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heyiwrotesomethings · 3 years

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Fresh Starts

Leah (Stardew) x Selectively Mute She/Her Reader

A/N: Thought I’d try something different with this one. Sorry if I didn’t detail the instances of sign language very well, or if they are a little off, I did try. Also Kel is an asshol in this when they show up so get ready for that. Robin is cool mom and Abigail is the friend who is always ready to fight at the drop of a hat. Also, time is so weird in Stardew? There are four season in a year but each season is like a month so a year is like four months. Time is scary. I hope you like it! Word Count: 8,943

“So, someone has finally taken up that old farmland,” Leah heard Gus say to Harvey as he fixed the good doctor a drink at the bar, “‘Heard Lewis and Robin talking about it outside of Pierre’s yesterday.”

“Is that so?” Harvey was tired from a long day at the clinic, but being ever polite, he humored Gus and rested fully against the bar stool.

“Mhmm, looks like the old man’s kin is finally gonna make something of it. A few years late though I must say, that place is well overgrown. It’s gonna take a lot more than a little elbow grease to spruce up that dump,” Gus chuckled good naturedly and handed Harvey his beer, “I wish them luck, whoever they are.”

“Bah!” Leah jumped in her seat tucked away in the corner. Pam must have been listening in too. “If they’re smart they’ll just sell the heap of trash to Joja. M’sure they’d get a pretty penny for it.” Pam spoke bitterly. Shane, who was also quite drunk at this point in the night, took the opportunity to add his two cents in and yell across the bar.

“Why would they get your daughter for selling out to Joja?”

“That’s not what I meant, dumbass!” Pam roared back, slamming her beer on the table with a loud thump.

Leah decided she’d call it a night then. Without Elliott to crack jokes with, the saloon could get real depressing real fast with Shane and Pam racing each other to see who would get alcohol poisoning first. Even Clint was just sad to watch. The poor man sitting hopefully, waiting for Emily to even just turn in his direction. Leah finished the rest of her beer and paid Gus, giving the man a sympathetic smile as he left to cut Shane off.

Leah shivered in the cool spring breeze as she walked along the river bank to her cottage and her thoughts wandered back to what Gus had been gossiping about.

“A new face around Stardew Valley, hm?” Leah mused, kicking a stray pebble in her path, watching it skip across the cobbled stone. “I guess I won’t be the town newbie anymore.” She smiled and turned to look in the direction of Marnie’s home, knowing that the farm was somewhere just beyond. As Leah turned the key to unlock the door of her small cottage, she wondered what changes this new resident might bring.

***

“Have you met our new resident farmer yet?” Leah heard Caroline ask Jodi as she walked across the town square.

“I suppose you could call it that,” Jodi laughed, “It was a very brief meeting to say the least.”

“I’m glad I wasn’t the only one then,” Caroline sighed, putting a hand to her chest in relief, “I thought I had offended the girl somehow, she never said a word. She just walked into the shop and pointed to a few seeds she wanted to buy, then she handed Abigail, Pierre and I daffodils and went on her way. Not so much as a sound.” Caroline explained, still bewildered by the interaction.

“Sounds about right,” Jodi nodded, “She knocked on the front door and handed me a single clam. Which was nice I suppose, but so very odd. She gave Vincent a daffodil too,” Jodi smiled, “He was very pleased. I’m sure she would have given Sam something as well if he could wake up at a more reasonable time.”

“Oh, Leah! Good morning!” Caroline had caught her. Leah put on her most sociable smile and walked forward, greeting the two women.

“Good morning Caroline, Jodi.”

“Have you been visited by the farm fairy yet?” Jodi asked, chuckling along with Caroline.

“I’m afraid not.” Leah admitted. “Although Elliott says I am a bit difficult to track down at the best of times.” She laughed good naturedly.

“Well, I’m sure she’ll get you sooner or later. She seems to be on a mission to greet the whole town. If you can call it a greeting I suppose. I don’t even know her name.” Caroline realized.

“It’s (Y/n).”

The three women jumped and turned to a grinning Robin, walking up to them with her yoga mat swaddled under her arm.

“Her name is (Y/n). She’s quite the character, huh?”

“Robin, you helped Mayor Lewis move her in didn’t you? What can you tell us?” Jodi asked, looking for any crumb of information she could get on the mysterious girl.

“Not much to tell,” Robin shrugged, “Just a sweet kid wanting to get away from the pressures of the big city,” she sent a knowing look at Leah, “Sounds like someone else I know.”

Leah laughed politely, twisting a finger around the tail end of her braid as blush settled in her cheeks faintly.

“But why is she so... you know, quiet?” Caroline asked.

“Hm, well, she did give me her blessing to explain should it come up.” Robin took a moment to think of how to proceed, absently tapping her fingers against her mat. “(Y/n) is selectively mute. She has the ability to speak, but she’s just not comfortable enough to do so at this time. This move was a big decision for her, and she’s excited, but it’s just gonna take some time before she feels secure enough to communicate orally.”

“And how did you get all this information out of her?” Caroline wondered.

Robin secured her yoga mat between her thighs and presented both hands, pointing her index fingers outward and drew a couple large circles in the air with the tips of her extended fingers. “Sign language!” Robin grinned, before taking a hold of her mat once more.

“Oh how clever!” Jodi praised. “I wish I understood sign language.”

“I’d be happy to show you a few of the basics sometime. If you really need to ask (Y/n) something though she will have no problem writing out answers for you.” Robin informed. “Now, are we working out today or...”

“I completely forgot!” Caroline smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand, “Yes, let’s go. Poor Marnie is probably wondering where we are. Are you going to join us Leah?”

“I’ll pass, thanks. I’m heading to the beach to do some painting,” Leah explained, motioning to her bag.

“Alright, see you around!” Caroline, Jodi and Robin bid Leah goodbye and hurried to the general store.

Leah sighed, as much as she liked the people in this town they were so chatty. She could have been at the beach forever ago! Once she arrived, she saw Haley sunbathing. Not unusual, but as she kept walking closer to shore she saw Elliott splayed out over the sand laying on his stomach.

Leah rolled her eyes and walked over, playfully kicking the man’s arm, causing him to squint up at her.

“Is there some kind of new writing exercise I should know about?” She asked, playfully.

“I wish, this is simply writer’s block at its finest.” Elliott groaned. “That, and I don’t know what I’m going to do with this,” he sat up and produced a wild horseradish from his jacket pocket.

“Why do you have a horseradish in your pocket?”

“A girl I’ve never seen before in my life gave it to me. Then she took off before I could refuse. Didn’t even say a word.”

“She’s totally weird, but she did give me a daffodil so I guess she’s not that bad.” Haley called from her own spot in the sand.

“Has everyone met the new girl except me?” Leah wondered aloud.

“She’s been making rounds. I’m sure she’ll find you eventually.” Elliott said, resting his chin over his arms.

“You make her sound so ominous.” Leah laughed, lowering herself to the sand and taking out a sketch pad.

“A silent specter. A harbinger of-“

“Oh can it, drama queen,” Leah smirked, “so she gave you a horseradish, it’s not the end of the world. She was just trying to be nice.”

Elliott pursed his lips, propping his head up with one hand he turned the horseradish in the other offering it to Leah. “Do you want it? You’re all about foraging.”

“I mean, if you’re not going to use it sure. Put it in my bag.” Leah relented easily. Her eyes only leaving her paper to study the horizon for a moment, then continue to sketch.

Leah stayed on the beach with Elliott for a couple of hours, talking sketching, and painting. Finally she stood and stretched, patting the sand off the back of her jeans. “I should get going. See you around.”

“See you.” Elliott nodded, splitting off from Leah to head over to his shack.

Leah hummed to herself as she walked through town, making her way past Jodi’s house and entered the Cindersnap Forest. As she rounded the corner of her cottage, she paused in her tracks. Observing a young woman staring at her door with dandelions in one hand and her other poised to knock on the weathered wood.

Leah flinched slightly, she had stepped on a twig, snapping it and alerting her visitor of her presence.

Startled eyes met Leah’s own and the farmer straightened from her previous position, stepping back from Leah’s door.

She smiled shyly, giving Leah a short, jaunty wave before gesturing between Leah and the cottage a moment. Then she stood still. An expectant look on her face.

Leah simply stared back, blinking before she registered the silent question. “Oh! Yes, I live here. That’s my house. You’re (Y/n), right? Robin told me about you, I’m Leah.” She smiled kindly, coming forward to offer (Y/n) her hand to shake.

Instead of grasping Leah’s hand, (Y/n) cupped it with her gloved hands, turning Leah’s hand palm up and placing the dandelions inside.

“Ah, thank you.” Leah chuckled, “These will make a great salad.”

(Y/n) nodded vigorously, then moved to make her exit. Leah wasn’t sure what possessed her, but she called out to (Y/n) before she could get too far.

“Wait, I um, it’s not much but I did take an intro to ASL course my freshman year of college so, I’m a bit limited but if you ever want to talk, you know...” Leah wished she could stop talking right now. Why had no one told her that the farmer was cute!? “So, yeah, you know,” Leah fumbled with her free hand, her fingers sat just underneath her chin before she sent them forward, “Thanks again.” She smiled nervously.

(Y/n) stared at her, dumbfounded. Then she released a short, sharp exhalation of air that was reminiscent of stuttered laughter and turned back to stand before Leah. (Y/n) made a timid approach and gingerly took Leah’s wrist, still hovering midair, and guided the hand back to rest on Leah’s chin, just below her lip. Leah stood still as stone as (Y/n) held it there for a second then extended the hand forward. She repeated the motion twice more before backing away and releasing Leah from her gloved grasp. The smell of earth and grass still clung to Leah’s nose even after (Y/n) had stepped back.

“Oh, I did it wrong, didn’t I?” Leah blushed, “Is there a big difference between the two?”

(Y/n) blew out a large breath of air and nodded. One of her gloved hands came up to cover the amused smile fighting against her lips.

“What did I say? Was is embarrassing? Yoba, I need to know,” Leah carefully set the dandelions at her feet and rummaged through her bag. Taking out her sketch pad and a pencil, she flipped to a clean page and presented the materials into the rough fabric of (Y/n)’s gloved hands, “Please, tell me.”

(Y/n) shot Leah a sympathetic smile, then she looked down at the paper and wrote quickly and concisely. She looked over her work, nodded to herself, then she handed the sketch book and pencil back to Leah before jogging of in the direction of her farm.

“Eh- Hey! Wait a minute!” Leah took a few strides after the farmer but quickly gave up, electing to look at the paper in her hand instead. “Maybe I’ll tell you some other time. Nice meeting you Leah, smiley face.” Leah read aloud to herself. She scoffed, but couldn’t stop the smile that had conquered her lips. She couldn’t wait to see (Y/n) again.

***

“Hey, Maru-“

“I think I have a feeling about what this is about, but just in case, please proceed.”

The next morning, Leah had made her way to the clinic to visit Maru and perhaps get the answers she was looking for. She had made the trek to (Y/n)’s farm first, but she wasn’t there. A little note hastily taped to the farmer’s door revealed that she was spending the day fishing in the mountains and wouldn’t be back until late at night.

“Maru, you know sign language like your mom, right?” Leah asked.

“Sure do. Seb and dad do too.” Maru nodded, leaning over the clinic counter. “But I’ve got to tell you that if you’re looking for the meaning of what you accidentally signed to (Y/n) last night, we were sworn to silence earlier this morning before (Y/n) went fishing. Sorry.” Maru smiled.

“Ugh,” Leah sighed, leaning her forehead against the counter. “Can I at least have a hint?”

“Well, it’s really funny. Especially considering how chill you normally are and your kind disposition.”

“Yoba, I really need to know!” Leah groaned against the counter.

“Well my family can’t tell you. You’ll just have to wait to hear it from (Y/n),” Maru grinned and pushed away from the counter, “I have to prepare for Evelyn’s check up now so I’ll see you around Leah.”

“Yeah, bye.” Leah grumbled, watching Maru disappear into the back offices. “Well, there goes that plan.” She mumbled under her breath as she left the clinic.

Leah spent the rest of the day sculpting in her cottage. She spent hours getting lost in the chipping of the wood before finally going to bed.

***

It had been days since Leah last saw (Y/n) and if the farming life wasn’t so demanding, Leah would have been worried that she had deeply offended the farmer to the point that she was purposely avoiding her. Leah decided not to waste the time she had been presented with.

She approached Robin about sign language lessons, enough to get some basic phrases and words. She practiced the motions herself, perfecting them to allow for no mistakes. Although she knew (Y/n) could hear her just fine, she found it easier to retain the lessons this way. Not to mention that it was just a useful language to know.

“I’ve hardly seen you around. I was worried you stabbed yourself with your woodworking tools.” Elliott said as Leah came up to sit next to him in the saloon.

“And you didn’t think to come to check on me?” Leah looked at the writer incredulously.

“Nope.”

Leah punched Elliott’s arm and he laughed. Before long, Emily came by with their food and they ate comfortably.

“Would you look at that.” Elliot spoke, pointing in direction of the door as he swallowed another bite.

Leah turned to look, purple irises sparkling at the sight of (Y/n) lugging a large bag up to the bar. She watched Emily talk (Y/n)’s ear off, the poor farmer smiled uncomfortably while trying to divide her attention between her and Gus who had apparently requested a variety of fish.

“Wow, Robin said you were in trouble but you really are,” Elliott chuckled behind his beer, “You really lit up just now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Leah scoffed, still watching (Y/n) hand Gus fish after fish. It was almost comical how such an objectively small bag could hold so much.

“You can’t keep your eyes off her. I realize the dating pool in Stardew is small, but the girl just got here.”

“Elliott, stop!” Leah blushed, looking back down at her plate to stab at her salad.

“I’m just saying, you’re already taking sign language lessons for her you might want to dial it back a little bit. You wouldn’t want to come off as the obsessive type.”

“Oh! She’s leaving, should I offer to walk her home? I’m going to offer to walk her home.” Leah dug in her pocket and pulled out some gold, pushing it over to Elliott.

“What did I just say?” Elliott called after Leah, as she eagerly jogged to the exit to catch (Y/n) walking in the direction of the Cindersaps, perfect!

“(Y/n), good evening!” Leah called jogging up to the farmer only to have the farmer gasp and take several steps away from Leah, holding her hands out as a warning to not come any closer. “I’m sorry, I’m didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable!” Leah gasped, maybe Elliott was right.

(Y/n) shook her head, slowly taking a step back towards Leah, presenting her slightly soggy bag and waving her hand in front of her nose, scrunching her face as she did so.

Leah was sure the movement wasn’t an official ASL sign, but it did help get the point across and she giggled.

“What? Do you think you smell?”

Another nod and a look that seemed to say that she didn’t just think so, she knew so. She had been in the mines all morning and fishing at the beach all afternoon. She couldn’t wait to take a shower.

“It’s alright, I won’t judge you,” Leah smiled, “Are you heading home for the night? I’d be happy to walk with you since it’s so dark.”

(Y/n) took a moment to think about it before nodding shyly and motioning Leah closer. Leah happily obliged walking alongside the farmer into the Cindersap Forest. The walk was mostly silent, but that was to be expected nonetheless, Leah was having a great time. They had even found a couple of leeks along the way which (Y/n) had insisted Leah keep. All too soon, they reached the porch of the old farmhouse.

“You’re crops look great,” Leah complimented, looking for an excuse to stay even just a few minutes more, “really healthy. What all have you been growing? Are those potatoes and turnips?”

(Y/n) looked over her shoulder as she unlocked her door. Her eyes focused on where Leah was pointing and nodded affirmingly.

“Yeah, I’m no farmer but I love foraging. I’ve got a few really good books about wild foods and where to find them and when. It’s kind of like a scavenger hunt.” Leah grinned.

“Mhmm.”

It was quiet, a little strained, but the small hum of agreement almost sent Leah into cardiac arrest. She sounded so sweet! Leah’s cheeks were starting to hurt from how widely she was smiling.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it then. So, I’ll see you around?”

(Y/n) looked like she wanted to say something, but settled for a simple nod, fiddling with the gardening gloves she had taken off. Leah smiled softly, watching how the farmer intently eyed the fabric twisting in her hands.

“Feel free to drop by the cottage whenever it suits you. I’ll leave the door open!” Leah added, waving over her shoulder as she turned to walk away. (Y/n) beamed, looking a bit more lively as she waved back.

Leah turned her back on the house and walked back to her cottage in the Cindersaps with a skip in her step and a painfully large smile on her face. Although it was already late, she prepared a new block of wood for sculpting. Her new muse had granted her a vision for a grand project and had the potential to be one of her greatest works yet.

***

“Kel, I told you to stop calling me. I’m not coming back to the city, we are through.” Leah frowned, her hand gripped the phone receiver so tightly that she could hear the plastic giving slightly under the pressure.

She was so focused on combating Kel’s useless bargains that she hadn’t noticed the timid farmer show herself in, looking at Leah’s tense shoulders and back with concern. (Y/n) flinched as Leah cut off Kel to speak again, her voice low and stern.

“There is nothing you could say, nothing you could offer me, that would make me come back. Move on, and please, for the last time, do not call me again.” Leah slammed the phone down on its perch. Pressing her palms into her eyes she let out a frustrated groan, slowly positioning her hands to rub at her temples to combat the headache she felt coming on.

Then she heard the door creak.

Leah quickly turned around just in time to see (Y/n) looking back at her with wide eyes and lips pursed thin as if she had been caught witnessing an event she had no business seeing. Which was partially true, but Leah had told her a week beforehand that she could drop by anytime.

“(Y/n), what a pleasant surprise!” Leah grimaced, watching (Y/n) flinch and look down sheepishly at her feet. One had managed to retreat back out the door before being caught and it was slowly joined by the intruding foot, so (Y/n) was fully outside again. Leah shook her head and calmly approached the farmer.

“Please don’t leave, I’m the one who told you to come let yourself in whenever. I’m sorry you had to hear all of that.” Leah was worried, watching (Y/n) linger in the doorway. Her shoulders relaxed when (Y/n) cautiously came back inside and closed the door behind her.

(Y/n) stood in the entryway and looked over Leah, her eyes filled heavily with concern. She raised a hand, pointing to Leah before signing the letters ‘o’ and ‘k’.

“I’m okay. I’m just,” Leah fumbled for the right words, “mad, sad? Exhausted.”

(Y/n) made another gesture, shaping her fingers into a ‘hang loose’-esque sign. Her curled fingers meeting her chin. She lowered the hand momentarily to give it a controlled shake before bringing it back up into the starting position.

“What’s wrong?” Leah mumbled, making sure she understood. (Y/n) nodded. “I just got a phone call from someone I didn’t want to talk to is all,” Leah sighed, “They’re an ex of mine. The person who called.” Leah disclosed, rubbing the back of her neck, agitated.

(Y/n) signed again, but Leah didn’t quite catch it that time so she motioned (Y/n) over to her dining nook and sat her down with some paper and a pencil. The farmer seemed a bit unwilling to write it out, feeling like it was more insensitive somehow but with a little prodding from Leah, she gave in.

“Was it a bad break up...” Leah read aloud. She sat back in her chair and carefully chose her words. “Sometimes it feels like we’re still breaking up,” Leah chuckled wryly, “Kel, my ex, didn’t like me perusing art. They didn’t think I could make a living out of it and wanted me to waste away at some office job and well, I didn’t want that. They weren’t respectful or supportive of my dreams, so I left. They call me a lot though, to try to convince me to come back to the city... that I won’t make it as an artist. That I can’t be happy without them. It really is exhausting and the worst part is, I worry that they’re right.” Leah released a shuddering breath, “I haven’t sold a single piece. I don’t really even know how to start. I can sustain myself on what I have in my savings account for only so long.”

(Y/n) covered Leah’s hand with her own, squeezing it. Leah marveled at how soft it was in comparison to her own, especially since it was the hand of a farmer. Perhaps the gloves (Y/n) always wore had more practical uses rather than simply being worn for aesthetic’s sake. Leah chanced a look at (Y/n)’s face and was caught off guard by the determined fire blazing in her eyes. Then Leah’s attention was brought back to the table as (Y/n) furiously scratched the pencil against the paper and forcefully pushed her newly composed message in front of the sculptor, her other hand still rooted over Leah’s.

Leah read over the note and felt her heart ache with appreciative warmth. ‘You were brave enough to know what you wanted and even though it wasn’t easy, you went for it. That in itself is an amazing accomplishment that you should not take lightly. Your dream is not unfounded either, I’ve seen some of your sketches and paintings and I think you are very talented. Once you figure out how to put yourself out there you’ll have people begging you to take their money.’

Leah sniffed and smiled at (Y/n) appreciatively, turning her hand to reciprocate (Y/n)’s strong, yet gentle hold on her. “Thank you, (Y/n). I just wish I knew how to start.”

(Y/n) tapped her chin with the pencil as she thought. When she had an idea, she pulled the paper back to herself and wrote a suggestion.

“An art show? Oh, I don’t know (Y/n). It hardly seems possible.”

(Y/n) shook her head in disagreement and wrote more.

“You really think the town would want to help? Are you sure you want to help? You’ve got enough on your plate already with how busy the farm keeps you. I don’t want to impose.”

(Y/n) looked as if she had something to say, her throat bobbed and her lips twitched, but in the end she settled for the paper again, still too anxious to speak. After Leah had read the reply, she felt (Y/n)’s thumb rub against her knuckles and looked up. (Y/n) nodded, her expression serious. She wanted to help Leah with this.

“Thank you, (Y/n)!” Leah sniffled, holding back tears. She launched herself into (Y/n)’s arms and hugged the surprised farmer close. “Thank you so much!”

(Y/n) slowly returned the hug, smoothing one of her hands over Leah’s back in comforting motions. It was a bit of an awkward position with (Y/n) still sitting at the table and Leah hovering over her, but it felt nice.

“Sorry,” Leah chuckled after a moment, leaning back and wiping a stray tear from her eye, “I kind of caught you off guard with that didn’t I?”

(Y/n) shrugged and smiled good naturedly. A look came over her face as if she just remembered something and she stood up to grab her bag from the cottage entryway. She grinned when she found what she was looking for and made her way back to Leah, holding out a brown paper package to her.

“For me?” Leah asked. (Y/n) nodded and gestured for her to take it. Leah carefully unwrapped it and gasped. “(Y/n), is this goat cheese? I love this, how did you know?”

(Y/n) raised her hand, signing the letters ‘E’ ‘L’ ‘L’ ‘I’ ‘O’ ‘T’ ‘T’.

“Elliott hm?” Leah laughed, “I’m glad you two are getting along after the horseradish debacle.”

(Y/n) crossed her arms and stuck her nose up. She wasn’t looking back on the memory fondly.

“Hey, I’m with you on this one. He was being an ass. How could you have known he hated horseradish.”

(Y/n) nodded in agreement, one of her hands reaching out as if to say, ‘exactly’. She then noticed the time on Leah’s clock and signed that she had to go.

“I see.” Leah smiled sadly, trying not to let her disappointment shine through. “Good bye then, and (Y/n),” Leah signed ‘thank you’, very mindful of the position of her hands this time around, “seriously thank you for everything.”

(Y/n) beamed, giving Leah a thumbs up before heading out the door.

***

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Leah kept mumbling to herself while watching her fellow Pelican Townies set up her creations in the town square. There were already some tourists looking around and Leah felt her nerves fraying.

“Hang in there, kid. Everything looks great. Don’t worry so much.” Robin snuck up on Leah, making her jump. “It’s a beautiful summer day, don’t forget to enjoy it.”

“I’m trying, Robin. It’s just so much.” Leah said, nervously playing with her sleeve. Robin noticed Elliott walking up and motioned him to help deal with the artist while she went to help Demetrius move a heavy wooden sculpture.

“Come on now, Leah. Too late to back out now.” Elliott grinned, thumping her back. “(Y/n) seems especially excited by how things are progressing.”

Leah chanced a glance at (Y/n) and Maru putting up paintings between signing each other excitedly. The scene warmed her heart and her shoulders relaxed a bit.

“Yeah, okay. I’ll try.”

“Great, now let’s go woo some tourists.” Elliott said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“What? Elliott, no!” Leah shook her head.

“Not like that,” Elliott laughed, “I know your heart belongs to someone else. I just meant,” he looks around before whispering in Leah’s ear, “woo them out of their money.”

Leah laughed and pushed Elliott away. “Alright, you focus on the wooing and I’ll focus on explaining my thought processes.”

“That doesn’t sound as fun, but okay, this is your day.”

As Elliot and Leah made their way across the square, an unwelcome guest watched them from afar. Their blood boiled as they saw Leah pause at the makeshift painting gallery to give the farmer’s hand an affectionate squeeze.

***

“I can’t believe we sold so many!” Leah spoke in ecstatic disbelief as she waved at the last car she and (Y/n) had just loaded a heavy wooden sculpture into before it drove away. “This is crazy!”

(Y/n) wore a smile that matched Leah’s, happy to watch the sculptor bouncing in place. When Leah finally stilled, still giddy, she took both of (Y/n)’s hands in hers. Once again free of the gloves, the hands were pleasantly soft against her own and she relished in the feeling.

“(Y/n) I know it’s kind of late, but I have something I want to give to you. I left it at my house so I’m going to go get it. I’ll meet you at the farm, is that alright?”

(Y/n) stared at Leah, her curiosity piqued. She nodded, easily giving Leah the answer she was hoping for.

“Great! I’ll be there soon!” With one last squeeze of the farmer’s hands, she was off. (Y/n) heard the crack of a twig, but when she turned to investigate, nothing stood out so she made her way back to her farm to wait for Leah.

When Leah came up to the porch, (Y/n) had to do a double take at the big wooden statue she was lugging along. With one last huff of air, Leah placed the statue at the base of the steps and grinned up at (Y/n), wiping a bit of sweat from her brow.

“Thanks for waiting. It was a little more ah, heavy, than I expected.” Leah laughed sheepishly. “Come take a look.”

(Y/n) stepped off the porch and circled the piece, taking in every detail. Leah felt nervous butterflies fluttering in her stomach while she watched the farmer scrutinize the work and cleared her throat.

“I started working on it in the spring. I also incorporated some of that driftwood you gave me a few weeks ago. Anyway, I made it with you in mind. It’s called, ‘How I Feel about (Y/n)’ and I’d be honored if you would accept it as a gift for everything you’ve done for me.” Leah stared at her feet as she spoke, too embarrassed to keep her eyes on (Y/n) while she spoke. Then a pair of boots joined, hands came up to clasp her own, pulling the conjoined grasp into her line of vision and coaxing her to look up into (Y/n)’s eyes.

“It’s wonderful.”

At that moment, Leah thought her heart must have been beating so hard that it was affecting her hearing.

“Hh... huh?” Leah asked, rather dumbly.

(Y/n) swallowed thickly, took a deep breath, and whispered, “It’s wonderful, Leah. Thank you.”

Leah looked absolutely awestruck, purple irises shone with excitement and she laughed, pulling (Y/n) into a tight embrace.

“I’m glad you like it.” Leah sniffled, resting her face in (Y/n)’s shoulder.

“Leah?” (Y/n) wrapped her arms around the artist, it was only one word, her name, but Leah heard the concern in the farmer’s tone.

“I’m okay. I’m just happy,” Leah sniffled again, “I’m happy you felt comfortable enough with me to speak to me.”

“Me too.” (Y/n) whispered, holding Leah tighter.

The pair found it difficult when they had to part ways for the night, but they were equally excited over how their relationship was developing, looking forward to spending more time together over the summer.

***

“Come on, just a little further...” Leah coached herself. She was reaching for a piece of fruit hanging from a branch just out of her reach.

She had planned a picnic with (Y/n) for this afternoon. She had already set up under the big old tree near the pond and as she waited for (Y/n) to finish up with her crops and animals for the morning, when she spotted the unusual fruit. Now she was jumping and stretching for the fruit just out of reach.

“Almost— Ah!” Leah struggled to balance herself in the air, swiveling her head to peak over her shoulder, she saw (Y/n) looking up at her with a mischievous grin. Leah rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at the side of her lips. She turned back to the task at hand and grabbed the fruit, motioning (Y/n) to put her back down.

“Show off.” Leah scoffed, lightly punching (Y/n)’s shoulder. “You wanna try a bite?”

“Yes, please.” (Y/n)’s cheeks heated when Leah pressed the fruit to her lips. She took a bite of the offering, savoring the taste. “It’s so sweet.” She said, amazed.

“Right?” Leah smiled, “It’s rare to get fruit from this tree. Usually all the animals snap it all up as soon as they’re ripe, but it seems they miss some from time to time. How is everything with the farm this morning?”

“All is well,” (Y/n) nodded as the pair made themselves comfortable on the blanket Leah had set up, “I would have been here sooner but the goats kept standing in front of my cheese and mayo machines, the chicken coup too. Made it a little difficult.” (Y/n) disclosed. “Which reminds me,” she rummaged through her bag, “goat cheese salads.”

“Mmm, this looks heavenly. Thank you for making these.” Leah said, eagerly stirring in some vinaigrette into the generous fresh salad.

“No problem. Selling my harvest is nice, but it feels so much more rewarding enjoying it like this.” (Y/n) informed, mixing her own salad.

“I can imagine,” Leah hummed and leaned her back fully against the trunk of the tree, “Ah, it’s such a lovely day for this.”

“Mhmm.”

They ate the rest of their meal in peaceful silence, listening to the birds sing and the fish leap, the breeze rustling the trees and grass around them. It was tranquil, it was perfect.

“Hey, Leah,” (Y/n) spoke, breaking the silence.

“Yes?” Leah asked, turning her gaze away from the sketch pad she had brought out.

“It’s almost Fall you know, we’ve known each other for nearly two whole seasons. Half a year, it’s crazy, right?”

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, doesn’t it?” Leah giggled, “What made you think of that?”

“Well, I wanted to ask you something. Don’t feel like you have to answer one way or the other, but...” (Y/n) paused, trying to gather her thoughts.

“Hey, it’s okay (Y/n). You can tell me anything. Sign it out if you want to.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m just nervous,” (Y/n) turned to her bag and pulled out a lovely bouquet of flowers, “Leah, would you maybe consider being my girlfriend?“

“Yes!” Leah enveloped (Y/n) in a tackle like hug that sent them both to fully meet the ground, accidentally crushing the flowers between their bodies, “Oops, sorry,” Leah wiggled the flowers out from under her to look at them more closely, “these are lovely, (Y/n). I didn’t know Pierre had these in yet.”

“He didn’t, I planted them.” (Y/n) clarified, smiling up at Leah who still hovered over her, giggling.

“Of course you did, you’re so sweet.”

“I try.”

“Are you kidding me!”

Leah and (Y/n) quickly turned to face the disturbance, scrambling to sit up from their compromising position. Leah felt her stomach twist with discomfort seeing Kel of all people marching up to them, absolutely fuming.

“Seriously, what the hell, Leah?” Kel yelled, their hands clenched into tight fists as they closed in, making yard after yard disappear between them.

“No, more like what the hell, Kel? I broke up with you seasons ago. What are you even doing in Pelican Town?” Leah retorted angrily, as (Y/n) helped her to her feet. Kel watched the motion and ground their teeth.

They were already dangerously close to crossing the threshold of the blanket and that small display was enough to send them stomping over the edge.

“I came for you, obviously! I’ve been slumming it in that dusty old saloon since your art show, waiting to talk to you! Now I find you sucking face with some country bumpkin nobody!” They seethed, stepping even closer into Leah’s personal space until (Y/n) pulled Leah back behind her, making Kel even more incensed. “You stay out of this. I’m talking to Leah!”

(Y/n) held strong, stuck between the harsh obscenities attacking her from the front and the loving affirmations defending her from behind. She held her arm out, willing Kel to stay back as she slowly started to guide Leah back in the direction of town for help. Kel ignored the warning and followed after them.

“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself? You think you’re being some kind of hero right now?” Kel seethed.

(Y/n) stayed silent, she had gone mute again and who would blame her in the face of such a tense situation? She was so very uncomfortable, scared even, but she continued on passed Marnie’s since she knew the woman wasn’t home at this time and she sure wasn’t going to expose Jas to this. Jodi’s house was their next best bet.

“Hey, you obviously want to start something here. You’ve got something to say to me?” Kel continued forward.

“Kel, leave us alone!” Leah commanded, “It’s over, it’s been over, go home!”

“You think you’re too good to talk to me?” Kel yelled, ignoring Leah. “She’s just a whore. She just latched onto the first warm body she could find after her little meltdown. You’re not special.”

(Y/n) froze stiffly in place, Leah felt the muscles on her shoulders tense so she tried to pull on her arm to keep her moving.

“Ignore them, (Y/n). Let’s focus on getting to town, okay?” Leah pleaded. But (Y/n) gently pushed off Leah’s hands and took a step towards Kel with a cold glare. Leah stepped to stand beside (Y/n)’s side, nervous that a more serious confrontation was about to unfold.

“Well?” Kel spat.

(Y/n) crossed her arms, turning her head to look at Leah. The look on her face was all the communication Leah needed to understand. It was definitely a, ‘they better back off or I’m going to knock them off their block’ face. Leah had never known (Y/n) to be particularly violent, but with all the time she spent in the mines, she had no doubt that she could take care of herself.

Leah gasped when Kel suddenly roared, lunging forward. Apparently they had not liked how (Y/n) and Leah had been paying attention to each other rather than themself. Kel had rocketed forward and aimed to punch (Y/n) hard over her cheek, however, at the last moment, Leah pushed her aside and took the blow for her.

(Y/n) inhaled sharply and caught Leah as she stumbled back, noticing how blood immediately began gushing from Leah’s now broken nose.

“Ow- AH!” Leah cried, her hands muffled her voice since she had covered her nose and mouth.

It only took a second for (Y/n) to return the favor to Kel’s stunned face. She punched them fast and hard over their cheek, but Kel was quick to fight back and now it was a full out brawl.

“What’s going on, we heard yelling— holy shit!”

Leah turned away from the fight to see Sam, Seb, and Abigail running up on the scene.

“(Y/n)’s throwing hands!” Abigail yelled, sounding way more excited than worried.

“Leah are you okay? What’s going on?” Sebastian asked, noting the concerning amount of blood running down Leah’s arms and the front of her shirt.

“Don’t worry about me, stop them!” Leah winced, taking one hand away from her face to motion to her ex and her new girlfriend still going at each other.

“Damn, Abi! Go get your dad and Harvey too by the looks of it!” Sam yelled, he seemed to be looking for an opening to push the fighters apart.

“Are you kidding? You get my dad, I’m getting in on this!” Abigail cheered and ran up to jump on Kel’s back like she was at a rodeo while (Y/n) landed a good hit on Kel’s stomach. “Nice punch, (Y/n)!”

“Oh Yoba, Sam, start running.” Seb suggested, trying to help Leah with her nose. He was no Maru, but even he knew how to set a broken nose. Especially within the first couple weeks of Sam taking up skateboarding.

“Right!” Sam ran off back into town screaming. A few tense minutes later and Pierre, Caroline, Robin, Elliott, Maru and Harvey came running behind Sam to break up the fight.

“Abigail, stop!” Pierre huffed, pulling off his daughter and passing her off to his wife, “I taught you what I did to defend yourself, not to lash out like a wild animal!” He grunted, pulling Kel into his grasp and trapping their arms behind their back with Elliott coming up to assist.

“Come on dad, I was helping a friend! What’s the big deal?” Abi groaned, while her mom fretted over her, looking for injuries.

“Easy there kid, it’s over.” Robin coaxed (Y/n), pulling her back. The farmer slumped over in the carpenter’s hold, breathing heavily.

“Is (Y/n) okay? Ah!” Leah hissed as Harvey touched up her nose, giving her a nasal spray before wedging a couple wads of tissue up her nostrils.

“Sorry, Leah.” Harvey sympathized, “Maru is going to check up on her now.”

“What about me?” Kel hissed. Pierre had them resting on their knees. They looked really roughed up. A black eye was already forming and scratches and bruises littered their skin, they were also holding their stomach rather tightly.

“You’ll just have to wait a minute.” Elliott frowned, staring down at the stranger with contempt.

“Don’t you have any police officers in this backwater town? I’ll sue every one of you for withholding care to someone who is obviously hurt!” Kel threatened, grinding their teeth.

“Oh, the police are coming alright!” Caroline spoke indignantly. “You are in no position to be asking for anything right now, bringing violence to our community, you should be ashamed!”

“(Y/n) can you look up for me, please.” Maru asked, carefully tilting (Y/n)’s chin up. (Y/n) sucked in a breath when Maru touched her bruised jaw a tad to hard. “Sorry, Your jaw is bruised pretty badly. Your bottom lip split too. How is your vision?”

(Y/n) shook her head and winced, cradling her head in her hands.

“Okay, possible concussion. We’ll need to observe her at the clinic.” Maru said.

“Alright, come on bruiser,” Robin grunted, heaving (Y/n) to her feet, “Sebbie, help me walk her into town please.”

“Sure mom.” Seb took (Y/n)’s other side.

(Y/n) patted Robin’s arm, motioning her to wait. She slowly turned to Kel and leaned more heavily against Seb as she freed her other arm from Robin to snap her fingers aggressively, looking for Kel’s attention. Once Kel looked up at her, sneering from their spot in the dirt, (Y/n) turned briefly to make sure Leah was watching. When she saw that she was, she smiled as if to say, ‘watch this,’ and turned back to Kel. (Y/n) brought her flat, angled hand below her chin and sent it forward in the direction of Kel’s confused, but no less, pissed face.

“Oh ho! (Y/n) is such a badass!” Abigail laughed.

“Abi, since when do you know sign language?” Sam asked, clearly confused.

“I don’t, but I’ve spent enough time searching curses in different languages to know that was totally a ‘fuck you’. Personally I think a middle finger approach would have been an appropriate classic myself but whatever.” Abigail shrugged.

“Abigail, language!” Caroline scolded.

“Sorry mom.”

“Alright, you’ve had your fun. Clinic, now.” Robin tried to hold in a laugh as she repositioned (Y/n)’s arm over her shoulder. Then she and Seb began walking (Y/n) back into town.

Leah made to follow, but as they were leaving, the police from the the next town over had arrived and they needed her statements as a witness. Never mind that she was covered in her own blood and her girlfriend was being dragged away to the clinic with a concussion. Once the officers were satisfied, they took Kel away with promises to be back for (Y/n)’s statement and to see if any charges would be made. For now they were just going to take Kel back to a hospital in Zuzu City since they may have broken a rib or two in the fight. After that, they were going to be free to go.

Leah wasn’t too worried. She didn’t think Kel would come back after the beating (Y/n) and Abigail gave them. She watched the police car drive out of Cindersaps, taking her disgruntled ex away.

“Leah, I’m sure you want to get to the clinic but you should really clean up first.” Caroline had said patting the younger woman’s back. “(Y/n) will be fine.”

“Yeah, Harvey and Maru got her. Take some time to process.” Elliott smiled.

Leah could only nod tiredly. She trudged over to her cottage to shower and change. She still couldn’t believe how quickly things got out of hand. She looked at her bandaged nose in the mirror, hissing when she gingerly touched the bridge of it. She was wary of Seb setting it himself, but Harvey said he had gone a great job. Once she was physically put back together, Leah quickly made her way to the clinic.

“Where is she?” She asked immediately upon arriving. She sounded a little congested thanks to her clogged nose, but she was easily understood. Robin was still in the waiting room and filled her in.

“Harvey and Maru are talking her through concussion care. She’s okay, but I don’t think she’ll be allowed to work for awhile.”

“Oh no,” Leah sat down, resting her elbows on her knees and covered her eyes with her hands, “This is all my fault.”

“Aw, don’t say that sweetheart. You know that’s not true.” Robin frowned, taking a seat beside her, “(Y/n) would hate to hear you think like that.”

“(Y/n) loves her farm! If she can’t maintain the upkeep...” Leah continued, teary eyed, only to be silenced by Robin.

“I’m going to stop you right there. Nothing is going to happen to the farm. Abi, Sam, and even Seb already told (Y/n) in no uncertain terms that they were going to pitch in while she recovers. Everything is going to be taken care of.” Robin assured.

“Still none of this would have happened if-“

“If you hadn’t broken up with your ex? Moved to Pelican Town? Got a crush? Leah, you can’t punish yourself for moving on with your life. You’re allowed to be happy.” Robin chided gently. “It was hard for me and Sebastian’s father to see eye to eye at the best of times. Now I have Demetrius and although he can be a bit annoying sometimes with his tomato bullshit, not a day goes by that I’m not grateful I took that first step because I love him.” Robin smiled.

Leah’s nose hurt like hell as she tried to carefully wipe the tears from her eyes and Robin rubbed her back affectionately. Once Leah had calmed down, Robin stood and stretched.

“She’s been wondering where you are. The doc is keeping her for overnight observation, but your welcome to stay with her. I on the other hand, am apparently too old for this much excitement and need to go home.”

“Thank you Robin, for talking to me.”

“Anytime,” Robin grinned, “now go get her.”

Leah made her way into the back area of the clinic and nearly ran up to Harvey, Maru, and (Y/n). (Y/n) was signing to Maru while she relayed the information to Harvey as he examined (Y/n)’s well being.

(Y/n) was relieved to see Leah and eagerly motioned her to come sit on the edge of the bed she was sitting in which Leah did happily.

“Leah, how’s the nose?” Harvey asked while he finished up (Y/n)’s chart.

“It’s fine. Just, really sore and tingly.”

“So not fine.” Maru chuckled. “I’ll get you some pain meds.”

“Ah, thanks Maru.” Leah smiled sheepishly.

“Well, Ms. (Y/n),” Harvey sighed, turning his attention back to the farmer, “you and I are in for a long night. I’ll be waking you up every hour to check your pupils to see if your condition changes at all.” Harvey stood and stretched, “Ms. Leah, feel welcome to stay as long as you like. It can’t hurt to keep an extra pair of eyes on her.”

“I could stay overtime, Harvey.” Maru said as she came back with two pills and a glass of water for Leah.

“I seem to recall you talking about a time sensitive experiment this morning.” Harvey recalled, making Maru smack the side of her head. “You’re right! I got to go now! Good night everyone!” Maru called behind her as she rushed out to the waiting room then out of the building.

“I’m going to take the first of my many naps lined up for tonight. I’ll see you ladies in about an hour. Try to get some rest.” Harvey said before leaving to walk up the stairs to his apartment.

Finally Leah and (Y/n) were alone again. (Y/n) sunk down into the covers and sighed deeply. She turned to face Leah, concerning the sculptor by how small she looked.

“You’re not too upset with me, are you?” (Y/n) asked, surprising Leah.

“I’m not upset with you. Why would I be upset with you?”

“I just beat the crap out a person. Sure they are your ex, but you cared about them at some point so it must have been hard to watch. I can’t imagine what you must think of me now.” (Y/n) whispered, she was so quiet Leah had to lean closer and even then she was straining to hear.

“(Y/n), I like you. Nothing that happened today changed how much I like you. It certainly didn’t make me like you any less,” Leah rested her hand over (Y/n)’s cheek, “Kel made their choice when they decided to come to Pelican Town and confront us. I wish it hadn’t gone down the way it did, but that’s not our fault. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“I’m glad you’re okay too. I was worried.”

“I wish we could start this day all over,” Leah moaned, “First day as official girlfriends and we get into a fist fight.”

(Y/n) laughed lightly, closing her eyes to combat the pain that came from her jostling. “Abigail thought it was a pretty great date activity.”

“She would think that.” Leah rolled her eyes, “she also eats rocks.”

“Well, think about it this way. Until I’m allowed to take up all my farming duties again, you can do whatever you want with me.”

“Whatever I want, hmm?” Leah tapped her lips with her index finger, “would it be to forward if me to ask for a kiss?”

“You may, just be careful with my split lip. I won’t be able to explain what happened to Harvey if you make it worse.” (Y/n) said.

“One gentle kiss, coming right up.” Leah wiggled on the bed’s stiff hospital sheets until she laid face to face with (Y/n). Their lips met in a soft brushing that was almost ghost like, but rather than leaving them with a chill, warmth bloomed between them.

“Wow.” (Y/n) grinned.

“If you thought that was good, wait until I can get more involved with it.”

“So confident. I like it.” (Y/n) squinted, “could you turn the light off? It’s really starting to hurt my eyes.”

“Of course.” Leah got up and switched off the half the lights to keep their side of the room in darkness but allow Harvey to still be able to see when he came back.

“Now come cuddle, please.” (Y/n) asked sleepily reaching her arms out.

“Nothing would make me happier.”

Leah kicked off her boots and shimmied under the sheets to join (Y/n) and wrapped her arms around her. Leah let the exhaustion of the day roll over her and she had nearly let sleep claim her before her eyes shot open and she propped herself up on her elbow to lean over (Y/n).

“Did I really sign a ‘fuck you’ when we first met?!” She asked, appalled.

(Y/n)’s response was to laugh sleepily into Leah’s chest.

#stardew valley x reader #stardew valley oneshots #sv leah #stardew valley leah #leah x reader #sv leah x reader #stardew valley leah x reader #stardew valley

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hops-hunny · 3 years

Text

On Your Marks, Get Set, Go!!

Pairing: Neville Longbottom x Reader

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 2.5k

Request: @de4d-s0up“36,38,12 for Neville!❤️ fem reader and surprise me it can be fluff or smut OH OK IM EXCITED NOW😌 CONGRATS ON 300 BABES SO PROUD OF YOU<3”

Summary: (Y/n) spends so much time in Neville’s shadow that when she’s brought to the light she suffers from some massive stage fright and forgets her lines (not literally but like this sounds clever and you’ll get it soon. Just fuckin read it, yeah?

Warnings: None! A little angst but nothing too big, just majority fluff fluff fluff!

A/N: Can I just say that I love how well these flow together?? LIKE UGH YOU ALWAYS GIVE ME SOME GOOD SHIT TO WORK WITH!! This was very fun to write so tysm!

36.Admirer

38.Caught

12.“I’ve always liked you, you’ve just never noticed.”

If you were to ask (Y/n) who was the most attractive guy in the castle, she would 1000% say it was Neville Longbottom. For as long as she could remember, she was absolutely mesmerized by him and with time, he had gone from the adorable little guy she’d see in the hall into a charming young man who she could not be anywhere near. Yes he had a tendency to be a bit socially awkward sometimes but if anything, that added to his charm and if anything that made it even harder to talk to him. She didn’t want to have to face such an awkward interaction on why she was approaching him despite them not being friends nor having any classes together.

So she watched from afar, following him around the halls, sticking close to him whenever she could. It wasn’t in a creepy way however! She just found him to be beautiful and she couldn’t help herself. The more she thought about it she did sound like a stalker but that was such a strong word. And if he didn’t know of her existence could there really be any harm to what she was doing? That’s what she thought to herself as she stood behind the pillar, observing him as he conversed with his friends. Neville was currently laughing at something Dean had said as he shoved Seamus. (Y/n) couldn’t help the smile that was beginning to form at the boy’s laughter. His smile was simply contagious, a ray of sunshine indeed! She sighed to herself softly before biting the inside of her cheek.

“I wish he’d smile at me like that.” she murmured softly as to not alert them of her presence. If only she could speak, say even just one word to him. But alas, anytime she even attempted an utterance of a word her brain would short circuit and she went running the opposite way. It just wasn’t fair! She held tightly onto her books as dust fell from above her head, her (e/c) eyes growing wide as dust made its way into her nose. “O-oh no. Please, please ple-” she was cut off by the exact thing she didn’t want, a loud sneeze. She groaned, training her eyes to the ground in front of her. However if her luck wasn’t bad already a familiar pair of brown shoes stopped right in front of her. (Y/n) quickly snapped her head up looking at the boy of her affections. Neville stood in front of her, searching the pocket of vest for something until he pulled out a pale yellow handkerchief.

“You alright, love? That was some sneeze.” He said, holding out the small fabric to her as he offered her a small smile. She was stunned, Neville was talking to her. She kept her eyes locked with him with a shocked expression mouth agape. ‘Don’t just stand there!! Speak! Move! Do SOMETHING!!’. She slowly began to take small steps backwards, shaking her head ‘no’ frantically as she ran off down the hallway not even noticing she had dropped the little brown leather notebook she always kept on her. The gryfindor boy made a soft frown as he reached down, picking up the book. He flipped it open looking for a name relieved when he found a name on the inner cover. “(Y/n) (L/n), 6th year. Huh, I wonder why I’ve never seen her before?” He said to no one in particular as he walked back to Seamus and Dean who were laughing at the scene that had just played out in front of them.

“Geez Nev, we knew you were bad with women but that’s a whole new level!” Seamus choked out through laughs, reaching a freckled hand up to wipe the tears that had formed in his state of hysteria.

“Yeah seriously! What the hell did you even say?” Dean said, coming down from his laughter. Neville frowned some, shrugging his shoulders as he scratched the back of his head.

“I’ve got no clue. I saw she had sneezed and offered her my cloth and after I did that she just ran off! Is there something in my teeth? Do I smell bad?” He questioned, sniffing at his pits to check for any suspicious odor but found nothing but the smell of his body wash and deodorant.

“No you don’t smell bad. Well no worse than usual that is.” Seamus said with a shrug. Neville rolled his eyes flicking him on the forehead with a scowl.

“You’re one to talk! Your natural scent is smoke and sweat, I don’t wanna hear it from you.” He grumbled out, shifting his eyes back to the book in his hands. The girl was clearly frightened of him, how was he supposed to get it back to her? “I just feel so bad, I don’t know what I did to make her so scared of me. I’ll wait a bit before I give it back to her.”

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

And he had done just that. (Y/n) had noticed her journal was missing but didn’t think much of it. She had a habit of losing things and assumed it would get back to her in some way and plus, it wasn’t that important. It was just filled with notes and sketches of the different mushrooms she had found on the castle grounds. Whenever she had a free period or a bit of free time on her hands, one of her favorite things to do was identify rare breeds of fungi and other various plants. And although she had missed doing that, it had only been a week and it's not like she didn’t have parchment. The only thing that was frustrating about that was that parchment and scrolls lacked the same convenience that notebooks had. (she didn’t know why Hogwarts wouldn’t just get with the times. Where were they, Camelot?)However she had faith one of her friends would bring it back to her. (Y/n) didn’t have many which is why she wondered what was taking so long for the return of her notebook.

“Hey guys, have you seen my notebook? You know the little brown one I always carry?” she asked, plopping down on the old worn down couch in the (y/h/h) common room.

“Hmm, nope! Last time I saw it you were carrying it. Why? Did you lose it?” Gwen said as she continued to read her book.

“You’re so bad with keeping track of things. You’d lose your head if it wasn’t on your shoulders.” Marco said, rolling his eyes at his friend's irresponsible behavior.

“Oh come on that was ONE time! When the potion said it’d blow your head off I didn’t think it meant quite literally!” she huffed out, crossing her arms across her chest defensively. Her eyes lit up as she was reminded of a detail. “And besides, didn’t you drink that exact potion afterwards because you wanted to know what it felt like to have no head?”

Marco was silent, whistling as he avoided eye contact with his friend before his eyes landed on a familiar lanky brunette holding a certain little book that had been missing. “Hey, isn’t that the guy you fancy? He’s got your book!” he said, pointing in the direction in which Neville was coming from. (Y/n) gasped, gathering her stuff as she muttered something about ‘being late to class’ but right as she stood up, she was yanked back down by Gwen. “Woah, not so fast track star! How are you going to get your book if you leave?”

“Y-you can give it to me! Tell him you know me. See ya!” she said standing back up but once again, she was yanked back down. “Would you quit it?!”

“No can do buckeroo. You’ve gotta get your book back somehow. Neville’s a pretty honorable guy, I highly doubt he’s gonna give your book to some people who could possibly know you. He’d wanna give it directly to you himself.” Gwen said, still not looking up from her book. (Y/n) let out a defeated sigh. She was right. Neville is the type to make sure to get back a lost item to the person themselves to avoid any chance of them not receiving it. She knew that better than anyone.

Neville wiped his free hand on his pants leg, eliminating the thin layer of sweat that had gathered on it. He was nervous to say the least. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any female friends, it was just that the female friends he did have didn’t look at him like he was you-know-who himself. Since their last meeting, he had thought about the girl a lot. He couldn’t recall seeing her before and he wasn’t the type of person people hated without any rhyme or reason so it baffled him. Someone found him intimidating? That was a new one! Neville had taken the liberty of asking his friends what he could do to be more welcoming for people but they all just seemed to laugh in his face or scoff.

He found the question to be an absurd one for him to be asking too but for some reason, all he wanted to do was be less scary. Less scary and more approachable to the girl so maybe, maybe he could talk to the mysterious beauty who he’d never notice. That was another thing that made him quite angry. In all his years of Hogwarts, how hadn’t he noticed such a rose in its prime? Even in her frazzled state her refinement was more than apparent. She had beautiful glowing (e/c) eyes, the cutest little nose, and two beautiful petals that were more commonly known as lips. Even now as he got closer and she had that same damn look on her face, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on and he had done a lot more than just laying his eyes on girl’s.

“I-I believe this belongs to you?” He said, holding the book out in front of her. However, all the girl did was stare up at him with wide (e/c) eyes and her pretty little lips parted in horror. The girl to her right cleared her throat, nudging her not so blasé

in her action. (Y/n) shifted to her eyes before quickly bringing them back to Neville as she closed her mouth. “Well it’s not that I believe it belongs to you, I know it’s yours. You dropped it when you ran away from me the other day.” He said looking away as he scratched the back of his head with his hand, running his fingers through his luscious locks of brown. “Now that I think about it, that doesn’t automatically make it yours. I’m sorry for assuming! You could’ve been holding onto it for a friend or or-”

“It’s hers. Thank you Neville, that was very kind of you and I’m sure (Y/n) appreciates it. Right (Y/n)?” Gwen asked, handing her the book from the boy's hands. (Y/n) just continued to stare. No movement, no indication that she did appreciate it.

“I’ve always liked you, you just never noticed.” she said softly, continuing on with her intense gaze. Her breath hitched as her eyes almost popped out of her head, both hands flying to her mouth. Not one person spoke, all her friend’s and Neville were just as shocked as she was at the announcement. “No, no, no. Fuck!” she mumbled with a great emphasis on the last word. She quickly stood up, running away making sure to not forget her book this time.

(Y/n) continued to whip and run through the hallway, going as fast as her legs could carry her. She paid no mind to where she was going and quite frankly she didn’t care. Anywhere far away from Neville was good enough. If him catching her behind the pillar that day was the biggest embarrassment of the year, this was the biggest embarrassment of the century. How could she speak so freely, so carelessly? All those years of sneaking around, admiring him from a far were thrown down the drain. Things would never be able to go back to how they were without him noticing her there. She slid down the wall, pulling her knees to her chest as she sobbed loudly. It didn’t matter, no one came to this hallway so she didn’t have to think about what would happen if someone heard her. She sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve before glancing at the book at her side. Out of a fit of rage she picked it up, throwing it at the wall in front of her. She watched as the book fell with a thud, pages open to a random observation she had made about a spore specimen.

“I’m starting to think I’m bad luck. It appears as though anytime I’m around, you’ve got tears coming out of those pretty little eyes of yours.” Neville said softly, kneeling in front of the girl. (Y/n) brought her head up, (e/c) eyes staring into hazel ones.

“You...you think my eyes are pretty?” she questioned, tilting her head some as she sat up a bit straighter. Neville reached forward, gripping her small hand in his much larger one.

“Not just pretty, the prettiest. After I met with you that first time, I couldn’t stop thinking about them all night. Despite how horrified you looked at me, they were still the prettiest shade of (e/c) I’d ever seen.” He said, smiling softly at the girl’s flustered expression. “You know I’m a bit relieved to know that you like me.”

“R-really? Why’s that?” (Y/n) questioned, gripping his hand back as he helped pull her off the ground.

“Because, that means you don’t think of me as some scary monster! I was beginning to grow quite worried, y’know?” He said, chuckling a bit. (Y/n) gasped, smacking him on the shoulder a bit.

“Hey! I was not that bad….was I?” she asked, looking into his eyes. Neville bit his lip, looking away from her. “Oh come on! Can you blame me though? I’ve had a crush on you since we were on the train to Hogwarts for the first time. I remember I was so angry that I wasn’t the one who found Trevor for you.” she said, clinging onto his arm a bit. Neville looked a bit shocked at that revelation. Most girls didn’t pay him much attention till around 5th year, had she really liked him for that long?

“Does that mean that this,” he leaned down, pecking her on the lips before pulling away, “Was your first kiss?” He asked. (Y/n) had that same expression she had during the encounter a bit ago however this time, something was a bit different. She gripped his shirt before bringing his lips back down to hers kissing him with feverish intensity. Neville let out a small moan, gripping at her waist tightly as he pinned her against the wall causing her feet to dangle in the air.

(Y/n) was right on something, things would never be the same. But sometimes change was good. That was proven to her as Neville had his tongue down her throat.

#neville longbottom x reader #neville #neville longbottom #neville longbottom x y/n #neville longbottom x you #neville x y/n #neville x reader #harry potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter imagines

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doodleimprovement · 3 years

Text

CSAU :: Moonie Jericho and the Mysterious Case of the Moon-Jumper Mask

At long last, It is finished! Happy Halloween!

Below the line is a lighthearted fic taking place in the “Coffee Shop” AU (( @doodledrawsthings ))with Magic! Family fun! Low stakes! And a gratuitous cameo by my OC because of course Nell is here

Seriously though this fic is about as lighthearted as it gets. At the end of the fic are a few sketches I drew but didn’t end up coloring.

((There’s going to be an alternate ending posted separately at a later date, but its not relevant to the fic))

Enjoy!

Fall in Subcon Forest came in gently as always, and by the time Halloween rolled around, everyone was firmly in their sweaters and beanies and thick leggings and hiking boots that were only occasionally used for hiking. The leaves of the trees and the shining sun framed the town in such lovely muted colors that it looked like a picture right out of a magazine.

Not that anyone in the Horizon was looking out the window to see it - the curtains were closed in an attempt to not blind the employees and clientele.

It was that time between the end of school but before trick or treating, which meant that all of the teachers and parents were coming into the Horizon with their kids to get the new specialty drinks - well decorated and tasty, and more importantly, not hilariously overpriced. The kids in particular seemed to love the “Ghoulishly White Hot Chocolate”, and the teens flocked to the “Jack-O-Spices Frozen Pumpkin Latte”

Luka was almost certain that the pumpkin spice smell would burn itself so deep into his nose he’d never be able to un-smell it. A small price to pay for the rise in business, he supposed.

“Luka, Two Snatcher-ccinos!” Clover called from the cash register.

“I still hate that!” He responded with a light tone

“Too bad, make ‘em!” She teased back with a light laugh.

“Don’t get all testy, you two! We’re only open for another hour!” MJ called, grinning before turning back to the coffee machine, where they were effortlessly making yet another latte.

“Too long!” Clover argued, grabbing a muffin for a customer from the bakery display

“You’re telling me, and I still have to take Bow and Hattie trick or treating” Luka huffed, finishing up one of the “Snatcher-ccinos” and moving onto the next one.

“WE are!” MJ corrected. Luka just playfully rolled his eyes.

The conversation ended up dying rather quickly as the business went through its last rush, and, at long last, 4 o’clock came, and the store shut down. The three employees did a rather quickly clean up this night around - they were all eager to be anywhere but work that spooky night.

Once in the back of the store, Luka seemed to almost melt in relief, leaning further and further into the wall.

“Ugh, my limbs feel like Jelly” he commented as his voice gained its echo

“For all we know, they are,” Clover teased. “We’re meeting at MJs in an hour, right?” She stretched.

“Yeah.” Luka nodded “Have they already run off?”

“Yup. They’re excited” She chuckled “You gonna get home alright?”

“Yeah, thanks. See you later”

“Later!”

0o0o0o0o0

That stupid, cursed thing of a mask had not moved in weeks since he’d found it, and its stupid grin had started haunting the corner of his vision when ever he was in his studio.

It seems like it's decided that sitting on the desk in his art studio was its happy place. At least it was out of the way, and in a place he didn’t frequent often.

Though its eyes definitely still moved, which gave MJ hives like you would not believe. Why he kept it in his studio he wasn’t sure.

Tim had told him that the thing was mostly harmless, that it just seemed a bit… off, which wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Timmy even said that he got “good vibes” off of it, which was a strange phrase to use on something that felt at the very least mildly cursed.

Finishing with the caplet for his costume, gently clasping it, he looked in the mirror and gave himself a smile.

It was obscure, sure, but he’d put a lot of work into it! The legend of the “Lonely Man” was well known in these parts, maybe someone would get it. Someone had to.

Whether or not anyone got it, he was still happy with the tattered thing. That faux old age took forever to get right.

As he straightened out his clothes, his eyes caught the mask once more.

His hand picked it up off his desk, and his thumb rubbed on the odd surface. He couldn’t really tell what it was made of, but it was… oddly smooth, he thought. His brow furrowed as he looked at its eyes, a single pupil in its left eye, and a cascade of diamonds in the other. It was certainly an interesting and eye-catching design. He also liked the blue and reds, and that weirdly off-putting grin.

Such an odd thing.

He held it up with one hand over his face - not putting it on, but getting a look in the mirror at how it would look with the outfit.

He found it utterly bizarre that he could see clearly through the eyes despite what seemed like thick paint over it.

The mask itself wasn’t actually that scary when taken all at once. Oddly enough, it seemed to match with his outfit - at least, color wise. It didn’t even seem evil or anything. It seemed… kind.

That was an odd word to use. MJ tended to flip flop on how he feels about the damned thing

Before he could think any more about it, his doorbell rang, and the mask was left on his desk, forgotten the moment company arrived.

“Who is it?” He asked as he approached the door

“The Dread Pirate Roberts!” A little voice announced as the oak opened up.

To his absolute delight, Harriet was dressed indeed the Dread Pirate Roberts, missing nothing but the mask (The town doesn’t allow masks on minors, for some reason. A weird little policy). Next to her stood an excited Bow, grinning from ear to ear. He knew exactly who she was, but still asked-

“And who are you?”

“My name is Inigo Montoya” She said with all the faux-seriousness she could muster, holding up a foam sword “You killed my father, prepare to die!”

“Oh, goodness, the finest swordsperson in the world and The Dread Pirate Roberts have come to my home, I don’t stand a chance!” He moved out of his way as the kids ran into the apartment, and their father walked up behind him.

When his eyes went to Luka, he let out a snort. The man was dressed in a slightly silly looking prince outfit dyed almost completely purple, and his form was mostly purple as well - an energy-saving tactic if ever there was one.

“And you are?”

“He’s the ghost of prince Humperdink” Bow grinned. “This was the best costume we could find for it”

“I honestly think he shoulda died at the end of the movie so I'm cool with it.” Harriet commented as MJ moved to the side and let the group in “Is Clover here yet?”

“Not yet, I’m sure she’ll be here any minute and we can get right along with trick or treating!” MJ announced

“Yay!” the girls responded in unison, taking their place on MJs couch and turning on his old television for a brief moment of entertainment

Mj looked at Luka and grinned “Well, you’re lookin’ spooky, Luka”

“You kind of do too… what do you look like?”

MJ snorted “I’m the ‘Lonely Man of Subcon forest’. Heard of it?”

“Nope, don’t think I’ve been here long enough” Luka shrugged “Does look nice though. Very zombie-ish.”

The two chatted for a bit before there was another ring barely 10 minutes later.

“That must be Clo” MJ pushed himself off of the wall. “Can you get that? I want to grab my wallet so we can get the kids some ice cream before they go running around”

Luka nodded, giving him a grateful smile before turning to the door to greet the final member of the trio

MJ popped back into his studio, grabbing his wallet… and looking again at the mask.

He pocketed his wallet, and picked the mask up again. His thumbs rubbing against the strange texture of the mask’s sides.

He couldn’t help but admit that he was tempted. Maybe, he could just see what it’d look like, just for a moment. Who knows? Maybe this has all been anxiety for nothing and the mask is just… weird.

He looked back into the mirror, and placed the mask on his face.

There was a moment where he stared amusedly at his reflection - it added a certain air to his outfit. Maybe wearing it out wouldn't be so b-

And then his body seized

He couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe. He trembled and a pain started from his head and traveled down his spine. It was like the worst shiver from the cold he’d ever experienced. Like ice was pressed directly against his skin. It dispersed like a fog, freezing freezing, and, suddenly-

It stopped.

Panting heavily, MJ pulled themselves back up to a standing position - when had they bent over like that? - and lifted their head, making eye contact with themselves in the mirror.

“GAH?!”

They were - blue! And - and the mask was very much not a mask!!!

When they blinked, it blinked. When they moved, it moved. When they grimaced, the mouth moved along to create the expression. their eyes scanned over the crescent shape, past their neck and then landed on their-

“H-hands!” They stared - they were missing a finger and - had claws?? They clenched their fists in disbelief, eyes catching on a glinting just under their sleeve.

.. Where had the chains come from?

“MJ? MJ are you okay?”

Clover

“D-don’t come in, its fine!!” They panicked, “I’m uh, just, finishing up and stuff with my costume!”

“It looked finished to me” Luka commented “Did something rip?”

“Y-yes?? yes! Something totally ripped“

“They’re lying!” Hattie pointed out

“Sounds like their lying voice” Bow added.

Curse these adorable, smart little girls!

“I-I’m fine!” They yelled out “Totally fine, just fine”

“... MJ I’m opening the door, be decent”

“No, Clover, I - “

But the door opened anyway

And Clover - dressed up as “Generic princess” - looked in, and … stared.

“.... MJ?”

“.... H-hi, Clover.”

“Clover, what are-” Luka cut himself off “Uh….”

“It’s me! Its MJ, I uh - “ They tried to come up with a succinct explanation for the situation, despite not having any real idea.

“The mask” Luka quickly concluded, recognizing the face after MJs unfortunately previous run-ins.

“I … yes” MJ’s shoulders slumped a bit.

“Hey, at least you still have feet” Luka commented, causing MJ to look down and see that he did in fact still have his shoes on. Thank heaven for small mercies.

“What happened, what is it?!” Harriet pushed her way through, her eyes wide as saucers once they landed on the recently transformed adult “... Whoa”

“I … I put on the mask. I was curious and - and it..” They looked back down at the pale, blue hands, nervously moving the fingers and claws. “I felt like I was freezing, my whole body and then…” They trailed off.

“Whoa..” Harriet approached him slowly “It's like, Majora’s Mask!”

Lukas put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from jumping - now really was not the time “... I suppose that's one way to describe it.” He gave a deliberate, thoughtful face towards his transformed friend.

Bow was very firmly behind the adults, staring rather intently and slightly bewildered. Sure, she had been getting used to Mr. Princeton as a parent but.. This was somehow very different.

“... We need to talk to Tim.” Clover concluded

“Tim’s out of town” Luka reminded the group with a grimace “He and Timmy had some kind of meeting thing with other magical people. We don’t…” Luka huffed, his hair fluffing up a bit “We don’t know anyone else whose adept at magic like they are”

Harriet furrowed her brow a bit, looking at the discomfort that MJ was experiencing, rubbing their hands together. Could they be stuck like that? She wanted to think that maybe this really was like the Zelda game, but who could tell? It's not like they knew anyone….

“Yes we do!” She snapped her fingers“I kinda hate that Mu was right, but there is a witch in town!”

“What?” Lukas’ brow furrowed “Who?”

0o0o0o0o0

Getting to the edge of town was… novel, to put it simply. The group was rather lucky that Luka was used to doing this sort of thing. And he was about 4 times larger than the group, so that helped in flying them around.

With the sun kissing the earth, red rays crawling into the darker sky, they didn’t have too much time, but followed Harriet and Bow as they got past the town center, and led them down to-

“Wait, why are we at Nell’s place?” Clover stared ahead at the Mint-green home, succulents hanging from pots and a radio sitting on the edge of the porch.

“Because Nurse Nell is a witch!” Harriet announced walking up the two steps of the porch.

“What- Harriet!” Luka startled.

“Its true!” Bow defended as Hattie knocked on the door.

“Kids, we’ve known Nell for a long time, she’s not-”

“She is!” Hattie argued “We saw it!”

“She made us promise to keep it a secret!” Bow added.

Said nurse opened the door as MJ tried to speak up

“I wasn’t expecting trick-or treaters,” She greeted before looking out the door, “But I do-” She paused as her eyes landed on the strange group at her front porch.

There was a rather awkward, extended silence as her eyes scanned MJ through her thick lenses with a gaze that conveyed a strange kind of surprise.

“.... Inside, now” She pulled the door open further, leaving no room for argument.

The adults shared a glance, but did as she said, entering her small living room. She greeted them with a nod as they entered, and shut the door behind them, motioning for MJ to approach her.

She didn’t say a word as they did so, and very slowly lifted her hands to their face, holding it steady as she scrutinized. “What happened? Less than 3 sentences” She half asked/half demanded. Her tone wasn’t harsh, but it was serious.

“Uh, I put on a cursed mask and it uh… did this” They tried to sum up.

“Where did you get the mask?”

“I found it in the forest. I thought it was abandoned from the spirit festival”

“And why did you pick up an abandoned mask in the forest?”

They awkwardly didn’t respond. She sighed

“I get it, hun” She responded, resigned. “Stay still”

“I am”

“Stiller”

Clover and Luka watched her with some skepticism, seeing the woman take a deep breath, and as she exhaled, her hands suddenly glowed dimly, tapping at the side of MJs head.

“Hah! See! Told you!” Hattie pointed, jumping slightly

“Shhhhhhhh!” Bow shook her “She’s doin’ magic stuff!”

“Hm…” She masterfully ignored the yelling children “Well, good news is that the magic isn’t very strong, Just… aggressive.” Nell announced. “And it's not malevolent” She let go of their face.

“... I… How can you tell?” MJ asked, their own hand tapping their blue cheek.

“.. Let's say it's a feeling” She summed up. “You can sit down. I need to grab something from my library”

And she left the room

“.... I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nell that serious” Clover spoke out “Also the uh, glowing hands? Didn’t know she could do that”

“How did you not know she had magic?” Luka asked with a rather incredulous tone

“It never came up!” Clover retorted

“How did it never come up?”

“Its cool!” Harriet jumped into the conversation

“It think its cool too” Bow agreed “I always wondered how my paper cuts at school always healed so fast…”

MJ had sat themselves down, hand staying on their head, feeling the strange curve of their forehead with a certain fascination. Nell’s words - said with so much affirmation- did make them feel better about the situation.

The nurse returned, her expression still relatively serious, but calmer as she carried an old, thick book with a rather overly ornate cover in a faded blue.

“You’re lucky I collect these old things” She commented for a moment, sitting down next to MJ. She flipped through the pages, finding a two-page spread with a plain mask listed on it, and text printed so small that MJ just could not read it. “Here we are.”

Harriet climbed up next to her “What's it say? That’s a lot of words!”

Nell chuckled a bit at her eagerness “It is, but... “ she hand rested on the book for a moment, and then she lifted it, and the text glowed, lifting and circling around her hand like a ring.

“Whoa…. It's like the unknown from the Pokémon movie!” Bow jumped, causing Nell to laugh more.

“A little, I suppose” Nell responded, and she looked over at the other two adults, mostly at Clover, whose bewildered stare caused her to laugh again “You okay there?”

“... How did I not know this about you?”

“Never came up, dear. Don’t think too hard about it. You too, “Snatcher”” The woman gave a smirk. Luka cleared his throat. “Now…”

A simple flick of her hand, and the letters were floating around MJ’s head, and some of them glowed just a little bit brighter “Hm….. Alrightie, that's a good sign” She snapped, and the letters, very suddenly disappeared as if popping a bubble. “Well, Give until dawn, and then you should be able to take off the mask. If you can’t, come to me. I don’t work tomorrow”

“Oh… Well, that uh, wasn’t so bad. I’ll be okay?”

“Of course” Nell nodded, shutting the book “I’d’ve called the Kagai’s the moment I let go of your face if I thought otherwise”

“The who?” Hat questioned.

“Another time, Hattie, another time” Nell placated. “Now….” she exhaled, putting the book on her coffee table and clasping her hands together “I just realized I haven’t even said hello to any of you”

Something about that sentence finally broke the tension, getting a laugh out of Clover and Luka, and a snicker out of MJ.

The next ten minutes consisted of Nell reassuring the group that MJ would be fine, and reiterating that they needed to come to her if the mask did not come off by sunrise.

“There’s a lot of magic in this that I can sense. So uh, just be careful.” She warned. “I don’t know a lot about that, so you’ll have to ask Tim”

MJ nodded “Uh, thank you, Nell”

She gave them a kind smile “Don’t mention it. Next time you need me though, have Clover send me a message or just call me, alright?” She looked passed them to Harriet, who gave her a sheepish smile.

“Got it” The transformed barista nodded.

“Oh and, don’t be too worried about people seeing you. Just say it's a costume” She recommended as they walked out with their family waiting just beyond the porch. “Happy Halloween!” She called before abruptly shutting the door

“So……” Bow started

“Can we go trick or treating now??” Hattie finished.

Luka looked up to MJ, who seemed much calmer than before, despite continuing to lift their hand to their weirdly shaped head.

“.. Yeah, yeah i think we can” they gave Luka a grin “And thanks for getting us the help, Hattie” MJ reached down and picked her up “Who knew the Dread Pirate Roberts could be such a help!”

The girl giggled before being put back down “Then let’s go!!”

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

MJ was initially a bit tittered when they entered the town, but the moment anyone noticed them, the compliments rolled in.

“Wow! You look like a spooky zombie!”

“What game is that cosplay from?”

“How did you get the prosthetic to look like that, damn!”

“Wow, that is a really cool idea for the Lonely Man!”

MJ was beaming at the semi-undeserved praised as they took the kids from neighborhood to neighborhood, filling their pillow cases close to brimming with so much candy that Luka kept making a face and seemed to be mentally preparing to hide all of it, whispering to Clover and MJ about taking some of the candy so that it wasn’t all in his apartment.

“Seriously, all that candy?? They’re going to get cavities and I cannot pay for dental work like that.” The father aggressed. MJ just laughed a bit, looking ahead at the two girls who were trying to run ahead to the next house.

And then Bow’s foot caught a crack.

“Ah, Bow!” MJ startled, hand reaching out - but there was no way they’d reach her before she fell-

And then, she just stopped falling, stuck in midair as if floating.. But she wasn’t.

Upon closer examination, she was held up by a variety of red strings, connected to MJ’s clawed fingers

“... Uh”

“Whoaaaa” Hattie gaped “Magic! Cool!”

Bow pulled himself up to a standing position, and MJ put their hand down, the strings disappeared

“.. Thanks” Bow cleared her throat “That was really cool”

“It kind of was... “ They commented, looking down at their hands “I’m gonna be having a heck of a long talk with Tim when he gets back from wherever he is”

“Yeah, definitely” Luka nodded in agreement.

Lucky for the group the rest of the night went without incident, with MJ joining Luka at home and the two of them staying up until the sun started showing through the windows.

“Ready?” Luka asked him, the being no longer human shaped, as he’d finally reached his limit

“Yeah.. I think so” MJ took in a breath “She said it can just… come off like how I put it on…”

“Alright….” Luka’s voice trailed off as MJ reached their hands up to their face, thumbs by their cheeks, but then - wait! The edge, the mask! They felt it.

Barely bothering to breath, they mentally counted… 1… 2… 3!

they pulled it off and gasped as that icy feeling went through them even faster than last time, trembling and nearly falling over as Luka kept them up with their tail.

“Hey, hey! You okay MJ?”

MJ looked up, nodding “Yeah, uh, how do I..?”

“You’re back to a nerd, if that's what you’re asking” Luka lightly teased

Their hands went back up to their face, and gasped when they felt their regular skin, and their glasses (Where had they gone? Didn’t matter)

“Oh, thank god” The tired barista flopped onto their partner, “That was exhausting. Thank goodness the Horizon is closed today…”

“Hah, ready to sleep?”

“Oh, definitely” MJ commented, looking down at the mask still in their hand, its smile seeming not nearly as spooky than before.. “Hm..”

“What?”

“.. Why’d it choose me, I wonder” They muttered, sitting up and placing the mask by the window sill “But… we’ll see about finding out more, hm?”

“.. Yeah, we will” Luka confirmed.

MJ gave him a smile, hugging his partner with a slight nuzzle “Come on, we need to sleep. Hattie and Bow-”

“Oh, don’t remind me. We’re in for a hell of an afternoon” Luka groaned, but he was still smiling.

Saying that things were “back to normal” was never correct with this group, but things were still pretty okay. Maybe better, even.

Moonie figured they’d just have to wait and see.

BONUS::

Costumes! I wasn’t able to finish these in time, but I hope they suffice!

#doodledrawsthings #coffee shop au #ahit coffee shop au #ahit #a hat in time #ahit moonjumper #moonjumper #ahit snatcher #snatcher #ahit hat kid #hat kid #ahit bow kid #bow kid #ahit florist #florist #ahit oc #ahit nell #csau nell #nell

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tscmu · 3 years

Note

Some headcanons for the Hq boys and how they propose to their s/o?

HI YES THIS IS THE KIND OF STUFF I LOVE WRITING ABOUT PLS okay so u didnt really specify which boys so im gonna go for ones that i can picture proposing that sounded weird ok-

characters; koushi sugawara, satori tendou, kenma kozume, osamu miya + tooru oikawa oK LETS GO

koushi sugawara

- pls he’d make it so heartfelt and meaningful HHH I LOVE HIM~ - he’d want to make you feel how much he loved you, like actually feel it in your heart - i feel like he’d tell a FEW people, probably only get daichi to help AHAHAH - bruh asahi would probably have a mental breakdown and tanaka would snitch💔💔 - but he’d have an idea of what you both wanted i think, you wouldve spoken it over before defos - he’d want it to not be that public, just the two of you - so it’d be at like a hiking trail you both go on or something, a place that means loads to both of you but isn’t there for the world to see - and then...…came the day - he knew how much you picked up on little details so he had to be sneak sneak ten thousand™ - “hey, wanna go out on that one walk up *insert name of place idk*? ok ok ok i’ll get ur coat sugar” - EEEEEEEEEEE - he was trying his absolute best to keep it together - he knew you’d most likely say yes, so he wasn’t TOO scared, but it was still SCARY LIKE- - and then u got to the place he wanted to propose - it was this place where you always stopped, where there was a little bench (with your initials STILL carved into it from all those years ago) and it looked out over a nice view - “ooh, can we stop here again!” “u-huh i was actually gonna ask-” - bro he almost forgot the speech daichi read over to him about 20 times - but HE DID IT WOOOO - he didn’t want to make a MASSIVE deal out of it, the wedding would be more important to him but he still wanted to make you know how much he adored you - speech included lots of memories dating even back to before hed even SPOKEN to you i stg this man - AND U SAID YES!!! u have no choice. u did.

satori tendou

- i feel like he’d be kINDA similar to suga?? - a little less caring - he’d never actually pictured himself getting married tbf- - he never thought he’d actually find the right person so he just....gave up idk - BUT THEN YOU CAME INTO HIS LIFE- - even with you he hadn’t really thought about marriage, he was just focused on having fun with you, but then ushijima was like ‘...so, tendou. when is the wedding commencing between you and y/n.” and he just- - it was actually when they were sitting there he started to plan it - ushijima would SEEM like the worst person to go to, but he was actually quite good at this stuff - so in about 2 hours sat at the back door of tendou’s work, they had sketched out a sort of plan on the back of a spare napkin - there was one main thing he knew he wanted to talk about - how you always stuck by him, no matter what he did - he thought he’d seriously fucked up, and you would be back at his door the next day, smiling and chattering about this new café you heard opened down the road - god, he was terrified to even mention paris to you, but you were so up for the idea, it took him by shock - he didn’t take you for granted - so for once, he wanted to make you feel loved - they couldn’t think of a place to take you for ages, but then it hit them - you and tendou always went to wakatoshi’s games, ever since high school you both always made the commute if you had the time - and ushijima had a game coming up in two weeks...…. - when he mentioned it OFC U WERE DOWN PLS, you loved going back to japan - like ofc france was incredible but......... it was just lovely to see everyone again ;-; - since youd been there so much, you basically just got to stand right at the side of the court AHAHAH - so they won the game. obviously. its ushi and kags we’re talking abt here. are you kidding. then tendou started acting weird, which made u hella sus - it was the first time in what felt like years you’d seen him so...nervy - he kept fumbling over his words, you had to yell at him to speak up - but eventually he did it - he spoke abt how much you meant to him, how you made him more comfortable in his own body, how you stuck by him through everything - AND U SAID YES. AGAIN, U HAVE NO CHOICE. - and yes ushi and kags started cheering and the news outlets put u on the news i dont make the rules ok

kenma kozume

- ok mans is TERRIFIED - he’d quite genuinely never thought about marriage, throughout his years with you by his side it just...never crossed his mind - but it was when you were lying in bed one night, his arm dangled over you as you both drifted in and out of sleep - and it just hit him - why the fuck were you both still like this? - marriage was something you always expressed a love for, when kuroo got married you were basically in a trance the whole time - how was he so unaware? - people described kuroo’s proposal as pretty much perfect, he’d always been good at reading his partner, so he just used that knowledge to make something he knew they’d like - so, to kenma’s extreme distaste, he went to kuroo - oh my god kuroo fucking c r i e d - kenma was finally ‘growing up’ - so after about an hour of kuroo sobbing, they finally got down to business - after lots of.. lets say elaborate ideas from kuroo, and lots of no's from kenma, they finally came to a sort of compromise - since you and kuroo worked in the same department, he would text you on saturday simply asking if you wanted to catch coffee and talk about that one assignment - obviously, you said yes - not thinking anything of it, you just pulled on a jumper and jeans AHAH- - then you notice,,,why tf is he taking u to a beach at 7pm in march???? - #serialkillerkurooheadcanons - but u see kenma and ur like... wtf have u gotten yourself into- - have they been possessed?? who knowz - and then u get BLINDFOLDED LIKE WHAT - but then u snap back down to earth like why would they kidnap u- - as kuroo takes it off, kenma’s quite literally shaking - poor babie - he never really knew how to explain his thoughts properly, so the speech wasn’t anything extremely dramatic and/or romantic - but he did in a way tell you how much you meant to him - he spoke abt how you boost his confidence, have always been there whenever he needed you, and how you seem to always understand him when he’s being at his most blunt - therefore he thinks you’re his soulmate - PLSPLSPL IM CRYING

osamu miya

- i think he always knew he wanted to marry you - atsumu always embarassed him about it- - it got to the point you didn’t actually think he’d propose, you would just wake up one day and a wedding dress would be on the door - but it got to the point where tsumu was mentioning it significantly more when you went over for dinner - mama miya was always telling you how happy she was that samu picked you - even your own parents were being oddly warmer towards samu, whenever they phoned they asked how he was, etc etc - so you knew something was up - samu was always really polite to your parents, asked their permission before he even took you out on a date - ironic because you lived together but still- - so turned out, he actually mentioned proposing to you to them - they adored him for gods sake so of course they said yes - then tsumu thought he was acting weird, so he told his side - jesus christ they freaked out - his parents were always nervous about atsumu, who slept with random people on the weekends, and hadn’t been in a proper relationship since middle school - you were basically their god send AHAHA - so it was a massive deal when he wanted to marry you - it would appear that he didn’t really care, but in honesty it meant the wholeass world to him - like suga, he’d go for a location that meant a lot to both of you - christmas was a huge deal for both your families, they both came together and you had an incredible time - and last year some of the jackals came over, which was just hilarious - so what better time than christmas with your loved ones around you??? - it started off like a normal christmas, you had an incredible dinner ( cooked by none other than osamu ((with atsumu and bokuto attempting to sabotage it but just burning their hands on the pot)) ) then all played some games - but it was when you were all watching the basic christmas tv programmes when the atmosphere... changed - everyone was looking at you and samu, even sakusa looked excited - it was when his father muted the tv, and samu took your hand, your heart was basically beating out your chest. - he spoke about how he felt like, for the entirety you’d been together for, every day he seemed to fall more in love with you. you were like his rock, when things were even a bit off he could just come to you and you’d automatically make him happier even just by looking at you - bruh bokuto and hinata were sobbing in the corner

tooru oikawa

- surprising, but he never thought about marriage - he just kind of assumed he’d be one of those people that would be in a relationship for like a week then just.. move on to another person idk - that was until he ran into you - everyone, even his own parents, said he was a different person when he started dating you - it was ironic, you were quite similar to him - yet you made him rethink his fucking morals - it was sappy asf - ANYWAY BACK TO THE TOPIC AT HAND - he took this proposal really seriously, he wanted it to be the best moment of your whole life - until the wedding ofc ofc - since you’d basically changed him as a person, he wanted this to just show his appreciation for everything you’d ever done for him - he wanted you to feel his love - and so he set about preparing a good proposal - he’d be like osamu, and definitely ask your parents first - your parents loved him anyway, they thought he was the best thing that’d happened to you for a long while - he basically knew what he wanted to do - nothing too public, but nothing too quiet - whats the point of proposing if some people dont see am i right??? - sometimes when you both either a) needed a break or b) you both had a period of time where you were free, you both just booked an impromptu holiday AHAHHA - #richkidtingz - so obvs he had to do it on one of them... it was ur thing after all?? - it was when you walked in the door, face red, and flopped down on the sofa next to him, he grasped the opportunity - “..got any spare holidays from work?” - you quickly went on a travel agent website and booked a three day holiday to brazil, leaving the next morning - it was one of your favourite places to just escape to, so it made sense for him to propose there tbf - it was as you both woke up the first morning there, still sleepy from the night before, you grinned at eachother. - “hey.. get ready quick, i wanna do something.” “wHAT-” - he didn’t actually know where to do it, he just called a taxi and asked for your favourite high street HAHAH - after about an hour of browsing around shops, your hand never out of his, you finally asked ‘what did you want to do?’ - his breathing almost stopped i stg, he didn’t realise how scared he was - but then... HE DID IT POGGERS - he stuck to what he knew he wanted to speak about, making you sob in the process ofc - and even all the locals congratulated you!!!

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HI THIS IS SO LONG IM SORRY BUT I LOVED WRITING IT PLS!! THANK U FOR REQUESTING da box is always open mwah

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thephantomofthe-internet · 4 years

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Read Into Me-Chapter 1: Wuthering Heights

Steve Harrington x Shy! Reader

CONTINUE READING THE SERIES HERE

Word Count: 2,849

Date Posted: 04/27/2020

Warnings: Swearing

Author’s Note: We starting something newww friends! If you liked or commented on my post about this series, you’re on the tag list! If you want off lemme know, it’s seriously no big deal. I’ve been working on this one for awhile, so if you liked it, please flash me a reblog or a reply! Criticism is always appreciated!

Tag List: @divinity-deos @thecaptainsgingersnap @wolfish-willow @scoopsohboi @herre-gud-nej @aclockworkballerina @maddie1504 @i-am-trash-so-much-its-scary @banjino-the-hole @buckysarge @wildcvltre @stanleyyelnatsiii @t0rment0 @10blurredsmoke10 @unusuallchildd @n3wtscaseofniffler5 @alwaysstressedout @peterparxour @linksispink1995 @asharpknife @alex--awesome--22 @baebee35 @marvelismylifffe @lilmissperfectlyimperfect

Flowers poked up between the sidewalk cracks, little white and yellow daisies blooming skyward, their heads turning to bask in the sun. Spring was bursting all over Hawkins, making the town reborn in pastels and Easter bonnets. Babies crawled around in the parks in white outfits, their mothers not worried about grass stains and cooing over their precious bundles of joy.

You crushed the daisies under your boots on your walk to school. You made a point to. They were begging to be crushed, stamped out by your heavy black soles. You didn’t like spring, you hated babies in their grass stained diapers and drool covered cheeks. You couldn’t place why you hated the season, it wasn’t as if you hated the cold or the rain which plagued March and early April, you adored the sound of rain on the Plexiglas roof of your family’s sunroom, thunder in the distance and swirling grey clouds swarming the sky. Then again, that wasn’t what spring wanted to be. Spring wanted to be beautiful bursts of colour and birds singing from their nests, babies crying into life and everything turning green.

Your hatred might have sprung from all that green, your mother had insisted on you taking up an artistic skill, supposedly because it made young women more worldly and affable, and sat you in art classes where you painted bouquets of flowers and bowls of fruit for hours every week. You didn’t hate art; it had become a release for you, a place to vent your emotions and makes something from your mind’s spinning thoughts. You’d filled sketchbooks and canvases with images of aliens and stars and snails. You liked to doodle snails and hourglasses on the margins of your homework. But your favourite thing was to draw your classmates. You were a quiet person, a sensitive soul according to your grandmother, and so often time’s people would ignore you flat out or discount your presence. This didn’t bother you so much, it gave you the chance to look at them without anyone asking any questions, to sketch out their image in charcoal and graphite, covering your hands in black and grey smudges. Your hands were constantly stained black, up the side of your hand to the tip of your pinkie, which meant that your jeans and shirts and sweater cuffs were smudged and stained.

You were sat on the football field’s bleachers one cool April morning, your best friend Samantha Cameron sat next to you, thin headset around the back of her head. She was unable to pull the headset around her black spiked hair, purposefully ghastly pale with black lips. You could hear the muffled sound of Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees playing at top volume as her head bounced to the beat, her black high tops kicking at the seat below you. You had your sketchpad out, trying to capture the stiff movement of her hair with the graphite piece clutched in your hand.

Samantha turned to look at you with a smile “You get it right yet?” she asked. She could see the annoyance in your face as you rubbed at the drawing, trying to smudge the stray hairs trying to escape the harsh gelling she’d done that morning. Just like your drawing, you suspecting that she’d been unable to get it to do exactly as she wanted.

“It’s getting there, it’s not moving right yet…” you muttered, pulling your lip into your teeth, chewing hard on the skin.

“You have like, four of me as is, I think you’ll survive if it isn’t perfect.” Samantha chuckled, pulling her headset down around her neck, twisting her long strand of pearls around her index finger.

“And I like this one best, your hair is moving so interestingly today…” you swiped at the page, pulling the eraser gum out of the coils and rubbing out the mistake you’d made, adding more shake to the tips of the centre point.

“Besides,” you chuckled “I’m not gonna have the time to get any good sketches of you with post-its in your hair this year.” Usually, you and Samantha would try to take one class together a year, but she had to switch her English class to first semester so she could snag a gym credit to train for potential college reps. She wanted to be a Wellesley girl and get a scholarship for soccer and she needed to be a top performance to get one.

You sighed, turning away from her. “I still hate that Mr. Lawrence insists on group work…” you muttered. You understood her decision, but you felt a bit nervous about being on your own. You’d gone to school with the same kids for your whole life, but being on your own with no one to depend on socially for a whole semester scared you.

Samantha wrapped an arm around your shoulders “You’ll be fine, you know that he usually assigns partners anyway.” She said, rubbing your bare skin gently.

“I know I just really don’t want to get stuck with some nitwit.” You replied. On cue, the bell blared from the outdoor speakers and you closed up your notebook, sliding your graphite and eraser gum into the coils and shoving it into your backpack, stringing it around your shoulders.

Mr. Lawrence’s hair had gone white long before he’d begun to show to process of aging on his face. His only wrinkles were from tension on his forehead and around his mouth. His white hair was a sort of burst of smoke around his head, always puffed up around his head and never fully settled into a style. You smiled when you walked into his classroom, taking a seat in the far back corner. You’d already gotten a sketch of his puffy cloud hair, so you left your notebook closed. The rest of the class trickled in, clumped in their little groups and chattering loudly, taking up the seats around you. Nobody paid much attention to you, which didn’t bother you as much as it used to. It still left a weird feeling in the pit of your stomach. You wished that you had your headset, so you could block out the sound from your peers.

You hoped that the seat next to you would stay empty, that people would avoid you and let you sit quietly. It hadn’t before the break, but the room had been set up in little table groups of four. Now, the room was set up in three rows, two desks pushed next to each other all the way down. Mr. Lawrence had already had to yell twice for people to not move the desks, a sign of little cliques forming. Vicki Clarke had tried to pull the desk next to you over to turn the end of the middle row into a fire hazard, causing Mr. Lawrence to yell out for a third time. Vicki rolled her eyes, but released the desk, taking the desk next to the free one, leaving a clear space between her and you. You didn’t mind; Vicki always smelt like artificial apples, from the cheap body spray she slathered herself in at her locker and the scent gave you a headache.

Tina Martins practically ran to Vicki as the bell rang out, immediately calling to Vicki “Move that desk over!”

Mr. Lawrence rolled his eyes “Miss Martins we are not moving any desks in this room. Take a seat.” He announced. Tina’s shoulders sunk, but she obeyed without an argument, taking the seat to Vicki’s right. Then, the reason for all the commotion walked in, late slip in hand.

Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington was still something to talk about, even after being horrifically dumped by Nancy Wheeler, he was still a hot object around the school, especially for girls burned by the newest small town hottie Billy Hargrove. Vicki and Tina were two primed recent burn victims, Tina having tried and tragically failed to get Billy’s attention at her own house party and Vicki being the first ‘hump and dump’ victim of the notorious man whore. Steve’s sad boy behaviour had attracted the attention of many bleeding hearts throughout the school, letting themselves get their hearts drained by his succubus heartache. And here he was, puffed up like a robin, his bright red member’s only jacket mimicking the red breast on the bird, his hair perfectly coiffed and glinting in the florescent lights. Heartbreak had done his ego good, teaching him that girls were a dime a dozen if you were hot and sad. The concept of preying on vulnerable girls made you sick to your stomach.

Steve handed his late slip off to Mr. Lawrence and he stamped it with the date punch he kept on his desk. “Welcome Mr. Harrington, please take a seat so we can begin.” He said, his rectangular glasses sliding off his nose as he spoke.

Suddenly, the energy in the room changed. It was then that you realized the class was mostly girls and every single girl in the room was staring at Steve. It was obvious to you in an instant: they wanted Steve to sit next to them and they were all out of luck, sat next to friends or other girls desperate for the same attention. The bargaining began, girls whispering to the person next to them to move, sliding cool erasers or lipsticks over onto the other desk, peace offerings they hoped someone would take. Mr. Lawrence’s classroom had fallen to jailhouse rules and you sat wondering when the first person would pull their shank. No one moved as Steve made his way to the back of the class. Then, another thing became clear-you were the only person with a free desk next to them. Vicki waved shyly to Steve as he took the seat and you tried to disappear. The whole room’s eyes were now on you and unlike Steve you absolutely hated it. You wanted to disappear. Now, you were enemy number one to every girl in the room.

“Alright, let’s begin then, yes?” Mr. Lawrence clapped once and commenced the lesson “Welcome to your last two months of English! I’m passing around the breakdown for your final assignment and copies of our last reading for the course, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.” The class groaned. You’d been hoping for a lighter, more modern read, something at least from that century. But you knew that Mr. Lawrence loved a classic and had to follow the suggested readings for your grade dictating by the state. You took your tattered copy and wordlessly handed the pile off to Steve, who didn’t notice that it had landed on his desk until Vicki pointed it out with a giggle.

“Now, everyone turn to their desk mate. He or she will be your editor and writing partner for the final essay of the year!” your heart dropped. You were stuck with Steve. And he was an idiot. Every stupid thing you’d heard uttered from a classmate’s mouth had always been from his. He once asked who the US was fighting in World War two. He spent one class arguing with a teacher that Beth didn’t die in Little Women, not believing it even when the teacher sourced the exact page when Alcott revealed it. He once failed a health assignment because he mixed up the names for the parts of the male and female. Literally mixed them up, your seventh grade health teacher had provided them for the worksheets and told the class to cut the out and glue them on and he mixed up all the words into a pile. He was an idiot!

Tina’s hand shot up fast and Mr. Lawrence called on her. “Mr. Lawrence, can we be a threesome with Steve?” She asked loudly, smirking over at you. Vicki giggled at the word ‘threesome’, hands clutched over her mouth.

“But then what will Y/N do? She won’t have a partner.” Mr. Lawrence flashed you a small smile and you just about threw up. This was all too much for you, too much attention, too many people looking at you.

You raised your hand timidly “I’ll be fine if that’s what they want to do. I don’t mind working on my own…” you said, your eyes locked on the course breakdown.

“See, Y/N can handle herself.” Tina said. If you knew Tina to be anything other than mean and condescending, you would’ve taken that as a compliment.

“I want every student to have work edited and reviewed by a classmate before I look at it. I’m sorry, but I’m not making exceptions to the rule. If your desk mate wants to switch with Steve, then that’s another thing entirely, but you cannot be a group of three.” Mr. Lawrence laid down the law on that and moved on with the lesson. While Tina and Vicki attempt to convince one another to switch seats and let the other have Steve, neither would budge and Steve seemed utterly uninterested in their spat. To be fair, he didn’t seem interested in the lesson either. He had taken to drawing on the surface of his desk, scratching his initials into the wood.

“Now, for your first assignment back, I’d like you to write me a piece on your spring break. Nothing fancy, just one page typed. We’ll write the first draft today and exchange it with our partners to be edited and rewritten for Friday.” He announced “When you’re done, read chapters one through three of Wuthering Heights.”

With that, the semester had begun again and everyone went to work. Voices took over the room, people chattering around you. You felt a pair of eyes on you, but you flipped open your binder to a clean sheet of paper and began writing out your simple description of your break. You knew that Mr. Lawrence didn’t actually care about what you had done or had to say, only that you’d done the work and had proof of editing for it. This was a practise for the main event. Still, you could make a page out of art classes and driving to Carmel with Samantha to see some random band in the basement of a dive bar. You could even make it interesting for him. But, something still made your stomach churn. You didn’t want Harrington looking at your writing. You didn’t consider yourself the next Hemingway, but you could write an essay. What worried you wasn’t being told that you were wrong. It was letting him into your mind at all. You didn’t know Steve and he didn’t know you, what if he didn’t understand you? He wouldn’t understand you.

You looked up from your work to see Steve looking blankly at you. You met his eye, raising your brow at him. He looked away fast. You didn’t know what it was about, your hands came up to your face, wiping at your cheeks and mouth. Maybe there was something on your face. Maybe your hair looked silly. Maybe he was making fun of you. That had to be it. He was making fun of you. Vicki and Tina were always bugging you and Samantha, maybe he was joining in. It wasn’t your fault that Mr. Lawrence had forced you two to be partners. You pulled your body away from his, curling into yourself.

When the bell rang, you pulled your work into your bag, making a break for the door. You had your free period next and were desperate to finish your drawing of Samantha. You didn’t need to have her in front of you to catch the right details; you’d drawn her a million times.

You had barely made it into the hallway when Steve grabbed your arm, pulling you back with a cocky grin “Whoa, slow your roll there kiddo,” he chuckled. Your skin prickled under his hand and you wanted nothing more than to disappear. You stopped dead in your tracks, pulling away from his hand carefully.

“So, how’re we doing this?” he asked, his attention moving from you to the yelp of Tommy Hanson. You didn’t need to look to know that Carol Perkins was beating him with her bag again. That was a weekly occurrence.

“Write your stuff and hand it off to me in class. I’ll edit anything up till forty-eight hours before it’s due. I’ll give you my stuff when you give me yours.” You said quickly, crossing your arms tightly over your chest.

“Sounds cool,” Another cry from Tommy, this one more directed at Steve, drew his attention fully “Alright, I’m coming Hanson! See ya around.” He directed the farewell to you, bounding off towards the source of the sound. Even when his presence was gone, you still felt his fingertips on your arm.

Samantha threw her arm around your shoulders, rebooting your systems again. “Hey, what was that about?” she asked, leading you away from Mr. Lawrence’s classroom and towards the gym, her next destination.

“That was because you fucked me over.” You sighed. It was going to be a long month.

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heyimtavia · 4 years

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THE POST FINALE HENRY DANGER OPINIONS TAG:

Hey party people! Sorry I’ve been a bit out of the loop. Due to what’s going on in the world, adulting sorta got in the way and I have to DVR the final episode. No one tagged me, but I just wanted to add my two cents since this is officially the end and this is a really cute tag.

1. Who was your overall favorite member of Team Danger and why?

Charlotte hands down. She was brilliant, sassy and just a great friend to Henry no matter what. She’s one of the main reasons why I decided to tune into the show. I saw a lot of myself in her. I was once that little smart black girl that no one listened too. But it’s okay though, but that GLOW UP is real! I know from experience lol.

2. Who was your favorite non-team danger character and why?

Y'all know I love Fran the security guard. She should’ve gotten more air time. I just think she’s hilarious! I’d loved to see her try to wrestle a dolphin any day!

3. Who was your favorite villain and why?

Dr. Minyak & Nurse Cohort. I just gotta respect his hustle. Other than Rex and Rick Twitler, I feel like he’s the only everyday villain who always came close to defeating Captain Man & Kid Danger. He always had unique plans; from capturing and brain-altering Charlotte to taking Piper and the man fan hostage, he was always creative. Plus I love his little temper tantrums he sometimes throws.

4. What were your top five favorite Henry Danger episodes of all time and why?

1) All time Fav would go to The Great Cactus Con. From the dopeyness of how everyone can do a backflip instead of Ray. How Charlotte gets to show off her fashion design skills. How Piper unofficially works with Team Danger. Plus I love the cute romantic bit between Jasper and Patina. 2) Rumblr- That whole episode was just comedy gold for me. They should’ve brought Kyle back for the finale and had him show up at kid danger’s funeral 3) I dream of Danger - Its Char’s episode. I like how it alluded to Charlotte’s dream might come true but it doesn’t. However, I don’t like how they just moved on like the episode never happened even when Jasper thinks that char likes him. 4) Flabber Gassed- I love that char got to show off her fighting skills and how happy Jasper was to be a superhero. 5) Holey Moley- I straight up die for laughter every time I see that episode. I love how Henry kept saying, “oh look, a downside.” I feel like that episode would have been a sketch on All That or the Amanda Show. It just felt like good ole Nickelodeon comedy.

5. What were your top five least favorite Henry Danger episodes of all time and why?

1) Henry’s Birthday- Call me a diva, but if anyone treated me like that on my birthday, the party is OVER! 2) Captain Makini (I think that's what it’s called). Sorry, I'm not really a fan of Frankie Grande and though he was great for the musical, I really don’t think he needed a second episode. 3) Meet Cute Crush- I’m sorry, anything involving Piper is just physical and emotionally draining. All that girl does is yell. Thank u, next. 4) Sick & Wired- Because I got sick and tired of Ray’s shenanigans. 5) JAM Session- Now Piper isn’t my favorite character, but how that girl was manipulated all over a bet was just stupid and disrespectful.

6. What was your favorite running gag and why?

1) Fran’s line, “There’s only one in the whole world, and we got it!” Swellview must be a fun, mysterious place that always gets amazing things lol. 2) When everyone says “Click” before hanging up their phone. I find it funny because I’m pretty sure the kids had never owned a flip phone in their lives.

7. What was your favorite one-off throw away gag and why?

When shwoz referenced his song from the musical when he said, “Science, science, science, I’ve said this already.” I think he said this in Theranos boot. And also the grammar fights and how grammar rules don’t apply to Charlotte lol.

8. What episode, which character and which duo made you laugh the most?

I think Holey Moley & Rumblr both made me laugh the most. Those were great episodes. Jasper would have to be the funniest. That boy says the darndest things lol. Hensper. Because of how Henry loved Jasper’s mustache and wanted to get one too. And when Jasper and Henry were both “Dude. Bro. Dude. Bro. DUDE!” Over the Patina situation and Charlotte had to break them up.

9. What episode, which character and which duo made you the most emotional?

I think it was Second episode of the finale episodes, when Henry was freaking out at the end because he was alone and Rex had sent Ray A Million and one years into the past. The fact that he literally had to think like all of his friends because obviously that’s what he was used to, everyone being there to help figure out a plan and keep swellview safe. And the fact that for that moment he was kid danger and all alone was really scary for him.

10. How would you rank each season from 1 to 5, one being the best and five being the worst?

I would rank season 5 as 1. It overall had great episodes and delved into different genres and fun tv and movie tropes. It made it a joy to watch, though some episodes leading towards the end didn’t quite catch me. Season 4 would be like a high 4 but not exactly a 5. Season 3 was sorta Meh to me. So maybe a #. Season 2 would be a 4 and season 1 would be like a 4 because it was a the beginning to a great show and was still working out the kinks a bit.

11. Who was your favorite duo in the show (romantic or non-romantic)?

Chenry 100%. The friendship that those two have is great! Now I must say, I hate that Nick was still posting about them on their youtube page for clout knowing that it wasn’t gonna happen. I felt like they did that just so people would watch the final episodes. I was gonna watch regardless, but really Nick? Really?

12. What was your favorite Henry and Ray moment/episode?

The bro song! Plus I love that it kept getting referenced after the musical as well.

13. What was your favorite Chenry moment/episode?

When Char was controlling Henry in flabber gassed, she made him jump up and down while clapping! I love that even shwoz joined in too lol. And when Henry was concerned about her after she ate bad meat from the auto snacker.

14. What was your favorite Hensper moment/episode?

The mustache scene from Grand Theft Otto, “dude if I had one, I’d be Man Danger!”

15. What was your favorite Chensper moment/episode?

This also kinda includes Ray but when they were all stealing Joss Ross’s gift from her birthday party and they were just casually leaving. And how Jasper kept saying, “It’s not stealing if it’s from a criminal.” Plus I like the episode when Hen and Char have to pretend to date just to see if Jasper would keep their secret. The boy poured a whole bowl of pees down his shirt lmaoooo!!

16. If you could go back and change one element of the show, what would it be?

Have Ray grow up and stop fawning over Henry’s mom. It was just plain creepy! Oh and put some respect on my girl Charlotte’s name.

17. If you could say one thing to each main character in the pilot, what would it be?

Life isn’t always about one day getting a statue, (I’m looking at YOU Captain Man). Crime-fighting is fun and being a sidekick could literally every kid’s dream. But don’t forget to be a kid. Hangout with your friends, go to school, go on dates. Do the whole growing up thing. But at the end of the day, you have to do what’s best for you.

18. If you could say one thing to each main character in the finale, what would it be?

Thank you for sharing your lives with me and I am so so sooo proud of you all!

19. Were you satisfied with the finale? What part was your favorite and what part was your least favorite?

Honestly, I think it was okay for what it was. My fav part was when Jasper literally had to carry Char out of the mancave because she refused to leave Henry behind. I love that they decided to stick together. They did leave a lot of storylines open. I thought Joss Moss would be revealed as the real Mob boss. I thought Rick Twitler would regain his memory. Where the heck is Gooch? Caitlin? Chenry (for obvious reasons). I'm just spitballing here. Was it good? Yes. could it have been better? Hell yes.

20. What would your ideal Henry danger spin off look like?

Charlotte and Henry have powers and Jasper can fight! Dystopia. That was the spin-off that I wanted! I don’t really care about the new kids as much. They’re college-aged too? Just imagine the shenanigans they would get into! But we need to kick the Charlotte hating writer off the staff though. Can The CW pick this show up?

21. Where do you personally see the characters 10 years from now? What are they doing, who are they with, where are they in their lives - what do you think happened to them? Most importantly, are they happy?

I honestly haven’t thought about it. But I believe no matter what they do or where they may end up, they will be happy. They’ll probably always be a team.

22. What was your favorite part of the show and why did it initially draw you in?

It became an escape from my normal adult life. (I’m saying like I’m old. I’m only 23.) I randomly flipped it on one day, I can't remember what episode it was, but from then on, I was hooked. I used to watch it a while back, but I fell off, but at that moment on time, it was easy for me to fall right back into it.

23. What was your favourite part of the fandom and why did it initially draw you in?

The friends I’ve made, the people have met! They are the best out of all the fandoms I’m a part of. I’ve been on tumblr for years and never had I have a group of people be so nice, supportive and just incorporate me into things. I love you guys so much!

24. Describe your overall emotions/feelings regarding the show being over and the show in general, looking back on it as a whole, with one quote from the show.

It’s a bittersweet feeling. I hate to see it go. But all good things must come to an end. But I guess there’s nothing better to say than, “Feels Good.”

25. If you were able to add one scene in the finale, what would you add?

I don’t know honestly. Maybe we could have seen him reunite with his friends and family. Especially Charlotte and Jasper, Afterall, they probably thought that their best friend was dead for all they knew.

26. Favorite outfit/hair style?

Charlotte’s Date outfit with Jack Swagger. Sis was rockin that romper. Also when Jasper and Charlotte were helper bunnies! Those outfits were hilarious and cute.

27.Least favorite character?

I'm sorry but Piper. She was worse than the whole annoying little sister trope. I swear all ash did was yell through most of the seasons and then they gave this chick a driver’s license, I mean what?? Plus i think her reaction to finding out Henry was kid danger was better in Broken Armed and Dangerous, than in twisted sister.

28. What is question you would like to ask the writers/ producers?

Im tagging @adorkable-blackgirl @chenoahchantel

#henry danger #hd spoliers #hd tag game #hd

24 notes · View notes

wondertainmenttoys · 5 years

Note

A Gamer and a Wondertainment intern talk over video chat

Document POI-9874-12

Date: 10/12/2019 - 10/19/2019

Background: POI-9874 (Arthur Mullin) is a suspected member of the group of interest “Gamers Against Weed” and has been under Foundation surveillance since 07/16/2018.

Document Summary: Document POI-9874-12 are transcripts of online interactions between POI-9874 and Thomas Randall, who is believed to be a friend of POI-98745 and possibly associated with the group of interest “Dr. Wondertainment”. Reclassification of Randall to the status of POI is pending.

For the sake of brevity, POI-9874 will be designated as “Gamer” and Randall will be designated as “Vendor”.

—

Vendor: DUDE

Gamer: Wat???

Vendor: I GOT A JOB

Gamer: DUDE

Vendor: DUDE

Gamer: [IMG]

Note: Image was an animated gif of a video game character dancing

Gamer: what is it

Vendor: Some vendor job. The interview was kind of weird but I’m just happy to finally get a paycheck.

Gamer: weird? You got nervous or something?

Vendor: Nah. The interviewer just seemed way too happy to talk to me. like come on it’s just a vendor job what are you excited about.

Gamer: lmao probably desperate to get someone to fill the spot. hope that doesn’t mean that they’re about to go under or something.

Vendor: God please no

Gamer: I’m sure its fine

Vendor: hope so

Gamer: when do you start

Vendor: tomorrow

Gamer: dude you have to tell me how it goes

Vendor: lol it’s a vendor job so I’m not expecting much, but I’ll let you know

Gamer: whats the place called

Vendor: it’s dumb. Wild Oddities, Neat Doodads, Rare Terrific New Magic Toys

Gamer: [IMG]

Note: Image was a jpeg of a zoomed in picture of Shrek. The character has a neutral expression.

Vendor: I know. But whatever I’m getting paid for it

Gamer: True true. Good luck tomorrow!

Vendor: thanks!

—

Gamer: yo

Vendor: yooooo

Gamer: dude how’d that new job go? Did you vend hard. Sell some of those terrific rare toys?

Vendor: it was pretty boring. I sold some things. they’re stupidly cheap.

Gamer: cheap?

Vendor: yeah. Like some of the pricier stuff only costs like $5 max. it’s wild.

Vendor: especially with how much they said they’re gonna pay me

Gamer: how much are they paying you???

Vendor: $30/hr

Gamer: holy shit

Vendor: YEAH

Gamer: Dude not to alarm you but that’s kind of shady. might not be something that stays in business for long

Vendor: I know. Maybe they’re the type of company that sells a ton of cheap stuff en masse.

Gamer: maybe

Gamer: what are you coworkers like

Vendor: uh there aren’t any. it’s just me at this small store I think

Gamer: wait so they’re making you clean up and restock without help

Gamer: that’s some bs

Vendor: I don’t think so? It wasn’t in my job description, so I’m guessing someone comes in at night or something after I close.

Gamer: bro

Gamer: bruh

Gamer: brokowski

Gamer: ngl that’s shady as shit

Vendor: yeeeeeeah now that you mention it

Gamer: you’re like in a front for the mafia or something

Vendor: I’ll see how it goes for the next few days. if it gets way too shady I’m out.

Gamer: bro I’d just get out now

Vendor: but the pay

Gamer: bruh

—

Vendor: hey so you know how we talked about shady shit

Gamer: uh yeah?

Gamer: please don’t tell me that you had to bury a body or something

Vendor: someone broke in last night and stole a ton of the merchandise and the cash in the cash register

Gamer: oh shit

Vendor: smashed the window in too

Gamer: you ok?

Vendor: I thought i was going to get fired

Vendor: but I got a call from the manager and told them about it

Gamer: yeah?

Vendor: and they thanked me??? like they said that was the biggest sale I’ve done for them and that I’m doing a great job?

Vendor: dude you got your shit stolen why aren’t you mad

Gamer: calling it now that stuff had drugs stuffed in them. it’s too shady

Vendor: yeah it’s freaked me out a little

Gamer: way too shady

Vendor: but that’s not it

Vendor: After my lunch break I went back to the register

Vendor: and all the stolen stuff had been restocked

Gamer: what

Vendor: like when I wasn’t looking someone just restocked the shelves or something

Vendor: and the window as fixed too

Vendor: I didn’t hear the door open or anyone walk in or anything

Vendor: not even a customer

Vendor: It’s a really small shop so I would’ve noticed

Gamer: okay that went from shady to scary way too fast

Gamer: get the fuck out of there

Vendor: I know I’m already looking for a new job

Vendor: this is some paranormal shit

—

Gamer: you doing ok

Vendor: yeah.

Gamer: your still at that Wild Terrific Toys place right

Vendor: Wild Oddities, Neat Doodads, Rare Terrific New Magic Toys?

Vendor: yeah

Gamer: anymore spooky shit go down

Vendor: no. the shelves are still doing that restocking thing when I don’t look but other than that it’s been quiet.

Gamer: I was thinking

Vendor: what

Gamer: what do they sell again

Vendor: toys and games.

Vendor: board games

Gamer: and this is in Portland right

Vendor: yeah?

Gamer: Just throwing this out there but have you heard of Portland with a 3?

Vendor: ???

Gamer: Like a 3 of Portlands or a 3rd Portland at your job

Gamer: 3 Portlands

Vendor: what no

Gamer: ok just had an idea but I was wrong

Vendor: what was your idea

Gamer: it was about that weird place you’re working at

Gamer: i thought it might have to do with something

Gamer: hey can you send me a pic of the store logo?

Vendor: sure. why though

Gamer: i’m going to see if any of my friends know about it. I know one who is super into bizarre stuff like this

Vendor: yea tomorrow I’ll get you a pic

—

Gamer: hey you got the pic

Vendor: no. for some reason everytime I try to take a picture it comes out blurry or unfocused

Gamer: weird

Vendor: the store’s haunted or something

Vendor: I drew a sketch of it though

Intern: [IMG]

Note: Image is a sketch of the Wild Oddities, Neat Doodads, Rare Terrific New Magic Toys logo on a yellow sticky note. The font style loosely resembles that of previous logos used by Dr. Wondertainment.

Gamer: thanks

Note: Shortly after this interaction POI-9874 discussed the topic in an online chatroom with other members of Gamers Against Weed. See Document POI-9874-14 for a full transcript.

—

Vendor: hey so I know it’s 3 AM and you’re probably asleep

Vendor: but i decided to stay late at the shop just to see if any other employee would come in

Gamer: oh fuc

Gamer: k

Vendor: and someone did at like midnight

Vendor: OH YOU’RE AWAKE

Gamer: ye

Gamer: dude was it a ghost?

Vendor: no

Vendor: some old lady

Vendor: I think it was the janitor

Vendor: but like everything else there she was weird

Gamer: a ghost

Gamer: calling it

Vendor: she was surprised to see me but didn’t seem too bothered by it

Vendor: like complimented me for working late or whatever

Gamer: ok

Vendor: but I swear dude

Vendor: her eyes

Gamer: DEAD GHOST CALLING IT

Vendor: I DON”T KNOW DUDE

Vendor: but I SWEAR I saw them glowing in the dark

Vendor: like glowing green

Vendor: like a Christmas light

Gamer: ghost

Vendor: She was super nice and cheerful but it was unnerving

Gamer: dude you saw a ghost at your haunted toy store

Vendor: i dont know it was weird like everything else

—

Gamer: so I spoke to my friend

Vendor: yeah?

Gamer: Does Wondertainment ring a bell to you?

Vendor: yeah I think most of the toys there are from them. why.

Vendor: are their toys supposed to be haunted or something

Gamer: something like that yeah.

Vendor: are you kidding me

Gamer: I mean they said it’s harmless

Gamer: like some sort of urban legend that’s weird but doesn’t hurt you

Gamer: you just do your thing and they’ll pay you

Gamer: I’ll have to introduce you to them later

Gamer: they can explain it better

Intern: ok

Gamer: they also said that Men in Black type stuff can happen if you stay there too long

Vendor: uh men in black? like the movies

Gamer: no like the creepy UFO stories

Gamer: where they show up at your house and try to shut you up or mess with your memories

Vendor: what even is my life right now

Gamer: Like I said, it might be better to get a new job

Vendor: I think I’ll weather things out for now

Vendor: at least until I get my first paycheck

Gamer: I guess. just let me know if more weird stuff happens dude

Vendor: will do

—

Vendor: ok so weird stuff happened again

Gamer: oh boy

Gamer: you ok?

Vendor: yeah I’m fine. I’m honestly starting to get used to it

Vendor: so the less weird thing was that this morning I found a basket of baked cookies

Vendor: with a note thanking me for being a hard worker

Vendor: they were still warm too

Vendor: so I guess the janitor or someone else just dropped them off right before I arrived Intern: look if it’s just weird stuff happening, then I guess I can live through it

Gamer: ok

Vendor: but then I got a weird customer

Vendor: like some random guy

Vendor: just walked in saying he’s here to inspect the store

Vendor: it’s a small toy store what is there to inspect

Vendor: i mean it’s haunted but that only happens when I’m not looking

Vendor: anyways he said he’s part of some Social something Policy

Vendor: Social Coordination Policy

Vendor: Social Corporate Policy

Gamer: uh

Vendor: something like that

Vendor: Social Corporate Policy. Yeah that’s what it was

Gamer: uh

Vendor: The guy kept wanting to get into the back but I told him I’d need to call the manager

Vendor: really pissed him off

Note: This seems to be describing Field Agent ████████’s investigation into the venue, which was conducted on 10/18/2019.

Gamer: uh

Vendor: uh?

Gamer: I think that’s the men in black stuff my friend warned you about

Vendor: OH

Gamer: what did your manager say?

Vendor: They didn’t seemed really bothered by it. Said it happens and that they’d take care of it, whatever that means.

Gamer: ok

Gamer: so he was basically like

Gamer: [IMG]

Note: image is a jpeg that depicts a cartoon character leaning back with the caption “Not My Problem”. Testing revealed that the image is anomalous in nature and temporarily makes any individual who sees it resistant to amnestics.

Vendor: lmao yeah

Vendor: if this is the Man in Black stuff then the moment I see that dude again I’m running for it

Gamer: not sure if that’s a bad or good idea dude

Vendor: maybe my ghost manager will protect me

Vendor: or maybe I’ll find another job before anything else happens

Gamer: I can help you look for something if you need

Vendor: thanks. I think I got it though

—

Vendor: uh

Vendor: remember how you offered to help me find a new job

Gamer: yeah??

Gamer: what happened

Vendor: the store is gone

Gamer: waht

Vendor: it’s gone

Vendor: poof

Gamer: like gone gone?

Vendor: the place is empty

Vendor: [IMG]

Note: Image displays a photo of an empty storefront. The inside of the store looks abandoned and shows signs of structural decay. A Foundation agent monitoring the location that morning confirmed that Thomas Randall was the one to take the photo.

Vendor: It’s like it’s been abandoned for years

Gamer: ghost toy company

Vendor: YEAH

Vendor: and this morning I got an email from them

Vendor: thanking me for my work and saying I’m pretty much fired

Gamer: wow what dicks

Vendor: NO BUT THEY’RE LIKE PAYING ME A YEAR’S WAGE

Vendor: a year’s worth of $30/hr

Gamer: wow what not dicks

Vendor: yeah

Vendor: I got spooked a lot but I kind of don’t regret it?

Vendor: I won’t lie I’d work for a haunted toy company again just for that kind of pay lmao

Gamer: honestly I don’t blame you

Gamer: glad you didn’t get kidnapped or killed

Gamer: especially with the Men in Black

Vendor: lol yea

Gamer: Fucking Tommy’s Bizarre Adventure with Wondertainment

Vendor: [IMG]

Note: Image depicts a heavily edited image of an cartoon character with the caption “IS THAT A MOTHERFUCKING JOJO REFERENCE”

Gamer: HA

Gamer: Speaking of that I still need to introduce you to my friends

Gamer: they know a lot about this stuff

Vendor: dude please do

Gamer: also might help with anymore weird stuff that happens

Gamer: because after this I think you might be running into more weird shit

Vendor: My Bizarre Adventure begins

Vendor: as long as it’s not shady anymore

Gamer: [IMG]

Note: Image is similar to the last, but with poorer spelling

Gamer: yeah here you go.

Gamer: [LINK]

Note: link leads to a chatroom that POI-9874-12 frequents, which is believed to be associated with Gamer’s Against Weed

#Glimpse #from the Department of Writing(tm)#Anonymous #Gamer's Against Weed #Dr. Wondertainment #[[ too little too late did I realize that this said video chat #so online chat it is #and the intern is now a cashier

50 notes · View notes

suicidalcatz · 5 years

Text

DOG DAYS ARE OVER : CHAP 11

Pairing : Jake Kiszka x reader

Genre : College AU

Previous parts : Prologue ; Chapter 1 ; Chapter 2 ; Chapter 3 ; Chapter 4 ; Chapter 5 ; Chapter 6 ; Chapter 7 ; Chapter 8 ; Chapter 9 ; Chapter 10

Masterlist : here

AN : It is wednesday, my dudes! This part and the next ones are like 90% fluff, 10% angst... like bittersweet. You’re still heartbroken but try to keep your friendship with Jake, while doing all of your homework... A lot to handle. Actually I had to cut the chapter in half because it was too long (9-10 pages). I really hope you’ll like this chapter because I liked writing it! Feel free to tell me what you thought of it, send me dms or questions, and thanks for reading me x

Chapitre 11 : Would you cook for me ?

Ignoring Jake's texts or avoiding him was useless. But hanging out with him was a challenge I wasn't ready to handle, never asked for, and yet was pushed into. Pretending I didn't see him when we crossed paths in the hallways, or that I didn't receive any of his texts was petty, there was no point in doing so. I couldn't avoid him without giving him any reason, and I couldn't tell him why I needed some time far away from him either because it meant revealing the truth and 1) I wasn't ready, 2) he'd be the one avoiding me like the black plague if I did. It brought me to the conclusion that I would simply pretend nothing happened at all. Jake hadn't noticed the whole situation anyway, so to him it'd already be like everything was normal, just like it always had been between us. It was the best I could think of. For him, for Josh, for anyone. For me ? Not so much. Of course I was still heartbroken, of course it'd take me some time to get over him, and staying by his side would be like rubbing salt on a wound while demanding for it to heal. But I wouldn't risk to break our group's dynamic for selfish reasons. So I sucked that in, everything. The sadness, and painful pang of my chest every time I saw his face, while repeating myself it was for the best.

That aside, I had some other things coming. For the worst. My useless self got so into self-pity and deprecation that I had totally forgotten about homework... And my drawing teacher would be less than pleased as we were all supposed to hand her five new portraits on Monday. Realization hit me during breakfast with Josh who had slept here, when I saw Mandy pack her things and idly noticing out loud that I wasn't carrying a lot of stuff for once. This. This was the cue. But it was too late now, I thought as I walked down the halls by their side. On our way to the amphitheater we saw Jake, waiting in front of the door for the teacher to come. Other students were here too, chatting and yawning with their backs against the walls or sitting on the floor. Josh looked at me like he wasn't sure if he should greet him but the brunette was the one spotting us, gesturing us to come join him. My eyes were probably still a bit puffy but with the makeup it could pass for lack of sleep. Of course he knew Josh stayed at our place last time, I had made sure the boy texted him, and the jerk had taken this opportunity to ask his brother to bring him all his school supplies, backpack included. Unbelievable.

- Your stuff, said Jake handing Josh his bag.

- Who's the big brother again ?, I jokingly asked with a raised eyebrow.

- He's 5 minutes older, replied Jake.

- You'll never live it down !

We all chatted quietly, and I never felt more conflicted in my entire life. My heart didn't know if it should beat faster or hurt like hell, so it seemed to do both, making me feel weird just by being next to Jake. My body was in total contradiction with itself. I couldn't hold back the smile that crept across my face, but at the same time wouldn't meet Jake in the eye, disguising it by cracking joke after joke while my stress level kept rising the more time passed. My thoughts were running wild. In a few hours the drawing teacher was going to yell at me in front of the whole workshop and I couldn't handle it. I'd surely burst into tears and feel even more ashamed. I'd probably-

- Hey, you alright ?

A soft touch caressed my back and I involuntarily jerked forward, out of its grasp, before realizing and suddenly feeling bashful at my reaction. I could tell Jake was surprised by it but it lasted only a second before his face showed concern.

- Yeah, I just didn't finish my work on time... That witch is gonna murder me and ask the others students to draw a perspective of my corpse I'm sure.

I heard his chuckles before the tutor cut him off, passing by us with the keys in hand to unlock the door, separating the sea of students in half like an artsy Moses. Jake was at the other side when the crowd engulfed through the small door, letting us no choice but to keep our bodies to the walls.

- Do you wanna sit together today ?, asked Jake above the loud stomping noises.

Because of the students between us I couldn't really see his face, but was glad because it meant he couldn't see mine whitening. Josh and Mandy on the other hand were just next to me and clearly witnessed my expression change. To think that a week before I would've been on cloud nine being able to sit next to him for two whole hours... Oh how things could change fast.

We were now the three last people left outside and Jake held the door for us, continuing speaking.

- You guys are always exchanging notes, we should just, ya know ? Sit next to each other and... quietly chat.

As backup to his words, he murmured the last part in a very exaggerated fashion, in a failed attempt to make me smile. I couldn't just say no to him without looking weird because I had no reason to. Even if I knew he wouldn't push the matter, there was no way he wouldn't question it, right ? Josh came to the rescue, playfully elbowing him.

- But then where's the fun in that ? Right girls ?

Both agreeing, we rushed to our usual seats, letting a dumbfounded Jake close the door behind him. In their habitual fashion, Mandy and Josh threw paper balls at each other, while I was for once too focused on the lecture to participate in their shenanigans. I needed to get my mind to focus on something and right now Gilgamesh sounded like a good deal, so I took as many notes as possible. A task proven even more difficult because in the corner of my eye, I could see Jake staring at me.

Saying my drawing teacher killed me was a little bit of an understatement. She scared the shit out of me with her scolding. To be fair, even in a normal mood she was a scary woman. The already quiet class went completely still and silent when she barked at me, admonishing me with charming names such as « useless », « disappointing » and the timeless « lamentable ». A classic. Truth to be told it hurt much less than I previously anticipated, mainly because I was already half dead inside, with the emotional range of a cactus, and my self-esteem nearly reaching zero. Nothing much to attack, really. Nevertheless, she demanded that I hand her all five portraits plus the five others we had to do this week by the next monday. Meaning I had ten to do in a week. It physically hurt just thinking about it, and I could hear a quiet « oof » escaping some of my classmates' mouths. It's with a huge relieved sigh that I found my bed this afternoon once school was over. This day had been a catastrophe so far, so there was no other thing I wanted to do more than put on my Pjs, put some music on, and slowly work at my desk, thinking Tuesay will be a better day.

Tuesday was not a better day. Wednesday either. All my homework slowly started piling up on my desk to the point where it was starting to be difficult to keep track of it. And sleeping four hours a night wasn't doing my mental health any good. I knew I had two possibilities now ; sleep less but do my work, or skip some classes to work. It was beginning to get ridiculous, skipping classes so I could do my homework. I knew art schools were difficult, awfully so, but like most people I hadn't realized until then, in this very moment, standing in front of my desk completely covered in paint, canvas, my computer, sketches, inks... some brushes had fallen on the floor, staining it in their passage. My laptop was so dirty it wasn't in its original color anymore. There were blotches of paint, ink, and charcoal here and there that I couldn't remove the harder I had tried to, forcing me to give up. At some point I got so tired I put my paintbrush into my cup of tea/coffee, mistaking it with the goblet of water.

- ...Are you alright ?, enquired Mandy on Thursday night.

One look at my face and she had her answer. Bless her soul, she didn't need any more to bring me an energy drink from the fridge.

- I still have five portraits to do. Four pencil ones, and one painting. They all have to be from different angles, and I can't find any models, I complained while throwing my hand in the air in an act of pure desperation.

Mandy knew better than to sit at the edge of my risky desk with her designer clothes, so she leaned on the doorframe, slowly nodding her head in a pensive manner while I kept explaining the situation.

- All week I couldn't find anyone because they all had homework to do, and now most of them are skipping tomorrow's lecture to go home early so nobody's available !

My rommate crossed her arms, thinking hard. I already did almost all my paintings, asking for both her and Josh's help. Both of them were glad to help and even more so to figure on a monochrome painting on a canvas.

- Can you draw the same person multiple times ?, she finally asked.

- Actually... I don't know. I don't think that would be a problem as long as the work is done ?

Hopping on her feet, Mandy lifted an eyebrow before dragging a chair to sit on.

- Let's get into it then, we only have one lecture tomorrow, you can skip it I'll take notes for you.

Having a good night of sleep never felt this good. No. Waking up at 8, slowly realizing everybody was sitting on a lecture except me, and then getting back to sleep was way better. I sketched poor Mandy two times last night but the results were good, and she looked pleased herself. I didn't have time to redo any of these anyway, I still had other work to do. Waking me from my well deserved nap, my phone vibrated under the pillow, the screen blinding me despite the sun peaking through the curtains.

« The boys asked where you were. Told them about the portraits situation. Jake wants to help. Couldn't stop him. »

If the beginning of the text made me smile, the end completely shook me awake, making me sit hurriedly on the bed, rereading the words multiple times. Scratching my face, I quickly glanced at the hour. They were out in a few minutes. My fingers tapped the next message as soon as they could, asking her how and when, while I ran to the showers with my towel, soap and toothbrush in hand. At this hour, and a Friday, they were all available. The other residents were all either drunk as hell and passed out in their room, or in their hometown with their family and friends. The buzzing of my phone vibrating reverberated against the shower walls and it almost got drowned in the sink when I caught it to look at the screen. It was Mandy.

« They kinda invited themselves over to eat. Josh's idea.»

What the hell Joshua we're not your moms ! Throwing my phone to the nearest flat surface, I jumped on some discarded overalls and put on a sweater, wet hair dripping everywhere on the floor, table, but mostly on my clothes, making me sneeze in the process. The whole week I was so overwhelmingly busy with work that not only did my fingers hurt but I didn't have any time to see the Kiszkas let alone think about them since our shared lecture on Monday. I even skipped the Lunch Club in order to get back to the dorms and work on my assignments. Which thankfully saved me a lot of time, but I still had 2 pencil drawings to do and one painting. Once I had put on some makeup, I took a moment to look around me. Our place looked like a dump, no less. Clothes and art furniture were everywhere, the trash was overflowing with empty cup noodles and fast food leftovers, it smelled like perfume and soap mixing with rotten food, paint and cold tobacco. It was terrible, and made me shocked that I even got used to that. A life achievement of some sort. Everything on the floor I put it on a trash bag, running in the stairs to throw everything outside with the others'. My phone vibrated in my pocket, a new notification popping on the screen.

« They bought some stuff at the store, they wanna cook us something. Jake's idea. »

Okay, time to clean the kitchen.

By the time they got here, I looked even more tired than before, owing my guests looks of concern. If was funny, how they put on the exact same face while seeing me. It was like I just mirrored a picture. Their similar features would never cease to amaze me.

- Mama you're very pale.

- Did you not sleep well ?

- I did, don't worry, I dismissed their concern. Had to clean up a bit.

Mandy bit his lip, knowing damn well the place had been a war field when she left. Unaware of anything, the boys put the bags of groceries on the table before apologizing for intruding. We all sat around the table to have a pleasant talk, my friends always making sure I wasn't next to Jake to avoid any brutal peak of awkwardness / sadness. But some habits died hard, I realized when Jake asked if he could have a tour of our dorm. Ignoring glances, I stood up and gestured for him to go first, into the biggest room, were Mandy and I's workshop and beds were. The boy let out a low whistle that flattered me. He looked impressed by everything around him, touching odd looking brushes and browsing illustration books. I knew better this time, and had put his painted portrait under my bed, wrapped in an old sheet. Just as his brother did, he liked to take in his hands everything that came by, caressing it with his fingertips or idly lifting the weight of it in his palms like he was discovering an unknown world. Unmoving, I let Jake do his little tour, watching the street view by the window, sitting on my disheleved bed, jumping slightly to make the mattress bounce like he was testing it before buying.

- So this is where you're gonna paint me, he said, pointing at a chair between my desk and me.

My pale face grew some colors at the thought of it before I nodded quickly, in a childlike way, caressing the wooden chair's back.

- I'll try to be fast so you won't get bored, I assured without looking him in the eye.

It was this moment Josh chose to appear at the corner of the doorframe.

- Jakey we should start cooking or the potatoes will never be ready on time. Come on, doll.

He took me by one of my overalls' straps, pulling me inside the kitchen, making me laugh and pushing my shoulders so I stayed on my seat. Mandy and I gazed at them with awe as they poured us drinks while Jake asked where the spatula was, and Josh was washing the vegetables, already familiar with his surroundings.

In silence, I looked at Jake removing every one of his rings to put it on top of the fridge where no one could kick them, before tying his hair in a tight ponytail. Maybe it was because I only ever saw him with long brown locks framing his face, but he looked even better than usual. If he caught me staring, he didn't adress it, only smiled at me, turning his back to us to help his brother.

- Do you need any help ?, I asked while showing them where the frypans were. You guys are our guests it doesn't seem fair...

Of course the kitchen wasn't a real one, there was only a microwave and some hotplates fixed to a cabinet by the sink. Putting more than one person behind the counter was impossible without bumping into each other, and I could smell the accident from afar when Josh maneuvered the hot water filled pan at the same time Jake opened up a cupboard right above his curly head. Curiously so, probably because they had way more cooking experience than I thought, the boys handled the situation neatly, and Jake was the one preventing me from bumping into his brother.

- Go sit and relax, we've got this, he said while turning me around by the shoulders.

Watching boys make lunch had got to be some sort of ASMR because just watching the muscles of their back move while they were chopping onions and peeling potatoes had some real therapeutic effects on me. We continued chatting together, all the while answering their questions on « Where are the knives ? » and « Where do you keep the salt ? ». Kind of surprised that Josh had the permission of holding a kitchen knife, by the way, this part made me feel the absolute opposite of ASMR but he did a pretty good job, from what I could see. Mandy put on some music on the speakers, argued with Jake over the sound of it as to what was acceptable or not music-wise, and Josh made a show of crying because of the onions, yelling about becoming blind until Jake gently slapped the back of his head. It was all laughs and good conversation, like we've been friends for years, and at the same time I couldn't shake these feelings I had towards Jake. There was something extremely erotic about seeing a dude wearing a dishcloth on his shoulder. Or was it just Jake wearing it really well ?

They refused to tell us what we were eating, muttering to themselves and sometimes asking if we were allergic to this or that, only announcing it while putting the plate on the table, with Josh making grand gestures as usual, using his best waiter voice.

- Crêpes au zucchini accompanied by a fresh salad decorated with feta and its apple slices, ladies.

- Bon appétit, added Jake.

The table was already set because it was the only thing we were allowed to do, so at least the boys could now rest. It looked really good. Way less fancy than what Josh had announced of course but it smelled wonderful, the sweet scent settling in all of our dorm. And the taste, oh Lord. Everything melted in my mouth, the onions they fried were just crispy enough to add something to it, and I learned this day that cheese and apple were really good and refreshing together. A new snack idea I'd keep for my sleepless work nights at the desk. And as dessert, the boys brought beers. Of course.

#gvf fic #gvf x reader #gvf imagine #gvf fanfic #jake kiszka x reader #jake kiszka fic #jake kiszka imagine #josh kiszka fic #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet imagine #greta van fleet #jake kiszka

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a-deadly-serenade · 5 years

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The Shield and the Sword: Chapter 7: Ravens, and Witches, and Wolves oh my! [Alucard/Reader]

You’re a witch that is skilled in herbology, one that has been persecuted by the church for practically your entire life. In spite of this, moving throughout different towns has allowed you to pick up some chatter about a woman in a village called Lupu. She is supposed to be a wonder when it comes to medicine, and this immediately perks up your interest. So after plucking up some courage, you’ve made it to her door… hoping that she takes you as her apprentice.

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16724856?view_full_work=true

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You awoke one morning with a dazed smile on your face, your head abuzz with the dreams from the night before. You rubbed the tired from your eyes, but the vivid imagery of your dream still remained at the forefront of your mind.

You had been standing in front of a large forest. It was absolutely breathtaking, twinkling with fireflies and fairy lights. A small stream paved its way through the shrubbery, plush moss and groups of clover providing just the right amount of padding along the riverbank.

Fauna roamed throughout the trees, but they were not the usual animals that you would encounter in the wild. They rounded the corner of your eye, and only allowed you to see them in your periphery.

You had heard tales throughout your childhood of witches who had been foolish enough to challenge these beings, and demand to face them head on. No one really knew what happened if you ever looked one in the eye, but some said that your soul gets sucked down into one the magical streams that course through their body, only to be trapped in a seemingly endless purgatory.

It was rare for these creatures to reveal themselves to humans, but it has happened. As par the course, people often believed they were monsters, and that they were omens of death or something ridiculous like that.

Sure, they had reputations that preceded them from the scary rumors, but the sketching you had seen within your textbooks made you question why everyone thought they were so horrifying. You found them quite beautiful.

White, ethereal looking creatures with the anatomy of a deer. They were documented as either having a pair of bright red eyes, or having hundreds that shifted in color depending where you stood.

Their antlers were said to be enormous, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to be so ancient that they sprouted small trees and bushes amongst the twisting bone. Fairies, spiders, birds and nymphs would make their homes in the branches, a whole separate ecosystem that silently marched along the forest floor.

They had big hooves, tiny plants sprouting along the path they tread, each of their frosty breaths giving new life to withering or dying flowers. It is recommended that you try and see them at night, their forms shining like starlight in the piercing moonlight, dancing along the edges of your vision like ghosts.

Your coven called them forest spirits, and there would be times during the ceremonies held within the darkness of the great, old forest that surrounded your cove, that you could have sworn seeing something walking out of the corner of your eye.

The older women, including your grandmother, always said that these creatures were to be respected, never feared. They let you know that the forest is healthy, that it is alive, and that it is magical.

Anyways, back to the dream… (boy could your mind wander)

You had been walking through some magical woods, and they felt ancient, the very earth lighting up under your feet as you followed a predetermined path. You were unsure of where you were, but at the same time, a sense of familiarity lingered in the air, and you found yourself able to maneuver over where it is you wanted to go.

Soon you were standing in front of a clearing, you walked out and discovered a small cove. A tiny heart shaped pond stood in the middle, large lily pads and lotuses blossomed on its surface. Plush ferns swayed alongside a large boulder that was placed before the water, slightly elevated on a moss covered hill. Fireflies dance amongst the thick leaves of the aromatic flower trees and bushes that surrounded you, the hoot of an owl rumbling in the delicate wind.

A bright moon hung in the sky, and you noticed, to your delight, that the moon’s startling white rays had been mixed in with soft hues of pink. It was a Strawberry Moon, the next upcoming full moon within the month of June.

The place was beautiful, and you gave a delighted hum as you run your hand across the surface of the crystal clear water. Tiny aquatic plants swayed to the motion, a couple of small fish darting around in surprise at the sudden commotion.

High pitched giggles coming from all around you snapped you out of your daze, and a dozen or so colorful lights came streaming out of the large lilies that were bunched near one corner of the pond.

You realized that they were fairies, as you caught glimpses of what they looked like here and there as they darted by.

Stop trying to deny it…

A soft voice, very childlike in its tone, called out to you. It seemed to be coming from the pink light.

“Deny what?” you answered.

Another round of giggles.

Now you were starting to get flashbacks to the hibiscus gang back in the greenhouse.

Uh oh, he’s here! another voice cried out. The yellow light.

“Who?” you called back.

Don’t be silly, another fairy chimed, the one surrounded by purple light. He’s right behind you!

Your breath caught in your throat as your turned around, the sight of a great white wolf catching you completely off guard.

The beast lazily lay upon the large rock, its bushy tail wagging slowly back and forth with the breeze. Its head was cocked towards the sky, and it let out a long, dramatic yawn; one that helped reveal very clearly that it could defend himself.

But, for some reason, a feeling inside you compelled you to inch closer and closer to the wolf. You couldn’t describe it, it felt almost like a tug, as though someone was pulling on a string, urging you forward.

A twig snapped under your bare feet, your whole body freezing in place as the beast reared its head in your direction.

Your eyes widened in fear as it stared at you, but that was displaced for a quick few seconds when you finally got a sight of its eyes. Big, shining orbs that sparkled as though made of rivers of gold. You had never seen a wolf with such stunning eyes before.

There was a silence, where neither one of you moved, but… then there was that tug again.

You needed to reach out… stretch out your arm, yeah, that’s it! And then gently…

Gently, you placed your hand on the top of the wolf’s snout. You felt its nose twitch once, twice, before it exhaled, a deep sound that rumbled in its chest. A delighted laugh slipped past your lips as the wolf leaned forward, pushing your hand higher up its head, until you had to move in order to scratch him just behind the ears.

He was a soft, friendly, and affectionate little one, peppering your arms and face with gentle licks and kisses.

You cuddled up beside him as you felt your eyes grow heavy, a signal that you were about to return to the world of the living. It was peaceful, and you felt at ease for the first time in months inside your own dream.

Ever since losing your family, your mind was often a turbulent place, a world that had control of your emotions, causing you to have more nightmares than you would like to remember.

But this? This was… nice.

A breeze flew between the two of you, the smell of dew, grass… and… leather? And books?

You opened your eyes, only to find yourself alone on that rock, the moon shimmering in the night sky that had started to get flecked with hues of orange and pink and blue. Where had the wolf gone?

Your fingers grazed against something, and to your shock, you found a deep red hibiscus, resting where the wolf had been moments prior.

You picked it up, puzzled where it came from, as you spun the stem between your fingers.

Language…

“What?”

The language… of…

“Language of…what language?” you repeat to yourself, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

You looked back down at the hibiscus, and then back up to the ever waning moon. “The language… the language… ”

The image of a red hibiscus and a great white wolf lingered in your mind as you woke up, and as you bathed yourself and got ready for the day, you kept trying to figure out what exactly that voice had meant about “the language”.

You had never attributed too much to dreams, learning from your grandmother at an early age that most dreams meant absolute codswallop and that leaning on them for answers was absolutely ridiculous.

On the other hand, some of the other old women argued that dreams were a very valid source of divination for witches, and it was foolish to not listen to what they said.

“Oh really?” your grandma would interrupt, clearly annoyed.

This would happen every time someone would reignite the whole “dream debate”, as the women liked to call it. You had been witness to several yourself, and recalled one night where your grandmother had had quite the rebuttal.

“Well, I had a dream that the handsome new farm hand that sells us all our vegetables, came ‘round and swept me off my feet-- among other things,” she mumbled, several other witches snickering in response. “That doesn’t mean he’s gonna come and do that, Daria!”

The other woman, Daria, someone that your grandmother often disagreed with, gave a hmph!

“You don’t know that! It could have been a vision from the future--”

“He’s engaged you peaheaded fool!”

Most of the room would erupt into laughter, but the other women hardly ever found it amusing. Usually, that would be the time that your mother would escort your grandma back home, the two old women shouting curses at one another till they were too far away to hear what foul atrocities would befall their crops, or which great-great-great-great grandchild would be born with the head of a toad.

So, you knew to take such vivid dreams with a grain of salt. But, there was something tugging at you again… the thought that maybe… just this one might actually hold some meaning to it.

You flatten out a few of the creases on your light blue chiffon blouse, trying to look presentable even if your mind was a mess. You sported some light cotton trousers to go alongside, as you assumed that you would just be in the greenhouse again all day.

The brown boots you wore were scuffed and covered in flecks of dried dirt. You made sure that the soles were relatively clean, since you would be mortified if you stained the beautiful red carpets with mud after trekking throughout the castle back to your room late one night.

Throughout the weeks of living in Castlevania, you had managed to familiarize yourself with the layout of the places that you frequented often, like the library or the garden. It was so much easier for you to just zip through the hallways, oftentimes skipping down them as you pondered on what to eat for breakfast.

But… there was a familiar tug, and you slowed down one corner, entering the last hallway you had to walk through to reach the kitchen.

Your gaze wandered, curious as to why you had felt that sensation just moments before, when your attention was brought to yet another painting. It was strange, you must have passed this one at least a dozen times before, why was it vying itself to be important now?

It was a large portrait of Adrian, that you knew. The two of you ran into each other one morning, and he had pointed out that this had been done shortly after receiving his sword. He said his father called it an “extended birthday present”, but Adrian knew it was just a way for his mother and father to have a portrait of him as an adult. He also mentioned how amusing he thought it was, that they hung it right outside his old nursery.

That fact certainly piqued your interest, but he had locked the door with a spell before you could even try to get in. You pouted, but he had said he would show you one day. For now, he would like to be spared some form of humility in your relationship.

Oh right… that’s what he had said. You recalled how your cheeks rose in color, chastising yourself for even thinking of misinterpreting it as something other than a friendship. Is that why you had been brought here? To feel embarrassed again?

Slightly irritated, you’re about to tell this inner-voice to bugger off, before you realize something peculiar about the shield that he’s carrying. It was large, and red, with a black cross emblem resting in the foreground of large, white bat wings, and the enormous head of a ferocious white wolf with golden eyes.

Memories of your dream merge with the painting before you, a thrumming headache drumming behind the backs of your eyes as that voice comes back, echoing,

The language… the language…! Over and over again!

Ugh!

You pinched the bridge of your nose and kept going. Why was this dream being so stubborn? Why couldn’t it just fade away like all the rest of ‘em did?

Walking into the kitchen, you took your seat beside Adrian, who was reading the book you had assigned him to, a tome on more advanced fire spells. He was stirring his tea with the slow flick of his index finger, a skill he had been quite proud of mastering.

Lisa was chatting with her husband, a bowl of steamy homemade oatmeal with a sprinkle of cinnamon resting in front of her. Vlad sipped on some freshly brewed coffee as his wife told him about her plans for the day, the two of them giving you smiles as you helped yourself to some food.

“You have quite the good timing,” Lisa said, eating a spoonful of her breakfast. “I was just about to tell Vlad what we were doing for the day.”

“Oh?” you stirred your spoon, sticky with honey, into your oatmeal.

“I thought it was finally time that you accompany me to the village, to Lupu!” she gave you a toothy grin, eyes crinkled with excitement.

Your spoon nearly clattered back into your oatmeal from shock, but you managed to shove it into your mouth before any harm fell to it. You swallowed, a bit of apprehension laced in your voice as you replied, “Are… are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Lisa frowned. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well… I… I dunno, what if I scare someone? Or mess something up? I would never want you to lose the trust you’ve built up with your patients because of something I did--”

“That’s enough.” Lisa snapped. “You need to stop being so harsh on yourself! If anyone has what it takes to be an amazing doctor, it’s you!”

A blush spread across your face and down your neck, and your averted your gaze back to your breakfast. “Thank… thank you,” you said sheepishly.

“You act as though you have two heads and vicious claws, little one.” Vlad gave you a kind look from across the table. “No one will be afraid of you. Never have I met someone as kind and generous as my dear Lisa. The people will love you.”

Your breath left you in shaky gasps, a wave of gratitude washing away all of the anxiety you had previously felt. “Thank you… both of you. I really appreciate it.”

Once breakfast was finished, Lisa suggested that you head back to your room in preparation for the day. She said that you were going to watch what she did more than anything today, but she urged that you take important notes and prepare yourself for on the fly questions anyone may ask you.

You didn’t really know what to expect, so you tried to shove everything important you could think of inside your satchel. A couple of your personal notebooks, some vials of fresh herbs and roots, a couple crystals, some tonics, a few potions, and of course: some gauze.

When you walked out of the front door, you were surprised to find that Lisa was not the only one waiting for you. Adrian was there as well, along with two absolutely stunning horses.

Lisa’s was a chestnut colored mare, his mane a light blond and a white stripe down his snout that matched the white sock patterns he sported around his hooves. His saddle was simple and elegant, but it was practically hidden under the heaps of bags and sacks that Lisa had tied to him.

When she caught sight of your skeptical gaze, she waved you off. “I have not visited for awhile since you’ve arrived, darling. It was a bit difficult for me to find enough time for long consultations in between our lessons. I just have a feeling that it’s going to be a bit busier than normal. Plus, I needed to stock up on some supplies so,” she gave the big bag tied behind her a hearty slap to emphasize her point.

You felt anxiety flicker inside you as she said this, and you worried that the townsfolk would start disliking you as the reason for keeping Lisa away for so long. But… it was summer, it was not common for someone to get very ill during the warmer months. You’re certain Lisa would have stayed in the village longer if someone had desperately needed medical assistance.

Adrian cleared his throat, and made a soft click to get the horse he held moving.

This one was white almost all over, with a white body and white mane. However, the inside of its ears were a pitch black, and its snout looked almost as if someone had dusted ashes onto it. It was a faded black, almost like weathered charcoal. Thick, white lashes fluttered down at you, as the horse gazed upon you with its round black eyes.

You were intrigued by the stare it… she was giving you. Mirroring the movements from your dream, you placed the palm of your hand on her nose, and gave her a few gentle scratches before she whinnied and walked closer.

Smiling, you stroked her soft mane and she gave a delighted puff, her tail flicking from side to side like a puppy.

“Her name is Clara, and I thought that her friendly disposition would be easy for you to handle.” Adrian gave you the reigns, a smile on his face.

“Oh I’ve lived with horses my whole life… I just never had the money to afford one after… well, you know.” you gave him a halfhearted smile in return, but quickly chased those thoughts away.

“She’s beautiful, thank you for introducing me to her Adrian.” you gently stroked Clara down her back, before you heaved yourself up into the saddle. You gave Adrian a thumbs up, hoping that you didn’t get him down after he had gifted you with a horse.

You saw his eyes shine as his lips upturned into another smile, the sight causing your heart to flutter as both you and Lisa waved him goodbye as you started down the path into town.

The two of you left late in the morning, and expected to get there by early afternoon. Now on the backs of horses, you felt much more relieved on the prospect of the trip back, having dreaded the idea of walking all the way back to Castlevania after a day of hard work.

__________

You and Lisa made idle chit chat as your horses followed the dusty route that lead to Lupu, where she revealed that that is where she was born and raised.

It had been a very small village when she was little, but over the past two decades or so, it had really begun thriving. It was all thanks to meeting Vlad all those years ago. He gifted Lisa with the knowledge to really help people, and it was because of him that she was able to heal so many people and save so many lives.

The mortality rate, especially that of children and infants, had gone down significantly since Lisa became the town’s physician. It was horrendous to dwell on how things were back in the day, and she cannot believe that her own mother had taken the advice of the wisewoman everyone claimed as a real healer.

You grimaced at that, having too much experience with those sorts of folks.

“I told him,” she said, her voice shaking with laughter. “That… that people wouldn’t live such scared little lives anymore if they had real medicine!” her laughter was triumphant, and Lisa smiled. “And I was right! It makes me so happy to see my people so healthy and alive.”

You could easily echo Lisa’s sentiments, and the more time the two of you spent together, the clearer it became that the two of you were truly destined to meet.

“I suppose… given enough time… Lupu could become like another family to me,” you muttered, as you clung to the amulet around your neck.

“I know it will.” Lisa stated firmly.

The rest of the journey went by fairly quickly, and the both of you soon made it to Lisa’s clinic on the outskirts of town. While Lisa hurriedly restocked her stores, you watched over the horses as they took a break to drink some fresh stream water or munch on crisp grass.

The weather was perfect, and you raised your hand above your eyes to get a better look at Lupu. You could see a few houses, made of mud, stone, and grass, had smoke rising from their roofs, signaling that someone was hard at work on the stove.

The distinct sound of clattering cow bells and the cries of hungry sheep rung in your ears, a couple dog barks sounding off, a man shouting about something in response, before the chatter of several other people rose up into the atmosphere.

Slowly, the village was coming to life. The prospect of making a couple coins off hungry travelers stopping by in the peak of the afternoon, was always something on vendor’s minds. Bartenders were going to take advantage of thirsty customers, just wanting a pint with their freshly grilled chicken, and animals would need to be let out of their huts and prairies for their lunch as well.

“Alright,” Lisa said, as she came running out of the doorway, which she closed with a swift kick. “That should be everything. Grab what you left on your horse, and then let us make our way down.”

The only thing that you brought with you was your satchel, and after a few exchanges, Lisa decided that it would make more sense for you to leave that inside her office. She concluded a tour of Lupu was the first order of business on the agenda, since it would give you a chance to look around and meet the people that you would be treating.

Lisa lead you down the beaten path, quietly urging you forward when you found yourself straggling behind her excited gait. Rows of vendors and a few shops were the first buildings that ran along either side of the main road. The shopkeepers went about coaxing any possible customers with their deals, priding themselves on the freshness of their ingredients or the level of quality on their craftsmanship.

A girl with messy brown hair tied back into a ponytail, her honey-brown eyes surrounded by a mask of freckles, approached you with a couple homemade necklaces, going on about how they were charms that warded off evil, or how this one would guarantee that money would find its way into your hands.

You glanced skeptically at the pieces, and you noted that both of the gems were white quartz, which had little to no power on its own. Quartz was more of a conduit for magic than anything, helping amplify other elements in a spell rather than being what really impacts your original intent.

“I would start making those money charms with citrine, if I were you,” you suggested.

The girl blinked, clearly having no idea what you were talking about. She looked back down at her necklace, and then slowly raised it up to you, as though unsure of whether or not you wanted to buy it. “Uhh… thanks?” she had an accent, unrefined and harsh.

You vaguely thought to try and explain what it is you meant, but then she shoved past you and embraced Lisa in a tight hug.

“Marian! It’s good to see you!”

Lisa playfully ruffled her hair, a toothy grin on the girls face as she raced back inside of her house, yelling, “Mama! Lisa is back! Lisa is back!”

A couple moments later, a disheveled woman with blond blond hair, tied behind her in a braid, came out of the house followed by a girl about the same age as Marian, with hair the same color and style as her mother’s.

“Oh! It’s true!” she cried out, elated. She was muttering to herself as she shuffled over to where Lisa stood, and she grabbed her hands, shaking them up and down in gratitude.

“Why hello there Sabina,” Lisa gave the woman two chaste kisses on either side of her face. “And you, Lorena,” she smiled at the other girl.

“It’s great to see you Doctor Tepes!” she exclaimed. “It’s been forever since we last saw you. What have you been up to?”

“Well, actually,” Lisa turned her attention to you, who had been standing beside her awkwardly this entire time. “This is a student of mine, and she’s what’s been taking up a lot of my time. I brought her with me today to meet all of you and to get a feel for working with actual people instead of plants.”

The three laughed, and waited as you nervously introduced yourself before greeting you properly, with hand shakes and cheek-kisses.

“Everyone is going to be so happy when they find out that you’re back, Dr. Tepes.” Sabina said, as she ushered her two girls back to the old, wooden table that held their wares for sale.

“By the looks of it, it seems that I don’t even really need to visit you!” Lisa joked. “It’s so lively this morning.”

“That’s ‘cus winter is over with!” Lorena chimed in. “I mean, spring is always nice, with all of the plants and animals coming back, but nothing can beat this nice weather!”

“Yes,” Sabina agreed. “The crops have been especially good this year, as have the animals. They’re all as healthy as can be.”

“That’s wonderful to hear!” Lisa happily exclaimed, and gave the family a wave as she started to walk away. “It was great seeing you all! We’re just going to make our rounds.”

Sabina nodded her head, and gave Lisa one last kiss on the cheek before she headed back to her house. “You better stop by for some dinner before you head home!”

“I will! Thank you!”

You gave the family a wave too, beginning to feel a little more at ease. The most of that afternoon was spent with Lisa getting recognized and pulled into hugs and conversation, and one thing that made you truly happy to hear, was just how thrilled everyone was to report how well they had been doing physically since her absence.

“My mother hardly ever nags me about that blasted cough she used to get around this time! What a relief!” a large man named Serghei laughed, a hearty, infectious sound that spread throughout the crowd.

You and Lisa had decided to stop by the local pub for a drink, and the friendly atmosphere made it easy to catch up with all of the local patrons. Everyone was incredibly amicable, and welcomed you with wide open arms. A lot of people went so far as to admit how glad they were that Lisa was finally receiving some sort of help.

“She does too much on her own, that one!” the bartender, named Toma, grumbled.

He and his wife ran the place together, and they had been doing so for well over ten years. His wife, Valeria, was a boisterous woman that was well respected within the community. The two greatly contrasted each other, Toma being a skinny, short man, while Valeria was a tall, powerful presence that toted the title of being the undefeated champion of arm wrestling at The Baroness.

Apparently how the spot got its name is a favorite story amongst the locals, the men pleading and begging Valeria to tell you. After some goading, they managed to convince her, the crowd falling silent with a hush as they huddled around the barstools you and Lisa sat at.

“So I first need to preface this, with a little backstory,” Valeria begins, her rich voice sending tingles up your spine. “Back before I met old Tomas here and got my life all sorted out, I was sort of… freelance in the good old days.”

“Freelance?” you question.

“She means she was a thief,” Tomas whispered back.

Valeria glared at her husband. “Oi! I had more dignity than a common thief! Anyways, me and my friend, who for the sole purpose of this story, I decided to name Grigore,” the audience chuckled and sneered. “Overheard about this party that was happening in Tậrgoviște. Now, being the capital and all, there was no way that a couple of common folks was sneakin’ into this big fancy party. But, I came up with an ingenious plan. We would disguise ourselves as a pair of guests, it’s not like whoever is hosting is gonna recognize all five hundred people they invited. That’s absolute shit!”

The men hooped and hollered, raising their tankards in agreement as they took big, hearty swigs. You moved out of the way as a couple guys behind you started getting rowdy, trying to avoid getting beer spilled all over your nice clothes.

“Hey!” Valeria shoved one of the men behind you, the back of his head colliding with someone behind him. “Watch the lady! She’s listenin’ to my story.”

You gave her a weak thank you, before urging her to continue, not wanting to make any enemies from this special treatment.

“So we stake out the place, looking for two people that looked boring enough to be missed. It was actually pretty easy to do, nobles can be pretty clueless when it comes down to it. When her date suddenly ‘vanished’, she went looking for him and quickly found my fist in her face instead.” she laughed, slapping one of her muscular thighs in amusement. “All that was left was to change into their clothes and assume their titles. I had nabbed the role of the Baroness Elisabeta, and Grigore was some wimpy Baron called Eduard, or something. The whole point of these parties were for nobles to donate a certain amount of money, which would all be stored within a great big chest.”

“That,” you said, a frown on your face. “Is… really stupid.”

Valeria cackled, and then pointed at you. “This kid gets it! That’s exactly what I was thinking when it was explained to me. Now, even though I was a freelancer-”

“Thief.” Toma corrected, as he handed someone a refill.

“Freelancer!” Valeria insisted. “Even though I was a freelancer, I was not completely dense. I knew that there would be no way that the two of us would be able to get away with stealing the entire thing. But, we could both settle for a big bag or two. To cut things short, we ended up with only one bag between the two of us, and about ten soldiers on our asses. It was actually the night I met Toma,” she said, and wrapped one of her toned arms around her husband’s shoulders. “If he hadn’t been stupid enough to actually hide the two of us, I would probably be in prison, rotting away in some cell.”

“And what a shame that would be!” Toma exclaimed. “I’m glad I was foolish enough to trust you into not killing me for being a conspirator in your big scheme.”

Valeria laughed and dipped him back as she gave him a kiss, the patrons whooping and crying out excitedly. She gave her husband a firm slap to the back as he walked off in a slight daze, before her fierce grey eyes landed on you.

“You seem like a strong girl. I hope that you find someone that will treat you right.”

You flushed, unprepared for this change in the conversation. “Um… um thank you.”

“Never,” she grabbed a firm hold of your shoulders, and albeit, you were surprised at how soft her hands were. “Settle for anything less than you’re worth.”

You slowly nodded your head, letting her know you received her message loud and clear.

The bar was filled with a chorus of farewells and a lot of handshakes as you and Lisa made your way out, the sound and smell of metallurgy filling your senses as you both rounded a corner. A small hut sat a little ways away from a blacksmith station, the steam from the water hiding the man that was currently hammering away at a piece of red-hot steel.

“Doctor Tepes!” a woman’s voice called out from behind the fog, and out ran a tall, lithe woman with vibrant red hair. Her green eyes sparkled like emeralds in the sunlight, her arms wrapped tightly around Lisa when she was welcomed with open arms.

“Diana! How wonderful to see you!” Lisa pulled away and peered over Diana’s shoulder, a smirk on her face. “I see Marius is still hard at work.”

“Of course, after saving his hand, there’s been no stopping him!” she laughed, a joyous ring that sounded almost like a song. “We’ve even been commissioned by several royal families! We delivered a sword just a few days ago to Gresit, I believe it was one of the son’s birthdays.”

“That’s exciting!” Lisa beamed at her. “Do you think it would be possible to speak to Marius? It’s been so long since I’ve seen him, after-all.”

“You don’t even need to ask, ma’am,” Diana playfully shoved Lisa’s shoulder as she turned to get her husband. After a few seconds, she appeared from the smoke on the arm of her husband, Marius.

He was a tall man, with choppy black hair and the stubble of a beard. There was a nasty scar running from the tip of his right eyebrow, down to the side of his lips, and he walked with a slight limp. His muscular arms were covered in an array of scars, some deeper than others, but despite his rather rugged appearance, his bright blue eyes sparkled with a delightful warmth.

“Doctor Tepes,” he rasped, his voice rumbling deep in his chest. “It’s been quite some time since we’ve last seen each other.”

“It has. But I’ll have you know that I wasn’t just lounging around!” Lisa said, and put a hand on your shoulder as she introduced you to the couple. “This is a prospective student of mine. She’s been working with me for a couple weeks now, and she’s made such significant progress, that I thought it only reasonable for me to bring her with me on my first outing back here.”

“Student, eh?” Marius looked down at you. “I didn’t know you were a teacher too.”

“I never thought that role would befall me either,” Lisa admitted. “But she approached me into having her as my apprentice. She’s very skilled in the art of medicine as well.”

“Really?” Diana sounded a bit impressed. “But you look so young!”

“I’ve actually been learning about healing and medicine for almost my entire life.” you replied. “Which… can be a little difficult to do if you’re a woman.”

Diana nodded her head in agreement. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Doctor Tepes over here complaining to me about how people compare her to the senile old wisewomen that suggest you boil nettles and entrails! The ridiculousness of it all.”

You grinned, thankful that at least these people understood the benefits of medicine and what Lisa was providing for them. “That’s why I sought her out,” you said, your focus back on Lisa. “I overheard rumors circulating in this village while I visited about someone who was actually taking care of and healing people! It made me very excited, as my family had been doing that for generations. I was so relieved when she said she would teach me… I honestly don’t know what I would be doing right now had she not been so kind.”

“Oh, stop it,” Lisa had a blush on her cheeks. “You are very intelligent and capable. There was no way I was going to let you just wander off after you proved to me how much you knew about medicine!”

“Now there’s no need to put yourself down either, Lisa,” Marius interjected. “It’s because of you that I have my hand.” he raised up his left hand, clenching and unclenching his fingers.

“It was due to the war,” Diana answered, after she noticed your curious expression. “He came back home after serving for around five months, with what we thought was only a broken wrist. A couple days later, and he’s suffering from a horrible fever and his hand is starting to succumb to a nasty infection. If it wasn’t for Doctor Tepes, he certainly wouldn’t have that hand.”

“Aye,” Marius looked at Lisa, the gratitude in his expression palpable. “It’s thanks to you that I have been able to keep my craft alive.”

“And you do mighty fine work!” Lisa smiled, her eyes flicking over to Marius’s workstation. “Do you think we’d be able to get a sneak peak on what you’re working on?”

Marius gave a sheepish grin, and rubbed the back of his neck. “I mean… if you really wanted to, I wouldn’t be opposed--”

“Wonderful!” Lisa grabbed a hold of your hand and urged you forward.

You heard Diana laugh at her enthusiasm, and you quickly picked up your pace to avoid tripping as Lisa pulled you along.

The inside of the room was surprisingly organized, with tools being sorted into different open mason jars as storage, and rolled up parchment, with what you could only assume as design plans, rested comfortably and neatly inside one of the shelves.

Swords and shields hung on the wall, however you noted that these were not new. In fact, they were covered in scratches and dents, some of the metal on the hilt of the swords turning a dark brown as it rusted over.

“These were the weapons I was able to salvage after my time in the war,” Marius said, while he looked over the small collection fondly. “They’ve saved my life on many occasions, so I did not think it right to abandon them after my injury.”

“My father was in one of the wars,” you replied, as you continued to stare at one of the shields, it’s detailed emblem catching your eye.

Marius looked down at you, surprised. “Really? What was his name?”

You turned to Marius, a half-hearted smile on your lips. “Nicolae. Although, it is unlikely that you would have ever met him. He died in the wars against the Ottoman’s around twenty years ago.”

Marius hummed, and gave an understanding nod. “I see… I am sorry for your loss.”

You chuckled, a hint of sadness laced in your eyes. “I never met him, but my mother told me that he was a kind man and that he loved her very much. She would reminisce about him sometimes… his eyes the color of sapphires, hair a curly mess that always ended up with twigs and leaves tangled within its strands… I think…” you paused for a moment, and nibbled on your thumbnail. “I think she missed him… but she never really let on how much she missed him.”

“Parents often hide their sorrow in order to remain strong for their children.” Marius let one of his large hands rest on the top of your head, before he gave you two endearing pats. “I’m sure your father is very proud of the woman that you have become.”

“Thank you… it would be nice to even have one memory of him, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.” your breath felt heavy, a sudden ache filling your chest as you said this.

“Don’t be sad, love,” Diana cooed, she and Lisa walking over to where you and Marius stood. “You can make new happy memories here, with all of us!”

“She’s right,” Lisa agreed, and bopped the tip of your nose. “Everyone here has been so thrilled to meet you!” she suddenly faltered, and her head cocked to the side as she scratched the side of her face, a nervous habit of hers. “Well… there’s one group that I’m a little worried about…”

You felt anxiety start to grab a hold of you again, swallowing a lump in your throat. “What are you talking about?”

Diana groaned beside you, as she rolled her eyes. “You’re not talking about them are you?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Come now,” Marius interjected. “They’re not so bad!”

Diana scoffed, her hands placed on her hips. “You only say that because they’ve got a soft spot for you!”

“Nonsense!”

“Oh please!” Diana said scathingly. “As soon as one of them spots you, they lure you over with lies about how they’re roof needs fixing or this one specific chair wobbles too much for their liking.”

“They’re old women, my flower,” Marius tried reasoning with Diana, but she seemed to have her mind already made up on these women. “I try and help them whenever I can!”

You craned your neck in Lisa’s direction so you could whisper in her ear, “Who are you talking about?”

“They’re a group of… well, elderly patients--mostly women--that all live within close proximity to each other,” Lisa took hold of your hand again, quietly excusing herself out of the room as Marius continued his efforts to try and calm Diana down.

She lead you back outside and pointed to a group of houses that seemed to form a semicircle around a dusty pavilion that was currently filled with children playing and mothers chatting with each other as they washed their clothes in the nearby creek.

“Folks around here have gotten used to calling it the ‘Senior Alcove’,” Lisa explained, a frown on her face. “I try not to humor then too much by doing the same. They’re really not that bad! They can be a handful at some times, but they’ve been kind to me ever since first coming back from Castlevania.”

“Did something happen after your return?”

“They were a bit suspicious of me when I reappeared, arms full of tonics and different herbs to brew as tea,” she chuckled as she recalled the memory. “They found it a bit hard to believe that I had suddenly become so knowledgeable within a few months, and they also wondered where I’d been this entire time. Thankfully, I was able to convince them that I was the real deal. My mother was a big help in persuading them, too--”

“Your mother ?” you exclaimed, mouth hung-open in mild shock.

“Yes, my mother. Did you think I was born from the Earth or something?” she laughed as she watched your expression shift from bewilderment to embarrassment, your face flushed red as you tried to clarify yourself.

“That’s… that’s not what I meant!” you pouted, arms folded across your chest. “You just never mentioned her till now. I just thought, that… well--”

“That she had passed away?” Lisa finished, and smiled at you to help ease away your anxious gaze. “Don’t worry, it’s only fair that you believed that. She was one of the few people who supported me in my decision to pursue medicine. Although… she was definitely not the biggest fan of me scaling the castle of a supposed monster to do it.”

You gave a quiet chuckle, amused at the thought of Lisa breaking the news that she had married the man everyone seemed to fear so much. “Do you think… do you think that I could meet her?”

“But of course!” Lisa seemed to wiggle excitedly where she stood. “She’ll be absolutely thrilled to hear that I’ve managed to snag an apprentice! Though, it’ll have to wait till we visit the elders. I want to make sure that you leave a good impression on them.”

“Don’t think you’re getting away that easily!”

The both of you whirled around to find Diana and Marius walking over, a bundle of brown rags nestled within Diana’s arms.

“Seems I finally managed to calm her down,” Marius said, a nervous bout of laughter coming from his as Diana elbowed him in the ribs.

“I felt so bad for just… bursting out like that, I told Marius to fix something up real quick for the two of you.” Diana unwrapped what she kept hidden in her grasp, and revealed two round objects made of glass. She gently handed them to you and Lisa, silencing your comments on how they didn’t have to go through the trouble of doing all this with a single stare.

You examined the gift, a circular piece of pristine glass that was surrounded by a fine ring of maple wood. You had never seen anything like it before, and were more than a little confused as to what it’s function could be.

“It’s a sort of magnifying device!” Diana clarified. She grabbed hold of yours and lifted it up to the sky, the glass glittering under the bright sunlight. “It makes it easier for you to look at the finer details of a project. Marius uses them all the time to assist in his work.”

“You made this?” you inquired, more than a little impressed.

Marius nodded his head. “It’s vastly improved my ability to craft even the most delicate of orders. I thought that they might help if you ever needed to look more closely at an injury or… something like that.”

“This is wonderful! It’s almost like a mini telescope!” Lisa was absolutely delighted, and pocketed the small tool within the safety of her napsack.

It took her a second to realize that the three of you were looking at her as though she had just spoken Greek, and she gave a quiet chuckle. “It’s… it’s a device that my husband invented that works in a similar fashion; magnifying faraway objects that you would like to observe more closely.”

“Magnifying objects huh…” Marius mused, and rubbed his chin in a pensive manner. “I quite like the sound of that. I think I shall call them magnifying glasses.”

“Ooh! Make sure to write that down somewhere!” Diana chimed. “My husband sure is brilliant, isn’t he?”

Marius blushed and pulled her into a tight embrace. “It’s only because I have someone like you in my life to inspire me, my flower.”

Diana’s jubilant laughter rang out as he hugged and kissed her.

The couple bid the both of you farewell as Lisa lead you to the Senior Alcove, Marius managing to shout one last message at your retreating forms, “Make sure to stop by if you ever need anything, ladies!”

The children and their mother’s who had been passing the day there all grew very excited upon recognizing Lisa, and while she struck up conversations with the adults, the children were much more interested in you.

It was rare that a stranger came through the village, and when you mentioned that you had been traveling all throughout Wallachia before meeting Lisa, they demanded to know what it was like out there.

Seeing their little eyes fill with excitement when you mentioned the towering mountains to the north, or the beautiful beaches of the south, more than made up for the overabundance in questions that they had. It was a wave of cries and disappointed grumbles when Lisa came over and told them that you had to go speak with the elders, but you promised that the next time you visited, you would make sure to stop by and tell them more of you adventures.

You have to admit that you were a little nervous meeting these old women, and you guessed that Lisa could sense your apprehension, for the first person that you met was named Miruna, and she had to be one of the gentlest people you have ever met. Her light blue eyes crinkled whenever she smiled, her long, starlight hair pulled into a loose bun on the back of her head. She was one of the first people that Lisa ever treated, and she thanked God every day for bringing such an angel into their lives.

The next few people went about as smoothly, and although you tried your best to remember everyone’s names, it was becoming rather difficult, your brain becoming muddled and tired after such an eventful day.

As the two of you said your farewells to the final woman, Tatiana, you let out a long slow exhale, and rubbed your sore temples.

“Is everything alright?”

Your arms flopped to your sides in an exasperated huff, but you managed to give Lisa a weak smile. “Yeah… I’m just a little tired, is all.”

“Did that gang wear you out more than you expected? You could have told me if it was too much--”

“No,” you stopped her. “They were actually fine. They… reminded me of the ladies that my grandmother used to hang out with all the time. I think my brain is just a little loopy from all of the human interaction.”

Lisa gave your arm a reassuring squeeze. “Hmm… maybe I can let you off a little early today.”

“What? There’s no need to do that--” you protest, but Lisa shook her head.

“Nonsense, I can take care of things on my own. If you aren’t able to put one-hundred percent into your work, then it wouldn’t be fair of me to keep you.”

“Are… are you sure? This was supposed to be my first day, and I’d hate to disappoint you like this…”

She pulled you into a hug, before placing a delicate kiss on your forehead. “You could never disappoint me, little one. I want you to eat a good hearty dinner and get a good night’s sleep, because I expect you ready to go bright and early tomorrow morning!”

You let out a sigh of relief, new energy coursing through your veins as you pictured yourself back at Castlevania, laying on your comfortable bed.

“Oh um… I… I would still like to meet your mother, if that’s okay?”

“I thought that you would say that,” Lisa giggled, and turned your attention to a small cottage that rested near the bend of the creek.

It looked similar in style to Lisa’s office, although it was definitely smaller. A large apple tree stood nearby, crisp red apples hanging off the healthy branches that drooped from the weight of the fruit. Small song birds pecked at the apple cores that had been left around the trunk by hungry animals, before they fluttered away when the loud caw of a raven could be heard.

You gasped out of fright when a large black bird swooped down from the sky, it’s wings fluttering once, twice, before it settled itself on an open windowsill. Its pointed peak ducked between its feathers to pick and preen, its long claws sunk into the wood as it paid no mind to neither you or Lisa.

“Munnin, is that you?”

A woman with sea-green eyes and greying blond hair worn in a stacked braid poked her head out of the window, her attention focused on the raven before she exclaimed in surprise, “Oh! Lisa!” at the sight of her daughter.

You heard footsteps rush to the front door, which was immediately yanked open as Lisa’s mother ran out to wrap her arms tightly around her daughter.

“My stars! I was not expecting to see you today!” she said, giving her daughter a kiss on each cheek.

“You act as though we haven’t seen each other in years, mother.” Lisa replied.

“Not years, no. But it has been several months! You could have at least sent me a letter,” she grumbled.

“You know you’re always welcome to visit!”

“And how was I supposed to get there? On these two legs? Now you’re barking.”

Lisa rolled her eyes and stepped aside so that you were in view. “Mother, I would like to introduce you to someone.” she began, and waved you over as she introduced you.

You gave her mother an awkward wave, silently praying that she would accept you as being worthy as her daughter’s student.

“A teacher? You?” she sounded incredulous. “My… that’s absolutely wonderful!”

Your breath was suddenly knocked out of you as she brought you into a tight hug, the smell of flowers and firewood catching your attention.

“I was always a little worried about my Lisa learning about all of this medical stuff, but knowing that she has someone that can continue her work, makes me very happy.”

“Thank… thank you, ma’am.” you said quietly.

“Oh, where are my manners!” she said, and grabbed both you and Lisa’s hand. “Come, let’s go inside. I can put some tea on the kettle. Do you have a specific kind that you like?” she turned to you, and you felt yourself clam up at the attention.

“Uh… well, I like most tea so I’m sure whatever you make will be just fine.”

“Peppermint it is, then. And you can call me Crina, dear. I do hate formalities.”

The inside of Crina’s home was as warm and inviting as she was. A small fireplace stood in the far back, a cozy fire crackling away in its hearth. Although it was all just one floor, each corner of the house seemed to be separated for its specific purpose. The kitchen was quaint, with fresh herbs hanging from the ceiling and charming porcelain plates neatly stacked inside of a glass cabinet.

There was a large plush couch and two armchairs placed around the fireplace, a beautiful violet rug resting in between them. Large shelves filled with books stood beside the fireplace, and a quick scan let you see that they were mostly storybooks, or tomes written on mythology and ancient cultures. A wooden kitchen table with two chairs on either side had a crystal vase filled with a bouquet of wildflowers on it, and a little ways from that, was a box filled with an assortment of children’s toys.

A curious thing for a woman her age to have, you thought.

Your attention was quickly directed to a rack that stood nearby, where beautiful shirts and dresses looked as though they were drying in the waning sun. They appeared homemade, by the looks of it, and you silently admired the craftsmanship as Crina went on with brewing some water for the tea.

“My mother was a seamstress when I was little,” Lisa said, as she approached you. “She’s very talented, and continues to make clothes for herself and for people in the village. I’ve told her that there’s no need, since we’re certainly not lacking in funds ever since I married my husband, but she still enjoys doing it.”

“That’s because,” Crina replied, as she walked to the kitchen table, a silver platter with three teacups, sugar, and spoons in her hands. “There is always a need for clothes and blankets. I tell folks that there’s no need to pay me, but they always insist on some form of compensation for my work.”

You took a seat beside Lisa, thanking Crina as she handed you a cup and filled it with the hot water from the kettle. “I can see why people urge you to take something in exchange, I haven’t seen such fine sewing since my grandmother.”

Crina grinned, lifting the lid off a small tin to procure a biscuit for you. “This one certainly knows how to flatter the ladies,” she teased.

You laughed as you accepted the treat, dunking it into your peppermint tea to let it soak up the flavor before popping the whole thing into your mouth. “Do you make clothing for the children, as well? I noticed the box of toys over in the corner.”

Crina took a sip of her tea, and nodded her head. “I sometimes make clothes for the little ones, but usually it’s just sewing back a button or replacing a stitch. I’ve recently become a sort of nanny for the village, watching over the children when I’ve seen how much their poor mother needs a break.”

Hearing this, a fond feeling settled into your heart, and you’re taken back to warm, happy memories of times with your own grandmother. You thought that they would get along, she and Crina, and the thought made you smile.

“Well, enough about me, why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to--” she was interrupted by loud cawing from outside her window, Crina letting out a huff as she stomped over to see who was causing all that racket.

“Hugin and Munnin! Screaming your heads off is certainly not the way to grab my attention!” she shook her finger at the two, before she made her way to the kitchen and grabbed two chicken drumsticks from her meat storage.

“Who is she talking to?” you whispered.

“Do you remember the raven we saw, perched outside the window just before she noticed me?”

“Yes?”

“That one was Munnin. She has two ravens that visit her nearly every day for food and, remarkably, companionship.”

You blink, and then look over at Crina, who was cooing and stroking the head of one of the raven’s as it picked at the meat with its sharp beak and talons.

“Those ravens… are your pets?”

Crina turned back to you and Lisa, and shook her head. “No, no. I would never call them my pets. I like to consider them more as companions. Munnin is a sweetheart, she brings me presents, shiny things that she finds scattered throughout the village. Hugin is a big old oaf, but he means well.”

“Hugin and Munnin…” you mutter to yourself. “They aren’t by chance… named after Odin’s ravens, are they?”

“Oh! Astute this one!” Crina exclaimed happily. She shuffled her way over to one of the bookshelves and plucked one off the shelf, a worn tome whose spine was starting to tear apart. “I simply love reading about myths and legends from around the world,” she flipped through the text, which had elaborate drawings of Norse gods and inscriptions of famous stories. “So I thought it only appropriate to name my two friends here after Odin’s familiars.”

You thought it was cute, albeit a little unusual, that these two birds of prey became so attached to this kind old woman. It seemed as though you had opened the floodgates however, and Crina started going on and on about gods and goddesses, holy places and sacred places.

You knew some of the names she mentioned, having prayed to a few of them yourself, but you were surprised to find out how many deities you didn’t even know existed. Eir, for instance, was a goddess of healing, your speciality, and yet you never read about her in your studies.

Although you would have liked to stay and hear more about this secret passion of Crina’s, you felt your eyes grow heavy with exhaustion. You did not want to appear rude, and cut her off, but it was becoming more difficult with each passing second to stay awake.

Someone poked you lightly on the shoulder, which caused you to jump and blurt out,

“Yes, yes! I’m listening!” Lisa’s laughter brought a flush to your cheeks, your ears turning red from humiliation. “Are you tired, love?” “Who, me?” you feigned. “No, not at all--why?”

“You can’t lie to two mother’s, dear!” Crina said, a toothy smile on her face. “I appreciate you trying to tough it out to listen to an old woman’s tales, however.”

You sunk lower into your chair, mortified that they had noticed you falling asleep. “I’m sorry… I really would love to hear more about these legends, I’m just…” “Exhausted?” Lisa stated.

“Don’t worry your little head off, my dear,” Crina wrapped up a couple biscuits and handed the bundle to you. “Take this as my compensation for your time, and as a binding for that promise of future visits.” You eagerly took the cookies, setting them in your pocket for safe keeping. “Thank you. Now, um, do you want me to head back to the castle?” “If you think you can manage to stay awake, then by all means. If not, I have a cot that you can sleep on in my office, if you’d like.”

The offer sounded tempting, but you would much rather sleep in your own bed. “I think I can handle it.”

After saying goodbye to Crina, and promising Lisa that you make a swift and safe trip back home, you started the trek back to her office. You found Clara lounging under a tree, her head resting upon the soft ground as she watched the animals and bugs that lived near the creek.

When she saw you, she gave a delighted cry, standing up so she could trot over and greet you. You stroked her mane, before you leaned forward to rest your tired head on her neck. The aroma of grass, hay and sunlight made you feel at ease, and after grabbing your things from inside, you pulled yourself up onto the saddle and kicked Clara into motion.

A peaceful tranquility had settled over the evening, the hum of cicadas ringing in your ears as you made your way through the woods. Animals that had been busy foraging throughout the day were heading back home for the night, much like yourself. You spotted a few birds here and there, and even a small herd of deer, but other than that, it was just you, Clara, and the trees.

This was what you needed more than anything, just some time to be alone in nature. You took a deep breath, the scent of a fresh summer breeze filling your lungs. It gave you a bit of energy, just enough, you thought, to stay away till you made it back.

As you thought of the castle, your mind wandered. You had promised Adrian that the two of you would meet again tonight for lessons, but, you were sure he’d understand once you explained how tired you were.

Hmm… that boy… you mused, eyes glazed over as you recalled the smile he had given you this morning.

Your heart started to beat faster, and your breath caught in your throat, but you grimaced. There… there was no time for such foolish things.

Another tug at your heart, and the events that transpired in your dream came circling back around. You still had no idea what that voice meant about ‘the language’, but you found it rather odd that the wolf on Adrian’s shield had manifested itself. The more you thought about this dream, the more frustrated you became. What the hell did it all mean?

As you rounded over the last hill, the towering pillars of Castlevania rose up in the distance, and you clicked your tongue to urge Clara into a run. You kept telling yourself that you were just excited to get to bed and finally get some rest, but… that tug…

Clara whinnied as you reached the top of the garden path, and you looked down at her, concern laced on your features.

“What is it, girl?”

She craned her head, as if pointing out something with her snout. Following her advice, you glanced up and nearly fell out of your seat.

Waiting for you, at the entrance back into the castle, was…

“Adrian?”

You pulled on the reins to drag Clara to a halt, your breath leaving you in shallow puffs as you stared down at him. “What are you doing here?”

He walked over to you, a soft smile on his face. “It’s quite easy to spot a pure white horse amongst all of this green,” he teased, and laughed as your cheeks turned red. “I thought you might need some help after such a long day.”

There was that tug again.

You brushed some hair out of your face, and swung your legs around. “Thank you, but I can manage--” “Don’t be so stubborn,” he held out a hand for you, as he offered to help you down.

Your eyes widened slightly, but you told yourself to remain calm, he was just being polite. Your hand settled into his, your skin prickling with heat as he enclosed his fingers around it to ease you off Clara’s back.

When your feet touched the ground, you glanced back up to thank him, but your words seemed to fail you again as you stared into his brilliant eyes. It seemed as though time stood still as the two of you gazed upon each other, eyes half-lidded, and your hand still held gently within his.

He leaned closer, his warm breath fanning your face as he asked, “So, how did your first day go?”

You gave a meek laugh. “Your mother had me meet nearly every villager in Lupu, but by the end of it, I was so drained that I could hardly think to stay awake to begin my training.”

“You’re tired?” There was worry in his tone, his free hand reaching up to brush away some of your hair.

“I am but…” your voice trailed off, all senses lost in his eyes, his smell, his touch… “I could try and push through for our lesson.”

His fangs flashed in the dimming light as he smiled. “You’re absolutely ridiculous.” That snapped you out of your trance. “What?”

“Nearly keeling over with exhaustion, and here you are, worried about me. I’m touched.”

You stuck your tongue out at him as he started to laugh. “I didn’t think it possible for your ego to get any bigger, but here you are,” you echo. “Proving me wrong.”

His laughter slowly faded, and you could have sworn you saw his lips twitch up into a smirk as his fingers interlaced with yours and your cheeks rose red in color again.

“I suppose even the most arrogant of men must put aside their pride to take care of those they care about.”

Your heart leaped into your throat, and you cursed your legs for feeling so weak and wobbly as the two of you began walking to your bedroom. In spite of being a bundle of nerves, it was oddly calming, walking down the halls of Castlevania, hand-in-hand with Adrian.

You felt… safe, secure, happy.

It was almost a bit maddening how disappointed you felt when you saw your bedroom door, selfishly not wanting to part from him so soon. But you told that part of yourself to be quiet, and reluctantly pulled away from his grasp to instead grab hold of the doorknob.

You awkwardly cleared your throat, and pointed to your door. “Well, I… guess this is goodnight.”

“Just promise me that you’ll get a good night’s rest so you won’t be completely useless tomorrow,” he snarked.

“For saying that,” you retorted. “I’ll make sure I sleep in, just to spite you.”

“You just love tormenting me, don’t you?”

“Someone’s gotta do it.”

There was that darn tug again.

But… you seemed to feel it as he drew closer, his blond hair brushing softly against your face. A spike of electricity shoots through your veins as you felt his warm lips brush delicately on your cheek, worried that sparks of magic would whirl off the tips of your fingers from excitement.

As he steps back, his fingers wrap around your hand again, giving it a gentle squeeze before he whispers goodnight, your name tumbling off his lips like a ghostly whisper.

All you can do is give him a half-hearted wave as he disappears down the hallway, your body going to auto-pilot as you walked into your room and got ready for bed. Pulling the warm blankets around yourself, you were finally able to process what had just happened.

The memory kept replaying in your head, your heart leaping into your throat each time you did. Had that really just happened? It all felt like a dream…

Yes, dreams… what peculiar little things they were.

You thought of that voice, and you lifted up your hand into the air, rubbing your index finger against your thumb as though you held the hibiscus that you had imagined.

What did it mean… ‘the language’? And why was there a hibiscus of all things there too?

You rolled over onto your side as you wracked your brain to try and decipher these riddles. It was then that you had an idea.

The fairies, you thought, and sat up to look out the window of your room to see a view of the dark, sleeping forest below. I should go and see the fairies… they were in my dream too, so maybe they could have an idea about what it’s trying to say.

You nodded in agreement with yourself and lay back down, agreeing to go and find Aria and the rest of her friends after you were finished with everything.

A dreamy sigh leaves you lips as your body relaxes, winding down for the day as finally feel like you're... home.

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welcometothepenumbra · 5 years

Text

JUNO STEEL AND THE LONG WAY HOME (PART TWO)

SOUND: RAIN. TRAIN ARRIVES, CREAKS TO A STOP. DOOR CLANKS OPEN.

CONDUCTOR: Ah, good evening, Traveler. And welcome… to The Penumbra.

SOUND: DOOR CLANKS SHUT.

Take your seat, please, take your seat.

MUSIC: STARTS.

The junction lies ahead, so if you’ll allow me just a moment.

SOUND: TRAIN WHISTLE.

We are now passing through Hyperion City.

SOUND: TRAIN MOVING.

Our next stop?

SOUND: TRAIN BRAKES.

Juno Steel and the Long Way Home.

SOUND: DOOR CLANKS OPEN, RAIN.

ALL SOUNDS: FADE OUT.

***

SOUND: WATER DRIPPING, RIPPLING.

THEIA: (DISTANT, OVERLAPPING) Target located. Alerting central office. Exchanging map data. Sector is clear. Recharging. Recharging.

JUNO (NARRATOR): Here’s a lesson that never sticks, no matter how many times you learn it: even when you’re not around, the world keeps movin’ without you. Never feels that way. When you leave, you take a frozen version of the place with you in your head, and that feels real, but… then you get back and find the place is melting right in front of you.

SMALL FRY: (WHIMPERS, QUIET BARKS)

JUNO: Yep, I’m pretty wiped too, Small Fry. How ‘bout a snack break?

SOUND: SPLASH.

JUNO (NARRATOR): I remember these sewers as an escape, if you can believe it. When things got too rough topside I would lose myself down here, where things were simple. Where the monsters looked like monsters, big furry ones with long teeth and mean eyes. They were scary, but… that was part of the escape.

SMALL FRY: (IN BACKGROUND) (BARKS)

JUNO (NARRATOR): When you’re so young you think monsters are the scariest things out there… what could feel better than teaching the boogeyman to eat out of the palm of your hand?

SMALL FRY: (BARK!)

JUNO: Whatsamatter? You don’t like salmon chips?

SMALL FRY: (YIP!)

JUNO: Don’t tell me you’re picky.

SOUND: CRUNCHING, CHEWING.

(GARBLED, MOUTH FULL) Aw, man, these’ve got the freeze-dried soy dust and everything! You’re outta your mind, Small Fry.

SMALL FRY: (SNIFFS & SNORTS)

JUNO: Oh, what’s that? Now you want one?

SMALL FRY: (SNORTS)

JUNO: That’s what I thought. Take the bag, it’s yours.

SMALL FRY: (GRRRR)

JUNO: (SIGHS)

SOUND: CRUNCHING, CHEWING.

JUNO (NARRATOR): I wonder sometimes if having that escape as a kid felt a little too good. Like I’d go underground and feel like all the world’s horrors could be tamed, then, come back up and think that feeling should last forever. It felt like I could make it last forever if I tried. But, things change.

SMALL FRY: (BARK!)

SOUND: CREAKING.

JUNO: What’s the matter, Small Fry? You hear some… thing…?

THEIA: Target sighted.

JUNO: Damn it! Get in…

…that pipe, quickly! Hide under my coat!

SMALL FRY: (SNUFFLES)

THEIA: Target recognized. Target is—

JUNO: (OVER THE BELOW) Juno Steel, yeah.

THEIA: —Juno Steel. Directive: do no—

JUNO: (OVER THE ABOVE) Do no harm, Mayor O’Flaherty requests my presence, you can’t capture me nonviolently so I’m supposed to go there on my own, that it?

THEIA: (AFTER A PAUSE) This is your only—

JUNO: Right, thanks, almost forgot, this is my only warning. I’m workin’ on it now, but thanks for the reminder, bye!

THEIA: Farewell. Juno Steel.

SOUND: CREAKING FADES OUT.

JUNO: (QUIETLY) Going… going, aaaaaand gone. Psst!

Hey kid! Coast is clear!

SOUND: HEAVY CREAK.

Small Fry?

SOUND: SPLASHING.

…The hell is this?

SOUND: SPLASHING FOOTSTEPS.

Another room?

SMALL FRY: (SNORES)

JUNO: (GASPS)

SOUND: GUN COCKING.

…Oh.

JUNO (NARRATOR): The rabbit was asleep. Just… tuckered out.

Then I felt the exhaustion piling on me too, so I sat and let her nap awhile. And if I got some rest out of the bargain, so be it.

Small Fry had found a good hiding spot. The pipe I’d shoved her into led through a shattered wall, which opened up into another one of the sewer’s old chambers. Must have been a false start from some earlier construction job, walled-up so it’d just go away, but… that never kept anything hidden forever, did it?

The Theia bots were tearing this place apart, and soon one would find Small Fry. But even if they did clear out and we did get outta here, what the hell was I gonna do with her?

MUSIC: STARTS.

My name’s Juno Steel. I’m a private eye, and that means I’m supposed to reserve my blaster for whoever pays my bills. Money hasn’t mattered to me for years, but even so, it… was a rule, and rules are comfortable.

I keep feeling like I don’t know any of the rules anymore, but… I need ‘em. Because if you try to save every sorry soul who hops into your life…

…that might make you a hero, and… right now I’m not sure there’s anything worse.

MUSIC: ENDS. STARTS (FROM COMMS).

HAWK (FROM COMMS): Welcome back to Questions Unanswered: Where is Jack Takano? Tonight’s episode: Part 11 – “The Mask.”

Jack Takano was famously a very private man: until the end of his time at Northstar, he never kept a home address on file, or spoke to anyone about his friends and family outside the company. Even his face was private, as Founder and CEO of Northstar Miranda Fairbanks wrote:

FAIRBANKS ACTOR (FROM COMMS): It was known around the office that Jack daily wore makeup thick even by Hyperion’s standards… I once came into the office quite early to find that he had fallen asleep, drooling, onto his desk and hand. It was almost sweet… until he moved that hand and a layer of skin peeled off his face, only to reveal another, much paler skin beneath. Or so it seemed, until I saw the foundation smudges on the table. When I woke him, he covered his face, mumbled something about not looking decent, and ran off to reapply. A skin condition, he told me later. I never bought it. The difference between the skin beneath and the mask over it was so extreme that it seemed like there was another man under there, buried alive.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): But even a man with a hidden face can’t hide everything. Takano may not have left an explanation for his disappearance in his famous farewell note, but his coworkers did notice a change.

VEGA (FROM COMMS): Well, we all expected something was going to happen. Just not… something that extreme.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): What about his behavior seemed like the first sign, Dr. Vega?

VEGA (FROM COMMS): Isolation, first. Irritability, some days, although he’d always apologize soon after. But I think the first unquestionable sign for me was Andromeda 3.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): If you didn’t see Andromeda 3 at release, it’s unlikely you ever will: the film was panned so universally that Northstar established an Anti-Informations Department just to erase every copy they could find. Or as one reviewer put it:

VOICE 6 (FROM COMMS): Schlock and drivel. Its characterization is so flat it approaches concave. Its pacing makes death seem a fond alternative. And worst of all, it appears Takano has no idea what made Andromeda so compelling in the first place, and what remains are only echoes of the Turbo nonsense that nearly put Northstar into its early, and perhaps deserved, grave. Takano needs to get his head out of building tourist traps and back into telling stories, because this was clearly rushed.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): The only thing atypical of this review is its lenience: the reviewer gave Andromeda 3 the highest rating we could find. But that last sentiment, that the film was rushed, is repeated by nearly every review on record, despite the fact that it is completely untrue.

CHEN (FROM COMMS): I don’t think I ever saw Jack work harder on a project. Besides the park, obviously.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): That’s Jocelyn Chen, former Head of Animation at Northstar.

MUSIC: ENDS.

CHEN (FROM COMMS): I remember seeing pages of script and sketches of Andromeda 3 a few weeks before the first film came out, but he was never satisfied. It was just rewrite after rewrite with him.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): Was his process similar for Chainmail Warrior Andromeda or Sea of Sinners?

CHEN (FROM COMMS): Not at all. He had full storyboards for both ready when he first pitched the project, and he only had a month on those. But the third one… I don’t know. He kept talking about the responsibility, and… I tried to help, but, the pressure must’ve gotten to him.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): You came under fire for that film, too.

CHEN (FROM COMMS): I did.

I– I wasn’t mad at him for having writer’s block. I was mad at him for not listening earlier, for not giving us something, anyway. I had to steal his notes just so we could start work on time for a sloppy release, and… that was the only time I’ve ever heard him get angry.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): A recording of Takano’s tirade was leaked a few months after Andromeda 3’s release:

SOUND: BACKGROUND STATIC.

JACK (FROM COMMS): We are doing something important here. Am I the only one who sees that? Am I?!

CHEN (FROM COMMS): Jack, we have a deadline—

JACK (FROM COMMS): Damn the deadline! You’re exactly the problem, Jocelyn, focusing on the smallest issues when you should be solving the big ones, taking the solution now over the solution that works– DO NOT SPEAK while I am speaking!

No. Keep the damn notes. It’s too late already.

SOUND: STATIC FADES OUT.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): The company could have scrubbed this leak like they erased the film, had Takano himself not acknowledged it, in a press conference the day after it spread:

JACK (FROM COMMS): …I would like to apologize, of course. I’ve already apologized to Jocelyn, but, like it or not I’ve been thrust into the public eye; and as a result, my responsibility extends to each and every one of you.

SMALL FRY: (SNUFFLES & SNORTS)

JUNO: Mmm… quit it.

SOUND: WATER DRIPPING, BUBBLING.

JACK (FROM COMMS): Three years is not a very long time to grow old, and, yet I find that, compared to the early days of Andromeda, I feel precisely—

JUNO: (OVER THE BELOW) I said quit it!

JACK (FROM COMMS): (OVER THE ABOVE) —how I expected an old man must: very tired, and only slightly more wise.

SMALL FRY: (BARKS)

JACK (FROM COMMS): What strikes me as most beautiful about Andromeda is how she works not just on the world, but also on herself. Tirelessly. When Andromeda discovers that her magic chainmail is empowered by the suffering of others, she sees immediately how this might corrupt her… and she steels herself against it.

I see now the power I have in Northstar. And I see the heavy responsibility that power bestows upon me. We will use it for good, from here out. For Polaris.

SMALL FRY: (BARK!)

SOUND: SLAP.

JUNO: (OVER THE BELOW) Damn it, Rita, I’m taking a nap, you—!

SMALL FRY: (BARKS)

HAWK (FROM COMMS): (OVER THE ABOVE) Takano’s apology was very well received—

JUNO: …Oh.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): (OVER THE BELOW) —as Jocelyn Chen recalls.

JUNO: (OVER THE ABOVE) Small Fry. Right.

SMALL FRY: (GROWLS)

CHEN (FROM COMMS): (OVER THE BELOW) He could do that, apologize and have all forgiven—

JUNO: (OVER THE ABOVE) What’s the matter, kid, you hungry?

SMALL FRY: (BARKS)

JUNO: What the hell? Get off me!

CHEN (FROM COMMS): —really forgiven. You could always tell he meant it, that it really had eaten him up inside. He—

SMALL FRY: (BARKS)

SOUND: CLICK, COMMS CUTS OFF.

JUNO: The hell?

Did you… take my comms? Out of my ear?

SMALL FRY: (BARKS, GROWLS)

JUNO: Don’t eat it!

Well, looks like we’re awake now, doesn’t it? Here, come close. You just put it up to your ear like this, and—

SOUND: FEEDBACK SCREECH.

JUNO & SMALL FRY: (PAINED YELLS)

JUNO: God dammit, what did you do?

SMALL FRY: (WHIMPERING)

JUNO: You know how long it took me to figure that thing out? Now look, it’s wet and it stinks and I can’t even listen to it and I don’t know where anybody is or what the hell I’m gonna do to keep you safe and—

SOUND: PLOP, SPLASH.

There. It’s trash now. Just like this whole stupid idea. Whatever.

SOUND: SPLASHES. DISTANT FEEDBACK.

SMALL FRY: (BARK!)

JUNO: I told you, the comms is broken.

SOUND: FEEDBACK STOPS. ELECTRONIC SCROLLING.

JUNO: You’re just gonna hurt yourself. Make it explode or something.

SMALL FRY: (GROWLS)

SOUND: BEEPS.

JUNO: Damn it, don’t you listen?

SOUND: ALARM BEEPS.

It’s busted. See?

SOUND: JINGLE (FROM COMMS).

VOICE 7 (FROM COMMS): Welcome to your comms. Please enter your name.

JUNO: Wait, what?

SMALL FRY: (GROWLS)

JUNO: You… there’s no way you know how to use this. You can’t.

SMALL FRY: (YIPS)

JUNO: Alright, take it.

SMALL FRY: (RRRRR!)

SOUND: BEEPS.

JUNO: No. Way.

SMALL FRY: (GRRRS, YIP!)

SOUND: LOUD JINGLE (FROM COMMS).

VOICE 7 (FROM COMMS): (VERY LOUD) Bienvenue à votre comms.

JUNO: (HISS OF PAIN) Nevermind! (SIGHS)

SMALL FRY: (BARK!)

JUNO: But… you did have it for a second.

SOUND: BEEPS.

SMALL FRY: (SNUFFLE, GROWLS)

JUNO: No, no, I’m gonna try this time.

SMALL FRY: (BARK!)

JUNO: And, uh… thanks, Small Fry. I needed that.

SMALL FRY: (BARK!)

JUNO (NARRATOR): While I messed with that comms I couldn’t stop thinkin’ about Rita. She’d been telling me what Small Fry just had for years – that I didn’t need her to set everything up, that I wasn’t even trying, and… I’d yell at her that I got it, but I was just busy. And then sit alone, like an idiot, while she set up my comms, my monitor, everything.

Ma never let us have that stuff. And then I just got too proud to admit I didn’t get it, and… I got better and better at asking other people to work around me, I guess. Anyway, I… had the thing up and running again soon.

SOUND: BLIP.

JACKET (FROM COMMS): We may look backward only to ensure we have not walked this path before.

JUNO: Yeah, thanks, big guy.

SMALL FRY: (BARK!)

JUNO: Just… give me one more minute.

JUNO (NARRATOR): Maybe I’d gone mad with power, but… I had an idea, and I was hungry for another win. I knew the comms could get on the net, and I knew the sewer system’s layout was a public document. The rest was just guesswork. Learning and mistakes.

SOUND: ERROR BEEP.

JUNO: (GROWLS)

SOUND: ERROR BEEP.

Aghhhh!

SMALL FRY: (BARKS)

JUNO (NARRATOR): …a whole lot of mistakes. But, still.

It took me an hour to do what Rita could’ve done in two seconds, but, I was proud of it.

SOUND: BEEP.

JUNO: Ha! Got it! Look, it’s a map, and I think I found a manhole that’ll take us…

SMALL FRY: (SNORES)

JUNO: …out of the… sewer.

Hey. Hey, c’mon, Small Fry. C’mon.

SMALL FRY: (SNUFFLES AWAKE)

JUNO: We gotta go, kid. I think I found a way out of here. And after that…

We’ll have to figure that out together, I guess.

SMALL FRY: (MEWLS)

JUNO (NARRATOR): I split the comms so I could carry it in my hand and my ear at the same time. It was gonna be a hike to get to that manhole leading out of the sewer, and… to Oldtown.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): (FADING IN) The year between Andromeda 3’s release and the opening of Polaris Park marked a shift in how Northstar was run. Takano removed himself from the film production process completely, hiring previously-terminated Northstar writer Kenni Okombe and rock-star-slash-poet Rajavi to co-write Andromeda and the Dragon’s Peak, based on some of Takano’s early sketches. In the meantime, Jack Takano redoubled his efforts on Polaris Park, and though he spent many, many hours in that office – staying for days or weeks on end, according to some – his coworkers saw him less than ever.

VEGA (FROM COMMS): Always in his office. It was as though we’d taken on a staff hermit. (LAUGHS) Not that it was a funny situation, of course, Jack was clearly troubled. But, well… we all just thought that if the tortured genius needs his space, give him his space.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): Many of Takano’s former coworkers expressed similar sentiments. But not Jocelyn Chen.

CHEN (FROM COMMS): Everyone always said yes to Jack, and it wasn’t good for him. So when he started hiding, working himself sick, all that… I wasn’t having it, and I said so.

He gave me some line… something about how he had to figure out the problem by himself, that he couldn’t compromise on the park any more than he already had. And I said, “Jack, you can take all your toys, and go hide in your room if you want. But if you keep working like this, you’re going to get yourself killed, and—”

After that… after I said that, he just… looked at me and waited. Like I hadn’t gotten to my point yet. Like that wasn’t even enough reason t—

Anyway. I ended the conversation there, because I wasn’t getting anywhere. But clearly he wasn’t done.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): Ms. Chen is referring to a public charity event at which Takano spoke to raise funds for Martian fire departments. Though the speech was largely typical of his optimistic oratory, there was a tangent that was met with confusion in the press:

JACK (FROM COMMS): But the most beautiful thing about Andromeda, I think, is… that she always goes it alone. She recognizes that heroism is a blessing for the world and a curse for the hero, who must live with the weight of every decision they make, the pain of every loss they fail to prevent. And yet she never stops. And she never shares this burden with another, because she knows it is better for one to suffer than two. Goodness is her charge. And she lives up to it alone.

CHEN (FROM COMMS): Which isn’t even true. Aries, the Ramblers, Captain Cancer, Queen Pisces – by that point, Andromeda had relied on others twice a movie! Well, minus Andromeda 3, but… (SIGHS)

VEGA (FROM COMMS): Jack never spoke to me directly about his design problem, but I could see it amongst the lines, as it were. Something at the core of Polaris Park had gone wrong for him, somewhere. Some of his work orders implied that the problem had come from compromises he’d made, and so he tried hiding the gift shops, changing the logo so that ‘Polaris’ was much larger than ‘Park,’ that kind of thing. Then a week later, all those orders would be undone, and he clearly felt that the problem came earlier than his compromises… from the park’s initial contraception, perhaps.

I knew that he expected me to decode that subtext. I like to think I was rather a confidant for him in that way – the only one he could undress even part of his heart to.

SOUND: WATER DRIPPING, RIPPLING FADES IN. DISTANT BOOM.

SMALL FRY: (BARK BARK!)

JUNO: Huh?

HAWK (FROM COMMS): Despite Dr. Vega’s claims, the work orders we’ve unearthed state Takano’s frustrations directly to every head of every department. Polaris Park was not doing what it was supposed to – though Takano was never clear about what its actual purpose was.

SOUND: DISTANT BOOM.

JUNO: What the hell was—

SMALL FRY: (BARK!)

HAWK (FROM COMMS): And as Takano tried to solve it—

SOUND: DISTANT BOOM.

—the days to Polaris Park’s opening – and the man’s disappearance—

SOUND: TWO DISTANT BOOMS.

—drew closer and closer.

SMALL FRY: (BARK BARK!)

SOUND: CLICK, COMMS CUTS OFF.

JUNO: Shhh!

JUNO (NARRATOR): We were close to the exit by then. There was just one last pipe we had to pass through, one big enough to stand and walk in. We hadn’t heard a Theia bot in half an hour; it was quiet here.

Until that thumping started, down at the end of the pipe.

SOUND: DISTANT BOOMS.

As quickly as I could I searched the wall around me for weak spots – cracks, openings, anywhere at all to hide – but there were none. This thing had picked the one solid spot left in the entire Oldtown sewer system to corner us.

SMALL FRY: (WHIMPERS)

SOUND: DISTANT BOOM.

JUNO: (QUIETLY) Get behind me, kid, it’s alright. You’re gonna be alright.

JUNO (NARRATOR): The noise kept coming. I tried to make a plan: hide Small Fry in the sludge and try to talk my way out? No, the Theia bots were chatty, and she couldn’t hold her breath that long. Take a shot at it before it saw us? Maybe, but I doubted I could connect without a Theia on my side.

It got closer.

SOUND: SPLASH.

And closer. And then it rounded the corner.

SOUND: SPLASH.

?????: (GROWLS, PANTING)

SMALL FRY: (YIPS & BARKS)

JUNO: A rabbit…? Alive?

SMALL FRY: (BARKS)

RABBIT: (GROWL-BARKS)

JUNO: You know him. You know that rabbit, don’t you?

SMALL FRY: (YIPS)

JUNO (NARRATOR): So, that was it, then. Some of the rabbits were alive. I’d brought Small Fry home, and… I felt just… awful.

Looking into her big black eyes, one hand on her matted fur, I realized I already cared about this little rabbit. Protecting her made me feel useful, and loved, and… it was hard to put that away.

I let myself live in maybes for a second. A little rabbit munching snack food under my desk. A big one asleep in the corner of my office – ‘the muscle,’ I’d call her, but really… her name would be Small Fry. Even when she got huge.

I never really would’ve taken her, not really; but… it was nice to pretend, for a second.

JUNO: You can trust that big fella over there?

SMALL FRY: (BARK!)

JUNO: Then go home, kid.

Go home.

SOUND: SPLASHING.

JUNO (NARRATOR): So I watched her hop away. She seemed… happy.

RABBIT: (IN BACKGROUND) (GROWLS)

JUNO (NARRATOR): And that’s when the big rabbit ran over and socked me in the face.

RABBIT: (ROARS)

SOUND: PUNCH.

JUNO: Oof!

SOUND: BIG SPLASH.

H-hey, come on! I know you were scared, but—

SOUND: PUNCH, SPLASH.

Oof!

The hell do you want from me? Money? I got creds, but you have to get off me—

RABBIT: (ROARS, GROWLS)

SOUND: PUNCHES.

JUNO (NARRATOR): This wasn’t right. This wasn’t how the rabbits were. They’d never turn down creds and they never made those noises and they were never… this angry.

I reached for my blaster. But the rabbit had a desperate quickness I’d never seen before and in a second my gun was spinning over his shoulder.

RABBIT: (ROARRRRRR)

SOUND: PUNCH. PLOP.

JUNO (NARRATOR): The rabbit reared back to howl. He still had crumbs and frosting in his fur, big soft belly for scratching, just like all the rabbits I knew. But this one was burned, too. Charred trenches of fur and skin running along his sides, part of one ear gone.

And he looked… so scared. Pissed-off and powerless; like if he couldn’t pin down and punch all those Theia bots, or the human race, or death itself… he was ready to settle for me.

I still had my plasma knife, but I couldn’t stab him. I couldn’t let Ramses make me kill again.

RABBIT: (ROARS)

SMALL FRY: (SQUEAKING)

JUNO (NARRATOR): Small Fry ran up to the rabbit and tugged on his tail. The rabbit nearly jumped out of his fur, and didn’t even look behind him before he kicked one of those huge legs back at the kid.

RABBIT: (RAHHH!)

SOUND: PUNCH. PLOP, SPLASH.

SMALL FRY: (WHIMPERING)

JUNO (NARRATOR): I’ve never seen a rabbit do that. This rabbit had never seen it, either. Looked like he’d spend the rest of his life wishing he hadn’t. Then he turned, and I saw that he was ready to blame it all on me.

RABBIT: (PANTING, BIG HOWL)

JUNO (NARRATOR): A few months ago I might’ve let him, too. That’s what a hero’s for, right? Taking all the hits so the innocent don’t have to, while the ones causing all the pain sit in the stands and watch, blood and popcorn butter sticky on their fingertips.

I was done with that. Instead, I was gonna give the rabbit some advice. So I turned the volume on my comms all the way up.

SOUND: INCREASINGLY LOUDER BEEPS.

RABBIT: (ROARRRR)

JUNO (NARRATOR): And right when he was about to crush my skull… I jammed my comms into his ear and pressed play.

SOUND: FEEDBACK SCREECH. BLIP.

JACKET (FROM COMMS): (VERY LOUD, OVER THE BELOW) We may look backward only to ensure we have not walked this path before.

RABBIT: (OVER THE ABOVE) (HOWL OF PAIN)

SOUND: BLIP. SPLASH.

JUNO: Whaddaya know? Looks like that advice just saved my life, too.

SOUND: SPLASHING FOOTSTEPS.

Stay down, cottontail. I’m not kidding.

SOUND: LOW ELECTRIC HUM.

(OVER THE BELOW) See this? Plasma knife. Real hot; real sharp. I don’t want to hurt you, but if you come any closer, I’ll have to.

RABBIT: (OVER THE ABOVE) (GROWLS)

JUNO: Take the kid and go. This’ll kill you, you understand? Dead.

Stop! Neither one of us wants this!

RABBIT: (BIG GROWL)

JUNO (NARRATOR): But he kept running towards me. And he knew he wouldn’t win. I’m just not sure he cared.

He was almost on top of me. I knew I’d do it if I had to, and… that’s when I heard the first shot.

SOUND: BIG BLASTER SHOT. ELECTRIC WHIR.

THEIA: (AFTER A PAUSE) Targets detected.

SOUND: CREAKING.

JUNO (NARRATOR): A big Theia bot stood in front of me and its first laser sizzled in the wall behind.

The bot had Small Fry pinned between a wall and the end of its cannon.

SMALL FRY: (BARKING)

JUNO: Dammit, no, no, no…!

RABBIT: (GROWLS)

THEIA: Come closer. Rabbit.

JUNO: …What?

RABBIT: (GROWL?)

THEIA: Come closer. I will tell you. When. To stop.

SOUND: SPLASHING FOOTSTEPS.

Closer. Just. A little closer. Real close. There.

SMALL FRY: (YIP!)

SOUND: PLOP.

THEIA: Your little one.

SMALL FRY: (BARKS, MEWLS)

RABBIT: (GRRRRRR)

THEIA: Now please leave. And be careful. Bunnies.

SMALL FRY: (BARKS)

SOUND: SPLASHING FOOTSTEPS FADE.

JUNO (NARRATOR): The two ran, and Small Fry never looked back. I was proud of her. We may look backward only to ensure we have not walked this path before, right? Wherever those rabbits were going, whatever home awaited them… they’d definitely never been there before.

THEIA: You. Stay there.

SOUND: CREAKING.

JUNO: (HEAVY BREATHING)

SOUND: CREAKING STOPS. HISS OF STEAM.

THEIA: Are you injured. User. Mista Steel.

JUNO: Mista…

(STARTS LAUGHING, OVER THE BELOW)

THEIA: Because. Um. Ramses wants to see you aboveground. And. Somethin’ somethin’. No. Don’t say. Somethin’ somethin’. Say—

JUNO: Rita?!

THEIA: —somethin’, you—

JUNO: Rita, is that really you?

THEIA: No. I’m. Um. What’s this thing called. Tara. Teyona. Let me. Look it up.

JUNO: Rita! God, I am glad to see… whatever the hell robot this is.

THEIA: This is. The Theo’s Spectacles.

JUNO: Wait– you yelled at the bot for saying “somethin’ somethin’,” which means you must be able to hear it.

THEIA: Nuh-uh.

JUNO: Rita…

THEIA: Who’s that. She sounds nice.

JUNO: Just drop the joke, alright? I’ve been looking for you for days, I’m filthy, I’m tired, so just tell me where the hell you are!

THEIA: Oh. Does it make you worried. Not knowing. Where very pretty user. Rita is?

JUNO: Rita, I said—

THEIA: ‘Cause maybe. Then. She should disappear for weeks instead. Not say anything. ‘Cause that would definitely make you. Less worried. And not way more worried. Ain’t that right. Boss?

JUNO: (AFTER A PAUSE) Oh, I…

(QUIETLY) What did I do?

Rita, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.

…Rita?

THEIA: The Theia Order. Is shutting. Down.

SOUND: POWERING DOWN.

JUNO: Rita? Rita?!

…No.

Please…

SOUND: THUMPING ON METAL.

No! Damn it, no! No!

I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, Rita; and, I know that’s not enough. I know how sour a sorry tastes when it comes from someone who’s apologized before and never changed a thing. I know you’ve got no reason to believe me, but…

SOUND: METAL CLUNK.

Please don’t leave me here, Rita. You’ve got every reason to, but… I’m tryin’ to get better. I really want to get better, maybe for the first time in my life since the HCPD, and… I’m just so scared that it’s too late, and everybody’s already smartened up and gone, and maybe you should, but please, please—

RITA: Hi Mista Steel.

JUNO: (YELPS, PANTING) How long were you behind me?

RITA: Just for the last ‘please please.’ I miss anything you wanna say again?

JUNO: I, uh…

I’m sorry, Rita. I’m just… so sorry. It won’t happen again.

…Rita?

SOUND: THWUMP.

Oof!

RITA: I missed you, boss. I was real worried.

JUNO: I know. I hear you. For once. (DEEP BREATH) And I missed you too, Rita. Really.

RITA: (SNIFFLING)

JUNO: What? What’s the matter?

RITA: (SNIFFING/CHOKING BACK TEARS) We just… ain’t never hugged this long before, boss. (SWALLOWS) It’s nice.

JUNO: Oh. Yeah, it’s…

(CLEARS THROAT) Anyway, uh… I got a map, and it says there should be a way out just over—

RITA: Oh, yeah. The whole system’s bein’ shifted around, boss. None’a your maps are gonna work anymore.

JUNO: Shifted around for what?

RITA: Oldtown, I guess. But anyway, I figured out the way up before I even came down here because you know me, Mista Steel, I’m all for an adventure but as soon as it’s one that might get one’a my three S’s wet, I gotta get in and out. That’s right, my shoes, snacks, and salmon sausage snacks, so—

JUNO: You know a way up?

RITA: I do! Wanna go see? I was hopin’ we’d be able to bring that big puppet I hacked into with us, but it ain’t exactly gonna fit through the manhole. Or up the ladder, which I learned ‘cause at first I had two ways out but then I broke one, you’re never gonna believe how, boss, it was—

JUNO: With the big robot, right. Listen, Rita, I want to hear that whole story, I really do, but can we do it someplace we’re not covered in slime?

RITA: That’s a great idea, boss. This way.

SOUND: SPLASHING FOOTSTEPS.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): (FADING IN) …let’s look at that moment one more time. Opening day at Polaris Park. Moments after Takano’s last employee check-in. The silent, solitary moment in which his departure flipped from an idea to an action.

We can’t know what he was thinking in those moments. And in the end, trying to understand every minute detail of the departed’s psyche tells us more about ourselves, in many ways, than about them. Just ask Lorenzo Vega:

VEGA (FROM COMMS): Jack was… a perfectionist. He’d made so many compromises with his park, had seen his vision so diluted. One can only conclude that the sight of it, his creation so malformed… who wouldn’t leave?

HAWK (FROM COMMS): Or Jocelyn Chen:

CHEN (FROM COMMS): He was a visionary, and that meant he had no idea what he was doing. He could help us up to greatness, but him? His sights were always going to be aimed up about a dozen feet over where he ended up, and he was always going to be bored by whatever he made. Always.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): Or Miranda Fairbanks, who wrote in her memoir:

FAIRBANKS ACTOR (FROM COMMS): Humanity needs people like Jack, I think. People who can just see how things should be, without the reality of what they are getting in the way. That’s how progress happens. And so I assume he must have seen the true way forward somewhere other than us… and run towards it.

JUNO: This ladder?

RITA: Mm-hmm.

SOUND: GRUNTS, METAL CLANKING.

HAWK (FROM COMMS): We’ve presented you with theories over these many hours, but we will probably never know why Jack Takano left us behind. The only clue we have is the audio note found in his office, once he was gone. And to conclude our program, we will play it in full.

MUSIC: STARTS (FROM COMMS).

JACK (FROM COMMS): The thing I find most beautiful about Andromeda, in the end, is this: that she can never be satisfied. I wonder now, if Orion’s curse wasn’t really a blessing for our Homeless Hero. He turned her from a protector of one city, to an active force of good the world over.

RITA: (OVERLAPPING WITH THE END OF ABOVE) What’s the holdup, boss?

JUNO: Found the manhole cover.

JACK (FROM COMMS): To find home—

JUNO: (GRUNTS)

SOUND: METAL SCRAPING.

JACK (FROM COMMS): (OVER THE ABOVE) —Andromeda always looks backwards. Polaris. Nostalgia. The paradise left behind. And this works in our stories, when we only show the shining city for a few seconds at a time. But in life, no such place exists.

RITA: Mista Steel?

JACK (FROM COMMS): If it did—

RITA: Mista Steel?

JACK (FROM COMMS): —we would already live there.

JUNO: This… this isn’t Oldtown.

RITA: I’m pretty sure it is, boss. I counted paces an’ everything.

JUNO: No. The map’s right. I’m happy to explain in a minute, Rita, just as soon as I get this cannon out of my face.

THEIA: Remove yourselves. From. The sewer. Help. Is on the way.

JACK (FROM COMMS): But there may yet be such a home. I believe we can find it. But we cannot turn our heads if it is not what we expected, or if we fear what we see when it opens its gates.

RITA: Oh no oh no oh no—

THEIA: Now put your hands up. Please.

JACK (FROM COMMS): Home is not in the past. It can’t be. And that means when we find home, when we find the perfect place we yearn for… I doubt we will even recognize it.

RITA: What is this place? What happened to Oldtown?

JUNO: Says it right there on the sign, Rita.

“Welcome to Newtown: The City of the Future.”

JACK (FROM COMMS): And so now I leave. I go now to seek the true way home, as any hero should. And I urge you to do the same. Or, at least, to accept it when it comes. I look forward to meeting you there. Jack Takano.

ALL SOUNDS: FADE OUT.

***

SOUND: TRAIN MOVING, MUSIC.

CONDUCTOR: If you’ve enjoyed this tale, please consider donating to The Penumbra on Patreon. Our artists work tirelessly to bring you these stories, and if you have the means, we hope you will support our efforts. Every dollar helps. You can find that page at patreon.com/thepenumbrapodcast. If you support us on Patreon at the $10 level or higher, you’ll receive access to commentary tracks like this one, from actor Matthew Zahnzinger and co-creators Sophie Kaner and Kevin Vibert:

SOUND: TRAIN STOPS, DOOR SLIDES OPEN, RAIN.

SOPHIE: …There’s not anything more to it than it’s like, yeah, well I thought of it, and I’m smart, and how do I know that? Well, ‘cause I’m me, I just know.

KEVIN: Mmhmm.

SOPHIE: And there’s nobody… above him to tell him, y’know. And there’s no way of knowing for sure… what is good.

MATTHEW: Although to that point, and, to get… back on my bandwagon of every commentary complimenting Kevin’s writing, um—

SOPHIE: Could you compliment me a little bit, for once?

MATTHEW: (LAUGHING)

SOPHIE: What is this?!

SOUND: DOOR SLIDES SHUT.

CONDUCTOR: You can also support The Penumbra by liking us on Facebook, following us on Twitter @thepenumbrapod, following us on Tumblr @thepenumbrapodcast, telling your friends about us, telling your friends to tell their friends about us, and especially by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. Every rating, comment, and kind word spreads our stories further and inspires us to keep creating more and better tales to come.

We would like to give special thanks to all who support us on Patreon, but especially to Minchowski, Camille Blanton, Christine Kim, Rowan Collins, Garrett M, Jay Iannuzzelli, Karin Z-H, Canteloupe, Fiona Parker, Regan, Ko, Kim Zeugin, Atha Lang, Vron, Charlie Spiegel, and Jaimie Gunter for their incredibly generous contributions per episode. Thank you.

Did you know that The Penumbra has merchandise for sale? It’s true! The Penumbra has partnered with DFTBA to bring you the posters, shirts, and pins your heart desires. Just go to dftba.com and search for The Penumbra Podcast.

This tale, Juno Steel and the Long Way Home, was told by the following people: Joshua Ilon as Juno Steel, Matthew Zahnzinger as Jack Takano and Ramses O’Flaherty, Marge Dunn as Hawk Hackett, Bob Mussett as Lorenzo Vega, Melissa Barker as Jocelyn Chen, Allison Choat as the Miranda Fairbanks reader, Sophie Kaner as the Theia and Small Fry, and Kate Jones as Rita.

The Penumbra is created and produced by Sophie Kaner and Kevin Vibert. If you wish to know more about our ever-expanding, infinitely-creative team of artists, musicians, editors, designers, and managers, you can read about them in the show notes of this episode.

I’m afraid this is the end of the line for today, dear Traveler. We hope you will ride with The Penumbra again soon.

ALL SOUNDS: FADE OUT.

#juno steel #i miss small fry

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danvssomethingorother · 6 years

Text

Success in Progress

chapter 1

A03

Summary: Brock gets invited to Venture compound by Jonas himself to protect his son.

(yes this thing has a name now and I am in too deep. I hope you all love my weird ideas for the origin of this man we saw for five seconds. I just love successful Rusty, ok?)

---

The tour was just for show, the safe version you showed dying kids whose last wish was just to see the Venture Compound because they loved Rusty Venture so much. All the secrets and interesting stuff safely locked up, out of sight and if you wanted to see more, Jonas’s dazzling show man smile and the flare he gave to the mundane things everyone knew about was all it took to get you to shut up.

Brock sat in the very back of the people mover keeping his eyes on Venture’s heir, quietly sitting there every once in awhile turning towards the albino and opening his mouth as if to say something but remaining quiet when his father glanced his way.

The only one eating up Jonas’s show and bullshit facts was Billy who was even asking questions and excitedly trying to tell Jonas and Rusty fun facts he had heard about their own compound.

Brock took this time to take in the security measures silently taking notes for him to check it out more later.

After what felt like hours of being on a tour from hell, Brock noticed the albino sleeping soundly against Rusty’s shoulder. Rusty was annoyedly trying to knock him off but stopped moving each time his dad’s eyes hit him.

He only found some strength in himself to complete the task after they came to a stop by a building that definitely wasn’t intended for the public to ever enter. Pete scowled at the rude awakening but seeing Jonas’s eyes on the pair, didn’t attempt anything on his son.

“This, gentlemen, shall be our working quarters,” Jonas said easily stopping the people mover and stepping out, “I apologize it is so far out, I would usually just use the down stairs lab for something like this but with the Spinx threats and the recent fire, I felt we needed a more secure place for a project so important.”

“Fire?” Billy questioned just as alarmed as Brock himself was at this news.

“Yeah my last body guard went crazy and tried to burn us alive,” Rusty said with a shrug, crawling over his friend who wasn’t getting out of the vehicle fast enough for his liking.

Pete, who had seemed like he was on the up and up of Venture history looked surprised by this, sitting there a moment longer before Rusty and Billy whined for him to hurry up.

Brock trailed behind them listening to the history lesson for once on this building. It was fire proof, he had been using it as a fall out bunker of sorts for his most prized inventions Jonas didn’t wish to be destroyed by any of the sieges on the castle.

The first floor was for show, filled with junk from the Rusty Venture show Jonas had collected over the years instantly brightening up Billy’s mood once more. Jonas chuckled and told him he could take what he liked later, but now there was science to be done.

Jonas popped open a trap door at the end of the room and disappeared down it, Rusty didn’t hesitate to do the same. His friends however stood nervously looking at each other before glancing back down into the dark tunnel leading only god knew where.

“After you Billy,” White said with a smile extending his hand towards the entrance.

“No way, this is reminding me way too much of the time Jonas’s brain was taken over by pod people who were trying to steal everyone’s brains. This is a trap.”

“Its not a trap, you are being a big wuss, its just a scary hole in the ground in a junk garage.”

“Dude, this is all first edition merch from the Rusty Venture show, its far from junk! And if you aren’t scared, you go down there!”

“I am going to toss you down there if you don’t hurry up,” Brock snarled at Billy and Pete who instantly stopped bickering, Pete disappearing first while Billy took a nervous glance at Brock before he too disappeared. Brock was the last down, quickly scaling his way down the secure rung ladder.

“What took you so long,” Rusty sneered at them as they finally caught up to the Ventures in what appeared to be a normal looking lab, but normal labs were never this hidden from the public. Something about all of this just wasn’t sitting right with Brock as he stepped towards the nerds gathering around Jonas who was by a white board fiddling with some equations while he waited for them all to catch up.

Written at the top of the Board was the title ‘Problem Light’ and under it was a crude rough sketch of a box with a red eye in the center.

“Excuse us for being a little nervous of the weird secret lab,” Pete scoffed playfully punching his friend in the arm before leaning close to Rusty and whispering as if Brock couldn’t hear him, “What is with the secrecy anyway? This illegal? Should we be letting that fella in here?”

“It may be frowned upon later but its hardly illegal,” Jonas chuckled.

“You, um haven’t been to the Amazon lately have you?” Billy asked nervously wringing his hands.

“No brain slugs up here,” Jonas chuckled lightly tapping his own head, “No this is a safety precaution because of Spinx and of course the Guild or anymore unexpected fires. This is so nothing destroys our progress and makes us have to restart our work.”

“And even if it was illegal, I would permit Brock down here, he is here to help keep you three safe and safety is the most important thing.”

Rusty snorted at that but said nothing.

“So, um…what are we going to be working on?” Pete asked leaning up against the counter nearly knocking some glass vials on the floor making Brock snort, it didn’t seem like safety was that important since Jonas just chuckled at that and didn’t scold him.

“We are going to work together to put a stop to something that has been plaguing man kind since the beginning.”

“A cure for Cancer?” Billy ventured a guess.

“Bad hair days,” Pete joked nudging at Rusty who swatted back at him.

“While those are equally as bad,” Jonas said with a bit of an eye roll and shake of his head, “I was talking about death itself. A way to put a stopper on it before it can take the best and brightest minds away from us before they can really make progress on the world.”

“And how we gonna do that? That seems pretty impossible,” Billy said finally showing some good skepticism in the man.

“Everything seems impossible at first, but great men like us have always been able to find a way to beat the odds.”

He turned towards them with a smile that would make any weak-willed person sway to it, his words promising anything was possible. Well, he was Jonas Venture, he had done some impressive feats in the past, so why wouldn’t these idiots just take everything he said at face value?

Rusty didn’t seem to share their new-found enthusiasm as Jonas began rambling about his little ideas and being generous enough to allow participation from the rest of the class.

Jonas had introduced this as Rusty’s project, yet he seemed to have very little say or control over it, constantly being talked over by his dad and just standing back and letting him talk finally.

Brock would have been more concerned with that if Rusty’s ideas didn’t seem utterly stupid, even to someone like Brock who barely knew anything about science.

----

After a long day of Brock just standing in the back of the room and watching a bunch of nerds spit ball ideas, Jonas finally lead them all to the living quarters and it seemed even here secrets were hidden. On opening the door, Brock picked up the faint sound of babies crying and Rusty pushed past both Brock and his father, both glaring at their charge, as he instantly ran up the stairs.

“Rust is a daddy,” Pete said with a giggle at Brock’s confused state, “Little baby twins. Little boy adventurers in the making.”

“I did not want my grandchildren on his files,” Jonas said after not so gently ushering Billy through the door, “The higher ups of course know but it is listed as classified until I choose to reveal them to the world. I fear I revealed Rusty himself too early in my excitement and that caused nothing but problems down the line.”

Brock thought that was an understatement, Rusty’s first kidnappings was at three and according to his files, was nearly sacrificed on a satanic alter by one of Jonas’s ex-girlfriends. Whether or not that ex was Rusty’s own mother, Brock didn��t know, his mother’s identity was also classified.

“I trust Rusty set you two up in your quarters last night?” Jonas asked turning a serious look towards the scientists looking ready to tear his son a new one if he hadn’t.

“Oh yeah, Rust showed us our room, but it doesn’t seem like there will be enough room for this fella since Kano and that other guy live here too.”

“Rodney is moving out,” Jonas said with a chuckle, “I am sure Billy was happy to see Action Man before he retired from Team Venture.”

“Billy got him to sign his autograph book,” Pete chuckled walking over to the couch and making himself at home, “Ya better watch out Jonas, he will be trying to get you next.”

“I will gladly sign your book,” Jonas said bending to Billy’s level like he was an actual child and gripping his shoulder reassuringly, Brock thought Billy would pass out from excitement just the way stars flew from his eyes.

Jonas turned his attention to the staircase as Rusty finally reappeared, a baby in each arm and a large Asian man walking behind him.

“How are the Junior members of Team Venture doing?” Jonas asked a seriousness laced in his gentle words.

“They were fine while we were gone today, Kano is actually competent with children unlike Helper,” with just the bitterness alone in his tone Brock could tell there was a history there.

“Helper was designed to take care of children,” Jonas chuckled holding his arms out expecting Rusty to hand him one of his grandchildren but Rusty did not, he kept going to the couch before sitting with Pete who took the blonde one instead.

“Little Hank is a dead ringer for Samson, you not telling us something, Rust?” the albino chuckled holding the baby up and Brock just stared back at the drooling creature he was not informed about. He was also not informed most of Team Venture had left. Or that Jonas was trying to make some kind of immortality machine.

“No, my son is not related to the hired help,” Rusty grumbled back swatting at his friend who kept bouncing his son in his arms.

Brock tuned their bickering out easily staring at the man’s father’s easy smile that was always seemed to be hiding something.

He knew he was going to get no answers from Jonas, all his information was under the heavy lock and key of his charismatic smiles and easy lies and misdirection but Rusty, he might be able to answer him.

“Will dinner be ready soon?” Jonas asked with his usual smile as he turned to a mini bar preparing himself a drink and Kano merely nodded not saying a word as he disappeared into the kitchen where Brock caught the site of a blue robot running around with a chef hat on.

This was the weirdest job he had ever agreed to be apart of and he had once fought David Bowie in Berlin over some sacred artifact that was rumored to grant immortality. Boy would Jonas have loved to have that thing, too bad it melted in Lava…

Pete had already turned on the TV, some sitcom was on that he and Rusty seemed to be arguing over. Rusty was of the opinion it was lame, Pete thought it was high art.

“She’s a teenage witch and her cat talks! What else do you need?”

“Something that isn’t garbage?” Rusty growled back failing to swat the remote from his friend without jostling his child, “Besides the stupid cat gives Hank nightmares, you know that.”

“It gives you nightmares,” Pete hissed back sitting on the remote, so his friend couldn’t steal it, “Hank here loves the damn cat. Don’t ya Hank?”

“Cat!” Hank gurgled reaching towards the black cat on the TV.

Jonas like the king he was, sat high in his arm chair, legs folded and one arm over the back and whiskey in hand like he was posing for a fashion magazine. Keeping a close eye on everything going on in the room, not paying any attention to Billy leaning over the arm of the couch, rambling to him about the man’s own many adventures.

“Brock, please have a seat,” Jonas commanded, and Brock did as he was told not wanting any trouble to come from the first night on the job. He sat in the middle of the circular couch, just between the nerds arguing and the babies getting fussy on his left and the nerd groveling to the personification of God himself.

There was nothing for Brock do here, so he got up to leave, maybe go collect his duffle bag from the car and do a perimeter check before dinner and finding a way to sneak into Rusty’s room later tonight to get some real answers from him. Something just didn’t feel about this entire situation. Nothing. Keeping Rusty’s children a secret, having only two assistants who were rather new to the field of science for such a large project, all the blacked-out information on Venture’s files, the last body guard losing her mind after being here six months.

He felt Jonas’s eyes watching him as he got up to leave and was just at the door when Jonas called for him. He turned his head back noticing the only ones still making any noises were the fussy infants, he momentarily locked eyes with Rusty who mouthed something to him while Jonas’s head was turned from him and it only made the oddness of this assignment sink in more.

‘You can’t just leave.’

“Where are you headed?”

“I was going to get my things from my car---”

Jonas merely chuckled cutting him off with a wave of his hand, gulping down the rest of his whiskey before he said firmly.

“Its all already been taken care of, I had Helper bring your things into your new room while we were busy today. Just relax, have a drink, go take a dip in my pool, unwind my dear boy. You must learn to relax.”

“Your robot touched my car?” Brock almost sneered and Rusty seemed to sense the danger like a second sense, collected his other child from Pete and was already hurrying back up the stairs, Pete dragging Billy with them.

“Relax, relax, Helper didn’t harm your car,” he chuckled, “You left the keys in the hanger! He just merely unlocked the trunk and transferred your one duffel bag to your new room. If you would like I can show you there?”

“What’s your game?” Brock couldn’t help but question out loud.

“There is none,” Jonas said like a father trying to comfort his child, “You have been on the front line so long, I think you are just looking for one. Spinx isn’t here right now, you can let your guard down sometimes. You must learn to do so or you will lose yourself, trust me on this.”

“I have watched you look for a threat all day, Spinx like the Guild before them is not subtle, you will know when you need to prepare for battle. I appreciate you take your job more seriously then the last hack they sent here but you are young, Brock, you don’t need to be so tense. Don’t go looking for threats that aren’t there. I hired you in case of emergencies to keep my son safe, that doesn’t mean you must lose your sanity looking for a threat every waking moment. It is the first day, just breath and get used to the surroundings gradually, that is all you have to do.”

He patted Brock on the shoulder gently, “Your room is down that hallway on the left-hand side, Kano’s is right next door if you ever require anything. Upstairs,” he pointed his glass the way Rusty and his friends had disappeared to, “Is our sleeping quarters. Mine at the very end of the hall if you ever need me, Billy and Pete’s to the left-hand side and Rusty and his sons are to the right. That is the lay out I know you must have been dying to scope out for yourself, but you don’t need to. You only need to ask Brock. We aren’t the enemy, we may do things you don’t understand but we do them for a reason.”

“I asked for privacy as a top operative of the OSI myself, I helped fund the organization back in ’62, I feel I have earned my privacy in their files. You know what the Guild has done to my Rusty and what they have continued to do to him to this day and now Spinx is in the mix, I don’t want Rusty fearing for those boys lives like I had to, so I leave them out of our documents.”

Brock did know, that was some of the stuff that wasn’t classified. A few months ago they had been sending dead snakes to the Venture compound making demands for Venture’s son or the entire compound would be destroyed, they had yet to make due on that threat.

“Are the boys the former body guard’s…” Brock began before Jonas cut him off with a frown.

“Dean and Hank are not her sons, she came to that conclusion herself when her and Rusty began an intimate relationship and she became a tab bit too attached,” Jonas said with a sigh and shake of his head, “The compound catching fire? That wasn’t Spinx or the Guild.”

“And you still want OSI protection after that?”

“I am getting old, Kano is getting old, Team Venture is barely holding together because they are all married and wish for more time with their families instead of keeping things like they always have been,” Jonas chuckled a tinge of sadness in his eyes, “One psycho doesn’t automatically change the fact the OSI is a competent organization with people like yourself willing to help me. Not only with Spinx but to protect Rusty when I am gone. I love my son, my greatest project, my legacy, more then words can tell but he is weak, and he needs someone to look after him always.”

“I can’t guarantee I will be here forever,” Brock grumbled shaking his head.

“I can’t force it on you, but I hope you can one day call yourself a member of Team Venture, Mr. Samson, I can already tell you are a reliable young man.”

Jonas patted Brock fondly on the arm before leading him to the bar to share a drink with him and Brock didn’t feel he could refuse him. Rusty’s warning stuck on his mind though and left him lying in bed staring at the ceiling long after he had retired.

‘You can’t just leave.’

A part of him almost wanted to trust Jonas, he didn’t seem like that bad of a guy and well his son did seem like a bit of a pompous, ungrateful little asshole but he still couldn’t shake that warning. Would he be able to leave when this was all said and done?

#venture bros #the venture bros #brusty #docbrock #rusty venture #brock samson #pete white #Billy Quizboy #jonas venture #Dan's fics

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merigreenleaf · 6 years

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AU Tuesday - “Stuck With You” Part 9

(For AU Tuesday I’m writing a multi-part story about all five of my main characters using the prompt: “A [platonic] soulmate AU where you have a black stain where your soulmate is supposed to touch you for the first time and it turns to millions of colors once they do.” The events are all [or mostly] canon to the series; the only real change are the soul-marks. These can really be read in any order because each part pretty much stands on its own. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3,Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 10.)

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Sol shoved the pile of half-finished toothpick sculptures aside until there was a big, empty space on his worktable perfect for his Plan. It was a great plan. He fixed performers’ props all the time and there was no way he could mess this up. There was only one problem: he didn’t have the prop yet. It wouldn’t be a secret anymore if he went and got it because everyone would wonder what he was doing in Blythe’s house. Well, Blythe’s and Dray’s and Adair’s house, since they both lived in her wagon now, too. Every day Sol asked Adair to move in with him because that would be like a sleepover all the time, but Adair kept saying no, saying that Blythe’s wagon had a bigger pantry and space for the easel she’d bought him. It wasn’t fair, Sol should rank above food and art supplies. Maybe if he built a really smarfy thing that was part bed, part studio, part kitchen, Adair would move in.

Adair! That was the perfect way to get the prop! Adair could pretend to grab his paint or something, then sneak out with it when he left. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that he lived over there.

“Hey, buddy? Do you know where Dray keeps their props? Can you get me their staff?”

A few feet away Adair was doing his best oversized magpie impression in the very well-enforced nest that was Sol’s bed. Much like Sol had done to the desk, Adair had pushed Sol’s collection of metallic odds and ends and broken pieces of appliances to the side. Sol craned his neck to see what he was drawing in his sketchbook, but Adair closed it and set it on top of the nest-pile before he could get a good look. “Yeah, I guess. Why?”

Sol tugged the sculpture of Adair’s cat free from his arm and put the lid on the glue jar before grinning at Adair. “I’m gonna fix it up for them. Dray’s gonna love it!”

Adair shrugged and headed out the door while Sol went into planning mode. The staff had looked a little dingy and scratched up when Dray danced with it last night. That would have been almost acceptable for a tinkerer like Sol-- until he saw the struggle Dray had separating the pieces to take it apart. It was then that Sol had his brilliant Plan. He’d take Dray’s beat up old staff and fix it up so that it was like new. Better than new! He wasn’t the carnival troupe’s resident inventor for nothing!

Plus Dray seemed so gloomy and sad that Sol wanted to do something to cheer them up. He’d wanted to meet Blythe’s sibling ever since he learned she had one because Sol’s own sibling was great so that must mean that Blythe’s was, too. And then he met Dray. Maybe Dray was great, somewhere under all the cynicism and frowns, but they kept to themself and didn’t really talk to Sol or anyone. Okay, Etri was like that, too, but that was just because he was shy and Blythe had never said anything about Dray being shy. What Dray needed was something to make them feel welcome and Sol knew he was the one who could do it, especially with Adair here to help.

How had he gotten by before Adair sleepwalked into the carnival? Adair didn’t mind holding down things Sol was hammering or grabbing stuff Sol forgot to have ready or taking emergency midnight trips into the city with him to dive through dumpsters. Sometimes his drawings even gave Sol ideas. And since Adair wasn’t here to use it right now, now would be the perfect time to go through his sketchbook! Sol flopped onto the bed and grabbed the book. For a moment the nest teetered, but when only a few pieces of scrap metal clattered to the floor, Sol made himself comfortable and started flipping through the pages. A sketch of a bullfrog, this one probably won’t be helpful… detailed study of a paintbrush tip, no, not this one either… a rough drawing of Dray dancing? Maybe this one would be…

A red sequined bag dropped into his lap. “Is this the right one? Dray’s got a ton of prop bags and they all look the same.”

Maybe if he combined this drawing of a bullfrog with that old cuckoo clock he found, he could make something that croaked the hour. “Huh?”

Adair took the sketchbook from his hands and replaced it with the strap of the bag. “Remember? You asked me to get the staff so you could fix it. Is this the right one?”

“That’s right! Dray’s surprise!” Sol jumped off the bed too fast and stumbled as he slung the strap over his shoulder. The bag swung around and smacked Adair in the head. No wonder Blythe always said he needed to slow down before he hurt himself. Hurting Adair was worse than hurting himself! Adair was his important. He felt for a bump on Adair’s head and didn’t feel anything. Was that a good sign? Would there be a bump already? Sol hurt himself on a daily basis but he wasn’t really sure how Blythe figured out when he needed to be healed and when he needed to be shooed out the door. “Sorry! Does it hurt? Do you need to go to Blade? She always tells me to watch where I’m going and she’s probably right-”

Adair ducked down and out of his reach. “I’m fine. But are you sure you should do this without asking?”

Sol blinked at him. “Hit you in the head?”

“No. I mean, yeah, don’t do that, but I meant fix Dray’s prop without asking. Dray’s really… enthusiastic about their props. I swear they were baby talking to their fire swords this morning. It was kind of weird.”

Sol peeked inside the bag. Adair had picked right despite his constant confusion about props. He called pretty much everything vaguely rod-shaped a baton. In Adair’s defense, all of his paintbrushes looked the same to Sol, and he had yet to hand Adair the right one he asked for. Maybe if he used Adair’s paint to color-code them all… Right, Adair had said something about carnies being weird. “Weird? Oh, with props. All carnies are like that. Etri’s favorite knife is named Pokey. Well, when I say it’s named, I mean I call it that, he doesn’t, but I bet if I do it long enough he’ll pick up on it. It worked with Blythe’s boots Kicky and Kicko.”

“And you’re sure it’s okay to fix it without asking?”

Adair trailed after him and sat on the step stool while Sol took the three pieces of the staff out of the bag. The stool was there so Adair could reach the table built for Sol’s height, but Adair was iffy about using it. Sometimes it was fine, sometimes his fear of heights was too much and Sol had to work on the floor with him instead. That was okay. Having a friend to help was worth way more than a table that was usually covered in last week’s Big Plan anyway.

“I’m not gonna hurt it, just make it better. Like Blade does when we get hurt.”

“But that’s different.”

Sol eyed the staff before connecting and unconnecting two of the parts. They did drag each time instead of sliding silently together and the catch was funny. It was a wonder Dray had put up with this because Sol would have gotten it fixed a long time ago. If he sanded it down and then soldered on a different connector, it should come together much smoother. “It’s not different. She’s a healer to broken people, I’m a healer to broken things. We both fix things. The difference is, she can’t make broken people shoot spikes or ignite with the push of a button, and I can! I mean things, not people. I can’t make people shoot spikes. But things like this staff – Ooh! Maybe I can make the staff ignite! And shoot spikes! And then ignite the spikes! And then-”

“Okay, yeah, I guess that makes sense. You go do that and I’ll… umm… be over here.” Adair retreated to his nest, which Sol thought was a little silly because it wasn’t like he’d added the spikes yet. Maybe if Adair sat there long enough, though, one of Sol’s piles of scrap would hatch into a little trash vulture or something. Sol could train it to pick through junk heaps, and perch on his shoulder, and say important words like “hello” and “smarfy” and “look out, Blythe’s coming.”

But first the staff. No sooner had Sol pushed the third piece into place when a voice that wasn’t Adair’s rang across the wagon, “You thief!”

The staff dropped to the table with a clatter. Sol glanced over his shoulder and, not seeing anyone there, lifted his arm to see in the blind spot caused by his biceps. There Dray stood with their hands on their hips, wearing a scowl so much like Blythe’s that Sol wanted to hide despite Dray being half his size. “Wh-where?”

Unlike Blythe, Dray’s furious expression and hands-on-hips didn’t turn into foot-tapping or counting. Sol hated when Blythe counted at him. It make him lose track of his thoughts every time and that meant never knowing what it was she wanted him to stop doing. Dray glared up from the level of Sol’s elbow. “I’m looking at him. You took it.”

Dray wasn’t all that scary, really, not after knowing Blythe for so long. If all they were going to do was stand there and accuse Sol of… something… without even throwing numbers at him, Sol was going to get back to work. He picked up the staff again and ran his thumb over the second connector. “I took what?”

“That! That right there!”

“This?” Sol looked at the staff, then back at Dray. It turned out he didn’t need counting to lose track of what they were arguing about. Huh, you learn something new every day. “What about this?”

“That!” Dray took their hands from their hips so that they could gesture at the staff. “You took that!”

“I took this?”

“Yes! You took my staff!”

Oh! Now Sol remembered why Dray was here. It was Dray’s staff that he was going to make shoot flaming spikes. He grinned at Dray and nodded. “Yeah! Yeah, I took your staff.”

There was a brief pause between them, then Dray cleared their throat. “Well? Can I have it back now?”

“You mean the staff?” Sol pointed at the staff with the hand that wasn’t holding it. He wanted to be clear that Dray wasn’t talking about something else.

“Of course I mean the staff!” Dray gestured wildly toward the ceiling now. “What else have I been asking about since I came in here?”

“But I’m not done with it yet. I have to be a healer to it because it’s a broken thing and I fix broken things.”

“There’s nothing broken about my staff.”

Dray lunged for it and Sol reflexively lifted it up above his head. His knuckles scraped the ceiling and it hurt a little, but he knew Dray wouldn’t be able to reach it. If Dray would stop yelling, Sol could have had this done five minutes ago. Maybe not the spikes yet, that might take a while, but the fixing part would be finished. “Yes there is! I have to sand it down and solder on a new catch so it slides together better--”

“Give. Me. My. Staff.”

“--And it doesn’t shoot spikes or light them on fire yet--”

“It’s not supposed to do that, you goon!” Dray hopped onto the step stool and reached for the staff, their fingertips falling short yet close enough that Sol feared they'd be able to grab it if they jumped.

Sol needed to make Dray understand. It was a present to make them happy and now they were just about the opposite of happy. Or was sad the opposite of happy? Dray wasn't sad anymore, and that was what Sol had been going for, but angry wasn't what he wanted either. “But it was going to! It was going to be a surprise and now I told you and it’s not a surprise anymore.”

“What do you mean ‘surprise’?” Dray planted their foot on Sol’s shin and grabbed onto one of his shoulders. Within seconds they had clambered up Sol’s torso.

“I’m fixing your staff. …Surprise!” Despite Dray’s display of human parkour, Sol was having fun. Hey, maybe Dray would want to start an acrobatic act with him. Now that Etri was going to be Adair’s sentinel, he probably wouldn’t be performing much and Sol was going to need a new partner.

“It. Doesn’t. Need. Fixed.” Dray hoisted their way up past his shoulders until they sat astride the back of his neck. Sol waved the staff around, wondering how well Dray could keep their balance. He was pretty sure they were holding on entirely with their knees.

The door to the wagon swung open followed by a voice Sol knew all too well. “Freeze, you two!”

Sol spun so that both of them were facing the shadows standing in the doorway and he was pleased when Dray didn’t even totter. Maybe this could work! He’d have to ask Etri about his future plans and if he’d mind Sol taking on a new partner. He’d have to ask Dray, too, of course, but maybe they--

That was when he realized Blythe was still addressing them in what Sol thought of her “stop-screwing-around” voice. He had no choice but to hand Dray the staff, which they snatched with a gleeful cackle, so he could pluck them from his shoulders and set them on the floor. Adair stood next to Blythe and it took Sol a worried minute to realize he was turning red because he was trying not to laugh. What was so funny?

“Well, I’d say that’s unexpected, but I should have seen it coming when I heard you two bickering. Dray, do you always activate marks by getting into fights?”

What was she talking about? Sol glanced down at Dray to see if they had any idea. Dray must have taken his attention the wrong way because they glared and swung the staff behind their back to put it out of reach.

Adair had returned to his normal shade of brown when he nudged Blythe’s arm. “Can I tell them both? Please? Pretty please?”

Blythe sighed and covered her eyes with her hand. “This is going to be a bad pun again, isn’t it? Every time you ask, it’s always a bad pun.”

“There’s no such thing as a bad pun.” Adair gestured with both hands at Sol and Dray. “I guess this means they’re sole-mates.”

“I knew it. That’s the same dumb pun you’ve been making since you met Sol.”

“No, it’s not! The other was about Sol. This one’s completely different. I mean, it does make them sole-mate Sol-mate soulmates, but it’s a completely different joke.”

“Oh no,” Dray muttered under their breath.

Sol just stared at Adair. If he waited long enough, maybe Adair would stop saying his name and explain what was going on. To his relief Adair came over and poked him in the side, but his words weren’t any more helpful. “You two must have got off on the wrong foot, huh?”

Blythe and Dray groaned in tandem. Why was Adair talking so much about feet?

“You’re going to be together through thick and shin now, I’ll bet.”

Huh?

Dray held out a hand as though to keep Adair at a distance. “Enough is enough. Sol, he means look at your leg, you doof.”

Finally someone was making sense. Sol did as he was told. The long black soulmark on the front of his leg had changed into the same rainbow of the other marks on his body. He’d always thought the mark looked a little like a footprint and… that was why Adair kept making all the feet comments! Dray’s matching mark to his must be on the bottom of their foot, like Etri and Blythe’s were on their hands and Adair’s was on his back. Maybe Dray would want to share an act with him because they were destined to be important to each other. He let out a whoop and picked Dray up in a bear hug to spin them around. This was great! Now he knew who all of his importants were!

Dray’s only reaction to this was to sigh when Sol put them back on the ground and to tug the wrinkles from their shirt. “I guess it could be worse. Pun-boy over there could be one of my soulmates.”

Adair stuck his tongue out, which Dray ignored.

“Now that I know I’m stuck with you and you weren’t going to steal it, I suppose I can let you have this.” Dray held out the staff only to snatch it back when Sol went to take it. “Under one condition. You only fix it up so it works better. No spikes and absolutely no flaming spikes.”

“Can I at least make the wicks self-ignite when you push the button? I really want to make it have a button that does something smarfy.”

Dray hesitated, but handed it over. “I’m going to regret this. I know I’m going to regret this. Just be careful with it.”

There was no doubt about it. Sol had the best importants! He met Adair’s eyes and didn’t have to say a word. Adair knew exactly what he wanted. “I’ll go move the rest of the toothpicks off the table.”

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(My husband gets co-writer credit this week because he helped me out with writing that argument and then acted it out for me. He’s a goofball! Anyway, I have two chapters left in this story and next week it’s a Dray POV. :) As always, if you want to be taken off the list of people I tag when I share stories, let me know. If you want to be added to the list, also let me know. And please definitely do tag me when you share stories and excerpts and things, too! @ageekyreader @lynnafred @the-gay-hufflepuff @firewritten @joshuaorrizonte @writtenhastily @writerlydays @ava-burton-writing @josephmxa @megan-cutler @dragonscanbeplantstoo @alittle-writer @perringwrites @an-author-in-progress @aceduchessdragoness @madmooninc @thatwriternamedvolk @elliot-orion @wchwriter @lady-redshield-writes @shadow-maker @zachdoesawriting @blogherosix @reeseweston @bluemartlet @pen-for-sword @writer-on-time )

#writing #writeblr #short story #au story #soulmate au #au tuesday #unexpected inspiration series #stuck with you story #UI POV: Sol #I always worry about Sol's chapters being too weird and rambly so hopefully this works! :)#although writing this chapter makes me want to get a staff even more than I already did #dang my carnies making me want to try new props!

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cloudravine · 6 years

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I was tagged by Ri, aka @harry-did-that! 💗💛 Here are my (absolutely iconic) answers, after keeping you in suspense for ages haha ;3

1. when and how did you become a fan? give me all the details and feelings hit me with that nostalgia!

haahaha you already know this, but I became a fan in December 2017 rip 🙈 I’d been listening a lot to SOTT since its release and kept seeing Harry on my dash and thinking he looked really cool; and some time at the beginning of December, I watched the Kiwi video and some other stuff (the carpool karaoke, the sketches with James, etc.) and basically fell into the abyss overnight lmao. I started looking for tickets to attend Harry’s Oslo concert literally one (1) day later, and things went a bit out of control from there. Since my extra ass always needs to know everything, my love for Harry naturally brought me to One Direction, and within a few weeks I was in love with the whole band. :’) I’ve been listening to 1D radio all day long since then, and yeah, now I’d die for our five boys. 💕🌸

2. whats ur fave 1d moment/memory?

I sadly don’t have many moments as a fan yet, but yeah, definitely Hazza’s Oslo concert! 😍😍😍

3. if you were to fight harry how would you go about it

I just... wouldn’t tbh. I’m super soft and HATE conflict and confrontation in general, and with Harry I’d definitely end up shaking and crying if we had a real fight, cause I’d just be so scared to upset/annoy him.

BUT!!! We could have a tickling battle sdfgsjdg :D I’d try to find his weak spots and get him to giggle a lot - but I’d totally let him win in the end since, well, I’m weak like that. :’) 💛

4. so like, if we had 1d (ot4/ot5 idc) locked in a room and given them truth serum slkdnlksdnf sorry for this au but, what 3 questions would you ask them (feel free to do more than 3 its been almost 8 years full of lies so)

Okaaay, let’s go with one question for each of ‘em laddies! 😊

Harry: The boys have said that you almost never lose your temper for real, but that it’s kinda scary when you do. What are some situations in which you absolutely lost your shit, and what did you say/do in the heat of the moment?

Louis: Tell me about the incident when you called Harry a “curly-haired c*nt” 😇

Liam: What do you really think about 1D’s management?

Niall: Please explain what was going on in your head when you wrote these, and also when you said rabbits are your pet peeve cause they’re “pointless” haahaha 😂🙈

Zayn: What the fuck haPPENED ZAYNIE BOY??? :((((

5. tell me some of your fave people on here (treat ppl with kindness spread love n all that look at me being a proper Harrie™)

There’s soooo many people I love on here and it’d take me ages to write about all of them, so let’s go with two of the most important hehe :D @amantisegreti and @kvartetmenneskeerenoy, you’re my fave demon Louies in the whole world and I love you a whole lot!!! 💖 Our conversations (or should I say crying parties) are all I need in my life rn, and I really couldn’t wish for better friends to share everything with. 🌈🌸

6. signature scent/favorite perfume(s)?

Between Us by One Direction 😌 (nope, I’m not joking haaha, and I’m actually such a hoe for that perfume tbh :D)

8. please tell me a random fact or story about you, give me that Exclusive knowledge

I have a thing called synesthesia, which in my case translates to being able to taste sounds. I’ve had it all my life! Basically, what happens is that many words (especially French ones) have a very specific taste for me. For example, Rianne is kinda like... bacon, I guess? 🙈 Pretty unfortunate example, but yeah, you get my point lmao ;3

6. money, body issues, and all that shit aside, what would your dream fashion aesthetic be?

I seriously spent twenty minutes staring at my computer with a blank look, only to come to the conclusion that I have no preferred style and usually just go with whatever I see and like lmao :’D Sorry for the boring answer... Well, what I can say is that I love shit like vintage dresses, suspenders, soft pastel sweaters, flower prints, and classy cuts/colours with a touch of gold or silver. 😊

9. would you rather have: the cut bits of carpool karaoke like the mcdonalds drive through, audio’s of all the 70 songs harry wrote (yes including baby honey), the infinity music video, the 900 hours of unseen this is us footage, harry’s dunkirk audition tape, a recording of that alleged hour long zarry phonecall when zayn left, or a copy of nialls folder full of unseen selfies with his boys. you kno what im nice you can have two

Oh my god... I’m probably gonna have to go with the 70 songs and the Zarry phone call, though I’d obviously sell one of my livers to get any of these sdgsjh 😩

10. whats something you’re proud of?

This is going to expose how bad a nerd I am haha, but my greatest life achievement was when I won the first place at an Elvish poetry contest in 2013. My poem was published in an Elvish language scholarly journal, right next to an article by the scholar who taught me everything I know about said language dshfgsj 😭😭 I still cry inside whenever I think about it rip

(Here’s the evidence, in case you’re not convinced this is really a thing haha 😄)

11. something you regret?

I’m always gonna regret not becoming a 1D fan earlier... :( It truly breaks my heart to think about all the time I wasted without the boys in my life, and how I could’ve supported and loved them all along. 💔

12. what bothers you? here’s a chance to… go off

Okay, I could probably be bitter and complain all day about stuff that annoys me haha, but here’s a few things:

When people claim that a certain cat or dog is “ugly”????? Excuse you, my dude?? Ugly cats and dogs do not exist, every single one of them is perfect just the way it is.

Some specific mouth noises, or when someone breathes too loudly gdfhjgd

When my brain stops working (usually because I’m tired to the point of passing out) and I say something very stupid and embarrassing that I regret so hard later

Whenever anyone disrespects, undermines, insults or diminishes the boys in any capacity, or generally treats them in any way less than what they deserve (aka the whole frickin’ world)

#ily ri 💞💗#harry-did-that #amantisegreti #kvartetmenneskeerenoy #about #interactions #text: harry styles #text: louis tomlinson #text: liam payne #text: zayn malik #text: niall horan #text: one direction

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ts-hvv4 · 4 years

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EPISODE EIGHT: “MERGE! Oh bitch how tasty” - Kurt

So after Trent walked there was silence for a long time, and an announcement came out (well two). The first was the Trent announcement (RIP we will avenge you!) At the bottom it announced he was the first member of the JURY! This excites me for three reasons. First off, I never made jury on my original season in Easter Island because I won and during my second season (darksided Generations) I was a self proclaimed (with heavy delusion) pre jury robbed goddess. The second reason that I almost shit my corduroys that jury stage was here was because if I was a pre merge juror, I would not under ANY circumstance vote for someone’s game I did not see. I also know Trent is personally rooting for original Armonia villains which is a vote in my pocket if I end up at the end. My final reason that I was excited was that I was happy that Trent got to participate in the jury stage because he deserves it. He played a phenomenal pre merge game and I’m happy he gets to at least have a say in the winner, regardless of the outcome.

I was getting to my other point, the second announcement came minutes later....MERGE! Oh bitch how tasty. I was stoked because we’re officially at that point. It’s also a little scary because there’s only five original Armonia left with Trent going. I’m also scared because I know Andreas and I have bad blood from Easter Island when my alliance bullied him all season long. I have a lot of ass kissing to do and I hope I have some good acting skills because this is going to be a chore. Actually the more I think about it, the only bright side of merge is that we’re that much closer to making it to the end. Oh and NED. Hydra is reunited and oh it feels good.

MERGE!! Yes! I’m so happy, and better yet—the people I wanted out most are gone! Olivia, Keegan and Trent. They were all coming for my head, and I LOVE they left one by one. That’s karma for you. Don’t get me wrong, I like/love them all on a personal level, but game wise I’m so happy they’re gone and I’m glad Trent is fine. Now I’m meeting the final batch of people. Sarah I already know but I need to catch up with her! Nikolas unless he’s just not there is online and hasn’t responded in an hour or so, but he was cool to talk to. Lukas and Matt however I do like the most right now! Matt I feel I’m connecting with a bit and same with Lukas. Kurt and Sharifa I still feel connected to, but Kurt said he can’t trust anybody right now due to what was going on, and him and sharifa were feeling me in on everything. Basically Olivia’s antics with going after me really messed her and her group up and it got her caught with her strategy like I knew she’d get caught eventually. I peeped her and Trent way before the curve, mainly because they were that fucking obvious. Jake I have to KEEP my eye on. Because they said he was upset with Olivia going but he’s saying he heard what Olivia was trying and was happy she’s gone. So imma have to feel him out but for now I think he’s lying due to what I’ve heard. As for the heroes I love them all and I really hope we stick together or they’ll just pick us all off. And that I don’t want to happen. At all. And I just hope for once I can chill and not have my name thrown, but you never know. This could be the start to a very messy round. I usually sleep late but I might sleep early because I feel I might be getting sick and I know as soon as I take this medicine I’ll be drowsy so we’ll see!!

Whew Chile... what a moment yesterday was. So the morning after me sharifa and kurt are plotting to blindside Sarah, I see that kurt called w nicklas and downplayed our relationship which nicklas didn’t buy but wasn’t too shaded by it. But I decided to tell sharifa and kurt that I know nicklas so they trust him more Which resulted in kurt going AWFF thinking that his game was ruined or something? Idk i was shaking but we talked it out and he was calm Then the plan for Sarah gets scrapped because trent decides to quit! It sucked because he would be a number for us, but it’s best to respect his wishes.... So trent goes and then we MERGE. Lord help me. I ain’t ready for this shit S O S

We merged....... im so happy because i could not stay on the heroes for much longer. We were getting too small and it was scary honestly. Of the 12 people in the game, there's 3 I haven't played this season with yet, which isn't terrible! I'm not meeting a bunch of people. I've also had a lot happening in my personal life so that's been impacting my ability to interact. One thing that is noteworthy is that Ned, Sarah, and I have reunited finally and we are about to run this game !!!!! Let it be KNOWN!!!

So these are my thoughts on everyone: Sarah: Love her, would die for her, we are co-winning this game together with Ned. Ned: Love him, would die for him, we are co-winning this game together with Sarah. Chris: So I know I've been 'working with him' but I don't trust him because I think he's a lot closer to Malik then I think. He is good for my game but I'm only working with him because I need to. Dennis: Similarly to Chris, I am only working with him because I need to. I think he might be reading into that more then Chris is... but I could be wrong. I think he presents as more of a target then me. Malik: I think he would turn on me if it meant saving his ass. But I think he's an asset to have around because people are mad with him. Lukas: I like him, he's funny and nice. I haven't been able to play with him alot because of the swap but hopefully we can. Nicklas: I think he's very smart as a former winner, so I am careful but I think we have a decent enough connection. Matt: Me and Matt are both playing each other and it's the funniest thing ever LOL.... anyways he's smart and will shoot himself in the butt for it. Jake: Don't know him much but I heard he is a snake so I want him OUT. Sharifa: SO DANGEROUS !! I think she's really dangerous but a good ally to have around maybe (?). I have a lot of respect for her coming back and being her true self so that's very empowering. Kurt: So the thing about Kurt was we played before but I wasn't really worried about that.... but I have found out from multiple sources that he worried about that. And no amount of me talking to him has changed that? So looks like I am now worried about that? UGHH Anyways this merge should be fun.... i just want single digits

Okay so we merged and yeah now I’m feeling really grateful to have made it to this point, jokes aside. I am really grateful to have had the opportunity to not only play with Sharifa again but get to know her as a person so much deeper. She is such an admirable person and she really touches my heart. I know I’m sappy about her a lot but she truly is one of my closest friends in my real life.

The way my current relationships stand right now is ranked (w/ reasoning as so) 1. Sharifa (duh) 2. Jake (my fellow f@ggot) 3. Ned (boy you lucky for Hydra) 4. Lukas (he thinks he’s my #1, I love him tho) 5. Malik (as much as I know his act is a facade, he thinks were close so) 6. Nicklas (we had a good talk and basically compared notes, very intelligent) 7. Matt (neutral, I trust him a bit to stay villain strong but only for so long) 8. Sarah (same feelings as I have toward Matt) 9. Andreas (we spoke and I apologized and he accepted, progress people) 10. Chris (seems friendly enough but Ned told me he has an idol so kinda sketch) 11. Dennis (hard to read, nice enough but know he’s heroes strong) & HOSTS 1. Nicole (my fav host sorry boys) 2. Owen (picks up the slack) 3. Andrew (quality humour but our fight sis :( ) 4. Monty (idk her....bc she’s intern & not around much) Love y’all ❤️

So Jake came clean to Sharifa and myself about having a relationship with Nicklas. This raises serious red flags for us because it’s like we’ve been questioning if Jake is truly with us or not this entire time and have wanted to believe he was. He claims he is closer with us and Nicklas is just the equivalent to like my Lukas. Sure, that’s a fair comparison, but the difference is that I told The Cock Destroyers about Lukas. Nicklas was Jake’s best and worst kept secret. Now I’m second guessing everything I say to him but I still want to truly believe we are sisters till the end. If he fucks us over I will be absolute heartbroken. Like, he’s my amigas cheetah.

Of the four newest people I’ve met, I feel the most connected to Lukas and slightly Matt. Nicklas before comes on or messages and Sarah only messages a couple of times and then vanishes. She’s someone I also know so I could use that bond but idk if I can trust her yet or not. The only one I feel I can trust atm is lukas but I’ll have to see how that goes.

Malik is a lot. I play along with most of his flirtation and advances but it’s solely to get myself in his good graces to ensure I have a loyal ally and someone looking out for me. It’s also because I made the mistake of purposely approaching him and almost like lead him on. Now he’s so attached and I can’t for the sake of my game just be like “not really into it please stop”. And I know there’s other boys who are uncomfortable by it too. Unfortunately right now he is our Phillip and we have to keep him around for now....Fuck im so mean. I make him sound so bad, he’s actually fine, I’m just a huge asshole and Malik when you see this I’m sorry dude.

K i guess i should update you When we swapped i connected with matt and sharifa the most Hated trent bc he tried to spread my name but we decided to vote kage out bc hes crazy-anyways now that we have merged sharifa wants to form some fucking majority alliance with the villains since we have majorty Only thing is that i like chris and dennis ALSO andreas, ned and I are in a f3 together and they know I have the idol. So anyways this isnt gonna work, i need to play secret spy but its gonna be hard deceiving sharifa. I got her to confide in me that she has the idol and I told her i have the idol as well -i regret telling her Also andreas and ned told me chris has the idol so im 100% certain the 3 of us know where all the idols are. Anyways, this is messy, im still a bitch and I need to figure something out. Wish me luck bitches ‘

I don’t like Matt anymore. He keeps reading my private messages and is talking in main chat and isn’t saying much or a word or reacted to me or anything. So I feel like he’s going to try to message me once immunity is over and I’m going to just roll my eyes and laugh so hard. I thought the guy was cool, but I spoke too soon. I did feel like something was off from the gate anyways with his first responses. I just won’t message him until he messages me but rn the only villain I like from the other tribe is Lukas. Sarah step it up sis I wanna say positive things about you!! On the other hand, Teen Titans all think we’re in trouble, so I’m thinking about snatching Kurt since he doesn’t trust anyone from his tribe and see how that goes. I would do Sharifa too, but I feel she’s likely connected with the others. But if I leave her out of a vote she could very well not trust me anymore. But the only original tribe members I trust are Ned and Kurt. And I trust the Teen Titans, we just need one more number incase they come for us. Maybe rocks I see?!

Sarah says something after I mention that she hasn’t been too talkative? Hmmm

Looking at the merge, I am PUMPED and NERVOUS and ready to LOSE! A lot of different scenarios can play out here- Heroes vs Villains prevail or Armonia vs Molysmeno. I have faith it won't end in the latter, in fact, I suspect lines may be a little blurred, but maybe not in the first tribal council or two. Having that said, a lot of people are surprising me this round in a good way such as Lukas,, Kurt, and Sharifa! Whereas my old pals of Sarah and Matt might have slipped in some people's eyes, I have to keep them in mind when figuring out what happens next. Jake may be targeted but I'm not gonna count on it just yet. All in all, I think I prefer Teen Titans more than Mystery Incorporated because it feels so genuine, but we'll see!

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It would seem Malik's talking to Kurt/Lukas on turning on the villains. I'm not too sure how I feel about that. In order to fully trust that, I'd have to look into those 2 actually giving a name instead of wanting us to. Having that said, Dennis does not trust Kurt, Matt is sheeping to avoid 3-peating his merge boot status I suppose, the rest of the villains I guess dropped the whole Ned vote campaigns, and everyone else playing the Waiting Game like time is money so yeah

I do feel it is a little intriguing how the villains are acting coy and facetious when they have a majority, not to mention, hold more people than others. It's pretty telling that this group is pretty passive. Nevertheless, my intentions are to get the scoop and solve this mystery

Guess who is ready to lose their mind ???????????? So Malik is trying to get Kurt and Lukas to vote with the heroes which I know for a fact is not happening because Sarah told me that Kurt said that wasn't going to happen. Now im going to call Kurt because he's being shady and says he wants to vote the villains ? Kurt WHAT ARE YOU DOING

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My goddddddd. I hate this merged tribe. The smart thing to do would be to stick to the villain numbers, but I know each villain has like 20 connections each outside of the villain tribe. I don’t like Andreas. He is fake to me. Idk why. I’m working so hard on making Malik like me, but he’s sketchy too. I love Dennis but I don’t think he loves me that much. Ned is a ghost. As of now I’m just going to sit back and let people handle this shit without me. I don’t think I’ll be the target if the heroes seize control, so that’s good. Shall be interesting.

Just got off my hour long call with Kurt and I felt good about it, I think we can trust each other. But then DENNIS messages lukas and sends a lie to him that Malik getting Lukas and Kurt is a ploy??? WTF ???? What is happening right now

Remember when I said I was going to lose my mind? YUP thats still happening. just about to hop on call with sharifa to show im willing to work with the crazy villains

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Honestly? This vote sucks ass. As mentioned in the video, Nicklas was nice enough to tell me whats "actually" going on and I honestly feel like its best to just let it happen, because no matter what. One of my allies goes home. Either crackhead Malik, who has a big heart and is just trying his best, or big heart chris who shared his idol with apparently the entire world and has to pay the price for it. I've been contemplating about this for the past 3.5 hrs and idk, as bad as this sounds, it just feels like it is better to not properly warn him. I've tried to give him hints that something isn't up or right tonight, but I can only do so much to hopefully not completely crucify my game. Of course there is the chance that I am actually the one who is going home or they are trying to send ned home anyways and bait an idol like that, but idk. I don't know why Nicklas would lie to me, when I am a valuable number to him. IF I survive I just need to start over and get my social game going properly. If you read this Chris and you actually went home tonight, I am heartbroken and sad, I would've gone as deep as possible with you and Andreas too, if he wasn't close to others aswell.

Im getting this weird feeling in my stomach that the tribal won't go as planned. Malik has gotten really quiet, and when he does that it normally means he is mad. I'm not surprised and honestly if someone didn't run their mouth I'd be surprised. Maybe I am the one going home ?? Who knows

It's gotten like wild quiet? Am i going home ? Randomly really nervous

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