#should he just straight up adopt the city at this point? | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

asterjennifer · 7 months

Text

Gifted Crystal

Stolas meets Blitz at the office to give him the Asmodean Crystal.

Pt. 2 (Pt.1)

Once he took a deep breath of the rather stagnant air inside the building, he placed his hand against the entrance.

The Prince watched the contrast of his black hand against the grey door of the IMP company. Somehow he never noticed just how big it was in comparison to the surroundings of IMP City. And although he's so much taller, he felt oh-so small today....

Red eyes roaming over the logo Blitzo must've drawn himself, he couldn't help but give a tiny smile. The thought of him sitting at the desk with pen in his hand, trying to find the perfect logo for his business, was a warming imagination. He knew that Blitzo liked to draw sometimes, he'd seen some of his works as pictures on his phone when gazing over. He wasn't particularly talented, but the drawings had almost as much beauty as the Imp himself.

After he shook his head free from the dreams circling — which, honestly, just wanted to delay the moment, he instead took the rest courage and pushed the door open.

Inside, the both Imps working for him seemed to train their aiming skills. There's also his adopted daughter, Stolas needed a brief second to remember her name. Loona was it. She held up a printed picture of a couple disguised men. It looked like they just robbed a bank of some sort by the masks on their faces. Everything was red in these walls today.

Soon eyes darted over at him — immediately making his entire body uncomfortable in the formal clothes. Especially the cape turned unbearable within seconds. Unsure steps brought him into the room, meeting the eyes of the female Imp.

“Is Blitz in his office?” He asked, silently clearing his throat.

The woman exchanged a quick look with her partner before nodding, pointing her finger towards the end of the room at the door. “Yeah, he's in his office.”

He thanked her and passed them with even quieter steps. Now the whole place felt as if the air was thicker than fire. But Stolas forced himself to ignore everything other than his mission, the one thing he's been repeating over and over inside his head since last night.

Due to Blitz being naturally unpredictable, Stolas had a difficult time figuring out which scenario or reaction he should prepare for. Would he grab the Crystal and shove him right out of the door? Would he first try denying the gift in fears it's somehow a scheme on his part? What if he thought it's just to get rid of him forever? Then again, that seemed like something only the Prince worried about.

He knocked politely, then he heard the voice that managed to make his heart beat out of his chest. “What you want??”

“I swear, Moxxie, if you fucked up and ruined my new chairs I will f—” Blitz sat on his desk.

Yet the strong voice died inside his throat when looking up into the face he's been avoiding like the plague. Stolas scanned nothing much in his face other than brief shock, surprise and then slight discomfort in the way the corner of his mouth pulled up. That's a common expression of him, or maybe it's just the common face he wore when he's around him. The thought caused Stolas to squeeze the box tighter between his hands.

These yellow eyes he adored searched the room instinctively, perhaps to find an escape of some sort? An excuse to tell the Prince he's busy once again? He preferred that argument of having no time available. It had increased over the months as well, that he's so busy he couldn't text much, leave alone meet up for one reason or another. Stolas did his best swallowing the lump that blocked his throat. Doing his best keeping his own face straight.

“Hello Blitz,” He said formally. “I hope I don't disturb you as much, but there's something...”

“Ahh, Stolas, you— uh, you have a real bad timing coming in this early. I need the book around evening a last time before holiday, also why you show up in person-”

Blitz basically jumped off his chair, already rambling with that uncertainty underneath the usual confident tone. Stolas' eyes narrowed because of it — it only happened when he's talking to him, he hasn't heard him talk that way to his employees or daughter before. Another indicator of discomfort that he had been ignoring for his own selfish reasons? Surely that's the case. Just how much did he push Blitz into a corner without ever coming to realize? So embarrassing. So shameful.

Stolas lifted his hand, waving it fast and awkwardly. “No, no it's none of that... Well, it's also about the book. But primarily it's...”

Say it, he thought in a hectic manner. Feeling the pulse start to pump through his veins. It's worse inside his chest. He's been having stings for a good while now, but this one was uncommon. The fact he's seeing Blitz's concerned face, showing a bit of the enormous amount of worry over what he'd might planned doing to him, he felt like some kind of monster. Was it justified?

Either way, he reached up to pull his hat closer to his face. Holding out the box. “Here, this will be of advantage for your business.”

Blitz's eyebrows frowned together. Not trusting this in the slightest, he slowly but surely moved backwards. Suddenly a horrible premonition filled his bones with a cold shudder.

“I swear if this is is a sex toy I'll beat your feathered ass.”

“It's none of that, I promise! It's— This is an Asmodean Crystal.” He quickly declined the bad idea Blitz had.

A thick silence filled the air, none of the two moved for a good moment. But Blitz fell back against the desk, pressing a hand over his eyes when laughing out loud.

“Hah! You got me,” He casually pointed his finger at the Prince. “I almost believed your bullshit just now. Just tell me what you want already instead of fussing around my workplace.”

Unsure how to convince him otherwise, Stolas opened the box himself and pulled out the Crystal to hold it up. Blitz's face dropped out of the blue into something that he couldn't quite identify, he had such a rigid face. Again, he said it's for him to use. That it's for his business.

On the other side, Blitz couldn't tell if his mind exploded with everything at once or nothing at all, leaving it completely empty seeing that Crystal being held inside the hand of the Prince. Who, now a little more nervous, made the box fly with magic in order to pull out the ID card holding Blitz's name.

“You can use it from hell,” He spoke surprisingly calm. “Like the book, it allows you access in both directions when being in a different world. However, it also can assist you with a human disguise. But only you since it's your Crystal. I've had no room asking for two more. But I'm certain your employees will be fine dressing up.”

While he explained, he let the item and card fly over to Blitz. Simultaneously placing the box onto the office table. Stolas couldn't ignore the deep heartburn after finally letting go the control he owned over the person he truly came to love. That pain felt undescribable, no feeling came close to the one scratching from his head to toe. His shoulders tensed up as he looked into the corner. Somehow he knew if he kept seeing Blitz's eyes, he might start tearing up.

“Therefore you will not be in need of my book anymore.” He pressed the tips of his fingers against his chest. “Our arrangement is officially over now. I'd like the book back, of course.”

His hands formed into fists unconsciously. Blitz's brows frowned so deep it must've been painful. On the other side of the room, he couldn't start to even comprehend what just happened. But there's a familiar tightness raising into his throat, burning like he's about to throw up acid on the floor. Was this…?

A flash of his sister appeared in front of his eyes. “I never wanna see you! Ever!” She screamed at him. “Next time you wanna find me Blitzo, don't!”

“A selfish Imp in the sheets and just as bad in the streets,” Veronica echoed with enough venom to poison his brain. “A selfish heartbreaking freak..!”

“You're going to die alone, Blitzo.”

Hadn't he just repaired a fraction of his damage with Fizz? He's been communicating with him and although the timing could've been a better one, it helped so much letting go of past misunderstandings and undeserved hatred. Hadn't he just made up and felt a hint of relief, dear saying it, happiness within his soul? What backlash hit his chest just now that he worried for a moment he'd black out.

The Crystal inside his hand shook and even if he would've liked to make it stop, he wasn't sure where that tremor even came from. However, there's a push in the back of his head that made him roll his eyes depsite the lack of control over his body.

“You could've given that the whole time, could you??” He said, going louder with each word.

Stolas' eyes widened. “I- I needed to ask permission from Asmodeus for it.”

A flame caught fire in the every inch of the Imp, clawing at the Crystal while the anger piled up until it bubbles up the surface. His sharp teeth gritted against each other before lashing out.

“You could've just given me this stupid fucking Crystal and none of the bullshit that happened would've happened!” His hands shot forward.

His shoulders now rose up high. “Is that how you fuck with people!? And now what — You're just gonna go get a new toy?”

Confused by the reaction, Stolas shook his head. Blitz slammed the Crystal to the wooden surface before storming to his safe where the book was being stored. The Prince couldn't find words at all since Blitz kept complaining loudly. Reminding him of Stella — just for a short, brief millisecond. It scared him. Blitz threw the thick metal door open against the wall behind.

“Well good luck finding another fucking Idiot, because I don't even know who would be so damn stupid agreeing to your bullshit.” So close to trip over his own feet, he pressed the book to Stolas' chest.

Baring his teeth with a shadow over his face, he gave him the same look he'd given to Verosika the day she'd caught him at the horse riding lessons. The day they fought in public and officially broke up afterwards. Not that the situation was the same, however, it felt suspiciously similar to that past event that still occasionally came visiting him in his dreams.

The fear roaming through the Prince got replaced by disappointment when watching how Blitz did the one thing he'd been terrified of receiving. That resentment forced out all over the place by the hand of himself, yet he couldn't turn back time to try it differently. As much as he wanted. This was reality and he might be a Goetia, but he was no time travelling God.

That accusation hurt the most when thinking about it, the fact Blitz really believed he's just simply going to move along getting an new Imp, or plaything, showed the nonexistent trust Blitz actually held for him this whole time. Texts of apology, attempts of making up by doing normal things like watching a series, skipping Full Moons, there's no thing in all of Hell that would have helped overpowering his status. That one problem blocking the pathway for something serious between them.

Stolas placed the book underneath his coat, failing at the eye contact and instead fumbling with his hands, keeping his focus there. “I do not plan that. We can... still meet if you like.”

“Just get out of my fucking office already, I have no nerves for this right now. I'm at work still, damn it!”

Figuring that this was the maximum he's able to offer or do, Stolas nodded. “Very well. Until we meet again, Blitz.” With that, he left the building.

Never once turning around or gifting the other people a look, he couldn't bear the thought of being seen this broken down. He knew exactly what his face said to the outside world and he wanted to ensure that it would seek as little attention as possible.

The door to his office room closed softly, so very calm and slowly that it was an eternity to Blitz. He waited, continuing to lean against the desk as his legs shook too hard. Eavesdropping his employees go dead silent, going back to their doings a few seconds afterwards. He heard Loona sigh and Moxxie reload the weapon again. He heard cars outside the building drive by, he could perceive every single sound around him.

His face turned to the side. Finding that Crystal lay there obediently, waiting for him to use it instead of the book that's now gone. Gone. Where did the sounds go? He wasn't able to hear a single thing right after. As if deaf from birth, as if someone tore his eardrums. The burning taste on his tongue now reached his consciousness to announce the panic attack he's having.

Blitz caught his body just before falling down to the ground, breathing heavily albeit without a sound coming out. His eyes ran over the floor, back forth, back forth and again. What just happened? What did he just do? What did that damned Owl just do to him?

His fingers twitched when reaching up his cheeks, they're completely wet and he didn't realize until that moment. Of course he knew what just happened and the exact implication of that gift.

Stolas could've given him that Crystal from the very beginning. But he didn't because he liked having Blitz as his little Imp. Fucking royal asshole had been playing pretend the whole time, he must have been. Why else would he give him the Crystal now? But then a conclusion hit Blitz and his uneven breathing stopped altogether. The last time he'd been in contact with Stolas was... the day he got hospitalized.

Both his hands landed on the desk, weak like never before. And while he tried to not throw up — he noticed that this was their last interaction before needing rest to recover. He almost died and Blitz knew he was invited for a visit, Stolas outright asked him to come. But like normally, he declined and assumed he can just brush it over. Stolas wasn't invincible as he first assumed and settled down with though. Did he finally cross that line? Breaking that patience fassade which he couldn't escape from?

His body slacked down at the table with his hand coming up to cover his eyes. Why was he crying again? It's been an arrangement since day one and that never changed throughout their history together, Blitz had confirmed it firmly after the incident at Ozzie's. It's business, that's all. So why was he that shook up over something he clearly shouldn't care about? It's not like wanted to, it's not like he was too dumb to understand. It's more about refusing acknowledgement than living in delusions.

But that's what broken people do, right? He asked himself bitterly. His wet face lifted up slightly, only enough to look at the office door. “Fuck…”

Fuck that good feeling. This feeling of recovery was beaten into the ground with a single gesture. Fizz was his childhood friend, he could repair this as it's been a big misunderstanding. But this? Stolas? The noble Goetia Prince? Yeah, sure, like he's going to remember Blitz's name in a few weeks. He's done and therefore they were done without discussion. That's how this worked, after all. Royals aren't approachable. Blitz knew that from the start and should've stick with it. Goddamn it.

Exhausted due to these heavy tears, Blitz used the remaining strength in his system to go behind the desk. He opened the drawer in rapid motion, the gift that's already wrapped bouncing against it. The wrapping paper wasn't good, the edges stood up and the cuts weren't clean. It looked ugly and worthless. Blitz hissed through his teeth then.

He picked it up and immediately threw it into the trashcan beside his desk before leaving through the backdoor for a break.

The card saying “Merry Christmas. From Blitz to Stolas.” hung down in the dark of the empty office now. Remaining there considering he wouldn't need it tonight. After all, he was not going anywhere.

25 notes · View notes

inconmess · 28 days

Text

Since I am stuck with ideas of Malcolm finding out that Oscar can't die and being gaslighted post it, here's an AU where Oscar and Malcolm are on the same group when Malcolm is serving. It was a debate on whether I should post it or now but I am now saying screw it and posting it. Is it a potential fanfic idea? Yeah. Am I just leaving it for anyone to adopt, hell yeah.

(At some point, I am going to make it in such a way that I am creating scenarios where every single Candela character has seen Oscar die and it's aftermath, multiple scenarios cuz why not but for now, version 2)

Malcolm and Oscar are in the same division, Oscar being sent into service as a punishment/him just signing up because he is bored and at some point in the mission, dies and has to be left behind because one can't carry a body and run long distances.

Or maybe he joined as an undercover thingy for Candela and is there in Malcolm's last mission, where his entire group evaporated but Oscar, with his luck, escapes but Malcolm assumes that he's dead anyway.

Either way, he is discharged, comes back to the city, gets taken in by Madam Glask and given a job and who's there? Oscar fucking Grimm. In flesh. Alive.

And Oscar is like "Nope, I didn't serve in the army, maybe you saw my relative" and Malcolm initially thinks he's hallucinating but nope, Cordelia introduces Oscar as a part of her security and can definitely see him so he's definitely not hallucinating.

At this point I suppose he has come in contact with Candela `peeps so he does mention about Oscar to Edgar or someone he runs with in a circle but no one has any idea on what he's talking about cuz Oscar hasn't worked with any of them until one day, Oscar fucking Grimm is in a circle with Malcolm. And dies again.

Cosmo is either in the circle with Malcolm at that time and is calmly like "Everything's fine, he's not dead, just pretending" or straight up joins the bandwagon of saying that "no, this is not that Oscar but rather my other grandson Oscar" the next time they meet.

#messy thots #fanfic ideas #candela obscura #candela speculation #It's just fun I suppose for me to think about it #Edgar and Malcolm watching Oscar die and come back to life #cosmo grimm #oscar grimm #malcolm trills #poor malcolm tho #I wonder how Leo will react....#that's for another day #Grimm Theories

8 notes · View notes

gunebuggieswriting · 8 months

Text

̶Good Bad Habits Run In The Family: Chapter Eleven

DPxDC Crossover, Jason Adopts Danny AU

[AO3] [FF.net] [Wattpad]

First Chapter || << Last Chapter || Next Chapter >>

Jason woke up later on, the door to Danny’s room still firmly closed. The only relief was from the lack of almost silent sobs, instead replaced by soft snores. It didn’t make him any less concerned, but it was easier to think now. The man made himself a chicken taco, and left a bowl of chicken with a note on top that told Danny he could make his taco however he wanted. He made sure to also add on the note that Danny didn’t have to eat chicken tacos either, but that he did need to eat. As the kid’s unofficial guardian, it’s Jason’s job to make sure he’s healthy. It felt like he was the kid’s parent, and he was surprised when he found that he didn’t really mind.

After that he left, using the shadows to sneak into a broken down apartment building he used to hide his Red Hood costume. He knew that if anybody saw him enter and then see Red Hood leave, that they’d realize the two were one and the same, so he made sure that nobody stayed there. It didn’t stop a few homeless people who attempted to, having nowhere else to camp at, especially when nights would become too cold or the storms too strong. He didn’t kick them out, but whenever Jason Todd came around the next day he made sure to give them an actual shelter, a place where they can truly be safe.

He went straight from the shattered window to the largely empty bedroom, only a few piles of trash and mouse drops scattered about. He lifted up a board, relieved that his costume was still there. He knew he should find a better place, one that wasn't so accessible and the ceilings wouldn't leak, but didn’t bother with that right then and slipped into his costume instead. He left his civilian clothes behind, shifting the board back into place. Checking his grappling gun as well as his regular guns, he left the building, quickly scaling up the wall and onto the roof.

Up there the city felt much calmer, the sounds of gunshots and roaring vehicles far into the distance. The peacefulness of it only made him more restless, reminiscent of the calm before a storm. He hopped from roof to roof, checking each street and alley as he did so. It was only a matter of time before he was needed, Crime Alley was the worst of the crime ridden city that was Gotham.

In a few hours of doing this he stopped a few creeps from trying things on working girls and those alike, forced thugs from beating up the defenseless homeless people, and stopped a shoot out before it happened. Yet, he felt like the night was more relaxed than most, something he’d usually be grateful for. Now it only reminded him of the night he found Danny. The damp and dirty alley way that he swooped down in after hearing a loud thud sound, only to see a beaten up teen who would change so much without him realizing it…

It seemed like no matter how many criminals that Red Hood took down, his thoughts always traced back to the worrisome matter that was Danny, and it took a lot to continue his patrol instead of returning to his apartment to check on the teenager. He didn’t know whether he should give the boy space or comfort, he didn’t know what Danny needed, and he couldn’t just ask. He felt useless and out of his element, and he was beginning to think that somewhere somebody else would be better than him when it came to emotions. Danny needed help, but Jason may not be the help he needs.

Deep in anxious thoughts, Red Hood didn't notice whenever a figure walked up behind him. He only felt their presence whenever they tapped him on his shoulder, the anti-hero spun around, both guns out and pointed at whoever snuck up on him. The person held up both hands, and Red Hood already knew who was foolish enough to creep up on him while he was distracted, the carefree grin clear on the other's face.

"Nightwing, are you an idiot? You would look like swiss cheese right now if I didn't have more restraint. Honestly, I should have just put a few bullets in that thick skull of yours, might knock some common sense in you." Red Hood huffed, annoyed, as he let his hands lower. He was tempted to keep his guns out as Nightwing began chuckling while he slid them back in the holsters of his utility belt.

"I didn't know you were so out of it. Usually you're way more aware when you're on patrol." Nightwing teased, yet there was a hint of worry in his voice, one Red Hood knew all too well. The older vigilante sat down on the edge of the roof, patting the space beside him. Red Hood reluctantly sat next to the other man, slumped forward while resting his head on one of his hands, his legs dangling carelessly off the side.

They sat like that for a few moments, before Red Hood got tired of the silence, not wanting his thoughts to wander too much again. "What do you want, Nightwing? I'm sure you didn’t just come here to sit and ogle at the Gotham scenery.”

Nightwing turned to Red Hood, laughing lowly in a way he knew riled Red Hood, except for Red Hood didn’t really have the patience or energy to go along with the other. Nightwing seemed to notice this, his laughter dying down to a soft sigh. “I see you aren’t in the best of moods.”

“You’re right, so just spit out what you want to say before I leave.” The anti-hero was already shuffling, serious about his threat. If Nightwing was here to just waste his time then he would hurry and finish his patrol and return to his apartment, so he could at least check to see if the kid ate supper or not.

Nightwing raised his hands in a palaciting manner, his smile falling with nervousness. “I don’t wanna make you mad, little wing, I just wanted to ask about the new kid you have with you.” The blue themed vigilante said lightly, knowing that it was easy to tip off Red Hood, and that it was even easier whenever he was in a bad mood. Maybe right now wasn't the best time to swing over and talk. He was curious though, and right now was the best time to get answers before the dinner that day. Red Hood would become more closed off then, as all the other bats would immediately hound him with questions. Nightwing may have also been missing their usual patrols together whenever he visited.

Red Hood glared at Nightwing, which was somewhat muddled by the red helmet he wore, but Nightwing knew that look anyway. "You couldn't wait until tomorrow at the dinner? You can get to know him when he's there." That was if they went, Red Hood didn't know if Danny would want to go anymore after earlier, and he wouldn't force him to go. He could already tell that everybody at the dinner were all going to be excited with the prospect of a new guest, and after he tells them all that he was the new meta in Gotham that they'd be more excited. It would be overwhelming, especially if everyone was showing up. He didn't need to tell any of that to Nightwing though, he'd only bug Red Hood with more questions. Even if he wanted to tell Nightwing everything, which he didn't, some of it wasn't for him to tell.

Nightwing scratched the side of his face, his smile becoming more lopsided and smaller with each exchange. Red Hood felt slightly guilty for being so snappy, but he was too aggravated to try and fix any of it or his attitude. If Nightwing couldn't handle it then he was free to leave, or Red Hood would leave before he became too explosive. "I know, it would probably be better to hear about the teen from his own mouth, but that's not what I really want to know."

Red Hood furrowed his eyebrows, though it must have looked like he was glaring through the helmet as Nightwing tensed a bit. "What do you mean? You just said you wanted to know about him."

Nightwing nodded, "Yeah I want to hear about him, but nothing really personal. Like, how did you meet him?"

Red Hood relaxed a little, understanding washing over him. He would most likely have to answer all of this with some of the others, but if he told Nightwing some, then the blue clad vigilante could tell them and make it easier on him. "I found him in an alley, passed out, and took him to one of my smaller warehouses as he was pretty banged up."

"What happened to him?" Nightwing seemed hesitant, and Red Hood wanted to roll his eyes, but he didn’t bother as he knew it wouldn't be seen.

"I don't know, he hasn't told me." The other vigilante nodded again, yet he seemed concerned now. Red Hood was concerned too of course, but he couldn't have Nightwing assaulting Danny with questions as soon as they met. "Don't ask him either, he'll tell when he's ready."

"Don't worry Red, I'm not going to ask him anything too intrusive." Nightwing assured, easily reading Red Hood, and for some reason that irked something in him. "Okay, so, how did Danny end up staying with you?"

"Well, he couldn't stay on the streets." Red Hood crossed his arms over his chest, only causing Nightwing to roll his eyes. He wasn't going to go into any more details, about how he put Danny in a warehouse for weeks and then left him on the street for another week. Or how skinny and broken the poor teen looked when Red Hood finally gathered enough courage to take him in, because he felt guilty for allowing a kid to be on his own. He definitely couldn't explain how Danny was actually a meta as well, making it ten times more complicated, especially with the whole bat gang on his tail.

"Probably for the best, he almost seems sickly with how pale he is." Red Hood picked at his belt, hoping that Nightwing didn't dig any more into that right then. "Alright, um, what's your thoughts on him? You two seem to be pretty close already."

The question made Red Hood want to squirm, almost too personal for his liking. "He's a good kid, I like him." He answered plainly, and Nightwing gave him a look of exasperation.

"And?.." Nightwing made a go on motion with his hands, only causing Red Hood to raise an eyebrow. "Tell me what you like about him, or how he's been, I don't know! You can't have nothing to say about him."

How has he been? Then it hit Red Hood. Nightwing had more experience with comfort and children in general, perhaps he would know what to do. Though the thought of asking him made Red Hood’s tongue feel heavy, like he couldn't ask, or perhaps he didn't know how.

Red Hood cleared his throat after a few seconds, it sounding weird coming out of his highly modified voice, before deciding to just answer Nightwing so he'd leave him alone. "Danny… Well, he has a lot of guts, and I don't know if that makes him a complete idiot or brave. Probably an idiot, because although he can be pretty clever, I wouldn't put it past him to put his shoes on the wrong foot. Not only that, but he's super clumsy. Worst of all, he called Pride and Prejudice boring!" Red Hood shook his head, remembering that day. "He's uncultured and ignorant, but I guess he makes good points for some books, it just takes him forever to read." He paused for a second, then remembered something and started again. "He's got some talent for drawing, I've seen some of his doodles and it's better than anything I could do while taking my time, so that's probably where a lot of his smartness goes."

Red Hood realized that he had been talking for a few minutes without much of a break, not even giving a chance for Nightwing to comment. He quickly became embarrassed, knowing that he practically just gushed about Danny like some proud parent. He grumbled and wanted to remove his helmet so he could rub his warming face, hating how Nightwing stared at him with a goofy smile and twinkling eyes that showed even through the mask. He could hear the teasing already.

"Seems that you like this teen a lot more than just him being a 'good kid'. I could almost hear the affection through that thick helmet of yours." Nightwing nudged the side of the anti-hero, who smacked it away, yet he didn't feel as annoyed as earlier. He wouldn't tell Nightwing that, he'd probably assume that it was either because of talking about Danny or from the vigilante's presence alone. He definitely didn't need any sort of ego boost like that.

"Whatever, I answered your questions, now leave me alone and go bother somebody else." Red Hood was shuffling more, about to get up whenever he remembered how Danny was back at the apartment, the sound of long lasting sniffling bringing him back to reality. He got so sidetracked rattling off about Danny that he, in a way, forgot about him. How, he didn't know, but it caused him to settle back down and look at Nightwing.

The other seemed to notice this, still as perceptive as always, and gave Red Hood a teasing grin. "What, you have a question now?"

The crime lord hesitated, not knowing how to phrase his question, or how much he should let Nightwing know. He didn't want to overstep any untold boundary that Danny had set, but he also had a strong urge to help, and he couldn't ignore it. He also established earlier that he didn't know how to help, which he couldn't ignore either. He sighed heavily, feeling stuck.

Luckily, Nightwing seemed to understand, like he usually seemed to be able to with Red Hood. "You know I will answer anything you ask, if I can anyways. I won't judge you, little wing." He gave Red Hood an encouraging smile, and although Red Hood hated that nickname nowadays, he could admit that he felt a little reassured.

He huffed, swinging his legs as he lifted a hand to rest on his helmet. "It's just, I- don't know…" Asking for help seemed much harder than Red Hood thought it'd be. "How do I- What do I-"

"Take your time, Red." Nightwing said after the few pitiful attempts of the younger man trying to get a cohesive sentence strung together. Nightwing was curious, but he was more so worried, only having seen Red Hood this hesitant and nervous a few times before.

Red Hood sat there for a few minutes, gathering his thoughts before he tried to speak again. "I don't know if I can take care of him, help him in the way he needs anyways. I don't know if I can do it. I try, but what if I'm only making things worse?" He finally spit out, only noticing how desperate he sounded after he was done, and he couldn't stop the small amount of shame and embarrassment that washed over him.

Nightwing didn't answer immediately, trying to gather himself, taken back. He hasn't heard Red Hood be so honest or emotional like this in a while, a vulnerability that his tough front didn't usually allow. He couldn't help but wonder how much Danny really meant to him, or how the teen had made such a huge effect on him that his own family teammates weren't able to cause.

Red Hood was becoming much more nervous the longer that Nightwing stayed silent, but eventually the older man spoke up. "I may not know Danny, or what help he needs that you're talking about, but I do know that you aren't making things worse. I can tell that you care a lot for him, and the fact that you're so cautious with making him upset allows me to know that you're not so dense that you wouldn't be able to tell if you hurt him or not.

"The only thing I can tell you is to keep being there for him, and that he'll probably come to you when he feels comfortable enough. Just because you don't know what he needs doesn't mean you're not good enough, it just means he needs to tell you, and that you have to wait. Unless, of course, it's an emergency or he's hurting himself and you can't stop him, then you need to get some help outside of your own capacity." Nightwing finished with confidence, looking back at Red Hood to gauge his reaction.

Meanwhile, the younger man was trying to absorb all of what Nightwing had told him. It was good advice, and it put most of Red Hood’s worries at ease, the constant restlessness he'd been wrestling with melting a bit. It was a reminder to why he admired the other so much when he was younger, to why he still admired and looked up to him.

After a few quiet moments, Nightwing's comms came alive, taking him by surprise. He almost forgot that he was currently on patrol, getting so caught up in helping his little brother little wing any way he could. Oracle told him a location that was recently called in for suspicious activity, saying that he should probably check it out. He sighed, looking back over at Red Hood, and was glad to see that the younger vigilante wasn't as tense as earlier.

"This was a nice chat and everything, but I gotta go. Duty calls." Nightwing stood up, stretching with his arms above his head, relieved when he felt a few pops. Then after sending a quick salute to Red Hood, which caused the anti-hero to glare at him without any real bite, he dived off the roof with a grapple hook in hand. Red Hood watched with mild exasperation as Nightwing gracefully swung away, all the while waving wildly at Red Hood in-between swings.

Red Hood waited a few seconds, feeling much more tired and yet so much lighter than he did minutes ago. He looked up at the inky black sky, noticing how he could now see one single star, the Northstar. A smile slowly formed on his face when he thought about how Danny would probably be happy to finally see a star again after being in the polluted city for so long, even if it was only a single star.

Jason returned to his apartment, having hidden his costume back. The bowl of chicken tacos was gone, the small amount of dishes having been washed and laid to dry on a mat. Jason almost felt bad about Danny doing the dishes, but brushed it off whenever he knew that the boy most likely wanted to do them.

He stood up, more determined than before, taking his grappling hook and finishing his patrol. He'd wait for Danny to come to him, for him to feel comfortable enough to seek his help. Until then, he'd keep making sure Danny ate and got something to drink, offer hugs whenever he cried, and listen whenever the teen asked for his ear. He'd just keep doing what he was doing, and although it was difficult at times to know what he should do, he also knew that he must not be doing too much of a shabby job.

------☆------☆------☆-----☆-----☆-----☆------

He was the same way when he was younger and first moved in with Bruce, always insisting Alfred that he would help with the dishes, saying it was only polite of him. Alfred eventually caved, compromising that they would do the dishes together. The butler washing them or setting them in the dishwasher while Jason would either rinse them or dry them off and put them away. Since Jason was so short then, he would have one of the other three living there to help him put some of the dishes away.

Jason pushed those memories away, a stir in his gut already starting to pick up, and he couldn't tell if it was nostalgia or longing. A part of him was still afraid that it was something much more dangerous, something he always tried to convince was no longer there. He then saw his note that he left, it was turned on its other side, a new note written in sloppy cursive. The man quickly picked it up, dread and panic having replaced his sense of ease, and sighed with relief as he read the content. He wouldn't be going back out tonight at least, there was no upset teen to chase down and drag back into a safe environment.

He reread the note, much more calm than moments ago.

"Thanks for the food, and sorry for making you worry. I'm fine now, just needed to get that off my chest. See you in the morning and don't stay up too late! You can't be too tired for the dinner. :)

P.S. I did the dishes, but I couldn't put them away since I didn’t know where they went, you gotta tell me if I'm staying here longer"

Jason couldn't help but smile, the note settling the uneasiness that was lingering. He yawned, deciding to listen to Danny’s words and going to his bedroom. He changed into some shorts and a loose fitting shirt, slinking underneath his covers and relaxing into his soft bed. He was asleep almost instantly, head filled with dreams too hazy to remember in the morning.

He woke up a few hours later, still feeling as drowsy as he did the night before, but decided it was too late to go back to sleep. The whole Wayne Family and Co. had terrible sleep schedules, most of them being vigilantes or something else of the like, so they were used to the eye bags that all of them wore most of the time. Hopefully Danny wouldn't be added to that list, the teen needed the rest, and he didn't have any nighttime activities that Red Hood knew about. There could be only so many things keeping the teen awake if he did have dark circles under his eyes, and most of them weren't good.

Not bothering to change yet, Jason left his room and went straight to the kitchen, his throat feeling dry and desperate for water. In his half-asleep mind purely focused on getting a drink, he didn't realize there was another being in the room.

"Good morning, Old Man." Jason whipped around at a speed he didn't think possible so early in the morning, his groggy brain waking up in an instant, before relaxing whenever he remembered Danny. He was sitting at the counter, slumped forward with his head resting on his hands. The teen was smirking, seeming pleased with himself that he was able to spook Jason so easily. "I thought you were supposed to be a vigilante? Don't you need to be aware of your surroundings for that?"

Jason rolled his eyes, taking a few greedy gulps of water before daring to speak. "It's too fucking early for me to even try to think of a good comeback for that."

"Or is it that you have nothing? Hm, you old fart?" Danny continued to tease, a wolfish grin on his face that showcased his ever-growing fangs. Jason didn't know how he didn't constantly accidentally bite himself with them.

"Shut up you brat." The man pushed Danny's head back, getting a mumbled complaint in return. He scratched at his face, his rudely awakened brain trying to fog backup once more. He really wanted to take a nap and he just woke up a few minutes ago. He almost cursed whenever he remembered that he and Danny were meant to go to the dinner later that evening.

"So, what are we having for breakfast?" Danny asked, deciding to cross his arms on the counter and lay his head on them as he stared up at Jason. The man examined him closely, seeing how he seemed much better than the night before. He knew how quickly that could change though, and how it could be anything that made Danny spiral once more.

Jason realized that he hadn't answered Danny, and he began looking across the kitchen. He was too tired to make food at the moment, so he opened up a cabinet. "Cereal." He answered plainly as he took out a box of some generic brand of corn flakes, heading over to the fridge to grab some milk as well.

"Sounds good to me." Danny hopped off the chair, grabbing two bowls for them before pouring himself some of the cereal.

They both ate in silence, and although Jason thought it would have been awkward from what happened yesterday, it was surprisingly comfortable. He slowly woke up the rest of the way, allowing his thoughts to drift from one topic to another. Danny was unsurprisingly done eating first, Jason soon finishing his meal too, and they both flopped onto the couch.

Jason turned on the television, stopping at a boring news channel, only slightly curious as to what terrible mishap happened in Gotham recently. He couldn't help but imagine every morning being like this, both of them getting up and eating breakfast together, then relaxing in the living room for a bit as they watched the morning news. He found that he wouldn't mind if they did, feeling so calm that if it wasn't for his strong will he would have easily fallen back to sleep. The room was warm but not too hot, and there was a soft light that filtered through the blinds, making everything seem so serene.

It felt perfect, a normalcy neither of them was used to, and neither of them wanted it to be interrupted.

Of course it would have to be, as about a half hour later Jason's phone began to ring. He took it out of his pocket, switching it on and grumbling whenever he saw that it was Dick. He stood up, leaving Danny on the couch as he walked down the hallway a bit, just far enough to have a bit of privacy.

He purposely waited a few more seconds before answering, knowing that it drove Dick crazy whenever he didn't immediately answer the phone. "What could you want so early, Dickie Bird?"

"Early? Jaybird, it's already eleven o'clock." Dick said, and Red Hood rolled his eyes, wishing that the older man could see it. "Anyways, I was just wanting to ask if you and Danny are still going to the dinner or not, Alfred needs to know."

Jason clicked his tongue, putting his hand to the phone after a quick "hold on". He walked down the hallway and peered around the corner. "Hey kid." Danny, who was staring distractedly at the television, turned his attention on Jason questioningly. "Do you still feel like going to the dinner or not?"

"Well duh, didn't you read my note last night? Don't tell me you are so unaware of everything that you didn't even notice it." Jason flipped Danny off, the teen sticking his tongue out in retaliation, before going back down the hallway.

"Yeah, tell Alfred we'll be showing up." Jason told Dick, who was slightly snickering, and Jason knew that he must have heard Danny. "On second thought, I don't think you'd be a good influence on Danny, he's already annoying enough as it is without you rubbing off on him."

"Awww, so I can't see my little brother's kid? How rude. Honestly I thought you were bett-" Jason didn't allow Dick to finish talking, hanging up as soon as he started his long-winded dramatics. He walked back into the living room, to see that Danny had switched the channel to some Sunday cartoon, seemingly having gotten bored of the monotonous news station.

He didn't flop back down on the couch, no matter how much he longed to and fall back to sleep. "I'm going to take a shower, so sit here and watch your cartoon like the good kid you are." The man teased, watching amused as Danny's face reddened from embarrassment.

"Cartoons aren't just for kids…" Jason heard the teen mumble as Jason left to take his shower.

A few hours later the two of them were ready and driving over to the mansion for the dinner. Both of them were anxious. Jason because of how much he was going to have to explain, and Danny because of the amount of people who will be there and the want to make a good impression on them. He knew that they were a rich family, and not only that but vigilantes as well. Danny felt almost insignificant compared to them, and the ghost side of him wanted their acceptance, even if he was still very much wary of rich people since Vlad. Yet, even he still wondered how the unhinged halfa was doing right now.

------☆------☆------☆-----☆-----☆-----☆------

Has he heard the news yet? Was he upset? Did he know that Danny was still alive? Would he blame him for what happened?

Before they knew it they had arrived at the Wayne mansion. Jason pulled his motorcycle besides the several other cars sitting in front of the huge house. He let Danny get off first before getting off himself, hanging the biker helmet he forced Danny to wear on the handle bar. The man saw how much Danny was fidgeting now, almost like he couldn't stay still.

"Are you sure you want to do this? We can always wait until next weekend or something." Jason laid a hand on Danny's small shoulder, who leaned into it a bit.

Danny took a deep breath, before turning his head to Jason with a nervous riddled smile. "Might as well go ahead and go in, we're already here, ain't we?"

Jason chuckled softly, releasing Danny's shoulder and gesturing towards the house. "After you then."

Danny visibly swallowed, but began walking towards the mansion anyways, mentally preparing himself. He hesitated at the large opposing doors, not knowing if he should knock or not. Jason laughed and stepped forward, swinging open the doors without a second thought, much like he did every time. He didn't care about something like knocking, no need to announce himself if he acted like he owned the place anyways.

A few seconds later, only being able to take a few steps, there was already one of the many bats in front of them, Steph.

"Hey Jason, glad you could make it. Oh, who’s the newbie?" The blonde girl stepped forward, causing Danny to take a step back, subconsciously hiding a bit behind the much larger man. Jason grabbed Steph's head and pushed her back, the girl letting out an offended squawk as he did so. "What? I'm just trying to say hi!"

"We all know how you are. I shouldn't allow you five feet near Danny. You might infect him with your bad behavior." Jason crossed his arms, shifting his weight to one leg, efficiently blocking Danny out of her view.

The teen girl whined, trying to look around Jason to see Danny. "A bit of chaos never hurt anybody, plus, he seems like the type to like that! I'd know for sure if you let me at least talk to him, I mean, I don't even know his name yet!" She pouted, still trying to get past the man, failing as he was practically built like a fridge.

"Chaos, you say?" Jason groaned, seeing the scheming glint in Danny's narrowed eyes, his grin becoming much like it was that morning.

"This is why I didn't want y’all to meet, now I have to deal with two brats." Jason muttered, but didn't stop Danny whenever he slipped past him and towards Steph.

"The name’s Danny, nice to meet your acquaintance." The raven haired teen stuck out his hand.

"You can call me Steph, excited to see what great things we'll be able to accomplish together." She lifted her hand to shake Danny's outstretched one, giving one firm shake before letting go.

"Alright, you nerds done with your weird little greeting? We should go to the dining room with everybody else." Jason said, already moving to the room. Danny and Steph followed behind, whispering quietly about what the man could only assume would cause him a massive headache later on. He was worried that Danny would be too nervous to talk to anybody, but now he's worried that the teen may get along too well with everyone. Specifically the ones that he can cause trouble with.

They all stepped into the dinning room, where most of the people were. Tim was the first to notice them, freezing as soon as his eyes landed on Danny, who wasn't paying him any mind as he stared amazed at the large room. Damian, who was in the middle of an argument with Tim, turned to see what caught the older boy's attention. He quickly straightened up whenever he saw Jason.

"Ah, Todd, I see you have brought a guest today." The tween spoke with well taught mannerism, wanting to appear as the mature kid he was, whenever he was suddenly taken back. He tensed as Jason moved, properly getting a look at who the man brought. Jason lifted up a brow, but Damian didn't notice as he stared at the other teenager who was still distracted by the bright and fancy room.

"Danny?" Damian called out hesitantly, his carefully created exterior slightly cracking as he stared surprised by the guest.

Danny immediately snapped out for his amazement, his light blue eyes locking on Damian’s emerald ones. He smiled sheepishly, his hand going to scratch the back of his neck with newfound nervousness, remembering that he had run in with a few of them already beforehand. "Oh, um, hi?.."

#dpxdc #dp x dc fanfic #dp x dc fanfiction #dp x dc fic #dc x dp au #dc x dp crossover #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #mine #my fic #jason adopts danny au

15 notes · View notes

nelyoslegalteam · 10 months

Note

You should talk about antar from dnd on here due to they are neat

FINE but only if you finally run that gondolin campaign and give me an excuse to PLAY THEM AGAIN (threat (affectionate))

okay!! so antar is one of two (2) tolkien ocs i have, both made for d&d purposes. they’re a character i made for a fall of gondolin one-shot game that jaz ran one time. being a fall of gondolin one-shot, the idea was that we were all going to die horribly, it was really just a matter of how.

something that should probably be known about me: i keep wanting to make d&d characters to have get killed off dramatically, but i literally never can, because i get way too fucking attached to them.

so therefore, this is fun, right! i get to make a fun little doomed character, they get to die horribly, i am not going to have them long-term so it literally doesn’t matter!! blorbo for my torture!!

i rolled antar up like an hour, not even, before this game. i chose everything about them to be about as doomed as possible. i even gave them the oathsworn background!!! and, at jaz’s absolutely evil suggestion, to which i went oh that would be SO bad for them,

i had them swear two oaths.

one, they are oathsworn to turgon, to protect gondolin at all costs.

two, they are oathsworn in complete and absolute loyalty to maeglin.

(over the two hours in question, i would come to frequently and almost exclusively refer to maeglin as “my son, who is also my boss.”)

i spent the entire two hours wondering how, exactly, this was going to play out, which oath they were going to inevitably break, what they would do when confronted with what maeglin had done.

well.

antar sees maeglin on the cliff with earendil.

drops literally everything to try to get to him immediately.

gets there, and realizes that morgoth has done something to his mind.

tries at first to convince him that he’s safe, that they’ll protect him from literal morgoth himself if they must.

and when that fails.

declares that they will prove that he is safe.

and immediately breaks their oath to the entire city to defend maeglin, genuinely believing that they could save him, and save everyone.

understandably, they then immediately took twenty shadow points at once, in a game where straight-up murder makes you take five, and then naturally proceeded to die falling off of said cliff.

also understandably, they then immediately proceeded to make me insane about them forever.

several weeks later, they would still be living in my brain enough for me to decide that, as a member of turgon’s guard, they bore extremely direct witness to eol’s attempted murder of maeglin/successful murder of aredhel, and probably also eol’s subsequent execution. they were extremely affected by watching a child lose both of his parents in one of the most traumatizing ways possible and just. sorta decided that anything this kid needs, they’re there for. truly i do not want to backstory build deeper than that until i get to play them more, because it’s more fun for me if things come up naturally, but they’re an absolute thembo ridden with a deep and unshakable responsibility complex who has just absolutely mentally adopted this poor kid. they’re the house of the mole’s secretary. they’re a polite ball of sunshine. they will kill for you if they love you. and now jaz uses them whenever maeglin needs to have a secretary in fics, which is truly the highest honor.

and @ jaz for asking me this, actually let me play them more i WILL break into your apartment and start getting the dice out myself this is a THREAT <3

#I AM NOT ASKING #(i am begging)#I WANNA PLAY THEM AGAIN SO BAD #the power is in YOUR hands. You Can Make This Happen.#also re: one of my two (2) tolkein ocs – somebody PLEASE ask me about murdoc. please. somebody. Anyone.#also yes character who shows affection by killing for you is perhaps a running thing with every oc i make. whoops.#nelyo askbox #friends!! <3 #gondolin campaign

11 notes · View notes

mcalhenwrites · 1 month

Text

I'm actually getting very excited to share Geckos, Automata. I've been sick the past few days and have an event next Saturday, but I've been chipping away at editing in-between things. I had to rewrite some chapters toward the end. They were rather rushed. Not that I mind short chapters. Kind of relief to have chapters that are rarely over 2k and even some lower than 1k after Seasons, where I think the average chapter is 5k... (I should check that sometime.)

Geckos, Automata will probably be under 75k by the time I'm done editing and rewriting sections. That's refreshing. I'm so glad it's a short story! I can write short stories? WHO KNEW?! (So many of mine are long. Nearly every story in the dragon universe is going to be 250k+ on average, given what I have planned for them...) Anyway. Life is kind of weird. I am not finding work that I can do with my health, and transportation is an issue until I have a job. (I want to buy my mom's car off of her before my dad decides to trade it in when they go to get her a new one. The car was T-boned when a truck ran a stop sign, and the place that fixed it did a shit job so my parents had to put down another $1600 to further fix issues that were ignored. I would give them more money than a trade at this point, and the car is sufficient for minor errands.) Here's hoping my writing takes off, since apparently my health is just a shit show. But I do have coverage so I'm slowly but surely making appointments. Next month, I see a doctor about getting tested for Sjogren's and other issues. I've been going to the library in the next town over, and I plan to get two more library cards (one for the city nearby, one for my town) soon. I checked out Wolfsong by TJ Klune and need the rest of the books, the city has them but one of them has a huge waiting list... I am in love with this series! Anyway. That's all. Have a picture of "my" cats. (Roommate's, technically, but they're sharing.)

They are Barnaby and Mildred (yes those are OC names as well, but listen) and we call them BB and Millie. Or Princess Millie, Reverse Card (he has a spot on his back that's white, a spot on his white stomach that is black), Silly Millie, and like... a thousand other things. BB is complaining bc I put their fishing rod toy on the ceiling fan for a few minutes to go do something real quick before I went back to playing with them... (It's a ribbon. I didn't want them getting wrapped up in it.) Millie is my best friend. ;A; I'm slowly convincing her my lap is a place to snuggle on. BB is the most hyperactive cat I have ever met and likes my roommate more and thinks I'm just a food/treat dispenser and the person who should play even when I'm TRYING TO EAT AFTER PLAYING WITH THEM TWO STRAIGHT HOURS OMG SLOW DOWN CHILD I BEG YOU (They're 2+ years old and former outdoor kitties, we adopted them back in January. BB actually has the TNR clipped ear, hard to see in this photo but his gorgeous ear, I hate that they did that to it... ;A; )

4 notes · View notes

dreaminlittlenightmares · 1 year

Note

Perhaps a short writing prompt of Thin Man and Mono interaction? Maybe events after LN2.

Reiteration, sorry I'm tired lol: Basically what would have happened if Thin Man straight up adopted Mono and raised him to be exactly like him?

You know, I was going to draw this a long time ago...

Title: I'm Sorry This Happened to You Word Count: 622 Characters: the Thin Man, Mono

Mono sat on the rickety wooden chair, swallowed up by his misery. He was trapped in the bowels of the Tower, all thanks to who he thought was his friend. He still couldn't believe Six did that to him. As much as his young mind wanted to relive the moment he thought his best friend would pull him up, he couldn't stop but blame himself for this situation. If only he hadn't hid under the bed when the Thin Man kidnapped Six. If only he as faster, so he could have saved Six faster. If he only...

"So, she left you again anyways?" a low, mellow voice spoke out to him.

Mono looked up and was shocked to see a silhouette of the Thin Man standing at the end of the room. Mono screamed and fell back in chair, hitting the debris littered floor. He scrambled to his feet and ran away from the old man; but, the Thin Man merely warped to in front of the kid and stopped him.

"You can't run from me," the Thin Man said, "Not in the Tower, at least."

"HOW!?" Mono shouted in fear, "You died! I saw you die! I killed you, so you should be dead!!"

"Yes..." The Thin Man folded his long arms behind his back and walked forward. "You did. But, I will always come back here. Some form of me always comes back to this place." He walked past Mono and stood next to the chair. "Six left you again, didn't she?"

Mono frowned. "It's your fault she did!"

"I'm sorry." The Thin Man looked back at Mono. "I'm sorry this happened to you again, kid...Mono."

Mono didn't know what his foe meant by "again", but he didn't care. He hated the Thin Man. For as long as he could remember, he always had nightmares about a tall lanky guy in a hat. He just didn't know he was going to meet this man in real life one day.

"The Tower needs someone to maintain it," the Thin Man went on, "I can show how to do that, and how to control you powers."

"I don't want to control my powers," Mono spat, "I want to get out of here!"

The Thin Man smiled warily. "So do I, kid. But, the doors can only be opened from the other side. We'll have to wait until someone comes to open the door again."

"Six can do it!" Mono climbed to his feet and looked hopeful. "I know she'll come back with rope and stuff to save me."

The Thin Man looked at Mono with a broken heart. He could see that his younger self was still in denial about the betrayal, and the old man wasn't going to try to push him out of it. "I'm sure she will. Pale City is a big place for a child, so why don't we explore the Tower in the mean time. Maybe you can spot her yellow raincoat from a higher point in the Tower?"

Mono took a second to think things over. Deep down, he felt like this was a trap. The Room with the Chair didn't have exits besides the closed door in front. If he was to believe the Thin Man, that door can't be opened; so, how were they suppose to explore the Tower? Still, the young boy felt his hope bloom for the first time since he'd been stuck here. "Okay," he answered quietly.

The Thin Man nodded and waved his hand. The Room with the Chair warped out and the two were standing on a narrow staircase. "The Tower is yours to explore, kid. I'll guide you wherever you want to go. So, where shall we start?"

#little nightmares #Mono #the Thin Man #dream granted #short dapples

15 notes · View notes

lonelypond · 8 months

Text

Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other

NicoMaki, Love Live, 3.2K, 1/?

Summary: Recent Bandit Yazawa Nico is healing. Doctor Nishikino Maki has to smuggle her back into town, with the help of her adopted daughters, Ruby and Dia.

Cowboys are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other

Doctor Nishikino Maki stepped into Koizumi Hanayo’s kitchen, face freshly scrubbed with cold water, hair damp and pulled up in a ponytail. She’d let herself sleep for a couple of hours post dawn, but she really needed to ride into Otonokizaka Falls. She needed to make up more of her strengthening medicines. Nico would need them. Maki had left most of her stock with her previous surgery patient. And when Maki arrived at Otonokizaka Falls, she could head off Sheriff Umi Sonoda.

Rin, the tiny marshall, followed Maki into the kitchen, stretching and yawning. “Where ya going?”

“Into town. I need supplies. And I don’t really want to explain Nico to the sheriff.”

Green eyes blinked at Maki, curious, but the marshall asked no questions about that. “Can I come along?”

“Why?”

“I need to talk to Sheriff Sonoda.”

“You know Umi?”

Rin shrugged. Hanayo mumbled something from where she was wrapped in her bedroll, next to the children, Ruby and Dia. Then she opened her eyes, reaching out for nearby glasses.

“You didn’t wake me.” She chided Maki.

Maki shrugged, keeping her voice low to let Ruby and Dia keep sleeping. “Everyone needed the rest. It was a quiet night. I’m going to take a quick ride into town.”

“Can you take Nico’s horse? I think he needs to be looked over.”

Maki frowned. She had wanted to be gone and back before Nico woke.

“I’ll take him to the blacksmith while you do your doctor stuff.” Rin searched the kitchen for something edible, finding biscuits Hanayo had cooked in advance for breakfast.

“There’s honey and butter in the pantry.” Hanayo pointed.

“Thank you.”

“Aren’t you going to eat anything, Maki?”

“I’ll grab something in town. Would raise some questions if I didn’t.”

“Can I tell people I’m your cousin?” Rin asked, chewing on a biscuit.

“Why me?” Maki felt like kicking something. The more she tried to get herself alone, the more entangled things seemed to get around her.

“Don’t want ‘em thinking I’m Hanayo’s relative.”

Maki stared for a minute at Rin’s very serious expression, then sighed. “Just be a friend from Philadelphia.”

“I don’t know Philadelphia.”

“Where do you know?”

“Colorado.”

“Okay. Colorado cousin, let’s go. I want to be back before Nico wakes up. She’ll need a dose of strengthening tonic, and a painkiller before I clean her wound.”

“Lead the way, Cousin Maki.” Rin winked.

Maki wondered if she should have just agreed to Sensei.

###

“Nozomi.” Maki nodded curtly as she strode into the general store. Nozomi Tojo watched the general store counter in the morning and the saloon’s main bar most nights.

“What’d you need?”

Maki was in the medical section. “Breakfast. I’m replenishing my pharmaceutical ingredients after that surgery run the other day.”

“Taking some down time to restock.”

“Yeah.”

“Got a fresh baked soft pretzel left.”

“I’ll take it.” Maki held the pretzel in one hand, a basket hooked on her forearm, her other hand grabbing bottles off the shelf.

“Who’s that on that black horse my Eli saw at Hanayo’s?”

“Rin. My cousin from Colorado.” Maki put her basket on the counter. “Add a bottle of whiskey.” Remembering Rin’s near constant motion, Maki continued, “She surprised me when she showed up. City life bores her, she wants a ranch job. Just rode straight to Hanayo’s. Always has to be doing something.”

Nozomi laughed. “Sounds pretty impulsive but Hanayo could use the help.”

“That’s what I told her in my letters.”

“She is pretty cute, from what I could see. Must run in the family.” Nozomi smirked.

Maki ignored that, chewing the last of the pretzel.

“Two dollars and two bits. And I threw in some penny candy for Ruby and Dia.”

“I don’t let them eat that, you know.”

“Just a couple candies won’t hurt anyone, don’t be a sourpuss.”

Maki rolled her eyes and left the bag of penny candies on the counter.

###

Maki was in her apothecary closet, measuring out ingredients when she heard Umi’s voice.

“Maki?”

“In here, mixing.”

Umi stood in the doorway, at ease, never looking heated, even in a full wool suit and tie in warm, early fall, hat centered directly on her head.

“Glad to see you back, Maki. How are the girls?”

“Fine.” Maki hated polite talk. But Umi was a friend and genuinely interested in Ruby and Dia. “Did Rin find you?”

Umi nodded.

“Why did Rin find you?”

Umi shook her head.

“She isn’t with you?”

“She’s taking the horse back to the ranch. Eli put a new shoe on.” Umi tilted her hat back slightly, “How’s your patient?”

“Last night she was pretty wiped out. I need to get back with some medicines.”

“I won’t stop you.” Umi hesitated, “Are you going to bring her back here?”

‘I’d like to. Hanayo doesn’t have much room in that house.”

“We’d rather not have people know she’s in town; too many have seen the poster…”

Maki sighed, spinning on her stool to face Umi, “If you have any idea how I can sneak Nico from Hanayo’s house to my spare room, just tell me.”

Umi nodded, pleased that Maki was being so pragmatic. “Borrow Eli’s cart, put her in the back, under blankets, come back at night.”

“What am I borrowing Eli’s cart for?”

“A load of lumber and supplies so Rin can work on an addition to the barn or house.”

Maki rubbed the bridge of her nose, “Hoshizora already ordered it, didn’t she?”

Umi pulled her watch out of its fob pocket, “Eli said it would be ready in another half an hour.”

Maki grimaced at her wall of bottles and tins. “I have a lot of precise measurements to make and mix. Anything not raw is running low. I will be here longer that that.”

Umi clapped a hand on her shoulder, “And the cart’ll be there when you’re done. And Kotori and I will be honored to come to dinner on Saturday.”

Saturday. Two days away. Another advance plan. Rin would probably invite herself. And somewhere in all of this deliberately planned out law enforcement shenanigans, Maki was surely supposed to have the bandit ready for interrogation.

“You want to talk to…”

“I want to have a pleasantly social evening.”

“Bullshit.”

“Maki,” Umi rarely scolded, Umi spoke slowly, seriously, and with every expectation of being respected. “Please remember you are a parent now and to limit the profanity you express.”

Maki raised her lip in a snarl, but did not reply.

“I will leave you to your pharmaceutical preparations.”

Maki grunted.

“If there’s anything or anyone strange at all, immediately come get me.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Maki pulled fresh garlic out of a bag, ready to mince it into paste.

“See you Saturday.”

Maki used the time until her front door closed behind Umi to test the boundaries of her parenting vocabulary.

###

Nico spent most of the morning half asleep, half awake, unwilling to admit she was waiting for the pretty doctor to come back and take her mind off the pain with medicine and perhaps some more chatter. Ruby and Dia would sneak in to see if her eyes were open. Nico would wake up, smile at them, then fall asleep again before anyone could speak. But now, the day had gone on long enough that pain would not allow Nico to sleep anymore. She struggled to a half sitting position.

“Don’t do that.” Ruby squeaked, startling Nico.”Mama said you had to stay in bed until she came home.”

“Hi Ruby!” Nico managed a smile. “Don’t worry. Nico is strong.”

Nico wanted to get away from the wet sheets and the wet packing and the smell of blood and pus and lingering carbolic acid. Suddenly everything was overwhelming and the nothing in her stomach threatened to come spewing out. Ruby would be terrified. Nico was scared, her heart racing. Ruby would be terrified if Nico lost control. Nico had to stay calm. Like with her siblings the winter her parents had been so sick. Nico breathed in, deep and slow, forcing calm into her trembling body.

“Ruby, Nico needs breakfast.”

Ruby nodded. This was a reasonable request. Nico was awake. Breakfast was next. She understood that.

“I’ll get Dia.”

“That’s a good idea, Ruby.”

Ruby looking for Dia would surely draw the attention of Maki. Why wasn’t Maki there to clear out Nico’s wound? Nico almost touched it, but just let her hand hover, feeling lingering heat.

Ruby had only been out of the room for a minute when Hanayo popped in, “Breakfast porridge?”

Nico winced, “Add in some whiskey.”

“Maki’ll be back soon. She had to go into town to mix up more medicine.”

Nico relaxed. That made sense. Maki would be back soon.

“Can you open the window?”

Hanayo nodded.

The fresh, crisp breeze cleared Nico’s head and simple porridge soothed her stomach.

After Nico ate, Hanayo took a quick look at the dressings, “Do you want to wait for Maki?”

Nico, feeling heavy under a wave of weariness, nodded.

###

“Yazawa.”

Nico almost recognized the voice.

“Nico. Wake up. I need to clean your wound.”

Nico opened her eyes. Maki was leaning over, red hair falling in front of her forehead, almost tickling Nico, plum lips pursed with worry. Nico wondered how much closer Maki would have gotten if she’d kept her eyes closed.

“Hi, Doc.”

“Maki.”

“Nico missed you.’

Maki’s expression flashed to worry, “A lot of pain, huh.”

“A lot of stench.” Nico fake gagged.

“We should see less inflammation and infection today.”

Maki gently helped Nico into a position where she could change the dressing easily. “Need something to bite on?.”

“Nico will survive.”

“Good.”

But Nico didn’t want to suffer in silence.“Can you talk to Nico?”

“Sure.” Maki smiled, as she pulled off the cloth surrounding the healing entry wound, “Dia’s keeping a chart of how you’re doing. I have to give her a report.”

“Does she want to be a doctor?”

Maki chuckled, a pleasant sound that distracted Nico from the rough texture of cloth against her healing wound. “She wants to be everything. She follows Eli, the blacksmith, around when she has the chance. I won’t let her follow Um aroundi.”

“How long have they been with you?”

“Two years this November.”

Nico yelled. Maki had hit a sensitive point.

“”Almost done.”

“Nico’s fine.” a hissed whisper, all Nico’s willpower focused to keep from collapsing back into the bed.

###

Maki stood outside, sipping coffee from a camp cup, watching Rin and Hanayo measure and mark up lumber as they unloaded it.

“It’s going to be a rough ride.” Rin tapped the rough wooden cart floor.

“Couldn’t put any blankets in, didn’t want to make Eli suspicious.”

“Nozomi watches everything.” Hanayo agreed.

“Yeah, Umi warned me not to tell her too much.”

“But if you don’t talk, she’ll get curious.” Maki rapped the cup on the fence, “It’s hard to keep anything private in this town.”

“You’d better be careful tonight, Maki.” Hanayo said.

“I will.”

###

Dia and Ruby were going to sleep well later, Maki told herself. They’d been in a bouncing state of heightened excitement all day, eager to be going back home and bringing Nico with them. Maki had Hanayo and Rin helping them pack the wagon, while she dealt with Nico, who was stubbornly on her feet, wrapped in an afghan Hanayo had almost finished.

“You can’t walk to the cart.”

“You are not carrying Nico out in a pile of blankets.” Nico’s voice was still weak and raspy. Maki knew she only had to wait a few minutes before Nico nodded off again.

“Please don’t fight me, Nico. You need that energy for healing.”

“No one else sees this. Or hears about it.”

Maki nodded. “The girls are saying goodbye to Juniper and the sheep.”

“Be quick.”

Maki nodded, picking up Nico easily, rapid strides getting them both to the cart in under a minute, Maki leaning over to arrange the blankets over Nico, who was staring up at the sky.

“No stars tonight.” Nico grumped.

Maki glanced up. Thick clouds were a dark gray against the sky, hiding even the slightest glimpse of moon behind them.

“Storm will probably wait until tomorrow to break.” Maki sniffed, “Doesn’t smell like rain.”

“MAMA!” Ruby came running, followed by a barking sheepdog, “Is Ni…”

Maki knelt down, raising a finger to her lips to shush Ruby.

With a squeal, Ruby clasped both hands over her mouth, then whispered, “Sorry, Mama.”

Maki hugged the tiny redhead, “We just have to be careful. Even the moon is keeping our secret.”

“Juniper.” Hanayo’s calm command was instantly obeyed, the dog running to her side.

“We need to get a cat.’ Rin suggested, tossing a bag in the back of the cart.

We already. Maki raised an eyebrow but Rin continued her planning.

“And another dog for the house and one so Juniper won’t be lonely and…”

Hanayo giggled, “We can talk about that later, Rin.”

“Yeah! Let’s go have dinner. Maki’s all set.”

Dia concurred, “I made sure all our clothes were put in the cart, Mama.”

“Thanks, Dia. Now let’s get you and Ruby settled.” Maki leaned down to pick up Dia.

“Can I sit in the back? I’ll be careful.” Dia asked quietly.

Maki had expected that from Ruby and was going to say no.

‘Please, Mama.”

Maki couldn’t see the look on Nico’s face, but she did hear a whispered, “Okay, kid.”

“Stay seated at all times.” Maki gently put Dia in the corner of the cart closest to where she’d be driving.

“Yes, Mama.”

“C’mon, Ruby, you’re going to help me drive.”

“Can I hold the reins?”

“You can sit in my lap and hold them when we start, okay?”

Ruby’s squeals were half excitement, half terror. Maki thought she heard Nico chuckle. She definitely saw her reach out and take Dia’s hand.

With Ruby firmly in her lap, both of their hands on the rein, Rin and Hanayo waving goodbyes, and a night willing to hide their visitor, Maki let the horse take them back to town.

###

Three people to carry inside. After the jarring of the cart, Maki would be sore tomorrow. She’d have to rub some liniment in before bed. Ruby first. Easiest enough, the lightest and the sleepiest.

“Stay put, Dia. Let me get Ruby to bed.”

Dia muttered sluggishly. Nico was stirring but Maki was not going to acknowledge the fourth person in their party.

Maki tucked Ruby into bed, just taking off her boots. They’d changed them into nightgowns before loading up the wagon. Ruby cried a little, but didn’t fully wake up. Maki did sing a brief lullaby, soothing her youngest to full sleep. When she left Ruby’s bedroom to head back outside, she was surprised to find Dia and Nico in the main room.

“I helped Nico, Mama.” Dia’s eyes glowed with pride.

“Dia was a big help.” Nico’s knuckles were white where she was holding onto a chair. “Where do you want me, Doc?”

Maki didn’t have the energy to scold anyone. “Dia, take Nico to the spare room I use for patients.”

“Okay, Mama.” Dia pulled Nico’s hand, “C’mon, Nico.” Dia stared at the windows, but all the curtains were closed, “Sneaky.”

“Let’s be sneaky.” Nico winked at Maki and let Dia tiptoe as she led Nico to a room off the kitchen.

“I’ll be right back, Dia.” Maki called. Next step, take care of the horse. Eli would be by to pick her up in the morning.

###

Maki had expected Dia to be talking at Nico, but Dia was soundly asleep on the bed, Nico watching her fondly.

“She was going to read me a Sherlock Holmes, like you do, and then...” Nico gestured.

“Long day for them.”

“Long day for everybody.”

“How was the ride?”

“Jarring.” Nico stretched, “But nothing seems to be worse.”

“Good.” Maki swept Dia into her arms, “Let me tuck her in with Ruby and I’ll take another look at your side.”

Nico nodded.

Maki came back into the room with two glasses, a pitcher of water, and a whiskey bottle. She placed them on the dresser.

“Let’s take a look. Does it hurt.?

Nico shrugged, “A little. No throbbing or stabbing pain.”

After a close examination, her hands gentle, her breath warm, Maki nodded. “I’ll change your bandage in the morning. I’m too tired to cope if there’s a lot of blood.”

“Sounds fair.”

Maki grabbed the whiskey bottle, twisting off the cap, “Nightcap? It’s nice to relax after Ruby and Dia go to sleep.”

“I’ll drink what the doctor recommends.”

Maki poured two generous tumblers.

“Can I ask you a question, Doc.” Nico’s voice had gained strength, her tone was brusque.

“Maki.”

Maki nodded, handed Nico a glass, clicked hers against it, “Welcome to my home.”

“Thanks.” Nico took a sip, “So Hanayo says you’re not really interested in…” Nico paused, “a partner.”

Maki snorted, “Everyone asks about that.”

Nico felt as if she’d lost some of Maki’s attention.

“No one wants to know how I managed to get that effect, what I had to do to the negative? Did I use gelatin or silver?” Maki pointed her glass at a photograph on the wall. It was a waterfall, but Nico could see that it had somehow been exposed across a longer time. “They want to know when Dia and Ruby get a…” Maki puffed out air, aggressively.

“Did you take all these?” Nico noticed the framed photographs on the walls, remembered the upright piano she’d walked past. Photography and music. Plus doctoring. Plus raising two small children with the help of good friends.. A full, busy life.

“Yup.” Maki popped the p.

“Nico likes.” There was a long silence, Nico’s thoughts racing for a new topic. Then she remembered her most cherished possession. She reached into her pants pocket, taking out a small, dark object the size of a shot glass, holding it out to Maki. “My brother, Cotarou, my youngest sibling, he’s an artist too. You can’t distract him from his ideas. He made me this Smiley as a chess piece for good luck.”

Maki took the knight. The carving was smooth, the captured horse gave off a sense of raw motion, as if first he had been liquid speeding down a slope, and then transformed into almost moving obsidian, the striations in the mineral captured quickness.

“It’s beautiful.” Almost a soft feel against Maki’s fingertips..

“Nico will have him make you a piece as a thank you.”

Another silence, this time with Maki searching for words.

“Umi…”

“The sheriff.”

“Yes.”

Nico waited. Maki put the tiny horse on the nightstand and finished her whiskey.

“Is coming to dinner in two days.”

“Rin told Nico. We’re making a plan.”

“For what.”

“Nico can’t say.”

Now, Maki was getting irritated, “I didn’t save you to…”

Nico’s smile flashed and then faded, “Nico has responsibilities. Nico can help people. Like you do.”

“Yeah.” Maki fidgeted with her glass.

“I’ll heal up first. Don’t worry about Nico.”

“I won’t have to. I’m a damn good doctor.”

Nico finished her whiskey, after adding some water, then leaned back against the pillows. “Nico will sleep better here.”

Maki pushed up to her full height. “I’ll leave you to it.”

As the light blinked off and the door closed, two whispered “good nights” passed each other through the doorway.

A/N: Tired. And I start jury duty tomorrow. The title is the Yeehawgust prompt I couldn't resist.

#NicoMaki #Nishikino Maki #Yazawa Nico #Kurosawa Dia #Kurosawa Ruby #RinPana #Yeehawgust #Western AU #Injuries #Some medical terms #frontier doctor #Wild West

2 notes · View notes

real-time-twilight · 2 years

Text

Twilight vs. Life and Death #3

🍏Life and Death🍏

I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the dry heat and the big, sprawling city. And I loved living with my mom, where I was needed.

"You don't have to do this," my mom said to me--the last of a hundred times--just before I got to the TSA post.

🍎Twilight🍎

I loved Phoenix. I loved the sun and the blistering heat. I loved the vigorous, spawling city.

"Bella," my mom said to me--the last of thousand times--before I got on the plane. "You don't have to do this."

Couple of very interesting changes here. The first one is a definite Second Editing Run choice, and it was a good one. This single sentence flows so much better than the original short, choppy ones.

I'm confused why Renee calls Bella by name and not Beau. This change means that we don't actually learn the main character's name until page 3 of the text proper, whereas in Twilight we learn Bella's name on the first page of chapter 1. Given that name alterations were such a big reveal for a first time read this makes zero sense to me. Gonna put this under Catch-All.

Beau puts even more stress on taking care of Renee than Bella does. Now I know there are theories out there re: is Renee neglectful and that this is something that Smeyer seems to have adopted (sort of) in the ten years between these books. So perhaps it's something She Wished She Thought of Earlier, but I think it could just as easily be because Beau is a Boy. Meyer may have a hard time envisioning the kind of straight up best friend kind of relationship between a mother and her son as opposed to a daughter, and so she writes him as something of a Momma's boy in that he needs to feel needed by her, whereas Bella just sees this as the way things are and doesn't worry about her as much. (More on this later).

Thousand is changed to a hundred. I can't give a solid reason for this change, unless it's to make Beau seem less dramatic than Bella, which, I've already pointed out, is kind of a moot point after his prison monologue. Catch-All

Gonna put the TSA post change under Second Editing Run. This change was probably made to seem more realistic. I don't really know though, since I think I've only been in an airport once in my life and never to get on a plane or see anyone off. So maybe I should file this under Catch-All instead?

#twilight saga #twilight renaissance #daily differences #twilight 🍎#life and death🍏#bella swan #beau swan

12 notes · View notes

breezypunk · 1 year

Note

tell me about your ocs, please...i love learning lore i love info love cyberpunk...i simply beg

I don't think I've ever had someone beg to learn about my OC's. I'm flattered :P

(This is the part where I forget everything about my oc's) xD

Vaughn, my main squeeze & most treasured blorbo has been with me from almost the beginning. I made 3 male oc's before Vaughn fell into my lap. All three had pretty similar faces, but all were very different in personality and lifepath.

Vaughn came during like.. playthrough 5? LOL. I created him and it felt just right. I even named him! Which was crazy, cos I'd never done that before, and I just knew he was gonna be very important to me.

So some main points are that he's a nomad. Not born into it, but adopted into it at 2 years old.

He grew up tomboy until his early teens when he came out as trans, but told very few. He always had masculine features and many thought he was a boy from the jump, but when he came out and people found out, there was mixed reactions. It was one of the biggest reasons he left the clan.

He moved to Night City shortly after this and inherited some street kid roots. He hung around Lizzie's bar a lot and was even a bartender there for a time being, also while being homeless. He even had a fling with Susie Q ;p (They are still friends).

He hated everything corpo until he met Goro who showed him that not all of it was terrible, but most of it was, which is why Vaughn tore Goro away from it all and took him into the Aldecaldos. (where they lived happily ever after).

Vaughn used to hate long hair, when he tried growing it out once before in his late teens and didn't like the hair getting in his face when the wind blew, and the wind was always freaking blowing. So he kept it short, until his late twenties when he let it grow out accidently and realized he really liked it. So did everyone else, especially Goro (lots to pull on -cough-).

His best friend is Panam, that is his found sister. They do everything together. Well.. her, Vaughn & Goro do everything together. They are like the 3 musketeers. Nothing could pull them apart, they'd die for each other.

Vaughn hates sweets, specifically cake after a bad experience with it. He likes certain hard candies.. jolly ranchers are his favorite, but he hates any desert foods.

He's bisexual, but leans more towards men. He tells people he's gay, cos once he and Goro became a couple he realized he'd most likely never go back to women ever again, or any other men tbh.

His last fling with a woman was Meredith Stout. And he will tell you straight up.. "That shit was so good." xD

He's one of the most caring, empathetic, loving, and friendliest mercs you will ever come across. He will do anything for anyone, and is known to a lot of people as a teddy bear cos of how loving he is. His hugs are addicting, and he gives amazing advice to those who ask, and it's why so many are lucky to have him around. With all he's been through, the fact he still puts others first is why people love him so much. He thinks it's the bare minimum and everyone should show compassion and kindness, even though lots don't show it. But he'll fill that gap and do it all on his own, people need it. :)

#oc lore #cyberpunk 2077 #oc: vaughn leblanc #I'm always so happy to talk about my baby boy #honorary fact: he doesn't do merc work for money anymore #he does it as volunteer work #he wont take money for helping people #he just wants to help people that's it

6 notes · View notes

squishmallow36 · 2 years

Text

Hopefully Somewhere I'm Healing

Word count: 8.4k Me? Go overboard? Never.

Tw: swearing, internalized homophobia, food, and as always, let me know if you'd like me to tag something

Taglist (lmk if you want to be added/removed!): @stellar-lune @gaslight-gaetkeep-gayboss @kamikothe1and0lny @nyxpixels @florida-fruity-frog @poppinspop @crystallinewalker @uni-seahorse-572 @solreefs @never-mourn-the-good @rusted-phone-calls @when-wax-wings-melt @cotyledon-tomentosa @good-old-fashioned-lover-boy7 @dexter-dizzknees @abubble125 @cherryberrybitch @blossomsxgalorex

A couple of notes before we start: this is part 2 of Waiting for the Stars to Come Out. The title is, again, lyrics from "Projection of Stars" by Prishaa (@poppinspop). You don't have to read the other half but this does reference some events in there.

Also, I wrote this one a little differently (like the actual writing process part) so if you have any feedback on that, it'd be greatly appreciated. Finally, this is from Fitz's pov. It's pretty obvious but I like to point it out anyway.

On Ao3 or below the cut!

Fitz half-listens to Biana talking to aer boyfriend, Sophie, over the vidlink through the wall, trying to focus on the book he’s reading but to no avail.

Apparently a conversation about some new cartoon they’re both watching and Fitz has been doing his best to avoid is more interesting than Mark Twain.

And there’s evidence that that isn’t even his real name. It’s Samuel Clemens and he named himself after the safe depth of water for a steamboat.

Now, what a steamboat is, exactly, is something he doesn’t know, but the general idea is pretty self-explanatory.

He’s had enough of Tom Sawyer and his whining to try to focus through Biana’s conversation that’s getting steadily louder.

So he decides to head to the kitchenette in his side of their adjoined hotel rooms--one of the better kitchens they’ve had in one of these--and sees what sort of ingredients they have.

When in doubt, stress bake.

A batch of chocolate chip cookies and a knocked-over bag of flour later, Biana and Sophie are still talking.

He doesn’t let the cookies cool before he starts eating them, resulting in nothing more than a burnt tongue. It’s not the smartest idea he’s ever had.

Despite all of these attempts to keep himself busy, Fitz still finds himself sliding down to sit in front of the shared door, trying as a last resort to keep himself from thinking about Dex by picking out the cookie crumbs in his shirt.

But cookie crumbs run out.

And Dex’s blasted dimples don’t fade.

Every time Biana’s on one of these calls, he tries his best to be out of his room, but when it’s the middle of the night, it’s hard to avoid hanging on to every single word to see if maybe, just maybe, Dex interrupts with some snarky comment.

Xe never does.

Somehow he’s always disappointed.

He buries his hands in his hair, feeling the blush creeping up his cheeks and heart flutter at anything that even remotely relates to Dex.

Fitz has only felt like this a handful of times before and--no, he won’t let himself finish that thought. That’s not what’s happening here.

That can’t be what’s happening here.

A lone tear escapes and Fitz scrubs it away.

Even if that is the reason for all of this--which it isn’t--there’s no way he could give in to these feelings.

Not after the absolute dumpster fire when Biana came out.

He’s the perfect son.

He can’t be anything less than straight.

Singapore, Singapore, Eastern Commonwealth, March 28, 127 T.E.

It’s really hot here. And really humid. A large portion of the second-era laws have been preserved so things like leaving gum on the sidewalk can cause you to be charged with a fine. More countries should adopt that. Just don’t get as tyrannical as Queen Gisela.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Eastern Commonwealth, April 4, 127 T.E.

Really good food but still really hot. The soups were all some of the best soups I’ve ever had, not just the pho, which is considered Vietnam’s national dish. It’s also really interesting how they use a Latin script with a lot of accent marks in their local language. Colonialism. Hooray.

Shanghai, China, Eastern Commonwealth, April 11, 127 T.E.

We’re heading more northward for a bit, so maybe it won’t be as hot. One can hope. On a better note, some nice people tried to teach me a couple words in the local language because I was butchering it while trying to order food. I’m not sure how well I actually did, but they seemed to think it wasn’t that bad.

New Beijing, China, Eastern Commonwealth, April 18, 127 T.E.

You know, it’s kind of nice when your best friend is dating the Emperor. Well, like 80% of the time. So, yeah, we got the full VIP treatment, even staying in the guest rooms of the castle. It’s really beautiful, even when you’ve been to Artemisia Palace on a regular basis growing up. And the food was really good. The food is good everywhere here on Earth and I am enjoying every second of this.

Tokyo, Japan, Eastern Commonwealth, April 25, 127 T.E.

I’ve eaten so much sushi I may be half fish at this point. I’ve also gotten to know what different names for things are. Like maki rolls have seaweed on the outside and rice on the inside and uramaki rolls have seaweed on the inside and rice on the outside. And sashimi is the fish on top of rice and sashimi is just the fish. I’m sure there’s more but a week is a very short time.

Seoul, Korea, Eastern Commonwealth, May 2, 127 T.E.

I ate this massive crab--like bigger than my head. Apparently Korean people just have a pair of scissors for this kind of thing, which is a great idea. We should be doing this more. As long as there’s a separate pair of scissors for crafting purposes. Biana also bought enough crisps to feed the entirety of Vatican City.

Jakarta, Indonesia, Eastern Commonwealth, May 9, 127 T.E.

Last day in the Eastern Commonwealth, and, stars, it’s hot here. There’s so many different languages and cultures here though and that’s reflected in the food. Which was unbelievably good. Just like everywhere else. And I don’t know if I’m losing my mind, but I think this is the same flag as somewhere. I would check except I can’t remember which flag I’m thinking of.

Wellington, New Zealand, Australia, May 16, 127 T.E.

Kia ora! Biana is trying to convince me that northern and southern hemisphere seasons are opposite one another, and I’m not sure I believe aer, but it’s actually a really nice temperature here. Te Reo Māori (literally ‘the Māori language’) that’s minor but still spoken here by a few is really interesting because it’s part of the austro-polynesian language group which spans everywhere from Madagascar to Hawai’i. And it’s just so beautiful here.

Tahiti, French Polynesia, Australia, May 23, 127 T.E.

There’s a reason the beaches here are famous and that’s because they’re gorgeous. Although now I have some obvious tan lines which are…less than ideal. Te Reo Tahiti is part of the same language group as Te Reo Māori, although I wasn’t able to use the, like, three words of Te Reo Māori I remember. There’s a lot of local languages in my brain right now. The retention rate is very low.

Hawai’i, Hawai’i, Australia, May 30, 127 T.E.

Hawai’i used to be part of the predecessor to the American Republic but after the fourth world war, it decided to join Australia, and we’re all gonna pretend it’s because it had more in common culturally with the rest of Polynesia when it’s probably because United States tourists did a number on it that I can’t even begin to describe. It made me ultra cautious of the impact Bi and I were making there. Also. The poke was on an entirely different level. And the pineapple? I’d never even heard of it but it’s a tart yellow fruit that looks kind of like the pine cones we saw in Portland if you squint a little.

Also Sophiana updates: 1. I’m too lazy to write their names separately. 2. Biana thinks tomorrow we’re gonna be heading up to Alaska, and while I want to go there, I know Biana needs to see aer boyfriend. They’ve spent enough time on vidlinks, they really need some in-person time. At least the time difference matches up nicely with Dex’s sleep schedule so we can plan this surprise for Sophiana.

The next morning, Fitz wakes earlier than usual, shaking. He tries to pretend like it’s just the jet lag messing with his sleep schedule.

But he knows that isn’t it.

He can’t seem to get the thought of seeing Dex again out of his head. He really would’ve thought this would’ve stopped by now.

If Biana wasn’t dating Sophie, it would be.

No. It’s not fair to blame aer for this. This is his problem.

And it doesn’t matter, because after the screaming match back six months ago, there’s no way Dex will even want to see him again, let alone--.

Don’t you dare finish that sentence.

When the Alden denial technique isn’t working, just stop having thoughts. Think about something else.

Like reading King Lear. That’ll keep his mind occupied.

At least until they get to the market.

Then all bets are off.

Somewhere between the Earl of Gloucester’s eyes being ripped out of his head and the end of the play, Fitz hears Biana wake up and walk to aer bathroom to start aer day.

That’s when he realises that it’s barely an hour before his and Dex’s scheduled meetup at eleven and they still have to actually walk there.

His plan isn’t foolproof, but somehow despite the different latitudes, both San Diego and Anchorage have very similar temperatures. At least today. It’s certainly not like that all year.

He got a weather app after aer insistence back when they were in…was it Chicago? Yeah, he’ll go with that whether or not it’s accurate.

He waits for ae to climb back into bed before knocking on their shared door. One nice thing about Earth is that in most of the cities they’ve visited, they’ve been able to get adjoining hotel rooms.

There were only a few where he slept on a pullout couch. And there was one night before he realised that existed and just slept on the very hard couch.

Biana groans through the door as Fitz knocks and opens it from his side.

“What do you want?” ae asks, muffled by pressing aer face into a pillow.

“Today’s excursion is starting soon. I’m gonna tell you to be ready by ten thirty. And, no, you don’t get to know what it is.”

Obscuring their adventure isn’t exactly a rare occurrence this past couple of months. He’s found it has a better chance of getting Biana to leave their hotel room. He is not going to be paying for it to just have aer stay in it all day.

It also helps him disguise his master plan.

“Can’t I stay home?”

“Nope. And there’s continental breakfast downstairs so don’t try to say you were eating.”

Ae has about three arguments. And he’s been through all of them enough to not even have to try.

Ae groans again.

“Don’t make me drag you out of bed myself. I doubt your hair would appreciate that very much.”

“Fine.” Ae stands, stumbling towards aer bathroom, glaring at him less than he would’ve expected.

Instead of reading into that, he heads back into his own side of their room to get himself ready.

Running his fingers through his hair, damp after a shower, the pink highlights he had last time they were here are gone except for the slightest hint, although that could just be a trick of the light.

He throws on whatever clothes are easiest to find in his suitcase, always a t-shirt, a well-worn pair of jeans and the light jacket that’s the only thing that consistently gets hung up in his closet.

Yeah. He’s very creative in his wardrobe choices. He knows.

It’s one of Biana’s favourite conversation topics.

Having nothing else to keep himself busy short of digging a book out, Fitz lies on his bed, staring at the ceiling and softly kicks his dangling legs so he has something to think about while Biana is still getting aerself presentable.

Ae doesn’t take too long; not even long enough for Fitz’s knee to start wailing in protest at the repetitive motion. Which is honestly surprising.

Who would’ve thought his knee would have a good day today? Not Fitz, that’s for sure.

Usually it’s already screaming when he wakes up. But considering that when he woke up he was thinking about Dex--.

No, you aren’t finishing that thought. You can’t afford to finish that thought. You aren’t going to look daft today.

Or any other day for that matter.

One breakfast and a hover ride later, and Biana’s figured out what Fitz has been planning for the past couple of weeks as ae takes in the vaguely familiar market.

“Fitz…what did you do?” ae demands.

“You’ve been talking to Sophie enough, I thought you might want to see him.”

Ae looks like ae wants to jump up and down. “Does he know?”

“Nope. Now go find your boyfriend. I’ll be right behind you but you’re gonna…” Fitz trails off as Biana melts into the crowd and he tries to follow aer but ends up pulling up the map on his portscreen.

Ae is so good at disappearing, it doesn’t make sense. So he has to find other ways to keep up with aer.

And, sure enough, he nearly walks into aer, frozen. A hundred metres away from Sophie and Dex’s booth.

Dex is talking to some client, probably about something technical because xe’s talking with xor hands. A soft smile is playing on xor lips, but not enough to show xor dimples.

Fitz feels a rush of disappointment at that as he registers his heart fluttering out of his chest.

“What are you waiting for?” he asks as he sees Sophie’s blond hair peek out from behind a shelf.

“I--I don’t know,” ae answers, voice shaking.

“Please don’t tell me that you’re gonna send him a vidlink and play the game of ‘guess where I am today.’ And the answer is San Diego, looking at your market stall, but I’m too gay to talk to you if it isn’t through a screen.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that Sophie is transmasc?”

“You use neopronouns. There’s some queer shit going on here pretty much no matter what.”

Biana crosses aer arms. “You aren’t allowed to be right.”

“For my reward, you’re gonna go talk to Sophie. Dex and I planned this surprise for you two.”

“Wait, you got Dex involved in this?”

“Yeah. I had to make sure Sophie’d be here when I managed to get you here. It was a very elaborate plan.”

Biana rolls aer eyes. “Fine.” Ae raises aer voice. “Sophie!”

He whips around and runs up to aer.

What follows is not something that Fitz wants to watch as it involves a lot of making out and he’s going to do his absolute best to block that.

Dex’s client leaves after a long moment, and Fitz chooses the lesser of two evils as he wanders over to talk to xem.

“So, how’ve you been?” he asks, voice cracking.

“Alright. How about you?” Dex has turned xor entire focus to the gadget in front of xem. Fitz doesn’t know what it is exactly, but the front kind of looks like it could be an old second-era clock before everything went digital. And it has a bird attached for some reason.

“I’m good. Do you mind if I borrow this chair?”

“Not at all. I’ve got another one in the back if you decide to run away with it.”

“Don’t give me ideas.” Fitz smiles.

“I may run after you with this chair I’m sitting on if you try to steal my chair.”

“Challenge accepted.”

Dex turns to him, smiling, revealing those adorable dimples. “Just don’t hurt yourself. I’m not paying for your medical bills.”

“If anyone’s paying for my medical bills, it’s gonna be my father. He’s a wanker, and that’s all the breath I want to waste on him today.”

“That good?”

“Yep. Sometimes, just for fun, I imagine what it’d be like if I found out that he isn’t actually my dad. Like Alvar. Then I remember he’s even more of a wanker. He was one of Gisela’s thaumaturds right up until the very end. Supposedly died when Keefe stormed Artemisia Palace, although I don’t know if I believe that.

“Luna sounds like a fun place.”

“Oh, it is.” Fitz pauses, cleaning the sarcasm from his tone. “It doesn’t matter if you’re aristocracy or living in the outer sectors, it’s a disgusting mess, and the only reason we didn’t realise that sooner is because the government was so determined to retain their power, the only source of outside information we got was heavily edited to serve their agendas.”

“I doubt Earthen resentment towards Lunars because of their--your--gifts helped.”

“And then you Earthens just go and invent a thing that makes our gift useless. Good job. Not all of us are like Gisela who have an addiction to using our glamours.”

“You expect me to believe all of this,” Dex gestures vaguely to Fitz, “is natural?”

“...yeah?”

“Oh, come on. Have you seen how you look? You’ve been on Earth for what? Like six months now. I’m pretty sure you’ve encountered a mirror in that time. They’re fairly common.”

“Yes, I have, in fact, seen a mirror. You want me to prove it? Give me something shiny and you can compare my reflection to the real thing. Or take a picture. I don’t really care.”

When Dex sees the opportunity to take a selfie, xe does, catching Sophie and Biana in the background as a nice piece of blackmail if it’s ever needed. Doubtful, but good to keep in mind.

Instead of making xem less defensive, this just seems to make xem angrier, and Fitz can’t figure out why.

He decides it isn’t worth the extra time it’ll take to puzzle it out, and chooses to ask about Dex’s new project.

Most of the time is spent observing Dex, talking with xor hands and saying words that have no real meaning, but seeing the excitement in xor eyes is more than enough to keep him entertained.

Xe also has really pronounced freckles across xor cheeks, much more so than the light smattering that were present in the winter, and Fitz is kind of tempted to count them all.

There’s so many he’d be there for hours.

And, he is. But he keeps getting distracted by some new observation--like xor laugh or the way the light illuminates Dex’s soft curls, giving them a golden glow--and then he loses count and has to restart.

And that doesn’t even begin to consider accidental recounting.

Dex swears, catching Fitz off guard. He looks up to find xem watching Sophie and Biana talking to a middle-aged woman.

“What?”

“Sophie’s just introducing Biana to his mother. There’s no way that can go badly.”

“Why? Is she enbyphobic or something?”

“No. Stars, no. I’m sitting right here and I’m fine. I mean yeah occasionally she’s a little you know with gnc people or some of the less common labels. But come on how can introducing your partner to your mom go well? And then Uncle Grady’s gonna have to give aer the whole threatening dad speech.”

“Okay, so we don’t have to worry that much. Wait--Uncle?”

“Yeah, Fosboss over there is my cousin.” Dex says, gesturing vaguely to his direction.

“Why didn’t I know this?”

“I don’t know. Probably because I was too busy cursing you out last time we saw each other. By the way, I am sorry about that--.”

“Don’t be sorry. I was an arse and I deserved everything you gave me and probably more. The internalized queerphobia from, you guessed it, my father, is taking some time to unravel and sometimes I can be a little--.” Fitz trails off, not knowing the right word.

“Yeah.” Dex finishes.

“I’m trying to be better. I can’t promise it’ll be perfect. But better. I’m trying to not get into fistfights in the middle of a market because I’m being transphobic.”

“That’s a good goal to have. A tad bit specific. But good.”

“So, yeah. I’m sorry for that whole mess.”

“Hey, as long as you’re trying, I’ll try to be less abrasive,” Dex says, blindly fishing for some tool. “Stars. I hate to ask, but can you look around in the back for a Phillips screwdriver?”

“Sure. That’s the one with the plus sign, right?” Fitz asks, standing up.

“Yep.” Xe sounds surprised at the fact that he knew that.

The shelves in the back are filled with spare parts and half-finished projects with wires sticking out, so much so Fitz doesn’t really know how they all manage to not avalanche.

“If anything breaks, it’s not my fault,” he says, scanning shelf by shelf with no luck.

“Try checking my bag. I’m the kind of person that carries these things around with me.”

Fitz takes a second to locate the grease-stained bag with well-worn rainbow, gay toothpaste flag, and nonbinary flag pins. He kind of expected that, but seeing actual proof that Dex is, in fact, not cisallohet still catches him slightly off guard for some reason. Opening the smallest pocket, he finds a flathead screwdriver. Still looking through xor bag in case there’s a Phillips one too, he says, “You’ve got the wrong one.”

“Eh, it’s worth a shot.” Xe replies, so Fitz places it into xor outstretched hand, and it does in fact turn the screw. “It’s all fun and games until you need like seven different sizes of each and they all just go missing one by one. I think my siblings eat them for fun.”

Fitz laughs, noticing Biana walking up to them.

“Sophie’s mom invited me to his place for dinner. You wanna come with?”

Fitz glances over towards Dex. “I know where he lives if ae gets kidnapped,” xe says.

“I’ll let you eat dinner with your boyfriend’s family without dragging me around,” Fitz allows. “Just remember to get back home before midnight. I don’t need to worry about where you are.”

Biana pumps aer fist, yelling, “Thank you!” behind aer as ae runs back over to Sophie.

“Wait, Biana!” Dex tries to call aer back but ae’s already gone.

“What? I can go talk to aer.”

“Nah. Sit down. I’ll just text Sophie and then he won’t be looking at his phone and then I’ll be the one blamed for his rib damage because for some reason we haven’t figured out how to make a binder you can wear twenty-four hours out of the day.”

“This is when ond would half-jokingly say that’s transphobic, right?”

“Yep. You’re learning quickly, I see. Yes, you must call all minor annoyances somethingphobic. It seems to even be agreed upon no matter where you’re from.”

“That’s actually really interesting. That means it probably predates the Lunar Monarchy, even if most of the actual records of queerness prior to the Third Era were destroyed during the fourth world war.”

“You’ve done your queer history. Well, lack thereof. Nice.” Dex flashes xor dimples again, and Fitz has to sit down to keep his knees from turning to complete jelly.

“Except Oscar Wilde. Some copies of his books somehow survived. And Biana taught me that he was gay. And I think ae learned it from Sophie so you probably already knew that.”

“Yes I did. Although my personal favourite gay person in history has to be Alan Turing. Did a lot of stuff with computers.”

“So…basically just you?”

“Well, he was British and, my stars, he was hot. Somehow a picture of him survived and, like, I may be mad about many things, but that doesn’t have to be added to the list. So not quite the exact same.” Dex pauses, glancing at Fitz. “Kinda looked like you now that I’m thinking about it.”

It takes agonizingly long for Fitz’s mind to actually process that. Does that mean xe thinks I’m attractive?

What’s it to you?

Wait, is that what xe was alluding to when xe brought up Lunar glamours? And not very subtly at all.

Again, why do you care? It’s not like you like xem.

…Shit. That would explain more of what I’ve been experiencing recently than I’d like to admit.

It’s kind of embarrassing it took this long to figure that out.

He spends the next few hours talking with Dex, not really hearing anything xe says, more occupied with this new revelation he’s trying to find any evidence against before helping xem pack up xor stall for the evening and reminding xem to tell Sophie that his binding time is up.

Dex would’ve remembered, as xe had an alarm on xor port set, but Fitz didn’t realise that when he committed it to his long term memory storage.

When Dex hands him a business card with his port number on it, xor finger just barely brushes his own, sending a flurry of sparks up his arm like he just got electrocuted.

Fitz does his best to act like he’s completely fine and his heart isn’t pounding right now.

As he says goodbye and leaves, he ignores the disappointment, the desire to stay and keep talking to xem, growing with each step.

By the time he’s on the hover, he’s made up his mind to talk to Keefe. It has experience in this, and that’s exactly what he needs right now. Also, it’s very unlikely to get back to Dex in the event that this is what he thinks it is.

He likes Dex. And trying to deny that isn’t going to work. Not when he can’t breathe in xor presence.

Maybe you’re allergic to xem.

Oh, come on, Fitz. If xe was a girl, you wouldn’t even have a second thought about it.

Instead of continuing with that train of thought, Fitz sends a comm to Keefe. Girl, help.

It must be on its port, as it replies immediately. Wotchu need?

I need to talk to you whenever you have a second.

Ooh sounds fun, does now work?

I wasn’t expecting you to respond immediately so I’m gonna need ten minutes. I’m on a hover back to our hotel right now.

And where might this hotel be this time?

San Diego. I thought Biana might like seeing aer boyfriend here so I surprised both of them. We were supposed to be in Alaska but eh this was more important.

A typing bubble follows for a very long, and Keefe is probably retyping its answer several times. And you didn’t tell me???

I couldn’t have you tell Biana, now could I?

You don’t trust me???

Not that much, no.

Remind me, why am I helping you then?

I don’t know.

The hover parks, and Fitz walks up to his hotel room about as fast as he can without running and collapses on his bed as he sends Keefe a vidlink.

“Hey, dude,” Fitz says, mushed into his pillows.

“Hey yourself. What do you need?”

“Is your boyfriend in the room?”

“You need Tammy?”

“No, I want to make sure the Emperor of the freaking Eastern Commonwealth doesn't hold a press conference just to tell people this.”

“Depends on what it is,” Tam says from offscreen.

“It’s not a matter of national security. It’s straightn’t. Now go away and let me talk to Keefe.”

“Just let me get some pants on.” Tam replies.

Fitz counts to thirty-six before he hears a door shut, and Keefe says, “Cmon, Fitzy. Talk to me.”

“As long as you promise to not tell anyone. Especially not Biana.”

“Fine,” it groans.

“So, well, I met this guy--actually, xe uses xe/xem pronouns and presents masc, so I’ll probably be atrocious with gendered terms like that.”

“You could just use xyr name.”

“First of all, the possessive form is xor according to Sophie because xe’s a computer nerd and it’s some…thing he didn’t bother to pay attention to, I don’t know. And second, I’m not telling you xor name. You’ll look xem up and I don’t need you to like a post from two years ago.”

“Then you have to tell me about xem.”

“Xe’s, like, really cute. Xe has these adorable dimples, and super pretty periwinkle eyes, and fluffy strawberry blond hair, and oh the freckles, and xe’s causing bi thoughts and I don’t like it. Make it stop.”

“Fitzy. Do we really have to get into the internalized homophobia already? There’s no way to make it stop. Have fun with your new bisexuality.”

Fitz swears. “Alright. How do I ignore it?”

“Eh, you’ll probably forget xe exists in a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah, about that…xe knows Sophie so I have no way to escape while he and Biana are still dating. Yay me.”

“Ooh, I could probably track xem down.”

“Keefe, please. I just--what do I do?”

“You’ve got yourself two options. First, you could be the perfect little boy your father wants you to be and ignore all of this. Maybe find yourself a girlfriend to distract yourself. Option two. Does xe like you?”

“I think so…? Xe mentioned this second-era computer guy named Alan Turing and said he was hot and then said I kinda look like him.”

“Oh my stars, Fitz. Xe is totally into you. For your sanity and mine, please just go ask xem out. I don’t care how impromptu the date is, just go already. Go. Now.”

“But what would my dad think?”

“Trust me, you may still be the favourite, but it��s not much of a competition. And you’re still speaking to Biana. I’m willing to bet you two haven’t talked in days. If not weeks.”

“I don’t want to damage out relationship even further--”

“Alden can go fuck himself. Or get Quinlin to do it for him. I don’t really care. He’s the cause of all your problems, Fitzy.”

“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t use the Lunar throne to launch him into orbit.” Fitz groans.

“Eh, you would be mad at me for like five minutes which isn’t worth it. Also that’s what Auntie Dearest would’ve done. At least I don't have to hear him complain in the outer sectors.”

“Yeah, he’s still mad about that. And he thinks because I know you I could pull some strings and bring him back to Artemisia.”

Keefe snorts. “That’s hilarious. The entire reason why he’s even out there is because I know you.”

“I thought you said you needed people out there and his name happened to come up.”

“That’s what we here in politics call a lie. He has a problem with his monarch because it's willing to beat him with a frying pan if given the opportunity and I didn’t appreciate that so we send him away. I have zero object permanence anyway.”

“Why do I expect anything less?”

“I honestly can’t answer that for you, Fitzy.” Keefe pauses for a second. “So, did we cover what we needed to cover today or are you still under the impression that I will not be tracking your gay awakening down because I may already have if xor name is Dex?”

“Keefe!” Fitz screeches, trying and failing to reach through the screen and rip Keefe’s second port out of its hands.

“Oh my stars you weren’t kidding about how cute xe is. Aces, you do have good taste. If you don’t ask xem out I’m gonna put the polyamory to work and I’m gonna do it for you.”

“You’ve never even met xem!”

“And?”

“That doesn’t bother you?”

“No. So are we feeling better or do I have to keep threatening you?”

“Do you want to go back to your boyfriend or do you want my honest answer?” Fitz sighs.

“I think that was your honest answer.” Keefe swallows painfully. “Ultimately, whether or not you act on this crush is up to you. I can’t tell you it’ll be easy either way. There are times it hasn’t been for me. But, I can tell you that I don’t regret my decision, even with the amount of public attention it’s brought. Even when Tam is being an arse who is more than likely listening to this whole conversation. But, I, personally, don’t think locking a part of me away is worth it, no matter what bigots think. You are a different person than I am so you might want to take some time and think.”

“But how do you know if you’re pan or bi or poly or omni?” Fitz asks, voice barely a whisper.

“Ooh, someone’s been doing his research. Good. Honestly if you’re omni or poly no straight people will ever know what you’re talking about, if you’re pan, people will accuse you of being biphobic, and if you’re bi, people will accuse you of being panphobic and/or enbyphobic because bi means two and all that bullshit. Or you could always just stay unlabeled. So just pick the flag you like.”

Fitz raises his head just enough to raise an eyebrow at Keefe.

“That’s how I picked pan. And then gender, derogatory, decided to match up with that so I can beat queerphobes with multiple frying pans at once. And don’t go thinking you’re superior for still being cis because when you least expect it, the gender crisis will hit. But that’s an issue for a different day.”

“Great. This isn’t enough?”

“For today it is. Keep me updated if you’d like. Both on the m-spec and your relationship with Dex. I need to know these things. Send me a comm if you need more assistance.”

“Okay. Bye, Keefe. Go run your country.”

“I have advisors. I don’t have to do shit. Bye, Fitzy. I hope you get this figured out. I need to talk about hot guys I’m obsessing over with my best friend, dude.”

Fitz smiles slightly as Keefe exits the vidlink, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

His smile falls from his face.

He tries to pull up King Lear and stop thinking, the exact opposite of what Keefe suggested, he remembers that Shakespeare wrote several sonnets to an unnamed man. Yep, not even Shakespeare can escape the clutches of cisn’t-ness.

And neither can Fitz, it seems.

So now he’s left with so many questions.

Let’s start with an easy one. He doesn’t particularly like the sound of m-spec. It has its purpose, sure. But it isn’t here. Not poly and not omni. He certainly doesn’t have the energy to define either of those every single time.

Bi? Why not? That’ll work unless more information becomes available. Ace purple might look better on the flag but it’s not bad as it stands.

Let’s go with that.

Now, how is his bi ass going to deal with the fact that he is very quickly developing a crush on Dex and will continue to act like this around xem for an undisclosed amount of time?

Maybe that doesn’t have to be today’s problem. Planning a first date just sounds…exhausting.

That’s when he realises he answered the big question without meaning to. He’s gonna ask xem out. Just as soon as he figures out how he’s gonna do that.

And mentally writes the whole script of how that’ll go.

That’s apparently enough for his mind to calm down enough for him to get some sleep, and over the next few days, Fitz tries to plan the perfect date despite not knowing the area well enough to find anything without the use of a GPS app he’s still trying to learn how to use.

Three days later and still without a plan, Fitz makes a deal with himself that whenever Biana asks when they’re gonna leave, that’s when he’s gonna do it, whether or not he’s actually ready. Because he’d never be ready if given the chance.

Day four, Fitz goes to the beach so Biana doesn’t get suspicious of all the time he’s been spending in their room. Although ae is gone as much as ae can be so it doesn’t really matter.

When they’ve been there exactly a week, Biana leaves a sticky note under the shared door between their rooms when ae gets up. When Fitz notices it, ae’s long gone.

Hey Mr. Control Freak. When are you gonna be dragging us back to Luna? the note says.

Fitz swears. Today’s the day and just like he expected, he’s nowhere near prepared for this.

His chest tightens just thinking about it.

To calm himself down, he busies himself by taking a shower--which was not a good idea in the slightest, shower thoughts are even more potent than normal thoughts--and taking as long as he possibly can to get dressed.

Day five’s procrastination project involved him re dying his hair back to pink, so showering with some of the pigments still dissolving was also interesting. But it was nice to see it pink again. Apparently he’d gotten more used to it than he thought.

With no more ways left to waste time, it’s a little past twelve thirty when he heads out to the hover and almost one when he arrives at the market.

He’s tempted to wander around all of the stalls to waste more time, but the steadily growing pit of anxiety gnawing at his stomach discourages this idea.

So he walks up, knees shaking, to Dex’s booth, a surprisingly familiar path, to find xem, or rather xor bright strawberry blond hair, hunched over, working on some project.

“Should I break my port or am I allowed to talk to you without a business agreement in place?” Fitz’s voice cracks.

Dex, startled, whips xor head up and takes a full three seconds to process. “Please don’t give me more work. I have enough already.” Xe pulls the chair sitting next to xem out.

Fitz takes this as a sign that he can sit next to xem, and while getting closer to xem might excite the butterflies in his stomach, it’s better than falling over from how wobbly his knees have become, even more than usual.

“What are you doing here?” xe asks, going back to xor project.

Another day, Fitz might’ve asked about what it is. But not today.

“You assume I can string words together right now?”

“That bad? Feel free to ramble about anything if you’d like. Or just sit there. I’ll be here losing my mind if you need me.”

“This is gonna sound weird until you have all the context but honestly there’s no way I can figure out to avoid it and also provide said context.”

“So you want me to keep my commentary to a minimum? Got it.”

“Last week when I was looking for your screwdriver, I saw a couple pride pins on your bag and--”

“You better not be homophobic today. I don’t have the energy for that.” xe interrupts.

“No, nothing like that. The exact opposite of that.”

Fitz takes a breath, heart pounding.

Dex looks at him, waiting for confirmation of what he just implied.

“So, I’d like to say thanks for breaking my brain and apparently I’m bi now. Well, technically, I’m still unsure where I fit under the m-spec category but I don’t like m-spec so I picked one and I’m seeing how it goes.”

Xe smiles, showing off those adorable dimples.

“So, as a newly not-yet-certified bi disaster, I need some help. There’s this cute guy I really want to ask out but I don’t know this area, like, at all. So do you have any recommendations for a first date?”

Dex’s face falls. “Do you have any ideas of what he likes? Maybe start there.”

“We’ve only spoken like three times so I mean there’s not a whole lot for me to go on. I was hoping you just knew of a casual restaurant kinda thing where, ideally, I would also not be seen in public out of my closet because I am going to stay in here as long as humanly possible.”

“When in doubt, just ask him out for coffee.” Dex says. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

“Do you have a personal favourite coffee shop?”

“Yeah. It’s called bribing Sophie to bring me caffeine at three in the morning because neither of us know how to sleep anymore. And he makes it at home so I really can’t help you out with that one.”

“Fine then, GPS app it is.” Fitz takes a second looking over the different options it’s brought up in a mile radius before asking, “Have you heard anything about The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf?”

“I’ve seen the building if that’s what you’re asking. Try checking the reviews on the place if you want an opinion on whether or not it tastes like dirty dishwater.”

Fitz scrolls down on the page to find reviews he didn’t know were provided, and figures four and a half stars is pretty good.

“Dex, thanks for your help. Just one more crazy question.”

“Shoot.”

“I know your sleep schedule is nonexistent, but is there such a thing as coffee too late in the day for you?”

“Nope. I just end up not sleeping. It’s such a healthy cycle.”

Fitz takes a breath, bracing himself for what he’s about to ask. “Do you think we could maybe stop over there after you close up shop this afternoon?”

“Like, as a trial run before bringing the guy you like there?” Dex asks, causing Fitz to very narrowly avoid facepalming at xor obliviousness.

“More like a date while I’m bringing the guy I like there.”

Dex just looks at him, redder than a tomato, mouthing a string swear words and blinking. “I--uh--sure, sure. We usually close up around four if that works for you.”

“Yep, I’ll be wandering around until then if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all.”

The next two hours simultaneously take seven seconds and seven years.

Fitz comes back to Dex’s booth, rambling, “I know it’s early but I didn’t want to be late and I’m pretty sure you said around four and three forty-five is around four so if you want me to help with anything just let me know.”

Dex smiles. “I make my own rules of when we close so give me just a moment for me to pack up and close it up. Also can you remind Sophie about his binder? I need more arms.”

Fitz sends Sophie that comm as xe loads xor bag almost to the point of breaking, and he doesn’t know how xe can even pick it up as xe closes the roll down door. “I trust you know where we’re going because I certainly don’t.”

“I’ve got the route mapped out right now. It’s not too far away so you won’t have to carry that bag around too much. I could take it if you’d like.”

“It’s not as bad as it looks and I like to keep it with me. I don’t even know why. It’d be perfectly secure in the booth and I’d be walking past it back home anyway. It’s fine.”

“Alright,” Fitz says, and they go back to walking in near silence. When they arrive, he orders first--a pure, what they call decaf for whatever reason because he’d like to sleep sometime this week, cookies and cream basically coffee milkshake--because he already found the link to the menu, and Dex orders an iced coffee and a blueberry muffin.

The barista android places this into the system, and it’s ready in under a minute. It’s a telepathic battle to decide who pays, but somehow Fitz wins and the cashier android scans his id chip.

They find a nice table in the corner and try to ignore the three other people in there.

“So, what now?” Fitz asks.

“You were the one that asked me out, you really should’ve had a plan,” Dex replies, smiling.

“I literally had you plan this for me, do you really think I would have a plan?”

“Okay, that’s a fair point.” Dex concedes. “I think I remember Biana saying something about you liking second-era books. Are you reading anything good right now?”

“I don’t know how you’d have enough free time to read but I’m in the middle of King Lear. By Shakespeare. You may or may not have heard of him. Someone’s eyes just got ripped out of his head so that was interesting.”

“Spoiler alert.” Dex smiles, adding, “I remember when Sophie had to read Romeo and Juliet for class like two or three years ago. All I remember is that he was convinced Mercutio and Tybalt would’ve made a better romance arc.”

“I could write that. I can string words together sometimes.”

“And you don’t even have to do any worldbuilding. And it’s so ingrained into society that as long as you can spell Mercutio a lot of people are going to understand what you’re doing.”

“I could just rename both of them. Then I don’t have to spell. Because I can’t spell.”

“But then it’s not in its original universe and then you have to do worldbuilding which is annoying at best.”

“Yeah, I guess. It sounds like you’ve written things before.”

“I was the kind of kid who had elaborate story ideas and then wrote a couple hundred words before giving up.”

“Are you gonna pitch these story ideas to me one day?”

“Maybe if you’re lucky.”

Fitz smiles. “Well, I was already lucky enough to break my wireless charger so I had to find someone to fix it and my mechanic was pretty cute.”

Dex beams amusedly, revealing xor dimples once again. Fitz will never get tired of that smile. “I’m not sure if that was supposed to be sweet or cheesy but I’m gonna pick the former whether or not that was your intention.”

“It was, I’m just apparently very cheesy. At least according to Biana, that is.”

“I might be even worse. Maybe we can manage to scare aer away from our cheese alone.”

“Or, you know, just let aer duct tape aerself to Sophie. That would work too.”

“Until Uncle Grady finds out and Biana is never seen again. We don’t ask what happened to aer. Ae no longer exists.”

Fitz laughs. “Has this happened with Sophie’s previous partners? Is that why he was single?”

“I don’t know if Uncle Grady has actually lived up to his threats, but I do have the scary dad speech burned into my memory from seventh grade when it was a whole mess and I was convinced I liked Sophie.”

“I thought Sophie was your cousin.”

“Hence why I call it a whole mess.” Dex says seriously before breaking down into laughter. “Also, he’s only my cousin in a legal sense. He’s adopted. We don’t live in Alabama, after all. You should’ve seen your face.”

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“Yes, I am fully aware of that, but you believed me. Who’s the real idiot here?”

“All of us in this café for contributing to capitalist greed.”

Dex smiles, almost laughing. “One day or another I’m gonna start my own country. How many citizens does that take? I know a religion needs ten people but I don’t remember that one.”

“Do I look like I know the answer to that?”

“No, but you do have a port and a search engine.” Xe pauses, typing on xor port. “Never mind, all I need is a permanent population. And some land and a government. That actually doesn’t sound that difficult.”

“Until the Earthen Union decides that isn’t allowed and declares war on you.”

“And then I break their streak of peace. I still win.”

“If you didn’t have so many projects already I would almost be worried about a new tyrannical dictator taking over the world.”

Dex snorts. “I’d make it an oligarchy at the very least. Sophie can rule with me. And maybe you and Biana if you’re nice.”

“I could probably persuade Monarch Keefe and Emperor Tam to join your new country if you wanted. Well, I can persuade Keefe and then it’d blackmail Tam but whatever works.”

“Also I would have to legalize murder of queerphobes. And arson.”

“Should I ask why you’re allowing people to set things on fire?” Fitz asks.

“Arson should be a fundamental human right, that’s why. Burn everything to the ground. It’s also fun and I sound like a lunatic right now.”

“You do realise the word lunatic does carry the implication that Lunars are all crazy, right? We don’t all have Lunar sickness.”

“I may have a sample size of two, but you’re crazy for going out with me and Biana is just…I mean, have you listened to any of aer conversations with Sophie?”

“I’m not crazy. You’re cute and I am fully aware that my father isn’t going to be happy with my life’s decisions, but I don’t care. I may be high on sugar right now, but I really just do not care.”

Fitz looks at Dex. “You don’t believe me.”

“Of course I don’t. You’re fucking gorgeous and I’m just here, your average Earthen. You are miles out of my league.”

“Dex, listen to me. I’ve been travelling all around the Earth for the past six-ish months. I’ve met so many people. But here I am. On a date with you. You. The one and only Dex I-don’t-know-your-last-name. And, yeah, you’re probably going to argue that I only remember you because we almost got into a fistfight in the middle of a street or that I kept being reminded of you every night when Biana and Sophie were talking. But just because there are reasons behind them, that doesn’t mean my decisions aren’t my decisions.”

Fitz reaches for Dex’s hand, gently holding it in his own amid the lightning storm shocking its way up his arm.

“Also you get the added bonus of making me lose my mind. Thanks for the bi awakening.”

Dex smiles hesitantly.

“So, do you have any favourite places we could stop at when the barista droid kicks us out?” Fitz asks, eyeing them.

“No. I’m a mechanic. I don’t go outside. You should’ve known that before getting into this.”

“I did.” Fitz smiles. “But I figured it would be worth a shot. Anyway, I’ve found a little spot you might like. Assuming you’ve got a little more time before you have to get back to work.”

“Trust me, if given the slightest chance to procrastinate, I will. Lead the way, Wonderboy.”

Fitz smiles, and leading xem by the hand, he takes xem via hover to a small beach he found while trying to avoid thinking about date ideas just in time to watch the sunset.

He isn’t exactly sure when it got so late, but talking with Dex somehow makes hours speed by like seconds while each moment begs to be held longer.

Fitz sees the shadow of Luna, just past new moon, appear near the horizon, and he flinches involuntarily at the reminder of what his father will think when he finds out.

But for now, all that matters is Dex. And xor adorable dimples. Never forget those.

#kotlc #detz #dex dizznee #fitz vacker #kotlc fanfic #i feel like picking through this to find my favorite lines but yanno what you people can do that for me #also it's really terrifying how easily i can code switch between writing in american canadian and british english #it's almost like i spent 150k in canadian and now i've broken my brain #despite how long it is i absolutely adore this #will there be a part 3? who knows.#writing something kam could be fun i haven't done that yet

11 notes · View notes

iviarellereads · 2 months

Text

The Eye of the World, Chapter 35 - Caemlyn

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one!)

(White Lion of Andor icon)(1) In which I get to explain another meme.

Rand thought he knew what a great city would look like, after Shadar Logoth, but it's even better than he imagined. Whitebridge could fit here twenty times with room to spare, and the city wall is fifty feet high, everything is majestic and beautiful. And there are so many PEOPLE! Mat wonders how they can hide with so many people around. Rand points out that there are so many people to look through, they must be safe, as long as Mat can watch his fool mouth.

Bunt advises that if Rand's holding the sword Holdwin told him about, he should hide it, stop wearing it, sell it, anything to not be seen with it. It'll draw more attention than he wants. Then he takes off and Rand loses sight of him in the crowd.(2)

Rand tries to focus, to figure out where to go next, now that they're in Caemlyn. He can't quite grasp the flame and void, but he tells himself aloud that their friends are alive. He remembers that Thom told them to find an inn called the Queen's Blessing, they should go there first. Mat gets paranoid again, more than ever, with all the people around, and Rand has to give him a pep talk about they won't give in now, or it was all for nothing. They aren't caught yet. Mat apologizes and they go find directions to the inn.

One man they ask, with a white armband and a white cockade on his hat, says they've come too late. Confused, they keep looking. Along the way, there are many shops offering relics, scraps of the False Dragon's cloak and fragments of his sword, as if they could all be real.

Rand knows someone will notice that he's hiding something with his cloak on one side, but he can't stop wearing his sword, his one link to Tam. He sees that many men are wearing swords, some bound with white and some with red, in such a way as nobody would be able to see heron-marks. Rand notes that red wrapping cloth is cheaper than white, though he sees no difference in quality, so he buys the red and wraps his sword in an alley so he can stop looking quite so suspicious.(3) Besides, adopting a local fashion will make them stand out a little less. Mat's just paranoid that they got cheated on the price anyway, and they'll get beat up and robbed and… Rand basically ignores him.

Eventually, they really do find the Queen's Blessing, and introduce themselves to Basil Gill, the innkeeper,(4) as friends of Thom's. His smile slips a bit, and he pulls them aside.

Gill asks what's in the flute case, and Rand opens it. Thom would part with his arm as soon as that flute, so what's happened? Rand says he's dead, protecting them. Gill says he'll believe Thom's dead when he sees a corpse, and not before.(5) He's harder to kill than you'd think, old Thom Merrilin. He believes they saw what they say, but he doesn't think Thom's seen his end yet.

“Coming to Caemlyn, you say?” The innkeeper shook his head. “This is the last place on earth I’d expect Thom to come, excepting maybe it was Tar Valon.” He waited for a stableman to pass, leading a horse, and even then he lowered his voice. “You’ve trouble with the Aes Sedai, I take it.” “Yes,” Mat grumbled at the same time that Rand said, “What makes you think that?” Master Gill chuckled dryly. “I know the man, that’s what. He’d jump into that kind of trouble, especially to help a couple of lads about the age of you. . . .” The reminiscence in his eyes flickered out, and he stood up straight with a chary look. “Now . . . ah . . . I’m not making any accusations, mind, but . . . ah . . . I take it neither of you can . . . ah . . . what I’m getting at is . . . ah . . . what exactly is the nature of your trouble with Tar Valon, if you don’t mind my asking?” Rand’s skin prickled as he realized what the man was suggesting. The One Power. “No, no, nothing like that. I swear. There was even an Aes Sedai helping us. Moiraine was. . . .” He bit his tongue, but the innkeeper’s expression never changed.

Gill is relieved, he means no offence, but better to be in with Aes Sedai than… the other thing.(6) He can offer them beds, not good ones, and a bit to eat. Thom's a good friend, he can help a friend of Thom's. Just don't go talking about working with Aes Sedai too loudly, and they probably shouldn't mention Thom, either. Some of the Guards have long memories, and so does the Queen.

Thom had trouble with the Queen? Rand is incredulous. Well, it's no secret, says Gill. Thom was the Courtbard at Caemlyn, and known in every royal court on the continent. Not long after Taringail Damodred died, the trouble with Thom's nephew arose. Thom was having an affair with Morgase,(7) a young widow, and Thom in his prime. But when he learned about his nephew, he took off without a word, and the Queen didn't like that, or him meddling in Aes Sedai affairs. When he came back, they had words, some words you don't say to anyone much less a queen. When Thom left Caemlyn last, he was a hair's breadth from prison, if not the headsman's axe.

“If it was a long time ago,” Rand said, “maybe nobody remembers.” Master Gill shook his head. “Gareth Bryne is Captain-General of the Queen’s Guards. He personally commanded the Guardsmen Morgase sent to bring Thom back in chains, and I misdoubt he’ll ever forget returning empty-handed to find Thom had already been back to the Palace and left again. And the Queen never forgets anything. You ever know a woman who did? My, but Morgase was in a taking. I’ll swear the whole city walked soft and whispered for a month. Plenty of other Guardsmen old enough to remember, too. No, best you keep Thom as close a secret as you keep that Aes Sedai of yours. Come, I’ll get you something to eat. You look as if your bellies are gnawing at your backbones.”

=====

(1) The symbol of the royal family of Andor, and thus presumably a sort of symbol banner for the capital city. (2) Bunt knows Holdwin's not to be trusted from his regular encounters with the man, it seems. He knows who to believe: his own judgement, which seems mighty fine to me. (3) Now, why would one wrap be cheaper than the other? (4) I seriously trimmed down the gawping Rand does at all the people, fights that break out that he's witness to, etc etc. There are NINE PAGES in my paperback before they enter the inn. Also, I had trouble phrasing it for the summary so I left it out, but Rand makes reference to Gill's being fat as a relief: the only bad experience he ever had was with a skinny innkeeper. So, now it's a meme throughout the fandom that you never trust a skinny innkeeper. (Along the same lines, I suppose, as a saying I grew up with: "never trust a skinny cook" because presumably they don't cook well enough to keep themselves fed.) (5) And Gill teaches us one of the most important lessons in fiction in general, but particularly in this series: never believe someone's dead until you see a body and you're P O S I T I V E that it's actually theirs and not some elaborate illusion or prank. I've really taken that one to heart in recent years. (6) I find it somewhat understandable that, given the rules of this world, Gill doesn't really want a male channeler possibly on the edge of madness and Breaking (like the world was Broken 3000 years ago) in his inn. Like, he wants to help friends of Thom's, but that's a fair line to draw, given the destructive power we've seen a man hold. Lews Therin did literally create a miles-high mountain from a flat plain in the opening. (7) And then some intrigue with Thom! He was definitely having an affair with Morgase at one point, it's not entirely clear if it started before or after her husband died, or when Thom arrived on the scene at all. [waggles eyebrows] Also, interesting that he was "in his prime" at the time, and I have to wonder what that means exactly with regard to age. Thom's age is one of the biggest mysteries in the series. Because of his white hair and the description of him as "grizzled" in his intro, a lot of people assume he's in his 60s or 70s and just still nimble for his age. There are clues that lend toward that sort of range, if you pay close attention. But, I tend to headcanon him much younger, and I was ever so glad the show agreed with me in their casting.

#wheel of time #wot #the wheel of time #twot #the eye of the world #eye of the world #eotw #teotw #wot white lion icon #rand al'thor #mat cauthon #almen bunt #basel gill

1 note · View note

thequeencard · 11 months

Text

| the beginning.

Elora Myers was just seven years old when she lost her mother. Her mother had been struggling with mental illness for years, but it was only after her tragic passing that Elora truly understood the extent of her condition. The girl was left feeling lost and alone even after she was sent to live in an orphanage, which was a very difficult adjustment for her. However, it was in the orphanage that she discovered her love for painting. Elora was always drawn to the art room in the orphanage, where she could spend hours painting and expressing herself through her art. Her paintings were so full of her emotion, and it was clear that they came straight from her heart. It was during one of these painting sessions that Elora caught the eye of a visiting man who was her soon to be her adoptive parent.

The man, William Gallagher, was an art curator, and he was immediately mesmerized by Elora’s work and could see the potential in her talent. He struck up a conversation with the young girl and was impressed by the depth of her creativity and her passion for art. After some arranged meetings, he soon learned about Elora’s background and the struggles she had faced in her young life. But he knew that Elora was destined for great things, and he wanted to help her achieve her dreams. He finally adopted her so she could get out of the orphanage and live in a loving home where she could thrive under his watch.

Elora’s life changed drastically when she was 14. She felt an abnormal attachment to William, whom she saw as a figure of comfort and safety. She craved his attention and affection more than she should, which was something that she had been lacking for most of her life. However, as Elora grew older, her attachment to William became more complicated. She struggled with her feelings towards him and was confused by the intensity of her emotions. When Elora was 16, William began dating a woman who she didn’t really like. Elora felt overly jealous and threatened by this woman, who she saw as a threat to her relationship with William until they had a huge fight, and Elora said some hurtful things that she didn’t mean. The argument was a turning point in their relationship, and from that day on, things were never the same at home.

Elora’s relationship with William was ruined, and once again, she felt lost and alone. She struggled to come to terms with her emotions and was overwhelmed by the pain of losing another person who had been such an important part of her life. She began to distance herself from William and spent more of her time alone. Eventually, Elora decided to leave home when she was 19. She moved to New York City and tried to start a new life for herself as a young aspiring artist.

0 notes

soulmate-game · 3 years

Note

Daughter of wonderwoman au where marinette finds out her mother is actually Diana and somehow it ends up with her meeting/being introduced to the batfam maybe because she has super strength and is seen yeeting some bad guys who tried to mug her... Or something.

“... you are running from your problems, Mari,” Adrien’s exasperated voice reminded his best friend. Again. She ignored him, and he threw his hands up in exasperation. “Look, you don’t have to do anything about it! Nobody would hold it against you if you decided to just, ignore that you found anything out at all. But you need to actually think about what we just found out and decide whether or not you’re gonna do anything—“ he side-stepped a piece of trash that went flying in his direction. “—or if you’re gonna move on and pretend nothing happened.”

“Isn’t that what I’m doing?” Marinette shot back, pushing her bangs out of her face and tying her hair back with one hand.

“No, you’re currently hiding away in Gotham to avoid your parents while you beat up every random group of idiots who thinks you’re an easy mark,” he retorted. Another wannabe kidnapper went flying in his direction, making him sigh and side step again. She had thrown that one with only her one free hand, showing just how upset she was. “You’re ignoring everything in your life, which is not what we meant we said you should get a little space.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Marinette dropkicked the last criminal into unconsciousness before stepping back and putting her hands on her hips. She looked over at the now seven passed out men in the alleyway, and the one very frustrated ex-model pinching the bride of his nose. “I think I’m coping just fine.”

“It’s better than being forced to suppress all of your emotions, sure,” Adrien reluctantly agreed. “But not by much. Your angry rampage through Gotham has already attracted more attention,” he raised his hand to point at a nearby rooftop. Several shadows lurked there, looming over the building’s edge. “Which, might I add, is exactly why I told you not to come to Gotham.”

“You’re the one who followed me here,” she shot back before turning to the shadowy figures above them. “Go ahead and come down! But it was self defense, and you can’t arrest or beat me up for defending myself!”

The first figure to drop down straightened your just as quickly, revealing the imposing figure of none other than Batman himself. The little white eyes on his cowl seemed to narrow on their own as he looked down at her.

“That might be true, but I’m sure you know my policy on metas in my city,” he grumbled back at her. He wasn’t necessarily threatening, but he definitely wasn’t welcoming either. With all of his limbs hidden behind the cocoon that was his cape, Marinette would never be able to predict his next move if he did decide to fight. Not that she seemed particularly worried about that as she crossed her arms over her chest and met his glare evenly.

“Oh, do you own this city now? I wasn’t given the memo,” she retorted. “And considering I didn’t even know I was a meta until last week? I think I deserve a little slack. I’m angry and if people think the tiny little girl in pink is an easy kidnapping target, then it’s their fault for making themselves into the perfect practice dummies for me to try out my newly discovered strength on.”

Adrien saw the eyes on Batman’s mask narrow even further. Marinette wasn’t exactly at her most charismatic at the moment, and Adrien didn’t wanna get the both of them into a bad relationship with the experienced superhero who always seemed to know things he shouldn’t know. So he stepped up quickly, getting in between Marinette and the Bat and holding his hands up in a placating gesture.

“Okay, Monsieur Batman,” Adrien started slowly, making sure his posture was impeccable and his smile bright. “She’s telling the truth, even if she’s not... the most tactful about it right now. She just found out some very concerning things about her origin and Gotham is the best place for her to hide from her problems and let loose a little pent up aggression. But— well,” he grimaced. “We didn’t intend to run into you guys, but maybe it’s a good thing we did.”

“How so?” Batman was clearly still incredibly suspicious of the both of them and wasn’t giving an inch. So Marinette rolled her eyes (she was still very moody) and leaned around Adrien so she could get a good look at the monochromatic hero.

“I thank my lucky spots that we ran into you, Batman!” She said monotonously. “Me and Adrien are paw-sitively excited at this opportunity.”

Batman. Froze.

Not only were those two lines the very first lines ever spoken to him by two foreign heroes a few years ago (with a few key words changed to protect identities), but they had become their code phrase for whenever they made calls to one another outside of their costumes. All at once it seemed to hit him— the golden hair and bright green eyes on the boy, the blue-black hair and normally super-focused bluebell eyes on the girl that were currently sporting very uncharacteristic frustration. Their heights. Their builds. All of this info flowed through his mind and compared to the information stored in his memory, and it only took the span of two seconds for everything to click.

Suddenly Batman was at full attention, back straight instead of looming over them and eyebrows clearly raised high under his cowl.

He knew Chat Noir and Ladybug would never take a random vacation to Gotham. Ladybug herself had nearly waxed poetic about how much the city depressed her just from the pictures she saw online. If she had willingly come to visit, it was more than to just blow off some steam.

“Batcave?” He asked, earning a relieved look from Adrien and a moody silence from Marinette.

“Please,” Adrien agreed. “You can probably help us, actually.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Marinette leaned back in the metal debriefing chair, legs up on the table and looking for all the world as the picture of pure teenage rebellion and angst. Coincidentally, Red Hood was in the exact same position in the chair next to her.

Batman and all of his other bats and birds were in the cave with the two off-duty Parisian heroes. Everyone except Adrien and Marinette still had their masks on, since the two Parisians were still not privy to their identities. Yet.

To be fair, the bats hadn’t known the identities of the two miraculous users either before today.

“Cha Noir,” Batman started, only to get a head shake from the blond boy.

“Just call me Adrien. Chat’s out of the bag—“ he ignored the groans at the pun and soldiered on, “—so might as well use my real name.”

Batman nodded. “Adrien, then,” he amended. “Why are you and Ladybug really in Gotham?”

Adrien sighed. “I wasn’t lying, before. Marinette,” he gestured to his hero partner. “Just found out some distressing family news. Since HawkMoth is gone, she doesn’t need to repress her negative emotions anymore. But she also didn’t want to be around her parents while she processed everything. I told her to choose any other city— really, I begged— but she insisted on coming to Gotham.”

“The never ending cloud cover and constant rain seem thematic,” she finally spoke up, reaching into her big over-the-shoulder bag and pulling out a large envelope. She threw it to Batman, making the thin package slice through the air like a knife. To nobody’s surprise the seasoned hero easily caught the projectile between two fingers. He looked at the envelope and back to Marinette, silent questions floating in the air between them. Marinette decided to answer at her own pace.

“That’s what we found out. You see, one of my friends is a huge science nerd. A genius. And he wanted to compare DNA samples between us to see if there were any genetic components that determined a person’s suitability towards certain Miraculous or other magical artifacts over others. It was supposed to just be a fun side project that he didn’t expect any breakthroughs on. He mostly just wanted to satisfy his own curiosity. But instead of finding out if our DNA was linked to the miraculous, he found out that my parents are not biologically my parents.”

“Hence the whole just finding out that you’re a meta thing, right?” Nightwing spoke up, fully invested in the story. “Did they never say you were adopted before?”

“It’s not in the system,” she replied easily. “My parents have all the documentation to prove that I’m their biological child, except I’m not. When I confronted them about it, they caved and admitted that they had adopted me in secret and covered it up. Apparently a friend of theirs was involved in something illegal, and,” she waved at the envelope that Batman was now opening. “The details of what we were able to dig up are in there. The summary is this; their friend was part of a secret, illegal experimentation to create clones that could defeat the Justice League—“ the air seemed to get sucked out of the room as soon as those words left Marinette’s mouth. Everyone seemed to know exactly what she was talking about. “—a group called CADMUS. They made me, as apparently one of their early attempts. But I didn’t exhibit any of the powers they were looking for, or any meta traits at all, and my body refused to mature at the rate they wanted. They had no use for a seemingly normal human baby that they managed to clone, so they were preparing to kill me and start over. That’s when my parent’s friend stole me, not wanting to kill an infant, and begged my parents to take me in and pretend I was theirs. Low and behold, it turns out that my DNA just needed a very specific series of emotions to unlock it’s latent abilities.”

“Those emotions being..?” Red hood trailed off, earning a wolfish smile from Marinette.

“Intense anger, betrayal, and confused frustration closely followed by the desire to punch other people’s faces in.”

“That last one is just an assumption,” Adrien chimed in. “And maybe not accurate. But the first three, our scientist friend was able to confirm. The rapid experience of a lot of negative but action-oriented emotions released whatever had been holding back the powers in her DNA from expressing themselves,” he had switched to French so that he could explain everything exactly as Max had told it to them, but he knew all of them were fluent anyway so it was fine. They nodded along, processing the information.

The crinkling of paper drew everyone’s attention back to Batman, who had been flipping through the detailed break down of everything they had found about Marinette’s situation and how she was made by CADMUS.

“Uh,” Red Robin nervously spoke up. “What’s up, Batman?”

“Your genetic donors...” Batman breathed, getting a wink and finger guns from Marinette.

“Yup. Isn’t that just the most fucked up thing you’ve ever seen? They were clearly trying to make someone who could destroy the world.”

“That makes me nervous,” Nightwing admitted, getting up and going to get a look at the papers himself. “It can’t be that ba—“

When even Nightwing was left agape, everyone else who wasn’t in on it found themselves squirming.

“Just tell the rest of us, already!” Robin demanded after the silence stretched just a bit too long.

“The unknowing genetic donors that CADMUS used to make me,” Marinette spoke up, still with her legs up on the table. “Are a very mad-scientist’s-wet-dream combination of Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne, and Wonder Woman.”

“We don’t even know why they added Bruce Wayne’s DNA,” Adrien admitted. “Although our scientist friend thinks it’s because of physique. His hypothesis is that, in order to support the genes of Wonder Woman, they had to add male genetics that could support the production of a very high muscle mass and would lean towards easy development of a very athletic body. Lex might be evil-scientist smart, but he’s a string bean. But if he added the DNA of another multi millionaire who just so happens to maintain a ridiculously fit body without putting any obvious work into it,” Adrien shrugged. “Then maybe the clone would be able to support Wonder Woman’s genetics and that of two human donors without falling apart.”

“So I’m ‘the clone’ now, huh?” Marinette snarked, earning an exasperated eye roll from her friend.

Batman just stared at the both of them for a moment. He walked away without a word, and came back with a fresh needle and a box. He placed it on the debriefing table.

“Can I do a paternity test myself?” He asked, his voice suspiciously less gruff than normal. “I trust the both of you, but I rather be safe than sorry with something like this.”

The both of them just stared at him in confusion. They traded a glance, and finally Marinette shrugged and moved to sit in her chair properly. Her shirt was already short sleeved, so she just held her arm out so Batman could easily get a blood sample.

“Sure, why not. But do you just have Lex Luthor or Bruce Wayne’s DNA sitting around to compare, or—“ she shut up when she watched Batman take off his glove and roll his own sleeve up. Realization slowly sunk in as he asked Nightwing to take a blood sample from him.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, eyes wide. “You’re— and Luthor doesn’t know— holy shit this is even worse than I thought,” Marinette rambled, not even noticing as Red Hood moved forward and took a small blood sample from her.

Adrien put a hand over his face and just laughed for a moment hysterically. “Oh my god,” he looked over at Marinette. “You could take over the world.”

“I have the blood of Batman AND Wonder Woman on MY side,” Marinette joked back, also hysterical.

When the bat’s high tech equipment was able to come back with a positive result only a few minutes later, Marinette and Adrien had to sit on the floor and just let it all sink in. Which Batman did not at all help by immediately unmasking himself and trying to make a proper introduction.

“I wanna go beat up random thugs again,” Marinette whined, pulling at her hair. “I’ll put on a mask, whatever, but just please let me punch people. I need to punch people right now.”

#maribat #ml x dc #mlb x dc #soulmate-game #dc x miraculous #dc x mlb #bio!mom Wonder Woman #Bio!mom Diana prince #bio!dad Bruce Wayne #Bio!dad Batman #idk what this is #but it happened #and it’s something

1K notes · View notes