coruscant’s upper levels had been overtaken by Hutt clans that collectively turned a blind eye to the criminal activities that ran rampant in the underbelly of the city. Wrecker couldn’t fathom half of the illicit dealings that surely occurred on a regular basis within the capital; it seemed there was minimal enforcement of whatever laws might have existed in such a place, and the residents didn’t bother to conceal the true nature of their affairs.

It was home to the galaxy’s most ruthless criminals, but even that would be essential to survival: Wrecker was sure that any bounty hunter who would devote energy into chasing a hapless citizen who had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time would leap at the chance to deliver three deserters to the Empire. The longer the attention remained on the bigger players and their doings, the better. 

Wrecker made an effort to appear inconspicuous as he followed Crosshair and Tech towards the outskirts of the city. The whole place was an odd blend of the Hutts’ lavish, sprawling towers and decrepit structures Tech called skyslums shoved in between. The Hutt clans dominated the entire star system, and they made sure to establish their position wherever they could. The towers served as a reminder that it was ultimately the Hutts who determined wealth and prestige - and who was allowed to live. 

Several times Wrecker had the distinct unsettling feeling of being followed, but whenever he glanced back, the streets were deserted except for a few battered droids. Still, he made a point to keep an eye on them. He doubted anything was what it seemed in this lawless city.

A thin, unpleasantly warm drizzle began to fall. Wrecker adjusted the collar of the jacket he’d salvaged after fleeing Dantooine. Beside him, Crosshair secured the cloak over his shoulders with a scowl. It wasn’t much by way of a disguise, but he supposed armor would have attracted the exact sort of attention they were so keen to avoid. 

“We should head back to the Marauder for the night,” Tech said quietly, shooting a furtive glance towards the long shadows cast by the skyslums. 

“Safer than wandering around out here,” Crosshair agreed. 

Wrecker nodded his assent. The Marauder was just a kilometer or so beyond city limits, though he doubted any of Nar Shaddaa’s residents would have any qualms about commandeering a ship that was not within the city itself. 

Tech had deliberately chosen that area, explaining that the ship would likely be safe from simple thieves looking for easy pickings. They would be able to defend it, too, if it came to that. The minute one of them discharged a blaster, Tech warned, they would draw the unwanted eyes of the gangs that roved the streets at night. They would only have a few minutes to escape before being set upon by enemies. 

No sooner had the thought crossed Wrecker’s mind than the droids that had been following them for blocks suddenly emerged from the growing darkness. A motley collection of mismatched parts and scrap metal that gleamed in the dull light from the city, the blasters trained on Wrecker and his brothers were deadly real.

***

Hunter was jarred from the state of semi-awareness he’d sunk into after entering hyperspace by the incessant chirping of his comlink. 

He fumbled for the device, cursing when his head collided painfully with a bulkhead. Eyes watering, he opened the incoming transmission. It was a data file, courtesy of a client who had been thoroughly delighted with the results of Hunter’s previous jobs. Hunter had parted on good terms with him, with the client promising to reward him for his successes. 

There was a short message included with the file:

The others passed this one up, but I knew it wouldn’t be too much for you to handle. Once this is over, one of my colleagues has a proposition for you. I can’t disclose too much, but suffice to say it would be more than enough to finance an early retirement. 

Intrigued, Hunter made a note to return to that at a later time, then turned his attention to the file. To his surprise, the bounty’s most recent recorded location was Kalevala. Few outsiders passed through the Mandalore system; the bounty was either on an aruetii hoping to lay low in such a desolate stretch of space, or…

Hunter knew several Mandalorian factions preferred to fight as mercenaries rather than align themselves decisively with one side or another. He had little knowledge of Mandalorian history, despite Uruk’s best efforts to educate him on such matters, but he figured nomadic warriors who chose their side based on pay likely made enemies of the ones they betrayed or double crossed.

He read further, and his stomach dropped. 

Wanted for involvement with the Death Watch. Possibly responsible for premeditating the bombing that killed New Mandalorian Deputy Minister Jerec.

Hunter knew about the Death Watch, all right. Most had died in exile following their defeat during the Mandalorian Civil War, but the handful of survivors had reformed the sect in secret, then embarked on a reign of terror as they tried to seize control of the Mandalorian government. They were widely regarded as the most hated group to ever occupy Mandalorian territory. 

No wonder no one else wanted this job, he thought wryly. Even the most hardened bounty hunter would think twice about taking on a Mandalorian - particularly one associated with such a ruthless organization. 

Knowing perfectly well he would likely want nothing to do with this in the future, Hunter sent a transmission to the client confirming that he would take the job. 

***

Wrecker knew getting tangled up in difficult situations was simply a fact of life for his squad at by now, but this - being surrounded by a gang of armed droids on a Hutt-controlled planet - was a first. 

“When you said gangs, I didn’t think you meant droids,” Crosshair said under his breath.

There was just enough of an accusation in his voice that Tech shot back indignantly, “How was I supposed to know?” 

“Funnily enough, I was under the impression that you had some idea of what we were getting into when - ”

“Shoot now, talk later,” Wrecker interrupted urgently as the droids pressed closer. They hadn’t opened fire yet, but he wasn’t going to wait. He was sorry to see that battered as they were, their blasters appeared perfectly functional.

“We could try negotiating,” Tech suggested half-heartedly.

“Do those blasters say negotiation to you, Tech?” Crosshair hissed. 

What Tech’s answer was, Wrecker never found out. The first blaster bolt streaked past, missing Crosshair by a wide berth. The second nearly clipped Wrecker’s shoulder. Soon the air was filled with irregular flashes that briefly illuminated the narrow alley. 

There was little room to maneuver. The droids were equally hindered by the tight space, but droids weren’t as easily discouraged as organic adversaries. They closed in relentlessly. Well-placed shots to vulnerable joints slowed them down, but unlike most beings, they didn’t retreat to escape further injury. 

Wrecker found himself shoulder-to-shoulder with Crosshair. The close quarters meant a sniper rifle’s effectiveness would be drastically reduced, so Crosshair was wielding a DC-15 pistol. Even without his rifle, most of his shots found the droids’ optical sensors or other vital areas.

By Wrecker’s estimate, the droids were down maybe a third of their original number. He had taken only grazing hits so far; if they could get out of the alley and into a wider area, taking out the remaining droids wouldn’t be a problem. 

Tech seemed to be having similar thoughts. “If we can hold them off long enough, we should be able to make it to the Marauder.” As he spoke, he neatly dodged a shot that otherwise would have hit him center mass.

Holding them off was the problem, Wrecker thought. The droids were doing a pretty good job of laying down fire relentlessly. If they needed an opening in order to escape, they would have to make it themselves. EMPs would do the trick, but he hadn’t been able to replenish his supply before they were shipped off to Dantooine. 

Unless…

The bolts flying in every direction made it difficult to focus solely on one thing, but Wrecker raised his voice over the clamor and called,“Tech!” 

For a terrible moment there was no response; before Wrecker had time to be properly scared that his brother was lying wounded or dead, Tech answered breathlessly, “Do you have an idea?” 

“Got any EMPs?” 

Tech drew level with him, frowning as he simultaneously calculated an escape plan and returned fire. “It could work, but it’ll be close.”

“Get on with it, then!” Crosshair barked. 

Wrecker planted his feet and fired another burst of bolts at the droids. He heard Crosshair curse as he lost his footing on the ground, the dirt churned into mud by the rain and the furious firefight. Wrecker knew it was dangerous to expose himself to enemy fire, but he turned to help his brother anyways. A few hits wouldn’t -

Tech shouted a warning, and the alley burst into dazzling blue light. 

Wrecker didn’t wait to see the results. He hauled Crosshair to his feet and shoved him ahead, towards the Marauder. Then he seized Tech by the arm and took off. He didn’t dare look back; the droids would eventually recover, but the critical seconds it took them to recalibrate were all they needed to break for the ship. 

By some miracle, Wrecker ran without slipping on the perilously slick dirt. The Marauder was in view now, his brothers were racing alongside him, and suddenly they were stumbling up the short set of stairs and into the safety of the cockpit. 

Tech’s hands flew over the controls. After what felt like impossibly long minutes but couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds, the Marauder was rising into the air. It gained speed, and soon Nar Shaddaa was falling away. The skyslums faded into indistinct patches of darkness on the surface, and soon Wrecker could no longer distinguish between one city and another.

He fell back in his seat, relieved. They were safe - for the time being. He looked at Tech. His brother’s face mirrored his own exhaustion. When Wrecker risked a glance at Crosshair, he saw with some amusement that Crosshair looked as indifferent as ever. Only the tight set of his jaw suggested they had been through anything unusual.

Crosshair idly examined the toothpick between his fingers, then said, “Droids. Wouldn’t you know it’d be droids.”

Wrecker caught Tech’s eye. Tech shrugged, determinedly maintaining a straight face, but the corner of his mouth twitched. His shoulders shook as he fought to hold back his mirth.

Wrecker burst out laughing.

***

Although Mandalorian warriors were hardly an unusual sight on Kalevala, Hunter felt distinctly out of place. 

His armor didn’t draw the stares he’d learned to ignore; he was simply one Mando’ad in a system of thousands. The only feature that marked him as different from the other warriors was the keeradak signet. He was wary of openly displaying anything that indicated his connection to the covert - he wasn’t sure how warriors who did not follow the Way would react on the off chance they recognized it as a sign of his allegiances - but wasn’t entirely successful in smothering his pride and defiance. A warrior never concealed his signet out of shame or fear. 

To his relief, no one seemed to pay any attention to the symbol. Those he passed simply nodded in greeting and continued on their way. Part of him wanted to enjoy exploring a planet he’d never set foot on before, but he had a mission to complete. After all, it wasn’t all that different from Mandalore.

If that was true, he thought uneasily, then how had someone with ties to the Death Watch been able to reside here for months? Most Mando’ade loathed the Death Watch on principle. Had the bounty simply gone to great lengths to hide his past, or was someone willingly harboring him? Maybe the Death Watch wasn’t completely eradicated after all. 

It was a disturbing thought, but Hunter shoved it away. There was no point fretting over things he couldn’t answer for himself. 

The sprawling metropolis around him slowly transitioned into the collection of smaller districts that seemed to function as separate communities. This was closer to the areas of Mandalore he was familiar with, and he allowed himself to relax slightly. The city made him nervous; there were too many places to hide, too many variables. If he could corner his target in one of the less populated areas, completing the job would be much simpler.

Hunter came to a halt as nonchalantly as he could manage, studying the small crowd of armor-clad beings intently. Something had caught his eye… 

His heart began to pound. Just a few meters away, a man with a strange symbol set on his bes’marbur was making his way through a cluster of Mandalorians ambling along the walkway. Hunter had initially mistaken the image to be a signet like his own, but this symbol was different. Uruk had sketched it for him in the dirt once, months ago when he was familiarizing Hunter with Mandalorian history, but the senior warrior had obliterated it almost immediately. 

If any true Mando’ad were to see that, Uruk had said grimly, he would slit your throat, no questions asked. 

The crimson jai’galaar symbol of the Death Watch gleamed on the man’s shoulder.

Hunter frowned. If he were watching the man the client had described, the indicator in his HUD would be flashing. But no such icon appeared. 

His mind raced. Hunter began walking once more, surreptitiously following the Death Watch warrior. Even if he’s not the target, he could still lead me there, he thought. But why wasn’t anyone reacting to the symbol? The man hadn’t tried to disguise it in any way. How many of them are here?

Hunter gradually became aware that the neatly organized districts were giving way to irregular clusters of buildings. There were still Mando’ade here, but the crowd had thinned significantly. More than once Hunter thought he saw the stylized jai’galaar glaring on other shoulders or breastplates, but whenever he tried to covertly confirm his suspicions, the warriors had disappeared. 

The man he was following at a distance abruptly turned a corner and disappeared. Hunter quickened his pace as much as he dared, then followed the same route. Just beyond the corner rose what might have been a warehouse. 

Hunter had hardly taken one step towards it when the man appeared in front of him. Suddenly Hunter was falling, slamming into the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of his lungs. He rolled over, unsheathing his knife in the same movement, but a sudden weight in the middle of his back kept him pressed into the ground. 

“Well done, bounty hunter,” the man rasped. Fighting the panic rising in his chest, Hunter saw three more Mandalorians with the jai’galaar symbol adorning their beskar’gam emerge from the dark building in front of him. “It seems you’re beginning to realize why everyone else refused to take this job.”

#way of the hunter #hunter #sergeant hunter #the bad batch #bad batch #clone force 99 #fanfic #oh look another subplot #wonder how that happened #that whole last section was not planned

[emathevampire]

Compass for team chaotic good

Compass: who’s the moral compass? in general: what are your OCs’ morality like? do they have high morals, or not? are their morals self imposed, or do they base their morals on religion/family/influence of others?  Well, considering that they’re called Team Chaotic Good, that should give you a pretty solid idea of what they’re about! But not everyone is ACTUALLY chaotic good. Some aren’t even Chaotic. Or Good, in fact! Funnily enough, about half of them are Lawful, actually. So here’s the breakdown. Team Chaotic Good has quite a few members, so I’ll put it under a cut, as it’s a bit long.

Kíhyué: The team leader. Is Actually Chaotic Good. Has a very strong moral core, and while he doesn’t expect everyone he associates with to actually BE good-aligned, he damn well expects them all to act like it. The society he was raised in was largely Lawful/Neutral, but his outlook ended up completely different as a result of the mistreatment he suffered at the hands of strict laws and “neutral” stances that did more harm than good. “No such thing as an innocent bystander. You stand by and do nothing, you do not want to get involved, fine. But do not call yourself innocent. Do not say you did no harm when you could have done good instead.”

Inimicia: Sort of like his second in command, she’s Exalted Lawful Good. Not something you’d expect from the infamous Assassin Queen, or a half-vampire, or someone whose name literally means “the enemy,” but she’s had a long hard crawl up from being born chaotic evil and like hell she’s going to give up the good fight now. Her morals are 100% self-imposed, and she goes out of her way to find others in need of similar impositions and help them learn how to use objectively evil powers for good. Her order of assassins is ironically mostly good aligned, and she works very hard to keep it that way, sending them on missions to slay demons and devils and other undeniable evils who’ve managed to blend into society. This often leads to them looking like the bad guys, of course... nobility who keep their sinister deeds well hidden suddenly drop dead murdered in their own homes, and no one understands why. No one, except the victims of their cruelty whose pleas Inimicia’s spies overhear. She’s especially wary of religion, and any religion that claims to serve “the greater good.” A deity, of course, has the power to decide just what they think the greater good actually is, and cannot be trusted not to be acting solely in their own self-interest, or to actually do good deeds at all. “Go ahead. Paint me as your enemy. The world can believe you all it wants to, I’ll be the villain if you make me. I’ll still know the truth... and so will you.” Xadrea Shadowborn: Is Exalted Chaotic Good out of sheer spite and determination. Unlike Kíhyué, she absolutely expects Good out of everyone, even if she has to drag them kicking and screaming into behaving like decent human beings. Arguably this is the result of outside influence, though it’s... complicated. Essentially, she and her companions in a different universe had been given these artifacts that would tempt them into corruption in exchange for power, ultimately transforming them into an avatar of one of the Archdukes of Hell if they succumbed to enough temptations to lose their souls. Xadrea watched this happen to SEVEN of her party members. She outright refused to fall, ended up hosting the deity Heironeous instead of an archfiend, and saved the universe, all thanks to pure fucking spite and refusing to do as she was told by the voice in her head. Her sense of justice and honour don’t always conform to what one would expect of a literal divine embodiment of Valor, but she argues that’s what makes her best for the job, since she absolutely will not get caught up over doing the lawful thing as opposed to the right thing... something she and Kíhyué both agree is what makes their approach to fighting evil the best one. Her morals, ultimately, come from the shitty little slothful voice in the back of her mind that wants her to lie down and accept defeat, protect herself and forget the world... “Oh, you wish I’d quit, don’t you? Well it’s not gonna happen. NEVER gonna happen. You want apathy from me? Get bent, devil. I’m going to CARE. I am going to care SO much, ON PURPOSE, about EVERYTHING but you, and you can’t fucking stop me.” Anaziah the Kind: A paladin of freedom, Anaziah is another actual Chaotic Good member. If her former epithet of “the Wrathful” isn’t enough of an indication, she certainly didn’t used to have a moral compass, and it’s a testament to her strength of will that she’s managed to change and become a better person. She’s still pretty new at this whole “being a good person” thing, and looks to Faendys and the others for guidance, very grateful to all of them for giving her a chance instead of judging the Drow book by its cover. “I was raised to hate everything that wasn’t like us. To hate, to subjugate, to destroy. But... I was never really like ‘us,’ was I? All they ever really taught me was how to hate myself. The surface world isn’t like that. I’m free here. I’m allowed to love instead. It’s not easy, but, doesn’t everyone deserve the chance to try?” Faendys: Neutral Good, Faendys is the very calm one, who’s never trying to make any sort of deep commentary on anything on purpose, but often ends up making unsettlingly wise comments anyway. They rarely have to say much, and rarely do say much when things get serious, but their small voice piping up with something profound is always what gets the rest of them to shut up and act reasonably when their opposing alignments cause conflict. Even if it’s just a simple “That’s... not okay,” Faendys trusts their gut when it comes to tough ethical dilemmas, and the others generally listen to them. “I know it sounds hard. And it’s probably going to make us a lot of enemies. Even if we get away with it. But... we haven’t been afraid of that before, have we? They need our help, and we know it. What makes this time any different?” Arekos Aidoneus: A dread necromancer who’s also the party healer, Arekos is Lawful Neutral, and the only thing preventing him from being Good is the fact that many of the spells he casts are technically evil (see: raising armies of undead). However, he’s very careful to only use these spells for good purposes, and also has a few spells from the Book of Exalted Deeds on his list... his moral fibre is rather complex. His approach to the subject is based very strongly on his culture and religion: keep the balance in all things, use your dark powers only to serve the light, and defend the cause of good for the cause of evil needs no help to prosper. This creed is how he stays lawful despite actively working towards arguably chaotic goals, because dismantling the government brick by brick is, in fact, something he is required by his social and religious obligations to do, provided that the government in question is evil. Kíhyué and Xadrea absolutely hate it when he brings this up. “The world would love to prove that we cannot be good, that we cannot be kind, that we cannot be anything but evil and should not exist. I should very much like to prove them all wrong.” Amanthos Panideios: Also Lawful Neutral, with a heavy emphasis on Lawful, this librarian monk knows full well that he does not really fit in here... so he follows the others’ lead more often than not, managing to stay lawful despite the chaotic things they get up to the same way Arekos does. He also just... avoids getting directly involved with anything that would involve breaking the law in ways he can’t rationalise. Amanthos is not Moral, he is Ethical, and this is both a good thing (he’s able to rationalise many of the chaotic things he engages with as actually complying with the code of ethics he is meant to follow) and a bad thing (not everything has an easy answer, and it’s very easy for him to potentially fall into Lawful Evil behaviour if someone else isn’t around to check his work). “Oh dear... we didn’t cover this in any of my moral philosophy lectures... Arekos? Arekos, do you know the answer to this one?” Psamion: The bard, the sea captain, the Chaotic Neutral (but good-leaning!) one. He did his time as the hero, and quite frankly he hated every second of it, it traumatised him thoroughly, and he never wants to speak of it again. He’s perfectly content to continue doing his best to help people, in his own way, but absolutely does not want to let himself get dragged into another high-stakes demon hunt to the Hells and back, because he barely came out of the last one alive. That being said, Kíhyué is his closest friend in the entire universe, and he would do anything for him... so, naturally, when Kíhyué says “We have to save the world again,” Psamion just sighs, packs his things, and says “Can’t it just stay saved for once?” as he follows Kíhyué out the door. “Look, I don’t much care for this whole ‘getting involved’ thing, but if Kíhyué says it’s time to put up a fight, and he needs my help, you’d best believe I’m pulling out my knives and hucking a flaming bottle wherever he points me to. The world’s in trouble, and damn it all, by some miracle I’m STILL one of the idiots who lives in it, thanks to him... If I’m gonna fight, it may as well be a good fight.” Eomer: Is a gryphon. Kíhyué raised him from a hatchling, and their moral cores are as such pretty much identical... though Eomer is much more empathetic and often needs to give Kíhyué a kick in a more compassionate direction. “I think you very brave for trying. Maybe we fail, yes, happen some times. But what if not! Any thing can happen! Good thing, even! You would not even try for good? For happy thing? Stupid. Go try. Come try with me. I will go by myself, yes? No? Good! Together, we stand a chance, always worth a chance.”

#rixa writes #team chaotic good #whew this ate a good several hours #sorry it got so long #but thanks for the ask!!! #romulan-raptorstar

[neverwatchedonepiece]

640-642: "Explore! Fairies' Island - Green Bit!", "The Unknown World! The Tontatta Kingdom!" and "The Stratagem of the Century! Doflamingo Makes His Move!"

Doflamingo using Fake News before it was cool.

Watched three episodes to make up for not posting on Saturday. Damn, am I glad I watched up to 642. The reveal of the Tontatta people and what Violet was up to *did* move the plot along. But Doflamingo is the centre of trouble and strife. When he shows up, you know it’s about to get real.

And boy, Doflamingo really is a proper joker, isn’t he? Just loves to play little tricks on people. Little tricks like taking control of the press and releasing fake news just so you can murder another pirate.

Such a prankster!

Zoro Ages 40 Years Through Confusion and Stress

Before I get to the Main Event, gotta update on Franky and Sol, plus Zoro and his new pal Wicka!

In Zoro’s storyline, the action kicked in with him dashing about Acacia Port Town, seemingly yelling and muttering to himself. A small child was scared. His mother advised him to not look Zoro in the eye.

Meanwhile, somewhere about Zoro’s person, a small voice ordered, “Get to Flower Field already!”

Ah, thought I. Zoro has teamed up with the thieving little fairy from earlier.

Sure enough, a flashback confirmed it, along with another tasty nugget of news that tied Zoro’s story neatly into the main plot.

After the sack of stolen stuff whacked Zoro on the head, Zoro spotted the little thief. The game was up. Tiny thief introduced himself as Wicka. He belonged to the Tontatta Tribe’s scouting unit and he was freaking out about Zoro - a Big Human - having seen him. Of course, Wicka couldn’t share any information - apart the fact he was supposed to report to his chief that the Donquixote Family were about to destroy the Strawhat Pirates’ ship.

Obviously, Zoro was interested in this development. He was about to haul ass back to Sunny but, alas, his faulty GPS kicked in. (He is the only one who hasn’t left Acacia Port yet, lmao). As Wicka had broken his ankle in the fall, he offered to guide Zoro back to shore in exchange for a ride to a place called Flower Field.

Turns out the Tontatta People have a conflict with the Donquixote Family too, though Wicka wouldn’t spill the details. (I’m still thinking a lot of them are being forced to work in the Smile factory.)

As for Franky and Sol, they are heading the same way, funnily enough. (Maybe Flower Field is the headquarters for the Resistance.) On the way, Rebecca spotted them from a Colosseum window. She shouted after Sol, who acted pretty weird about the whole thing. Pretty much was like, “Oh, so you entered the competition even though I told you not to. Okay.”

There is obviously a crap ton of history between these two because Rebecca cried and shouted back, “I’ll win so we can live together!”

Sol was all surly about it. “A warrior who cries will not easily win,” and rode away on Franky. Then, when he was safely out of earshot, he told Franky how he had something he wanted to protect and that he could not shed tears from his tin eyes.

Gotta say, I’m getting weird vibes from this relationship.

Ceci N’Est Pas Une Punch

As for Luffy Lucy, the Block C battle is officially underway! I was super hyped to see this fight but the action kept cutting away from it. Now the Feathered One has flapped onto the stage, he’s hogged the spotlight and some of the hype has worn off.

Still, that whole sequence of Luffy winding up Gomu Gomu stretchy punches and declaring, “That was a normal punch. Oh, that one? That was a normal kick. A completely normal kick.” Even after several fellow competitors observed, “Hey, that guy’s arm stretched. Isn’t that exactly like that Strawhat Luffy guy’s power?”

No.

No it wasn’t.

It was just a normal, run of the mill stretchy punch. 

Do not listen to Cavendish who is being manhandled from the area shrieking “I’LL KILL YOU, STRAWHAT!” at the top of his lungs. Do not listen to Don Chinjao, who is stomping about, growling about murdering Garp’s grandson every five seconds.

All trickery and lies.

And speaking of...

You Just Lost the Circle Game

Ah, I am so glad Sanji’s little subplot has merged into the main plot. It had begun to border on unwatchable. I breathed a sigh of relief when Violet turned the tables last episode. I thought she might even be a CP0 member in disguise, seeking to shackle Sanji and trade him for Luffy.

Nope.

It’s less complicated than that.

It turned out Violet was an assassin hired by Doflamingo to prey on Sanji’s weakness for women. The chuckling thugs surrounding her laughed it up. This guy is worth 70 million and he was fooled by Violet’s act? What a dumbass.

She shit-talked Sanji for about five seconds. “Did you really think a guy like you could win my heart? How funny!”

This was before she unveiled her Glare Glare fruit power which allows her to see into people’s minds (legit amazingly useful power, to be fair). She asked Sanji some Important Questions. Why had Strawhat and Trafalgar Law become allies? What brought them to Dressrosa besides the business at Green Bit? What was their ultimate plan? What were they up to?

But inside Sanji’s mind, all she saw was PINK PINK PINK. Which, I am guessing, means Sanji’s head was filled with nothing else but thoughts of LADIEZ. (Bit of a disservice to Sanji, but okay.)

Understandably, Violet was freaked out. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking of you,” Sanji answered. “The way you looked at me in that moment, I knew you were telling me the truth when you asked me to kill someone for you. I believe in women’s tears!”

I blinked and reached for my sick bucket.

Amazingly, Sanji’s charm worked on Violet. Not only did she turn on the hired thugs, she also ran away with Sanji and let him peer into her mind to discover the trap Doflamingo had laid for Trafalgar Law.

Very generous. Sanji, I take it all back. You are a smooth operator, after all.

Little People: The Only Thing That Has Legit Scared Robin Since Enies Lobby

Back at Green Bit, Usopp was having flashbacks to Bowin Island and Caesar was shrieking for Doflamingo. Law basically told him to hold his horses because they had a bit of walking to do first. Caesar would be handed over at 3pm at a further distant point of beach.

Then Usopp’s keen sharpshooter’s eye spotted an ominous object. A Marine ship grounded on the bay, snarled in a plant’s grip. Robin concluded the cuts that freed the ship from the plant were fresh and that the ship hadn’t sustained much damage. 

Ruh roh. That meant the Marines were on Green Bit.

Caesar freaked out. He was a wanted man with a sky-high bounty and a list of crimes that would make Magellan’s hair curl. Now Doflamingo had resigned from the Shichibukai, there was no law protecting Caesar anymore. If he was left on Green Bit, cuffed and defenceless, they’d arrest him! “THIS IS HELL!” he wailed. “I’M DOOMED!”

While Usopp hissed at Caesar to stfu, Robin side-eyed Law. “Why are the Marines here? You look like you’re hiding something, Law?”

Law claimed it was a coincidence. How could he control the Marines? (Though the flashback to his chat with Smoker when he admitted he was headed for Green Bit says otherwise. Not control. More a subtle manipulation.) Still not sure how much of the Marine presence here is Law’s or Doflamingo’s doing. I’m thinking Doflamingo’s to be honest. Maybe Law expected Smoker and found Fujitora instead? More on that later, though.

At any rate, Law set up a recon plan. Robin and Usopp would scout the area, searching for Marines. He would walk to the handover point with Caesar.

Robin and Usopp saw some shit in that forest, let me tell you.

A gang of fodder Marines fell victim to some of Wicka’s fellow tribespeople. A spokesperson called Leo demanded to know if the Marines were good or bad people. 

“We are Marine soldiers! We protect people!”

But when they would not hand over their weapons, the Tontatta fighters stripped the Marines almost butt-naked (they left the underpants for their cousins, the Underpants Gnomes).

A similar thing happened to Robin. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a small, shadowy figure retreating with stolen clobber in hand. She set a mille fleurs and caught a very angry little dude. She did try to ask him if they had robbed the Marines, but the Angry Little Dude’s friends returned with anaesthetic slingshot ammo.

The next thing, there are a few shots of shadowy stitches and Robin stirs awake to find lots of Tontatta people slithering about under her clothes (kinda creepy) and going through her stuff. Notebook, candy, den den mushi. Oh yeah, and her body was stitched to the ground by Leo.

Luckily, Robin is the kind of person who can stay calm in trying situations. She kept her cool and asked questions. Where was she? Was Usopp okay? Had they grown all the massive plants on the island?

The answers were that she was in the Tontatta Kingdom, they had captured Usopp and he was fine and, yes, the plants were their doing and there is no plant they cannot grow. 

Robin figured she could easily escape with her DF power but that she had to be careful not to cause a stir. When they asked her why she had kidnapped one of their own people, Robin answered she had caught him out curiosity. That was it. She hadn’t meant any harm and she would never tell anyone she had seen them.

“LOL, OKAY,” Leo said. “YOU CAN GO. HERE ARE ALL YOUR BELONGINGS EXCEPT THE DDM WHICH WE RELEASED INTO THE WILD.”

That was funny. 

It was all going well, until Robin discovered she only had two minutes to meet with Law at the handover point. She made to leave but the Tontatta people were like, “NO. NO ONE LEAVES. GIVE US YOUR WEAPON.” (What is it with them and weapons? Are they planning to go to war with the Donquixote family? They’ll get their tiny asses handed to them.)

They were about to strip Robin, but another Tontatta random ran up, saying not to harm Robin. That she was the partner of the Legendary Hero! The Big Human who had come to save them all!

Yes, I thought! The Legendary Hero? There’s only one person that could be. Usopp’s bullshitting skills have come through!

Law Falls for Doflamingo’s Fake News

For that reason, Robin and Usopp didn’t make the the handover on time.

Well, Robin did.

Sort of. The usefulness of her Devil Fruit power has climbed a few notches. Remember she showed she could clone herself in Fishman Island? Turns out she can do this long-distance too. Even though she is underground with the Tontatta people, she was still able to send a message to Law.

Unfortunately, Robin’s clone arrived just as Sanji’s Bad News did.

While Law and Caesar were standing on shore like they were waiting for Godot, Law’s DDM rang. It was Sanji with the best damned plot twist.

“You’ve gotta get out of there! Doflamingo didn’t resign from the Shichibukai. Even if you hand over Caesar to him, there is no trade!”

Law was shook. “Wait, that doesn’t make sense--”

“We’ve been doublecrossed!” Sanji shouted. And told Law everything Violet had shown him. The flashbacks revealed something very interesting. The crowd below Doflamingo’s rooms, begging him not to abdicate, were assuaged when CP0 turned up and told them the newspaper reports were “a mistake. Just a false report. We will let the world know through an extra edition of the Coo News at 3pm. You mustn’t tell anyone until then.”

3pm, eh? Convenient timing on Doflamingo’s part. Now the residents of Dressrosa being awfully calm for a nation whose king has just abdicated makes a ton of sense.

But the news came too late for Law. Out of the trees, Admiral Fujitora marched with his men. Fujitora did not seem pleased to have been fooled by the false report. The jury is out on how much Akainu really knows, but he is going to talk with the Gorosei at Mariejois (that’ll be an interesting conversation). Right now, Fujitora is still following orders to be there at the handover point.

Law realised he was screwed.

“You’re the new Admiral, aren’t you?” he said.

Then Doflamingo flapped down.

In his shrieking enthusiasm, Caesar almost ruptured something internal. “JOKERRRRRRRRRRR!”

But Doflamingo only had eyes for Law. (Murder eyes. I cannot stress the murder part enough.)

“Hey, Law. Well done! I didn’t expect to see a Marine Admiral here. Since I’m no longer  Warlord, I’m scared as hell.”

Now I think about it... maybe Law had deliberately led the Marines to Green Bit under the mistaken assumption Doflamingo really had resigned. If everything had gone as Law had planned, the Marines would have rocked up, arrested Doflamingo and Caesar and Kaidou’s supply of Smiles would have dried up.

But it didn’t work out like that.

“Liar!” Law growled. “Answer me, Doflamingo! You used the authority of the World Government to fool the whole world only to deceive ten people? How?”

“Often the more spectacular the magic, the simpler the trick,” Doflamingo replied, giving nothing away damn it.  “People usually have a stereotypical idea or assumption like, ‘that’s ridiculous!’ and that’s what causes a blind spot.”

He was clearly referring to Law here. Law had assumed there was no way Doflamingo had the power to pull such a massive, world-scale trick. I mean, CP0 have been drafted in here. They report directly to the World Government. Doflamingo has some hefty connections. There is no denying it at this point.

“Nobody can really do such a thing, even if he hatched some scheme. You’re a pirate!” Law seethed. “Even if you’re a Shichibukai and a king you don’t have the power to spread a lie over the world! The only people who have the power to do such a ridiculous thing are the Celestial Dragons--”

Law’s words caught in this throat. He remembered what Vergo had said to him at Punk Hazard: “You don’t know Joker’s past and that will cost you your life.”

My jaw dropped. SURELY NOT??? Was Doflamingo a Celestial Dragon?

Even Law thought the same as me. “Don’t tell me you’re--”

Doflamingo, cagey as always, said only, “It’s a bit more complicated that that. But I have only one purpose here, Law. I just want to kill you.”

Dem veins, man.

Vein’s a-poppin’

I hope Law has some tricks up his sleeve because he is caught between an Admiral and Doflamingo. It ain’t looking good for him right now.

Should’ve checked Snopes, Law. Verifying fake news is super important, man.

Pan’s Labyrinth? Is that you?

#one piece #neverwatchedonepiece #nwop #never watched one piece #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #sanji #usopp #nico robin #violet #rebecca #trafalgar law #donquixote doflamingo #admiral fujitora #admiral akainu #cavendish #don chinjao #sol the toy #franky #cp0 #caesar clown #wicka #leo #dressrosa

[chelseaheskett]

ELLIOT’S 37TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

MARCH 15TH AND 16TH, 2019 @ THE HOLT RESIDENCE, SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA.

She’d convinced him to take the Friday off of work for his birthday. “You only turn thirty-seven once,” said into the shell of his ear before Chelsea found a spot below his jaw to kiss. It was an excuse for them to spend a weekday together. An excuse for Chelsea to shower Elliot in all the gifts and love and adoration that he deserved. Last year for his birthday felt, for her, disappointing. They were still settling into their new home (had it really been a year already?) and Chelsea was still fighting back against incessant bouts of morning sickness. The celebration hadn’t been on par with what she wanted for him. This year it was different. Not only because the twins were finally here and crawling around, or because they’d finally made a home out of California, but because of Macy. Macy and Amy.

It had taken a lot of talking--Chelsea spread out against Elliot’s chest late at night days in a row, when all of the kids were finally sleeping--but he’d made the decision to meet the woman who claimed to be his sister. Before Elliot had even gotten home from their mutual meeting spot (the coffee shop her Mom really loved around the corner) he’d sent her a picture via text message. A selfie, no less, with Macy and a blonde woman. He normally hated photos. Liked to take them, sure, but it was almost impossible to get Elliot to take a picture front on. Chelsea thought about her Facebook profile picture: Elliot’s head turned, pecking her on the cheek while she grinned at the camera, the beach they stayed at on their honeymoon in the background. In this photo? With his long lost sister? He was beaming. His eyes crinkled at the edges. She could see his teeth in his smile. 

He sent the photo without commentary or context and Chelsea hated him for it. She sat in the front room, playing with Jack and the twins, waiting impatiently for Elliot to return. She wanted to know everything. Had to cup a hand over her mouth to keep herself from crying from the joy of it all. This was all she wanted for him: love and family and happiness. And he looked so God damn happy in the photo that it made her heart ache. In the best type of way. 

When the front door clicked open, Chelsea ran to the entryway to greet her husband.

Turns out that not only did Elliot have one sister, but he had two. Macy’s twin, Amy, was the blonde in the picture he’d sent. They stood in the doorway while he quickly tried to explain it all. Chelsea had a firm grip around both his wrists and peppered his face with congratulatory kisses. Although the girls didn’t know the details, they knew he’d been to prison. Elliot had been the one to break the initial awkward silence between them at the table. They were both married, they both had their own children. They had only been with his parents for a few months before being taken away by child services. One of them was a lawyer, the other one a personal trainer. They were similar but not the same, just like Isaac and Vanessa--and hey! That’s where the twin thing came from in the first place; Elliot’s side of the family. Macy had asked to take a selfie and Elliot hadn’t even objected--they looked at the photo again, and Chelsea pointed out how Macy really was the girl she’d found on Facebook, and how blue their eyes were. She asked for more details, and asked questions with more questions. They stood in the entryway of the house until Isaac interrupted them and started to cry in the other room.

“Don’t even question it, Elliot Holt. I am so proud of you.” Chelsea exclaimed, shooting him a look of warning as to not argue back against her statement. “I can’t even tell you how proud. Or how happy I am right now.” There was a glint in her eye. Dimples in her smile. She scooped Isaac up into her arms and rocked him until the crying ceased. “Your Daddy is a brother, just like you are.” Chelsea said to him in a coo, voice high and baby-like. “Your Daddy is an uncle, and you are a cousin. Yeah! That makes you happy, too, doesn’t it, baby boy?” Chelsea scrunched up her nose and brushed it against Isaac’s cheek. The little boy giggled and bounced. Elliot retrieved Vanessa from her spot on the floor. Jack walked over and buried his face against Elliot’s knee. Chelsea leaned down to ruffle her son’s hair. “Where Daddy go?” Jack mumbled, the tiredness drawling his words. It was nap time, for sure. He signalled the I love you gesture: a hand over his eye, then his heart, and then a pointed finger up at Elliot. Genevieve had taught him well. “Love you.” Jack enunciated, tiny arms wrapping around Elliot’s leg. Chelsea grinned. 

The morning of Elliot’s birthday, on the Friday, Chelsea had woken up before him and slipped silently out of bed. Looked after all the babies--it had been Lucy’s week with Jenny, and they were going to pick her up from school in the afternoon to start off their custody week a little early for the birthday celebrations. Plural, more than one. Chelsea had always loved this type of stuff. It was a neat way of showing someone how much you loved and cared about them. Elliot was getting that tenfold this year. Once Chelsea got the babies dressed and fed and ready for the day, she went back into the bedroom with a breakfast tray. Elliot was still a little kid at heart, okay? He liked his waffles covered in chocolate sauce and chips and whipped cream. She had his coffee mug, something Jenny had given him for Father’s Day last year, printed with World’s Best Dad on the outside, topped with sugar. She set the tray on the bedside table and grabbed his presents, wrapped tight with a red bow, from the closet. 

It felt like a rarity, Elliot sleeping in. Elliot sleeping, period. It seemed to come a lot easier after meeting up with Macy and Amy. Chelsea didn’t want to disturb him, but there was a selfish part of her that was so excited to spend the entire day together and to see him open up his gifts. That was the part of her that nudged him awake with a chaste kiss pressed against his temple. “Happy birthday, baby.” Chelsea hummed. She sat on the edge of the mattress and gestured toward his breakfast. She swiped some whipped cream from his plate and licked it off her finger with a chuckle. 

There were two presents that he unwrapped: a new watch, black in design, the face fresh and clear of scratches (unlike the one he had now) and the DVD box set of Suits. Jenny was so interested in law and the legal system (not unlike her father or, funnily enough, her aunt) that they’d started catching random episodes on TV before and after homework time. Chelsea thought it’d be a nice thing for them to watch together--hell, it was a lot safer than Law & Order: SVU. From what Chelsea had seen and researched, too? She liked the storyline. If the main character could be a lawyer without a degree and after going to prison, why couldn’t Elliot do it with a degree and a history of practising law? He’d paid for his crimes. Maybe there was a way he could pass the bar again. Maybe it was just a fictional TV show, she wasn’t sure, but the entertainment value was there at the very least. “There’s more...” Chelsea raised her eyebrows up and down, over and over. “You’ll just have to wait ‘til later.”

Later came an hour and a half before they were scheduled to pick Jenny up from school. All three babies were down for their afternoon nap. Chelsea had taken a quick shower after a spit-up incident with Vanessa and emerged downstairs in a bathrobe. “Hey, birthday boy.” Chelsea called out to get his attention. Elliot was sitting at the table on his laptop. Chelsea approached and slowly shut the lid. “I almost forgot. You haven’t unwrapped all of your presents yet.” She had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. She knew it was cheesy. She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks as she shrugged the robe off her shoulders. Stood still, ‘cause the red ribbon had been very hard to arrange around the contours of her body. The silk barely covered her breasts. One wrong movement and she was sure it would slip--and that would just ruin everything, wouldn’t it? 

“I’m yours, Elliot.” Chelsea declared, eyes wandering down to the bow, gesturing for him to touch it. Unwrap it. “I’m all yours.”

Mid-morning Saturday involved a lot less fooling around. Chelsea was running around the kitchen like a headless chicken. With her mother’s assistance over the phone, she’d found a foolproof meal large enough to feed them all on Pinterest. Olive tapenade stuffed chicken breasts with sun-dried tomatoes, creamy spinach and artichokes. Simple enough, right? All three babies were set up in the play pen. Jenny was on the couch, already starting on the Suits DVDs without her father. Chelsea made Elliot do another once-over of the house to see if anything else needed to be spruced up or wiped with a cloth. She’d ordered him to “stay away from the fridge!” because his birthday cake, a Strawberry Shortcake she’d bought from the local bakery, was hidden by a garden salad on the bottom shelf. Chelsea still didn’t trust him not to find it. 

“How are you feeling, honey?” Chelsea asked, hair falling in waves over her shoulder. She checked on the chicken in the oven before moving to wrap her arms around his neck. “I’m so nervous. I just hope I don’t mess up this meal.” That wasn’t the only thing she was nervous about, but it was easy to voice her concerns over a surface insecurity. Everything Elliot had been saying a few weeks ago--what if she doesn’t like me? What if they don’t like me?--was running through Chelsea’s head now. “I want this to be a perfect day. You deserve to have a perfect day.” He deserved to be surrounded by his sisters and their families, as well as his own children and everybody else that he loved, on his birthday. This was an important day. This was an important weekend. Chelsea was going to do everything within her power to make it perfect--as much was humanly possible, anyway.

The door bell chimed and her heart fluttered in her chest. “You go answer the door, babe. So it’s not awkward.” Chelsea grimaced and grabbed the oven mitt again to check on the chicken one more time. Amy and Macy were bringing everyone: Macy’s husband, his name was Caleb, and they had a daughter, Michelle, and a son, Oliver. Amy was married to woman named Lola and they had adopted a little girl together, Sadie. The table was set for all of them, sans the littlest ones. Jack and the twins were about ready to go down for a nap, although Chelsea was positive their regular schedule was surely to be interrupted with the day’s excitement and festivities. 

Cooking and hosting and mothering all at the same time wasn’t even the reason for her anxiety--no, it was that voice in her head, the one telling her she wouldn’t be good enough. The one telling her that she’d be hated by her in-laws. This was the first time she was experiencing this with Elliot, or with anybody, really. They’d skipped that step in their relationship--Elliot had it with her mother, Donna, and with her family and friends back in Wilmington, but... This felt different. This felt bigger. Macy and Amy were twins, they grew up together. Caleb and Lola and the kids knew each other, and maybe this was their first time meeting Elliot, but this was Chelsea’s first time meeting everybody. “I love you.” Chelsea sung as Elliot left to answer the door, ‘cause that was the only way she knew how to immediately ease even the smallest bit of anxiety.

#elliot #elliot 09 #interaction #slightly nsfw?? who knows

[accio-spaceman]

VORTEX Magazine - Issue 87

May 2016

Download for FREE on the Big Finish website

  The Tenth Doctor Adventures

Matt Fitton, Jenny T Colgan, James Goss, and Russell T Davies weigh in on the new “The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Volume 1″ series.

Technophobia 

[Above Matt Fitton, Jenny T Colgan, and James Goss]

 Responsible for bringing the stories to life has been script editor Matt Fitton, who has written Technophobia, the first of the Big Finish Tenth Doctor stories, as well as working with the other scribes on the series. Jenny T Colgan has written Time Reaver, while Death and the Queen has come from the imagination of James Goss.

 (Full Article Under Cut)

Talking of this series, Matt says: “It had a long gestation period – when the licence first came through, we started thinking about different ways of doing Tenth Doctor stories.

“When it became clear we had Donna as well, we sent a pitch to be approved by the BBC, so we could give them a concept of what we wanted to do, story-wise.

“We decided to do something similar to the way they did things with the TV series. The first one was going to be a story set in contemporary London with a strange threat, so it was similar to a series opener of the era. The second story would be set in outer space, with something weird, wonderful and alien, and then the third story would be something possibly historical or a bit more emotional and based on Earth.

“These were the briefs that want out to Jenny and James, so they were able to flesh out their stories. We had lots of exchanges of ideas, back and forth.

“James is a good, solid, clever writer who you know you can rely on. I was really pleased to get Jenny involved as we were keen to have something of a name attached to the series, and she is such a good writer who loves her Doctor Who too. It’s great to have a Sunday Times best-selling writer with us!”

In order for Matt to get the feel for the era again, he had to dig out his DVD collection.

In Technophobia, the Doctor and Donna visit London’s Technology Museum for a glimpse into the future, but things don’t go to plan. The most brilliant IT brain in the country can’t use her computer. More worrying, the exhibits are attacking the visitors, while outside, people seem to be losing control of the technology that runs their lives. Is it all down to simple human stupidity, or is something more sinister going on? Beneath the streets, the Koggnossenti are waiting. For all of London to fall prey to technophobia...

Smiling, Matt says: “It was a question of going back and watching the episodes again, which is what I do with the classic series. You watch the episodes and how the characters work – the Doctor and Donna are just such vivid characters, as they are so full of life on screen.

“I suppose there’s an added pressure knowing you’ve got David and Catherine performing your lines. Everyone knows Catherine’s a brilliant comedian and some people forget just how great an actress she is too – you want to give her something to really work with.

“You know David’s so good and will be able to do anything you give to him.”

David Richardson says: “Technophobia began life as something else altogether. I’d been holding on to the idea for a story about sleep deprivation – what would happen if the whole world lost the ability to sleep? That was going to be our first episode. And then we submitted it to Cardiff, and of course Sleep No More was planned for series nine on television, so there was a clash. Matt Fitton rather brilliantly took the core idea and twisted it into something else entirely different but really clever.”

 “Everyone knows Catherine’s a brilliant comedian, and some people forget just how great an actress she is too – you want to give her something to really work with.”

– Matt Fitton

 Time Reaver

[Above Jenny T Colgan wearing an “I 'heart heart' Gallifrey” t-shirt.]

 The second adventure for the Doctor and Donna is Time Reaver. Although Jenny – an accomplished romantic comedy novelist as well as a prolific writer of Doctor Who fiction – has since written a play for Big Finish’s first River Song series, which was released earlier this year, she actually wrote her Tenth Doctor story first.

In Time Reaver, the TARDIS lands on Calibris, the spaceport planet where anything goes. The alien Vacintians are trying to impose some order over the smugglers and pirates that crowd the port. Soon the Doctor and Donna discover why. An illegal weapon is loose on the streets. A weapon that destroys lives... Slowly and agonisingly. The Time Reaver.

Despite having written for the Doctor several times in prose – including In The Blood, a new Tenth Doctor and Donna BBC novel being released this month to tie-in with the Big Finish audios – this was Jenny’s first script, a fact she was extremely excited about.

“I never believed that people actually jump for joy but I did actually hop around the kitchen a little bit. Then I was so terrified I’d actually tell someone I got horribly paranoid. But it was an extremely exciting moment.

“I pitched a few things and they chose the one they liked. Funnily enough, Time Reaver is quite traditional sci-fi – it’s a mechanical interchange planet, like a massive interplanetary King’s Cross – whereas my friend and colleague James Goss has written one about Donna getting married, so it feels a bit like we’re on each others’ turf!”

Jenny didn’t feel the need to go back to watch some TV episodes featuring the Doctor and Donna.

She explains: “I’ve written for four different Doctors and you do have to shake their voices out of your head a little bit, just to give yourself a bit of a mental shake up because they’re all so different. Matt Smith is nothing like Peter Capaldi who is obviously nothing like David, etc. The Tenth Doctor understands human emotions, whereas the Eleventh gets a bit bamboozled by them, and the Twelfth understands in theory but he doesn’t really care very much – although he’s learning...

“But I don’t need to go back and watch series episodes, I watch them all the time. I can recite Forest of the Dead off by heart (I shan’t, but I can). Silence in the Library is a real touchstone for me. I have two Tenth Doctor/Donna projects coming out in May: one is set just before Library and one just after Midnight.

“Here is a funny thing; my kids were watching Silence in the Library last week because the six- year-old is finally old enough to deal with the skeletons, and when River says ‘Have we done picnic at Asgard yet?’ (which I wrote this year for the Eleventh Doctor and River), they all turned to me and went ‘But how did you know?’ And then when he says ‘Why would I give you my screwdriver?’, they all went, ‘Because mummy wrote that you had a sonic trowel and the Doctor thought it was rubbish!’.

“It was just so, so very lovely to be able to play with all of that when you’re writing for Doctors past, and so very special to me.”

Death and the Queen

[Above James Goss holding a cat.]

 The concluding play in this first run of Tenth Doctor adventures is Death and the Queen, by James Goss. As we’ve seen in The Runaway Bride, and learned subsequently, Donna Noble has never been lucky in love. So when, one day, her Prince does come, she is thrilled to have the wedding of all weddings to look forward to. The Doctor isn’t holding his breath for an invitation, and her future mother-in-law is certainly not amused. But on the big day itself, Donna finds her castle under siege from the darkest of forces, marching at the head of a skeleton army. When it looks like even the Doctor can’t save the day, what will Queen Donna do to save her people from Death itself?

James explains how the conversation went when he was asked to write the play: “David Richardson: ‘This is obviously top secret and you can’t tell anyone’.

“Me: ‘I think I’ve just told a whole train carriage’.”

James is no stranger to writing for the Tenth Doctor – his BBC Audio play Dead Air, read by David Tennant, was voted 2010 Audiobook of the Year. The award was selected by voters visiting the Audiobook store. It beat other books nominated including Adrian Mole: The Prostrate Years, Othello, Animal Farm, Shakespeare in Love and War Horse.

James wasn’t given much of a brief for this tale, as he says he was given: “Not much really. Just keep the Doctor and Donna together as much as possible and have them having a great amount of fun. Which I hope they do. “I had another idea which is also amazing!”

With the script having been finished months before it was actually recorded, has it been a nervous wait for James?

“Not really. So often these things are a tearing hurry, but this was a nice sense of it sitting on a shelf, gently maturing. I re-read it the night before the recording and sweated fear.”

And is he excited to hear the finished play?

“VERY. How else does anyone answer this? Donna Noble is getting married again. The Tenth Doctor’s trying to help. What could possibly go wrong?”  

 “So often these things are a tearing hurry, but this was a nice sense of it sitting on a shelf, gently maturing. I re-read it the night before the recording and sweated fear.”

– James Goss

 Russell T Davies

[Above Russell T Davies in the doorway of the TARDIS.]

 Another person who’s particularly looking forward to hearing the plays is former Doctor Who executive producer Russell T Davies. He created both the Tenth Doctor and Donna, and in his role on TV, he oversaw every single word which came out of their mouths.

In an exclusive interview with this magazine, Vortex asked him how odd does it feel, that a part of his time on Doctor Who is now being brought to life on audio by Big Finish?

He says: “Actually, yes, good question, because odd is the right word. Along with wonderful and exciting and brilliant. But I pored over every single word the Doctor and Donna ever said to each other – apart from Steven Moffat’s two-parter, I probably wrote most of their dialogue – so to not know what they’re going to say next is a little bit strange. Just a little bit! In a good way. But really, I can’t wait to hear those two actors riff off each other again. David and Catherine are such good friends in real life, there’s a genuine spark between the Doctor and Donna.”

Russell wasn’t involved with the storylines?

“Not at all!”, he says. “Well, they ran them past me in simple synopses, but it’s Big Finish, they know what they’re doing. And besides, you can’t make these things with someone sitting far away, trying to meddle. It’s a Big Finish licence, so it’s a Big Finish show, it’s their version of the Doctor and Donna. And that’s Big Finish’s speciality – recreating eras faithfully but always finding something new to say.”

And how excited is he to hear some new stories, being brought to life by David and Catherine?

“Very! Those two, back in action, after all these years, it’s an absolute joy. Just the other day, I was in Superdrug, and the woman at the till asked if I wanted a bag, and I said no, I’ll put it in my pocket, and she sighed wistfully and said, ‘Women don’t have pockets.’ And it made me think of Donna! I laughed to myself for about 10 minutes afterwards, remembering Donna’s line about getting her wedding dress from Chez Alison. It made me think how much I miss her. And bang on cue, here she is, back again! And I don’t think a single day passes without someone telling me how much they loved David as the Doctor. It’s an honour to get him and Catherine back together. Yes, I’m excited!”

 “Those two, back in action, after all these years, it’s an absolute joy.”

– Russell T Davies

– VORTEX Magazine, Issue 87, Pages 6-15

The Tenth Doctor Adventures: Volume 01 

Technophobia

London’s Technology Museum faces a revolution. Is it all down to simple human stupidity, or is something more sinister going on?

Time Reaver

An illegal weapon is loose on the streets of spaceport planet Calibris - and the Vacintians are closing in…

Death and the Queen

The Wedding of all Weddings comes under attack by a skeleton army. Can Queen Donna save her people from Death itself?

Written By: Matt Fitton, Jenny T Colgan, James Goss

Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast: David Tennant (The Doctor), Catherine Tate (Donna Noble), Niky Wardley (Bex), Rachael Stirling (Jill Meadows), Chook Sibtain (Brian), Rory Keenan (Kevin), Jot Davies (Lukas), Alex Lowe (Soren), Sabrina Bartlett (Cora), Terry Molloy (Rone), John Banks (Gully), Dan Starkey (Dorn), Blake Ritson (Rudolph), Alice Krige (Queen Mum), Beth Chalmers (Hortense), Alan Cox (Death)

Available as deluxe five-disc box set, limited edition of 5,000, and as individual vanilla releases.

For full details visit www.bigfinish.com .

#vortex magazine #big finish #doctor who #the tenth doctor adventures #david tennant #catherine tate #the tenth doctor adventures: volume i #technophobia #matt fitton #time reaver #jenny t colgan #death and the queen #james goss #russell t davies #becca posts #article #issue 87 #interview #these are those small articles i moaned about yesterday #quite interesting #but why put them in the middle of the main article? #anyway #i still haven't managed to figure out how to extract images from a pdf #so sorry for the low resolution on some of the photos #they were the best that google could come up with #and a small disclaimer regarding the rtd photo #the one in used in the original article was taken from a different angle #but i couldn't find it anywhere #...

[inexchangeforyoursoul]

Say, if they are also called Spanish chestnuts, but there's no Spain... would they be called Dressrosa chestnuts? … would make sense, right? (btw if it wasn’t obvious by now, this is framed as an actualy story arc)

16. Definitely not a date ( ffn ao3 )

Getting tea is another small adventure for Kat, though, as two especially chatty girls try to get into a conversation with her. Which in itself isn't a problem, trying to get 'him' join a dance party in the evening on the other hand.... was not something she would ever agree to. Not right now, nor at any other time, and especially not with people who wanted to get in her pants. The other problem she soon faced in this pickle was that Usopp ran after Luffy who was getting way too much into the 'visit everything you can' spirit and disappeared somewhere down the line.

The sweet release came in the person of three other familiar faces, two of which were beyond amused, and one that bore a mixed expression of incredulousness, desperation, anger and disappointment.

“What--- what did you...?!” is all that Law can manage after a minute of gawking at her. She could swear to see a tear in the corner of his eye. He's also dressed... tastefully, more than either of them are usually. Definitely not his style, either. One of the girls had a hand in that; apparently they've returned to the ship already. All in all, Law's pretty; some guy, probably not the first to do so, has seemingly also taken notice of that and is eyeing him until Kat catches the man red-handed... or eyed, and quickly moves along.

“Sssh,” she soothes him, squishing the cheeks of the man paralyzed by the sight of his defaced appearance.  “It's washable, the beard will grow back, and your earrings are on the wardrobe... Cute headband, by the way. Nami's, right?” she adds, looking at the golden-brownish striped accessory. Kinda odd to see him outside without any of his stuff; also, she should get a similar headband. It suits her.

“It is,” interrupts Penguin the scene which both him and Shachi, who is playing sword-bearer with Law's oversized piece strapped on his back somehow, find quite amusing by the looks of it. “The captain wouldn't stay put once he found out that you were out... Usopp told us you should be here.”

“Usopp?” she perks up, looking at them with Law's frozen face still between her hands. “Did he manage to find Luffy?”

“Yeah, the dude found the fair games and had a whole barrel full of apples and water in his mouth when we left,” laughs Shachi. “We should totally revisit that place later,” he turns to Penguin, who gives a decisive nod as an answer.

“Actually,” latter continues with just a wee bit too much artificial mulling as she releases Law from her grip, “since you've already been found, we aren't necessary here. You two can take care of yourselves,” he states, nodding towards Shachi.

“I agree,” his friend says, cracking a big smile and already stepping backwards. “Let's see what Straw Hat and Noseman are up to~”

By the time the sentence 'where the hell are you two going?!' gets formulated in Law's head as he's getting over the shock, the crowd has already swallowed them.

To Kat, this feels suspiciously like her Sunday afternoon adventure, except less bothersome or embarrassing, because her partner is just as unwilling as she is. Turning to Law, she sighs. “... do they do this to you often?” Or generally? Because she sees a trend here...

“Do wha--” the last bit gets lost as he sees her blinking at him with a face of fatigue and lament. She turns to the left, to the right, looking around with somewhat spread arms, then points them towards him. Then her. They are alone. That's what she's talking about... It's his turn to sigh. Painfully. “Oh, for fuck's sake.” They had to go and set up a 'date,' didn't they. This day is getting better by the minute.

“Took you long enough,” Kat notes, then takes a careful sip of the cup of freshly prepared green tea that just got handed to her.

“In my defense, it's been... years since they last pulled a stunt like this.” At least five, if not more.

“To be fair, though?” she turns back to him, stepping direction chestnut stand, “As long as I hang with you instead of the guys, I'm less likely to be flirted with, so... might as well play-pretend for the time being.” It's gotten annoying, so as far as she's concerned, fake date: start.

“You what?” He squeaks in her voice, deciding to follow her for the time being. He's left with little breakfast and is tempted to get something right here after running around, and those two dumbasses will be fine, too. Although... Shachi had everything on him, including the money. Fuck.

“I'm sayin' you're popular, Law.” After that, she frowns at the distance. “Some granny also slapped my butt,” she recalls the old woman from about fifteen minutes ago, shivering. It's just as bad as random old men doing the same. What was she even, back then? Fourteen? People are so gross. At least that woman's not targeting children.

“Good lord...” Law is just as mortified by the thought as she is, if not more. Shaking the image off and peeking up at her, he continues; “... I know you are not lying because you would have cracked by now, but I still have a hard time believing you. It's... quite rare for anyone to just walk up to me.”

“I'm telling you, there's been three plus-minus one women either staring or hitting me up. I guess... I make you look more attractive? Than you actually are?” she says, lifting a brow. That... just might be it. A handsome guy who's reserved, polite and just... legitimately nice? She'd be lowkey smitten as well. They stop at the end of the queue. “It also kinda applies to you and not-me,” she ponders. With that, she takes another sip of the hot drink.

“I'm... not exactly following,” Law admits after some delay. Especially the last part.

Let's try and put this into words for him... “Well... you can be quite a prick, you see- no offense. The very same quality also makes for a cute shrew, though; which you are, at the moment. That's all there is to it.”

“Um...” He can't make head or tail of what she's trying to convey, so he's just going to ignore being called a... shrew. “Am well aware of the first point. Seen enough women who don't give a damn, though.”

“Can't and won't argue with that, but it's not what I'm saying.” Seeing there are still three people before them, she turns back to drop an unadulterated truth bomb on this poor, socially inept man who's somehow worse at this than her. Preferably in a low enough voice as to not scar anyone else listening for a lifetime. They've already heard more than enough. “The thing is the following, Law: while both of us have decent looks, I'm not peppy or feminine enough to be attractive to the average man, and you are too much of a deep-frozen salt crab to be perceived as a viable partner. This much you can follow with ease, right?”

He nods, although he would argue about being that bitter. And quite frankly, she can be damn peppy when up to it.

“Okay, the catch is the following: we exchanged wrapping, and,” here she naps her fingers, “all of a sudden, I'm 'hot' and you're 'cute' to people despite everything else being the same,” she says, adding air quotation marks with her free hand. “I turned from puny buttercup into a bright sunflower while you blossomed into some brazen goth rose instead of the stinky corpse flower you like pretending to be. All because I'm a decent person with a hot male body, and you look like an underweight girl with an attitude that comes off like a crumbly butter cookie wanting to look tough. It's... some eldritch amalgamation of nonequivalent exchange... that makes us fit into an ideal for the other gender. And as such, people fucking love it.” Having finished that, she flips the sunglasses back on; it's their turn and she asks for one medium bag of chestnuts.

Law scowls at the young, but dull vendor while thinking about what Kat said just as the other looks in his direction while shoving the goods into a paper bag, and is greeted with a sudden smile. And a wink. Glaring another way, he eventually settles on two young women who giggle and whisper to each other while looking into a direction that's very suspiciously where Kat is standing. Kat, who's smiling politely while paying, and who may or may not have called him her 'worse half' just now while talking to the guy whose question he's missed.

This is quickly getting worse than being stuck in a skirt.

“You alright?” she asks a few minutes later after leaving the stove behind. “Like, I understand if you need a minute to get over the way that dude looked at you...” And talked about him as if he wasn't right next to her... so double fuck that guy, she ain't noone's 'cutie,' even if it's only her body we're talking about.

“Please, don't remind me,” he moans. They entered a less crowded section of the fair, and he still felt more people gawking at him than what's realistic.

“Chestnuts?” she asks, tilting the bag towards him. Maybe she should just... punch people who look at Law funnily. Sound plan.... except she has no memories of ever punching anyone, so maybe not. It would be weird.

He sighs, remembering that he's gotten hungry, then gives the paper bag a suspicious look. His stomach growls, too- hopefully she didn't catch that. “... never had any, to be honest. Are they any good?”

“May not be down your alley, but can't know until you give it a try,” she says, drinking some more  tea. “Careful, though, I just picked one that was still hot.”

While he's fiddling with the piece he fished out, she stops at another shop.

“... do you prefer cottage cheese and raisins, apple and raisins with cinnamon, pumpkin and poppy, or sour cherries and cinnamon?” she asks, pointing at the selection. He peeks up. Can't really tell what the food is in the first place apart from likely being something sweet. The sign says 'strudel'.

“Um...”

“You can just say no if you're not feeling adventurous,” she says, nibbling on a chestnut after securing the bag with her arm. “There's also a kind of ribbon-like cake down the road with sugary coatings, if that sounds any better. We also could go looking for actual food like meat, but there's only overpriced delicacies out here and I'm not that loaded.”

He is not feeling adventurous, that's true; does feel embarrassment upon being found out, though. But... he's hungry, goddammit, and the stuff smells damn nice. Closing his eyes, he groans. “By rule of elimination... pumpkin and poppies.” Latter is something he's also never had before. There is always hope that he won't hate it, though. Then again... explicitly sugary pumpkin? Maybe he should reconsider...

A small smile appears on her face again. “Also not a fan of raisins, huh?”

“... yeah.” He also has trouble imagining what apparently sweet cottage cheese could taste like.

Regardless, he's surprised to see her buy that kind for herself a minute later.

“Why'd you even get that?” he asks as Kat flicks one very obvious piece of raisin from the chunk of whatever she just bought.

“Because... it's my favorite, and fair food spares out the more expensive stuff from sweets, such as, guess what? Raisins~” With that, she takes a careful bite, checking for any additional suspicious brown dots before actually chewing.

He takes a tentative bit out of his piece. Not bad, though the texture is... something else. She pokes him in the shoulder to motion towards a bench. The surface is covered in dew, however.

Kat just lowers herself a bit and slides a leg across. Stuff is cold, but watcha gonna do.

“Hey, easy with my jeans!” he complains, also finally getting the chestnut piece open from one side.

“Washing machines still exist, princess.” With that, she's already settled down, putting the lukewarm bag of chestnuts in her lap and the tea cup aside as she makes a real effort at eating her piece of sugary cottage cheese. “Sit down so its noble sacrifice won't go to waste.”

He complies after short consideration. “... still rude.”

“You admitted being rude a few minutes ago, too, so fine with me,” she notes, already having devoured half of the thingamajig. She flicks it another few times to get rid of two more raisins.

Law meanwhile tries to ignore that the bench is rather cold... and that the current pad is about as wet as his pants would have been if Kat did not swipe off the water. He shivers.

“You cold?” she asks with a mouthful.

“Not really, but... I should have gone for something warmer regardless.” And ignore Nami's meddling. He has no idea what her problem with his getup was. So what if the straw hat and hoodie clashed? And he can wear anything that tells people to fuck off in a roundabout way, thank you very much. Jesus.

“Oh, hey, that guy...!” Kat perks up as one of the bushoo turns up around the corner. This one has cerulean blue mask and horns, making it stand out from the other reddish and brown ones.

“What about him?” Law asks, chewing on this weird pastry that he cannot really decide to love or hate at this point. Which is weird, because usually he can immediately tell whether he loves or hates food. Also, what even are those costumes?

“Nothing much, a nice old man who lives above the grocery shop opposite of us. He's always out on the festival around these parts, from start to finish. I hear he's had this self-made costume for decades... anyway, just say hi if he comes over, would you?” The man goes another direction, however, and is quickly distracted by a mother and her roughly 10-year-old son, both of whom Kat also knows. The lady is some kind of secretary and visits the cafe a lot with her kid, sometimes even husband. The cafe, which, well...

Kat turns around.

“What is it?” With that, Law crumples up the paper of the finished-up strudel.

“... checking how the renovation is doing,” she says, surveying the grounds. Law also takes a peek over his left shoulder.

There are two more shops closed near to the obvious target of attention down the road; one of them is nearly past saving. He didn't notice it thus far, but they've come around to the spot where that odd situation started a week back by now. The Cafe called Kukari, which he hasn't even seen until now, is near untouched by comparison. Yes, some windows and a pillar have apparently been crushed, but latter is close to being done and the glass should not be much trouble afterwards. Well, there could be more work behind the paper covers, too. What does he know.

“Yep. If the place was still in one piece... I'd be working right now. In your body. Or you in mine, but let's be honest.” She seems amused enough at the thought. Monday will be hell if she's still stuck in this body, though.... explaining this situation... how? Kat sighs. “I wonder if Adam's in there... he basically lives in the damn place.”

“Adam?” he slurs through the shell of the single chestnut he's been fiddling with, turning back around towards her.

“My boss,” she mumbles. Suddenly she has her doubts about sitting here, especially with Law around. That could go all kinds of wrong. Adam, please be at home, or at least don't notice a thing. Thanks.

With that, she also faces forward and grabs the lukewarm cup of tea. Looking back at Law, she cocks her head. “You still not done with that?”

“You bought the sweets right as I was figuring it out, okay?” Honestly, he's annoyed with this. Especially because he apparently likes chestnuts and getting the thing out is a nightmare. As is getting rid of the bitter, hairy middle layer that he hates with comparable passion.

She cracks a smile upon seeing his efforts. “Honestly, some of them are just really stubborn, it's best to have a knife around for this,” Kat muses, picking a few specific pieces from the bag. “Here, these should be easy enough.”

With that, Law gets a hand full of chestnuts that are just about popping out of their hard little prisons. “Thanks.”

As they are playing chipmunks (and making a mess of the spot as Law has no qualms about throwing the unnecessary bits onto the ground), they notice a light drizzle falling- a few seconds later, clouds dim out the already weak sunlight.

“Geez... haven't been able to keep up with the weather report,” Kat starts, glaring into the grey puffs; “I sure hope there's no actual rain involved. We could go into an actual shop... or pay another visit to my house, it's about as far from here as it's from the ships,” she muses while standing up at last and shoving the remainders of the still kind of warm chestnut bag into the hoodie's pocket.

“We're better off going straight back to the docks,” he replies to that, still seated. “You will have managed to skip another two hours, if not more, by the time we get back to business. I'd really appreciate if you stopped doing this.”

“Two hours ain't nothing,” she states, crumpling the shell-filled paper and napkins of both her and Law's strudels, then wannabe-telepaths the bundle to the dustbin when noone's looking; her aim sucks, after all. “Anyway, I need to return the cup first, so we'll take the long way around,” she says then, drinking the rest in big gulps, which she follows up with turning said object upside down. The murky leftover tea at the bottom lands with a negligible splash.

As Kat is waiting for him to pull himself together, she notices that the hair on his forearms sticks skyward. “... dooo you want your hoodie?” she asks, remembering the extra layer to spare.

Just as she utters that, he shivers. “Actually... I do. Yes,” he sighs reluctantly and visibly cold out here. Then, a second later, as she pulls it off...

“.... what the everloving fuck are you wearing?” he deadpans as the turtleneck appears.

“Bought it earlier today,” she beams. “For the record, you can't keep it.”

“Why would I?” Why would he? Good enough for a one time joke, but that's about it. Also, 'can't keep it?' That's such a Luffy thing to say.

“Because it's lame and nerdy doctor stuff?”

“Not part of my image, sorry.”

His image, he says. Kat tries her best to stifle her laughter and shoves the cartoon bear hoodie on his head. That's one image, alright. “Okay, whatever. Without the others this fair is pretty damn boring, no lie. Let's go already, if you want to that bad.”

“As eager as I am... I'm afraid of getting up,” Law confesses with a sigh as he's getting his hands into the sleeves. He just knows by now that sitting for a while will result in uncomfortable things direction pants afterwards. Sick and tired of it. Can't help it either, however, so he braces himself and gets on his feet. Can't ignore Kat's constant grin any longer, however.

“Wat's so funny?” he asks, hugging himself for warmth. This is a godsent right now- and the pocket housing the chestnuts gives a nice little extra, too.

“...you look adorable.” That big hoodie on her stick body is just... too cute. Looks as comfortable as it is, too. She could pinch his sullen, rosy cheeks.

“That would be you, not me,” he replies. Which is something he immediately regrets, placing a slightly sticky hand on his face.

She snorts. “Thanks.”

This otherwise totally forgettable line is on par on the embarrassment-meter with that last Saturday evening. Actually, scratch that. He's more embarrassed by this. And he feels he's blushing, too. Ugh...

As he's mulling over this, Kat sighs. “Don't worry, I know you didn't mean it like that.” It's always embarrassing when a comment burns you back... it just happens sometimes. Also dang, it is rather cold out here when there is no sun to shine. Just as she thinks about that, some rays break through the thinning cloud layer; not enough by far to get warm, though. “Now go, go, go, before I'm the one freezing my ass off,” she says, shoving the recovering Law a little to get started as she makes her way towards a long-ish stinky alley between restaurants to cut a few blocks of houses.

As they step inside, they fall silent. The cause of it is not just an awkward episode; as the buildings cover up the gentle warmth of the broken sun, an oppressive, cold silence sweeps through the alleyway. If the icy breeze had claws, that's what would have been tickling up their ankles and down their necks. They pass a broken cup that's just like the one in Kat's left hand.

There is a great temptation from her to take up the much faster everyday pace, and Law feels a pair of eyes on his back. Then it's two... three. If this is something bad, -and it does feel bad,- it's really bad; Kat has no experience and he has no real means to defend even himself in a brittle body like this.

Halfway through, she raises her head, and takes his hand; he feels it tremble a little as her fingers close on his. “We are running late, let's hurry.” Law follows the misplaced suggestion without protest. Hinting at being missed is good. Godspeed.

They can hear something clank behind a container as they exit back into the pallid light.

“I'm never going through there ever again,” Kat mumbles with a shiver as they mingle in the crowd while still firmly holding his hand. That was... really stressful. It was probably... some of the stray cats often in there, or a homeless person at worst, but that felt freaky as hell. And of course her lungs or something around those parts starts acting up after this. Just great.

“There was definitely someone in there,” says Law, blindly cutting through the masses by her side. May have been some thieves or other scum preying on fair-goers who took the route, but either way, no good news in there. They had luck.

By the time they are back to the booth offering tea, their speed is back to normal, but they are still kind of on edge. They take a half-hearted look at the games corner to check whether the boys are still out, which is to no avail, as expected. Walking back towards the shipyard at last and slowly getting over the experience, Kat speaks up:

“... by the way, do you want to switch hands or something? The other one should be an icicle by now.” She knows her own body well enough. When it's cold outside, her hands are just as chilly as the wind, even under some thick gloves. She hates it.

“... oh.” That is all Law can muster, realizing that he's still holding onto Kat. He kind of forgot about it, to be honest... partly because he's still hung up about the alley, and partly because, well... his body's hands are really nice to have around. Handy, one could say. … would be amused at that, wouldn't she. And Kat's also not wrong about the other hand hiding inside the paper bag with the maroni where it's decently lukewarm.

He releases her hand and puts his inside the pocket as well, looking up forward where the main mast of the Thousand Sunny is in sight. Write this up to the embarrassing shit he's done today, because boy, there was quite some of that.

As they get on deck, they are met with bright light again; the clouds decided it's time to let the sun shine just as it didn't matter anymore. They silently acknowledge that it's just one of those days when nothing goes quite as planned.

#kmky #opfanfic #one piece fanfiction #Kate writes #yeah this is that LawxOC thing still

[ascendingexotitan]

The Strikers’ Bold

inspired and proofread by @maunderfiend

“Are you sure this is the place?” Banner-1 muttered, his eyes flicking off to the side as he kept a close quarter with his companion for this ‘mission’. His hands in his jacket’s pocket and the breeze licking at his synthetic fur-lining, it wasn’t often he came to the western sector of the City. Its reputation is known as the more dangerous spot, not because of some wayward gangs fighting at the constant struggling; nor the malfested who survive the blight of fear to the Fallen that occasionally dwelled at the nearby mountain, but because of the shadowy pickets and devious actions done in light of the City’s struggles - despite all that the Guardians do.

A hand grasped the brown-painted Exo’s shoulders with a clawed thumb brushed once on the fur, provoking an instinctive jerk and glance at Typhon-5 who looked down at him - or rather, his visored face aimed in his direction. How did that thing work anyways? The war-torn titan never gave him an answer. While Banner was one of the smaller Exos around, Typhon was a big model. He was refined to look similar to everyone else, but under that paintjob, plating and very fine synth-muscles was a war machine. The civilian clothes fit him well too. The tight black muscle shirt gripping his pectorals, covered by a duster coat and satchel holding their trade. Prompt legs were wrapped in tested pants and iron-toed boots. Funnily, he couldn’t resist the urge of putting ancient Egyptian motif on those boots.

In the observation of the old Exo’s get up and the wait for him to say something, they stood at the start of an alley hissing with steam from the nearby munition factory that helped with the war effort.

Finally a minute in - probably one of his neural glitches again - Typhon spoke with his gentle yet gravelly dark voice, “I wouldn’t be dragging you here otherwise.” He stated, then he casually graced Banner’s shoulders and patted his back. “Just remember what I said.”

Keep the sensors up. Why, the enigmatic robot never said that either!

With that, the two stepped through the steam and darkness. Unlike Humans, Exo had the benefit of upgrades and combat-appropriate systems, including optimal optics to see through the dark when fighting through the warrens of Fallen caverns and the Hive’s wretched tunnels. Banner’s optics were quickly adjusting, pupils widening a little in their twisting emerald irises. Systems immediately checking for any surprises or dwelling dangers.

In this two-man wide passageway, it made a good ambush spot, and…

A limb wraps around his right elbow with a little squeeze.

“Hm?” Banner questioned, looking down at it. It was Typhon. His big arm locked to his, holding the other close. He looked questioningly, but the visored exo didn’t provide an answer. The mech was always uncharacteristically touchy, ever since they met at the Crucible in a game of Clash. The almost pinpoint memory caused a flare of heat in the metallic cheeks, replacing his anxiety with a fluster. Decidedly he held on to Typhon in return, giving him a gentle pat to his big bicep.

The walk seemed to stretch forever, the sound of their boots being the only noise outside of industrial movements. The afternoon was dark today with the sun pushing the ever-resting shadow of the Traveler over their heads now. The lights of flaring forges and running energy was their only actual illumination. In actuality, by their system’s City Standard Time, it was six minutes. Banner didn’t even notice they were going through a near labyrinth till they stepped out into a small courtyard in the back of one of the Monarch factories.

Piles of crates and storage units were placed here and there, but there was certain dreariness that kept the Exo on edge.

“Spooky.” He acknowledged, provoking a little sound of amusement from his companion before the gruff voice replied, “Don’t worry, this won’t last long.” Suddenly, the big mech grabbed his partner by his belt loop and pulled him into a rough kiss. It was unexpected, why’d he drag Banner all the way out here for some mischief while on their mission!?

Despite the complaining, Banner gripped at Typhon’s jacket as he was dipped slightly. There was grumbling but each soft metallic smack and a grunt from a fanged nibble on his bottom lip muffled it, servos shuddering at the aggressive little growl that the older titan tended to make in these affectionate movements. It was like trying to pet a back alley dog, you just didn’t know if they were going to lunge. As quick as it came, the kiss broke by mere inches with that snarking grin from the red Exo. Banner was about to question when his audio receptors caught something.

Quickly, the two looked over to see a guy landing against a crate. A figure stood there, dressed in dirty work-clothes with a bent crowbar in hand, tapping the surface. Their face was obscured under a filter-mask, meant to fight off the constant smog in the factory and actually breath. “Hey now, don’t stop on my account. Not often we see a bot get dirty!” He spoke with a muffled tone, followed by a nonchalant shrug. Despite the welcoming posture and voice, the malice was there.

Seven others appeared from the smog; several humans - three males, two females - and two Awoken males followed suit. Most were like the first, dressed like workers and the other two wore guard uniforms. They were scruffy, ill-prepared guards armed with standard-issue rifles.

Typhon smoothly pulled Banner upright and let him go. With a hand placed on the small of his back, he gave a subtle, single nod.

“Yeah. We get nice and dirty, that’s what we are good at,” he answered, head moving slowly. Calculating with his body, he edged to an angle. “You must be the gang dismantling the Frame units posted here?” The gangster rolled his shoulder again, causing Typhon to tick his claw. “Guilty as charged, Exo. We got a few of your kind too, took enough pieces. Not enough to have you ‘revived’, yeah?”

While Typhon had the majority of attention, Banner had his own look. A slight sneer, hard to see in the dark quarters. These part-stealing scum were the objective. Since the City Guard couldn’t risk upsetting the civilians here into a small revolt of agitated rights and give the gangs more fuel to their upstarting, they sent two of their own to take care of it quietly. So here they were, two Guardians against six. There were probably more somewhere, but immediate problems first.

“They must have been new. Disgusting.” Typhon snarled, the darkness shrouded the quivering outline dancing his body but his partner could feel it. The gathering ions of Arc energy surged through him. “We’ll fix that.”

Immediately taking that in consideration, the two ‘guards’ snapped their weapons up to take the two down while they were open. However, the Exo were much quicker. The puffs of leg pistons sent the pair in their intended directions. Banner crashed his way through one of the women and bashed his armored head against one of the Awoken’s face with a loud crunch. Typhon was on the kill like a prowling cat. Bullets were flying at his direction but the big Exo angled his body in a way that caught the gang’s speaker into a savage rend of claws across the chest from the right side and up to the left shoulder. One iron vice caught the man’s collarbone, heaving him up the moment his boots pushed off the crate and taking the person with him.

Catching the edge of the top crate,his weight lessened for a brief moment with arc energy pushing through him. Typhon bounced and came back down, using the screaming man’s body as an adequate meat shield to streak across the courtyard again before using him as a living javelin. He tossed the man with one swift movement, sending him onto members who made an attempt at rushing him.

Banner wasn’t nearly as acrobatic. Each movement was a precise and fierce blow. Leaving the Awoken reeling with a crushed nose and upper jaw, the small Exo caught an extended electric-baton by its wielder’s wrist and finely snapped it to the side at the small motion of kicking another’s plasma torch in the air with the cost of some broken fingers.  With a sick drop, his heel popped the other arm from its socket and a free fist gave one straight punch to the ribs.

One swift crunch, shattering ribs beneath his fist.

Screams became yawns of struggling pain, but Banner drowned it as he hurled the crumbling human into his dangling-armed friend single-handedly.  Squinting at the count in his head, his body snapped into action with hands lifting in front of the guards. He just barely stopped a full automatic barrage with an output of Arc, the crackling energy popping the heated projectiles into harmless spits of metal by the time they pelted his body.

The show of power had the woman agape in shock, obviously they hadn’t handled Guardians that were ready for them. Her eyes flicked at the other Exo holding one of her fellows by arm, twisting him one way and another with ruthless yanks as he was trying to pull it out before hammering a blurring fist into a knee and right behind the ribs. Immediate crippling.

“Fuck this.” She spat, turning tail and running in the same direction that the last Awoken in the group was heading for. However, Banner wasn’t letting that happen. His eyes burned and veins boiled with the weaponizing of his inner light. Hands opening, feeling the focus reconnecting and suddenly crackle into fists of righteous electricity.

“You’re not going anywhere!” His electronic-jittered voice roared and when one made the mistake of looking back, they saw a Striker pouncing with his Fists of Havoc primed. Stories were well told about that, the videos of the Crucible showed them...and they knew - no one but the most heavily-armored survived a Striker and his Fists of Havoc.

*** Banner stood over the spot where they once were; Where there had been two people - criminals under the law and practical murderers and torturers of his kind - there was now just atomized remains. His hands clenched and relaxed, feeling something akin to phantom tensions. His robotic mind was trying to comprehend, but something told him to ease. They were bad, they had go. Prison and exile wouldn’t have helped...would it?

He was staring, warily. Killing was easy, yeah - after fighting hordes of aliens and robotic menaces for as long as he did - it was as simple as stepping on a bug. Humans were strange; one would think every form of life would unite against their frontiers of enemies, but Humanity had an odd penchant to do dumb things. Perhaps, that is part of their programming too.

This time, Banner was aware of his surroundings and he felt Typhon behind him. That familiar speck of Light wrapped in some form of anomaly. The larger Exo walked next to him and looked at the spot as well. “Targets neutralized. We got ‘em. Ka’s digging into their communications now…” He reported. “The Vanguards asking for us to come back.”

Banner was still quiet for a moment.

“I know it isn’t easy.” Typhon inputted, his voice managing to be gentle and sympathetic despite its deep, gritty tone. “Killing the Humans aren’t the easiest feeling, make you feel like uhm...those ancient warning vids about A.I. rebellions, hm?” The brown Exo quirked his lips at that and couldn’t help but grin at the other. “You are terrible at this.”

“Being sympathetic is hard, don’t know how you youngsters do it.” The older Titan quipped with a huff.

Moving slowly, Banner wrapped his arms around the larger mech, “maybe you should just stick with one of these.”

It took a couple seconds before strong arms wrapped around the smaller Titan with a short squeeze. “Yeah. Also, um...thanks.”

“For what?” Banner spoke, muffled against Typhon’s chest.

“For helping.”

“You are so vague.” He spoke, answered by a teasing chuckle. “Can’t spill all of my beans, as they say.”

“Old mech.”

“Pup.”

#typhon-5 #banner-1 #the biscuit #the city #thugs #violence #exo #exos doing their part #exo titan #titans #striker