#like a very heart-achey fic though

[puppypeter]

just watched a bunch of Cut's Truth or Drink videos and it's making me want to read a ted lasso fic where they do it as a team building exercise (being open and honest and vulnerable all that)

#like a very heart-achey fic though #like in the videos questions can range from sex to very deep shit like have you thought about death etc #i want questions that make them have to be raw #like someone asking Jamie why he reconnected with his dad and went to visit him if he's a piece of shit #or asking Nate why he did what he did or what he experienced at WH with Rupert as a boss #why is Roy just always so fucking angry and why is Ted always acting so fucking positive #(same for Dani tbh) #ted lasso #ted lasso prompt #ted lasso fic #ted lasso ao3 #roy kent #jamie tartt #colin hughes #nathan shelley #dani rojas

[whatstruthgottodowithit]

Hide and Seek

Fandom: RPF, Elvis Presley, Elvis Movie 2022

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Reader

Characters: Elvis Presley, Reader, Original Male Characters, Original Female Characters

Word Count: 3225 // Rating: Explicit

Summary: The first rule of hide and seek? Make sure to check your surroundings.

Tags/ Warnings: Requests, Requested Fic, Oral Sex, Blowjobs, Family Dinner, Established Relationship, Kissing, Love, Caught Having Sex, Facials, Elvis Doesn’t Wear Underwear, 50s Elvis, Old Fashioned Parenting, This is very Eric and Laurie from that 70s show, Awkward Family Dinners, Sibling Rivalry, Siblings, 

Notes: I’m working on my main series’ but this was hot and I had to write it. Thanks @elvispresleyisfit12

Updated 8/23

Request:  Could you do one where y/n is like choking on elvis’ cock and her big brother walks in and elvis is at his climax when he comes all on her face and her brother tells the parents

Tags: @elvispresleyisfit12 @caitlin1996 @literally-just-elvis-fics

'Maybe he's under....here!' Elvis said, elongating his voice as he dropped to his knees only to find that under the bed was empty. As he clambered back up with a pout I chuckled, shutting the door behind me as I walked over to where he was now standing and wrapped my arms around his neck. 'Unlucky baby,' I said with a smirk as his frown deepened as he leaned down to kiss me quickly. 'I'll give it to him, that kid sure is good at hide and seek,' he mumbled making me giggle as I noted the genuine upset on his face. We were looking for my younger brother Charlie, who after begging us all day had finally gotten us to play hide and seek with him. I say begged us though it was more begging me than anything. Anyone would think that having your girl's younger brother come and interfere when you were trying to spend time with her would annoy a man. But not Elvis. Elvis was just as eager to join in as Charlie was. After all, he was just a big kid at heart and not having any siblings of his own made him love spending time with mine (though admittedly with Charlie rather than my older brother Jack). In fact, Elvis usually got so into the games we played that not five minutes earlier I had had to coax him out from the hall closet where he had forced himself into the tiniest space to remain undetectable and beat Charlie’s record.

'Nah he's not,' I smirked, making him raise an eyebrow, 'Mama saw him tucking himself into one of the kitchen cupboards.' 'So why are we waiting?' Elvis said excitedly ready to continue his winning streak. 'Because,' I said leaning up to kiss him again, 'he's oh so good at hide and seek which means it could take us what, ten, fifteen minutes to find him?' 'Ah,' Elvis said, cottoning on to my meaning as his hands caressed my sides before landing on my ass which he squeezed roughly. 'We could do a lot in ten minutes,' I said. 'Make it fifteen,' he said as he started peppering kisses down my neck making an excitement settle in between my legs.

As he pulled me to him I could already feel him taught against his trousers and I moved my hand to unbutton his pants making his breathing hitch. 'You're all excited,' I said. 'Have been all damn day,' he said breathily as his hands moved, caressing every inch of my skin they could find. 'You should've said,' I pouted, 'I know he gets all achey without being touched.' 'Couldn't find a moment,' he panted against my neck as his hand ran over the top of my clothed breast making my nipple harden underneath his touch, 'I had to stand and talk to your mother for twenty minutes more than I planned to because I was scared if I came out from behind that kitchen counter she’d see.’ 'Oh baby,' I frowned, pulling back to look at him. 'I need ya honey,' he said. 'What do you need?' I said as my finger trailed along his length gently which made him groan. I loved seeing him like this. He was an attentive man and he always made sure my needs were met but he was always ready to go. A stiff breeze could whip him into a frenzy and whenever something took his fancy he was like a man possessed. In those moments nothing mattered, he needed me and I loved that.

‘Your mouth,’ he said, ‘I need that pretty little mouth of yours wrapped around me.’ ‘Do you want me on my knees?’ I asked looking up at him doe-eyed. His blue eyes were almost black as he looked down at me before he nodded. I sunk to my knees and looked up at him my hand gliding over his cock until I could swipe my thumb across his oozing head. ‘I bet your pants are ruined,’ I tutted noting the damp smear along his flies. ‘Always are when you’re around,’ he said making me smile. Then I leaned forward and kissed his tip making him shiver.

‘Jesus,’ he said as his hand flew to my hair, knotting in it gently. I moved my mouth to his base kissing up his shaft until I was back where I started and could begin to envelop him. And though he was hard to get my mouth around and usually made my jaw ache I didn’t care. I loved the way he tasted. And I loved the way he couldn’t stop squirming under my touch. I inched down as deep as I could and then pulled back my hand replacing my mouth near his base as I pumped him, swirling my tongue around his tip.

‘Baby I ain’t gonna be able to take it much longer if you keep working me like that,’ he said as I pulled my mouth off, my hand keeping a steady pace. He was breathing heavily with his fingers in my hair as I moved my other hand so I could caress his balls. That made him groan loud enough that he had to move a hand from my head so he could put it in his mouth and bite down to keep from making too much noise. Then I changed tactics and put my mouth back on him but instead of devouring him, I lapped at his head my hand coaxing him towards the finish line.

‘Keep going,’ he said in a panted whisper making me hum in agreement, ‘fuck you’re a devil you know that? Humming against me driving me insane.’

I looked up at him my eyes locking with his as I tried to hide a smirk. In most aspects of our relationship Elvis was in control, but right now? Now it was all me.

‘That’s what you want, isn’t it? Me to be all crazy so you can get what you want,’ he said making me hum again, ‘this what you want Mama? Want me to cum down the back of your throat?’ ‘More than anything,’ I said pulling him off him with a pop. I didn’t move my head away though. Instead, I looked up at him open-mouthed with his tip just breaching my lips and oozing salty precum onto my tongue waiting for him patiently as he threatened to spill over any moment. ‘Who knew my innocent girl was so cock hungry huh?’ he smirked. ‘Just for you,’ I counted. ‘Well brace yourself,’ he grunted as his hand clasped over mine and he started to move us in rhythm, ‘cos I’ve got something for ya.’

He was frantic now. As he used my hand to jerk him my other went to his balls cupping them gently.

‘Fuck honey-‘ he said with a groan but his voice was no longer the only one in the room. ‘Mom said are you two ready for dinner because-‘ my brother Jack said as he came into the room and froze. I turned my head catching him standing at my door watching us his eyes wide and his mouth agape. But I couldn’t look at him long as my attention was torn away as Elvis groaned, ‘baby I can’t stop.’

And before I could do anything hot, thick ropes of cum spattered my chin and cheek. As I looked up at Elvis I heard the door slam shut though I could barely register anything and instead I sat there watching him in shock. Elvis was breathing heavily though he broke out in laughter as he took in my horrified expression.

‘Oh my god,’ was all I could mutter as I pulled back and clambered off my knees and stood up. ‘I thought I was supposed to be saying that,’ Elvis chuckled as he tucked himself back into his pants and grabbed a Kleenex off my dressing table so he could wipe my face with it. ‘It’s not funny,’ I snapped taking it off him and cleaning my face looking in my mirror as I did so. He came up behind me and circled his hands around my waist pulling me up to stand flat against him as he kissed my temple. ‘It’s a lil funny,’ he countered making me scowl at him in the mirror. ‘He just saw us Elvis! That’s traumatic!’ I said picturing my brother's horrified face once more. ‘He’ll get over it. It’s natural,’ he said, ‘besides he should’ve knocked.’ ‘And if he doesn’t get over it?’ I questioned, ‘if he runs to tell my mother then what?’ ‘He wouldn’t,’ Elvis said though his face looked nervous. ‘Wouldn’t he?’ I said, ‘he loves getting me in trouble and he won’t be able to hold his water! Oh god, what if he tells my dad.’ ‘He’s not gonna get you in trouble,’ Elvis said, ‘not with something like this.’

I turned around to face him and allowed him to hold me and move a strand of slightly damp hair off of my face as I frowned, ‘I say this with love but honey, you’ve never had siblings. It’s an all-out war zone sometimes.’ Just as he went to speak there was a call from my mother beckoning us for dinner. ‘Just a minute!’ I shouted before my gaze met his again. Elvis sighed, ‘looks like we’re headed to war.’

When we left my bedroom my life went into slow motion. I could feel Elvis’ hand in mine as we went through the motions of sitting down for dinner but I couldn’t function. Elvis didn’t seem to be having the same problem as he spoke with my mother about dinner and our game of hide and seek but I kept my eyes fixed on the table not even bothering to look up as my father and brothers joined us. I couldn’t. I was sure my face would betray me if I dared.Yet my respite didn’t last long though as my father said my name.

‘Huh?’ I said looking at him and then glancing at Elvis who was watching me nervously. I felt his hand squeeze my thigh reassuringly under the table. ‘Do you want to say grace?’ he asked but as he did my eyes drifted to Jack who watching me closely a look of disgust on his face. I couldn’t speak, my words caught in my throat and I couldn’t force them out. Fortunately, Elvis cleared his throat and said, ‘may I Sir?’ ‘Well isn’t that nice,’ my mother said offering Elvis a kind smile. My father seemed to contemplate it for a moment and then nodded interlacing his hands with Elvis and then my brother who were sitting on either side of him. Elvis took my other hand and I watched as they all bowed their heads. Jack didn't though. He was watching me closely so much so I had to drop my gaze feeling the heat in my cheeks. I was mortified.

‘Lord, thank you for the food we are about to receive. Bless the hands that provided it for us and bless the hands that so lovingly prepared it. Amen,’ Elvis said. When I opened my eyes my mother was smiling as she said, ‘oh Elvis you’re such a sweetheart!’ ‘Yes, thank you, son,’ my father said. ‘It’s no bother,’ Elvis shrugged, ‘I’m just happy I get to stay for dinner.’ ‘Well we can’t say no to a polite guest like you now can we?’ my mother said, ‘now boys you could learn a lot from Elvis. I can only hope you’re as polite when you go over to other folks' houses.’ ‘Oh I’m sure I’m just as polite as Elvis,’ Jack said with a scowl that made a pit form in my stomach.

Whilst my younger brother Charlie adored Elvis, Jack didn’t always. It didn’t help that my parents like to compare the two as they were so similar in age. And now without noticing my mother had rubbed him up the wrong. Everyone started eating but I couldn’t. I picked up my fork and started to push things around my plate taking tiny bites here and there as the conversation started.

‘So how’s the new job treating you?’ my father said looking at Elvis. ‘It’s good,’ Elvis said placing his fork down, ’I can work better hours now I’ve graduated.’ ‘Still doing your fair share though?’ my father asked. ‘Yes Sir,’ Elvis said. ‘Because I wouldn’t want you to be one of those types that shirks his responsibilities for an early dart and a good time,’ he said glancing at Jack whose face now looked as if he was sucking on a lemon, ‘because I know a few boys that work there, good guys.' ‘They’re great but even if they weren’t that’s not me. I’m a team player. It just means I can work my hours and have time and cash to treat my girl,’ Elvis said looking at me with a smile. I smiled weakly back at him though I could feel the irritation from across the table. ‘Good because if there’s one thing I can’t stand is that no one seems to want to put in a day's work. They just don’t know how to share the load,’ my father grumbled causing a snort to come from Jack which in turn forced the pit in my stomach to turn into a chasm.

‘What’s funny?’ my father asked making Jack shrug. ‘How about the game last night?’ Elvis said quickly changing the topic. ‘Turned it off halfway through,’ my father said, ‘there was no cohesion on that field.’ ‘I thought the bears did good though,’ Elvis said, ‘they’ve got a better defence this season.’ ‘That maybe but they’re still relying on the same old tactics. Can see them coming a mile away,’ my father said sipping his drink. Elvis and I watched as Jack’s smirk grew deeper at my father’s words, the meaning behind them lost to him. Before Elvis could reply though my mother spoke.

‘Aren’t you eating sweetheart?’ she said noting my plate which was decidedly fuller than everyone else’s. ‘Yeah mama,’ I said, ‘just not that hungry is all.’ ‘Are you okay?’ she said, ‘not ill are ya?’ ‘No, just not much of an appetite,’ I lied. I was hungry but my stomach was in knots just sitting there. ‘You didn’t have anything to eat before dinner did you?’ she frowned making my brother snort again. ‘No!’ I protested. Jack smirked and since no one pulled him up on his amusement he grew more confident and leant forward to tease me as he said, ‘you sure Y/N?’ ‘I’m sure,’ I said vehemently hoping he’d not want to torture me too badly but he didn’t let up. ‘Sure you didn’t sneak off and scoff something?’ he continued, ‘how about you Elvis?’ ‘What about me?’ Elvis asked irately glaring at my brother. ‘You didn’t catch her doing something she shouldn’t right?’ he said with a coy smile. ‘Stop being ridiculous,’ I said snappily. ‘Am I being ridiculous? What do you think Elvis?’ Jack said. ‘Oh whatever it is the two of you are bellyaching about will you just quit it!’ my mother said exasperatedly catching all our attention. She shook her head and took a bite of her food with a sigh.

‘Mama I wasnt-‘ Jack protested but she scowled at him making him pout and put his eyes back on his plate. ‘Every damn day you two are arguing about something,’ she said. ‘You okay hun?’ my father said watching her with concern. ‘Fine,’ she said, ‘just wish these kids would grow up sometimes.’ ‘Sorry mama,’ I said placing my hand on the back of hers. Jack didn't say anything else but he did start eating again signalling he was letting the subject drop which allowed my nerves to settle as did the fact Elvis placed his hand on my thigh again and squeezed it reassuringly. Tentatively I reached for my fork, finally feeling my appetite creep back in.

‘Are you okay mama?’ Charlie asked finally. He had been lost in his own head, picking at his food with his fingers though he had looked up as the dinner conversation started to get heated. My mother turned and smiled at him. ‘I’m fine baby,’ she said, ‘your siblings are just being silly is all.’ ‘They’re always silly!’ he giggled. ‘Must be playing with you all day,’ I giggled, my worries melting away as he grinned at me. ‘I’m not silly!’ Charlie protested. ‘I don’t know Charlie you might be the silliest of us all,’ I chucked. ‘Nuh-uh Elvis is the silliest!’ he said. ‘Oh yeah lil man?’ Elvis chuckled, ‘why’s that?’ ‘Because you put your wiener in Y/N’s mouth,’ he said with a grossed-out expression. Silence fell on the table. I could feel my heart in my stomach and my parent's steely gaze on me and Elvis as well as Jack's smug grin.

‘Charlie,’ I said nervously feeling the corner I was painted into closing in on me by the second, ‘what are you talking about?’ ‘Yes Charlie what are you talking about?’ my father said in an icy voice. ‘I think you’ve got mixed up there kiddo,’ Elvis started making Charlie pout even harder. ‘Nuh-uh I saw it. You thought I was hiding in the kitchen but I was in the closet and I saw you,’ Charlie said as he continued to eat his dinner proudly though I suspected it was more to do with his spectacular hiding spot than outing us. Jack looked as if he was going to burst into laughter.

‘Mr Y/L/N I can explain,’ Elvis stammered looking to my father who held a finger up to silence him as he turned to Jack whose amusement was suddenly gone. ‘Did you know about this?’ he asked. ‘Dad I-' ‘And you said nothing? Just decided to tease your sister at the dinner table like a child? Huh?’ he said sternly. ‘How am I on the hook for this?!’ Jack asked. ‘Daddy-' I started though I didn’t know who I was trying to defend my words were shot down by his icy glare. He placed his elbows on the table and interlaced his fingers. I could still feel the heat on my cheeks and the sweat pumping off of Elvis who was sitting so close to the firing line.

‘Now,’ he said calmly, ‘since everyone wants to act silly we’re gonna play a little game.’ ‘Darlin’ come on let’s just eat dinner,’ my mother said forcing a smile at him though her expression was one of disappointment as it landed on me. I longed for the ground to swallow me up. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my wish as my father ignored her and continued. ‘I’m gonna count to ten. And whoever lied to me in my own goddamn house tonight better have found a helluva good hiding spot by the time I’ve finished. Understand?’ ‘Daddy-' I started but he cut me off with the commencement of his countdown. ‘One.’

The sentence was no sooner uttered before the only people left at the table were two very angry parents and an oblivious Charlie who was contently chewing down his spaghetti blissfully unaware this his crown for best hide and seeker was about to be snatched away.

#My writing #elvis presley #Elvis #elvis x reader #elvis fic #Elvis Movie #Elvis Presley Fic #elvis presley smut #elvis presley x reader #hide and seek

[fanficshiddles]

Seductively Destructive, Chapter 1

Summary: Loki returns to his hometown with his band, The Emerald Snakes, who are doing rather well for themselves. There, one of their biggest fans, Erin, not only gets to see them play their hometown gig, but she gets an invite to the after party too from non-other than the frontman himself. She can’t quite believe it when she ends up becoming one of the most envied girls in the world when she becomes Loki’s girlfriend. But she sees him through rose-coloured glasses and it’s not an easy ride for Erin as she knows he’s got a darkness in him, but she just can’t seem to pull herself away.

WARNINGS FOR FIC: HIGHLY DUB CON, manipulation, slight drug use, forced tattoo, alcohol, dark Loki. She knows Loki is bad news but can’t stop.

-

Erin woke up to Loki’s arms wrapped around her naked body. Her heart started racing instantly at the thought of what happened last night. Her body was achey, a clear reminder of it too.

But when she suddenly felt the motion of movement, her eyes widened in panic. The tour bus they were on, it was moving!

She squirmed out of Loki’s arms and sat up at the side of the bed, reaching over Loki she peeled the curtain back slightly to see the sight of other cars going the opposite way down the motorway.

‘No! No, no, no! This can’t be happening.’ She panicked.

‘What’s wrong, doll?’ Loki asked sleepily as he slipped an arm around her middle and tried to pull her back down on the bed.

‘You said the bus wasn’t leaving till afternoon!’ She screeched at him and tried pulling away.

‘Oh… I must’ve been mistaken.’ He said nonchalantly as he managed to wrestle her back down next to him, easily keeping her in place with a strong arm. ‘No need to be alarmed, nothing can be done anyway. We can’t stop on the motorway.’ He purred and nuzzled her neck.

‘Loki… I need to get home.’ She whined.

‘There will be a train or bus station at the next city.’ Loki said as his left hand started wandering down her body.

‘I can’t… I can’t afford that.’ She whined and tried grabbing his hand to stop him. ‘Please… don’t… I’m sore after last night.’

‘Ohh my poor baby. Relax, this will make you feel much better again. And if you can’t afford to get home, well, I guess it means you’ll just need to stay with me while we finish the tour.’ He grinned against her neck devilishly as his hand slipped down between her thighs, but she had them clamped tightly shut so he couldn’t do much down there as his hand just managed to squeeze between.

Erin tried not to panic as the realisation that she was stuck with Loki and the band for nearly two months hit her… She had no money to get home herself, and clearly he wasn’t going to offer to pay. Even though he could afford to. There were still loads of cities left on the tour.

‘Come on, open your legs more for me like a good little girl.’ He nipped on her neck, making her whine.  

Her mind battled with her body for a moment, then she eventually let them fall apart. Earning praise and little nibbles on her neck from Loki as he began playing with her sore and tired body.

-

Two Weeks Earlier

‘Oh no, you’ve got your war paint on.’ Jane face-palmed as Erin came out of her room with some dark heavy make-up on.

‘Stop calling it that! It’s gig night, where we can be free and look as we want to. I can’t wait.’ Erin said as she bounced about excitedly.

Jane just smiled. She knew how much tonight’s gig meant to her best friend.

Erin had been a fan of The Emerald Snakes for years, but she’d never been able to afford tickets to go see them. Her job was very low pay, she barely managed to get by with her rent and utility bills. But she had saved up super hard for tonight’s show since she heard they were coming to town.

It was their hometown, too. So it was going to be a really special night. They weren’t at the point yet of selling out arenas, but Erin had a feeling they weren’t going to be too far away from that. She remembered when she was in primary school and everyone was raving about them in their beginning days, when they just played in their parents’ garage. Before doing some gigs in the local pub most weekends, then getting noticed and slowly working their way up.

The town had always been supportive of the band. Even if some of the residents weren’t a big fan of rock or metal music, they still supported the band. There was of course the odd person who thought them as devil music and didn’t support them at all, but that was a very small percentage of the people.

As soon as Erin was old enough to appreciate music properly, she fell in love with the band. Especially the singer, Loki. He was hot as hell and like a lot of people did, she had a huge crush on him. Her friend and flat mate, Jane, was a few years older than her and Jane remembered Loki when he was in secondary school. Typical bad boy that all the girls fawned over, but he had a sweet side too. He’d always been interested in music, getting straight A’s in all music subjects, but not so great grades in other subjects.

The band was currently just starting their tour for their newest album, it was their fourth one they’d released so far and was a huge hit. They just kept getting better. The third stop on the tour was their hometown, the whole town had been buzzing with excitement for over a week.

Erin had managed to talk Jane into going down early to queue so they’d get a good spot. So they both headed to the venue a few hours before doors. They were surprised to find quite a queue already, some people had been there since early morning to get to the barrier.

As time passed by and it got closer to doors opening, Erin’s excitement grew and grew. Her stomach was in knots she was that excited. When they finally got to head inside, she was bouncing with anticipation.

‘Not a bad spot.’ Jane said to Erin when they got the barrier at the side. ‘At least we won’t need to worry about crowd surfers here.’

‘And I’ll have the perfect view of Loki without looking over other people’s heads.’ Erin laughed.

While she was crushing hard on Loki and couldn’t wait to see him live in the flesh, she loved their music so much and appreciated the whole band. That’s why she was here, to enjoy it. And she was so excited to just let loose and rock out.

The support band that was on first was pretty good, Erin took a mental note of their name to check them out some more tomorrow. There was a second support band that wasn’t as good, she thought. But they got the crowd hyped up enough.

Finally though, it was time for The Emerald Snakes. The lights went down and the screams got louder as the music started, building everyone up for the moment that the band walked on stage.

When the lights on stage came up, revealing the whole band everyone went mad. Their stage presence was something else, they were known for interacting well with fans too, having some fun.

Erin let her eyes linger on Loki while she sang along with her hands thrown up in the air. His shoulder length black hair looked a little greasy as she had seen before in live videos. He wore tight black jeans with black boots, a slightly torn loose black shirt and some tattoos were showing on his arms. He had a big black snake tattoo with some emerald green highlights through it that started from its tail on his upper arm and winded down around his forearm and ended with its head on the back of his hand. Though that was hidden as he wore leather gloves on stage.

His stage presence was dominating, Erin found she was unable to take her eyes off him. He bounced around full of energy, his face beaming with pride and happiness at the crowd singing back his lyrics.

Loki looked out over the crowd that was screaming and singing along, everyone jumping and moshing. Some people were crowd surfing down to the front, having the time of their lives. He scanned faces, recognising some old friends and acquaintances that he hadn’t seen in a long time. Then he looked along the front row and his gaze lingered longer on one girl that was off to the side slightly, she had long black hair with a thick strip of bright pink through it at the side. She was singing along to every single song, not missing a beat. Head banging and enjoying herself as much as the others. But Loki felt something within him stir at the way her cheeks turned red from being under his gaze.

Erin felt like time had stopped when Loki looked directly at her, and when he winked at her with a smirk, she thought her heart was going to burst out of her chest.

Jane nudged Erin with her elbow, laughing at the way she was so frazzled just from a wink and a look.

During the show, Erin got plenty of looks and attention from Loki. But before the encore he went down the front to the barrier, and stood up on the ledge at the other side to lean into the crowd, letting some people sing into his mic and letting them grab at him. Grabbing some hands and often he’d kiss some girls on the cheek to get them screaming. He knew how lusted after he was and often used it to his advantage.

He made sure to climb up on the barrier where Erin was, when he towered over the top of her, she thought she was going to combust. He looked down at her and sang directly to her for a while, looking intently into her eyes. Though he didn’t move over the top of her to reach at people behind her like he usually did. But he gave her another wink before trailing a leather clad finger down the side of her face and under her chin, making her knees shake as he stepped down and went back on stage.

‘He’s so flirting with you.’ Jane whispered before the next song came on.

‘That’s just what he does.’ Erin laughed slightly nervously. It was exciting having his attention but she knew it meant nothing really. He was known for being a bit of a womaniser, being flirty and seductive.

During the last song, Loki always threw roses out into the crowd. The first one, he went to the side of the stage where Erin was and he threw one straight to her. She was delighted at getting one, she had always wanted one to press and frame, a keepsake from the gig alongside her ticket.

When the band all bowed at the end and thanked the crowd, the bass player threw some picks out into the crowd and Jane caught one, she gave it to Erin though as knew how much she’d love it.

The drummer also threw his drumsticks out as well for some lucky fan to catch.

Erin was on a complete high after the show, she couldn’t stop smiling and talking about her favourite parts. Jane had enjoyed it too and was on a high as well.

‘Why don’t we go see if we can meet them?’ Jane suggested as she pointed towards where the tour buses were at the side of the venue.

‘Really?’ Erin’s eyes widened.

‘Yeah, come on. You can thank Loki for the rose.’ Jane winked at her, making her laugh.

‘It would be nice to meet them. They put on such a great show!’ Erin said chirpily as they headed towards the buses.

There was a small group of people that were there waiting to get a chance to meet them. A small barrier had been erected around the bus area, to keep everyone at a distance from getting in the way of the crew packing up.

Erin and Jane waited patiently at the end of the barrier. When the band came out, it was the whole band apart from Loki that appeared first. The three of them were happy to talk to their fans and take pictures, sign tickets or anything else fans had. Erin was really excited to get her ticket signed by them all, and thanked them for a great gig.

Then there was a small screech from a few people in the crowd when Loki came out. He waved at them all and made his way over. He glanced down the crowd and spotted Erin, he gave her a wink before seeing to the others first and making his way down the barrier.

‘He is so into you.’ Jane whispered.

‘Shut up. He is not.’ Erin hissed back and nudged her.

Though as Loki got closer, Erin got more nervous. What if she made a fool of herself? She mentally slapped herself. That was ridiculous, he was still just a human too… All she had to do was say thank you and ask if he would sign her ticket. Surely, she could manage that.

‘Our turn.’ Jane said excitedly when Loki finished with the couple next to them.

‘Why hello there. Nice to meet you, I’m Loki.’ Loki said charmingly as he put his hand out towards Erin.

‘Hi! I’m Erin.’ She squeaked and put her hand into his. Loki surprised her by bringing her hand up for him to kiss the back of it.

‘Lovely to meet you, Erin.’ Her name rolled off his tongue, making her melt all over again.

‘The show was amazing, I’m such a big fan and have been for years! The new album is really great I’ve been playing it non-stop. Would you mind singing my ticket?’ Erin blurted out nervously.

Loki smiled warmly, sensing how nervous she was. ‘That’s very kind of you, thank you, darling. Of course I will.’ He happily signed her ticket for her.

‘Now, you look familiar somehow.’ Loki said as he pointed his pen towards Jane as he handed Erin’s ticket back to her.

Jane laughed and nodded. ‘We went to the same school. I was in first year when you were in your final year. So you probably recognise my face from passing in the corridors or something.’

‘Ah, that would make sense.’ Loki chuckled and then took her ticket too that she held out to him.

‘What are you lovely ladies planning to do now?’ He asked while he signed Jane’s ticket, though he glanced up at Erin.

‘Uhm, just heading home.’ Erin stammered.

Loki handed Jane back her ticket. ‘So early?’ He chuckled. ‘Why don’t you both come along to our after party, it’s being held at the Sea View Inn. Invite only, so it won’t be filled with the typical rowdy local drunks.’

Erin looked at Jane and they both smiled. ‘Yeah, sure. That would be great!’ Erin beamed.

‘Excellent. I’ll make sure your names are on the list at the door. See you there soon.’ He grinned widely as he took a few steps back, looking at Erin again rather intently and slightly licking his lower lip. Then he headed off into the tour bus to get changed.

Erin and Jane looked at each other, slightly stunned.

‘I guess we’re having a later night than we thought!’ Erin squealed.

#Loki #Tom Hiddleston #Singer!Loki #Loki x OFC #seductively destructive

[doctorweebmd]

Dropping by to say I have been reading Battle of the Bands this weekend and not only has it CONSUMED MY LIFE for the past weekend (and ruined my sleep schedule), but it has also had a really big effect on me and I am sitting at home right now in front of my desk, working from home in my silly little corporate job with this big achey feeling in my chest knowing I'm coming to the end of a fic I've really loved.

I'm sure I will be spewing comments when I actually get to the end, but I just wanted to let you know that I think you're a fantastic writer! I feel really inspired by the way you write metaphors, like I truly sit there like dayuuuum I gotta get me some of that!!! Bonus points for the fact they are always so hilarious and on point! And they read as very natural, like you just plucked it right out of your brain and didn't have to agonise for hours to think of something like some people (mentioning no names.... Me). I sat down and splurged an extra 800 words into my current WIP this morning because reading your fic has me so hyped up and inspired. It's the best feeling, and I know you can be super hard on yourself or critical of your own work sometimes!

Just know, as a reader I am totally absorbed, your writing style feels so unique to you as a person in the absolute best way, you clearly have a natural talent for storytelling and a wonderful way with words.

And I wanted to be able to tell you that, not even on anon!!!!! Thank you for sharing all these wonderful works with us (best believe I will be gulping down the ones I haven't read next)

❤️❤️❤️

AHHHHHH PLEASE i've read this message like 10 times already today. The fact that its coming from such a talented and accomplished writer like yourself is seriously such a huge compliment! game recognize game or something like that lmao

I saw your comment on the first chapter the other day and squeed in joy! to be honest since its an 'older' fic (even though its just two years old!!! the passage of time is meaningless!!!) i dont really get comments on it anymore BUT reading your words made me so excited and want to reread a couple of chapters!!! man i love that story. it was such a blast to write and honestly i miss those kids. out of all the endings i've written i think battle of the bands might just be my favorite one idk just... falling in love and finding success together and finding a partner in someone you respect and want to grow and change together... and writing the cheesy songs they sing together and AHHH i miss them they make my heart so warm

BUT. i'm so so so so thrilled that you wrote more on your WIP!!! adlfkjalksjdfalksfj ahh that seriously makes me so happy!!! please keep writing your beautiful words and changing people's lives and putting smiles on people's faces!

gosh thank you so much for your kindness!!! i've felt so weird and disillusioned about by bnha writing for a little while now, to be honest, so to hear this from you was something i really really needed. thank you so so so so much and i honestly can't express my gratitude for your thoughtfulness. i love you you're amazing and thank you x500

#🥺 #i love you and i love this #i am emotional #sorry for this... extremely long reply

[ariasune]

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

That broke my heart? There's a few standouts that come to mind, I'll admit. I think the first time I was writing a fic and my heart got scrunkled up was when I was writing Ateb' Men Alezl, when Rishid says:

"Surviving doesn't mean you're broken."

That got me in the feels. As did, A Handful of Water. Rishid brings something very emotional out in me when I write. I don't usually cry when I write, but this one got me tearing up:

Aching, [Malik] stares downwards. "I would give anything to see my mother just once."

Rishid can't even look at him ... For the second time in his life, Malik hears Rishid's voice break, dust-like.

"She is not my mother. My mother is dead." Rishid's hands are curled tight on his knees, head bowed, and shoulders shuddering. "And I would give anything to see one more time. I miss her more than I can stand--" Tears are running down Rishid's face, leaving a pattern down his scars. "I miss her more than I loved her. I miss her more than that, and how can I bear to know that I do." Rishid is falling apart before them. "She is not my mother."

I also have a super achey soft spot for Truths to Tell, though it mostly felt very cathartic to write:

“Because you’re the only one left, you’re… you’re the only one left, and I am never letting this go.”

#aria #ask #ariasune #duelingdestiny

[opalescient]

haikyuu fic recs — the most beautiful, lovely, breathtaking masterlist (vol. I)

so i’ve been binging fics to cure my sadness, and i thought that these select masterpieces were too magnificent to not be plastered on every billboard ever. some tore my soul into shreds, while others melted said shreds back whole, but all of them made me feel some form of sheer, unadulterated love, so. please enjoy! 🥰⛅️✨

note: all of these fics are exquisite and you should read all of them, but if you’re short of time, those with ☆ are my all-time favourites!

daisuga

butterfly in the subway by bigspoonnoya ☆ | T

Sugawara Koushi has no idea he's already in love with the man he's supposed to hate.

i lovelovelove how all the concepts tied in together like a perfectly wrapped gift

also very wholesome, made me feel so inexplicably warm. like, love can exist everywhere!!! despite everything!!! that’s just so inspiring

i revisited this many times, i think it was (one of) my first haikyuu fics and honestly. it set the bar so high and i have no regrets

you’d fit my lonely arms so perfectly by boxofwonder ☆ | G

“Oh. You're. Not Asahi.”

Calmed down enough that he can speak again, Daichi takes a deep breath, his smile settling on his face easily and wide.

“Not as far as I know, no.”

-

Suga accidentally calls a stranger instead of his best friend, tells him all about his burned batch of cookies before realising, and that particular mistake might turn out the best one he ever made.

major, major fluff

the buildup!!!

god this made my yearning for love so much worse

the perfect stranger by downmoon | T

There’s a man standing outside Suga's door.

Scratch that. Start over.

There’s a man he doesn’t know standing outside his door, holding his sleeping nephew in one arm, with another kid clinging tightly to his free hand.

so domestic please read the entire series from start to finish it has my whole heart

shoyou and tobio as their actual kids 🥺

these two parents are so in love it makes me wanna cry

asanoya

silica sand by lilien passe ☆ | G

Overworked, over-stressed programmer Azumane Asahi works on the top floor of a Shinjuku skyscraper. Nervous around his coworkers and terrified of the long drop on the other side of the window, Asahi falls into a miserable routine, only to have it broken one day by a simple message on the outside of the glass.

PLEASE. so well-written it makes my heart glow and ache simultaneously

made me ascend into asanoya heaven

such a brilliantly unique concept i love it A+

qué syrah syrah by loudlucy | M

Asahi wants to be a Master Sommelier. It's the highest honor in wine service, and the certification would allow him to live the life he's always envisioned for himself. Too bad the certification test is notorious for being the world's most difficult.

Most people fail their first time taking the exam, and Asahi is no exception, but he has more difficulty than most dusting himself off and getting back on his feet. Enter Nishinoya, a young man who shares his same dream, and who believes in their goals so fiercely it forces Asahi to embark on a delicious and sensuous journey of viticulture and validation.

AKA The Wine Tasting AU that literally no one even knew to ask for.

NOTE: You Do Not Need to Know About Wine to Understand This Fic!

another super unique concept!!! (´∀｀=)

my god their chemistry is amazing

the writing made me feel things ngl

stop my bones from wondering by cerasi ☆ | T

After graduation, Asahi hides from the world and needs help from a few sources to find his way back.

i want to write sonnets and sing ballads for this fic, it’s that beautiful

as always, Top Notch Writing *chef’s kiss*

no but i seriously... can i kiss the author? asking for a friend 😳👉🏼👈🏼

iwaoi

star-crossed by starlitcities | T

“I never thought I’d see the day that I’d envy a human,” Oikawa admits, showering himself in tiny suns, because he can actually feels those, like a fusillade of warm kisses on luminous skin that leave marks. To humans, they’d be freckles. Skin stars, Oikawa calls them. He didn’t make that up, a human did.

“Who created the rule that we can’t touch, I wonder,” Iwaizumi ponders, floating heedlessly through space.

“Maybe it’s because we can fly. Humans dream of flying, right?”

“I don’t think so.”

gsjsgsjshsjshsjsj star!iwaoi

they’re LITERALLY STARS

beautifulbeautifulbeautiful i love how the author conveyed the beauty of touch and humanity 🥺🥺

please bless yourself further with the sequel sun-kissed

conquering the great king by suggestivescribe ☆| E

Iwaizumi blinked his gaze over to Oikawa, "Last time was supposed to be a one time thing," he said, voice low, lacking some conviction.

Oikawa's lips twitched into a smirk and he brought them hovering just over Iwaizumi's, "One time thing, Two time thing, what's it matter as long as it's not a Relationship thing?"

yes.

in fact, this entire series (breaking the rules) features daisuga, kuroken, asanoya and it’s SO GOOD. every single one.

but anyway, character development!!!!! plot!!!!!!!!! writing!!!!!!!! i’m here for it all

tsukkiyama

campfire in your chest by deanpendragon ☆ | M

Kei realizes in their second year of high school that he’s probably been in love with Yamaguchi since they were ten. However hopeless he might be in handling that situation, Kei prays he’s at least not as hopeless as Hinata and Kageyama. But he just might be.

SO BEAUTIFUL

i am also a sucker for anything with stars, moons and all the love in between

no words to describe this work of art please just go read it and be blessed

under the lilac tree by raewrites | G

there’s a lilac tree in Kei’s backyard.

gorgeous in its simplicity

softtsukkisofttsukkisofttsukki

not as grandiose as the rest but the love written into every word, action and character is absolutely show-stopping

kagehina

saffron and cayenne pepper by dontsaycrazy ☆ | T

Cooking is hard. Even if you have your very attractive, very grumpy neighbor there to help you.

-

In which Hinata's lack of cooking skills are a danger to him and others. Luckily (or not), Kageyama is willing to teach him, if only for the sake of avoiding any burned down apartments.

the essence of their characters were captured so well and yet it’s like they’re completely new characters too? author, whoever you are, you totally owned this

this made me ship kagehina so hard

fluff! cuteness! lots and lots of cooing!

kuroken

the galaxy is endless (i thought we were, too) by cosmogony ☆ | T

soulmate

/ˈsəʊlmeɪt/ • noun

A person who was made from the same star as you.

-

// Kuroken AU where the last words your soulmate will say to you appear on your skin when you turn 16, and how Kenma and Kuroo learn what this means over the course of their lives.

ahhh here it is. beautiful, heartbreaking, soul-emptying agony. you want angst? choke on this, and your tears later on.

no but seriously please read this if you haven’t you won’t regret it at all i promise

written from kenma’s perspective so you experience every depth and multitude of emotion he does and it’s so raw and- brb imma go cry for a sec

knot in my heart by hearthope | T

There’s a picture. Kenma blinks, looking at the little calico cat, being held up next to the face of a guy with stupidly messy hair and a crooked grin.

Cute.

The— the cat. The cat is cute.

Just the cat.

-

Kuroo starts spending a lot of time at the flower shop Kenma works at. Kenma definitely isn't into him.

okay so i like it when authors unravel a normally stoic character’s full scope of emotion and give them depth, sue me.

anyway, back on the fluff train!

i absolutely f*ck with flower symbolisms, cats and bitchy best friends who have dirt on each other. the layers of romance, friendship and everything in between is so prettily developed 10/10

bokuaka

the jacket you never returned by daisuga ☆☆ | G

He leaned over, kissed Bokuto on the cheek, and smiled bitterly, eyes watery.

He will never remember. Not now, not ever.

What they were will now forever be forgotten.

-

"You used to call me Keiji, Koutarou."

YOU USED TO CALL ME KEIJI, KOUTAROU!!!!!!!!!!

i beg you to listen to Spiegel im Spiegel when it’s first mentioned in the story please

i read this and screamed through my tears for a solid 1.5 hours. i rarely cry.

no f*ckin regrets though i read this thrice already and it hurts so good every time

rules by conesofdunshire ☆☆ | E

In which Akaashi Keiji is an overworked accountant who stumbles upon Bokuto one night playing the piano in the lobby of his work. Bokuto is different, that much is obvious. But with such supreme musical talent and a smile so dazzling it rivals the sun, there's just something about him that brings Akaashi back every night.

this fic. this fic has my whole, broken, sobbing heart and laughing soul

gorgeous. breathtaking. magnificent.

bokuto is so WARM and akaashi is so STRONG and they both find the solace they need in each other and it’s all i want for me 😭😭😭

in another life by littleluxray | T

Sleeping didn't come as easy as it used to. Bokuto knew this, and now Akaashi did, too.

The hospital AU that no body asked for, but that I took upon myself to write.

this is a famous fic that i doubt any seasoned haikyuu reader wouldn’t know, and RIGHTLY SO BECAUSE, the PAIN. the pain. the pain.

i could feel my lungs shrivel up and my chest cave in on itself. fatigue and rest are things i struggle with too so this whole story resonated with me from start to finish, and it broke me. in like, the best, most revitalising way

i would read this again but it still haunts me at night. i need to heal from the first time before i have the guts to try one more time HAHAHA 😆💔😭

tea-stained polaroids by dalyeau | G

“I'm gonna date that,” Bokuto declares solemnly, and Kuroo throws a plastic spoon at his head.

mmmmmmm pretty photographer + personalised coffee cups + cute baristas = diabetic fluff fic

i smiled so much throughout this you have no idea. cheeks achey but so good

i may have squealed a little at the ending

kurotsukki

moonfall by batman | T

There is no unlearning Tetsurou, after all. There is only leaving him.

-

(Five things of Tetsurou's that ended up in Kei's home, and one that never left.)

the writing!!!!!! is pure beauty!!!! sheer grace!!!!!!! the construction of the AU and the romanticism and hsjsgsjshsj

didn’t cry but. heart ache and bittersweet smiles are another level of misery that is just as fulfilling

yea just pleasepleasepleaseplease go read it thank you and have a good day

hidden gem by realmSpinner | E

Things get complicated when everything you thought you knew about a guy changes, and they get even more complicated when you actually start liking those changes.

That guy working with you AND becoming your neighbor? That's just a cherry on top of the cake of confusion.

this AU was refreshingly different, and amazingly so

top!tsukki??? sign me the f*ck up

the whole plot, man. perfection.

pings by barfs ☆☆ | T

[5/02/16, 3:50:17 AM] Tsukishima Kei: Please wake up.

[5/02/16, 3:50:23 AM] Tsukishima Kei: I hate begging. You know I hate it.

[5/02/16, 3:50:34 AM] Tsukishima Kei: I bet you’re snickering at that, wherever you are.

[5/02/16, 3:50:53 AM] Tsukishima Kei: But, it keeps hurting and I don’t know why and it feels like shit and I know you could tell me why, but you’re not here and I would really appreciate it if you’d just wake up.

[5/02/16, 3:51:02 AM] Tsukishima Kei: You’re laughing at that too, aren’t you.

[5/02/16, 3:51:10 AM] Tsukishima Kei: Dying is probably up there in the list of top ten shitty things you’ve ever done, and you’ve done a lot of shitty things.

god.

you already know what’s coming, and yet. when it comes.

how the f*ck did the author make grief beautiful????????? (at the expense of me dying along with kei and everyone else i guess)

this fic will ruin you and bury you under all your pain (i hope you’re ready)

but also put you back together with the “sequel”

kyouhaba

close to the chest by darkmagicalgirl | T

It takes Yahaba thirteen years to realize he's different from the other kids, one to figure out how to hide it, and two more to learn to be happy just the way he is. Yahaba's journey ft. an extremely annoyed Kyoutani, best friend in the world Watari, and loads and loads of good senpai Oikawa.

cause i’m (not) alright with the slow, burn~

no fr, take slow and burn very seriously

overthinking yahaba? i understand. i do.

again, such an amazing fic; 10/10 recommend

safe here by crossbelladonna ☆ | M

“Raids are routine work,” Kyoutani tells to Yahaba before he can air the question. “Sometimes there is no sleep done until we accomplish something, say kill a certain ghoul. I guess they’re still going through the possibility that people in the accident are still alive huh?”

Yahaba quirks a smile, pushing his mask up his head.

“You’re alive.”

Kyoutani looks at him intently and all of the things that they’ve gone through for the past month seems to flash in his mind.

“Yes I am.”

i haven’t watched tokyo ghoul but i understood everything perfectly. such is the power of f*cking kickass writing

*cue ugly crying and a lot of unresolved angst*

like the grief??????? ruin me please thank you 🙏 (i think i’m a little masochistic)

rare pairs

mannequin men by surveycorpsjean ☆ | M

[bokuto/akaashi/kuroo/tuskishima]

The modelling world is full of hungry wolves, constantly clambering over the other, snarling and desperate. They fight, and they kill, trampling over anything in their path.

In this case, Akaashi fell in love with the wolves.

i did not expect this to be good, and it wasn’t. it was SPLENDID.

akaashi is so enamoured with them from the get go i love it

a tiny bit of angst that stabbed me in the heart, but the happy ending soothed it (thankfully, because if there wasn’t one i will sue)

characterisation, writing, plot development; everything is great. can you tell i’m running out of synonyms for ‘beautiful’

feel like gold by heronfem ☆☆ | T

[bokuto/akaashi/kuroo/kenma]

In which Kenma is unapologetic and comfortable with who he is, Akaashi learns a lot about himself in a short period of time, Kuroo is wildly in love and an eternal survivor, and Bokuto remembers that love doesn't cure mental illness, but having a support system sure helps a lot.

Or, the one where 4 young men get together, and are helplessly, hopelessly, utterly in love despite everything.

e.e. cummings?? poetry??? f*ck yes

so beautiful. i’m so star-struck by this fic it’s simply stunning

there are no words to fully capture how worth your time and heart and mind reading this fic is so please. do yourself a favour, and fall in love with this fic with me

the sky and guilt are the only feelings i have left by oopsthisisqueertoo ☆☆ | not rated

[bokuto/akaashi/kuroo]

Akaashi is at his wits end. He feels nothing. He's quickly crumbling as a human being. He wants nothing but sweet release of death. In his fourth year of college he drafts a plan for his suicide. He is to graduate, publish writing for others to be inspired by, and slip quietly away. Shortly after, he meets a dog walker named Bokuto who asks him out and Akaashi reluctantly agrees. Nothing matters anymore and he treats Bokuto like an obligation. Until he's not anymore.

TW: SUICIDE ATTEMPTS & DEPRESSION

this was... this gutted me entirely and filled my body with too many shades of agony

arguably one of the best haikyuu fics i’ve ever read

so beautiful in the most painful way fathomable; strongly recommend

april to may by surveycorpsjean | T

[bokuto/akaashi/kuroo/tsukishima]

They're an odd family.

The four of them? Parents?

But still, they're a family.

So they'll support each other until the end.

aaahhhhh third gym as parents 🥺

so much fluff. i also love april and may

they’re still so in love there’s love in every millimetre of this fic :”)

that’s it for now! i’ll add more if i come across anymore good fics. i hope you enjoyed this list! if you have any requests/fic recs, or if u just wanna chat, feel free to just ask! hehe 🥰 k aight bye~

#haikyuu!! #haikyuu #fic rec #beautiful #writing #ao3 fanfic #daisuga #kuroken #bokuaka #tsukkiyama #kagehina #third gym #iwaoi #fic #reference #hq

[distractedhistotech]

The Secret Santa OT3 fic that got way out of hand

@artmayhem

Arthur’s world was pain and confusion.  He’d been dreaming…No, it had to have been a nightmare.  That couldn’t have happened.  Lewis would never do something like that.  It was just…impossible.  Like rain falling up.

Little by little, he started to hear and become aware.  He could hear…familiar voices.  He knew them but couldn’t quite identify them.  A woman’s voice that made his heart smile.  A man’s voice that made him feel safe.  Another man’s voice that made him want to cry.  And…who did that last voice belong to?

It took a bit longer, but he started to hear a bit more.  They were whispering.  And shouting. And it had to do with…murder?

Oh, no no no no. He couldn’t lose anyone else.  He forced his eyes open.

There was Vivi, standing over him like she was trying to shield him with her body.  She looked furious, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying.  There was a bandage on her face.  Lance was next to her, looking just as furious and like he wanted to shoot something but couldn’t because he’d had his gun taken away.  They were both looking at something…on the other side of the room. Arthur laboriously turned his head to see what had both of their attention…

…And found himself staring into the eyes of Lewis.  Except they weren’t Lewis’ eyes.  They were the eyes of the ghost that had tried to kill them.  But it was Lewis.  So why…

And suddenly everything snapped into place.

Tall with broad shoulders.

Silly pompadour.

Deep voice.

Purple and pink.

The ghost that wanted them dead…was…was Lewis?

It wasn’t a nightmare.

Arthur’s world suddenly snapped into sharp focus as he realized that he was in a room with someone who wanted him dead.  He screamed and somehow managed to push himself away despite missing his arm.

He fell off the bed, and his body was on fire!  He gasped in pain and panic and there was shouting and he was breathing fast but he couldn’t breathe-

Blacking out was practically a relief.

 The next time Arthur woke up he had a much easier time thinking.  He had the familiar haze of painkillers, but he could tell he was in a hospital this time.  Now that he could remember what happened (Oh my God!  Lewis had dropped him off a cliff!), Arthur realized he’d been injured pretty badly and may have almost died.  He didn’t feel too awful though…He had all his remaining limbs and could move them.  His left shoulder and back felt pretty bad though.  He looked around as much as he could without moving his head.  Vivi and Lewis (Why?) weren’t around, but Lance was. He’d probably seen Arthur open his eyes so Arthur just turned to meet his gaze.  “Hi Uncle Lance.”

Lance seemed to relax a little.  “Hey Arthur. How’re you feeling?”

“Loopy.”  He hated pain medicine.  “Achey.  Not as bad as when I lost my arm.”

“That’s…well, it’s not bad, but I wouldn’t say it’s good either,” said Lance.  He paused for a moment, giving Arthur a concerned look. “How much do you remember?”

“Lewis is…” Dead, dead, dead.  “He dropped me off a cliff,” he finally said, trying very hard not to cry.

Lance nodded. “Yeah.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because he’s an idiot,” snarled Lance.

Arthur gave Lance a surprised look.  Lance had always been pretty fond of Lewis so hearing him talk about Lewis in that tone of voice was rather jarring even if it wasn’t surprising.  “Where-where is he?  And Vivi?  And Mystery? They were here before.”

“We kicked Lewis out,” said Lance matter-of-factly.  “Vivi’s family showed up a while ago.  Her father said they had some family stuff to talk about.  I’m guessing it had something to do with that sword and the tree lady.”

Arthur blinked. “Tree lady?”

“…”  Lance sighed.  “Right.  You were out for that.  A tree lady showed up and tried to kill Mystery and Vivi.”

“Why?”  Arthur was trying to figure out if they’d ever done anything to piss off a tree or the like but nothing was coming to mind.

“Something to do with Mystery not being a dog.”

Arthur made a face. “What else would he be?”

“Vivi called him something.  Can’t remember what,” admitted Lance.  “Some sort of fox with a bunch of tails.”

Thanks to being friends with Vivi and Lewis (and watching anime) Arthur realized Lance was talking about a kitsune.  “But kitsune are scared of dogs!”  Why that popped out, Arthur had no idea.  Lance looked just as confused and shrugged.  Arthur groaned.  “It sounds like Vivi and I need to have a talk.”  Preferably in private if it involved things like magic and ghosts.  “Do you know when I’m going to be released? I don’t feel as bad as last time…” But he had been dropped off a cliff…Wait.  There had been stalagmites.  “How am I not dead?”

“Ah, your shoulder was all torn up, but your implant was too tough for the spikes to go through. It sort of deflected you so you missed the others, but your port got caught and torn off,” explained Lance.

“Oh shit.” Arthur’s remaining hand went to his shoulder where the port was connected.  “Were they able to reconnect it?  Was my shoulder or the implants damaged?  Do I need to keep my arm off?”

“They reconnected the port and replaced the implants.  You’ll probably need to keep the arm off,” answered Lance.  “It’ll need time to heal.  The good news is that you should be able to get out as soon as the doctor is able to get a look at you.”

“That’s a relief,” sighed Arthur.  Being reminded of the time he’d spent in the hospital last time made him feel sick. “I can live without an arm for a few weeks.”

Lance nodded. “Good.  Remember.  It’s only for a little while.”

Arthur nodded in thought.  This was all a lot to take in.  Still, at least Lewis was back.  He was…messed up, but that sometimes happened with new ghosts.  He was sure he and Vivi would be able to help him recover so that he thought like a normal person…

But what made Lewis want to kill them anyway?  They’d all been friends.  Even if Lewis had been confused and delusional while getting used to being a ghost, he should recognize that.  Maybe he’d been upset about being left behind?  That was all Arthur could come up with, and it seemed like a reasonable thing to be upset about.

Arthur certainly wouldn’t want his body rotting and possibly getting eaten by coyotes somewhere.

Well, they could look after Lewis and his body now…And thinking about the fact that Lewis was dead with his body cold and motionless somewhere was really starting to depress Arthur.  Should he maybe try to talk to Lewis?

The memory of Lewis looking at him with ruthless contempt and hatred before dropping him flashed into his mind.  He inhaled sharply.

“You okay?” asked Lance.

Arthur nodded.  “Y-yeah.” He swallowed.  “Just thinking…remembering.  I think it’s gonna be a few weeks before I can talk to Lewis.”

And something flashed across Lance’s face too quickly for Arthur to properly identify what it was. “That’s fine,��� said Lance.

Arthur wondered if he should push it but decided not to.  Lance isn’t someone you want to push.

 When Arthur is released two hours later, Vivi and Mystery are waiting outside with his van. She let out a rush of air as she ran up and gave him a less-crushing-than-usual hug. “Arthur!  Thank God!”

Arthur smiled and gave her a one-armed hug.  “Hey Vivi. How’re you and Mystery?  You got whacked pretty hard by that bat…”  he trailed off as he noticed bandages on her face and hand.  “Oh man, did you get cut up in the crash?”

“No, that was the crazy tree lady,” explained Vivi.  “Tried to cut my head off.”

“What?!”

Vivi nodded. “Yeah, get in, and I’ll tell you all about it.”

The three climbed in, Vivi driving for once and Mystery flopping onto Arthur’s lap. Arthur studied Mystery curiously. “So…you’re a kitsune?”

“Yes,” said Mystery.

Arthur stared at Mystery in shock, less from the confirmation and more from the fact Mystery just spoke English.  “And you can talk?”

“Yes.”

And Arthur connected a couple of dots.  “Do you know how Lewis died?”

Vivi slammed onto the breaks.  Arthur immediately panics because he completely forgot about Vivi and her not being able to hear about Lewis, but she turns to him with a panicked look on her face.  “He wasn’t there!”

Arthur blinked. “Wait.  You didn’t-You got your memories back?!”

Vivi turned away from Arthur and started driving again.  “Yeah.”

Arthur felt a grin spread across his face.  “That’s great!”

“Yeah.”

“We can talk about anything now!” said Arthur.  “Oh! How’s Lewis doing?”

“I don’t know,” said Vivi.

Arthur blinked. “You don’t-You’re still upset about him trying to kill us, aren’t you?”  Vivi’s hands tightened around the steering wheel.  “I’m…upset too.  I don’t think I’ll be able to talk to him for a while,” admitted Arthur.

“You shouldn’t talk to him at all!” shouted Vivi.

Arthur gave her a surprised look.  “Where did that come from?”

“He dropped you off a cliff!” shouted Vivi.  “The only reason you’re not dead is because the stalagmite hit that plate in your shoulder!”

“I-I forgot about the stalagmites,” muttered Arthur.  Now he can’t stop thinking about that.  “Okay, no talking to Lewis.”

Vivi must be really angry if she doesn’t want to talk to Lewis.  Maybe Arthur should give her a few days to calm down.

 When they got to the garage, Vivi made it clear she and Mystery were staying for the night. Arthur didn’t argue.  He wanted Vivi and Lance nearby after everything that had happened.

There was something depressing about how he didn’t want Lewis around right now.

Arthur was still sore from the injury and tired and loopy from the medication so they just sat on the couch with a blanket covering them for most of the day, even eating on the couch.  It was the least Arthur had done in months…He was actually a bit antsy sitting still like this after spending so much time trying to figure out what happened to Lewis.

Oh wait.

“Vivi, this might be a bit random, but how did Lewis die and I lose my arm?” asked Arthur.

“I don’t remember,” said Vivi.

Arthur blinked. “Oh, I’m sorry.  So your memory…”  He thought she’d gotten it back.

Vivi gave him a reassuring smile.  “Oh, no, everything else is fine.  It’s just that night I can’t remember.”

Arthur let out a sigh of relief.  “You had me worried for a moment there…Although if it was bad enough to make Lewis a ghost maybe it’s better we don’t remember,” he admitted as much as it grated him to admit it.  “Still, I’d like to know what happened.”  He looked down at Mystery, who was lying across their laps.  “I don’t suppose you saw what happened?”

“Of course he didn’t,” said Vivi.  “He was with me the whole time.”

Arthur blinked. “Oh.  Okay.”  That didn’t sound right though.  If Mystery had been with Vivi, he’d have seen everything Vivi did.  Vivi’s memory loss had something to do with what had happened. Mystery hadn’t had any memory loss, right?  So…either nothing happened with Vivi (Which made no sense.  Her eyes literally glowed.) or Mystery hadn’t actually been with her.

Why were they lying to him?

No.  Not both of them.  Mystery hadn’t actually been doing a lot of talking (Force of habit?).  It was Vivi who was giving all the explanations. So if he was able to talk to Mystery without Vivi around…

Easier said than done. Vivi wasn’t leaving his side.

So Arthur just continued to sit there and stroke Mystery and joke with Vivi and watch the silly cartoons playing today.

It was…nice…but sad. It still felt like something important was missing.

Eventually, it was starting to get late.  Lance went to pick up some pizza, including Surf’s Up Surprise.  No one felt like cooking.

When Lance got home, Vivi got off the couch to give him a hand.  “Want anything to drink?”

“Just some soda, thanks,” said Arthur.

“What would you like Mystery?”

“Meat lover’s pizza.” Mystery licked his mouth.  “I’d like tea if Lance has any.  If not, just water for me, thanks.”

Vivi nodded. “Be back in a minute.”  She walked over to the kitchen.  It wasn’t really that far away.  Arthur could get over there and back just fine, even with the pain starting to work its way through the medicine.

He bit his lip. He was gonna feel bad about going behind Vivi’s back like this.  “Mystery,” he whispered.  “Do you know what happened when Lewis died?”

“Yes,” Mystery whispered back.

That hurt. “Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Vivi made me promise not to tell you, and kitsune can’t break promises,” explained Mystery.

Arthur bit his lip. So Vivi did know and just didn’t want to tell him for some reason.  That hurt.

“But Lance and Lewis know too,” whispered Mystery.  “I’m not sure if either of them will tell you, but it’s worth a try.”

Arthur nodded. “Okay.  Thanks.”

And that was when Vivi got back.  “Here’s your gross fish pizza.”  Mystery jumped off Arthur’s lap so she could put the plate there.  “And your meaty pizza,” she said, putting several plates in front of Mystery, who immediately dug in.  “And my supreme pizza.”  She flopped down next to Arthur.

Arthur chewed his pizza thoughtfully.  “You know…This explains why Mystery can eat stuff dogs aren’t normally supposed to eat. Do you even have any dietary restrictions?”

Mystery licked his lips.  “Nope. I actually have a wider range of foods than humans.  I just stick to human food because it’s so much tastier.”  And with that he went back to eating his pizza.

Arthur hummed in thought.  “Actually, why do you disguise yourself as a dog?  I thought kitsune were supposed to be scared of dogs…”

“Yes, exactly. I didn’t want anyone to think I was a kitsune, and most people with experience looking for kitsune are aware that we are typically scared of dogs.  Pretending to be one would convince most that I’m something else,” explained Mystery.  “Also, considering my power level, it seemed kind of silly to be scared of dogs so I decided to get over that fear, and turning into what frightened me seemed like a good way to work on it.  It took a while, but eventually it stopped bothering me.”  He grinned.  “Not to mention the perks that come with being a dog.  They knew what they were doing when they let you domesticate them.”

Vivi snorted. “Right, ‘cause you love to be lazy, eat all the food, and get belly rubs.”

“And now I’m wondering who was actually behind all of that,” muttered Arthur.  “So, how many tails do you have?  It sounds like you’ve been around for a while.”

“Oh, bit of a story there.  I used to have nine tails.”

Wow, so Mystery was really old.

“But I made a few bad choices,” continued Mystery.  “I ended up having several of my tails cut off and lost the power that came with them.”

“That can happen?” questioned Arthur.

“Yes, fortunately she didn’t get my original tail so I was able to survive and escape with the help of Vivi’s ancestor, who I swore loyalty to as thanks,” continued Mystery. “I’ve been with her family ever since.”

“Still can’t believe I didn’t notice,” muttered Vivi.

“Don’t feel too bad. I’ve gotten pretty good at hiding it,” said Mystery.

“You wear glasses and have a spiky hairdo!” protested Vivi.  “How did I not think that was strange?!”

“You know.  She has a point,” admitted Arthur.  “How did none of us think that was odd?  Other dogs don’t wear glasses…”

Mystery chuckled. “I may only have 7 tails, but I still retain the knowledge and tricks I’ve learned over the centuries.”

That made some sense. It was sort of like when Arthur had lost his arm.  He’d still had the knowledge to build and repair things.  It was just a bit more difficult to do those things until he had gotten his prosthetic attached.  “So, you’ll always be around then?”

Mystery nodded. “Unless the Yukinos die out, but I’ll do everything in my power to prevent that.”

“And there are other Yukinos,” admitted Vivi.  “I think Mystery just sticks with the ones that decide to go into paranormal investigation.  He belonged to Grandmother before me, and she was a priestess.  Dad wasn’t interested in that sort of thing so Mystery skipped him as an owner, er, partner?  I’m not sure how to describe this.”

“I’d prefer you not refer to yourself as my owner, although I admit that it might be necessary to do so to keep up the illusion,” admitted Mystery.  “Other than that, I don’t care too much about how you refer to our relationship.  Although I would like to be considered your friend.”

That’s a bit of a relief if Arthur is being honest.  He knows that kitsune can become powerful enough that humans can seem…he guesses the best word for it is insignificant.  They don’t live as long, they’re not particularly strong, and probably seem pretty foolish at times.  Sort of like a silly pet mouse.  Given some of the stories Vivi’s told him, he doesn’t think all kitsune share Mystery’s opinion.  “I’m happy to be friends.”  Mystery flinched.  Arthur wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been in contact with Mystery.  Arthur frowned.  “You okay?”

“It’s nothing,” said Vivi.  “He just feels bad about hiding it from us for so long.”

“…Yeah, I can see why that would be upsetting,” admitted Arthur.  “Why didn’t you tell us anyway?  It seems like it would be pretty easy to prove.”

“I still had enemies that I would have attracted to us.  Pretending to be a dog isn’t just convenient.  It hides my energy and power so that I can’t be tracked, and there are entities that wanted to find me and would have hurt or even killed you if they succeeded.”

“Like whoever cut off your tails?” asked Arthur.  “That’s someone I wouldn’t want to run into.”  For some reason that sent Mystery and Vivi into a giggle fit.  “Am I missing something?”

“You ran her over with the van,” explained Mystery.

Arthur abruptly recalled the mad dash away from Lewis’ horrible semi-truck.  “Holy crap!  I completely forgot that we hit someone!  Oh, wait, she attacked us.”  Arthur paused.  “I think it was a ‘she’ anyway.  Was that a tree growing out of her head?”

“Yes, she was a jubokko, a type of tree yokai that feeds on blood,” explained Mystery. “It’s…complicated.  I’d rather not talk about my past with her.”

Arthur could understand that, and he was pretty sure she didn’t have anything to do with the original injuries so he let it drop.  “Is she going to come back?”

“No.”  Mystery grinned.  “I took back my blood from her, and that is what gave her life in the first place.”

“Oh, that’s…good to know.”  Spirit rules. So complicated.

 Arthur fell asleep at some point and slept the whole night.  He woke up on the couch with Vivi leaning against him.  He felt a bit sore from sleeping on the couch, and he had phantom pains that he didn’t know how he’d slept through, but he felt more rested than he had in months.  He glanced at Vivi, debated for a moment, and decided to shake her awake.  “Huh, wha-what is it?”

“I need my pain medication,” grit out Arthur.

Vivi shot up. “Oh!  Right!  Want me to get it for you?”

Arthur shook his head. “Nah.  It’ll work better if I eat something with it.  Let’s eat breakfast.”  He paused.  “In the kitchen.  Not out here.”

Vivi smiled and nodded.  “Sounds good.”

It was just cereal since they still didn’t feel like cooking.  “You should try to go to work today,” said Arthur.  “Duet’s pretty lenient, but I don’t think she’ll be happy about you taking even more time off.”

Vivi bit her lip. “I don’t know.  You almost died…”

Arthur smiled. She’d been like this last time too, staying at his place, worrying over his health, trying to do everything for him. She’d been overprotective and overbearing, but he understood why.  He’d have done the same if it was Vivi who’d lost an arm and nearly bled to death. Still, he wasn’t nearly as bad off this time, and he knew how to do his daily tasks with only one arm now.  “I’ll be fine.  This isn’t like last time.  Heck, I’m thinking of going back to work today too.”

Vivi gave him an annoyed look.  “You just had surgery.  You should be resting.”

“Yeah, I won’t work a full day, and I won’t do anything too difficult.  Mostly secretary work, some oil changes, the like.”  Vivi still looked unsure.  “C’mon, there’s no way Uncle Lance will let me do anything that might make things worse.”

Vivi nodded. “Right.”  If there was one person who was as concerned for Arthur’s health as her, it was Lance.  “You’re right.  We need to get back to our normal schedules…or at least as much as we can.”

Arthur frowned. “Yeah.”  Lewis was a ghost.  Nothing would ever be normal again.  “Yeah, I think I’ve been putting that off for longer than I should.”  And Heaven help him, but the smile Vivi gave him made him feel even better than the medicine.

 Arthur really did stick to secretary stuff for most of the day.  He’d figured out how to do most repairs and maintenance stuff with one arm, but it could be tricky and more physically demanding.

That being said, Arthur really wanted to get back in the garage, so he called dibs on anyone who came needing a battery or oil change.  Tire changes took enough physical effort that he’d save them for once he was feeling better.

And being in the garage would give him a chance to talk to Lance.  “Uncle Lance?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know what happened when I lost my arm?”

Lance paused for a moment.  “Yeah.”

“Will you tell me?”

“No.”

Arthur huffed. “Why not?  What is going on?”

“You have enough problems as it is,” said Lance.  “I’m not adding to that burden.  Just let it go.  Please.”

Oh no.  It was bad if Lance said please.  “Okay.  I won’t ask you again,” promised Arthur.

There was still Lewis after all.

 Actually talking to Lewis was easier said than done.  Arthur was still having some nightmares about Lewis looking at him the way he had and dropping him and all the other attempts and…

Yeah, Arthur wasn’t sure he was ready to face Lewis yet.  Maybe one day, but not now.

But talking over the phone should be okay!

That was the plan anyway.  Except he was still getting that out of service message whenever he tried to call Lewis.

…

Lewis’ phone must’ve been busted when he…died.  Actually, could Lewis even use a phone anymore?  Arthur was pretty sure Lewis had something to do with the malfunctions his van and arm had experienced, and other ghosts had messed with their electronics before.

So…Arthur would have to call a different Pepper.  Should he call Mr. or Mrs. Pepper?  Or…

Well, there was one more option that might know what happened.  Arthur dialed the number and waited while the phone rang.

“Arthur!”

Arthur smiled. “Hi Belle.”

“I heard about what happened!  Are you okay?!”

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, I’m…well, I’m injured and a bit traumatized, but it’s not nearly as bad as last time.  I just have to let my shoulder heal for a few weeks before I reattach my prosthetic.”

“That’s good.”

“So, how are you guys doing?  How…How’s Lewis doing?”

Belle was silent. “He’s grounded.”

Arthur blinked. “He’s 21.”

“Well, he’s a ghost. He can’t rent his own apartment, and Mom and Dad were pretty upset with him.”

“But you’re okay with him being…you know?”

“We’re not happy about him being dead,” said Belle.  “But he’s still here so it’s not as bad as it could be.  Paprika’s kind of scared of him because of how he looks though.”

Arthur laughed nervously.  “Yeah, he can be pretty scary looking, huh?”

“Cayenne thinks he looks pretty cool though so she keeps him company,” continued Belle. “I…I know that he’s changed.  He’s not as happy.  But maybe he’ll go back to how he was before?”

Arthur winced. “I’m not sure.  He did die.  That had to be traumatic, and trauma can change a person.”

“Yeah…”

“But how is Lewis doing?  I…I wasn’t conscious to see what happened, but it sounds like he’s calmed down.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t seem like a rage ghost.  Actually, he’s been kind of emo, locking himself in his room most of the day.”

“Oh, wow, that’s bad.”

“He feels bad about what happened,” said Belle.  “And he’s kind of beating himself up over everything he did.”

“About that. Did Lewis ever say why he was trying to kill us?”

Belle was silent for a moment.  “You don’t know?”

“No.  I’m pretty sure Vivi and Uncle Lance know, but they won’t tell me for some reason.  It’s actually starting to freak me out a little.”

“Um, well, Mom and Dad did tell me, but we don’t really want Cayenne and Paprika to find out,” explained Belle.

Arthur winced. “Wow, was it really that bad?”

“Yeah.  Did Lewis zap your memory too?”

“Wait. ‘Too’.  As in he zapped someone’s memory?”

“Um…”

“Is that what happened to Vivi?!”

“Um…Yeah, Lewis said she saw him die and he didn’t want her to see that and did something, but he didn’t know he did it until he realized she didn’t recognize him,” explained Belle.  “He managed to fix it.  Maybe he could fix yours too.”

“I don’t think my memory loss is magic,” said Arthur.  “I lost a lot of blood when I lost my arm, and that can cause just enough brain damage to retain all the normal functions but permanently lose recently recorded events.” Besides, if Lewis had caused the Arthur’s memory loss, wouldn’t he have reacted the same way as Vivi?  “Although I guess he could sort of cure me by telling me what happened.  I’m kind of nervous about seeing him again though…I tried calling him, but I guess he messes with electronics?”

“Actually, Mom and Dad took his phone privileges away,” said Belle.  “They said he could have them back once he proved he could be reasonable and responsible.”

“So, he isn’t messing with electronics?”

“I think it depends on how he feels.  He’s been watching the TV just fine most of the time, but sometimes he’ll get upset and the TV goes all fuzzy until someone hits it,” explained Belle.

“That’s good to know.” Now that Arthur thought about it, his arm had functioned fine in that haunted mansion.

…

Where did Lewis even get a haunted mansion?

“So, uh, do you want me to tell you what happened?” asked Belle.  “I might be missing a few of the details, but I got the main gist of it.”

Arthur opened his mouth to say ‘yes’ but found himself stopping.  “I feel conflicted.”

“Uh, so you don’t want me to tell you?”

“I want to know, but I feel like I shouldn’t hear it from you, which is really frustrating because clearly something horrible and important happened that everyone is hiding from me for some reason!” rambled Arthur.

“Well, I kind of understand why they don’t wanna tell you,” admitted Belle.  “But why wouldn’t you want me to tell you?”

“I have no idea!” Arthur thought for a moment.  “Did you have any questions after you were told?”

“A lot.  Most of them haven’t been answered.”  Belle paused.  “By the way, were you feeling some sort of emotional turmoil when all that happened?”

“I can’t say for sure. Probably.  I’m usually freaking out pretty badly during the investigation.” Plus his general feeling of being left out and longing and jealousy.  He didn’t want to talk about that with Belle.  Oh.  “I think I just figured it out.”

“You did?!”

“There’s a lot of personal feelings involved that I’m not comfortable talking about at all, but if I have to I would prefer to only say it to the people it involves,” explained Arthur.  He sighed “Which means I’ll have to talk to Lewis.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“No.  I guess I’ll have to make myself be okay with it then,” said Arthur.

“Uh…How does that work?”

Arthur paused. “I guess I’ll stare at pictures of Lewis until I stop panicking.”

“Will that work?” asked Belle.

“I don’t know. I gotta try something!”  Arthur groaned.  “Why does this all have to be so complicated?”

“Because you guys run around hunting ghosts?” suggested Belle.

“…Yeah, that’s probably it,” admitted Arthur.  “So, I’ll see you soon, hopefully.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” agreed Belle.  “…We miss you.”

Arthur winced. He’d been avoiding the Peppers. It was…painful seeing them without Lewis around.  “Yeah, soon. I promise.”  He ended the call.

So, now he had to learn to not be scared of Lewis.  Easier said than done.

 The next couple of weeks were spent recovering enough to work full time in the garage again, hanging out with Vivi and Mystery while watching a lot of sci-fi.  Arthur actually had to suggest a couple of scary movies to break things up a bit.

Vivi and Mystery were actually spending a lot more time with him than they had last time he was injured.  Nice as it was, this meant that Vivi wasn’t trying to talk to Lewis.

Arthur knew what it felt like to be left out like that, and that was what pushed him to go to the Pepper house a little over three weeks after the incident.

Not that it was going well.  He was just starting at the door, willing himself to knock on the door or ring the doorbell, but then he’d think about Lewis answering the door and freeze up.

Maybe he wasn’t quite ready for this.

Then the choice was taken out of his hands by the door opening.  Thankfully, it wasn’t Lewis that opened it.  “Hi Mrs. Pepper.”

Mrs. Pepper sighed. “Hello Arthur.  It’s nice to see you are doing well.”

“Yeah, you too, and I, um, kind of wanted to ask Lewis something.  Is he home?”

Mrs. Pepper nodded. “He’s still grounded.  We said he could go back to working at Pepper Paradiso in the kitchen, but he’s having some trouble making himself look human so he prefers to stay home.”

“Oh, wow, that’s not good.”  Lewis loved cooking.  He only refused to do it when he was really upset.  “Can I see him?”

Mrs. Pepper hesitated for a moment.  “If you’re both up to it.”

“I’m not sure I am,” admitted Arthur.  “But I want to try.”

“All right.” Mrs. Pepper moved aside so Arthur could come into the house.  “Lewis! Arthur’s here!”

“What?!”  Lewis appeared at the top of the stairs. Arthur winced.  Lewis was still in his suit, but had his face instead of the skull.  Thankfully, Lewis looked more shocked than anything else so Arthur didn’t get a flashback. “Arthur, what-what are you doing here?”

Arthur took a deep breath.  “We need to talk.”

“Right, I, uh, let me come down-”

“In private. I…I think this needs to be a private conversation,” interrupted Arthur.

Lewis looked nervous.  “I could…soundproof my room?”

He could do that? “Yeah, that sounds good,” agreed Arthur.

“I’ll check on you two in half an hour,” said Mrs. Pepper.  That got a wince from both Arthur and Lewis.  She used to be willing to leave them alone for hours…

Still, they went to the room, and Lewis did something that caused everything to get a purple tone. Arthur poked at the wall curiously. “Huh, does this have something to do with that haunted mansion you were in before?”

“Yeah, I, uh, made that,” admitted Lewis.

“That’s pretty impressive,” complimented Arthur.  Lewis was a pretty powerful ghost to pull something like that off.  “But why did you do that instead of coming to Tempo?”

“Because I wanted to scare you,” admitted Lewis.  He closed his eyes.  “I wanted to hurt you.  I knew that everyone else would disprove, but I still wanted to because I thought I knew better than them.”

“Right, um, that’s what I wanted to talk about…sort of.  What happened that made you want to kill us so much?” asked Arthur.  “I know it must have been something bad, but-”

“Wait,” interrupted Lewis.  “You thought I was trying to kill all three of you?”

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, you stopped all of us in front of your mansion and then tried to attack and blow us up.  And you ran us off the road and down a cliff.”

Lewis covered his mouth, looking ill and muttering something under his breath.  “That-I, uh, wasn’t thinking things all the way through. I didn’t want to hurt Vivi and Mystery. Just you.”

What?  Arthur suddenly didn’t feel nervous and scared now. He just felt numb and a bit sick. It took a few minutes for him to find his voice.  “Why?”

“I thought you killed me,” admitted Lewis.

“I could never do that,” Arthur immediately responded.  “Why would you think I would do something like that?”

“You really don’t remember?” asked Lewis.  When Arthur shook his head, Lewis handed him the golden heart that was always floating in front of his chest.  “Maybe this will help.”

Arthur stared at it in confusion before realizing that it could be opened.  Inside was a picture of Lewis and Vivi hugging each other with smiles on their faces.  All it did was make Arthur feel depressed.  “Is this supposed to be doing something?”

Lewis looked a bit surprised.  “I don’t get it.  This fixed Vivi’s memories.”

Arthur let out a hysterical giggle.  “That-I’m missing my memories because I nearly died from massive blood loss and spent a week in a coma!”  Seriously, just because they were ghost hunters didn’t mean everything had a supernatural explanation.  “I could barely move when I woke up!  How the Hell could I have hurt you?!”

Lewis just stared at him.  “You really don’t know.”

“Of course I don’t! I wouldn’t be this frustrated and upset if I did!” complained Arthur.

Lewis pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Okay, okay, I can-I’ll tell you, but neither of us is going to like it.”

“I can already tell,” muttered Arthur.

“So, we went to investigate a haunted cave,” started Lewis.  “Very creepy.  Opening looked like a monster face, and there was green mist all over the place.”

Arthur nodded. Sounded like the sort of place Vivi would love to visit.

“You wanted nothing to do with it, but we convinced you to go inside.”

That was typical too.

“And we came to a fork in the cave and decided to split up.  Vivi went to the lower level with Mystery.  We went to the upper level.”

“Why?”

“Well, we thought it would be faster that way,” said Lewis.

“No, I mean why did we split up like that.  After you and Vivi started dating you two always paired up when we had to split up. So why did you suddenly change it this time?” pressed Arthur.

Lewis’ face turned sort of purple and see through enough for Arthur to just be able to see the skull underneath.  “Well, you were really scared, and we felt like we might have been leaving you out of things a little too much.”

Arthur had felt left out.  It had felt like he only saw them on ghost hunts in the weeks leading up to whatever had happened.  The split up still seemed to come out of nowhere though.  “Okay, I’ll buy that.”  He supposed the why wasn’t that important in this case.  “And then what happened?”

“We followed the path up to a cliff that was pretty high up.”  Lewis swallowed.  “There-there were stalagmites.”

Arthur gripped at his pants.  He could tell they were getting close to the point where Lewis died.

“And I wanted to see if I could see Vivi, but I couldn’t, and you made a sound, and I turned, and your hand was on my chest-”

What?

“And you pushed me and-”

“You’re lying,” interrupted Arthur.

Lewis blinked.  “Huh?”

“You’re lying,” repeated Arthur, glaring at Lewis.  “I would have never hurt you, much less-”  Arthur stood.  “If you’re not going to tell me then I’ll just ask your parents or Belle.”

Lewis stood. “Whoa!  Wait!  Don’t! It wasn’t you!”

“You just said it was!”  Arthur reached for the door.

“You were possessed!”

Arthur paused for a moment.  He turned back towards Lewis.  “Possessed?”

“There was a demon in the cave,” Lewis rapidly explained.  “You were freaking out pretty badly, which let it possess you, and it used your body to…kill me.”

That…That was awful, but Arthur could admit it made more sense than him wanting to kill one of the people he loved.  “If I was possessed, then why would you want to kill me?”

“I didn’t know you were possessed, okay?!” said Lewis.  “I just remember seeing you grinning and pushing me!  I didn’t know about you being possessed until the demon showed up and possessed you again!”

“Again?  It happened twice?!”

Lewis blinked. “Uh, yeah, when I…dropped you.  It, uh, showed up and reattached itself and we had to rip your arm off again.”

Arthur’s hand went to his port.  “My arm?! Again?!”

“Um, yeah, it was sealed in your arm.  Did-did no one tell you about this?”

“No!  Why was there a demon in my arm?!”

“Uh, well, apparently the possession started in your arm and was mostly in there,” explained Lewis. “So to stop the possession Mystery removed your arm.”

“Mystery?!  But he’s a little-”  Arthur stopped himself.  “He’s not a dog.  He’s a kitsune.  And I never asked how big he is out of his disguise.”

“He’s big enough for you to ride him like a pony,” said Lewis.

Big enough to maim someone then.  “And you didn’t know any of this?” pressed Arthur.

“That happened after I died.  I think it took a few hours for me to wake up,” explained Lewis.  “If I had known…I swear I would have never tried to hurt you. You have to believe me.”

Arthur’s mind was racing too much for him to answer.  He’d been possessed.  Something made him hurt Lewis.  Did that mean he killed Lewis?  Or did the blame lay squarely with the demon?  Why would Vivi and Lance hide this from him?  Why didn’t Mystery warn him while he was looking for Lewis?

Why him?  Why Lewis?  What did they do to deserve this?

Why?  Why?  Why?

“I need a minute.” Arthur was barely aware of the words coming out of his mouth, but he knew they were true.  He flew out of the room, down the stairs, out of the house, barely hearing people calling his name.  He needed to get out of here.  He needed to go, go, go.

And now he was in his van and driving, driving, driving.  He wasn’t even paying attention to where he was going.  Did it matter where he went?  Did it matter if he came back?

Eventually, Arthur started to calm down.  He was still an odd combination of upset and numb, but he was thinking a bit more clearly now so he realized that it was starting to get late and he had no idea where he was.

…

Now what?

 Eventually, Arthur started to get hungry so he finally stopped at a gas station to refuel, grab a snack or two, and maybe get directions to somewhere to eat/sleep.

The door dinged as Arthur walked inside.  “Hey,” said the cashier.

“Hey,” said Arthur as he walked over to the snack aisle.  They had a few protein bars.  That would work.  Arthur eyed the energy drinks for several minutes before sighing and getting a can of coffee.  He didn’t want to stay up all night, just last long enough to grab a meal and find a motel or something.

“I’d like to buy these,” said Arthur, placing the two items on the counter and pulling out a twenty. “And put the change on pump five.”

The cashier started to ring him up.  “Sure thing.”

“Also, I’m not from around here.  Do you know anywhere I can buy some food this time of night and a decent motel I can stay at?”

“There’s a Motel 8 a few streets down with some fast food places nearby,” said the cashier.

Arthur nodded. They’d stayed at Motel 8’s before. They were usually decent and had cable. “So will do I need to head straight or take any turns?”

“Turn right out of the station.  You should see the sign in a few minutes.  There’s a few fast food places around that might still be open.”

“Thanks.” Arthur walked out, tossed his food into the van, and got his gas.  He took a moment to eat the protein bar before heading back out.

The Hotel 8 was right where the cashier said it would be.  Arthur went ahead and got a room for two nights in case the reception would close later.  Then he went and grabbed a fish sandwich and fries from a nearby McDonalds.

And now he was sitting in his room, just staring at the wall as he tried to figure out what to do. It wasn’t like he’d planned any of this. Arthur’s phone buzzed in his pocket.

Oh.  He’d forgotten about that.  He pulled it out and saw dozens of missed texts and calls, mostly from Vivi and Lance.  They mostly consisted of how he was running late, did something come up, you should’ve been home by now, are you okay, are you hurt, where are you?

Arthur felt a bit guilty.  What should he say?  He bit his lip.  He didn’t want to talk to them right now to tell the truth.  Still, he should let them know he was alive.  “I’m fine.  I know about the cave.  I need some time to myself,” he texted back to Lance and Vivi.

Then he turned off his phone.  He didn’t have a charger with him, and his phone was starting to run low.

God, Arthur was exhausted in so many ways.  Arthur flopped on a bed.  He hadn’t bothered to bring any clothes, but what he was wearing should work as pajamas.

…

…

He couldn’t sleep.

Arthur groaned and turned on the television.  He didn’t bother to change the channel.  He didn’t care what he was watching.  He just needed a distraction.

He wished he’d remembered to grab his medicine before he’d run off.

 Arthur must have fallen asleep at some point because he woke up the next morning feeling sore and with the beginnings of a headache.

Something squeezed his arm.

Arthur screamed, flailed, and managed to throw what was on his arm off and into the wall. The startled shriek and purple caused Arthur to do a double take.

It was one of Lewis’ little ghosts.  It was looking at Arthur like he’d just told it Santa didn’t exist.  “Shit!  Sorry, you startled me!”  Arthur looked around for a moment.  He didn’t see any other ghosts, including Lewis.  “Where the heck did you come from?”

The little ghost let out a warble.  It still looked pretty upset.  Arthur sighed and held his hand out in front of it.  “Okay, look, I’m sorry.  I went to sleep alone, and then woke up with something else in bed with me.  I thought you were a wild animal.  Or maybe a clever cat.  Something that might try to bite me.”

The little ghost was looking a little less contrite.  It nuzzled Arthur’s hand.  Arthur pet it.  “Huh, when you’re not trying to kill a guy, you’re actually kind of cute,” admitted Arthur. “But what are you even doing here? I’m pretty sure Lewis isn’t nearby. I guess he could’ve followed me, but he doesn’t have a car so that would be obvious.”

It was at this point the ghost let out a chirp, flowed up Arthur’s arm, curled around his neck, and nuzzled his cheek with another chirp.  Arthur shuddered.  “Uh, you’re cute and friendly, but wow that feels weird…”  The nuzzling stopped, but it stayed curled around him.  Arthur sighed.  “Okay, so I’m on my own with a ghost.  Well, now’s as good a time as any to make a plan.”  Arthur sat on the bed.  “Well, I guess I should get something to eat first.”  The ghost perked up and gave him a happy look and chirp. “…Can you even eat?  And if you do how does that even work?”  The ghost warbled.  “Then…I don’t have any other plans.  I’ll have to eat lunch and dinner at some point.  Maybe stop at a bank and pick up some supplies.  I can’t exactly live in the same outfit for the whole time I’m here.”

The ghost scrunched up its face and stuck out a tongue.  Arthur chuckled.  “I guess I’ll make it up as I go along, but for now I’d like to clean up so could you let go for a bit?”  The ghost did so, curling up on the bed instead.  Arthur briefly wondered how much the ghost understood before heading to the bathroom.

While he could clean up pretty much the same as usual with the provided soap, there wasn’t any hair gel provided.  His hair was already starting to droop.  Maybe he had a tin in the van from their last trip.

A quick search showed that A: Uncle Lance had been very thorough about cleaning up the van when he’d moved it inside the garage and B: There was no hair gel or any other styling products of any kind.  Arthur debated on whether to buy a new tin or if he could survive a ponytail for a few days.

Eh, he’d have to buy more eventually.

“I’m heading out. Do you-”  The ghost flew out of the hotel room and into the van.  “Well, okay then.”  Arthur locked the door and got into the van where the ghost was exploring everything.  “I’ll have to leave you in here during some of my shopping.  You okay with that?”  The ghost let out a chirp.  It was smiling so Arthur took it as a ‘yes’.  “Off we go.”

First stop was the McDonald’s again.  Arthur got a parfait specifically so he could save a couple of berries and see if the ghost could eat them.

They fell back out of the ghost.  Go figure.

After that, Arthur managed to find a bank and withdraw some money.  Then he found a Wal-Mart and got a few essentials that would let him survive a few days away from home.

That was really all he had planned for today.  “Well, I came here to think.  Maybe I can find a park or a nature walk or something?”  Although the latter seemed unlikely.  This was a pretty small town.

The park they had was a bit small.  There was some playground equipment that was mostly deserted except for some mothers with very young children.  A couple of people walking dogs.

Oh, right, school day. Well, it worked in his favor.

Arthur just walked for a while, going in circles after a bit.  Thinking on everything.  Lewis had tried to kill him specifically, not the whole rest of the gang.  Vivi had lied to him about why.  Lance…Well, Arthur wasn’t sure if he’d lied, but he’d made it clear he wasn’t going to tell Arthur what had happened.

And that was without getting into the issues with Mystery.  If he’d been able to talk the whole time, he could have told Arthur what happened in the cave the whole time!  Heck, Mystery could have told Lewis and calmed him down.  Or even told them that there was a demon in that cave and prevented everything!

A demon…Arthur rubbed his scarred shoulder.  He’d been possessed by a demon.  Twice by the sound of things.  That couldn’t be good.

Arthur still didn’t remember what had happened.  Not that he was surprised, but he was a bit disappointed that he was still drawing a blank.

So…what did he know about demons?  They’d never run into one before, thank goodness, but Vivi had talked about them before.

They could be repelled by faith, holy water, holy salt, could not set foot on sanctified ground, you should never say a demon’s name because that would catch its attention (Arthur briefly wondered if that applied to other means of communication before shutting down that line of thought for his own peace of mind.), they lied, they only told the truth when it would hurt someone, they could possess people, they targeted people who were emotionally or psychologically vulnerable…

Arthur ran his hand down his face.  Anxiety, fear of being abandoned by his now dating friends, longing for said friends, some admitted jealousy, and more than a little panic and fear at being in a rumored to be haunted cave where people had been horribly murdered.  He could see why the demon had latched onto him.  Vivi and Lewis had both been excited and eager to explore.  They hadn’t even grabbed half the supplies Arthur had brought.

…

That happened a lot. Lewis and Vivi would get excited and be so sure that nothing bad would happen that they’d run in with the bare minimum of preparation, like they were invincible.  Meanwhile Arthur would run after them telling them to be careful because there were bears around here, and that house is not structurally sound, and you should have a way to keep from getting lost in a cave!

…And that was the practical, normal dangers that Arthur could look up on his phone if he needed to.  The more esoteric, supernatural stuff was Vivi’s domain.  He didn’t recall seeing her take more than a bat with an ofuda on it and a few vials of holy water unless she knew they needed something specific. A lot her supplies were left in the van…

Arthur shook her head. Even if Vivi could have maybe prevented it, that was a big maybe.  They’d never know for sure…and if Arthur was being honest he probably could have prevented it by telling them…Well, not how he had feelings for them but at least that he felt left out and would like to spend more time with them.  And maybe asked if they could do something other than sleuthing, like go to a convention or something.  It might’ve helped lessen his anxiety.

Arthur had no idea if Lewis could’ve done anything to prevent his death.  He liked ghosts and stuff like Vivi but wasn’t knowledgeable enough to get the same amount of use out of Vivi’s collection.  The only thing Arthur could come up with was Lewis taking the lower path with Vivi, and who knows how that would have gone.  Maybe the demon would’ve made Arthur jump off the cliff or gone after Vivi or Lewis.

The fact of the matter is that Arthur just didn’t know enough about what had happened.  Yeah, he’d gotten the story from Lewis, but that was from Lewis’ point of view.  If Arthur still had his memories he could look back and point out every moment he’d messed up and what he could’ve done differently.

…

Maybe it was a good thing he couldn’t remember what happened in that cave.  He felt guilty enough as it is even knowing he’d been possessed at the time.  He’d probably be a mess if he actually remembered anything.

It was at that moment he saw a food truck.  What time was it?  He didn’t have a watch.  He mostly used his phone to tell the time when he was out and about.  Well, he was getting hungry and there was a line so he was going to say it was around lunchtime.  He walked over and got in line.  Looked like a Mexican food truck.  Maybe they had fish tacos.

No fish tacos. He settled for a couple of chicken tacos instead.  They were actually pretty good.  “Now what?” He felt done with walking for the moment.  He walked back to his van where the little ghost wrapped around him making happy sounds. “Want to explore a bit?”

 While exploring Arthur found an old-fashioned movie theatre.  He figured he could sneak the ghost inside so he bought a ticket for a movie he was unfamiliar with.

It was a weird movie, but Arthur would watch it again.  The ghost fell asleep part way through.  This made it easier to leave in the van when Arthur found a small library.

Arthur spent his time on reddit looking at threads about people talking about being lied to or who survived murder attempts.  It wasn’t exactly pleasant to read, but it did help Arthur sort through his feelings.

Once it got a bit later, Arthur left the library and found a semi-decent restaurant where he made a half hearted attempt to eat healthy by ordering the grilled chicken sandwich and green beans.  Then it was back to the hotel room for the night.

Arthur sat on the bed, kicking his feet as the ghost channel surfed.  “You know…That was nice.  Being on my own and just doing whatever for the day,” mused Arthur. “It’s something that’ll get old fast, and I think I’d rather be with…a friend.  But I guess it’s good to have some time to yourself every now and then so you can sort your thoughts out.”

The ghost just yawned. Arthur yawned too.  “Yeah, bed sounds good.”

 The next day started much the same, except Arthur woke up a bit earlier and didn’t panic when he felt the little ghost cuddling him.  He decided to be lazy and lay there for a bit before getting up.

He decided on pancakes for breakfast, just because.  Then he went back to the park.  He wasn’t sure it he’d be there long enough to see the food truck again, but he had seen a café he might be able to try.

Arthur had been watching a squirrel navigate some branches when he heard a dog barking.  He didn’t think anything of it since he’d seen a few dogs walking around.

“Arthur!”

“Wha?”  Arthur turned just in time to find himself with an armful of Vivi.  “Vivi?!”

“Oh God, I didn’t think we were gonna find you!”  Vivi pulled back to give him a glare.  “What were you thinking running off like that!”

Arthur winced. “I’m sorry.  I just wanted to be alone,” admitted Arthur.  “I did send those texts to let you know I was okay.”

“Anyone could’ve sent those texts!”

“My screen has a lock on it,” argued Arthur.  “How did you even…”  Arthur trailed off as he noticed who else was there.  Mystery was standing a respectable distance to let Vivi have her say, but behind Mystery was a very-nervous looking Lewis with a familiar ghost rubbing up against him.  “…Were you spying on me?”

“No!”  Lewis shook his head rapidly.  “I didn’t even mean for Anaheim to end up with you!”

Arthur blinked. “You named him Anaheim?”

Lewis did that weird purple blush.  “Um, yeah, anyway I guess he must’ve wandered into your van while we were talking.  I didn’t notice until I realized he was moving away with you, and when Vivi said you were missing I thought maybe I could use that to track you,” he explained with a shrug.

Vivi spun to face Lewis with a glare.  “I still can’t believe you told him!  Isn’t it enough that you tried to-”

Arthur slammed his hand over Vivi’s mouth.  She gave him a startled look.  “Look, we are in the middle of a public park.  Do you really have this conversation here?”

Vivi removed his hand. “We shouldn’t be having this conversation at all!”

Arthur took a deep breath.  “Vivi, you are a strong, independent woman and one of my best friends, but this is my life, not yours.  I…I think I’d actually forgotten that.”

Vivi looked confused. “Huh?”

Arthur sighed. “Let’s find somewhere private when can talk about this.”  He turned to Lewis.  “That means you too.”

Lewis looked a bit surprised and…hopeful?  Wow, he really must’ve been miserable since coming back.

 For some reason, they ended up at…Arthur wouldn’t call it a mall, but it was sort of built like one. There were a bunch of stores in a larger building, along with a couple of restaurants.  Arthur waited until they got some food (Arthur absentmindedly noticed Lewis slipped his food onto the seat next to him for Mystery to eat.) to open the conversation.  “Why did we start the Mystery Skulls?”

Vivi paused. “Because we wanted to travel around and investigate ghost sightings.”

Arthur shook his head. “That’s what you and Lewis wanted. I was perfectly fine with traveling and spending time with you guys,” he said with a fond smile.  “I love spending time with you.”  His smile fell.  “I never liked the investigating part.  I always felt scared the whole time.  I would’ve been all right with just driving you guys around and staying with the van, but…” Vivi and Lewis always convinced him to come with them.  “I guess I wanted to spend even more time with you guys…”  He shook his head.  “Anyway, I convinced myself it was fine because we were doing something you liked, but…”  He scratched the back of his neck.  “How do I put this?  Even when we went on a trip to somewhere I wanted to go, we got sidetracked by investigations to and from, even if we could’ve avoided it or left it to the local authorities.  I think at some point I convinced myself that it was okay because it’s not like you planned any of that, except…except it wasn’t okay.  Everything was about the Mystery Skulls the paranormal investigators, even when I wanted a break, even when I was scared out of my mind, even when my anxiety got worse…”  He shook his head.  “I can’t spend the rest of my life doing something that terrifies me.  I can’t be a Mystery Skull anymore.”

“Oh…”  Vivi looked devastated.  “I mean, I was going to suggest a break, but if you’re sure you don’t want to be an investigator anymore…”

Arthur nodded. “I’m sure.  I still wouldn’t mind traveling with you guys and taking care of the equipment, but I’d rather stay out of the way when you do your work.”  He shrugged.  “Who knows?  Maybe eventually I’ll be comfortable enough to occasionally go on a job with you, but I think it’s time for me to move on and do something else with my life.”  He smiled sadly.  “And I know that’s selfish, but…I think sometimes you have to be selfish to take care of yourself.  I tried to be selfless, and it ended up messing me up pretty badly, so now I kind of have to be a bit selfish.”

The whole table was silent as everyone digested that.  “Then…I guess the Mystery Skulls are over,” said Vivi.

Arthur blinked. “What?  No, c’mon, you’ve still got Lewis and Mystery.”

Lewis winced as Vivi gave him a look.  “Vivi’s only tolerating my presence because I had a way to find you.  She’s…still understandably angry with me.”

“And I disguise myself as a dog so most sane folks won’t consider me an investigator,” pointed out Mystery.

Arthur huffed. “Vivi, I’ve already forgiven Lewis for trying to kill me.”

“What?!”  The rest of the restaurant turned to stare at Vivi and Lewis’ shout.

“Sorry, sorry,” said Lewis, whose hair looked a little wispy.  “Just, caught us by surprise there.”  He chuckled nervously as most of the other patrons returned to their meals. He turned to give Arthur a confused look.  “And what’s this about forgiving me?”

“I’d like an explanation for that too,” said Vivi.

“I got possessed by a demon.  So when it pushed him off a cliff he didn’t see a demon pushing him.  He saw me pushing him.  I can understand the confusion.  Heck, the demon probably wanted Lewis to think it was me,” admitted Arthur.  “And I admit I feel awful about that.  I probably always will, but that’s not what we’re talking about right now.”  He turned to Lewis.  “You don’t have to go into detail, but what did you think when you first became a ghost?”

Lewis winced. “Well, it took me a few seconds to realize I was dead…and it took me a little while to remember what happened. Then I just got so angry I could barely think straight.  I just knew you’d…pushed me.  It wasn’t fair.  I-I had to hurt you too.  It was only fair, and I kept thinking like that…”  He turned his gaze towards Vivi.  “Until you protected him.”

Vivi gave him an unimpressed look.  “And you still tried to blow us all up.”

Lewis winced. “Yeah, I was still hazy.  I didn’t snap out of it until…until I dropped Arthur and realized I didn’t want that after all.”

“Uh huh.”  Vivi turned to Arthur.  “Is there a point to this?”

“You said ghosts can be really confused and not think straight when they first die,” Arthur reminded her.  “And let’s face it, Lewis has every right to be upset about dying!  And, well, it made sense to think it was my fault at the time, so I can see why messed up logic led him to think I had to pay for his death.” He turned to Lewis.  “Don’t get me wrong.  I’m still terrified that your first reaction was to jump straight to murdering me instead of, like, leading police to your body or appearing to your family and telling them what happened.  Yeah, one of those would have probably ended with me getting arrested, but if you figured out that you were wrong, you could appear and, I dunno, pretend you had amnesia or something.  Murder…is kind of permanent.  I would have never imagined you’d do something like that…”

Lewis looked guilty. “I wouldn’t have thought I was capable of it either.  I just…hurt so much.”

“Everyone was hurting,” said Vivi.  “Yes, that includes me.  I might not have been able to remember you, but I saw how upset everyone else was and couldn’t do anything to stop it, and Arthur lost his arm and nearly died!  And what did he focus on?  His missing friend!  He nearly worked himself to death looking for you!”

Lewis was getting pretty cowed so Arthur decided to interrupt.  “I’m pretty upset with you too Vivi.”

Vivi gave him a startled look.  “Me? Why?”

“You lied to me, and not a little lie either.  You consciously decided to hide how Lewis died from me!”  He pointed at his shoulder.  “And you knew I was trying to find out what happened even before Lewis came back as a ghost!”

“Well, it’s not like we need to find Lewis anymore,” pointed out Vivi.

Arthur winced along with Lewis.  “Ow, that’s harsh.”  Arthur shook his head.  “That’s not my point.  Would you like it if-Oh, wait.  That’s actually a pretty good comparison.”

“Hm?”

“Lewis tried to hid how he died from you.  How did that feel?” asked Arthur.

Vivi winced. “Yeah, that wasn’t…A part of my life was ripped out of my head.  That’s not the same thing.”

Arthur nodded. “I guess not, but you were still trying to cover up a major event in my life that irreparably changed it.”  He sighed.  “Try to put yourself in my shoes.  You spent months trying to figure out what happened during a period you lost your memories.  Suddenly everyone knows, but won’t tell you.  Won’t, not can’t.  You know the difference.”

Vivi huffed but was silent for several minutes.  “Okay, I can see where you’re coming from.”

Arthur let out a sigh of relief.  “Thank you.”

“But I’m still angry with you,” she said, looking straight at Lewis.

Oh come on. What would it take to get her to talk civilly with Lewis?

A throat cleared itself under the table before Mystery climbed into the open seat next to Lewis. None of the other patrons or workers batted an eye at the behavior.  “If I may, Vivi, how would you react if Arthur pushed you off a cliff to your death?”

Arthur let out a hiss. What would he do if Vivi and Lewis both died?

“Is Arthur possessed?” asked Vivi.

“No,” said Mystery.

“I wouldn’t-I couldn’t-”  Arthur shook his head.  He knew he couldn’t do that.

“Well, I guess I’d go confront him about it,” said Vivi.

Mystery raised an eyebrow.  “And is that all you would do with your temper?”

Vivi blushed. “Okay, I might’ve beaten him up…or worse…I guess if I wasn’t thinking completely clearly it would be easy to go overboard.”

Mystery nodded. “You would try killing him.”

Vivi looked away. “Maybe…Probably.”

“Oh, it seems I was mistaken.  Arthur was possessed when he killed you.”

Vivi’s head snapped towards Mystery.  “Wha-You just said he wasn’t!”

“Well, if it had been you, you wouldn’t have had any way of knowing that it wasn’t Arthur,” pointed out Mystery.  “Demons are crafty like that.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it influenced Lewis after he manifested.”

“Is that why I’m a skeleton?” questioned Lewis.

“No, that’s what happens when you’re killed by an act of betrayal,” explained Mystery.  “Or a perceived act of betrayal in this case.” He turned his attention to Vivi. “And as I’ve pointed out before we wouldn’t have beaten Shiromori and the demon without his help.”

“Oh, that’s right. Lewis mentioned I was possessed again,” interrupted Arthur.  “Did I hurt anyone?”

Mystery shook his head.  “Nothing permanent.”

Arthur smiled. “That’s good.”

Vivi frowned. “You’re not gonna ask what else happened?”

Arthur shrugged. “You guys fought a demon and this Shiro lady and won, but how’d you get the demon out of me?”

“The same way as I did before,” said Mystery.  “Although it did a lot less damage this time.”

So his arm had been ripped off again.  “Hey, wait. Does that mean my port wasn’t ripped off by the stalagmite?”

“Uh, no, that was the demon,” said Lewis.  “You…You were impaled.”

Arthur blanched. “I what?”

“Yeah, but you didn’t die immediately.”

“No one mentioned that in the hospital,” pointed out Arthur.

Lewis winced. “When the demon possessed you it made the holes close up.”

Okay…so he’d been closer to dying than he thought.  “Do I need to be worried?”

“I am not sure,” admitted Mystery.  “The demon is completely out of you, and we…sealed the arm away.  Still, it did technically change your body, but it was for survival purposes so I don’t think it will have any side effects unless you are badly injured again or run into a powerful entity.”

Arthur looked between Mystery and Lewis.  “Don’t you two count?”

“I keep my power suppressed unless I actually need to use it,” said Mystery.

“I’ve been doing that too,” said Lewis.

“Okay…” Arthur didn’t really get it, but he figured he’d find out if they had some sort of effect on him eventually.  “Actually, I was wondering.  Why didn’t you say anything to us in the cave?” Arthur asked Mystery.  “If you’re a super powerful kitsune.  Shouldn’t you have been able to pick up on it?  I mean, it would’ve been a bit of a shock to find out you could talk, but it would be a lot better than…you know.”

Vivi groaned. “He was so afraid of attracting that tree chick that he doesn’t even tell people he can talk!”

Mystery bristled. “You saw what she was like.  She would’ve killed us both!”

“So how dangerous was this lady?” asked Arthur.

“She could grow back all of her body parts, including her head,” said Lewis.  “And she could travel underground about as quickly as a car. Pretty sure she was as physically strong as me at least.  And she had those scissors…”

Mystery cleared his throat.  “As, you can see, she’s a dangerous enough opponent that I wanted to avoid attracting her attention.”

Arthur could accept that.  He understood being afraid and wanting to protect someone you cared about. “But…why didn’t you do something as soon as the demon started to possess me?”  He’d be fine with losing his arm in that case.  At least then Lewis would still be alive.

Mystery’s ears lowered.  “I…I didn’t want to hurt you.  I thought maybe I could restrain you, find a way to force it out, but it was stronger than I thought, and the possession progressed so rapidly.  By the time I realized I would need to find another option it was too late to save Lewis.”

Arthur could understand not wanting to hurt a friend too.  He sighed.  “Let’s face it:  We all fucked up, and I’m pretty sure we all did at least a couple of things that could’ve prevented all of this.  Can we just try to move on?  You guys are my best friends.  I can’t-I don’t want to imagine life without you.”  He’d already seen what it was like without Lewis.  “So, even if we can’t go back to the way things were, maybe we can at least have something similar?”

Lewis looked rather stunned by the suggestion, Mystery looked pleased, Vivi looked exasperated. “You really wanna be friends with the guy who tried to killed you?”

Arthur laughed nervously.  “Don’t get me wrong.  I’m still feeling nervous being around Lewis.  I probably will be for a while, but I know that he’s acting more or less like he did before he died, although you’re being a lot quieter than usual.”

“Of course I am!” said Lewis.  “I thought that you killed me!  Even though we were best friends!  And…I nearly threw everything away…” he muttered looking down.

Arthur and Mystery gave Vivi a pointed look.  She threw up her hands.  “Okay fine! I will try to get along with Lewis!” She gave him a look.  “As long as he behaves.”

Lewis nodded rapidly. “I swear I have absolutely no desire to hurt anyone!”

Arthur smiled. It wasn’t much, but it was something. “So, what’s the plan for the rest of the day?” asked Arthur.

“We go back to Tempo, of course!” said Vivi.

Arthur winced. “Can we wait until tomorrow morning? It took a while to get down here. We’d either have to stop somewhere on the way back or arrive at, like, 2 in the morning.”

Vivi winced. “Ugh, and we have two cars to drive back too…”  She sighed. “Fine, but at least call Lance. He was worried sick about you.”

Arthur winced. “Oh.  Yeah.  My phone should have enough of a charge for that.”  He started to take out his phone before he remembered they were in the middle of a crowded space.  “Actually, can we go somewhere more private for this?  We’re done eating anyway.”

Vivi thought for a moment and nodded.  “Good point! Lance can be pretty loud when he’s upset.”

 They ended up back at the park, Arthur sitting on a bench while Vivi and Mystery played fetch and Lewis hovered nearby.  Literally. “Uh, Big Guy, your feet are kind of…”

Lewis made an annoyed sound and lowered to the ground.  “You would not believe how hard it is to keep your feet on the ground when you don’t have mass.”

Arthur honestly had no idea how to respond to that and decided to turn his attention back to calling Uncle Lance.

…

This was gonna be bad.

Arthur turned on the phone, dialed the number, and waited for Uncle Lance to answer. Usually it took two or three rings, but he answered after only one.  “Arthur?”

“Hi Uncle Lance,” Arthur said sheepishly.

“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!”  Even Lewis winced from the shouting.  “Do you have any idea how worried I was?!”

“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to run off like that,” said Arthur.

“How do you accidentally run off to another town?!”

“It just happened. I just was gonna drive somewhere to be alone, but I guess I was in a sort of…trance?  I feel like there’s a better word than that, but I’m sticking to trance until I can remember it.  I was sort of in a trance thinking about all the stuff I’d just found out, and my body was on autopilot, and I guess since I didn’t have a destination in mind I just kept driving until I snapped out of it.”

Uncle Lance was silent for a moment.  “I knew you were gonna react badly to that.”

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, I can see why you wouldn’t tell me…Anyway, I wanted to work through my feelings and thoughts on my own so I figured I’d stay here for a few days and then head back.  I wasn’t expecting you to send the rest of the gang after me.”

“You saw what happened when Lewis went missing.  Why wouldn’t we do the same for you?” pointed out Lance.

Arthur paused. “Uh…That’s a good question.  Low self-esteem?”

“Arthur…”

He winced.  “I have to start seeing that therapist again, don’t I?”

“I’m going to make an appointment as soon as this call is over.”

Arthur sighed. “Yes sir.”

“…You are feeling better, aren’t you?”

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, I am.”

“And you’re all right with Lewis being there?”

Arthur looked over towards where Lewis was watching him.  “Yeah, he’s acting like his old self.  I’m a bit anxious because of everything, but I don’t think he’s going to do anything like that again.”

“If he does I’ll kill him myself,” said Lance, ignoring the fact that Lewis was technically already dead.

Heck, Lance would probably find a way to make him double dead.

“You’ll be coming home now?” asked Lance.

“I ended up pretty far away so we’re gonna wait until tomorrow morning to head back.  We should get back some time in the afternoon,” said Arthur.

“That’ll work,” said Lance.  “But I ain’t letting you out of my sight for the next week.”

Arthur snorted. Lewis gave him a confused look. Arthur lowered the phone.  “I’m grounded,” he whispered before bringing the phone back up to his ear.  “That’s fair.”

“Good.  And after that you better not disappear ever again. You got too many who care about you, understand?”

“Well, it’s pretty obvious now,” admitted Arthur.

He heard Uncle Lance sigh over the phone.  “You take care of yourself.  Stay safe.”

“I will.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.  Love you.”

“I love you too.” Arthur hung up with a relieved sigh. “Well, that’s done.”

“He wasn’t too upset?” asked Lewis.

“Once he calmed down, no.  Just worried. Can’t blame him,” admitted Arthur. He paused.  “Hey, where are Vivi and Mystery?”

Lewis wordlessly pointed behind them.  Arthur turned and saw Mystery running around with the ball while Vivi chased him, trying to get it back.  She was smiling so she wasn’t upset or anything.  Arthur smiled.  “Huh, that’s…She looks happier than she’s been the past couple of weeks.”

Lewis winced. “Oh.”

Right, Vivi hadn’t visited him.  “Maybe we should let ‘em go at it for a bit.”

“Hm.”

The two watched Vivi and Mystery for a bit.

“So…you’ve been seeing a therapist?” asked Lewis.

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, after…the cave, when I woke up I started having panic attacks.  I figured it had something to do with what happened even if I couldn’t remember it. It’s actually pretty good, my therapist helped me work through some of my more illogical fears and got me to feel a bit better for myself.  Got me on a decent anti-anxiety medicine too.”

“I think Lance gave that to Vivi,” said Lewis.

Arthur nodded. “Yeah, I can probably afford to miss a dose or two, but if it gets out of my system I think I’ll be in trouble.” He paused for a moment.  “You know, it might do you and Vivi some good to see a therapist.”

Lewis sighed. “I…probably could use it, but what would I even say?  I can’t exactly say that I was killed by a demon possessing my…”  Lewis trailed off.  “What are we to each other?”

Before Arthur would have responded that they were best friends without a moment’s hesitation. Now though…Was that accurate? “I’d say we’re friends at least. Maybe we can work back up to best friends.”

Lewis looked away. “…At least you’re still willing to be friends,” he muttered.

Arthur looked back towards Vivi.  “Give her some time.  I think once she sees you’re the same as you are in her memories she’ll warm back up to you.”  He wasn’t sure Vivi would want to date Lewis again, but he wasn’t going to say that. “…Do you guys feel up to seeing a movie?”

 They ended up seeing the same movie Arthur had seen before.  There were jokes, lampshade hanging, and making fun of dumb decisions. It was great.

After that, they picked up a bunch of Chinese food and went back to the hotel room where they watched random stuff Anaheim and the other tiny ghosts (Lewis called them Deadbeats. Funny.) would choose.  If you took away the ghosts it was pretty similar to what they’d do when they were on their own before.

“We should get to bed. We need to get up early to head out,” said Vivi.

Arthur checked the time.  “Yeah, you can use the bathroom first.  I can change out here.”

They were all guys. Arthur just made sure to angle himself so that Lewis didn’t see the scars and port.

The problem was that there were two beds, and it didn’t hit Arthur that he probably wouldn’t be sharing with Mystery until he saw Vivi climbing into the bed he’d obviously been using.  “Uh, that’s…Should I use the other bed?”

“You’re not sharing with Lewis,” said Vivi in a tone that brokered no argument.

“He can have it to himself,” said Lewis.  “I don’t sleep anymore.”

“Yeah, that works!” Arthur quickly climbed into the other bed and Mystery jumped into Vivi’s.  “Feel free to keep watching TV.  Just keep the volume low, okay.”

He said that, but he lay there for about half an hour unable to sleep.  That wasn’t really odd.  He’d had this problem since he was a kid.  He turned, opening his eyes for a moment.

Lewis was floating between their bed in a reclining position.  “Trouble sleeping?”

Arthur nodded.  “Just the usual.”

Lewis was silent. “You…you oughta have an easier time if you shared with Vivi.”

Arthur frowned. “I don’t feel comfortable climbing into her bed while she’s sleeping.”

“She won’t care,” said Lewis.

She wouldn’t. She’d done it herself several times. “Let me rephrase that:  I don’t feel comfortable doing that to you,” said Arthur.

Lewis looked surprised for a moment before looking away with a grimace.  “She said the same thing.”

“Hm?”

Lewis shook his head. “Nothing.  I just said something stupid to Vivi before.”

“Oh.”  It seemed like more than that, but Arthur wasn’t going to press him.  “Well, if you’re okay with it, maybe Anaheim can be my snuggle buddy instead?  I was getting pretty comfortable with him by the time you got here.”

There was a chirp right before he felt something smooth wrap around him and nuzzle under his chin.  Arthur reached up to give him a good scratch only for the hairs on the back of his neck to rise.  He didn’t think he’d done anything to make Lewis upset.  He glanced up.  Lewis looked unbothered, but the other Deadeats were watching him.  “Um…Lewis…”

And then Arthur was suddenly buried under a mass of Deadbeats.  He let out a distressed sound.  “Whoa!  No, don’t do that!”  The Deadbeats were quickly removed by an apologetic Lewis.  “Sorry.  They can be…very affectionate.”

“I am not ready for that many ghosts,” admitted Arthur.  In fact he was feeling a lot less sleepy now.  “I think I’ll watch TV with you for a bit.”

 Arthur did eventually get to sleep and woke up to the sun starting to rise and shine through the window.  He sat up in bed, Anaheim making a yawning sound.  He frowned and looked around in confusion.  Vivi and Mystery were still sleeping in their bed, but where was Lewis?

Arthur glanced down at Anaheim.  “Well, he must be coming back if he was willing to leave you here.”  He gave Shaggy a good scratch.  “Wonder what he’s doing.”

Several minutes of sitting in the bed later, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned to see a hand coming out of the door.  Fortunately, he recognized it as Lewis’ hand before he could panic.  Lewis’ hand groped for a moment before grabbing the doorknob and turning it so he could walk inside with a couple of bags.

Well, that explained why Lewis hadn’t just gone through the door.  “Good morning,” greeted Arthur.

“Good morning,” greeted Lewis.  “You would not believe some of the looks I got when I went to buy breakfast.”

“Well, you are wearing a full dress suit,” commented Arthur.  Could Lewis not change into other clothes?  “And…you’re wearing sunglasses?”

“I can’t change my eyes,” explained Lewis.  “Most people would panic.”

Arthur nodded in understanding.  “I get it.”

“So, uh…”  Lewis hefted the bags.  “I got breakfast.”

Arthur smiled.  “Thanks.”  Arthur got out of bed and shook Vivi.  “Up and at ‘em.”  Vivi groaned. “Lewis has food.”

That got Vivi to crack her eyes open.  “Is there coffee?”

Lewis nodded.  “I ordered a couple of large ones.”

“Mm…”  Vivi and Mystery rolled out of bed.  “Right.  Let’s eat up so we can head out.”

Arthur paused.  “Does anyone have a coin?”  Lewis dug one out of his pocket and handed it over.  “Thank.”  He flipped it.  “Tails.”

“And that means?”

“I’m riding with Vivi,” said Arthur matter-of-factly.  He turned to Lewis.  “Would you mind driving the van back?”

“Sure, no problem.” Lewis’ eyes went to Arthur’s port. “Uh, not to be insensitive, but how…?”

“Lots of practice,” deadpanned Arthur.

A quick breakfast and wash up later, they were getting into the cars.  “I think I’ll keep Lewis company,” said Mystery before jumping into the van.

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” commented Vivi as she climbed into her car.

“Yeah.  Wow, I can’t remember the last time I saw you without Mystery,” commented Arthur as he climbed in as well.

They set out. Arthur glanced in the rearview mirror to watch the van.  Still behind them.  It made him a bit uncomfortable.  Maybe if they talked it would distract him.

Actually, it was a bit odd that Vivi wasn’t talking yet.  Maybe she was still a bit upset at Arthur?  Should he try saying something.  What should he say?  “I really am sorry for scaring you guys.”

“Just don’t do that again,” said Vivi.  “I was terrified that I would find you and you’d be dead.”

Arthur winced because as much as he wanted to deny that would happen it had been what happened with Lewis.  “Yeah, not one of my better ideas.  I’ll stick with you and Lewis from now on.”

“You really care for him,” muttered Vivi.

“Of course I do,” said Arthur.  “He’s…well, he was my best friend.  I guess right now he’s a good friend, could be a best friend again once we adjust to everything.”

“Are you in love with him?” asked Vivi.

Arthur spun towards her?  “What?! Where did that come from?!”

“You forgave him way too easily for trying to kill you.  You’re trying to get me to forgive him so we can all be friends again.  You spent months looking for him at the detriment of your own health.  Before he died, you were willing to do pretty much anything for him,” listed Vivi.

“I’d do anything for both of you!” protested Arthur.  “You’re my friends!”

“I don’t want to be friends!”  Arthur felt his heart break.  “I want to be more than that!”  Wait. What?  “But every time I drop hints you ignore it, and you completely miss my flirting!  I thought it was because you’re ace, but now I’m wondering if you were willfully ignoring all of that.”

Well, that, wow. “I, uh, I did notice some of the flirting, but it was while Lewis was missing, and, well, you couldn’t remember, but you were Lewis’ girlfriend, and it seemed like it would be wrong and taking advantage of both of you.”

“Well, we’re not dating now!  Heck! He practically gave you permission last night!”

Arthur blinked. “You were awake for that?”

Vivi nodded.  “I wanted you to say yes.  Why wouldn’t you?”

Arthur sighed.  “I don’t want to be a replacement for Lewis. You were probably projecting on me when he was missing or something.”

Vivi gave him a look. “Did you seriously convince yourself of that?!”

Arthur shrugged. “It makes sense!”

“No, it doesn’t!” argued Vivi.  “Everything to do with Lewis was gone!  And you really think I would flirt with someone I’m not interested in?”

“Um, playfully, maybe. That’s what friends do, right?” asked Arthur.

Vivi made a frustrated sound.  “Do you ever flirt with Lewis or me?”

“I don’t know how to flirt at all,” pointed out Arthur.

“…Okay, I can believe that,” admitted Vivi.  “Generally, friends only flirt with each other if they find each other attractive.”

“Oh.”

“I flirted with you before Lewis died,” continued Vivi.

“You did?” Arthur couldn’t remember that.  “It seems like that would upset Lewis.”

“He was flirting with you too.”

That made his brain short circuit.  “Huh?”

“We’d been trying to figure out if you were interested in joining in our relationship practically since Lewis told me he’s bi,” explained Vivi.  “You didn’t exactly make that easy by the way.  Given, it was only like two months, but still.  How could you miss all of that?”

“But…You were dating each other,” said Arthur, still too shocked to date properly.

“You can have more than two people in a romantic relationship,” explained Vivi.  “Dunno why it doesn’t happen more often,” she muttered.

“And you…both of you…wanted…with me.”  Arthur was stumbling over his words pretty badly by this point.  Of all the things he’d been expecting today, this wasn’t one of them.

“Yeah, we were pretty sure you felt the same way from what we could tell,” said Vivi.  “Did you feel the same way?  Considering how much confessing we’ve been doing, I’d really like to hear your answer.”

“I…”  Arthur swallowed.  He’d been hiding this for so long.  It would have been wrong of him to say anything.  It would have been selfish.  He didn’t want to ruin his friendship with either of them  But maybe now…Maybe it would be all right.  “I did.  Do. I do.  I still like both of you.  Like that.”

“…How can you still have feelings for Lewis?” asked Vivi.

Arthur thought. It would be pretty reasonable to avoid someone who tried to kill you, but…

Arthur kept thinking of all the good times he’d had with Lewis, and the bad times…Well, in retrospect they weren’t so bad and showed how much they were willing to help each other.  And they were happy around each other.

Lewis made a mistake. He’d admitted as much and obviously felt guilty about it.  “People mess up.  As long he doesn’t try to hurt either of us again, I can forgive him.”

“But if he does do something like this again?” pressed Vivi.

“…”  Arthur sighed.  “Then the Lewis we knew is gone for good.”

Vivi nodded.  “If we can agree to have nothing to do with him if he ever tries something again then I’ll give him a chance too.”

Arthur smiled.  “Thank you.”

…

“I missed him too,” muttered Vivi.  “After everything he did.  It’s so stupid.”

Arthur reached over and clapped Vivi on the shoulder

“And since you’re not going to ask…”  Vivi looked towards Arthur as much as she could while driving.  “Would you like to go out some time?”

“Um…”  Arthur glanced in the rearview mirror back towards the van.  “…We shouldn’t hide it from Lewis.”

“We won’t,” said Vivi.

“Okay, but let’s not show off in front of Lewis,” said Arthur.  “It’ll be hard enough on him as it is.”

“Hm.  Yeah, best not to push him,” said Vivi.

Not quite what he meant…although it was a fair point.  “So, uh, you know more about dating than I do.  What do you want to do?”

“We could go to Nekoya.  Maybe see a movie depending on how we feel,” suggested Vivi.

Arthur nodded.  “Yeah, that sounds good.”  Nice and simple.

They broke the news to Lewis when they stopped for lunch.  The only sign that Lewis was upset was his heart turning blue with a crack in it and his skull briefly becoming visible before he looked down.  “Right.  You two. That makes sense.”

“It was my idea,” said Vivi.

“I figured,” said Lewis.

“We’ll be keeping it pretty casual for now,” said Arthur.  “And we can hang out during our downtime, all three of us.”

“…I missed that,” admitted Lewis.

“We all did,” said Arthur.

“Oh come on!  That’s the fifth time in a row” complained Lewis as they played Super Smash Brothers Melee.

Arthur stuck his tongue out.  “I’m just that awesome!”

Vivi giggled and punched his arm.  “You dork!”

“We could play videogames again,” suggested Arthur.

“Uh, I tend to make electronics malfunction when I touch them,” Lewis reminded them.

“I bet I can find a way around that,” said Arthur.

“No one’s getting left out this time,” said Vivi.  “Not after what happened last time.”

Arthur winced a bit at that.  Yeah, feeling left out had probably contributed to being possessed.

The rest of lunch was awkwardly silent.

 They got back to Tempo and headed straight to the Peppers’ house.  The living Peppers were all waiting outside.  “Arthur!”  Paprika ran over and hugged Arthur around his legs.  “You didn’t disappear!”

Arthur winced before hugging her back.  “Yeah, I’m sorry for scaring everyone like that.”

Paprika looked up at Arthur with big eyes.  “Are you gonna stay for dinner?”

…He guessed it had been a long time since he’d done that.  He should try to make a casual visit, no earth-shattering revelations, no fights, no yelling, just spending time with them.  Not today though.  “I should get home.  Uncle Lance is probably worried sick about me.”

Paprika pouted but nodded.  “But you’ll come back?”

Arthur nodded.  “Yeah, Sunday.”

Paprika smiled and nodded.  “Okay!” Then she ran over to give Lewis a hug. That made Arthur feel a bit better. At least Lewis had support at home.

Mr. Pepper walked over.  “Are you feeling better?”

Arthur nodded.  “Yeah, sorry if I frightened anyone.  I wasn’t really thinking straight.”

“I can’t really blame you,” admitted Mr. Pepper.  He breathed in.  “You know…none of us blame you for what happened.  We know you’d have to be possessed to do something like that.”

Arthur smiled at him. “Thanks.  That helps a lot.”

“I’m heading home,” said Vivi.  “I’ll see you Saturday.”

Arthur nodded.  “Okay, see you then.”

The rest of the Peppers walked over as Vivi drove off.

“Why is Vivi angry with you anyway?” asked Cayenne.

“I messed up her memory,” lied Lewis.

Belled frowned and pointed at his heart.  “Wasn’t that orange before?”

Lewis hid his heart with his hand.  “It’s changed color a couple of times before.  I’m still learning how this works.”

Arthur knew what had caused the color change and was sure Lewis knew too.  “Well, I better get going.  I’ll see you guys…in a few days.”  He’d see if he could convince Vivi to come too.

Uncle Lance was not outside when he got home.  That was just how Lance was.  Arthur walked inside.  “I’m home.”

“In the garage!” Arthur walked in and saw Lance working on a car.  Right, Lance had a larger workload while Arthur was gone.  Lance glanced over towards Arthur.  “You okay?”

Arthur nodded.  “Yeah.”

“Got it out of your system?”

“Yeah…I wish you’d told me, but I understand why.”

Lance paused in his work for a moment.  “I was gonna tell you eventually.  When things calmed down.  I was worried you’d do something to hurt yourself if I told you too soon.”

Arthur thought for a moment.  “Okay, I might not have reacted badly if it had been broken to me gently over time,” admitted Arthur.  “Asking Lewis to just tell me might not have been a good idea.  No changing it now though.”

Lance grunted.  “Did you straighten things out with him at least?”

“Yeah, I still feel kind of uncomfortable around him, but it’s not as bad as before.  Still kind of worried about upsetting him if I’m not careful, but if he didn’t-Oh, um, right.  That.”

Lance gave Arthur a somewhat worried look.  “What happened?”

“Nothing bad! Just a bit unexpected.  Vivi asked me out on the way back, and I said yes. I guess we’re dating now,” announced Arthur.  “Anyway, we told Lewis.  He didn’t shout or try to hurt anyone, but I think we broke his heart a little.”

Lance narrowed his eyes.  “Did either of them mention that Lewis thought you killed him to have Vivi to himself?”

Arthur’s eyes widened. “He-what?!  Neither of them ever said anything about that!”  He thought a moment.  “Although I guess it didn’t occur to me that Lewis would try to come up with a motive for me killing him.”  Finding out he’d been possessed had been enough reason for Arthur.  Sometimes people just suddenly turned out to be awful or sociopaths or something, but now that he thought about it even they wouldn’t risk a murder unless there was something they really wanted.  “Well, uh, that might make things…more awkward than they were already going to be, but I think we can move past it.”

Uncle Lance gave Arthur a long look.  “I’d feel more comfortable if you put down some of those protections you keep around.”

That was fair.  Arthur put those defenses up all the time, usually when he was feeling more anxious than usual.  “Okay, and since that seems like a good segue point, I sort of quit the Mystery Skulls.”

Lance raised an eyebrow.

“I say sort of because I said I didn’t want to do the investigations except maybe maintain the equipment, but I’m fine with traveling with Vivi and Mystery and maybe Lewis if we all manage to make up.  Just to hang out with ‘em, you know?  I’d just hang out in a hotel room or the van while everyone else investigated.  Vivi agreed with it and said she was going to take a break from investigating for a while.  I think she needs the break just as much as I do to tell the truth.”

“She did,” agreed Lance.  “I won’t lie, I’ll feel better knowing you’re staying away from that sort of thing, if only because I know you’ll be happier this way.”

Arthur laughed nervously.  “Yeah, I guess it was a bit overdue.”  He leaned against the car, watching Lance work.  “So, what’s wrong with this one?  Fan belt?”

“Yeah, broke and got stuck in the rest of the engine,” said Lance.  “Hand me that ratchet, will ya?”

Arthur nodded.  “Sure thing.”

The rest of the day was spent helping Lance repair the car, and thing were good between the two of them.

 Vivi and Mystery came to the garage around lunchtime the next day.  “Hey Arthur!  Hey Lance!”

Arthur blinked. “Vivi?  I wasn’t expecting you today.”

Vivi smiled.  “I thought I’d surprise you.  Brought you some lunch.”  She hefted a large box.

“Oh, thanks. That’s nice of you.”  Arthur frowned as something occurred to him.  “Oh, wait.  Is this a couple thing?  It seems like a couple thing.”

“A bit, but I also wanted to check up on how you were doing,” admitted Vivi.  “I know we should plan lunches ahead of time once you start fixing cars again since you won’t always be able to stop working on a car immediately.”

“But I could probably surprise you if I wanted to,” said Arthur.

Vivi thought for a minute before nodding.  “I might have to take a moment to finish a task or helping a customer, but, yeah, you’d have an easier time coming to surprise me for lunch than I would you.”

Arthur nodded. He wouldn’t mind doing so on a slow day. “Okay, well, let me check how Uncle Lance is doing.”  He ducked into the garage where Lance was taking a wheel off a car.  “Can you break for lunch?”

“Gotta finish rotating these tires first,” said Lance.

“Okay, well, Vivi came to visit for lunch so I’m gonna go on break with her.”

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll join you two in a bit,” said Lance.

“Okay, thanks,” said Arthur as he ducked back out.  He opened the door to his and Lance’s apartment.  “After you.”

Vivi had brought over BLT’s.  Hers was bigger than Arthur and Lance’s.  Mystery had a sandwich that was even bigger than Vivi’s that he was scarfing down.  “So how are you doing?” asked Vivi.

“It’s been pretty much the same as it’s been since the crash,” said Arthur.  “I’m doing secretary stuff and really simple stuff. I’ve had a lot of free time that I’ve been using to look my arm over.”  He swallowed. “I’m thinking of adding a heat coil to it or at least an attachment.  Cold weather’s supposed to make stumps hurt.”

Vivi, familiar with Arthur’s fight against phantom limb syndrome, nodded sympathetically.  “At least we live in Texas.  I know the prosthetics are going to be worn by people in colder climates though.”

“Yeah, might need to make it adjustable,” muttered Arthur.  Some places were colder than others.  “So, what about you?  Duet didn’t mind that you missed some work?”

“She considered it an emergency,” said Vivi.  “I might need to put in a bit of overtime to make up for it, but that’s if Duet can find something for me to do.  I’m more worried about Chloe.”

Arthur blinked. “Why would you need to worry about Chloe?”

“When Lewis and I started dating, she interrogated me about it for two days,” explained Vivi.  “When she finds out I got my memory back, dumped Lewis, and started dating my other best friend, she’s going to try and press me for all the juicy gossip.”

Arthur made a face. “Yeesh.  Is this how people feel when we ask questions about them?  No wonder they don’t seem to like us.”

“It’s not just that. I have to keep her from figuring out Lewis is dead,” pointed out Vivi.

Arthur groaned. “She’s still after an undead boyfriend?” Vivi nodded.  “Hey, uh, how do you think that would work?”

Vivi hummed.  “I guess it would depend on the type of undead. Some would be safer to be in a relationship than others, and some are more likely to take advantage of you than others.”

“Where does Lewis fall in that spectrum?”

Vivi paused.  “I’m sure.  If he’s the way he was before, I’d say it’s safe, but, well, outside of our little trip we haven’t spent a lot of time with Lewis since he came back.”

“Yeah, I guess we could’ve handled that a bit better,” admitted Arthur.  “Um, uh, you said you and Lewis wanted to bring me into your relationship.  Do you think we might bring Lewis in once we see how he’s doing?”

Vivi was silent. “I love that you’re the type of person who would forgive Lewis after everything, but like you said we haven’t spent much time since with him since he came back.  We’re not sure if he’s the same person still.”

“Oh…”

“That’s not a no,” said Vivi.  “I just want us to be sure he’s who we fell in love with before we jump into something serious.”

That was fair. If Lewis was managing to hide all that rage…Well, Arthur was pretty sure dating someone who tried to kill you counted as being in an abusive relationship.

…Yeah, best to avoid that sort of thing.

Lance came in around then so they switched to lighter topics.  Vivi and Mystery finished their lunch shortly afterwards and headed back to the bookstore.

That had been nice. Arthur thought he could enjoy that happening regularly.

 Saturday rolled around.  The plan for the date was an early dinner and a movie, but there was no rule saying they couldn’t hang out before then.

“How did you do that with one arm?” questioned Vivi.

Arthur grinned from where he was hanging upside down from the monkey bars.  “I climbed up on top of them, flipped over, and moved up from there.”  He shrugged. “It was pointless but so satisfying.” He was gonna need to get back into shape if he wanted to keep up his parkour habit.

Vivi grinned.  “Any other acrobatics you wanna try?”

Arthur thought a moment.  “Nothing I should get up to right now.  Actually, can you help me down?  I’m starting to get lightheaded.”

Vivi helped steady him as he climbed down.  “You must’ve been a clown in a past life or something.”

“Clowns are clumsy though.  Wouldn’t an acrobat be more likely?” asked Arthur.

“I dunno. Clowns have to be pretty nimble to get away from bulls.”

Arthur blinked. “Huh, you know I never thought of it like that.”  And now he was picturing himself in a clown outfit.  “So, are we gonna play fetch or not?”

“Yes, please!” said Mystery.  “I brought my favorite frisbee!”

“Quick question: Why do you enjoy fetch so much if you’re not a dog?” asked Arthur.

“Foxes are canines,” explained Mystery.

Eh, that and many videos of playful foxes was enough to explain it for Arthur.  “Okay then.  Guess we’ll run around until we get hungry.”  Then he grabbed the frisbee and threw it as far as he could.

The next couple of hours were spent on shenanigans in the park that may or may not have involved the swings, a baby carriage, and so many squirrels.

“We can never tell anyone about that,” said Arthur as they drove away from the park.

“I don’t think they’d believe us,” said Vivi.

Arthur glanced in the backseat where Mystery was playing with a squeaky toy.  “What about other people who deal with weird stuff?”

Vivi paused.  “Okay, maybe they would, but like you said we won’t tell them.”

“…We might tell Lewis one day when we actually find it funny,” commented Arthur.

Vivi hummed.  “He might not believe the part about the squirrels.”

Arthur snorted. “Really?  That’s the part that’s unbelievable?”

“He knows what we get up to.”

They were still giggling a bit hysterically when they got to Nekoya.  “So, will Mystery be coming with us?” asked Arthur.

Mystery shook his head.  “I’ll let you two have your privacy.  Just bring me some chicken.”

“He’ll probably sneak into the movies somehow though,” warned Vivi.  “We won’t be able to tell though so don’t worry.”

“Should we still get him a ticket?” asked Arthur.

“Oh, there’s no need for that.  I won’t be using a seat,” reassured Mystery.

“Now, c’mon, I’m hungry,” said Vivi.

Arthur had been to Nekoya before.  It offered mostly authentic Japanese cuisine with a few not quite authentic dishes for people who wanted something a bit closer to western fare.  Arthur had a pretty good idea what he wanted to eat: Seafood udon.  Maybe a couple of pieces of sushi.

“I’m getting a sushi boat!” decided Vivi.

“Ah.  I was thinking of getting a couple of pieces of sushi,” said Arthur.  “Mind if I poach ‘em from you?”

“Nah, go ahead. That’s not all you’re going to eat, is it?”

“I’m getting some seafood udon.”

“Dessert?”

“Oh, uh, maybe if I’m still hungry.”  Something hit Arthur.  “Uh, do we split the bill?  

Vivi nodded.  “Yeah, I know you’re sort of rich now, but I’m not gonna make you pay the whole bill when I’m getting something worth $40.”

“I’m not rich. I mean I guess I might become rich in a few years,” admitted Arthur.  “But that’s if someone doesn’t come up with an improved version of the technology that will be used instead.”

Vivi snorted.  “Don’t sell yourself short.  I know you’re always coming up with ways to make your arms better.  If anyone is going to make your tech defunct, it’s going to be you.”

Arthur blushed at that.  “I’m not gonna make any assumptions.  Anyway, since I’m stealing a bit of your sushi, I’ll pay like $10 of your bill. That sound good?”

Vivi hummed for a moment.  “Sounds fair. Just give me $10 when you have the time. I don’t think they can split an item between two people.”

They spoke a bit more about work, customers, coworkers (Not that they had a lot of those.), and any difficult cases they’d had.  While they were waiting for food, Vivi asked a bit more about his heating coil idea and asked if there was a cooling coil.  He admitted that he probably could’ve used something like that when he’d first gotten his arm attached, but he’d been focusing on other things at the time.

While they were eating Vivi spoke about a book she’d read recently.  It was a horror novel.  Arthur was a bit relieved actually.  She’d been avoiding the genre around him lately, and he’d been getting a little worried about her.

Arthur was still a little hungry so he ordered a scoop of red bean ice cream.  Vivi ordered a decadent chocolate lava cake.  Arthur might have stolen a bite.

They were pretty full when they headed to the movie theatre.  They decided to see Big Hero Six, but had a little while before the movie started.  They spent it goofing off in the small arcade.  Arthur somehow managed to beat Vivi, much to her frustration.

The movie was good. The death of Tadashi hit them hard. Vivi figured out within a few minutes who the villain was.  Arthur commented on how viable some of the tech in the movie would be in real life. He wouldn’t mind seeing if he could replicate a couple of them.

They both were rather curious about whether the fact the movie ended with two Baymaxes would come up in a sequel.

All in all, it was a pretty good night.

As Arthur stopped in front of Vivi’s apartment he turned to her.  “That was pretty fun, not that different from just hanging out.”

Vivi chuckled.  “Yeah, I’ve noticed that too.  I like to think it means we were always compatible.”

“So, do I walk you to your door?  I kind of want to.”

“I won’t complain if you do.”

Vivi’s apartment was maybe 50 feet from the van, but it was nice to spend another couple of minutes with her.

“So…we can do this again next week?” asked Arthur.

Vivi nodded.  “Yeah, if there aren’t any movies we want to see out we can go to one of our houses and watch something.”

That made Arthur feel happy.  “Great, that’s great.”

Vivi giggled.  “And now I’m going to kiss you.”

That made Arthur freeze up.  He had absolutely no experience with kissing.  At all.  He had no idea what to do.  Vivi tugged him down a bit a planted a peck on his lips.  She gave him a wink.  “We can practice kissing next time,” she promised.

Arthur’s brain wasn’t working enough to respond.

“I’ll see you tomorrow when we go to visit Lewis,” promised Vivi as she opened the door.  “Drive carefully, okay?”

Arthur nodded dazedly. “Okay.”

Vivi smiled and gave him a hug.  “I love you.”

That got Arthur to grin goofily.  “I love you too.”

They stayed like that for another couple of moments before parting.  Vivi gave one last wave as she and Mystery entered the apartment.

Arthur took a moment to recover his wits enough to get back to his van, and he was grinning goofily the whole time.

That was the best day he’d had in a long time.

 Arthur was still feeling ridiculously happy the next day as he spent the morning messing around with his heat coil idea.

He’d sobered up a bit when it was time to go visit Lewis.

“You’ll be careful? Vivi’s got those paper spell things?” questioned Lance.

“I’ll be careful, but I don’t know what Vivi’s going to be doing.”  She may in fact be bringing ofuda to the dinner.  “Other people are going to be around.  Anyway, I don’t think Lewis is interested in attacking me anymore.”

Lance made a considering sound before nodding.  “All right, but if he does anything to you, I’ll exorcise him myself.”

Arthur nodded.  “I’m sure Lewis already knows.”

“Then I won’t hold you up.”  Lance made a shooing motion.  “Get out there and have some fun.”

Arthur smiled.  “Thanks Uncle Lance.”

Arthur made a quick detour to pick up Vivi but arrived at Lewis’ house after about 20 minutes.  “…Are you as nervous as I am?” asked Arthur.

Vivi nodded.  “Yeah, but don’t worry.  I took precautionary measures!”  She rolled up a sleeve to show a couple of ofuda taped to her arm.

Huh, what were the chances?

“I wouldn’t worry. I spoke with Lewis when I was alone with him, and he was genuinely remorseful,” reassured Mystery.  “Even after you two decided to start dating.  A bit depressed, but not violent.”

Arthur could understand the depression.  “Well, let’s see if we can cheer him up and hope we don’t make it worse.”

Things were finally getting better.  Arthur didn’t want everything to slide backwards.

They knocked on the door.  It was immediately opened by a deadbeat that chirped at them.  “Hi there,” greeted Vivi.

“Jalapeño!”  The deadbeat let out a startled sound before flying away.  Lewis appeared a second later.  “Oh, good, just you guys.  The deadbeats keep trying to answer the door even though I told them to lay low!”

“They’re probably bored,” said Arthur.  “Actually, maybe you can get your parents to let you out for a little bit to let them burn off some energy.”

“Yeah, just find a graveyard or some deserted forest or something,” added Vivi.

Lewis gave them an odd look.  “That’s a nice suggestion.  Come on in.”

“Thanks.”

“Vivi!  Arthur!”  Paprika and a few deadbeats ran over to give them hugs.  “I missed you!”

Vivi gave Belle a smile.  “You saw us just a few days ago.”

Belle pouted.  “You guys left as soon as you got here though!”

Arthur laughed nervously.  “Yeah, don’t really have a good excuse for that, but we are here now!”

“Yeah, I, uh, helped cook,” said Lewis.  “It’s been a little off since I can’t smell anymore.”

“Nah, it tastes the same,” said Cayenne from the sofa.  “Wanna watch Spongebob with us?”

“I was hoping to get some samples of the cooking,” admitted Vivi.

“It’ll be ready in 10, 15 minutes,” said Lewis.  “Just give it a few minutes.”

Vivi pouted.  “Fine…”

Arthur was distracted by the Spongebob episode by this point.  “Oh, I love this one!”

“You’re an adult. How do you still like Spongebob?” questioned Belle.

“Hey, I was even younger than you two when this started airing,” pointed out Arthur.  “You don’t always outgrow what you like.”

Vivi made a sound as she came over.  “Personally, I don’t care for it much anymore except for the scary episodes.”

Arthur turned to Mystery.  “What do you think?”

Mystery barked and put his head on Arthur’s lap like a normal dog.  Cayenne giggled.  “Dogs can’t see TV screens.”

Did…Did no one tell the Peppers about Mystery?  Arthur met Vivi’s eyes, and she shook her head.  Okay, pretend Mystery’s a normal dog for now.  “He can hear it though.”

At this point Spongebob laughed causing Mystery to dart his head towards the television and growl. Guess he didn’t like Spongebob Squarepants.

True to Lewis’ word, Mr. Pepper was calling everyone over to eat within a few minutes.  It was the familiar Mexican-Spanish-Italian cuisine, spicy enough that you could feel the burn in your sinuses.  There were some lighter parts of the dishes for Arthur since they knew he couldn’t really handle spicy food.

“It looks delicious!” said Vivi as she happily started piling food onto her plate.

Arthur nodded in agreement as he got the less spicy food.  “I have missed eating your cooking.”

Cayenne pouted. “You should’ve come by the restaurant!”

“That’s sort of my fault,” admitted Vivi.  “I got horrible headaches when I visited you guys, and Arthur was keeping an eye on me, so…yeah.”

Arthur coughed uncomfortably.  “I probably could’ve made more time to visit you on my own…”  He could admit he’d been obsessed with putting his arm together and figuring out where Lewis was.  “Guess I lost sight of things a little.”

“But how ‘come you guys didn’t come to visit after Lewis came back?” asked Cayenne.

You could practically cut through the silence that arose after her question.  Arthur glanced at Lewis, who looked rather panicked.  “Partly because Uncle Lance was being protective of me. I hurt my shoulder pretty badly. Partly because I have enough of a ghost phobia that I had to work myself up to seeing Lewis again.  I still panicked pretty badly though.”

“My head hurt for a while after my memories were repaired, especially when I thought about anything to do with Lewis,” lied Vivi.  Her head had been fine after a couple of days.

“It’s been a rough time for all of us,” said Mrs. Pepper.  “Let’s not dwell too much on how we dealt with the pain and focus on moving forward.”

It was very good advice, even if it was difficult to follow.  Arthur focused on eating and trying to come up with something to talk about with Lewis.

So he realized that Lewis looked more downcast than usual while staring morosely at his empty plate.

Oh.  Oh…

“You can’t eat at all?” asked Arthur.

Lewis clenched his fists.  “No.”

Arthur had suspected as much after eating out with Lewis, but the idea was just…horrifying. Lewis loved cooking and eating with his family.  Losing that along with everything else just seemed cruel.  Arthur felt guilt and wished there was a way to let Lewis eat something.

It was another few minutes before the idea occurred to Arthur.  “Can you possess people?”

That got Arthur several shocked looks.  “I have no idea,” said Lewis.  “It’s not something that ever occurred to me to try.”

“But do you think you might be able to eat if you did?” pressed Arthur.

“I, uh, I don’t think it would affect the other person’s abilities.  I guess I could, but I’m not sure I’d actually taste what they can,” said Lewis.

“It would make sense for you to be able too,” said Vivi around a mouthful of pasta.  “You could still see and hear and touch, so you oughta have all the senses.”  She swallowed.  “Might have some sensory deprivation going on though.”

So, he needed less spicy food then?  “If that’s the case he’d be better off trying it with me,” commented Arthur.  “I…don’t mind giving it a try.”

“Whoa!  Hold on!  You got possessed by-”  She glanced at Paprika and Cayenne.  “That other thing!”

“I don’t actually remember any of it though,” pointed out Arthur.  “I’ve tried.  All I got was a headache and a weird sleep paralysis dream with a cat that turned into a raccoon.”  He paused. “There weren’t any tanuki, were there?”

“No, just a couple of bats,” said Lewis.  “What would a tanuki even be doing in Texas?”

Arthur gave Mystery a meaningful look.  Mystery was doing his best to look innocent.

“You could try later with one of us,” pointed out Belle.  “We could eat some potato chips or something.”

Lewis made a bit of a face at that.  He wasn’t a big fan of junk food.  “Nah, I think I’d rather try it while Vivi’s around in case something goes wrong.”  He turned to face Arthur.  “You’re all right with this?”

Arthur nodded.  “Sure, just don’t do anything weird with my body.”

“Okay…”  Lewis stared.  “How do I do this?”

“Maybe if you hold his head or something?” suggested Vivi.  “Or turn intangible and try to go through him…”

“Right.”  Lewis carefully cupped Arthur’s face in his hands and pressed his forehead to Arthur’s.  He was so warm…and he smelled the same he had in life.  Arthur closed his eyes and leaned into the touch.

Then Lewis was gone, but not gone.  Lewis wasn’t holding Arthur, but Arthur could still feel him, just on the inside instead of the outside.

He opened his eyes, and felt a sense of disorientation. Wow, this feels really weird.

“Where’d Lewis go?” asked Belle, looking like she was about to cry.

“I’m right here,” Arthur’s mouth said with his voice.  His head looked down to see Lewis’ heart floating in front of his chest.  “See, here’s my heart.  I can’t believe that worked,” Lewis continued.  What an odd sensation.  “I can stop.” Arthur could probably put up with it for at least a few minutes before he started freaking out.

“How do you feel?” asked Vivi.

“Off balance.”  Lewis paused before lifting Arthur’s single arm. “…Oh.”

“I think it took some time for Arthur to get used to that as well,” commented Mr. Pepper.

Lewis picked up a spoon.  “Everything seems bigger for some reason.”

“That’s cause you’re not a giant now!” said Cayenne.

Everyone else snorted at that.  Arthur would have snorted if he’d still been in control of his body.  “Yeah, ha ha,” said Lewis.  Then he turned his attention to the plate.  There was longing and trepidation.  Lewis picked up some rice on the spoon.  “I can smell at least.  It smells amazing.”  Then he spooned the rice into his mouth.

Arthur thought it tasted pretty good, if a bit spicier than he preferred, but Lewis panicked and flew out of his body so fast that Arthur choked.  He coughed for a moment, slamming his hand into his chest. Someone was rubbing his back.  “Are you okay?”

Arthur nodded as he managed to drink some of the milk he’d been given.  “I’m fine.  What was that?”

“It was spicy!” Arthur looked over at Lewis in surprise and recoiled a bit.  Lewis had his skull out and was holding his hand up to where his mouth had been.  “That’s…You ate it so I know it has to be mild, but it was like it was as spicy as the Bhut Jolokia special!”

“Well, if you haven’t eaten anything for a few months, I guess you lost your tolerance for it,” reasoned Mr. Pepper.  “I guess you’ll need to work your way back up to it.”

Lewis let out a ghostly moan as several Deadbeats patted him to try and cheer him up.  “Wonderful.”

“We’ll figure something out,” said Mrs. Pepper.  She turned to Arthur.  “And how are you?”

“My, throat’s a little sore, but uh…”  Arthur gestured towards Lewis.  “Your skull…”

Lewis’ sockets widened for a second before his face was back in place.  “Oops.  Sorry.”

“It’s all right. No one minds,” reassured Mr. Pepper, glancing towards Paprika, who was wide-eyed.

Oh, right, she was a bit scared of Lewis’ skull appearance.  She wasn’t crying or anything though.  She looked more startled than anything, so maybe she was less scared now?

Mrs. Pepper reached over to give Paprika a reassuring hug. “Let’s get back to eating, shall we?” she suggested.  “We made a cinnamon-chocolate mousse for dessert.”

That was enough to get the younger kids eating dinner again, although Belle took a moment.  She looked worried.  Arthur couldn’t blame her.  He sighed and took Lewis’ hand in his own.  “It’s not much, but if you do want to eat something when I’m around, we can do this again.”

“Or he can possess me,” pointed out Vivi.  “Or the Peppers, okay, maybe not his sisters.  They’re probably a bit young for that to be safe.  Point is Lewis can possess people other than you.”  She gave Lewis a pointed look.  “As long as it’s consensual.  Got it Mister?”

Lewis smiled sadly. “Of course.”

Dinner was more or less back on track after that with more mundane topics of conversation, although Arthur noted that no one brought up the fact that he and Vivi were now dating.

Probably for the best. It would feel too much like he was shoving it into Lewis’ face.

Lewis saw them off. “Um, thank you for coming over.”

“It’s no problem,” said Arthur.  “I…I really did miss you.  I still kind of do if that makes sense.”

Lewis sighed.  “That makes too much sense.”

Vivi patted his arm. “Hey, we’ll be seeing each other more often!”

Lewis perked up a bit. “Really?”

“Yeah, I mean I’m sort of grounded this week,” admitted Arthur.  “But after that we can come visit sometimes after work.”

“Might come over a bit earlier next week so we can spend some time with you before dinner,” added Vivi.

Lewis made a sound not unlike a sigh as he finally smiled.  “I’d like that.”

“Okay, then we’ll see you next week, at the latest,” promised Arthur.

As they drove away, Vivi turned to Arthur.  “It really didn’t bother you being possessed?”

Arthur shrugged. “I guess it should, but like I said I can’t remember the possession.  Weird I know, but at least that’s one less trauma in my life.”  He paused and glanced at Mystery.  “That was safe for me to do, right?”

“As long as Lewis doesn’t try to tear your soul apart,” said Mystery.  He gave a far too toothy grin.  “And you can be sure he wouldn’t be around for long if he attempted it.”

Arthur sweatdropped. “Oh, uh, thanks.”

“Oh, don’t worry. You’re less susceptible to that sort of thing now than when we went to the cave,” continued Mystery.  “You should be able to push him out before he does any permanent damage.”

“If you say so,” said Arthur.  “But was there anything that made it obvious it wasn’t me in control?”

Vivi snorted.  “You mean besides the heart floating in front of your chest?”

Arthur nodded.  “Okay, yeah, I guess that would give it away, but was there anything else?”

Vivi hummed.  “Well, your eyes turned violet, like Lewis’ before he died.  Other than that, nothing obvious.”

“Possessions usually aren’t obvious,” said Mystery.  “Partly because the possessor will try to keep anyone noticing and trying to remove them and partly because most entities aren’t powerful enough to affect the appearance of their host.”

Arthur wondered what it said about Lewis that he’d been able to change Arthur’s body at all. “Well, I guess we’ll be learning a bit more about it.”

Vivi nodded.  “Yeah, if only to give Mr. and Mrs. Pepper a break. You know they’re going to insist Lewis possess them daily from now on.”

Arthur winced.  “Yeah, I guess it would be nice to have a break from that.”

“And I’ll see if there’s a way for him to eat food without possessing anyone too,” said Vivi. “It wouldn’t work all the time, but it would probably be safer.”

Arthur nodded.  “If anyone can find a way to make this work it’s you.”

Vivi got a determined look on her face.  “Oh, believe me.  I will.”

 After a couple of weeks, things were getting better.  Arthur wasn’t grounded.  He was getting used to dating, although he still had trouble believing it sometimes. Things were slightly less awkward with Lewis.  There was still a lot of walking on eggshells, but if they got on the right subject they’d relax and talk and laugh, like before the cave.  Arthur liked to think their relationship was salvageable.

Then Arthur ran into a problem:  Christmas. More specifically, Christmas presents.

Arthur generally would either buy someone a toy or game they liked or something he felt they could use.  He already had an idea what to get everyone…except for Lewis.

Lewis was still causing electronics to malfunction if he wasn’t careful, and Arthur hadn’t had a chance to try and get around it so games were out.  A movie or something might not be out, but Lewis hadn’t been in a movie theatre since March so Arthur wasn’t sure what Lewis would like.

It didn’t help that Mrs. Pepper regularly bought recently released DVDs and they had a streaming service.

Getting Lewis something he would use was out too.  No electronic gadgets (again), and Lewis could literally make simpler stuff if he needed it.  Arthur had seen him make a parmesan grater once when they couldn’t find theirs.  It was actually really convenient most of the time.

So Arthur wasn’t really sure what to get Lewis.  It had happened before, but he hadn’t been trying to mend a relationship the other years.

Arthur decided to just take the direct route.  “Hey, Lewis, what do you want for Christmas?”

Lewis blinked.  “Where’d that come from?”

“I’m just having trouble thinking of anything,” admitted Arthur as he pet Anaheim in his lap.

Lewis thought for a moment.  “Huh. You know.  I haven’t put that much thought into it.  I guess if you figure out the electronics thing you could get me a new phone.”

Arthur winced.  “I haven’t really had the chance to do much about that besides look up some theories and alternate energy sources.” He had some ideas, but it probably wouldn’t be ready by Christmas.

“Maybe a good book or some manga then,” suggested Lewis.

Arthur frowned. “But that’s what Vivi gives you…”

“Yep!  I’ve managed to find some gems at work!”  Vivi proudly proclaimed.  She frowned.  “Although, what have you been into lately?”

Lewis looked very nervous for a moment.  “Skip Beat?”

“That sounds vaguely familiar,” muttered Vivi.  “I’m sure I can find some volumes.  How far along are you?”

“Volume 10.”

“Okay, don’t go any further than that,” instructed Vivi.

“Yes ma’am.”

“I guess I could just go for a book,” admitted Arthur.  “But…I just would like to get you something more if that makes sense…”

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” said Lewis.  “It makes sense that a ghost would be kind of hard to buy for.”

It still bothered Arthur though, even as Vivi showed him the romance books at Tome Tomb.  “This one is about a time traveling FBI profiler.”

“Is it violent?” asked Arthur.  “I’m not sure I want to give him something violent.”

Vivi sighed and put the book back.  “Okay, here’s…no wait, he’s not into harem stories.”  Vivi perused a bit more before pulling out a seemingly random book.  “This one’s in a fantasy setting.  It involves a princess running away from home to avoid an arranged marriage, starting a coup to steal the throne from her father, and marrying a dragon.”

Arthur stared at the book.  “Can the dragon turn humanish?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, maybe.”  Arthur took the book.

Vivi smiled.  “Now, let’s take a look at the manga.”

Tome Tomb’s manga collection was quite eclectic.  They had some well known manga, but a lot of it was obscure enough that you’d need an expert like Chloe.  Arthur was getting ready to open his mouth and ask for a recommendation when he spotted one of the manga that were on display and let out a gasp.  “That’s it!”

Vivi and Chloe gave him a startled look.  “What is it?” asked Vivi.

Arthur pointed at the manga.  “Sailor Moon!”

Chloe nodded.  “It’s a classic and a pioneer of the magical girl genre, although I prefer Digital Princess Alpha myself.”

“I think Lewis has all the volumes already,” said Vivi.

“No, not like that. Sailor Moon has a transformation locket that’s shaped like a heart!” explained Arthur.  “I could make something for Lewis to slip on over his…” Chloe was here.  “Locket to make it look like Sailor Moon’s!”

“Oh…”  Vivi frowned.  “Would you have time for that sort of thing?”

“I think so,” said Arthur already drawing up plans in his head.  “I can mold some steel in the shape, plate it with silver or chrome, something shiny, paint or enamel it, set some crystals in it, I think I can make this work!”

“Well, I know you wanted to give Lewis something meaningful this year, so I won’t try to talk you out of it,” said Vivi.  “But at least buy the book so you have a back up in case you can’t make it in time.”

“Deal.”

Arthur started drawing out the plans as soon as he got home.  He had memorized the size and shape of Lewis’ heart by now so he sketched that out first.  Then he started sketching how big the Sailor Moon attachment would have to be to keep it nice and snug.  Oh, he could line it with something nice and soft, like felt or velvet.  Velvet would probably fit with the theme a bit more.

Before long, Arthur had the plans all drawn up.  Now he had to make it.  The metal working part wouldn’t be too hard.  He just had to wait to get the final okay from the doctor to put his arm back on, which he should get in a few days.  Until then, he could order the other supplies he needed and wait for them to arrive.

Thank goodness for the internet.

A few days later, Arthur was finally able to reattach his prosthetic.  He let out a sigh as he rotated his left arm.  This was a bit of an earlier model, but it wasn’t too different from the busted up model.  It just required a lot more maintenance.  He could put up with that for a few weeks.

Arthur worked the metal into the proper shapes, connected the pieces, electroplated it with chrome, coated it with various colored enamels, set the crystals in place, and lined the interior with velvet.

By the time Arthur finished, he thought he had a pretty good replica, just in time too.  Christmas was only a couple of days away.

Arthur slipped it into the giftbox, took care to wrap it, still made a mess wrapping it, decided to just tape the box shut and put it in a nice gift bag instead, and now he just had to wait for Christmas day.

…

But first he could really use a soda.

 Christmas finally came around.  In the Kingsman household that meant sleeping in until 10, having a brunch that included cinnamon rolls and shrimp ‘n grits, and a quick present exchange.

Most people would question why Lance and Arthur only gave each other one present each, but they tended to buy things for themselves if they needed or wanted something, which made them a bit hard to buy for.

Arthur got…Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.  “Uh…Thanks, but why this game?”  Not that he didn’t appreciate it, but it wasn’t his usual genre.

“It’s got mysteries and ghosts.  Figured it would make you feel better if you give Vivi a ride to a haunted house and stay behind,” explained Lance.

That did make a certain sort of sense.  Arthur made a not to give it a try sometime.

Now, it was Lance’s turn.  He took the tissue paper out of the gift bag, shortly followed by…gun oil.  “Ah.  Thanks. Was starting to run a little low.”

Arthur nodded.  “I noticed.  I was sort of worried you’d buy more before I gave it to you.”

Lance nodded in understanding.  “I figured I could wait a little.”  He chuckled. “Now, go spend some time with your girlfriend.”

Arthur blushed but had to admit he did want to give Vivi and Lewis their presents today.  “Thanks Uncle Lance.  I’ll be back for dinner.”

He and Vivi were going to spend the day together.  They were just planning to spend time with Lewis too…assuming they could convince the Pepper parents to let Lewis out for the day.

“Please, please, please, please, please.”

Yeah, they were a couple of adults begging like little kids, so what?

Mr. and Mrs. Pepper stared at them for a moment before Mr. Pepper turned to Mrs. Pepper.  “It is Christmas.”

Mrs. Pepper nodded. “True.  I think it would be all right.”

Vivi turned towards the living room.  “Ya hear that Lewis?  We’re busting you out of here!”

Lewis was in the middle of letting Paprika stick bows on him.  “Oh, Paprika, I kinda need to go.”

“Not yet.” Paprika stuck another bow on him.

“Now?”

“No.”  Another bow.

“Now?”

“No.”  Another bow.

“Now?”

“Hm…”  Paprika stuck one more bow on Lewis.  “Okay, you’re good.”

“Great!”  Lewis stood so quickly that he floated off the floor for a moment.  “Thanks for the makeover.  I’ll be back for dinner, promise.”  He walked over to Vivi, Arthur, and Mystery.  “So, what’s the plan?”

“It’s a surprise,” said Vivi.  “C’mon.”

As soon as Lewis was in the van he let the bows fall through him and with a flash of purple fire changed his jacket and ascot into a purple sweater and lilac scarf.  Handy.

It was a short drive to a nice hill that overlooked about half of Tempo.  The grass was pretty brown this time of year so they sat in the back of the van with the doors open.  It was a bit cool, but Lewis was keeping them pretty warm.

“Okay, gift exchange time!” proclaimed Vivi.  She paused and looked at Mystery.  “Did you get us anything?”

Mystery nodded. “My blessings and protection. That means a lot coming from a kitsune of my ability.”

“You didn’t have money to buy anything,” deadpanned Vivi.

“That too.”

“I got you chicken jerky,” said Vivi, holding out the bag.  She gave him chicken jerky all the time.

“That’s fine by me.” Mystery immediately dug into the jerky.

Vivi rolled her eyes before holding her gift out to Lewis.  “Here you go.  Merry Christmas.”

Lewis carefully unwrapped the gift.  It was a romance novel and the 11th volume of a manga that Arthur didn’t recognize. Lewis gave Vivi a big smile.  “Thank you.  I love them.”

Vivi handed Arthur his gift.  “And here’s one for you.”

“Thanks.”  Arthur quickly unwrapped it.  “Ooh, Star Wars: New Republic.  Awesome.  Thanks again.”  He handed Vivi a wrapped package.  “And here’s a gift from me to you.”

“Ooh.”  Vivi unwrapped it.  She got an odd look on her face as she pulled out an odd white device. “What is it?”

“A spirit box. You talked about trying one.”

Vivi looked startled for a moment before smiling.  “Thanks Arthur.  I’ll make sure to use it next time I’m on a job.”

Arthur smiled back. “Happy to hear it.”  He turned to Mystery.  “I wasn’t sure what to get a kitsune.  It sounds like the foods you’re supposed to like wouldn’t last.  So instead I got these sweet potato treats from this lady at the farmer’s market.”  Mystery immediately stuck his head in the bag and started snapping up the treats.  “…And clearly I had nothing to worry about.” He held out the last gift to Lewis. “And then there was one.”

Lewis took the bag, pulled out the tissue paper and blinked.  “Oh wow…”  He pulled out the locket replica.  “This is amazing!  Where did-Did you make this?!”

“Yep, open it up.”

Lewis found the latch and flipped it open.  “Oh, it’s a box!  That’s pretty cool.”

Arthur chuckled. “It’s not a box exactly.  I designed it so that you could keep your heart in there if you wanted to.”

Lewis blinked again. “You-really?”

“Yeah, uh…”  Oh wait.  Maybe that was a taboo thing.  “You don’t have to use it for that if you don’t want to.  You could use it to hold other stuff if it’s not comfortable.”

Lewis studied the locket for a moment before placing his heart inside and closing it.  The locket floated in front of him.  “It’s pretty snug…soft though.”  He smiled towards Arthur.  “Thank you.  I love it, really.”

Arthur felt butterflies in his stomach.  “I’m glad. That means a lot to me.”

“I haven’t really had a chance to go out shopping, so I made you guys some small cakes,” said Lewis as he pulled some boxes from…somewhere.  Arthur decided not to question it.  He checked the labels on them before passing them out.  Arthur checked his.  Looked like chocolate with caramel and sea salt.  “Thanks I’ll have some after dinner.”

“It’ll be hard, but I’ll wait too,” said Vivi as she closed her box.

Mystery was, once again, already eating his gift.  Looked like peanut butter from what Arthur could see.

“So, do we head back or stick around for a while?” asked Lewis.

“The plan was to just sit here for a bit,” admitted Arthur.

“Might talk a bit, but mostly just watch the town,” added Vivi.

“Sounds good,” said Lewis.

The four took a moment to organize themselves.  It ended with Lewis between Vivi and Arthur with his arms around them and Mystery sprawled across their laps.  Even better, Lewis was to Arthur’s left, which meant his natural warmth was making Arthur’s arm ache less than it had lately.  It was soothing and left Arthur feeling much more relaxed than usual.  He could stay like this for hours.

It had been maybe 10 minutes when Vivi tugged at his sleeve.  He gave her a lazy look.  “Hm?”

Vivi pulled him a bit closer.  “We should ask him now,” she whispered into his ear.

Oh…She was okay with it?  He glanced up at Lewis who seemed to be trying very hard to ignore whatever they were doing.

Arthur hated that Lewis was being left out at all.

Mind made up, Arthur pulled himself up so that his and Lewis’ heads were at roughly the same level. Lewis smiled at him.  “What’s up?”

He was going to lose his nerve if he waited any longer so Arthur decided to just take the plunge and kiss Lewis.  On the lips. It wasn’t a deep kiss or anything (He still wasn’t very good at kissing.), but it got the point across.

As soon as Arthur pulled away, Vivi took advantage of Lewis’ surprise to swoop in and give Lewis another kiss.  Lewis stared in shock for a couple of moments before starting to tear up and pulling Arthur and Vivi into a big hug.  Arthur and Vivi hugged him back and kissed his cheeks.  Lewis killed them back.  Vivi and Arthur grinned at him and each other.

Mystery snorted. “It’s about time.”

Vivi snorted.  “God, yes, why did we wait so long?”

“Does it matter anymore?” asked Arthur.

Lewis shook his head. “No, I…I’m just grateful it was still possible.”

Vivi nodded.  “Yeah, now let’s just enjoy it for as long as we can.”

Arthur was going to enjoy this for the rest of his life.  He let out a content sigh.  Things were finally getting better than they were before the cave.

Life was good.

#giftfic #msa #mystery skulls animated #Arthur Kingsman #Vivi Yukino #Lewis Pepper #Mystery the not-Dog #Some Lance #It was supposed to be for msa holiday spirits but I think I missed a message and got kicked out #oops #slow burn #recovery #Arthur has a pretty nasty freak out #Vivi is angry #Lewis is realizing how badly he messed up #msaholidayspirits2019 #They said I could post it after all!

[theolddarkmachine]

Dead Space - Good, Bad, I’m the Guy With the Gun

It starts the day the hero falls. Crashing in a blaze of glory of twisted metal and burning ozone, he leaves a scar on the Earth that changes everything.

And Keith sees it all.

Chapter 4 of 11

Tags: attempted Horror Elements, Zombies, Violence and Gore, Eventual Smut, Happy Ending i swear

Also on AO3

A/N: Fun fact- This chapter has one of my fave chapter titles in this fic lol 

********************************

The world spins violently, making Keith’s stomach pitch fiercely as his eyes shoot open. The only light is from a weak lamp clipped to a high window sill, leaving most of the room still shadowed. Sitting up slowly and swallowing down the sudden urge to upend the few contents in his stomach, he notes the bare walls and dingy tile of the floor, and the torn, ratty sleeping bag serving as a makeshift bed beneath him.

Shifting to get a better look at his surroundings, Keith feels the tight bite of rope at the flesh of his wrists, the sudden burn of it pulling his consciousness back to his present and the circumstance that had landed him here.

“Shiro,” Keith gasps, turning fully in search of the darkened corners. Eyes scanning across the room, his gaze stops on the thin frame of the man from the street. Sitting atop a plain, metallic chair, he keeps his eyes settled on Keith as his mouth twists into a smug grin.

A groan, loud and biting pushes from deep within Keith’s throat as he finally recognizes the man.

Lance McClain. Keith had never truly paid the younger cadet much mind when he was in the Garrison, but that had never seemed to change the competition between them that Lance had crafted in his own head.

While Keith had had his eyes set ahead to where Shiro had been, Lance had had his eyes set on him.

Leaning forward in his chair, Lance pushes his forearms into his thighs as he rolls the rifle between his palms, gaze not once leaving Keith.

The light from the windowsill traces Lance’s face with bright lines. His thin face looks thinner, his boyish looks lost to the test of time and the apocalypse, leaving his cheekbones sharp and his blue eyes marred by dark bags.

Even still, he looks smug enough for Keith to want to punch him in the face.

For old time’s sake.

“Hey, buddy,” Lance says, vestiges of his smarmy tone still clinging stubbornly to his voice as he speaks. Its cadence makes the dull, aching throb at the back of his head pulsate.

“Where’s Shiro?” Keith all but snarls, hands folding into fists as he flexes against the tight binding of the rope. It doesn’t budge, instead biting further into his skin in a way that he’s sure will leave the skin at his wrists torn and raw.

Not that that truly matters, Keith thinks as he shifts slightly, feeling the way his legs move freely.

It was their second mistake.

Their first having been knocking him out.

“No hello? No, wow Lance, I missed you, glad to see you didn’t become zombie chow?” Lance muses, leaning back and slapping a hand over his heart with a loud gasp of faux hurt. “That cuts me deep.”

Ignoring his quips, Keith repositions his legs carefully, moving as if he was just trying to get a bit more comfortable. The change leaves him bracing his weight on one foot with his thigh flush against his chest, with the other leg folded beneath him.

“At least if you were zombie food, you wouldn’t be giving me such a headache,” he bites out, glaring at his old acquaintance as his muscles tense.

“That would be courtesy of Hunk, not me,” Lance shrugs, leaning forward once more as he replaces his hand on his rifle. There’s a sparkle buried deep in his eyes as his hands tighten on the muzzle. It’s a challenge, silent and standing between them, filling the distance with a bright burning tension.

One breath became two, and starts to become a third when Keith launches himself forward, hands held awkwardly in front of him where they’re tied.

A look of shock dances across Lance’s features as Keith swats the rifle out from his grip before twisting to kick at his side, forcing him and his chair sideways. The grating clatter of metal against tile screams through the air as Keith falls on top of him, pushing the flush of his forearm into his throat as he leans in close.

“I won’t ask again. Where’s Shiro?” Keith growls, sneer nothing but teeth.

“Chill, man,” Lance chokes out as he struggles beneath him. He gets a hand fisted in the material of Keith’s shirt and another on his side when there’s a loud knock on the door, effectively freezing them both as the pair turn their gazes toward the offending sound.

“Hey, you good in there?” Another familiar voice calls through the wood, “Allura wanted to see us like, 10 minutes ago.”

Hunk, Keith’s brain supplies, as he remembers the timid engineering student who had seemed attached to Lance’s hip. The moment of pause gives Lance just enough to steady his hold and push Keith off of him. As he falls to the side, Lance quickly rolls in the opposite direction before coming back to a crouch, all the while coughing and rubbing at his throat.

“Yeah, buddy, all good here. Just go ahead without us, we’ll be there in a minute,” he calls out to his companion on the other side of the door as he glares at Keith.

Both men hold stock still as they wait, both relaxing slightly at the small sound of affirmation that makes its way into the room.

“If you’d just given me a minute, you’d know that I was going to take you to see him. Allura wants to see you both,” Lance hisses after hearing the sound of Hunk’s footsteps draw away from the door.

“Who the hell is Allura?” Keith spits, tone untrusting as he pushes himself up onto his feet. Taking several steps away from the brunette, he braces himself with the wall at his back, watchful gaze stuck on Lance.

“The person who is going to get us all out of this apocalyptic bullshit alive,” he remarks with a shrug, as if the sheer impossibility of the statement was simple fact. Giving Keith another hard look, he leans down to pick up his discarded rifle, brushing it off and cooing quietly to it before he uses it to gesture toward the door.

“We’re going to leave, but if you make a run for it, I can’t guarantee you won’t be shot down before you get to the exit.”

It lacks threat, said as nothing but yet another fact. Pausing to allow Keith the chance to say something, Lance shrugs at his silent obstinance.

“Not sure you’ll be much use to Shiro dead.”

It pushes a low grumble of acquiescence between his teeth as he watches Lance move toward the door. Pushing away from the wall, he stretches quickly to loosen his achey joints. Standing behind Lance, he watches over his shoulder as he opens the door.

Scraping along the flooring, the wood opens up into an empty hallway. It’s just barely cleaner than the room, though there’s grime that still clings to the corners where the floor meets the wall and a staleness that hangs in the air. Construction lights line the hallway every few feet, leaving stretches of darkness between the circles of illumination that they cast, leaving the space filled with a sort of eeriness that Keith couldn’t quite place.

There was no telling just how long the building had been abandoned, even before the end of the world.

“This way,” Lance says, motioning for Keith to follow as he turns to the left, not bothering to look back to make sure he follows. Not that he supposes he has much of a choice.

It’s a thought that sends a wave of annoyance pulsing through him in time with the aching throb at the back of his head.

Passing through the hall in tense silence, Keith lets his gaze wander over his surroundings, taking in the boarded windows and stretch of doorways covered with mismatched coverings and torn pieces of fabric.

As they move along, he hears the quiet mutterings of people inside.

It takes several minutes before Lance finally stops at the end of the hallway where two heavy metallic doors stand. Settling his hands over the rusting handles, Keith watches as he takes a breath. The depth of it raises his shoulders before they slow come back down around his exhale.

“I know we never quite got along, but give Allura a chance,” Lance says lowly, throwing a quick look back to him before pushing the doors wide.

Over his shoulder, Keith can see the long stretch of a room with several metal tables. Stepping through the threshold, he makes quick work of counting the tables, and taking in their stock.

Three along the back wall are littered with guns and ammunition. Two, one at the very center and one pushed to the front, support out of date monitors and even older computer towers. The final table that stands alone at the side of the room boasts a coffee machine and a random assortment of snacks.

Atop the table set at the center of the room, the monitors stand like a curved barrier around its occupant. It obscures all but the person’s mess of tawny hair above the top of the smallest monitor.

Beside the hidden stranger, a woman stands tall and lean, with darkly tanned skin, white hair twisted atop her head, and striking eyes.

She looks strong, her obvious authority rolling off of her, even as she offers the person to her side a small, secretive smile.

Even without introduction, Keith knows exactly who she must be.

Allura.

Her gaze finds him then, cutting into his chest, almost as if she could hear his very thoughts.

“Good, you’re finally here,” she says, voice strict and accented as she gestures for Lance to close the door. With a quick nod and a small sound in his throat, he shuts the doors, revealing two figures on the other side.

A rush of relief rolls through Keith as he sees that one of the figures is Shiro.

His silvered gaze finds him easily as Shiro offers him a small, reassuring smile. Offering a small nod in return, Keith traces his form quickly, noting how he stands tall, hands free and untied where they hang at his sides.

With another quick dip of his chin, Keith moves his attention toward the man beside him.

Hunk looks the same as he had at the Garrison, only harder, as if he was the visage of the boy he had once known but carved of hardened stone. It doesn’t diminish the slight smile that seems to still tug at the corner of his lips, however.

Silence rolls out through the room as Allura steps around the desk, stopping at the end closest to them. Settling her hip against the corner, she crosses her arms and makes a show of analyzing them both slowly.

Quick clicks punch through the deafening quiet as the person behind the monitors continues to type away.

“I’ve heard so much about you both,” Allura finally says, drawing her attention back up to capture Keith’s stare.

“Keith Kogane, rising star of the Galaxy Garrison. Relieved of your position after an assault on a superior officer. Specializations in hand-to-hand combat and flight,” she states, tone bored, as if she reading was his successes and failures off of a memorized checklist.

Aside from the woman herself, he’s certain no one there needed a reminder about his history, half of them having been there for a front seat view of it all. He feels his lips twitch into a sneer as she turns her attention away from him and toward Shiro.

“And Takashi Shirogane, the Garrison’s brightest. Youngest pilot to land the lead pilot position for a major space exploration. Originally pronounced dead after the failure of the mission.”

The way the words fall from her tongue sounds accusatory, even as she continues to stand there at perfect ease with her arms folded across her front and her eyes bright.

“Seems you know enough about us,” Shiro bites out, the snap of his voice turns his word brittle as he tenses under Allura’s scrutiny. “Anything we should know about you?”

There’s a hollow pause as the edges of Allura’s mouth turn upward into a smile. Sharp and bright, its equal parts welcoming as it is dangerous.

“I’m Allura,” she offers before opening her arms wide to gesture all around them, “and this is New Altea.”

Taking a brief moment to look between them both, she continues.

“It isn’t much, but I assure you, it is only a temporary solution.”

“New Altea?” Keith asks, pushing the foreign name through the wall of his indignation as he flexes against the rope. It earns him her attention once more as her gaze cuts back to him, the startling blue of her eyes catching the light like a blade.

“Our colony. When the city was destroyed, I tried to gather as many survivors as I could. Those here now may be the last of us,” Allura says low and matter-of-fact in the very same way as a doctor giving a terminal prognosis. The statement might have cut deeper if he wasn’t already armored by his own pragmatism.

Keith had given up on the rest of humanity the very same night Shiro had fallen from the sky.

“Why were you looking for us?” Shiro asks, cutting through the silent thread of electricity that had built between Keith and Allura. Both turning toward him, Keith doesn’t miss the way her moth turns into a wider smile.

“You knew,” is all she says, admiration apparent in the lightness of her tone. Shiro misses Keith’s questioning look as he keeps his stare resolute and forward on the woman before them.

“Your men weren’t always subtle,” Shiro shrugs, earning a small tinkling laugh.

“No,” Allura replies, voice filled with mirth as her gaze flicks quickly to the man at Keith’s shoulder. “That does seem to be a bit of a problem for them.”

“We’re still here, ‘llura,” Lance mumbles under his breath, shifting on his feet.

“So what do you want from us?” Shiro pushes, the question lighting Keith’s nerves as he watches the exchange between the two. Two behemoth forces coming together in battle, he isn’t sure any of them will make it out alive before Allura finally looks away. Moving away from the desk, Allura slowly walks toward the computer set at the very front of the room.

“I worked for the government, you know,” she starts, not looking back at them as she taps on the space bar, the monitor attached to it flickering to life. “I was never a part of the Garrison, but it was my duty to monitor them. A handler, of sorts. There was nothing they did that I did not know of.”

Fingers flying across the keyboard, file after file pulls up onto the screen.

“At least, that’s how it was supposed to be.”

From where he stands, Keith watches the brief flash of images across the screen. Some are too blurry to make out, some obvious shots of the open desert, others what looked to be microscopic shots of cellular structures.

One, in particular seems to freeze on the screen longer than others, leaving Keith staring into the depths of the very same photo of Shiro that the media had pasted alongside the announcement of the mission’s failure.

“I had begun noticing some strange notations in their ledgers. Ones that made sense when just fed through the system, but a little less so when combed through by human eyes.”

The image is quickly covered by another, and then another, and then another, each coming quicker than the last as Keith schools his breathing, eyes never leaving the screen.

“After some digging, I noticed that no matter how I followed those breadcrumbs, I always came back to you,” at this, she turns over her shoulder to fix her gaze on Shiro once more.

A hush of a sound, low and confused is his only reply as Keith recognizes the scene frozen on the monitor. A science lab, white and sterile, stands as a moment in time, its occupants stuck in varying degrees of movement around a table where a body lay.

Allura’s eyes never leave Shiro as she presses the space bar once more, bringing the scene to life.

Keith watches as the scientists start to shuffle around Shiro’s unmoving body, their hazmat suited forms marking sheets of paper and tapping at tablets. Holding his breath, he lets his lungs burn as he watches one of the forms stop mid step, muscles seemingly locking. It’s a harrowing moment, made more so with the silence of the video, as the scientist’s body twists sharply and unnaturally before crumpling to the ground.

Several seconds pass before any of the other figures seem to notice, the first making quick movement to get across the room, only to freeze and crumple in the exact same manner.

One by one, he watches them fall until none are left standing, their bodies littering the ground.

After several more seconds, another figure enters at the bottom of the frame, coming to a halt just beneath the camera and freezing as Allura taps the space bar once more.

A shudder tickles down the knobs of his spine as he looks at the fuzzy version of himself standing stuck in that moment of time when he had happened on the scene.

Electricity crackles and pops through the room as Allura straightens, rolling her shoulders back and adopting an air of authority once more as she turns back toward them. Her gaze is harder this time, chips of frozen cerulean.

“So, tell me Shiro,” she says, steely toned, “why didn’t you die in that tent?”

Burning unease rockets through Keith, his muscles coiling, ready for a fight.

“What are you trying to accuse him of?” He spits out, pushing himself quickly between Shiro and Allura to covet her stare. Holding it, he feels the quick burn of her apprehension on his skin as he pulls against the rope on his wrists, a deeper burning ache biting deeper in his skin with his futile motions.

A quick coughing sound breaks the moment, shattering it like glass as the person behind the monitors finally stands.

Nothing but wild, tawny hair, and large wired rimmed glasses, Keith feels his breath stall in his throat.

“Matt?” He hears himself whisper, trying to force his gaze away to look at Shiro. Almost as soon as the name drops from his mouth, his vision shifts and his mind catches onto the minute details that separate the person before them from his lost friend.

“Katie,” Shiro hushes, as she pushes her glasses further up her nose with a small smile.

“Hey Shiro,” she whispers, offering him a barely there smile before turning her gaze on Allura. Sharing a silent moment, Allura gives her a quick nod.

“You are both welcome to stay,” she says, almost begrudgingly to Keith before her attention moves behind him, landing on Shiro.

“But on the condition that you’ll let Pidge do some tests.”

The second passes like an eternity as the occupants of the room all seem to suck in a bated breath.

Finally, Shiro answers.

“Alright.”

***************************

#takashi shirogane #keith kogane #sheith #ngl if it wasnt for the fact idk if i can add gifs to the ao3 a/n #i totally woulda just put a gif with the title lol

[shadowofthelamp]

I’d Save You

Summary: Ford’s opinion on his brother changes fast when he volunteers to swap clothes, and later he decides to have a talk with Stan about it. (No ship)

My follower giveaway prize fic for @ave-aria! Thanks for such a good request.

Like this fic? I have kofi fic commissions open!

Link to fic on Ao3

Wordcount: 1525

Rating: G, no warnings (all canon compliant, more ‘missing scene’ than anything)

Ford realized how much he loved his brother when he saw him fall to his knees after Bill entered his mind.

He got close a few minutes earlier, though, when Stan snapped his fingers and demanded Ford hand over his sweater, already tugging his sweat-stained suit pants down over his shoes.

“...What?”

“Look, we got one shot at this. I know how to shimmy out of these things pretty quick but we don’t know how long we’ve got. Gimme your clothes.”

It clicked then, and Ford didn’t know how he didn’t see it before, and he realized his brother was an absolute genius. But they were still running on adrenaline and Ford was still sore and achey from Bill’s torture and doesn’t dwell on the revelation. After all, Stan was a con artist. Tricks like this were what he did. He stripped quickly, trading everything with Stan.

Stan started rummaging around in the trench coat’s pockets. “You got anything sharp in here? A letter opener or some kinda alien gizmo?”

“What for?” Ford asked. “We can’t exactly stab Bill.”

“Not that.” Stan gestured to the side of his face. “Your hair. Looks like Bill fried part of it off or something, and that’s gonna be a giveaway.”

Ford dug into the pockets of Stan’s pants and pulled out a small swiss army knife. Stan grabbed it, using the knife part to hack off the sideburns. “There we go. Now, just act like I’m an idiot for agreeing to the deal, got it?”

“Right. Yes, got it.” Ford said, in awe of how quickly Stan had taken control of the situation. Perhaps he was still recovering from the electric shocks. Stan cleared his throat.

“Bill, you asshole.” He sounded exactly like Ford. Perhaps a bit more gravelly, but Ford himself wasn’t at his best, so it was forgivable. He flashed a grin. “Your turn.”

“Bill, you asshole!” It felt good to say, and Stan laughed.

“Not bad, but you gotta really lean in on it. You know what I sound like.”

“Of course I do.” Ford said in his best impression of Stan’s voice, and Stan’s face hardened as they heard screams and thundering footsteps.

“It’ll work. It has to.”

________

The knob on the side of the memory gun felt wrong under his sweaty fingers. Stan had collapsed to his knees, head thrown back and fingers brushing the bricks below. Bill was inside of his brother. As soon as he realized he was tricked, he was going to wreck havoc, and destroy him. He couldn’t just erase ‘BILL CIPHER’. Bill would burrow in, find a way to ruin Stan from the inside out from whatever was left. It needed to be a clean wipe.

‘STA’ Stan hadn’t known this was coming. He hadn’t spent nearly three decades preparing to die facing Bill. He just saw what needed to be done, and did it. No hesitation.

‘NLEY’ Ford didn’t want him to go. Stan’s face was… almost calm, now. His eyelids didn’t even flutter, looking for all the world like he was simply dreaming. Ford hadn’t seen that. Most of the time they’d been together these past weeks, they’d been snipping at each other, or avoiding each other. He’d only caught it in glimpses- when Stan was cheering about beating Probabilitor, or relaxed watching TV with the kids. Stolen moments he hadn’t been meant to see.

‘PI’ That he wouldn’t have seen, if Stan hadn’t spent thirty years trying to bring him back. He’d wanted a thank you, and now Ford could never give him a proper one; one that wasn’t ground out in irritation for someone he had still seen as the 27-year old that had shoved him into the portal.

‘NES’ He’d be saying goodbye forever when Stan would be saying hello, not knowing what he’d done, what he’d sacrificed.

But Ford would. Ford would know that Stan had saved the world when he hadn’t been able to. Stan was the hero of this story, and Ford realized that he would have moved heaven and Earth to save Stan if he’d been the one pushed through the portal now, Bill Cipher be damned.

The memory gun vibrated as he pulled the trigger, hearing it buzz like a bug zapper, frying Stan’s very being from the inside out. It just kept going for a solid minute- there was a lot of Stanley Pines to erase, after all. Fifty eight years of it.  Beside him, Ford could hear Mabel sniffling and the fabric of Dipper’s jacket shuffling around, and from the corner of his eye he could see that Dipper was wringing the fabric part of his hat.

When the gun had finally erased everything, Ford’s arms dropped. Stan remained on his knees, barely twitching but his mouth had fallen open. What Ford would give to hear a snarky comment, a laugh, a joke that proved he didn’t just lose his brother.

Instead, all he heard was the clatter as the memory gun hit the floor. There was noise- the people in the banners had been freed and fell to the floor- but he didn’t care, sight locked on Stan. He took a single step forward before the Fearamid shook, the entire structure breaking apart. Dipper and Mabel both grabbed one of his arms, and he held them close. Mabel grabbed Stan’s fez before it was sucked up into the giant X in the sky, hugging it to her chest. While Stan’s hair rustled in the wind, he remained dead to the world, soft breaths lost in the roaring disassembling of Weirdmageddon.

It took them a few minutes to find him after that. It was a miracle he’d been dropped nearby, dazed and still on his knees.

Ford’s heart nearly stopped when Stan didn’t recognize Mabel and didn’t properly start again until he yelled at the pig.

_______

The next morning, there was a lot to do. Dipper and Mabel had started packing, (Mabel had to figure out which sweaters to keep and which to gift to Candy since she didn’t have nearly enough room in her suitcase, something that had invoked some fake swears he’d definitely heard from Stan a few times.) Stan had mentioned they were going to throw the kids a birthday party to Lazy Susan when he stopped by for breakfast, so by now half the town probably was coming.

At the moment, Stan had a pen in his mouth and was trying to tape a banner up over the door to the gift shop. Ford watched for a moment. “How much do you remember?”

Stan pulled the pen out from between his teeth and tucked it behind his ear. “Remember you should be helping me with this.” Stan said, turning around. “It’s still fuzzy, but I got the main stuff down, I think. I know the kid’s names and your name, and Wendy and Soos. Can’t remember the blonde kid’s that stopped by earlier, though.”

“Preston’s daughter? I admit, I don’t quite remember that one either.” Ford said, taking the tape from Stan and tearing off a good-sized piece before handing it back up so Stan could finish. “There was… something I wanted to tell you.”

“Is it bad news? Nobody ever starts good news with ‘I need to tell you something’, they just say it.” Stan asked. “You better not be radioactive from alien experiments after everything.”

Ford shook his head, a small smile starting to build. “No, not that, although it is quite possible parts of me aren’t entirely human anymore. No, I wanted to thank you.”

“For w- oh.” Stan blinked.

“I know how difficult it must have been. I checked over the work you did that was still in the basement lab this morning, and if you only had one journal… really, it’s a wonder you didn’t do better in school if you managed to rebuild most of the portal with only part of the blueprints. You could have been a great engineer, and a good assistant-” Ford cleared his throat. “Anyways. Thank you. For saving me. I wasn’t well when you found me and honestly I haven’t always been in the best state since, but I’m glad you brought me back.”

Stan blinked again, before a grin spread across his face and he grabbed Ford into a tight hug, burying his knuckles in Ford’s hair to give him a noogie.

“Ha, knew you had it in you!”

“I just can’t believe you’d risk the world for me. I made the warnings clear.” Ford said, half to himself, but Stan let go of him and stepped back.

“Of course I would. Yeah, we were angry at each other, but we were both going through a lotta stuff. Would you have done it for me?” Stan tensed a bit at the question, but Ford laid a hand on his shoulder.

“I might not have then, paranoid and confused, but I certainly would now. I wouldn’t want to be here without you.”

That time when Stan hugged him, Ford was fairly certain if his ribs hadn’t been reinforced with Algian steel from Quantus 5 they would have cracked.

#gravity falls #stanford pines #stanley pines #ford pines #stan pines #original mystery twins #ave-aria #stan #ford #gf #shadow writes stuff

[searchingwardrobes]

Once GTKY Game

I was tagged by both @snowbellewells​ and @onceuponaprincessworld​ Thank you, ladies, and I'm sorry it took me so long to play!

Rules: Copy the bolded questions and answer them yourself! Don’t forget the specific question that was posed to you by the person who tagged you. Then tag up to 7 people, one for each season.

Musical episode: yay or nay?

Yay! It was absolutely a dream come true not only to have everyone singing such great songs, but also to have the Captain Swan wedding!

When did you start watching Once, and do you remember why?

My sister told me to watch it from the very beginning, so when I happened across it while channel surfing, I decided to give it a try. But I just happened to land on the very moment that Peter was begging Ruby as a wolf not to eat him, and so I thought it was some kind of horror take on fairy tales, lol! Then I saw promos about season 4 and was intrigued by the Frozen arc, so I binge watched the first three seasons. (And in context, the Ruby episode wasn’t so horrific, ha ha!) After that, I had to go through the agony of waiting a week for each episode because I was hooked (pun intended).

What made watching Once worthwhile?

It was always cool to see what spin they would put on each fairy tale and what people’s real world personas were like. Plus Captain Swan, of course.

First + Current main ships:

I’ve really only “shipped” Captain Swan. Season one it was just the premise of who everyone in Storybrooke was in Fairy Tale world and whether or not Emma would believe. Then Tallahassee happened . . .

First + Current favorite character?

First was Emma Swan. Now my favorite is Killian Jones.

Favorite arc (Why?)?

I loved all of season three, which also had the best finale ever. I also really loved the Frozen arc. Georgina Haig, Elizabeth Lail, and Elizabeth Mitchell all did a fantastic job. And of course, Captain Swan had their first date and that hot kiss in Rocky Road!

Favorite Plot Twist?

I wouldn’t call them “favorites,” but I have to say the most shocking twists were “Marian was really Zelena all along!” and Emma making Hook a second dark one. Both made even my husband audibly react.

Hardest death to watch?

Both of Killian’s in the Camelot arc, mainly because of how distraught Emma was. I really thought both Colin and Jen deserved Emmys that season for those two scenes alone. (Plus the goodbye in the Underworld.)

This character should have gotten more time?

Ruby, definitely. There were so many female friendships that could have been fantastic, particularly Ruby with Snow, Emma, and Belle. They never really gave Emma strong female friendships, and I think that’s a shame. For that same reason, I would have loved to have seen Elsa again in the finale, though I know the actress may not have been available. Her friendship with Emma was so great to watch, and I would have liked to have seen Emma happy in that aspect of her life as well. (Since the show was always SUPPOSED to be about Emma *AHEM*)

How do you summarize the show to your friends? (max 3 sentences)

All these fairy tale characters have ended up in our world because of a curse, and the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming has to break the curse. Then they have all these adventures traveling between this world and all these other realms. You get these tragic back stories for everyone, and come to find out most of the people are related, lol.

Favorite Once specific trope (think memory wipe, family tree, glowing walky-talkey hearts, head achey timelines . . . )

To be honest, all of these were cool the first time around, and then they got annoying. Even true loves kisses, which by the end were being handed out like candy to every couple except Captain Swan. But I’m not bitter . . .

Three quotes that mean a lot to you?

1.

“Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing.”

2.

“People are going to tell you who you are your whole life. You’ve just got to punch back and say, ‘no, this is who I am.’”

3.

Anything romantic that ever came out of Killian Jones’s mouth (I couldn’t choose)

Favorite funny scene?

When Killian was trying to explain to Elsa what a phone was!

 Favorite platonic ship:

You don’t have to read my fics for long to know the answer to this: Frozen Swan definitely. A close second that I also write a lot is Ariel and Hook. (I couldn’t even figure out if that one has a shipping name.) And of course, you gotta love Captain Charming!

Favorite dish from Granny’s?

I would probably be Belle and order a cheeseburger and fries and then a slice of chocolate cake.

What part of the newly merged realms would you like to live in?

Storybrooke because I’m a wimp who needs modern comforts, lol!

I got tagged by two people, snowbellewells asked: Were there any fairy tales/myths/legends/characters that never made it onto OUAT that you had hoped to see?

It would have been cool to see Moana and not just Maui’s hook. My daughter loves Pocahontas, and since her Disney version is completely legend and not fact, surely she could have hung out with Tiger Lily on Neverland. And I have the head canon that Emma and Killian end up with a cocker spaniel named Lady, and then a stray shows up who pines after Lady so long he finally sticks around, so naturally they name him Tramp.

Onceuponaprincess asked: If you could be in the show which character would you be? I am probably most like Belle, but I would have kicked Rumple over that town line way sooner and never looked back. (Sorry Rumbelle shippers!)

I am late playing this game, so I’m not going to tag anyone. I can’t think of any questions that haven’t already been asked.

#gtky game #once upon a time #once fandom #I am really late to this game!

[fanficshiddles]

Obsession, Chapter 1

Summary: Robyn is a journalist who starts covering a serial killer in the city, Tom. He takes an interest in the pretty journalist and starts paying attention to her. But she quickly learns it’s not a good thing to have a serial killer become obsessed with you…

WARNINGS FOR THIS FIC: RAPE/NON-CON, STALKING, HARASSMENT, MURDER, BODY MODIFCATION, DRUGGING, KIDNAPPING, VIOLENCE, OBSESSIVE BEHAVIOUR, MANIPULATION.

-

Robyn sat at the bar with a few of her girlfriends in the club, drink in hand while she swayed back and fore to the music. It felt so good to be out.

A tall shadowy figure stood in the corner of the club, watching her every move. Watching the way her hips swayed whenever she went to the dancefloor to let loose, the pretty blue dress she wore hugging her figure beautifully.

When Robyn ordered another drink, she foolishly left it at the bar when one of her friends dragged her, yet again, to the dancefloor.

The figure made his move. He swiftly crossed the club and as he passed the bar, he stuck his hand out and dropped a small pill into her drink. No one noticed as it quickly dissolved, everyone was too busy wrapped up within themselves and others, lost to alcohol and music in a sea of sweaty bodies.

He headed out into the crisp night and made up camp just along from the entrance. Biding his time.

-

Robyn felt funny. The drink suddenly hitting her, even though she could’ve sworn she hadn’t had many. But she definitely didn’t feel right and she knew something was wrong.

She headed to the cloakroom to get her jacket, well, stumbled there was more apt. Her vision was starting to get fuzzy and her limbs felt heavy. Just managing to hand over her ticket in return for her jacket, the woman watching the cloakroom sneered at her. ‘Ridiculous how drunk people get.’

Robyn barely registered what she said as she started to make her way outside. But as soon as she hit that fresh air, she thought she was a goner.

She stumbled to the side, but strong hands captured her just before she fell into the wall.

‘Woah, easy there, darling.’ A smooth voice reached her ears. One she was sure she had heard before… But she was struggling to focus, trying to remember where she knew that voice from.

The world was spinning, all she knew and could feel was being held against someone. Alarm bells were ringing within her at that voice, she knew she had to fear this man. But she couldn’t place why.

‘Come on, let’s get you home.’ He said softly, his large hands holding her and guiding her down the street.

‘No!’ She garbled out as she tried to push away from him. But she was far too weak, her bones felt like jelly. And even if she hadn’t been drugged, she wouldn’t have stood a chance against him anyway.

‘Shhh, shhh. Come now, kitten. Don’t want to make a scene now, do we?’ He said firmly.

It suddenly hit her. She knew who it was. It was the same man that had been toying with her for the past seven months. The same man who had, up until now, kept his distance from her. Or so she’d thought, anyway.

It was Tom.

That voice was the same voice that called her every single damn night for the past month. Saying barley anything else but utter filth to her with that sinful voice that she so wished wasn’t so captivating.

But what terrified her the most. Was the fact that the very hands holding onto her so strongly, were the same hands that had committed such evil, despicable crimes that made her skin crawl merely thinking about.

What he was capable of…

She did not want to make him angry, in fear of becoming another statistic on the news.

When she started to comply, not trying to get away from him, he hummed in approval. ‘Good girl, that’s better.’ He purred, leading her away.

But not far down the road, her legs gave way as she lost consciousness. So she was scooped up into his arms and carried home. Her purse was raided for the key as he let himself into her home and carried her straight through to her bedroom.

Robyn was still out cold when she was laid down on her bed and her clothes were carefully removed.

Tom breathed in sharply as he took in every inch of her, his heart hammered in his chest at finally having her like this. Stripped naked and so vulnerable to him.

Slowly stroking up her inner leg, he marvelled at how soft her skin was. Unable to resist, he lifted her foot and kissed her inner ankle. Then he started working his way up her body, kissing and licking as he went, until he came to the main prize.

Breathing over her softly, he pressed soft kisses to either side of her cunt. Then slowly started to lick her, delving between her folds and up over her clit. He draped her legs over his shoulders and continued eating her out like a man possessed.

Robyn’s body was reacting well to the assault, he could feel and taste her getting wetter. But she started to come round briefly, though she still felt like her body was so heavy and as if her mind didn’t belong to her anymore. She managed to glance down, her stomach churning when she saw a strange man with a head full of curls down between her thighs. A beard scratching against her sensitive skin while his tongue focused on her clit, forcing her to cum even though she didn’t want to.

She tried to reach down to push him away, but she just couldn’t. She passed out again, her mind going blank.

When she came to a little while later, it was to the sight of the man above her. In any other circumstances, she would’ve said a very attractive looking man. One she was sure she recognised somehow... He was smiling sweetly down at her as she tried to scream, because she felt a very large presence pushing into her, forcing her body to accommodate him, whether she wanted to or not.

‘N… no…. p…’

‘Shhh, hush now.’ He whispered, leaning down flush against her he stroked her hair and kissed the side of her lips. ‘Relax, kitten. It’s about time I took what’s mine.’ Was the last she heard before passing out once again as he thrust deliberately into her.

-

When Robyn woke in the morning she felt so groggy, like she had the hangover from hell. She could barely remember what happened last night as she sat up, her whole body felt achey and like she had been hit by a bus.

She didn’t remember drinking that much. In-fact, she couldn’t remember anything from last night after dancing with her friends to her favourite song, it was all blank…

But when she got out of bed and stood up, she paused as her blood ran cold.

Parting her legs, she reached down between her thighs and whimpered as she felt a very sticky mess there… Slowly dribbling out of her and down her inner thighs.

‘Oh no.’ She cried, panic hitting her.

She was naked, which wasn’t exactly unusual because sometimes she did sleep naked. But having a man’s cum inside of her was NOT usual since losing her boyfriend.

Running into the bathroom, she jumped straight into the shower and did her best to get as much of it out as possible. Then she just sat there in the shower, in tears. Shaking. Not knowing what to do, or even who did it.

But then she realised… what if he was still here?

Shaking with fear, she turned the shower off and grabbed a towel. Wrapping it tightly around herself, she slowly made her way out of the bathroom and inched her way through her house. Checking in each room carefully, then she darted for the door and made sure the chain was on.

Only then did she relax a little.

Though not for long. A few hours later, after much contemplating of what to do, her phone rang.

She glanced at the number. She knew exactly who it was. In a weird hope of desperation for someone familiar, no matter who they were, she answered it quickly.

‘I think that’s the first time you’ve answered me so quickly, kitten.’ The voice on the other end of the phone purred.

Then it suddenly dawned on her. The voice, it was so familiar… She couldn’t place him last night, why he had been there… But she had heard that same voice last night, and now she knew why it sounded SO familiar.

‘You… You were there last night.’ She stammered.

A low chuckle reached her ear. ‘I was indeed. I must say, it was nice to finally lay claim to what belongs to me. Even if you were unresponsive… This time. Do you know how becoming you look when you cum?’ He growled.

Robyn let out a sob, it had been him. He had been inside her home… Inside her. Before hearing anything else, she hung up on him and turned her phone off.

She slid down the wall and started crying.

Not only was he a serial killer. And a stalker. He was a rapist too.

And she knew that she was not just his victim. No. She was his toy. One that he was having fun playing with.

She screamed, not just in fear or pain, but in anger.

Now she knew that his threats weren’t just threats. They were promises.

- - -

Seven Months Earlier

Tom was sitting at his desk in his office, doing some work to keep his company running smoothly as always.

His secretary knocked on the door and popped her head in. ‘I’ve got your morning newspaper, Sir.’

‘Thank you, Chloe.’ Tom smiled and motioned her in.

She rushed over and handed him the paper, then she picked up his empty coffee cup and headed out to make him another one. Knowing how he always liked to have coffee on hand in the morning.

Tom sat back in his chair and looked at the newspaper. He frowned when he saw the headline.

The Choker Strikes Again!

‘The Choker?’ Tom scoffed as he narrowed his eyes at the paper. ‘Who is responsible for this?’ He quickly flicked to page eight, where there was more on the story.

He scanned through it until his eyes landed on the journalist who’d written the story.

‘Robyn Green.’ He hummed, stroking his beard. ‘Well, Robyn. It seems I shall have to pay you a visit.’ He growled low.

#tom hiddleston #fan fiction #obsession #au!tom hiddleston

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #49

I’m so freaking behind on my comments and recs that it’s kind of ridiculous. If you wrote a gen fic recently and it’s usually up my alley and I haven’t commented yet, it’s probably in one of my open tabs, mocking me. I will catch up eventually. I was distracted this weekend playing RPG for twelve hours on Saturday and then watching Stranger Things 2 on Sunday, so that cut into my fandom time, but really I have no excuse.

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. Also follow @maychorianrecs for individually tagged posts, the easier to search and reblog. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

Forming Bonds by Eastofthemoon Words: 34,054 Author’s Summary: When Keith is told by his father he is going work along side with a young Altean named Shiro in order to protect Princess Allura he is less than thrilled. However, over time, Keith finds himself becoming more and more protective of his new friends, especially with the threat of Zarkon looming over their heads. My Comments: I love it when fics treat the development and strengthening of platonic relationships with the care and finesse that you usually only see with romantic relationships. This is a great AU in which Keith, Shiro, and Allura have to both want to form bonds with each other and work on making their relationship develop, and it’s very satisfying to read.

Invisible Bonds by Cecilia_Dreamurr for MuseofWriting Words: 9,835 Author’s Summary: Alone and forgotten, trying to make the pain stop. Yet how could he when he couldn’t even touch something, let alone try anything.He was still there right? Right? Inspired by MuseofWriting’s In the Darkness between the Stars My Comments: A spell makes Lance insubstantial and unremembered by the rest of the crew. Painful and angsty despite the cracky premise. Great comfort at the end.

Digging a Black Hole by Qpenguin98 Words: 4,049 Author’s Summary: Were he given the choice to die or be useless, he would gladly take the first. My Comments: Great exploration of Keith’s mindset before, during, and after that decision he made in the finale of Season 4.

Allura’s Never Seen Star Wars by Awseomness Words: 1,853 Author’s Summary: Pidge comes to the realization that she has an opportunity no Earthling has ever had: an opportunity to observe the impact of the storytelling of Star Wars on a person whose cultural background is not inescapably infused with Star Wars references. Someone who does not know Darth Vader is Luke’s father. Someone who does not know Leia is Luke’s sister. Someone without the cultural context necessary to recognize the admittedly poor dialogue of the prequel trilogy. Someone like Princess Allura. My Comments: Adorable. I love Pidge and Allura bonding, and the fact that it’s through Star Wars just makes it better.

Late Breakfast by GRexCarolinii Words: 1,586 Author’s Summary: “Be that as it may, you and Matt have a lot in common,”“Like what?” “Well…” Hunk paused for a long moment, choosing his words carefully, “you are both… excellent brothers,” he said with a decisive nod. — In which Lance gets jealous My Comments: Super cute. I would love this development for Matt and Lance.

Tick Tick Jump by Spazzcat Words: 2,484 Author’s Summary: Lotor does not shoot out Haggar’s weapon. Everything ends in fire, and only Matt and Coran are left to pick up the pieces. But Matt is a Holt, and Holts will go to the ends of the universe and beyond in order to save their loved ones. My Comments: Great concept, very well executed. Matt’s determination to save everyone in the face of continuous loss was amazing. He deserves his happy ending.

No Tomb Left Empty by ImpendingExodus Words: 1,646 Author’s Summary: “I dreamed you were dead.” Looking straight ahead, out at the darkness of the room, Pidge continued, “I dreamed I was back at the graveyard planet, bringing flowers to put on your tombstone. That place is gonna stick with me for a while, I think.” “Katie.” Pidge looked up again, at where Matt’s face had gone pale in the cold blue light. He was shaking his head slightly as his face crumpled and tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Katie.” My Comments: Ouch, so painful. They did need to talk about this though.

War isn’t Pretty by SteamPowered514 Words: 2,340 Author’s Summary: A lot of injuries happened in space, most of them small little nicks and bumps. Little easy things to cover up and kiss better, the simple wear and tear of life around them and something that everyone on board was used to. A stubbed toe here, a jammed finger there. A paper cut, a scab, a scratch, a bruise, bumps, lumps, and scrapes. Lance hits his forearm on a hot metal pipe when fixing the castle with Coran, Shiro accidentally closes the oven door on his hand, Keith cuts himself when handling his own sword, Pidge trips down the stairs, Hunk catches his finger in a science experiment. The ship goes on. The humans on it learning that Alteans couldn’t get paper cuts, and had no funny bone in their elbows, couldn’t get brain-freezes, but one solid hit to a point on their hip and both legs would collapse underneath them, if you tugged on their ears it was extremely ticklish, their fingers could not jam they’d just break. Injuries in a war were much more severe, a lot more damaging. My Comments: Realistic and painful look at the kinds of severe injuries that the paladins could end up taking in the course of war. Made me feel a lot.

old familiar places by astrolesbian Words: 6,191 Author’s Summary: five birthdays hunk had at home, and one he had in space (not necessarily in that order) My Comments: Hance. This is such a sweet fic. Hunk deserves so much love.

home isn’t a place by ashinan Words: 2,493 Author’s Summary: Loneliness isn’t something new to Keith. But the pain of missing his team, his family, is soothed by their reassurance. My Comments: All of the care package items and gifts the team sends to Keith are perfect and thoughtful and sweet. A lovely birthday fic for a boy who deserves all the love.

Just the Same by DarkScales Words: 2,912 Author’s Summary: Keith’s only half Galra. He never thought his other half was all that important, given that his mother described his father’s planet as “a backwater hunk of rock literally named Planet Dirt,” until he finds out that his fellow paladins are human. Keith isn’t quite sure what to do with that. My Comments: Golly, this is adorable. I love how eager everyone is to share with Keith once they realize what his other half is. What a cute little AU.

Sacrifices by Forthediehards Words: 1,274 Author’s Summary: Matt confronts Keith after the difficult decision he made at the end of S4E6. Sometimes a little validation is all you need. My Comments: Another perspective on that decision, and quite a good one. I’m grateful for Matt here being so supportive and understanding.

Aftermath by GriffinRose Words: 1,478 Author’s Summary: SEASON 4 SPOILERS “Keith, man, talk to me,” Lance said. “What’s happening?” “I…” Keith started. He was still struggling to breathe, still struggling to wrap his mind over what almost happened, over the fact that he had to tell them what almost happened. He didn’t want to tell Lance, but Lance was here and Keith was going to lose it in a minute and at least Lance could go get Shiro or Kolivan or something. “I was going to…” “Yeah?” All at once, just like a bandaid. He could do this. “I was going to die.” My Comments: We’re probably not gonna get any sort of emotional resolution in canon for this horrible choice Keith made, so I’m very grateful for fandom giving Keith lots of hugs and comfort and heartfelt discussions in fic and art. This is a good one.

The Cost of a Cause by stayingwhelmed Words: 2,710 Author’s Summary: Matt shook his head. “Look at us.” Pidge turned to him, melancholy morphing into confusion at the grin spreading across his face. “Two of the biggest nerds from Earth, defending the universe.” Pidge returned his smile, and let out a soft giggle. Matt’s heart felt full enough to burst. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d missed his little sister’s laugh. (Pidge and Matt’s reunion and other unseen moments, told from Matt’s POV) My Comments: This so cute, you guys. So cute. I love these sweet science siblings. They love each other so much.

One Day for the Breaking, One More to Heal by pinstripedJackalope Words: 6,301 Author’s Summary: Keith did something drastic when he was trying to save Voltron in that last battle. He didn’t quite go through with it, though. A week later, his mind catches up to just what happened. My Comments: Holy wow, what a great aftermath fic. Everything just kind of sneaks up on Keith after the fact, which is how it works sometimes. I’m very, very glad Matt was there for him. And everyone else, too. This was immensely satisfying to read.

Brain Freeze by CondensationOnGlass Words: 2,027 Author’s Summary: Tumblr prompt fic! “taylor-tut said: YASS prompt time! How about some feverish Lance who has ridiculous chills and is complaining all through debriefing, irritating everyone else. As soon as debriefing is over, Pidge goes back to her room. Lance knocks on her door shivering and delirious outside her room, hoping that she might have a heated blanket. ” What the prompt says, the title- well I don’t know why either. My Comments: Holy frick, what a good sickfic. (Hey, that rhymes.) It just hits the spot, so good, gah, I love it. I just wish it was longer. Can never get enough Lance-centric sickfic. Not when you’re me.

proximity by bobtheacorn Words: 1,591 Author’s Summary: “Do you want to talk about your bad dream?” Pidge fires back with, “You want to talk about yours?” and Shiro has to relent. “…Fair enough.” //Shiro can’t sleep. Pidge is two steps ahead of him. My Comments: So sweet and achey.

Let the Rain (Come Down) by a_fearsome_thing Words: 2,541 Author’s Summary: In the midst of a thunderstorm, Lance and Shiro’s clone forge some new ground. It’s not what Lance expected. aka Lance makes a new friend and the clone gets a name My Comments: This is so sweet and achy and unexpectedly beautiful. I love the concept of Lance being the first to reach out to “Kuron” and make a connection on a human level, and this is a great example.

colors don’t fade by buttered_onions for yet_intrepid Words: 2,625 Author’s Summary: Commander Holt comes back, and Shiro doesn’t. Keith can get through this, too. A remix of Engine Won’t Turn, by yet_intrepid. My Comments: I’ve recced the fic this is based on because it’s amazing, and this is fantastic too. I wanted it to be longer, even though I’d already read the resolution from a different perspective. Keith’s loss is heartbreaking, and all the differences from canon are fascinating. I truly do love major canon-divergence AUs that just take a huge aspect of canon and flip it on its head.

The WMD by A_Zap Words: 3,081 Author’s Summary: Captured on a planet, the Paladins seem to have no way to escape. Luckily, Hunk decides to have Lance unleash their deadliest weapon. Keith doesn’t really know how to handle it. My Comments: So adorable and hilarious, omg. I believe it, too. Ambiguous Klance, but everyone is kind of attracted to Lance in this, so it barely counts.

Dishonest Mistake by ImpendingExodus Words: 2,346 Author’s Summary: Shiro’s got some walls up. When Pidge comes across a recording meant to be viewed in the event of his death, she has to confront her own feelings about the matter. My Comments: This was rough, but I loved that they were able to talk about it and come to an understanding.

The Voltron Aftershow by squirenonny for kakunamatatoes Words: 3,879 Author’s Summary: “This is the sort of work Voltron does?” Kolivan asked, cocking his head to the side. Keith hunched his shoulders, second-hand embarrassment making him want to curl up in a ball on the floor as his friends and teammates stuck cardboard boxes on their heads and… “formed” “Voltron.” “I swear we never did this when I was a paladin.” OR Keith gets to see the Voltron Show and has a little talk with the other paladins. My Comments: This is SO adorable. I love Keith getting to see his family and getting all kinds of love and having fun for this short interlude. Absolutely perfect missing scene from an episode that I enjoyed more in theory than in actuality.

A Little Unsteady by yet_intrepid Words: 2,759 Author’s Summary: When Shiro gets sick, Matt starts avoiding him. Not that it works that well. After all, their shared cell isn’t very big. Shiro tries his best to keep to his own corner, though, coughing into his elbow to prevent the germs from spreading. My Comments: This is hurt with not a lot of comfort, and it aches pretty bad, but it’s so well-written. Every time I see this author I know it’s gonna hurt and I still read it because it’s always good.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

Shadows of Stars (43517 words) Taking One For The Team (34003 words) Why it sucks to be a snake in space(38090 words) As Color Fades Away (190851 words) I'm not the Lance You think I am (74346 words) The Ones Who Were Left Behind (65972 words)

#voltron legendary defender #weekly voltron fic recs #fic rec #vldgen

[maychorian]

Weekly Voltron Fic Recs #30

Officially no longer a youngster. Get a job and get out of your parents’ basement, “weekly” rec list, for pete’s sake. Get it together.

Rules: You can find past weekly rec lists here, and non-list recs in my general fic rec tag. This is stuff I like, and I have a huge bias toward Lance, hurt/comfort, and general fluff, in that order. Gen unless otherwise noted. Please comment on the fics if you read and enjoy them!

A Lonely Mind by Bandity Words:  11,292 (WIP 1/2) Author’s Summary:  Lance struggles with depression, choosing to hide his problems, he starts down a dangerous road alone. My Comments: I think I kinda freaked the author by leaving a RIDICULOUSLY long comment on this one. Go read that for my expanded thoughts. But yeah, fave of the list. You remember that post going around not long ago about how healing pods are scary? This fic takes that concept in a FABULOUS direction, and I love it to death.

Starve the Ego, Feed the Soul by Agapostemon Words: 1,595 Author's Summary: “So you want me to spy for you,” Keith observes blandly. “Exactly!” Hunk nods, “Oh, and keep an eye out for food stashes. I wanna know where all my ingredients are going. ”Keith sighs, “Fine, whatever. I’ll spy for you. But only because he’s my brother and I care about him.” My Comments: Really sweet and heart-achey exploration of Keith and Shiro’s relationship, through the scenario of Shiro hoarding food in his room.

Pizza, Pasta and some comfort by SerenePhenix Words: 4,405 Author's Summary: I love taylor_tut’s sickfics to death but the one that really stuck with me was the one about the college AU where Lance appeared on the gang’s doorstep and they all were like “let’s take care of this sick stranger”.I really couldn’t help myself… ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Getting Lance to stop before he can collapse Shiro wonders what can be done to help the poor guy. Besides making sure that his temperature doesn't go through the roof... My Comments: Not long ago, I recced “The Pizza One” as my favorite taylor_tut fic, and here’s a nice long sequel! I love it almost as much as everyone in the fic loves Lance.

Food for Thought by WildWolf25 Words: 9,094 Author's Summary: After a very uncomfortable breakfast his first morning in the Castle of Lions, Ulaz learns that Galra and Earthlings (and Alteans) have some very prominent cultural differences, specifically relating to food. Once they get some misunderstandings cleared up, though, Lance gets a certain idea... My Comments: Crack alert! This is delightful. Gen, but technically NSFW for...reasons. Just read it, if you’re of age.

Stretch the Day by Stratagem Words: 886 Author's Summary: Lance and Hunk hang out with their siblings at a lake and have a nice day where nothing bad happens. Really! My Comments: I’m actually reccing every fic in this series, Voltron Space Family, this one just happened to come up first in my AO3 history because I read it the most recently. But yeah, you should consume everything. This author is SUPER good at child mannerisms, as well character interaction and feels. There’s a story where Shiro is rescued after the end of Season 2 by a misfit band of space pirates including one Matt Holt, and another where the Galra kidnap Lance and Hunk’s siblings, which is heart-rending. Very, very good stuff. I’ll be following this author with eager anticipation.

Distance by nawsies Words: 1,381 Author's Summary: Pidge misses her Mum so much and most of the time she refuses to think about it, Lance is in the right place at the right time and wants to help his friend (he helps). My Comments: Sweet, achey, homesick Lance and Pidge. Beautiful little fic.

Mermaid Rescue and Rehab Inc. by isabeau25 Words: 1,064 Author's Summary: Sadly, this isn’t the strangest phone call Pidge has ever gotten from Lance. The mermaid is new though. My Comments: MERBABY SHIRO RESCUED BY THE GARRISON TRIO. If that doesn’t make you want to read it I don’t know what will. Just go. It’s great.

Voltron Hug Collection by hufflepirate Words: 12,761 Author's Summary: 15 microfics, minifics, or oneshots featuring Voltron hugs. These were written based on tumblr prompts (plus 2) and to get me through finals week. Every chapter involves at least one hug, all hugs are platonic, and chapter titles will tell you the people involved and some idea of the plot or prompt, so keep an eye out for those. My Comments: I’ve been reblogging these fics in their tumblr post form, because they are all amazing, but if you missed any, here they are all handily collected for your convenience! I intend to comment on every single chapter, just haven’t gotten to it yet.

Lionhearted by Pidgeon_Online Words: 9,539 Author's Summary: It's a struggle for everyone. They're struggling to stay afloat in the sea of stress and anxiety.And Pidge accidentally tipped the boat.or Pidge gets sick and everyone helps while trying to juggle their own problems. My Comments: Sick Pidge with bonus angsty Lance and supportive everyone else. A pleasure to read. One Day at a Time by dem_hips Words: 2,818 Author's Summary: Being away from home at school is a little different from being away from home defending the universe, as it turns out. My Comments: Kind, supportive Garrison Trio. They’re all so very far away from home. Another fic where Pidge and Lance level up their friendship. I love it.

Caught in the Rain by WildWolf25 Words: 3,611 Author's Summary: “Hi, um, do you need help with your… robot car?”Pidge looked up to find a man looking down in bemusement at them. His black hair was cropped close to his head, shorter at the undercut and only slightly longer on top, save for a white-dyed tuft that fell over his forehead. “It’s a rendition of the Mars Rover, but ‘robot car’ works too.” Pidge said. “And I’m okay, I just need to dry it off. My teammates are delayed, so I just need somewhere out of the rain to wait for them. Sorry about using your awning.” (While waiting for their robotics club members, Pidge gets caught in the rain and takes refuge in the lobby of an onsen, where they meet Shiro) My Comments: This is such a warm, gentle, relaxing fic, much like I imagine an onsen visit to be. Love this modern version of Pidge and Shiro, with Lance being a disaster and Hunk being a suspicious mechanic, as it should be.

Heathens by TheCookieMonster77 Words: 8,785 Author's Summary: "You…"Keith looked completely bewildered and lost at Lance's outburst and Lance thought that that was probably the worst part of all of this. The heathen didn't even realize his error.Keith's face looked startlingly close to a kicked puppy. "What did I do?""I- You-" Lance let out a muffled shriek shout of irritation. "You," he growled, jaw clenched and teeth grinding, "just asked for pineapple. On pizza."What. An. Out. Rage.Keith blinked. "...Yes?"Hunk is an amazing angel (like always) who figured out how to make space pizza. Lance was ready to sing his praises to the universe, but then his teammates have to go ruin everything by insisting on pineapple pizza.Heathens. My Comments: Very fun and funny fic! I loved everyone’s different reactions.

A (Space) Mother's Work is Never Done by BajillionKittens Words: 2,851 (WIP 3/?) Author's Summary: A Mother's Day celebration for the team mom. Six times Coran took care of his kids and one time they returned the favor. My Comments: SO CUTE. I love the way Coran takes care of all of these children he’s suddenly stuck with. The different scenarios are all very good and fitting, and I’m looking forward to more.

Little Drops of Poison by Saereneth for BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Words: 2,607 Author's Summary: Shiro had been trying to catch up to them, clawing his way through years of separation just to feel like he was part of them once more, but sometimes it was just too much, and he had to excuse himself for a while so he could come to grips with everything he’d missed. My Comments: @bosstoaster‘s Ten Years On AU bothers me on a very visceral level that I have trouble articulating, but this little exploration in the sandbox is lovely. I love Pidge unable to stick with her original concept and expanding into thing she finds interesting or just pretty, and the way Lance notices Shiro spiraling and subtly grounds him without being flashy is really lovely characterization. Very believable development of both of them, and Shiro is heartbreaking as always, but everyone’s going to take care of him.

Be Water, My Friend by xLoLix Words: 8,531 Author's Summary: So there are the quieter moments between missions, between exciting events, between the moments that matter. (The real secret are that those are the moments that matter the most.)Here are some moments between the paladins, starring Lance.Or; I air out some of my general grievances and de-stress from school by writing a fic about my favourite character. My Comments: Really lovely exploration of Lance and his relationships. I enjoyed it.

Finding Family by squirenonny Words: 17,214 Author's Summary: A collection of drabbles that don't fit neatly into the main Duality plotline. Most can be read independently of the main story, though each entry contains a note on where it fits in the timeline.Written based on prompts from readers. My Comments: Some mild Klance and Shatt. Every single of one of these is delightful. You should just read everything this author writes. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

Previously Recced Fics That Updated:

As Color Fades Away by IcyPanther Truce by kyanve The Times They Remembered Pidge Was a Girl by MagmaWrites The Color Of Our Planet From Far Far Away by LonelyGirlInSpace Someplace Like Home by squirenonny  (THE GANG IS BACK TOGETHER) Secret of the Blood by exclamation (now complete) Garrison Days by castlestormed Towards The Sun by Eastofthemoon The Machinations of Perception by HapaxLegomenon Must Surely Be Learning by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) (now complete) The Garden of Heaven by Genesister (papirini)  (now complete) Love and Other Questions by squirenonny The Size Of Our Actions by buttered_onions Scattered by avidbeader A Dream Away by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions) Stardust, Silk and Steel by CalicoTomcat Shifting Sands by Cardigan_Quincy

#voltron legendary defender #weekly voltron fic recs #fic rec #the fandom is slowing down a little on the fic output #theoretically that should give me more time to write #instead i seem to just reread my favorite fics #vldgen