#so about the transcripts I read from last night huh

[factorialsotherfandoms]

Philza comes with his evidence backpack, and Cellbit wants the ground to swallow him whole. Too much, its too much, he can't-

"Is now a bad time?" Philza asks, concerned but voice still light. "I can come back Friday?"

"No," Cellbit sighs. "No, I guess... Just..."

He waves a hand in a direction, and hopes Philza can make some sense of it.

"..." Philza doesn't move. "You alright mate? You seem a bit... off?"

"I'm just tired," Cellbit replies. "I just..."

Does he say, does he not? Philza has been one of his few defenders on this island, trusting him even when there's been nothing to trust, thinking on his wavelength and beside him.

He has to, doesn't he?

Cellbit can't make this sort of decision and tell anyone.

"I'm stepping down," Cellbit says. "From investigating. Cucurucho... I'm not working for the Federation, but I can't keep working against them either. Can we just... I'm sorry, I'm sorry I can't be what you need me to be."

"You're not? But-" Philza's brow furrows, and Cellbit fears the yelling he heard in the maze.

He didn't hear the words, but he heard the tone; he knows he is too exhausted to survive that.

"Please, Philza," he says. "Let it rest. The Federation, the Order... I have no part in them any more. Good luck. I hope you find what you're looking for someday."

There is a long pause and Cellbit thinks, maybe, that the silence is worse than the yelling could ever have been.

"Alright," Philza's voice is gentle as he deflates. "Alright... I understand."

Cellbit expects that to be that, watching Philza put the evidence bag away. It stings more than he thought it would, but even that struggles to bring him strength through the haze. He has failed Philza - failed everyone - in giving up. So of course he is now turned away. He knows he's only wanted for what he can give, why did he expect different?

But then the bag is gone, and Philza is still there. He reaches out, takes one of Cellbit's hands, and cradles it in his own. Calloused hands are soft and gentle, and Cellbit understands why so many on the island call him father.

It doesn't feel as teasing any more.

"Are you safe?" Philza asks. "Cucurucho isn't going to come down on your ass, is he?"

He is. Cellbit cannot answer - he just wants to sleep.

But maybe none is needed, because Philza's grip tightens a little, before thumbs start to smooth over Cellbit's knuckles.

"Fuck," Philza says, then he breathes. "Alright. We've got you, King. If anything happens, I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't worry about that dumbass bear, okay? No matter what there are people here who love you, and we will save you."

Cellbit closes his eyes, and nods, and tries to be strong again. He opens his mouth, and-

"None of that," Philza interrupts. "I do it because I want to. Now, when's Roier coming to bed? I don't really want to leave you alone right now, mate."

There's something in Philza's tone, but Cellbit doesn't care to interpret it. Instead he shrugs, "not sure. But really, I'll be fine. I just need to rest."

"I'll bet," Philza looks almost heartbroken as he says it. "Let's get you somewhere safe, then. You good to warp to my place? Phil and Missa?"

"Why?" Cellbit manages to ask as he takes out his warpstone.

"I'm not going to ask you to show me your bedroom, Cellbit. I can make choices about my privacy, not yours."

It sounds so obvious like that, but it's not quite the question he meant. Still, Cellbit just follows along. It's easier, far easier, to just get whatever this is over with so he can get home and to his bed.

He warps and, as soon as he arrives, Philza takes his hand again. He's led to the hatch, and down - "be careful on the ladder" Philza reminds him - to the children's room. Then, not content to leave him there, Philza takes him to the right, through another two security doors - its not hidden, but its certainly protected - to a room all in orange. Around the walls are photographs, and there's an enchantment table in the centre, but Cellbit does not really think of that.

"This is Chayanne's room," Philza smiles sadly as he says it. "But, I'm sure he won't mind. Here, if we just-"

Cellbit tries to make a response, to compliment it, to offer condolences, but instead he is led to the side of the stairs, and then beneath them. Tucked away there, in the dim, behind five security doors and still hidden, is a heap of mattresses, covered in blankets and pillows and even the odd bean bag.

"Get yourself comfortable," Philza pushes him a little towards the pile. "I just need to adjust the doors. Make sure Roier can get in, and Felps. Pretty sure Fit just lets Pac and Mike in anyway. And Forever," Philza's breath hitches very slightly, almost inaudibly. "has access anyway."

Philza hurries off, and Cellbit remains where he was left. He doesn't need the mothering, he is sure, but- But maybe it is nice, to not have to think.

He thinks so much, for everyone, what's wrong with this?

Soon enough Philza is back, carrying two bowls of something.

"I've let Roier know where you are, and Felps as I saw he was awake," Philza says as he passes over a bowl. "I know I ain't your family, but hopefully... Anyway, Chayanne made these before he vanished, always was a better cook than me. Just heated it through - I'm sure he wouldn't have minded it being shared."

"Are you sure?" Cellbit asks. "This is your son's? I'm not-"

"Eat," Philza is a little more pushy this time, even as he sits on the mattresses himself. "You're family, if you want to be. A bit extended, but aren't we all? Forever is my family and he's also yours, and that makes us family too. By some definition, anyway."

"Oh," it's said so simply, and Cellbit has no mind for a puzzle right now. Instead he takes the bowl of soup, and he drinks it.

They eat in silence and, once done, Philza tucks both of the bowls away. Cellbit is nudged again towards the mattresses as Philza cleans up, placing his hat and his coat beside the nest.

Great, ruined wings shudder a little to escape their hole, and despite the feather growth over them Cellbit can see the scars still deep in the flesh, the unevenness where muscle has been ripped away, how they shake with the effort of holding themselves up.

He feels like he needs to do something, to have some response to seeing such fantastic wings laid low - or perhaps to the trust shown to him in their display - but he's just...

He's just tired.

Philza is a little unsteady as he, too, comes into the nest. He shifts the pillows and the blankets and opens his arms and Cellbit- Cellbit can't.

He can't be being offered this, he barely knows Philza, he can't be trusted this much, not when people so much closer to him don't. It feels like a lie, a kind one at that.

"Come on Cellbit," Philza says. "I don't have all night; some of us sleep at reasonable hours, you know?"

"It's not unreasonable," Cellbit manages to retort, even as he gives in.

Stone crumbles to the wave, in time; Cellbit pulls off his outer layers, and slowly climbs into the nest.

Crawls into Philza's arms.

The arms close around him, and ruined wings hide him from sight.

"There we go," Philza whispers. "You've done well, more than enough. Just rest now, mate; I'll keep things ticking over in the meantime."

Cellbit doesn't want things to stay 'ticking over', he just wants them to end. Part of him knows he doesn't really, that he'll want those things later, if only because Cucurucho /will/ betray him, and Forever still isn't home, and its only with them carrying on that anyone he loves will be safe.

Philza runs a hand through his hair; Cellbit's thoughts still.

It's a little while before either of them speaks. To his own surprise Cellbit is the one to do so, with another childish feeling question, another "why?"

"Because I trust you," Philza replies. "And if I trust you, I care about you. If I trust you, you are my flock, and it fucking sucks right now, but we take care of each other. You're alive? That's /all/ I need from you, mate, just for you to stay alive."

Cellbit wishes it was that simple, he really does.

"If I'm here, your house isn't safe," he tries to reason, unsure why he's even fighting it now.

Philza holds him a little tighter, "if my flock safe, what's the point of a house? I'd take you to the real nest, but human lungs don't like being that high for long."

Real nest? Cellbit didn't think Philza had a secret base. It's a better kept secret than most on the server, it seems. To even know it exists, and presumably in the sky...

The idea is crushed by exhaustion, and apathy, and a desperate, desperate need to sleep.

Fingers brush in his hair once more.

"I've got you," Philza says. "Get some rest, mate; nobody will hurt you here."

And if they do, Cellbit has no doubt Philza's scythe will find its way into their eyes.

He curls up, presses his head to Philza's chest, and desperately tries to sleep.

#qsmp fanfic #qsmp cellbit #qsmp philza #so about the transcripts I read from last night huh #mental health issues #qsmp archivists #they're both coping so hard bless them #scenes that will never happen but I can dream about anyway #alternate universe where schedules don't suck and so they were a little closer already

[anonymouspuzzler]

catching feelings, part 2 (part 1)

[Image IDs/transcripts under the cut!]

A seven-page, black-and-white Psychonauts fancomic based on Puzz's "Cally O'Pia" AU.

PAGE 1: There are three square panels, of increasing size, arranged diagonally from the top left of the page. Cally O'Pia (an AU version of Loboto), is asleep on his stomach on a simple futon mattress. He is wearing a sleeveless sweater, flower-patterned pants, large round glasses like his childhood self, and shaggy shoulder-length hair with a flower tucked over his right ear. The panels show him gradually waking up and sitting up.

PAGE 2: There are six panels, the first of which is a full-page spread, showing Cal is stepping off of a ladder propped against the wall. In the background is a couch, several bottles and cans scattered on the floor, decorative wall drapery and a wall-mounted shelf displaying several books and a teddy bear. The second panel shows Cal walking into the kitchen to find Oleander hunched over the counter, eating a piece of toast, looking surprised to see Cal. There is a plate with toast and scrambled eggs in front of him, and off to the side is a cup of coffee in a mug with a fish decoration. The rest of the panels show Oleander, looking somewhat anxious. PANEL 3: (Oleander wipes his face with one arm) "Uh. Hey. Morning. Sorry for using your kitchen." PANEL 4: (Oleander glances off to the side grimacing, rubbing his arm anxiously) "I was, uh. Super hungover. So I made like. Coffee and eggs and stuff." PANEL 5: (Beat. Oleander, still rubbing his arm, glances in Cal's direction.) PANEL 6: (Oleander rubs the back of his head anxiously, glancing away) "Do you. Want some." (Cal, in the foreground, grins back) "Yea sure"

PAGE 3: There are two panels, arranged diagonally from the top left and slightly overlapping. The first shows two plates of scrambled eggs and toast, and two steaming coffee mugs, with Cal and Oleander's hands each holding one. The second shows them both leaning against the counter sipping coffee - Oleander in front with the fish mug, blushing and looking off to the side; Cal, smiling, off to the right side, with a rounded mug with a wavy brim, patterned with flowers and a bee. There is a mostly-empty plate next to Oleander, and one next to Cal that still has a pile of eggs and a slice of toast.

PAGE 4: There are eight panels arranged in two rows, paired into groups of two panels cutting between Oleander and Cal speaking. Oleander: (lowering his coffee mug, blushing and glancing off to the side) "So. Uh. I've been thinking." Cal: (grinning and raising an eyebrow, lowering his coffee mug) "No kidding? That's a new one for you. Somethin' specific or just practicing?" Oleander: (grimacing and placing his right hand on his face) "Very funny, jackass. ...I was... I was thinkin' about, uh. About last night." Cal: (looking surprised, blushing and sweating with a shaky grin) "Oh." Oleander: (dragging his hand down his face, looking nervous) "Yeah. It's- ...yeah. I mean... I know we were just really drunk, but I..." Cal: (folding his hands in front of him and leaning forward with a lovestruck look, hearts floating around him) "Uh-huh?" Oleander: (close-up on his face, biting his lip, blushing, running his hand back to rub the back of his head) "I... do you think that we... I mean... can we..." (close-up on Cal looking lovestruck, biting his lip, blushing and sweating, with hearts all around him.)

PAGE 5: There are two panels, one of which is a full-page spread taking up the majority of the page. There are two large word bubbles from an offscreen Oleander, reading: "Can we forget the whole thing. Just like- pretend nothing happened and act totally normal." The background behind Cal is black with a shattering effect, with a large broken heart next to him; he is sitting with a tight, closed-mouth smile, looking visibly taken aback. The second panel is small in the bottom right, showing Cal, looking deflated, with his arms folded on the counter and a shaky, forced grin, saying: "Yeah. Sure thing".

PAGE 6: There are four panels, the first of which is a full-page spread showing Oleander and Cal standing in the living room. There is a couch behind them with a throw blanket over the back, decorative drapery, beads and photos on the wall, and several bottles and cans littering the floor around them. Oleander pulls on his jacket, staring at the litter, while Cal stands next to him, visibly tense, holding one arm and grinning tightly. Oleander: "Geez. Uh. Are you sure you don't want help cleaning up?" Cal: "NOPE ALL GOOD HERE" Oleander: "All right. See you at work?" Cal: "UH HUH". The second panel shows the outside of Cal's house, with rough vertical wood paneling, an open doorway with decorative drapery and beads, and a long horizontal window to the left. Oleander is walking off into the foreground, looking back over his shoulder to wave goodbye to Cal, who is leaning against the doorway with a grin and waving back. The third panel shows him continuing to stand there, arms folded and expression tight, after Oleander has gone, and the fourth shows him having collapsed face-down on the ground.

PAGE 7: There is a single drawing of Oleander walking, swinging his arms wildly, on an otherwise empty page. He is staring down at the ground with an anxious expression and shaky grin, blushing furiously. There are hearts all around him, and he thinks: "God damn it."

#anonymous puzzler art #long post / #tw alcohol mention #morceau oleander #caligosto loboto #psychonauts #i hope you all like cally o'pia au and these guys' Consistently Fucked Relationship!! Yahoo!! #(oleander's still coming to terms with the whole 'publicly being attracted to men' thing) #(meanwhile openly bisexual cal is doing Super Normal with having an actual crush making him experience Emotional Vulnerability) #(they're doing sooooooo good)

[chrkrose]

Hey just so you know, Mushroom is the only one who said salacious stuff about Daemon and Nettles. All other accounts by the people around them said they just have a close bond. What book did you even read??? Also, why are you so obsessed with talking about daemyra if you so hate them??

LMAOO y’all truly went to Wikipedia, skimmed through their summary real quick and called it a day huh

Let’s see then. This is how Nettles and Daemon relationship is described in the five sources we have so far for The Dance of The Dragons:

1) The Princess and The Queen (2013): It is suggested they are lovers. There’s no ambiguity in the text.

2) The World of Ice and Fire (2014): They are confirmed to be lovers.

3) HBO Histories and Lore content for Game of Thrones DVDs (2016): They are confirmed to be lovers. Transcription of what the video says:

“But, there was a… complication. As well as her dragon, the girl had taken to riding Daemon”

4) Fire & Blood (2018): The character of Maester Norren at Maidenpool suggests that Daemon acted paternal towards Nettles because he taught her how to behave at court and dotted upon her. The characters of Mushroom believes prince Daemon fell in love with Nettles; the unnamed maidservants of Maidenpool that attended to Nettles and Daemon while they stayed there said they took baths together and he washed her hair and back; Lord Mooton’s men openly discussed how to kill her without having to harm Daemon because he slept next to Nettles every night and they didn’t want to do it because she was young, “however foul her treasons”. They were terrified of what Daemon would do to Maidenpool if they killed her because “he was more than fond” of her and if they killed her, he would certainly burn Maidenpool to the ground. This is actually present in Norren’s account btw, it comes from him. And finally, the book narrator, Maester Gyldayn, who is always disbelieving Mushroom, in this case thought he was actually right because analyzing all the information he had, he believed Daemon and Nettles to be lovers.

5) The Rise of The Dragon (2022): It suggests they are lovers, even going as far as saying that Norren’s account actually supports that notion instead of disproving it.

However, Mushroom suggested another cause for Daemon's unwillingness: that he and Nettles had become lovers. This theory is supported by the Chronicles of Maidenpool, maintained by Lord Mooton's maester, who remarked that the prince and Nettles were inseparable, their bedrooms were adjoining, and that Daemon often gave her gifts and even shared a bath with her.

So we have 2 sources that confirm them to be lovers; 3 sources that suggest they are lovers, with one of these sources, Fire&Blood, having a ratio of:

1 character thinking they are platonic vs 4 instances of other characters thinking they are lovers, the majority of them who were in Maidenpool as well, and the book’s narrator agrees to that version. And then Rise of The Dragon contradicts the one character who thought they were platonic by stating that his account actually supports the notion they were lovers. Idk anon, I think your math isn’t mathing.

Truly, try to read the books instead of asoiaf wiki if you want to engage in book discussions.

And about your last point: I don’t talk about Daemyra. I talk about the shippers who are 50% of the time posting discourse on Nettles’ tag because she lives in their mind rent free. The other 50% they are either being racist without even hiding it or pretending they care while being just a little bit racist thinking nobody is noticing it. So maybe idk, take up to them and why they can’t stop thinking of a character who actress hasn’t even been cast yet and who’s story we don’t even know how it will be adapted, maybe they can answer u better ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#nettles #nettles x daemon #nettles asoiaf #daemon targaryen #anti rhaenyra Targaryen #anti daemyra

[thinplacesradio]

two shopping carts discarded on their sides in the grass beside a parking lot, the grate of a storm drain visible in front of them. the greens, pinks, and blues of the image are heightened. the image is distorted by VCR static. white text reads:

[027] THE LONG DISTANCE. A CALLER ASKS FOR RELATIONSHIP ADVICE. THE HOST GETS GROCERIES.

listen here, or anywhere you find your podcasts. transcript under the cut:

[static, radio tuning]

[Traveling Sales Rep: Don’t touch that dial! We’ll be right back, after these short messages.] [static, radio tuning]

[click]

Hello and welcome to Thin Places Radio. I’m your host,

and it is the middle of the night. But don’t worry. You’re not alone.

[Thin Places theme] 

I’m coming to you solo from my studio, which is what I like to call this closed-for-the-night grocery store, lit only by the white pulse of the fridges, and the strip of lights along the back wall of the store. I was trying to find that bowling alley again, and I know that this is the same town, but the bowling alley is gone, like it never existed. 

I know it did, though. It meant something to me while I was there. 

It’s strange to see the grocery store like this, shelves hulking and dark and rising up around me as I pass through the aisles. It’s strange to see it like this, which means that even though I can’t remember going grocery shopping in my old life, because there must have been an old life, I must have gone, and it must have been during the day, surrounded by the bustle of other people. Other people. Other people, huh. [laughs] No.

It’s always more fun to go grocery shopping with somebody else, tossing things in the cart and taking them back out, and joking about the names of the brands, and talking about your days. There’s nobody with me now, but there’s somebody a few aisles back. I’ve been hearing them follow me for the last half hour as I pick out what food I’m going to take back to my car. 

I’m sure I’ll see them when I reach the last aisle. But now that I’m looking, there are three aisles left in front of me, before the cold glow of the dairy section. There have been three aisles in front of me, before I reach the cold glow of the dairy section, for the last half hour. But here’s the thing. I’m dying for some cheddar. 

So… what is Thin Places Radio? Well, you can call in about anything strange that you’ve got going on in your life - feelings, omens, premonitions, hauntings.

Is this place cursed, or are you cursed in this place? 

Have you fallen in love with the universe? 

Are you looking for a friend? 

When the veil between worlds is thin, we get closer than ever to the strange and the unexplained - but also to each other. Call in, get it off your chest. Lines are open.

[click] [voicemail:]

Hi here. I know you normally don't do romance advice or, you know, couple advice, but this one might be just a little bit more up your alley? Uh, you see the relationship I'm in is with an entity that’s a cosmic entity the size of a galaxy. Yeah. It's a little weird but it actually works out pretty well. We communicate through telepathy, and they actually contacted me years ago, and they've been helping me out ever since. And we've really become close. They're great, but sometimes I feel like, because they're so different, that I can't show the same support they give me. They never complain, but it's more of a personal thing. So when it comes to someone very different, especially in a long-distance relationships like ours, how can I show my support for them?

[click] 

You’re right, caller, your question is a little bit outside of my wheelhouse. I don’t remember exactly who I’ve loved, or exactly how. I don’t remember what it feels like to be loved, but I remember what it feels like to love. I must. I can feel the ghost of it. [eerie, curious music] There are people I miss, even if I don’t know why. I do miss them. I - I miss my mom, I think. 

But I’ll try my best here, for your sake. You’re missing things, too - someone to go to the grocery store with. Someone to touch. That specific someone, a world unto themselves. I’m glad you’re not asking me a question I can’t answer - will it last? How long will you have with them? None of us ever have as much time as we think we do. It’s sweet that you’re spending yours thinking about how to give back the love and support that you receive. 

But, why do you think that just being yourself isn’t enough, caller? Just speaking to them makes you feel supported. Maybe speaking to you makes them feel the same way. Or maybe they don’t need to feel supported - maybe you give them something else they do need. Groundedness. A personal touch. A reminder that there’s somebody out there in the vast void of existence. A way to pour their love out so they don’t have to keep it all to themselves. 

But my best advice is to stop guessing. If you don’t know what they need? Ask them. It’s the one luxury you’ve got. 

[click]

[music playing] [cart wheels spinning] [overhead announcement from the Traveling Sales Rep:] Don’t miss our sale on hagfish slime. It’s a great deal, we’re practically giving it away. Please take some. It won’t stop spreading. Freakishly fast. Related to that, can we get someone to clean up aisles 6, 7, 8, and 9? And 10? Don’t miss that slime, and don’t make me go in there. Please.] 

Who was that? 

[click] 

The dairy section remains 3 aisles ahead of me, but I’ve fashioned a kind of pulley system out of materials I found in the pantry, baking, and cleaning aisles. I think that if I throw this part kind of like a lasso -

[clanging] [dragging]

Okay, no, hold on -

[clanging, dragging] 

No, let me just -

Haha! Yes! F**k yeah! We’re having a good night after all, folks. And all by ourselves, too. [pause] Kind of, there's that - I think there's someone trapped in that hagfish slime? I’ll go look on my way out. 

[click]

Thank you for listening, callers, and thank you for calling, listeners. I hope you feel a little bit lighter. I know I do. As always, our number is 717.382.8093. That’s 717.382.8093. Until next time. I’ll be here.

[static] [Traveling Sales Rep: visit us at the - diner just off -] [Various Garbled Voices: the - road - provides - the - road - provides -]

Thin Places Radio is a podcast written by Kristen O’Neal and produced by Kaitlin Bruder. The voice of Your Host is Kristen O’Neal.

Tonight’s voicemail was left for us by a mystery caller. The sound FX, music, and voice of our Travelling Sales Rep are by Miles Morkri. Editing and sound design are by Kaitlin Bruder, and the music tracks you heard in tonight’s episode are: the Thin Places theme and Unearthed, by Miles Morkri. If you have a question to ask, a story to tell, or a suggestion for the host, give us a call at ‪[phone]. The lines are always open.

[Thin Places Theme outro]

#027 #the long distance #mystery caller #thin places radio #tpr #episodes #fiction podcast #liminal #surreal #thin places #traveling sales rep #relationship advice

[revisms]

NERDY PRUDES MUST DIE PROMPT LIST - PART 1.

prompts taken directly from the transcript of the musical - please go support starkid and their work! this list covers the first two songs of the musical and the surrounding scenes.

PROLOGUE.

" Help! Somebody help me please! "

" Wait’ll you get a load of this mess. "

" I leave Chicago cuz of the blood and guts, and what do you know? They got ‘em here too. "

" That’s not all. Killer left a little love note for us. Penned in his victim’s blood. "

" We’re a little out of our depth! "

" Jesus… How the hell did this happen?"

HIGH SCHOOL IS KILLING ME.

" The nightmare started there but now has spread. "

" Someone comes for me, I'm unprepared. "

" You can’t cut through all the tension. "

" It’s a hell on earth you know, "

" It’s a cruel and unusual brutality, "

" I'm so fucking dead! "

" I was up so late last night, "

" And I can survive it for only so long! "

" And I’m just realizing, I’ve never introduced myself. "

" We’re friends. Aren’t we? "

" I don’t know. Are we? "

" I got left behind this morning. Bus driver’s a fucking asshole. "

" Please. Don’t you wanna help me out? "

DETENTION.

" That little snitch! "

" I don’t need this kind of attention. "

" So you don’t want to be bullied? "

" No! I want to be invisible. "

" Then why do you come to a public school dressed in suspenders and a fucking bowtie? "

" Ugh. I’d rather starve to death. "

" You’re, like, famous! "

" This outfit is a tapestry of my trauma. It is designed to provoke as little teasing a possible. "

" Huh. I didn’t know you were funny. "

" I can’t let him see me talking to you! "

" Who are you running from? "

LITERAL MONSTER.

" You’re not him you’re a loser, "

" It’s best to drop and play dead, "

" You better leave your hopes behind, "

" No one's gonna stop him, "

" You better hope you're out of sight "

" Never look in the eye, "

" He's a literal monster! "

" I swear to god he has fangs, "

" No one to blame if there's no accuser. "

" I've gotta get to remedial algebra. "

" Meaning I’ve gotta walk through this hallway. And I don’t need you stinkin’ it up. "

" Well, there’s a difference between intent and impact. "

" I think for this hallway infraction, I’m gonna have to issue a Flick-It Ticket. "

" Sorry. I’m fresh outta your favorite food. "

" She’s, like, uh… a total two-bagger! "

" Nobody, and I mean nobody, talks that way… about [muse name]. "

" You don’t know me very well, do you? "

" I know behind closed doors, repressed chicks are the biggest freaks. "

" Watch some porn, you'll see. "

" Don't call me that. "

" I'm the reason you run and hide. "

" You all look disappointed, "

" So keep on judging me, "

" That comes with infamy, "

" You can watch as I rise! "

" I will claim what is mine. "

STEPH, MAYOR LAUTER AND MISS TESSBURGER.

" This is politics, learn to multitask! "

" We are within the margin of error, and you are doing everything you can to fuck things up! "

" It's like you don't care about this campaign at all. "

" Next time you're going to cheat, do it like a [surname] and don't get caught. "

" I'd like to have an intelligent conversation, if you don't mind. In other words, shut up. "

" There's nothing you can threaten me with. "

" I'll be careful with it. I'll carefully smash it with this hammer. "

" Not even you would do something this evil... "

" It'd be funny if it wasn't so pathetic. "

" I don’t care if you have to lie, cheat, steal, or shock-of-all-shocks: read a book for once in your life. "

more to come!

#rp prompts #roleplay prompts #rp prompt #rp memes #rpc #prompt list #roleplay meme #rp meme #nerdy prudes must die #starkid #npmd #hatchetverse

[coolest-beta-tester-ever]

Okayokayokay i’m gonna keep this quick because like. Man. man i dont even KNOW what this was just fucking read it man it was WEIRD

Uhhhh okay so this was a transcript of a dream that I, um. Alexander. Had like last night. For a long time i dunno. It’s in third person

[Transcript begin. Or something.]

[I. shit I mean Alexander. Fuck whoops.]

[Alexander opens his eyes at the edge of an empty parking lot, it’s night, he’s alone. He knows how things like this usually go. He readies himself for an attack of some sort.]

?: [Directly next to him.] Buddy, chill. 

[He jumps at the voice, turning to make eye contact with the GHOST THAT WAS FOLLOWING MARI. He showed me– ALEXANDER. A nametag. It had the letter E on it, confirming what he already thought.]

Al: You’re that ghost I saw! With Mari! What do you want?

E: This won’t take long, I just want to talk for a second, introduce myself. You know. 

Al: Oh. That’s… weird, okay.

E: Mhm, I heard about you from Jeremy a while back. Alexander, correct?

Al: I hope so lol.

[A very long silence.]

E: Did you just say “LOL” out loud?

Al: Erm… yeah. Whoops.

E: Moving on. Seeing ghosts, huh?

Al: Yeah.

E: You… gonna say anything about it?

Al: Is there more to say? 

E: Well, yeah. How clearly can you see us, first of all.

Al: Clear as day.

E: Anything else?

Al: Nope.

E: I’ll… leave you alone about it then. How are you?

Al: Uhhhhh… man, come on. You can’t just bust out the hard questions this soon.

E: Hard questions? I just–

[The plants near the edge of the parking lot rustle, causing both Alexander and E to jump backwards.]

E: The fuck…? I didn’t do that.

Al: Well, I didn’t either, obviously. So…

[E steps in front of Alexander, getting between him and the rapidly approaching mystery person. Alexander backs up, trying to get a better view. Someone blond, Cassius, stumbles out.]

C: [Picking sticks out of his hair.] Jesus, Alex! Did you do all of this? Also! It’s been days, and we’ve heard nothing from you! Someone said you were screaming at Hana?

[Alexander stares at Cassius, now remembering why E looked familiar when he first saw him. It was all piecing together now.]

[E reaches out, Cassius STILL doesn’t notice him.]

C: I mean, honestly! Why a parking lot? And why did I get in here in the middle of fucking nowhere? We’ve been worried, Alex. What the fuck.

E: … Cass…?

[Cassius freezes, and slowly turns to E. Eyes wide, his mouth half open.]

C: You…

[He takes a few cautious steps towards E, who does the same. They meet in the middle, staring at each other. It looks like they’re about to kiss or something. Alex can only see Cassius’ face, so he moves to the side to view the scene from an angle.]

[Cassius takes a very, very long pause.]

E: I–

[Cassius raises his right hand and slaps E. E’s head snaps to the right and stays there, his hand making its way up to where Cassius’ hand connected.]

C: [Through tears.] Where the fuck have you been, Edgar. 

E: [Slowly turning his head back.] Where I’ve been for the past 36 years, that damn restaurant. I’m sorry.

[The two hug, Alexander stands off to the side smiling awkwardly. E and Cassius mutter things to each other out of earshot.]

E: So… that’s where you’ve been hiding out? (I think thats what he said I kinda forgot)

C: Mhm. 

E: Well, I’ll… see you then. Have a proper reunion.

[Cassius nods, and looks over at Alexander. He waves, and vanishes. Alongside E.]

[Alexander jolts awake.]

Al: … man what the fuck was that.

[Transcript end.]

Hopefully i did this right lol it’s my first time

#ask blog #asks open #fnaf ask blog #fnaf au #alexander. #transcript

[punchdrunkdoc]

Chapter 9

Summary: After the events of S3, Matt Murdock is trying to once again balance life as a lawyer and a vigilante. But he’s been scarred by loss and betrayal - will a mysterious new neighbour help him heal? Or will her secrets drag him back into the darkness?

Notes: This is a slow burn romance with an original female character, told in 3 parts. There is mystery, intrigue, action and angst - all the good stuff!

Also available on AO3 and Wattpad

Masterlist

——————

CHAPTER 9

For the hundredth time since finding the note, Matt brushed his thumb over the bumps, reading the missive again and again:

Thank you Matthew.

Three simple words. 

Not the most verbose message he’d ever received. Nor the most life-altering. 

But it was written in Braille. 

Painstakingly rendered…just for him. 

Calina had, once again, taken the time to relate to him on his level. To share his world in a small way.

And as he ‘read’ the words again - appreciating as he did so the effort and skill involved in free-styling such a message - he pondered the mystery of Calina Balashova. 

He didn’t know what to make of her. 

When he’d first met her, he’d thought her cold. Beautiful…but aloof. Unfriendly. 

But then, in a moment of vulnerability on a star-canopied rooftop, she’d given him a glimpse of the hurt that haunted her. On their walk from the library, she’d shown her thoughtfulness. And last night, she’d let down her guard and babbled about physics while sipping on hot chocolate, her face lighting up with each taste of the drink.  

He’d started the night so suspicious of her - and with good reason, given the bruises on her body and the smell of a weapon on her hands. But by the end, he’d laid down on his bed less than a dozen feet from her, and slept soundly. 

So soundly that he hadn’t heard her leave. 

He turned the note over in his hands, playing with the small scrap of paper, the final clue that his initial impression of her had been so completely off-base. With this small but meaningful act of gratitude she had shown herself to be caring. Considerate.

And skilled in Braille. 

How the hell did she know Braille?

And where had she really been the past week? 

What had she been doing?!

Matt groaned, and flung the note onto his desk.

“You alright”? Foggy called out from his office. 

“Yeah,” Matt replied. “Just…” 

“What?” Foggy’s voice was closer now. Matt looked up to see him standing in the doorway of his office.  “Is it the case?”

“Huh?” 

Foggy gestured to Matt’s ear. And Matt realised the transcript of the police interview was still playing through the headphone in his right ear. The droning voice had been easy to tune out as his thoughts had strayed to the woman who confounded him. 

Matt yanked out the earpiece and dropped it onto the desk. “No. Sorry. I’m just distracted this morning.”

“Is it Calina? Is she still missing?”

“Actually no. She came home last night.”

“Really?” Foggy sat in the chair opposite Matt’s desk. “Did you speak to her?”

“Yeah. She said she was on vacation.”

Foggy smiled. “Well there you go. I told you it would be something normal like that.” He frowned. “Unless she was lying…”

“She was,” Matt said. “But I couldn’t tell.”

“What do you mean?”

Matt got to his feet and paced the small space between his desk and his window, hands on his hips.  “I mean that she can lie to me, Foggy. Her heartbeat doesn’t change, her breathing is steady, there’s nothing. No sign that she’s lying, but she is. I know it.”

“Are you sure, Matt-”

“She was covered in bruises, Fog. She’d been strangled, and stabbed. What kind of a vacation is that?”

“Holy shit, are you serious?”

“Yes. She said she cut herself on some glass, but she’d been stabbed. She lied straight to my face.”

“I repeat: holy shit. What are you gonna do?”

Matt huffed out a laugh. “I have no fucking idea.”

“You could go to the police,” Foggy suggested. 

“And tell them what, exactly? My new neighbour is hiding something, just don’t ask me how I know?”

Foggy grimaced. “Yeah, okay. Police are out.” He slouched down in the chair and rested his head on the back, staring up at the ceiling as he thought through the options. 

Matt continued his pacing. But he only managed a few steps before the main office door opened, and the scent of leather, denim and whiskey announced an unexpected visitor: Jessica Jones

“Hello?” she called out.

“In here,” Matt answered in surprise.

Foggy sat up straight again. “Who is it?,” he whispered. 

Jessica answered herself as she entered the now cramped office. “Hey, Foggy.” 

Foggy eyed her warily. “Hey,” he said in return.   

Jessica leaned against the wall, and looked around Matt’s office. “I like your new place. Almost as shitty as mine.”

“Did you just come here to insult us, or is there another reason…?” Foggy asked.

“I was out on a job this morning and happened to pass by Matt’s apartment - where I discovered that the prodigal neighbour had returned.” She turned to face Matt. “So I came here to ask, ‘what the hell?’ and ‘why didn’t you tell me?’”

“Sorry. She came back late last night. I was going to call you.”

“Well even though I wasn’t the one to find her, I’m still going to bill you for my hours.”

He smiled. “Understood.”

 “Wait,” Foggy said, holding up a hand. “You hired a private investigator?” 

Jessica pointed to Matt as she replied. “Your guy over here dresses in a ridiculous costume to go beat up criminals, but hiring a PI is your ethical red line?”

Foggy ignored her. “Its just not your usual style, Matt-”

“My style didn’t work out so well for me in the past. I’m trying something new. We’re swamped with this trial prep, Fog. I thought delegating some grunt work would free me up to help out more. No offence, Jessica.”

She shrugged. “None taken. ‘Grunt’ is my middle name.”

“I’m sorry,” Foggy replied, sounding abashed. “I appreciate that, Matt.”

“There’s also…” Matt began. 

“What?” Foggy asked.

Matt glanced at Jessica, unsure about sharing something personal in front of her. But he knew he could trust her, and it wasn’t like she was entirely unaware of his past. “You know I don’t have the best history. With, um, women. I was worried that I couldn’t be impartial when it came to her. To Calina.”

“Because you are attracted to her,” Foggy groaned. "Matt!"

Matt held his hands up. “I’m not going to pursue anything. I’m just being honest. New style, remember?”

“What’s the big deal?” Jessica asked. “I’ve seen this chick. Half of New York would be attracted to her.”

“Like Matt said, his track record sucks. You met Elektra, right?”

“Oh yeah,” she sneered. “I met her. But what makes you think Calina is anywhere on her level? Just because she disappeared for a few days-”

“Its a little more than that,” Matt said. He explained the discrepancies in her story. Her fight training. And the bruises and wounds from last night.

Jessica whistled. “Wow. Girl’s got secrets.” She shook her head. “But I still don’t peg her as shady. I watched her for a while this morning and she didn’t strike me as some criminal in hiding.  She grabbed a coffee from that place on 10th, stopped to pet a dog on her way home, then helped one of your neighbours with their shopping. Not exactly nefarious.”

“It could all be an act,” Foggy suggested.

“Even with no one watching? Or at least, no one that she was aware of?” Jessica countered. “I could keep following her,” she offered. “See if she slips up.” 

Matt considered the idea. It was the logical option. The prudent thing to do, to allay his suspicions. 

But it felt…wrong…somehow.

Because he liked Calina.

Despite all the evidence of her lies and deceit - and the very real possibility that she was involved in something illegal - he liked her. That’s what he’d realised last night. And a part of him knew it was hypocritical to investigate her behind her back, when he knew how he’d feel if she did the same to him.

“No,” he eventually replied. “Thanks, but no. I’ll think of something else.”

“Fair enough,” Jessica said, pushing off from the wall. “But if you change your mind, you know where to find me.” 

As she left, Foggy got to his feet. “Time to get back to the grind.” But he paused on the threshold, turning back at Matt. “You know, there is one way to find out what she’s hiding.”

“What’s that?” Matt asked.

“Become her friend. Prove to her that she can trust you. Then just…ask her.”

 ———

 The rest of the day passed quickly as they planned the witness list for their upcoming trial. The latter was a parade of people willing to testify that Margaret Posen - the woman who'd snapped and shot a stranger to death - was a kind, gentle soul who taught knitting classes at a halfway home for women fleeing domestic violence. 

She'd been a DV victim herself; she still had a restraining order out against her ex-husband and carried a gun in her bag at all times for protection. But she'd never so much as threatened anyone with it, let alone fired it. She was a fine, upstanding citizen, according to everyone who knew her. A paragon of virtue. No one could understand why she had done what she had.

No one...except Matt. 

A few weeks ago he had asked Brett to give Nelson, Murdock & Page a heads up if any strange cases came through the precinct - particularly those that involved out-of-character violence that was either self-destructive or just generally destructive. He was looking for more evidence of his mysterious drug - the one that had led a gang of thugs to terrorise a bar, and a young woman to commit suicide. 

Margaret Posen’s actions definitely fit the ‘out-of-character’ description, and when Matt had entered the interview room to meet her, mere hours after the murder, he had smelled that same acerbic scent.

Margaret had been dosed with something. Something that had caused her to hallucinate and kill an innocent stranger. 

The problem was trying to convince a jury of that fact. Margaret didn't remember taking anything, and no drugs or known compounds had shown up in her blood tests. All she remembered was feeling an overwhelming sense of panic and fear - as if she was about to be attacked. She had seen the vague outline of a hulking, menacing figure bearing down on her, and had reacted by pulling her weapon.

She was claiming self-defence.   

A hard sell, when the CCTV footage from the street clearly showed her gunning down the petite female grad student in cold blood. 

Matt sighed, as he tidied his desk. He knew Margaret was innocent, but proving it was going to be nearly impossible. Foggy and Karen already thought it was a lost cause - but it didn't stop them from working all hours of the day to fight it anyway. 

Matt shoved his laptop in his briefcase and collected together the stack of witness statements and police reports that were strewn about his desk. As he did, he came across the Braille note from Calina, still lying where he’d discarded it earlier. He picked it up, intending to throw it in the trash…but at the last minute he pocketed it, for some reason not willing to let it go. 

“Josie’s?” Foggy called from the other room.   

“Yeah, I can go for a round,” Matt responded. “What about Karen?” 

“I texted her. She’ll meet us there.” She’d been out all day, talking to toxicologists and pharmaceutical experts, trying to find out what kind of drug could produce the combination of hallucinations, anxiety and paranoia that Margaret had experienced. 

Foggy appeared in his doorway, his jacket on and his satchel slung over one shoulder. “Why don’t you invite your neighbour again?”

Matt frowned at him. “We spent the morning discussing the fact that she’s a potentially dangerous criminal, and now you want to hang out with her?”

“No, we discussed the fact that she has secrets - like you do - but you like her anyway, and you agreed to try my ‘be her friend’ plan.”

“That’s not exactly how I remember the conversation,” Matt said, dryly.

“I read between the lines,” Foggy shrugged. 

“I don’t know, Foggy. I don’t want to put you guys in any danger.”

Foggy folded his arms. “Do you think she’s a danger to us? To you? Honest, answer, Matt. What does your gut say?”

Matt shrugged into his suit jacket as he considered his answer. He thought about the woman who’d geeked out over astrophysics last night. The one who wrote him a note and described the smell of a library for him. The one who apparently helped a struggling neighbour this morning.  The one who stood in lonely solitude on a rooftop to escape her nightmares…

“My gut says no,” he eventually replied. “I don’t think she’s a danger to us. But I don’t know if I can trust that instinct. She has this way of making me forget all my suspicions when I’m around her. And she is keeping secrets, Foggy.”

“So are you, Matt.”

Matt nodded, conceding the point. He wanted to believe that her secrets and her lies were like his - a way to keep her safe. Not as a means to hide a criminal agenda. But he just wasn’t sure he could. 

“Karen’s got a good bullshit meter,” Foggy said. “Another reason to invite her along tonight. See what her impression of Calina is.”

“I don’t know…,” he repeated. 

“She’s seeing that guy from then DA’s office now, if you’re worried about her being jealous-”

“Its not that. I keep telling you - I’m not looking to start anything with Calina.”

“Why not? You’re single. She appears to be single. She’s beautiful, you’re annoyingly handsome. There’s only a 7 year age gap between you, so you’re out of the creepy, gross territory. What’s the problem?”

"Apart from my terrible taste in women?"

"You know I'm just yanking your chain with that stuff. C'mon Matt, what's really the problem here?"

“Me, Foggy. I’m the problem.”

Foggy frowned at him. He let his bag slide to the ground, then sat down, resuming his position from this morning. “Explain.”

Matt echoed his movements, dropping into his chair with a sigh. “Its just…things are finally starting to go right again. In my life. With you guys, and the firm. And with my…nighttime activities. I’ve found a balance-"

Foggy scoffed. "I beg to differ."

Matt frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You're making a real effort with the firm - Karen and I see that - but I wouldn't exactly say you've got the balance right. You're not sleeping."

"Foggy-"

"I know the signs. Matt," Foggy said firmly. "I remember them from College when Elektra left. You're overdosing on coffee, you have bags the size of suitcases under your eyes, and you're banging into things more than normal because you're walking around here like a zombie."

Matt blew out a breath, then nodded. "You're right."

"I always am. So when's the last time you got a decent night's sleep - and I mean more than four hours, on a proper horizontal surface."

"Actually...last night," Matt said, surprised. It hadn't occurred to him before, but he'd gotten a solid six hours of rest while Calina had slept in the other room. 

"And before that?"

"A while ago," Matt conceded.

Foggy nodded. "So until you sort out what's causing your insomnia, and decide what you need to do to fix it, don't pretend to me that you've found any sort of balance in your life."

Matt nodded. The wounds of his previous lies, and the damage his skewed prioritises had wrought on their friendship still lurked beneath the surface of their new dynamic. He could hear it in Foggy's tone.

"So you get why now is a bad time to start any sort of new relationship?" Matt asked. "I don't need anything else pulling my focus or distracting me." 

Foggy sighed. "Yeah."

“I don’t want to mess things up with us again, Fog. Losing the firm, losing you guys. It was hard. Really hard.”

“Okay, Matt. I get it. I’ll stop pushing. Just…take a break from dating, sure, but don’t go turning into a monk on me, okay?”

Matt laughed. “I don’t think there’s any risk of that.”

“I’m serious, Matt. You deserve to find someone. You deserve to be happy.”

Matt nodded. 

But he wasn’t so sure he agreed with his friend. 

 ———

 Calina came to his apartment that night.

But he didn’t invite her to Josie’s. He didn't try to initiate Foggy’s ‘be her friend’ plan. 

Instead, he went the complete opposite route.

"Hi," she greeted, as he opened the door, her voice holding a smile. "I just wanted to thank you again for helping me last night."

"It was no big deal," Matt said, trying to keep his tone indifferent. 

"Well, it was a big deal to me. So...thank you, Matthew."

As she repeated the words of her note, Matt slipped his hand in his pocket, where the now-crumpled scrap of paper resided. He clenched it tightly between his fingers as he responded, his voice a few degrees colder than before. "I would have done the same for anyone."

"Oh, okay. Well, I still have your sweater, I'll wash it and return it-"

"There's no need."

He sensed her smile drop. A frown took its place. "Um, okay. Is there something wrong?"

“Nothing’s wrong. I need to go, Calina. I have work to do. I-I'll see you around."

"Yeah," she said, her voice now flat, the warmth and vitality in it leached away. "I'll see you around."

He closed the door, turned and leaned against it. Then he thumped his head into the wooden panel for good measure, deserving the pain that shot through his skull. 

He felt like an asshole.  

But he needed to put some distance between himself and Calina. This past week proved that he was too invested in her story. Too intrigued by the mystery of her. Too seduced by her scent. 

Too attracted to her.

He needed to pull back. It was better that way. Her secrets could stay hers. He would stop trying to figure her out. He would trust his gut that she wasn’t a danger, and he would help her if she ever came to him again. 

But he needed to stay away from her.  

He’d been telling Foggy the truth earlier - he was worried that a new relationship would upset the equilibrium of his life - but it hadn’t been the whole truth. 

Foggy would never understand the whole truth - because he had never understood Matt’s connection with Elektra. 

The woman he had loved…and the one he had failed to save.

Twice.

He’d pushed aside his grief in the immediate aftermath of Elektra’s death - too focused on healing from his wounds, evading the Feds and hunting Fisk - and he’d spent the last few months concentrating on the new practice.  All of which meant that he’d never fully processed what had happened in that building, when he had taken Elektra in his arms and lost her for the second time. 

It felt like a part of him was still buried there, beneath the rubble.  And he would only be whole again when he came to terms with his loss.

And his guilt. 

And the knowledge that he would never again find someone who saw the darkness in him…and loved him anyway.

Until he dealt with all that baggage - if he ever managed to - he was no good for anyone. 

---------

I thought it was time to address the Elektra-shaped elephant in the room! I was never a Matt/Elektra shipper (their relationship was far too toxic in my eyes!) but Matt loved her, so I needed to explore how he would be feeling after her death. And Matt being Matt...it wasn't going to be good!

CHAPTER 10

Taglist: @hollandorks, @yanna-banana, @stilldreaming666

If you’d like to be added, let me know!

#Daredevil #Daredevil fic #daredevil fanfic #daredevil fanfiction #daredevil x original female character #marvels daredevil #matt murdock #matt murdock x original character #Tabula rasa #matt murdock fic

[jupebox]

good grief it took me over a month to finally finish my hourlies from this year but i did finish them!!!! watercolor on a weird accordion notebook i found in my paper stash. i bought myself some fun sparkly and color changing watercolors on etsy and tested the sparkles out for shiny fuecoco and the “ALEX!!!” panel, so, included a closeup of those at the end so you can see the sparples.

Transcript provided below the cut for people who can’t read my chicken scratch!

6:40 “i need to get an autofeeder��

i am sleeping. my alarm starts beeping, and immediately my cat begins screaming at full volume, leading me to her empty food bowl. Once I put food into the bowl, the scream morphs into eating noises. with a dead-eyed stare, i contemplate this. my father says “good morning!” after a pause, I reply “no, good night”. the munching noises continue through all the final panels.

7:20 “i should enable do not disturb”

i am back asleep. my phone buzzes with a “bzzt”. On the screen is a picture of a bunny and a message that reads “LOL that’s totally my bunny!!”. i put the phone down, thinking “cute”. after a beat, I look back up and my internal monologue says “oh god i said so much stupid stuff in yesterday’s interview. there’s no way i’m getting that job now. aaaauuuugh brain shut UP”. The last panel is a small zoomed out drawing of me upset and screaming aaAAAAaaa

8:40 “undending regrets”

i am still in bed. my phone buzzes with a “bzzt” again. The screen says “interview: thanks for the email! feel free to ask any questions! :) - name”. the last panel is a zoomed in closeup of my upset face, surrounded by my internal scream of “I SAID SO MUCH STUPID STUFF”

9:40 “do it for him”

i am STILL in bed, but annoyed, when my phone buzzes with a “bzzt” again. This time the screen says “bro: hey when do we need to book kirby cafe stuff”. the last panel is me typing furiously on the phone while thinking “yeah I’ll wake up for that”

10-10:30 “too bad about those 530 fuecoco eggs”

I am playing pokemon on my nintendo switch. I say “ah. my whole team is physical attackers, huh”. the screen shows a tinkatuff, a flamigo, and the top of a veluza. The last panel shows a rabsca, with the text “except for the one that sucks, huh.”

10:30-11:15 “cleaning the bathrooms + harrow the ninth”

I am wiping down the counter in a bathroom, wearing headphones. text across the top of the panels reads “...because in those eyes, you were already dead. Your 18th birthday passe-” and is interrupted by me looking up, incredulous, saying “18???” loudly. “HARROW IS 18!? BABIES!!!” I say, while holding cleaning supplies. The last panel is just text that reads “i am absolutely mercymorn.”

11:25 “going for a walk outside!”

the first panel is a drawing of me, all bundled up. there are labels pointing to all of the warm things I am wearing - hat, scarf, hoodie, fingerless gloves, turtleneck. The second panel is me surrounded by people in tshirts. the text says “Forecast: 45F and sunny. I am a californian.”

11:30-12:05 “priorities”

i am walking by the river with my friend and infodumping about my pokemon troubles. I am saying “...and even after like 600 eggs we STILL didn’t hatch any shiny fuecoco”. “oh my god” she replies. “wait.” she says in panel 2, with a consternated look on her face, “so, winning a boss battle with items is “tedious” but spending 10 hours breeding eggs is a fun challenge?” a tiny chibi of me holds up a finger and says “listen.” in the last panel, as though this were any kind of defense.

12:05-12:15 “impeccable timing”

my friend is walking toward her car; we have finished our walk. “lunch at that indian place?” she asks. “yeah! i don’t actually know the address but i’ll google it” i confirm. “ok, see you there!” she says, and then leaves. in the second panel I type “indian” into google maps. in the third panel my phone fucking dies. in the last panel, i stare down at it with a customer service smile, text above my head “r u srs”

12:20 “little white lies”

we’re sitting down at a booth in the indian restaurant (i did finally manage to reboot my phone and get there but that’s another story). My friend is looking around while holding a glass of water. she says “my friend was upset when i said i was checking out this place without her”. “oh no!” i reply, “should we go somewhere else?” my friend waves off my concerns in panel 2 with a “nah, it’s fine. let’s see if it’s as good as she said”. Just then, our food arrives. The third panel is drawings of the food we ordered, with my star ratings and descriptions next to each. they are:

veggie biryani: 1.5 stars. flavorless & wet. veggies good tho

cauliflower pakora: .5 stars. flavorless & dry. somehow worse with the sauces

chicken tikka masala: 3 stars. rice was fine. sauce was fine. spice level ok. best thing we got

garlic naan: 2.5 stars. as crunchy garlic bread, delicious. as naan, useless

panel 4 is a top down view of us contemplating our empty plates. in the last panel, my friend is sweating and thinking hard, and says “when she asks me if it was good i dunno if i’ll be able to lie.” i encourage her “be strong”

1pm “and i get to pet her every day!”

my friend and i have gone to my house. we are knelt down on the floor trying to entice my cat to come closer. i am saying “hey business! wanna come meet my friend?” my friend is making “pss pss pss” noises. business peeks around the corner and cautiously approaches our outstretched hands. as soon as we reach for her, she shrinks away warily though, while my friend says “oh nope ok”. she finally acquiesces to being touched, but is highly suspicious. my friend says “oh! she is SO soft!’ and I reply with “ikr”

2pm “i want a rematch”

we are playing wingspan and tallying points. I have a phone in my hand, using the calculator app. in the first panel I say “so after adding up my birds, eggs, tokens, tucked birds, round points, and bonus cards, my total is-” in panel 2 i squint at my phone. panel 3: “how many points did you have”. my friend says “uhhh 73?” with a shrug. in panel 4 i flip the phone around to reveal that the score in the calculator app is 72. my friend is delighted and surprised in panel 5, saying, “i won?” I scream in outrage “BY ONE POINT”

3pm “jump to recipe”

This is a text heavy comic. in panel one there is a drawing of a vegetable in a strainer in a sink, with the text “my mom & i trade off cooking. today i’m making chinese broccoli!” panel 2 shows me cutting the ends off of the chinese broccoli, with the text “i had a few things i really wanted to learn to make when i took up cooking, & dim sum-style gai lan was near the top of the list”. the last panel says “i’ve now prepared it enough times that i don’t need to look up the recipe anymore!” and the picture shows the ingredients - sliced ginger root, 1 pound gai lan, garlic, enough water to cover the gai lan, 1 tsp baking soda, 2-3 tsp salt

4pm “5 stars!”

I am lounging on the couch, texting someone while my cat is on top of me. “made rin’s cheater chicken soup today!” i text. “oh yeah?” “yeah!” the second panel says “i just subbed the gai lan cooking liquid for the chicken broth, whatever veggies we had in the fridge for the frozen veggies, and pork potstickers for the chicken wontons!” each substitution is accompanied by a little drawing of the intended ingredient and the replacement. the last panel reads “... so you made a completely different recipe.” “yeah i sure fucking did huh”. i stare off into the distance with tears tracking down my smiling face, with a tiny “gomen” next to my head.

5pm “noble snacrifice”

each panel has a caption and small drawing. panel 1: “i overcooked....... the soup.........” with a drawing of a large pot of soup. in the pot there are indistinguishable vegetables, labeled “formerly: baby bok choy. now: mush, sad, unappetizing”. panel 2: “the textures are all wrong....” i am eating the soup with a tearful face, saying “weh”. panel 3: “but business was asleep on my feet & i couldn’t turn off the burner in time...” with a drawing of business asleep and purring

6pm “watching recovery of an mmo junkie”

i am sitting in bed with a laptop on my lap, leaning forward, invested, saying “does sakurai have the brain cell???” in the second panel i am making a victorious pose and shouting “HE DOOO” (fuck yeah!) while the laptop goes flying

7pm “friendship is magic”

i’m still lying in bed on the laptop, when my phone buzzes with another “bzzt”. The notification reads “joltik tagged you in a tweet”. panel 3 is a drawing of a tweet from “edelgard stan 4 lyfe (@tinyjoltiks)” that is just “@jupeboxal” and an image. the image is of a shiny fuecoco, with the text “fuecoco hatched from the egg!” the last panel is a chibi drawing of my overwhelmed and joyfully tearful face, with an enormous “ALEX!!!!” caption

8pm “tOo BaD aBoUt ThOsE 530 fUeCoCo EgGs”

it is a single panel. the panel is a 5 x 11 grid of tiny non-shiny fuecocos as you might see in a box view in pokemon scarlet/violet. There is a text dialogue at the bottom of the panel that says “Would you like to save your progress and start the Surprise Trade?”

9pm “no seriously where can you buy these”

In the first panel I am peering at a bookcase full of notebooks and art supplies, thinking “hmm what should I draw my hourlies on?” in the second panel i am selecting one notebook and thinking “i gotta have some watercolor paper somewhere”. the last panel is me stretching out an accordion watercolor journal with bugged out eyes, thinking “THIS IS SO COOL??? WHERE DID I GET THIS???”

10pm “she never leaves you guessing”

i am in bed again but now I am drawing in the watercolor notebook with little “skitch skitch skitch” sound effects. a large brightly-colored “MOW” yelling bubble appears at the bottom of the panel. the second panel is overlapping MOW” speech bubbles surrounding me, no longer drawing. panel 3 is from my perspective, of the door to my room, where my cat is screaming “MOW” with a hair tie in her mouth. In the last panel, I have put down the notebook and am sitting up saying “ah. it is play time.” while my cat stands demandingly on the bed, having dropped the hair tie in front of me, with a very long loud “MOOOOOOOW!!!” spanning the entire panel in the background

11pm “it’s something”

a drawing of the accordion watercolor notebook, unfolded. Outside of the notebook, the text reads “finally working on hourlies!” with sparkles surrounding the word “hourlies”. inside the notebook there is a sketchy drawing of the first comic, the one from 6:40. the next page of the notebook says “...hourly”. the next page says “i did one.” the next page has a drawing of the “it’s something” rage comic person, and the page after that says “it’s something.”

#comics #hourly comic day #hourlies #comic #sequential #cats #cat #watercolor #traditional art #watercolors #pokemon #fuecoco

[rockinlibrarian]

9 people tag game

Tagged by @e-louise-bates, who tagged only me (and no, I don't believe I've done this one, recently at least), so I'm assuming the "9 People" in the title isn't NECESSARILY how many people I have to tag.

last song: All I've been hearing for the past two hours is the background music to Splatoon, which my son is playing on the big tv in this room. Last song I actually listened to? I think it was Led Zeppelin. Yeah, when I turned my car off I left auxiliary on for a bit, as one does, and it was some Zeppelin-- "Whole Lotta Love," that was it.

last movie: Honestly, I am not sure when I last watched a movie? Possibly not since Arsenic and Old Lace at New Years. I just don't get around to it! Also, Splatoon is always running on the big tv.

currently watching: Okay, I almost thought of this as a movie, but I have been watching a TV show the past week or so! Muppets Mayhem, which is only 10 half-hour episodes long but I've still only watched 7, that's how much I'm not watching ANYTHING lately. Okay, I am unable to tell if it is objectively good to the average person-- I think it's mixed, some very good stuff, some eh-- because it is basically a made-for-me show (it got shuttled to the top of my watch list when a friend-- an online friend I've never met in real life even-- specifically tagged me on Facebook after she watched it because she thought of me the whole time). I have said, for the record, that The Electric Mayhem is my favorite fictional band. They genuinely do rock. And the music (and the music nerd references) is the highlight of the show. And the Get Back-themed episode was indeed an absolute delight.

currently reading: Kids and I are towards the middle of the end of The Sun and the Star, Mark Oshiro's Riordanverse book about Nico and Will in the Underworld, which isn't quite as delightful as Riordan's originals in voice, but still has some good stuff in it. I've also brought home Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh, which I am considering sampling for the older group at Summer Quest this week. Hence bringing it home to actually read those chapters before reading it to them. I also left off in the middle of a multichapter fanfic last night, something Umbrella Academy of course because I'm still only in the S's in my alphabetical by author browse-through. It's "the desperation murmur of a heartbeat" by slytherincosette-- good enough for me to keep reading beyond the first chapter (or even the first paragraph) at least. Haven't finished it yet.

last thing researched for writing purposes: Huh. Well, that depends on your definition of all those words, I suppose. I think, using the broadest definitions, the last thing I researched for my writing was synonyms for "flawless"-- I was looking for the word "foolproof" but couldn't think of it, so I put "flawless" in Thesaurus.com and browsed until I spotted it. Yay, thesaurus! And for this particular fic I also have looked up the transcripts to The Wizard of Oz (which is the AU) and various episodes of Legion (which it is a fanfic of), if THAT counts as research. I am looking at my google search history now but I don't think any of this was used for writing. A few minutes ago I looked up how many inches are 143 centimeters which I THINK was for some ART that @sunnymarbles was drawing, but that's drawing, not writing, and also not mine. I have researched various snack recipes from around the world so as to write up some handouts for Summer Quest, which was technically writing, and mine. Honestly the only research session for fictional-not-educational writing purposes that really stands out in my memory was the day (2 1/2 years ago) I spent researching electric guitars just so I could say what Marty McFly's dream guitar would have been in 1980, for one sentence in a less-than-900-word fanfic. But I learned a lot of interesting things about electric guitars, so there.

Who the heck should I tag. I usually tag Louise, but she got me first. @stephsageek, @alihahdnaid, @sharkneto, @rebel-by-default, @littlerit, @steeple-sinderby --those are the first I-know-are-writers in my notifications (not counting Louise) before the scrolldown makes me click "see more." There's also @dannypageoflight who draws more than he writes but who knows, maybe he's done some research for writing purposes lately. That's seven. And two more people! Have fun, two more people! @sunnymarbles! You were already technically tagged in this, and I already told everyone what you're reading and also probably what you're listening to right now because you are also in the room with Splatoon (can't tell if you have earbuds in) and also that I looked up the last thing you wanted to research half an hour ago or whenever it was! And you don't write! But you can also do this if you really wanted to!

#tag game #books #writing #television

[thekinkyleopard]

The Real Story

Remi x Levi lore

A Live Transcript Series

Part: 1

Author’s Notes: Hello Revi lovers! Should we call y’all Snow puppies? I dig it. Me and @aller-geez have decided to release weekly transcripts of our current canon storyline between Remi and Levi! Everything in this story is true to and for each character, whatever you read in these transcripts, is lore for both and all characters mentioned. Just a lovely reminder that Aller-Geez is the owner of Remington (and other characters she may/will play) and most of the art, unless disclosed otherwise! Enjoy 🫶🏻

Description: Two shifters on the run cross paths, how will they concur their inner demons, self doubt and misery in order to work together to achieve their dreams. What will become of the Snow Leopard and the Black Wolf?

⚠️TW⚠️

RATED: 18+ ONLY for mature themes and language. Themes including; Substance abuse, mental illness, gore, sexual, emotional and physical abuse.

Geezy: Funny how the moments that we REALLY need something to not go wrong always end up with the universe deciding that’s exactly what's going to happen, huh? It was almost like whatever higher power out there knew Remington was in a hurry to handle his shit and get the fuck out of town, and did everything in their power to cause him to stay in the very city his own mother was killed in. It was supposed to be a relatively easy handful of small errands to get him squared away, but nothing was ever easy for the wolf, was it? He was SUPPOSED to only have to stop at his uncles garage before leaving town, where he could drop off his old car, and leave with a fully converted van, a new identity, and a small amount of pocket cash to get him through until he could come up with a new way of procuring money. But that definitely was not how it played out. When he arrived to his uncles shop in a panic, he discovered the shop looking like a tornado had gone through it. Almost every window and mirror to every car was smashed out, glass strewn all over the floor that crunched under his feet as he looked for his uncle. Papers from his uncles personal desk littered the empty space between the glass and other tools that were strewn about. With no luck finding his uncle or anything that would indicate his uncle had been there when they ransacked the place, he was about to make a mad dash for his car, but suddenly something caught his attention once out in the front yard. Tucked off to the side by the old dumpsters sat a dingy looking white van that had paint lifting on every side, and cobwebs sticking to the tires that hadn’t been moved in who knows how long. “You gotta be kidding me…” Remi muttered softly under his breath in a rough voice, before cautiously making his way towards the beat up van. Once next to the van, he could see the torn seats, and the leaves that made small piles on the floor in the front. He opened the drivers side door, and tucked inside one of the rips in the leather seat laid a small, discolored key. “Uncle Ivan.. if you’re alive, and I find you after this, I’ll kill you myself..” the raven haired male growled, gripping the key from the seat and sliding into the drivers side. He slammed the key in the ignition, his neon green eyes constantly scanning the horizon in case his friends decided they wanted to finish the job they started here earlier. “No cash, or social security card like he promised me.. and the..” Four long fingers stretched up towards his head, making air quote gestures. “iTs A fUlLy CoNvErTeD vAn, my ASS, UNCLE.” Remi hissed, turning the key aggressively. The poor van’s engine sputtered, and it took every ounce of self control to keep himself together. With one last twist of the key, Remi’s new “house” finally coughed to life, and he’d never floored a vehicle so quickly in his life. Before a few minutes pass, he’s finally on the highway, heading to the furthest place he could manage before his body gives out to exhaustion.

Kezzi: It was such a beautifully starlit night on the evening of day 3 of Levi’s stay at the Lake front Rest Area. It was his favorite in the whole state and would never miss the opportunity to stay for at least a week. It was prime location as he could park his bus diagonally to the shore view, so every morning he could wake up with the most gorgeous scene of the lake. “You know, I should grill up some of this fish I caught earlier since everyone has cleared out,” he said out loud standing outside his fridge looking his produce up and down. “Fish kebabs? Grilled fish and steamed rice?…ugh but then I gotta get the furnace going for the rice pot…hmmm…kebabs,” he settled on a decision and gathering various veggies along side the bucket of fish. Levi was a man of order and routine, so he had to get what he needed for his meal before he could set up the fire. Once everything was right, Levi took some wood from the storage compartment just outside the bus and got to working on building his fire, which didn’t take him long at all. Seeing as he’d been living the life of a nomad since he was 14 years old with his mom, and once she passed away when he was 17 he used the knowledge from her, and the people he has met along the way to survive. He had to learn how to build, farm, create, it took Levi the last 5 years of constant hard work selling content online to build his dream bus to standard. He had sort of grown up in an RV, which became the government’s after his mother’s death, so he couch hopped and worked as a waiter and dancer to buy his current bus. Sold his car because he was committed to the idea of using his bus as a vehicle and home. The duo hair colored man began to slid his pre cut pieces of fish onto the skewers, he had also brought out, with equally cut pieces of vegetables slid on after every other fish piece. Once he had a hefty pile of dressed skewers he began to hold them two at a time over the fire. Focused on the status of his meal he didn’t even notice the rather sketchy and beat up van that slowly approached the rest stop parking lot.

Geezy: By time the van crunched across the loose gravel of the worn parking lot, Remi had been driving for 37 hours straight. He had only stopped for a quick pee, and to grab another bottle of those caffeine pills that truckers take, and his fourth wind was slowly starting to falter. Now that the adrenaline had finally left his body from the entire ordeal he had went through just days earlier, his bright green eyes were just ever so slightly dimmed, and he just looked completely worn out. Bruises and deep scrapes covered his body, and he had deep purple circles under his eyes. “Okay..” he sighed to himself, taking a quick look around as he made his way through the parking lot. “As much as I’d hate to be around so many other cars, I think if I were to try and drive any further, I’d be lucky to wrap you around a tree.” Remi mumbled deliriously, patting one large hand on the dashboard of the van. A large empty area at the very back of the parking lot that backed up towards part of the lake caught the wolf’s eye, and he clicked his tongue in satisfaction before backing in to the spot. As the giant van came to a stop, it clanked and lurched forward a bit, and Remi grimaced before taking the keys out of the ignition. “Ah, I bet they’d have something to buy to eat up there..” his stomach growled with passionate agreement.

Kezzi: Levi finished up his last few skewers as he noticed the tall, long, dark haired man wandering about the lot after parking the world’s most offensive to look at vehicle. He picked up his plate of food and stood beside his bus door for a bit, his curiosity getting the best of him. Still holding his dish of kebabs in one hand he pushed some of his loose hawk out of his eyes. His clear blue orbs traced carefully as the wolf walked about in search of a food source, he could assume. As the man was freakishly angry being faced with the one snack machine they had out there, but was well known for eating change without exchange. Shaking his head back and forth he cups his free hand around his mouth. “Hey! The store closes at sun down, and you’re better off fishin out on the lake than you are to bunk on with that there disposal,” the male had a light tone to his voice but clearly a slight accent, he was pointing towards the said machine he’d mentioned. Having felt satisfied relaying this information he disappeared inside his bus to build himself a plate, drink, napkins, the works. Collecting all the necessities, but still being classically nosey, he walked back outside his bus to sit at a conveniently close by picnic bench.

Geezy: Remi stood there for a second in front of the machine, his body literally seething as he fought hard to hang on to the one thread of sanity had left in his body. “Of course I am..” the wolf made a very disgusted face, sticking his tongue out slightly. “I think I’d rather starve then eat anything with scales..” Remi realized in his head that he probably couldn’t afford to be picky at this very moment, but his stubbornness clearly took over his self preservation. With a defeated sigh, the man slumped his shoulders and stuffed his hands in his pocket, fishing out his beat up phone.  “Well, guess I won’t be staying HERE for too long..” His facial expression changed to one of concern as his green eyes scanned the Lock Screen to see that he had no messages, or missed calls from a uncle Ivan, or anyone who even knew the struggle he’d had. He sighed again, defeated, before making his way back to his beat up van. He gripped the discolored handle of the side door, and attempted to pull it open, however it was of course a rolling turd of a van, so it didn’t budge. He had to put all of his left over strength, which wasn’t much, into ripping the door open. It made a huge bang once the wheels finally broke free of the dirt and rust that had been sitting on it for who knows how long, which made the wolf wince and rub his temples. “Gah, after the last few days I’ve had, I should be able to HIBERNATE in this bitch..” He shakily sat on the edge of the van his feet still planted firmly on the gravel ground. “I’ll have to get a blanket and pillow tomorrow..” There was no way Remi could convince himself he was ready to lay down on the corrugated metal that made up the vehicles floor.

Kezzi: The whole scene was witnessed by the very intrigued leopard. He’d people watched a many in his life, and he could detect a struggling soul from a mile away. “This guy is something…” mumbling out to himself as he took the last few bites of fish he had left. Finishing up his meal the leopard continued to contemplate how he could possibly help this sorry man, with his sorry van. Getting up and off the bench, tossing his dishes in the sink real quick he came back out and made his way over to his storage chests, stacked on the bike rack located toward the back of his bus. Taking gentle hands against the latches he input the code, then clicked them open leisurely and began to dig inside his chests. After a few minutes he was able to acquire a few of his extras. Inside he was able to retrieve one large 1lb bag of high quality jerky he had picked up a week prior from a small family owned business on his way up here, a large soft black blanket, a decently stuffed pillow with a Rasta pattern case on it, and a couple bottles of water. Placing all these things neatly inside a basket, he made his way slowly over to the sketchy van and dropped the care package with a gentle “thump” at his feet. “I don’t know you, you don’t know me, but I know when someone is in need, I’m Levi,” he stuck out his hand in a proper greeting format, his face morphed into a bright, inviting smile that seemed to gleam under the night stars, his eyes squinted closed and his freckled cheeks crinkled. The smaller of the two was wearing cut off, tight, ripped up jean shorts with a light blue muscle tank, as in particular fashion for him, he was without any shoes, Levi hated shoes, he was a socks or barefoot kind of fellow.

Geezy: The soft thump of the strangers care packaged made the wolf jump nearly two inches off of the metal he was sitting on, breaking his train of thought. A snarl formed on his disheveled face, showing his near freakishly white teeth, which looked strange against the weary backdrop of his face. His eyes were a little sunken in and bloodshot, only making his green eyes stand out even more, and clear veins from both stress and exhaustion protruded from his temples and neck. “I’m not in need, I just haven’t been out this way before..” Remi growled at the man, his posture changing to one of defense. The wolf’s large frame had a big, grey hoodie with some music artist lazily thrown over it, and the tight black jeans that were just a little too short on such long legs had a rip in one knee that the male happened to be fidgeting with when Levi came up. Toxic green eyes were locked on the strangers hand, until they began to follow up his arm and fell intimidatingly on this man’s freckled cheeks.

Kezzi: Levi blinked once, then twice. His facial expression was un-phased by the seemingly violent aura this stranger was seeping with. As he eyed the man up and down, retracting his hand he gave a short roll of his eyes that followed with a cocky smirk. “Sure, big guy, I know, it’s very threatening to receive a care package from a twink, MY BAD,” the messy haired 27 year old poked at him with an offended tone to his Irish accent. He was starting to consider that he may just have tried to help a homophobe. Why else would someone be so offended by his approach? He’s not exactly what anyone would call scary…in this form. “Look, whatever, my bad just don’t hate crime me for trying to be a decent person alright?” He said harshly, giving him another once over before turning now on his heels. He really wanted to believe the best in people and especially strangers he would meet along the road, the idea of community, and his name meaning the joining of harmony, he felt a sort of duty to be the harmony everywhere he went, but this dude was clearly in a bad way and had no intentions of having a friendly chat, and Levi wasn’t one to stay where he wasn’t wanted. However, He also wasn’t going to take it too personally, he was just going to continue to be the gorgeous ray of sunshine that he always is.

Geezy: ‘Hate…. crime….?’ Remi thought to himself, although the amount of thought it took to even process the world around him made his caffeine overloaded brain throb. Confusion fell across his face, which he’d be lying if he tried to say that wasn’t his usual, default face. Watching as the stranger turned to leave, the wolf can feel his muscles slowly unwind themselves, and the adrenaline start to leave his face once again. He let out a weary exhale, but the breath that was brought back into his lungs afterward willed an amazing odor into his sinuses. His green eyes snapped open, and he took a few more good deep breaths in through his nose, before sniffing softly and discovering the scent that was already making his mouth overflow with saliva was coming from the strangers bag. The man quickly looked back up to see the stranger was already back near his own camper van, seeming to have not been phased at all by their conversation. His eyes darted back down to the bag on the ground, and then back at Levi. His breath caught in his throat, and he attempted to nonchalantly, but still sneakily slide the bag towards him, and bring it in to the van for him to closely inspect. Once the bag was in his possession, he scrunched his very lanky body into the back of the van’s uncomfortable metal floor with his legs crossed and the strangers bag in front of him, and closed the sliding side door loudly behind him. His heart was beating so hard he could hear it in his ears at he stared at the strange bag, clearly suffering some sort of PTSD from the ordeal with his mother and uncle. He knew in his heart that this stranger that was nothing but smiles PROBABLY wouldn’t be involved with.. them.. but his gut couldn’t let him let his guard down. He finally was able to break his trancelike stare on the bag, to unzip the top, and his nerves instantly soften once he is able to lay eyes on the contents. The very top of the bag was the pillow, which even his own paranoid brain couldn’t come up with ulterior motives for. He gently took the pillow from the top, and that’s when he saw it, his breath catching in his chest and that /scent/ filling his nose again. The bag of jerky made him quiver, his stomach again growling loudly and twisting on itself. How had he let himself get so hungry that he was almost in tears to see something as simple as beef jerky? He had no idea, but there was no other thought in his head besides devouring the dried meat. Putting the pillow to the side, he grabbed the jerky in a panic, ripping the top with his increasingly shaky hands, and grabbing the biggest piece he could find to stuff in his large waiting mouth. Once he took a huge bite from the chunk in his trembling hands, he exhaled in satisfaction and leaned back against the side of van. The hair raised on his neck and arms from the goosebumps, and his eyes became slightly misty when he realized the actual kindness from this random person, who didn’t know him in any capacity, but still went out of his way for the dark haired man. That wasn’t something Remi experienced ever in life. Even his mother and Uncle both had their own secret agendas. How did this small man not have his own skeletons in his closet? He wondered to himself as he chewed, slowly feeling more strength return to his sullen body.

Kezzi: Levi had made it back into his own bus and tried to shake off the weird vibes he was essentially overcome with. Who was that guy? Why is he out here? “Why do you care? It’s just another passerby!” He said throwing his hands up in exhaustion. “Let’s just get comfy in our Jammie’s, maybe go out on the shore and smoke a J or 3….then bed time!” Hands flattening out around his space of existence as he spoke. He was talking to himself so casually as he began the ultimate shuffle through his drawers and compartments. Levi changed into a pair of black with white trimmed baseball shorts and a long black graphic t-shirt that went past the shorts and almost made one wonder why he wore them anyway, but it was for the aesthetic. The graphic was a pink circle, with an alien holding a yellow balloon. It was a Guardin shirt (unbeknownst to him) he picked up at a goodwill during a stop, far too big for him but he really liked aliens and for $3 he didn’t pass it up. Once he was properly dressed for bedtime, he yoinked three joints out of his stash box along with a lighter, slipped on some fuzzy black slippers and scuffled his way to the shore of the water. It was blackened by the night sky but illuminated by the moon and stars, it was one of Levi’s most favorite views. He remembered when his mom first took him out here as a teen…right after grandma Orla died and his mom was contemplating selling her house for an RV. She had taken Levi across trip in a fancy model she borrowed off one of the many men she used. Eve wanted to give Levi the chance to see how much fun it would be even though his siblings were gone. Of course, it hadn’t been much of what she promised when it came to, but Levi still had nice moments of fishing with his mama down by the lake here. Cares behind them as the sun shined against their pale Irish skin. He sparked up a joint, while he stuck the other two, one behind each of his ears. Taking a long inhale of the herb stick he shortly exhaled it in a slow, relaxed manner, all worries of the strange man in the rotting van were but another experience given to the ether now. It was just him and Mother Nature again, Levi against the world. He chuckled to himself, though it was full of emotion. “Damn, Mam’ I miss you like…barmy…” he sighed out loud, taking in another hit.

Geezy: Before he could even blink, the wolf had cleaned out the whole bag of jerky, and even ripped the bag down the side to be able to lick the crumbs off the side. He had no idea he was so hungry, but running for your life for 37 hours in an “RV” that always felt like it would shake a little too hard just once and completely fall apart, on top of his mother being killed and Uncles entire garage being trashed would definitely do that to anyone. But he would have to really check the poor vehicle he was supposed to call home for however long out once he finally was able to relax somewhere. If there was one thing in life he knew how to do, it was work on cars. At the very least, Remi could get it running better than it did when it drove off the lot, if he had the resources. But here? Who knows if he could work enough magic enough to even consider it a reliable vehicle. But, that was to be a thought for another day. Grabbing a water bottle from the care package, again stopping to appreciate the man, what did he say his name was? Levi? Levi’s generosity to even include it with the things he brought him. He chugged the whole large water bottle, drinking it so quickly that the plastic crunched in on itself and a small bit rolled down his chin. The last swallow choked him up a bit, but he quickly recovered and snatched the pack of Camels with his zippo lighter inside out of the cup holder in the front of the vehicle. He attempted to open the two back doors that were nearly rusted together, but even with all of his 170 pounds, he couldn’t open them. Finally, one foot crashed against one of the two doors loudly and it broke the seal enough that the door came flying open, hitting the side of the van when it did. Suddenly aware of the wolf’s presence in such a quiet place, he looked around cautiously a few times before sliding his boot-cladded feet onto the gravel once again. The wind-chill took him by surprise, causing his long arms to wrap around himself with a shiver, and a large yawn that exposed all of his weirdly white teeth. “Fuck all of this.” He finally muttered softly, putting a cigarette to his lips and flicking the zippo open to light it. He took a concerningly long drag from it, before taking it away and exhaling in a slow grey cloud of smoke, and resting his arm on his bent knee. What the fuck was he going to do? Was he supposed to look for his uncle? Interesting how he seemed to just disappear after his own sister was murdered, and RIGHT when he was the one that was supposed to be getting Remington out of town.. But Meeko.. Suddenly, Remi gasped softly, one large hand cupping his forehead as he doubled over, wincing. Fuck, man. His head felt like a bomb was constantly echoing in the chambers of his skull. He really physically couldn’t give the past week any more thought, or the stress would eat him alive. Completely standing now, Remi shook off the pain in his head and with it, the rest of his thoughts of anything besides finishing his cigarette so he might be able to curl up under the soft blanket Levi had given him, and finally get some well deserved rest.

Kezzi: Halfway through his second joint Levi decided it was getting too late to be out this far by himself so he started trailing his very stoned self out to the lot again. Joint still in hand he walked up the trail and through the parking lot again, and there he was. The strange man again. He really didn’t look well according to the nosey cat. “Not my circus, not my monkeys,” he sighed out a puff of marijuana smoke. Just at that moment his lanyard adorned in the many keychains he has collected through his travels, snapped. “Oh not again,” he sighed embarrassed this would happen just a few feet from the stranger. He felt a strange sensation crawl against his skin, like he was being perceived again. Scrambling now, he grabbed his keys, they jingled loudly and caught the attention of a nearby trucker exiting the bathroom. The tall, roundish man stopped in his tracks, the spurs on his boots made the sound of a tinkle that caused Levi’s inner alarms to start blaring inside his soul. Standing back up on both his feet, straightened back, head high, he started to walk, refusing to acknowledge the creepy existence of this burly man. Oh no…oh no…he left his knife inside…he couldn’t transform here either…he’d have to leave immediately…and he can’t run from another charge. He let someone take him down once before and he hasn’t let another soul get the best of him since. Drops of sweat started to form on the temples of his head, legs carrying him faster now when the man called out “Hey! Where you goin??” Oh shit, oh no. Faster Levi, this man is not prepared for the can of murder he is threatening to open. “Home! Leave me alone!” Levi shouted out back behind him. “Oh come on cutie, that’s no way to act at a rest stop! We can have some fun!” Okay Levi, keep calm, keep cool, everything is fine. Ignore the crazy man and get in your house, maybe go take a quick drive down the road and hide until the guy leaves? He could threaten him with the very large machete he kept for looks….’man I really don’t want to have to get my hands dirty tonight’…Levi concerned within himself as he heard the man speak again with more aggression in his tone. “Don’t be a prude, I’ll take it if I have to,” oh my god, this man wanted to die. Levi spun around and stood as tall as a man who was 5’8 and 120lbs could. “Can you maybe just take the no??” The man growled low in his throat, clearly his masculinity damaged by rejection and started to walk closer to Levi, the leopard’s light blue eyes starting to glow even in the darkened night. Way too noticeable. The man stuttered back, he paused. “You got some crazy ass eyes…” he muttered almost entranced but none the less was determined to at the very least, assert his dominance. The cat’s body started to crouch, legs parted and planted.

Geezy: Remi’s ears rang with the sound of the conflict just down the road a little, and at once all of his attention was directed there. Before he could even react, his body was already moving towards the grotesque man and the stranger that had been so kind to him. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, man.” Remi growled in a haunting voice; one so dark and unsettling that it would make the hairs raise on the back of your neck. As if by teleporting, Remi was already at the truckers side with one hand raised up with his palm out and completely flat. In one swift motion, his huge palm met the side of the mans face, and smashed the other side against the wooden frame of the gazebo type structure they were under. The mans fat cheeks squished out against the wood, panic filling his eyes as he whimpered to the wolf. “I think its time you made your way back to your own accommodations and leave this man alone like I’ve heard him tell you multiple times..” He dug his nails into the mans scalp as he pushed harder against his face, the mans eyes now so mushed that he could barely see out of them. “Or I’ll gut you like the pig you are.. right here in front of everyone..” The trucker gasped against the wood and began to wail loudly in tears, which caused a very familiar tingling to course through Remi’s entire body, starting in his toes and migrating up to his face until he could feel himself getting hot. His green eyes glowed so fiercely that he could see the reflection against the mans face, but he didn’t let up his grasp. The way a terrifying smirk crept across his face caused the man to urinate as he stood there, shaking against Remi’s hand, which was trembling with excitement. Seeing this pathetic display, he finally threw the man to the side by the sleeve of his shirt with a booming laugh that shook the ground a little. “Don’t ever let me catch you coming back around here bothering anyone else.” By this time, Levi had completely vanished from the wolf’s thought, and all he saw was red, from the offense he took of that DISGUSTING man thinking he could force himself on anyone. Remi’s long, fit body was at this point visible shaking with rage and disgust as he seethed, and it was almost if cartoon steam even shot from his ears. Even if he hated his Mother and everything she stood for, he watched her get raped and beaten by so many men her entire life. Hearing the familiar sounds in the distance from his van broke something in him, and he appeared to handle this strangers terrifying encounter that could have easily ended badly without thought.

Kezzi: Without a second to blink, think, or say a word the scene that unfolded before him started to play out within seconds but felt like hours. He kept looking around and the few people that had been out, decided it was best to go back, in. Wherever that was for them. People rarely called police around these areas anyway. Would take entirely too long for them to get there and do anything. Levi froze watching how the man tossed the trucker around like a rag doll. His cheeks got flushed and his body turned hot. “Oh please not now…” he muttered to himself way too quietly for anyone to hear, feeling just a slight tinge of arousal, because though the man was clearly tired and needed a good shower, he was fit and under this moonlight in these circumstances, god damn. He cleared his throat and just stood there after the perpetrator scrambled off lucky to still be alive after his encounter with the unhinged parking lot guest. Clearly he wasn’t a homophobe or out to harm Levi, as the very opposite had just been apparent to him. So what WAS the dude’s deal then? Clearly something was haunting his very essence but that was a mystery to everyone but Remi. The silence fell over them as his eyes lightened again, observing the aftermath. “Hey, I appreciate the help, I could have handled it myself but I do value the camaraderie…” his voice was soft, gentle, almost like the wind, his slippered feet came together at a point. Certainly it was better it ended this way, as Levi wasn’t sure exactly how alive he personally would have left the man but he was lucky. Grateful. Essentially, what the stranger did for him was preserve his ability to keep visiting his favorite place without worry. “But seriously…thanks…”he muttered scratching the back of his neck nervously, avoiding eye contact seeing as their last interaction wasn’t the most friendly, and he wasn’t sure how to communicate with this erratic raven haired man.

Geezy: Just as quickly as the sound of conflict caused the man to sprint from his van, Remi turned on his heels quickly to face the smaller male that he had instinctively come to rescue from the trucker. His grizzled features that only moments ago were so frightening that they made a grown man pee his pants, seemed to soften and almost show.. What was that feeling? Compassion? A very small, almost warm smirk spread across the man’s face, and his muscles could visibly be seen withdrawing from their tight grip. Much to even his own surprise, a deep chuckle escaped his lips. “I’m sorry about that..” he shook his head to try and dismiss the very loud scene that had caused moments earlier. “I don’t usually get involved in other peoples issues..” He adverted his bright green orbs to the ground momentarily, before returning his gaze once again. “It just makes my skin crawl that people like that are allowed to exist thinking they can just take whatever they want.” A quick memory of his own mother getting her face beaten in by one of the many men she tried to rely on caused him to grimace, one gleaming canine tooth being exposed. “Figured i should probably also thank you for the bag you tried to offer me earlier.. I’ve had a week from hell like you probably wouldn’t believe, but I shouldn’t have been an ass.” Remi almost /smiled/ sheepishly, using one large hand to push his disheveled black hair from his eyes. You would never imagine that just moments earlier, the wolf looked like something that was dragged from hell itself and spit out, as he now looked more human than he had the entire time he had been in this strange place. “How’d you know a guy could put down some teriyaki beef jerky?” He chuckled again, rubbing the back of his neck as a very slight pink flush splashed across his bruised cheeks.

Kezzi: The second their eyes met each other, something inside Levi turned on. Not him sexually, I mean, kind of, but no, this was something entirely new he had never in his life experienced before. It was almost like he hadn’t felt alive until this very moment in time. What was it?  He felt his cheeks get hot and they dusted rose as Remi spoke to him. He giggled into his hand softly, almost subconsciously unable to control this weirdly submissive feeling. “No, really, thanks, you’ve preserved something very special for me tonight,” his eyes closed as he smiled brightly, still flushed. When suddenly he was hit with an apology he actually looked quite shocked, Levi wasn’t used to hearing apologies, his shoulders dropped and his expression turned warmly. “No worries, the world is….like a bag of crystals. Some of the things you’ll encounter in it are meant to hurt you or protect you, I get the feeling, ” he shrugged it off easily as he pulled the last joint out of his ear and lifted it up to the taller man. “Well, I got more food stocked up in my place if you need a smoke, more food and just a safe place to relax for a few hours? I myself love a good bag of jerky…that was from a locally sourced farm I passed about 60 miles back nothin better than fresh jerky….” He realized he was babbling, oh no. He rarely got the chance to speak to other people, not like he didn’t try, certain areas are less friendly than others. “No pressure though, I would just like to properly thank you for the help back there… and forgive my tendency to pry but…” he pointed to the vehicle Remi had pulled up in, “that doesn’t look too comfortable…I’ve got an extra bed I could unfold,” he looked him with sincerity deep in his diamond blue eyes. Levi could tell this man wasn’t used to kindness or human decency by the sound of his responses, and If there was one thing he could offer was just that. If anything, the leopard could use a genuine friend.

Geezy: As if a bolt of lightening had struck him, all of Remi’s hair over his whole body began to stand on end, almost as if his own body was preparing for this kindness to be a trap again. However,  he was able to shove this random feeling of panic down to the very pits of his stomach, recovering in record time for the wolf even though it was very apparent that he was fighting some inner demons. “Eh, you’ve already helped me out so much, and you don’t even know me..” The wolf’s sheepish expression evolved into one of confusion, which seemed to fit his face somehow. “Aren’t you worried I’ll fuck you over, or steal your shit?” Remi asked, stuffing his hands in the front pocket of his large hoodie that hung lazily over his frame, almost making you wonder what size sweaters a man of his structure would have to buy for them to be so large. Glancing back over his shoulder at the embarrassment of a van that his uncle “gave” him, the man shook his head a few times with what looked to be a combination of annoyance, amusement, and worry all at once. “Yeah.. Ethel is a monstrosity..” A rough chuckle flowed out of him. “Mad long story you probably don’t care about, but in my defense, I wouldn’t be driving her if I had any other option.” He turned towards Levi again, a smile on his worn face that was something extremely rare to the wolf. He was completely taken off guard by both this strangers complete and utter trust of him, and his kindness towards a dirty stranger who was nothing but rude and unappreciative. But for some reason, the large man’s curiosity was winning out against his caution. Why did this stranger make him feel so many things? Why wasn’t Remi’s first instinct to be rude and otherwise unapproachable like he always was? It’s the tactic that kept him safe for so many years, and it was all just dissolving as his eyes locked with Levi’s. “That’s very kind of you.” Wow, those words felt so strange spilling off of his cracked lips. Had he ever spoken those words to anyone before? His heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest, but it only willed him towards the other. “I swear I’ll make it up to you.”

Kezzi: He couldn’t help it, truly he couldn’t, he was slightly awkward but too bold. “Look…” he giggled “the only things I have worth taking, most people could simply as for…I don’t have the most expensive shit, and anyone willing to steal all the food I worked hard to get, well, must need it more than me…you’ll see….it’s just plants and stuffies,” he laughed again almost trying to cover up he was actually embarrassed. Levi had old things, things people wouldn’t really go out of their way to want nor steal. He tried to live very minimal…the only thing he had a hard time with was stuffed animals. “I’ve been on the road for a long time now, I’ll tell you, I’ve had worse people than Mr. Beer Gut earlier, and I’ve also met some of the kindest, wisest souls behind the mask of dirt and bad hair….so trust me when I say, I’m not worried about you, and I hope, you don’t worry about me,” looking up at him again with that same sincere smile and brightly colored eyes. “You don’t need to make it up to me, you know…..” pausing “ I don’t know your name…you’re not obligated to give me a real name If you’re like….on the run or something but …” he shook his head trying to desperately stay on track. “The point is, My dear friend, you are worth bare necessities, you don’t owe me for helping you out in the most necessary human way I can, it’s the bare minimum! Best way you can thank me, is to remember this kindness and to pass it back into the world again shall the opportunity present itself!” he nodded his head in a ‘matter of factly’ type of way and then without a thought turned quickly on his heels and waved his hand, beckoning the large male to follow him. “Come now, I think I have something in the freezer you might enjoy,” knowing very well for certain he did. Levi resourced and collected his meats either through hunting or local indigenous hunters. He usually goes into the reservations, helps them clear their pest population and they reward him with tons of food. Problem is he doesn’t have a lot of space so he had to get creative in a few ways. Let’s just say some of the cabinets in his bus are actually tricked out mini freezers. Cat needs his protein. However, he still hunts when he can because it’s always important to eat a freshly caught meal. They got to the bus, Levi unlocked it and opened the door, quickly ducking inside to turn on his twinkling star lights giving a gentle ambience to the tiny home. “ Casa de Levi!” Letting out a shy snort as he began to shift his table décor around the space only to fold it down into a bed. “Hmm…” he compared the bed to Remi, looking him up and down, he sucked his lips in trying desperately not to laugh. “Okay, you can sleep in my bed and I’ll sleep on here…you’re clearly too tall for this one, but…I’d beg you to take a shower before sleeping in my bed,” he looked like he had sucked on a lemon, trying not to be rude but also trying to be honest that he didn’t want dirt in his precious safe space. “You can take a shower and I’ll cook up one of the steaks I got in here, do you want a baked potato on the side? Oh, everything in the shower feel free to use it’s all homemade soaps and stuffed, labeled,” Levi said without giving Remi much of a chance or choice to answer as he started taking things out of the freezer, fridge, cabinets, already in care taker mode.

Geezy: The wolf was literally dumbfounded by all of the different things Levi said he had while living in a van, let alone that he was being offered any of it, but he still followed behind Levi with both hands crammed in his pockets again. Remi had pretty much grown up on the streets, his mother a doormat that couldn’t even take care of herself, let alone a child, or a wolf child like Remington. Ever since he could remember his mother was drunk, pushing him on any family member or hell, friendly enough neighbor, that would agree to watch him for her. He always wore clothes that should have been thrown away years ago, with holes and loose threads hanging off of them, and shoes with holes straight through to the ground that barely stayed on his feet. He never went to school, as his mother would get in trouble for neglect if anyone saw him the way he was, and he was never even taught about being a wolf by anyone in his family. He only stayed around his mother during what would have been his high school years because his uncle was teaching him to build and work on cars. So the large man may not have the book smarts that he could have, but he could survive out on the street with nothing since he could walk. As they approached Levi’s RV, the wolf’s green eyes widened in amazement at the incredulous design, which was only intensified once inside. His sensitive nose was instantly assaulted with all of the delicious smells of all of the different kinds of meat in such a small area, giving Remi a sort of floaty high and making it difficult for him to think of much else. His stomach growled loudly, interrupting his deep concentration on the scents entering his nose, and refocusing him on the situation. Although he definitely hadn’t heard a single word out of Levi’s mouth until he was told he could sleep in Levi’s bed. “Huh? Oh..” he looked down at his clothes, suddenly noticing the once pristine fabric was fraying in some spots, stained in small blood droplets, and way darker than they were 4 days ago. He flipped his hands over in front of him, smirking at the amount of dirt and blood under his slightly sharpened nails. “Yeah, yeah, that’s totally reasonable.” He nearly let out a full laugh, and a smile spread across his face, something he hadn’t felt in god knows how long. “Honestly, load me up with whatever. I’m not picky..” Remi paused for a second. “Ehhh, anything but things with scales..” He made the same, disgusted face with his tongue partly out that he had made at the machine earlier, before letting that actual full laugh slip out of him. “..Thank you.” finally came from his lips in a soft tone, quite obvious that it wasn’t something he said very often either. “I’ll go take a shower.”

Kezzi: Laughing at his comment about scales, Levi continued to pull things out of his tiny kitchen space. Suddenly he paused “oh!….” He looked around and stuttered a-bit “hmm….” Disappearing behind the curtain of his “bedroom” Shuffling through his clothes he pulled out an overtly large pair of grey sweats and a smaller light blue tank top. Quickly he peeled the clean, but smelling like him, Alien shirt off his head. After which he slid the tank top over and then folded the shirt with the sweats, turned around and handed the clothes to Remi. “Sorry the shirt I was wearing is probably the only shirt I have that’ll fit you….it is clean though! Swear by it, only wore it for about an hour,” He said nervously before speaking again “The water should still be hooked up, hot is left and cold water is right,” pulling a towel out of a nearby compartment he also handed the wolf this article as well. “And to dry,” he said sheepishly grinning. “Take your time, I’ll be out here,” nodding his head, turning his position back towards the meal he was making. Levi did have a hot pot stove he used on occasions like this. He loved his furnace, and using a freshly built fire, but it was far too late to be doing any of that. In a cast iron, he melted some butter with the thawed steak, threw in some rosemary, garlic and just kept the slab of meat moist with flavor. The smells started to fill up his tiny space decorated in hanging vines, lights, and Polaroid pictures of different beautiful views. Levi hummed to himself gently as he stuck a potato in the oven once it dinged that it was ready. During the time of Remi enjoying a freshening up, the leopard was enjoying himself being able to cook for a guest. Rarely did the young man get a chance to be hospitable to people, and he loved having company. Often when he went to the beach he played bingo with the biddies, besides old ladies and young kids, no one really gave Levi much the time of day. Since his mother died, life on the road was lonely and came with obstacles but even when he had his mother, he had always truly felt alone anyway. His ultimate mission was to find his brother and sister. He knew they were out there, somewhere…he got lost in basting his steak for a second before his timers went off. Shaking his head clear, Levi plated the steak, and a fully dressed baked potato with homemade butter, homegrown chives, home cured and dried bacon, and some decadent sour cream also locally sourced and made. Levi almost never bought things from grocery stores unless it was absolutely necessary. He had his own herb and veg garden neatly secured and sprouting ontop of his bus, Levi had to really get creative but it works and it produces great convenience for him. “Foods up! Take your time it’s seating on the food warmer for you!” He shouted out to the man in the shower. Turning on the warming plate, he set the dinner plate ontop to make sure the food stayed up to par until the wolf was ready to emerge. Levi slid off his slippers and put them in his shoe area under his bed and then began to dress the guest bed, to his standards. Adding extra blankets, moving some of his stuffies and pillows he fluffed and stuffed the tiny bed to meet his comfort levels. “Wonderful,” he kissed his fingers like a chef would and then plopped himself in as he started scanning through Netflix titles.

Geezy: “Oh, you don’t have to-“ Remington’s slightly hoarse voice was cut off before he could finish as Levi had already thrust the clothes and towel into his hands. It took until that moment for him to register what shirt he was given, and a genuine smile of excitement covered his lips, although he figured he would comment once he was able to stuff food into his mouth. Taking the clothing and towel he was given into the strangely spacious bathroom, he took notice of how many different soaps and bath products Levi’s bathroom had, before setting the items down on the top of the closed toilet seat. Passing by the mirror, Remi grimaced at his own reflection. Did he really look like that? His eyes were definitely more sunken in than they were a few days ago,  and his defined cheek bones were littered with bruises and dirt. “You be looking mad rough, buddy.” The man grumbled to his reflection, adverting his eyes to the shower to dismiss his self deprecating thoughts. His large hands twisted the shower knobs to adjust the water to just barely under boiling, before he started to peel off the dingy grey sweater he was wearing, and the black shirt that stuck to his skin underneath. Once he finally was able to get a good look at his own body under all of his dirty clothes, a soft gasp escaped his mouth when he finally saw them. The once almost invisible marks from the last syringe that had met his skin had evolved to dark purple marks on both arms, the scabs from the needle still hanging on for dear life. “Well, fuck..” the wolf breathed as he ran a thumb slowly over the dark skin, before looking up at himself in the mirror again. He was much more pale than usual, his usual dark circles under his eyes were now accented with a bright gloss of excess tears, and he sniffed away the small gleam of snot from his nostril. The wolf knew he was starting the very steep, slippery slope down to withdrawal, but he couldn’t think about that now. His muscles begged him to step into the shower, to which he finally gave it. Holy shit was the feeling beyond anything the man had felt in years. Despite the growing pain in his bones, Remi could only think about the delicious food that was now making him salivate again from the scent wafting through the door, and mixing with the steam. Quickly finishing up in the shower, he stepped out and dried off his large frame, which now looked less like that of a homeless man, and lazily dressed himself in the clothes Levi had given him. Putting the shirt on over his head, he had to stop briefly to take a deep inhale of the material, the scent that filling his nose now exciting him nearly as much as the smell of the cooking food. Remi took a second now to check himself over in the mirror once more, the look of a rehab outpatient not so apparent now that he had taken a shower, and finally exited the bathroom. The glorious smell of the food Levi had cooked and was now warming on the hot plate quite literally made Remi’s knees weak, and he had to use one hand to steady himself against the wall. “Damn, it smells so good..” The raven haired man commented, the color partially returning to his face by just smelling the steak.

Kezzi: Having landed on Big Mouth, a raunchy TV show he fell asleep to often, he laid back In his new spot for the night and laughed along to the cheesy, foul bits the show had to offer. Not long after the tall raven haired man came stumbling slowly out his bathroom and he smiled brightly at him. “There he is!! I knew there was a handsome stud under all that stress! Hope the shower was good to you!” The smaller teased cutely, in all seriousness Levi had to pour concrete on his lips to hide the simple fact he wanted to A-ooga the absolute house down, my god what a man. Relax Levi, Jesus. Noticing the bruises, lacerations and more littered across the now clean wolf, he realized he would have to approach that later when he’d gained the stranger’s trust a bit more. Couldn’t send the man off without a proper caring for. He lifted a hand to show Remi which direction his meal was. “Bon Appetit! I wasn’t sure how you like your steak but you give rare vibes like myself so I hope you like pink meat!” His bubbly personality shining through as he quickly launched himself from his spot. “Oh! Annnnnd,” opening his fridge with one swift pull from his hand to retrieve out an ice cold Heineken beer. “It’s not the best but someone gave me a pack the other day for helpin’ them fix a flat, you’re welcome to some,” offering the wolf a drink as he cracked one open for himself using his strong teeth. Some of them jagged and broken, more so in the back of his mouth, his earlier addictions weren’t exactly kind to his dental. However, the teeth that mattered most were still going very strong and relatively straight too. It was almost hard to notice right away. Getting the cap off Levi threw the liquid back without a second thought, finishing with a rather desperate gasp for air. “I have had terrible cotton mouth since before I ran into that asshole…forgive me for being so feral just now,” Levi’s laugh was one of those laughs you could never get tired of, something about it was soul soothing, it echoed through the chambers of the bus. “Make yourself at home, I eat in the beds so don’t worry about that…I’d rather my bed smell like steak than ass if you know, you know,” he waved his hand about before taking a blue vape out of his kitchen drawer, he hit it slowly and exhaled in the opposite direction of Remi’s face as to not bombard him or be rude.

Geezy: Remi’s cheeks seemed to brighten as a soft blush fell across his face. Did he just call the wolf handsome? This kid really must be blind.. “Honestly I wasn’t expecting to need a shower so badly,” he chuckled sheepishly. “Sorry you had to see that.” He quickly shuffled over to the plate Levi had made him, picking it up and licking his lips like a cartoon coyote, before graciously accepting the beer from the other’s hand with a smile. “Damn, treating me like a king, huh?” This time the smile on his lips stretched so far that his white teeth almost sparkled in the light, and now that he was less grungy, they fit better with his sharp features. As his muscles trembled under the strain of just keeping himself upright, the wolf decided to slowly make his way to Levi’s bed and sit down slowly, an almost dad-like groan coming from his lips as he sat down. Once the man was finally comfortable where he was sitting, he wasted no time cutting off a huge bite of the steak and stuffing it into his waiting mouth, goosebumps almost instantly raising across his large arms. Suddenly, his face lit up and he took a in a sharp breath. Remi quickly finished chewing the monster size bite he took that should have choked a snake before he chimed in happily. “Oh, and have you been stalking me?” He laughed, shaking his head before pulling down the shirt he was wearing to display the front better. “How did you just happen to give me the only Guardin shirt I don’t own? He’s my favorite artist.” Remi was almost a different person when he started up about music, or cars, of course. The normally stoic, intimidating and otherwise unapproachable wolf now somehow had a childlike gleam to him that wasn’t instantly stifled by self consciousness. He picked up the beer from the floor, taking a long drink and easily killing half of the bottle in one drink. “If I didn’t leave Sofia at my uncles in the rush to leave, I could even pay you for your hospitality in entertainment.” The laughed that followed was slightly sad as thoughts of the guitar that had been his only valued possession for as long as he could remember raced in his head. “Some other time for sure though.” Remi continued to shovel food into his mouth at inhuman speeds, until everything that was once piling on top of his plate had disappeared.

Kezzi: “This is King treatment? Oh honey…” Levi felt almost genuinely terrible that this man thought genuine human care was the best it can get. “Trust me, you’ll know that treatment when you get it,” he gave a flirty, under confident breathy chuckle, unable to help himself before sharply turning his gaze to the joint he left on the counter, he reached over from where he was and snagged it before sitting on his newly designated bed, sparking the j with a lighter he had hidden nearby, once comfortably seated. He went from calm, cool, collected to a stuttering, blushy mess when Remi called him a stalker, a joke he could pick up and take no problem in most circumstances but something about it made him flustered. “No! No stalking haha!” scratching the back of his neck as he explained “I actually got that shirt at a goodwill, for $3! I was in desperate need for a shirt that day, laundry was all dirty, and Miss Maybelle here,” he slapped the counter of the bus “got her fluids all over me tryna do an oil change…I love Aliens, saw it and had to snag, but it’s served it’s duty with me, keep it, I love how the universe manifested that into existence for you,” smiling with a much cooler demeanor again, teeth out and bright, tad more noticeable how they tended to push together, but it was almost childlike, in the most adorable way. He had never had such a good looking man pay any attention to him, it was always the busted ones that wanted to make nice…and other things. This was refreshing though, the seemingly aggressive man turned out to be no more than a starving pup. It was cute, how easily comfortable the taller, stronger male got around him. It gave him a boost of confidence that maybe his dry spell of friendship would end. It was lonely without someone to message, call, hang out with. It’s the reason he’s almost considered adding a pet to his passage but, pets are a lot of work and he’s got a lot of ADHD. He lost himself in thought while the show played behind them, he waited for Remi to be finished with his meal before handing him the joint. “I have dabs too…” crystal blue eyes rolled back in a quick shot almost to say ‘No biggie’ he heard the statement of payment, and saw the slight sadness reflecting in his eyes. Levi waved his hands in front of him. “No no! It’s really okay, I’m more of an exchange of services type, I make plenty of money at my job, maybe you can help me rotate my tires tomorrow, those bitches are heavy and I CAN do it myself I just….” He shrugged looking a bit shy “wouldn’t mind someone else doing it for me~” his voice reached a higher octave as he sang the last bit in a cheery but comical fashion.

Geezy: “Thanks, I’ve honestly been looking for this shirt for 3 years.. it’s been sold out forever.” He beamed. In a second large gulp, the wolf finished the other half of his beer, and his already bright eyes twinkled at the offer, completely unaware of how to handle the generosity of the other, literally giving him the clothes off of his back. Remi stood up to throw his empty beer bottle in Levi’s recycling bin and set his plate in the sink, still obviously wobbly on his large feet as he moved, and took the opportunity to retrieve the joint from the other’s hand before sitting back down. Pressing the joint to his lips and taking a large drag from it, as the wolf blew out the smoke he French inhaled out of habit, a trick his uncle had taught him when he first started smoking at 11. The THC entering the large male’s bloodstream instantly began to calm the anger in his head and joints. Even if it wasn’t what his body was screaming for, it was one step above sober, and that was all that mattered. He took another quick drag before passing it back to Levi with long arms that easy reached the other. “Oh, word? I can totally rotate your tires for ya if you have the tools? Obviously I, myself, came ill prepared.” He chuckled, gesturing with his eyes towards the rusty van. Two long arms stretched up and locked together behind Remi’s head as he leaned back against the wall that the bed was against. As he slumped down, his body slowly started to realize how comfortable the bed he was sitting on was, and just how tired he really was. He hadn’t slept in nearly 3 days, and boy could his body feel it. His radioactive green eyes could be seen dissociating occasionally as he fought the double vision  to keep them open.

Kezzi: “Honestly, I love every bit of irony in that,” the white haired male beamed back over the bond of a simple t-shirt. What luck, Levi thought to himself. “You’ll find there is almost nothing handy I DONT have!” He giggled feeling the effects of the marijuana slowly overtaking him again, he took the last drag he could and then stamped it out into the tray beside him. That last hit slapping him across the face with a bag of sand, he started slowing down as well, realizing now how worn he was from the day. “We can talk logistics in the morning, for now I think we both had a day,” laugh-yawning at the end of his sentence he got up to lock all the doors, and turn off the lights. Once he had double checked his outlets as well, Levi climbed his way into the guest bed, feeling rather comfy in it despite it being foreign to him. “Night, friend!” He called out to the darkness, still unaware of the wolf’s name but knowing he could probably get that info when the man was well rested, what’s the rush? He snuggled tightly into his favorite bat Squishmallow. Beaming with excitement that he had been able to bond with another person AND have a sleepover. ‘You’d be so proud of me Mam’…..’ he whispered carefully into the softness of his stuffy.

Geezy: Before Levi even had a chance to get up, the wolf was already asleep, his large body still curled up in the smallest amount of space possible on the bed despite having such a large bed all to himself. It was pretty ingrained in the man’s head from a small child to never under any circumstances get in the way, so much so that it even reflected in something subconscious like sleeping. At some point in getting comfortable while half asleep, he manage to get one of the large cow stuffies in his grasp and ended up fully curled up around it, his face nuzzled into its back. Remi slept harder than he had in years, never moving from the spot that he fell asleep, and even his subconscious lucid dream self started to question whether or not he would wake up at all this week. . . .

The Next Morning

Geezy:

Until the twisting of his guts awoke the man with a gasp, causing him to shoot up in the bed with a slender hand shooting up to clutch his stomach in pain. His thick black hair stuck to his face and neck from how much he was sweating, and his skin was ghostly pale, the only part of him with color was the now red and purple rings under his eyes that made him look like something off of The Walking Dead. The wolf scrambled to his feet so quickly he nearly tripped on the corner of the blanket that once help him prisoner, and made a mad dash towards the bathroom that was thankfully as close as it could have been with a hand cupped over his mouth. The sound of intense vomiting slipped past the crack under the door, before Remi took a shaky breath and wiped his mouth and nose with the back of his hand before clearing his throat. Once he was able to recover, he braced himself with both hands against the sink as he looked at himself in the mirror, his face nearly 2 inches from the mirror just to try and focus on seeing through the stream of tears that filled his eyes. “Ugh..” he muttered under his breath, his stomach once again doing an acrobatic act. However, this time he was able to force it back down, crouching in front of the sink to rest his forehead against the cool sink. What a time to have to go through full blown withdrawals.. but that was just his luck. If he could just piece his thoughts together enough to remember what happened yesterday, or even where he was,  or how he could find any china white wherever he was.. shit, he’d even take the black shit at this point. Anything to stop the extreme discomfort he was experiencing throughout his whole body.

Kezzi: Falling asleep harder than he had in a long time, the safety of someone else being there in the bus, comforting him through the usual nightmares he had. It was pure blackness through the night and god, it was bliss. And then a flash, a scene of his lips pressed tight against the stranger of last night’s encounter. The strong hand tight against his throat, as his head slammed back into the wall. “Hng~” he mumbled out loud, when suddenly the sounds of Remi slamming himself into the bathroom and vomiting, woke the sensitive cat from his relatively sensitive dream. “Wha?!” He looked around confused for a moment, realizing at some point his tank top had come off in the night leaving his chest bare to the morning air, forgetting he was in the guest bed. Reality shook him as he realized he was awake, at home, with a stray hanging out in his bus. Not a problem, though the vomiting was concerning…but didn’t exactly shock Levi. The leopard had spent quite the time or two around, addicts. He’d seen the man’s arms last night, and without any judgment he knew of a way to help, but not cure. Levi had spent a lot of time in Slab City, picked up quite a few useful herbal tricks, recipes and medicinals to help himself or others. What a better time than now to use some of those things. He unscrambled himself from the blankets and got out of bed, he allowed Remi to have a moment to himself while he scrambled through his medicine cabinet. “Here it is…” whispering to himself, he found a small tincture bottle that read “asafetida extract”. He set it down on the counter, and began to make up some breakfast while he waited. Grabbing a smaller cast iron than last night’s, then the small basket of eggs out of his fridge, he began to fry some up over his “stove”. As he let those cook he seasoned them with fresh chives, garlic and home ground onion powder.

Geezy: It took Remi a very long time to feel comfortable enough to stand upon baby deer legs, but he finally was able to stand up 3/4ths of the way to splash cold water in his face before he was able to center himself. He remembered everything that transpired the night before, and where he was in that moment, and he just hoped the other wasn’t awake from the commotion that he had once again caused. He winced at another sharp pain in his stomach, but swallowed it to finally exit the bathroom looking like a ghost, still partially hunched over. When he made eye contact with the other who was clearly up now, an embarrassed flush washed over his face. “Hey, I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t wake you up, did i?” He asked, already aware of the answer but hoping to hear something different anyway. “I uh.. I guess the stress just all caught up to me.” He smiled without his eyes, a clear sign he was lying through his teeth. “I made sure to clean up the bathroom though, don’t worry.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his now dull green eyes locked on the floor. “And I swear, I’m not sick or anything.” Remi added quickly, trying to over explain away the situation so the other wouldn’t be upset. He needed the human interaction more than he was willing to admit to himself, and he wasn’t ready to go back to his garbage heap of a van. For some reason, his heart felt complete when he was around the smaller male, and he had given up chasing that feeling decades prior.

Kezzi: Looking over his shoulder from cooking breakfast and flashed Remi a sweet smile off his freckled face. “Good morning!” He wiggled his hips back and forth. “I’m making eggs! Also! I brought out some of my Asa extract, it helps with opioid withdrawals, specifically…” Levi spoke without any reservation or judgement. Quickly he was plating each omelet on two different plates and then fully turned to look at Remi, handing him a plate. “Look, I don’t care what you do, why you do, I can help with some discomforts and other things, but the way this friendship is gonna work and last, is you gotta give me honesty, deal? I know it’s a lot to ask of a stranger but, I promise I won’t ever judge you….and I’ll always give it back as well, starting with what the hell do I call you!? I very well can’t introduce you as “this is my friend…stranger mc idk his name pants”! So let’s start there,” hands on his hips in a mocking fashion, crossing his eyes cartoonishly, he giggled nudging the tall man with his slender hip. The sun shining through the curtains and it illuminated Levi’s pale, freckled skin. “I suggest taking the extract, smoking one of the jays in…” pointing to the small wooden box next to the bed “that box, and eating breakfast first..then go out and get whatever you need to, I have to do some harvesting and clearly….” He paused looking down at the small sink, busting full of dishes. “Dishes…all I ask, is you don’t do it in front of me and you don’t become useless…you can’t rotate my tires if you’re passing out in the gravel,” he broke the edge with a bit of laughter.

Geezy: Shocked that the other knew enough to be able to easily see through his façade, the wolf was left with a slightly confused look on his face, but he gratefully accepted the plate from the other’s thin fingers. The omelet's scent swirled seductively into the air, and he couldn’t help but take a deep breath in through his nose with thankful smile. “Oh, yeah.” It hadn’t even dawned on the big male that he spent all night last night with someone that he hasn’t even given his name to, but he did manage a chuckle at the thought of being introduced like that. “I’m Remington, but just Remi is fine.. I uh,.. I swear, I was being careful with it until a week ago.. Didn’t think I went so ham I’d be left with THIS.” He gestured to his entire run down body, his smile returning. Before he even attempted to sit down, he frantically cut off a bite of omelet with his fork and stuffed it into his mouth, and a soft happy sigh left him at how the others food always seemed to soothe his soul in more ways than one. He managed to swallow the bite, and wasted no time cutting off another one, still standing in the kitchen at this point. “Nah, that’s totally fair. You don’t need to be seeing that anyway.” the wolf swiped away his running nose with a wrist offhandedly cramming another bite into his mouth, and looking up at the other thoughtfully. “I’m gonna try to find a shop somewhere around here to see if I can get some stuff for Ethel… she really needs some love..” Remi laughed in an embarrassed tone, “You need anything but your tires rotated? I could get this girl lookin brand new on the inside if you’re interested.” He laughed again but this time you could tell just by the way he carried himself now that he felt at home under the hood or the chassis of a vehicle. “I swear, i know what I’m doing.” The wolf downed his whole omelette as he continued to stand, and after finishing, he looked at the plate in his hand and back at the sink full of dishes, before making eye contact with Levi. “Anything you need me to do, I got it. I refuse to be in the way.” He rubbed the back of his neck with an ashamed smile, the sentiment obviously still ingrained in the very fiber of the wolf’s being. He would NOT be an inconvenience in this amazing man’s life, if it was the last thing he did.

Kezzi: Sitting beside him on the bed together, Levi began to dig in to his own omelet as he listened to Remington speak. Smiling over at him, swallowing a bite he nodded his head. “It’s wonderful to run into you Remington….er, Remi,” he corrected himself to the shorter version of the male’s name. “Very unique, suits you,” his cheeks flushed in a light pink fashion as he gave the wolf a genuine compliment. Before nodding in agreement, “yeah I was really into Oxy’s for a while there..but truthfully I’d take anything I could get my hands on, I looked ROUGH a few years ago but….I’m 3 years sober!” He said excitedly, his soft, slightly feminine facial features changed to that of celebration for himself. “Whenever your ready you know, I can also help with that, but I know everyone’s journey is different, just know I don’t think any less of you,” he said gently placing his hand on Remi’s knee in reassurance. Trying to remain poker faced, he didn’t want to make the vibes weird, but touching the man….it was like something shocked him. He quickly brought his hand back and stood up. “Right! Ok! Take your Asa tincture, trust me, it’ll make doing things bearable, and you won’t get the sweats,” handing the small bottle to him. “You’ll still feel slightly nauseous but most of your symptoms will become subsided enough that you can function while withdrawing,”  making sure remember every detail of the medicine he had been given. He had used it back when he had a relapse and it helped him through, it isn’t a fix, but a band aid. He flicked on the sink and waited for the water to warm. “I’m going to clean the place up….I need to harvest as well as do some photos for work….” He mumbled the last bit to himself considering what kind of shoot he’d have today. “Oh! But here…”swiftly turning around to his backpack that looked like a regular snow leopard build a bear but Levi had fashioned it into a backpack. The white haired male pulled out a snow leopard printed wallet and picked a card out, handing it to Remi. “There’s a 5k limit on that, pin is 2244, get as much as you want for Ethel, I know /I/ certainly look small and stupid, but I actually built this baby from ground up by myself…I can easily help you build yours to standard!” The trusting leopard prattled on. “I do have a business proposition but, we can discuss it more when you get back, I gotta consider logistics….” He contemplated to himself, snapping out he turned around and grabbed a joint from his box and handing that to Remi as well. “Smoke this while you’re out too, either asap or whenever you feel too nauseous,” blue eyes scanning the small bus he then realized his water was hot and began to skitter his way to washing the dishes. “I’ll be here waiting for your return ever so patiently,” turning to give the taller a cheeky grin followed with a wink.

Geezy: A feeling of slight guilt washed over him and the wolf ran his long fingers through his hair. 3 years clean? He hadn’t had 3 years clean since he was 11 years old. A quick flash of a memory of his mother standing over his small body after he had be rocked in the jaw by the man she was dating at the time. She offered him two oval shaped white pills. “For the pain” she had said to him. And from that moment, the rest of his life was a downward spiral. He shook his head to dismiss the flashback, and he smiled softly at Levi as he returned to earth. “That’s amazing for you. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” Remi was a little taken aback at the card being handed to him, still utterly amazed that this small, unthreatening male trusted him so much, but he cautiously took it and slid the card into the wallet he fished from his pocket. Remi’s long arms stretched across Levi to grab the tincture from beside him, opening the bottle and squirting the brown liquid under his tongue, before making a face and swallowing. “Ugh.” His tongue stuck out of his mouth slightly. Returning the dropper to the bottle and screwing on the cap, he replaced the bottle where it came from, and took the joint from Levi between his two fingers. “Thank you.. For everything.” His green eyes glowed softly as they locked with the other’s for a second, and some color painted his cheeks. Embarrassed, the man quickly stood up again, running fumbling fingers through his hair again. “Alright, I’ll be back shortly, as long as Ethel behaves.” Remi laughed once more, and waved a hand behind him as he exited the vehicle, the cool air shocking his lungs as he stepped out, causing him to cough a bit. Damn, it was so fucking bright. As he slightly stumbled towards the run down van, his eyes slowly began to adjust to the light, and he noticed a group of truckers by the building that Remi had approached the night before. The man he had a run in with was among them, and upon seeing Remi’s large frame approaching them, he was quick to exit. “Hey.” Remi barked in a harsh voice as he came closer to the rest of the group of men. “You guys know where a guy could get some H in these trying times?” “Uh, yeah.. I got some black in my truck if you’re trying to buy some?” A short, stout man piped up, and Remi got a scary smile across his lips as he fished out his wallet and two crumpled up $20 bills. “That’ll do.” The two walked towards a large blue rig cab that was parked off to the side behind the building, and upon their return, Remi stuffed the corner of a plastic bag filled with what looked like weed resin that reeked of vinegar, into his pocket, and shuffled to his rusty “white” van, where he opened the drivers side door and slid into the ripped fabric of the seat. His nerves were now calmed with his fix in his pocket, and for one, Ethel managed to start up with just one crank of the key. “WOOOOO” the wolf howled happily in the drivers seat.

Kezzi: Levi was busy cleaning away, scrubbing and slipping water all over himself, when he realized “oh no!” He quickly grabbed a pen and paper, scrawled down his number in perfect writing, tho rushed, and then sprinted outside the second he heard the van roar to life. It was impressive to anyone that saw, how fast Levi could run. His long legs carried him across the lot in seconds, huffing softly he knocked on Remi’s window, and when the wolf opened it, surprised to see him, he stuck the paper through the window and into Remi’s hands. “This….” He huffed catching his breath, swallowing and shaking his hair about. “This is my number…INCASE you do break down, or something happens,” his face slightly worried, but melting into that of hopeful and thoughtful. “Drive safely,” the remark small, but incredibly genuine as he quickly made his way back to the bus, being cat whistled and “hooted” at by the truckers as he scampered into his house. “Stupid men…” he muttered, shaking it all off in one quick dance he looked around for his phone, then started playing Jeris Johnson music. As that played he swung his hips, side to side, scrubbing and washing the kitchen from sink, to counter, to hot plates to the whole 9. Lost in his motivated space, he continued to dance and sing along to his favorite tunes. “Sparkling!” He said clapping his hands together at the wonderful progress he had made in his once messy home. “Much better,” he sighed before smelling himself over. “I should shower before work…would be a good idea,” his nose twitched with distaste. Setting the shower up, with his outfit for the day and towel close by, he decided to quickly hit the dab before bathing. Sliding the glass crystal cluster shaped bong out from one of his secured cabinets, along with tools and star of the show, some diamonds. His eyes lit up looking at the delicious sauce, heating his nail up with a light blue blow torch. “Oooo kitty missed you ~” moaning like a strange individual would upon being greeted with someone unalive. Using a long thin metal tool, he scooped some of the delicious treat up in a decent chunk, and then he was set for suicide. Sucking the melting dab out of the chamber, he could already feel his brain coming to a halt, like someone was wringing it out to dry. He sucked the last bit of smoke out and once it came gusting out of his lungs, he found himself in an aggressive coughing fiesta. “Oh…” cough “my fuCK…” cough “inG gawd…” cough, cough, hack, hiccup, inhale. Levi managed to settle himself within a few seconds, standing up to grab himself some water. The bus felt so much hotter now…OH HIS SHOWER! “I need an herbal remedy for my god damn attention span,” giggling out loud to himself, he undressed and hopped into the hot water.

Geezy: Remi’s heart almost beat out of his chest at the sound of the other knocking on his window, but he quickly swallowed it and smirked as he took the piece of paper from the others outstretched hand. “Thanks, I’ll shoot you a text right now so have my number too, y’know.. just in case..” the wolf’s smirk intensified, and his eyes twinkled in the sunlight of the day pouring in his open window. Grabbing his phone from the beat up backpack behind him, he was thankful to see it was still charged, and typed a quick “Hey, it’s Remi.” before entering the number into his contacts. He waited, watching until the other had completely gone back inside the rv, not able to help himself staring at the others tight ass. He shook his head quickly to dismiss the thoughts that now clouded his brain about his new friend, running his fingers through his hair, and grabbing the aux cord that dangled lazily off of the dirty dashboard of the van. This van may not have been the most reliable or clean, but at least the stereo system was the most functional thing in it. The wolf’s large fingers snapped the cord into his phone while he searched the gps for the closest auto shop, and soon the volume of “Won’t Let This Go” by Fats’e nearly shook the empty metal van. Yet, still somehow, Remi’s voice could still be heard clearly in the background, and he banged the beat of the song on the steering wheel. “Now I’m back on my bullshit! No more sentimental things! I have to make noise!” He sang happily as he pulled out, the color completely to his skin and in a better mood than he had been in maybe his whole life. Maybe that was the tincture Levi made him take? He didn’t know, but he wasn’t about to question it. Remi continued to sing along to his favorite songs on the way to the auto shop, before pulling up and squeezing his large body out of the back door. It was extremely rare for him to ever get parts at a real shop; one’s that were still shiny and smelled like the varnish of the factory that produced them, and not something that was scavenged and rusty beyond belief and smelled like burnt oil and various other car fumes. As he pushed open the front door to the business, a little bell rang above the door that startled him, but he couldn’t help the ‘kid in a candy shop’ look on his normally sullen face as he looked around at the shelves upon shelves of different car items. The older man behind the counter must have felt like an ant compared to Remington, who couldn’t have stood at more than 4’10 with facing white hair. “Can I help you sir?” The man asked carefully. Remi’s face changed as he heard the strange man’s voice, his defensive wall once again back up. “Uh, yeah. I need 8 spark plugs, an oil filter, camshaft intake rod, inlet manifold head, and a 358 cover for the crankcase for a G3500 5.7 liter V8 engine.” He stated matter of factly to the man, who looked at the wolf with confusion. “Uh,… um…” he stuttered, typing the first thing Remi had mentioned into the computer with shaky, wrinkled fingers, and his incompetence quickly made the wolf’s blood boil under his skin. “I got it.” He finally hissed, pushing past the man to the back to pull the items he needed, which he found quickly and slammed on the counter in front of the man. “These.” Remi barked loudly, pulling out his wallet from his pocket.

Kezzi: Levi stepped out of the shower, dried himself off, and started getting dressed in what seemed to be a green lace thong and marijuana leaf pasties over his taut pink nipples. Now began the most frustrating part of his job, tying himself up. He made his way over to his bed, set up his camera and then started tying dark green rope around his upper thighs to his ankles, putting him in a forced, leg spread position. Wobbling around his bed he yanked a black ball gag from the depths of the crack on the side of his bed, out. “There you are,” he giggled wrapping it around his face, the ball placing gently inside his mouth, drool starting to already collect. Setting up his video to photo converting app, he started doing his thing. First he posed with his hands behind his back, missionary, legs spread, facial expression helpless as drool trickled down the sides of his mouth. Slowly moving positions to a behind view of his ass, looking behind him with sultry eyes. He continued like this, switching positions, angles, for a while. Satisfied with the photo portion of his job, he took the ball gag out and swiftly untied himself. “Perfect,” he said standing up and slipping a sapphire blue silk robe over his lewd body. While on his phone, he noticed the text he received from Remi earlier, sending a quick one back. “Sorry! Just finished up photos. Here’s my texty text back!” Regretting it the second he sent it. “Oh my god Levi, texty text? Are you 10??” He sighed inwardly at himself. He was gonna blame it on the weed he smoked instead of the fact he really was starting to develop a little crush on the wolf. “Focus,” he grumbled out loud to himself, starting to go through his photos, add filters and crop. Once he had a good set of 12, he made his way over to the Onlyfans website and started uploading.

“Hey Filthy Fucks! Your favorite virgin here, decided to practice my Shibari skills. What do you all think? 😉 send a tip, receive a tip!” Post. Sighing deeply he knew he had to do something big as he posted teasers and censored pics to his twitter account. His niche was twink virgin boy, and often he received the strangest requests, mostly people wanted to see him get fucked, hard, dirty, violently. Levi wasn’t against it, but he’d never done a collab let alone actually have someone inside him. Sure he’d given the occasional handjob, blow job, truck stop dry hump, but he had never legitimately, had penetrative sex. He knew with an insane video of losing his V card he could rack in several hundred more subs. He considered asking Remi, but could he ask that of someone he just met? More importantly, could Levi actually give it away to someone? He always imagined it being with someone he was in love with. However, he really couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try, it would influx a whole hell of a lot more money. He’d approach his new friend on it later, til then he had time to figure out how the hell he could casually ask someone “hey will you take ownership of my holes for money?” Finishing up replying to fans, and comments, he got up, slid his robe down, kept the thong on, threw on a white t-shirt, and some dark green overalls. “Let’s go get some greens!” He threw his fist in the air, sliding on his favorite pair of crocs, and made his way to the roof, where he had a large garden bed tailored to the top of his bus. There were several things sticking out, more importantly, labels. Sliding on his garden gloves he got down and dirty to retrieve his most precious valuables.

Geezy: The small man jumped, quickly moving the items away from the wolf’s side of the counter, and closer to him to ring up the barcodes. Finally he peeped, “That’ll be $388 for you sir..” Three hundred and eighty eight dollars for some parts that would cost $30 from a scrap yard? Damn. He really needed to figure out where one of those were sometime soon.. Grumbling under his breath, he pulled Levi’s card from his wallet and swiped it on the pad next to him. He had to pause for a moment to think when it prompted him for the PIN, but he was able to search his mind for the answer Levi had given him earlier, and the cashier handed him the bag afterward. “Have a good day sir..” he almost whispered, and Remi turned on his heels and was out the door in one swift motion. God, why were people so infuriating? The wolf continued to grumble to himself as he got to his van, and his large, suddenly shaky hands brushed past the lump in the plastic bag that was tucked in the back corner of his pocket. He exhaled slowly, before grabbing his beat up backpack from behind him. “I’ll just smoke a little bit of this to tide me over until I can take a proper hit..” the man mumbled as he pulled out a small tin Altoids container, and slid through the front seats to the back of the windowless van where he sat again on the wheel well. The tin clicked open in his fingers, the small white straw inside rattling against the lighter quietly as his hands shook. Reaching for the black fabric backpack again, he managed to grab hold of a roll of foil that he had tucked inside. Still inside the bag, he quickly ripped off a large enough sheet of foil to do the job and brought it back to his lip to straighten out a bit. Thankfully, he had parked his van far enough away from the entrance that he wasn’t worried that anyone would look in the front window, especially in such a town off the beaten path. Making a small dip in the foil, he fished the baggie from his pocket and unfolded it, the vinegar smell filling his sinuses making him wince back for a moment. Large trembling fingers broke off a small chunk of the brown substance, and placed it into the center of the foil where the dip was before putting the white straw to his lips and picking up the black metal zippo with a skull and crossbones on it from the kit. ‘Ironic,’ he had thought when he included it in the kit. With the hand containing the zippo, a quick flick of a slender wrist and the wick was set ablaze, and placed just under the lump on the foil. Remi then hovered over the foil with the straw in his mouth, patient waiting until the smoke started the pour from the weird lump. The scent burned the wolf’s sensitive nose, and the bridge of his nose wrinkled in disgust but he took no time inhaling the foul smoke through the straw between his lips. The smoke tasted horrible, but the crash of extreme euphoria flooded his system instantly as it was processed by his lungs. He blew out the hit slowly, before returning to take another very long drag. After continuing about four or five hits when his eyes were ready to roll back in his head, he leaned back against the wall with a loud, satisfied sigh. His body felt light, every ounce of pain he once had in his bones vanishing and his head felt floaty. The large male sat like this for a few minutes, enjoying the rolling pleasure throughout every cell in his body and taking slow, meaningful breaths that reached deep in his chest. He would do anything to feel like this at all times of the day, but that was the problem. After nearly 20 minutes of his back pressed against the worn out metal of the van, he was finally able to float back down to earth and all of his energy and strength had returned to him. The foil was crammed into the bottom of the smallest pocket in his bag, and the straw and zippo replaced into the kit, and into the bag as well.  “Well, I supposed I should probably head back. I gotta rotate those tires before it gets dark.” He said to himself, before sliding back into the drivers seat of the van.

Kezzi: Levi plucked, 7 green onions, 8 potatoes, 4 tomatoes, 3 yellow onions, some basil, ginger, and 2 zucchini’s. “Abundance!” Levi shouted, holding his treasures to the sky in a wicker basket. He climbed down the roof and made his way inside. Putting all his produce away he decided to get out of his gardening clothes and into something cooler, those overalls had him work up a sweat. “Phew…” he fanned himself with his hands, standing in his bus in nothing but a thong. “What to wear…” he muttered before pulling out a pair of light blue cloth shorts that stopped a several inches above his knee, the bottom of his cheeks stickin’ out of the shorts, thong slightly peeping out from the top, the strings clinging to his thin slender hips. After that he put on a white crop top tank that was on the flowy-er side. Sliding on his crocs he decided he was gonna relax now, maybe get some sun. Grabbing another joint, and his vape he went outside and into the back storage compartments he pulled out a folded up lounge chair. Coming undone, he laid it out in the sun, his back against the chair, he sparked up the joint, took a few drags and then put it out, saving the rest for later. Levi then laid back fully, hitting his vape every so often, stretching his long legs out to bask in the heat of the day, he knew it would be getting dark soon, hopefully Remi was okay? He pulled his cell out and checked his phone to make sure he hadn’t missed any emergencies. No calls or texts…..then he’s probably fine and on his way back soon. Shrugging off the concern as he laid back, closed his eyes and enjoyed the full warmth against exposed his pieces of flesh.

Geezy: Adjusting his large body into the ripped drivers seat, the wolf felt as if he was just brought back from the dead, a huge grin plastered across his face. He was actually excited to go back to the smaller male, his heart pumping loudly in his chest as he thought about the white haired man, but it wasn’t as easily explained as the drugs he just smoked. Finally digging his small key ring from his pocket, Remi jammed them into the ignition and turned, the old van once again roaring to life with the first twist of the key. “There ya go girl, you’re getting it.” He chimed, patting the dashboard again as he spoke to the vehicle. He wasted no time plugging his phone in to the aux again, now suddenly filled with life after his fix, his green eyes glowing so brightly that they fought the backlight of his screen as he threw on a Sewerperson song, and set the gps back to where Levi was. “Would you like to set this destination as home?” his phone asked, and he quickly turned bright red, fumbling to change the prompt on the screen. “I dunno about ‘Home’, but he definitely is something, huh?” A genuine smile spread across his lips as he shifted the van into drive and easily found his way back to the rest stop where Levi was waiting for him. The van crunched across the gravel, a comforting sound now to the wolf, and he carefully parked the old vehicle next to the other’s magnificent one, before turning to grab the bag from the auto shop, and his backpack, and sliding onto the ground and slamming the metal door behind him. Remi sighed loudly in relief; he was so thankful to be back. A muscular arm was brought up slowly to knock on the wooden “front door” of Levi’s RV, his mind racing just being able to smell the other’s scent wafting through the door jam.

Kezzi: The leopard, sprawled out in the sun on the hidden side of where Remi returned, his senses were never on vacation as the sounds of the van, scents of the man and knock of his door was heard from where he laid. “I’m out here! The door’s unlocked if you need to go inside tho!” He shouted out to his new friend, feeling the excitement of butterflies doing backflips in the pit of his stomach. To his surprise he was practically wagging his butt at Remi’s return. Trying to remain cool though, he slowly sat up, turned his legs over and stood up from the lounge. “How was the trip? Good?” He asked approaching the long black haired man now. He noticed a certain glow to his eyes this time around, like someone slapped him with fairy dust. He must’ve gotten a fix…man…he missed that feeling. Shaking the internal fight off he stood just inches from Remi now by the front “door” of his bus. “I was able to get some work done, cleaned and harvested some produce from the garden!” Updating the man as if they’d known each other for years and regularly caught up on their days.

Geezy: Turning quickly at the others reply, he nearly floated over to where the smaller man now stood, his scent almost as intoxicating as the H in his system. “Yeah, it was cool! Amazing what kind of auto shop they have in a place so small and seemly under populated. But then again, I haven’t really been to that many.” Remi chuckled, running his fingers back through his hair. “Ah, and this is yours!” The man quickly produced Levi’s card, placing it into the others palms, and his fingertips brushed the leopards skin in the process. The graze sent lightning bolts through his system which only made his eyes glow brighter. “I was able to get the stuff I needed with minor inconveniences from the old man at the counter.” Remi held up the large auto shop bag almost like proof. “But that’s awesome! Can’t wait to taste whatever you make with all of that..” Just thinking about the tantalizing food that Levi always made for him already caused his mouth to over salivate. “I just hope you didn’t have too much to do because of me? Next time I’ll be here to help you, promise.” The wolf held up two fingers in a ‘boyscouts honor’ type of way with a large grin. “But I can still rotate your tires today before it gets dark if you’d like? I can be super quick~” he chimed, the good mood he was in suddenly radiating off of him like an atomic bomb. His white teeth twinkled in the lingering sunlight, and even his thick black hair didn’t look so dull.

Kezzi: Levi found himself struggling to not throw his arms around the man, he was so giddy to be in the same space as him, noticing the way his eyes shined against the sun that threatened to go down within the next 3 1/2 hours. Still unable to place a label or name to this very new and exciting feeling. “We should check out the shopping center some time if you liked that! They have some amazing antique and secondhand shops,” Levi babbled as he listened to the rest of Remi’s words. “Excellent! I’m glad you found some bare minimum stuff! Once we fix all that we can figure out from there what we need to make it habitable,” clapping his hands together bouncing up and down off his tip toes. When the man handed him the card back, Levi’s face, without his consent or concern, turned light pink as their fingers touched ever so gently. Blinking a couple times to bring him back, he psh-ed at the wolf. “I did about as much work as I usually do in a day! No worries, but yes if you could rotate those, I’ll cook dinner out here, do you like beef stew?” He questioned Remi with a raised eyebrow, hands on his thin hips, exposed and decorated still by his thong.

Geezy: Excitement swirled around the wolf’s body at the offer, the smile plastered on his face only getting wider at the thought of spending time together with the other male. “Yeah we should totally check it out sometime!” Remi snorted happily, his mouth starting to salivate at the thought of Levi’s cooking. “Honestly, I don’t think I could hate anything you put on my plate.” The wolf rubbed his neck, a little embarrassed over his insatiable appetite lately. “no problem, I’ll get started now!” With a quick turn, he jogged back to the van, popping the back door again to fumble with a plastic tool box that had “Remi waz here” scratched into the plastic, clearly done by a child. He fished out the collapsible hydraulic jack, before closing the box and latching it, and carrying the whole thing back towards the other. His muscles in his arms and chest flexed tightly against the strain of the heavy box, but he set it on the ground by the rv, before smiling up at Levi. “This girl is all wheel drive, right?” The wolf asked, leaning down to run a thumb up the treading of the back tire, leaving a dark black mark on his skin. Opening the toolbox next to him, he pulled out a socket wrench, and one socket attachment that he placed onto the lug nut, testing the size, just to replace it and try another. When that one fit, he snapped it into the socket wrench and stood up again.  “Oh, and sorry to be so forward, but I can’t get this shirt musty..” a deep laugh echoed in his chest, before Remi’s arms crossed in front of him, gripping the hem of the Guardin shirt Levi had given him, and pulling it swiftly over his head. Every muscle in the man’s body was well defined, and his skin just seemed to slide across them in a fluid motion, almost as if he were chiseled out of marble by the gods themselves. Remi pushed his hair back with his long fingers, a motion that was clearly a habit by this point in his life, but this time he slid an old hair tie loosely into a bun on the back of his head. While he put his hair up, the thumb that he had slid across the rubber of the tire grazed his cheek, a dark black smudge now accenting the man’s features. “I’ll have it done before you can even think about it, trust me.” He winked at the leopard, his white teeth glinting with his grin.

Kezzi: Wiggling his body side to side with overstimulating excitement that his offer was accepted. “Awesome! We can go in a couple days after we have fixed up Ethel’s bones!” Light blue eyes lighting up hearing the other compliment his cooking. He never got to cook for anyone, so it was amazing to share his skills with somebody else. “Well, good! I’ll get started,” unable to keep the smile off his face, Levi went inside the bus to gather the supplies and produce he would need for dinner. He also grabbed two beers out of the fridge. The second Levi’s foot hit the ground outside, he was faced with Remi’s comment right before the show started. Frozen in place, hoping internally it wasn’t too obvious, he just stood there. ‘My….god….’ He thought as couldn’t help but look Remi up and down, slowly biting his lower lip as his eyes met the hands in his hair that fashioned the strands into a bun. Clearing his throat, and swiftly avoiding eye contact he approached the wolf, handing him the beer, face beat red. “I- uh…I brought you something to drink….y-yeah all wheel!” Stating the last part sheepishly, exchanging beer for shirt, like lightening, Levi was out of view, tossing the shirt inside the bus, it landed on the couch inside, the one that once was Levi’s bed. Then he was behind the bus where his fire pit was located. ‘Focus on cooking Levi…not the beef cake rotating your tires….’ He cracked open the beer, and tossed half the liquid down his throat before setting it down on one of his foldable tables outside. “Okay let’s get cookin!” He set up his fire within seconds, it was second nature to him by now. He was also taking his time to cut up his produce and herbs to be ready for cooking. After the fire was roaring and ready, Levi stacked what looked like a very tall grill tray, over the flames. “Wire rack down…” he said happily, he turned around and grabbed his large pot placing it up on the hot grill. Inside he tossed his beef and onions, pushing them back and forth until they started to brown. Once perfectly cooked, in went his red wine and homemade beef broth, the pot sizzled loudly, smoke floating above the cooking food, Levi sighed “mmmm,” once that was ready, the leopard threw in some fresh minced garlic, salt, pepper, some oil, potatoes, green onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste and some fresh rosemary. Stirring that all together he let it marry while he took another gulp of his beer. “Oh man that’s refreshing,” he sighed sweetly, looking up at the sky and allowing the sunshine to grace his pale skin. He could tell it was going to set soon. Grabbing a second rack, he lifted the pot off the first one using some oven mits. Stacking the second rack on top, he replaced the pot again putting a lid on top this time. This would make his fire setting from high to medium heat. The perfect temp for his food to stew in. He had about an hour before it was to be finished, so he walked back into the bus smiling at the working Remi when he did so, chugged the rest of his beer, tossed it and grabbed a second from the fridge along with a joint from his stash. Walking out again, joint in his mouth, though finding it difficult to face the man he still did, even if his cheeks were rose colored. “Food will be ready in about an hour or so…how’s it going over here?” He asked cracking open his second beer, but setting it down to light the joint, inhaling deeply “Smoke?“ he said, slightly suffocated, exhaling a cloud as he handed the jay to the other.

Geezy: Remi could smell something….. different… about the leopard when he came out of the RV, all of his senses on overdrive as he quietly sniffed the air. Completely unaware of how thirsty he was, he took the beer thankfully from the others waiting hands, pulling a lighter out of his pocket and popping the cap. “Thanks!” He replied cheerfully, before tossing back the entire beer in one swift chug, a small stream that happened to miss his large mouth dripping down his chin and splashing against his bare chest. Once the beer was finished, he pulled the bottle from his lips with a satisfied gasp, tossing the empty bottle into the bin from where he stood, the bottle crashing inside gracefully. The wolf was like a completely different person when he had the necessary drugs in his system, but there was something about the tingling he felt in every muscle fiber of his body that wasn’t his usual post-fix glow. Without wasting too much more time, Remi started on the tires, lifting the first corner of the extremely heavy RV to reveal the tire enough for him to unscrew the lug nuts, and pop the rim off of the axel. He stood again to retrieve the donut, momentarily sliding it into place where the other tire was. He rolled the tire he removed to the back of the rv, across from the original position, before returning to slowly lower the vehicle to the ground again. As he worked, sweat beaded down his shoulders and back, but his face was constantly locked in a determined scowl, his brow furrowed in concentration. He continued to rotate the remaining tires in an X pattern, being sure to check over each tire’s tread to make sure the metal threads on the inside of the rubber weren’t showing before he replaced them. If there was one thing Remi was, it was thorough. Soon, he was back to the first tire he took off where the donut now stood, his knee pressed up against the tire from the back to steady it. When Levi came towards him, finally it broke him from his intense trance, his bright eyes lighting up at the pink color dusting the leopards cheeks. “Hey! Just one more tire and she’s all done!” He grinned so wide that he had to close his eyes as he smiled, very proud to finally be able to do something for the other that was helpful instead of causing more work. “That sounds amazing, thanks.” He stood up, dirt and various car liquids stained his tanned skin, and somehow the messy bun he put his hair in had become looser and barely contained his thick mane any longer. Reaching for the joint, he stopped half way, suddenly aware of his fingertips being completely black and grimy. The wolf smiled sheepishly, before taking his hand back. “Could you put it to my mouth? I’ll get that thing disgusting…” The laugh that came from him was warm and inviting, and he instinctively crouched ever so slightly to be at eye height with the smaller man so he wouldn’t have to reach so far.

Kezzi: Levi wanted nothing more than to stick his head into the sand like an Ostrich, never to be seen again. It was incredibly hard for him to maintain composure around someone he found so attractive…he imagined dirty, blackened fingers scrawling filthy words against his stomach…face…he shook his head coming back to reality as he heard the other’s request. “Oh! S-sure!” He stammered a bit as the Adonis crouched closer to him. Slowly Levi lifted his joint holding fingers, to that of Remi’s soft enchanting lips. He stared at them. Long and hard. He started to picture the many places he would like them to be….he felt it in his shorts. ‘Jesus Christ Levi! Think of something not sexy…..your food burning and Remi being absolutely pissed….then hate fuckin the absolu-…NOT HELPING!! No…uh…sad things… grandma Orla’s funeral…grandma Orla’s funeral…oh no…too sad…Levi’s face stayed completely stoic, the only thing that could possibly give away his lewd thoughts, was the very real blush spread across his face, unknown to the leopard. He watched as Remi inhaled slowly, their eyes connected in that moment, almost like time stopped. ‘How the hell have you turned into a prepubescent teen in 24 hours?’ His internal monologue scolded him. Levi was always headstrong, independent, don’t need no man type. Generally, though he was a homosexual male, he hated majority of men. But Jesus Christ, this one was turning a small hold into a vice tight grip he didn’t think he would ever be able to escape. Pulling back his fingers and taking another hit himself he needed a reason to get 5 seconds of alone time to regulate his hormones. “Here, I’ll grab you another brew,” he nodded, turning on his heels, biting his lip and rolling his eyes back, unseen by the wolf. ‘This man is too fine right now..’ making his way back into the bus, he took a second to splash some cold water over his face in the kitchen sink. “You can do this…don’t make shit weird…no one will ever be interested in you for more than your body,” he repeated the words out loud to himself, words of his late mother to him after he had come out to her, a year before her death. He let that sink in, turned the water off, snagged a beer and returned outside a much more composed cat. “There’s a brownish towel inside the closet by the bed, it’s my mechanic towel,” he laughed handing Remi the freshly cool beverage, grabbing his own he had put down earlier. “I use that to wipe off any crude…you’re also free to shower again,” making sure to out lay all the options. “I’m gonna go check on the stew!” Chirping happily he went back to the site of the fire, lifted the lid and checked on their meal. Sniffing it deeply he groaned. “This is gonna be so good,” it was no ready for the peas, and cornstarch slurry he had prepped earlier. Mixing everything to perfection, making sure it was thick enough, he closed the lid, slipped on his oven mits and hoisting the pot off the rack, he brought it inside, setting it down on top of a heat safe mat on the kitchen counter. Levi began to grab some bowls and spoons for the two. “Soups on!” Levi yelled out, followed by a giggle-snort as he has always wanted to say that.

Geezy: As the wolf’s eyes locked his green eyes with the other’s icy blue ones, a surge of what was almost possessiveness swelled inside him, feeling the others delicate fingers gently on his lips as he took a slow drag from the jay. The deep breath he took only causing his normally large chest to increase in size, he held the breath in as the other removed his hand and Remi returned to his normal stature. He French inhaled the smoke as usual before blowing it out for a second time with a smile. “Thanks.” The wolf put a grimy hand against the tire he was supporting with his knee, uttering a few coughs. He watched the other retreat into the safety of the RV with a hunger in his eyes that could only be describes as the way a cheetah looks before it launches its body into one of an antelope; just pure, primal prey drive. As the door of the RV shut, the sound broke him from his near feeding frenzy. ‘Calm down Remi, we talked about this’ his internal monologue warned him. “You cant sleep with everyone you make friends with.. This is why you have no friends. When you INEVITABLY let your true self come out and act like an ass to them or otherwise fuck them over, they leave you with a little less of yourself than you started with.” The large man quickly dismissed this thought with a swift shake of his head, only furthering the mane of hair behind him to fall out of the bun it was in more. He sighed, fully removing the hair tie and replacing it on his wrist, he made short work of the last tire and put the toolbox and jack in his van, as well as the donut he used for the first tire. Returning to the vehicle behind Levi, the smell of the stew the leopard had made made his eyes water, and if he was in his wolf form, he would have an incessant wagging tail behind him. Remi took a deep breath through his nose, clinging to the feeling of belonging that the food always smelled like, among the perfectly paired flavors, of course. “Damn, I was going to suggest I take a shower, but I don’t know if I can wait that long for this..” He swiped the corner of his mouth with a strong, blackened hand trying to catch the drool from escaping his mouth, only leaving another dark black streak on his face. If the man was a cartoon, he would have hearts beating out of his emerald eyes as he became entranced by the stew in front of him. If it wasn’t already obvious, Remi had a one track mind, and was very quick to lose focus if certain topics were brought up.

Kezzi: Serving their meals up into their bowls he looked up at Remi, only to burst into laughter as he smeared the black mess along his face. “You don’t need to shower before dinner, but let me help you with that at least…” chuckling again, shaking his head side to side. Levi turned around to grab one of his clean kitchen rags, dampened it and then very gently, and sweetly, wiped the muck off of the wolf’s face, eyes connecting once in a quick motion before pulling his hand back slowly. “There you are, now…wash your hands and I’ll follow you, we can eat out on the chairs and watch the sunset!” praying the other would be happy with this option. It had been so long since Levi got to watch the sun set with anyone, he couldn’t genuinely tell you when he actually last did. Chugging the last of his second beer, setting it on the counter with a loud clank, the leopard definitely started to feel the loosening affects, feeling much braver, more confident now. They grabbed their steaming bowls and after washing his hands off, made their way out to see they were right on time as the sun began to slowly descend from the sky, hues of orange, purple and yellow gracing their starving faces. “Perfect! Look at that! Got everything done we needed to today, right before the setting of this glorious day that’ll turn to night,” sighing with contentment as he slunk into one of the loungers. Holding his bowl in one hand, spoon in the other he wafted the stew just under his nostrils. “Mmm,” his eyes rolled to a close, his shoulders giving a small but joyful shimmy, he scooped his first bite and slid the spoon past his lips.

Geezy: With a confused look across the large mans face, he almost physically recoiled when Levi came close to him, an instinctual reaction that he somehow managed to advert without much physical reaction except a few quick blinks. The soft touch of the leopards hands through the damp rag that wiped the muck off of his face made his knees weak for a second like when you scratch a dogs ‘spot’ and they kick their leg, but once his hand was removed, Remi smiled charmingly. “Ah, shit, was it on my face?” He laughed warmly, looking down at his completely black hands again before gliding over to the kitchen sink in one movement of his long legs, and turning on the water to scrub off the day’s work down the drain. Once finished, his green eyes sparkled at the suggestion of eating outside, and he nodded quickly. “Sure, that’s my favorite way to eat.” His sparkling white teeth glinted in his mouth again as he smiled, picking the beer he had been given from the sink and the bowl the leopard gently handed him, and following Levi outside to the chairs that were perfectly positioned towards the incoming sunset. Slinking into the chair next to Levi, the wolf couldn’t help but to stare while the other was unaware, admiring the contentment on his freckled face. His heart rate increased ever so slightly as green eyes traced the slightly feminine features of his new friends face. He was just so CUTE, and SWEET, and the wolf hadn't met anyone like him before in his life. Jolted back to reality by the leopards voice, he suddenly turned his head and gaze away to avoid detection as he replied. “Yeah, its been a pretty productive day! Been a long time for me.” He smiled, opening the beer with the metal on the side of the armchair and pocketing the cap that fell on the ground under him. Taking a long swig which emptied this beer as he did with the first, he set it on the ground before all of the wolfs one track mind was diverted to the food in front of him. He could feel the temperature of the dish through the bowl in his hands, yet continued to shove his spoon to the very bottom of the bowl and come back up with the largest bite he could fit on the spoon, a little bit of everything perched atop the metal as steam poured into the wind above it. He didn’t even have to spend any time smelling the dish, as his sensitive canine nose could already pick up every little ingredient and was about to put him into an embarrassing position if he didn’t stuff his face, like, immediately.. Remi plunged the huge bite of stew into his mouth, where his eyes quickly began to water as soon as it touched his tongue because of how hot it was. You could nearly see the steam pouring from his nose as he quickly began to chew, alternating between breathing through his teeth and through his nose to cool the hot food in his mouth. Shortly, he swallowed as quickly as possible and let out a loud, satisfied groan. “Fuck, this shit is so good.. Why are you just the best cook ever?” He smiled with the compliment. How had this dumb lug of a wolf even tasted it, between the HUGE bite, and taking his bite from the bottom of the dish, being the hottest. He easily must have melted off all of his taste buds. But Remi couldn’t help it. He had always eaten like an animal scavenging a carcass that eats so fast because it didn’t know where its next meal was coming from. Which, in a way, was Remi to a T.

Kezzi: Unaware of the ogling eyes that were on him at one point, Levi continued to delicately scoop stew into his mouth. He was very clean, very proper, Levi wasn’t one to leave a mess after eating, well mannered one could say, compared to the beast beside him. He didn’t mind it though, the way Remi messily ate and vacuumed his food, it made the leopard feel good, genuine happiness to know the man enjoyed his food so much. Taking a second away from his food to answer Remi’s question he spoke “Well, to be fair, I owe my skills to my grandmother, she taught me. I used to love watching her cook,” the younger reminisced fondly of his grandma. “I have sooooo many Irish dishes I learned from her!” His accent coming out thicker when he said the name of his native home. It was almost unnoticeable sometimes but certain words brought it out. It didn’t take the cat long to finish up his meal and when he did he patted his skinny stomach that stuck out from under his crop. “Happy tummy, happy Levi,” giggling to himself. “Think I’m gonna grab another drink, I’ll bring you another too!” Cheerfully he brought his bowl back inside, set it in the sink and then shifted his attention to the fridge. Grabbing the last Heineken out, and a tall can of modelo he had been given by a fellow camper his first day at the site. He came back handing Remi the glass and sticking the can with himself. He liked modelo and corona way more than more beers even though in his heart of hearts, he’s a white claw kind of vibe. Cracking open his can he shrugged “Figured I'd celebrate our new friendship! I really just wanna say thanks for hanging around, even though it’s only been a day, you’re …” feeling a bit brave “truly amazing to be around, Rem,” smiling fondly as he raised his can in a toast. They clinked and he began to drink a big portion of the can. Suddenly, Levi’s phone buzzes on the table that was in between them, planning to simply ignore it, before he saw it was an email from OF about a tip. “Oh?” He said out loud, quickly grabbing his phone to check. “Well I’ll be damned, johnnybro97 comes baring gifts,” he said staring at the large tip he received for his photos this morning. $150 tip. It brought a bright smile to his face as he wiggled and danced in his seat. “Ooo! I love big tippers,” he giggled looking over at the wolf now, setting the phone down.

Geezy: The wolf continued to shovel hot stew into his mouth, nodding to Levi as he spoke to acknowledge that he was listening through the loud breathing and slurping sounds as he ate. “Well she must have been a great cook to have taught you so much.” He finally replied with another charming smile after swallowing, his bowl already more than half gone by this point. Remi nodded at the leopards statement, again not able to advert his eyes from the others tight ass as he left. He had to calm the feeling that roared up inside of him quickly, or he would pounce on the smaller male when he returned, against all of his brains wishes. When the smaller man returned with the beer for him, he couldn’t help but flash that gorgeous smirk. “Thanks” he replied, popping the top off on the chair again and picking it up to join the other one in his pocket. Remi was a large man, but with the heroin already swirling through his system, the physical labor he just performed, and the lack of restful sleep the last week had left him already feeling the buzz of the previous two beers, and he took notice, however pushed on with the third, bringing it to his lips and taking another large gulp after they toasted, halving the beer already. Against his better judgement, he knew he shouldn’t let his inhibition down, or his new friend could really get hurt.. As the wolf brought the beer bottle back down, his smirk returned, the glaze of intoxication over his still bright green eyes. “Nah, nah.. The pleasure’s all mine, really. I’d be a pretty sad starving guy in a cold van without you.” Remi snorted at this thought, a very small slur to his words. As he watched the leopard interact with his phone, he tilted his head slightly to the side like a dog, perplexed by what the other had said. “Oh, you make tips at your job?” He asked, swirling the liquid in his beer can as he spoke. “I don’t think I ever asked you what you did for work?” Remi realized quickly, rubbing his neck embarrassed that he hadn't asked earlier. “Ah, unless that’s too personal.” The wolf extended both hands in front of him defensively, to diffuse any tension if it were to arise from the question.

Kezzi: “Well thank you! I guess it just means her spirit lives on through me,” smiling softly at his own sentiment. He missed his grandma O, she was his best friend, they didn’t everything together for a while, despite her reservations towards his mom and siblings. Honestly, everyone that wasn’t Levi, she was sour to, but always a sweet spot for him. The beer was making him sentimental, laughing at Remi’s comment. “Well I couldn’t have that, cold and starving? For such a handsome man? That just won’t do,” the statement followed by a short giggle that ended with a soft snort. Looking to the side embarrassed that he even made such a sound. He hated it. However, he brushed it off and watched as Remi slugged down majority of his beer. How did the wolf not ever belch after taking such long swigs, he’d never know. Taking slow, but still hefty in his own fashion, sips, he shrugged at the question. “No it’s not personal, I’m a content creator! I make…well…porn,” he said matter of factly, followed with a sheepish breathy chuckle. “I mean….I don’t do like PORN porn….well,” he tried to figure out the best way he could explain it. “I am a virgin, kind of…” he blushed brightly now, avoiding eye contact as he explained his position. “I take photos and videos of myself doing …solo things, people subscribe for a set monthly price and can send tips! I usually make $3-5k a month depending, with an extra $2-500 in tips,” less embarrassed now and a bit more proud of his income. It took him a while to build his platform to where it was currently. He had worked many jobs before but this one allowed him to do things for himself at his own pace on his own time. It gave him creative expression and freedom, he hasn’t had to rely on anyone for help since he got 5 months into his OF career, Twitter loved him, he had over 6k in followers on there, it’s essentially what helped him build his OF platform to what it is now. Levi felt confident in what he did but suddenly telling this very handsome man, made him feel very…shy? No…submissive….? He brought his hands together in a fist, setting them in his lap, thumbs twiddling back and forth.

Geezy: Remi arched a sharp eyebrow, in sudden disbelief at just one of the words that seemed the flow from the leopards mouth. ‘Virgin?…’ the word seemed foreign to him, as he hadn’t had his virginity for 17 years. How old was this man he was staying with? Was he a man? Remi had only almost accidentally gone home with an underage girl once, but thankfully was avoided at the last moment, and since then he had always been careful.. But Levi didn’t look underage.. especially if he was doing porn? The wolf sat silent for a second in thought, a dazed look on his face as he tried to break down what was being told to him. When his eyes met the icy blue gaze of the other, he swiftly realized he must look a little judgmental while lost in thought and he quickly corrected himself. “Honestly, that sounds like a very empowering job.” Remi grinned again, the compliment the leopard had given him subconsciously inflating his ego a little bit. “I’m sorry, I was just stuck on the fact that you said you’re a virgin..” The wolf’s facial expression hinted at something a little more, feral, but the inflection in his words didn’t show the same. “You mean you play a virgin?” He asked quizzically, taking another final bite of his stew on his lap. The sweat on Remi’s bare chest caught the light of the passing sunset, enunciating every line of the muscles that stretched across his torso. He knew just how attractive he was, and he also knew just how to flaunt it in his the right ways, making it seem natural. He grabbed the beer bottle from where it sat on the ground by his feet, and took another long drink. Upon hearing the leopards income though, he almost did a spit take, coughing and sputtering on the beer in his lungs. After quickly recovering, he swiped the back of his hand across his mouth before turning back to the other. “Damn, you make HOW much?” Remi had never even seen that amount of money in his 28 years of life. “Shit, if I had a card I would definitely be added to your list of followers.” Remi mumbled seductively, his sense of self preservation slowly fading with more and more alcohol in his stomach.

Kezzi: This time, Levi’s face turned redder than it ever had at the questions he received, but more so the slight, flirtation behind his curiosity, Levi could practically smell it, however he still was unsure of the other he couldn’t just assume. It’s unlikely that the man was gay, right? I mean….the hottest ones never seem to be, in Levi’s case. The “ocean full of fish” was more like a polluted ocean full of hybrid salt water piranhas, scary world to be apart of. He didn’t feel judged, but he certainly felt under the microscope, kind of like a mouse caught in the corner by a playful cat….he wasn’t used to that. It was always the other way around for him usually. Clearing his throat he nodded “You heard me right, virgin…27 years old and I’ve never had someone in me,” he laughed trying to make a joke out of it. “Honestly, never met anyone before that I wanted to…” choosing his words carefully, as he didn’t want to say one’s that would make Remi feel down for the count. He very much wanted that man inside him. However, he was playing it cool, calm, collected, though he was starting to feel very drunk after finishing his tall can in a few swigs. Feeling validated by Remi’s kindness he smiled, sweetly “It is! It’s actually so amazing being your own boss!” sighing with relief at the fact he’d never have to return to the boring parts of the work force again. He looked Remi up and down, sitting on the lounge chair across from him, as he took the last drink of his own, the way the sunset glistened against Remi’s skin, it made his whole body feel warm, and tingly, almost feeling self conscious at how absolutely toned he was, Levi wasn’t unfit, but he wasn’t muscly like a lot of guys were, which made him insecure in some ways. People assumed because he was small he couldn’t handle anything, when the deep truth was, his pain tolerance was threw the rough and he could crack several necks if need be. Levi hated nothing more than being perceived as weak, because he would be damned if he would through all that bullshit as a kid to be called weak. He just more or less always chose passiveness, but in this moment he was feeling fully submissive, catching on to that last tag line of ‘I’d subscribe’. ‘Omg he IS flirting with me…’ almost giddy like a school girl finalizing this information inside his head. His skin felt hot, his brain felt foggy. He desperately worked to keep his words straight, and concise while the alcohol boiled through him, he figured, there wouldn’t be a better time. If he was going to dip a toe in the water, make it the whole foot “I mean…IF you were interested…we could…do a collab video, something small at first, don’t gotta dive right into the crazy stuff but, my audience has never seen me with anyone else, it would definitely get new subs, get twitter buzzing and we could split the profits, use that money to fix up Ethel!” Trying so incredibly hard to seem casual and not just flat out ask the wolf to devour him right there on the loungers. No, he was a classy lady, he would not throw himself at this man..yet.

Geezy: The wolf’s large chest swelled with pride at the proposition, his eyes almost like lasers as they glowed brightly and bore into Levi with a seductive gaze, and he couldn’t help but utter a short, guttural growl from deep in his throat. He had been fighting the beast within him for what seemed like centuries, but it seemed like the other man wanted to unleash it, and he didn’t know what he was getting himself into. Trying desperately to disguise his hot lust for the the leopard, his left hand gripped the arm of the lounger until the his large knuckles turned white. “Uh, wouldn’t that ruin your whole, virgin vibe?” The wolf asked, his heart caught in his throat as he was already ravishing Levi with his eyes. “I mean.. if it would help bring in some cash to reup on the things you’ve used for me, even, who would I be to deny your fans?” A devilish smirk flashed across his face now, the same primal ‘prey drive’ look in his eyes as his pupils even seemed to stretch out. “What would you even have in mind?” The wolf was already sold on the idea from the jump, already making a mental note of how drunk he actually was, as he knew he could do serious damage if he was too inebriated… from experience. He leaned forward towards Levi, his elbows resting on his knees and his fingers laced in front of him, his upper lip pressed against his index fingers. The wolf was suddenly aware of how tight the grey sweats Levi had give him the night before were on his hips, his whole body starting to gently tremble as many thoughts rushed through his drunk head of all the ways he could destro- err, partake in a sex tape with the man in front of him. His breath was hot in the palms of his hands and the crashing of his heartbeat in his ears was almost deafening.

Kezzi: Laughing a bit at the question he simply shrugged his shoulders. “I can’t be a virgin forever, as long as they get to witness it, It’ll be okay,” he said simply, his hands now laid out on his thighs, nervously scratching and clawing at his flesh, not hard enough to leave marks. Starting to feel the pressure of his excitement under his skin. “Well…idk we could start off with like ….dry humping and like….a blowjob? Or something…” he muttered the last bit trying not to seem too eager but also trying to assert his naughty desires. His drunk gaze calculating every move that was made by the Wolf. It was almost too obvious he was staring. Sucking his lower lip through his teeth, he gave a short, cheeky grin “Yeah? You’ll make a lot of them quite jealous,” giggling cutely, hand over his mouth, he stood up now as the sunset was quite over, the leopard swaying his hips as he made his way to the bus. He paused halfway, looked back behind his shoulder and beckoned Remi to follow him with a simple raised brow and cocked nod. “Comin?” Asking with a sultry tone to his voice.

Geezy: Time nearly stopped for the wolf now, his broad chest heaving with the heavy breaths  his lungs were exchanging. His whole body felt as if he had just done whip-its, every atom vibrating within him. The thought of the leopards soft, supple lips around his cock, his glacier eyes looking up at him innocently, it made a shiver descend down Remi’s spine. His cock twitched within the already tight sweatpants, and a surge of possessiveness flowed through him, nearly jumping from the chair as Levi asked him to join him. He normally would be able to contain himself; Mr. calm cool and collected. But this time was different. There was nothing he could do now to quiet the urges that he had to force down the past 24 hours. Crashing behind Levi and nearly knocking him over, Remi grunted at the mental force it took to not grip the leopard by the throat and just take him right on the stairs of the RV. The wolf’s pheromones were pouring into the air around him, and a large hand quickly went to steady himself on the railing of the stairs in front of him. “M’Sorry.” The man said quickly, realizing how forcefully he must have knocked into the smaller male, his excitement obvious by this point as he loomed over Levi’s thin neck, his hot breath dancing over his nape. Oh how that leopard’s scent was just intoxicating, causing his already heavy breathing to hitch…..

To be continued…

Hope you enjoyed this first part! More will be posted at the end of every week! Thanks for reading, don’t be scared to leave some feedback! *Be Kind*

#oc #original character #original characters #roleplay #rp transcript #roleplay transcripts #canon #RemixLevi #RemixLevi Lore

[anime-dub-transcripts]

Bungou Stray Dogs Episode #2: A Certain Bomb Transcript

This episode has a bomber threatening the Agency.

{Caption: I haven’t smelled tatami mats in a long time}

Atsushi [narrating]: I haven’t smelled tatami mats…in a long time. 

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Atsushi: Ehum…ahuh? Where am I? What happened last night? Eum…was it…a dream?

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Dazai [flashback]: Do you remember anything from when you were transformed?

Atsushi [flashback]: What are you talking about?

Dazai [flashback]: Oh! Look at that, your right hand didn’t change back.

Atsushi [flashback]: My right hand? 

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Atsushi: Eeheeauh! Eaugh! Heah, heah, heah…phew! Sleeping under a roof feels…so good.

Phone: Ring!

(Atsushi: Dueh, what?!)

Atsushi: What?! Euh, uh, what?! 

Phone: Ring!

Atsushi: Huh? Oh, okay, I’ll get it! I’m coming, coming, coming, coming, coming, coming! Uhuah, I’m doing it right this second! Which button am I supposed to push? This one? Uh, no, no, no! Uh, this one? Eah, come on, yes? Hello?

(Phone: Ring! Ring! Ring!)

Dazai: And good morning to you!

Atsushi: Oh. Hi, Dazai.  

Dazai: It’s another beautiful day! What do you think of your new accommodations?

Atsushi: They’re great, thanks. I mean, compared to sleeping outside, this place is like heaven to me. 

Dazai: I’m happy to hear that. The change of clothes at your pillow was a gift from everyone at the agency. 

Atsushi: Oh, wow! Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me!

Dazai: By the way, Atsushi, I apologize for asking, but…

Atsushi: Ehuh?

Dazai: I need help with a teensy-weensy emergency.

Atsushi: Emergency?

Dazai: Yes. And it’s quite urgent.

(Atsushi: Duehuh!)

Dazai: I’ll give you the specific location and I need you to meet me there immediately. This is a crisis and you’re the only one who can help, understand? 

Atsushi: Uh, okay. I understand.  

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

Dazai: Listen carefully. Are you ready, Atsushi?

Atsushi: Yes!

Dazai: First, when you leave the room, make sure you close and lock the door. Then, look behind you.   

Atsushi: Behind me? Neauh! Eheaheah…heaheaheah…heauh! Ehuah! Uh…what are you doing?

Dazai: What do you think?

Atsushi: I think I’m hallucinating this whole thing? 

Dazai: Wrong! Guess again.

Atsushi: An attack from a dangerous suspect? Or did you get caught in a trap?

Dazai: I got in myself. 

Atsushi: Ehwah?!

{Text in purple speech bubble: ?}

Dazai: Well, you see, I read about this fascinating way to commit suicide by getting stuck in an oil drum…

{Caption #1: Diagram}

Dazai: …so I decided to give it a shot. Securing the feet is key.

{Caption #2: Securing the feet is the key}

Dazai: But now that I’ve managed to do that, I’m really just suffering. I’ve wedged myself in pretty deep, and I can’t get out on my own. I might die.

Atsushi: I see…so this is a way to commit suicide. You chose to do it and you think that it’s working; I don’t see what the problem is.  

Dazai [echoing due to the drum]: I like the idea of suicide, but I’m not at all interested in pain and suffering. Who wants that? 

Atsushi: All right…

(Dazai [muffled due to the drum]: Also, I only learned after the fact…)

Dazai [muffled due to the drum]: …this isn’t actually a form of suicide. 

Atsushi: Ehah…

Dazai [muffled due to the drum]: It’s more a form of torture---

Atsushi: There.

Dazai: AHAUOAH!   

Atsushi [narrating]: My name is Atsushi Nakajima. 

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

Atsushi [narrating]: Just last night, I turned into a wild tiger and went on a destructive rampage. This man, Osamu Dazai, brought me back to normal.   

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

Dazai: Mmmeheueh…ah!

Atsushi [narrating]: Dazai has a special power, and he’s not alone. He works with a team of people endowed with supernatural gifts in the Armed Detective Agency.   

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

Dazai [flashback]: Atsushi Nakajima! 

Atsushi [flashback]: Ehuah! 

Dazai [flashback]: From this day forward, you’re going to be one of us. 

Atsushi [flashback]: Eheuh…

Dazai [flashback]: You’re the new member of the Armed Detective Agency.

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

Dazai: Huah, that was painful! I owe you a favor, Atsushi. Without your ingenious help, I would’ve eventually snapped in two at the waist. Huah, such agony. 

Atsushi: Why didn’t you call your other coworkers? Couldn’t they have helped you get out of the barrel?

Dazai: Oh, I called them all right. I told them I was at death’s door. They didn’t understand my predicament. They were all like, “Well, congratulations! You’re finally doing it!”

Atsushi: Supportive friends. Hehehe, ehehehehehe…

Dazai: Geez!

(Atsushi: Ehehe!)

Dazai: Anyone gifted with supernatural powers isn’t totally right in the head.  

Atsushi’s thoughts: Gifted…hm! 

Atsushi: Dazai…

Dazai: Hm?

Atsushi: Everyone at the Armed Detective Agency, eh, I mean the private investigators…they’re all gifted with powers, right?

Dazai: Right. We’re an armed force, taking on enemies the police don’t stand a chance against.

Atsushi: Then I don’t stand a chance at joining the Agency.

Dazai: What are you talking about? You’re plenty gifted.

Atsushi: It’s true that I have the supernatural ability to turn into a tiger…but what good is it if I have absolutely no control over my power? I’m not even aware of it once I start to transform…and I can’t will myself to change into a wild tiger. So I don’t understand how I’d be of any use, even if I could join. I really appreciate the offer though. I am sorry. 

Dazai: Very well. What’s your plan then?

Atsushi: I’ve decided I’ll look for a low-skilled, low-wage job I can handle. I’m just a little afraid it won’t be very easy to find. 

Dazai: I think I may know of the perfect job for you.

Atsushi: Ehuah?

Dazai: I might even be able to help you get it.

Atsushi: Seriously?

{Caption: Episode 2: A Certain Bomb}

Atsushi: Thank you so much!

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

Dazai: We’ll meet with the supervisor. He’ll give you all the details about the work, your coworkers, and the organization. I’ve got a good feeling about this. He’ll love you.

Atsushi: What’s the job title?

Dazai: No point spoiling the fun. But just so you know, there may be a test of sorts.

Atsushi: Neah! A test?

Dazai: Atsushi, can you read and write?

Atsushi: I can; they taught me at the orphanage school. 

Dazai: Great! Then you’ll be perfect.   

Atsushi: Huah…

Dazai: Yes, you’ll be just fine at this place. I guarantee it.

Atsushi: Thank you so much.

Dazai: Ahaha, you better thank me! Just leave it to me and everything will be fine, don’t you worry. After all, I am Dazai. 

Dazai [in a deeper voice]: The most trusted member of the Armed Detective Agency and a true hero to adoring fans everywhere. 

Kunikida: I’VE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU, DAZAI! 

Kunikida’s footsteps: CLOMP CLOMP CLOMP…

Kunidida: YOU BANDAGE-SQUANDERING MACHINE!

(Kunikida’s footsteps: …CLOMP CLOMP!)

(Atsushi: Geeueh!) 

Dazai: AUUUUAAAGH!

{Caption: Bandage-Squandering Machine?! That stung, just a little}

Dazai: Oh you, Kunikida! 

Dazai [in a deeper voice]: Why couldn’t you come up with a better nickname?

Kunikida: Because you’re delusional! You think you’re the most trusted member of the Agency?! You get more complaints than anyone else! People curse you out on a regular basis!

Atsushi: Really?   

{Caption: Calls about complaints, curses…and grievances?}

Dazai: Whaaaat? No way! Since when did I ever get a complaint?

{Text on book: Ideal}

Kunikida: Here was a call we received in August.

Kunikida [in a deeper voice, imitating another man]: A so-called employee of yours has been caught in our off-shore fishing net. Can you come retrieve him? 

Atsushi: Eah…

Kunikida: Here is a call from September. 

Kunikida [in an old man’s voice]: Some weirdo’s gotten himself buried on my farm. Could he be one of yours?

Atsushi: Neah…

Dazai: Weauh!

Kunikida: A call in the same month.

(Dazai: Wha? Eh! Hah!)

Kunikida [in a woman’s voice]: That skinny rat needs to pay his tab, okay? All six months’ worth!

Dazai: I’m flabbergasted! WHO KNEW YOU WERE SO SKILLED AT DOING IMPRESSIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE?! 

Kunikida: Geargh! You worthless cat! STOP RIDICULING ME! 

(Dazai: Eugh! Heheueh…heh euh…)  

Kunikida: I’m gonna shake you silly until…

Atsushi: I’m starting to have second thoughts about accepting his help. Maybe I should just look for a job on my own. 

(Kunikida: …you TAKE ME SERIOUSLY! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR ANTICS! DO YOU HEAR ME?! GAAAAHHH!)

Kunikida: Oh, right. 

Atsushi: Eah?

Kunikida: I just lost a whole minute with this idiot.

(Dazai: Eheh…)

Kunikida: He’s got a knack for wasting my time. We’ve gotta get to the Agency!

Dazai: We do?

Kunikida: We have an emergency. A man has taken a hostage and…threatened to blow up our office! 

Dazai: Aheah!

Atsushi: A mad bomber?

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

Atsushi: Uaeh…

Kunikida: What? What’s your question? The Agency’s on the fourth floor. 

Atsushi: Eh, no, I wasn’t thinking about that, it was more, well---

Dazai: Let’s take the stairs, to be safe.

Atsushi: E---Excuse me, but I don’t---

Kunikida: Quiet!

Atsushi: Duoh…sorry. 

{Text on nameplate: Armed detective agency}

Dazai: Atsushi. It’s showtime.  

Atsushi: It is?

Bomber: I can’t…I can’t take it anymore. 

Secretary #1: Huah!

Bomber: It’s all your fault. The awful Armed Detective Agency’s fault. Now where’s the president? BRING ME THE PRESIDENT!

Hostage: Oh!

Bomber: If you don’t, I’ll blow everyone in this place to kingdom come!  

(Hostage: Heah…heah!)

Hostage: Aauah!

Dazai: Sounds like this guy has a personal grudge. That’s inconvenient.

Kunikida: Agreed. 

Atsushi: Why’d you bring me here again?

Kunikida: Based on what he’s saying, the bomber seems furious at the Agency.

Atsushi: Honestly, I don’t think I can help you; may I go now?

Dazai: Because of the work we do, we attract a lot of ill will. 

(Bomber: Heah…deauh…)

Atsushi: Did you hear what I said? 

Dazai: That is a military-grade, high-level explosive. If the bomber acts on his threat and detonates it, he’ll kill us and destroy the whole floor.

Atsushi: Oh no.

Dazai: We may be able to reduce the force of the blast…if we can find something to cover the bomb before it detonates.

{Text on dome: Safety First}

Dazai: But given the circumstances…since he took her hostage, he’s not only mad, he’s cruel.

Atsushi: Do you know who she is?

Dazai: Her name is Naomi. She’s a part-time office assistant.

(Naomi: Huaeh!)

Atsushi: She’s not an agent?! 

(Naomi: Neah!)

Atsushi: Then she’s just an innocent victim in this terrible mess.  

Kunikida: So what do we do?

Atsushi: Neauh!

Dazai: He wants to see the president. Bring him here.

Kunikida: Are you insane?! He’ll try to kill the president! We can’t let the boss walk into a bad situation like this! Plus, he’s off on a business trip. 

Dazai: Right, I forgot. Then there’s only one option. Hm!

Kunikida: Eum!

Atsushi’s thoughts: Are they gonna use their powers?

Dazai: Heuah!

Kunikida: Deauh! 

Dazai, Kunikida: Heah! Ha! Geah!  

Dazai: Hahahahahaha!

(Kunikida: Grr…) 

Dazai: Neeneeneeneenee nee…

(Kunikida: Grraugh…)

Kunikida: Hey. 

Bomber: Eheah!

Kunikida: Easy does it, kid. 

Bomber: Stay away! I only wanna see the president! Don’t you try anything funny, or I’ll blow this place to bits.  

Kunikida: Okay. 

Bomber: I know who you are. You’re Kunikida. You want me to lower my guard, so you can use that annoying ability of yours to stop me. Well, that sure ain’t happening. Lay down on that desk on your hands and knees, and keep both feet above your head!

Kunikida: Huh?     

Bomber: Ge, geah…you’ll do exactly as I say, or I’m taking everyone here down with me!

Kunikida: Fine. 

Dazai: This is bad. Because of his personal grudge against the Agency, he’s done his research on all the members’ names and faces. If I go out there and try to talk to him, it’ll only make him more angry. Oh my. Whatever shall we do now?

Atsushi: Euah!  

Atsushi’s thoughts: Uh oh! I just got a really bad feeling!

Dazai: At-su-shi, can---

Atsushi: Absolutely not!

Dazai: I haven’t even said anything yet. 

Atsushi: I already know what you’re gonna ask.

Dazai: Listen to me, Atsushi. You’re the only option. You’re not a formal member and the bomber doesn’t know you at all. 

Atsushi: Ehuah! You’re right. But if I go, I won’t be able to do anything. Ehoah?

Dazai: You’ll be fine.

Atsushi: Auh! 

Dazai: We just need you to distract him for a little while. Try talking to him; we’ll take care of everything else. Let me think here…ah, how about you put on an act? Make it depressing, like you think you’re a real worthless human being. I know you can do it. Ahaha, right? Here’s some props. 

Atsushi: Eum…

Dazai: Trust me. Scuffles on this scale are child’s play compared to what we normally deal with. You can handle this, Atsushi.   

Atsushi: Ehum…

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

Atsushi: D---D---D---Do---Don’t do it!

Bomber: Dauh!

Atsushi: W---W---Wh---What are you h---hoping to get out of this? I---I bet this would make your parents really sad.

Bomber: WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! 

Atsushi: Eheah!

{Caption #1: S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S-S…}

Atsushi: Eheah, deh, I’m sorry. Heah, eh!

{Caption #1a: …Scary}

Bomber: I don’t know who you are; you’re not with the Agency. 

Atsushi: Deah! I---I---I---I’m a newspaper boy; I was just passing by as I was on my route.

Bomber: Why the hell would you get involved in this situation?

Atsushi: Because what you’re doing isn’t right. No matter how you feel, you shouldn’t threaten to kill people. Think about the wonderful things worth living for.

Bomber: Yeah? Like what?

Atsushi: Huh?!

Bomber: What’s something to live for?

(Caption: Wait a minute…Did you just start that thought without thinking it through?}

Atsushi: Deeah!

Bomber: Auagh! 

Atsushi: Eheauh…y---yummy tea on rice!

{Caption: S…S…Sure...that’s true} 

Atsushi: Tea on rice is a reason to live!

Bomber: Hm?

Atsushi: Oh, a---a---and sleeping somewhere with a roof over your head! Waking up under a roof is great! And when you open your eyes, every day is a new day. But…

(Bomber: Auh…geeh!)

Bomber: Eaum?

Atsushi: If you push that button, neither of us will ever see another new day. And that’s because we’ll be dead.

Bomber: I understand the concept. 

Atsushi: WAAAIIIT! See…I really don’t think you’ve thought about this from all the angles. I mean, if you die…you’re really dead! I’m sure you wish you were dead sometimes, but there are many people who keep on living even though their lives are completely awful. Oh! People like me! I don’t have any family, and no friends either. I even got chased out of an orphanage. I have nowhere to go and no hope for the future. What’s worse, I turn into a wild tiger. Yeah, you heard me right!  

Bomber: Ouah?

Atsushi: In fact, it might be true that I lack redeeming qualities, and everyone agrees I’m a useless member of society, but I’m still alive and I haven’t gone psycho!

(Bomber: Huah…geah…)  

Dazai: Doing great, Atsushi. It’s almost like this performance isn’t just an act for you. 

Atsushi: Now why don’t you put down that bomb detonator…

Bomber: Deauh!

Atsushi: …and we can look for jobs together! Okay?!

{Caption: You already forgot you’re pretending to deliver newspapers?}

Bomber: Eh, no thanks. I’m not exactly lookin’ for work these days. Ehueh…

Dazai: Now, Kunikida!

Kunikida: Already on it. Ability…

{Caption: Doppop Poet}

Kunikida: …Doppo Poet! WIRE GUN!

{Text on paper: Wire Gun}

Atsushi, Bomber: Eaeuh! 

Bomber: Crap! Eah, auh!

Dazai: Get him, Kunikida!

Kunikida: Like I already said, I’M ON IT!

(Bomber: Eah…deah…dauh!)

Bomber: DAUGH! OOH! Deaugh… 

Dazai: Okay, everyone. One man down. Well done.  

Atsushi: Heah…huah!

Secretaries: Hahahaha! Hehehehe!

(Secretary #2: Awauh!) 

Kunikida: “One man down”?! Are you kidding me? 

(Secretaries: Hehehehe…eah?)

Dazai: Eh?

Kunikida: Fine, so it was just one guy, but I had to do all the hard physical work, unlike you. You’re all talk and no action.

Dazai: Aw, now you’re just being ridiculous. That was my only option. After all, you lost at rock-paper-scissors.      

Kunikida: You bastard!

Dazai: Come on. All’s well that ends well, teammate. I’m just glad you’re still in one piece. But speaking of your health, I’ve been meaning to tell you: I heard that if you’re too neurotic, your aging becomes accelerated.  

Kunikida: Neauh! Really, is that true?   

Dazai: Yes, you should write this down.

Kunikida: A tip for better longevity: if you’re too neurotic, your aging becomes accelerated…  

Dazai: I’m messing with you.

(Kunikida: …according to Dazai)

Kunikida: DAH! 

Dazai: Guah!

Kunikida: You little weasel; I’m gonna teach you to STOP RIDICULING ME! 

Bomber: Geah! Dah ha hauh…dah!

(Kunikida: Aeuh…auagh!)

Kunikida: What the hell?!

Bomber: Now you’ll pay!

(Atsushi, Naomi: Huah!)

Bomber: I swear…anyone with supernatural powers is not totally right in the head.

Bomb: BEEP!

Atsushi: Thirty seconds left ‘til detonation!

Kunikida: Hey, kid!

Bomber: No way!

(Kunikida: DAUH!)

Atsushi: Kunikida! What do I do? Deauh!

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

Dazai [flashback]: We may be able to reduce the force of the blast if we can find something to cover it before it detonates.

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

Atsushi: Something to cover the bomb! Something! There’s nothing here! Eah!

Naomi: Hueah!

Atsushi: Eheh…eheaheheaheheah…deah!

Naomi: Oh! Eaumph!

Dazai: Deah! Atsushi! Huah?!

Atsushi: Well, I guess I’m crazy to do this. 

Dazai: You fool!

Kunikida: No, don’t!

Atsushi: Ehdeauh!

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

Atsushi: Eheuaheuah, ehueh…eheauh…

Kunikida: Geez…

Atsushi: Ehuah?

Kunikida: You know, I figured the kid was stupid, just not that stupid. 

Atsushi: Huh?

Dazai: He even has the talent to become a suicidal maniac. Wouldn’t you agree with me…Tanizaki?

Tanizaki: Sorry. Are you okay?

Atsushi: Huh?

Naomi: Oh, my sweet big brother!

Tanizaki: Eeh! 

Naomi: Please tell me you’re all right!

Atsushi: What?

{Caption #1: Tanizaki Junichirou. Ability: Light Snow}

{Caption #2: His Younger Sister Tanizaki Naomi}

Naomi: Deauh! You were so wonderful as the villain! I believed every second of it! I had the time of my life being tied up! And I loved how intense and dangerous it felt! Please, promise me we’ll continue where we left off once we get home!

(Tanizaki: Aahuahuahaahaah, aah, aah, aaheah, aahuahuah, hehehe! Um, aah, um, deauah!)

Atsushi: Ehumehumehum! So she was in on the entire thing too?

Kunikida: You mad? If you’re upset, you should blame Dazai. Or yourself. After all, you chose an idiot like him to help you find work.  

Atsushi: Wait, does that mean this is the job?

Dazai: It sure is. I told you there was a test involved. 

Atsushi: As in, an entrance exam? 

Fukuzawa: Exactly right.

Secretary #3: The exam has been completed without any complications, President.   

Fukuzawa: I see. 

Atsushi: President?

Fukuzawa: Dazai came to my office saying his work had brought him in contact with a capable young man. 

{Caption #1: President of the Armed Detective Agency} 

{Caption #2: Fukuzawa Yukichi. Ability: All Men Are Created Equal}

Fukuzawa: But I needed more than his word, so I had him test your mettle.  

Atsushi: Ahuah…

Dazai: You did well. I brought up the idea that the Agency hire you, but since you’ve been designated a major threat throughout the ward, there was disagreement as to whether we should take you in.

Fukuzawa: Then Dazai asked me a question. 

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

Dazai [flashback]: President. What if the most gifted person in the world came into your office, wanting to work here? Would you hire them?

Fukuzawa [flashback]: Power alone doesn’t make one fit to be a member of the Agency.

Dazai [flashback]: Hm…that’s exactly why I’m recommending him.  

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

Kunikida: With that in mind, are you ready to make your decision?

Dazai: Hm!

Atsushi: Aheuah…

Fukuzawa: I’ll let Dazai decide. 

Dazai: You can trust me, sir. 

Atsushi: Geah, hold on, Dazai. This is all happening too fast. Does this mean the job you told me about this morning was…

Dazai: You apparently passed the test. Welcome to the Armed Detective Agency, Atsushi Nakajima.    

Tanizaki: Not again!

Naomi: Great! I’m glad I was able to help!

Tanizaki: Congratulations! You passed your big exam. 

Atsushi: Ah, no no, no! This job is way too violent for me. And you people are completely reckless.

Dazai: Yet you’re the one who threw yourself on a bomb to protect the rest of us. That takes a special kind of person.

Naomi: You know he’s right! I can’t believe how brave you were! 

Dazai: You’ll do fine working here.

Atsushi: Will I?

{Caption: Secretary Haruno Kirako}

Haruno: Have you reached a decision, sir? Do you think the young man performed competently enough to join the Agency?

Fukuzawa: Hm?

Haruno: Hm? Oh, a tea leaf standing straight up. I think that's a very good omen, President.   

Fukuzawa: Slurp…eum, too hot. 

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

Dazai: Now, obviously…

Atsushi: Nehuah?

Dazai: We can’t force you to join. But if you don’t, there are a lot of considerations that cause me to worry for your future. You’ll have to vacate your present Agency-owned living accommodations, you don’t really have any specialized skills, nor do you have friends or any personal contacts in the city. That will make finding a job very difficult. And let’s not forget, you are a wanted tiger with a bounty on your head. 

(Atsushi: Euam…mmhm…ehuam…)

Atsushi: HUAEH! 

Dazai: Should anyone discover that personal detail, you’d get fired. Or worse, you’d be captured, tied up, and maybe shot dead.

Atsushi: SH---SH---SHOT DEAD?!   

Dazai: But if you were with the Agency…you would be a much happier story. 

Atsushi: Neauh! So I’m stuck here.

Naomi: Welcome aboard! We’re excited to work with you, Atsushi!

(Atsushi: Ehgeargh…)

Naomi: Right, sweet brother?

(Tanizaki: Duoh! Eeaugh…)

Kunikida: Remember to follow the rules, rookie.

Dazai: Well, I’m glad it’s settled. 

Atsushi: Oh brother!

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

Woman: The weretiger has been located.

{Caption: Episode 3: Yokohama Gangster Paradise}

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

Atsushi: So, Dazai, tell me, what did you do before you entered the Agency? 

Dazai: Take a guess! If you get it right, I’ll give you a prize of 700,000 yen.

Atsushi: 700,000?! 

Dazai: Meanwhile, we have a guest at the Agency office. It looks like there’s been another incident.  

Atsushi: Next time on Bungou Stray Dogs, Episode 3: Yokohama Gangster Paradise.

{Caption: Episode 3: Yokohama Gangster Paradise}

Dazai: Think about it: I could have been a manga artist, or even an anime producer!

#anime #anime transcripts #anime dub transcripts #bungou stray dogs #bungou stray dogs transcripts

[ikroah]

My faith is almost gone, but my will is strong, and I've gotta make it big in Vegas. —“Big in Vegas,” Buck Owens (1969)

It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin’ #22 - Ring-a-Ding-Ding I

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Notes / Original Pencils / Transcript:

Notes:

I live! It’s been nearly three months since the last issue, and boy are my arms tired. In the meantime, I was putting out comic work elsewhere, moving apartments, and hosting a beloved friend in my home for a week, so I’ve certainly had a busy 2022.

Speaking of ‘22...this issue, #22, is the longest issue yet in terms of both page count and, I’m pretty sure, word count. It’s one hell of a talker so I hope it’s been worth the wait. Revelations! Confrontations! What could be next for our intrepid heroes? Well, it’s pretty generous to call either of them “heroes”...

The adventure will continue next ish. And lemme tell you: it’s gonna be a killer. You might even say it’ll really go out with a bang. One could even argue that Benny Gecko is going to die. Metaphorically speaking. But also literally.

“But Lou, that’s spoilers!” Aw, come on, haven’t you ever seen Columbo? It’s about how he solves it, not the suspense of whodunit. And besides, maybe I’m lying. Maybe Agnes’ll shake her charlies for the Ben-man, even, who knows? Don’t trust me about anything ever. You can’t even trust me about when these comics come out, since I posted this a day earlier than I said I would, though technically it’s Saturday in certain global time zones by now.

Original Pencils

The original pencils aren’t actually going to be included in this post like usual because there is so much to go over, production-wise. I’m really excited to get into the specifics, but I’ll be doing it over at @fallout-lou-begas sometime in the coming days. So follow me there if you’re not already, and I’ll update this description when the production notes are up and link to them here!

Two days later: Here it is!

Transcript

EXT. THE STREETS OF NEW VEGAS. The radiant lights of this preserved pre-war city beam brilliantly into the night sky. Below, the streets are full of drunks, gamblers, tourists, lovers, loners, winners, and losers, as well as those who call the city home: not only humans but SECURITRONS, too, the police robots controlled by the de facto ruler of New Vegas, MR. HOUSE. Outside the entrance to the subterranean VAULT 21 HOTEL, some vault-dwelling resident-employees are among the people.

A NEEDLE PLUNGES INTO FLESH.

CASS: And that’s it?

AGNES: That’s all there is to it.

INT. VAULT 21 HOTEL, ROOM 310. Inside, AGNES SANDS is sitting on one of two beds in her underwear; ROSE OF SHARON CASSIDY has just administered her estrogen shot for her. Two dresses, one red and one blue, hang on hooks above their dresser. The dresser, the beds, and the floor are adorned with their clothes and equipment.

CASS: Hope I did a good job.

AGNES: You did fine.

CASS: And you can’t do this yourself, or something?

AGNES stands up and moves toward the bathroom.

AGNES: Oh, no, I can. I just prefer not to.

CASS: Oh, gotcha.

AGNES turns on the sink faucet and wets her face. CASS leans, sitting, against the side of the bed.

CASS: I'm the same with drinking. I tend to meet some interesting people that way.

AGNES: Huh. How fortunate.

They smile at each other from across the room.

CASS stands up and undresses, removing her shirt and pants before grabbing the blue dress hanging over the room’s dresser. Meanwhile, AGNES shaves in the bathroom. She tenses as she puts her metal straight razor to her face again and again.

CASS: Hey, about done in there?

AGNES: Yeah. Just about.

CASS (putting on dress): Can't rush beauty, right. Puts a new meaning on "dressing to kill," doesn't it?

AGNES: Yeah. How do you feel?

CASS inspects herself in a compact mirror.

CASS: Pretty good, I guess, if only because I haven't worn a dress like this in years. But this Benny guy—what is the plan, exactly? You know where he is?

AGNES (washing her hands): Well...we know he's one of the Chairmen, so he should be at The Tops. I'll case the joint, find out where—

CASS (off): Alright, Agnes, hold on.

AGNES freezes.

CASS: Just fucking stop right there.

AGNES peers out from the bathroom at CASS, who is sitting on top of her bed. She looks mad.

CASS (yelling): "Case the joint?" Are you serious? Are you some kind of fucking burglar now?

AGNES stands in the doorway, stunned.

CASS (exasperated, head in her hand): I mean, you're a master goddamn lockpick, I know that. So of course. Courier, doctor, soldier, assassin, burglar, why the hell not. You're gonna be a goddamn brahmin baron by tomorrow, too, aren't you?

AGNES: Cass, listen—

CASS (yelling): I will listen, if you start fucking talking! That's the thing!

AGNES (intense): Lower your voice.

Beat.

CASS: Sorry.

AGNES: I thought you were in a good mood.

CASS fidgets nervously with her dress.

CASS: I was, I...I am, it's not...I'm sorry, it's...

They look at each other. CASS frowns, her anger seemingly exhausted already. AGNES grimaces with uncertainty. Eventually, CASS looks away.

CASS: Look...I like you, Agnes. Like, you've been the kind of person that I needed to meet, in more ways than one.

CASS looks back at AGNES again, staring daggers.

CASS: But the more that I like you, the more that I worry I shouldn't. Because sometimes you say some crook shit like "case the joint" and it reminds me that I don't know you.

CASS (quietly, looking away again): Not really.

CASS: So yeah, I wanna have fun while I'm in Vegas. And you've scratched my back so I'll scratch yours.

CASS (glaring at AGNES): But you'd better come clean right the fuck now about where the hell you learned to pick locks and kill people, before I feed your ass to the ghouls back down in those goddamn sewers.

Beat. AGNES shrinks beneath CASS’ furious gaze. Then:

AGNES: ...are you serious?

CASS: Fuck, Agnes, what is it? Were you a raider, or in a gang? Do you think I'm gonna judge your shitty childhood or whatever? Do you not trust me?

AGNES: Cass—

CASS: Because sometimes it feels like I've trusted you way too goddamn much is all, like I'm a goddamn sap. Am I being set up, Agnes?

AGNES: No!

AGNES: I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm not trying to lie, or anything. I just...don't like to talk about it—

CASS: Oh? Well, with all due respect, tough shit.

CASS clasps her hands together, pleading and pensive.

CASS: Y'know, all of the goddamn blood money that McLafferty bought me out with went toward this room for tonight. And for these nice new clothes that don't reek of sewer shit. If you want to pay me back for that at all, friend, you can start by just...telling me what the fuck your deal is.

CASS: I’m just so sick of fucking worrying about you.

AGNES: It's hard to explain. But I'm not an assassin, or some kind of serial killer, or anything like that...I swear, Cass, that I'm not. If you still trust me at all, I promise I'll tell you everything once we're back from the Tops.

CASS: And you say that you promise?

AGNES: Completely. I promise you.

Beat. Their clothes are mingled on the floor of the bed. They stare at each other from across the room as CASS thinks it over.

CASS: Fine. But only because if there's one thing about you I know for sure, it is that you're not a liar.

CASS (standing): You're just very selective with telling the truth.

AGNES: Cass—

CASS (fed up): What!?

AGNES: Of course I trust you.

CASS is caught off-guard.

CASS puts her hand over her mouth, ponderous and troubled. Then, she smirks and she puts her hand on her hip. She’s over it, it seems.

CASS: Alright, alright, whatever. Just get dressed already.

AGNES takes the red dress from the wall.

CASS: I still want to hit the tables before we kill this guy.

The dress wrinkles in AGNES’ fists. The bedroom’s florescent light gleams off the 9mm bullet that she wears around her neck.

AGNES: ...

The bullet that CHET hand-loaded for her back in Goodsprings with lead retrieved from her skull.

AGNES: Alright.

The bullet that BENNY shot her with.

AGNES: Let’s go.

#fallout #fallout new vegas #fnv #courier six #rose of sharon cassidy #vault 21 #agnes sands #volume 02 #22 #ikroah archive

[theydjarin]

Audio of the Hoth rescue scene from the 1983 ESB radio play, featuring some really great Han & Luke dialogue 

Luke: So what’s your excuse this time? Han: ...for what? Luke: For coming out after me. I guess you can’t claim it was the money this time. Han: Well, ah. I’ll figure something out, Luke. Luke: I bet you will. 😏

Full transcript under the cut:

Han: Chewie? Hey, Chewie! You got the Falcon fixed yet? We’re getting this snowball right now before they close the shield door for the night.

Chewie: Argh?

Han: Because I’m sick of this planet, that’s why! Because Jabba’s hunting for our heads. Now warm her up and let’s raise ship.

Chewie: Aghh!

Han: WHAT?!

Chewie: Agh aghhh

Han: You took what apart?! What are you doing fine-turning the hyper drive now? Look at that mess, are you crazy?

Chewie: Ahhhhhhhhhhgghhhhhhhhhh

Han: Okay okay calm down, we still got a little while before they shut the shield door. You close up the vector guides, I’ll put the transition rig back together.

Chewie: Aghh

Han: All I want to do is get us out of here, Chewie, now put her back together the best way you can. Just so they’ll get us to our next stop.

Chewie: Aughhh

Han: Who? Her royalness? Never what she said. Remind me to tell you sometime about hob-knobbing with the other classes, it’s such fun! Oh, great, it’s just what we needed, here come the loose wiring brothers. What are you doing, Chewie? Are you a saboteur?? You think I want to spend the rest of my life here for face--

C3PO: Captain Solo--

Han: Listen, Chewie, those vector guides will do for now. Just get em back in place and tighten up the hole. I don’t want em perfect, I don’t want em pretty, I want em NOW!

C3PO: Princess Leia has been trying to get you on the comlink--

Han: Whoa whoa there. What’d you say, Threepio?

C3PO: I was attempting to draw your attention to the fact that the Princess Leia has been trying to reach you by comlink now for some consid-

Han: I turned my comlink off, I don’t want to talk to her anymore, it’s bad for my disposition.

C3PO: Indeed. Oh, well, Artoo and I are to inform you that the Princess Leia is worried about Master Luke. She doesn’t know where he is.

Han: Well, I don’t know where he is.

C3PO: Nobody knows where he is.

Han: What do you mean nobody knows? He was only a couple of minutes behind me when I rode in.

C3PO: Well you see sir--

Han: Deck officer, deck officer, come here will ya!

C3PO: Excuse me, sir, but might I inquire as to whether you intend to organize a-- mmph!

Han: Will you shut up for a sec?

Deck Officer: Sir, what can I do for you?

Han: You can tell me where Commander Skywalker is.

Deck Officer: I haven’t seen him. Is that droid malfunctioning, sir?

Han: Not anymore than usual.

Deck Officer: Then why are you holding your hand over its vocal swath?

Han: He’s got a cough. Now what about Luke?

Deck Officer: Commander Skywalker hasn’t come through the main shield door, it’s possible he came in through the south entrance.

Han: It’s possible? It’s possible? Why don’t you just go find out whether it really happened, huh?

Deck Officer: Very well, Captain, as soon as I get the rest of your--

Han: It’s getting dark out there, friend, and cold, in case you didn’t notice.

Deck Officer: I’m aware of that. I joined up with the rebels because I notice things. I’ll go and check on the Commander at once.

Han: Okay, yeah yeah, look, hey, thanks, pal.

R2D2: [angry beeping]

Han: Huh? Oh, sure, Artoo. Sorry, Threepio.

C3PO: Thank you, Captain Solo. Although there was really no need for that, I’m sure. And might I now inquire what has happened to Master Luke.

Han: Well you just go ahead and inquire all you like, Threepio, it never does any good around this deep freeze.

C3PO: Well!

Han: Seal her up, Chewie, I’ll be right back.

C3PO: Really, Artoo, have you ever met such an impossible man? Come along, let’s find the Princess Leia and tell her what’s happened. This is what we get for allowing Master Luke go off on his own, without us to look after him.

Chewie: Aghh ahhhg!

C3PO: Yes, Chewbacca, of course we shall keep you informed of any new developments. Between ourselves, Artoo, I think Master Luke is in considerable danger.

[scene break]

Han: What’d you find out? Where is he?

Deck Officer: Sir, Commander Skywalker hasn’t come in the south entrance either. No one’s heard from him since his last communication check with you.

Han: Well he was clear up on the ridge line then!

Deck Officer: He might’ve forgotten to check in.

Han: Luke? No, where he grew up, people learn to be careful. I’m going looking for him.

Deck Officer: But Captain Solo!

Han: Have the techs got those snow speeders working? I’d use the Falcon but she’s on downtime right now.

Deck Officer: The snow speeders aren’t ready yet. We’ve been having all kinds of trouble adapting them to the cold. The techs are running up a bunch of replacement parts, they should be ready by morning.

Han: Well, morning ain’t likely to do Commander Skywalker very much good, is it? Isn’t there anything in this whole base that’ll fly?

Deck Officer: Nothing that can handle a Hoth blizzard, sir. Those winds would smash you down before you got halfway--

Han: Alright, alright, forget it, I’ll have to ride out and look for him on a tauntaun. Come on, move it, we haven’t got much time.

Deck Officer: Captain Solo! General Riken gave orders no one’s to leave the base!

Han: This one over here will have to do, it’s still saddled.

Deck Officer: Captain Solo!

Han: Tell the command center that I’ll keep in touch with them over comlink band alpha.

Deck Officer: Sir! General Riken doesn’t want anyone leaving the base!

Han: Lieutenant.

Deck Officer: Sir.

Han: Lieutenant. What did you just call me?

Deck Officer: Sir?

Han: Right. Now get outta my way.

Deck Officer: But the temperature’s dropping too rapidly. Even a tauntaun couldn’t survive for long!

Han: Yeah, my friend’s out there someplace, and I’m giving you a direct order to make it easy for ya, so don’t waste my time!

Deck Officer: I’m afraid I can’t let you do this, Captain Solo! I have my standing orders.

Han: Lieutenant, have you ever seen my first mate? ‘bout, uh,  three times your size, covered in fur, got a bad temper?  

Deck Officer: Everybody in the base knows Chewbacca, sir.

Han: Uh huh. Well if you or anybody else tries to stop me from riding that tauntaun outta here, Chewie’s gonna take it real bad.

Deck Officer: But General Riken has clearly instructed me that no one--

Han: Do you think General Riken wants a quarter of a ton of roaring mad Wookie running around this base?

Deck Officer: I’m reasonably certain that he doesn’t, sir.

Han: Smart boy. Now, stand aside!

Deck Officer: I’m trying to save your life! Your tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker. Even with an insulated suit, if you’re on foot out there, you’re dead.

Han: THEN I’LL SEE YOU IN HELL! Hyah!

[scene break]

Luke: Ughhh. Ughhhhhh. Dagobah. Dagobah!

Han: Luke!

Luke: What?

Han: Luke!

Luke: Ben?

Han: Luke! Whoa, girl, whoa, hold on. Luke! Speak to me, kid. Here, come on, sit up.

Luke: Ben? Han? Han!

Han: Yeah, it’s me, kid, it’s me.

Luke: It’s cold. Han. So cold. I’m warmer.

Han: Warmer? No, Luke, that means you’re freezing. Fight it, come on! Don’t go to sleep on me. Don’t do this to me, Luke. Come on, give me a sign here. Luke. Stay with me. Stay with me, kid.

Tauntaun: [death noises]

Han: Oh no, girl, don’t you give me problems too. The tauntaun’s dead, Luke. Where’s your lightsaber. I need it.

Luke: Ben! Yoda--

Han: There’s not much time. There’s only one way to keep you warm until I get the emergency shelter. [lightsaber zuup] I’m sorry about this, old girl. Okay, Luke, I’m going to have to shove you inside the carcass.

Luke: Dagobah!

Han: This may smell bad, kid, but it’ll keep you alive until I can get the shelter built. And I thought these tauntauns smelled bad on the outside.

[scene break]

Han: Hold still, Luke, I gotta give you a stim shot. There, that oughta take hold and bring you around in a second or two. This is Solo to base. Solo to base. Command center, I don’t know if you can read me, but I’ve got Luke. He’s alive but my tauntaun’s down for good. We’re in an emergency shelter. Do you copy? The storm’s kicking up pretty bad. I don’t know if this hut can take it. Just come for us as soon as you can. I’ve got the homing beacon on. Do your best for us, you guys.

Luke: Han...

Han: Lay quiet, Luke. Come on, there’s not much room in here.

Luke: Han, I can’t see!

Han: You’re snowblind, Luke, but it’ll pass. We’ll get you taken care of soon, I promise. And keep that thermal wrapped around you, we gotta warm you up a little at a time.

Luke: Han... it would be you. How’d you find me?

Han: Snoozing in the snow, that’s how I found you.

Luke: Nice going. You have some sense of timing is all. Where are we?

Han: Emergency shelter. North side of the glacier field.

Luke: You think this thing’s gonna hold up?

Han: Well. I’m sort of hoping for the best, buddy.

Luke: We sure picked a great time to field test it, huh?

Han: Haha, yeah, perfect. How ya feeling?

Luke: Oh... terrific. Why don’t we go outside and get some calisthenics in before it gets too dark?

Han: Sure. Heh. We could always play some tag.

Luke: Hehe. Oh... How’d you get out here?

Han: Tauntaun. There wasn’t any other way. She didn’t make it, though.

Luke: So we’re here til the weather breaks.

Han: Yeah, that’s about it.

Luke: I can’t feel my legs. I’m numb!

Han: You’re gonna be okay. There’s not a lot more I can do for you with a medikit. But they’ll put you through nerve therapy and float you in a regenerative tank and you’ll be as good as new.

Luke: Too bad the nearest one’s a couple kilometers away through a blizzard-

Han: No more talking like that. You’re gonna make it, ya hear? What happened to your face? You look like you walked into a rotor blade.

Luke: Oh. It’s a wampa. Ice creature jumped me on the ridge and killed my tauntaun.

Han: How very rude! as Threepio would say. I hope you killed it right back.

Luke: Well, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Whew. What smells so bad in here?

Han: Hehehe. You. You spent a little time inside my tauntaun while I was having a house raising party.

Luke: Well I guess you can cancel all my social engagements for the evening. So what’s your excuse this time?

Han: Huh? …for what?

Luke: For coming out after me. I guess you can’t claim it was the money this time.

Han: Well, ah. I’ll figure something out, Luke.

Luke: I bet you will. 😏

Han: This hut’s gonna hold, Luke, and you’re gonna make it.

Luke: I only wish I could’ve seen Leia. Said goodbye one last time.

Han: I got an idea, pal. Why don’t you just settle down and relax, and tomorrow you can say hello to her instead.

#han solo #luke skywalker #skysolo #star wars #empire strikes back #hanluke #i couldn't find this on tumblr so thought i'd upload it #love the role reversal of han being optimistic and luke being skeptical #and han being So Soft with luke #i might try to do a transcript this weekend!!

[weatheredleatherhat]

Your latest soft Heisenberg was just *chef’s kisses* my heart just went crazy 🥰

In case you have time and inspiration- what about so that is as bad expressing their feelings for Heisenberg as he is. BUT they show their love for the hunk with acts of service and by leaving little love notes for him to find. They’d be so shy and awkward to say anything but secretly hope Karl finds the notes and makes the first moves for everything

((Aaaaa thank you so so much! I always aim to please <3 Of course I can do that for you; enjoy! Have some lovely metal man fluff <3 ))

They were both kind of… Bad at telling each other they loved one another. For ages, it would keep him awake at night, and plagued his mind while he tried to work. Does Buttercup not love me? He thought to himself as he tried so hard to focus on the transcripts on his desk. They hadn’t said the words yet; hadn’t told him how much he meant to them. Of course, he would never force it, but it still stung a little. Sure, it had only been a couple of months since they shared that tender kiss on the couch, and from that point on had shared a bed and little touches of tenderness, but that wasn’t the point. That small, petulant part of him still wanted to hear them say it, damn it.

He huffed out a tendril of cigar smoke as he flicked through one of the notebooks in front of him, looking for the schematics and equations for a new reactor core he was planning to test out. Through the mess of scrawls that he had come to know as his own handwriting, something caught him off guard on one of the pages. Huh. He can’t remember writing something like this…

My dearest Karl, Hope you don’t mind me writing in your books, I know how much you don’t like people messing with your stuff. But I just wanted to leave you a little message to let you know how much I love you. I know I don’t say it, but it’s difficult for me. I’m just not used to it, I guess. Anyway, here it is. I love you, Karl. I love you to the moon and back. Never forget that, darling.

All my love, Buttercup

P.S. Don’t forget to take breaks to eat and sleep!

His fingers traced over the words, a small smile gracing his features as he read it over and over, as if trying to brand each and every word to memory. With the last sentence everything seemed to click in his mind, thinking back over every action they did, seeing them now in a new light. They would always come down to his workshop to bring food or drinks, always setting them down with a look of adoration in their eyes and a small kiss on the cheek. They would take their hand when he was dead on his feet, gently pulling him to the living quarters to clean up and get into bed. All those little acts of kindness that he grumbled at, were their way of showing him how much they were loved. Showing him compassion in ways that he’d never had experienced before. Karl had always prided himself on figuring things out quick, and he mentally kicked himself how he missed all that.

He was pulled deep out of his thoughts with the door being pushed open as quietly as possible. Closing the book with the love note inside and shuffling some papers around, a sandwich and a thermos appeared to his left. “Beef and Horseradish, and coffee with six sugars and three splashes of milk,” you announced proudly, beaming a smile that he’d only ever seen reserved for him. The fact that you had remembered what he liked and how he liked it wasn’t lost on him, and it rendered him speechless on the best of days. Never mind with what he found just a few minutes before.

“Thanks Buttercup,” he murmured as he finally found his words, tucking your hair behind your ear and stroking his knuckles on your cheek as he withdrew his hand. “I’ll be up soon, okay?”

“Just make sure you do,” you mock scolded with a grin, causing him to chuckle as you pressed a kiss to his cheek and left, probably to get the living quarters ready for him to relax for the evening. The whole situation left his mind wandering even further as he took a few bites of his sandwich, ruminating everything over and over. And he came to a conclusion by the time he pressed the button to take him to the living quarters. He didn’t give two shits if you never professed your love out loud. He knew better than anybody that actions speak louder than words. And besides, he would say it enough for the both of you in time.

From that day on, he found himself leaving blank pages of journals and spare pieces of paper on all his desks, hoping that you’d write in them. And true to his theory, you did. So many little love notes that warmed his heart when he read them, and he found himself reading them often on difficult days. A drawer in his desk started to get filled with those little professions of love, though he would never admit it to you that he kept them. In fact, it was never mentioned. It seemed you both knew exactly what was happening, and so it didn’t need to be admitted out loud. You kept writing them, and he kept reading them. You kept up routines that made his life more comfortable, and he tried to keep the complaining about it to an absolute minimum. He’d wait patiently for the day you gained the confidence to translate your little love notes to actual words. Hell, he’d be willing to wait forever.

For now, he had that desk drawer. And come judgement day, when it all went to shit, that’d be the first thing he ransacks to take with him.

#karl heisenberg #karl heisenberg imagine #karl heisenberg x you #karl heisenburg x reader #heisenberg x reader #resident evil 8 x reader #resident evil village #heisenberg x you #resident evil x reader

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Fundy's Arc: A Collection of Transcriptions

The seeds of this character arc have been sown from the very beginning. This was a loooong time coming.

Here’s just a collection of moments and quotes from across Fundy’s character arc with Wilbur in L’manberg.

How did we get here? How did all of this familial conflict arise? 

Because it’s been there long before Schlatt even got into power.

---

The very start: 

- Fundy’s house gets pranked. He can no longer live there. Wilbur says that he’s technically the first naturally born citizen of L’manberg and claims Fundy as his son. He proclaims that, unlike his own father, he would be there for Fundy and give him the world. Neither of these promises were kept.

- After the first war ends, Wilbur makes Tommy vice president and Tubbo secretary of state. He doesn’t give Fundy any position. In fact, he doesn’t even include Fundy in the national anthem. Even Eret’s name was included over Fundy.

---

Wilbur, rejecting Eret’s kingship:

Wilbur: “I actually recognize, um, subscriber counts actually denote who’s in charge, um...”

Tommy: “That means you’ve got like a week until Fundy’s in charge of L’manburg.”

Wilbur: “Nah, Fundy’s too young...”

---

- Fundy’s rebellious stage really starts when he takes off the L’manburg uniform, long before any of the others did. Wilbur tries to get him to put it back on, but Fundy refuses.

Fundy: “Wilbur, it’s all right, I’m...I’m not a uniform.”

Wilbur: “Fundy why aren’t you in uniform?”

Fundy: “Um...I...forgot...”

Tubbo: “Put it on.”

Wilbur: “No, no, no, my son knows, Tubbo, don’t -- stand down, alright...right.”

Wilbur: “Fundy, it’s alright -- it’s okay that you forgot it, you know you’re a young man now, you’ve grown up a lot since -- you know you’re a teenager, you’re going through your rebellious phase, it’s absolutely fine that -- sometimes you wanna wear you’re own clothes! You know, but -- you know...daddy made a nice uniform and gave it to you, and...you know--”

Fundy: “Wait you made me a uniform?”

Wilbur: “It’s nothing, it’s really nothing, don’t worry --”

Fundy: “Waiiiiit, wait, what do you mean? What do you mean you made me a uniform?”

...

Wilbur: “It’s okay, we’ll talk about your uniform when you’re a bit older.”

---

- He gets into a war with Sapnap, almost starts a civil war with Tubbo, and Wilbur is absent for both of these. He’s just straight up not there. He didn’t even know about Fundy’s war with Sapnap since he had no idea Mushroom would make Niki upset, and Tommy brings up the fact that Wilbur’s been absent when he explains what had been happening between Tubbo and Fundy. Tommy had to step in because he was the only one left in charge.

---

Tommy: “Fundy, okay can I tell you what’s happened from my point of view? The son of the President has gone around scamming the other presidential members, and as Vice President while the President’s not on, it is my duty to make sure this doesn’t pull apart L’manburg.”

...

Tommy: “What would father think?”

Fundy: “...”

Fundy: “...Well he - always...sides...by me...”

Tommy: “Well you know, I mean, you’ve gone against the other members of the nation he fought to build--”

Fundy: “--Well! only because my - my loot has been stolen, alright --“

---

Tommy, to Wilbur:

Tommy: “been a little while since you’ve been on, Wilbur.”

Wilbur: “Yeah, well there’s a reason I haven’t been on...it sickens me.”

...

Tommy: “There was a - there was a civil war.”

Wilbur: “I heard, between Fundy and Tubbo --”

Tommy: “Yeah, your son and our secretary of state had a huge quarrel, and I defused it.”

Maybe this is just me reading into that last line and the tone it was said with a bit too much, but Tommy kind of had to emphasize the fact that Fundy was Wilbur’s son, as if Wilbur had almost forgotten it

---

- Pog2020 works to get Sapnap’s vote by publicly disavowing Fundy. He goes to make his own party in response and Coconut2020 isn’t even taken seriously. Wilbur didn’t even want to include it on the ballot. 

Sapnap: “Your father would be very disappointed.”

Fundy: “Why - disappointed for wearing glasses?! 

Sapnap: “Ugly, wearing glasses, what are you wearing --”

Fundy: “What do you mean?!”

Tommy: “Fundy, Fundy...I’m just here to publicly denounce you.”

Fundy: “...What?”

...

Tommy: “I’m just here to kinda let you know...if you weren’t Wilbur’s son, you would be out of L’manberg. Just remember, you need to keep that relationship with your father - I saw how arsehole-y and bratty you were acting in the courtroom the other night, you need to pull your shit together young man.”

...

Fundy: “Chat, lemme get this straight real quick...so Tommy is demoting me, right, and he’s saying you’re only in L’manberg because of Wil. So Tommy says...in theory, he would kick me out if he had the chance. But considering that, while he’s together with Sapnap, it leads me to believe... Tommy wants to destroy L’manberg.”

--- More under the break because this is a horrendously long post ---

Fundy gives a speech after preparing the Festival decorations:

Fundy: “Chat, I wanna point something out...

at the start of everything in L’manberg, when Jschlatt got on top of everyone, when Jschlatt got the leading position, and everyone was saying it was a bad thing [...] I just wanna point out...

What have Tommy and Wil ever done for this country? What have they ever done for this country? Really? They put up walls, they accepted a drug scandal, and what do we have? Not two weeks after Schlatt got elected, we have a festival. We have a festival! [...] They kept our country alive, but we’ve revamped it to something better [...] They’ve kept us alive for us to continue our generation 

 I see progress, alright?”

---

The big turning point happens when Fundy denounces Wilbur as part of his plan as a spy. That moment sealed the fate between the two, fracturing their relationship beyond repair.

---

Fundy: “Wilbur, imma need you to shut up for a second--”

Wilbur: “Don’t you speak like that to me, Fundy. Don’t forget where you came from!”

Schlatt: “What’s the relationship between you and...and Wilbur, Fundy?”

Fundy: “Wilbur’s just the founder, and I was born here, and nothing else. That’s literally all there is to it.”

Wilbur: “But...you know that’s not...”

---

When Fundy goes back to help Wilbur and Tommy with his Spy’s Diary, he’s still mocked and spoken over, called Wilbur’s “traitor son.” His effort as a mole wasn’t enough to fix their bond.

And when everyone finally takes back L’manburg, Wilbur gets to choose who’s the new president. There’s only one person other than Tommy that that could be. And as Fundy watches...Wilbur gives Tubbo the country instead. And then blows Fundy’s home to smithereens. 

And instead of living with the consequences, he tells Phil to kill him, so that he can become a little floating ghost who wanders around avoiding his problems.

---

When a creeper explodes a hole in the wall and Wil asks Phil about his button room, Phil asks Wil to VC. Wil, seeing that it was a serious talk, immediately avoids it and drops the conversation. This is exactly what Fundy calls out later on.

---

Fundy tells Wilbur straight to his face:

Fundy: “Wil, LISTEN!”

Wilbur: “I am - I am, I am, I just --”

Fundy: “You know what’s wrong? Do you even know? Does it even break through, like - Wil, listen, look at me. Wil, WIL...stop. Every single time something serious comes up, you evade it. You just avoid everything. You run away from every serious consequence that might become of your actions. You walk away from it! You just smile throughout everything. You think nothing is going on, you think everything is fine...it’s not! 

You were there for me, for a very very fucking long time...and when I needed you the most, you skedaddled the fuck out of my life and died. Because of what? L’manburg’s causes, huh? You thought that was justice, you thought that was good for me? You left me, man. You never take things seriously, you never do.”

Fundy: “Let me tell you something, Wil, let me tell you something. You know what happened, after all of your memories - all of your good memories of our quote unquote ‘last talk?’ Because it wasn’t our last talk, Wil - Wil--”

Wilbur: “If I didn’t remember it, it probably wasn’t worth remembering.”

Wilbur then feigns a meeting with Tubbo to get out of the conversation and leave, immediately proving Fundy’s point.

---

Wilbur doesn’t like to face the consequences of his actions. 

He started the election because he felt like no one respected his power. But instead of dealing with that lack of respect by gaining it legitimately, he just came up with a plan to rig an election. Instead of accepting that he lost the election, and that Schlatt was getting more done for L’manburg than he did in his time as president, Wilbur came up with a plan to bomb the festival and kill everyone. And when he finally exploded L’manburg, he perma-died and left everyone else to deal with Techno’s withers. 

Fundy is right about Wilbur. He walks away from uncomfortable situations. And Fundy is, to Wilbur, an uncomfortable situation.

---

(also everyone say thank you fundy and wilbur for bringing us this heartbreaker of a character arc rn because this is some damn good stuff)

#mcyt #dream smp #wilbur soot #fundy #long posts #dreamsmp #dream smp transcriptions

[nxrthmizu]

The Golden Prince’s Counter-attack

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words | 847 

author’s note | short lil’ drabble that I planned at school today. not proof-read! enjoy ;3 

notes | lila angst ahead 

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‘Annoyed’ barely begin to describe what Adrien was feeling. ‘Pissed’ was a slightly more appropriate word. ‘Infuriated’ nearly nailed the transcription of his feelings into words. 

Adrien might’ve had limited exposure to the outside world, but he was about 90% sure that whatever Lila Rossi was putting him through could be counted as sexual harassment. Not that putting a label on it helped— It wasn’t as if Gabriel was actually going take his feelings into account, anyway. Oh, he had a phrase for that too— Child neglect, which, from his research, was a form of abuse. 

“So there’s this girl that keeps pestering me at my job.” Chat Noir explained, huffing in annoyance as his partner hummed, showing that she was listening. “And I’m 99% sure what she’s doing to me can count as sexual harassment.” 

“Well... Can you report her to your employer?” Ladybug suggested, taking a seat on the edge of the building next to her black-clad partner. “An official report would be helpful, if things get serious and go as far as the court.” 

The blonde scrunched up his nose. “My da— employer turns a blind eye onto the entire thing. I’d get in deep trouble if I try to report anything.” 

“Well... What if you indirectly expose her?” The ladybug miraculous holder suggested with a mischievous glint in her eyes. 

This certainly gained Chat Noir’s interest, for he turned to her with a wide grin on his lips. “Indirectly as in how?” 

“Alright, you might have to tweak it a little depending on your situation, but I’ll tell you my rough idea. First, you...” 

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“I swear, if Lila harasses me again, I’m going to lose my cool.” Adrien muttered as his hair stylist, a woman notorious for her loose mouth— busied herself with hairspray. “It’s borderline sexual harassment.” 

The hair stylist snorted. “If you ask me, it is sexual harassment.” 

“Well,” Adrien sighed dramatically, tugging his acting skills into use. “It’s not like I can do anything except put up with it. It’s not like I can just quit this job.” 

The woman pursed her lips in concentration, combing his hair into place, every last strand sitting in its’ allocated spot. “That’s true... You’re in quite a tight spot, huh.” 

“I wish there was something I could do about it...” Adrien sighed wistfully, gazing into the hair stylist’s eyes through the mirror. “Do you think Lila would get fired if news got out that she’s harassing me?” 

The hair stylist didn’t reply, but Adrien knew that the cogs were already set in place— All he had to do now was wait. 

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It didn’t take long. 

“That woman had been harassing poor Mr. Agreste for weeks!” The cameraman told Nadja, who nodded encouragingly, gesturing for him to continue. “She clearly makes him uncomfortable during photo shoots, she invades his personal space— Beyond the borders of modelling— And ruins the atmosphere of my entire shoot!” 

“The poor kid didn’t ask for that nasty girl for a partner,” The make-up artist chipped in, the camera panning over to her and a mic was shoved in her direction. “He’s put up with so much, really. He’s always been such a polite child, and the kid doesn’t deserve that treatment from that girl— Or anyone ever.” 

“He’s been getting stressed because of all those shoots he has with her— The girl just won’t give him a break.” One of the assistants added, shaking his head in sympathy. 

“That girl’s really demanding too— Really rude, a complete opposite of Adrien.” Another make-up artist spoke up, expression turning to one of disgust at the thought of Lila. “Adrien deserves a better partner!” 

All the eye-witness accounts were caught on camera and shown on the news, with Nadja reporting that an anonymous student had spoke up, saying that Lila harassed Adrien even at school, which was highly inappropriate. 

“What is the meaning of this?” Gabriel howled, glaring at the tablet with the news report playing. “Who started this?” 

Nathalie simply shrugged. “I don’t know, sir.” 

The angered designer stomped off to question his workers— But none of them would fess up about where the whole affair started. Of course, every single one of them knew the answer— Adrien’s hair stylist had called a crew meeting and told them about how annoyed the blonde was— And together, they all pitched in with their witness accounts to help the polite model out of the uncomfortable partnership he had with the Italian. 

And so news regarding Lila Rossi’s harassment of Adrien Agreste spread like wildfire, a scandal staining the Italian’s resume for many years to come. Students at the school begin to shoot her looks of disgust— And Nino would look on smugly as the anonymous student that wrote in to the news station. 

“So, did the matter solve itself?” Ladybug asked off-handedly the following night on patrol, Chat Noir looking quite like the cat that caught the mouse. 

The cat grinned in delight, green eyes glinting under the Paris moon. “Oh, definitely.” 

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#miraculous ladybug #tales of ladybug and cat noir #ladybug #chat noir #ladynoir #mlb #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #gabriel agreste #nathalie sancoeur #lila rossi #nino lahiffe #adrien x marinette #ladybug x chat noir #chat noir x ladybug #chaotic adrien #[ris writes]—✧