#making noises at each other is honestly one of their best bonding activities so far.

[molagboop]

Noise game.

#winging it #raven beak #samus aran #samus #metroid dread #metroid #chozo #metroid comic #Chozo have a habit of just making noise. it's fun! #Samus does it too (picked it up during childhood) though her smaller human throat doesn't allow her quite as much range. #make no mistake: her mimicry is very impressive. she just can't flawlessly imitate an oncoming 16-wheeler. #She can do other Things though. As Raven Beak displays his mastery over the ringtone. so too does she have this power. #she has the upper hand in some places: lips and teeth allow her more tools with which to execute the finer points of complex noises #but her elders have tricks of their own. #Raven Beak can imitate human kissy noises in his throat using the very back of his tongue #making noises at each other is honestly one of their best bonding activities so far. #though they're usually sitting across the room from each other when they come out with the ear blast-tier moves #they don't need to talk to each other. don't even need to look at each other. they can just sit in the living room and go back and forth #with noises. they get competitive sometimes. that's typically when the loud stuff comes into play. #sometimes they have these wordless competitions of who can make the most intricate noises or the loudest noises or the weirdest noises #or they try to see who can make the most outlandish sound that flesh can feasibly make. like heavy machinery. stuff that you wouldn't expec #someone to be able to make on their own without the help of equipment.

[elriell]

Chapter Two—  

[Chapter 1]

In The Absence of Light

Restless sleep continued to plague her the following nights, just as she had feared the cold spikes of anxiety that crippled her mind refused to ease up their battle for control.

Azriel never mentioned their tense early morning encounter, but she could not deny that after his departure she had finally managed to succumb to a few good hours of rest, and for that she was grateful. She put it down to simply feeling calmer after seeing a friend and refused to look any further in to why that would be.  

So, when Elain saw him over breakfast, she offered him a genuine smile and accepted the muffin he silently offered her in return. She tried not to dwell on the fact that he did not in truth look as if he had been blessed with a good sleep, as she had.  

~

Several nights had passed since then and time trickled by slowly, each night she found herself staring up at the ceiling, tossing and turning among the expensive linens, unable to settle down. Vivid dreams swirled around in her head; the same thoughts as always, they appeared to be taking up permanent residency, she was less than pleased with that realization.  

Every noise poked at her subconscious, taunting her mockingly. She let out a sigh at the ridiculousness of her thoughts, as if the branches crashing in the wind could possibly be trying to ridicule her, she truly was losing it alltogether. Taking a deep breath, she gave up on her quest for sleep and slid her feet in the soft pair of slippers and set off for the kitchen, doing her best not to awake anyone on her path, though she doubted she would, everyone in this house seemed to sleep through most her terrors.  

Lost in her own scattered thoughts she barely saw him lent over, in truth he looked as though he too was in his own world. Strong powerful arms flexed over the sink as he gazed out the window in to the gardens below. The dark leathery wings hung limply behind him, he painted quite the sorrowful picture, moonlight casting down upon him.

A fallen angel, infinitely beautiful and untouchable in an heartbreaking way.  

“Trouble sleeping?” His honey voice caught her off guard, she really had to stop being surprised when it came to the shadow-singer, his instincts were sharp as the thorns that she tried to avoid when gardening.  

“Seems to be going around these days.” A soft shrug. “I was just going to make myself something warm, would you join me?”  

He turned towards her at that and it struck her as it always did how easily he concealed his emotions, as if he could carefully tuck them away in a box and forget about them. His eyes however spoke volumes, they were devastating to her mental resolve, a crack splintering straight to her heart.

“I would like that very much.”  Agreeing gently.

Elain willed herself to focus on the task at hand; warming up some milk for the both of them. She felt more than heard him shuffle amongst the kitchen retrieving mugs and placing them to her left, returning to his former place. “Thank you for the other night— No, no, no... Please don't stop me, I want to, no I need to. I haven’t gotten that much sleep-in months, so thank you.”

A small blush crept up his face much to her quiet delight, it was such a rarity to pierce his stoic exterior.

She poured them both a cup each and set out to retrieve some cookies from a jar she had baked earlier in the day, once she had set a sufficient amount on a plate, she joined Azriel at the small breakfast table at the far end of the room.

Though dark out it was a beautiful spot, the whole side of the wall was built from different shades of stained glass and under the moonlight it shone a messy pattern of colors across the cobblestone floor, it had quite easily become one of her favorite places once her nightmares began. A colorful sanctuary to be at ease.

There were so many questions on the tip of her tongue, she wondered so much about him, about his troubles, his travels, about Nesta, who she had not received any letters from since her departure though that was no surprise all things considered. She wished she could tell her she had not known of the plans, wished she could have at least said goodbye, god, she wished for so many things.

Perhaps she would ask Azriel to take her on his next visit to the mountains, she filed that away for another day.  

“I suppose the tonic didn't work then?” He inquired before dunking a cookie in to his mug.

“Ah—” Hesitating for a beat too long. “It's alright you needn't lie to me; your secrets are your own. If you do not wish to say I shall not bring it up again.”  He jumped in before she finished.

Truth. She knew without a doubt he would not push her, would accept whatever she was willing to give.  

“That is quite alright, to be honest with you Azriel, I am not sure I quite know myself.” She considered it carefully. “I think deep down, beneath every excuse, I just, well I just don’t want to be...”

“Medicated.” He finished for her.

It should not surprise her after all this time, he was always able to read her seamlessly and understand her completely even when she wasn’t sure she understood herself. He was able to deduce that she was a Seer when the rest thought she was going mad, even her own mate, scoffing internally at the word. It was a shame, she supposed, that it had nothing to do with Lucien. He was a good enough man but she simply couldn’t handle the burden that such a bond posed after the events of last year.  

“Exactly.”

He was uncharacteristically sheepish when he asked, “It’s not my place, but is something wrong? Lucien?” He stumbled over the last word as if he found it hard to roll off his tongue. Odd. Azriel rarely if ever spoke on the subject of the former spring court emissary, almost seemed to avoid it at all costs.

Upon reflection she could not think of one time through their many conversations that he had ever inquired about him if she had not started the discussion.  

It was eery some days, it was as though he could see inside her soul, study her like a well-read book.

And if she was following that analogy through then she was certainly an old nattered forgotten book that was far too damaged to be of much value... She heard Nesta’s voice as the thought formed scolding her for thinking that any book would not hold its own important value in the world.  

“No.” She replied honestly. “I am not quite sure what is fuelling my problems only that they are rather determined at keeping me from a peaceful sleep. But enough about that, let us talk about better things, happier things, tell me about your favorite places to...”

And so, they would spend several hours hunched over the table talking in hushed tones about everything and nothing at all, refilling their mugs repeatedly as time faded away and all that remained was the moments within, the coloured light streaming over them bathing them in a pool of colours steadily shifting as the sun rose, not that either noticed until household staff awoke to prepare for the day.  

And when she returned to her bedchamber, she would not care on bit that she was still on the brink of exhaustion.

~

They developed quite a habit of it unexpectedly. At one point or another in the night when her sleep or lack there of, became too much to bare, she would wander down to the kitchen where inevitably he would be sat as if waiting for her.

She tried not to be so self-absorbed as to think it was solely because of her. But after the first few times happened and it became a reoccurring pattern, warm milk always lay on the table waiting for her, always warm, almost as if he could sense when she would arrive despite it changing most nights.

It did not help her ever growing endearment to him.

~

Although she knew Azriel would eventually grow bored of this habit they had formed, perhaps conversation would become tiresome to maintain for him but she promised to enjoy his company while it lasted.

He made her happy and the small private moments she would cherish among the bland parts of her day, though it wasn’t particularly healthy for either of them as it meant neither was sleeping much.

But it was a worthy sacrifice, all considered she was not sleeping before therefore she was not losing anything, however she did feel a twinge of guilt for the shadow-singer. Hoped it would not interfere with his day-to-day activities and not put him at greater risk whilst following out orders.  

But alas all good things must come to an end and last night would mark that for them both.

He had been uncharacteristically quiet all night, simply letting her ramble on about the new plans for opening up the back garden to prepare it for new flowers and wildlife, he had simply watched her for hours with a gentle “Mmm” and “Of course” along the way, in hindsight she should have guessed something was coming.

He arose from the bench first keeping his eyes locked to the ground, and fiddling with the lapels of his jacket seemingly trying to buy time, while the silence hung heavy in the air.  

“It seems there has been some problems arising in the northern territories and Rhys has asked that I head out for a few days to ensure it is nothing more serious.” Shifting his feet back and forth still reluctant to make eye contact.

“I see.” She really didn’t. “When are you to leave?”

The grimace was noticeable on his controlled face, “An hour ago. Give or take.”

He did not give her time to respond as he leaned over her, closer than they had been to each other in some time and he smelled like the woods after a rainfall if that could be a smell at all, fresh yet masculine. The kiss he planted on her forehead was so gentle had she not had her eyes open she scarcely would have felt it.  

Her lids fell and her breathing changed, and she wondered if one could feel as if their heart both stopped and raced at the same time, she was losing all sense of reason and by the time she regained her thoughts enough to open her eyes he was gone.  

His absence hit her quickly and she had to take a deep breath to hold back the tear stinging her eye, yet again she was left to her own devices. Perhaps it for the best that she not grow too reliant on his company, though she was infinitely grateful for his friendship and companionship she did not want him to feel burdened by her.  

This would give them some much needed separation and time to rebuild her mental walls and form some boundaries for herself.

~

The first night was not as bad as she expected and she tried to be optimistic that this was a new leaf for her.

Unfortunately, as she well knew nothing lasts for long, especially something good. Not for her. By the fourth night the dark void had returned in full to cause chaos on her mind, and so chaos spread, worsening night after night.  

Elaine’s nightly visits to the kitchen had not ceased they simply became a solitary adventure and as the week reached its end, she was near desperate for the relief of her favorite companion would provide.

Having overheard Mor speaking to Feyre in the lounge she was able to confirm that he had returned to the estate sometime midday, though his meetings with his High Lord kept him out of sight much to her disappointment.

She did her best to tame the growing excitement that bubbled up when she thought about his return.

Tonight, for a change she made no attempts to sleep simply busied herself with brushing out her curls and spraying her favorite perfume, feeling silly for going to such efforts. Truthfully though she knew that beneath whatever crush she had formed it had little to do with her attachment to him, it was his companionship and friendship she coveted most, he was a true and loyal friend, a rare thing to her these days.  

She made a promise to herself not mare it with her growing attraction. She refused to lose another person she cared about.

Which is why when she finally made it down to the kitchen after holding off as long as possible only to be greeted by an empty room, she felt her heart twinge. Feeling silly for simply assuming he would be there, for not even questioning it. Not that she blamed him, the kinder part of her hoped he was getting a descent nights rest again, refusing to think on it for long she made herself warm cocoa and set off for bed.

Unsurprisingly sleep did not come easy to her but at least on this night it was not the terrible evil that plagued her, rather the piercing eyes of her favorite spy.

As the hours ticked on and she grew more restless her body wrenched itself out of bed as if on its own accord, and paced a way across their home, it was as she reached the West Wing she realized where she had unconsciously ended up. It was not hard through process of elimination to work out which was his, no light shone beyond the door and no detectable sound either, though she doubted she would know if he was moving about.  

It was silly to have come all this way and she was well aware of how embarrassing her need to visit him was but as she stood with only a large oak door separating them, she understood exactly why she had come, because in that moment she finally felt calmer than she had all week, the anxiety that weaved its way through her reseeded slowly.  

She figured that it couldn’t hurt to stay for a few moments to calm down a little more before venturing back, it would not hurt anyone what they did not know.  

Unaware of when it happened, she found herself sliding down against the door until her bottom hit the cold cobblestones, it was a rather strange feeling that simply being in proximity to him would bring her such small comforts but so was the case as she felt exhaustion slowly creep over and when it came, she felt safe enough to let it take her, she closed her eyes and drifted away.

~

Pheeeeew, That was long and still a little sad but i promise it is going to get less DEPRESSING™️ I just want to lay the groundwork for what is going to happen 😉 I would love any and all critique as always, it is what fuels me!

Also i was almost finished writing the chapter but the title and colourful glass is inspired by the book I am re-reading with that name.

As always anyone who wants to be added or removed just let me know 🖤

@elriel-oblivion @elriel-incorrect-quotes @tswaney17 @theshadowsinger-and-thefawn @stars-falling @verifiefangirl @b00kworm @sleeping-and-books @julemmaes @thefangirlofhp @empress-ofbloodshed @elrielllll @abraxos-is-toothless @julesherondalex @courtofjurdan @amitynotpity @libraryonthepond @mis-lil-red

#elriel #elain archeron #azriel #elain x azriel #acotar #a court of thorns and roses #elriel ff #elriel fanfic #fanfic #mine #myff #myelriel #myelrielfic

[onyourzeus]

11:48 am | pjh

title: 11:48am pairing: park jaehyung (of day6) & you genre: fluff, bullet style words: 2.1k

author’s note: mmm i’m kind of meh about this but i jus really needed to write so i don’t lose motivation, but this is just a short fic requested by this anon asking for a lazy day scenario with jae. hope it’s still an okay read.

any requests? check my pinned post if i’m accepting any at the moment, thanks!

once you receive a specific text from jae on a regular day

“whatchu doinnnn” 

you know he’s wondering if you’re not busy, and if you come hang out at his place

which, for the majority of the time, you always tell him “not much. y?”

even though you’re 99% sure of what he wants out of you

you have already made your way to a coffee shop before he had replied 

“same. wanna do nothing together? :)”

so u get two coffees: one americano and one vanilla latte (as much as you want to cut down calories here, there is no way you can drink just water and espresso by itself

you decide on getting two sandwiches as well, it’s close to noon and there’s a high probability that jae just woke up and he hasn’t even moved from the bed

you’re lowkey happy that jae texts you first (assumingly) during days like this because, honestly you miss the 6 foot lanky nerdy soft boy a lot

jae has a habit of keeping to himself during his downtime, especially now 

but with him streaming and having new friends through the platform has helped him socialize and feel a sense of normalcy from the world, which you are really glad for 

he’s mentioned how much he misses doing band activities but doesn’t really elaborate on them

he think he talks about it too much and that you wouldn’t want to hear his repetitive whining

you don’t have the needed bravery in your heart (yet) to tell him you will never get bored or feel burdened by his thoughts, no matter what they entail

so for now, when he asks of your presence in his lovely abode— you make time for him. always. 

even if it’s just a lazy day of doing nothing

you knock on his door and text him at the same time. you look around his neighborhood and enjoy the peace and quiet outside. you wonder if jae’s soundproof walls work well enough for his next door neighbors this time. you had told him multiple times that sungjin wouldn’t appreciate the noise too much, and he if he wanted to play he can do so at your place 

however you never suggested that last thought. it swam in the sea of your thoughts one too many times but it never came to shore. you thought too much about the implications of that idea

besides, what good came out of reminding him of his streamer noises is that he finally has an apartment of his own

and you don’t feel as shy or out of place whenever you came over to the one he shared with the boys 

“oh hey, wasn’t expecting you,” jae had opened the door and you snap out of your wondering

he greets you with drowsy eyes, a full yawn and long strands of hair sticking out everywhere 

you huff out a breath and show the goods in your hands. “you’re definitely gonna need this.”

his eyes light up as he recognizes the contents of the paper bag

“whaaaat you shouldn’t have, i was about to order for delivery,” he tries for an innocent tone but the goofy smile on his face makes that extra trip to the cafe worth it

“you’re welcome, jae.”

lazy days with jae come in two ways

number one: absolutely the title. you crash on the bed, he scolds you for it but then you feel his crushing weight on top of you for revenge or

you hog the couch, splay your legs until jae does the same thing and entangles all your limbs together it becomes a semi wrestling match

number two: he’d end up wanting to do something all this time, either jam on his guitar or play WoW with you in the background, just watching

commenting on things you have 0 knowledge about, and him dismissing every words you say with a random scream from his end

“you’re so bad at this lmao”

“NONONO STOPSTOPSTOP NONONO”

“is the riff supposed to sound like that? ew” 

“you want your face to meet my guitar? :)” 

yeah, banter between you can be brutal like this which is why it gets a little embarrassing to be your true self with him when the others are involved 

today, jae seems to just enjoy sipping on his iced coffee while tippy tapping on the floor to sit next to you on the couch

??? how can a grown man do something puppies so effortlessly pull out… just as cute if not even better??? 

usually, silence isn’t how the two of you spend lazy days together. once he’s thought of a topic to talk about, however out of this world or mundane it could be— the conversations you share are what you cherish the most bonding with jae

“you ever think about the first piece of a roll of sliced bread?”

“you mean the weird looking pieces no one ever chooses first and leaves it there until there’s none of the good slices left?”

“the very one” “what about it?”

“you’re that slice of bread”

“well yeah? jokes on you, you’re the OTHER piece. there’s two in a pack dumbass” 

one would mistake this as insulting, but this is how jae shows his affection to you, and you wouldn’t want it any other way

there’s a certain comfort in just.. not deliberating whether you’d overstep a line or say something that would be misconstrued. with jae, you appreciate the candid friendship you mutually benefit from

his sarcastic personality can be a pain at times when not needed, of course, but when you’ve missed him so much it just feels right

“jae your legs are too long for the couch get a new one.” he had taken over the other end of the couch with his legs over yours, and you’re trying your best to make the position comfortable

but being inches close to his socks and noticing that he’s intentionally moving his feet about just to annoy you

“you get me a new couch so we both fit here”

“bro do you know how empty my wallet is rn” 

“as empty as your love life?”

“oh we’re talking about ourselves right now? ok cool”

he scoffs at your comeback, but he remains speechless and gives you room to breathe. you panic for a second thinking maybe, this is the unexplained boundary he has to draw a line on? love? 

but he puts down his already finished americano, and looks back at you a deadpan expression

you sit up as well, nerves creeping up on your arm. you didn’t want to take it too far and in your defense, this isn’t the first time you teased each other about your, well, non-existent romantic endeavors

“jae, i—”

“oh my god did you see your face?? i was kidding chilllll�� he starts to burst into a fit of laughter, the kind where he loses air and lolls his head back 

this time you pout, reaching over to flick him on the forehead. his 6th sense had improved a lot overtime being with you as he blocks your hand away from his face, and sticks a tongue out

“you think i wasn’t prepared for that anymore?” he taunt, locking his grip around your wrist

“now you’re just making fun of me” >:(

“you get really puffy cheeks and look adorable when you’re mad” 

“THAT IS NOT A VALID REASON!!”

eventually he lets you go, pats your head then proceeds to just ruffle it as messy as his, and in an instant your mood changes again

you shouldn’t lie to yourself anymore, you love jae’s company and it would kill you if he’d one day decide he’s too old or too “mature” for moments like this

you get winded up with denial of having a crush on your best friend, and you’re so sure he knows at this point

because he reels you back into the present and challenges you to a game os super smash bros

and when he loses, he does it again. and you win again, and this time he says it was just a warm-up and he shouldn’t go easy on you anymore

and then you win again, and you’re the one cackling in the air at his look of defeat as well as the 6 losses he had endured during the matches

“man you’re getting rusty”

“am not! i’ve just been playing WoW too much i’m not used to switch controls anymore…”

“sure buddy”

“HEY, 1v1 me in league right now, i dare you”

“no”

“WHY?”

“you only have one desktop, stupid. i didn’t bring my laptop”

“oh so by default I win :D”

nothing can ever get away with jae, he always needs to have the last laugh with you and at times it’s frustrating, but his carefree charisma has grown on you so much that you anticipate what else he has in store to give you a hard time 

jokes on him, you fall for jae just an inch deeper the more he treats you comfortably this way 

it’s only been an hour or two, but jae had decided that he’s done enough productive stuff for the day (read: losing too many times) and invited you over to chill on his bed

it’s not an uncommon sight for the both of you to lie next to each other, taking turns with queueing up music on spotify. songs you and jae love together, and those that are new to your ears 

sometimes, you’d talk over the playlist— it becomes more of background noise as jae asks you about your day, the days before that, and what you’re planning on doing in the future

he doesn’t ask for specific answers, he likes to hear how you’ve been feeling, emotionally so

jae has always been intrigued by other people’s perception of themselves, of the things around them, and of what they think of the universe in the back of their minds

it was a little too much to handle, those questions of his, when you first were just getting to know each other

but he eased into it naturally, confessing about his love for the moon— its beauty in appearance, and the beauty of its purpose

which made you think… you’re in love with the moon too, not just what you see in the sky

but what you see right next to you right now

jae had given you enough time before to open up about your own thoughts, struggles, and share secrets with him. it didn’t take long until you found the trust between you and held onto it for dear life

lazy days with jae can be just that— lazy, loafing around the house, stealing a chip or two from each other’s bag, falling asleep to the sound of lofi music on the speaker

but it can go this way too: with jae explaining how good this one song can be, the metaphors every verse carries with the melody. “you’ve always heard of chocolate eyes or whatever, but blueberry? and to describe the setting sun as strawberry skies? amazing, GENIUS” 

and you laugh, and listen to the same song over and over as per jae’s request until he overpowers the original vocals— and you don’t complain, there’s not a sound you love to hear on a lazy afternoon than his low register, the kind of singing he does just for the heck of it. he’s not exerting too much range, too much work on the words he sings— he’s just doing so to comfort him, to bring life to the room, to dwell on each poetic verse’s meaning

i’m so lost in your blueberry eyes

he finishes singing, and the playlist shuffles to an instrumental lofi track with an upbeat, charming rhythm to it

jae keeps his eyes closed, smiling to himself probably proud for his faux performance

“you done gloating in your head yet, jae?”

“shut up i’m feeling the moment”

you poke his shoulder with yours, and you’re suddenly hyper aware at how close the two of you are.. physically, right now

he turns his head towards you, eyes fluttering, lips slightly open. he catches you staring, and it’s too sudden for you to look away and pretend it’s not awkward at all

“what are you doing?” he asks, a lilt of teasing on his voice but his eyes never leave yours 

“sh..shut up,” you quip in a small voice, looking down on your laying bodies before turning away, cheeks warm

“wait what? what i was asking a genuine question—”

“i was.. feeling the moment, okay? god jae you’re annoying” you mutter under your breath, a lousy response to cover up the pounding in your chest

“this moment feels really nice, doesn’t it?” he says next to you, quiet but gentle

you pause for a second, taking in his words and letting go of the smile you’re trying to hold off on

your heart is still racing, but there wasn’t a need to worry about stumbling with your feelings

if jae himself is enjoying your own company right now 

“it is. if it’s with you, it really is.”

#day6 imagines #day6 scenarios #day6 au #day6 x reader #park jaehyung imagines #park jaehyung scenarios #park jaehyung x reader #park jaehyung au #day6 jae #dot series #by:jiae

[sailtoafarawayland]

How We Got Here (Entwined Series)

Summary: Killian wakes and his mind can't help but wander to the warmth of the man pressed against his back, and just how they got there – his life so different than he ever imagined it would be, even after he fell madly in love with the blonde goddess who held a knife to his throat and abandoned him at the top of a beanstalk, but sometimes the paths that are least expected are the ones with the greatest rewards.  

Series Information: A series of connected one-shots following the polyamorous relationship of Emma, Killian, and Hook. Each piece can be read standalone and is non-linear, but together will reveal some backstory and how these three came to be. Tags/warnings that are specific to each piece will be posted at their heading, but it is safe to assume all of them will contain some version of M/F/M and M/M (unless otherwise noted in the tags). If this is not your thing, carry on. If you would like to be removed from my tag list, please let me know. Keep in mind, I maintain one list for all of my work.

Rated: Explicit

Relationships/Alternate Tags: M/M, Killian/Hook, Emma/Killian/Hook (background mention only), Anal Sex, Gay Sex, 

Many thanks to @hollyethecurious for the lovely cover art!

AO3 - FF

How We Got Here

It was one of those rare nights, Killian's body drifting into wakefulness though the sun was still far from rising, his mind refusing to be lulled back to sleep by the gentle patter of rain against the windowpanes. He'd kicked the sheets from himself at some point, a cord of them twisted around his waist, leaving his chest and legs chilled by the night air. Emma had volunteered to cover the night shift for Will that evening, her place in the bed an empty stretch of white lit by the moon shimmering through the sheer curtains.

Killian had fallen asleep wrapped in his other partner and woke just the same, Hook's hips still tucked firmly against him beneath the sheets, his rough stubble pressed against his back that was warmed by his lover's content, even breaths, scarred wrist resting lightly against his stomach. Though the night was still young and the rain dancing on the roof far above them should have been enough to let him drift off once more, Killian found his mind was too awake to allow for it.

He'd always been contemplative, brooding even, as caught in his own thoughts as a fish in a net, and in the quiet darkness of their bed, Hook's warmth seeping into him, his found himself picking and turning memories over that he hadn't examined in a long while.

There was a time when he couldn't have imagined being in the situation he'd just woken to, stretched comfortably in a bed that was his own, in a home that was his, and with another man pressed against his back – but not just any man, and perhaps that was the piece that allowed it to all make sense, that made everything fit perfectly between the three of them.

He and Emma had been happy together when it was just the two of them – a whole, as he'd thought – and no ordinary third would have fit into what was already complete, but Hook was no ordinary man. He was another version of himself, slightly older – and as he insisted on arguing, far wiser – a man of shared experiences and pain, of shared beauty and shared love with both of them.

They had been whole together, just he and Emma, but with Hook, they were something more, something washed in so much love that what they were had grown and changed, finding new corners of themselves to share and welcome him into. 

At first, for Killian at least, it had been a maelstrom of curiosity and unexpected attraction – he was, after all, devilishly handsome no matter the version, and the addition of some gray streaks and fine lines had only enhanced that appeal...and he would have had to be a blind man not to see the connection forming between his other self and Emma. He'd recognized it as the same bond that he and Emma themselves had nurtured and grown over shared adventures and vulnerabilities. At first he'd feared it, back when he and Hook had first met in this very room. Hook hadn't known what the Seer's words would portend, just who his happy ending would be, but Killian had understood immediately – it would always be Emma.

Though their knowledge of the various realms was still tenuous at best, they all believed that there was no version of Emma left in the Wish Realm, that whatever facsimile she'd replaced at the bidding of the Evil Queen's wish had been destroyed, and then once she'd left...once she'd returned to him, that was it. Honestly, the rules of how that entire realm worked were a mystery, but without being able to explain why, Killian knew that if Hook were to find his happy ending anywhere, it would be here – he'd known it in his very soul, and it had terrified him.

As they welcomed him into their home and aided him in his quest to find a way to reunite with his daughter, it became clear there was something undeniable between his wife and this older version of himself, and though at first it had pained him, he couldn't look at his twin, lonely and broken and desperate for help, and not truly want the same happiness for him that he'd found with Emma – that sense of completion and understanding that came with True Love, the feeling of home. How could he have fought against that, especially knowing that it may very well be the thing that would unburden Hook of his curse and make saving his daughter possible once more?

But then everything had changed – the attraction between them that had at first been focused around Emma, on her pleasure and needs, it had grown to encompass things Killian had never thought would be possible. A late evening spent conversing over glasses of rum, sharing their past experiences and how they'd differed – the varying nuances of the history they shared – but no matter the small details, the larger tragedies had all been markedly exact. At least they were until their paths had diverged and Hook had traveled to Gothel's tower – until he'd been tricked into intimacies and conceiving a child. And then – when he'd loved and cared for the child her entire life – he'd suffered having her taken away by the very witch who'd birthed and abandoned her all those years ago.

Killian couldn't imagine the pain, being forced from your child when all you desperately wanted was to hold them and keep them safe from the world. He'd always wondered if perhaps he and Emma – now he and Hook and Emma – might someday have a child of their own, and to dream of being given that happiness only to have it ripped away...it was a tragedy he couldn't bear having to live through, and the fact that Hook had, that he was still fighting to fix it...

Killian wouldn't take the chance that his reluctance would prevent Hook from finding his happy ending and daughter once more, so instead of fearing what he felt changing between the three of them, he embraced it, looking for all the things to love in the other man that Emma saw in him each day, the things he saw in her. Not surprisingly, considering there was true love involved, becoming three instead of two had only made their love reach its roots deeper, strengthening all of them.

Behind him Hook stirred, perhaps sensing his lover was awake in his arms, murmuring small, half-asleep noises as he pressed a kiss to Killian's shoulder, his wrist rubbing circles against the hard planes of his stomach. Killian felt a familiar surge of warmth in his chest at the gentleness, Hook's arm stretching beneath his neck before pulling him more securely into his chest, his lips whispering across his back once more and stirring a far different warmth somewhere else.

“What are you doing awake?” Hook rumbled behind him, his leg edging forward to push between Killian's, his words broken by the soft caress of his lips.

“I couldn't sleep,” Killian sighed, his teeth catching his lip as Hook's stubble rubbed deliciously across the skin he was taunting with the hot wetness of his mouth – a mouth Killian was very desperately imagining elsewhere.

“Missing Emma?”

“I do always miss our Swan when she's not here, but actually, I was thinking of you,” he teased, his voice still rough with disuse as he pushed his own hips more tightly against Hook's, smirking as he felt his twin's cock start to harden against him, his grip tightening as he awoke more fully.

“Were you indeed?” Hook crooned, his teeth catching around Killian's shoulder as he thrust gently against his firm backside, his cock sliding against the fullness of his cheek.

“Aye, is that too much for an old pirate to believe?”

“Not this old pirate,” Hook quipped, smiling as Killian rolled in his grasp, his legs slipping free, one coming to rest contentedly over his own as their eyes met, lashes heavy with sleep and pupils leaving only a sliver of blue to be seen in the dark room. “And just what were you thinking about?”

“How we got here,” Killian nearly whispered, winding his fingers through Hook's ruffled hair, his streaks of silver bright in the moonlight. He tilted his lover's head back, exposing the sharp ridge of his stubbled jaw as he leaned forward, his mouth trailing heat along the line of his neck and tasting the warm sheen of sleep still lingering on his skin.

A low rumble caught in Hook's throat at Killian's ministrations, and he tugged him more firmly to his body, the press of skin against skin chasing away the fog of sleep as his mind turned to more pleasurable activities – like how sinful that tongue would feel sliding across something other than his neck. Killian's nails dug sharply into his hip and he suddenly rutted his hips forward, their cocks brushing together, and Hook knew his lover was of the same mind.

He wasted no time in rolling on top of his younger self, enjoying the way his thighs settled heavily on either side of Killian as he took control, his stunted wrist pressing his hand into the bed as his fingers echoed the command on his other side. His tongue swept over his lips as he studied the unbridled longing in the face of the man below him – a face that was so much more than a  reflection of his own, it's lines and nuances speaking to everything that ran below the surface.

“I like to think it was fate,” Hook smirked, dipping low to taste his twin's lips, the movement between them becoming more desperate as their tongues swept together, stroking and pulling, breaths gasped and sharp. Tearing himself away, Hook slanted his body and pressed his member roughly against Killian's, rocking back and forth and groaning as he felt his lover's teeth hook into his shoulder, the pain softened by the breathless moans surrounding it.

“I like to think it was my...fuck...devilishly good looks,” Killian moaned, twisting and pulling himself free of Hook's knees in an attempt to gain a better hold of his lover, his legs wrapping around the other man as he thrust upward, his head digging into the bed as he sought firmer pressure between their bodies.

Hook chuckled against his neck before working his way down Killian's chest, ignoring the growl of dissatisfaction from his lover as the warm press of his body moved away from his throbbing cock, leaving cold air between them.

“So desperate,” he teased, his teeth grazing over a nipple before continuing down, his tongue sweeping along the hard, flexing planes of his stomach, following the trail of black hair that would lead him toward his treasure. “Is this what you were really thinking about?”

“Just bloody get on with it,” Killian growled, knotting his fingers into Hook's tousled hair and pushing him roughly against his cock, hissing as warm lips and scratchy stubble dragged along his length, moving lower until the heat of his breath was ghosting against his balls, his fingers wrapping perfectly around his thick shaft.

“As I said before...” Hook murmured, tonguing one of the soft orbs in front of him before sucking it into his mouth, heavy and full, laving it with his tongue before letting it pop free “...desperate.”

“Jones,” Killian choked out, his grip on his lover's hair tightening as he angled his face back toward him, “if you don't get on with it, mate, I might just take what I need...”

“You forget who you're talking to – ” and suddenly Hook's palm was like a vice around his length, his breath hot against the taut skin of his bollocks as he slid his grasp higher, rolling over the swollen head of Killian's member and pulling a broken groan from his lips. “ – so if you want my mouth wrapped around this beautiful cock of yours, then I'll need to hear you beg for it.”

The sharp sting of Hook's teeth dragging against his tender skin, his tongue immediately soothing the ache, quelled the last of Killian's reticence and he let out a soft moan, thrusting up into the strong hand holding him.

“Bloody hell, Jones, please...just...”

“Just what?” Hook crooned, another slow roll of his hand drawing more noises from his lover. Killian's knees were splayed around him as he hovered over the dark tip of his cock, his mouth only a breath away from where his pirate needed him the most.

“Just take me,” Killian hissed, a note of desperation in the words that were fumbled, half supplication and half command, from his lips. “Take me in that mouth of yours, love – I need you...need to feel you around me...in me...all of it...”

Hook dove forward with a pleased rumble in the back of his throat, his hair falling in a sway of black and silver – brushing against Killian's stomach as he wrapped his lips around him and welcomed him into his warmth, his lover's hips rising to meet him, his tongue laving around the hot, throbbing flesh, tracing each vein and ridge that he'd lavished with attention so many times before. He loved the way he tasted, the way he filled his mouth so completely, slipping against the back of his throat and pulsing against his tongue. He loved the way Killian's fingers wound in his hair, pulling him closer and dragging him away, hissed words of approval caressing his ears as he moved with the soft rocking of his lover's hips. His hand pressed wantonly along the firm line of Killian's hip, reveling in the way his skin stretched taut over both muscle and bone, swelled over the thick expanse of his powerful thighs, black hair dusting his lover's body and tickling his palm.

“Gods, I love you,” Killian groaned, “come here.”

Hook relinquished his lover's hardness at his urging, clambering back up his chest and seizing his lips once more, their lower bodies pressing together and rutting shamelessly as they sought that perfect friction between them, Killian's mouth nearly bruising in his desire to taste every inch of himself on Hook.

“I want to feel you inside of me, pirate,” Killian breathed, running his foot along the back of Hook's leg and thrusting. “I want you so deep inside of me that I don't remember what it's like to have ever felt anything else. How's that for begging, Jones?”

“Bloody fucking hell, Killian,” Hook rasped, fumbling toward the nightstand and tearing open the drawer, nearly dropping the bottle of lube in his haste to return to their activities.

Killian's hand was wrapped around his own cock, jerking it slowly to the side as Hook shuffled back between his splayed legs and pressed open mouthed kisses to wherever he could reach, his blunted wrist urging his legs higher. Goosebumps erupted along his stomach as Hook drizzled a generous stream of lube against his ass, pumping more into his palm and smoothing it over his own cock.

“Are you ready, love?”

“Aye,” Killian groaned, stroking his shaft more quickly as he watched Hook take himself in hand, lowering his body so he could pressed the glistening tip of his cock against Killian's tight entrance, the both of them letting out a sharp breath at the sensation.

“You're so tight like this,” Hook hissed, pushing forward slowly, Killian's legs rising to ease the soft burn of his cockhead spreading his tight ring of muscle, then dropping to rest on his twin's backside as he slipped through and delved further in, his shaft slowly filling him in the most delicious way.

“Didn't want to wait,” Killian huffed against his neck, “just needed...needed this.”

“Aye, love,” Hook breathed, holding back the indulgent chuckle he could feel tickling his throat – normally when they made love, they both preferred slightly more preparation, the foreplay half the fun, but then there were those times where desire and something far deeper nipped at the both of them, leaving them impatient to be joined. “So you'll finally admit that I was right then, that you woke desperate to feel this thick cock inside of you?”

“You're insufferable,” Killian sighed, his mock irritation changing to a low whimper at the delicate thrusts Hook was making to prove his point. He carded his fingers through his lover's hair, admiring the way his fringe draped silver and black across his face,  the lines around his eyes ones of laughter. “Just fuck me already.”

Hook smirked, knowing he'd won, and began to move, his shallow thrusts becoming something deeper as he kept a close on his lover's face for any signs it was too much too soon, but their moment of banter had been enough to relax him, and he slipped further into his body easily, Killian's brow furrowed in silent pleasure as he concentrated on the sensation. A panting breath left Hook's lips as he settled fully within his lover, losing himself for a moment in how tightly Killian was surrounding him, how perfect and right it felt to be connected to him in this way, ripples of pleasure shared between them with each small movement he made.

“Jones,” Killian pleaded, trying to roll his hips and digging his heels into Hook, his face flushed pink and mouth fallen open as he clenched himself purposefully around the impressive length filling him. “Move, please...”

Needing no further urging, Hook drew himself back, Killian's body grasping and pulling pleasantly along his skin as he retreated, his movements shadowed by the soft moans falling from his lover's mouth as he rocked over him. Pleasure surged through his gut as he thrust back in, his balls slapping heavily against Killian's firm backside.

“Gods, you're so...bloody perfect,” Hook hissed, pleasure burning along every inch of his skin as he set a decadent pace, pulling himself farther out as Killian began to relax around him, the head of his cock rolling over his prostate before delving back in to fill the deepest parts of him. A sharp cry flew from Killian's mouth as he changed his angle, hitting that spot that was unlike any other more intensely, and Hook's arm slanted quickly over his twin's mouth, silencing him. “Not that I don't like the enthusiasm, mate, but you'll have the children bursting in thinking the town's been set upon by some new villain.”

Killian's teeth bit none to gently at Hook's skin, his eyes narrowing as he mumbled something about knocking around the muscular forearm still pressed firmly against him. Hook's pace slowed as he dragged his length achingly from his partner, flexing his shaft so the tip of his cock bobbed against the edge of Killian's tight entrance, making his eyes roll closed, a soft hum falling from him on a sigh.

“Can you be quieter?” Hook smirked, flexing once more as Killian nodded against the bed sheets, his hips pushing to meet him. “That's a good boy...”

Killian let out a heavy breath as Hook pulled his arm away and plunged himself back into the heat he'd been missing, their bodies falling into a familiar rhythm as his legs dragged over Hook's skin.

“Don't stop,” Killian gasped, his hand fisted in the sheets as he arched his back in time with his lover's thrusts, his cock bouncing between them, swollen and dripping cum along his stomach as his muscles flexed with each movement.

With a growl Hook lurched forward, his wrist and hand pushing at the back of Killian's knees and forcing them upward, the angle opening his twin and letting his girth slide more quickly into his depths. His pace quickened, he was nearly pulling the entirety of his cock free before slamming back in, his twin's body rocking beneath him as their moans and grunts were lost amid the damp slap of their bodies meeting.

“I won't last much longer,” Hook moaned, feeling the tightness building behind his balls, the sparks of pleasure racing along his skin and bursting somewhere in his chest, “touch yourself for me, love...”

Killian yanked his hand from the sheets and wrapped it around his cock, knuckles white against his swollen, red shaft as he started moving, his hand slipping along skin already slick from the cum flowing easily from his body, Hook's constant stimulation of his prostate ensuring he was already at the edge. He rolled his palm over the head and shuddered, Hook's thrusts faltering as his release drew near.

“Bloody hell,” Killian hissed, his grip tightening as he worked his shaft with short, rough strokes, “I can feel you...so close...gods...”

A low broken moan poured from Hook as he thrust deeply a few more times, his cock swelling and pulsing within Killian's tight channel as he buried himself deeper, his pelvis digging into his lover as he pumped his release into his hot depths, his eyes never leaving Killian's as he writhed against him, his fist flying desperately over his own member before it finally erupted, ropes of cum shooting across his stomach and the bed, painting his chest with arousal as he panted and heaved on the mattress.

The quiet of the rainy night was undisturbed save for the harsh rhythm of their breaths as they came down together, Killian's legs slumping back to the mattress as Hook softened and slid from his body, the evidence of his release slowly following. Pressing a kiss to Killian's sated smile, he slipped from the bed and padded into the bathroom, letting the water run for a minute before returning with a warm cloth and carefully cleaning his lover, Killian jerking at the new sensation against his skin that was still sensitive from their activities.

“Come back to bed, Jones,” he grumbled, listening to the water run once more in the bathroom, the noise of it splattering in the sink as Hook washed his face suddenly quite loud in the otherwise silent night. “You'll be the one to wake Alice and Henry this time.”

“Unlikely,” Hook chuckled as he turned the tap and crawled back into bed. “The faucet on a rainy evening is far less alarming than screams.”

“I wasn't bloody screaming,” Killian growled, nosing the smirk on the other man's lips before pressing his own smile in its place, tugging him in close for a slow, relaxed kiss that faded into soft caresses as they found a comfortable position that avoided most of the spots on the bed where their sweat had dampened the sheets – and if that happened to be on Emma's side, well, she'd hardly find out until the morning.

Hook watched as Killian settled back into sleep on the pillow beside him, his eyes heavy and features relaxed in a way that only deep slumber could bring. He let his thumb brush along the edge of Killian's, both of their hands devoid of the heavy rings they normally favored during the day, but graced with the same identical silver wedding band.

There was a time that he too had wondered just how he'd gotten to this place – his happy ending – but when his gaze fell back on the man sleeping beside him, and he thought of the woman who'd be returning home to them shortly, it was no mystery at all.  

END

Tagging:  @justanother-unluckysoul @kmomof4​ @the-darkdragonfly​ @teamhook​ @zaharadessert​ @xarandomdreamx @jrob64 @wefoundloveunderthelight @tiganasummertree @pirateprincessofpizza @lfh1226-linda @alexa-fangirl-forever @alifeofdreams @superchocovian @donteattheappleshook @hollyethecurious @caught-in-the-filter @snowbellewells @itsfabianadocarmo @stahlop​

#Captain Swan #CS fic #cs fanfic #entwined #sailtoafarawayland #Killian and hook #m/m #wish hook

[itsthemoofacewriting]

Drowning in the night

Among us is quite popular at the moment (rightly so) and it’s Halloween, so I was really feeling this. It pushed aside all of my current WIPs in demand to be written.

There’s a lot of similarities with the game, but I did take some artistic liberties, so don’t come at me. If you’ve never played Among us, it might be worth looking up the rules/gameplay before reading- otherwise a lot of things are going to fly straight over your head. The ship is based on the Skeld map to give you a rough layout, but there are some differences.

Title is from ‘Burning Lights’ by The Weeknd, I listened to this a lot when I was writing.

Summary: The ship’s suddenly breaking down and crew members are starting to behave suspiciously. Bonds are about to be tested as suspicion rises of an imposter amongst them. ZoNami. Among us AU.   Rating: M- Horror, Blood, Gore

Can also be found on AO3 and FFN. 

Enjoy!

Nami’s looking at the charts on the screen in front of her and frowned. The ship’s slightly off course. She’d plotted that just this morning and the weather nodes hadn’t detected anything for concern, there was no reason for the shift. She shrugged it off. Sure this was the first time it’d happened, but this wasn’t the newest ship anymore. She’d check the weather nodes shortly and keep an eye on things.

For now though, she made the adjustments and as she did, she caught Zoro dozing off at the far wall near the door. He’d been hiding away in here for most of the morning and if she hadn’t already known about him dealing with stray asteroids this morning on his watch, she’d be moaning at him about being lazy. Give it another 10 minutes and she still might.

But then she stopped and gave him an assessing look as an idea came to mind. He hadn’t moved for the last 10 minutes, he was probably in a deep sleep by now, and that thought made her hand twitch for the permanent marker that she knew was in her desk drawer. She’s done it before, and it’d been hilarious. He’d walked around the whole day with a moustache and pirate patch without knowing. Some would say it’s mean but she believed it was fair play.

“No,” he said, one eye cracked open to glare at her.

How the hell did he do that?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She smiled at him far too innocently, hands behind her back, and his other eye opened to properly glare at her.

When it was clear he wasn’t buying what she was selling, she huffed and turned around to get back to her task and Zoro readjusted to get comfortable again as he let his eyes slip shut.

Nami and Zoro had been travelling together for years, along with Luffy, Usopp and Sanji. Only recently had they been joined by Chopper, Robin, Franky and Brook. In all honesty, Nami wasn’t sure how they coped without them. Running a ship was difficult at the best of times and before, they’d been doing with only five people and no mechanic- Usopp could only do so much. Franky had blanched when he’d seen the state of the ship.

She’d just finished her adjustments when the communicator in her ear suddenly started to screech and it’s so deafeningly loud there’s a moment where she can’t do anything other than clutch at her helmet. From the corner of her eye she can see Zoro having the same reaction, no longer snoozing against the wall.

In the next moment she’s trying to tear off her helmet, except she can’t get the final clip to undo at the back and the more desperate she was becoming, the harder it was to do. Her eardrums felt like they were about to burst any second and there’s tears collecting in her eyes from the pain.

But then it’s over. There’s another pair of hands pushing hers away and smoothly unclipping the helmet. Not a moment later and she’s clawing out the earpieces to throw them across the room. There’s still ringing in her ears but it’s fading quickly now there’s silence.

“You alright?” Zoro’s voice is rough, no doubt from his abrupt wake up call. He’s looking down at her with concern, like it hadn’t just happened to him too and his thumb is wiping the stray tear that fell.

It’s a soft gesture, especially for him, and it’s like it suddenly dawned on him what he’s done. He coughed, face flushing and took a step back, avoiding eye contact. Nami smiled to herself, he was doing more and more things like this lately and it was becoming more apparent why with each passing day.

In the early days of the crew, Zoro and Nami had spent their days viciously arguing with each other and if it hadn’t been for Luffy gluing them together back then, she wondered if they’d still be travelling together now. Their arguing had ceased as time had passed and they’d got to know one another. Now they bickered instead and it’s harmless, even if they do anger the other occasionally give it half an hour and they’re back to normal. It was easy for Nami to call Zoro one of her best friends. Because he is. He understood her and although it worked against her sometimes, she’d have it no other way.

But lately. Lately things had shifted. She couldn’t put her finger on it. More time spent together and soft looks that he thinks she doesn’t see. Yet, it’s hard to tell with Zoro. He doesn’t do anything overly romantic and as for flirting, she doesn’t think she’s ever seen him do it. He doesn’t seem like the type and that’s fine, but it made it hard to be sure. Maybe he just viewed her as a friend, or worse, as a sister. She knew that Luffy did.

When Nami nodded in response to his question, it should be awkward, Zoro still refusing to look directly as her and her cheeks were warm from his gentle touch, but the communicators were still screeching, and it could be heard from across the room. Frowning, Nami walked over to pick them up. It’s the first time it’s ever happened in all her time on board and paired with the drifting ship, she can’t help the suspicion that’s brewing.

Maybe their ship had seen it’s best already- a thought that Nami didn’t want to entertain too much. There were so many memories on this ship.

There’s a commotion outside that halted her thoughts, feet thumping through the long corridors and voices calling out to Franky. Zoro’s nodding to her then, gesturing towards the door that they should also go.

Unfortunately, Zoro took the lead.

“How many times do I have to tell you? It’s right out of navigation to get to the cafeteria!”

Zoro turned on his heel and stomped past Nami, face flushed in embarrassment. “I’ve gone that way before,” is his only defence.

Nami rolled her eyes. “You can go that way, but it takes twice as long and, knowing you, you’ll end up taking another wrong turn and do a whole lap around the ship.”

Based on his silence, that is what he’s done before.

She truly wondered about her sanity sometimes, falling for a guy that has no sense of direction. An idiot.

They’re the last ones to arrive when Franky’s explaining the issue. Something about a system that’s probably fried, although he doesn’t understand why it’s happened yet. Just that he’ll investigate and get back to them and that sounded reasonable enough to everyone as they nodded along. Franky collected their earpieces.

“Back to shouting then,” Nami sighed, imagining the chaos and noise this’ll bring. Luffy on the other hand is thrilled, and everyone knows he’ll spend the rest of the day running around the ship.

They’re breaking apart after that, back to their previous activities, and Sanji’s shouting after them about lunch being soon, which immediately stopped Luffy from leaving to tail Sanji back to the kitchen instead.

“I need to check the weather nodes, our course altered for some reason and I need to make sure they’re performing. If they’re not, I can’t anticipate any weather patterns that’d affect the ship’s course,” Nami explained as they walked back to navigation. Although as soon as she did, she realised she’s discussing this with Zoro, of all people. He’s never understood any of this and she’s sure it just goes in one ear and out the other.

Nevertheless, he nodded and wisely kept his mouth shut. At least he understood she’d need someone with her to do that. It wasn’t wise to step outside alone; there were old wives’ tales of people going missing when they went outside the ship alone.  

“After lunch. The cook’s bitching at me about cleaning the garbage shoot.” Despite his words, he still settled back down into his previous spot by the door and she knew there’d be an argument kicking off soon if he didn’t move himself.

Before she could tell him as much, the lights above them flickered and there were voices throughout the ship shouting “Usopp” and “electrical”. Usopp could be heard loudly groaning in response and his feet dragging through the ship.

Zoro grunted his goodbye shortly afterwards and Nami shouted “turn right”, but it was too late. He was gone and she knew him well enough to know he’d turned left instead. Idiot.

Nami was typing away at the screen, downloading this morning’s data and making a note to head over to admin to do it there as well. If she didn’t, it was unlikely anyone else would. Although Robin might, she had been known to do it occasionally. That woman was a blessing. Nami honestly didn’t know how she’d survived all this time with those idiots, even if they were her idiots, they drove her insane at times with their laid-back attitudes.

She’s still downloaded data when she suddenly heard a rumbling sound behind her, far too close for comfort, and she jumped, turning as she did but nothing was there. It was quiet for a moment and she could feel a cold sweat breaking down her back. It was ridiculous, she’d always felt safe in this ship but there was something about this morning that was getting to her and she’d never heard that sound before. It happened again and one of the vents rattled.

Not a second later, she was running out of the room, feeling like a spooked child, and swiping her key card to lock the door behind her.

A shiver ran down her spine but before she could do anything else, a blood-curdling scream ripped through the ship. Her head whipped towards the direction and she was running before she could even think it through, she knew that scream anywhere, but she’d never heard him like that before.

“Usopp!”

She was passing through storage when a voice shouted after her. “Nami! What the hell happened?” Zoro asked, catching up to run alongside her.

“No idea. I’m hoping he just electrocuted himself.”

But for all her wishful thinking, Usopp wouldn’t scream like that over something so menial and Zoro must have thought the same as it was written all over his face.

Along the way, they’d picked up Brook and Robin and as they narrowed in on the room, from the opposite direction was Chopper, Sanji, Luffy and Franky.

The door flew open and Sanji was the first to ask, “What the fuck was that?!”

The room looked trashed, wires haphazardly dangling from units or snapped with electricity sparking from them. Usopp was in the middle of the chaos.

“Something grabbed me! It tried to drag me across the room,” Usopp said, his voice shaking and on the verge of hysterical as he sat on the floor hunched over and clutching at his ankle. His face was as white as a sheet.

Despite the state of him, and the room, the crew were aware of Usopp’s rather… theatrical storytelling.  

“Sure it wasn’t just a rat? Maybe its tail touched you or something,” Zoro suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

Nami grimaced at that thought but she nodded. “As much as the thought pains me, it probably was a rat. You guys hardly clean very much.” Something she would make a point of nagging them about from now on.

“What’s wrong with your ankle?” Chopper inquired; he’d been quiet thus far but as the ships doctor, he’d noticed Usopp’s odd position.

Usopp cringed as he removed his hands from his ankle and the crew blanched. The yellow of his suit was ripped open and his hands were covered in blood. The skin around his ankle had a deep handprint that cut through the skin. The most disturbing part was the claw marks surrounding the handprint, the skin raw and red around the scratches. Clearly there’d been a struggle.

“Oh shit,” Sanji muttered under his breath, eyes going round.

Because not only was Usopp hurt, but that was a handprint on Usopp’s bloodied ankle.

One that looked very human.

The room suddenly felt far too heavy.

It was then that Luffy spoke. So far he’d been quiet but his frown had only grown. “Cafeteria,” he ordered, his voice firm and a stark contrast from the happy-go-lucky captain they were used to.  

“This hardly seems like the time to eat,” Franky trailed off, rubbing the back of his head as his eyes trailed from Usopp to Luffy.

“There’s multiple exit points,” Robin supplied, catching on to what Luffy meant.

That set the mood. Suddenly everyone seemed on edge as the reality of the situation settled. Luffy was being serious. This was serious.

Sanji and Zoro wrapped one of Usopp’s arms around their shoulders and they were hauling him up to follow after Luffy towards the cafeteria. Chopper scuttled after them, saying he’d stop by the medical bay for supplies before meeting them there.

Nami stood there, trying to comprehend just what was going on as everyone filed out.  

Robin walking over to touch her lightly on the arm. “If whatever this is was dangerous, it would have killed Usopp on sight without leaving a trace of him,” she reassured.

That at least got Nami out of her stupor and she gaped at her friend in horror. “That’s so dark Robin!”

.

.

.

The atmosphere in the cafeteria was tense, no one had spoken, not even when Chopper had trotted in to start working on Usopp’s ankle.

Sanji broke the silence. “Did you see anything?”

“No.” Usopp shook his head. “One minute I’m elbow deep in wires and the next I’m on the floor being dragged.”

“Full story, go from the start and tell us exactly what happened.”

“Okay, so I’m in the corner because for some reason the wires looked frayed and I thought I heard something but when I turned there was nothing. I turned back to continue but then there’s something grabbing my ankle and pulling me across the floor.” He paused then, his body shaking slightly. “It came from behind and that’s when I screamed. I started kicking and thrashing around, grabbing onto whatever I could and then it just disappeared. It was like nothing was even there in the first place.”

“Where was it dragging you?” Nami asked. She had a hunch.

“It didn’t get very far but I think it was towards the opposite corner.”

“Where the vent is?” She could feel dread filling her… surely not?

“Yeah!”

The crews gaze swivelled on Nami then, waiting for her to explain why she would guess something like that.

“There were weird sounds in navigation and the vents were rattling just a few minutes before you screamed but I ran as soon as I heard it.” She shivered at the thought, that could have been her.

“You think it came through the vents!?” Chopper squeaked, there was vents in the med bay too. There were vents in almost every room and that knowledge didn’t settle anyone.  

“What the hell is small enough to fit in there and move around so quickly?!”

“Also, the ship’s behaving strangely. It was off course this morning just after I’d plotted it out, then the communicators breaking and then the lights?!” Nami said and with each passing issue she listed, the feeling of dread grew.

“What are you suggesting?” Robin calmly asked.

There was a moment of silence, because this moment was inevitable, and they’d all been trying to delay it. Where someone would have to voice what everyone was starting to think.

That someone in this crew did it.

“Where’s everyone been this morning?” Zoro asked, solemnly.

Everyone’s rattling off their locations and, so far, they’d all been with each other, apart from Usopp. But it’s then that Nami realised, Zoro had left just before it’d happened. He’d left to go and clean the garbage shoot and by the sounds of it, never made it there as Sanji didn’t say anything about seeing him.

“Me and Zoro were in navigation.” Zoro shot her a look and she’s not technically lying but if she gets found out that he had left briefly, it’d looked suspicious as hell. But there’s no way Zoro did this, one of the foundations of this crew along with her and Luffy, their longest standing member, their second in command, and she’s not about to have people pointing fingers at him.

Zoro’s shooting her looks that she decided to ignore but he doesn’t challenge her. If he did now, not only would he put himself under suspicion, but it’d also take her down with him. It’s the last thing either of them needed.

“Then something else must be on the ship,” Sanji offered, unwilling to point any fingers.

“How? We’ve been travelling for weeks and it picks now? Sounds too sophisticated for something that’s not human and how’s it not been spotted? It’s gone around undetected all this time?” Zoro questioned.

“So what? You’re suggesting it’s one of us? The vents are too small!”

“Unless someone in this room isn’t who they say they are,” Zoro continued and although he was off to the side, he had the attention of the whole crew. “The ship suddenly breaking when it’s been fine all this time and getting around undetected. This needs knowledge, something that can be learned by being around us all.”

“There’s rumours about this. They’ve never been confirmed though because ships and their crew disappear without a trace, never to be seen again,” Robin chimed in and it had Nami, Usopp and Chopper looking at her in terror. Franky shook his head next to her.

“That’s old wives’ tales!” Usopp said, but there’s a wobble in his voice that doesn’t make it believable. “Right?”

“Had to come from somewhere and we did just pick up new recruits,” Zoro said and his scrutinising gaze is aimed at Robin, Franky and Brook.

“You better not be suggesting what I think you’re suggesting,” Sanji growled, no doubt sticking up for Robin.

“Coincidental, no?” Zoro’s eyebrow quirked.

“I think everyone needs to calm down,” Brook said, his hands held up to avoid confrontation.

“So you’re accusing Chopper, too right? Because he’s just as new as the rest of them,” Sanji argued, ignoring Brook, to call Zoro out his favouritism. It was no secret that Zoro had taken the young medic under his wing.

They both started arguing and soon enough, the rest of the crew’s chiming in to either argue for one side or try to calm everyone down.

Nami agreed with Brook. They weren’t going to get anywhere sitting around pointing fingers at each other with no proof. “Luffy, say something!”

Her plea to the silent captain cuts through the argument and everyone’s turning towards Luffy for his verdict. He had yet to weigh in on the argument, but now wasn’t a time for silence. They needed their captain to take charge.

“No turning on each other,” is all he instructed, face serious and arms crossed from his position on the table.  

“Luffy-” Zoro started, no doubt about to try and talk some sense into him as second in command.

“What if you’re wrong?” Luffy fired back, not letting up and he made a good point. Not even Zoro would forgive himself if he was wrong.

“And if I’m right?”

“Lot of ifs flying about,” Usopp jumped in.

“We’ll deal with that if the time comes.” There’s a finality in Luffy’s voice that said this part of the discussion was over.  

“Franky, what are the routes for the vents?” Nami enquired, eager to move away from that topic. They needed to move forward anyway, not in circles. “Maybe we can avoid them until we find… whatever this is.”

Franky sighed, his shoulders slumping, “I connected them all together a few weeks ago… It made more sense for ventilation.”

Nami cringed in response, it’s a bad answer and one that put him on the receiving end of a few sharp looks. Robin rubbed his shoulder consolingly, but it didn’t do much to alleviate the tension in the room. It was like everyone in the room just put him straight into the number one position for most suspicious and he knew it.

Zoro was about to open his mouth but instead of words it was replaced by an angry shrieking of the alarm and red lights suddenly started flashing above their heads.

“What the fuck is that?”

“It’s the reactor!”

“So it can’t be any of us, we’re all here!” Sanji exclaimed, shooting Zoro a sour look as he spoke and Zoro returned the look tenfold.

“Not the time for that!” Nami barked, in no mood to break up a fight right now.

And then the lights cut out and they were in pitch black for a few seconds before the dim of the emergency lights flickered to life. They were far weaker than the main lights and the result was poor visibility- everything would be so much harder to do like this. The intermittent flash of red didn’t do much to help either.  

It was just one thing after another.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Nami presumed that was Sanji based on the language and the chair that was just kicked across the room.

“What do we do?”

“I’m going to deal with the reactor.” Franky shouted, already making his way to the door with Robin on his heels. “The lights shouldn’t go off like this unless there’s multiple breaks in the wires, you need to find where the broken wires are, it’s most likely in multiple places.”

He’s almost gone but he stopped at the door when Nami shouted after him, “Franky, did you fix the communicators?”

“Not well but they’ve stopped screeching, it’ll have to do for now.” He quickly grabbed the small devices from his suit pocket, chucking them towards the crew.

And then he was gone.

“Everyone in pairs, do not leave anyone alone and we’ll meet back here after!” Luffy ordered.

Zoro was instantly by Nami’s side and Sanji looked like he was about to argue until Usopp clung to his side, telling him he needed the most protection out of anyone else. Although Sanji bitched at him to get off, Sanji’s face softened as he looked at the younger man.

“Keep Nami safe, Marimo!” He shouted as he ran with Usopp towards electrical.

“Idiot, he needs to worry about himself,” Zoro grumbled, folding his arms.  

“Let’s go, we need to find any wires that are frazzled, we’ll start with the right wing.” She explained, taking off towards the exit of the cafeteria with Zoro hot on her heels. “Well… just follow me, you probably don’t even know where that is.”

“Oi! I know my left from right.”

Nami grabbed Zoro’s hand just as they entered the corridors and as much as she told herself it was so that he didn’t get lost, it wasn’t convincing enough to stop the flush from working its way up her face. Especially when Zoro squeezed her hand in response.

“So we don’t get lost,” she supplied.

Zoro snorted in response but for once, didn’t say anything back.

The peace from this morning was long gone and was replaced with thumping footsteps and shouting as the crew descended into chaos, scattered across the huge ship trying to stay alive. At one-point Brook, Chopper and Luffy ran past them and Nami was left shouting after them because it looked like they were running around with no real ambition.

It didn’t take long after that for Nami to find one of the breakages and she was left gaping at it. It looked like it’d been chewed apart, the metal was torn open with sparking wires hanging limply.

“Focus,” Zoro said, nudging her arm. “I’ll cover you, don’t worry.”

In that moment Nami was happy to have him with her. He kept a cool head in dire situations, and she needed that right now. She needed to not think about someone… something, on their crew trying to destroy their ship and kill them all. She took a deep breath in and a deep breath out to centre herself. Fix the wires first and everything else would come second, she told herself.

She clicked the light on the shoulder of her orange suit to illuminate the wires in front of her as her helmet was still clipped around the belt of her suit. No one had put theirs back on since the communicators this morning.

She was making good progress and she only had two wires left to reconnect when both her and Zoro’s attention was stolen by the communication doors closing just a few feet away. What the hell? No one was down this part of the ship.

The hallway suddenly came alive as doors started closing and opening randomly.

“What the fuck is that?”

“Someone’s tampering with the wiring or the controls.” Dread was building in her stomach; it was one thing after another. They were being sent on wild goose-chase after wild goose-chase- a distraction to keep them busy.

A crackling was heard through her communicator and she was struggling to keep up at everyone’s broken words.

“Someone- admin-”

“Not right- still- someone else-”

“I’m- route,” Brook crackled through and by the sounds of it, he’d be dealing with it.

They could hear feet running down the hall close to where they were and that reassured Nami that Brook was close and that the issue would be resolved soon.

Except that reassurance soon disappeared as Nami heard a familiar sound and it made her stomach drop. As quickly as she could, she was reattaching the last wire and stumbling over her words to tell Zoro what was about to happen. “Zoro, it’s the rumbling of the vents, that thing is on the move. Think of a room for us to hide in without a vent so we can go as soon as I’m done.”

Zoro was quiet for a moment and Nami knew how absurd it was to ask that of Zoro, he barely knew the layout… well, he thought he did, but that was an entirely different issue and Nami couldn’t think of everything herself right now. But then his hand was on her arm, ready to pull her as soon as she was ready.

As soon as the last wire was in place, she was almost pulled off her feet as she stumbled to keep up, running past communications as the door was still closed and into the woman’s room next to it.

Zoro pulled out his key card to close the door after them and she felt her patience thinning when he failed on the third attempt. Third!

“How the hell can you still not work your key card after all this time?!” She whispered huffily, pushing him aside to swipe her own key card and watched the door slide shut.

“Shut up, it’s tricky and you know it!”

“Maybe at first! How long have you been here?” Sarcasm dripping from her voice.

A scream ran through the ship afterwards and it sounded like Brook. It didn’t take long for Nami to piece together. He was in admin. There was a vent in there.

Nami choked on her sob.

Suddenly there were hands on her shoulders, and she was looking Zoro in the face as he peered down at her with a stern expression.

“Pull yourself together. Brook’s tough, he won’t go down easily and even if he does, you reacting like this isn’t going to help anyone,” his voice was firm and he squeezed the top of her arms, she presumed in an effort to comfort her. “Besides, you’re with me, don’t insult me.”

He was trying to reassure her and in doing it in his own weird way, it worked. She felt herself relaxing, well, relaxing as much as she could in a situation like this, and Zoro was rewarded with a wobbly smile. She couldn’t help herself as she pulled him in for tight hug, clinging to him as he gave her silent reassurance, and he hugged her back just as tightly. He was so warm, and, in that moment, it made everything feel better.

After a second, she pulled away to look up at him. “Okay, let’s go! There’s more wires to reattach,” she told him, fire back in her eyes and Zoro smiled at the change.

The doors slid back open and Zoro tentatively poked his head out, Nami followed suit, looking down the other end of the hallway. She frowned when she saw a purple suit at the end of the corridor, what the hell was Robin doing by herself?

Nami nudged Zoro to get his attention but just as she was about to call out to her, the middle of her suit split apart into a mangled mouth and a long, black tongue oozed out to lick the wall.

Nami felt the blood drain from her body. What was that thing?!

And was it trying to find them through taste?!

Nami squeaked before Zoro could clamp his and the thing was whipping around to peer down the hallway. Zoro just managed to pull her back in before they could be spotted as the doors slid closed behind them.

“You alright?” Zoro whispered, his hand still covering her mouth and she realised he was making sure she wouldn’t scream. Nami nodded and his hand fell away.

“I fucking knew it. She was fishy from the moment she stepped on board,” Zoro hissed, his expression furious.

“I shared a room with her,” Nami said, except there was no heat behind her words, only sadness. It was silly, Nami didn’t know her, clearly, but Robin had been her friend and she felt like she was mourning the loss of that.

They descended back into silence as footsteps could be heard thumping closer and Zoro’s hand was over Nami’s mouth again when they stopped outside the door- not that it was needed, she’d already stopped breathing. She wondered if it was trying to taste them again and a shiver ran down her spine. It was a long moment before they could hear the footsteps retreat from outside the door, but they still waited until it was gone to sigh in relief.

“I’m calling it in,” Zoro informed quietly and Nami nodded back at him as he clicked the side of his communicator.

“Everyone, it’s Robin! Keep your distance, she’s the imposter! She’s not human.”

Although Nami could hear Zoro saying it, she was in too close a distance to Zoro to be able to hear what the rest of the crew were able to through the communicator. She presumed from what she heard earlier from the others they would have received a jumbled message.

All they got in response was a variation of, “What-,” “-Robin-,” and “-Here-,” and that confirmed her suspicions.

Nami put her hand on Zoro’s arm to get his attention. “It’s no use,” Nami sighed. “We’ll need to find someone else and spread the word. We need to meet back at the cafeteria. We need a plan.”

This situation was looking grimmer by the second.

Nami stood then, determined to put an end to this as she started to make her way to the door but then Zoro stood and caught her elbow.

“Wait a second.”

And she did.

She waited but he still stood there saying nothing as he peered down at her. He looked intense and for once she couldn’t read the look on his face, it was oddly unnerving. She hadn’t had that problem with him for ages. She raised an eyebrow, challenging him to speak but his eyebrows only furrowed further. What the hell was he thinking about? Since when did he think through what he said?

But Zoro was not a man of words, he’s a man of action, so instead he leaned down to press a brief kiss to her cheek, as if that explained everything.

Nami gaped up at him but all he offered in explanation was, “Should’ve told you a while go.”

She’s still trying to get her brain to work, wrap around what he’s just done and said. She managed to string together words after a brief pause. “That you like me?” She asked tentatively.

He’s stubbornly looking at the wall, his ears bright red and he spat a “Yes!” at her.

“But you didn’t?” She had no idea why she asked that, but honestly, she’s not really thinking right now. At this point, the words are tumbling out her of mouth without any real filter. She’s still trying to wrap her head around what’s happening. This is the last thing she expected.

“Did you hear me say any of this sappy shit before?” He’s still looking at the wall but now he’s crossed his arms defensively.  

“Well, you’ve barely said anything now, so it’s hard to say.” If he wanted to be a brat about it, she was more than happy to tease him.

He rolled his eyes at her and finally made eye contact, “Fine. I like you. In a romantic way.”

Very romantic when he basically gritted his teeth through the whole thing. Yet she could still feel a blush working across her cheeks. How is this working on her?

“Why now?” She asked, trying to distract from her reaction.

“Better late than never.”

Something about that didn’t still well with her. Why was never even an option right now?

“So you’re backing down on your word?”

He doesn’t say anything but looked down at her in confusion.

“That we’re getting out of this alive,” she explained and waited for him to catch on to what she’s referring to. She can almost see the moment the bulb goes on over his head.

“No. You’re coming out of this alive.”

Her stomach knotted at his words; he didn’t mean…?

“…But you’re not?” She hesitantly asked, did she really want to know the answer to that?

“Don’t know yet,” he muttered.

This should be a happy moment. The infuriatingly annoying guy she’s liked for a while has confessed, but the reality is they’re currently being hunted and there’s no guarantee any of them will come out of this alive.

But she’d be damned if he went down without her, so in her mind it’s either both of them or neither.

And then it hits her, they may not have another moment together like this.

So for once in her life, she stopped thinking and without hesitation grabbed his face to crush his lips against hers. He yelped at the abruptness, but it was soon muffled. She couldn’t stop the amused smile spreading across her lips at his reaction.

It was by no means the most romantic kiss, neither of them had much experience before this and the mood is hardly set by the looming possibility of death, but Nami regretted nothing as they exchanged clumsy kisses. Zoro tentatively settled his hands on her waist, like he was waiting for her to tell him off, but she didn’t, instead she’s slipping her arms around his shoulders to draw herself in closer. They’re only closed-mouth pecks that occasionally linger for longer but that’s okay for right now, they can hardly start a make out session and honestly, Nami’s not prepared for anything more right now, her stomach already feels like it’s going to burst open.

They broke apart shortly afterwards but didn’t move away from each other.

“Idiot, how long?”  

“Hah?” He asked stupidly against her lips.

Christ, what an idiot.

“How long have you liked me?” She clarified.

“Probably from the fifth argument, but I didn’t realise until much later. You pissed me off a lot, but I realised I didn’t want anything else.”

That still told her nothing, they squabbled constantly, but yeah, she could relate. It’d just hit her one day too.  

“You wasted a lot of time,” she accused.

“You were hardly forthcoming yourself!”

“Forthcoming? That’s a big word for you, trying to woo me?”

“Clearly don’t need to, do I?” His voice was impossibly smug as his arms tightened around her to make his point, and it grated her slightly. “Besides, you’re the navigator, aren’t you the one that’s supposed to be guiding?”

“Arse. I can’t do everything, you know. Navigate, repair wires, open doors for you; you have to pull your weight too,” she countered, her smile broadening as he glowered at her.

He didn’t grace her with a response, but she didn’t mind when he pulled her back into another kiss. It wasn’t as clumsy this time, and that was probably because she wasn’t trying to crush Zoro into her face. It was still just as insistent, but they found their rhythm quickly and mouths were tentatively opening for tongues to brush against each other’s. Distantly, Nami wondered if she’d ever be prepared for something like this. Her hands buried themselves into his hair and she stood on tip toes to get closer.  

All of that came to a grinding halt as another siren started going off, alongside the reactor alarm and they pulled apart. Nami flushed when she realised just what they were doing, in the middle of a crisis no less. They were making out in the girl’s room whilst their ship was falling apart and being hunted by Robin. She was mortified and when she looked up at Zoro he looked nothing but smug.

She didn’t feel bad about elbowing him in the ribs.

Their communicators crackled to life and they could hear Franky rushing through his words, “Shit- O2- down- someone- fix-”

“-helmets-”

That was only a few rooms away from them and although she hadn’t said anything, Zoro was nodding his head at her. They were both taking their helmets from the belts to put them on but Nami stopped Zoro before he could put if over his head.

“To be continued,” Nami whispered, pressing one last kiss against his lips to make her point, “because there will be a next time.” She delivered that line firmly because neither of them was dying before she could do this again.

He didn’t look convinced but that’s fine, Nami was adamant about it enough for the both of them. They finished clipping their helmets on and it’d be enough to supply them with oxygen for the next half an hour until the machine was working again.

“Roger, roger,” Nami spoke clearly into the communicator, hoping someone caught that.  

For the second time, they were peering out into the corridor and they were eerily silent. Nami pushed through any of those thoughts, she’d think about that later, and took Zoro’s hand as they cautiously made their way through the hallways.

The doors behind them suddenly started snapping closed one by one.

And now the doors were being tampered with. It was trying to split them up.

“Run! We’re going to get locked in!”

As they took the last corner, just making it before they were sitting ducks in a part of the hallway with a vent, Nami could see the O2 room in the distance. She watched in horror as the door started to slide close. If she didn’t make that there was no telling if she’d be able to open it anytime soon and before she could think it through, she was dropping Zoro’s hand to sprint towards the door and slide through just as it closed behind her.

Heavy footsteps thumped from the other. “Oi! Are you okay!? Open the door,” Zoro shouted, banging on the door and as she swiped her key card to let him in, her hunch had been correct. It beeped angrily back at her; the door wouldn’t open. She would be stuck in here for the foreseeable future.

“I’m fine! The door won’t open, go find the others. Tell them about what’s going on and fix the door system, I’ll deal with O2.” He stayed silent and she knew he was about to argue with her, so she continued. “There’s no vents in here, I’ll be okay. Go!”

“Shit. Okay.” She couldn’t see him, but she knew he’s be running his hands over his helmet, wishing it was his hair. “I’ll be back as soon as the doors open again.”

And then she heard footsteps running away and she breathed out slowly. She could feel her eyes welling up as desperation set in but then she remembered Zoro’s words from before. It wasn’t over yet and he’d been right, if she got inside her head now, she wouldn’t be able to do this, and they’d all suffocate.

She had a job to do.

Cracking her fingers, she got to work on restoring the O2 and hoping everyone was piecing everything else together whilst she was busy.

Her fingers were furiously gliding over keyboards, bashing in key codes and watching bars slowly fill back up on the screen. Another few minutes and she’d be done- crisis averted. In the background, she could hear her communicator crackling with a few words scattered in but none of it made sense and she couldn’t waste time trying to piece it together.

The doors still hadn’t opened by the time she’d fixed the O2, she wasn’t sure how long she’d been in here, but it’d been a while and it was hard to tell what was going on outside.

This had been the longest day she’d ever experienced so far; it’d all started before lunch and as her stomach growled, it’s just dawning on her that she never got to eat. Oh god, she sounded like Luffy.

From the corner of her eye she could see some empty canisters, she figured she might as well pass some time filling them just in case and it beat sitting around grumbling about eating and unopened doors.

Just as she finished with the last canister the doors were slowly sliding open… except, Zoro’s not back yet and she’s caught between wanting to find everyone and waiting here for him. But then she’s just a sitting duck and the crew might need her.

She steeled herself to go out, but the lights still hadn’t been restored yet, and all alone it somehow felt even darker. Just as she’s about to leave, a spare steel rod caught her eye by the door and she’s picking it up. She had no idea whether it’d work against a thing like that (she refused to call it Robin), but it’s better than nothing.

Her communicator came alive then and there’s a frenzy of voices, she can’t quite pick out everyone but there’s enough voices to at least reassure her that the crew are okay.

“Nami- cafeteria-”

“Idiot-”

“No- engine- Nami.”

… What?

All the voices were talking over one another and with how poor the quality was she’s struggling to understand what she’s being told. From what she’s gleaned from the limited information it’s: go to the cafeteria, avoid the engine room. It’s slightly concerning that there’s still squabbling going on- but in truth, when is there not?

Before she had to make any hard decisions, a green suit comes into view down the hallway and she let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Zoro. He’d come back for her, just like he said, and maybe he’d have some idea about what’s going on.

“Zoro!” She whispered as loudly as she could, running towards him and he turned, his head nodding to acknowledge her. “Is everyone in the cafeteria?”

He grunted as she grabbed his hand and took off towards the cafeteria with him following closely behind. Although he’s normally quiet, he’s a bit too quiet considering the circumstances. She was expecting some scolding over her reckless move earlier.  

“You okay?” She looked back at him, eyes quickly scanning along his body and didn’t see anything of immediate worry. Green suit intact, helmet firmly in place.

He nodded back at her and she figured the day must be taking a toll on him. She could certainly relate to that.

Shortly afterward she’s bashing in her key card for the closed cafeteria door but stopped short when it was empty. Where is everyone?

Before she could ask him, she could hear footsteps thumping from behind the opposite closed cafeteria door and she smiled to herself. So they were just early, for once.

As the doors opened, she started to walk forward and went to speak but her jaw abruptly snapped closed. Her eyes rounded and it felt like the floor was falling from beneath her.

She watched in horror as a green suit appeared through the opposite door.

Another green suit.

As in, there’s currently one next to her that she’s holding the hand of and one in front of her, that has also stopped dead in their tracks. They all had their own coloured suits for a reason, so they were easily recognisable with their helmets on.

Oh god. One of these suits is that thing.

And with that knowledge, she’s ripping her hand away from the green suit next to her and walking back slowly into the centre of the room, never turning her back so she can put equal distance between the two green suits and see them without having to turn her head.

From the corner of her eye, one of them moved, trying to slowly walk towards her like you would a spooked deer and instantly she felt adrenaline coursing through her as her body tensed. She’s reaching into her pocket then, pulling out the steel bar to clutch it in front of her.

“Back off,” she tersely told one of the suits

The advancing green suit halted immediately and took a step back, hands raised.

Her mind’s in pieces and she doesn’t know what to do. She’s in control of the room right now, both suits watching her from their positions but she knew that could change any moment and she doesn’t know what to do.

Suddenly the events of the day come rushing back to her.

Zoro had left navigation and then Usopp had got hurt.

Zoro sleeps a lot during the day and does basic tasks, like cleaning the garbage chute and heavy lifting tasks. Something anyone could do.

Zoro can’t open the goddamn doors!

She’d just kissed him- it!

Everything had been a lie.

Who the hell could she trust after this? Zoro was supposed to be it. It!

That thing can clearly shapeshift, going from a purple suit to a green one, but then, who said there’s only one of them?

Then she remembered earlier Luffy and Chopper had been running around aimlessly and Brook had screamed, and he was with them.

Luffy told them not to turn on each other.

Franky connected the vents together.

What ifs are flying around in her mind, as all of these thoughts come together. Seriously, who was she going to trust after this? Everyone looked suspicious.

Her breathing’s erratic and her heart felt like it’s going to jump out of her chest and her stomach’s rolling. Oh god, is she about to have an anxiety attack? Seriously, now of all places?! She’s about to lose her cool and control of the room. She needed to think.

One of the green suits that had appeared from the opposite door is ripping it’s helmet off, throwing it onto the floor, and she’s looking at Zoro’s face again.

“Nami, take a breath, I need you to calm down. A lot has happened since we last saw each other, but I need you to trust me right now and come over here.” His hand’s outstretched towards her but he’s not looking at her, his gaze is locked onto the other green suit that she had just been holding the hand of. Like he’s trying to size it up, to anticipate its next move.

Nami’s eyes flickered between them, sizing both of them up and god, did she want to trust the talking green suit, but how could she?! The other green suit is looking at her blanky, head tilted, and she just needed to confirm something before she made her move.

“Take off your helmet,” she shouted, jutting her steel bar at its helmet.

There’s a second where no one spoke or moved, and it felt like Nami was stuck in one of those crappy western standoffs. The one with the helmet still on tilted its head again and it’s looking between her and the other green suit without its helmet on.

Its hands come up to its helmet and for a moment Nami thought she’d be screwed if it actually took it’s helmet off because then she’s back to square one and the tension in the room can’t possibly get any higher without anything actually happening.

But Nami doesn’t have to go back to square one because it pulled its hands away without taking off the helmet and Nami watched in horror as the mask split apart to reveal a gaping mouth with razor sharp teeth and a tongue that came curling out with saliva dripping from it. It’s similar to what she saw before in the hallway but not even that could have prepared her for seeing it up close.  

She’s frozen on the spot and it started to run towards her with what she can only describe as a screech of joy erupting from its mouth as it does. Except there’s another pair of feet running towards her too and she’s suddenly pushed down by Zoro as he covered her body with his. Zoro lifted his hand and the next second the thing is screeching in agony as he set off the blow torch in his hand.

Since when did he have that?  

The thing reeled back, hands coming up to cup it’s scorched mouth and tentacles erupted from its back to lash out in its moment of vulnerability. One of them whipped towards them and Zoro’s falling back on her heavily. One look at him has her gasping and trying to sit up to get a better look.

“Zoro you’re eye!” Nami cried out. She didn’t see it happen, but she can see the blood that’s dripping from his eye and her stomach rolled. That’s because of her.

“No time, we have to move.”

And he’s right, the thing was still stooped low, sludge dripping from where it’d been burned but it’d only be a matter of time until it was on its feet again and they needed to regroup.

Nodding, she grabbed his hand and he was hauling her up onto her feet. She pushed him aside as they got to the closed cafeteria door, but her hands were shaking too much and the keypad denied her. She’d swiped too fast. She didn’t dare turn around when she heard a much less pained screech and, thankfully, Zoro didn’t rush her.

Second swipe and they were through the doors, but it wasn’t the homestretch yet. Nami could hear metal being torn apart and better judgement be damned, she turned around.

That thing couldn’t pass as human anymore. At this point it was more mouth than body, claws erupted from the suit and tentacles furiously swiped the air around it.

The next moment is disorientating as she’s suddenly swept from her feet and manhandled to sit at Zoro’s hip on one side. She clung to him in fear of falling off and it’s not exactly the most comfortable or stable position, but it freed her up a bit.

“I can’t drag you about as you stare, you’re too slow,” he explained as he ran.

“Just don’t drop me,” she told him, eyes narrowing in determination. He can run and she can keep it at bay. To his credit, he doesn’t even break a sweat at the extra weight, but she’d give that some more thought later.

The thing started to gain on them, screeching at them and when one of the tentacles came rushing towards them, Nami’s raising her steel bar to smack it away.

What she didn’t expect, was for the tentacle to absorb the bar.

“It took my bar!” She said, outraged.

Below her, Zoro grunted and his free hand is reaching into his trouser pocket. “That doesn’t work on it, use the blow torch.”

When the thing tried again, Nami aimed the torch and watched as the flame licked away at the tentacle, black sludge falling onto the floor below it. It stopped in its tracks then and Nami watched it slowly disappear from view as Zoro kept running and rounded the corner.

“It’s stopped chasing us,” Nami informed him, slightly confused why it’d give up so easily. Then she’s looking at the blowtorch, it either didn’t like fire or the light. Maybe it was both.

Then another thought came to mind. “When the hell did you figure this out?” She couldn’t keep the wonder out of her voice when she asked, she was impressed.

“I told you, a lot happened whilst you were locked in O2.” He took another left.  

“Ah, so you spoke to Robin then.” She nodded to herself, the woman was sharp minded and no doubt, with the rest of them chiming in, they’d have worked something out quickly.

“Oi! I worked out that fire might work,” he grouched at her, offended that she was so quick to dismiss him.

“You came to save me on might!?” Of course he’d do something so ballsy and reckless.

“Some gratitude would be nice! What happened with your bar again?”

He had a point. Not that she was going to tell him that.

“I’ll give you that later,” she said lowly. It’s not fitting for the mood at all, but she couldn’t resist and maybe she needed some normality right now when they’re being hunted. Especially when she’s rewarded with an embarrassed flush working angrily up his neck.

“Okay, we can’t keep running around in circles. Where are the others?” He took another left and she frowned. If he wasn’t careful, they were going to end up back at the cafeteria and right now, they had no idea where that thing was.

“In the upper engine. They stayed behind, couldn’t have everyone running around with a shapeshifter on the lose.”

“Yeah, I get that, but why send you?” Yeah okay, it wasn’t helpful in this situation, but she had to ask.

He huffed but stayed silent, only adjusting his grip on her thighs.

“You ran off before they could stop you, didn’t you?”

“That’s not the point,” he replied indignantly, huffing. “Found you in the end, right?” It’s said with too much pride for someone who got lost constantly but she still found fondness building in her chest. Maybe they’re both idiots.

“Not hard when you told me to go to the cafeteria.”

“Don’t remind me, what idiots.” He came to a stop just down the hallway from upper engine and let her down. “We’d trapped it there and Franky had managed to block the vent but with how sketchy the communicators are I don’t even know why anyone bothered mentioning the cafeteria.”

“That vent isn’t blocked anymore, by the way, it got out,” Nami frowned, a thought coming to her, “It found me, I thought it was you, but the weird thing is, it didn’t kill me. It followed me.”

Zoro didn’t say anything in response, but he looked as perplexed as she felt. It’d attacked Usopp on sight but followed her willingly.

Those thoughts came to an abrupt halt though as she properly looked at Zoro for the first time since she’d met back up with him. He looked awful. His left eye was closed, and she didn’t know whether it was to keep the blood out of it or whether the eye just wasn’t there anymore. She couldn’t see the damage with so much blood oozing from the cut.

“Zoro, your eye,” Nami lamented, her hand coming up to cup his jaw and thumb soothing across the patch of cheekbone absent of any blood. She could only imagine how much that hurt right now. And he’d done it for her. The knot in her stomach tightened at the thought.

“It’s fine, stop fretting.” He tried to play it off and his hand grasped her wrist to gently pry it away from his face, but she wasn’t ready to let go of his face just yet.

“We’re not being chased right now; I can fret as much as I like.”

“I’d do it again,” he said gruffly, and it sounded like he was trying to reassure her about the wound so she wouldn’t feel guilty about it, but that didn’t detract from how sweet he sounded.

“Zoro,” she cooed, and he flushed a brilliant red when Nami’s other hand mirrored the action of cupping his jaw.

With her helmet on, she couldn’t lean in to kiss him like she wanted; for his sweet words, for her relief that he wasn’t a monster and that, so far, they were both alive. Instead, she’s leaning into him until she’s bumping her helmet against his forehead. It’s not nearly enough, but for now it’d have to do. He didn’t have any complaints when he leaned into her and his hands slid down her arms to cup her elbows to hold her close.

And that’s how they’re found. Standing around in the hallway, Nami cupping Zoro’s face and leaning into each other, a private moment that was suddenly very public.

“See! I told you I heard their voices,” Usopp stage whispered, eyes wide at the affectionate display.

Both of them paused, a hairsbreadth away from kissing, before whipping around to see Usopp and Sanji peeking out of the upper engine. Sanji looked outraged until his eyes locked onto Zoro’s bleeding face.

“What the hell happened?!”

Zoro groaned next to her. It was truly a testament to how bad it looked for Sanji to show such outward concern. They normally hid their affection for each other behind heated arguments and physical fights.

“Let’s all freak out over Zoro when we’re with everyone else,” Nami ordered. They were still standing in the hallway like nothing was currently happening. Zoro shot her a glare at that suggestion, something that didn’t hold much heat when he looked like that.

When they entered the upper engine room, it was empty. Just as she was about to voice her confusion, Zoro was pushing her towards the little broom cupboard in the corner.

As the door closed behind them, the small bulb in the room illuminated the rest of the crew, who were all looking worse for wear themselves. What the hell had been going on whilst she was trapped in O2?

It was a tight fit, as everyone huddled together, but it wasn’t important as her eyes jumped around familiar faces, taking in each one by one and doing a small role call in her head.  

… 7, 8 and “Brook!”

“Brook! I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see you before in my life!” She’d definitely trod on someone’s foot to reach him, but she didn’t care as she flung her arms around his neck.

“Yohoho, this sounds like a backhanded insult, but I’ll take it!”

She allowed the hug for a moment longer but then she’s pushing is head out of the way, as he whispered a “so harsh”.

There’s a sudden commotion at the door then and it’s because Chopper’s just seen the state of Zoro. A pink suit is rushing towards Zoro, disregarding the rest of the crew as they start murmuring their own concerns, and he’s slinging his medical bag from his back to the floor to start pulling out things he’ll be needing.

“It’s fine Chopper! Just stick a plaster on it!” Zoro interrupted, swatting his hand to stop Chopper’s panicking as he started to examine the eye.

Chopper squawked at the suggestion and started laying into him, lecturing him about the danger of infections. Seeing as Chopper was no longer panicking and had started to clear away at the wound, Nami tuned it out in favour of getting some information on what the hell was going on.

“Right, someone needs to get me up to speed,” she stated and as an afterthought added, “And why are we huddled in the upper engine broom closet?”

“No vents in here,” Franky answered.

“Also, I don’t think the thing knows this room exists,” Usopp added as an afterthought.

“Not surprising, this is where all the cleaning supplies are and since when does anyone do that?” Nami sighed, but she couldn’t focus on their filthy ship just yet. Well, that wasn’t entirely fair. Sanji and Chopper kept their respective rooms clean, but that was it. The kitchen, med bay and the women’s room were the only clean places on board.

Nami’s comment was ignored as Sanji started to explain, “We don’t know how long its been on board, but Robin thinks it’s-”

“Morph,” Luffy cut off Sanji, looking far too proud of himself. When all she gave him was a baffled look, he explained further, “The thing. Its name is morph.”

As much as Nami was happy to see Luffy back to his normal self, so much so he was naming a blood thirsty monster, it was so incredibly unhelpful in the grand scheme of things. Before she could scold him, Usopp intervened.

“We didn’t name it Morph; you did!” Usopp accused and Nami was glad that he hadn’t become sucked into Luffy’s actions. “I still want Nightcrawler”

Urgh. Forget it. Of course Usopp wouldn’t be of any help.  

“What happened to Rampage?” Zoro chimed in.

“No, we ditched that as soon as you left.”

“It was a stupid name,” Sanji sneered.

Nami could only stand there in disbelief and watched as the rest of the crew in front of her started to squabble about what to officially name that thing that was trying to kill them all.

“I quite like Selkie; they used to trick humans by transforming into them before mercilessly killing them. Quite like our situation, no?”

Nami barked a short laugh. Even Robin, her most trusted ally, the woman she could rely on when the boys descended into new levels of idiocy, had been sucked into naming this thing. She even noted that their lives were in danger and was still taking part. Was she going insane?

“Is this what you’ve been doing all this time? Naming this thing instead of figuring out how we’re going to survive?”

All of them looked at her, her voice cutting through their playful bickering and they all had the audacity to look at her like she was the one suggesting names in a dire, bleak situation. Maybe she was insane. She was in their books, based on the looks she was receiving.

“Don’t be stupid,” Luffy said, like he was the voice of reason here. “We did it after, when we were waiting for you.”

Ah yes, of course. She was the issue here.

She should be angry; she should throttle him but the day’s taking its toll on her and all she does is throw her head back and laugh. It’s a hearty laugh, right from her gut and it felt good. This situation is just so laughably hilarious.

“I think she’s lost her mind,” Usopp muttered and Chopper nodded next to him, looking at her cautiously.

Everyone’s looking at her as she started to calm down, wiping tears from her eyes. All she offered as explanation was, “I like the name Morph.”

Zoro caught her eye then and he smirked at her.

Luffy’s cheering then, arms thrown up in the air at his victory as the others mumble and moan about their loss. Apparently, everyone had their own name offered and with Nami voting for Luffy’s it was the clear winner.

“Right, so as I was saying, we don’t know how long Morph- I can’t do it! It’s a ridiculous name for such a serious situation.”

“Maybe that’s what we need right now,” Robin said and Nami couldn’t agree with her more. It’s why she liked it, it’s easier to deal with a shapeshifting monster with razor sharp teeth and tentacles when it’s named something so cute.

Luffy’s frowning, not budging as Sanji looked at him. “I won. Its name is Morph.”

“Nami liked it,” Usopp added and that’s enough to get Sanji talking again, seemingly accepting the name with no further complaints.

“Robin was thinking Morph’s been on board for a while because it seems to know where to go and what to tamper with to break the ship.” Sanji looked towards Robin, prompting her to take over from him.

“My theory is that it’s sophisticated enough to learn basic tasks and work out what we’re doing but Morph can’t learn complex things like language,” Robin speculated and Nami nodded in agreement, remembering Morph’s silence in the hallway. “I don’t think it likes light and that’s the reason why tampered with the lights before appearing fully. Space is very dark after all… and cold.” She’s looking towards Zoro then. “Did your theory work, Zoro?”

Zoro nodded back as Chopper was putting the finishing touches on his bandaged eye. “It seemed to hurt it and it backed off when it started chasing us.”

Robin and Zoro’s conversation held no tension like it did earlier from the cafeteria and Nami’s glad to see it. A lot seemed to have happened since then. No doubt she’d get the details from Usopp later.

“So what are we going to do now?” She’d got enough information about that thing- Morph, she corrected mentally, but now she wanted their plan of attack.

Except her question brought a hush over the crew and she’s looking at each of them to try and figure out what she’s said wrong. Usopp looked pained and Franky’s resting a big hand on his shoulder.

Luffy looked solemn and Nami hated it already, as much as his happy go lucky behaviour might irritate her sometimes, she wanted it back desperately in this situation.

“We’re leaving the ship,” Luffy said.

What? This was their home, where everything had started. “What? How can we-” She started.

“The decision’s been made,” he stated firmly and when Nami looked at Usopp, someone who would definitely agree with her, he looked downhearted but on board. This conversation had already been talked through at length it seemed. “Franky.” And Luffy’s nodding towards their mechanic to continue.

“The ships on its last legs. I’ve just barely managed to hold together the reactor, but we don’t have long, electrics are fried and on top of that there’s a monster out there making it worse,” Franky explained and as much as it pained her, she’d been out there, she’d seen the state of the ship.

“We’d have to find it and kill it, that’s even if it hadn’t tampered with the ship before we do.”

“Even then, something still might trip.”

“It’s too risky.”

Nami sighed and ran her hands through her hair. She understood but it was a lot of take on board. Ultimately, they were right. Their lives would be at risk and she remembered back to earlier when she was uncertain about how many of them were still alive.

She wanted them all to come out of this alive.

“What’s the plan?”

They’re huddled tightly into a circle going through the last few details. Franky and Usopp have prepared the emergency ship, it’ll be tight for all of them, nothing compared to their current spacious ship, but it’s good enough for now. It’s only there until they can land and find something else.

“I’m heading to the kitchen to get supplies,” Sanji informed them and Brook next to him is offering to go with.  

“I need to go to the medbay,” Chopper added and Robin’s volunteering to accompany him.

“You need a helmet,” Nami said, pointing at Zoro. His was sat in the cafeteria and its current state was unknown. Everyone else’s were clipped to their belts safely. “If O2 goes out again, you’re screwed.”

“If you’re going that way, pick up extra helmets and suits,” Robin suggested and it’s a good idea.

“Someone needs to go to O2 to get backup oxygen,” Franky told the group, the emergency ship only had so much stocked into it and seeing at they’re abandoning the ship, they might as well take all they have with them.

“They’re already filled, I did it whilst I was waiting for the doors to open. Someone else needs to grab them, I’m going with Zoro.”

No one argued that and they’re all nodding. It was in their best interest to have the navigator with the permanently lost. Zoro didn’t argue it, even though he knew the reason behind it but now wasn’t a time for bickering.

“I’m going to the reactor to grab my tools,” Franky said and seeing and Luffy and Usopp are the last ones left, they’re going with Franky.

With everyone allocated to a task and paired off, they all agreed they’d meet back in the cafeteria in 10 minutes. It was a get in and get out job, no side tracking and if a pair didn’t come back- there would be a search party. No one was being left behind. Franky didn’t have many, but he had enough blow torches for one per group, should they come across Morph on their short trip.

It was then that Nami realised they’d been in the small cupboard a while with no disruptions but before she could voice her concern, the reactor alarm was blaring again. She hung her head, it felt like she’d jinxed them.

“That’s our countdown,” Franky informed them. “I stabilised the reactor as best as I could, but we only have twenty minutes before it’s done for. We need to be gone before that.”

With that last warning, the groups are filtering out of the tiny cupboard and spreading throughout the ship. There’s a shout of helmets off until they leave and Nami had no problem with that, it’d take away the element of surprise, because as far as she’s aware, Morph can’t imitate their faces.

Nami and Zoro run next to each other through the corridors with no hesitancy. There’s no time for it and at least they’re armed now. The cafeteria’s empty and neither of them bother to check if Zoro’s helmet is intact- no side tracking. They pass by Sanji and Brook as they make their way into the kitchen. They’re running past admin and they only have to make it through storage to reach the women’s and men’s rooms next to communications.

As they made it into the men’s room, Nami gets a bad feeling. All of this is far too easy. There’re no crackling voices in her earpiece, there’s no yelling or frantic feet and despite the reactor siren going off, it was almost peaceful. It didn’t sit right with her.

“Zoro, I have a bad feeling,” Nami told him as she grabbed a bag to start shoving spare space suits into.

“It’s too easy,” he agreed with her, taking another bag to put spare helmets into and then clipping another helmet onto his belt. “But I won’t complain. Maybe it backed off because we found it’s weak spot.”

For now, she could only agree with him and hope it was just good luck as they moved into the women’s room the other side of communications to repeat the process.

Nami doesn’t have a watch, but as they finish packing, she’s sure they must be getting close to 10 minutes.

There’s a loud commotion towards O2 and Nami and Zoro are shooting each other a look. They don’t need to verbalise anything before they’re running towards the sound- if any of their crew was in trouble, of course they’d rush to help.

Except when they arrive, there’s nothing there. It’s silent. There’s nobody in sight, they can’t hear feet running nearby and there’s no sign of a struggle.

“False alarm, let’s go,” Zoro said and he’s walking towards the door.

Nami nodded and went to follow him out, except out of the corner of her eye she can see a spare O2 bottle. She frowned, she’d definitely filled all of them and she’s not sure how someone had missed that one. Despite the voice in the back of her head that told her ‘no detours’, this technically isn’t one. They might end up needing that and she’d kick herself for leaving it behind.

As she picked it up, it’s far too light compared to the others she filled earlier and when she turned the canister around, the bar’s empty.

It’s then that it all clicked into place; no sign of Morph, the sound of a struggle only to find no one’s here and a strategically place O2 bottle to distract a passer-by.

A trap.

Zoro’s already left the room and she’s running after him, shouting for him to stop, not caring how loud her voice was right now. He’s almost into the weapons room when he whipped around, alert and ready for whatever she’s about to say but it’s too late. The doors between them are closing.

They’re both running but Nami knows it’s useless, there’s no way she’s going to make it through. With the last crack left, she’s throwing through her bag to Zoro and watching the doors shut on his panicked face. She imagined hers didn’t look much better.

Shit. He had the blow torch.

The keypad angrily denied her when she swiped her key card and her stomach’s sinking at the knowledge that she’s truly vulnerable right now.  

There’s a loud thump followed by a silent curse from the other side of the door but it barely budged. Zoro’s trying to break down the door. It was no use; they’re made to withstand extreme conditions in the case of an emergency. Nami laughed at the humour, this is an emergency and now she’s in danger because of it.

“Zoro, go back to the cafeteria, drop the bags and get someone. Someone must be back by now. I’ll try the other door to the cafeteria.”

He had no choice but to agree and he left her with a, “Be careful. No reckless moves.”

Too late for that advice, she thought bitterly.

Nami turned to face the dimly lit corridor in front of her. Without Zoro here, it looked ominous, the shadows looked dangerous all of a sudden and every sound had her jumping out of her skin. But the longer she stood here, the longer she’d be alone. She clutched the O2 cannister in her hands for some form a reassurance and, as a last-minute decision, she clipped on her helmet for an extra layer of defence.

She started a tentative jog down the hallway, a stark difference from the quick and confident one she had with Zoro. She stopped at corners to peer around them, to make sure the coast was clear and yes, it did slow her down, but she needed caution right now.

It’s the home stretch when she reached storage and she wondered if her brain was playing tricks on her. Maybe it wasn’t a trap and the ship really was just on its last legs, like Franky had explained.

Just as she’s passing admin, she can hear heavy footsteps from behind her. She’s wanted to continue forward, but it also crossed her mind that it could be Zoro. He wasn’t far from the cafeteria before and if Franky or Usopp was there, they’d have the door opened swiftly.

Tentatively, she backtracked and as she peered around the corner, the relief is almost crippling.  

Zoro.

He’s standing in the doorway of storage, looking around for her and then she’s jogging towards him, a cheerful, “Zoro”, coming from her mouth.

The joy’s over when he turned to face her and she’s looking back at two steel eyes. Not a cut or bandage in sight.

That was not Zoro.

She faltered slightly but remembered earlier when Morph had followed her after approaching it like nothing was wrong. She fought down the urge to flee and plastered a wobbly smile back onto her face to continue her walk towards it.

Except this time, Morph’s not curious, Morph’s hungry. It doesn’t keep up the pretence of a human and the moment Nami sees a mouth, she’s flinging the O2 cannister at it and darting away.  

“Help, help, help,” she’s pleading into her communicator but its only static that responded back.

She was well and truly on her own.

She doesn’t dare look over her shoulder to see if Morph is chasing her, but her arms are stretching out for anything within reach she can knock over and hopefully buy herself time. As she smacked something behind her, she peeked over her shoulder and terror is almost choking her. Morph’s not close, but it is chasing her as it used its tentacles to propel it forward.

The thumping of her own footsteps is deafening, and her legs are burning as she ran down the empty corridor between electrical and lower engine, but she can’t let up her pace for even a second if she wanted to get out of this alive.

She skidded as she took a sharp turn and it definitely lost her some distance. It’s confirmed when there’s footsteps behind her, heavy and loud, and she can practically feel its breath on her neck. She didn’t dare to look over her shoulder again because she knew she’d be greeted by the sight of Morph practically on her back.

One second she’s looking at the familiar sight of upper engine just in front of her and she’s so close to the cafeteria, then the next she’s eating the floor. The impact has her face crashing into the shield of her helmet and so much for extra protection, she thought, as her nose smarted and started trickling blood.  

Her feet are pulled from beneath her and she’s being dragged back. She doesn’t have time to register the pain in her face as she flipped over to watch as the tentacles around her foot pulled her slowly towards the towering monster. Morph’s grown and there’s multiple mouths erupting from the green of the suit

She kicked her free foot out, trying to stamp on the tentacle wrapped around her ankle but it’s quickly caught by another tentacle and then she’s being dragged closer even quicker.

Morph settled over her when she’s pulled underneath it and the weight of it had the air rushing out of her lungs. If it doesn’t kill her quickly, it’s going to crush her instead.

That doesn’t stop her from throwing a fist out to punch its face- she may be about to die, but she’s not dying easily. The image of Zoro’s face distorted from the impact before reforming, but it doesn’t stay that way for long as its face split apart to form a long stretching mouth. A tongue slithered out and licked across all its teeth as saliva dripped down onto the front of Nami’s helmet. It’s enough to get Nami moving as she squirmed underneath it, hands pushing and feet kicking desperately so she can shimmy out.

She cried out in pain when a tentacle from behind it’s back stabbed through her shoulder to pin her down to the floor beneath and there’s a clawed hand digging into the side of her waist. It’s enough to stop her squirming, as tears rolled down her face and her hands are at the tentacle in her shoulder to try and relieve the pain.

But the pain is nothing compared to watching its tongue slink out of its mouth down to her helmet and lick a long stipe across the glass. She’s helpless as the tongue started to undo the latches on her helmet and its claw dug even further into her side, as if expecting her to struggle.

She can’t believe she’s about to die at the hands (or mouth) of something that looked like Zoro. There’s probably something poetic in there but now’s not the time to be thinking about that.

As the last latch clicked loose, her helmet’s thrown to the side and she’s face to face with the monster on top of her (It turned out, Morph wasn’t a suitable name. She wished she’d gone with Robin’s option). Its tongue snapped back to its mouth, but her eyes are screwing shut as it stretched to lick a long path across her neck and face. There’s so much saliva that it dribbled down the rest of her face and she can’t believe this is it, this is her last few moments.

It growled in her ear, but she can’t bring herself to open her eyes, even when she heard its teeth snap just above her. She doesn’t want her last moment alive to be looking at an imposter of Zoro. She’d much rather remember the real Zoro’s dazed face after their first kiss.

But then it’s all gone, the weight’s gone and she’s gasping in pain when the claws in her side and tentacle are ripped out.

There’s a battle cry above her head and she opened her eyes just in time to watch Luffy jump over her body and a massive flame erupt from his blowtorch. She can’t be sure, her viewpoint from the floor isn’t the best, but she’s pretty sure there’s a massive grin etched onto his face as he launched his attack.

She felt like she was hallucinating as she watched the monster reel back and try to avoid the flames as it screeched in pain. She’s sitting up to watch but it’s blocked as Zoro knelt in front of her. His mouth’s moving and distantly she heard him saying that he shouldn’t have left her but she’s too busy looking at his face, soaking in the downward turn of his mouth, his remaining steel coloured eye searching her face and the green of his hair.

She wondered idly if she’s died and this was hell and she’s being forced to watch what her rescue could have looked like if it hadn’t gone all wrong. Zoro did always tell her she was going to hell when she died. She can’t wait for him to join her so she can rub it in his face that he ended up there too.

She’s pulled out of her scattered thoughts when Zoro’s softly wiping at her face with his hands, wiping the saliva on his suit and it’s the most worried she’s ever seen him; his face is pale and drawn. “I thought you were dead,” he breathed out and she came to the conclusion that she doesn’t like that look on his face. “With that thing over you and you were so still,” he continued and he’s still looking at her like she might die any second.

“Get a grip,” is all she told him and it’s worth it because he barked a laugh and it felt like they were back in her navigation room bantering with each other.

“You’re a mess,” he said bluntly and they’re falling back into their normal routine, so she decided not to take offense. His gaze does a circuit around her face, shoulder and side.

“You too,” she joked and although it wasn’t funny, she laughed lightly. Whether it was because she was alive, or he was or that this wasn’t hell after all. Maybe it was all of it.

He didn’t laugh back; the mood dropping suddenly, and she knew it was because he was feeling guilty. That this should’ve been him, not her.

Her hand cupped his jaw and her thumb’s running along the seam of the plaster over his eye. “You’ve done enough, have to do my part too, right?”

His expression instantly told her he doesn’t agree with that sentiment but before he can respond, Luffy’s next to them again.

“We gotta go,” Luffy said, breaking them apart and he’s throwing his empty blow torch down as the black puddle down the hall started to slowly reform. “You can make kissy faces when we’re in the ship.”

Nami spluttered angrily, embarrassed but Zoro just nodded and his hands are under her armpits then to help her stand. She cringed as she jarred her shoulder and pain lanced through her body. Its yet to stop bleeding and if she’s not careful, her orange suit is going to start rivalling Luffy’s red one.

“Put pressure on your shoulder,” Zoro said and she’s being scooped up to sit at his hip again, the wound at her waist facing outward so it’s not angered.

She’s giving him a funny look before cringing as she tried to clamp her hand over the wound on the shoulder that felt like it suddenly had a pulse. Zoro understood what she meant and answered, “Chopper’s lectured me enough, some of it had to sink in.” His free hand smothered over hers to press down on the wound and she’s borrowing her face into his neck at the pain. She almost doesn’t know what to do with herself. He muttered a “sorry” lowly but didn’t let up.

“Luffy, I’m changing my vote, Morph is a stupid name. I’m siding with Robin,” she murmured, exhausted as the adrenaline started to wear off and in need of a distraction herself from her wounds and the monster that was after them.

Luffy laughed brightly as he ran next to Zoro, no doubt happy to see her alive and arguing again. He tried to dispute her change of confidence, but she refused to hear any of it.

Behind them there’s an angry screech, it’s far off into the distance and when Nami looked behind them, there’s nothing there. It’s odd but she couldn’t give a damn right now.

Instead she’s asking, “Where is everyone?”

“On the ship, waiting for us. Franky’s getting everything ready so as soon as we’re there we can go,” Luffy answered.  

“Curly cook said we’re not allowed on if we don’t come back with you alive.” Zoro’s doing his best to stop his jog from jostling her too much. It’s thoughtful but honestly doesn’t do very much.

She snorted. “I’m super tough, doesn’t he know?” It’s meant to be a joke because honestly, look at the state of her, but Zoro and Luffy only look at her with pride.

“You did really well,” Zoro murmured and his hand under her supporting her squeezed in reassurance.

The rest of the run to the cafeteria was uneventful and they should probably be questioning that but Nami’s too exhausted to bring it up. She’s hungry, in pain and bleeding. All she wanted to do was lay down and sleep.

As soon as they enter the cafeteria, the crew’s there waiting for them just before the small hallway that’d take them to the emergency ship and their faces shift from anxious to relieved.

It’s a short-lived celebration when the vent at the bottom of the cafeteria exploded open and black sludge poured out.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, doesn’t it know when to give up?” Zoro griped and his grip on her tightened.

They’re being ushered then down the small hallway and onto the emergency ship. Franky and Robin are at the front getting ready to leave and Chopper’s flitting around Nami, working quickly to staunch the bleeding. She wondered just how bad she must look when he didn’t immediately panic at first.

They’re watching as from the outside the black sludge was slowly growing bigger as it reformed, and she wondered if Luffy’s previous bombardment of fire had worn it down.

There’s an explosion in the distance that rocked the ship. Not only has that thing found them, but the reactor it sabotaged earlier has finally packed in.

They’re out of time.

“Uhh, Franky, we gotta go. Now,” Sanji warned as he stood at the back door with Luffy beside him and Zoro left her side then to stand with them just in case.

“I’m moving as quickly as I can!” And it’s true, Franky’s hands are furiously flicking switches and pushing buttons as quickly as he could with Robin co-piloting next to him.

Usopp’s down by her feet tinkering with something and Nami almost wanted to scold him that this wasn’t the time for that, but then her eye caught the ripped up top and fluid-filled bottle.

“Are you making a gasoline bomb?” Nami tiredly asked, her head lolled to the side to watch to distract away from the pain as Chopper worked on her shoulder.

“Yeah!” Usopp said proudly. “I started working on it when we were waiting for you three, y’know, in case.” His hands are quickly working as he soaked the top in alcohol (Zoro wouldn’t be happy about that later) and plugged it into the bottle.

“Franky,” Zoro barked.

“I need another minute! Stall!” Franky barked back.

When Nami looked outside she could see why Zoro and Sanji were panicking, Selkie’s almost fully reformed (Nope, not even Selkie’s the right fit). There’s still hints of different suit colours on its body, around the mouths (Nami shuddered to herself), but it doesn’t bother standing on its feet now, instead using the tentacles and long black nails slide out of its hands. She had no idea how something without a face looked enraged and furious, but it did as it screeched.

There’s a commotion at the door as Zoro stepped out, he’d pushed Luffy and Sanji out of the way and was trying to close the door behind him. Nami tried to get up too, but Chopper’s there to push her back down and it doesn’t take much to keep her down.

“Just go,” Zoro shouted, taking a step out of the ships door and facing the monster that’s only advancing by the second in front of him.

“If anyone’s going to be the knight in shining armour, it’s me!” Sanji exclaimed, puffing out his chest to stalk towards the door. Brook just managed to snag his suit to pull him back in.

Luffy’s frowning and Nami knows it’s because he’s not going to let anyone be left behind. Usopp’s calling towards Luffy as he was making his way to the door with instructions to get him inside and duck on his command. Sanji instantly stopped struggling as he pieced it together.  

Not a moment later, Luffy’s wrestling Zoro into the ship as he’s shouting at him and honestly, it’s an amusing sight. Zoro who’s almost twice Luffy’s size being overpowered so easily.

As soon as they’re inside, Usopp’s shouting, “Duck!” and they’re both hitting the floor as Usopp’s lighting the gasoline bomb.

Usopp threw it just as that thing made it to the top of the small hallway and the glass shattered on impact, gasoline spreading over its skin and it’s reeling back as it caught alight, its screeching was almost deafening.

“Close the door!”

Sanji snapped the door shut and then the little ship was blasting off. If the monster hadn’t been hurt enough by Usopp’s gasoline bomb, then it certainly was by the flames that erupted from the back of the ship.

Everybody paused what they were doing, even Chopper had stilled, and watched in silence as they slowly drifted away from their ship. The left side of the ship was slowly melting away as the reactor exploded in on itself and it wouldn’t be long until nothing was left of it.

Nami wasn’t sure how to feel. They’d all escaped with their lives, so this should be classed as a win, but it somehow felt like a loss as she watched her home slowly destroy itself. A few tears were threatening to bubble over at the sight, but she didn’t dare look over at Usopp or Franky.

The feeling was chased away when Zoro sat down next to her, taking her hand and squeezed it.

…

“I still like the name Morph.”

Usopp slapped Luffy.

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

Huge respect for Oda, I hated juggling just 9 characters and he does it with an even bigger cast.

Also, sorry if anyone’s disappointed that there’s no deaths or a ‘real’ imposter. I’m weak. I want happy endings always and I can’t do that if I kill off parts of the straw-fam.

As always, please excuse any errors- especially as I rushed to get this done in time.

Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween!

#ZoNami #ZoNa #zoroxnami #swordgust #opfanfic #opwriting #one piece #zoro #nami

[shiftysdogtags]

MA’AM I have come for some headcanons where you’re in a relationship with Malark and Skip is your best friend PLEASE 🥺

I honestly can't begin to describe my love for Skip and Malarkey. I really really had to include all the little gifs, partly because it's an excuse to use them all and partly because they’re needed to understand where my ramblings were going. I went a bit mad on this and I didn’t know where to stop and sorry I'm not sorry😂 I really hope you love it half as much as I do (so many gifs🙈)

There is so much love in this friendship and it is verbally said. Love in platonic relationships need to be normalised and it's something I am very much here for.

All requests are OPEN. (ships, headcanons and fics for the pacific and band of brothers)

Taglist: @hellitwasyoufirstsergeant @floydtab @curraheewestandalone

The first time Don mentioned you, Skip knew it was love. He couldn’t wait to meet you and see who the girl who stole his best friends’ heart. He knew if Don loved you, you must be really special, and he would love you too.

Skip was slightly jealous of you though because Don spent a lot of time with you. You were all Don could talk about and while Skip knew his friend was in love and he wanted the best for him, he just didn’t want to be forgotten.

When Don introduced you to Skip the first time, he was really nervous because he knows how Skip can be. Skip has no filter and one of his fears was you would take offence to somethings Skip would say, even though he wouldn’t have meant anything bad by it. You are the two most important people in his life. He really wanted the both of you to get on.

What he didn’t expect was the two of you to get on as well as you did. Skip brought out a side of you that Don didn’t know existed. The last thing he expected was for you two become friends straight away and you talked for hours without running out of things to talk about. Poor Don was so in awe he barely said anything and even if he wanted to, he couldn’t get a word in edge ways.  

Sometimes it was like you and Skip were in your own world and there was no one else around to interrupt you. Anyone who was looking in at you two had literally no idea what was going on, except that you were having the time of your life.

Skip loves to include you in on his jokes. Even when he doesn't actively say ‘let’s mess with Don’ you just know by the way he says things and the look that is on his face. Don can be quite gullible, and he believes 90% of everything the both of you say.

He hates it when you team up against him and on occasion, he can get a tiny bit snarky and he goes away on his own to sulk. Both you and Skip act like little school children and beg for forgiveness.

When Don feels like he isn’t getting enough attention he pouts, and he won't stop until he gets a kiss on the cheek. Once he gets his kiss he is back to normal. But I can really see Skip making fun of Malarkey by making kissy noises as he tries to peck his cheek too. Sometimes if he is feeling particularly brave, he will make the kissy noises while pretending to kiss your cheek and Malarkey has to physically pull him off you. It's Skip’s way of telling him to grow up and that he hasn't forgotten about him.

People have asked you if you and Skip were in a relationship. Neither one of you have laughed as much or as hard in all your lives. You're more like the crazy cousins at the family reunion. You just have this deep bond you can't explain to other people. Don has accepted that sometimes it's him that is the third wheel and he has no problem with this because he is so secure in his relationship with you as a partner, and Skip as a friend.

When the three of you are together, and you tell Don you love him, you always tell Skip you love him too, because you do love him. It's not a romantic love so it's said very innocently. You love Skip in a completely platonically way and there is nothing between you but amicable friendship. He says it to you too when he leaves and when he’s feeling particularly emotional. And you better believe Don chases after him if Ship doesn't say it to him.

When you and Skip get together, nothing is off limits. You egg each other on and it's almost as if you're trying to outdo yourselves each time. Everything in your path gets turned upside-down and nothing is spared. Sometimes things get out of hand, and while you have no problem in apologising and admitting wrongdoing, Malarkey is always nearby to help you out.

And if you though the anarchy only applied to you and Skip, it only gets worse when Malarkey joins in. The little trio is sometimes known as the ‘triple threat’. The chaos multiplies tenfold, but it is also somehow more restrained. It is anyone’s guess how this is possible, but it must be due to Don’s restraint and unwillingness to get into trouble.

The three of you have managed to create a whole new level on the sarcasm scale. When most people would hear the three of you and think the joke was taken too far, you all laugh and try to come back with something more sarcastic. It is always harmless banter that flows between you, and you're such an iconic little trio. 

There have been countless times Don has come home and you're chilling with Skip on the sitting room floor looking at the ceiling with crazy straws in some fruity drink. He has learned, the hard way, not to ask questions and more often than not he grabs a cushion and joins in.

Other times he has gotten out of bed and Skip has you covered in flour dancing around the kitchen while attempting to make pancakes. Scenes of mayhem like this are normal. If Skip isn’t around, it almost feels weird as if something is missing because it's too quiet.

As much as Skip loves hanging around with you and Don, he also knows that you both need time alone as a couple and he has no problem with making himself scarce. After all, he knows you're basically all but married to his friend and he doesn't want to outstay his welcome.

Despite them being grown men, they're always messing and they can fight like two kids when one accuses the other of stealing their toy. The only ‘fights’ the two boys have had are little five-minute spats and then all is forgiven. They can never stay mad at each other because they're already onto the next joke, laughing loudly between them.

They have their own little language between them. It’s filled with sarcasm and private jokes. You've picked up on a few key phrases and meaning throughout they years but everything else is a mystery.  

You love to hear them talking about the most random of things and you only get involved if they invite you into the discussion. A serious topic of conversation is rare, but it does happen. There is no judgement between them, each offering advice to the other. The bond between the two men is something you have never experienced before, and you can see the love they have for each other.

Don is Skip’s best friend, end of conversation. Although you have a great relationship with Skip, you know Don comes first for both of you.

#bob headcanons #bob headcanon #bob x reader #band of brothers headcanon #band of brothers headcanons #skip muck x reader #warren muck x reader #Don Malarkey headcanon #Don Malarkey x reader #malarkey x reader #skip muck headcanon #skip muck headcanons #Don Malarkey headcanons #donald malarkey x reader

[whatissleepeven]

...So apparently people liked my Obey Me! hcs and wanted to see more...

I hereby provide you with some more hcs -

Obey Me! Headcanons Part 2 (Demon Brothers + Undateables)

Lucifer checks in on his brothers at ungodly hours of the night to make sure they're actually sleeping + are alright

If one of them is in the middle of a nightmare? He silently walks over and places a hand on their head, gently brushing their bangs out of their face until they calm down (When I was little, my mom did this for me and it was extremely comforting, plus we all know Lucifer is practically their parent)

He always leaves before they wake up, certain that no more nightmares will plague them that night

Most of the time, more than one brother has a nightmare on the same night, so once he's done comforting one he immediately hurries to finish his rounds

It took an innocent question at breakfast for the brothers to piece things together, Lucifer opting to eat breakfast a little bit later since he was "behind on paperwork" (he's an over-achiever)

"I got the best sleep last night!"

Beel nods at Asmo's words, you looking on in dismay as he nonchalantly ate a piece of his plate. "Me too."

Mammon jabs a thumb at himself. "Well, I got the best sleep! Must be because I'm makin' more money nowadays!"

Satan rolls his eyes, contributing to the conversation. "I'll admit that I have been sleeping better as of late. Levi, Belphie?"

The darker-haired twin was half asleep, but he nods once. Levi makes a noise of agreement, eyes focused on his gaming console.

"As long as you guys are getting enough sleep, it's all good right?" You smile, seeing each of them smile back in agreement.

Then in walks Lucifer, who looks...less-than-stellar. He's a tad bit paler than usual, there are bags underneath his eyes; it seems that his "late night rendezvous" is finally catching up to him.

Asmo's shriek is the first thing that alerts you all. "Lucifer, what on earth happened to you?! Your complexion, it's...!"

Beel swallowed the remaining food in his mouth, staring at Lucifer with an unnerving intensity. "...Sleep?"

Lucifer waves him off curtly, taking his seat. "No need for worry, Beel; I get enough. Good morning to you all as well."

Mammon's eyes are wide. "Lucifer, you look like the dead! What the hell happened to ya?!"

Lucifer began to eat from his plate, but his eyes flashed in mild irritation. "Paperwork. Now, focus on your studies; there is a test on Celestial Architecture later today."

His words have the others scrambling, but Satan peers at him for a while longer as he fits the pieces together. He glances at you to see if you've come to the same conclusion, smiling when you nod.

"You'll make a fine detective yet."

That being said, the brother who watches mystery films with Satan is actually Levi. The otaku claims it was for "character design ideas", but you've found the two exchanging theories numerous times as the film progresses

Simeon likes to make grilled cheese and send them over to the House of Lamentation from time to time. It's a battle: Everyone vs. Beel, who seems to have a sixth sense for the angel's food

"What the- Beel! Don't eat it all before we can get a bite!"

"Sorry...it's just so good."

Good luck trying to get a taste of Barbatos' food whenever he sends some over

Beel's third eye + sixth sense have activated and no leftovers are to be had

While Satan and Levi watch mysteries together (Lucifer sometimes opting to stand in the doorway and watch over their shoulders, but whether he's watching the film or watching his brothers bond is anyone's guess), Asmo and Mammon binge rom coms together

Mammon will deny it, though; especially if someone asks him if he got a pickup line from one of them

"Ugh, why can't they just get together already?! They clearly like each other, so what's stopping 'em?!"

Asmo gives him a nonplussed look. "Honey, it's called drama. And that's rich, coming from you."

"Wh-Whaddya mean by that?!" *Proceeds to try the same moves seen in the movie on you the next day, only for each attempt to fall flat*

Beel likes watching found family movies

He used to watch them alone after they Fell, remembering how much Lilith liked to sit with him and listen to his thoughts as they enjoyed it together. At the time, it was a source of comfort even though it made his heart ache

Surprisingly, it wasn't Belphie who found him first: it was Mammon. It was late at night, but he was a little hungry so he was making his way to the kitchen when he heard the TV

Seeing Beel and what was playing made him understand immediately what was happening, so without a word he tossed a bag of chips at Beel as he sat down

"Mammon?"

He hated seeing the deep sadness in Beel's eyes. He hated feeling like a failure. And most of all, he hated the rut everyone was stuck in. "How far in are ya?"

Beel's smile was radiant in the dark cover of night, his hand reaching to rewind the movie. "Not long."

Before they knew it, they were on their third movie and Belphie and Asmo had joined them, Levi coming in shortly after

Satan joined after hearing a laugh from the living room. He had glanced at the clock: 11:47pm. It was late, and usually he's the only one up at this time, so of course he investigated the source if the noise

"What's going on?"

"Ah, Satan!" Asmo waved him over, scooting so he had a spot on the couch. "I know it's not your style, but come watch with us!"

Satan realized what was happening. "In a minute." He was actually the one to go get Lucifer, threatening to bust down his door if he didn't get out this instant

"Yes, I abhor you with every fiber of my being, but it's not me who needs you right now."

Once Lucifer joined, everyone temporarily forgot about the crushing weight of failure on their shoulders. They could relax and have fun without worrying about the consequences, and it made Beel incredibly happy to see that those he cared about could still smile even after everything they've been through. They were so strong, stronger than him, and he's blessed to have them as his family -

"Beel, you're shakin' the couch!"

Levi's eyes widened. "Wh- Mammon! Catch the popcorn!"

"Oh sh- "

It ended up going all over Lucifer. The eldest blinked, and the silence that had descended upon them was broken with the sound of laughter.

"Sorry, Lucifer," Beel said honestly, standing up, "I'll go get a new bowl. Or two. Maybe three."

"It's alright, Beel." Lucifer flicked some bits at his laughing brothers (not even Satan was safe), smirking once their mirth turned into cries of indignation. "Belphie, pause the movie. It seems you all need to learn some manners."

It was a weak excuse and they knew it. Mammon threw some popcorn back at him, yelling "FOOD FIGHT!!" and the war begun

Beel stood in the entryway five minutes later, a big smile on his face as he watched his brothers have fun.

"I think we needed this." Belphie's voice came from his right. The other had somehow managed to escape the chaos intact, and for the first time since the Fall he seemed to be at peace. "So thank you, Beel."

Beel shook his head. "I should be thanking you all instead."

Belphie gave him an exasperated look. "Beel, just take the compliment for once."

And so he did.

Now, whenever Beel feels like watching a movie, everyone joins

You are not exempt from this, either

"(Y/N), come on. Everyone's waiting."

"Huh?"

Beel would always smile, wide and pure and innocent as nostalgia fills his eyes. "We're all watching movies together."

You scramble to get up. "I'll be right there!"

Mammon is a walking meme and he's the only one who doesn't know it

"Mammon, stop! You're gonna get in trouble!"

"What? Pfft, I'll be fine (Y/N)! The Great Mammon knows what he's doin'!"

He does not know what he's doing

He then gets into trouble, and the rest is history

Unlike what most people think, Asmo does like baking and appreciates it immensely

If you have a sweet tooth, be prepared to sample nearly everything he makes

It's okay; what you can't finish (or eat, since some desserts are fatal to humans), Beel eats

Belphie and Levi search the deep web together. Conversations with them the following day are always interesting.

"(Y/N), did you know that humans can only go 400 feet without using scuba gear before the water pressure becomes too great for their lungs to handle?"

"Oh yeah, and did you know that once they return to the surface, they cough up blood as their bodies attempt to reach homeostasis again? Humans are so fragile."

Dark humor usually comes from these two as well, but sometimes Beel says something dark purely on accident and it's always hilarious to hear it

Levi slams his hands down onto the dining table at dinner one day, eyes wide with a sudden realization. He opens his mouth, and you can just hear the mental "oh no"s coming from everyone.

"In the event of a nuclear blast, there's an instant where every single frozen pizza in a supermarket is cooked to perfection."

Asmo stills. Mammon chokes on his food. Lucifer pinches the bridge of his nose and lets out a deep, world-weary sigh as you preform the Heimlich Maneuver on the Avatar of Greed.

Belphie, who looks strangely more awake than usual, just grins. "The same could be said of every human within the blast radius."

"Mmm," Beel hums as he swallows his food, a happy smile on his face, "Flavor Town!"

Satan snorts, covering it up with a cough as Belphie starts chuckling. You do too, if your brand of humor is dark as well.

Lucifer just wants the ground to envelop him whole, leaving not a trace behind. "Beel...no."

You thought Solomon's antics were done? Think again

In fact, the more time that passes, the worse and more frequent they get

One time at RAD, you caught him and Asmo hanging out outside, although Asmo was less "hanging out" and more "pole dancing without a care in the world"

Solomon had shades on (where did he get them? Nobody may know), and was aggressively singing "Somebody come get 'err, she's dancin' like a stripperrr. SOMEBODY COME GET 'ERR - "

You backed away immediately and could not take them seriously for the rest of your stay

Luke only visits you when he's certain that most of the brothers aren't around. He's fine if Beel is there, though, and usually bakes for him while talking with you

"If you ever need a break from these demons, Purgatory Hall is always open for you!"

"Luke, Beel's eating your batter again."

"Wh- BEEL!"

Solomon tries to introduce Simeon to human slang, and you end up becoming his unwitting accomplice. It does not go well.

Diavolo picked it up, though, and Lucifer glares at you whenever he says something strange

"Solomon, (Y/N)...would you say that demon over there had their "wig snatched"? Did I use it right?"

"Mm-hm, yup," You manage to choke out as Solomon is trembling beside you with laughter. If looks could kill, Lucifer would have both you and your future children decimated. "You got it right, Dia- Lord Diavolo."

Diavolo would never fail to light up, a smile on his face as he beamed. "I see. Human language never fails to amaze me!"

Lucifer refused to let you hang out with Solomon without at least one of his brothers there to supervise you. God knows what kind of mischief you two would get up to.

(Thank you for checking this out! Should I keep making these? Let me know what you think!)

#the whole underwater thing? and actual conversation my sister and I had late at night #we looked up the answers and were not disappointed #an* wow my typos while tagging are...well #obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me headcanons #obey me luficer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphie #obey me belphegor #obey me solomon #obey me simeon #obey me luke #obey me barbatos #obey me diavolo #gn reader #gender neutral reader #gender neutral mc #should i start taking requests? let me know what you think! #long post

[ships-for-you]

Dl and free matchup, if possible? I’m a 5’4, ISFJ and leo/virgo cusp female. I have an hourglass figure, darkgreen eyes, long blonde hair and fair skin. I’m usually quiet, but can be loud. I’m stubborn, thoughtful, headstrong, straightforward, but also secretly emotional. I like being active, reading, cooking, new adventures, scary things, fashion, music, art, animals and sybaritic tastes. I dress according to mood. I’m very into dark humour. I’m both serious and relaxed. thx!😇

I'd like to note that for your DL matchup, it could be a bit triggering(?) Or violent, in that regard. It could also be a bit offensive but when it comes to the DL fandom, we can only expect this much.😅

For Free, I ship you with Sosuke Yamazaki!

I personally found you to be Sosuke’s type.

Being quite stubborn and headstrong, I feel as if someone as level-headed and composed such as Sosuke will be able to keep someone like you on the correct mindset.

Sosuke is the type of person that although doesn’t openly state his feelings a lot, he’ll be sure to express it through his actions to compensate since that’s just in his character to do so.

He may always seem like he doesn’t care,

 and usually he doesn’t, since he doesn’t like to sweat the small stuff,

but he does and it shows with people he’s close to like Rin, and his group mates.

Sosuke isn’t particularly interested in relationships, I feel like but if he does feel like it,

he’ll know.

You’d have to be a friend of Gou’s or the Iwatobi swim team since Samezuka is an all-boy’s school so…

Like you would have to have been a transfer student because you wanted to experience the luxury of Japan firsthand, or something like that.

You’d probably bond with Gou over more feminine things like the cutesier side of your fashion tastes and the like.

When you like stuff like skirts, dresses, blouses or whatever, you’re pretty self-indulgent with it and tend to burn cash on it since you know you’ll look good in it, so why not?

Gou would be your shopping buddy, whether you actually buy something or just window shopping and eating sweets and stuff, she knows you and likes you.

Even if sometimes you may come across as snobby.

Rei likes you for his interest in all things beautiful so your appreciation and understanding for art so you two also bond in that regard.

You would have met Sosuke when you were cheering for Iwatobi as they were against Samezuka while training.

You would be observing each person’s swimming style just because you saw how different and diverse they mostly were.

Sosuke would’ve noticed you when practice was nearly over as he saw you conversing with the Iwatobi members and complimenting them for the power and grace they exuded while swimming.

At first he noticed your pale hair that wasn’t so natural of a color for an asian.

Then he noticed you just weren’t of their continent entirely.

He is intrigued by your style and physique because he’s never seen anyone like you in real life and not from the internet or magazines.

He honestly thought you could be a model and he’d pay good money for magazines you’d feature in…

But then he remembers that ew, that sounds creepy and really perverted also, he’s been staring in your general direction so not only has he gained the attention of Haruka’s team,

He also gained yours.

So he’d immediately turn away and pretend like nothing happened.

He’d start seeing you more often when you’re at competitions or tournaments, rooting for your friends 

Or maybe even at times he comes to visit Rin in his house and you’d answer the door because you probably were hanging out with Gou.

He’d start to develop more substantial feelings for you later on but if you expect him to confess immediately after realizing it, he wouldn’t.

Because at times, you do genuinely annoy him but then he also thinks you’re pretty chill to hang out with.

The way that you kind of suppress your emotions or what you’re feeling helps him understand why he’s also like that in regards to keeping his feelings and how it must make other people feel.

He’ll tell you how he feels after he fully understood the extent of his feelings and confess with a grand gesture that he’s probably been saving and planning for months just because he think you’ll prefer it that way.

If it’s what the lady wants, he’ll deliver.

For Diabolik Lovers, I ship you with Reiji Sakamaki!

Again, like most of my character matchups, the characters seem like they don’t have much in common with the sender of the request.

Here, it’s sort of different.

In all honesty, I didn’t doubt for a second that Reiji would be your match.

From the moment you set foot in the manor to accompany Yui, you were screwed.

But honestly, if it weren’t for the no killing rule and you being included in it as well, you would not have survived you first 3 days.

You weren’t as devoted to your religion as Yui was, or religious in general, and so you had little to nothing limiting your perception of what may be real and what couldn’t.

So when you started to notice something suspicious about your whole predicament and the unsettling aura your friend’s “relatives” were embodying, you were certain there was something wrong.

“They’re vampires, I know it.” “I don't think my-” “I’m telling you Yui, I know they’re vampires. What else could they be?”

And guess what? You were right.

Time progresses and it’s obvious your little companion had been the target of majority of the siblings mainly because they got more of a kick out of her expressions.

It really doesn't do for most of them to have someone as strong-willed or headstrong as you since it’s too bothersome.

Except for one,

Well, let’s be honest, there are actually 2 but nobody really cares about the other one,

Reiji will absolutely not take your bullshit, your disobedience, your “Insubordination.” as he calls it.

At first he enjoyed the fact that you were relatively quiet and so no additional noise was heard within the walls of the mansion as he’s, apparently,” heard enough tongues flap in their idiotic mouths.” already.

But because you were silent, you showed your resilience through your actions such as wandering around places you weren't supposed to, 

Touching things you weren't supposed to just because they seemed expensive and therefore pretty,

And occasionally stopping the others from feeding off of Yui.

That bothered him immensely, who are you to tell creatures, far superior in comparison to you, what to do? To hinder them from what they want and need?

Also to note, the fact you look quite similar to his older brother and his late mother?

Girl,

Your very existence is a THREAT to his "polite" reputation.

He simply cannot wait to torture you, discipline you until you know your place.

He wants to hear you scream, you've got a mouth, might as well get it to work.

Your blood isn't the best but he just adores the expression on your face, the satisfaction and gratification he feels when he knows he's driving you near the edge...

He doesn't allow you the luxury of dying though, which is unfortunate.

He does cater to your desires at times.

Although, in the end, it mostly benefits him. For example,

Showcasing his prized fine china set. Preparing tea for you in one of the most beautiful cups you've ever seen,

Only for the tea to be poisoned, or drugged.

He'd strike you hard with his whip, should you show your subordination again.

Oh, but only with his best one, made with the finest of Italian leather. You'd like that, won't you?

Oh, you care for fashion, don't you? He'll be sure to dress you up according to your status in his eyes.

So a maid outfit will have to do.

Sometimes, he's punished you by keeping you bare and cold and so you'd occasionally get sick. Peasants don't usually have clothes unless they beg for rags.

But you know better than to beg, don't you?

He's training you to be the only woman worthy of his time. His ideal woman.

His ideal blood bag.

So what if you're not the Eve? You're his and his alone. He'll keep you with him until he becomes Adam either way.

It doesn't matter if he keeps you as his little spoiled pet or his high-maintenance servant.

You're his and his alone.

~~~~~|~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~|

#diabolik lovers headcanons #diabolik lovers ship #diabolik lovers x reader #free iwatobi swim club #free iwatobi swim team #free! x reader #free! ship #reiji sakamaki x reader #reiji sakamaki

[blueboxesandtrafficcones]

Second Chance at Forever - Chapter 12

Chapter 12 of this year’s entry for the @dwsecretsanta, my present to @wordsintimeandspace!  Beta’d by the always-kind @stupidsatsuma​.  Thank you!

@doctorroseprompts​ and @timepetalscollective​ as an AU fic

General warnings for: alcohol use, cursing, discussions of sexual activities

Masterlist

AO3

Summary

Once upon a time, a boy and girl met at a bar and fell in love - until he ghosted her.

Five years later Rose Tyler’s best friend Mickey is getting married, and arranges a dinner for her to meet the groomsman she’ll be walking with - unaware that the two already know each other.

John Noble’s not sure how his friend and mentee managed to connive with the Universe to bring the One Who Got Away back into his life; all he knows it carefully built and maintained walls are crashing to the ground with no warning.

Rose bounced on her toes as she waited impatiently.  After a month apart, the last twenty minutes since John texted her that he was off the plane had been excruciating.  Technically he had texted Donna, thinking it was his sister who was picking him up, but she had forwarded the message to Rose who was eager to surprise him.

Finally he walked out into the waiting area, and she was practically vibrating with excitement as she waited for him to notice her.  He had his mobile pressed to his ear when he spotted her, a wide smile spreading across his face as he lowered the device.  “Rose!”

“Hi!”  They ran to each other, John dropping his duffel so he could catch her in his arms.  “I missed you!”

He kissed her in response, bending her backwards, and she just held him tighter.  Wolf whistles and clapping broke their concentration, and he slowly lowered her back to her feet as they remembered they were in the busy Arrivals section of Heathrow.

“I missed you so much,” he murmured, tucking her hair behind her ears and searching her eyes.  “You have no idea.”

“I have some idea,” she replied breathlessly, damn near giggling with glee.  He looked good, tanner and leaner than when he left, and ridiculously happy to see her.  The feeling was mutual.

“How long do we have before the Ball tonight?”

“Four hours.”

“Mhmm.”  He sampled her lips again, before finally letting go enough to grab his bag off the ground so they could walk towards the car, hand in hand.  “Plenty of things we could do in four hours.”

“I’m going to need most of that time to get ready,” Rose said apologetically, “but I’ve got your tux and things at mine, so you can at least ogle my bum while I put my makeup on.”

“Fair enough.”

Three and a half hours later they slid into the limo, John laughing softly as the driver shut the door.  “Quite the change from my ride to the airport this morning.”

“I’m so glad you’re home,” she sighed, resting her head on his bicep.  “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.  But… I think the time apart was good,” he said hesitantly, and Rose stiffened.

“How so?”  Sitting up straight she turned to face him, not soothed by his nervous expression.  He’d been eager to see her, but had that been a front? Was he biding his time?  Was he going to run again?

John glanced down at his hands, unable to meet her eye, and panic surged through her.  “I realized… looking at the devastation, the people who’ve lost everything, really puts one’s own life into perspective,” he hedged.  “I had a few revelations.”

“About us?”  Fear and anger were clawing at her throat, but she fought them back to concentrate on what he was saying.  Assumptions about the other’s feelings had torpedoed their initial relationship; she wouldn’t let that happen again.

“Yes.”

“And?”

Finally meeting her eye, it took a moment to process the tentative smile on his face.  “I love you, Rose.  I want to spend my life with you.”

The dull roaring in her ears made her freeze, as she stared at him wide eyed.  “What?”  It was so far from what she was expecting, what she was preparing herself for, she could barely wrap her mind around it, her heart pounding.

His smile slipped for a moment, but he soldiered on.  “I’m not proposing or anything, right now or even in the foreseeable future, but… that’s what I want.  That’s the future I want.”

“With me?” Rose asked, breathless.

He nodded, and she threw her arms around his neck to pull his lips down to hers.  “Me too,” she mumbled, and they didn’t stop until the driver buzzed over the intercom.

“Miss Tyler?”

“Mhmm, yes?”  They broke apart, Rose trying to focus on something other than John’s lips on her neck or how wonderful it felt being in his lap.

“We’ve just about arrived.  Would you like me to drive around the block before letting you off?”

Rose pulled away enough to look them both over.  The neckline of her dress was bunched around her waist, John’s palms still massaging her bare breasts, while his own shirt was half unbuttoned, tie discarded, and lipstick covering the lower half of his face.

“Make it twice.”

By the third time around the block they were perfectly pulled together, and Rose waited until the driver opened the door to casually throw over her shoulder, “By the way, there might be some press.”

She stepped out into starbursts of camera flashes, her best heiress smile on her face as she waited for John to catch up.  He settled one arm across her back, palm flat on her opposite hip, and they walked the red carpet together. They only stopped for pictures twice, ignoring any and all questions shouted their way.

Once through the doors they paused to take in the hall.  Every year they rented the Neptune Court at the National Maritime Museum, and it was incredible to see through John’s eyes as he stopped dead next to her.

Rose always helped to plan and set up the event, and she’d seen it just that morning before picking him up at Heathrow.  After more than ten years of attending it had lost some of the ‘wow’ factor, but watching him take it in let her see it as though for the first time again.

“This is incredible,” he murmured, awed.

Smiling, she stepped closer to bump his shoulder with hers.  “Thanks, we put a lot of work into it.  The galleries are open to us as well.  Come on!”

They took a turn through some of the galleries, mostly focused on catching up on their respective month apart and luxuriating in being in the other’s presence again.  By the time they returned to the main hall the band had started playing, and a few couples were out already out on the dance floor.

“Shall we?” John offered, holding out his hand.

“All right.”

He guided her out to the floor, taking a moment to set up properly before they started to waltz.  “Seemed like a good idea to practice,” he murmured, “considering how long ago that lesson was.”

“Practice makes perfect,” she replied, giving him a teasing smile and letting her tongue peek out between her teeth.  His steps faltered, and she laughed.  “By the way.”

“Hmm?”

“You said something earlier…”

“I said a lot of things.  Bit of a gob, me.”

She pinched his side.  “Something you maybe expected me to repeat?”

He pretended to ponder, spinning her out and then back in tighter than before.  “I don’t like to brag, but yes, my arse does look pretty good tonight as well.  I forgive you for not saying it, though.”

“John.”

He stopped dancing, and they let the other couples swirl around them as they gazed into each other’s eyes.  “I love you, Rose.”

“I love you too.”

Mindful of their public location they kept the kiss light and sweet, but the joy in his eyes when they pulled away made her want to drag him to a dark corner.

“Rose!”  Her mother’s voice popped their happy bubble, and groaning, Rose led him off the dance floor to their table.  They were front and center by the stage, Jackie standing next to two unknown women.

“Hi, Mum.”

“Rose, you look stunning!” Jackie gushed, though Rose’s attention was instantly diverted when John made an odd choking noise.  “That’s a beautiful dress. Hello, John.”

He ignored her, causing Jackie to huff.  His focus was on their tablemates, staring with an absolutely gobsmacked expression.

The women were staring back, surprise and confusion on their faces.  They were very different, though they had matching expressions.  The one on the left was John’s age, a willowy redhead in pale yellow, while the one on the right was a brunette in her mid-twenties who was clearly less comfortable in fancy dress than the other based on how she kept shifting.

“Hi, John,” the redhead murmured, and he nodded stiffly, darting panicked looks in Rose’s direction.

“Liz.”

The brunette glanced between the two awkwardly.  “Hey, Professor.”

She got a half-smile from John.  “Hi, Ace.”

“Rose, this is Doctor Liz Shaw, she’s the Manager of Operations for Doctors Overseas, and Dorothy McShane, she manages the volunteers,” Jackie filled the awkward silence.  “This is my daughter Rose.”

“Nice to meet you,” Rose said politely, getting smiles from both women and wave from Dorothy before turning to John.  “Do you need a minute?”

His grip on her hand tightened, and even if she wanted to she couldn’t walk away.  “Um, no.  No. Sorry, I just… didn’t expect to see them here.”  He met Rose’s eye then, sighing as he said, “Liz and I were together when we were in med school.”

“Ah.”  Rose didn’t know what to say; the tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife, and she couldn’t honestly tell if he was just surprised or if more was happening she didn’t know.  “That’s nice.”

“He got back this afternoon from Haiti,” Dorothy volunteered.  “He’s been there since the hurricane struck.”

Liz laughed softly, shaking her head.  “That’s John in a crisis – first in, last out.”

“So you all know each other?”  As fishing expeditions went it wasn’t the most delicate, but for Jackie it was downright James Bond level inquiry.

“John and I were in the same year,” Liz explained, giving Rose a smile.  “We stayed friends for a while, but lost touch.”

“He saved my life,” Dorothy added.  “I was in India when that big tsunami hit, just a teenager on my own.  I got trapped on the top floor of a hotel for three days, and he was the first of the rescue team to reach my floor.  First face I saw after all that time thinking I was going to die. I’ve worked with Doctors Overseas ever since, as thanks and repayment.”

Everyone fell silent, and the two women stared at Rose and John expectantly.  “And you?” Dorothy finally asked bluntly.

“Ace!” John hissed before sighing.  “This is Rose.  My girlfriend.”

After a moment, a wide grin broke across Liz’s face.  “If half your mother’s stories are true, it sounds like you’re perfect for each other.”

John relaxed all at once as Dorothy nodded in agreement.  “Good on you, Professor!”

“No Michael?”  John let go of Rose’s hand only to wrap it around her waist, and she went willingly into his arms as the tension broke.

Liz laughed.  “At the bar, of course, with Liam.”

“You brought your brother?” John raised an eyebrow at Dorothy, who shrugged.

“Mia had to go to New York for work.”  Then she turned to Rose, a mischievous glint in her eye.  “So, tell us about you.”

Dinner was a blast, and despite John’s initial discomfort the three women hit it off like gangbusters.  Liz and Dorothy, or Ace as she insisted, kept the table in stitches as they regaled them with tales of John’s various misadventures, and he spent most of dinner with his head in his hands in embarrassment, though she caught all the smiles he tried to hide.  By the end he was contributing to the stories as well, more animated than he’d ever been in front of her parents.

Jackie and Pete were engaged as well, laughing and joking, and it made her happier than words could describe to see some of the people she loved most in the world getting along so well.  She knew they had concerns about John’s age, but they seemed to be getting past that, which made her happy.

Now more than ever Rose was sure John was her future, and she spent half the evening warring with herself over the immediate implications.

She didn’t think he’d noticed until they were back in the limo heading to her place.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Hmm?”  Rose blinked, turning her head from where she’d blindly been staring out the window at the passing London skyline.

John took her hand, rubbing his thumb soothingly over the back.  It didn’t escape her notice how often it passed over the base of a specific finger, and she briefly wondered if he was imagining a ring there like she was.  “You’ve been distracted all evening.  Is something wrong?”

“No,” she said truthfully, giving him a small smile, “I’m just… thinking.”

His lips tightened.  “Is this about Liz?  Or Ace?  Ace was always just a friend, more like a kid sister.  And Liz and I… that ended a long time ago, on good terms.  She’s been happily married for more than a decade, and I’ve never once wished I was Michael.”

“Really?  Not even for his ten percent stake in West Ham?”  Rose laughed at his guilty expression.  “It’s all right, really.  So you have a past.  As long as it is a past, and I don’t doubt you there, then all I’ll say is it was really nice getting to know other people who care about you.”

“If it’s not them, then what?”  John’s other hand came up to brush hair out of her eyes before cupping her cheek.  “Please.  You’re… making me nervous.”

They pulled up in front of her building then, and she darted forward to kiss him briefly.  “Upstairs.”

After tipping the driver and saying goodnight to Wilf as he fussed over them in their fancy dress, Rose led him into her flat and headed for her sofa, flopping down with a relieved groan.  “D’you mind getting some wine?”

Only a second later a cork popped free behind her, and she grinned to know they were on the same page with that at least.

“Red?”

“Please.”

By the time she had her shoes off and feet curled under her, he was settling next to her on the sofa and handing over a glass.  They silently toasted before taking a sip, Rose sinking deeper into the cushions.

“Quite the day,” she started slowly, leaning her elbow on the back of the couch and propping her head on her hand as she stared at him.

“Best I’ve had in a month,” he smiled.  “I’m with you.”  He slowly twirled the wine glass in his fingers before setting it down on the coffee table in front of them.  “What about you?”

“I’m with you,” she repeated simply.  “And, I do love you.”

His face lit up like the sun, a beaming smile that brought an echoing one to her own.  “I love you too.  I have for a long time.”

“Me too.”  Her eyes darted down to her wine glass.  “Um, about that-” He stayed silent, waiting her out, and she swallowed.  “Listen, John-”  She momentarily reconsidered.  Would it be so bad?  But then she thought about the promises she had made herself when they started this, and stiffened her spine.  “You may have had certain expectations after a… a moment like this, but… well, I mean- it’s just-”

Rose closed her eyes and groaned softly.

“You still want to wait for sex.”  He read her mind, tone carefully neutral.

“Yes.”  She peeked at him, and was relieved to not find an angry expression.  “Is that okay?”

“Oh, love.”  His eyes crinkled, smile widening, and he settled his hand on her knee.  “Of course it is.  We had an agreement, and I’m determined to see it through.  I don’t want you to have any doubts of my intentions.”

“I don’t.”

“And I don’t doubt yours.  But we made a promise.  We’ll wait until the weekend of the wedding, and not a second sooner.  Or longer.  It’s nine weeks now.  It’ll fly.”

Rose smiled, taking one last gulp of her wine before settling the glass down on the table.  “How did I get so lucky?”

“I’m the lucky one.  I screwed up five years ago, and it was the worst mistake I ever made.  To even be sitting here with you now…  I’m the luckiest damn bastard in the world.”

They met in the middle, kissing softly.  When they eventually pulled apart to breathe, Rose let out a sigh.  “You still want to stay the night?”

“I’d stay every night,” he whispered.  “Here, mine… If I wake up next to you, it’s going to be a good day.  And falling asleep with you in my arms is better than anything.  A month without you proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt, not that I had any.”

“Okay.”

John pulled back enough to meet her eyes.  “What?”

“Okay.”  She blinked, realizing what exactly she was saying.  “Let’s move in together.”

A wide smile spread across his face before quickly falling.  “My lease isn’t up until December 31st.”

“So move in slowly,” Rose shrugged, before wrinkling her nose.  “Er, if that’s what you want.  Would you rather find somewhere different?”  She looked around, trying to imagine no longer living here.  It was her first home, the first place to be her very own, and she loved it.  Glancing back at him she knew she loved him more, and would move if that’s what he wanted.

“You own this place, right?”

“Yes.”

John shook his head.  “At least for now, this is perfect.  Anywhere with you would be perfect.  And if we ever need more room… we’ll reconsider then.”

It took a moment to process his meaning, and her voice took on a teasing tone.  “More room, huh?  Got a lot of stuff?”

“Mhmm, tons,” he deadpanned, tugging her onto his lap.  “Pictures, paperwork, albums.  Furniture.”

“All of which will go in my spare bedroom?”  Rose shifted, hiking her skirt up high enough to straddle him, making him smile as warm palms settled on her bare thighs.

“Or storage.  I was thinking sooner or later… maybe something living could take up space there?”

“Living?  Like a puppy?!” she playfully gasped, kissing the tip of his nose.

John laughed.  “Sure.  Puppies, kittens, tiny homemade people, plants… whatever we want.”

“So, just to reconfirm,” she paused to kiss his mouth, “no sex until December, you move in between now and then, and somewhere down the road we pull a Frankenstein?”

“I am a medical doctor like he was, how hard could it be?  And I’m moving in before December?”

Rose leaned back to meet his eye, laughing.  “Babe.  Once this wedding happens, we are not leaving the bedroom.  Possibly for the rest of the year.  You really want to waste time we could be shagging on boring things like moving?”

“Fair enough,” he grinned.  “On one condition.”

“Name it.”

“Let’s not just limit ourselves to the bedroom.”

“Doctor Noble, I like the way you think.”

#bbatcfic #doctorroseprompts #timepetalscollective #ficandchips #dwsecretsanta #doctor who #Human!NinexRose #human!nine #rose tyler #au #second chance at forever #oohlala

[bluerosesburnblue]

Liz Liveblogs Bravely Second: Final Thoughts

Alright, as promised, let’s take a deep dive into my experience with Bravely Second. I’ve done the postgame, not really much to talk about. All it really is is unused dungeons that appeared in Default, but not Second, repurposed to hold missing enemies with a set encounter rate. Game’s been 100% completed besides some of the Ba’al bestiary entries, which I’m working on. (And by 100% I mean all Bestiary entries completed, all item/equipment journal entries completed, all character levels and job levels maxed out, all songs unlocked in Chompcraft, and all Titles collected.) So, now that there’s nothing left to do but hope for the best at Fort-Lune, I’ve taken some time to organize my thoughts and gone back through the liveblog to see if any of my opinions have changed

Speaking of the liveblog, I saved it in a word document when the Tumblr purge happened, just in case, and that thing ended up being 98 pages/53823 words long. So wow. That’s more than the entirety my college thesis paper. Kinda nuts how much I can write when I’m motivated. So now I’m gonna write EVEN MORE

Major spoilers for Bravely Default, Bravely Second, and also Undertale follow below

I suppose I should start this post by talking briefly about my history with the series, since I only liveblogged Bravely Second and don’t think I’ve said much about Default before

I beat Bravely Default about three years ago (shortly before November 8, 2015 if the email I sent to my best pal anheiressofasoldier, who I will not tag as she’s avoiding Bravely Second spoilers, is any indication). I binged the game while at college, because I wanted to be able to play Bravely Second when it came out (...whoops). Around the time I really started getting into the game, indie darling Undertale came out, and I spent a lot of my time bouncing between playing Bravely Default and having Undertale playthroughs going in the background while doing schoolwork/grinding in BD. I learned one thing about my tastes during that time: I really love meta plots in games and the way that they both utilize the system’s capabilities to mess with the player and integrate the player into the story, expanding the lore and fostering the sense that you, behind the screen, really are a part of this story and a member of the world of the game, just like all of the other characters. It is a fascinating story mechanism, and it’s a surefire way to get me invested in the narrative

Makes it kind of funny that the Undertale spiritual sequel/AU, Deltarune, came out just as I was finishing Bravely Second. I guess the two series will always be tied together for me

For those unaware and who also don’t care about spoilers, Bravely Default and Undertale are both RPGs with similar twists at the end. Namely that you, the Player, are a full-blown character and active participant in the world of the story. And also that saving the game is an in-universe thing. Bravely Default reveals during its final boss battle that another realm exists, the Celestial Realm, and when it’s depicted the game uses the 3DS camera to show the player’s face, creating the narrative that the villain, Ouroboros, is attempting to break out of the “game” into the “real world,” and the entire plot of the game has been revolving around this fact. It is also revealed that “The Celestial” has been keeping Tiz alive and guiding him, and when he severs the bond between himself and the Celestial, he collapses and the game ends. You, the player, lose control of the character because he breaks your bond, which means you can’t play anymore

The first hint that there may be more to Undertale’s story of a human falling into the Underground land of monsters is during the final boss of a Neutral run (necessary to get the Pacifist ending and the first ending most people see), where the main villain, Flowey, abruptly crashes the game. Booting it up again causes the intro to glitch out and the save file to show what appears to be Flowey’s own save file. When accessed, the player is loaded into a black void with nothing but a save point. Accessing that causes Flowey to delete your save file (not unlike what Providence tries in Bravely Second), which begins the final fight against him. During the fight, he makes use of Save States to reload you back into the way of his attacks. This messing around with the player’s save data is only the first part of the game’s meta twist. Another reveal happens at the end of its Genocide route, where the player actively guides their character into eradicating every last monster in the Underground. You have to actively stay in each area of the game and kill everything you see until every enemy encounter becomes a blank screen with the message “But nobody came...” There’s no way to just accidentally end up on this route. Like, I cannot stress that enough. Very few people actually see the Genocide route, but its reveal is integral to understanding the overarching story

The final boss of the Genocide route is designed to actively screw with the UI (which is what I referenced when fighting Providence). His attacks change the shape of your action box, where you’re intended to dodge attacks in bullet hell segments, around. Some of his attacks are in the menu, hitting your icon in the text box and the buttons to select your action for each turn, constantly damaging you. There’s no downtime in this fight. You have to always be moving, because now he’s attacking your safe zones, just like Providence’s Bravely Second attack. There is no safe place from damage against these bosses. The trick to beating Undertale’s Genocide boss is to wait him out and dodge his attacks until he’s tired, and then use the time he’s asleep to move the action box into the menu to access your commands. Then, at the very end, you’re taken to a void and speak to a child you’ve never seen before, who informs you that you’ve both been controlling the main character of the game, Frisk. In a Neutral or Pacifist run of the game, this child is content to let you take control, and in fact may not even awaken as an entity possessing Frisk at all. In a Genocide run, however, they get so gung-ho about killing that they take control from you at various points. Noticeably, in the Genocide route, “Frisk” seems to act on their own a lot in cutscenes, something that they only do occasionally in other routes. The Mysterious Child informs you that they are the Fallen Child that the player named in the beginning, and that they also believe that they are some manifestation of... I don’t know how to phrase this. Game addiction? Completionist tendencies? They call themself “the feeling you get when your stats go up” or something along those lines. They ask you to destroy the world of Undertale with them and move on to the next game, where you’ll do the process over again together, killing all enemies and the “beating the game,” over and over until there’s nothing left. Accept their offer and the games ends there, the game’s world is erased. Refuse, and the Fallen Human informs you that you were never in control and attacks the player directly, causing damage numbers to be displayed across the screen and the game to crash instantly after. Booting it up again in either situation leaves you with nothing but a black screen with wind noises. 10 minutes after booting up that screen, the Fallen Human will offer to reset things so long as you sell them your soul. Accept, and every time you play a Pacifist route again the happy ending will play, before showing Frisk abruptly becoming possessed by the Fallen Human

I’d hazard a guess that what takes Undertale from being a goofy, lighthearted game with fun jokes and a lot of emotional moments into a ridiculously fascinating game to analyze is that reveal. The realization that the Player is a character takes that game’s story from good to great in a very short amount of time. Everything changes. And that’s exactly what happened to me with Bravely Default, which suddenly went from a cute throwback game to nostalgic RPGs (of which I have played none so there really isn’t any nostalgia there for me) that I genuinely enjoyed both the story and gameplay of to a brilliant game that I couldn’t get enough of. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that seeing that plot thread in Undertale is what made me appreciate its appearance in Default and hope that the lore there would be taken up a notch in Second. And honestly, I’d say it did. Gameplay-wise, it doesn’t go nearly as hard into it as Undertale does, but I don’t think it really has to. It’s not the same game, it just draws on similar themes, and I think it does that really well with the 3DS hardware. And to the Bravely Series’s credit, its integration of the Player into the narrative is done very well

So with all that said, what do I think of Bravely Second as a product? I had expectations, obviously. I expected to get more lore about the Celestial and the Celestial realm and was not disappointed. I went in spoiled on quite a few things, namely:

Anne is Airy’s sister, and is evil and works for a purple-ish pyramid named Providence

Ringabel is in it. Or at the very least, Alternis takes his helmet off. But it was probably Ringabel

The Kaiser’s real name is Denys Geneolgia

Obviously I knew who the asterisk holders were, since I had a list, so that spoiled Yōko as an antagonist to an extent, as well as a few tricky methods to beat bosses, namely Rev

A general overview of some sidequests, mostly Profiteur vs. Holly, Barras vs. Einheria, and Khamer vs. Alternis. You know, the controversial ones

Tiz/Agnès, Ringabel/Edea, and Yew/Magnolia are endgame ships

There is one time loop in the game. Not a world change, but a genuine time loop

I didn’t even pay much attention to pre-release info for Bravely Second, but try as I might, I can’t ever seem to completely avoid spoilers 😓. Oh well. The good news is that none of them really ruined the experience for me

Bravely Second is something that I haven’t seen in a long time: a good sequel. Good GOD have I seen games ruined by their sequels. Maybe I’m just bitter about the sequel hook in TWEWY Final Remix, which makes it seem like the writers have no idea what to do with a sequel, despite having a rich world to set it in. SO MANY sequels just rehash the first game, contradict its ending to get rid of everyone’s happy endings, or else try to explain things that didn’t need explanation (and explain them poorly at that). Bravely Second completely destroyed any of those worries for me. Everything feels like an expansion of the world and characters, done tastefully and with nothing but love for the first game that it’s expanding the lore of. I really felt the heart that went into making it while playing the game, and I have so much respect for the people who made it

Now, it does hit some similar plot beats, like the betrayer fairy who turns out to be working for an extradimensional being looking to mess with both the Celestial Realm and Luxendarc, but I love the twists it made to the formula. Bravely Default was a deconstruction of nostalgic JRPGs, where the helpful guide turns out to be working for the villain and tricked you into doing their dirty work, and instead of saving the world you were dooming it. Bravely Second then takes that plot and flips the perspective on it. They make the person being led by the fairy to open the Holy Pillar the villain, and he believes that he’s saving the world just as vehemently as the party did last game. Which almost makes him the perfect sympathetic villain, since he serves as a counterpoint to the main party who can understand exactly how he got into that position once the full extent of it has been revealed

At no point did I feel that Bravely Second’s added lore hampered the game, or ruined what I knew from the first game (I can easily ignore how silly it is that “oh all of the asterisk holders you killed last game were actually alive!” because I understand how much extra effort it would have been to design all new holders for old asterisks just to justify their inclusion in the game. It also might backfire for fans of the original characters who’d want to see their old favorites included.) Bravely Second’s lore expansions are only ever beneficial to its narrative. The expansion of the Celestial lore and the Plague, largely footnotes in Default, are turned into driving parts of the narrative in ways that only seem to make the world feel larger and older. Lived in. I can only hope that Bravely Third, or whatever it end up being called, keeps up the trend

And Bravely Default didn’t have the happiest of endings, with Ringabel getting a second shot to save his version of the party, but at the cost of abandoning the friends he’s made on this journey. Tiz is comatose, Til and Olivia are still dead, Edea is alone, and Agnès is left to reform her entire religion while fully believing that one of her friends is gone forever and the love of her life may never wake up. I am extremely grateful for being able to take that bittersweet ending and make it a happy one

On top of the amazing graphical upgrades, which stay true to the feel of BD while making everything feel grander, and the tweaks to the battle system to allow for minor enemy variation and the Another Round feature, which gives some incentive to carefully managing BP consumption, and some really fun new jobs, and I’d say I like Bravely Second even more than Bravely Default! (And browsing the internet, it seems like that’s an unpopular opinion. Dunno why, might be the fact that Second is goofier in its first half than the overall tone of Default and relies less on nostalgia for old RPGs). Bravely Second is where I feel the series went from a neat homage with some interesting gameplay innovations to a real adventure with its own unique world and story to tell

So what about the main characters, then? I’m gonna consider the main characters Yew, Magnolia, Edea, Tiz, Altair, Denys, and Anne, as they’re the ones who arguably drive most of the plot

Yew Geneolgia is the character that I was most worried about when I started playing this game. I was really expecting him to just be “Tiz but Younger” and I was happily surprised by what I got. If the liveblog didn’t make it clear, I LOVE YEW. He is such a genuinely sweet boy, who’s chipper and nerdy and so dedicated to his loved ones and I can’t help but relate to him. He’s like the perfect little brother I always wanted (I love my actual younger brothers but they ain’t perfect). His growth is incredible. He goes from a scared kid singing off-key to himself in the woods to keep calm to staring down the god of the realm of people that act as gods to him and telling him to get lost, all without ever losing his kind and dorky nature. He learns the importance of taking your mistakes and growing with them. His sense of familial duty is so wonderful to see, and he serves as an excellent foil to last game’s lead character, Tiz. We went from a low-class farmer and dutiful older brother to a high-class noble and dutiful younger brother, and the flip in perspective with the lead characters only serves to highlight the flip in perspective on the story as a whole. Yew is a Good Boy™ and I couldn’t ask for a better lead character in the game, especially since he’s not even on the cover of any version of the game? Bravely Second is Yew’s story and it’s a damn good one

Magnolia Arch is... honestly kind of underwhelming? She was marketed as the big female lead of the game, she’s the star of the teaser at the end of the international version of Bravely Default, she’s on the cover of some versions of the game! And I... uh... I like her just fine, but I don’t feel like she really served much purpose. She’s got a nice design, I like how sweet she is and her sense of curiosity as a newcomer to Luxendarc, but I don’t feel like she had much... point? She really feels like she was just there to introduce the major plot point of the Ba’als and be a love interest for Yew. I just can’t think of anything she really contributed to the game besides that. I don’t hate her by any means, I just wish there was a bit more to her than minor worldbuilding, especially with all of the buildup she got

Edea Lee is the person I would call the actual female lead of the game, just a different part of the game than Yew is. She’s the protagonist of the sidequests (sans the Yōkai quest, where she gets slightly lesser billing than Yew, but is still a major focal character.) Also, like Yew, she had little marketing. I really respect what they did with Edea. She was one of the most developed characters last game, having her whole arc where she learned to see the shades of gray in morality. So where do you go from there? How do you keep the character interesting without contradicting or repeating their character development from the last game? And my god did they do it with Edea. I love how she legitimately seems to have grown up in Second. She’s learned to see the complexities of situations and acts as a mentor figure to Yew, while still retaining her spitfire qualities... in the main story at least. Her development is actually about taking what she learned in the last game and applying it to a leadership role (which is what the sidequests are supposed to do, but really fail at in execution. More below.) She gets a different arc that complements her arc from last game, where she takes what she learned and now has to figure out how to apply it to a new role. The focus is less on learning to be a decent leader and mediator. It’s a continuation of her character, and it works really well. Ultimately, I’m happy with what we got of Edea (in the main story not... not necessarily Sidequest Edea, who may as well be a different character impersonating the real Edea for how much they have in common)

Tiz Arrior has a similar dilemma to Edea, and a different solution. What do we do with a character who’s already had a full game to be developed? Edea got a new arc that extends off of her first one, taking it in a new and mature direction. With Tiz, however, they decided that he would remain flat in Second, since he got the development in Default and seems content with where he is, personality wise. Like Edea, he’s placed in a mentor role, which I do really enjoy, but Tiz’s real strength in this game is how they used him for worldbuilding. He’s the perfect avenue to explore more of the lore surrounding Celestials, being the closest character to them thanks to his bond with one in the last game. So what does Bravely Second do? What it does best. It takes plot beats from the original and flips the perspective to give the player a new and better understanding of its world and characters. In this case, they take Tiz’s Celestial bond from the first game and give him a new Celestial to bond with, who is more than happy to exposit on his world and the world of Luxendarc. Like Magnolia, I feel like Tiz is much more of a worldbuilding device than a character in Bravely Second, though unlike Magnolia I can excuse this since Tiz already had a whole game that he was the main character of to be developed. We already like Tiz, so he has nothing to prove to us, and it feels good to see him get his delayed happy ending. Weird, though, how the two characters shown on box art for this game have the least impact as characters, though I suppose you could argue that they’re both tied to the main plot though other means. Other means such as...

Altair. Oh, Altair. You weird vegetable-loving alien man. He really grew on me, actually. I find it really interesting that despite constantly stating that the player is a Celestial and implying that the real world is the Celestial Realm, Altair comes in and almost seems to contradict that. Through him, we learn more about the Celestial Realm and, by extension, who and what kind of entity the Player is in this story. Is he aware of who we are? Who knows! He’s a good avenue of lore that I’m fond of. And if Yew is the emotional heart of the main story, then Altair is the emotional heart of the climax. His bond with Vega is what drives a lot of the overarching plot, and it’s a sweet romance. I dunno, I like Altair. I wish he was a little more meta-involved, and gave a little more info about the Celestial Realm, but he did good for what he needed to be. Team Dad’s good

Denys Geneolgia is tied for my favorite character with Yew and I’d talk about him but I already did and nothing’s really changed about my opinions since then, though the rewritten talk with Anne might need to be changed since she apparently doesn’t even know the player exists on the second loop, somehow. Oh well. I wouldn’t be upset if he was a party member in Bravely Third though *wink* *wink*

Anne is cool. Anne is a good foil to Airy, and my rage at realizing that she’s been playing the player since the beginning of Bravely Default is definitely a highlight. She’s a good foil to her sister from the last game. I mean she’s basically Airy taken up to 11 and without the pretense of being a good guy in this game. No, she got that out of her system last game and is in full blown Manipulative Bitch mode this game. She’s a fun villain to have on screen. Very punchable. I’m not sure if there’s much more to say about her, though. I would have loved to see her interact with the player more than the one scene where she taunts us. Just really rub it in that even though we’re a god in Luxendarc, she still managed to deceive us. Maybe expand on her relationship with Airy a little more, focus a bit more on her status as a foil to Denys. She’s a good antagonist, I just would’ve done more with her

We’ve covered the good, so what’s the bad? The sidequests. I’ve gone on a lot about the sidequests but I cannot stress enough how much I disliked all but the Chapter 6 sidequests. They are so formulaic, and that formula actually hampers the story they’re trying to tell with them. The sidequests are Edea’s spot to shine, and I can so clearly see what they were trying to do with them. They’re training Edea for her role as the Grand Marshal of Eternia, where she will end up facing two forces that oppose each other and have to make a decision about her nation’s involvement, which becomes evident during the Templar quest, which all of these seem to be leading up to. The problem, though, is that they’re trying to set up Edea as a mediator and then outright contradict that by having her just choose a side with no thought of compromise, desperately try to validate her choice as the only correct one, frequently claim that the other side’s argument has no merit, and then beats them down to make them agree with her. I mean, what!? That’s not mediating! That’s not my Edea!

By forcing us to make a binary choice, they completely gloss over any moral ambiguity in the situation, and the epilogues always focus more on how Edea feels about her choice, and not the impact that the choice has on the world as a whole. I can somewhat understand why they wanted to implement a choice system into the sidequests to make use of the second loop, but good gracious does it NOT WORK. And it doesn’t help that at least half of, if not 2/3 of, the sidequests try to make a situation morally ambiguous that really shouldn’t be? Or that has a clear correct answer? And all the rest are just really petty disagreements and none of them expand upon the world or characters in any meaningful way. Edea’s sidequest story of becoming a great mediator to make her father proud and grow into the role of Grand Marshal could have gone somewhere if that was a consistent thread between them and not a concept that solely exists in the Templar quest that tries to make the rest look good with hindsight. They really were the worst part of the game. The narratives weren’t enjoyable and the gameplay was just repetitive. Meet two bosses from the last game, listen to grievances, go through old dungeon from last game, pick a boss to fight, meaningless resolution. Rinse. Repeat. But in all honesty, the poorly written sidequests are my only big criticism of the game, and they’re entirely skippable to the average player. (I don’t recommend that you skip them because they offer useful jobs, but you certainly could if you wanted to)

Overall, I’d give Bravely Second a solid A. It is, unquestionably, one of the best games I’ve played in a while. Which is almost word-for-word what my final verdict for Bravely Default was in the email mentioned at the beginning of this post. This series consistently manages to suck me in and keep me invested in its world and characters. I adore it. I love the Bravely series so much and I’d happily buy whatever they come out with next so long as they never try that sidequest stuff ever again. Ever. (Though playing the game is probably gonna mean buying a Switch. Mmmm.)

Moving forward, what are my hopes for the hinted at Bravely Third? Ringabel’s certainly been teased a bit, so I’d hope to see him make a return. Especially as a playable character. I’d love to see his role with the Planeswardens expanded on and what their impact on the lore is. I could easily see Magnolia returning as a playable character, too, just for that little bit of extra development that she desperately needs and her implied relationship with the Planeswardens. I’d really love it if they brought Denys back and made him a playable character, finally giving him an actual, well-crafted character arc. Not to mention that his ties to both the Sword of the Brave and the Eye of Foundar make him an excellent candidate for the plot that the end of Bravely Second teased (also gives me more Geneolgia brothers content).

Story-wise, Bravely Default was centered around parallel worlds (or space), and Bravely Second explored the concept of time, so perhaps we could see alternate Realms/dimensions in Bravely Third. It would be interesting to see them expand upon the lore of the Celestial Realm, especially now that there are characters aware of the Player’s existence, such as Denys and Magnolia. Having Deneb around could also be an interesting choice, as she’d certainly know what the cataclysm in the Celestial Realm was and the capabilities of the Celestial Beings, since she is one. I’ve seen the idea of Deneb as a party member thrown around, and I wouldn’t be against it. Maybe if the whole party was made up of people aware of the Player’s existence, we could have more Player-party interactions. Dialogue choices in cutscenes for us, maybe, where we can talk directly to the party

I wouldn’t be against a Ringabel-Magnolia-Denys-Deneb party. I think that could work really well. Just a team composed of blond boys and silver-haired girls

I love Yew Geneolgia to death, but I think I’d keep him as a side character. He’s already had his story, though a look into what he did after Bravely Second would be much appreciated. Show me my son who reformed the Crystalguard and became the most well-loved member of House Geneolgia in history! At least give me a good sibling reunion! Give me the hug between Denys and Yew that I was robbed of in Bravely Second!

Don’t undo any of the happy endings everyone got. Tiz and Agnès are happily married and retired, and Ringabel and Magnolia make it back home safe to their significant others post-Bravely Third

I guess I’d also kinda like to see a good Cryst-Fairy around at some point. I like the idea I’ve seen around of the Player having their own fairy servant. That could be fun to play with. Maybe with those Party-Player chats I mentioned our dialogue choices could be telling our fairy what to tell the party. Speaking through our own, personal Cryst-Fairy, if you will. Though again, if we’re still expanding the lore, maybe they could go into the state of being of Cryst-Fairies more. Anne gave us a bit to work with, so I suppose I just want more elaboration on how they’re all siblings, how they feel about being siblings, etc. Maybe there’s a good fairy and a bad fairy in the same game and they bicker like real siblings

Also, can they give us confirmation as to whether Yōko was a Luxendarc native or not? And if not, can we see her home realm? That’d be cool. I’d like to see the Yōkai world please

I guess that’s really it, though. For now, that’s all I have to say on the Bravely series! Again, I’d like to give a huge thanks to everyone who’s read through the liveblog and/or commented on any of the parts of it. Seriously, you guys rock and I don’t know if the liveblog would’ve gotten as big as it did if it wasn’t for you guys and the support you provided. If any of you guys want to chat, don’t be afraid to hit me up. My ask box is always open

So! I’ve been Liz, this has been Liz Liveblogs Bravely Second, and I hope to see you all again if/when Bravely Third drops so we can all get lost in the world of Luxendarc together one more time!

#bravely default #bravely second #liz liveblogs bravely second #*fingers crossed for bravely third*

[the-empires-weapon]

Tirall

My hands are buzzing. All of my consciousness is restrained within the physical form of my body as the Force gathers within my limbs and tucks between my bones. Every scrap that flows into me, every living sense of it, is pulled into my form and locked into place. Made into storage space and then hidden within itself. I can feel the rapid fluttering of my eyelids, and the pull and stretch of my body. I think my lower lip is trembling. My fingers are twitching with the phantom pain, coils upon coils stuffed into each digit like taut springs.

My body is more alive than ever before, and I burn.

...den.

It’s something so distant I can’t pick it up. I can’t read it past the simple noise. A note, a sound, something without meaning or cause. It’s static in my ears. Saliva under my tongue.

...den, are you alright?

A tug, a quiet one, pulling at my mind. Concern.

G...you well...

Somebody’s there.

I tighten my grip on the tension within my body as my muscles stay loose. I pull my mind from its abyss and back to reality. I’m suddenly aware of the sun shining through the lids of my eyes, and the prickle of grass beneath my back. I finally hear the voice for what it is.

“Commander Eden, wake up.”

I flick my eyes open. I’m startled to see the face above mine - marred by scars, callous, twisted into a look of fear.

“Ar...cann?” I blink, still within a bit of daze. I slowly reach under me and push up, minding the dizziness in my head. “Where . . .?”

“Commander, you seem unwell. We’re just outside the base. You were . . .” Arcann stops there. I look to him; he’s kneeling next to me, lines of his body all taut as always. And when I look away from him, and around, I recognize where we are. We’re still on-base, resting in the grass several yards below the main promenade. Within my trance, I’d completely lost track of space - and of time.

I put a hand to my forehead. “How long was I- well, asleep?”

“Nobody’s seen you since this morning,” he insists. “Lana told me you’d taken the day off. For the third time this week.”

“They aren’t . . . ‘days off’. They’re preparation,” I mutter. Before he can ask, I drop my hand look back to him with a half-formed smile. “Sorry, Arcann. Was there something you needed? Or Lana?”

“I had wanted to speak with you. Lana hadn’t been sure where you were. I thought you had a Force Bond with her.”

“Oh- yeah. Um. I haven’t been feeling well, so I had to- erm. Close it,” is my excuse. Much as I wish he would, he’s clearly not buying it, and the lift of his brow says so. I have to remind myself that Arcann’s traumatized, and healing - not a fucking imbecile. I sure was the same way when I was younger (though again, I have to remind myself, we’re the same age). Again, I change the subject quickly. “So, what did you need? Sorry you found me sleeping on the job - I’m around if you need to talk.”

He looks around, as if almost paranoid. “This . . . doesn’t feel like the right place.”

“Because people might overhear?” I shrug. “Honestly, I’ve never seen anybody come down here before. That you found me, even, surprises me.”

“As I said, I’d wanted to talk.”

I nod. “Go on,” I tell him. Still, he hesitates. Another quick pass to make sure we were alone, and he finally sat, cross-legged, pooling his hands in his lap. He looks awkward like this, vulnerable - so much different from the Emperor I’d fought just a few years ago, much different from the man who’d locked me up and frozen me in carbonite. He looks human. For a long time, I hadn’t even thought he was one.

More monster than man.

But, then again, I can’t say I wasn’t the same, once upon a time. (Even now.)

“I . . . have a gift for you.”

Now that, that really makes me start. “Really?” I can tell my eyes are lighting up even if without intent. “You didn’t have to do that, Arcann. If I’d known, I would’ve gotten something for you in return.”

He shakes his head. “You’ve given me more than enough, Commander. You’ve given me an attempt at another life. You’ve given me an attempt at redemption. That’s a gift in itself.”

“Arcann, you’re the one that gave yourself the chance. You’re the one who decided you wanted to change. I’m just your enabler,” I joke. Still, I ask, “What is it, then? I hope you didn’t go through a ton of trouble just for me.”

“I’ve left it for you at your rooms, but I did bring a picture,” He explains. Arcann pulls out a small viewing device and turns it on. I’m stunned by the image - a set of gauntlets looking as if they were made from gold, with tiny parts and pieces wired together to make a flexible-looking glove that’d cover from forearm to fingertips. It’s clearly Zakuulan-shaped, modeled after their typical attire and style, and it’s absolutely gorgeous. That, and looking - from the simple holo - extremely sturdy. And if they’d be just the right size for my hands.

To say I’m a little beyond words is an understatement.

“I’ve been working on them since I joined the Alliance,” he explains quickly, as if he has to do so as fast as he can. “I didn’t use any resources, just what I had on hand, and nothing was taken from your stocks, simply- I asked your friends for measurements, and modeled them best I could, and-”

“Arcann, you can forge metal like that? For armorsmithing?”

When I look to him, I’m surprised to see he’s blushing. That, and not meeting my eyes at all. It’s harder to tell on the side of his face littered with scars, but it’s damn-near obvious on the other side. It’s stunning to even think that I’ve embarrassed him.

“I . . . learned from Knights of Zakuul.”

“Those look so beautiful,” I say, and I mean it. “I can’t wait to try them on. I . . . why didn’t you say you could do that? That’s really fantastic, Arcann. I didn’t know you were so talented with your hands.”

“It . . . wasn’t a skill I exercised very often. Truth be told, it’d been a long time since I forged a piece like that. Perhaps since Thexan’s death.”

I feel my expression soften with worry. “I’m guessing Valkorion wasn’t all-over the idea?”

“I was too busy. And I felt too vulnerable already. Here, I . . . feel freer.”

“. . . you should. That’s why I wanted you to come to Odessan. To heal,” I explain. I reach up and take his hand - it’s obviously shaking, and I want him to relax. When he looks over, I give him a kind smile. “They look so amazing, Arcann. Thank you. If it’s helped you feel better at all, you should continue forging. Maybe it can provide some clarity for you?”

He looks stunned himself at that. “You want me to . . . forge armor for the Alliance?”

“Not if you don’t want to!” I say with a rapid shake of my head. “Not for other people - for you. Make what you want to, what makes you happy. I can tell you’re really proud of the work, and having something to do that comforts you is just fantastic for healing. That’s why I was so active in the cantina dance scene, and ring fighting. Helped me get my head on my shoulders.”

This time, his face scrunches up. “You . . . danced.”

“Well, not in a tutu and ballet slippers, but yeah. For me, it put me back in my body - gave me a feeling of power and agency. I needed those things, for my own recovery. That’s part of how I’ve healed. S’why you can see me sparring every other day in the gym,” I chuckle. “Seriously though - I appreciate it. Those gauntlets look beautiful. You have true talent, Arcann.”

He looks down into his lap again. I think I hear him mumble something, but I don’t catch it the first time. I raise a brow, and he repeats it, just a little louder: “I didn’t think it was anything special.”

“Of course it is! It’s a pretty rare skill, I-” I stop, realizing what he means. I reach up with my other hand and take his hand in both of mine. When he looks back to me, I nod, serious. “Arcann, just because he didn’t put stock in it doesn’t mean it’s not valuable. His words aren’t law - you know that. I know it’s hard to get rid of that feeling, but it’s true. Just because your father didn’t see the worth in it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

His eyes widen a little bit. I recognize the expression - probably mirrors mine back when I was realizing bits and pieces of conditioning that I’d figured out how to undo. Some kind of “click”, or epiphany. Recognizing it in somebody else’s face is refreshing. And to think that I helped get him there.

But of course, he pulls his hand back. Tucks both back into his lap again. And mutters, and mumbles, and continues to blush.

The moments like these, where Arcann’s shy and weary, were few and far between. More common when we were alone, for sure - but it feels like it reflects more of who he really is, and less of who he parades as being. Not to say his obsession with “redemption” and “atoning” was fake, but moments like these reveal more to his true feelings. It’s reassuring and a little terrifying. It wasn’t too long ago that I was in the same place, or so it feels.

But then again, my reality was skewed. I’d skipped five years that others had to live. I’d only really felt “fixed” shortly before-

Arcann finally speaks up.

“I . . . feel as if I still owe you much. For listening, and for being a pillar when I cannot. And you’ve been fighting many battles I haven’t had the chance to see - and another is coming, I know it. I can only hope that with these, I can still offer you some kind of protection, even if I’m not able to be there in body,” he looks back up to me, and nods. “It’s just one of the ways that I want to thank you.”

“Arcann . . .” I start. I stare at him, for moments longer, looking at the honesty on his face - and I finally sigh, and shake my head. “Arcann, you never need to feel like you owe me a debt. Do you understand? I care about you. I want to see you succeed.”

“And this is how I do that,” he tells me, a little more insistently, “By forging my way up, and protecting those who have offered me aid.” He nods to me, and finally looks up at the sky. “It is . . . getting late.”

It’s a clear end to the conversation - as if his awkwardness can’t handle it anymore. And it is getting to twilight, truly the better part of the day absorbed. I nod with him, and finally get up and stretch. “Then I accept your gift, Arcann. And . . . thank you. For caring.” He nods, and rises with me. I smile, and hold out my hand. “Walk back to the base with me?”

This time, I think I finally see his lips turn up, on both sides. A smile.

“It would be my pleasure, Commander.”

He takes my hand, and we walk back up to Odessan’s base.

#arcann tirall #arcann #eden carter #the commander #outlander #command authority #unmasked regret #my writing #fanfiction #aka AWWW #i always figured that eden and arcann got along fairly well after all the murdering each other thing got figured out #and eden helped him sort of...start to sort himself out #they basically forced him to get help #by telling him that he had to see the therapists on the base if he wanted to join the alliance #and he did #and so eden's been able to watch him get better slowly but surely #eden sort of considers him a younger brother #even if again they are around the same age #obviously it's still a little weird #and i definitely headcanon arcann as having some serious social issues #i.e. feeling like he can't speak up for fear of being struck down like his father did to him #but eden recognizes those problems because they dealt with them too #and also no #there is NO WAY they would have a romance #eden recognizes that he needs a pillar #and they can be a bit of one for him #but they cannot do that full time #he needs a romantic partner who can help him work through his issues #but eden can't do that as much as they want esp because of their own problems #maybe at some point i'll give arcann a lover in TEW

[agentverbivore]

Channukah prompts: I would love to see homesick FitzSimmons bonding over Channukah at the Academy (preferably platonic at this stage in their relationship), or a really competitive dreidel game!

thank you for sending this! inspired by @buckysbears’ Chanukah headcanons/prompts.this is the second of my Chanukah ficlet trio. (the 3rd won’t come out for another few days, since I haven’t started writing it yet.) Happy Festival of Lights!Rated G. Canon-compliant Academy era FitzSimmons, followed by a scene in the future. CW for mentions of Fitz’s father. AO3.

Although Jemma knew that Fitz didn’t like heavily populated social gatherings at the best of times, it continued to flummox her as to exactly why. Furthermore, he was even grumpier about them around Jewish holidays so far as she could tell, even though he professed to enjoy their traditions. How he could like the traditions but not the celebration confused her even further.

It was the end of their third semester at the Academy, and she was mulling this contradiction in her best friend over during their second Chanukah celebration at the Jewish Student Union. Watching him scowl as one of the party’s organizers handed him a yarmulke had renewed her curiosity about the matter. For her part, Jemma was in high spirits – they had another two weeks before the Academy closed for winter break (dictated as it was by the Christian holidays), which meant that she could enjoy tonight’s festivities without feeling guilty about wasting time that should otherwise be spent studying.

Once Fitz had the yarmulke settled on his head, she nudged him about his grumpiness and he gave her a weak smile. As the evening went on, they were both distracted by food and games and the other customary activities associated with Chanukah parties worldwide. But when they went to put on their coats before leaving, Jemma noticed Fitz drop his yarmulke into the provided basket as if the small piece of cloth had burned him. Letting out a low huff as she followed him out through the door, she decided that she was going to settle once and for all why Fitz became a Yehudi Grinch at every JSU event.

“Fitz,” she said determinedly, hopping up alongside him on the path through the quad. With the winter chill in the air, most students were inside at this time of night, providing them a more-or-less private walk in the direction of the freshman dorms. “Why don’t you like going to JSU?”

He gave her a funny look, digging his hands deeper into his coat pockets. “What? I like JSU.”

“No, you don’t,” she retorted.  

“I wouldn’t go if I didn’t like it,” he argued, elbowing her in lieu of waving his hands in indignation. “I mean, their Chanukah party last year’s one of the first things we hung out at, other than chem lab. Went on my own.”

“Then why do you act like that every time we go to one?”

“Act like what?” Jemma scrunched her face into an exaggerated but apt impression of Fitz’s frown, and he made a noise of disgust. “I don’t look like that!”

“You do, every time we walk through the door!” A flash of understanding passed over his face, and he turned so that he was facing forward on the path as they walked. “What?”

“No, nothing,” he said too quickly, and she let out a frustrated groan.

“Fitz, come on,” she tried again, tugging hesitantly at the edge of his coat sleeve. “What is it?”

He let out a low huff, a cloud of air billowing out of his mouth in the night’s chill, and for a few seconds, Jemma thought he was just going to flat-out ignore her. But, at long last, he muttered an answer, dropping his gaze to the concrete beneath their respective trainers: “I don’t like yarmulkes.”

Jemma wrinkled her nose in skepticism. “Yarmulkes? Seriously?”

“Don’t like the way they look on me.”

Making a sharp noise of disagreement, she had to speed up to hold her friend’s stride. “You look fine in it, honestly. You’re being silly.”

Silence, again, stretched on between them, and she tried to think of what other questions with which she could pepper him to get at the truth of the matter. Instinct told her that there was something more to it. Before she could approach the subject from a different angle, however, Fitz spoke unprompted.

“My dad used to – said I looked like a clown in it. Half-pint clown, to be specific.” His voice was low and he was staring determinedly at his feet as they strode side by side, and suddenly Jemma felt wretched for having pressed him. Although her friend rarely spoke of the father who had left him when he was but ten years old, with every brief mention she hated the man a little more.

“That’s awful,” she whispered, tugging at the pocket of her purple peacoat. “Was… I mean, is he…?”

“Jewish?” He let out a low laugh. “Yeah. He’d be wearing a yarmulke, too. Didn’t stop him from insulting everyone he saw with one.”

Inhaling, she gave her head a slow shake. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well.” Fitz shrugged, squinting up at the streetlamp beneath which they were passing. “So I don’t like yarmulkes. Mum stopped making me wear one when we celebrated at home, wish I didn’t have to here.”

Jemma pursed her lips, nibbling at the bottom one in thought. Although it was Fitz’s choice whether or not to wear a yarmulke, by and large, she did rather think it appropriate that he wore one when observing the more important Jewish holidays. Her own mildly agnostic feelings about religious beliefs aside, it just seemed proper to do so. Truly, Chanukah was not an important enough of a holiday for it to matter, she supposed, but on Rosh Hashanah it would feel rather disrespectful for him not to wear a yarmulke. These musings, however, she kept to herself, as her own relationship to her religion as a scientist was something she was still developing and cultivating.

“I think you look nice in a yarmulke,” she said quietly, sliding her eyes over to glance at him. “It fits nicely on your well-formed cranium.” Fitz burst out laughing, and she tried not to look affronted. “What? I mean it!”

“Thanks, Simmons,” he chortled, dodging when she tried to elbow him in the side in retaliation. “And a happy Chanukah to you, too.”

——

Jemma bounded through the front door, a padded manila envelope in one hand and a wide smile on her face. The whole apartment practically shone as she re-entered it from having checked their mail, having just finished hiding the last of the moving boxes in their bedroom. Tonight would be one part house-warming party and two parts Chanukah celebration, and between the two of them, she and Fitz had done an ample job of getting it ready in time. She had finished getting dressed for the party earlier than he, and had decided to make one last, fortuitously fruitful, run to the mailbox. With a new green and white patterned sweater and sea star necklace in place, Jemma felt both pretty and festive, and was very excited to welcome their friends into their new home. All she had left to do was finish the cookie and rugelach display – and deliver the mail she had just collected.

“Fitz!” she called out, locking the door behind her and heading towards the front hall closet. “The package from your mum finally arrived!” Instead of the enthusiasm she had expected, all she heard in response was muffled swearing coming from the general direction of their bedroom. Pausing with one hand a few inches away from the closet’s door handle, she wrinkled her nose. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he barked, which was followed by an indistinct noise of triumph.

Giving her head an amused shake, Jemma continued her current task of fetching a screwdriver from the toolbox they had a few hours prior agreed to store beneath their hanging winter coats. About a minute or so later, her husband finally emerged from their bedroom, dropping his hand from where he had been affixing a yarmulke to his hair.

“Is that it?” Fitz asked needlessly, eyes lighting excitedly upon the manila envelope that she still held. Not quite waiting for her nod, he took it, quickly ripping the paper open and reaching for the wrapped package and note inside. “Came on the perfect night,” he said, giving her a grin as she closed up the closet and followed him to the dining room table.

“And not a day too soon,” she agreed, watching his eyes skim over his mother’s handwriting. “The thirty days are up next week.”

She noticed that his smile had softened, and reached for the card when he handed it to her. “It’s for you.”

Before she could actually read anything, Fitz slipped up along her side to wrap his arms sideways around her waist. Jemma tilted her head up to meet his gaze, and happily accepted the gentle kiss he pressed to her lips. A pleased hum slipped out of her as she pulled away, and she let him nuzzle against her cheek as she dropped her gaze to read, even with his now familiar scruff tickling slightly at her skin.  

There was a note to Fitz at the top of the card – decorated on the front with a miniature, watercolor menorah – and then a second note beneath:

Jemma – May the light and love of the house you build with my son be as bright and warm as what shines from within you. This mezuzah brings the blessings you both deserve, and may it long serve as a remembrance of the love I hold for you. Chag Urim Sameach!

“We need to call her tomorrow,” she murmured, dabbing at her eyes with her free hand.

“Yeah, before work.” Fitz held out the small package that he had finished unwrapping as she read: An intricately carved, metal cylinder, flat on one side and about four inches in length. “Should have time to put it up before everyone arrives, too.”

“I thought so,” she said, craning her head back to smile up at him. Without thinking, she reached up to trace alongside the edge of the yarmulke, her fingers feathering through the short curls that puffed up around it.

“What?” Discomfort flashed across his expression, and she turned so that they were hugging each other from a more direct angle, allowing her fingers to trail down over his scruffy cheek.

“I’m glad you’re wearing it,” she said quietly, trying to imbue her expression and voice with the happiness and affection she felt for him. “The yarmulke.”

“Oh.” He shrugged self-consciously, tightening his grip around her waist. “Yeah, y’know, thought it’d right. First Chanukah party in the apartment and all.”

“You look perfect.” Jemma stretched up for another kiss, giggling slightly when he tried to deepen it.

“That’s just rude,” he grumbled, and she gave his cheek a quick peck before disentangling herself from his embrace. “We’ve talked about laughing when I kiss you before –”

“They’ll be here at any second.” She pointed to the screwdriver she had taken out for him, and he reached for it. “And I have to finish putting out the desserts.”

When Fitz opened the door, they were both greeted by the distinct sound of someone’s singing echoing down the long hallway towards their corner apartment. Jemma could just barely make out the words “dreidel, dreidel, dreidel” to the tune of a Justin Bieber song before her husband burst out laughing.

“I think that’s the sound of Daisy and Trip arriving,” Fitz chuckled, reaching over to put the mezuzah and screwdriver on the entryway table. “We can do this later.”

“Agreed,” she answered, reaching for the dessert plates.

As Jemma watched Fitz greet their friends, yarmulke worn proudly on his head, she was struck by a sudden sense of pride, both in him and in the life that they were about to embark upon together.

[Other ficlets.] [AO3.]

#FitzSimmons #Agents of SHIELD #fsfic #fstag #thefitzsimmonsnetwork #theclaravoyant #Verbivore writes #minifics #Chanukah #holidays #fanfiction #I hope you like this! as promised - platonic academy and romantic future :-) #(I just needed to write the smush - and also it could've been so much more tooth rotting but I tried to control myself) #also let's listen to the lyrics and think about how FS they are #''I love you better - when I win'' - have you ever heard anything more jemma in your life? #anyway we'll get to dreidels in the next ficlet!! #and also yeah there's that hint of tripskye because I am RELENTLESS #triplives yo

[lurkingcrow]

I have like a million other things that I’m in the middle of writing but I just had a thought that I felt the need to get down. Yeah yeah, it’s another crack AU idea... Such a surprise. I know. But still just imagine what might have been:

It is a time of supposed galactic stability. It will be decades yet before Sidious’ plans will come to fruition, and a certain Not-Yet-Negotiator is currently training under his Maverick Master as per canon. However in this universe there is one, marked difference.

In the halls of the great archives beneath the Jedi temple a minor cataloguing program designed to collate external references to Jedi deployed in the field (mentions in galactic news media, bounty descriptions, general gossip - the kind of things that might indicate a problem for long term missions) brings up a discrepancy for further review. It is the kind of thing which might easily be dismissed- a possible mention that cannot be appended to the relevant individual’s file because it is no longer in active circulation. This isn’t an unheard of occurrence; no program is perfect and it is easy to shrug off the match with a Jedi listed as having been deceased for years as being a false positive due to mistaken identity.

Which is what probably would have happened, had the Senior Padawan in charge of reviewing the system reports not had the unfortunate luck to have been caught sneaking an open container of Muja Juice into the archives by Madame Nu that morning and been dismissed for punishment duty. As a result it was the head archivist herself who ended up reading the report of a pirate arrested coming out of the Rattanak system, who in his interrogation happened to mention a man who bore a remarkable resemblance to Jedi Knight Ky Narec, missing, presumed dead, following the loss of his ship five years previously. Now Jocasta Nu is nothing if not meticulous, and instead of dismissing the report instead double checks the initial case - while not probable, it is possible that the ship may have made it to a nearby system, and Rattanak is within feasible distance...

As such, in this universe, the Jedi Order sends a team to Rattanak to investigate Ky Narec’s possible survival. And so it is that the long lost knight returns to the Temple.There is however consternation in the Council - Ky Narec’s return from the dead is an unexpected blessing, but at the same time he is loudly and vociferously demanding to be allowed to return and finish his self appointed mission. And then there is the matter of his preteen “Padawan”...

Asajj Ventress is indisputably strong in the force, but she has never seen the inside of the creche. When Ky found her she was already old for an initiate, and the years since have been focused on skills relevant to their immediate survival rather than providing a broad understanding of Jedi principles. But the bond between Master and Padawan is strong, and there is no question that her training must continue. But still, what is the council to to with a semi-feral Padawan who has spent years in an active warzone and her headstrong master who has an unshakeable belief in his own judgement?

The answer is obvious. Team them up with another problem pair and hope they balance each other out. And so it is that a smirking Master Yoda informs Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon that their expertise is required for a very special mission...

Qui-Gon is quite happy with his new assignment. Applying his years of experience to formulate an appropriate plan for dealing with the ongoing conflict on Rattanak is not easy, however Ky is a highly perceptive man and has an excellent understanding of the relative dynamics between the different players. The lost knight also has a delightfully dry sense of humour and is passionate in his defence of his student, which endears him very much to the older Master for a number of reasons. For his own part Ky Narec is pleasantly surprised by how well Master Jinn is actually listening to his arguments. Oh he challenges Ky’s conclusions, but he does not dismiss his knowledge or suggest that the situation might best be left to develop on its own (unlike other Jedi Ky could mention). Indeed, he suspects their proposal has a very good chance of working. 

Obi-Wan on the other hand is wondering how long the council intends to punish him for his various misdeeds. The Padawan he has been instructed to tutor is barely old enough to meet the standard definition of the term, has barely any understanding of most core teaching subjects and is only very begrudgingly separated from her master for more than an hour at a time. She is vicious, defensive and... and far too like himself in the wake of Melida/Daan. He remembers what it is like to be always on a hair trigger, always waiting for the next attack, desperately holding on to what you have because tomorrow it could be gone. He also remembers what it was like on his return. The scornful looks and disapproving frowns that left him feeling isolated, the endless nightmares and constant twitching at loud noises, the way the only one who seemed to have faith in him was his own Master - and little Asajj is far younger than he was... 

Asajj is not sure she likes the Temple, no matter how much Master Ky says she will learn to call it home. The food is good, and it’s nice not to have to worry about sentry duty, but the people are stupid. Do they think she doesn’t notice the way they look at her? The way the snicker just because she doesn’t know who some karking bigwig from the shouting hou... Senate is? Master Ky tells her not to worry, that she will catch up in no time, but he’s busy these days with the tall Master who makes the others groan and she’s been left with this Padawan Kenobi who seems just as stupid as the rest of them! Except... Padawan Kenobi never laughs at her in the mess hall for eating too fast, just hands her extra seed rolls to squirrel away in her robes for later. Padawan Kenobi might roll his eyes at her when she complains about her reading, but he doesn’t raise his voice or tell her she’s stupid. Padawan Kenobi will spar with her, and while he knows just what to say to get a rise out of Asajj he never toys with her or tries to embarass her. And come to think of it, he always seems to make enough noise for her avoid being startled by him. Maybe Padawan Ken... no, Obi-Wan isn’t so bad after all. It doesn’t mean she’s going to make life easy for him though!

To cut a long story short (and oh are there ever stories, because honestly the Council dearly begins to regret setting this up) Obi-Wan has a new friend and Qui-Gon has a new partner in crime.  Ky and Qui-Gon will watch in amusement while Obi-Wan and Asajj attempt to verbally eviscerate  whatever hapless individual has earned their scorn, and the Padawans will sigh and trade stories about reckless masters who can’t seem to go anywhere without attracting trouble. Over time (once Asajj has grown enough not to horrify civilians when she pulls our her blades) when one pairing gets into trouble more often than not it is the other who comes to bail them out. Which is more frequent than you’d think. Ky and Asajj are not diplomats. On the other hand given the trouble Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan usually end up causing, having a pair or terrifyingly efficient warriors familiar with the seedier side of the galaxy is a distinct advantage.

Which is why when the Temple loses contact with pair after sending them to negotiate an end to the trade dispute on Naboo, Ky and Asajj just look at one another and start preparing for an extraction mission. As it turns out they don’t need to launch as rescue as surprise surprise the pair turn up on Coruscant accompanying the missing Queen and with a new stray in tow...

Let’s backtrack a bit here. Because while the core events remained the same, the details do not. Qui-Gon Jinn lands on Tatooine and immediately starts cursing as he recalls everything Ky has told him about Outer Rim economics. Still, they need to do what they can, so into town he heads, with a foolish Gungan and a disguised Queen by his side. And when he meets Anakin Skywalker and his mother, Qui-Gon Jinn remembers a young Dathomiri Padawan matter of factly telling him “Hal’Sted wasn’t a bad master, it could have been much worse” before explaining exactly how in great depth, and his blood runs cold. 

Similarly, as their ship leaves behind the sand and suns of Tatooine, Obi-Wan Kenobi looks at his Master’s newest acquisition and thinks “Two of them. Bant is never going to let me hear the end of this.” and proceeds to do his best to reassure the boy and get him settled because experience has taught him that the easiest way to deal with a non-Temple raised force sensitive is to earn their trust as quickly as possible and worry about attachment issues later.

(Oh Obi-Wan, you have NO IDEA what you’ve just done)

What happens next is up in the air. Perhaps there are two more Jedi on the return to Naboo. Perhaps it changes things, and Qui-Gon lives to sort out his mess. Perhaps it doesn’t, and two padawans lose their masters that day. Perhaps Maul swears vengeance against two Jedi instead of one, and Asajj first tastes the Dark as the Sith that might once have been a brother takes away not only the man she sees as her father, but the Master who supported them both from the start.

But perhaps it doesn’t change things. Perhaps a grieving Obi-Wan returns to the Temple with his tiny new Padawan only to be hugged within an inch of his life by a teenage menace who will flatly deny it if she is ever asked. Perhaps things are easier in a world where the Council has already had to deal with one overaged Padawan in the last decade (At least Skywalker doesn’t appear to be about to stab anyone who looks at him wrong). Certainly Obi-Wan has a better grip on Anakin’s lingering issues regarding slavery.

(”It's different.” Whispers an unusually gentle Asajj when little Ani asks her. “You are HIS Padawan, but he is YOUR Master, and you have a claim on each other.” She smiles. “And if you truly wanted to leave, he would let you go.”)

They’re not large changes, not world breaking shifts in the way the galaxy will turn. But that doesn’t matter. 

I just want you all to imagine Knight Ventress.

Knight Ventress who is the unacknowledged master of Jar Kai and whose appearance has been known to send pirates running to the authorities to give themselves in.

Knight Ventress who is sharp and righteous anger, but never lets the Dark take hold, because she has too much to protect.

Knight Ventress who appears out of nowhere to snark at Kenobi and pat Skywalker on the head even after he grows to be taller than her.

 Knight Ventress who has a horrifically complicated on-off relationship with Quinlan Vos that the entire Temple is trying to pretend Does. Not. Exist.   

Knight Ventress who stalks into the middle of the Council chambers following the Battle of Geonosis and icily demands to know why they are leading a slave army.

Knight Ventress who repeatedly engages Dooku’s assassin, the brutish Savage Oppress, knowing that they share a heritage and that had things been different it might have been a far darker master she was sold to.

Knight Ventress who teases Knight Skywalker about his new Padawan, and promising to corrupt her lightsaber habits.

Knight Ventress who takes one look at the Duchess of Mandalore and just smirks knowingly at Obi-Wan.

Just... Knight Ventress. 

Who stands beside Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi as they take down Darth Sidious and watch the galaxy still fall...

Isn’t it an interesting thought?

#crack

[kantianbioethics]

Just Communication in Sound! Euphonium 2 - Part Final

Bringing Her Home

(part 2)

Welcome back to the final part of Just Communication.

Sound! Euphonium 2 has established a framework in which communication is powerful It has made itself a demonstration of art's place within that framework. Now, what is left for it is to prove how we can use that theory for good. How you can bring together those powers, those different forms of communication, in order to create bonds that are truly meaningful. Sound! Euphonium 2 claims that through those bonds, it is possible to make one another's lives better than any thought possible. The way it shows this, is by creating a protagonist whose growth champions its morals. The name of this paragon is Kumiko Oumae

If Sound! Euphonium was about becoming a good musician, Sound! Euphonium 2 is about becoming a good person. Long ago, when I wrote about the first season of Sound! Euphonium, I wrote about Kumiko and how her relationship with Reina inspired her. Back from being the perfect embodiment of season one's themes, Kumiko in season two grows to become the living example of what Sound! Euphonium 2 believes makes for good communication and of communication's ultimate importance in life.

Kumiko cannonballs out of season one, not just with a relationship with Reina, but tight friendships with several of the other first years and a fairly close relationship with several of her other bandmates. Through these Kumiko has come to possess the following two things by the start of Sound! Euphonium 2: the drive to be better at music than she already is and a vested interest in the other members of her band. Despite these, Kumiko retains a fear of making waves.

Sound! Euphonium 2 starts with Kumiko as a passive observer, engaged enough to uncover the intrigue at the heart of its first arc, but unable to stir herself to further action. She falters, not because of any lack of will to help her bandmates, but out of fear that she will making things worse and hurt someone by meddling. Ironically, this fear harms the very relationships she has come to treasure. For example, in episode 11. Although the focus is on Reina, the dramatic conflict comes from Kumiko's fear of hurting others and the need for her to communicate honestly with those she cherishes anyway. Reina gets mad at Kumiko for not telling her something that would hurt her and Kumiko, in apology, promises her painful honesty.

Yet as early as the first arc, Kumiko's hesitance is emphasized for drama and comedy. An example of the former is a shot of Kumiko's limp arm in episode 4, embellishing her uselessness in dealing with Mizore's problems. In that same episode we see an example of the latter: when Nozomi tells her she's going to go see Mizore, a frantic series of cuts builds the urgency of the coming conflict before cutting to Kumiko, filling her water bottle, still unsure of what to do.

What then, allows Kumiko to move past her greatest fault? Her openness and her earnestness. Part curiosity, part empathy, and part kindness – Kumiko's openness to those around her means she can always tell when something is going on and she always wants to know what it is. Following that, what she can do to help. For all her stumbling and stammering, Kumiko does get to the bottom of Mizore and Nozomi's deal in the first arc and she does want to help them, she simply does not know how.

Thankfully, Kumiko has another thing that keeps bringing her to the forefront of the band's social praxis: she cannot keep her damn mouth shut. Kumiko Oumae is blunt and honest and impulsively vocal to an astounding degree. Almost every bit of commentary from her, from her assessment of Mizore to that of Reina comes unbidden and is swiftly followed by the cutest failed attempt to put the words back in her mouth.

In these unconscious modes of being, Kumiko hints at both the empathy and active honesty needed to make communication work. As the series progresses, she more actively, courageously pursues them. So, while at first these conflict with her desire to avoid being noticed, she cannot help but become more and more meddlesome for the sake of her bandmates. Asuka, in her interactions with Kumiko throughout the 1st arc and besides, has noticed this. So, when Kumiko shows concern for Asuka's erratic band attendance in the 8th episode, Asuka does something out of character: she offers to help. “Come over and let your lovely senpai help you with your math homework”, Asuka says. The offer is a blatant lie to cover for something even more out of character for Asuka: her telling the complete, unadulterated truth about herself.

See, Kumiko and Asuka both have a distaste of emotional honesty at the start of the series, but in the case of Kumiko this comes more a result of her withdrawal from standing out , while Asuka masks her true intentions in loud dramatics and cheery demeanor to fulfill the immediate needs or expectations of those around her. This duplicitous mode of being evolved from growing up in a broken home, the only child of an absent father and an overbearing mother. The result is that she is a bit more extra than Kumiko is at everything, from emotional perceptiveness to academics, with one important exception: she is far less honest. Beyond the occasional lowering of her voice, usually emphasized by an extreme close-up on her eyes to symbolize the authenticity of her intent, she gives little away.

Asuka, out for her own interests and understandably suspicious of everyone, can't consider herself “a euph”, someone who can support others. In fact, this is why probably why she has such an aversion to the band presidency others wanted from her. In Kumiko though, she finds a source of true solace and support, more than worthy of the title. Even after Asuka has revealed everything she considers ugly about herself. Kumiko turns her complete lack of chill into a positive force of honesty and is rewarded with Asuka at her most intimate: her tell-all and bridge concert in episode 9.

Here Kumiko starts to consciously lean into the traits that make her such a good person. Yet her courage to speak her heart is not enough to get Asuka to rejoin band practice. After all, Asuka loathes herself for pushing the band for her own interest. Asuka caught a glimpse of something she could believe in, but she still needs an excuse to get past her hang-ups. Kumiko tries to give her one in the tenth episode, trying to add the weight of the band's wishes to that of her own.

Pushed into a corner, Asuka digs into the underlying difficulty in understanding each other far beyond ambiguity: outright lies. Since she herself has had to be dishonest, why should everyone else not be the same way? She tears down the very hard-fought connections that Kumiko has finally allowed herself to make, throwing all Kumiko's hesitancy and half hearted measures in her face.

The sequence is awesome.. The scene is set by Kumiko seen through a spider's web, already trapped. When the time comes to do damage, Asuka starts by moving into Kumiko's personal space. Then when she backs off for the final blow, the frame zooms in on her, ever so slowly, but steadily, leaving no room to escape from the enormity of her words.

What follows: a few unsteady shots of Kumiko's eyes and face, a long silence, and an apparent victory for Asuka, already moving past her junior. Then, a miracle: Kumiko grits herself and turns around with the force of God, flinging the frame with her. Faced with the possibility that all her attempts to reach out and grow with her bandmates have been facile or false, Kumiko disregards it entirely. She responds to Asuka undermining her knowledge of others with first person knowledge of her own wants, absolutely sure. To paraphrase: You want to play and I want to play with you. Even if it is hypocritical, even if it is selfish, if it is what both of us want and know will make us happy, then damn the rules and damn the morals too.

Finally Asuka's equal, the direction and character animation emphasize Kumiko's points as much as Asuka's. The frame moves in one smooth motion from her hands clasped in prayer to her yelling face. Before she finishes her speech and finally breaks down in sobs, we are treated to every tricks from episode 4: the exaggeration of motion, the division of light and shadow, the transition of words from frame to frame. Kumiko, at her rhetorical height, hijacks every power Sound! Euphonium can give her and adds them to her own. In that moment, she bundles the minutiae that got us to care about their plight in the first place. She uses them to change the course of someone's life.

The voice work deserves special mention. Minato Kotobuki is both mocking and measured in delivering Asuka's crueler lines and every bit the actress Asuka is in delivering her broad facade. Meanwhile, Tomoyo Kurosawa performance as Kumiko is one of the best in anime and I doubt I will ever be able to laud it enough. In this scene we hear her at her most dramatic, voice breaking, struggling through the snot dripping from her nose, anger and desperation and love palpable. Elsewhere she flits between mumbled naturalism, clear sarcasm, and a truly stunning amount of noises, both funny and endearing.

Kurosawa's voice empowers words that are Kumiko's own, but also belong also to another: her sister, Mamiko. In the first season, she cast a shadow over Kumiko. In Sound! Euphonium 2, she is no longer distant to the plot.. As it turns out, this change is Kumiko's fault. Though at first loathe to admit it, Kumiko got into music to emulate her older, trombone playing sister and was always intimidated by how seriously she took her studies / the correct life of an adult. However, Mamiko reveals she was suffering under that yoke the whole time. Mamiko was inspired by Kumiko's newfound drive to follow her own passions, choosing to go to beauty school instead of finishing college. Once Mamiko makes up with Kumiko, she tells her what she has learned: do not grow old regretting what you did not do out of misplaced regard for what was expected.

Here the disparate narratives of Sound! Euphonium 2 come together to form interlocking chains, acting in parallel. Years ago, Mamiko inspires Kumiko to take up the euphonium, thereby inducting her into the communicative practice in which she can pick up on the sorrow in Asuka's playing. Here and now, Reina inspires Kumiko to pursue her passion in full. Kumiko then does the same for her sister, and Mamiko in return gives Kumiko the advice she needs to help Asuka. Kumiko is open to her sister's wisdom and she is earnest in sharing it with Asuka. Ever outward the influence of our loved ones echoes into others through us. Communication is the process through which we become who we are and shape others in turn. When you are empathic you hear, when you are earnest you are heard, into perpetuity.

In episode 10, Kumiko becomes the greatest agent of this truth, avatar of communication both explicit and implied, princeps of the web that binds us all and makes us into who we are. All that is left is to roll the credits, thanking and celebrating those that made her who she is.

Kumiko gets to do this twice. The first time, for her sister, in the twelfth episode. Kumiko explicitly tells her how much she loves her and how she loves the euphonium because of her, but only playing her the music that proves it in the National competition concert. Light and shadow return as opposites one last time here, Mamiko on one side and Kumiko on the other, but as halves of the whole. Though both sisters will go their separate ways, each will carry a bit of the other in them.

Then, Kumiko gets to repeat the gesture for Asuka. During the juniors' concert for the seniors at the end of the series the shot focuses on Kumiko and then Asuka front and centre. Kumiko plays for Asuka alone, showing the same kind of proof she gave Mamiko and that Asuka gave her father during Nationals, a grand show of the impact Asuka has had on her and her playing, Once more, to make sure there can be no doubt, Kumiko digs into the well of honesty that got her Asuka and tells explicitly her just how much she loves her, how much her playing means to her, how much she wishes she would not go.

In response, Asuka gives Kumiko a piece of music. It is ambiguous, but those in the know cannot mistake all it means: Asuka gives Kumiko encouragement, herself, her future, and everything she wants (“to play like you”, “to be with you”). Asuka gives Kumiko the piece of music her father gave her long ago, the one she played just for Kumiko, the one Kumiko will play from now on. Asuka gives Kumiko a piece of music titled “Sound! Euphonium”.

#Sound! Euphonium #Hibike! Euphonium #sound! euphonium 2 #kumiko oumae #Asuka Tanaka

[emily-420]

Title: magicians are con artists who steal both your money and your ability to trust Fandom/pairing: yugioh gx, manjoume/misawa, shou/kenzan, unrequited manjoume/judai, unrequited manjoume/asuka Words: 2311 Warnings: mild internalised homophobia Summary: The Love Magician's next big act is, apparently, pulling relationships out of a hat. Or a bottle, as it were.

ao3

Fubuki breezes into Manjoume’s wing of the Red dorm with a bottle, an innocuous smile that fools precisely Judai and no one else, and a scheme. The group pauses, taking their attention away from the movie that never quite held it in the first place, and stares at him as one vast, many-eyed body.

“What is it, Fubuki-nii-san,” Asuka asks tiredly from the couch, where she has strategically placed Judai between herself and Manjoume, who is sulking with the popcorn and steadfastly avoiding getting any of Judai’s many hairs in his mouth.

“It occurred to me,” he says mystically, coming to stand in front of the TV like it’s some grand podium, “that you poor children have probably never had the chance to play spin the bottle, and as your senpai and mentor, I feel it’s my duty to correct that.”

“I’m leaving,” Asuka says flatly, rising from the couch and leaving with her usual grace and dignity, and any excitement Manjoume might have felt dies a sad, tragic death.

“Oh well,” Fubuki says, “I guess that was bound to happen. But still! You have to play spin-the-bottle with your friends at least once! It’s a rite of passage!”

“Is it now,” Shou says from the floor, those three words holding as much disdain as is conceptually possible. Misawa, cross-legged next to him, has a face on him like he strongly agrees, but would also like to avoid saying so at cost of death.

“As far as I know,” Misawa starts very carefully, as if Fubuki actually cares if anyone disagrees with him or not, “it is a common practice among teenagers, but – with all due respect – I don’t see that it adds any significant value to one’s youth.”

Surely, Misawa believes he’s made his case with psychology on his side. The poor fool clearly hasn’t realised that Fubuki is a chaotic being outside the reach of trivial things like science and reason. “Oh, but it does!” Fubuki says cheerfully, presenting the empty bottle, which presumably once held something that was very much banned on campus, as if it is now filled with the secrets of the universe.

“Spin the bottle,” Fubuki informs them quite seriously, “is a wondrous game that can open new doors you’d never thought were available to you. It will give you confidence, make you question yourself, and ultimately strengthen the bonds between you all. Yes! That is the power of the bottle – to build up not just the individual, but also the unit!”

“That sounds cool!” Judai, the lone member of the group to be moved at all by this performance, says excitedly. “So how does it work?”

There’s a resounding pause where they all consider this piece of information. Manjoume is somehow smug and frustrated at the same time, which is not a new experience for him around Judai, but not one he necessarily enjoys, either. Honestly, he thinks to himself, even Misawa knows what it is. Misawa. How Judai managed to make it through middle school without anything having any bearing on relationships or sexuality entering his consciousness was a miracle the likes of which was surely unprecedented.

For the brief few moments where Fubuki happily explains spin the bottle to Judai, Manjoume enters another state of being that is far removed from anything related to Judai or bottles. And then he’s back, and quite possibly mirroring Shou, Misawa and Kenzan’s sour but relieved expressions – sour that any of this is happening in the middle of their movie evening, but relieved that they aren’t the ones who had to bite the bullet and fill Judai in.

Not that Judai gets why pressing faces with your friends is an activity that the average teenager would rather jump off a cliff than consider. “Okay,” he says, confused, “but I don’t know how to do that.”

Shou cuts in before Fukubi can let some new horror escape his mouth. “It doesn’t matter, Aniki. We’re not playing this game, right, guys?”

Kenzan nods emphatically on Shou’s other side. Flanked by him and Misawa, Shou looks like a very small boss-man with his henchman. Fubuki’s smile gains an even eerier dimension to it. “Oh,” he says, feigning innocent again, “Shou-kun, don’t tell me you’re afraid you’ll have to kiss Kenzan-kun?”

“No!” Shou protests reflexively, and then seems to realise all sorts of implications as a veritable salad of emotions flitter across his stricken face. “I mean, not that I want to – but it’s not like I’m scared, either–“

“So you wouldn’t mind?” Fubuki smiles sweetly. Shou frowns his frowniest frown. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. Since Kenzan is definitely too scared to kiss you, Shou-kun.”

“I am not!” Kenzan protests, as reflexively as Shou had. Manjoume, seeing clearly what Fubuki is up to and not looking forward to the verbal warfare that’s sure to come, tunes the rest out. Next to him, Judai looks as puzzled as ever. Manjoume realises he still has the popcorn in his lap and offers the bowl to Judai to give the boy’s poor exhausted brain a break and receives a slap on the shoulder and several hairs in his mouth for the effort. He removes them primly and discards them over the edge of the sofa to get vacuumed up later.

On the floor, Misawa is carefully edging away from Shou and Kenzan, clearly trying to avoid being pounced on to decide who’s right. Fubuki stands in the middle of the room, backlit by the paused movie, arms crossed and inordinately proud.

Just as Shou and Kenzan progress to a form of mouth-based psychological battle that Manjoume frankly could have gone without witnessing, Asuka strides back in with a spray bottle and a cross look.

“Fubuki!” she chides, all formality down the trash chute along with the nice evening they had been having before pestilence showed his face. “If you keep messing with people like this I’m telling our parents you’ve been drinking,” she tells him, and sprays him right in his smug face.

Apparently, this is all it takes to get rid of him.

.

A few nights later, Manjoume is poking moodily at a fire in the forest. Things in the Red dorm had gotten weirder than before, which should have been functionally impossible, but it seems Fubuki has no problems breaking the laws of the universe. While Kenzan and Shou had previously absconded to Ra now and then – ostensibly to see their other friends, but Manjoume had heard them say it was for the food when Judai wasn’t around – they had both taken up the habit of making sure they’re around other people at all times, as if they can’t trust themselves to be alone without jumping each other.

That’s weird enough. Manjoume could no longer look at either of them without the memory of their aggressive making out helpfully coming to the forefront of his traitorous mind. What’s worse, Judai has decided that kissing looks very exciting and would someone please do it with him.

It was terrible. Afwul. Just the worst. Manjoume was barely restraining himself from agreeing and kissing Judai’s stupid pretty mouth until he understood what it meant.

It was a Bad Idea. The kind of Bad Idea that his brothers would probably not like. Manjoume scowls as hard as his eyebrows can scowl and prods the fire like it’s the one responsible for his emotional hang-ups.

“Oh, there you are,” someone calls, and Manjoume twists around to see Misawa walking towards him through the dark in the sweatpants his sleeps in and his school boots. “Judai said you’d gone missing,” Misawa says as he takes a seat on the log Manjoume had conscripted as a seat. “I think he thinks maybe you ran off to North again.”

Manjoume snorts. “Nope. Still here.”

For a few minutes they sit without speaking, watching the fire and listening to the bats shrieking in the trees above them. Manjoume is glad Misawa is here; he doesn’t particularly like being alone, and Misawa is probably his best friend, even if they haven’t talked about it. They tend to gravitate towards each other, after all – sitting together and commenting softly – Misawa always does make him feel especially warm–

Oh. So that’s what that is.

“So what’s the matter?” Misawa asks, not looking at him. Manjoume appreciates that. It’s like he understands his vulnerabilities and has chosen to respect them. I, Manjoume realises, have it bad.

“Judai is an idiot,” he says, instead of ‘I just realised I have three crushes and I don’t know what to do with them.’

Misawa nods sagely. “What did he do now?”

Manjoume sighs as if he has the collective weight of Jupiter’s moons on his shoulders. He might as well for all he’s suffering. “Well, since those other two have apparently realised that making out like they’re trying to punish each other is better than actually fighting, Judai has decided that he wants to try it too. And neither of them will have the decency to kiss him, because they ‘respect him too much as a brother,’ or some other nonsense. So he won’t leave me alone.”

“I see,” Misawa says, quiet and serious, the sound of his voice camouflaged among the crackling of the fire. Their shoulders are touching; Manjoume holds very still in an attempt to act nonchalant. Misawa still doesn’t look at him as he asks, “You’re scared, right?”

A sideways look at Misawa’s face, bathed in firelight, tells him that he’s not being made fun of. “Of what?”

Misawa glances at him, slightly evaluating. “Something real.” Before Manjoume can let out a weak protest – something about how his love for Asuka was 100% genuine, no doubt – Misawa ploughs forward like a steam train in midwinter. “You know. Like, if something actually happens, you can’t pretend you’re not feeling what you’re feeling.”

A noise comes from Manjoume’s throat that may or may not have wanted to be words. “How’d you know?”

“Asuka,” Misawa says with a wry smile. He looks Manjoume directly in the eyes and Manjoume gets warmer in the face than sitting moodily in front of a fire for forty-five minutes would call for and tries to look very interested in the way the twigs are slowly turning to ash.

“I do like her, you know,” Manjoume mutters. “I just also…”

“I wasn’t trying to say you didn’t.” Misawa leans his elbows on his knees. For someone who’s wearing a hasty mix of school uniform and pyjamas, he looks pretty mature. “It just seems to me that you focus on your feelings for her because it’s safe. I get that.”

Manjoume blinks at him. “You should be a therapist.”

He’s gifted with a chuckle for that. “No thanks.” There’s a beat in between, a slice of the night where that one chuckle curls gently around them and lingers like sweet incense. Then Misawa asks, “Is it harder for you? With your brothers? You don’t have to tell me, but.”

Manjoume considers the offered out, considers Misawa’s hunched-over shoulders and the way he’s rubbing his hands together, the slightest admission of cold. “Yes,” he says, blunt and more than a little distant.

A bat chatters, in that squeaky way of theirs. “I’m sorry,” Misawa says softly. Manjoume swallows, and tries not to outwardly show how wondrously bittersweet it feels to have told someone that for the first time.

“Yeah,” Manjoume says, at a loss.

Even through the solid army of foot-soldier trees, the ocean wind reaches them, especially chilling in the enveloping night. “So, will you kiss Judai?” Manjoume asks, half-curious, but mostly wanting to stop feeling like he’s going to cry. “Because at this rate he’s going to get desperate and ask Fubuki, and I don’t want to know what’ll happen if it comes to that.”

Misawa grins at him. “Well, if no one else will…”

Immediately, with the clarity and familiarity that comes from talking ambiguously about your sexuality with someone in the dead of night, Manjoume understands this to be Misawa’s own oblique way of coming out to him. He’s unexpectedly touched. “Go on then,” he says softly. “If you can live with yourself knowing that he hasn’t got a clue.”

His grin turns very wry very quickly. “Spoilsport.”

Manjoume shrugs and stands, brushing off the back of his coat. “Come on, help me put this out.”

The fire is quickly stoned into non-existence in much the same way Manjoume wishes he could do with his feelings half the time. Just before they leave the sanctuary of the forest, Manjoume stills Misawa with a slight touch to his forearm.

“Hey, um…” For someone who’s spent the last while talking about their feelings, the words are hard to get out. Maybe he’s hit his monthly quota or something. “Thanks for this,” he says, mouth dry. “I, um, know you don’t really like this stuff…”

In the dark, he can’t read Misawa’s face, but his pause seems measured. “It’s okay,” Misawa says finally. “Sometimes you have to think about it. I… Well, it sounds stupid, but I realised I’m not just a brain. I have a heart too.”

“…You know emotions are chemically registered in the–” Misawa whacks him playfully on the arm before he can finish, and Manjoume giggles. “Well, I’m grateful anyway. You’re a good friend.”

Misawa pauses again and Manjoume becomes very conscious of the fact that he’s still touching his arm. He can’t read this silence. His fingertips curl slightly into the fabric of Misawa’s school jacket. “Huh,” Misawa says. “That’s the first time you’ve called me your friend.”

“Oh. Well.” Manjoume clears his throat primly. “Don’t get used to it,” he says, dropping his hand and marching off towards the welcoming halo of light around the Red dorm. He hears Misawa snort as he follows him and feels, somehow, that it’s going to be okay.

#yugioh gx #manjoume jun #misawa daichi #hornetshipping #jurassicshipping

[weirdo-with-a-nametag]

1. Who was the last person you held hands with? Me. Just now, to spite you.

2. Are you outgoing or shy? I’m loud, and friendly, but terrified. Sometimes I go out of my way to socialize with a lot of people, and sometimes I try to be as unnoticeable as possible. It takes a lot out of me, but it seems necessary to be social.

3. Who are you looking forward to seeing? My best friend, my sisters, my dad

4. Are you easy to get along with? I’ve been told I am by reputable sources

5. If you were drunk would the person you like take care of you? I have a pact that my best friend and I are to get drunk together one of these days, and he’s nice so he would care, but knowing myself I’ll probably be the one taking care of him, or I’d just pass out on the floor and he’d go sleep

6. What kind of people are you attracted to? nah

7. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? nah

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind? what opposite?

9. Does talking about sex make you uncomfortable? not really? I mean, wait, my approach to talking about sex is somewhat clinical. If other people talk about it in other ways, I can get really uncomfortable really fast. That’s part of what I mean by “sex-averse.” If someone’s talking about sex including me, I freak a little.

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? mm, probably my dad. We talked things out a few days after I moved out, which was recent.

11. What does the most recent text that you sent say? it says, “Who?”

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now? I am So Bad at favorites. No, thank you, today.

13. Do you like it when people play with your hair? Some people, if I know they’re going to, for sure.

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles? Yeah. The world would be less interesting to me without luck.

15. What good thing happened this summer? I got an Infinity Cube (and proceeded to mess with it nonstop fr so long that I had to hide it for the next week until my hand stopped hurting), and I made several thousand dollars for my savings.

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? The last person would be my little sister’s goodbye kiss. Absolutely, I love her.

17. Do you think there is life on other planets? Of course.

18. Do you still talk to your first crush? who?

19. Do you like bubble baths? bubble baths are nice in concept. I always end up hurting my back by lying in bathtubs, though.

20. Do you like your neighbors? My neighbors hate my family. But me, personally... I’ve never been anything but nice to them, and I think we’re on okay terms. We don’t interact much.

21. What are you bad habits? I bite my nails, ignore my “eat food” alarms, stay up until after sunrise for NO REASON I cannot go to sleep, I get kinda snippy if my mom starts a conversation we’ve already had, use wrappers as coasters instead of throwing my trash away, and rarely stick with something long enough to make anything of it. I have a 95% assembled 3D printer sitting in my room. It’s been at that point for 8 months at least.

22. Where would you like to travel? Oh, yes, I want to learn languages and see the wildlife and touch the water and lay in snow outside of Oregon. Please.

23. Do you have trust issues? Doesn’t everyone? I recently figured out another level to mine, though. Fun!

24. Favorite part of your daily routine? putting on tea water and music while I do the dishes

25. What part of your body are you most uncomfortable with? Check the dysphoria for that one. But runner-ups: it’s really uncomfortable to feel my skin-on-skin when I bend my torso too far, fat rolls are a bad sensory experience for me. Amy oily or overly dry skin is distracting, and my ears always feel like they need to be popped.

26. What do you do when you wake up? During quarantine it’s been go back to sleep, eventually turn on some tv, wait for my housemate to get up .

28. Who are you most comfortable around? mm, my two closest friends, or my housemate.

29. Have any of your ex’s told you they regret breaking up? Have one ex, who asked me something that smelled like it was leading toward “do you want to get back together?” recently. But I don’t think either of us regret breaking up, when we did. It was the right choice.

30. Do you ever want to get married? Eh, how are the tax benefits? I wouldn’t mind, but I have a hard time believing it’d be because we fell in love, and it’s also terribly restricting. I’d honestly rather have a household of 4, a big poly qpr specifically, so I’m not lonely and I can put my love somewhere, and we can support each other. That sounds great.

31. If your hair long enough for a pony tail? mhm

33. Spell your name with your chin. l,kianaz       --I did that twice and it’s identical

34. Do you play sports? What sports? Nah. If you count climbing, then yes, but not competitively. I played ultimate frizbee for a bit? And I like playing hockey. 

35. Would you rather live without TV or music? TV. No question. Music is the  foundation of the machine that pulls me through my day-to-day. That sounds dramatic, but a more precise explanation would be annoyingly long. Someone gets it.

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them? mm, I “like” my best friend in some kinda way, but I’m sure he knows my feeling as well as I do. (still not very well, but the point here is that I’m an open book and we’re close)

37. What do you say during awkward silences? I either don’t register them at all, or I do and immediately divert to some mental or physical activity. Usually blurt out a random thing on my mind, change the subject, or... throw something. Sometimes I throw things at people I want to talk to. Not sure how to explain that one.

38. Describe your dream girl/guy? ?

39. What are your favorite stores to shop in? Clothes shopping is exhausting, what with the endless textures and noises and flourescent lights and linoleum floors and I come out of it with one (1) acceptable shirt and a feeling like I’ve been sanding the edges off of my brain with a belt sander for the hours I spent in the store. Grocery shopping can be fun, but it’s usually more pain than the food is worth, and I like looking for art supplies - SCRAP here in portland is fun. Oh, and lumber stores or carpet warehouses, if I can get away with climbing.

40. What do you want to do after high school? I want to go to college for physics, graduate and move out of the country for grad school, and end up on a research grant teaching somewhere. On my current trajectory, I’ll probably flunk out next year and go to the Job Corps for Forestry training. Look for a job as a ranger, maybe. Volunteer with rescue crews. Not a bad life at all, but I love learning and I’d feel a bit cut off, I think.

41. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? Yeah. People deserve second chances in life, but we need to answer for our actions. And no one has the right to demand a second chance from a person. You don’t “deserve” that. You might get a second chance, if you’re lucky. But it’s luck and kindness and trust, not deserved, that you are responsible for taking care not to break.

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean? Probably I’m just thinking, in some way or another. Sometimes I’m keeping myself from running out of the room, sometimes I’m focused on my music, sometimes I’m coming up with something to say

43. Do you smile at strangers? Usually. I try to smile when I make eye contact with people, try and be nice, if I feel safe

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean? Space is attractive but I think I’d see/discover more with a physical deep sea trip than a physical deep space trip. Faster, certainly.

45. What makes you get out of bed in the morning? Music, usually, or someone yelling, or I need to pee.

46. What are you paranoid about? my actions having a “butterfly effect” and hurting people, every person, every time I interact with them, but the effects seem so small that no one notices. It’s already too late.

47. Have you ever been high? no? I get a weird loopy reaction to Ibuprofen sometimes, but I’ve never been intentionally intoxicated

48. Have you ever been drunk? see above

49. Have you done anything recently that you hope nobody finds out about? I stole some pez? But people know about that. Oh. the answer is yes.

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore? black

51. Ever wished you were someone else? mm, not really. I’ve wished I didn’t exist, but not to be another person who does exist

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself? If I could trust my sense of right and wrong, that would be nice. But physically? I want wings, big enough to fly with.

54. Favourite store? my favorite tea shop was Townshend’s, but they changed. There’s a kombucha place under my kung fu place that’s good, though.

56. Favourite colour? I usually say cobalt.

57. Favourite food? no idea

58. Last thing you ate? 5-am-midnight-dinner-tacos

59. First thing you ate this morning? I am denying the fact that it is morning.

60. Ever won a competition? For what? I won multiple boat races in my 8th grade shop class. Oh and my robotics team went to state two years in a row

61. Been suspended/expelled? For what? nah. Got detention for something in middle school, and a lot of trouble in elementary school, but no suspensions.

62. Been arrested? For what? .....no

63. Ever been in love? questionable

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss? my what

65. Are you hungry right now? I’m very rarely hungry. Also just ate. No.

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends? I have 1 1/2 tumblr friends, none of which I know better than my real-life friends, so my bonds with them are not as strong, no

67. Facebook or Twitter? neither

68. Twitter or Tumblr? tumblr 

69. Are you watching tv right now? no

70. Names of your bestfriends? I refuse

71. Craving something? What? sleep

72. What colour are your towels? whatever color is cheapest

72. How many pillows do you sleep with? right now there are five pillows on my bed. Not a personal choice. If given the option, one, maybe two.

73. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? not really

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have? probably 12, including in storage and display-only

75. Favourite animal? there are too many cool animals. It was the wolverine for a while though

76. What colour is your underwear? blue today

77. Chocolate or Vanilla? usually chocolate. Been on a vanilla kick lately though

78. Favourite ice cream flavour? used to go for mint chocolate chip whenever it was available, but I like cherry, moose tracks, I like most things without marshmallows or cake batter, unless you get really weird.

79. What colour shirt are you wearing? blue.

80. What colour pants? orange, with white dotted plaid striping

81. Favourite tv show? how to pick. I’m rewatching Leverage this week, and the Magicians is visually appealing

82. Favourite movie? uh? It was Treasure planet for several months when I was 7, and I have a deep appreciation for the movie adaptation of Holes, but I don’t know abou favorites right now. The Usual Suspects is good though

83. Mean Girls or Mean Girls 2? I don’t think I’ve watched either

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street? again, no clue

85. Favourite character from Mean Girls? I

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo? Dory, or the manta ray, or the baby sea turtle

87. First person you talked to today?... my mom? I think

88. Last person you talked to today? my mom

89. Name a person you hate? no

90. Name a person you love? my sisters. both of them.

91. Is there anyone you want to punch in the face right now? god. Let me sleep.

92. In a fight with someone? kind of in a fight with my mom over cleaning? Not much of a fight though.

93. How many sweatpants do you have? three? Maybe more if you expand the definition

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have? 3 sweaters, 4-5 hoodies

95. Last movie you watched? Holes

98. Do you tan a lot? I burn in 10 minutes or less, guaranteed, and I don’t really tan no matter what

99. Have any pets? yes! Lots! 4 cats, 3 dogs, 2 snakes. Lovely sweet creatures

100. How are you feeling? vibrate-y

101. Do you type fast? no, I cheated in typing class and now I type with three fingers and a braille keyboard

102. Do you regret anything from your past? most of it

103. Can you spell well? I think so

104. Do you miss anyone from your past? I miss my best (and only) friend from elementary school. We haven’t talked since the summer after 5th grade.

105. Ever been to a bonfire party? I have thrown many bonfire parties, and been to those of others

106. Ever broken someone’s heart? I have no idea. Oh. Maybe a little? But we’re still friends, so I think it’s ok

107. Have you ever been on a horse? yeah, horses are fun

108. What should you be doing? sleeping!

109. Is something irritating you right now? my hip

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt? “liked”? probably not

111. Do you have trust issues? isn’t this on here twice? Yes, I have trust issues.

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of? mm, my dad and a psychologist

113. What was your childhood nickname? I didn’t have one until middle school, and then it was “Lemur” for about a year. Now it’s Murphy

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state? I’ve been everywhere between Oregon and Virginia (drove across to move here), Idaho, California, Indiana, DC, Washington, Texas, Vegas specifically, Florida, Canada, and China.

115. Do you play the Wii? Used to play mariokart with my dad

116. Are you listening to music right now? yeah, right at this moment it’s “Tribulation” by Matt Maeson

117. Do you like chicken noodle soup? I guess. Usually the noodles are disgusting, usually it’s canned, and that’s not good

118. Do you like Chinese food? there are definitely dishes in amaricanized Chinese food that I like, and for sure dishes in authentic Chinese food that I love, so I guess so?

119. Favourite book? Ah. No comment.

120. Are you afraid of the dark? I don’t think so.

121. Are you mean? I think I can be, but everyone outside my family seems to think I’m an angel, so

122. Is cheating ever okay? Listen, if you can’t tell your SO you’re interested in another person and talk through what that means with them, I think you have more important things to do? That said, I have no experience here. From other people talking about it and my general idea of the fallout and trust, no. Don’t.

123. Can you keep white shoes clean? Highly unlikely. I have never tried, or wanted to

124. Do you believe in love at first sight? I don’t even know what love feels like

125. Do you believe in true love? I’m sure whatever it is can be as “true” as you believe it to be

126. Are you currently bored? always

127. What makes you happy? making things, making people happy, seeing beautiful things, and music

128. Would you change your name? I might

129. What your zodiac sign? Cancer

130. Do you like subway? no

131. Your bestfriend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? I ask “what are you looking for in our relationship that is not currently there,” and we move from there. Communication and understanding. This is what happened with me and my (now) ex. We’re closer for having talked through our relationship and breakup, honestly.

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? Another repeat? My dad and a psychologist.

133. Favourite lyrics right now? mm, “I want my answers to be questioned” from “Take Me Back” by Kongos because reasons I can’t explain right now. Also a bunch of Lake Ponchartrain by Ludo because I like that song and a bunch of The Mountain Goats but I can’t think sorry

134. Can you count to one million? If I dedicated the time, but why

135. Dumbest lie you ever told? Convinced my neighbor my name was “oop” or something like that? And that my real name was actually my middle name. Completely on impulse. I did convince her, though. 3rd grade me did know what was up, apparently.

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed? closed. Windows open, though, it gets way too hot in here 

137. How tall are you? 5′5″ish

138. Curly or Straight hair? straight

139. Brunette or Blonde? n/a. Red.

140. Summer or Winter? winter. I overheat and I love snow and ice skating

141. Night or Day? night. Stars and no sunburn or sunlight-headaches

142. Favourite month? no idea

143. Are you a vegetarian? nah

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate? dark

145. Tea or Coffee? tea

146. Was today a good day? today was long

147. Mars or Snickers? snickers, I suppose. I don’t like either of these

148. What’s your favourite quote? I’ve come across several quotes I thought were terribly clever and I wanted to remember, and I remember none of them. Although recently “anything worth doing is worth doing halfway” has been good to me

149. Do you believe in ghosts? can’t think of a reason not to

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page? (via catscuddlingandyou) I’ll level. It’s 7:39am, I haven’t slept, and everything hurts, I don’t really want to get out of bed and look for a book for this. I’ll pull up the book I have on my phone, though. “so unnerved was he at the sight that he leaned against the wall with his hand to his throat to stifle his inclination to call out.”

#Good Night. #mine #ask game