#he wants to be in. also of note is some very interesting (and surprisingly direct) queer coding between Johnny and his 'man' Charlie

[spacexseven]

hello its dazai anon I'm currently thinking about subordinate au dazai so here i go

ive been imagining that in the verison of events where dazai catches feelings for darling cuz they (despite the many many reasons they'd have to let him suffer and die) took care of him while he was injured, that dazai would be very interested in paying that forward at some point.

when dazai first finds out that his favorite subordinate is terribly sick or badly injured and is gonna be out for a while, his mind immediately jumps to how... nice it might be to take care of them. well, actually the first thing is mind jumps to is a million worse case scenarios where they die and hes alone for the rest of his life but once he recovers from THAT panic attack he moves on to nursing plans. hed probably think it's a foolproof plan for having darling finally start warming up to him (especially if chuuya has recently gained some ground in that area), i mean, he likes YOU cuz you take care of him, it only makes sense that youd start liking him for the same reason! also he just... REALLY enjoys the thought of being your nurse. 1) since you're sick/in pain if he decides he wants to ask you a million questions or make you play games with him or kiss you a thousand times you can't run away 2) isn't it kind of. domestic? to take care of someone like that? he can almost pretend the two of you are actually together when he does this.

I should note that dazai isn't like. a medical expert or anything of that sort BUT since he has (mostly) good intentions in this escapade hed be willing to listen to advice from others or direct requests from you. except asking him to leave or get off you he won't ever do that but most other things. also he's still. dazai while this is going on so expect a lot of needless mockery about how weak and useless you are, but then in the same timeframe thinking about what might happen if you die and clinging onto you in complete hysterics. frankly hes just making everything worse all the time but thats dazai!

- 🩹

i couldnt take myself seriously while writing this T^T

when you don't show up for your usual shift with dazai, he's already on edge. he immediately thinks that you must be avoiding him—or that chuuya must have charmed you away with the promise of a day with no dazai. was it because of the time he hung you upside down? that was eons ago and hadn't he already made up for it with the numerous fun (dangerous) and exciting (life-threatening) adventures (escaping from yet another person dazai angered) he's taken you on?

but then he sees chuuya walking around on his own, and you don't show up again the next day, and now he's sure that something was very wrong. which is why, his first response was to show up at your door. maybe, if you were able to answer the door, you'd be terrified at the sight of dazai with his face pressed up to the window desperate for any sight of you, but as you were now, you were far too exhausted to even receive him, so naturally, after numerous attempts at slamming the doorbell, he let himself in.

the sight of you, so tired and incoherent, surrounded by tissues and water bottles, initially made him let out a huge sigh in relief. you weren't avoiding him! you were just bedridden—wait, was that because he insisted you help him find his wallet in the river the night before? was it his fault you were ill?

after the initial guilt, dazai jumps into action. you, as tired as you were, couldn't provide any more protest apart from a few grumbling words at the sight of dazai rummaging in your home, but he was unbothered, dedicated to his new temporary position as your personal nurse.

dazai wasn't too unfamiliar with runny noses and sore throats. for the most part, he was sure you weren't dying and he was somewhat confident in his ability to nurse you back to health. and surprisingly, you didn't seem too mad at his presence, begrudgingly allowing him to spoonfeed you soup that was far too salty.

honestly, this experience made him a little nostalgic, thinking back to oda taking care of him after their first encounter. but also, you were surprisingly quiet when you were sick, not the same silent anger you normally radiated, but just quiet. he didn't mind it all that much, though, since the first night he stayed over, you were so deliriously ill that he definitely took advantage of your state and asked you all sorts of questions that you'd normally ignore. half your answers didn't really make sense, but they served to be pretty entertaining deciphering games when you were fast asleep and he was bored.

the real fun only started when you started getting better. for one, you looked horrified at the sight of him prancing around in your apron and messing with your kitchen, but because you were able to answer him coherently, it was all the more entertaining. while waiting for your water to boil, dazai would offer to read your journal out loud, sing you a lullaby in the middle of the day, and even dare to ask if a kiss would make you feel better. and then he'd provide commentary on every object in your home.

the ease with which he navigated your home and the familiarity with which he handled your things did send some alarms blaring in your head, but what could you do in your current state?

any attempts at protesting his presence are fruitless. even if you claimed he might get sick from hanging around you, dazai would only laugh.

"i'm not as weak as you," he'd say, "i won't get sick. and if i wasn't here you'd probably be dead by now. besides, if i get sick, guess who'd going to have to come to take care of me?"

somewhere during his response, dazai managed to stick himself closer to you, a hand wiping at your clammy forehead. if at all you seemed to not get better, dazai immediately jumps to threatening you, saying that if you didn't get better, if you died on him, he'd never forgive you, promising to make sure that your ghost will be stuck with him. and that's about the best incentive to get better.

#ask 🐟 #anon 🐟 #dazai 🩹 🐟 #dazai 🐟 #drabble 🐟 #yandere bungo stray dogs x reader #yandere bsd x reader #yandere bungou stray dogs #yandere bungo stray dogs #yandere bsd #yandere dazai x reader #yandere dazai #yandere dazai osamu #dazai osamu x reader #dazai x reader #subordinate au 🐟

[byhees]

love confessions to you.

엔하이픈 ・ female reader + word count 900 genre fluff high school au love-struck warnings not proof-read mention of food — more

a/n. blank

heeseung

being straightforward and direct about his feelings, not wanting to beat around the bush for a second longer.

gently kissing you in the stairway, and smiling against it for a moment.

pulling away and looking at your pair of eyes, admiring the way at which they’ve widened, the way that particular shade of pink spreads across your cheeks, the way your lips part slightly.

the thumping of both your hearts filling your ears, a shared realisation of not wanting to be anywhere else.

“i love you.”

jongseong

simply staring at regular and common objects and being reminded of you— your smile, your presence, just you in general.

being unsure of how he should go about this whole confession situation, hence maintaining a safe distance, which in retrospect pains him because it takes everything within him to hold back the urge to engulf you in a tight hug.

being unable to sleep as soundly as before at night, mind whirling with the countless of possibilities that you might respond with, heart racing at the mere thought of you.

not being able to contain this bubbling feeling, and expressing his love at the remote lunch table, watching the way you blink your eyes and falter momentarily, before breaking into the biggest grin.

“you’re literally everything i’ve always wanted and more. so, please, will you be mine?"

jaeyun

him consulting in his friends for some words of advice, only to find their extremely logical responses confusing.

proclaiming that the strange tingles on the hairs of his skin only occur whenever he’s around your vicinity because he’s allergic to you.

his friends staring at him in expressions contorted to maximum disbelief, unsure if he’s being genuinely serious, or if he’s simply just fooling around.

figuratively banging their heads against the wall when they realise he’s going absolutely nowhere with that claim.

“no no, don’t be silly— how could i be falling in love with her? it’s just that when i go near her, i feel this weird feeling.. and it’s very warm. i don’t know how else to describe it.”

sunghoon

him accidentally watching you practice a whole orchestra on how you’d confess to him.

stifling a chuckle when he turns the corner into an empty hallway, body shielded by a concrete pillar.

stealing glances at your direction, ones that linger on your figure for a millisecond longer than intended, but he’s just so amused by your resolution that he can’t peel his gaze off of you.

you snapping your neck towards his way and locking eyes with him. him flashing a little smile in response to your panicked state— arms flinging up to cover your face, legs uncoordinatedly sprinting off.

“to reply to your speech earlier today, i like you too.”

seonwoo

him being far too nervous to confess his feelings secretly, and resorting to follow a piece of internet advice— to be a secret admirer.

leaving notes on your table in the early hours of the morning, hoping that you don’t coincidentally walk in at that moment.

you looking at the note, and instantly recognising his handwriting, fond laughter erupting from your lips.

you finding his failed attempt at being ‘secret’ adorable, and initiating an interesting conversation with him the following day.

“i like you as well. like a lot…”

jungwon

him also becoming a secret admirer, but he’s gotten it all figured, hiding amongst your schoolmates surprisingly well.

sitting under a tree by the garden, and pretending to be all shocked when you share the newest love letter with him, completely unaware that said writer would be beside you.

him decorating the envelope and letter earnestly, filling up the empty spaces with your favourite things and favourite colours, hoping that the little details would make your day.

him debating on whether he should continue this relatively old-fashioned approach, relishing in that oblivious elation you’d exude upon receiving a letter after a tough day, or if he should straight away just confess, unsure if it would be possible to suppress this feeling for any longer.

“i just really enjoy spending time with you, and you really have become someone special to me and— oh..!”

riki

not really saying anything, but merely just looking at one another from across the room, and just knowing.

you bumping into him more often— in the hallways, by the library, by the cafeteria— and wondering if it’s all irony, or even fate that’s playing it’s cards; no, he’d intentionally ask round the campus, eyes gleaming with exhilaration whenever he catches you walking past.

him hanging out with you during the after-school hours. it’s nowhere extravagant or anything, sometimes it’s just to grab a bite at the convenience store and to take a stroll down the streets.

him going out of his way to walk you back to your house, and your heart skipping a beat when he bids you goodbye.

“i think, you’re my favourite person. there is no one else i would rather be with right now or… ever, for that matter.”

taglist open! @wondipity @yjjungwon @shysakuno @niktwazny303 @syrxiee2 @g4m3girl @minhosify @haechansbbg @yeomha @stepout-09-15 @chansburgah networks! @kflixnet

#૮ ྀི ◞ ◟ ა ? #kflixnet #enhypen #enhypen imagines #enhypen scenarios #enhypen headcanons #enhypen soft thoughts #enhypen soft hours #enhypen fluff #enhypen fic #enha imagines #enha scenarios #enha fluff #enha headcanons #enha fics #enha soft thoughts #enha soft hours #enhypen x reader #enha x reader #heeseung fluff #jay fluff #jongseong fluff #jake fluff #jaeyun fluff #sunghoon fluff #sunoo fluff #jungwon fluff #riki fluff #niki fluff #enhypen reactions

[ilovewhiteroses]

Do You Want What I Want?

Pairing: The Corinthian x Ryan (OC) Genre: Fluff, smut Warnings: Unprotected sex, cursing Rating: 18+ Note: My dear friend, Catchy @i-like-the-eyes gave me idea for this fic, plus they inspired and named Ryan🥰

Ryan, a young musician went out with his friends, but ended up spending the rest of the night with a handsome, interesting man…  

It was a pleasant evening and the annual summer carnival was taking place in the small town. Lots of people went there, no wonder, because one could spend their time well. Ryan, a young lutenist, went with his friends who were artists themselves. Among them were painters, singers, photographers and illustrators.

As soon as they entered the event, they immediately noticed the stalls with handmade works and homemade delicacies. They went over there and some admired the wonderful wood carvings and decorative objects, while others tasted the drinks and cheeses made by the locals. They began to think about what their next stop should be.

"I know! Let's go drive bumper cars and then eat cotton candy!" exclaimed Leni, the painter, enthusiastically. Ryan and the others agreed and after spending their time there, they went for a carousel ride. The young man enjoyed the evening, he felt as if he had flown back to his childhood.

"So guys, what should we do now?" he asked his friends a bit later. There were so many other things they wanted to try that they decided to split up and everyone would go where they want to and then meet at the entrance when they are done. Ryan quickly found the restroom, which was surprisingly quite cultured, then went back to explore the carnival. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, checked it and saw a new email. The surprised lutenist sat down on an empty bench to read it.

We'd be honored to have you as our musical guest at the annual Music For The Youth event, where we present kids the beauty of music.

He smiled to himself, since lately he has been getting more and more requests and he was very happy about it. While he was on his phone, he heard a man's voice.

"Hello! Can I sit here?" he asked politely and Ryan looked up. Standing in front of him was a tall blond man wearing slacks and a suit jacket, a stylish contrast to his black t-shirt and jeans combination.

"Um, sure, you can sit down." he answered him. As the man sat down, Ryan quickly put the phone back in his pocket. The man crossed his legs, settled himself, then offered his hand to Ryan.

"My name is Cori." he said as Ryan shook his hand and introduced himself. "Your name is beautiful. I'm glad to meet you. Did you come to the carnival alone?” Cori asked.

"No, I came with my friends, we just split up for a while because everyone wanted to see things and try them." Ryan replied, rubbing the back of his head embarrassedly. He never really liked to communicate with strangers, but at the same time, he didn't want to be a jerk by turning the guy down with some silly nonsense.

"Oh I see." Cori said with a big smile and pushed the sunglasses up his nose with his index finger. "Is there a part you haven't been to yet?"

Ryan found the man's directness strange, he didn't understand why he was so nice to him. What’s the worst that could happen? He had previously taken a few Krav Maga classes, at most if he thinks the situation is suspicious, he uses what he has learned.

"Well, uh, I haven't been to the shooting gallery yet." he replied, then looked at the man's sunglasses, which made him want to slap himself on the forehead. Before Ryan could say something else, Cori jumped up from the bench enthusiastically.

"Then come, let's not waste time!" Ryan also got up from the bench and was thinking that there must be a good reason why Cori is wearing sunglasses even at night.

They arrived at the agreed location and the target shooter told them the rules.

"Okay, gentlemen. You have to shoot with this toy gun, which has sponge bullets. You have to hit these fast-moving wood ducks, but you have to be clever, because only the ones with the number wins. Well, which one of you wants to try his luck?” he asked, rubbing his palms. Cori raised his hand.

"Excuse me for asking, but are you sure about this?" Ryan asked in shock. "Aren't those sunglasses too dark?"

"Don't worry, I can see perfectly, and my other senses are also extremely sophisticated." Cori replied with a laugh.

Okay then, Ryan thought to himself and put his hands in his pockets. Target shooting guy handed Cori the toy gun, then stood aside. Cori stretched out his arm and waited for the numbered winged animals to come, then shot. After a while, he got so into the game that he even stuck out his tongue a little and fired all the bullets. Ryan was very amused by this sight, he thought it was pretty cute. The shooting gallery man showed him and Cori what prizes there were to choose from.

”Is there anything you would like, Ryan?” Cori asked kindly.

The musician started thinking. The selection was not too exciting, especially for an adult, as most of them were designed for children. In the end, Ryan decided on a red toy guitar, because it somewhat reminded him of a lute.

He started to feel more comfortable with Cori, he even went to have hamburgers with him, and found himself forgetting about his friends and what they agreed on. He quickly wrote in the group chat that he was tired and took a taxi home.

"I hope this is not a problem for you." Cori said a little worried.

"Oh, don't worry, it's happened before, they'll understand." Ryan told him, and with that, he silenced his phone. Now he just wanted to focus on Cori.

He found him very fascinating.

"Speaking of going home, would you like to walk home with me? If you’d like, we could have a few drinks, then we will see." he said with a suggestive smile. Seeing this, Ryan gulped, but was excited at the same time.

It was clear what Cori wanted.

"Okay, let's go. How about I leave this guitar here? I don't need it anyway." he told Cori, who shrugged, thinking Ryan does what he wants. As they made their way out, Ryan set the small instrument down by the entrance so a child would take it.

The streets were already dark and only the street lamps were on. Ryan wished he could see more of Cori's face because he liked what he had seen of him so far. As they got closer and closer to his apartment, Ryan's heart began to beat faster. They talked on the way. He found out that Cori is a businessman whose goal is to visit as many places and gain as many experiences as possible. There was also talk of instruments and music and, for some reason, dreams and nightmares, which Ryan didn't know what to think of, but he didn't care. He enjoyed listening to Cori, while thinking how hot his speaking voice was, how beautifully his lips moved when he spoke, when Ryan managed to catch him in the lamplight, how graceful his hand movements were while he was explaining... Ryan suddenly felt so hot as the sexual tension was getting more intense between them. He also started to feel his pants getting tighter...

They got to Cori's apartment and went inside, but he didn't turn on the light, the only source of light was the moon shining through the window. Ryan was looking for the switch when Cori pulled him close in the dark and slowly leaned him against the wall.

"Do you want what I want?" he whispered sultryly in his ear, then kissed his neck, which made Ryan’s knees almost giving out.

Of course he wanted it! Ryan had one-night stands before, but felt that this time would be different...

They began to kiss passionately, then Cori reached down to Ryan's erection and began to gently massage it. Ryan did the same to him while kissing his neck. He wanted the blond man so much that he could barely contain himself. He pulled his top off, Cori did the same, then knelt down in front of Ryan. He unbuttoned his jeans, then pulled them down to his ankles together with his underpants. The musician's dick popped out.

"Fuck, you have a nice cock!" Cori said panting as he began to jerk off Ryan, then took his cock into his mouth. Other times he did it much more sensually and slowly, but this time he was too overcome with desire. He took hold of Ryan's cock at the base with his index finger and thumb, then began to suck it, sometimes licking his balls as well. Ryan enjoyed this all with his eyes closed and ran his hands through Cori's hair. He felt close to explosion, and even though he didn't want to cum yet, he couldn't take it anymore and came, Cori could barely swallow the hot result. He took the spectacular penis out of his mouth and looked up at Ryan.

"Damn, baby, that was a lot!" he said appreciatively.

"Fuck, that was hot!" Ryan said panting, gasping for air. If the blow job was this good, how fucking amazing could sex itself be, he thought to himself. Cori stood up and pulled off his pants. Since Ryan was a bit shorter than him, he had to figure something out.

"Get on all fours!" he instructed the young man, who did so. Cori pulled his ass towards him, then grabbed his cock and slapped it against Ryan’s entrance. Before inserting it, he spit into his palm and smeared it over his cock, then slowly inserted himself into his partner. Cori let Ryan adjust to his size. Just like with the blowjob, he fucked fast, he didn't want to be gentle and slow. He wanted wild and crazy sex and he got it. Ryan's knees were pressing against the hard floor, but he didn't care. His ass slammed against Cori's thighs as he reached down to his own cock and began to masturbate. He felt that he was close again, but this time he didn't want to orgasm as quickly as before.

"Wait!" he said to Cori, who paused for a moment. "I want to ride you." Without further ado, Cori pulled out of him and laid on his back, Ryan got up from his position and placed himself on top, letting Cori’s cock back into himself. He raised his knees, put his arms behind him and continued to fuck himself on Cori's cock, who grabbed Ryan's cock and started jerking it. The apartment was loud with their lustful moans, both of them were sweating as if they had run a marathon. Minutes later Ryan was cumming on Cori's belly, and Cori was cumming into Ryan….

Ryan woke up in his yesterday night partner's bed. Cori wasn't there, so he went to look for him in the kitchen and the living room, but he was nowhere to be found. Ryan quickly got dressed and left the apartment. Although he regrets not being able to say goodbye to the handsome, blond man, he was glad that they had a crazy, sexy and fun night together.

Tags: @merry-andrews,  @demi321win-chester

@thefloatingpickle, @delicateteenagerunaway

@sadnessanninthedark, @e-dubbc11

@rayisheree, @tampire

@itsthevelvetline, @moomiman42069

@evenmyhivemindisempty, @a-h-li

@enkelimoonstone, @i-like-the-eyes

#boyd holbrook #the corinthian #the corinthian fanfic #the corinthian x oc male character #the sandman

[twistmusings]

Hi Mod Azul! I was wondering if I could request some parenting headcanons for Riddle x Floyd? :) (With them probably adopting lmfao).

Kinda random, but this was actually sparked by your "Riddle's Conversation with his Mother" post lol. I also just wanted to compliment you on it and how well executed it was. I appreciated the honesty that went into it. How some people will always think they're in the right; they won't listen to you, nor will they change, and sometimes you just have to move away from that. (Also Riddle wanting to cry and go to Trey, but him also knowing that doing so will make things worse??? Him seeing Trey's family, their relationship helping him learn how his own mother's treatment of him isn't right????😭😭😭) Riddle's sorrow was palpable, but so was his determination and hope. The line about Riddle wanting to break the cycle particularly struck me! Ofc, this comes with Riddle growing apart from his mother and into a healthier lifestyle, along with a lot of reflection and struggle and! Betterment!! :) It got me wondering how would Riddle be like as a parent growing out of that kind of cycle? And on a much less serious/more random note, how Floyd's spontaneity may agitate or encourage that growth. I just thought it was interesting :) but i also totally understand if this request is too random/specific🤣🤣🤣 and being able to communicate my appreciation for Riddle's Conversation is enough:)

Thank you for everything you write :) i hope moving is going well!! take care Mod Azul <333

This message is so incredibly sweet. I am so genuinely touched that you liked my Riddle post because I know that the subject of dysfunctional families isn't always something fun to read about. And on top of it all you ask me for florid, which, if I may be biased for a moment, is one of my favorite ships. 😭

Floyd and Riddle as parents.

CW: Mentions of unhealthy parent-child relationship (Riddle and his mother), fluffy as fuck and long as fuck.

Note: This is set with both characters being in their late twenties.

I feel like becoming parents was a very long process for the two of them. Not in a bad way, actually, it was just very well thought out.

Floyd was the one to prompt the discussion: I've mentioned in the past how his biology gives him bad baby fever when he feels comfortable and safe in his life, so that was what prompted it. Riddle, on the other hand, had never really thought about kids. (Nor had he really thought about being in a relationship, either, but here he was, in a committed relationship with Floyd.)

To his credit, Floyd thought out his approach very carefully. He had only heard bits and pieces about Riddle's mother and had met her a grand total of once before the both of them were kicked out of her house. (Sometimes Floyd still remembers how worried he'd been that Riddle would be devastated only to look over and see him with a very smug and self satisfied smile on his face at her reaction. It turned out that Riddle had done it intentionally to piss her off so she'd kick him out 'to think about his choices' so he didn't have to deal with her for the holidays. Its disgustingly sappy, but he's pretty sure that was the day he well and truly fell head over heels for Riddle.) He knows that there's not a good history with his mom, so Floyd had thought it would be best to test the waters before actually asking outright if he wanted kids.

He tried to be subtle about it, just pointing out children when he saw them, hoping to get a temperature read on how Riddle felt about kids in general. "There's a whole line of kids dressed up for halloween! The one with a crown on reminds me of you." or "Hee hee, they have mini-sized boots for baby feet." Riddle would always acknowledge it but was surprisingly quiet about his thoughts.

"Oh, Riddle, look! There's a school trip!"

Riddle looks up from the case of desserts he's looking at in the direction that Floyd is watching, and sure enough a line of children is waddling by behind a guide and their teacher on a field trip, he assumed.

He glanced back to Floyd, wondering why he'd been mentioning baby stuff so much recently. Floyd had already told him before that he tended to get a little baby-crazy at times, and he was about to ask if it was starting up again when a slight movement caught his eye.

His eyes dropped to where he hand that wasn't holding his own had come to rest on Floyd's shirt. It flexed a little, fabric gripped between it, and when Riddle glanced at his face, he noticed that the others eyes were glittering and crinkled at the corners as he smiles.

He follows his gaze back to the group of children who are excitedly pointing at the sweets on display, and that's what makes it click.

"Floyd..." The other perks up, fingers still tangled in his shirt and smile still gracing his lips. "You want kids, don't you?"

It's not a question-- more of an accusation, really.

Floyd's face drops and he opens his mouth and makes a couple of aborted noises. Riddle recognizes it as what he does when he back-pedals-- what he does when he thinks he's done something that actually makes Riddle mad.

"I dunno what you're talkin' 'bout, goldfishy~." He settles on, trying for his normal sing-song tone but sounding a little strained. Riddle shakes his head with a sigh-- while he was glad that Floyd had learned to be a bit more tactful with showing his affection, sometimes he wished he would just drop it and be blunt with him.

Riddle squeezes the hand that's still linked with his own, falling silent and looking back toward the desert case. He sorted his thoughts in the time it took for the waitress to take the order for what he wanted.

As she took the tarts aside to put them in a box, Riddle squeezed Floyd's hand again.

"You could have just asked me outright, you know I wouldn't have been upset with you. So why didn't you?"

Floyd huffs, clearly not wanting to answer this line of inquiry. He tries to pull his hand away from Riddle's, trying to close himself off. Riddle doesn't let him, already familiar with this little trick of his.

"Jus' thought it might be a sensitive subject." Floyd sighs brusquely, and when Riddle looks over at him in confusion he realizes that Floyd is resolutely not looking in his direction. Instead he's watching the children playing again and rubbing at the back of his neck.

"Why would it be?"

"... Cause of your Ma."

Ah. No, that tracks. Truly, sometimes Floyd was too smart for his own good. He seemed to be better at reading Riddle's feelings before he was, sometimes.

"I see." Riddle hums. His mom... he hadn't really thought about that. In fairness, he'd never thought of kids in general, though, either. He doesn't think he would be like his mother but... well, he's never really been in a parental role either. Sometimes he does catch himself saying something and hearing her voice coming out in place of his own. It makes him shudder a little every time, but surely that was a sign that he was trying to be better, right?

It's not exactly a comfortable silence between them, for the next few minutes as they take a seat at the table in the bakery and pull out their desserts. Floyd has barely picked at his tart, Riddle notes, as he chews his own slowly and considers what's on his mind. He glances back over at the field trip group as they finish getting their own treats and go trotting out the door chipperly.

"...Do you think I'm like her?"

Floyd snaps to attention, looking at Riddle like he'd grown a second head.

"What? No." Floyd frowns, gesturing with his hands and glaring at him as if he's personally offended that Riddle would compare himself to his own mother. "No."

"You think so?"

"This is a joke, right, Riddle?" Riddle can't help the slight quirk of his lips at the use of his real name, it's how he knew Floyd was being serious. "She would be too busy counting the calories in that tart to think about anything else."

"Mhm. And she would be arguing with the waitress right now and demanding the nutritional information from the waitress." Riddle places the last bite of his tart into his mouth to hide his smile.

"And then she would ask if they could substitute the flour for oats or sawdust or somethin' because it would be healthier."

"She would."

"And then she'd tell the whole school group off for letting those kids have that much sugar and how it's 'bad for their growing brains'."

"Yes. And she wouldn't try to do this." Riddle says, jabbing his fork toward Floyd's own tart, which Floyd preempts and slides it far enough across the table that it's out of his reach. Drat.

"Ooh, devious goldfishy~! Too slow." Floyd laughs, mood already improved noticeably, hand propping his head up against the table. Despite not letting him steal it, Floyd cuts a chunk off his own tart and holds it up for Riddle to eat. "You know, she would be screamin' her head off even seeing you eat one of these. Like food can be 'bad' even if it tastes good. You're nothin' like her."

Riddle accepts the offered bite, carefully tucking his hair behind his ear as he leans forward to eat it off the other's fork. He also, rather insistently, threads his fingers between Floyd's, trapping the fork between their hands. Floyd laughs at that, too.

"You make it hard to eat when you do that." Riddle merely smiles back impishly, daring Floyd to figure it out. He truly brings out the playful side of him.

He hums thoughtfully, wiping his mouth with his napkin politely as Floyd unwedges the fork from between their hands so he can eat with his opposite hand. Riddle watches him finally take a large bite of his tart, thumb absentmindedly stroking along the back of Floyd's thumb.

"You know what else she wouldn't do?"

"Mm?"

"She wouldn't be considering having a discussion with Floyd Leech when we get home about if he would like to have kids together." Riddle's nerves get the best of him, as he speaks it, so he hears rather than sees the fork clatter to the table and him start coughing as he inhales the mouthful of food.

"Floyd!?" Riddle panics, reaching for the other. As if sensing the rising panic, Floyd squeezes their linked fingers and manages to clear his throat.

"For real?" Floyd manages, voice rough and croaky but not matching the way his eyes look at him so adoringly. Riddle sighs, smiling fondly at Floyd and shaking his head.

"Yes, for real. I wouldn't tease you like that."

Floyd barely manages to push his tart out of the way of his body as he leans across the table with ease and loops his arms around Riddle with an emotive, disbelieving cry of 'goldfishy!'

Flustered at the public affection, Riddle pats his arm gently.

"Floyd, eat your tart before I eat it for you."

"You can have the tart, I've got all I need right here~."

"Disgusting." Riddle rolls his eyes, but that doesn't stop him from reaching over and stealing the tart.

It takes some discussion, but they do decide that they're ready. They're not married, but close enough given how long they've been together. (Besides, marriage isn't really all that common for people from the Coral Sea and Riddle has never really had much need for there to be a wedding to know that there is a commitment.) They're both financially stable and are in stable living conditions. They are in the best place mentally that they've ever been in their lives... if there was a time, they felt like the best time would be now.

As for the child... They actually have some pretty similar ideas of what they'd be looking for. They both agree that they would like to adopt a child that's a little older (think between 4-12ish) and if possible they would like to have a girl. Floyd wants a girl because he likes girls fashion and he wants to help her find her own sense of fashion and... Riddle because teenage boys are insufferable. He should know. He went to a school literally just for teenage boys.

It takes some talking, but they decide it's for the best to adopt a human. Despite their outward appearances, they are an interspecies couple, and Floyd knowing the difficulties with coming on land as a teen he explains that he just simply can't expect that of a child. The first time shifting from a merperson to a human is deeply uncomfortable and can sometimes even be painful depending on how big of an anatomy change you have to go through. (He distinctly remembers Azul's transformation being worse than his own.) It might get a bit easier after you have time to adjust for that, but he knows it would be terrifying and traumatic for someone anyone that young. Besides, they already live on land, so it works out to be easier than moving to the sea. (Riddle would be willing, but Floyd doesn't want to do that to him either. Besides, he likes shoes, damn it, he's not giving it up to go back to the sea.)

The caveat is, of course, that Floyd's own parents would have to transform to see their grandchild, but somehow Floyd imagines that they would be more than willing. (They already love Riddle even if they accidentally scare the shit out of him sometimes, so Floyd can only imagine how much they will want to spoil their child. And that isn't counting Jade or Azul or any of their other friends.)

The adoption process is slow, but not as slow as it could be because they are considered common law married by the Queendom of Roses.

Once they do eventually get through the adoption process and get their child home, Floyd and Riddle definitely have some things that they have to teach themselves pretty fast that don't come intuitively. Things like how to deal with a child's irrational fears, how to deal with tantrums, how to talk to them about hard questions, that sort of things.

Floyd is really good at the emotional side of things-- he's had years of dealing with his own fluctuating mood so he's good at teaching his kid ways to help talk themselves down when they're getting angry and how to talk themselves up when they're feeling low. He surprises Riddle with how unconditionally supportive he is (though Riddle supposes he's always been the same for him, so he shouldn't be too surprised). He's excellent at finding the right things to say when he needs to say them.

Riddle is great at the academic side of things. With him, it's not anything like his mother was-- his teaching is based on education and helping her to find what works for her. If she has a hard time learning something, he's great at finding a different method to teach her that clicks for her. He's also really good at teaching her how to be responsible and how to think critically and for herself. He never got that as a child, and he never wants her to enter a situation that she can't think through herself. God forbid she should ever feel that kind of pressure, but he thinks about his own overblot and feels like it's necessary for her to know how to step back and and look at a situation logically. He trusts Floyd to teach her how to handle the emotional part of it.

She loves them both, but she's definitely Floyd's little princess. Floyd adores her and spoils her rotten. Riddle has no objections because it's really sweet to watch how well he handles her and matches her energy.

She also loves uncle Jade and Azul. However, uncle Azul is never allowed to babysit because the last time he did, she tried to scam her schoolmates out of money.

Uncle Trey is fun too, and brings her a bunch of sugar and then bails. Riddle threatens to never let him over again, but Floyd had a lot of fun with it and ends up convincing Riddle to stop threatening to cut Trey out of his life over a goofy prank.

Probably the most difficult conversation that they have ever had to have with her was to explain why Grandma and Grandpa Leech visit but why grandma Rosehearts doesn't. Riddle and Floyd tackle that one together, Riddle explaining how his childhood was and Floyd stepping in to take over when he noticed Riddle was getting emotional. Of course there were questions about why and what kinds of things she did, and of course they didn't give her the nitty gritty, but it was enough for her to grasp it. She and Floyd wanted to snuggle Riddle that evening, so it ended up in Floyd and her falling asleep halfway through a movie, one on either side of Riddle.

#twisted wonderland #twst #riddle rosehearts #floyd leech #sfw;; #romance #fluff #florid #floyd x riddle #shipping;; #this got so long so fast but I regret nothing

[blackjackkent]

All right, we know where Bhaal's temple is, so it is time to FLATTEN ORIN LIKE A PANCAKE. >:| We're heading back to the sewers, and on to the temple where once Caden fought Sarevok.

This dude is wandering around in the entry hall of the Murder Tribunal:

I can't interact with him but he's wandering around grumbling about the Lord of Murder. I had to do some googling - this is Ffion Goldgrind's son, the one I assumed had been replaced by a doppelganger. Apparently he just went down the Bhaalist rabbit hole instead, so I'm guessing he killed his mom. Apparently we could have run into him in a couple different places as part of the "Solve the Murders" questline (which I guess is shut down now that we've faced the tribunal), or if we had taken the evil route here, we would have had to fight him as a "professional rival" (according to the wiki).

Interesting. Let's get the hell out of here.

Back into the sewers from the Basilisk Gate, and following the quest icon, we're going way the fuck off to the north in an area of the sewers we haven't been yet. We run almost immediately into a couple of "Night Blades" and a "Death's Head of Bhaal," who are busy taking potshots at a camp of innocent refugees nearby, but all of whom are not happy to see us and immediately turn their attention to Hector instead.

"What's this? A heretic in our midst? Your death in the Dread Lord's name!"

I actually stumbled past these guys earlier in the sewers but then backed up when I realized it might trigger Orin's wrath early; at the time, though, they didn't actively get angry (presumably because we were still on some level allied with Orin because Gortash was still alive). Now, however, they're ready to jump. I'm assuming this is because Orin knows we killed Sarevok and is Not Happy.

...I hope killing Sarevok didn't get Lae'zel killed. :(

Not a difficult fight but does seem to indicate we're going in the right direction.

While searching for the path northward, I land in a place called "Heapside Barracks Cells" which appears to be a prison managed by the Flaming Fist. It's not what I'm looking for but I'll take a look around in the interest of thoroughness.

Surprisingly, the Fist didn't seem to mind me being there. So I set Hector into sneak mode and robbed them blind of anything useful and enjoyed the satisfying sight of the dead Steel Watcher lying on the floor.

Pretty much the only interesting stuff here is a bunch of documents in a back office, most of which deal with the rise of the Bhaalist cult in the city. There's a note from Devella indicating she requested more resources from the Fist to look into the situation and was denied. Florrick's sentence to death and information about the Stone Lord are also here, which thankfully are no longer relevant but would presumably have been alternate entrances into those quests. Also some notes about the rise of the Absolute, and a message from Ravengard (post-tadpole) ordering a complete lockdown of the Upper City.

There's definitely some documents here indicating the presence of decent Flaming Fist, also:

Hard to say if any such people remain in the force, though, or if they've all been tadpoled into submission.

A fun little note locked in a chest:

XD Yes he really is a [REDACTED]. Jury is out on whether [REDACTED] was [REDACTED] although I'm guessing she died fully human.

The Emperor is still a bit of a mystery to me. He does a very good job of pulling my heartstrings, but there are also definitely plenty of documents around reminding that mind flayers are capable of incredibly manipulative behavior so who knows. Maybe I am not immune to squid propaganda. I want to believe he's telling the truth about Stelmane but who knows.

Probably not a very relevant sidetrack but I always appreciate some lore flavor. :D

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle #very document-heavy liveblogging night tonight #i think i'm probably going to leave actually confronting orin for Saturday but going to at least try to get to the temple tonight

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Part 2 (Mentees) of my notes on touch in bsd! If you want to see the first part, you can find a link at the end!

The second part deals with the mentees - Atsushi and Akutagawa.

Atsushi is an interesting case because the first point of contact between him and Dazai is actually initiated by Atsushi, as he pulls him from the river to save his life. However, I think it's pretty obvious to infer that Dazai intended for this to happen, so you can say, technically, it was initiated by both parties.

I find the fact that their dynamic, which has Atsushi so grateful to Dazai for saving him and giving him a chance, actually starts off the other way around. I can only assume this is some level of foreshadowing - perhaps Atsushi will finally manage to bridge the gap in understanding between them and save Dazai later in the story, for real that time.

And yes, there is a gap. It's readily apparent throughout the series that Atsushi doesn't comprehend the way Dazai thinks and feels and keeps attempting to reach out, only to be redirected. And yes, I'm saying redirected, not rebuffed. At no point does Dazai completely shrug him off, at least not to my recollection. He's just... evasive.

It makes sense that there's very little contact initiated by Atsushi: after all, Dazai is his superior and they're coworkers, so a lot of contact would likely be improper. However, Dazai is surprisingly tactile with him and the nature of the touch is really interesting.

Here's a few examples asides from nullification:

Dazai shoves Atsushi in the direction of the killer in Murder on D Street

He grabs Atsushi's arm to move him out of Kouyou's room when he lashes out at her

Holds him by the collar (along with Akutagawa) as he partners sskk for the first time officially against the Rats

Notice the interesting bit? Dazai's actions serve to guide Atsushi towards whatever he wants his mentee to handle. Is this guidance? Or is it manipulation? I love the ambiguity of it, because the truth is, it's a bit of both. I think the contact signifies Dazai's sincere intentions to be a guide to Atsushi, but I don't think he really knows how to do that without being subtly or straight up overtly manipulative. At the very least, he seems to think other tactics are not as effective.

...which brings us to Akutagawa.

There is very little direct contact between them which makes a lot of sense. Dazai is aloof towards Akutagawa at best, outright abusive at worst. In any case, Akutagawa respects Dazai to such a degree that he will ask for recognition, but will not dare bridge actual contact with him. Dazai's contact, on the other hand, is violently repulsive. He punches and kicks him backwards, often away from himself - a firm and cruel rejection.

However, there are two points in which contact is not hostile between them:

Dazai puts Akutagawa's coat on him when he recruits him

Dazai puts a hand on Akutagawa's shoulder when he tells him he's become strong

Both instances show genuine emotion - in the first scene, Dazai is quite candid about what his training will entail - but swears he will train him and give him a reason to live. Akutagawa is outwardly emotional, clutching the coat that was given to him.

I do believe that Dazai thinks violence is the best way to train Akutagawa, even if he knows it's not right (see his conversation with Atsushi about the orphanage director!). Clearly, Dazai's approach to mentorship is very different due to time and mindset, but I also believe it has to do with what he assumes is the best way to train their particular personalities. It's unfortunate when it comes to either one of them attempting to change this unhealthy dynamic they have: Akutagawa, I think, doesn't realize that this treatment of him was unnecessary and still chases praise from his mentor, while Dazai can't be honest without being vulnerable about why he left or admitting that maybe he screwed up a little (...just a little).

Still, Dazai doesn't hate Akutagawa. I'll admit, seeing Dazai direct such overt violence and vitriol still leaves me a little stumped (is it just training? There seems to be more to it...) but he absolutely doesn't hate him. He thinks quite highly of his abilities and says as much to Odasaku in Dark Era - throwing the man, because he hasn't heard Dazai speak that highly of anyone.

This is why, when Dazai places his hand on Akutagawa's shoulder after the Guild fight and tells him he's become strong... I do believe that's genuine. I think that's always how Dazai felt, he just doesn't tell Akutagawa that.

Still, I'm not sure what Dazai's thoughts are on Akutagawa's character. Akutagawa clearly sees Dazai as a terrifying mentor figure - he also seems to notice his melancholy and struggle to find a reason to live, yet another point towards Akutagawa's keen observations of people and what makes them tick (he does this with many characters throughout the story... it's what drew me to him actually!). Unfortunately, his respect for his mentor prevents him from daring to ask questions, and his mentor does not seem to have much interest in him as a person.

I hope Akutagawa's death (which is temporary guys he's coming back he'll be fine) and subsequent turning into a vampire (I can't believe I just had to write that) marks some kind of a turning point in their dynamic... I'm hoping. (Akutagawa already tried to refuse him in an earlier chapter so... maybe?)

All in all, I think the first anime ed illustrates what I'm getting at here quite nicely. These relationships are quite likely to continue to evolve as the story progresses - Atsushi will find out more about Dazai's darker side and have to amend his view of him, Akutagawa will (hopefully!) break out of Dazai's purpose for him and find his own, and Dazai will be forced to confront the very real impact and responsibility he has towards both of them, whether he likes it or not.

Here's Part 1 (Friends):

I Like to Write BSD Things — So I realized that 3 am me is not coherent and... (tumblr.com)

Part 3 (Partners):

I Like to Write Things — Ok finally, finally, here is part 3 of my touch... (tumblr.com)

#bsd #bsd meta #storyrambles #bsd dazai #bsd atsushi #bsd akutagawa #bsd spoilers

[emily-the-fae]

A Shard of the Sun

Henry Creel/OC

I have been happily watching Stranger Things, not having to hyperfixate on any of the characters for three seasons straight, no big fanfic ideas. No broad hcs. Then season four came...

self-explanatory. of course it's the bad guy.

This piece of text has been written in a 24-hour frenzy I have dived in after finishing the final episode and found myself at 3AM of next day with this in the notes of my phone

needless to say i'm a lover of a pretty human story

Fandom: Stranger Things

Pairing: Henry Creel x OC

Rated: M

Warnings: spoilers to season 4, angst (come on, it's Henry), but also sort of fluff, mentions of abuse/torture/injury/death, suggestive content

Eleven accidentally drops into Henry's memories and sees something he keeps tucked away in the furthest corner. A shard of sun hidden in the depth of his memory.

It's life or death. Eleven is panicked and out of breath and Vecna is right in front of her. She's been running all round his little ruin temple, but at this point escape options were down to zero. Vecna reaches out a clawed hand and Eleven panics, lost for what to do. Her body reacts subconsciously with no regard to whether it was effective protection or not: Eleven grabs his wrist desperately in an attempt to push him away and win some escape space. She grabbed him. She probably shouldn't have. It felt like something inside the entire space snapped. Vecna froze. Eleven stared at her palm holding onto his thick red wrist, tattooed numbers 001 faded but still visible. She wanted to let go. She had lost control of her fingers. Eleven lurched backwards in panic, screaming, and her palm suddenly unclasped. She fely herself trip over, falling backwards on inertia. Eleven stretched out her arms trying desperately to grab onto something, to prevent the fall, but she couldn't. The world suddenly disappeared. She was falling into a black abyss, surrounded only by darkness and emptyness. Even Vecna was gone. Eleven was flying down and backwards, screaming for her life. 

***

Suddenly the world reappeared around her like she had not just a second ago been flying like Alice through the rabbit hole. There was a flash of light and suddenly Eleven was in a cold-lit white corridor, landing on the tile floor painfully with her bottom. The girl yelped on impact, disoriented. It took her a few moments to get a grasp of her surroundings and stop her head from spinning. Eleven then stood up cautiously. Where was she? The place would have looked like a hospital if the corridors weren't so empty. It looks familiar. It's the lab, isn't it? Is it another one of Vecna's mind tricks? Or is it a memory? But if so, whose? Her own or...?

Eleven could hear rapid clicking of heels nearing from behind a turn. Someone was coming. The girl looked around frantically, searching for a place to hide, realizing once again the space was oddly empty apart from a few locked doors in the other end of the corridor. The steps sounded closer now. Eleven looked in the direction they were coming from right in time to see a young woman come around the corner. Nothing threatening: white lab coat over a formal white shirt and a grey pencil skirt, hair tied in a bun and a folder with some papers in her hands. Eleven looked her over in confusion: the woman appeared surprisingly normal and somewhat remotely familiar. If this was Eleven's memory, she had no idea what this particular episode could be about. The girl stepped away cautiously: the woman's gaze met Eleven' face...

And slid past it without exposing any interest. Eleven, who was ready to run or fight, froze in frustration. Definitely not illusion. A memory.

The woman was a few steps away now, Eleven could see her face clearly: she was about twenty five and seemed very nervous. "I've definitely seen her before," - Eleven thought to herself. Maybe it's her own memory afterall. The woman walked past her and Eleven turned to follow, jumping slightly on her way, trying to peek into the papers in the folder. On top of the pages a small card read: "Katherine Brandt". 

They called her Dr Brandt. Eleven remembered her suddenly and vividly. It was that friendly woman from the medical room, who always smiled and gave them treats when no one would notice. For a moment Eleven forgot how to walk. Why was she seeing her now?

The woman had walked some distance away and Eleven had to chase after her to catch up. Running felt strange, perhaps because she couldn't feel any wind. The woman reached the end of the corridor, took a turn right and almost immediately there was gasp and a soft thud.

Eleven saw the papers scatter on the floor. She turned around the corner hastily, expecting to see the woman get attacked by something, ready to...

 - I'm so sorry! I didn't expect...

The woman was crouching on the floor, gathering the papers in a hurry. There was a man on his knees next to her, dressed in all white, his blond hair falling into his face - he was helping her pick up the contents of the folder. They had apparently bumped into each other.

 - It's nothing,  - the voice was definitely familiar. 

Eleven looked them over in surprise, unsure what to expect.

The pair stood up, brushing off. 

Eleven was finally able to see the man's face and realized with a start - it was One. So it's not her own memories after all. They are his. But why this one?

 - I umm... - the woman started nervously. - I was looking for uh.. - she took a glimpse at her files. - Dr Brenner?

 - He is working with the children. Why do you need him? - his voice was somewhat more tense than previously. 

 - I think I'm supposed to confirm my arrival with him or something like that... I uh.. I'm a resident... Intern. Hard to explain. 

 - Didn't know they took more nurses, - the man mumbled. Eleven looked closely into his face, trying to figure out a hidden meaning of a frankly ordinary scene before her  - piercing blue eyes, probably in his early thirties, maybe younger: he looked just as she remembered him and uncannily normal.

 - I'm not a nurse!

 - Of course. My bad, - he seemed amused, or maybe just irritated. - Follow me.

Eleven felt strange, as if her vision was going blurry and lights were circling around her head. She tried to follow the woman again, ran after her, but as she turned the corner, the room suddenly changed. She realized the memory was switching to a different one and she had no control over its turn.

***

The room is windowless and dimly lit. It seems like a common room for employees. Eleven realizes judging by the interior that she is still in the Hawkins lab. The same woman is sitting at a table now writing something, her attire is changed: the lab coat is hanging on the back of her chair and her skirt is dark blue. 

The door opens with a small creak and someone enters: Eleven turns around and makes a step back, seeing One shut the door behind himself. The palm of his hand is bleeding. The woman raises her head briefly to acknowledge the entry of another person, but she too, apparently notices the blood. 

 - Evening... Oh, are you alright? - she stands up from her seat swiftly.

 - It's nothing, - same phrase as before, he brushes her off.

 - Please, let me help, - the woman walks up to him, although he tries to wave dismissively. - Oh, it's you, - she says, when she sees his face. Pause. They are looking at each other for a moment, the man recognizing her too. - What happened? 

 - Just children messing around, - he turns away, reaching out for the first aid kit.

 - Let me help you clean it, please.

 - It's nothing.

 - There's too much blood for a nothing, - she touches his shoulder carefully and he flinches away, startling her.

One stares at his palm for a moment. Then at her. He huffs and hands over the first aid kit. Eleven watches them, tired of attempting to understand what is the meaning of all this.

 - I'm Kate, by the way, - she smiles, turning away to focus on the first aid kit.

 - Peter, - he responds after a short pause. He reaches out to tug his left sleeve down lower, while she is distracted.

Eleven watches his hands and it's just a second, but she still catches a glimpse of it. He is hiding the tattoo on his wrist. 

The woman - Kate - turns back to him and asks to let her look at his palm, she doesn't notice the look of strange curiosity on his face. The world is already starting to go blurry as the previous time and Eleven realizes with a jolt, perhaps too late - she had somehow dropped into the back of One's mind, a series of memories tucked away for some reason. Moving around through the blur she realized something else: the room, the light, the air around her - everything was ever so slowly turning warmer.

Eleven felt her head spinning, she turned to the door, grabbed the handle and pushed.

***

The cafeteria was half-empty, but it seemed to be lunch time. Eleven looked around, searching for a glimpse One's blond hair - he was sitting at a round table alone, seemingly deeply preoccupied with studying the contents of his plate. A strand of hair has fallen in front of his eyes. Eleven walked closer, studying him carefully. Why am I seeing these memories? What is the...?

 - Hey, Peter. Haven't seen you today, - he flinches slightly. Eleven jumps on spot too. She hadn't seen her coming. Kate is walking up to his table, tray in hands, and sits herself across from him.

 - Hi, - he responds, unsure.

 - You seem off, - she remarks. Eleven hears a quiet noise, coming not quite from the scene in front, but from inside her head - a crackle of electricity and an echo of a scream. It takes her a moment to realize the sound is from One's thoughts.

 - I'm alright. Just a headache, - he spits out a lie and sounds rather hostile. - Are you going to sit here? 

 - Yes. Why? Do you mind? - she was about to start on her food, then raised her eyes to his face expectantly.

- Not good for your reputation. Others here are rather... displeased by my company so...

 - So they are full of shit, - she stated, turning back to her food and picking up a fork. One stared at her for a moment, stunned.

 - I guess... - he mumbled, not knowing what to say.

Kate snorted.

It made the corners of his lips rise - only a little bit, but it was still noticeable.

 - And do tell me when you get headaches. I have, like, unlimited access to painkillers here, I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to give them out to employees too, - she blurted, not looking up at him. Paused, then added: - Hate to see you so gloomy.

Eleven watched One stare at Kate as the room started to go blurry. For a moment it seemed to her that soft light started emanating from the woman. Eleven closed her eyes and shook her head slightly, frustrated, and when she opened them, the scene changed again.

***

It looks like a hospital room. There is a boy of about fourteen sleeping on the bed, a monitor beeping monotonously next to him.

Kate is rushing about the room, mumbling something incoherently. There is a knock on the door, she doesn't answer and the door still opens after a couple of seconds. She turns abruptly to face the intruder.

 - I have to check on four's condition, - One slides in quietly and shuts the door behind himself. He watches her move about with curiosity, identifying some new emotion to her character.

 - Here, take this sheet to Dr Brenner, I just made a fresh check up a few minutes ago. Don't bother him now, let him rest. 

She doesn't turn to him, handing out the paper. She is visibly distraught.

 - Something wrong? - he asks, out of curiosity.

 - Nothing, - she states.

A few moments pass. He is about to leave, when she suddenly continues:

 - Those marks are from a shocker, - her voice is almost shaky with anger.

 - They are, - One responds quietly after some hesitation.

 - They can't be using it! He's a child! It's...

 - They use it on everyone, it's a method of disciplining, - he mumbled, forcing his voice to sound calm.

She turned to him abruptly.

 - It's discipline for wild lions in a circus. I thought they were trained to control their abilities here, not...!

 - Dr Brenner believes it an effective method to stop them from using their power for bad or misbehaving in the facility, - he barely brought himself to say it, his voice sounded fake and he seemed angry at himself for pronouncing it. Maybe he just wanted to see how she would react. 

 - That's not going to stop them from misbehaving! They are just going to hate him and this place and try to sneak... They are supposed to be assisted here! It's wrong! - she was getting worked up and emotional. One watched her as she spoke - just for a second an expression ran over his eyes - barely noticable, but still there, it looked oddly like admiration.

 - It's Dr Brenner's methods, - he sighed deeply, letting his own disapproval show if only a little.

 - It's cruel! This cannot be allowed, it's just.. wrong! You can't treat children like this! You can't treat anyone like this! 

One stared at her for too long. Then dropped his head, looking at the floor.

Brenner can.

And no one tells him he shouldn't be?

 - He doesn't take advice on what he should or shouldn't do. It's his project.

 - What do you mean? ... Peter!

He was about to turn away, then looked back at her abruptly.

 - We shouldn't be talking about this. You are right. But we shouldn't. Not unless you want problems, - he uttered quickly and quietly. Kate looked like she had swallowed a glass of water that was about to become ice.

 - Peter... - he shook his head, threw an apologetic look at her and turned on his heels. Kate closed her eyes. The door shut.

The room started to buzz and go blurry. Eleven watched Kate closely. She realized she was right the previous time - when everything started blurring there was a faint glow around her, like rays around clouds on a sunny day. And the room was ever so slowly growing warmer. There were voices behind Eleven. She turned around.

***

 It is the same room, but the date had apparently changed. The bed is empty, the lights are slightly more dim. Kate had dragged One into the room by his arm and closed the door behind them. He seems to be limping, slightly shaky on his legs, whilst Kate is walking determinedly, fuming. She released her hold on him by the table, allowing him to support himself on his arms, leaning on the surface. She is going through one of the drawers, searching for something actively and angrily.

 - For how long has this been going on? - her whisper comes out in a white-hot hiss.

 - It happens sometimes, - he answers evasively. He is breathing heavily, it looks like he is struggling to regain himself.

Eleven suddenly realized it must have been one of the times Brenner "treated" him with shockers. Kate must have walked in on it accidentally.

 - How often is sometimes? Is this a regular occurrence? How the hell-? - she turns to him.

 - It's nothing, - he mutters, avoiding her gaze.

 - Peter, no! He hurt you, this is serious, this is not okay!

He turns away as if trying to ignore her, then, almost whispering, with a sudden uncanny determination to his voice:

 - Henry.

 - What? - she asks dumbly, startled.

 - My name is Henry.

 - I'm sorry? - even more confused.

He turns to her with a sigh and rolls up his sleeve, exposing his left wrist - and the tattoo. Kate gasps, then puts her palm over her mouth and sinks into the chair behind her. He watches her reaction in silence. He sits down on the edge of the table before her. Then pronounces more firmly, but quietly.

 - My name is Henry Creel. I am One.

She stares at his wrist for so long the tension becomes uncomfortable, she is breathing heavily and when she allows herself to speak tears are laced in her voice, but she still attempts to ask:

 - Why- How-?

 - He found me as a child, I was twelve, - he stares into her face, suddenly something overcomes him and he blurts out, words that he wouldn't have said to anyone normally. Almost as if he is trying to scare her. - I did things. Gruesome things. I killed my family with it. My mother was going to hand me over to him for "treatment", - he spits out. - And I knew he was no good. I killed my family so they wouldn't do it, my mother, my sister, it wasn't pretty.  My father barely survived but they blamed their deaths on him anyways. And I still ended up with Brenner.

 - Peter... Henry... - Kate is staring up at him in shock, then looks down again, but he continues determinately.

 - He tried to train me like all those kids - didn't manage. Said I was too stubborn, uncontrollable. So he started a whole program, to get obedient versions. I'm just the failed first experiment. Hidden in plain sight so to say. Brenner's bad bloody monster.

He finishes and leans back, watching her angrily, expecting her to react, panic, run out of the door.

Eleven felt the air tense up, but the lights for some reason didn't grow colder or darker like she expected them to.

Kate is staring down at her lap now with tears in her eyes, her gaze focused, she is apparently actively overthinking every word he said. A minute passes, but it feels like thirty.

 - I'm so sorry.

He flinches. Then stares in surprise.

 - Sorry for what? - he hisses.

 - Brenner has no right to be treating you the way he does.

 - Well, I've killed my family.

 - That is no normal behavior.

 - No-o, not normal at all, - he growls, leans in a little closer to her. - Aren't you scared of me now?

She looks up, her eyes meeting his. His gaze is angry, piercing, he is expecting her to turn away. Eleven could hear echoes in her own head like before: a woman yelling, berating someone; "hold yourself together"; "...you're incapable of behaving yourself, boy" and a sound of a slap; "Henry, you're a freak!" then a girl's laughter; then more of the familiar sounds from before - electric cackling and screams.

Kate held his gaze. It visibly took her some effort.

 - No... A little bit. But that doesn't change the fact that you were just a boy. You did awful things. But you were twelve. You  didn't deserve to be dragged into a cage and studied like a wild animal, you needed help, not a damn collar, - her words grow heated towards the end of her speech. She stops abruptly, then looks away from him, breaking eye contact. - It's no excuse for what he has done or what he is doing.

The sounds and echoes in Eleven's head stopped, as if someone switched off a radio. The room is filled with silence.

One stares at the floor, then at Kate for a brief moment. Then back at the floor.

 - You're not supposed to know this by the way. So do your best pretending that you don't. Brenner will get angry, - his voice is emotionless, he seems lost for a proper emotional response to her words.

He is about to stand up when she leaps on her feet and makes a hasty step towards him. She grabs his hand firmly.

 - Pet-... Henry, - he freezes on spot, still not looking at her, but now purposefully so. - This doesn't change anything between us, right? I mean... We're still friends, right?

 - Friends? - he looks up, startled.

 - If you want.

There is a silent pause.

 - I think I do, - he responds after a while.

Silence ensues. She is still holding his hand.

 - Can I hug you?

He looks at her like he is seeing a perculiar extinct animal. Then nods hesitantly.

Kate leans in closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. He puts his around her waist cautiously. Something tells Eleven he is contemplating on how to break her spine with least effort in case she tries to stab him with a scalpel in his back. She doesn't. They stay still, breathing.

 - Aren't you scared of me? - he repeats his question from before. 

 - You freaked me out. I guess quite a bit, - she responds quietly, her lips close to his ear. "Then you are very incautious" - whispers a voice in Eleven's head. - But I've known you for some time and... You told me all this so...

He breathes out heavily, holds still. His arms are still wrapped around her. They don't seem to be that ready to break her spine now. As the room starts to go blurry it seems to Eleven that she sees a foreign gleam in his eyes. She also notices that the yellow glow that seemed to emanate from Kate was drastically more visible. Eleven turned away, and the room rolled in a blur. She had a feeling for some reason that she wouldn't like where this was going.

***

It's the far medical room, one like those the children were put in when they were sick for a long time - a rare occurrence. Henry is looking around awkwardly, suspiciously. Kate is in front of him, it looks like she had brought him in the room on purpose. They are alone, the door is locked.

 - Here we are, - she says.

 - Yes, and why are we here? - he says, cautiously, suspiciously.

 - You said your room was always checked, right?

He nodded, still looking at her in distrust.

 - So?

 - So, Brenner never goes in here. 

 - And?

 - And there are no cameras in the medical rooms because they are barely used and supposed to be safe and boring. 

 - And?

 - And there are those cupboards that have locks and I can lock them up and we can hide stuff for you in here so that Brenner doesn't find out... I mean... - she pauses, catching her breath anxiously: she had been speaking very fast, afraid he'd interrupt her. - I brought you some pencils and a sketchbook. I noticed you draw. And I brought some books. You don't have to read them. It's just the ones I thought you'd like. I can buy you something else, you just tell me what you would prefer...

She crouches down, producing a set of small keys and unlocking one of the drawers of a nearby table. Henry is watching her closely.

 - Here, see?

He makes a couple fast determined steps towards her. Kate jumps to her feet, watching his face intently, perhaps worried she might have upset him somehow. He stares into the drawer for a long moment: there are new pencils, pastels, a fresh sketchbooks and a couple hard-binded books, a copy of "The Hobbit" at the top. He breathes out, heavily, shakily, with a small smile on his face. Kate smiles awkwardly at him too, then flinches almost unnoticeably, startled as she looks down. He reached out timidly, touching her hand, interlocking their fingers. She squeezes his palm. They look up at each other simultaneously, their gazes meeting. 

 - Thank you, - it comes out as a whisper, but it seems to echo around the room.

He makes a rushed awkward movement and suddenly he is holding her, snaking his arms around her waist and behind her back reluctantly. She looks startled and surprised in his embrace, frozen for a couple of seconds with her eyes wide open, her hands hanging mid-air in hesitation. She regains herself, wrapping her arms around him carefully. 

She is glowing again. Again more vivid. Eleven feels warmer again and the room is going blurry as the two slowly begin to pull apart. The girl turns around reaching for the door behind her, ready to go to the next bit of memory, but it's not there anymore. 

***

It is once again that what appeared to be a common room for employees. There is Dr Brenner standing in front of the doorway, several people are sitting about on chairs or couches, all looking at him. Right in front of Eleven, at a table with several other people there are Henry and Kate, sitting next to each other.

Dr Brenner carries on talking, it looks like he has been going on for a while.

 - I believe we might need some extra effort with Two and Three today. It looks like they believe they are allowed superficial privileges since they are older, which is not quite what we have discussed with them.

Henry tenses up. It looks like Kate notices.

  - Michael, Peter and Jacob will be on assistance in class today...

Brenner is still talking, but the sound becomes slightly muffled.

Eleven sees Henry's shoulder shift slightly, as if he is about to flinch, but restricting himself. Kate notices it too. She moves her hand carefully, slowly, and grabs his palm under the table while no one notices. He squeezes her fingers. 

The sound of Brenner's voice becomes more clear again.

 - That's it for now. Back to work, ladies and gentlemen.

Everybody is standing up, some picking folders, some turning back to desks, beginning to write something down. Kate is up on her feet before Henry is, but he is following her close by. 

She is passing by Dr Brenner, about to exit the room, when she stops. Henry is a couple steps away, next to another employee that was apparently assigned for assistance on the day's lesson too.

 - Oh, I almost forgot... - Kate suddenly speaks. - I'm sorry, Dr Brenner, but Peter has kindly agreed to assist me with the check ups today, I would like to keep him on it if that is okay with you, - she has turned away and shows with her entire pose that she is in a hurry, about to leave. Like she doesn't really care about what she is saying, throwing it in as an afterthought. If Brenner could see her face he would have noticed she was holding her breath nervously. He seems to be mulling over what he just heard.

Henry freezes for a moment, caught off guard, but quickly regains himself, adding quietly:

 - I have said I would be free to assist in the medical rooms today. I'm sure I'm not irreplaceable on the lessons, - he adds quietly. Now it looks like he had planned it all to escape the lessons that day. Like there was no startled look on his face just seconds ago when he heard her speak.

Brenner turns to Henry and looks him over strictly, quite possibly contemplating if allowing him to work in the medical rooms could lead to Kate's untimely death. He probably decides it wouldn't. 

 - Why, if you are already needed there, I will get someone else to step into your place on the lesson. But I require to be warned next time when there are duty arrangements that I am unaware of, - he finishes strictly, then turns away dismissively. 

Kate nods, exiting the room and Henry follows her, visibly making an effort not to pick up his pace. 

 - Should I not have? - she asks him cautiously when they turn the corner and are out of earshot.

 - Can't know. I'm glad you did, - he replies.

 - Isn't he going to be suspicious?

 - Of me, not of you. And not more than he has already been. He hates me, remember? - he chuckles darkly. They are walking fast in the direction of the medical office. Kate turns her head swiftly to throw an apologetic glance at him. He continues:

 - I'd rather spend the day working with you than with anyone else in this place.

She smiles, broadly. It even seems she blushes.

 - Is that true?

He doesn't answer, just huffs.

 - Well, that's mutual.

They have reached the door and she is fumbling with the keys, so she doesn't hear when he says:

 - You're the only one who'd say that, - shacking his head.

Eleven knows Kate hadn't heard him - she would have turned if she had. Eleven notices something else: Henry is staring at Kate's face intently - she is looking down at the keys in her hands, it takes a minute to realize that a strand of hair that had fallen down and in front of her face is slowly, but steadily, against common sense and gravity, moving up and behind her ear. The woman doesn't notice. Eleven stares. The corridor goes blurry. The door opens and everything is engulfed in a flash of sunlight for a moment and when it goes away, the scene is changed again.

***

It's like Eleven has been transported into the medical room and has to watch the door open from the inside, as Kate stumbles in, leading a rather unstable Henry inside, holding him up by his elbow. She throws a quick glance left and right back into the corridor before shutting the door behind them. 

It's evident that Henry's head is spinning. She leads him carefully to the examination table and gestures for him to sit down - he doesn't, he just leans on it with his back to the surface.

  - Wait a second, I'll grab some painkillers and I can also... - she mumbles on, hurriedly, almost indistinguishable, rushing around the room. Henry watches her intently. The entire room seems to be buzzing - maybe it's the aftermath of the shockers affecting his perception.

She steps back to the table, bringing a couple bottles with pills and a first aid kit.

 - Take these, it will ease the pain, - she drops a couple of round pills on his outstretched palm and gives him a glass of cold water. He follows her instruction silently.

 - Show me your burns, we have to check out those, - she doesn't notice the way he is staring at her.

 - It's alright, - he replies, his voice is slightly raspy. 

 - Henry... - she presses on, opening the first aid kit.

 - There is no need, - he continues.

 - Just hold still for a moment, - she tells him. He looks her over, glimpses into her concerned face, still focused on what she was doing. There is a tenseness in him that wasn't there before. He apparently contemplated on what she asked him to do and decided against it. 

Everything happens quickly. An invisible force yanks the first aid kit out of her hands. She gasps lightly. He leanes down to her face quickly, his hand coming up to take a hold of her chin and turn her head towards him. And then he touches his lips to hers - quickly, without hesitation. She freezes. He remains still and firm, his eyes closed. 

It feels like time had slowed down.

Then her palm comes up to lay on his chest. She moves aside whatever she had been meaning to pick up and her other arm finds its way around his neck, her fingers sliding into his hair and then all at once she is in his embrace and he - in hers. And they are holding each other: his lips moving against hers, both breathing heavily, it seemed their heartbeats filled the room with a soft humm.

They pull apart, gasping for air. His arm has snaked around her waist and his fingers are digging into her side hard.

 - Henry... - she whimpers, breathless.

 - I've been meaning to do this for a while, - he responds.

She chuckles, quietly. Then reaches up and kisses him again, on her own initiative, closing her eyes. Henry is smiling against her lips, pulling her closer, until they are pressed firmly chest to chest and she lets out a soft sigh through the kiss.

The room is buzzing and lighting up with sunshine, Eleven has to turn away, blinded, and when she does she sees a staircase - definitely not a part of the medical room.

***

 - Where are we going? - Kate asks.

She is following after Henry down a dimly lit narrow corridor and towards the staircase - they seem to be still in Hawkins, although the space looks quite uncharacteristic.

 - Just wait, we're almost there, - he answers shortly.

 - I don't think we're supposed to be here.

 - It's alright, I've done this before.

 - But what if we get in trouble? What if you get in trouble? - she is hurrying after him. 

He turns around briefly to give her a short smirk.

 - I won't.

He runs up the stairs that seemingly go straight into the ceiling and pushes on a door that is barely noticeably there. It gives a heavy groan, but opens nevertheless. Kate watches at the bottom of the stairs, curious.

 - Come on, - he calls to her, climbing up through the door. Bits of blue are visible above him - it's an opening to the roof.

Kate follows up the steps quickly and as soon as she climbs through the opening, he shuts the door behind her. She gives him a worried startled look.

 - Don't worry, I can open it from up here too.

Kate looks around, Henry is watching her.

 - How is this place not guarded?

 - I believe it's not viewed as an escape route - if anyone even finds their way up here and opens the door - it's a seven storey fall to freedom, - he explains simply. He had obviously been thinking it through. That roof had probably brought him a lot of disappointment before it brought any joy. He seems to be glad to have come up there now though.

Kate gives him a long concerned stare. Then walks to the edge. There is a fence, but it isn't very tall - Kate walks up to it, taking in the view. Henry follows her close by.

The sun is setting slowly, colouring the sky in the west in pink and orange. Woods are surrounding the laboratory building and behind them the town of Hawkins emerges with roofs lit up by the setting sun, only to melt back into more woods further west. 

 - It's a view, - Henry comments.

 - That's one way to describe it, - Kate answers. She had been holding her breath.

Henry sits down on the roof and gestures for her to do the same.

 - Won't they notice us from the ground? - she asks as she lands next to him.

 - No, we're obscured from view on this side. Don't worry.

They sit in silence for some time, taking in the scenery before them.

In a while Kate mutters, almost to herself:

 - I sometimes wonder how this place is still standing. With everything going on inside.

At first Henry is silent, as if he hadn't heard her. When he finally speaks there is steel in his voice:

 - Weak people containing beings far more powerful than themselves. The miracle of obedience.

Kate visibly senses anger in his voice. She tenses up.

 - It's not about weakness or strength, Henry. I don't think it is, not in this way...

 - It is, - he interrupts her. - They are weak and they know those like us are stronger. They know they are weaker. They pretend to study this power to try and understand it, but they don't want to understand, not really. Only interpret. They are weak, they are scared and want control and it makes them blind and stupid.

Kate is tense and seems nervous, searching for what to say next.

 - I don't think it has to be measured through strength and weakness. Not for all of them, at least.

He is silent. They stay quiet and it makes the pause uneasy. She wants to add something.

 - I'm one of them, - she offers, needing to set the conversation right.

Henry turns to stare at her and Kate holds his gaze. He seems to be thoughtful for a moment. 

 - You're not weak, - he says finally.

 - Why do you think that?

 - Because you're not afraid.

She looks like she is about to ask what exactly she isn't afraid of, but then last moment decides against it, apparently coming up with a few answers of her own, neither of which she needs to hear from his lips.

They sit submerged each in their own thoughts for a while. Henry reaches out carefully and takes her hand, squeezing it gently. Kate looks at their interlocked fingers and when she doesn't resist, he pulls her in closer, wrapping her in an embrace. She lets out a relieved sigh.

 - Come here, - she whispers. Her fingers clutch his collar and she pulls him down to meet her lips. 

It turns out a little too hard - Henry leans forward too quick and pushes her down accidentally. Now Kate is laying with her back on the surface of the roof and Henry is leaning over her, supporting his weight on his arms, one bent in elbow, one outstretched. Kate giggles. He snorts. 

He leans down closer to her face and touches his forehead to hers, smiling, looking into her eyes, breathing calmly for a few seconds, before connecting their lips again. Kate's fingers let go of his collar to slide into his hair. Henry sighs heavily against her lips. He shifts his weight on one arm, the other going down to her waist. The sunlight becomes blinding - it seems it is coming both from the sunset and the couple. 

Eleven flinches away, unable to watch, hiding her face in her hands. She hears hushed voices and a familiar jiggle of keys.

***

It's the medical room again. The door bursts open, Kate lets Henry step in first, then closes the door behind them carefully, making an effort to pretend like she wasn't in a hurry. Henry waits tensely watching her movements impatiently. 

As soon as the door clicks shut, Kate is turned around and pushed with her back to the wall right next to it. She probably doesn't realize it happened without Henry even touching her. In seconds he is on her, one hand on the wall next to her head, caging her in, the other wrapped around her waist. The noise she makes is somewhat a surprised squeak. The room seems hot, the air feels dense. Henry is kissing her lips, his hand dropping from her waist and down to her hip, tugging the material of the pencil skirt up, and climbing underneath it. Kate gasps for breath when his lips finally leave hers, fingers of one hand entangled in his hair, the other clutching his shirt. His lips descend to her neck and she gasps in surprise before muttering:

 - Wait, wait, Henry, someone can walk in on us.

 - They won't, - he growls quietly, not raising his head from the crook of her neck.

 - But what if...

 - Tssch, quiet... - he mutters looking up into her eyes, pressing a finger to her lips.

There is a soft click.

The key turns itself in the lock.

With another click the lights go off.

Kate gasps softly. Henry growls.

It's dark, but there is again a warm glow coming from their figures - it blurs everything, the whole room seems to start spinning, the sounds become entangled as if someone is playing multiple audiotapes at the same time. Suddenly the world is a caleidoscope of images and sounds - everything sunlit, although barely distinguishable, it was warm and there were laughs and sighs and exclamations and bits of conversation coming from everywhere and nowhere in particular. Words are echoing, they seem quiet and loud at once. 

"You're not supposed to come into work sick" - "I was worried it would upset you if I didn't show up"

snort - "I have never heard you say that before..."

"I'm pretty sure this isn't supposed to hold two people"

"Henry, wait, Jesus!" quiet muffled laughter

"when was the last time you tried chocolate?"

"I'm so awkward, I'm sorry" - "you aren't"

"god I'm glad they didn't put cameras here" quiet giggles

And in the midst of it all, there are bits of one hushed conversation, laced through, ringing somehow more prominent than everything else.

 - Henry I...

There is a sound of something falling, pushed off a surface.

 - Is something wrong?

It seems like music is playing somewhere far away.

 - Henry I'm...

There are quiet indistinguishable voices in the background.

 - You look sick.

Repressed laughter echoes somewhere, turns into a satisfied sigh.

 - Henry, I'm pregnant.

All the other sounds don't quite die down - they blend into and overall background noise, present and indistinguishable.

 - You need to leave. Leave this place. You don't understand, if you don't, he will...

 - Henry, WE need to leave this place.

 - I can't.

 - We can run far, they will never find us.

 - You need to hide from him.

 - We will hide together. I'm not leaving without you!

 - I am tracked. He put a chip in my neck, I...

 - I have a scalpel.

 - Kate...

 - I don't want to do this without you.

The conversation mixes with the other sounds. It seems to Eleven she hears muffled swearing and quiet coughs. The lights starts to shimmer, like sun rays on the forest floor on a windy day, obstructed by the trees. Eleven can hear sounds of someone running. Something creaks. Then there is rain. Rain and thunder.

***

The rain is pouring and it's freezing cold - still a different cold than the upside down. Thunder rumbles close by and Henry is soaking wet. The caleidoscope stopped. It's another memory. He is on a porch and he is knocking on the door desperately. He knows who lives here, he is confident.

He had escaped the lab.

Less than a minute goes by and the door sweeps open, revealing a sleepy Kate. Her facial expression changes from mistrust to recognition and then relief, settling somewhere in between joy and overwhelming anxiety. 

He is wet to the bone, dripping all over her porch and the door mat. Strands of wet hair are plastered over his face, he is leaning on the door frame, looking down at her.

 - Henry!? - she looks him over for a few seconds, a bit lost. He is just staring down into her face, waiting, breathing heavily. It seems there is a silent dialogue between them. 

She lets out a gasp, awakening from her shocked paralysis, reaches up to grab him by the collar and drag him into the house. The door swings shut swiftly behind them, but not fast enough for Eleven not to notice that he was smiling - a broad relieved grin.

The rain picks up and it obscures the house from the view - Eleven tries to push closer and open the door. She yanks it open, it takes effort.

***

The room is not what was to be expected looking at the house. The door altered right in her hands. 

The room was lit with rays of setting sun. It was obvious that this was a different house - the view was nothing like the surroundings of the previous one: this was apparently sat on a hill and overlooking a valley with a lake below. It didn't seem to be a home too, most probably a hotel. There are takeout boxes on the edge of the table, a couple suitcases on the floor, a radio is muttering news on lowest volume. 

Kate lays stretched out on the bed, her head on Henry's shoulder. Eleven realizes that she is seeing him in ordinary clothes for the first time: he is wearing jeans and a white t-shirt and looks suddenly absolutely normal, not even a little bit strange or scary. He is petting her hair gently, her fingers are drawing patterns on his chest.

 - The sunset is better from here, - he mumbles sleepily.

She chuckles.

 - It is. And the view is prettier.

 - You're looking at me, - he whispers.

 - And I still mean it.

He shifts his head to stare back at her. She is smiling softly. He reaches out to trace her cheek with his fingers.

 - Won't you regret it?

 - I won't, - she says firmly. - I will miss some things, of course. But... - Kate shifts upward slightly, her face coming on the same level with his. - If this means you are free and-and happy... And I can be with you-WE can be with you, - he makes a careful movement to pull her closer, hand leaving a soft caress on her stomach before wrapping around her middle. - See you like this... It's well worth the price, - she pauses. - We can pull through. Together. 

They are staring at each other solemnly for several moments. Henry's eyes seem to be searching her face. Then his smile broadens, turns into a smirk. He presses her down, forcing her to slide off the pillows and fall back on the bed.  Kate yelps in surprise, then starts giggling, when he gives a quick kiss to the tip of her nose. He is hovering above her, placing kisses on her jaw and neck, making her squirm slightly underneath him, huffing and flinching her nose.

She regains herself quickly, one of her hands pushes on his arm, the other - on his chest. She catches him off guard, pushing him back, making him fall on the pillows and landing on top of him. He is unprepared for the sudden push and his head jerks a little bit, hitting on the headboard. Henry lets out a quiet hissing "ouch" and Kate freezes for a moment, worried if she hurt him. Henry chuckles. Both burst out laughing quietly. Henry wraps his arms firmly around her back.  

 - You little... 

The sun lights up the room. Eleven is covering her eyes again when suddenly it blinks. Once. Twice. She lowers her hand, confused, anticipation rising somewhere in her stomach.

*** 

It's a different setting again. It looks like a house now, a cabin maybe: there is a kitchen and a couch, a TV in the corner. Kate is sitting down, Henry is standing alert in the middle of the room, worry plastered on both of their faces. Something is wrong.

There's a crash outside, loud voices. Kate jumps to her feet too. 

 - We should go now.

 - No. Not straight away. They'll be waiting.

There a loud crash from somewhere behind the door that leads into the room - Eleven intuitively knows it's coming from the front door. 

Henry throws up his hand. There are several crashes and a couple of screams. He makes a swift palm movement and the lights go out in the entire house. 

Complete silence follows.

 - That was pretty... - Kate begins to whisper.

 - Pretty horrific? - mutters Henry, listening in carefully.

 - I was going to say pretty amazing but whichever you prefer, - she chuckles, then smiles. She's frightened, but the smile is still sincere. It makes him smile back at her. 

Eleven sees the glow again, bright and sunny.

Then there is noise, sudden and deafening and everything is happening at once: the door bursts open, men are running in, the window shatters into tiny pieces and there is gunfire.

And somehow, fantastically, louder than all of this, there is a gasp.

Henry is disoriented, if only for a moment and when he turns back to grab Kate and run, she isn't smiling anymore.

The glow falters.

Kate is tripping forward, falling into his arms. There's blood running down her shirt.

The armed men are closing in on them, for a moment Henry looks lost, like he is going unconscious, and when that look is gone from his face it is replaced by rage.

He is screaming, it feels like the sound vibrates through the house at the magnitude of a strong earthquake - the men are thrown backwards, against the walls and on the floor.

It gives him time to throw Kate's arm over his neck and run: out of the backdoor and into the woods.

Eleven follows them, as if hypnotized. She is quite sure she knows how this memory will end. She isn't sure if she wants to see it, but she can't help watching still, heart beating somewhere in her stomach. 

They don't manage to go far anyways. Kate's legs give out, Henry is dragging her now and she slips off his shoulder, collapsing on the ground. The wound seems to be just little above the sternum, her shirt and jeans were soaking in blood. 

He tries to pick her up again and she herself is trying to stand, but all the effort earns is a painful gasp. She sinks back on the ground and he catches her, dropping on his knees. 

They haven't gone far - the lights of the highway can still be seen. 

 - Kate?

 - It hurts. It hurts so much, I can't breathe. 

He sees the blood over her clothes and a shiver runs through his body.

 - Kate...

 - Just give me a moment to rest, just a second, - she is barely whispering, her voice hoarse. He is trembling.

 - It's okay. Just catch your breath. It's fine, - he mutters.

She lets out a painful gasp, her breaths are slowing down, coming out like whimpers.

 - Henry...

 - It's going to be okay, - his voice is shaking.

Her palm comes up to his cheek and he catches it and holds it in place, leaning closer.

 - Henry, I...

 - You will be okay, - their foreheads connect, far behind there is noise of people coming closer.

 - I love you.

He kissed her, desperately, his breath shacking. "Just hold on". When he pulls away, she wasn't whimpering anymore. 

Eleven distantly notes that Kate suddenly resembled a broken doll. 

The sounds of the world have gone muffled, indistinguishable, everything went into a blur apart from the two of them on the ground. 

 - No! No, no, no! - Henry was trembling full-bodily now, clutching her to his chest, rocking back and forth. His hand was caressing her hair, his shirt getting soaked in her blood. He was muttering feverently. - You'll be okay. You'll be okay. Please don't go, - he was sobbing, crying, every word coming out with a painful whimper. - Please. Don't leave. Not now. - he was crying, gasping, catching his breath. It was like he wanted to scream, but couldn't. - I love you, - quiet, defeated. - I love you so much. 

Eleven suddenly feels like crying too. She wants to scream in fact. She feels like she is suffocating and catching her breath in large gulps, the ground was being pulled from underneath her but she was standing still. She felt like he has thrust his pain all over the forest and now everything and everyone was gasping, trembling and wailing with him.

Eleven stumbled back, overwhelmed. And fell.

***

Eleven gasped awake. Mike was holding her, petting her back worriedly.

 - It hurts so much, - she wailed. She hadn't realized she was crying.

 - Where? Where does it hurt?

 - Nowhere and everywhere and I can't breathe and every breath is too much at the same time. And it's cold and-and...and...

 - It's okay, it's okay, I'm here, with you, - Mike is muttering, trying to hug her. - He can't hurt you here. 

 - No! - Eleven is fighting back his hands, sliding pushing away until suddenly her back hits a corner and she is sitting on the floor hugging her knees, gasping, overwhelmed with emotions that were her own and someone else's at once. - You don't understand, don't understand...

 - What happened? Did he do something? - Mike and Will are both next to her, trying to shake back to reality.

 - I thought she left... I never... I thought she just left... And she was gone... And they...

 - El! What did he do to you?!

She suddenly stared up at the boys, looking at them and through them at once.

 - There was so much light. It was warm and sunny and it was coming all over and it was so happy... They were his happy memories... - she was mumbling between sobs.

 - What?! - Mike and Will are staring at her in confusion, if only a little less frightened. - What did you see there?

 - It was his memory, - she chocked out. - I fell into his memory, I... He... There was so much light and then... And then it was gone, - another round of loud sobs shook her. - They shot her. They shot her and she was gone. They shot her and he lost them both. And he was alone.

He was alone.

#stranger things #bless this mess #i swear this was supposed to be like a bullet list of head cannons #this is 30 pages I just wrote it all in my notes scene by scene #henry creel x oc #peter ballard x oc #stranger things fanfiction #eleven #stranger things eleven #jane hopper #henry creel #stranger things one #stranger things one shot #peter ballard #henry creel x reader #peter ballard x reader #angst #fluff #angsty fluff #fluffy angst #my fanfiction #my writing #stranger things season 4 #jamie campbell bower

[writing-with-gremworm]

Train Wreck Pup, Adopted

Here's a little thing I wrote based on a TikTok I saw a while back. Crewel was the first character I thought of, so I decided to make a very indulgent fanfic chapter based on the concept. It's a modern AU and Ren, the Insert/reader, meets him on a train. This is probably the longest piece of singular writing I'll post for a long time, but oh well.

Notes:

Crewel is a platonic/filial Soft!Yandere

Epel, Vil, and Neige show up in the latter half.

Non-Canon characters feature prominently.

This follows Indulgent FanFic tropes

Non-Canon Yanderes are included

This Universe has a fairly high density of Yanderes even if they don't showcase such features in the segment of the story.

Inclusion of a character sibling

TW: Yandere (In the latter half), Swearing, Mild Violence

“An E-Mail? Was I denied entry into the event? … Woah, Woah! I got in!! I still need a few more designs, but I can start actually putting some of these looks together in the frenzy! This is so cool.” I hop up from my chair and twirl around a few times, stopping and excitedly shaking my hands. “Yay! Oh, shoot- I need to leave tonight- Thank you organizers for the free ticket. But aaaahhh rushed prep time!” I add after glancing back at the E-mail.

Before long I’m out the door with a suitcase in one hand and my sketchbook in the other ready to board the train. While waiting for the train I open my phone and glance at the rules for the Flash Forward Frenzy fashion event

“Oh right, I should message Vera later. I can do that on the train. Rules first.” I mumble.

The event surrounded using old materials to create new looks. Clothes that were maybe used once and thrown away were collected to be used and made into outfits we could wear. The event itself was a massive hit, it was always fun to watch people create incredible things out of the most unexpected materials. But it was an even more exciting time this year since the esteemed Divus Crewel, Vil Shoenheit, and Neige LeBlanche were going to be there as guest stars designing alongside smaller names like myself.

I am well aware of the fact that I’m unlikely to run into big-name figures like Divus or Vil, but I’m excited to see their works regardless. Vil is also a prominent actor, so I’m certain that his presentation of works will have an air of drama and intrigue. My designs aren’t going to be as glamorous, but they will be different and interesting. I’m confident that they’ll fill in someone else’s niche desires if nothing else. Luckily the rules don’t say anything again the use of magic to process fabrics. Given this, I can use my ability to create a base from the drawings I’ve already made and the necessary fabrics and thread, which are provided for the event. I can only do this once or twice per day for extremely complex ideas due to the amount of magic it takes. I don’t want to risk an over-blot from excess magic use on stage, so I’ll save magic for my most intricate piece.

My thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of the train. The ride is twelve hours with various stops between here and the Glamour Isle. Needless to say, I have plenty of time to work on more concepts while I’m on the train. After about two hours someone sits next to me, but I don’t look at them since I’m busy and that could be rude. At some point in time, I hear a familiar disapproving sigh from their general direction. I ignore it at first to finish my sketches and notes for a piece from my fantasy set.

“Why does it sound so familiar though?” I mumble to myself before glancing over to where I heard the sigh. It feels like my face should contort in surprise when I realize who it is, but surprisingly I just stare blankly for a moment before shaking my head.

“Ah sorry for staring.” I quickly mumble as Divus Crewel of all people looks back at me and smiles with a tinge of concern, “You must be on your way to Glamour Isle too then?” I mumble awkwardly. I already knew that he was going in that direction, but I didn’t know what else to say since I had already begun to engage in a, perhaps one-sided, conversation.

“You don’t plan on wearing something like that in Glamour Isle do you?” Divus asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Ah, I mean I think this is fine? My work is going to be center stage with everyone else’s, I don’t really need to stand out, just my work does.”

“My my, and you have such an interesting design palette too. A pup like you would do well with proper grooming. No show dog looks scruffy on stage my dear, and neither should you.” Did he compare me to a show dog? Wait, he’s actually talking to me? I mean he’s belittling my pathetic messy dad aesthetic, but like, he’s talking to me?

“Ah- well. Yes. You’re correct, but in the case of show dogs, the stage is set for them to display their obedience, finesse, and beauty. I don’t see how this correlates to me specifically when a fashion show is about fashion and its resonance with the models and crowd. But I appreciate the compliment. I’m quite proud of my capabilities and I’m excited to share them.” I start a little nervous before settling into a matter-of-fact tone.

“Little pup, fashion is about far more than just aesthetics. Appearance has a larger impact than you may realize. As an aspiring designer, it’s important to note the politics as well.”

“I suppose that makes sense. Thank you for the advice. I’ll make sure to keep it in mind.” I say with a small smile. I look back at my work and sketch for a bit longer before giving my hands a break and doing quick hand exercises. I can’t help but glance over at Divus a couple of times after that just to see if he’s still judging my fashion or whatever caught his attention before. This was starting to feel like a dream. For one, no one was approaching Divus Crewel which is unusual, but he was sitting next to me to attend the same event which meant he might take a closer look at my work. Around the four-hour mark, Divus spoke to me again.

“It’s good to be serious about your work, but you still have a couple of days until the event takes full swing. For now, you should rest or you’ll be exhausted when you reach the Isle. Pups that exhaust themselves needlessly miss playing with their owners.” He chimes leaning back leisurely but still exuding elegance and an air of authority.

“I’ll be fine. But thank you for your concern.” I say after a small pause allowing me to process what just happened.

“There aren’t going to be many passengers in this train car. That can quell your concerns about taking up space or being a bother if that is what holds you back.” Divus states confidently.

“Ah, well that is one thing. But I’ve always had difficulties sleeping in moving vehicles. I can close my eyes and drift a bit, but any unusual movement or stop will jolt me awake. I’m not sure how much that little bit of rest would help haha.” I explain after a few moments of silence. I didn’t want to lie to him or come up with something that he could feasibly change for me that I just didn’t realize. I already felt like I was accruing debt by talking to him quite frankly.

“Have you ever ridden this train before? I think you’ll find that you can hardly tell when it has stopped.” I think back to earlier when the train stopped and Divus walked onto the train. He was right, it had not been super noticeable. In fact, it was so difficult to tell that I almost didn’t realize anyone got on until he sat next to me.

“Huh, I guess you’re right. I didn’t really notice when the train stopped to let you on. I mean, of course, the sound stopped, but there was enough other white noise from the lights and other cars that it didn’t register.” Though of course now I was far more worried about bothering the Divus Crewel rather than actually being tired. Naturally, I didn’t want to say that out loud though, it might be irritating. He must have noticed somehow though because his next words were:

“Don’t concern yourself with bothering me. I was the one who suggested you rest. You should simply follow my instructions like an obedient pup. I’ll even set an alarm for you if you’re a good boy.” What followed was an amused chuckle as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. I open my mouth to speak but instead let out a sigh and mumble a small thank you and smile before placing my sketchbook on my lap and leaning back in my seat. Divus stifles another laugh but the tapping indicates he really did set a timer for me. It’s strange to be so pampered by a celebrity. Though honestly, I doubt we’ll chat much after this, I didn’t even give him my name.

– Somehow I manage to fall asleep. I even begin to dream. Once in a while, I have vivid dreams that I recall after waking up. This already felt like one of them because I knew I was dreaming. “Oh good boy, you’re here on time. I wanted to introduce you to one of my students. I’m sure you’re well aware of who he is so there is no need for me to elaborate.” Divus states with a flourish of his hand gesturing to the Vil Shoenheit. “Ah, Vil Shoenheit, of course, why wouldn’t it be? It’s a pleasure to meet you, I’m Ren.” I mumble tiredly with a little wave. Vil crosses his arms and places a hand on his chin thoughtfully. “I see, I can salvage this, no, I will polish it into a diamond.” Vil nods lightly with an expression revealing he is already planning my demise. I mean my prettification. “Salvage? Polish? Wait- Divus- Sorry Crewel, did you want me to meet him to fix my wardrobe?” “You catch on quite quickly. But there’s a bit more to it than that. You’ll be working together on a project I have in mind. I expect only the best from you pups.” “Wait what?” Vil and I ask at the same time. Then the dream just ends. –

I wake up to the sound of quiet chatter and the alarm.

“Good evening,” I mumble groggily before sitting up. It takes me a moment to realize that sitting up means I either fell over or leaned over in my sleep, “Ah I’m sorry, I usually don’t move much in my sleep so I didn’t expect to fall over or anything.” I mumble apologetically.

“Perhaps you should have laid down from the beginning. You’d be less likely to hit your head that way. But you did sleep, so good boy. We’ll be arriving at the next stop in about half an hour.” Crewel informs me.

“Haha, yeah maybe. Ah, thank you.” I mumble before noticing my sketchbook isn’t in my hands, “Wait where did it go?” I mumble looking around before noticing that Crewel was holding it. I feel my face flush out of embarrassment. I doubt he looked through it, but I can’t help but feel a little bit flustered that he could have.

“I did look through a couple of designs,” Oh no, “They’re quite intriguing. I expect only the best from you during the event.” Oh no he looked through them. But he liked them so that’s good. But also why did he look through them? “I don’t think I caught your name earlier.” He adds with an expectant smile.

“Oh um- I’m Ren. I’m already familiar with you and your designs, it would be more surprising if I wasn’t. I’m glad you have such high expectations for me, it’s quite the compliment. Though I’m not sure I’ll match them. Thank you Crewel.” I say quickly, stumbling over my words a few times and rubbing the back of my neck.

“So that’s how you gathered I would be going to Glamour Isle as well. I’m a little surprised you didn’t ask for my autograph or bombard me with questions considering you ended up in my train car.”

“Wait- your train car?” I mumble before thinking things over, “Oh, OH, that’s why you said no one else would be here, no one else was supposed to be here. I can’t believe I just barged in I’m so sorry, you could have asked me to leave. I didn’t mean to invade your personal space.”

“Calm down little pup. Had I wanted you to leave I would have instructed you to do so. If you weren’t obedient I would have gotten them to take the rabid pup away.” Crewel states a bit amused, gesturing to the other figures in the train car.

“Ah right, they must have been your people then, or otherwise people with the association running the event to ensure your comfort. But I was here for two hours before you. Why didn’t they just ask me to leave then?”

“You’re not exactly intimidating, you’re also a child are you not?”

“Um … I’m not a child, actually I’m 20.”

“You are? Then you’re a bit older than most of my other pups, though your height wouldn’t give that away. You may be even shorter than Riddle. No matter, you weren’t a threat, and it’s clear you’re more interested in work than causing trouble.”

“Still though …” I start before thinking it over. Had they wanted me to leave this car they’d have taken me out. So I guess I had accidentally gotten permission to be here. Additionally, this chance encounter was going to be one of the most memorable meetings, so I’m not really upset about being here.

“Well since you were fine with it, thank you for letting me stay. It’s a lot quieter than the other cars would have been I’m sure.” I mumble with a small smile before opening my phone to review the E-Mail again. The organizers had established a room I would be staying in as well, which was awesome and unlike any other event I had attended.

“Do you know where the Glamrock Hotel is?” Crewel asks before I can look it up.

“Ah, no I’ve never been to Glamour Isle for an event before, so I don’t know where anything is actually,” I admit rubbing my neck again.

“Well as a teacher I suppose I should guide you,” Crewel states a bit amused with the strange logic he’d presented me.

“Uh- well I guess technically that would be accurate. You’re being quite generous. Hm, you said earlier to think about politics, what exactly do you gain from helping me? Not that there has to be an ulterior motive, but I am curious.”

“You catch on quite quickly little pup. Though I’m not asking for anything but your time at this moment. Additionally, If you meet my expectations like a well-trained pup, I’ll be in touch after the event.” Crewel says with an amused grin. I wasn’t sure why he was so amused, but I was certainly pumped to make the most beautiful set of outfits I could muster. The last half an hour felt like it flew by. Somehow I was making small talk with Divus Crewel in what I now knew was technically his private train car with trained mages around us. It was fantastical in nature and my heart was beating like crazy.

After we arrived on the Isle, Crewel accompanied me to the hotel because we were going to stay at the same hotel. It was strange but so cool. Admittedly if he was anyone else I would be wondering if he was trying to groom me, the negative kind, not taking care of myself grooming. But Crewel is well known to be skilled and generous, and his gestures were by no means romantic or sexual in nature, if anything it was like he was going to adopt a new puppy. Also, he had set up a number of events and attended even more as a guest and he did not tolerate nonsense. Had I bothered him, it’s possible I wouldn’t be in Glamour Isle, I’d be home.

Either way, when I made it to my room I smooshed my face into a pillow and let out sounds of pure excitement before pacing around my room and flapping my hands in excitement.

“Aaaahhh, I can’t believe the Divus Crewel spoke to me. This is awesome, I’m so nervous but excited for how this event is going to turn out oh my god.”

Since I slept on the train I wasn’t very tired so I decided to work on my designs a bit more and do some extra research before going to bed. When I did sleep I ended up having the same dream as before. I woke up early and reviewed the E-Mail again to make sure that I was keeping the dates organized in my head.

After taking a shower and changing into something slightly less dad-core, but still technically awful, I hear a knock on my door. I blink a few times before checking the peephole.

“!” I silently scream seeing the Divus Crewel on the other side. I quickly open the door before he knocks again and he grimaces upon seeing me.

“I couldn’t erase your disaster of a wardrobe from my mind, We’re going to fix … this. At least temporarily.” Crewel motions to all of me.

“Oh thanks, I’m so glad you remembered me for dressing like an unfashionable dad. But this is about the best I have in my suitcase. Wait, is this what you meant by asking for my time?” I admitted frowning a bit and looking over my outfit. It really wasn’t that bad, even normal one might say. Despite the dad-core vibes, it was definitely wearable.

“How astute an observation. Grab some of the clothes you aren’t attached to and come along little pup, this is going to be a very busy day.”

He was right of course. As soon as I followed him out of my hotel room I could tell he would be. He listed the plans for the day in order. It was kind of nice to be doted on in a weird sort of way. Though I was confused as to why I had Crewel’s attention at this point. There was no way he would actually keep in contact and introduce me to Vil Shoenheit after the event. It was just a weirdly realistic dream after all. Things are just weirdly lining up like that might be at all possible when I’m sure it is just Crewel being kind. Yes, just kindness.

Following that, our busy day started by heading to breakfast followed by a trip to the hair salon. After my hair was tidied up, though still the same hairstyle, we went to a number of different stores. All of them were sustainable and gave store credit for every item you traded in. Once he’s established the style I was comfortable with we found a few different outfits that looked good scattered throughout various stores. Each of the pieces could be rearranged, but they were notable on their own. Each pairing made a different feeling and it was very clear that some enhanced aesthetic while others undermined it. Some of the dark academia and cottage core pieces did not work well together.

After finding outfits and trading away my old clothes he took me to find accessories. I insisted that I should pay for everything, but he refused and simply stated that I can bring my ideas into reality well to pay him back. I can’t tell if that feels more like a compliment or a threat, but it’s certainly flattering. Somehow we fit all of that in before lunch and there was still more to do. By the end of everything I was exhausted, though extremely grateful.

“I’ll make the best version of my designs possible. That’s what you’re asking for in return right?” I ask on the trip back to the hotel.

“Good boy, you listen well. I’ll see what you can do in two days when it begins.” Crewel responds with a nod and a slight smile. – It's time for the event. We have two days to complete four outfits as a complete set using the magic tools and our own abilities to complete them as quickly but skillfully as possible. It's a challenge that many enjoy watching and admire. I’m a little nervous to be on TV, but I think that if I focus solely on my craft I can make it. Especially since I can essentially focus on one and use magic to create another since it's two separate days and I only need four outfits.

Now that I reviewed the game plan it feels less intimidating. The curtain opens to reveal the piles of clothes and materials we have access to before letting up find what we need. A few of the others sort through the pile with magic to locate exactly what they need. I sort through them by hand and feel the fabric textures before taking them back to my station where my assigned tools sit.

At the six-hour mark, we’re given an hour-long lunch and bathroom break. I definitely needed the food since I skipped breakfast. After the break, we get immediately back into work for the remaining six hours of that day. I finish the first piece two hours into the second half and use magic to form most of the second one before detailing it during the four remaining hours. By the time the timer goes off, I have two of the four outfits complete even. Additionally, I still have more fabric that can be used for parts of the first outfit for the next day set up at my station.

The next day I arrive early and notice that something is wrong with the more complicated outfit. Someone had cut it up. It was like a nightmare. It completely ruined my plan to make the clothes as efficiently as possible. Frustrated and upset I wanted to cry, but instead, I decided to improvise and alter the design slightly to include the visualization of the cuts rather than attempt careful and seamless mending. It takes two hours and I lose another hour finding more fabrics. So I decided to reorganize my magic use and create two bases with as much detail as I can manage before reaching my magic limit.

But the half point of the second day I’m exhausted but I manage to gain enough energy to finish and add the final details to the four outfits before the timer runs out. I stumble a bit feeling a bit nauseous now that the magic use and intense focus for twenty-four hours total were exhausting. After the timer goes off I sit down and wait for almost everyone else to leave before one of the people associated with the event walks over to me. I ask them to make sure that no one tampers with my outfits again overnight since someone had cut up mine and perhaps other people’s outfits the night before. They agree to tighten security and make sure that it was impossible for it to happen again. A bit uncertain of how successful they would be I start thinking of ways to justify asking to fix my outfits quickly before the show if I had to.

Using my magic to its fullest two days in a row was really pushing it. If I did so again I might end up sick. I don’t think that over-blots are supposed to make you sick. But it is convenient that I don’t go into a destructive frenzy overtaken by magic when I over-blot at least. I just almost die instead. Which I guess may be technically worse for me, but it is less awful for everyone else.

“Are you alright? I saw how tired you were earlier. I can get someone to help you back to your room, or you could stay in mine since it is on the first floor.” A familiar soft and slightly high-pitched voice asks. Looking at him I see it’s Neige LeBlanche.

“Ah I’m fine, thank you for your concern.” Why were all these celebrities so nice to me? I mean it has only been two so far, but that’s still a lot for me.

“Can I at least escort you to your room? You look a bit unsteady and I don’t want you to fall.” Neige voices his concern with a worried smile.

“There’s no need to go that far. I’m only on the second floor, so I’ll manage.” I say, though admittedly I was less confident about actually getting to the hotel than walking up a set of stairs.

“Then I’ll at least help you get to the hotel.” Neige insists.

“While that’s kind of you Neige, you don’t need to be concerned with them. I was already going to escort this pup back.” Crewel steps in unexpectedly. There’s no way that Crewel just told Neige LeBlanche that we were going to head back to the hotel together. It feels like a dad trying to keep a romantic interest away from his child. Which is funny because if anything he’s like a little brother. Well younger brother, he’s definitely a little taller than me.

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were acquainted with Divus.” Neige comments a little surprised.

“Crewel.” Crewel corrects.

“Crewel. But were you really planning on walking back with him?” Neige asks with doubt lingering over his words.

“Yes, we agreed to meet after the event since we had a chance encounter before this,” I explain, technically not lying, though assuming that since he came to find me he was impressed with my work.

“Oh, if that’s the case then we should meet again at some point too. I really admire your ability to work through challenges. Here, one moment.” Neige takes out his business card and hands it to me, “I hope you rest well tonight. You were Ren, right? I heard your conversation with the security personnel before.” That definitely sounded like an excuse, though I guess it’s possible for Neige to admire me. Just unlikely.

“Ah- yes my name is Ren. Well-”

“Well thank you Neige, but we should probably head back since the reveals and show are tomorrow. We wouldn’t want to be too tired now would we?”

“Ah yes of course. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you Ren, call the number on that card when you get the chance, I’ll see you around!” Neige leaves with his manager and a few guards.

“That was unexpected,” I mumble with a light sigh before remembering who was standing next to me.

“It was. Though I suppose he was right, you don’t look well. Perhaps I should carry you back.” Crewel muses.

“What? No there’s no need to carry me, I’ll be fi-” I begin before nearly falling over after another wave of exhaustion hits me. Crewel catches me.

“You’re small enough it won’t be an issue little pup. Besides which you look like you’re about to fall asleep. It would be unwise to travel on your own feet in that state. Tsk tsk, you really need to learn to take care of yourself.” He states picking me up bridal style.

“I- Thank you.” I conceded. I could tell he was right, I was exhausted. Even still I wanted to protest about how I didn’t want to owe him more, or how I didn’t think it was necessary. Despite those thoughts, my eyes were having trouble even staying open so I just closed them. – Before I knew it I was awake in my hotel bed, slightly disheveled and wearing my clothes from the night before.

“Oh. My. God. Did I fall asleep on Crewel again? Well I mean it wasn’t confirmed the first time but aaaahhh.” I immediately panic and place my hands over my face before realizing I need to get ready and look presentable for the showcase. “Ah, I don’t have time to panic,” I mumble before showering, dressing up, and eating an apple that was left on my bedside table with a small note not to skip breakfast in Crewel’s handwriting.

“Geeze, he really is like a dad at this point. It’s not like he adopted me as a pu- child though. It’s weirdly nice how comfortable he is to be around though.” I mumbled looking at the note with a bit of warmth filling my chest. It was nice to feel cared about.

With one big breath, I turn towards the door and head out. Though I had a weird feeling that something went wrong so I hurried to the venue where our outfits should be. I ask if I can check over my outfits quickly because they had been sabotaged before. Luckily I was let in since my outfits were all damaged in some way. It was devastating, and there wasn’t any fabric to fix them. Except for what I was wearing.

“I could use my coat and undershirt and still look mostly presentable while fixing them,” I mumble quietly, my voice shaking more than I wanted it to. Despite still feeling drained, I used my magic again, allowing it to flow through my fingertips to mend the fabric to the shape I desired it to with the fabric I was using in hand. It was a different colour, but the colour matched well enough that it looked intentional. Reaching the fourth outfit I could feel the strength in my legs waning, but I had to fix it.

Even if Crewel was already impressed, I wanted to fix this. To not let the stranger tampering with my work win. I needed to make them feel their efforts were wasted, that after everything I was fine. As my hands glided over the last portion that needed to be fixed a few people started coming in to check their outfits as well. Only mine had been tampered with. I felt my hands shaking as they let go of the now-mended fabric.

“Tsk tsk. What did I say regarding work and rest? Bad boy. You should ask for help if you’re in trouble.” Crewel scolds me before complimenting my handi-work, “It is well done, it looks intentional even. However, I can not condone overworking yourself because of the security’s lack of competence.”

“Haha, I remember. But I didn’t want to let whoever did this feel as if they’d won. I can’t let them feel like they’ve won. I don’t even know why they could be so upset with me.” Unless it is one of my old friends. They seemed to think the worst of me. But they wouldn’t do anything this devastating, would they? Well, Rachel might, but shockingly I didn’t see her here. I would have noticed someone I actively avoid.

“Hm, well your determination is a valuable asset. I suppose it’s a good thing I’m also a potions master. This will sustain you for the duration of the showcase, however, you must rest for the next couple of days.” Crewel states handing me a potion he had on hand, “Sigh. I can’t believe you used some of your only decent clothes because of this. I’ll have to start from square one training this pup. Don’t make this a habit.”

“Wait training?” I ask after downing the potion in one gulp.

“Yes, I’ll be taking you under my wing little pup. As you may have surmised you have impressed me. Though this still needs fixing.” Crewel again motioned to all of me. Suddenly I was reminded of my dream from the past few nights.

“Hey, this may sound weird. But by any chance is Vil Shoenheit also one of your pupils who happens to be the one who may or may not be responsible for fixing my self-care habits and everyday wear?” I ask before the potion fully kicks in.

“Oh? So the little pup is already aware. He must have spoiled the surprise, I’ll have to punish him later.”

“Ah, no, I’ve just had this weird recurring dream about meeting Vil Shoenheit under your tutelage. I wasn’t going to ask initially, I guess being tired made me voice my thoughts. But I haven’t actually met Vil yet.” I explain quickly. Crewel furrows his brows for a moment before an expression of realization covers the confusion.

“Ah, so you’re good at pattern recognition. It’s not uncommon knowledge that Vil is one of my pupils, and you took note of the fact I was treating you well. You’ll be an excellent student. If you pick up on things this quickly anyways. I expect only good things from you.” Crewel states with an almost proud smile before motioning me to come with him to his waiting room where a screen displaying the showcase was attached to the wall.

He discusses specifics with me while we wait for the showcase to reach the point where we all enter the stage and talk about our work and inspirations. Excluding Vil, Neige, and Crewel, the rest of us attending the event are lined up in order to head out second. The three notable guests head out to speak first.

“Sustainability in fashion is one of the greatest difficulties of this industry. But with the systems set up here in Glamour Isle, fashion waste is dwindling away and instead becoming fashion fuel. Isn’t that just incredible? Imagine all of the incredible things you can curate with such an array of fabrics, Imagine how much you can do exchanging materials and creating your personalized unique looks!” Neige starts, excitedly chattering about the benefits of sustainable fashion. Crewel and Vil both elaborate on this to varying degrees before everyone else is brought out and stood next to the models wearing their outfits.

I don’t notice the concerned look that Neige gives me. But I notice the fury of a familiar contestant near me. It was Dev-Ay. One of my ex-friends that happens to despise me. It shouldn’t be surprising that they’re here, they’ve always been skilled. But it does sting to think that they might have been so certain I was worth tormenting that they cut up my outfits. It also tells me that I probably didn’t notice people as much as I thought I would.

“I agree that sustainability and curating styles in this way are essential to bettering our society. It’s one of the reasons I was so excited to be a part of this project. Despite the unlikely mishaps, I had a blast creating designs influenced by the types of sustainable fabrics already being developed. It’s fascinating how through the use of orange peels or kelp beautiful sustainable fabrics can be created. My theme was Future Fantasy. Playing off of the alliteration of the event title, I wanted to curate looks that inspired the fantastical embrace of the future and the stories that such a future can hold. Imagine a sustainable world with glorious personalized fashion made for you. Fashion that makes you feel good and can aptly aid in your self-expression.” I begin as coherently as I can manage. Somehow my voice remains steady. Perhaps it is the desire to show Dev-Ay I am unaffected, or perhaps it was because I wanted to impress Crewel. But either way, I seemed to speak with a charisma I didn’t think I had. There was a prolonged moment of silence after I finished speaking before finally the live audience began to clap following Crewel’s and Neige’s examples. Their applause felt louder than any I had heard for me before and more impactful as it addressed my creations, it validated my ideas not some lame school speech. It was unexpected. Especially since afterward, the applause was noticeably quieter for the now flustered and disorganized Dev-Ay.

After the showcase, I felt my energy start to deplete rapidly. I figured that the potion was starting to wear off. Hopefully, I wouldn’t fall in front of Dev-Ay, I don’t want to give him fuel to berate me. While everyone else was chatting as the audience left and the models change, Dev-Ay approached me.

“Why? Why is it that you of all people did so well? Why couldn’t you just fold as you used to? Are you so proud now? Are you so proud after falsely accusing the one person that I love? You’ll never be anything but a pathetic liar who tears down other people. Are you upset because at least she liked being a girl? Were you mad that you couldn’t escape something that she accepted? Fuck you, fuck your whole fake-ass messaging. I despise you. I wish you would take a dive off the roof like you so badly wanted to before we were friends.” It took me a while to find the words I wanted to say. I didn’t know exactly what to say honestly. If he blamed me, then was there any way he would listen to me? Would he believe I was making excuses simply because I wanted to look good? Did he really want me to die because of this? Regardless I found my mouth moving before I could stop it.

“I don’t understand what my gender identity has to do with my distaste for Rachel. I was never upset at Rachel because she was cisgender. I think you of all people should understand that. Why are you so convinced that I lied to you? Do you love her so much you couldn’t see what she did to me? Has she never crossed your boundaries as she did to me? Or did you believe I actually withheld the information she conveniently forgot? That she claimed she forgot. I could be wrong. There is always the chance I misread her, but she hurt me and crossed my boundaries. I won’t go into the specifics again because you stopped listening to me years ago. But there’s no reason you should be this upset with me. The only way I hurt her was by telling her exactly what she had done and telling her that I couldn’t stay friends with her. I wasn’t wrong for standing up for myself like you never did for me. Your ability to trust seems like a blessing, but it may be a curse.” I respond with quiet, seething frustration, trying to remain as calm as possible but inevitably speaking poisonously. Before I know it I’m on the ground with blood pouring from my nose and a sore jaw. It takes me a moment to register what just happened. I try to get back up to my feet, but I can’t even move my legs to stand.

“Ren!” Neige called out with concern causing all eyes to turn toward Dev-Ay, Neige, and me. I bite my lip before trying desperately to tell my legs to move, but they simply shake beneath me on the floor as if they’re too scared to move. Too afraid that maybe they’re going to be hit next rather than my face.

“Dev-Ay. I was sincere when I told you I enjoyed being your friend and I was grateful for everything you had done for me.” I start, looking up at Dev-Ay who is clenching his hands into fists, “I don’t regret being friends with you, or stopping our friendship. I know that it was the right thing for me to do. I understand your anger. No, I understand that you are angry because you believe something I can not possibly fathom. But I never hated you. All I ask is that you let what happened to us remain in the past, it doesn’t benefit anyone to retain anger built on, at best, miscommunication.” I manage to say, smiling at Dev-Ay knowing it would make him angrier. Before he can respond Crewel and a few security officers walk over. The officers detain Dev-Ay who screams about how vile I truly am.

“That looks really bad Ren. Oh no, let me get some help.” Neige states with worry.

“I’ll take them to the nearest medic. You should calm the onlookers down.” Crewel states before picking me up again.

“Hah, I feel like a kid who got in a fight, and their overprotective dad came to pick them up,” I mumble in my exhausted delirium. The pain wasn’t even present anymore, I was just tired and numb.

“Haha, well I’ve taken a liking to you. Though next time someone punches you, bite back. Especially if it’s going to impact your precious face. You certainly have the charisma to back it up.”

“Aw, dad called me precious hehe. Thank you, you’ve really pampered me like a lil’ puppy while I was here. I feel weirdly comfortable with you. Man, I don’t want to fall asleep for a third time on you. It’s rude to use a celebrity like a pillow. And I’m not that charismatic, I’m just a bit silly.” I mumble with a yawn.

“You can fall asleep. You need it, and that potion, while good for a short time, does make you even more tired than before you use it. You did well, little pup. Though we have some training to do so you can do better in the future.”

“… Thank you,” I mumble quietly, avoiding leaning on Crewel with my bloody face as much as possible. I suppose he didn’t want the incompetent security to carry me this time, though I don’t know why he was compelled to carry me before. He really is like a father figure. I wish that I’d met him sooner. Maybe I wouldn’t have run into Rachel then. But I guess if I met him earlier I may have just been another kid, not someone of note.

The rest of the trip to a medic is in silence. When we get there the lady is nice and heals me with the stipulation that I rest for a solid two days to regain my energy. She asks if I have a guardian, to which I say of course, and that I will be fine under their care. Though how much of that will be true when I go back home is left to be decided. I don’t stay awake for too much longer, though I do hear a vague murmur of Crewel’s voice and phone chatter before I drift off to sleep.

– “Oh wow! This is amazing. Ren, you have to work with me on the next partner event that comes up. I would love to work with you!” Neige states as the dream fades into view. “Thank you. I’m quite flattered. Your designs are excellent as well.” I comment with a small smile before explaining that while it would be nice to work together I had already promised to work with someone else for the next event. Before I hear Neige’s reaction the dream shifts suddenly and I am in a cage. “I still love you you know. I was really hurt that you lied to Dev-Ya like that my sweet, adorable, Renny bird.” Rachel states with a certain sadness before reaching into the birdcage and caressing my face with her cold bony hands. “Why am I here?” I ask shakily before coughing a bit. My throat feels dry and my body feels cold. “Oh Renny, you know I can’t have you run away again. You’ll spread more lies and hurt more people. Unless I help you. Let me help you, I know I can fix you. Piece together the shattered pieces of you. Come here, I’ll give you a hug, just like before. We can make everything okay again.” Rachel says, her sickly sweet voice bouncing between the bars of the birdcage. I can’t say anything, I just stare at her as her arms elongate and weave through the bars to reach me. To touch me. To keep me trapped in this birdcage. –

I wake up with a start and sit up quickly before someone pushes me back into bed.

“What happened to you? Did you trip over the stairs? I warned you those long pants would make you fall dummy.” My sister Vera comments before sitting back down next to me, “Seriously though I was worried when I got a call to home about you being sick again. Did you overuse your magic?”

“Like you’re any better. Who are you to ask if I tripped on the stairs, didn’t you fall up a ramp that one time?”

“Oh shush you. You didn’t answer my question. What happened?”

“Dev-Ya punched me. I don’t know if he tried to sabotage my outfits yet, but I strongly suspect he was related to that too. Sorry I didn’t tell you about getting into the fashion thing. You weren’t home for a while anyways right?” I justify just recalling the fact I was planning on messaging her before and just didn’t.

“Ren, I wasn’t home sure, but you still should have told me! I would have come to see your work if it lined up with my work schedule.”

“Oh Vera, you’ll never guess who I met.”

“Oh really? Try me.”

“I met Divus Crewel.”

“Yeah I know that much, he was the one who called me. Imagine my surprise when the Divus Crewel was calling about my older sibling needing someone to drive them home. Bro, he asked if I was your older sister, how goofy were you to warrant that question?”

“Bro- It’s not my fault though. I just accidentally didn’t realize I got on the wrong train car and dressed enough like a hobo that he assumed I was a child.”

“Bro.”

“I know bro.”

“Going back a bit, I thought Dev-ya cut contact with you after that gross nasty did the bad thing I shall not name.”

“Oh yes, thank you for not naming the bad thing. But yeah, I thought nothing would come of it, but apparently, he was really mad at me. I wonder if Rachel encouraged this. I don’t think he would have acted as extreme otherwise.”

“I mean yeah maybe. But he was always kind of ick though.”

“I know, you were right. You’re always right when it comes to people.”

“Damn right I am.”

“Hey Vera, can you hand me my phone?”

“No, I can’t.” They say handing me the phone anyways. I smile at them lightly and open up my phone to check a few things. Firstly, if I had been contacted by Crewel since apparently he had found out my sibling’s number he may have found my contacts. Specifically “home” or otherwise Vera called my phone, but I couldn’t pick up because I was deliriously exhausted.

“Oh right, I was supposed to tell the Crewel you woke up. He acts more like your dad than our actual dad did haha.”

“Yeah, right? I was thinking the same thing. If he was still alive I wonder if that would have changed at all. I mean, it was really mom who was the worse parent, at least dad had an excuse.”

“I guess. But whatever, not the time. Time to message your ‘new dad’ since you seemed to have picked one up out of nowhere. You better not abandon me for another family.” Vera states rolling her eyes.

“Thanks, dad, and of course I won’t, you’re the only blood-related family I want to stay in contact with at the moment,” I say playfully rolling my eyes back at her.

Vera messages Crewel and much more quickly than I had anticipated he is in the room with us. We talked about a few things. Who Dev-Ya was, why he was so upset, what relation it had to my outfits, and why I lied about having a parental figure at home.

“Come to think of it. You’re a celebrity designer, you’re quite busy. Why did you come here directly to talk to us?” Vera asks.

“Well, while Ren is a student of mine, I was thinking that I could provide you with a better job as well and a place much closer to my design studio. If you’re all the other has, it would be rather cruel for me to separate you for a lengthy period of time. Despite how my name sounds, I’m not unreasonable.”

“Okay dad, sure thing. You’ve been really soft with me though. I don’t see how you would be. You just have high expectations right?”

“Say what you will little pup. I’m sure you’ll find I’m not as lenient as you seem to think I am. Also, Ren. How is it that your sister dresses so fashionably and you dressed as you called it in ‘an unfashionable dad aesthetic’?” Crewel asks, raising a brow.

“I uh, make their clothes and they take care of their skin better than I do,” I mumble slowly looking away from Crewel.

“I told them I don’t need to look nice either, but they insist that I should wear nicer clothes. I’m not a seamstress like them, I’m a watercolour painter. So I can’t just make them nice clothes to wear as they do for me.”

“But you look so pretty though, you definitely deserve all the nice things.”

“No, I don’t, you do.”

“No, I refuse, you do.”

“It looks like two little pups in need of some retraining.” Crewel breaks up what was about to become a battle of the no-yous, “Anyways, after Ren fully recovers, I’ll take you to your new home and explain the job I have for you in greater detail. That should be suitable for you I presume?”

“Excuse me, but why would you help us? Did you just adopt my sibling and say I could tag along?” Vera asks a little skeptical about this sudden favor toward us.

“I mean it’s not like he doesn’t gain anything. We’re both skilled artists who could contribute to his business and we’re in a position where it would be best if we joined him to gain the benefits we would from this.”

“Okay, I get that, but I still don’t understand why us.”

“While I don’t need a reason and this little gremlin child would technically owe me under other circumstances, I have my personal reasons for this predicament. Also, I am deeply concerned by the fact you trusted me so quickly. I will tell you the rest eventually, but for the moment I’m sure good pups won’t question me further.”

“Oh, you’ve yet to see gremlin Ren my newly adopted father figure. Now that I’ve fallen asleep near you like three times, I think it’s safe to say you’ll see weirdness soon. You don’t seem like a bad person though? I mean, you’ve had plenty of chances to make my life significantly worse, but you didn’t.” I laugh a bit. Vera raises a brow at me like they were saying, ‘Do you have no sense of danger child?’

“Gremlin Ren? Like when you said ‘Aw, dad called me precious’? I suppose you may simply be a good judge of character, though I’d still be more careful.”

“Hebba debba ha- Shoosh, we don’t talk about deliriously tired Ren, and sure, I could be more careful I guess,” I respond quickly, waving my arms vaguely in his direction.

“Bro.” Vera vocalizes her surprise, crossing her arms and shaking her head.

“Since we haven’t yet, Ren, let us exchange numbers so that I can contact both of you if need be. I’d rather not call your sister every time.”

“Oh alright, yeah that’d be good, we won’t always be together, so that wouldn’t have worked out every time anyways,” I respond before remembering I had Neige’s number somewhere too. I completely forgot to mention him to Vera before, oh well I can bring him up later. For some reason, I don’t feel like I should mention him in front of Dadus Crewel.

We exchange numbers and chat a bit about my health, fashion, and my sibling’s art. Vera ends up being quite flustered but flattered by the compliments she receives. It’s quite cute actually. Eventually, Crewel leaves and I’m left to rest with Vera making sure that I don’t skip any meals. She knows that I won’t eat if I don’t feel like getting up.

There was a lot to think about laying down. What was going to happen with Dev-Ya and Rachel? Would I have to tell Crewel about Rachel? How was it going to be learning under Crewel? Would Vera finally meet her Idol since we were going to be in the fashion industry? What did the dream with Neige and Rachel mean? I could probably figure out a couple of them. My dreams tend to be tied to reality, though upsetting things always end up more abstracted or represented by different characters. The thing with Neige may actually happen, or something similar will occur if I don’t spoil the surprise again. The more abstract representation of Rachel means I might meet her again. There’s no way that I would actually be trapped in a birdcage right? That seems quite unlikely despite how unhinged Rachel can be. I’ll probably have to tell Crewel about Rachel if I notice anything off like with the outfits. Though given his resources I may not be the first one of us to bring it up. Maybe I’ll wait until he asks me about it.

Two days pass slowly with the occasional conversation with my sister and her excitement about having a potentially less dull job soon. We vaguely touch on the fact she might meet her idol and then she wonders if she’ll have to hide her fanart of him before remembering that the only art she gets is of fictional characters so it's fine. Besides which there’s no way that Epel Felmier would ever see her room anyways right? By the end of the second day, I feel energized enough to start packing things up. Though I take care to pack my clothes separately from everything else just in case they’ll be confiscated for use as scrap materials. Not that they would, but considering Crewel’s judgemental glances, I have a feeling it isn’t an unreasonable concern.

Vera convinces me to call Crewel this time since she had to do so last time and he arrives equally as quickly as before with a few people to help us pack up. He motions for us to follow him while the movers grab all of our stuff in storage containers of various sizes and random boxes. On the way, Crewel discusses Vera’s position on the creative team designated to Epel and she literally gasps.

That evening when Crewel isn’t within earshot Vera tells me they hope he doesn’t notice them because they would never be able to talk to him well and might even accidentally refer to him as “baby girl” which they know he doesn’t like.

Unexpectedly our conversation takes a pause when I receive a message from Dev-Ya. He had been the one to block me initially, so I couldn’t imagine anything good would come out of whatever message he sent me. Especially since the last time we spoke, he punched my face. I didn’t open the message, but I read the first bit of it that was displayed on my phone screen from the notification.

[I want to meet up to apologize to you properly.] It began. I had a feeling that he didn’t actually want to apologize. Though I could be wrong, it doesn’t feel like something he would do.

“What’cha lookin’ at?” Vera asks, breaking the silence.

“An unexpected message.” I say vaguely frowning at my phone before shutting it off entirely for the moment, “I don’t really want to look at it though.”

“Oh, did Elliot message you again?”

“Not this time, no. Also, I blocked Elliot, I won’t be receiving his messages unless he does something to get around being blocked.”

“You seem to have a lot of enemies,” Crewel adds walking into the room with a pointer that has two collars attached to the other end of it. He was usually depicted with it, so it’s weird he didn’t have it at the event.

“Well, when you’re a doormat you tend to attract people who want to use you. Not that I am as much anymore, but it does sometimes feel like it would be easier to be one again.”

“That’s why I told you not to deal with them in the first place dummy,” Vera mutters.

“Are you sure you’re not the older sibling Vera?”

“Oh come on. Besides Vera is taller than me which automatically makes her the younger sibling.” I say playfully gesturing dramatically to Vera.

“That was because you were malnourished, you’re taller than me now,” Vera comments in turn with a small frown.

“Well I was going to get right to business, but I have a feeling we should discuss what happened with Dev-Ya on Glamour Isle.”

“I would be totally cool with skipping over that for now. Business stuff ooh.” I point finger guns in Crewel’s general direction.

“Oh wait, was that who messaged you?” Vera cuts in.

“What lead you to that conclusion? But yes, Dev-Ya texted me.” I sigh lightly rubbing the back of my neck anxiously.

“Well, that is concerning. What did he say?” Crewel asks, looking at me pointedly.

“I didn’t want it to pop up read so I only looked at the part that popped up in the notification. I don’t know what the rest says, but apparently, he wants to apologize. I doubt he means to apologize given how volatile our last meeting was.” I explain tiredly, rubbing my eyes and sighing.

“Bro block him. Gross. I bet Rachel told him to apologize so she can try to get back on your good side after ‘that’.”

“I figured much the same … I guess I should tell you who Rachel is now that we’re staying in your care huh? You certainly picked a puppy with a lot of problems.” I say with a small laugh before taking a deep breath and thinking about how to start.

“You are by no means obligated to give me your life story simply because I’ve brought you here. Though it would be helpful to identify people to avoid or deal with later.” Crewel responds, mumbling the last part and hitting his pointer against his hand.

“I didn’t catch that last bit, but I still feel like I should anyways. I won’t go into specifics, but essentially I was in a relationship where I would give as much as I could to make Rachel happy, but she never listened to me or returned the affection I gave. It got particularly bad at one point, but I won’t get into that. It messed with a lot of my friendships though since that became my standard. Elliot, who was mentioned earlier, is similar, but worse in some ways. I’m lucky I found out who he was before I met him in person though.” I explain vaguely, pausing a few times, wondering if I should be telling Crewel all of this. He practically adopted us, I’m not even sure how things worked out this well, but I couldn’t help but feel like as soon as he knew more he was going to throw me away.

“It looks like you were surrounded by some pathetic mutts. I’ll make sure they don’t show up around you. For now, you should probably block any of them you’ve yet to and stay focused on something that won’t keep your anxiety up. I’m sure that all deeply impacted you. No one goes through upsetting events unscathed. I don’t really do hugs, but you two can speak to me about anything that is troubling you. It’s one of the responsibilities I signed up for taking you in as my students. A teacher's job is to make sure his students thrive in the learning environment.”

“You’re definitely acting like a dad now. You don’t do hugs? What's with carrying me to a medic instead of letting someone else do it?”

“I’m not sure actually.”

“Oh? You’re not sure? Sounds likely fatherly instincts ooh.”

“…” Crewel doesn’t reply, he simply places a hand to his chin thoughtfully, placing the hand with the pointer in it against his elbow.

“Hey, Ren you should block those nasties.” Vera points out before I can react to Crewel’s silence. I had already forgotten that blocking people was mentioned so my mouth forms an ‘oh yeah’ before I turn my phone back on. It flashes on a full brightness before returning to the lowest setting where I usually have it.

“Ow, my eyes,” I grumble before going through and blocking the numbers I had yet to block. It was Dev-Ya’s and some guy named Teiran I didn’t remember but had a negative feeling about for some reason. Rachel and Elliot were already blocked before so I didn’t have to worry about them for now.

“You came in here to talk business initially right? Let’s do that.” Vera states, taking a lead in the conversation. Probably in hopes that Crewel would leave as soon as he said what he planned to.

“Right, business. First of all, excuse me for barging in earlier. I can assure you this will not become a habit. I live separately from you and I’ll make sure to inform you if I need to speak with you both prior to my visits unless it's an emergency of course. Onto business, there is a large event surrounding new fashion coming up in six months, the Summer Unlimited Fibers Fresh and Economic Revolution annual event. You’ll be put into teams of at least three. Though these teams can be sorted out beforehand which is what we’re going to do. As you may have already guessed, I plan to assign you two to a team with Vil Shoenheit and Epel Felmier. Until then, however, we need to increase your prestige and credibility.”

“I’m mildly concerned by the fact it spells the out ‘suffer’ as the acronym, but I digress. So you mean you’ll be making sure we get into events to showcase our abilities? If this goes well, we’ll be working on one of the biggest events in the fashion world with some of the most well know fashion-related celebrities. But if you have other pupils, then why did you select us?”

“Oh, I suppose I should have specified. I’m also a teacher at Night Raven College. The students there are probably who you mean by my ‘other pupils’. As for why I chose you two, there are a few reasons. Most obviously, it brings diversity to the group. A non-binary gremlin with dark-academia vibes and a lady steeped in Ouji fashion pair well with the adorable Epel and glamorous monarch-esque Vil. It’s like a set of fantasy villains. Quite an eye-catching arrangement no? Additionally, you already work well together, I’m afraid some of my other students are too much like divas to work well as a group. Individually they all have strengths, but until they mesh, they’re like oil and water. While you have yet to work with Epel and Vil, you will be more willing to compromise with them when necessary.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. Diversity is an important note for intrigue. However, I’m under the impression that this is in part because of Neige’s potential group. Either they’re also trying to be diverse, or that group is going to essentially be a boy band right?”

“Correct. Given the previous year, it’s likely that Neige’s group is going to be more diverse. There was a lot of discourse surrounding some of the former members, though somehow that discourse gave Neige a popularity boost.” Crewel states, his voice dripping with annoyance.

“Right, weren’t Neige and Vil placed on the same team as two newbies who ended up being a mess all things considered?”

“Unfortunately.”

“So you don’t want the hosts to make Neige and Vil part of the same team again? But you don’t have much time to locate some new talents, and those you could reach out to would make things more difficult.”

“Essentially.”

“Considering that you came here almost immediately. You have something in mind to get us started right?”

“Very good. Yes, I have a few events lined up for you. I’ll handle getting you in, you are going to need to focus on curating new designs. I have more for you after this event, so don’t burn yourself out like last time. Since security was so lax at the last location, I can promise you I’ll ensure more reliable security this time.”

“Can you tell us the specifics like dates and themes?”

“I’ll go over it with you another day, but for now I’ll be E-Mailing you all of the relevant information. Though I’ll need to give you your company E-Mails and their passwords before you can use them.”

“Company E-Mails? Wow- that’s fancy.”

“Oh, we had those at my previous job.” Vera mumbles.

“Good, then you should be familiar with professional E-Mail etiquette.”

“E-Mails have etiquette?”

“…” Vera and Crewel look at each other, perhaps wondering how I had made it this far without knowing that there was such a thing as E-Mail etiquette. Crewel ends up discussing specifics with us anyways before handing us our company E-Mail information. After he leaves Vera and I unpack a few more things while bouncing ideas off of each other for the first event.

We head to bed soon after and both wake up early. Getting used to a new space was going to take a little bit. Everything was so much cleaner than it ever had been. There’s only so much progress we were able to make at the old house with my studies and Vera’s work. Regardless, we had things to do and not much time to dilly-dally about new surroundings.

The next few days raced by and before we knew it we were presenting in front of a crowd. Though this one was notably smaller than the one from the Flash Forward Frenzy. Unexpectedly, Neige was one of the guest judges alongside Vil. After the show is over Neige approaches us.

“I didn’t expect to see you here! Wow, your designs are still so impressive. Oh, a pleasure to meet you, Vera, I’m Neige LeBlanche!” Neige starts excitedly grasping my hands, acknowledging my sister after a moment's pause.

“It’s nice to meet you too. I’m Vera, Ren’s sister.” Vera introduces, looking at Neige’s hands and then back to me with a raised eyebrow.

“Hello again! Also, I’m sorry, I completely misplaced your business card, so I wasn’t able to add your number to my contacts after everything.” I apologize, wondering if he was under the impression that I just didn’t like him.

“Oh no, well I suppose it’s not unexpected. You were in really bad shape after the Frenzy. I’m surprised you were on your feet this quickly. Hmm, why don’t I just add my number to your phone this time? There’s no way you’ll lose it that way!” He states with a wide smile befitting a prince.

“Sure! That would probably be better.” I reply before pulling out my phone. Vera blinks at me, ‘Seriously? You know that Vil and Neige are rivals, you really want to die on the hill of befriending everyone until you get hurt?’ I hand Neige my phone and he quickly types in his number. I stifle a laugh when I see that he’s oh-so graciously nicknamed himself for future reference.

“Do people call you Neggy?” I ask curiously, looking at the little heart emote he’d added at the end too. I mean it was distinct, I’d give him that, but it felt a little unnecessary.

“Only friends do. I’d like to think we’ll be friends though so you can call me Neggy too!” Neige explains still just as bubbly and excited as before.

“Okay, but I’ll still refer to you as Neige in public.” I smile a bit. He was cute if nothing else. It was like finding a little brother. Though Vera would always be my favorite sibling. Before I can give Neige my number in turn Vil joins us.

“Hello, Neige. Sorry to cut your conversation short, but these two have a prior engagement.” Vil states with a practiced smile, elegantly placing a hand on his chin. I wonder how much of the conversation he heard when walking over. Regardless Vera’s assessment that being friendly toward Neige would give me problems was probably going to be a little too accurate. Vil was already displeased, I couldn’t imagine that our trip to the meeting room with Crewel and Epel was going to be comfortable.

“Yes, unfortunately, we do have something else to tend to. I’m sure we’ll meet again given the industry. Let’s head out.” I add, looking at Vera who rolls her eyes at me and also confirms that we should leave.

“Ah, goodbye Ren. I hope we have a chance to talk more next time. Safe travels!” Neige says before saying farewell to Vera and Vil collectively. We walk in silence until we reach our transportation. After the door shuts Vil starts to speak.

“So you’re friendly with Neige LeBlanche?” He asks with a smile that conveyed his displeasure.

“Well, I don’t have a negative opinion of him as of the moment. But we’ve only spoken a few times so it’s difficult to say if I’d ever give him preference. Though to be frank, my main concern is being polite since unlike you, my clout isn’t very good.” I explain. It was true that I was fairly neutral towards Neige, he may be cute, but he’s not very memorable for anything but that. Given the choice, I’d rather be friends with Vil since that would make things less complicated and Vil is also more interesting. The media is divided on how to depict Vil as his fashion sense and acting career have cast him as a villain. Do they show him as tragic, cruel, or even secretly good?

“I see. I suppose that makes sense. Though I will remind you to avoid being too friendly with him. Even if you’re just being polite others will take your politeness as affection and twist your image.” Vil explains, a bit softer and less peeved than earlier. Was he worried about me? “I have to agree with Vil. Ren, you’re too careless with people.” Vera adds quietly, glancing at Vil before looking at me, “You shouldn’t have let Neige grab your hands either, what if there were paparazzi? Neige has the barrier of being the highest-ranking celebrity, you’re not safe from being slandered and defamed.” Vera adds with concern, her voice shaking.

“Vera- I know. I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the media is going to depict me as a playboy at this point. I mean, there’s no way that there aren’t pictures of Crewel carrying me circulating at the moment. With that, if there also end up being pictures of Neige holding my hands then I’ll be in trouble.” I apologize, sorting out my thoughts and realizing all at once just the predicament I had been put in.

“Usually Crewel is so careful about his image. But I suppose he has always had a soft spot for his students. Though he would never admit that.” Vil muses, “If you understand all of that, why aren’t you more guarded?” Vil adds with added annoyance.

“I- don’t have anything to say for myself. It’s just stupid.” I state looking down at my feet.

“We’ll discuss this with Crewel later. Vera, you weren’t at the Frenzy so I didn’t get to see your abilities in action before. I’m excited to see what you’ll do in the future. You seem quite promising, and perhaps wise.” Vil compliments Vera who smiles a bit before thanking Vil for his compliments. Eventually, it reaches the topic of understanding why Crewel said he’d need to fix my wardrobe.

“We already have plans to curate your wardrobe, unfortunately, there simply wasn’t time before this event, so you had to wear the ones from Glamour Isle. But no more. I shall make you shine like a diamond. And perhaps blind Neige.”

“What is it with people mumbling the last part of their sentences? I’m grateful for your time and efforts in this. I’ll try not to undermine your expectations.”

Eventually, we make our way to the meeting room where a few unfamiliar faces sit with Crewel and Epel. Most of them are dressed in business attire with some notes, but one of them looks completely different from the rest. Dressed in a dark feathered cloak with a crow mask and cane, the fae lounges at the head of the table. This also implies that he has a higher position than Crewel. Who is this guy?

“Ah! You’re all here. Yes, it is I. Crowley your beloved CEO and headmaster at NRC.” Yeah, I still have no idea who Crowley is.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Crowley,” I say with a polite smile.

“Yes, it’s lovely to meet you, Mr. Crowley,” Vera says in turn.

“It’s a pleasant surprise to see you attend the meeting CEO,” Vil states with an elegant practiced smile.

“There is no need to be so formal with me! Just call me Crowley. After all, you all are important assets to our company.” Crowley states in a sing-song tone, “Oh right, feel free to sit anywhere, there’s no need to stand so stiffly.” He adds with the motion of his hand.

“Thank you, sir,” I say before sitting one seat away from Crewel so that Vera can be seated beside two people she knows. Vil sits beside Epel on the other side of the table and introductions of everyone at the table begin. The table consists of Crowley, Crewel, Epel, Vera, Vil, Trein, Vanrouge, and I. The meeting covers schedules, the clean up for Crewel’s sudden dadittude, and current media standings. Admittedly during the more budget-oriented pieces of the conversation, I was completely lost.

After the meeting ends Crowley leaves immediately followed by Vanrouge. Epel and Vil head out after speaking briefly to Crewel. Vera and I decide to follow Vil out for the moment. We weren’t stopped so we left the room. Vil notices us and motions for us to walk a bit closer to the two of them. I can almost hear Vera internally screaming being so close to Epel.

“We have more to discuss outside of the meeting since they didn’t cover everything. You’re probably wondering who Lillia Vanrouge and Mozus Trein are. They’re investors in the company that happen to be on good terms with most of us. Since they have such a big say in our company, they tend to appear in official meetings discussing budgets and plans for the company's future.”

“You realize that Crewel probably would have explained all of that to them right?”

“Yes, but the conversations between Trein and Crewel tend to be lengthy. We have to wait anyways, it makes for better discussion if the other parties aren’t preoccupied with something else.” Vil says motioning for everyone to sit down in what is probably a waiting room or lounge of some sort.

“Eh- Yeah okay. Ahem. Hello again, I’m Epel. It’s nice to meet you both.” Epel says with a sparkly smile.

“Wow, I didn’t realize that people could literally sparkle,” I mumble thoughtlessly. Vera covers my mouth before I finish.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Vera states simply, smiling politely but definitely freaking out internally. After a bit, she uncovers my mouth and I am free to speak again.

“I guess we’ll be seeing each other a lot more frequently right? So wouldn’t it be a good idea to figure out some baseline things to avoid doing? For example, eating sounds really bother me. If I dine with others, it is usually in a noisy place so I’m less overwhelmed by the eating noises but rather the environment.”

“Ah, I suppose you’re right. Then I’ll state the obvious. Be more careful about your image and who you associate with. Additionally, do not needless contact Neige LeBlanche as that too could become problematic.”

“Ah, I get it, if anyone sees either party text the other, a deeper relationship will be assumed because it makes for a better story and more interesting gossip.”

“Exactly. I suppose that means you had no intentions of actually contacting him then?”

“Well, I was undecided initially, which is why I even mentioned the number again in the first place, but given this, it’s better to avoid contacting him. He’s been at the center of enough drama where everyone else ended up looking bad that I don’t really want to chance an ‘Oops, I didn’t realize they could see my screen lol’ moment.”

“I’m glad you’ve come to your senses.”

“I suppose if it's just us, avoid calling me cute or referring to me too fondly. I’d rather not be bombarded with those things outside of work too.” Epel adds, still sounding soft and polite.

“Ah, alright. If I had to add something, it would probably be along the lines of wariness around group chats or anything. I’ve had a friend or two in ‘secret’ group chats that were too careless about ensuring the excluded parties weren’t aware they were excluded.” Vera mentions with a brief explanation.

Before we could continue the conversation an announcement was made over the loudspeakers to find a place to hide while a situation was being dealt with.

“Well, that is concerning,” I mumble.

“What in tarnation? Concerning? That’s downright mortifying. What could possibly be happening?” Epel replies with a panicked expression.

“Let’s go into the nearest room. Now.” Vil states staying composed and ushering us all into a room that has a door that locks.

“It’s our first day here and something went wrong,” Vera mumbles, leaning on me and clutching their arms tightly.

“I’m not sure what’s happening, but it will be alright, we’ll just stay quiet. I’m right here.” I whisper as quietly as I can, placing a hand on Vera’s shoulder. The room stays silent after that. Outside of the room, we hear footsteps and a knock of metal on the floor.

Clack clack, clang, clack clack, clang

The person outside calls a name I don’t recognize, but Vil’s expression shifts into one of disturbed understanding.

“I know you’re here my love. Just come out and we can talk.” The voice calls out with a deranged laugh. ‘Ah, it’s someone’s crazy fan or ex.’ I think frowning a bit.

Clack clack, clang, clack clack BANG

The door shudders as a dent forms in it. It takes a moment to process that it was our door that had been hit until I see Epel standing before the door, magic circling his hands while he stands in front of us.

“Oh? Are those frightened breaths I hear? My my, you always were such a delicate thing weren’t you?” The voice exclaims, excitement dripping over their words as something crashes into the door again. I find myself wondering how this guy got here, how they possibly managed to get past security in this place.

BANG

The dent grows as the hinges cry out in pain.

BANG

The door squeals in agony.

BANG … Thonk

The door falls down slowly as an unfamiliar grinning figure peers into the room.

“Oh Icy, there you are!” The intruder exclaims looking at Vera. Vera looks confused and frightened. I find myself moving before I can think about it. I crash through the door we locked to get in here, pulling Vera behind me.

“GET BACK HERE!” They scream followed by the sound of fire crackling through the air followed by the whip of vines.

“Who the fuck is that?” Vera whisper screams, grabbing my hand tightly.

“I don’t know. But we need you to get out of here, or hide really well.” I say in reply, my voice sounding much calmer than the heart beating in my chest. My shoulder starts to throb.

“I-I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know who that is.” She says panicked.

“I know, I know, it’s not your fault, they’re just a creep.” I console them, starting to lead them toward another exit from the waiting room.

“Eugh- I won’t let you pass through here!” Epel shouts after a sound of pain. Before I can stop her, Vera barrels back into the previous room and punches the creepy stranger back through the doorway.

“No one hurts my friends,” Even she must not have known what came over her, but hearing her idol cry out in pain led her to punch the intruder with a force even she didn’t know she had. They fly through the doorway and crash through the door across the hallways.

“Agh- My sweet- why do you pain me so? I came all this way for you.” The stranger pleads. I feel useless as I watch Vil, Epel, and Vera.

“She wants nothing to do with you. Get that through your head or you won’t be left with just a few burns and scars.” Vil states with a venomous smile spreading over his lips.

“How did they get here? I don’t think they should have been able to. Is there anyone who would want to hurt Vera maybe? … Could it be Rachel again? Is she trying to destroy what I have left so I fall back into her arms?” I mumble to myself before hearing another crash. Vil had thrown the stranger through another door.

“That’s going to be a pain to replace.” Crowley comments walking towards the stranger, “Sorry, but who are you? And why are you bothering us on such an important day?” He adds with a certain detached annoyance like he was talking to a bug. It was then that I managed to walk back toward everyone to see what was happening.

“I’m just here to see my dearly beloved!” The intruder insists.

“That creep has nothing to do with my sister. But he thinks he is.” I state walking over, my heart beating loudly in my chest, “I was trying to be nice earlier.” I add with a practiced smile.

“How is taking my sweet Ice rose away from me a kindness? You just wanted her for yourself.” As they argue I catch a glance at their eyes, they’re cloudy. I stare at them for a moment before something clicks.

“You drank it,” I mutter.

“It’s a miracle thing, isn’t it? Oh, I was so close to holding my love. If you weren’t here- if I get rid of you-” The stranger realizes, rising despite their disfigured form.

“I don’t think so.” Crowley states bonking the stranger on the head with his hand knocking the fool out cold, “Now, I trust you’ll explain what you meant by ‘you drank it?’” Crowley asks motioning for some personnel to get rid of the creep.

“No, you mean they drank that?” Vera cuts in, “It’s- it’s a monstrous potion. It relieves you of all worldly pain, but you lose your ability to perceive right and wrong, as it eats away at you you start to decay and you’re susceptible to others' intentions. If they really drank that- then that means Rachel is involved.” She explains, rushing over as I lose my balance.

“This Rachel is going to be a much larger problem than I initially assumed.” Crewel comments, supporting me from behind as well, “But that doesn’t explain how that mangy mutt got in here in the first place.”

“If the only benefit of that potion was the elimination of pain it wouldn’t be as tempting. If you know which one it is you can probably piece together what happened. But one of the things the potion does is amplify your magic until you overblot. You either decay or overblot, and neither is a pleasant end.” I explain further, scratching at my arms as the ickiness settles into my skin.

“Why exactly do you know all of this?” Trein asks, walking over with a tap of his cane announcing his presence.

“… That’s how my best friend died,” I whisper with a small, pained, laugh.

“I’m sorry for your loss Ren. It is never easy to lose someone. I am too old now to guarantee your safety under my watch. But I will support you the best I can in other ways.” Trein states, looking between Vera and me.

“Hm, well given the dire circumstances I think I could keep an eye on them. Besides, it would be like adopting wor- children.” Crowley states, absolutely about to say workers instead of children before he corrected himself.

“There’s no need for that Crowley, I’m already taking care of their housing, so I’ll be the one to settle them into a safer space if need be,” Crewel states in turn.

“Hahahaha,” Vera starts laughing.

“I hardly think this is the time to be laughing child,” Crowley states.

“I know, I’m sorry, it’s just- you all barely know us but you’ve already accepted us more than our family ever did. It’s just kind of funny you know? Maybe I’m tired.” Vera states laughing a bit more while tearing up. She sniffles and tries to calm down her tears but Epel hugs her.

“There there.” He states, patting their back.

Crewel notices before I do that I’m crying too. He wipes away my tears with a handkerchief and sighs.

“You always seem to get hurt when something happens.” He says, placing a hand lightly on my injured shoulder causing me to flinch, “Let’s get you patched up, we’ll discuss what to do about your safety after that at least.” He adds.

Vil looks at Crewel as though he’d grown a second head.

“You’re not going to pick me up again are you?” I ask with a sniffle before turning my head to look up at Crewel. He smiles a bit.

“That depends, can you walk this time?” He asks though the answer was quickly found to be no, “Hm, well I’m afraid you’re going to have to sit still and be carried this time as well little pup.” He muses. I sigh and just let him carry me. Crowley joins Vil in his baffled stare at Crewel.

“What- is happening,” Vil asks furrowing his brows and pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Dad instincts,” Vera mumbles through sniffles.

“I suppose he does have a habit of adopting promising children, or ‘pups’ as he calls you.” Trein muses, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

“Hah, this really is going to be quite expensive. You’ll need to deal with that Rachel person sooner rather than later.” Crowley comments before he takes his leave.

“Unfortunately I can’t stay for too much longer either. However, Vil, you have my number. I ask that you update me on the situation when you can.” Trein states leaving as well.

“I’m sorry, your jacket is soaked with tears,” Vera says seeing Epel’s now wet jacket.

“It’s fine. I don’t get the whole unsupportive family bit, but I’m all too familiar with being in an unexpected fight with someone you don’t know. NRC isn’t exactly full of friendly faces. ‘Sides, you were really something. I didn’t expect ya ta smack the bastard in gob like that.” Epel states, slipping into an unfamiliar accent. Usually, he sounds like a well-read nobleman.

“I just heard you get hurt and my body was already moving on its own. I can’t take too much credit for that. I’m not nearly as brave as it seems.” Vera explains quickly.

“Not many have such noble intentions. Well, I suppose you won’t be a burden despite the issues that seem to surround your sibling. Though my opinion is subject to change should you prove to be loutish.” Vil comments.

– “Ow- I didn’t think I’d dislocated it, it just felt numb at first,” I grumble, rubbing the arm where healing magic was applied.

“In an ideal world, you’d have time to rest, but for the moment we should discuss safety. Previously you would not be living with anyone but your sibling. Given the circumstances would you be more comfortable living in my house? Given my status, I have trained guards to deal with intruders like that person.”

“It would probably be safer to stay somewhere that secure. It’ll be a pain, yes, but I’m not going to deny any greater level of protection. Though I have my reservations about hired guards at this point.”

“That’s understandable. I can assure you, however, that my hired personnel will be much more reliable. Crowley and the owner of the organization that hosted the Frenzy prefer cost effectiveness to function.” Crewel grumbles.

“Da- Crewel! You shouldn’t say that in the building, slander the man later.”

“Pfft, but you don’t disagree.”

“Of course not, I’ve seen what happened- dude I was there. I mean last time was like two minutes ago. Eugh, I’m so tired now too.”

“You should get some rest here then. Would you prefer I stay here, or leave?”

“Thanks for that, do what you think is best.” I didn’t want to make him stay when there was going to be a lot of aftermath to sort out, and it was very unlikely that something would happen immediately after the last incident. Rachel doesn’t work like that, she eats away at you slowly until you give in to her.

Crewel ended up staying in the room, at least until I fell asleep.

– “Oh Ren, did you enjoy our game of hide and seek? I had so much fun finding you.” ‘No, I recognize that voice.’ “You were so difficult to get a hold of. Were you that confused my dear? It’s okay, I can help you now. Just trust in me.” ‘No. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be with her here.’ “Come closer, little Ren. I’ll make sure you’re safe in my arms.” Rachel’s arms wrap around me and begin to constrict me, suffocating me. It feels like all of the air is being pushed out of my lungs as the cold arms continue to snake around me and hold me closer. “My adorable dear.”

–

TL;DR: Ren meets Crewel on a train after accidentally entering the wrong car and Crewel notices their distinct lack of fashion. From there Ren participates in a Speed Fashion contest with an unreasonable time limit and manages to prove their worth. Given this, Crewel takes in both Ren and their sister Vera to contribute to his team starring Vil and Epel. In the midst of this an old 'friend' from Ren's past resurfaces as an adversary.

#twisted wonderland #writing #fanfiction #divus crewel #twst crewel #We love the trope where someone just decides “You see this gremlin? This is my child now” #first post #It feels like I'm committing a crime. #I'm so sorry for this #Look #I know It's long #But It's fine #I'm totally mentally healthy #And not at all trying to escape reality #You should drink water #Also hi #Do you like it? #self indulgent

[modstarfell]

May I ask for headcanons you have about each character from Blowback?

This took... a lot longer then I thought it would, I hope these suffice! Doing so many in one post was.. a lot/nm

Akeru - The bandages in her hair while may look silly at first, often play a part in letting her get through places that would normally require a mask as theyre made from the same material. - Various scars all over her body from different things but they are mostly kept out of sight via her clothing - Her hair clips were given to hr by her original clan and she values them as her prized possession as parts of them are real gold - LOVES jokes, doesnt get to tell many though shes just not good at them.

Chinami - I like to think her real hairstyle is much different from any of the wigs she wears, this hairstyle was featured in her concept art but wasn't used... It was revamped to cat-girl hairstyle but I like to think this might've been her hair (sprite below to show my attempt to recreate it)

- Always carries a comb at the LEAST on her. Maybe a brush if she feels like carrying it but it's usually a comb. - Bobby pins. She unintentionally ends up leaving on everywhere she goes. They fall out of her pockets and she's given up picking them up - Does genuinely care for her classmates despite her attitude.... She's been caught once resting against Tato but denies any claims.

Kana - Her ponytail works the same as typical DR Ahoge's work, it's just brought back further. She has it up but even when it's down it can move like one. - Gets protective over her friends; fears she'll lose them if they hang out with others more because all she can do is silly voices.... - Watch out for her though because she'll sometimes use it to mimic tv show characters for fun and while it's accurate hearing a minion out of nowhere gets confusing - Her nicknaming habit originally started from a fellow co-worker when she was younger. They'd give everyone nicknames; her's being kasy(kah-sey)

Kanjiro - Tism. Aliens are his special interests. - He is very blind to the "fighting" Akeru and Kana seem to be having for his attention.. They are both his friends and he tries to spend time with everyone as even as he can. - I like to think he took after his father... His father having been an archer before something happened and he had to stop, but Kanjiro wanted to follow in his footsteps.. and now he's also archer! - He does better shooting a moving target instead of a standing still target; which is why he tries to get Akeru's help with targeting an apple on her head. (typically for archers hitting a moving target is much harder)

Kazuki - His hair is surprisingly really soft even despite how sharp his ahoge looks - His luck doesn't have any direct influence-ability to anything in the world directly unlike the other lucky students; although he has a good knack for finding "lost things" a lot easier. He's found tons of money that has been left behind on streets ect - Struggles with telling people no, often ends up in some situation he totally wasn't prepared for cause of it - Is considered a good listener but half the time it's due to the fact it takes him a moment to process what's going on around him; others will talk his ear off about situations and he listens to it all to piece things together.

Mai - Knows at least two languages but is always willing to learn more. (Currently fluent in eng and jpn) - Runs around with a clipboard always on hand with her, there's tons of notes clipped to it and at the bottom there's an attached white board she keeps around to help her remember things on a schedule. - Her hair clip was a gift from an old friend of hers from an archeology adventure she'd taken part in. - Has a habit of calling everyone her older siblings... No one knows if they're actually older or younger then her since she's so small they just go along with it.

Mikihiko - Petty is 100% a projection of what he wants to be like.. talking through Petty helps his confidence - Coming to the academy was really the first time Miki was able to dress the way he wants to without pressure - Designed his outfit himself with the ability from his doll making, although it was difficult he has a pretty solid feeling for designing things! - Has a collection of press-on nails that he's kept from his sisters because he struggles to let go of everything entirely. He also has a habit of chewing on his real nails really bad.

Misako - Is actually aware she's related to Kazuki, and since they're siblings her hair is just as soft as his is. - Her cat tie was a gift from the museum she works with as an anniversary thank you for her dedication to the place. - She went with her and Kazuki's father, and Kazuki ended up with mother but went into the care of their grandfather - Has a pretty big watch collection that she doesn't talk about; a big fear of running late/running out of time be it for doing something at work of getting to a place on time. She's very punctual because of this. - Sometimes has information overload where she'll fizzle out, doesn't even bother putting her hair up and just walk around her usual duties in more of a daze (someone please stop her)

Ryo - His earring are matching with his brother, they weren't his idea originally but he can't say no to his brother. - Batman fan.... If you don't know the source of this... Well, I can't say really. - Went to a private school before Hopes Peak entry; the change from private to high-rank who allows so many people through their doors is a BIG adjustment for him. - It takes a REALLY long time for him to open up to his classmates if at all; he'll use note-passing to talk or use sign language to try and communicate before he actually starts speaking.

Seina - Despite her friendliness, her upbringing has made it very hard for people to understand her and for her to understand them. She tends to talk more fancy as the events she often found herself at tended to be big parties hosted by either her family or friends of family. - She often jokes around that she's adopted Kana like her little sister. They can usually be seen messing around together, the later helping her feel more relaxed like a normal girl. - She's a VERY curious girl; picks up a lot of random things shes found on adventures, usually it's various stones. - The gem she wears is a Amethyst, she believes ghosts can exist anywhere and uses the gem to both protect herself and keep calm to try and not startle them as well

Shozo - He definitely holds the record for fastest cube solving. It doesn't matter which dimensions. He holds it. - Tired so often that he tries to avoid his classmates since they aren't "useful" enough to him. He's exhausted from solving cubes so much even though it's second nature for him and he does it every chance he can. - Has accidentally ended up skipping classes from sleeping in trying to fix his sleep schedule... Always gets reprimanded by Misako for it. - ambidextrous. I refuse to think otherwise. Will write with one hand, cube with the other because of this.

Tato - Likely can tell if a crop is close to expiring just by looking at how it's aged - Picks the sweetest and freshest strawberries for Chinami because they remind him of her; using various formula's hes gained from farming to find them - He's very used to the sun but even with his sun hat; he burns very easily causing him to get anxious being outside without his hat on. - He absolutely suggests for a school trip to come to the farm since there's tons they could learn and it would be cool to show everyone what he knows in real time!

Torae - Can tell the smell of certain makers that were used when they're in the mix of drying (like if it was 'dry-erase' or sharpie) from how often they were used to modify blue prints. - Isn't afraid to just pick up one of her classmates to stop them from doing things that might cause trouble later down the line, but is also more then willing to use her strength to help get the other up higher if they need something and a steady hand. - Do. Not. Let. Her. Chicken. Fight. Whether she's on top or bottom she's terrifying if you try and play chicken fight in the pool. - Goes for morning runs; usually drags a random-unsuspecting classmate along with her.

Toshiro - He rarely takes off his necklace; It was given to him by the "only person who believed I could manage to get into this school." This being said, he takes his earrings out at night to prevent breakage and getting jabbed with them while he sleeps - Plays with his hair when he's nervous but it's usually the two dyed strands he plays with the most. - Spends his free time doing laps in the court yard to keep in shape - Despite seeming intimidating, he's usually the one who manages to get the class going when it's time for gym class. Turning it into a competition just enough to get even Shozo motivated to work out.

Yosaku - He gets cold very, very easily. Having to bundle up even on warmer days and winter is absolutely abysmal for him. - Collaborates with Tato from time to time to help make sure that their classmates are getting proper meals in their systems. - Has bonded with Akeru from him telling jokes out in the open to 'practice' and noticed her lingering around and laughing at them from time to time. - Helps Seina create songs for her to cover with her violin while at the academy and occasionally Kana has joined in and the three of them creating some fun song covers together. He has also made a little social media platform for this but it's under an alias to keep both girls hidden from public.

Yukari - In her bookbag there's usually her own copy of her book, and some other "every day supplies" being pencil, notebook paper, bandages ect. - She prefers to sit back and watch how her classmates interact with each other rather then gaining direct friends herself. Often finding herself to be 'too awkward' in comparison. - When she has a crush she tends to cling to them a lot more... One of the few people she can "trust" and will often read their emotions and begin to talk for them out of habit. - Usually has her nails painted a very light pink with a shine to where they almost look natural but you can tell something is different if you look closer.

#akeru 🌫️ #chinami ✂️ #kana ⭐ #kanjiro 🏹 #kazuki 🍀 #mai 🥼 #mikihiko 🌺 #misako 🖼️ #ryo 👔 #seina 🎻 #shozo ⏹️ #tato 🌾 #torae 💪 #toshiro 🪢 #yosaku ✌️ #yukari 💞 #drbb

[semifinel]

January - 2023

Games

High on life- not funny, not novel, pretty boring, enjoyable enough to finish once you get around the end but was about so close to dropping it a few hours in.

I don’t know if it makes sense but instead of being subversive it’s superficially subversive. It’s like “look at us we’re doing stuff differently” (this might be a direct quote) for all of like 2 seconds before going back to being the blandest shit I ever played. The 2 seconds aren’t even cool.

Tunic- deserves a game award, made me pull out sticky notes to decipher secrets. But it’s a wonderful game even if you don’t engage with the secrets (but they are amazing and you should). Talked several peoples ear off about it and will maybe do it again. I don’t know if I can add any praise that hasn’t been said before me. This game rocks.

Road 96- I saw a review calling it “it’s as if a taletell game didn’t want to waste your time” and honestly (as a taletell games fan) I see what they mean.

It’s fun, it’s intriguing, having to find a new way to escape each chapter, interacting with the characters and discovering the story that is happening around you- all were interesting.

I liked how locations felt very open sometimes. Some scenes are basically cutscenes where you have very little choice. While other are more open location where you can explore backrooms and get rewarded with resources for your journey.

As a game who prides itself on being on being procedurally generated you’d think it would lend itself for replayability but second time around I was bored going through mostly same scenes as my first playthough. Even with the selecting different options they would mostly got he same way, made me wish there was more option I could do sometimes but it’s a game and can’t let me do everything ever so I don’t blame them for that.

If found- a queer story wonderfully told with an interesting mechanic, beautiful art style and music. I am the target audience for this and I enjoyed it lots.

Story hit me hard, the eraser mechanic surprisingly kept me focused while being just like wonderful way to keep the story moving, especially with how it was used to transition certain scenes.

The credits song slaps hard.

And the Ireland trivia is very cool actually.

Hi Fi rush- for the lack of a better term, it’s so fucking cringe. The most uninspired story and cast, every cliche and trope ever rolled around into one painful story. They try to use like jokes that make no sense and then they are like “isn’t it funny that it doesn’t make sense” - no it’s not

It’s as if they wanted to recreate the feel of Deadpool 2013 game only the main character is the most main insufferable anime boy character also the year is 2023 and nobody told the writers.

They had one good joke and it’s in the trailer and it’s about the writers of the game and not a ingame thing. The trailer starts with *freezeframe* “you gotta be wondering how I got myself here” and it kept going about the same level of humor.

Game mechanics wise it’s actually interesting and even fun! Chaining combos to the rhythm of a beat is actually cool (even if I kinda suck at it). I wish it was in a different game tho. Why can I guess every characters whole deal without hearing them. Why is there a character who’s just a jojo reference and the reference is look he does poses and got Japanese letter floating around? Why is the only time that I felt joy about the story in game is when the main character got hit so he shut the fuck up. At least the naming conventions of chracters is fun. If I could play this game on mute just so I didn’t need to hear the story I would but it’s a rhythm game so :/

Movies

Puss in boots- slaps, watch it

Glass onion- slaps, watch it

Predestination- it was a rewatch and honestly it’s not only fun cause you can see all the hints and joke they drop early before you know the twist that would go over your head. But it’s also fun since I watched it with a bunch of people who never watched it before and seeing them trying to guess what’s going on and then figure it out in real time was a blast. Span off my favorite in joke of the day with that group.

Akira- I can see why it’s a certified classic. I don’t know why there is a man having a asthma attack as a leitmotif in the soundtrack but it slaps.

Disclosure- been told by my friend I should watch it, I watched it, I would have watched it earlier, you should watch it.

Shows

Mob psycho s1- I’m rewatching it (watched season 1 and 2 and want to remember all before I go into season 3) as a watch party with friends and I’m having a blast. Missed my boy my son.

The last of us- so far- I could talk how it reignited my love for it, and how I forgot how cool is the specific way they made zombies, and how much I missed all the creature design. But episode 3 just came out and I’m weak. Good adaptation I was skeptical before it came out (I mean a video game adaptation,, you know how it usually goes down) and also didn’t get why does it need to exist. However good show so far love it love it love it.

#high on life #tunic #if found #road 96 #hi fi rush #puss in boots #glass onion #predestination #akira #disclosure #mob psycho 100 #the last of us

[akasha-terminal]

I have finally played through the 3.2 Archon Quest and recollected my thoughts enough to write down my “review” of it, because I do surprisingly have some things to say. Naturally, unreasonably long text and spoilers below the cut, so proceed with caution.

First of all, I will say that the Archon Quest plotline left me with a more positive impression and it had its own share of moments I appreciated. I think the part where Traveller went on little missions with Alhaitham, Cyno and Dehya individually gave a good opportunity to showcase their personalities and modus operandi a little more, and I loved the Scaramouche characterization in the dialogue with him in As by a God's Side, especially his attitude towards Haypasia - he was already a very interesting character to me, but that gave him even more depth, considering his struggle to be accepted and find his place in the world (I am even considering writing out a separate post about Scaramouche character analysis to discuss this further).      Another note on characterization - I like the direction Hoyoverse went with Alhaitham and how he was presented to us. In Jnagarbha Day part, where he “betrays” Travelller, while I clocked immediately that he was pulling an Oscar-worthy performance, Alhaitham’s generally sus disposition throughout the entire plot left me with the fainted doubt that he might double-triple-wharever cross us and betray for good for the greater good had the confrontation with Azar not gone according to plan (which I think is borderline canon tbh, he does have a certain “end justifies the means” streak to him).     Also, while Nahida is still nowhere near being my favorite character, neither design, nor personality-wise, this Archon Quest gave her some more depth in her more calculating moments - think the battle with Shouki No Kami Scaramouche and her later negotiations with Dottore. I can appreciate how compassionate Nahida is to her people, but that is what I thought was missing from her in the previous Archon Quest, given that she is the God of Wisdom.     And, of course, I cannot avoid mentioning the lore information we got at the end of the Archon Quest, both pertaining to Traveller’s sibling and “the sky of Teyvat is fake” thing, which I am glad made a comeback not in a time-limited early game event, hence giving that important (in my opinion) information about the world to all players, and not just lore freaks like me. Traveller’s sibling not being considered a Descender is very intriguing to me, I’ll be honest. I think it may have been some sort of retroactive change, but either way, looking forward to seeing where this is going. Oh, and another theory of mine is that Alice might be a Descender too, but that is something I suspected for a while now.

    Now, after I got the positives I wanted to point out separately out of the way, let me talk about some of the issues I had with the 3.2 Archon Quest. There’s really two big problems I want to mention going forward, the first being Nilou’s place in the story. Her involvement in the plan felt somewhat rushed to me, like the developers wanted to include her but weren’t sure on how to do that apart from general ideas. This feeling didn’t gissappear from me even after the flashback to the planning session in Aaru village, where it was shown they had intended to involve her from the beginning, it still looked like they grabbed the first random performer they saw and just… gave her their plan details? Also, don’t get me wrong, I like Nilou and I am glad she was featured in the Archon Quest + the scene where she danced in front of the Academia, and all the students/researchers applauded her, with even the guards hesitating to arrest her was beautiful in my opinion (and made a wonderful point about appreciation for arts being a part of human nature no matter what, and that even the “brainwashing” techniques employed by the Academia would not be able to change that). I guess, what I mean is that I wish she was involved earlier and had more time to actually bond with the rest of the cast. I know she was a big part of a previous Archon Quest, thus the players are already familiar with her, but the same doesn’t apply to Alhaitham and Cyno, so that gave me a bit of a whiplash. If that makes sense.    Another issue I have is the one I have seen other people bring up as well - the boss fight with Scaramouche was really underwhelming. The mechanics of the first phase were somewhat confusing to me at first, but I figured that out, what was more disappointing is that the boss himself was too weak? Even without having a full idea on how to fight him properly I basically breezed through him. Ever since the first leaks of Scara’s boss model, people (me included) had a lot of expectations of it, but for me personally none of them were met. The design looked great, but the battle went too quickly, I wish he was stronger. I loved the fight with Childe, and I have a very clear and painful memory of having to redo the fight with Signora four times because she kept kicking my ass, and Balladeer has a higher assigned number in Fatui ranks, which implies he should be stronger, or at least on the same power level as them?

    Overall, it was a nice Archon Quest, especially regarding the lore drops, even if some details were lacking to me personally :]

#genshin impact #genshin impact 3.2 spoilers

[classicschronicles]

Hi lovelies,

Today’s post is about the story of the Roman general Coriolanus (forever immortalised by Shakespeare and Tom Hiddleston- bae). Coriolanus was a legendary Roman general of patrician (i.e. noble) descent and was said to have lived in the late 6th- early 5th centuries b.c.

According to the tradition, his surname is a direct reference to his bravery to at the said of Corioli in the war against Volsci (493 b.c.). Also side note- if you’re interested in the Roman naming system I have a blog post about it here. In 491, Rome suffered from famine caused by grain shortage. The small bit of good news is that Rome received a grain shipment from Sicily. The big bit of bad news is that no one could decide how to distribute the grain. Coriolanus, who wanted to reverse reform in order to shift power away from the rising pro-Plebeian reforms, suggested that the common people should only receive grain if they agreed to the reverse reform (i.e. the abolition of the Tribunal offices).

This was not a good move on his part. The senate, more the Plebeian’s were happy with this suggestion. As punishment for his suggestion, Coriolanus was put on trial and executed.

Coriolanus took refuge with the King of Volsci and then proceeded to lead the Volscian army against Rome, the only thing turning him around were the pleas of his mother and wife. He later died amongst the Volsci.

During the period of his exile Coriolanus defected to the Volscians, who were surprisingly happy to have him on their team. Alongside them, he led an army against various Roman towns and colonies, eventually entering the gates of Rome itself. The only thing that stopped him from seizing the city of Rome were the pleas of his mother and wife.

As is usually the case, the truth behind a lot of ancient/ classical myths is rather ambiguous. Some modern scholars question parts of the story of Coriolanus. It is worth noting that the first accounts of Coriolanus are found from the 3rd century b.c. onwards- some two hundred years after the supposed life of Coriolanus. Additionally, there are few authoritative historical records prior to the 390 b.c. sack of Rome. Whether or not Coriolanus himself was a real historical figure, the story does preserves a level of genuine popular memory of the dark early decades 5th century b.c. when the Volscian’s overran Rome and threatened its very existence.

Anyways! I hope you all enjoyed reading about the story of Coriolanus and that enjoy the rest of your weekend!

~Z

#classical studies #dark acamedia #classics #greek mythology #ancient rome #roman mythology #ancient world #history #coriolanus snow #shakespeare #tom hiddleston

[agentnico]

Air (2023) Review

So for what it’s worth this movie has taught me one thing - the original founder of the company Adidas was a chap named Adolf Dassler and no, his first name wasn’t a coincidence as he was indeed a member of the Nazi Party. So yes, Adidas was created by a Nazi. Go figure.

Plot: Sonny Vaccaro and Nike pursue basketball rookie Michael Jordan, creating a partnership that revolutionizes the world of sports and contemporary culture.

What is it with recent historical films that are set in the 80′s where they have to open up with a montage of various pop culture 80s stuff whilst some famous pop song plays in the background? Like we get it, the movie is set in the 80′s, no need to bash us over the head with it. Regardless, after that generic opening crawl we are then treated to a movie about a shoe. In essence that’s what it is - the origin of the Air Jordan line of basketball footwear. Talk about Hollywood really stretching for ideas. That being said, the film Air is actually a fairly delightful, if a bit by-the-numbers sports film. This is what I’d call a proper Dad Movie. And yes, it can be continuously and endlessly debated how one would define what the Dad Movie genre is, however basically I’d say it’s those types of movies that appeal to middle-aged men and have that comradely feel to them, and feature an individual or a group of people coming together to achieve something great. An easy watch so to speak. Look, there’s no way of describing what a Dad Movie should be, but it’s really more so a vibe. A Dad Movie vibe. And Air is simply dripping with the swagger of a Dad Movie. There’s Dad Movie magic all over this thing, and it sure may be due to the American sports subject, but regardless, dads of the world assemble and go watch this film!

However not just dads, but everyone can find enjoyment in Air. It’s a surprisingly gripping film for a movie about Michael-Jordan-wearing Nike, and that’s due to the focused direction of Ben Affleck, and a stellar cast that make for a very engaging viewing. When it comes to the narrative, it's a very simple story about a man who knows the potential of something, while everyone around him thinks what he wants to accomplish is impossible. It's an underdog story that's not even directly about an athlete and it's done incredibly well. Again, I cannot reiterate the strangeness of the movie managing to make us care about the bloody origins of a shoe! In my case a shoe I’ve never worn nor ever had interest in wearing. Yet here I am - giving a crap! On that note, I’m not a particular fan of sports film either. The one major sports film I like previously was Foxcatcher and that was only cause it was a drama involving murdaaaaa, but otherwise the sports genre ain’t for me. Yet again, here I am - giving a crap.

What a cast is assembled here. Matt Damon leads the pack as Sonny Vaccaro, and look, there honestly isn’t anyone in Hollywood that has more of that likeable every-day American guy factor than Matt Damon. You simply can’t help but want to root for the chap. Of course Viola Davis... Michael Jordan's only wish for this movie was Viola Davis playing his mother. And Viola Davis did something special here. Incredibly realistic mother portrayal with a strong reserved womanly presence - Viola Davis does great work. Ben Affleck is delightfully sarcastic as Nike CEO Phil Knight, with Chris Tucker and Matthew Maher bringing their personal touches to their roles also. Jason Bateman - look, I’ve really enjoyed watching this guy in everything since seeing his shenanigans in Horrible Bosses, and in recent years his more serious work in the likes of The Gift (a fantastic thriller by the way, if you haven’t seen it do yourself a favour) and Netflix’s Ozark series, Bateman is a man of many talents... and bates. In Air even though he’s but a side character, I believe he is the true heart of the movie, as Damon’s Sonny risking it all to make Nike going for this reckless move to bet all odds on newcomer Michael Jordan, it’s the little people who have the most to lose. A scene with Bateman’s Rob Strasser explaining how the reason he works for Nike is so that he can every Sunday gift his daughter a pair of shoes during the one-time-a-week he sees her, and as such those Nike shoes is the only thing he can share with his family. Again, Bateman also has his usual dry wit about him, but also that dramatic heft that he can handle so well. 

I must give Ben Affleck and the crew props for managing to take a very non-cinematic subject matter and make it such a riveting and captivating watch. Reminds me of a movie written by Aaron Sorkin such as Social Network or Molly’s Game - where the writing and characters really drive the entertainment factor. So check out Air, it’s on Prime Video now and is worth your time. 

Overall score: 7/10

#air #air movie #2023 #2023 in film #2023 films #movie reviews #film reviews #air review #air review- a surprisingly gripping film for a movie about michael jordan wearing nike #movie #film #ben affleck #matt damon #air jordan #nike #sports #drama #dad movie #jason bateman #viola davis #chris tucker #chris messina #marlon wayans #matthew maher #air 2023 #adidas

[bonesandthebees]

I want to start of the proper analysis by saying that there is surprisingly little judgement towards Wilbur from both of them, but especially Ranboo. They are more focused on 1. what the hell Phil is doing with this and how weird it is because both of them were at least semi raised as politicians and care a lot more about these implications than Phil does and 2. How bad Tommy is doing by comparing notes.

The reason I’d expect more judgement is because Ranboo has always been questioning Wilbur’s actions and Aimsey was finally done with his shit the last time they talked. But they didn’t know the context as to why, Wilbur was mad. When Tommy snaps they say he doesn’t mean it, do they think the same about Wilbur?

It also interesting to look at Wilbur from an outside perspective and I mean outside outside for once. A bastard prince from one of the richest planets shows up with his little brother/the crown prince. People know there are negotiations, but they aren’t going well. They should be done by now, but they aren’t being had at the moment. The bastard prince talks to the emperor a lot and the man seems to favour him. The crown prince spends more time with the imperator. Then while a deal still has yet to be made. The bastard prince is moved to the emperor’s personal wing.

If you don’t know any of them, it might look like this was always Wilbur’s plan. It might look like he saw a shot at his own power and took it. Whether that is because the emperor gave him a shot or because he wormed his way in can be debated, but it would be impressive.

Ranboo and Aimsey know more about it. They know Wilbur cares too much about Tommy to pull something like that consciously. They know Wilbur was struggling a lot more than he let on, but he wouldn’t let them help. They know Wilbur doesn’t want to join the empire. So why does he get put in the personal wing?

It’s interesting how Aimsey see it as some sort of powerplay by Phil, Ranboo see it more as a protective method to keep the brothers separated and Quackity (with the additional help of seeing Wilbur and the coat) knows it’s a claim, but he does not know why.

(2/?)

-🌲

yes!! I was a little confused when I saw people in my comments getting pissed at aimsey and ranboo because they really weren't judging wilbur all that much?? sure, there was a tiny bit of judgement on aimsey's end, but it was more directed to phil and his actions instead of wilbur himself

the reason they aren't judging wilbur that much is mostly because tommy isn't talking about what's going on, and they haven't seen wilbur so they can't figure out anything from his side either. if tommy was talking about what happened in the fight, they'd have a lot more material to work with to judge off of. because ranboo's judgement in the past came from what tommy told him about wilbur. now he doesn't have that. aimsey's judgement came from seeing how wilbur interacted with others, and they haven't seen wilbur at all. so yeah. they only know something bad happened and now phil is making some really wild vague political moves. not a lot to go off of.

:) I really wanted to give that outside perspective. because like you said, it looks fucking weird. it definitely seems like wilbur is taking a shot at power. ranboo and aimsey know this isn't the case, but to actual outsiders?? hmm yeah the guard barracks are probably FULL of gossip about the bastard prince's grab for power lmao. poor jack can't say shit or else he'll lose his job. probably drives him nuts.

regarding the difference in aimsey and ranboo's perspectives, it's also worth noting the differences in their relationships to phil. while ranboo isn't besties with phil, he's really good friends with him! techno is his mentor, so he's spent plenty of time with phil as well. they're very good friends! in order of AE people at the palace ranboo is closest with it's probably aimsey and techno tied for first, with phil coming in second. so yeah, he's viewing it in a more positive protective light, and he also recognizes the claim. aimsey, meanwhile, doesn't know phil and techno that well at all. tbh I'm not even sure if they've had a conversation with either of them before. they're just an attache from another planet. they're viewing this from a political perspective bc it's the only perspective they have on the emperor and the imperator.

#ask #spruce anon #the stars and their children

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

Accepting the end of an era and the beginning of the unknown

This neon gyroid adventure kind of went off a tangent, though not in a bad way, just completely unexpected. Basically, it was just a fun, chill event accompanied by some friends and stuff. Marlo and Don happen to be the area as Don was doing an article on a former big name star attempting a comeback - long story short, that took another direction thanks to the wise words of a fellow former star.

In the meantime, Connie felt that some of their friends could use a bit of a break and felt that the camp was a good place for that. And on a bit of an unrelated note, a couple other friends decided to tag along as well to keep things lively - and also, who wouldn’t want to turn down a vacation? After all, when it comes to events, the more, the merrier!

So, along with Don and Marlo, Connie and Pai brought along Ayaka, Aurelie, Coralie, Fontaine, and Madeleine. For the latter three, it’s their first time out here, and especially for the latter two, they never really had many opportunities to travel far. In fact, they’ve never been outside of Marippe until joining Connie’s party not too long ago.

Coralie’s the newest member, having joined after working with Connie to solve a twenty year old cold case while working on a short film directed by Madeleine for a film festival. Ayaka was part of the film project as one of the lead roles as the younger sister while Coralie played the elder. Coralie said she kind of stumbled on the role by accident as she originally came on to be a consultant, only for Madeleine to encourage her to be in the spotlight after seeing how well she and Ayaka got along.

The film they made was an original script by an acquaintance of Connie and Pai’s who was running into a lot of trouble before filming even started. He has some ties to Sango, which was how he got Ayaka involved. Connie ran into to him while he was sort of having a meltdown over his misfortune and because they owed him a favor, they took that opportunity to help him out. So that’s how Madeleine and Coralie later got involved.

Thanks to Connie and Madeleine, things finally turned around. Though there were a lot of challenges along the way because of low budget, Silk Ribbons and Ochre Roses won an award, which wasn’t surprising considering who’s the director. The film’s not available yet, so Madeleine will let us know when it’ll be up as soon as she hears something. The story’s about two sisters on a journey to Heaven while getting revenge for their village’s demise, taking down any obstacle that gets in their way, inevitably putting their lives on the line. Sounds like an interesting movie and I can’t wait to see it.

As a result, Coralie and Ayaka became close friends and pen pals, bonding over their love of books and theater. According to Pai, Coralie can be intimidating, which is kind of expected from a captain from the security patrol, but outside of that, she’s a chill person who admits to being a bit of a nerd, especially when it comes to her favorite books. She certainly didn’t expect to make her acting debut in something directed by Madeleine out of all people, so she was pretty much like, “Wait, you’re serious? Hell yeah!” when Madeleine wanted her to be part of the cast.

Like Ayaka, Coralie didn’t have a lot of experience acting other than dabbling in theater. Of course, most of Madeleine’s experience comes from theater, so she made it work and helped the others transition into the medium. The whole thing surprisingly came together very well even though it was kind of cobbled together, so that’s really amazing.

And then after riding a high wave on the film’s success, Madeleine sort of came crashing down. It’s kind of a long story, and it sort of intertwines with Don’s assignment. Basically, Madeleine started considering her future after putting it off for so long - meaning, sorting out her affairs through a will and other legal stuff. Because they’ve known each other since forever and he will long outlive her, it makes sense that the one to execute her will and final wishes would be Fontaine.

500 years of working alongside each other is pretty much a big deal, and even though they’re no longer colleagues, they’re still friends. According to Fontaine, Madeleine was the one who shaped him to be the person he is today as the Guardian of Justice, a role he has taken seriously ever since being granted that position by her. He has, and always will have a lot of respect for her and what she’s done in ensuring that the people of Marippe have a future to wake up to. A lot of heavy stuff here.

Basically, Madeleine is like Eliane in which she was immortal, but then sacrificed her divinity for the greater good, essentially turning her into a human - an overpowered one, if you will. What that pretty much means is that she will eventually grow old and die like a human - except if it’s like Eliane, she still has a lot more time compared to normal humans. Still, that gives her, at best, maybe a century at most - assuming nothing bad happens before then. However, this is all conjecture, and something that really shouldn’t be dwelled on too much. It’s just that it’s kind of an adjustment to go from being immortal to mortal, so there’s some things Madeleine wants to get straight before it’s too late.

Unfortunately, life has a funny way of playing jokes on you. Obviously, Fontaine was concerned when she brought the subject of her will and final testament up, so she had to reassure him that she wasn’t planning on going anywhere anytime soon. Well, this where life sometimes likes to play jokes on you. Madeleine waved off her broken leg as some freak accident, but we later found out that there’s a lot more to it.

In the meantime, Don had a special assignment doing an exclusive article on Marilyn Bright, a now retired Broadway star who was super big back in the day. Marlo happens to be a huge fan of her as she was an inspiring role model for a lot of people in theater. Along with her talents, she was also known as a diva on and off stage, which made her even more notorious.

However, these days she’s considered a washed up celebrity. It’s not that she’s no longer good at what she does, it’s more like she’s been living in the past and using that to promote herself, which gets old quickly. It also doesn’t help that her attitude makes it difficult for others to work with her, which is believed to be the main reason why her fame declined. Looks like her big ego turned against her.

At first, he was reluctant because Marilyn was known to scare people off if their work wasn’t to her liking, but Marlo insisted. Things were rough at first, then Madeleine intervened and knocked Marilyn off her high horse. Turns out that Marilyn’s a fan of Madeleine, and of course, she asked if she was gonna made a comeback, to which she answered that she’s no longer interested in being in the spotlight and is perfectly content behind the scenes.

I think having Madeleine there to sort of rein Marilyn in helped a lot. Don said if it wasn’t for her, Marilyn probably would’ve kicked him out early on. She’s dealt with temperamental actors, so she knows what to do in order to get them to cooperate. She and Marlo also know how to appeal to her ego. A part of that involved getting the rest of us involved to give her moral support by showing Marilyn that she can still attract new fans.

As we kinda expected, a comeback didn’t happen for her. Except, this time she was okay with how things turned out. Aurelie thought it would be a good idea to go down memory lane and find some inspiration for Marilyn to reignite her spark for performing and that made her reevaluate things.

I have to say, it’s refreshing hearing stories about the past directly from the source that’s not glorified versions we hear in the media, but instead, something a lot more down to earth and real. As we got to know her more, she became less of a celebrity and more like an actual person with a lot of history and stories to tell. She definitely mellowed out compared to when we first met her.

I think while going down memory lane, it allowed Marilyn to look at her past in a different way. Madeleine said the same thing happened to her when Connie talked her into being an artistic consultant. She apparently hit the nail on the head when she figured out that Marilyn’s discontent comes from her always striving for the top and yet never be satisfied what she already has. It’s easy to be blinded by what you don’t have and what you should reach for that you fail to take notice of your surroundings.

To quote Marilyn, she’s been looking up for so long that it ended up giving her a crick in the neck and she developed tunnel vision, a sentiment that Madeleine experienced herself. I think it’s easy to be lured into having to be better and better, to aim high and to never be satisfied until you surpass expectations. But it’s not healthy to always aim for the pinnacle, especially if that’s the only direction you intend to go.

I’m glad that Marilyn came to the realization that her worth’s not defined by her fame and popularity. She made a mark in musical theater, and that’s not something to take lightly. Fame is fleeting, but legacy is forever. Like Madeleine said, it’s not stardom she’s been after these days, it’s the fear of being forgotten. Even if she’s no longer a big name star, I don’t think she’ll be fading into obscurity any time soon.

Once she accepted that her days of being a celebrity are over, Marilyn decided that it was time to bow out for good and enjoy her retirement. She said her last major role was a fitting swan song anyway, and she should have left it at that, ending on a high note. After all, she’s in her 80s now - though she doesn’t look or act like it- and while she’s still active, she’s not so keen on trying to keep up with everything like when she was young. Funny how clear things can finally become once you’re honest with yourself and what you want.

And that’s about the gist of it. Well, for Marilyn, that is. Don’s working on the article, so I’m looking forward to reading it when it comes out. Good to see that she’s ready to move on into a new phase of her life rather than get stuck living in the past. If only life can easily be wrapped up like that.

As for Madeleine and Fontaine, that sort of side tangent has made them really consider their futures. Especially in Fontaine’s case - hopefully not anytime soon - what things will be like for him when Madeleine’s no longer around.

Even with a long lifespan, immortals still can be killed, and most of them die with a lot of unfinished business that those they left behind are still trying to pick up the pieces from. Because of the mess their predecessor left behind regarding bearing the burden of confronting the calamity that would befall Marippe in the future, it makes sense that Madeleine didn’t want her successors to go through the ordeal of carrying the weight of the past to ensure another tomorrow.

Though, considering what she unintentionally put Fontaine through, she figured that an immortal is bound to leave behind some sort of burden, especially on those who they are close to. I guess that’s a price you pay for living so long and being a witness to history. I don’t know who said this - probably Raiden - something along the lines of the more older they get, the less they understand because they might have seen too much and that clouds their judgement. It’s not so much that immortals tend to think they’re invincible, it’s more like their sense of time is kinda warped as time has usually been on their side. So for most immortals, their deaths are usually sudden, without warning, and often full of regrets.

Madeleine mentioned that she suffered a lot these past few centuries, all for Marippe’s sake. And while she’d willingly sacrifice herself again if another disaster were to happen, there’s no guarantee that she would survive the mental anguish. She never went into much detail about her past, but I get the idea that Madeleine went through a lot - which is an understatement, I know. For someone who was a witness to a lot of not so good things, the pain and suffering she had to endure is unimaginable, especially for a mere short life mortal like me. It’s no wonder why she fell into a depressed state even after the disasters were averted.

From my understanding, Madeleine had to constantly pretty much put on an act - multiple acts, really. The way she described it, initially, she kinda saw it as acting in a play. Seems simple enough, right? But then things got complicated and she had to put on multiple faces, different personas, play by all kinds of rules, pulling strings left and right, all for the sake of keeping the peace and appeasing the general public. Politics, always complicated stuff.

While her dramatic and charismatic persona was what made her popular among the people, there were a select few who could see through her facade, Fontaine being one of them. However, she had no choice but to push those like him away, because she knew the second she let a tiny bit of her true self show, it’ll be harder to keep up an act. She was playing a dangerous game, so she didn’t want any one else to become a potential target because they were close to her.

Eventually, Madeleine lost her sense of self to the point that she was simply going through the motions, describing herself as some sort of trophy that’s always on display, shiny on the outside, dull and hollow on the inside. All everyone saw was the surface because she couldn’t let anybody get too close, and that took a toll on her. She admitted that she already broke a long time ago, but the reason why she kept going was because she just didn’t know what else to do because she had long forgotten her old self. Not to mentioned that if she failed, she would never forgive herself. To carry the weight of the world in your hands like that, I don’t know how she managed to survive.

Connie and Fontaine pointed out that Madeleine was the overtly sacrificial type - if the fates told her that she had to spill her blood in order to restore order amidst chaos, she would plunge a sword through her heart without hesitation. She willingly became a pawn in order to avert a disaster that wouldn’t take place until centuries later by forming a pact with Lady Roselyne and dedicated her life to maintaining that delicate balance of nature. Once the disaster was averted, she felt empty, not knowing what to do with herself afterwards, while for everyone else, it’s back to business as usual.

It took some time for Madeleine to finally regain her footing - with a bit of pushing and prodding here and there. Everyone assumed that she’d resume her acting career since theater had always been her thing. But after the ordeal she’s been through, putting on an act and all that, it makes sense why she’d be averse to that. Aside from an emergency cover, Madeleine has no other plans for her acting career at the moment. She’s perfectly satisfied working behind the scenes as a director and consultant, something that allows her to finally be herself as well as show off her strengths as an artist.

Still, even with a new lease on life, that doesn’t mean the past is completely out of the way. Madeleine originally said her broken leg was the result of some freak accident and left it at that. But then, while running around, we found out that there’s more to it. Basically, she also got stabbed and her wound somehow reopened, resulting in a trip to the ER. Well, that’s a jarring omission. But I get why she and Fontaine wanted to keep things quiet, which was the main reason why Connie brought them out here. Thankfully, she’s okay and Fontaine’s making sure she doesn’t move around too much.

As for what happened, Connie said someone from her past had a score to settle with her. Things got physical, so Connie had to subdue the other person. Madeleine thought she could cover it up, but obviously that didn’t work as Fontaine soon found out and was understandably paranoid about her safety afterwards. The broken leg was nothing, but being stabbed in the chest is a pretty big fucking deal.

And this was like a couple days after she was reassuring Fontaine that she wasn’t planning on dying anytime soon. See what I mean when I say that life can sometimes play cruel jokes like that?

She really just casually dropped the fact that she did in fact die for like a couple minutes, but they aggressively revived her, so it’s all good - I guess? Damn, I guess being immortal kind of desensitizes you to this kind of thing. Fontaine and Connie obviously didn’t think her sort of joking tone was funny though, especially since Fontaine was said to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown when he realized the severity of the situation. Who can blame him?

So he was kind of freaking out when he saw the blood - as any reasonable person would because it was a lot, not to mention that she was wearing a white shirt. Thankfully, it was only a superficial wound, just some loose stitches or something, so they just cleaned the wound up, added some extra bandages, and let her go. It wasn’t like she was running around doing flips or something - she’s on crutches, after all - it might be the crutches, I don’t know, but it’s just one of those things that randomly happens?? Scary. Well, as long as Madeleine’s okay and not in danger of bleeding out then I guess it’s all good. Knock on wood to be safe.

I’d say Fontaine, despite being on edge the whole time, is handling things as best he could. While he was fretting over her, Madeleine told him she already lectured him once and doesn’t have the energy to go over all that again. But she did keep reassuring him that she was fine, she’s safe, and all that. Meanwhile, he kept apologizing for not being able to intervene even though there was nothing he could’ve done. He’s usually a calm and composed person, so it was a bit startling to see him so frantic. It’s obvious how much he cares about her.

Considering that Fontaine and Madeleine are around the same age and have pretty much known each other for most of their lives, I get why Fontaine’s being overprotective. After all, it must be hard for him to accept that there will be a time when the one person who’s always been by his side will no longer be around, and it’s clear how upsetting that is to him.

Madeleine, on the other hand, seemed kind of surprised that he felt so strongly about it. The way she saw it, she just made sure her affairs were sorted out and expected him to handle the rest when the time comes. She’s accepted her fate, honestly not really feeling any strong feelings about it. She just didn’t realize how it would affect Fontaine because it never occurred to her how much he cares about her. It’s easy to underestimate the effect you have on others, especially when you don’t really have a high opinion of yourself.

Aurelie said that since stepping down from the Court, Madeleine tried to distance herself from former colleagues like Fontaine, Josette, and herself. Even now, she’s still kinda hesitant to reach out to them even though all three are open to being friends with her. Fontaine goes out of his way to make sure she’s doing all right, though because he’s a bit socially awkward when it comes to delicate situations, Aurelie believes that’s why things are kinda lopsided between him and Madeleine. She also said that Josette’s in a similar position where she wants to help Madeleine as much as she can, but doesn’t want to overstep, especially if the other party’s hesitant and she herself isn’t the best at getting the message across. Sounds like a complicated situation, though it sounds like they’re all trying to work things out.

Things have finally calmed down after that, so we’re just taking it super easy now. We have enough gyroids anyway and crafting is a chill activity. Aurelie and Marlo thought it was a good idea to basically push Fontaine and Madeleine to a corner so they could finally get some things out in the open. Although they already talked it out once, it’s clear that they still have a lot of unresolved stuff to tackle. Given their long history together, it’s gonna take a lot more than a couple serious heart-to-hearts before they can finally bridge the gap between them.

That said, I have faith that things will work out for them and make the most out of the time they have together. The future is full of unknowns, so it’s good to hold on to something or someone you can rely on, especially when you know that there’ll be a time when you have to part ways. To quote Connie, the life of an immortal is often a long and lonely road.

Read on AO3

#animal crossing pocket camp #animal crossing #diary of a junebug #headcanon ramble

[just-call-me-angel]

Little Miss Loser

Chapter 7 - The Language Of Losers

Warnings: none

Authors Note: Hey guys!! Sorry about the delay on this update! I've been sick since last week but I'm starting to feel a little better finally. I'm not loving this chapter as much as my last couple of updates so if you see me edit this chapter at all mind your business lmao. I did enjoy the banter in this chapter at least lol :) Thank you guys so much for the continued support!! I've loved chatting with some of you guys on tumblr its really kept my motivated and inspired!

Summary: Frank and the reader are little shits and they absolutely team up against Richard also Edwin gives surprisingly good advice

Ao3

Chapters: || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 ||

Listening to Richard’s bullshit was already pretty awful. But having to hear him drone on and on about his nine steps was so much worse. You were almost positive it was some form of psychological torture at this point, especially when Richard literally had you all as his captive audience.

The only bright side was having another person there to annoy the shit out of Richard in return. You were actually pretty impressed by how easily Frank slipped into the role of Richard’s annoying brother-in-law. Even Dwayne looks entertained as he listens to his uncle's sarcastic replies to Richard’s nonsense. 

At first, Richard is oblivious to the snide remarks from both you and Frank, too busy prattling on with his sales pitch. 

“--This is the guy who broke Tony Robbins! I mean he knows how to do it — start with the book; media tour; then corporate events, consulting, video series, direct buys on TV”  

You glance at Frank and then Dwayne, rolling your eyes. You honestly had his pitch memorized, you’d heard it so many times. 

“--There’s a science in how you roll these things out.” 

Frank sighs, shifting in his seat in front of you, “Very interesting.” 

“So now he’s at this Expo in Atlanta – he’s been hyping it up, you know, building the buzz – he’s doing what’s called a ticking clock auction.” 

Frank sits up a little straighter, voice dripping with sarcasm, “How about that,” he pauses and turns to you, “Isn’t that incredible (Y/N)?” 

You snort and nod, “Sure is.” 

Richard goes a bit rigid, “I can detect that note of sarcasm from you, Frank.” 

Frank gasps, doing a stunning job at playing up the shocked expression he has on his face, “Sarcasm? What sarcasm? (Y/N) did you notice any sarcasm?”

You shrug and offer Richard a teasing grin as he glances back at you through the rearview mirror, “Nope, no sarcasm.” Sheryl shakes her head, laughing to herself as Frank shoots you a shit-eating grin.

“Well I just want you to know– I feel sorry for you” 

Frank glances back at you, then at Dwayne, and then back to Richard, “You do? Good” 

Richard nods, clearly feeling a bit proud of himself, thinking he’s managed to gain the upper hand, “Because sarcasm is the refuge of losers.” 

“What? No,” you say in horror, biting back a laugh when you make eye contact with Dwayne. 

Frank mimics your shocked expression and gasps, “It is? Really?!” Sheryl shakes her head, trying not to laugh in the passenger seat.

“Sarcasm is just losers trying to pull winners down to their level. That’s one of the lessons of Step Four.” You had to hand it to Richard, the guy always knew how to bring the conversation back to his 9 steps. 

“Wow, Richard! You’ve really opened my eyes to what a loser I am!” Frank pauses and turns to you, “ (Y/N) how about you? You feel like you’ve learned something about yourself?”

You nod, grinning cheekily, “Dang, I sure wish I could be less of a loser like you Richard.” Dwayne snorts beside you, shaking his head when you wink at him.]

“Say, Richard, how much do we owe you for those pearls of wisdom?” 

Richard grunts, jaw tensing as he glances back at the two of you, “Oh this one’s on me buddy. It’s on me.”  From there you watch as the two men go back and forth. 

Sheryl sighs, twisting in her seat, “Okay. Alright, That’s enough. Frank, (Y/N), stop it.” 

You and Frank point at Richard and speak in unison, “He started it!”

Sheryl stares at both of you, shaking her head and laughing. It doesn’t take long for everyone else to begin giggling as well. Dwayne smiles beside you, rolling his eyes when you grin at him. 

Richard huffs and puffs in the front seat for a moment, opening his mouth to say something until his phone goes off.

“Alright! Alright! Quiet this is the call! This is it!” 

You ignore Richard and turn to Dwayne, leaning against his arm, “You having fun yet?”

He rolls his eyes, scrawling something down onto his notepad, “I would literally rather be dead.” 

You snort, shoving his arm playfully, “Come on, you’re having fun, I saw you smile” he shrugs, shoving you back a little bit, his lips twitching as he tries not to laugh–

You jolt as the bus swerves into the next lane, preparing to get off at the next exit, “Alright everyone, quick stop so i can get ahold of Stan, and then we’ll be back on the road!” Richard shouts, tossing his phone into the center console. 

Richard pulls into a small convenience store and barely gets into the car park before he hops out and runs toward the payphone. Everyone else remains in the car for a few seconds, just watching Richard’s frantic pacing as he waits for the call to go through. 

It doesn’t take long for all of you to get a little bored waiting. Sheryl shuffles out of the bathroom and Olive goes off to the other end of the parking lot to practice her routine. Frank went inside to grab a drink and some porn magazines for Granpa Edwin (It had taken everything in you not to start giggling when Edwin told Frank to grab himself a ‘fag rag’)Dwayne stepped out and went to stretch his legs on a patch of grass behind the bus, occasionally you would look through the window and watch him try not to laugh when you made a face at him. 

Which left you with Edwin for a little while. At first, you occupied yourself, drawing in Dwayne’s notebook or reading small passages out of his favorite book, smiling at the little notes he left in the margins. 

“So…kid.” Edwin said pulling your focus off of the book in your lap, “ You and Dwayne?”

You froze instantly, nearly tearing a page of the book as you turned to him, brows furrowed, “Excuse me?”

“Oh come on kid, I’m the old man with the bad hearing, not you. I know you heard me.” 

 You gave a nervous laugh, “Yeah I heard you.” you glance out the window catching a glimpse of Dwayne in the grass doing situps, “I just–I just don’t–uh–know what you’re trying to ask me”

Edwin shakes his head, and laughs, “Jesus kid do I really have to spell it out for you?” you stare blankly at him and he sighs. “When are you two going to stop dancing around each other?” 

“I’m not really a dancer.” you joke, attempting to turn the conversation around. 

Edwin snorts, “Alright smartass,” he sobers up quickly, raising a greying brow at you, “Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you. We all see the way you look at Dwayne, it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots on that.” 

“What–I–That—That's not–I don’t–Dwayne is just–”

Edwin shakes his head and waved a hand dramatically at you,“Yea yea–he’s your best friend I know–whatever, that’s not the point. You like him.” 

You stare, gaping at him for a few moments trying to decide if you should keep trying to deny it or if you should just come clean. Finally, you sigh, shoving Dwayne’s book into the bag at your feet before turning over to look at Edwin.

Edwin seems to notice the way you fall back defeated into your seat. He sighs and rests his hand on your shoulder, “Kid it's alright… Ya know he likes you too.” 

You snort, amused at the possibility, “yea right.” 

“Kid I swear to god I have no reason to lie to you.”  he nudges your arm, “And i’m not gonna tell Dwayne if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

Fuck it I guess.

You curl into yourself a bit, biting at the inside of your cheek, “Do you—Do you think he knows?” 

Edwin laughed at first but stopped as soon as he noticed you slump into your seat. He sighs, shifts a little closer, and pats your shoulder, “I don’t think he knows.”

You nod voice quiet and less confident than it normally would be, “I just don’t want to lose him.” 

Edwin nods in the way that elderly people do when they’re about to tell you a long story with some meaningful ending.

“Listen, kid, I pretend to know a lot of things, and most of its bullshit–” he smiles when you snort at his word use, “But I can honestly say that I don’t think you’d lose Dwayne, kid’s got it bad for you, we all see it.” 

You sigh, lifting your legs up to curl against your chest, resting your chin on your knees, “How can you be sure?” 

Edwin lets out a bark of laughter that makes you jump a bit, tilting your head at him, “Kiddo do I look like a fucking man who is ever sure about anything in life?”

You laugh with him for a few seconds, glancing out the window at each member of the Hoover family. You get stuck staring at Dwayne, watching as he continued doing various stretches. He’d be done soon and he’d join you on the bus again and you’d sit next to him and try your hardest to pretend that you weren’t head over heels for him.

Finally, you turn to Edwin, tilting your head slightly as you look at him, “I don’t know what to do,” you paused, words catching in your throat for a moment, “I feel like I should tell him because I hate lying to him… He’s my bestfriend–and–and–my parents—they–their divorcing and I just– I don’t want to end up–” 

“Woah, woah – kid – christ how do you not go crazy with thoughts constantly going wild in that brain of yours.” he shakes his head, placing his hands on his forehead and massaging the bridge of his nose, “I don’t know much about your family or anything like that but–shit kid you can’t live your life based on the mistakes your parents make.--” 

You stare at him blankly, squeezing your knees to your chest as he continues speaking, “Look kid, you’re what– 17?” he waits for you to nod,” Jesus kid for such a little troublemaker you sure do worry a lot, I mean you’ve got your whole life ahead of you for fucks sake, you got no reason to be worrying about shit like divorce already– go a little wild– just fucking— live your life kid”

You blink at him, brows furrowed for a moment before you finally gave a smile “You kind of suck at giving advice ya know that?” 

Edwin was quick to laugh at that, clapping his hand on your shoulder, “I’m doing my best kid.” 

To be fair, his best wasn’t all that bad. The advice was surprisingly helpful. He was right, you were 17 for fucks sake, you couldn’t live your life fending off a potential heartbreak like your parents. You deserved to just live life like every other teenager on earth. You didn’t know if you believed that Dwayne felt the same, but it did make you a little giddy to think about. 

Still, you weren’t ready to tell Dwayne how you felt. Admitting it to yourself, and to Edwin had been a start at least.

As if on cue Dwayne came into your line of sight, poking his messy head of hair into the doorway as he waved at you. You looked at Edwin first, biting your cheek nervously when he nodded at you, and then you looked at Dwayne gesturing for him to climb onto the bus. 

“What? You pull a muscle already tough guy?” you teased, poking his arms as he fell into the seat between you and Edwin. 

He rolled his eyes and leaned against you, smirking a bit at the way you scrunched your nose at him feeling how sweaty he was. You shoved him, ruffling his hair, “You fucking stink”  He shoved you back and you began playfully fighting, giggling when Dwayne poked your sides, knowing damn well how ticklish you were.

Edwin watched you both, a teasing smile on his lips whenever he caught your eye. It was both annoying and encouraging to know you had someone in your corner. After a while you stopped shoving each other, leaning against each other and laughing quietly until you caught sight of Richard talking angrily on the phone across the parking lot. 

Grandpa Edwin was quick to pick up on his body language as Richard spoke with increasing desperation, “He’s not getting it. Christ” You glanced up first at Richard and then shared a look with Edwin and Dwayne.

Frank appears then, walking stiffly and tossing a bag at Edwin before shuffling into his seat, “How’s it going?” 

You snorted, “Take a guess.” 

Grandpa Edwin hummed “Not so good.” Frank nodded and leaned back into his seat, slurping loudly at his blue slushie.

Sheryl and Richard return to the bus at the same time, at first you can’t hear what they're talking about but clearly, Sheryl isn’t happy with Richard. Honestly, you don’t really try very hard to listen to the conversation, if it was something small it would have amused you but the actual fighting just sort of made your mind go numb.

Dwayne was quick to notice the way you sank into your seat trying to get further away from the shouting. He pulled you into his side, one arm wrapping around your shoulder to keep you grounded. You leaned into him instantly, resting your head on his shoulder, whispering a quiet “thank you” as the fighting finally died down and Richard put the car into gear and allowed it to drift down the heal.

You remained like that as you coasted back onto the highway, tracing the letters stamped onto Dwayne’s T-shirt. Everyone is quiet at first and you realize after a moment that something is missing. Dwayne is already lifting his notebook for you and Frank to read by the time you recognize what’s wrong. 

“Where’s Olive?” You and Frank say in unison, cursing when Richard swerves to get off the highway and go back to the convenience store. 

Thank god for Olive being such a good sport about her family's antics. She looks absolutely thrilled when she sees the bus roll back into the parking lot. And she’s even more excited to dive onto the bus as Dwayne slides the door open and helps her in.

Olive climbs into the back seat, switching seats with Edwin so she can sit with you and Dwayne. She spends 20 minutes just talking your ear off before she falls asleep. And as much as you try not to, you and Dwayne end up falling asleep along with her. You imagine it had to have been kind of adorable to see Olive curled up on one side of Dwayne while you were curled up on the other side. 

It was easier to relax around Dwayne after talking with Edwin. Eventually, maybe you’d follow his advice and actually tell Dwayne how you felt. For now, you were content with just taking a nap.

TAGLIST

@apparently-sunshine @reblogged-fandoms @gloomymoonlover @murdockssbitch @noomaisdone @vsaucesfatsteak @bonejaws @deadlights-darling  @jo-noodles @i-likelotsofthings @space1boy @kuzuryux @miscreantsnopossoms @asher1407 @diollll @vincentiz @quirky-chowder @roryphobia @maddie1504 @chubbyb3an @lauftivy @ijustkindapoststuff @mayasuarus-rex @maddie1504 @irudowb

People I can’t tag will be blue and in bold font

#angel's stuff and things #just angels updates #danonation #this ones dedicated to danonation #little miss sunshine #dwayne hoover #fanfic #dwayne hoover little miss sunshine #little miss loser #little miss sunshine fic #little miss loser update #justcallmeangel #justcallmeangel fic tag #little miss loser taglist #sorry this took so long my body hates me lol #ily guys!!