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sevlgi · 3 years

Text

my sunday

requested: no

group: blackpink

pairing: jisoo x fem!reader

genre: fluff

contents: school!au, based on loona’s my sunday mv.

warnings: none

synopsis: Jisoo is what makes your Sundays so very special.

a/n: I WROTE SOMETHING. I DID IT!!!!! (please don’t mind the typos in this, i legitimately wrote this in an hour and posted it immediately)

word count: 1.4k

Sundays were the most special day of the week to you.

Well, it wasn’t just you. They were special to all of the students at Gyeongseong Boarding School; there, Sundays were free days, the only day out of the week where students were free to leave the campus or roam it with no restrictions. But to you, Sundays were special for a different reason-- they were a special memory, with an even more special girl.

Jisoo was one out of your four roommates, but that was nowhere close to how you’d describe her. A friend, maybe, or even a best friend. You weren’t sure how you’d phrase it if you were asked why you looked at her like she was your entire life, why you thought any disease could be cured by just one look at her smile.

But if she asked you, you knew that you’d tell her that she was everything perfect, the only star in your dark sky, yet bright enough to illuminate your entire world. And ever since that handshake on your first day in Gyeongseong, she was your Sunday, the diamond in a sea of worthless coal.

“Y/N? Get up, we’re here.”

Despite never having been asleep, you faked an overexaggerated yawn and tilted further into Jisoo’s neck. She laughed breathily, finger poking right into your forehead. “I know you aren’t asleep, dumbass.”

You sighed and lifted your head at that. Even through your bleary vision, you couldn’t miss the heart shape of her grin, and your cheeks flushed pink despite all the times you’d seen it before. “Fine. Has the bus stopped?”

“No, actually,” Jisoo answered and turned to the front. “My shoulder was just tired.”

Punching her arm lightly, you glanced out the window, at the morning sunlight shining down on the dingy storefronts and faded brick walls of the city. It was the same as always-- after all, you and Jisoo took the same bus at the same time every Sunday, even sat in the exact same seats every time. But as the bus lurched to a stop at the same grimy metal sign as always, and you stood with Jisoo’s hand in yours, the view was just as beautiful as it had been the first Sunday that Jisoo brought you down the hill with her. “Are we going for ice chocolate again?” she asked as you stepped out of the bus, leaning slightly on her so as not to fall on the crooked last step.

“I’ll never say no to ice chocolate,” you answered absentmindedly. The slight January breeze was icy on your face, but Jisoo didn’t seem to mind even in her short skirt. “Rock paper scissors again to determine who pays?”

She considered it but shook her head, grinning, “Race” one second before she turned and bolted for the ice cream shop just down the street.

“H-- cheater!”

You still laughed as you chased her, feet pounding against the ground even while you shouted after her. “Kim Jisoo, just you wait until I get my hands on you!”

“I wish I brought my camera,” the other girl sighed as she looked out to the ocean. It wasn’t much in your opinion, more gray than blue, the waves crashing onto dusty brown sands where the water met the beach. But Jisoo still watched it with appreciating eyes, working away slowly at her iced chocolate. “Would’ve made for a pretty shot.”

“You can always get it next week,” you shrugged in answer. Your own cup was empty, sitting to your left on the slightly sandy stone wall that the two of you were perched on. “I mean, we come here every week.”

Jisoo smiled, “But it’s different every week. It could be sunnier, or maybe rainy; either way, it’s still beautiful.”

“You’re cheesy as hell.” You rolled your eyes, reaching for her iced chocolate but blocked by her free hand. “I’ll still come here every Sunday with you, even if it rains.”

She nodded, biting down on the spoon in her mouth and swinging her legs over the wall. “Remember that time in 2nd year? You insisted on coming even though it snowed, and we had to explain to our roommates why they had to live in other rooms so they wouldn’t catch a cold from us.”

“That was kinda stupid. But at least we got the room to ourselves for a week,” you grinned. “We should do it again, get Chaeng, Lisa, and Jen to annoy room 244 for a change.”

“That’s mean,” Jisoo shook her head. “But I like the way you think.”

“I mean,” you continued, “with all of them in the room, we wouldn’t get to do this.”

“Do what?” she asked, turning despite knowing exactly what you were going to do. And predictably, you kissed her, soft and slow, savoring it while you could. Her lips were cold from the weather and from the dessert, but they were as soft and sweet as ever as they moved against yours. Jisoo’s hand clasped in yours again, intertwined and pressed to the stone of the wall as she leaned in a bit closer.

Before someone could call you out or recognize you, though, you parted, teeth letting go of her bottom lip with a pop. When Jisoo looked down, she found the cup of iced chocolate to be in your hand instead of hers, the spoon already in your mouth as you grinned. “Y/N, that’s a foul,” she complained. But she didn’t try to wrestle for it back, simply watching you with a sigh.

After a beat of comfortable silence, the quiet murmur of people passing by only ambient noise in the background, Jisoo spoke again. “You know, my brother called yesterday. He wanted to know if I got a boyfriend yet.”

You snorted in laughter and shook your head. “Right, we’re graduating soon. What’d you tell him?”

“I told him that I’ll date when I get into college,” she sighed.

“Hey. Are we not dating?” you pouted, snickering when she tossed a napkin at your head. “I know, I know. Korea’s conservative, your brother’s conservative. We would’ve gotten hit if someone saw us just a bit earlier.”

Jisoo frowned, toying with your fingers in hers. “You’re right. Y/N... If you had to introduce me as something, what would you say?”

“Well, the obvious. You’re my roommate,” you smiled, “and my best friend. But... you’re also my Sunday.”

“Your Sunday? I don’t think I’ve heard that one before.” Jisoo looked up, and you could barely hold yourself from leaning in and kissing her again. The slightly grayish tone of Gyeongseong’s sun did wonders for her features, illuminating the curve of her cheek and the tip of her nose just enough to make her look like a literal angel. “Care to explain?”

You hesitated for a second and tapped the plastic spoon against the plastic of the cup in your hands. “Do you remember the first time you explained the concept of Gyeongseong Sundays to me? You couldn’t explain why you liked coming down to the same beach every weekend with your friends, so you decided to just take me with you.”

“Right,” Jisoo snapped her fingers, nodding. “And when I asked you afterwards what you thought of Gyeongseong Sundays, you told me that they were special. The one red licorice in a bag of black, the rose in a bouquet of thorns. You were poetic then, and even more so now.”

“I’ll take it as a compliment,” you laughed slightly. “But yeah. Since almost four years ago, we’ve spent every Sunday together, every one of our rare, perfect, special days. So you’re my Sunday. You're the one that makes my day special, and you shine like the tiny stars we watch from the rooftops.”

After taking a quick glance at the empty streets around you, Jisoo’s fingertips ghosted over your jawline again before her lips were on yours and everything faded. You could feel her smile, could taste the sheer contentment in the pressure between the two of you. And when she pulled away, that simple happiness still lit up her eyes, even when she turned to look at the gray-blue sea again. “Okay. Then I’ll be your Sunday. Your Sunday love.”

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stories-by-rie · 3 years

Text

Chapter 1 - Heart of Silver

Evelyn turns to the infamous curse-broker Ariel for help, after she got cursed by a dead granny’s fork.

words: 3763 || masterlist

Despite the late summer, the air had grown cold with the night’s storm. The wind was blowing the rain drops harshly against Evelyn’s coat and the persistent noise of its dripping onto her hood mixed with the ringing sound in her ears. With the anxiety that threatened to overflow, she shivered. Even if her hood saved her from the worst, she had to hold it in place with one hand so the wind wouldn’t blow it off. Now, that hand was wet, cold and shook even more than the rest of her body. Tripping from one foot to the other did nothing to bring her warmth or to disperse the gnawing threat of doom inside her chest.

Once again, she pulled out her phone. The fourth of September, 22:34, a Thursday, no new notifications, battery at eleven percent. Raindrops landed on the bright screen and distorted the picture of a flower field in irregular splashes. From the upper right corner, lines like spider legs drew through them.

Frustration settled in her, taking coin-sized bites. Her eyes flicked over to the doorbell again -- she had rung two times already -- maybe a third time would be all right? She knew that Ariel was home, so if they hadn’t opened the door after two times, a third ring wouldn't make them either.

Still.

Just as Evelyn was about to press the bell again, the door opened slightly, barely enough for her to make contact with one eye.

“Why didn’t you text me that you’d come?”

“I did. You haven’t read it yet.”

Ariel pulled out their old flip phone, dipping their glasses into bright white reflections, and skimmed through what had to be a real handful of messages.

“Ah. Oh. Hm.” They stared at a message for a while before they looked up to Evelyn again, opened the door a bit wider. “There will be a sale for winter tyres down in the old factory on the main road next week.”

Evelyn was too stunned to answer anything but, “Ariel, you don’t drive. You don’t have a car.”

“That’s true.”

“It’s summer.”

“Are you sure?” Ariel looked at the rainy night sky, and squinted their eyes.

“Listen, Ariel. I wrote in my message-”

“Yeah, I read your message. So what?” They looked up at Evelyn again, closed the door a bit more to shelter from the rain.

“I didn’t know who else to ask.” Her voice sounded a bit thin to her own ears then, the uncertainty growing with each passing minute. But she had held on for hours now, and it didn’t feel like she had it in herself to hold on for much longer.

Ariel scoffed. “Yeah. Obviously, asking anyone but me would be foolish, but I am really busy, you know? A curse is a curse, you should just let it run its course. I am not some sort of all-purpose antidote.”

Evelyn managed to put her foot in the door before Ariel shut it.

“Please? Listen, no one knows curses as well as you do. I am afraid I don’t have that long and I absolutely can’t do this by myself.”

With both hands against the door, the wind had enough freedom to rob her of her hood, so it drenched her within seconds, stung on her skin like a hundred little needle pricks.

“There’s just a handful of curses that more or less kill. You want me to believe that you got one of those? Do you know how hard that is? What would be in it for me?” Ariel eyed her suspiciously. All Evelyn did was to pull up her sleeves as far as possible. Where the skin was thinner and fairer, the black veins stood in sharp contrast to her body, shimmering in a dark grey. Ariel’s eyes widened in surprise and excitement.

“A Heart of Silver? How far has it spread?” They grabbed her wrist.

“It’s in my whole blood-stream,” Evelyn replied and pushed her hair from her temples where her veins were just as black. Ariel looked up with an ‘ah’ on their lips and then let go of her wrist again.

“So, I’d get the reaping?”

“It’s all I could offer.”

“Say, if we fail and you’ll be a silver statue, can I keep you then? Put you in the corner of my kitchen?”

“This is not funny, Ariel.”

“That’s a yes then. Fine. Come in.” They opened the door enough for Evelyn to step through. Instantly, they were caught in this different world of theirs. She was quite certain that Ariel had put a curse on their own apartment somehow that captured the people who walked in, but so far she did not have evidence to support that theory.

Books towered against the walls everywhere. There was a pot with an enormous fern right in the middle of the hallway. Not a single lamp was lit, and Evelyn could not shake the feeling that it was to hide the shadows of some ghosts living there as well. Perhaps it was the people the not-yet-proven-curse trapped inside of it.

“You must tell me everything,” Ariel mumbled while pulling out a few books out of their stacks, seemingly randomly.

“So, I got an unexpected call from a granny in the morning. She asked me to help with a haunting. I thought I could just handle a simple ghost. You know that I am good with ghosts.” Evelyn tried to follow them, focusing more on not tripping over most likely enchanted vases, gemstones, and one array that hopefully was not used to curse the apartment.

“I am quite aware, that’s why I don’t like you coming over.”

Or maybe the array was drawn to specifically keep her out, who knew.

“So, I drove over in the afternoon. Just one old granny and a ghost. There is a nice magnolia tree in the garden. It’s next to the old school that’s half covered in ivy and the neighbours complain about it all the time because they think it’s weed, although ivy is very useful with old houses for climatic purposes-” Distinctly, she noticed how she started to ramble, her tongue too fast for her mind to catch up on.

“Please, for the love of the currently absent blood in your veins, cut yourself short,” Ariel thankfully interrupted and pushed the door to the kitchen open. Evelyn tried very hard to calm herself down with a few measured and calculated breaths, focused on the red lava lamp on the windowsill instead. Multiple candles were lit on the table and next to them slept her black cat whose name Evelyn had never learnt. She only knew her as a beast, my evil gremlin, an annoying menace, YOU!, and the apple of my eye. Currently, the proximity to the candles was once again anxiety inducing.

Ariel pointed at one of the chairs, so Evelyn sat down and forced herself to keep talking, wiped some of the rain out of her face, along with her sticky bangs that hung in her eyes.

“The granny didn’t have money to pay, which is fine, you know I like to help where I can, right? And she had this very evil looking set of silverware in her kitchen drawer, so I started to work on it and she kept rambling about how I had a heart of silver -- which was already a bit weird, I guess, since usually it’s a heart of gold, right? -- but at that moment, I thought she was just old and confused because I was working for free, right? Well, until I poked my finger on a fork and that’s when it happened.”

“Was that the short version?”

“I left out a lot of detail.”

The coffee machine beeped and Ariel filled the matching cups. They slid one with big bold yellow letters over to Evelyn that read Best Curse Victim, and kept the one with Best Curse Broker In The Whole Wide World.

“Did you custom-make these?” Evelyn asked and Ariel set down the two cups with a grin. They knew that Evelyn preferred tea, but, Tea is for curses and rituals, you can’t make me drink hot water with leaves, they liked to argue.

Ariel raised an eyebrow at her quizzically. “I assume the granny then turned out to be a ghost?”

“She apparently had died over three months ago, yes.”

There was a deep sigh coming from Ariel as they put up their feet onto the table, dangerously close to the candles.

“And never once while working on silverware and getting praised for your silver heart did you consider the option that perhaps you were getting cursed?”

“Ghosts get better at hiding themselves each day, Ariel,” Evelyn replied with multiple glances to the shadows. Ariel only offered a weak smile and nodded while they pushed the books into the middle of the table, tapped on it with their sparkly painted fingernails.

“I have fourteen books on the Heart of Silver, all very rare collections from back when curse-brokers still thought that this classy beast was curable. I also have read all of these fourteen books.” Ariel took a sip from their coffee and grabbed another pair of glasses that were tucked into a pot of parsley on the windowsill next to the lava lamp. They pushed their former golden glasses up into their soft pink dyed hair.

Last time they had met, it had been deep purple. They had tried to make her believe once that it was tied to their moods, like those 90s mood rings of which they wore three. “Obviously, I read all the books you can find in this apartment, I wouldn’t keep anything that just took up space.” They opened the right page on the first try and slid the book over to Evelyn. The pages were blank.

“The pages are blank.”

“Ah, right. I put a curse on them. No one steals books you can’t read, am I right? Here,” they slid over the glasses to Evelyn, and once she put them on, black letters appeared on the blank pages. Just none she could read.

“I don’t speak that language, Ariel.”

“Ah, it’s just encrypted.”

Evelyn sighed deeply and put the glasses down again. She warmed her icy fingers on the coffee cup in front of her, the bitter smell of it made her jittery enough.

“Please, can you just tell me what you know about it? I am certain that you know your curses, you don’t have to prove anything by showing me book excerpts I can’t read anyway.”

Ariel smirked openly then, their eyes clearly tracing the black lines on her skin where the liquid silver was running through her veins.

“The Heart of Silver is a curse that dates back all the way to the sixteenth century. That ultimately makes it a curse of the black night level, because we don’t know its origin anymore, so understanding it has become as good as impossible. Legends say that it was just another love story, though. Why it is a heart of silver and not of gold is equally unclear. Perhaps they didn’t know any better. Then again, a Heart of Gold curse already exists, so. Anyway, the story says that one woman, got jealous of her maid. The maid, being kind-hearted, was just too lovely to her husband, you see. So when that woman died she cursed her maid on her deathbed and said something along the lines of With your heart made of silver, you still won’t be worth enough to appeal to him. Maybe you could feed his greed by turning into actual silver instead.” They took another sip of coffee, taking out another book from the stack on the table and flipping a page open. “How the curse is passed on is totally unclear as well, although, as you might have noticed, contact with silver seems to be one determinant, as well as someone actually cursing you, also known as a ghost. But why and how? No one knows.”

“Not even you?” Evelyn asked, feeling punched out. She pulled the new book closer, putting on the glasses again, and there they were. The photos with the evidence that this curse existed. That it was more than just a rumour, a scary story told to teach children not to steal. Proof that her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her; that she had understood the situation of her own doom correctly.

A silver statue of a man, the face too realistic to be art, distorted in a scream. His arms were outstretched, all around him scrolls of parchment. 1982, Vienna.

A silver statue of an old woman, sleeping in her bed. She looked much more peaceful, but her brows were drawn together, giving her discomfort away. 1864, Kuressaare.

A teenage boy, locked inside a dark room with handcuffs tied to the walls, screams on his silver lips. 2003, Hildesheim.

Evelyn didn’t need to look at more of them. It just made her picture herself as one more of these photos. A corpulent young woman, the face silver but clearly pleading for her life-

“Does it hurt? Do you know?”

“Not sure, sorry. Would it help if you knew?” Ariel looked directly at her then, the soft pink hair glimmering red from the lamp, the candles’ lights dancing on her glasses.

“Probably not.”

“Then let’s try to make it so that you don’t have to find out. But just to be clear, I will take notes on the curse’s progress, for scientific purposes.” They pulled a notebook out from under their coffee cup.

“Sure.”

Ariel grinned and drummed with their golden painted nails onto the table.

“Soon I will be the first curse-broker to have dealt with the Heart of Silver. Everyone will know my name. Maybe someone will finally publish my book. My google reviews will skyrocket!”

“You always say a truly good curse-broker gets only bad reviews. And that book doesn’t get published because you describe for three hundred pages how to create various curses. ”

“That’s because if you want to deal with curses, you need to understand them from the inside out first. Also, creating curses can be fun, I promise.”

With a glimpse to the shadows, Evelyn nodded in slight agreement. Unease found its way back to her, like an intrusive thought stuck to her skin. The more she listened to her body, the more she felt like it had changed. She was sure to feel the silver in her veins, believed that her body had gotten heavier – was silver heavier than blood? She was sure that her skin had gotten harder where it ran through her.

“You still there?” Ariel waved before her eyes, nearly poked her, but Evelyn flinched back before they got to. She finally took a sip of her own coffee. The bitterness made her squirm but at least she was able to still taste it.

“So, if the books are all useless, as you say, then where do we start?”

“Well, as I said, if you want to deal with curses, you have to know them from the inside out. Only if I know how you got it in the first place, I will have a chance at extracting it and exchanging it for a different one. A curse is a near-living thing, after all. If I just rip it out, it might do more damage than aid. I need to know why you fit in its scheme, how it develops inside of you. So I would say we should start with the ghost who put that curse on you, since that granny might be able to answer those questions, but I assume you hunted the shit out of that ghost, didn’t you?”

Evelyn froze as she remembered the exchange, the prospect of a new curse. She gave her best not to tremble too much as she asked, “The new curse-”

“I can’t tell you what it will be yet.”

“But how-”

“Okay, I’ll give you the short explanation. Any curse corrupts its host. Your body lets it nest inside of it, and usually you will let the curse run its course until it’s fulfilled or withered and the space will grow back. More or less. If I have to extract the curse, the space will be hollow and harm your body and mind. It leaves room for possessions, diseases and much more. So instead I extract the awful curse and give you a new one that is slightly less awful. But in order to do that, the new curse needs to fill out the same space. I need to understand both curses to the T, so that this procedure works. That’s also why I can’t tell you anything about the new curse yet, because I need to understand the Heart of Silver first. Got it?”

Evelyn nodded, a little as if in a daze.

“So, the granny?”

“Gone, yes.” Evelyn sighed deeply. “I didn’t think that she would be of help. I just saw her as a ghost and sent her off.”

“The mark?”

“Just the silver veins, they started in the hand with which I touched the fork.”

“Mn. It looks like it has spread completely since then. That doesn’t need to mean anything, though.” Ariel wrote down notes in a book, the pen’s ink invisible to Evelyn’s eyes.

“When exactly was this?”

“Somewhen between five and six, this evening.”

Ariel wrote down more notes, far more than Evelyn had said, so she could only assume that those were some curse related conclusions. After a few minutes, Ariel had emptied their second cup of coffee. At this point, they looked up again and pressed their lips together.

“I would like to see the curse medium then. You don’t happen to still have that fork?”

Evelyn shook her head, “I assume it’s still in the house, though. I saw the police wrapping everything up as well, so we should be alone there.” She forced the rest of her coffee down her throat, ignoring how it upset her stomach just a moment later. Ariel nodded and got up, carrying the two cups over to the sink.

“Well, then. Let’s get going, shall we?” They nodded towards the door and Evelyn went to follow them. Before Ariel closed the kitchen door, she looked back. “Shouldn’t you blow out your candles? Your cat is so close and-”

“Oh, I cursed the candles, don’t worry. They don’t burn anything. I feel a little bad for doing it, though. Imagine being a fire and then the only thing you can burn is candle wax. So sad.”

They reached the door and Evelyn stopped once more in her tracks.

“Do you really want to leave like that?” she asked and looked down Ariel’s onesie with ghost-print.

“Oh, right, shoes,” they answered, fetching a pair of run down converse, not bothering to tie the laces. They tucked them in and pointed to the door. “Now?”

But Evelyn still felt like they had forgotten something important. Something they needed to consider before they left. Maybe it was just her fear of entering that house again where she had gotten cursed in the first place, the fear of not finding what they needed to. The fear that she would so utterly fail in the quest of saving her life, of destroying the curse. It was too close to past memories, perhaps. The image of the old lady dissipating into thin air as she sent her off still lingered in her mind, and she couldn’t help but see herself in that place.

“Ah, of course,” Ariel mumbled, pulled out a single hair from Evelyn and burnt it in the candle standing next to the door. “My mistake.” They waved to the outside, and finally Evelyn found the strength to walk again.

“So you did curse your own apartment!”

“Nonsense, I never said that,” Ariel replied with a grin and the rain poured down on them once more. Like needles, it pricked on her skin. If she turned into a silver statue, she would never feel it again. They ran to her old Corolla, parked so very badly in line.

“You know, those winter tires are really cheap now. You should get them as long as they are affordable. I bet they will be much pricier once it’s winter.”

“Gotta make it to winter first,” Evelyn muttered and turned on the motor. The radio gave white noise – a side effect of getting cursed, or maybe just a coincidental break-down.

“So pessimistic. Really, you’re insufferable.” Ariel started to play snake on their phone.

The way to the old house was quiet except for the occasional white noise when the radio came to life unasked. The road was mostly deserted at the late hour, some street lights only blinked yellow already. It was not until she turned on the road to leave the small city that Ariel shifted in the front seat.

“Where were you the whole last year, Evelyn?” Their voice was softer now. The phone tucked inside their pocket. With a quick glance, she could see that they looked outside. Of course, they would ask. Evelyn had known that. Despite this, she still didn’t know what to answer. How to say the words to Ariel that she could hardly think to herself.

“I just… I was not so well.” A kind euphemism for lying in bed all day, ignoring her calls and living off of pizza and instant noodles.

“We could have really used you then. There was that Undine in the sink of that favourite restaurant of yours. Took three of us to get her out of there. You could have probably managed her yourself.” A harsh way to say that she had been missed. A nice way to say that Ariel was hurt.

“I’m sorry.” Lousy words. They would not make up for letting her friends down. Not really.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to apologize.” She had to, though. She really had to.

Evelyn pulled into the street, the utmost street of the small-town. One could see the forest behind it from here. At the end of the street stood an old house, next to the old school that was covered in ivy.

“I just wanted you to know that you’re needed, even if you think you aren’t. Or I don’t know… Ah, you know.” Words were hard for Ariel, too. But Evelyn thought she understood them, and nodded with a slight smile. It had been like that between them from the beginning, somehow.

----

WIP intro || masterlist || next chapter

#writeblr #novella #my writing #original fiction #fantasy #urban fantasy #ghosts #curses #wip; heart of silver #heart of silver chapter 1 #tw body horror #tw depression #tw death mention #not really body horror but also not not body horror but no spooky if that clears it up x)

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henryspearl · 3 years

Photo

on top of the world (ao3 link)

It was alluring, the night sky. They did not quite realise how captivating it really was until they stood on the balcony, bright colours exploding and blending with dark navy blue and colliding with the stars that sparkled and shined. It was almost magical the way the many dazzling fireworks burst up into the sky matched how Ben and Callum were feeling and how both of their hearts were bursting with happiness and love, completely.

Ben, already feeling it on many occasions since he met Callum, felt whole. He was no longer filled with the dreaded darkness that was always walking two seconds behind him, his stomach was not in thousands of knots from fear and dread. He was finally at peace. The darkness had walked away, disintegrating into ash, like the bright radiant sunshine that was Callum burned over the darkness and brought Ben with him into the light, where there were rainbows, and you could hear the birds singing. It was bliss. It felt freeing, like he had left that dark world behind.

Callum’s heat was radiating on Ben, like a warm blanket as he rested his head on his shoulder. He was happy. He looked up at the sky and sniffed, his eyes starting to glass over from the freezing cold as well as being full of emotion, full of love. He silently thanked the stars above for sending Callum to him, that their paths aligned. He never genuinely believed in soulmates, until Callum came into his life. He solely believed that Callum was his destiny, his soulmate.

“You okay?”

The soft gentle warm voice transmitted into Ben’s processor. The voice that sounds so familiar, the voice that he hears muffled under the bed covers late at night, the voice that always soothes him, the voice that reassures him that he is worth it.

Ben’s eyes divert upwards as he continues resting his hand on Callum’s shoulder, his hand feeling warm and cosy as it is tucked up against his. Callum is looking down at him, a smile that is full of love and dimples. His smile lit up Ben’s world. He moves his head from Callum’s shoulder and smiles softly, almost shyly.

“Never better,” Ben says, his smile moving brighter, brighter than the fireworks that continued to explode up into the night sky.

No one was looking up at them from down below anymore, all mesmerized by the fireworks. Ben untucked his hand from Callum’s and put his arm around his waist, pulling him closer. “C’mere,” he whispers amongst the stars.

He clasps his lips with Callum, pulling him into a more passionate kiss where their lips folded together. Ben suddenly felt the rose petals scratch his back lightly, a gentle tickle as Callum moved to wrap his arms around Ben’s back, pulling him closer. Their bodies were stuck together as they indulged in each other’s mouths, smiling against them, their tongues colliding as they battled for dominance, getting lost in their own heaven.

It was just them leaving the world to its own as they stood on the balcony, kissing repeatedly. It was the first proper kiss since they became fiancés. Since their family were too focused on the fireworks that were exploding above them, they decided to use the time to absorb the love and happiness that they felt of becoming engaged and getting married, of spending forever together.

“Oi lovebirds!”

The fireworks had fizzled out, the remnants of the fireworks bubbling against the stars that sounded the same as a fizzy drink bottle being opened for the first time. Ben and Callum moved their lips apart, a smack escaping their wet lips. They looked down to find Jay looking up, smiling mischievously up at them. Jay held his phone landscape in his hands and it was lowered down, like he had just snapped a photo. The perfect photo. Ben was going to have a word with him about getting that photo sent to him and ruin his ego by posting a publicly indecent photo on his social media accounts followed by the caption ‘we said yes’ with a love heart and maybe a ring and red rose emoji.

“Get down here, the champagne won’t drink itself,” Lexi ordered loudly, her little voice travelling up the balcony effortlessly. A chuckle ruptured in Ben and Callum’s chests, used to her ways a long time ago.

Downstairs, a glass of champagne was put in everyone’s hands apart from Lexi who had a glass of lemonade. They all toasted Ben and Callum, the happy power couple of Walford. Callum had his arm around Ben’s shoulders as he felt Ben’s arm across his waist. They were smiling so hard that it would probably start to physically ache soon, but they did not care. They were so happy and in love. While everyone had a sip of their champagne, Callum and Ben looked at each other and stole a quick kiss, yearning for more but knew that it was a promise for later, for when they could finally have each other to themselves.

Ben masked the disheartened feeling in his chest when Kathy showed up a couple of hours later, clearly stressed and her main priority being his waste of a space half-brother. She walked over to Ben, who was standing with Lola at the bar, with a furrowed brow as she took in her surroundings.

“What’s going on here?” She asks. “I got the text you sent me a couple of hours ago. I’ve barely looked at my phone today to be honest.”

With a disappointed smile in which Ben refused to let those feelings take over the true happiness that he felt, he told his mother the happy news, the first bit of good news since his implant worked. When Ben told her, Kathy’s eyes started to brim with wet tears, happy tears for the first time this week of the news that her youngest son was getting married, that he had a steady. She pulled Ben into a tight hug, gushing of how happy and proud she was of him, congratulating him.

Callum was alerted to Kathy’s presence when he was standing in the corner with Jay, Stuart, Rainie and Lexi.

“Where’s that future son in law of mine?” She called out. Callum turned round to find Kathy charging over to him, a wide radiant smile on her face. When she reached Callum, she pulled him into a tight hug, muttering words of congratulations and how happy she is for them both. Callum smiled kindly and looked over Kathy’s shoulder to find Ben slowly making his way over, an amused smirk dancing his lips in which Callum mirrored.

The evening ended on very little champagne, due to the amount that had been consumed by everyone throughout the evening. It all seemed to go by in a blur but to Callum, it was magical. It made his heart swell with happiness and he felt full of emotion on how this was all for him, he had to hold back the tears when Lexi presented her pink clipboard to him, her eyes lighting up in excitement when she showed him the schedule of the whole proposal.

He meant what he had said to Ben - when he’s with him, he feels like they can take on the world.

Ever since he’s been with Ben, he has felt truly loved and worth it, and was pretty much fine the way he was. He was fine as the smiley dopey self that he was born to be. He did not just have Ben, but he had a whole family who loved and cared about him. He felt so lucky of how he just slotted into their family, into their lives and into their hearts.

It made him feel on top of the world.

Towards the end of the evening, Callum was slightly tipsy because of the champagne as well as being slightly drunk on love, drunkenly in love with Ben.

“Have this darling, you’ll look like a proper princess now,” Callum crouched down to Lexi’s level, a red rose in his hand. “Thank you, our little proposal organiser!”

Lexi’s jaw dropped as a wide smile spread across her mouth, her eyes shining in delight as she took the red rose, her heart leaping at the thought of being a proper princess in her wide skirted bright pink puffy dress.

“Thanks Callum,” She exclaims in a thrill voice. “Can I organise your wedding as well?”

“No,” Ben says, almost instantly. “You’ll have us riding about in a horse and carriage if it was down to you.”

Lexi looked over to Ben, her lips pointing outwards into a frown, lines presenting itself under her eyes as she squinted, “It’d be the best wedding ever.” She insisted.

“The best wedding ever would be having you as our flower girl,” Callum tells her, flashing one of his wink-blinks in her direction, Ben completely trying to hide the fact how it just made his heart skip a beat. Lexi looks up at Callum, her face glowing with happiness as she beams up at him.

It made Ben’s heart swell up looking at the two of them together. Just like it did every time. Callum was amazing with her and Lexi adored him and always looked up to him like he hung the moon and the stars. He started to feel overcome with emotion as he reminisced of when Lexi told Callum how there is no one in the world that she would rather have as her other dad only a few hours earlier. And also how obvious it was that they were meant to be together.

Lexi was right. They were meant to be together. There was also no other man who he would want to be Lexi's other dad. Callum was meant to walk into his life and take all the darkness away and make him see the golden sun that illuminated over him and opened a doorway that was full of hope and possibilities. Taking that step through the door was the best decision that he ever made because he was finally truly happy and accepting of who he was.

Ben smiled softly, a muted chuckle rumbling in his chest as Lexi sniffed the rose dramatically, her eyes fluttering shut like she was Belle from Beauty and the Beast, the inspiration obviously coming from one of the princesses that she has made him watch a thousand times.

He briefly looked over at Callum, who was smiling down at Lexi while stealing a sip of champagne. His heart was roaring like a warm sizzling cosy fire. The two most important people in his universe and he could not quite believe that he was going to have them for the rest of his life. It was the best feeling that could make his heart almost explode out of his chest. He could not believe that he got so lucky in gaining the most kind-hearted person to ever exist.

However, what he did not expect was by the very end of the evening for each single lady in the bar to be given a red rose. Ben stood at the bar shaking his head in disbelief, but he could not help that laugh that escaped and rattled through his body. “Do you realise how much those roses cost babe?” He called out to Callum, who was currently giving a rose to Honey.

He didn’t care though. There were thousands of roses there, but it wasn’t about that. Callum wouldn’t be Callum without being the generous person with his compassionate soul, always thinking of himself above anyone else.

Keep reading on AO3

#the 7k proposal coda that absolutley no one asked for but it was fun writing it!!#i hope this makes all of your hearts feel full<333 #ballum fic #my writing #ballum #ben x callum #eastenders

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nighttime-daydreams · 5 years

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Musical Key Characteristics Explained

As someone with perfect pitch and synesthesia, when I listen to a song in a certain key, it reminds me of certain vibes and aesthetics, making some keys fit my surroundings more depending on what they are. Each set of Majors and Minors has a month to it as well.

A Major: Bittersweet and romantic. Very Springlike, like a meadow in May, and also a somewhat Oceany key, like a sea breeze.

F# Minor: This key evokes imagery of bright white lights in large empty rooms at night, it’s futuristic and imposing and it has a very sterile and clean energy to it.

Bb Major: Very brown, streetlamps through heavy snowfall in January. The comforting quiet and familiarity of a hometown.

G Minor: Cold and dark nights, a competitive key, but also full of anger and malice at times.

B Major: Key of the morning, of a multicolored sunrise over the mountains and waking up feeling well rested to hear the birds.

G# Minor: This key is almost entirely gray. The sun tries to poke through an overcast sky in the aftermath of a February blizzard, snowdrifts still blowing, but it’s light only faintly reaches the ground.

C Major: Pure childhood innocence and warmth, very kindhearted and simple like the park on a warm September afternoon.

A Minor: Another morning key, this has an urban feel to it and sounds kind of old-fashioned.

C# Major: Naturey, like a damp April forest on a mountain, clearing to reveal a pristine lake.

Bb Minor: A very troubled key. It is the key of someone who has been wounded emotionally or physically in the past, and it has damaged his mind and left him near hopeless. He does however still have a faint fire in his heart that keeps him going.

D Major: Key of the summer, traveling the open road, triumph, and wild, unbridled love. This key can cheer anyone up.

B Minor: An old farmer sits on his porch on a scorching July day, watching the dark gray clouds of an approaching storm draw closer and closer. It is also tropical, and gives imagery of a blinding sun and palm trees at an almost magical resort poolside, with all the people you met and never saw again on vacations swimming in it.

Eb Major: This is the key of heroes and leaders. It is triumphant but honorable. It evokes the feeling of finally completing a goal after a very long time. It exhibits loyalty and stoicism better than any other key. It is also the key of the night sky, and all the faded stars and galaxies you can see on the perfect stargazing night.

C Minor: This key has a very dark mind, but a kind heart deep down. Very intelligent but troubled. It reminds me of a chilly November morning, as cold winds rustle barren trees under an overcast sky in a little town with gothic architecture.

E Major: Pure happiness and joy, the brightest and most magnificent key. It has many forms; A tropical paradise under the moonlight, a beautiful green Aurora over a snow-covered tundra, the greenest field under the bluest sky.

C# Minor: A snowstorm on a December afternoon when the sun has already set, turning the cloudy sky as well as all the snow a deep dusky blue. Street lights and city lights are present, illuminating the landscape’s darkness. Strangely, this key is also tropical. It has the futuristic vibe of a pool at night that is lit up blue, even though nobody is swimming in it. Nothing can capture beautiful melancholy quite like C# Minor.

F Major: The key of autumn, of the red, orange and yellow leaves, and the crisp October chill as you sit inside your cozy home by a fire with a hot drink.

D Minor: This key is haunting, yet beautiful. It reminds me of ghosts and the full moon shining through the trees. It is also hearty, and reminds me of an old mountain man with a huge beard eating beef stew inside his log cabin, waiting out the night while the wolves howl outside.

F# Major: This key is vibrant and comforting. It smells like flowers and has sort of a radiant aura, like a neon sign in the rain, or a pink fluorescent light.

Eb Minor: On a cold and rainy March night, a nondescript man eats ramen noodles at a restaurant on the 20th floor of a Tokyo skyscraper, watching the water droplets on the window and looking down on the city below, noticing each pedestrian, imagining what each of their lives and experiences were, and how many different lives he has witnessed in that very moment, never to interact with or see again.

G Major: This is the key of fun with friends, relaxing, and feel-good moments. It’s June, school has just been let out for the summer and it’s time to hit the beach.

E Minor: Cloudy but warm day in a city, feelings of grandiosity, can be brash and flashy at times. When the moon comes out, though, this key brings feelings of exasperated shame or guilt, of a good man seen as evil by the world because of a deed in his past that they didn’t fully understand.

G# Major: A fancy banquet. All the nobles have attended in the heaviest clothing, despite it being an unbearably humid August day. They toast their drinks and sing old melodies that have been passed down for generations by each esteemed family.

F Minor: This key is caught in a terrible storm. Black thunderclouds and pouring rain are all around while the wind picks up in intensity. Through it all, this key actually finds comfort in this weather and embraces the storm.

4/13/19

#synesthesia #music #musical keys #keys #aesthetic #music aesthetic #perfect pitch #aesthetics #music theory

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foxsstoriesarchive · 3 years

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Reincarnation, Death and Rebirth

The song of birds in the late spring air. The rebirth of plants blooming, releasing aromas to tickle and delight one’s senses. Bright colours, warmth of sunlight, a soft breeze. A rustle of leaves in the trees following a silent and uncanny melody of the world. Everything felt brighter, to the witch. Perhaps it was because she could finally reach out without the fear of getting stung by powers not understood by many. Perhaps because things felt different now. It had been three weeks of grievance, of dark days and rainy hours. As if the world itself, was grieving for a loss it never wanted to lose. The last few days had been brighter though, lighter. The sun finally was peaking out from the land of unknown, finally giving a chance for a fresh breath of air. It felt good to be outdoors once more, surrounded by the plants Harper took such deep care of. A tanned hand gently glided over the petals of the foxglove flowers that were in full bloom, pinks purples and whites colouring the garden in a pleasant, delightful way. How soft, yet deadly the petals were, if one was just to..- “Didn’t anyone tell you that you ought to be careful with poisonous plants?” Harper froze, snatching her fingers at the voice. A voice she recognised all too well. A voice that haunted the back of her mind, the voice that had whispered ‘I love you’ what felt like a long time ago, yet short enough to burn. The witch looked like someone had snapped her, panic ridden in her eyes while she frantically looked around her. Did she imagine the voice? The witch lowered her head down, hand held close to her chest, tears welling up in her eyes while a soft curse breathlessly left her lips. Oh, it stung. “Now, why are you looking so grim there? Didn’t I teach you better than this? Always keep your chin up, little bunny.” The voice came once more, the feeling of fingers under her chin, warm.. Real. The light force that tilted Harper’s head up, enough to reveal eyes so deeply wounded, so shaken up by emotions. Tricks. It was all tricks, wasn’t it? Then, hazel met the most exotic, unnatural eyes of yellow mixed with green. Pupils widened, eyes fluttering open fully, as a cry left the witch. “Kassidy!” ꧁༺༻꧂ The redhead watched from the tree, the rustling of the leaves perhaps the only give away that she had been there, eyes on her beloved witch. It had been so long since she saw the other, so many years had passed and to see the auburn haired girl.. To be so close in proximity felt almost like fire in her blood. She just wanted to wrap the other up in her arms, never let her go. Oh, Kass knew she had hurt Harper. She knew it, but knew that it had to have been done. Fate was a strange thing after all, but it always got its way. It was when the other reached for the flowers though, in a world of her own, that L’assidu spoke words out loud, her throat feeling like it was going to close up. Her voice came out light though, which she was grateful for. “Didn’t anyone tell you that you ought to be careful with poisonous plants?” And of course she watched, she watched as the bunny-like girl frantically looked around, the pain enough for L’assidu to pick up herself. Oh, her stormy witch. She had to be subtle though, careful not to shake up a can that was already quite rattled up. With a swift but quiet movement, the goddess slipped down the tree, footsteps silent as she trailed behind the other. So many years had passed for her.. Just within touch, yet Kassidy felt a soft throb of fear. Would she still be accepted by the other, even with all that the witch went through? Swallowing her pride though, L’assidu reached out, the gentlest of fingers touching tanned skin while she used a small amount of force to lift the other’s chin up, speaking again to the other, this time at a closer proximity. It was only moments later that she was in the embrace of another. ꧁༺༻꧂ In but a moment did the auburn haired female threw herself onto the other, who let out the recognisable melodic laugh, arms wrapping around the barely shorter girl. “My my, did you doubt me, Harper? You

really ought to trust me more.” The goddess teased with a light albeit shaky laugh, yet her touch appeared affectionate as she finally let the other go with one hand, only to lay it upon the other’s cheek, stroking the other’s skin. “But then, we both know you didn’t give up now, did you?” Kassidy spoke rather fondly while addressing Harper, who had began crying and sobbing somewhere in the midst of the embrace. “O-Of course n-not..” The redhead knew the answer already though, gaze soft as she looked into the others’ face, eyes. Scanning so deeply that Harper felt the other could bore through her soul. “I’m sorry, Harper. Please don’t be angry with me.. It was a risk I had to take, if it meant you’d be here with me, now..” L’assidu whispered softly, her gaze pleading for forgiveness from the other. Harper only further teared up more, before lifting her own hand, using a sleeve to wipe her tears away from her face. “I could never be angry.. It hurt.. It hurt so much Kassidy, but.. I- Know..” She finally mustered out, clearly trying not to start crying again. “I understand, and I can’t promise I’ll be able to fix that straight away but.. Things will be different now, I promise you.” Kassidy muttered back, those words seeming genuine. Only then, did Harper begin to notice something off about the other. The unfamiliar clothing.. Harper began to really scan Kassidy’s features, surprise coming to her. “Kassidy.. Are you..-?” That earned a laugh from the redheaded female. “Took you long enough to realise, didn’t it?” With that, she stepped back. The white toga detailed with gold accents. The gold laurel wreath decoration on top of her head. The incredibly long, deep red strands that cascaded down, seeming held by an oddly large beadlike shape near the bottom. The telltale golden bracelets, and even the ribbons that tied what seemed to be the simplest of what felt like sandals, to the other’s feet. White material draped over L’assidu’s arm, gently swaying in the breeze. It took a moment to take in all the details about the other, the realisation truly sinking in that the girl in front of her wasn’t any longer the girl she knew. Or perhaps better said, the girl in front of her was more herself than she ever had been. “Is it that much of a difference? I haven’t really had a chance to enter the manor, I missed you too much for that.” L’assidu finally spoke out loud, giving the witch a pout. “N-No! I mean- Yes! You look.. Like a real goddess.. I- Mean! Not that you weren’t before but!” Harper began to stutter, panic ridden once more, only for the redhead to laugh in an amused tone. “It’s alright, I know. It’s a bit different, but then again I spent eighty five years away from what humans would call normal clothing. Romans and the Greek took their inspiration for a reason.” Harper’s eyes widened again, this time barely choking out “Wait, eighty five years? But Kassidy,- Um.. L’assidu.. It’s not been that long-“ She began, clearly seeming confused. The goddess only allowed a smile, shaking her head. “It’s okay, you can keep calling me Kassidy. I prefer it, I’ve always been fond of my name here. As for the years..Time flows differently in realms unlike in the world we’re in now. One day here, is three and a half years for a deity. Albeit, we don’t have such a binding of time as humans do since our world stays the same season most of the time.. Well, that is, unless one of the deities gets pissed or drunk. Sarasil always has the habit of making it freezing cold for months if someone tries to get into a fight with him when drunk.” She explained lightly, eyes drifting up to the sky where a couple soft clouds decorated the vast blue. Harper watched the other, silent for a while. “Has it.. Really been that long for you?” Perhaps there was a second of emotion in Kassidy’s face that wasn’t recognisable, but it disappeared in a blink of an eye. “Yes, but it’s alright. I’m here now, and I told you I wouldn’t give up on you. No matter what the world might throw at us.” The goddess began, before taking a moment to breathe in the familiar yet

foreign air of this world. It felt different to be here in her true form. Not as a mortal shapeshifter, but as a goddess in her own right. Herself, no longer bound. At least, gifted to live as she pleased. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Kassidy smiled at the other. “Now, how about we go inside so that I can put on some other clothes? I’d ask if you threw my things out, but seeing as you’re wearing my shirt, I assume not. We have a lot to catch up on anyway, and I know I’ll be interrogated quite a bit.”

꧁༺༻꧂ ꧁༺༻꧂ “I could feel the hope, even from where I was. You never stopped believing, you never gave up. I could say it’s one of the reasons why I was set free from bounds.” Kassidy addressed Harper from the arm chair. The four girls were in Nox’s office on the sofa and armchairs, Harper cuddled up beside Charlie under a blanket, Nox opposite of Kass. Even in the heat of day, the fire was still lit up, just the way the demoness seemed to always like it. Kassidy had changed into her more humane clothes by then, enchanted her hair to the well-known length it had been in the past for sake of comfort. Things were already starting to feel better. “It’s a bit of a long story, truthfully. Bare with me while I try to summarise the years. The trial I had set to do I passed, and in turn the ancient tree gifted me the chance to be here again, a second chance. A real chance.” She said softly, gently twisting a ring on her finger; intricate knots of patterns reminiscent of the Yggdrasil branches and roots. A tree more ancient than life itself as beings knew it, the connection between worlds. A path worshiped and cherished. A holy entity like the Ygdrassil tree.. Who knew or understood how the universe worked, but sometimes it created little miracles. Of course, her mind drifted to the tree.. branches extending far into the heavens, roots extending to faraway locations, keeping universes tied together, ticking like perfect clocks alongside eachother, bound by a force not many could even name. Meeting Harper’s eyes, Kassidy’s own seemed to have a newfound power in them. Twinkling, gentle yet a reckless storm fitting for a woodland deity and the wildlife in them. Her eyes moved to the greys of the fallen angel, then the deep amethysts of the demoness. How funny it was, such a short time passed here compared to the realm she came from. The faces her memory held so familiar, so unchanged. “I suppose the best way to begin, is from the beginning. A lot of mortals in this realm might find it confusing that the mythologies and lores they grew up with, aren’t as split as many tell eachother. Norse and Greek, Egyptian and Roman, Celtic.. In reality, we’re all children of the children of the originals, who exist along us. Bloodlines have been so mixed together on Olympus by now, that we’re entities of our own, unbound to one path, allowed to make our own choices and decisions. Our gifts are what nurtures us, leads us down paths of fate which we belong on. Perhaps if others realised just the many realms there are, they’d understand that diversity comes in unity. And even that the favourite deities of this world, the tales and stories are far more than what they heard from a whisper of a god long ago. This might seem irrelevant, but please bare with me.” Kassidy began steadily, seeming as if she was discussing a topic irrelevant to why she was here, but all would come clear. “How did it come to the world splitting beliefs so much then?.. If it’s nothing like how people think it is?” Harper quietly asked in the silence. Kassidy gave her an approving look, before shifting in the arm chair for a more comfortable position. “We tested the waters; appeared in front of humans once. Shortly enough not to damage the delicate balance of this world, for if we stayed too long then our powers could become too corruptive to said balance. All across the world in the olden days, one of us took the risk.. And because of those risks some of us decided to make, mythologies came to be, stories told from what really happened one night, to whispers between humans in broad daylight. They began making making their own faiths though, something we did not expect. They celebrated us, created shrines, looked up to us as if we were their saviours. And so, their stories split us in this world. At first it amused us, the way that humans worked, the way humanity floated from one state to another. Oh how far they took their beliefs. Try no one seemed to be able to agree, and it confused us why for some reason humans couldn’t believe that their different ‘faiths’ could in

reality, be one and the same. That their faiths could get along just fine with one another, belong in the same world. Even with our indirect prompting, we simply could not persuade the human kind. Generations of years went by, humanity fought for what they believed was real and what wasn’t.. Some began losing faith. Became less connected to the deities they once loved. New religions came to be, burying the old weals behind blind eyes. Some linages held to the tales though, to the whispers told at night before bedtime, or when things got hard. We became myths that most told, but hardly many believed. At least, that’s what we thought.. We still listened, yet it’s hard to help those who no longer hear us, no longer feel our presences by their side.. Or know how to feel us. All are born with the feeling, but as society evolves, most become desensitised to those intricate inner wirings of the old calls. Yet we still did our best to help humans in ways we could.” The female took a small breather, a reminder that she was still with the others, to give them a moment to process information. “It might be why some supernaturals recognise there’s more realms than most think. So many realms connected and tied to eachother, so many beings across those realms and universes.. Alike, and different, leading different rules and different leaderships.. Yet somehow, bringing us together.” Nox mused quietly having been intently listening to Kassidy talk, musing about how the world has funny ways of making things happen. How realms coexisted, interconnected one way or another. “Olympus has a huge, beautiful lake.. The lake of Reflection in fact, often shows flickers of life, the parts we want to focus on, what calls upon us. A whisper of what we want to see, or what needs to be seen by us. It’s short glimpses however, unless we want to spend the days watching human life play out right in front of us. Mind you, some of us do, watching things unveil for days on end. Some in groups, while some enjoy taking a boat, leaning over the edge to look into the depths of the waters for a reflection of those who need faith or some help in their daily life. You could say that us deities, at least most of us, are rather smitten by the human life, even if we get into quarrels with each other about what is right. Sure, we can be petty and immortality means some become desensitised to harm when it comes to our own kind, or people they look over. In fact, some don’t participate in such activities and prefer to focus their time on other things. There are deities who aren’t fond of humans too, or the world you know. However for most of us, we spend our time watching over those.. Even if it’s small glimpses in random parts of others’ lives. It’s where time comes into play. Why even if you ask, I wouldn’t be able to give you my true age. Time works differently between our two realms. A few days to you, a couple tenths of years may pass me. Time isn’t a straight line either, a confusing concept that most of us don’t mind following, yet it can be peculiar to those of us who wish to be involved in more than.. Watching. See, being indirectly involved is nice, but what if you want to experience it first hand? What if you want to be surrounded by the world you’ve spent watching for so long? Only to be told that it’s impossible, that if a deity like I was to come to a realm like this, it would disturb the delicate peace of the world? How it bring chaos and destruction, the world trying to balance it with natural disasters only to worsen human life? It takes one single deity to damage frail balance of this realm. I was however determined to follow through with what my heart desired, even if it meant I’d have to do the impossible. You know me though, I’m stubborn and not the type to give up easily on something that matters to me. So I searched across the lands for an answer, deep and far, high and low. I met many deities of different kinds, talked to so many individuals with knowledge beyond years. And finally I had managed to find a lead, a lead that would take me to

the most ancient part of our lands. At least, that was the theory. A tale of our own per say, you could say. Deep in the gales of a forest far and inbetween, there are tales of a tree as old as the universe itself, a tree that holds enormous power over connecting worlds, realities, realms together. The tales in fact are so deep rooted in our history that humans too, know of it. Trying to locate it by tales and rumours was difficult, however, and took days of crossing land. I had help though, from friends - The animals that guided me. Helped me find food, kept me warm in turn for protection from the one they felt connected to. Looking back on it, perhaps that too, was part of my trial.” “It was throughout that journey however, that I found a wounded fox. A part of my heart felt for it, to be alone in the world with no one to rely on, trying to search for.. Something, or watch life go by. It’s then that I decided to help it, using some of my powers to reverse the wounds, to heal what has been damaged. I knew it wouldn’t last too long, but I had a companion by my side, a faithful hair of red to join me on the adventures. And after a long time walking, sleeping, camping.. We found it. Deep within the heart of the forest of our lands, we came across the ancient entity known as the Ygdrassil Tree, the tree of realms. If anyone or anything could’ve granted my wish, it would be this eternal being.” Kassidy explained, shaking her head with what seemed like a fond smile. “That’s when the true trials began. The Ygdrassil tree told me of how my wish may come true, but at a cost. I had to go across the lands with my companion fox, seeking the elements that we needed to retrieve for the trials. A hair of aether given with gratitude, a drop of tear of a dragon freely given by the sorrow of tales, the smallest grain of sand from a land far away,- And lastly, the ember of a soul.” Biting her lip, the female gazed into the distance for a moment, her gaze unfocused as if remembering what happened so long ago, yet not long at all. “It was the ember, that I couldn��t find. At least, at the time I didn’t think I could. But as we stood in front of the tree, exhausted, months having passed of travel, the old Yggdrasil spoke of how we did well getting all the elements we needed. I was confused, to which I remember the soft rumble of a laugh saying that the ember was with me all along. It was only then that I realised, it was the fox.” The wounded fox, taken care of by a crimson haired deity who took time out of her own path to help it. “The tree told me tales of how the fox once lived inside of it, along with the many animals that enjoyed the safety of it - and how one day, it decided to travel all alone, never to come back. At least, until it did.. With me. The bond we shared was meant to be, I suppose. The final trial came, yet I could not know much about it. All I knew was, that I was going to reincarnate as a human, from the very beginning. I would have no recollection of my memories to make it fair, for such knowledge I possessed would surely burn out the mortal body within if accessed too early. My trial was to live as one of those on the earth. And so I agreed to it, agreed to giving up everything I had to this, a trial which I didn’t know if I’d manage to pass. Whether I’d still be.. Me. With that, the branches moved aside from the way to reveal a path to an obelisk. The final step of this journey. And I took those steps with my companion, making our way to the ancient stone emitting power I’ve never experienced before. The way it rippled in the air felt surreal, I can still remember the sensation it caused through my body. It felt.. Pure, infinite. As if every atom within me responded to it.” “ ‘Put the elements in their rightful places, L’assidu. When that is done, drink the water from the bowl at the foot of the obelisk. With that, you will complete your task.’ Is what the Yggdrasil tree told me. And that, I did. I placed each of the three elements into their rightful places within the obelisk, to watch the ancient runes on it

glow, burn brightly with a light I could never describe to you. I then knelt next to the stone bowl by the foot of the obelisk and dipped my hands in to take the water, the fox beside me lapping it up alongside me as we drank from it. I.. Remember the sounds of the birds chirping. Sitting there, listening to the leaves so serenely rustle above us, lulling us to a peace while the hum of the obelisk resonated inside of us. What happened next, I assume is easy to guess. I collapsed, perhaps fell asleep.. And when my eyes opened? I was born on the earth. My first breath, my life as mortal as one’s can be. See, the ember was the fox. An animal that did not have much time alive, willingly accompanying me through the travels, adventures and journeys. Our souls were bound, I suppose, when we drank the water from the same source. And from there, you know my human life until we met. It’s why I recognised those runes in the journal, Nox. Those exact runes were on the obelisk, too. Those runes are more ancient than our lands and it was something I studied with the tree. I couldn’t believe the fact that somehow they existed here, in this world. Yet fate is a funny thing that way, I suppose..” She had been looking at Nox there, her eyes reading the demoness’ expression. “I lived the life, I slowly gained my memories. I met all of you, and in the end I sacrificed myself for an innocent life, much like the soul within me had for me.” Kassidy lifted her hand to where her heart was, feeling the soft movement of beating under her touch. Her eyes closed, and she smiled to herself. A private little smile. “When I awoke again, I was under the obelisk once more. Leaves decorated my body, I remember the sensation of surrealism. A feeling of time passing, yet time not passing at all. The soft rumble of deep voice echoed in my ears, which I think I will never forget. ‘I awaited you, while many centuries passed in our land.’” The crimson haired female repeated, finally opening her eyes. “It was like my life passed in the blink of an eye, yet thousands of years passed within the land most native to me. Eternal, yet surreal. Was it real? I had asked the ancient tree. And was greeted with an answer of a yes, it was not a dream. The ancient Yggrasil held information from me it seems, how the fox was a Patreon that took a liking to me. A Patreon that had been dying, how the trial allowed our souls to bond. But it seemed to be stubborn.. I had meant to be a human, but ended up.. Who I was I suppose. It didn’t want to let go of me, it wanted to venture with me, wanted to experience life much like I. Perhaps the determination that I had, the fox shared too. I remember the odd, deep tone that echoed in my mind, the sound of.. Pride? As if Yggdrasil was proud of me. But my heart hurt, as I looked back to the body of the fox who lay under the obelisk, no life left in it any longer. 'L’assidu, the goddess of woodlands and animals alike. You have passed your trials and fought with the ways of the world even when mortal to get what you wanted. You never stopped reaching forward, helped souls along your path. You sacrificed yourself selflessly. You earned yourself quite a follower.. A Patreon no less. So we will grant you two gifts.’ ..” She stayed silent for a while, and the girls spoke no word, letting Kassidy slowly work through her memories. “I passed the trial. A trial I did not know how to pass.. I was worthy of it. There was a rustle of leaves, a glow of warm light in front of me from the ancient tree. When the light finally dimmed, I saw the ring floating on a leaf in front of me, a gift from the entity itself. ‘L’assidu, We crown you as the Child of Nature. Treasure the title, for we do not give something like this lightly. You are one of the chosen. May your life and your will take you to places not many of your kind can reach.’ As for the second gift from the entity? Those words still make me smile. ‘The soul that accompanied you, will stay with you for as long as you accept the gift.It seems quite bonded with you, to hold it back would be

something we would not wish to do. Look after it, for you won’t have a second chance if you reject the offer.’ You can only imagine my relief at hearing that. It felt emptier inside without it, without the companion I was so used to. So I knelt in front of the ancient tree, hands held out.. A promise of acceptance on my lips. With that, the gold shimmer of a glow brought the ring into my hands, a warm feeling spreading through me, a joyful warmth like children laughing in the breeze. I think I even cried a little, to be truthful. Since that moment though, I felt it. I felt the presence I missed so deeply within, the familiar presence in my heart. Perhaps at the time I didn’t quite know what the two gifts meant, but I realised soon enough that the fox I shared my life with, was within me again. And it felt right. It’s funny to say, but I started to see it as a sort of a friend I guess. My silent patreon." “The ring is freedom. It’s what allows me to be here, with you without a worry of breaking the laws of the world. I guess you could call it a travelling pass, I suppose? It binds my powers, but not restricts them. I was warned to respect the ways of this world however, and I do not plan to break them. I’m not here to meddle with the mortal lives, but.. Be with my family.” She muttered under her breath, eyes lowering as her fingers twisted the ring, turned it around and around. “But.. Why didn’t you come sooner, if that was the case?” Harper finally asked, her eyes shimmery with unshed tears. “If what you said about time was right, you would’ve been back sooner, would you not?..” Kassidy choked out a laugh to that, shaking her head. “I had to respect the boundries of the worlds. I had to wait at least fifty years before I could return, to give the world time to heal. My sacrifice didn’t only affect you, Harper, but it changed a small piece within this world itself. The gift of immortality is a very rare, and very special thing when gifted from a deity, but it can have grave consequences. I had to stay away.. Thankfully with the way our time flows, it was less time for you than for me. In that time I learned though. I handled my business, sorted out things I needed to, with other deities. I learned with the old Yggdrasil, for the knowledge I was given is something I do not want to die out. It hurt to be away from you three for so long, but the wait was worth it if it meant we could be together once more. And.. I must thank you for not giving up on me, even when many others would have. Your hope kept me going.” A soft laugh escaped her, raising an eyebrow. “In fact, I know a few deities took quite a liking to you three. Apparently not only was the Yggdrasil watching, but some too, watched on the reflection of the lake. You have many blessings indeed.. A little bit of favouritism from those above and beyond it might seem. Think of it as a little bit of.. Extra luck.” The crimsonette winked, seeming amused by the idea. “Of course.. I couldn’t tell this story to anyone. It was a secret I was not allowed to share, just hint at some things, but never spill what I was truly doing, here. I think if I had broken those rules, I wouldn’t have passed the trial. Here I am though.. As promised, Nox.” “And so you did. Seems that’s quite a tale you have, Kassidy. Would you.. Mind if I wrote it out for sake of keeping such information safe? The Reincarnation, Death and Rebirth of a Godddess.. It’s truly something to keep close to our hearts. It’s good to have you back Kassidy, it’s not the same without you here.” Was the demoness herself, getting a little emotional? While no one was looking, the girl wiped away a silent little tear from her eye. Charlie seemed to tilt her head though, looking at the red vixen thoughtfully. “So it means that your presence here no longer can cause catastrophic disasters, correct? No longer can it create imbalances in power?” Kassidy nodded at that, breathing out slowly. “That’s what it seems to mean.. It doesn’t mean I can do whatever I please, however. What I was given can be taken away from me if I

break the laws of the world in ways that could damage this realm. Not that I would dream to, not when I can finally be with you without a worry of time ticking away.” Getting from the arm chair she was sitting in, she moved over to the two and nudged the two together, giving them a big hug. “Get your ass over here Nox, I need you in my arms too before I start crying.” Nox laughed at that, before moving over to the sofa where she joined in with the group hug. ‘If you hear it, somewhere in the rustle of the leaves and the wind, grasp it and hold it close.’ The vixen whispered to the other three, the sun shining through the window warmly, bringing a new beginning with the upcoming first days of the summer. As for the girls? They spent the day talking together, catching up. Warm drinks were shared between each other, the tension melting from the manor steadily while everyone connected once more. The warm day was enjoyed by all of them, including even Charlie, who did not protest once about the heat against her skin. Perhaps things did not seem so bad now, not after the whole emotional ordeal that had happened. For once, even the sun felt right on their skin, after three weeks of utter neverending rain. Together at last, and all was well in the world. ꧁༺༻꧂ To be favoured was indeed a gift all of its own. As Kass was favoured by one of the residents of the tree, as the girls were favoured by the deities from realms far, as Harper was favoured by Kassidy. Fate had its way, with a little push and help from others. ꧁༺༻꧂

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deathbyvalentine · 7 years

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Yet Another Prompt Collection - Nosebleed Club Edition

Your Cousin’s Singed T-Shirt

There was blood on his shirt, a tear, and ash smeared down the back. There were only no tear stains because they haven’t fell from his cheeks yet. He won’t say what happened, but his knuckles are reddened, and his cheek is blooming in shades of purple.

It’s the third time this summer.

This town is too small for him. He works all day at the diner, flipping burgers for a few dollars an hour. He’s not going to college. When I ask him what he’s saving for, he says a rainy day with a wry smile. It never rains around here. The ground is nothing but dust and longing. It doesn’t even remember rain.

He is less fragile than he seems. People see his sloping shoulders, the beautiful hands, the eyes that are almost green, and assume he is made of paper, and will fold under pressure. They haven’t seen the way he takes a punch, the way he holds his little sister. He doesn’t even flinch when the grill spits oil at him, when the car engine burns. He is roughly hewn, and he endures if not succeeds.

He kisses boys in secret. He kisses boys in leather jackets, and boys in flannel shirts. He kisses boys with soft pink lips, and boys who only scowl. He kisses shy boys until they blush, and bold boys until they blush too. He loves them, behind the boatshed by the green green lake. Nobody knows, but they know. They see it on him, all the kisses he’s had. They punish him for it.

He has his bags packed and hidden underneath the stairs. His car is hidden behind the billboard outside the town limits. He is done, but not gone, not yet. He’s waiting for something, a final push, somewhere to run to, not just away from.

Meditative state in the hotel pool

The bright turquoise water rippled as she twitched her fingers, the only parts of her body actually touching the water. The sun beat down, relentless - it was only ten o’clock. By noon, the ground would be sizzling, and anyone brave enough to walk on the ground barefoot would regret their mistake instantly. Lucinda readjusted her sunglasses, and flicked a few droplets of water onto her dark skin.

It was midsummer, almost exactly, and there was a weight hanging in the air. Soon, the days would be shortening once more, the autumn drawing closer. There would be sorrowful about it, somehow. Something sad.

But then, the house had been sad for a while now. The halls, always large, now seemed empty, though nothing had changed on the surface. The white walls had taken on a tomb-like quality, and the floorboards were quieter than they had ever been.

It had been three weeks since her best friend had died.

It was odd though. She had felt nothing, nothing at all when she had been told, the gaping emptiness a condemnation as much as anything else. She didn’t cry, she didn’t even flinch, she only stared. She wondered if it all would hit her later, at some point she would wake in the night weeping for Kate, but the moment never came. Was she broken? Or was she just smart?

She had never been someone that got attached to people. Her mother had remarked she was a cold child - she never had asked for kisses, or hugs, or comfort. When she had nightmares, she comforted herself, whispering quietly in the darkened room. She’d never expressed a desire for pets, or indeed, seemed to notice animals at all. When her baby sister had been born, she was neither disturbed by the new presence nor fond of it.

The hotel pool boy paused by the side of the pool, dragging his eyes over Lucinda. pile of towels wobbling in his arms. She didn’t glance over, but the side of her mouth twitched. She liked to be watched, to be admired. What was the point of having a form at all if people did not gaze at it? People were art, and she had tried to sculpt herself into a masterpiece.

Her parents would be frantic while now, but it was a pilgrimage that had to be made, and she would make it in her own good time. Lucinda, historically, could not be rushed on anything, and she did not intend to start now. She was visiting the site of the crash where Kate had breathed her last breath, where her blood had spilt like coke across the tarmac, where her life had ended. Lucinda was partly going out of sick curiosity (surely the ground where someone had died had to look different?), partly out of escapism, and partly to see if she would finally feel something.

“I couldn’t answer and you couldn’t hang up the phone.”

It was late, but that odd spell of summer had left the last of the light clinging to the sky, so you could still see the ghost of your silhouette outlined in haunting blue. My phone lay on the bedside table, silent, out of battery. I could have charged it, but instead I sat on the edge of my bed and watched it, hands clasped beneath my chin.

Elsewhere in the house I could hear my brother shutting the front door and clattering into the kitchen, undoubtedly tracking mud the entire time. My mother’s low murmurs travelled from room to room, the blare of the TV static. If I closed my eyes, I could still picture them all perfectly. I knew this domesticity by heart.

If I turned my phone on, it would be disturbed, or lost. I would either have to tell them I was leaving, or her I didn’t love her enough to value her company over simple comfort. Fundamentally, I was a coward - I liked simplicity, I liked swimming with the tide, not against it. So my phone would remain black and lifeless, all those texts ignored, all the calls missed.

Act of Vengeance

The room was a shade of pink she had not chosen for herself. It had been this colour since she could remember, painted when she was too young to know the word for the colour that splashed the walls. Nowadays, she barely noticed it.

She curled the curled phone wire around her fingers, that position that thousands, if not millions of teenagers had adopted. Balancing on her windowsill, cigarette left unlit in her other hand. On the phone her best friend was chattering about plans for prom. She had spent hours agonising over matching the petals of the corsage to her dress, to her boyfriend’s suit. She was a girl that liked everything perfect. She obsessed over details, unable to let even the smallest imperfections pass without comment.

Cecilia was fucking her boyfriend.

It was not about him of course. Cecilia had long since learnt that making boys the point of things was in of itself a pointless and painful endeavour. It wasn’t because of anger. It wasn’t a moment of lust or love. It was out of a sort of fascination. Abigail liked perfection and the boys she chose to associate with were no different. If they weren’t perfect to begin with, she would shape them into something beautiful.

Cecilia took a savage pleasure in corrupting, secretly, a small part of that image. In creating a bubble of lies and filth that was invisible to the untrained eye. She didn’t want her to find out, she didn’t want to hurt her. She just liked this, cradled close to her heart.

Bedroom forts and everything alight

Most people don’t wake up during a housefire. The smoke creeps under the doors, curling around sleepers in a deadly embrace. The fumes fill their lungs, and keep them asleep. They burn to death while still dreaming. The house is quiet as it burns.

The flames lick at the patchwork duvets, balanced on wooden chairs and dressers. The fairylights were the source of it. Their electricity had overspilt, overheated. It was almost beautiful, the bright orange glow that now lit up the room. It was impossible to tell if there were sleeping figures in the forts constructed from duvets and beds and chairs, held up with string or pegs. It would be impossible to tell later too, amongst the mess of melted plastic and ash.

The witch’s son and the scientist’s daughter

His hair was blonde. Not like gold or dripping honey, but like a wheat field only just waking into bloom. His skin was dark. His eyes were bright. He smiled easily and lazily. He did most things easily, every movement relaxed and unhurried. She saw him every day on her way home from school, leaning in the doorway of his cottage, chewing on a long piece of grass. He smiled when he saw her, raising a hand in greeting. She found herself, once, raising a hand too before catching herself and lowering it. He seemed to be laughing at her as she scurried on.

There were rumours about him, as there were rumours about them all in this town. His mother had died last year, leaving a teenaged boy in an empty house with too many rooms and too big a garden. But he survived, and endured, and perhaps even flourished. It was scandalous, the town whispered, how little he seemed to mourn. How his cheerful demeanour never seemed to falter.

ABANDONED

“The concept of wolves will never get old.” The snow fell too early that year, smothering the still-bright grass and turning the air quiet and still. The lanterns that always lit the way through the woods didn’t swing - there was no wind, there was nothing but the whisper of snow touching snow. And with the snow, came the wolves.

They didn’t take chickens, or steal the weak sheep in their strong jaws. But they waited, at the edge of the village, eyes fixed on the little houses. Abbie said they were hungry. Anthony said they were curious. Whatever they were, their vigil was unceasing - there was no sun to chase them away.

Summer found herself staring back. When collecting wood, or water, she met the eyes of the leader, the one that came the closest, showed the least fear. There was an alarming intelligence in it’s eyes, something both animal and thinking. She thought of the stories of werewolves, of men trapped in an animal’s skin. Here, there was no path to wander from, but the danger was still present. Still close.

She reached out a hand, slowly, never moving her eyes from it’s. It did not step forward, but nor did it flinch when her palm met it’s head, and pressed fingers into the thick, thick fur there. It was coarse, and lush, and it had closed it’s eyes slightly, as though enjoying the contact.

A shot rang out, and it fell, the other wolves falling back out of the ring of light, and fading into the darkness. Scarlet splattered the snow, as Summer’s hand clasped at air, shock making it tremble.

“Phew.” The hunter wiped a gloved hand across his brow. “It almost had you there.”

Child from the marsh

The singing travelled across the sodden ground, seemingly without source or cause. The flickering bog lights seemed unaffected, keeping their overnight vigil with little pomp or fanfare. In some countries, these were bad omens, spirits of those who wandered and found themselves lost, and soon, found themselves dead. Here though, they were a unique comfort, the sole light when the sky was not cloudless.

But there were spirits here. Only, they were not filled with light. They were dark things, their eyes hollow and blank. Moss crawled over their unrotted skin, tinting it green. They seemed to be a feature of the marsh as much as the reeds, or the puddles. They stood, swaying in the breeze. There were not many of them, but there were enough. A silent, watching army, always turned northwards.

She was different. She was not a corpse possessed, rather a marsh personified. Her eyes were not black - they were lanterns lit from the inside, bright and luminous. Her skin was not tallow or sickly, rather, the green looked living and vital. Her hair hung limp, damp vines swinging with movement. A fox followed beside the child, underfed and skittish, cringing. Oh, and she walked. She was free to roam, and wander.

She guided travellers off the path and into the marsh proper, the wisps never interfering even as they drowned, kicking to free themselves of the clinging, watery mud. They were watchers - not protectors. She was not evil, she was not anything at all. She simply was, as much as the mountains that shadowed the small piece of land.

Objects we saved from the burning house

The photo album, obviously. Not that it contained photos of us, oh no. This was an album of the dead, grandparents, nieces, brothers and cousins. To qualify for entry, you had to be both cherished and lost. We had no other albums.

A teddy, not old, pink. It’s nose was made of a heart button.

Three rings, each with a stone of a differing type set in it. These would be ours when our mother died, and we were fascinated by them. We would play with them sometimes, holding them to the light and watching the filtered light come through.

The cat saved itself, sooty and resentful.

A birdcage filled with paperback books. Most of them had been salvaged from charity shops, stained with previous owner's’ tea, or curled from a past splash of water. Most of them were beatnik classics, and we read them a little too young, scandalised and fascinated by the sex, drugs and alluring rock and roll.

The record player, and the nearest records. Our family could survive a fire, but we could not live without art, without music. That perhaps explains how my father perished, in his hands clutched a series of childhood drawings from my sisters and I.

He had always been a fragile man, my father. Prone to fits of laboured breathing, or what mother called funny turns. I remember him best in his armchair, leaning back and watching our performative play with a little smile on his face. I like to think he was often content, but more likely, it was never worth bringing up what made his discontent. He accepted everything life threw at him with the resignation that could only come from a man raising three daughters.

I never once heard him raise his voice. Not even to call for help.

He didn’t burn to death is the irony. He died of smoke inhalation, the dirty fumes from our home turning to ash polluting his fragile lungs until there was no air left.

Dead swan on the riverbank

It was getting close to summer, the sky increasingly doing away with the heavy clouds and introducing those blindingly bright blue skies that seemed too gorgeous to be real. They were movie skies, not the type of thing that seemed to fit into the Surrey suburbs at all.

Every day Silas walked home along the riverbank. In Winter, it was full of mud and ice, treacherous. He had lost more than one book to it’s depths, the wind catching him off guard and carelessly tossing it into the water. In Summer though, it ran clear. Sometimes you could see quick, silver fish flitting to and from the reeds on either side. Further along, there were wide fields, sometimes occupied by disinterested cows, but more often, empty of everything but dandelions.

It was quiet. He walked holding his book with one hand, the other clasping the strap of his bag so it stopped banging against his hip. Occasionally he pushed his glasses up with a calloused thumb. His eyes kept flickering over the pages to check the path for obstacles or bullies, always ready to start running. His eyes flickered up, and then he stopped.

A spread of white feathers lay prone in front of him, unmoving. It was not completely white - dark, sickly blood painted the ground and stained the feathers. It looked as if the swan’s throat had been garrotted with a piece of old washing line. Not tangled, inconsequentially, but with force and intent. There was a glimpse of bone amongst the torn flesh.

It revolted him, the sight of death. It repelled him, the sheer wrongness of something so elegant splayed at an odd angle. It occurred to him that he rarely saw the bodies of animals, yet they surely died at a quicker rate than humans. Where did they go exactly? Did someone take care of them, or did they just crawl into sad, forgotten places to perish alone? He dropped his bag, carefully shutting his book and resting it on top.

He felt he should do something, anything. A burial was out of the question. He despised the feeling of dirt under his nails, and he had no other entrenching tools with him. Dropping it into the water didn’t seem right either - a viking burial for something that was not a warrior. Slowly, he bent the wings into something looking natural, and with only a little revulsion, moved it into the grass at the side of the path. It was still warm, it’s body not yet stiffened, the feathers soft where the blood had not matted them. As he straightened up, he realised his school trousers were now sticky and marred from where he had knelt.

On the river, another swan swam, a few cygnets following behind. He didn’t know if it was searching for it’s mate, or hunting, or even if it had another waiting in the nest.

The flowers have always whispered to me, for as long as I can remember. The children were often left in the garden to amuse themselves. The walls were high, there were no houses that overlooked the large area, and well, it was in a time where adults let their children roam a little farther, a little longer.

She sat close to the daffodils, clapping chubby hands together, laughing as the stems danced in the wind. Her father, sitting on the far-away patio, glanced up occasionally, checking his daughter had not strayed. Her laughter carried easily, though as most children’s can, it often could be mistaken for little screams, making him jolt before returning to his newspaper.

He couldn’t see the fairies occupying her. Nobody could. But there they were among the leaves, chattering and hiding, sometimes tweaking her nose but darting back among the foliage before they could be seen.

#prose #drabbles #prompts #writers on tumblr #nosebleed club

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darkhymns-fic · 7 years

Text

Murder with a Side of Lies (Ch. 6)

Papyrus and Undyne are back out on the streets for their investigation! But as they get closer to truth, Undyne will have to confront what she knows sooner or later... and the suffering people she cares for the most.

Fandom: Undertale Characters/Pairing: Undyne/Alphys, Papyrus, Mettaton Rating: PG Chapters: 6/8 Mirror Links: AO3, FF.net Notes: The sequel to Kidnappings in the Early Evening by Sky. A fusion of detective noir fiction and courtroom drama! All stories, art, etc., related to this main story will be under the tag #undertale noir. (chrono)

Suggested reading music with the return of the rain.

First Chapter Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Investigation Sensation

Nightfall had settled into the rainy city, snuggling close to concrete buildings and the warm yellow glow of the city lamps. The rain poured tonight, letting small rivers trickle along the street gutters. The black asphalt shimmered with reds, yellows, and greens, reflecting the street lights. The grounds themselves appeared to be a beautifully painted canvas, colors blending and reflecting every which way.

I never truly noticed the beauty of the rain until Undyne became my best friend.

Taking my ever trusty Bonemobile, we drove down the wet streets, leaving the courthouse and the bright lights that Mettaton was already constructing for it. I had changed out of my slick lawyer outfit and back into my grizzled detective coat and hat. Since we were now in investigation mode, it was only prudent that I wear the correct outfit! That, and my trenchcoat was quite useful against the rain. Can’t risk my lawyer suit getting wrinkles!

It was a short drive, which was a good thing, as it left Undyne little time to try to wrestle the wheel from my hands again. Before long, we were already jogging towards the dark alleyway where they found Burgerpants.

Ah, the crime scene! To think, we’ve gone so long into this mystery and haven’t even examined where it all happened! We must be pretty great lawyers and/or detectives!

Undyne looked over my shoulder at my notepad. “Or maybe Mettaton is just really bad at his job, too.”

“PLEASE DON’T DO THAT!”

My partner laughed and slapped me on the back, rattling my bones in the process. “Aw, I’m just kidding, Pap, we are doing pretty good!”

Distractions aside, it was time for some good ol’ fashioned investigating! I was back in my cool and mysterious detective coat, arm around my bone umbrella and notepad at the ready!

Although, to be honest, the crime scene wasn’t all that interesting. It was an alleyway like any other; dark, wet, and damp. A couple grimy dumpsters were placed against some old brick walls of an abandoned building. A bit of light came in from the street lamps on the sidewalk, but for the most part, it was dim, and a bit menacing.

Bright pink tape warded off the crime scene, reading ‘Crime scene! (Don’t you cross it!)’ The dogi must have put it up, probably trying to mimic the human’s yellow police tape.

Hmm, I had a strange feeling of déjà vu. This alleyway felt familiar. Or maybe just this part of the city? But there was nothing particularly notable here. There were no shops, no stores that I could remember seeing before. Maybe this was just a really generic alleyway!? Someone should spice these places up!

Without a second thought, Undyne ducked under the ‘(Don’t you cross it!)’ tape and into the alleyway. I felt some apprehension in following, but the dogi aren’t technically the law! So, I don’t think I was actually breaking any rules by going in? But what if they are? I-

“Come on, Paps,” Undyne called.

“RIGHT!” I replied, hopping over the bright pink tape.

The atmosphere changed immediately. Or maybe that was just my mind. Suddenly, it was so real.

A monster died here, killed by one of his own kind. I felt an air of sadness and violence wash over me as thoughts raced through my mind. How could anyone do such a thing?

Undyne must have been reading my reaction. She frowned. “Paps, snap out of it. I know how you feel, but we’re in this now. We have to focus for Catty’s sake. And for Burgerpants.”

Her words were a bit harsh, but I knew she was just looking out for me. She was right, too. If we didn’t find the truth of what happened here, no one else would! I shook off those scary feelings and kept my eye sockets sharp on the lookout for clues!

Let’s see…

I was instantly drawn to the damp burger wrappers near the dumpster. The paper was a mix of bright pink, black, purple, all topped off with tons of glitter and Mettaton EX’s smiling face. Although, after a day of rain, the paper itself was soggy and ruined. Any sign of dust now must have been completely washed away, or taken for investigation.

“He must have fallen around that dumpster,” Undyne pointed out, eye gleaming like thunder under the rain. “It’s pretty dark here. He probably didn’t see the killer, or mistook them for Catty.”

I nodded in agreement.

Our next target was the dumpster itself. A huge gash had ripped into the side of the metal, with three symmetrical marks running across from it. “Certainly looks like claw marks, doesn’t it?” Undyne thought out loud, hand on her chin. “But it’s so huge. Whatever did this, it cut the metal like a hot knife on butter.”

It was certainly strange. Could Catty’s claws have grown so big? Maybe with a magic attack… but it couldn’t have been her! I hoped it wasn’t her. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS WHAT COULD HAVE DONE THAT?”

Undyne stared hard at the dumpster’s wound. “Just one, but…” she shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t make any sense.”

Memories of our last case came flooding back to me. “YOU’RE NOT HIDING ANYTHING AGAIN, ARE YOU UNDYNE?” I asked in a scolding tone.

She growled at that, but let out a sigh instead. “No, I’m not this time, I promise. I’m not sure what else could have reasonably caused this.”

There was something on her mind, but I knew I wasn’t going to get anything out of her on that subject.

I scanned around the alleyway again, finding it difficult already to spot out any clues. There wasn’t much to note back here at all! There wasn’t a sign of a struggle or anything! There were a few cracks in the pathway, especially near the dumpster, but that was more than likely just from the constant rain and lack of care for the alley here.

“Hey, Paps, check this out,” Undyne said, calling me over behind the unharmed dumpster. Reaching underneath the slimy thing, she pulled out a shiny shard of glass.

“A CLUE?” I asked, tilting my skull.

Undyne scratched the side of her head. “Well, uh, guess it could just be trash, but man, it’s really shiny isn’t it?!” She grinned.

Shiny indeed! For a piece of glass laying underneath a dumpster, it certainly looked clean! Maybe it fell there recently? Or…. Maybe it was just really shiny!

“It feels kinda weird, too,” Undyne added, rubbing it between her scaly fingers. “Like… electrical?”

“ELECTRIC GLASS?” I asked, reaching out to it. At the touch of my bony finger, I felt the lightest of zaps. Like a small energy went through my body. “COULD IT BE MAGIC?”

Undyne’s eye lit up. “Oh, you know what!? That must be it! Magic infused glass!” The realization hit her. “But uhh… what does that have to do with anything?”

I grinned a confident grin. “NO IDEA!” I said as honestly as possible. “BUT IT’S SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND, RIGHT?”

Undyne nodded, placing the glass in her pocket. “I can’t find any other pieces of it either. Looks like someone tried to clean it up.” She shrugged. “Or maybe it really was just an accident.”

I suppose it could have just been a loose piece of trash. It wasn’t exactly clean back here, after all! There were soda cans, bottles, and all sorts of various trash. Even a few flyers for my detective agency!

But one piece of trash caught my attention. It was near the cracks in the cement, glittering like a speck of gold, sheltered from the rain by an old newspaper. Probably nothing? Or probably something?! I grabbed for the paper-like thing and held it between my bony fingers.

Hmm… soft. Felt as smooth as silk. It was beautiful, too. I could see my brother resting on a pillow filled with these things! It reminded me of something though, but what?

Aha! “A PETAL!” I yelled out, feeling accomplished.

Undyne let out a startled growl, looking as if she had seen a ghost. (A ghost that held a restraining order against her to be specific). “A petal?” she repeated, her question almost begging to be wrong.

“YES!” I answered, much to her visible dismay. “IN ALMOST PERFECT CONDITION TOO! IT MUST NOT HAVE BEEN HERE LONG!”

She didn’t like staring at the little golden thing, I assumed. “No. What could it mean?” Undyne muttered under her breath.

I had an idea, now, but Undyne wasn’t going to like it. I think it was best to just blurt it out! Also, I kind of just blurted it out anyway. I do that a lot. “DO YOU THINK ASGORE HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS?”

Undyne snapped out of her thoughts and stared me down. “No way! There’s no way Asgore would kill another monster!” But, her gaze faltered for just a moment.

Asgore Dreemur. I met the fellow more than a few days ago in a previous mystery. From my understanding, he is a clone of a Ms. Toriel Dreemur? I may have gotten my information mixed up there, but one thing I’m certain of is that he owns a flower shop! I remember he grew quite a few golden flowers in his greenhouse.

“Hey, it’s not like that petal couldn’t have flown in from some wind or just been thrown out by someone else,” Undyne countered, practically reading my mind again. Or maybe she was just arguing with herself?

But it was a fair point! A lone petal isn’t enough to prove anyone guilty! Plus, when I met this goat clone fellow, he was so kind! Possibly one of the nicest monsters I’ve ever met! Well, next to the female version of himself, of course. According to Undyne, (who has a bit of a history with him) Asgore wouldn’t hurt a fly. At the same time, however, Undyne also has clearly been struggling over something with Asgore.

I do notice these things. I just think maybe… maybe I shouldn’t say anything. Maybe I couldn’t say the right thing. Not yet at least. I worry about her.

Brrrrrrrriing!! Brrrrrrrrrng!!

The silent somber of the shade was suddenly sliced by a striking sound.

Undyne and I exchanged a momentary look of confusion before exiting the alleyway to investigate. The streets nearby were empty. Not a soul could be seen for miles. The buildings were either closed or abandoned.

Brrrrrrrriing!! Brrrrrrring!!

“Someone’s calling that phonebooth over there!” Undyne pointed out.

Sure enough, she was right! Wowie!

A phonebooth stood diligently under the relentless rain, the yellow glow of the street lamps highlighting it like a spotlight on a stage. The phone inside vibrated and giggled to itself, ringing cheerfully, clearly excited after such a long time without use.

“WHO COULD BE CALLING?” I asked, a bit apprehensive. “MAYBE IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENTAL DIAL?”

The ringing stopped.

A moment of silence.

Brrrrrrrring!! Brrrrrrrrrrriiing!! The ring sounded annoyed now, as if it did not like being ignored.

“I doubt someone would call twice on accident,” Undyne grumbled, walking into the booth.

Well! I certainly wasn’t about to be left out of a mysterious phone call! I followed quickly after her, stuffing myself into the glass contraption. It clearly was not designed for two people, especially two fairly tall, muscular, and handsome monsters such as ourselves, but I refused to be left out!

“Paps, you’re elbowing my gills!”

“SORRY, IT’S A TIGHT FIT.”

“Did you have to close the booth door too!?”

“UNDYNE, THIS IS HOW IT IS MEANT TO BE USED!! I WON’T BE CAUGHT LOOKING SILLY IN A PHONEBOOTH!” I said, skull pressed against the glass.

“Could you at least answer the damn phone!?”

“I THINK MY ARMS ARE STUCK!”

With a determined grunt, Undyne forced herself through our tangled limbs and managed to finally answer the impatient phone. “Who is this?” she asked through gritted fangs.

“Finally, darling, you answer! I thought I’d have to wait another millennium for the cavemen to understand technology!”

I’d recognize that voice anywhere! Sassy! Surly! Serious! Sensuous?

“Mettaton,” Undyne growled. “How’d you know we’d be here?”

The voice in the phone let out a luxurious laughter. “My my! Unlike you folks, I only act the fool! Where else would a couple of deadbeat detectives go when they haven’t even examined the crime scene yet? Of course you’d be here!”

“IT WAS A LITTLE OBVIOUS,” I yelled into a corner, unable to turn my skull to face the phone.

I couldn’t see it, but I felt Undyne rolling her eye. “All right, all right,” she sighed. “What do you want, tin can?”

“Nice comeback,” the phone sassed. “While I am loathed to ask for help from plebeians so far beneath me--”

“Didn’t stop you before,” Undyne interrupted, her voice filled with a spicy sarcasm.

“OOH, NICE ONE, UNDYNE!” I tried to high-five her, but I wasn’t quite sure where my hands were at the moment.

The static voice on the line stalled, clearly losing his cool. “You realize you just admitted yourselves to be plebeians?” The computer composed himself with certainty. “Ah, but we should save our insults for the courtroom.”

“Get on with it!” she commanded.

“Alphys,” the phone said dramatically, causing a stir in my heart and most likely Undyne’s too! “She hasn’t been picking up the phone. I’m worried about her. She hasn’t been doing well since she took the stand. Not that she was all daisies and buttercups before the trial.”

Undyne was flustered. I could feel her muscles much too clearly tense up in anger. “The ‘Marvelous Mettaton’ can’t cheer her up?”

“For reasons unbeknownst to me, Alphys respects and cares deeply about you,” Mettaton continued, his voice serious for once. “I think she’d feel much better seeing you.”

Undyne tightened her grip around the phone, threating to crush it. She didn’t reply.

“Well!” The voice huffed. “I tried my best to communicate with the brute! I can’t be blamed for not showing sympathy for my dear Alphys now!” I could hear him shrugging somehow!? “She’s a smart girl. Alphys will learn one day she doesn’t need you to be happy. Ciao, darlings!”

“Hey, wait, you –” Undyne soon found herself talking to a dial tone. With a grumpy grunt, she slammed the phone back on its receiver. “Ngaaah.”

Hearing a sadness in her voice, I attempted to comfort my partner by patting her on the shoulder. Unfortunately, I think my arm had fallen off somewhere and I ended up tenderly stroking her boot. Close enough?

“WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?” I asked.

It took her a while to respond. “We can’t just drop the case right now, we don’t have time for distractions.”

I knew she wanted to see Alphys. Undyne worried over her, but she also worried about the case. She was worried about too much. It was time for a strong handsome guy like me to take charge!

“WE’VE INVESTIGATED PLENTY! I’M CONFIDENT WHAT WE FOUND WILL BE GOOD ENOUGH FOR TOMORROW!” I said. “LET’S VISIT ALPHYS AND CHEER HER UP!”

“You sure?” Undyne asked.

“SURE AS SURE CAN BE! AND THAT’S REALLY REALLY SURE!”

I felt a warm smile creep across her face. It was a little unsettling, honestly, because I wasn’t even sure how or what piece of me got there.

“Thanks, Pap. Let’s get moving, then.”

Dear Friends and Family,

I’m leaving. I made a fool of myself in front of the whole city. I screamed and yelled about a stupid TV show during a murder case for god’s sake. I mean, I’ve done worse. Much worse. But this was the breaking point.

I’ve worked myself half to death, and for what? I’ve done nothing but hurt others and lie. I’m ashamed. So ashamed. I never stood up for myself where it counted. Only for anime or manga or something stupid like that. Maybe I could have changed things.

I know what it means to run away now. I know the people I’ll hurt, I know the things I’ll leave behind to die. But I can’t keep doing it anymore. This is the only way I can get it to stop. I’m too pathetic to do it any other way. At least when I leave, it’ll be forced to end. It won’t be my problem anymore, I won’t exist here.

Sorry, Undyne.

Sorry, Mettaton.

Sorry, Asgore.

I don’t expect anyone to forgive me.

Goodbye.

-Alphys

“Dude, should we, like, tell him?”

“…”

“Yeah, you’re right, defo should tell him as soon as possible, brah.”

Two men in pinstripe suits stood before the apartment door, reading the somber note with shadowed eyes. I-

“Papyrus!” Undyne scolded. “There’s no time to write in your little notepad, right now! We have to go, now!”

Aw. She was right, I suppose. I was running out of space on my notepad anyway, and there’s a time and place for-

“Papyrus, come on already!!”

“SORRY!”

“Turn here! Here! Hurry!” Undyne demanded, pointing her claw directly in front of my face as if that helped me turn better.

“BUT THERE’S A STOP SIGN!” I protested.

“It’s late, no one’s out, just go!”

Against my better judgement, I turned left at the stop sign, only slowing down instead of coming to a stop like the law demands. I felt dirty, but this was important to Undyne!

“HOW ARE YOU SO SURE SHE’S HERE?” I asked, tires screeching under the slick asphalt as we slid to a stop.

Undyne was already halfway out the car door. “It’s the closest train station to her house, the quickest way out of the city.” Her voice grew distant as she ran through the doors ahead of me.

I was never one for running, especially through slippery rainy streets. Not that I can’t run with the best of them! But my legs tend to get caught around my coat or cracks or vines or the like. Surprisingly a lot of vines in the city!

After checking my car was legally parked, locked and secured, and the mirrors were still in the correct position, and my umbrella was at the ready, and my hat was still firmly planted on my skull, I made my way into the station.

Compared to the gloomy dark outside, the station was a wonderful golden yellow inside! Although, at this time of night, there wasn’t a soul to be seen. I expected to find Undyne stomping around, shouting, and literally turning this place upside down, but strangely enough, my fishy partner stood silently, staring out at the station.

What could stop Undyne at a time like this?

Through the glass doors, out by the tracks, I saw Alphys, sitting quietly alone under the station’s awning, the pitter patter of the rain falling around her. In her hands, she held a Game of Bones manga, but it appeared she was having trouble focusing on it, staring blankly at the pages before her. A roller suitcase stood lonesome by her side, hastily packed. She rested an arm against it, as if it were her only friend in the world.

“UNDYNE?” I called out. “IT’S ALPHYS! WHY AREN’T YOU SHOUTING AT HER?”

She didn’t turn to me. “Maybe I shouldn’t.”

Undyne doubting herself again?! What in the world was I missing about my partner?!

“WHY NOT? WE BROKE QUITE A FEW LAWS RUSHING HERE!” I noted, unhappily. “WE SHOULD PROBABLY NOT LET THAT GO TO WASTE!”

Her body stood still, as if held in place by some invisible force. “What if Mettaton was right, Pap? What if I am no good for her?”

“IMPOSSIBLE! YOU’RE NEARLY AS GREAT AS I AM! ALPHYS LOVES YOUR SHOUTING AND SMASHING!”

Undyne shook her head. “Not just that. It’s my fault things are like this. The things that happened to her, it’s my fault.”

Oh! Does she always have to be so morose and mysterious now!? I get enough of that from my brother as it is! After all the law breaking, I was feeling quite grumpy, so I’m sorry you’ll have to hear this notepad, but…

“ENOUGH OF THAT!” I shouted. “YOU’RE ALWAYS SAD NOW AND YOU DON’T TELL ME WHY!”

That worked, apparently! Undyne turned to face me, a look of confusion on her face.

“WHATEVER IT IS THAT’S BOTHERING YOU, I DON’T THINK ITS YOUR FAULT!” I continued, bones rattling with adrenaline. “YOU’RE THE TOUGHEST PERSON I KNOW! IF ANYONE CAN FIX YOUR PROBLEMS, IT’S ME! BUT OTHER THAN ME, IT’S ALSO YOU!”

“It’s not that simple,” Undyne started.

“I WON’T HEAR THAT!” I interrupted. “I BET IT IS THAT SIMPLE!”

Undyne was determined to stay morose. “Alphys won’t want to see me, she’s made up her mind.” I could tell she was at her breaking point, however, as her claws clenched into fists unconsciously.

“YOU KNOW THAT’S NOT TRUE,” I countered, pointing at her like I would in a court room. “I BARELY KNOW ALPHYS, BUT I KNOW SHE’D LOVE A DRAMATIC CLICHÉ LIKE THIS! A LOVER STOPPING HER BEFORE A TRAIN LEAVES THE STATION IS PROBABLY ONE OF HER FANTASIES!”

It was one of my dream scenarios, too! I wonder if I could recreate this scene with Undyne later?

“You’re right, Pap,” Undyne conceded with a nod.

“OF COURSE I’M RIGHT!”

She growled at that, probably having more to say. “I knew you were right, I knew what I was doing was right, but for some reason, something keeps stopping me from doing it.”

“IT’S BECAUSE YOU’RE ONLY AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE! MANY DETECTIVES OFTEN TRY TO GET TOO GRIZZLED! IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT! COMMON MISTAKE REALLY.”

A chuckle. A smile. The Great Papyrus’ cheering works again!

“You got me,” Undyne laughed, fangs forming a tight grin. Her doubt was washed away. That dark shadow that loomed on her shoulders eased off, if for just a moment.

A hissing screeched through the black night air as the train pulled sluggishly into the station. Black smoke left its chimney, rolling delightfully up to be with its stormy cloud cousins. The golden glow of the windows looked so inviting under the rain, calling and lulling all passengers to accept its warm embrace. I found myself craving a train trip, too, even.

“All aboard! ;)” a sweaty voice yelled. Seems Aaron had a night job on the side.

Alphys’ head perked up, hastily packing away her manga. Glasses stared out at the train, lenses shimmering with memories, both good and bad. With a shaking delicate hand, she gripped the handle of her suitcase, looking left and right, more than likely hoping someone would stop her. No one did. She sighed, and walked forward.

“Ngaaaaah!! Don’t you dare take another step toward that train, punk!” Undyne roared, crashing through the station’s doors, glass shards raining down along with the droplets now.

Alphys turned a bright shade of white, scared out of her mind. “U-Undyne?!”

Spear in hand, glass crunching beneath her boots, Undyne cackled. “That’s right! I’m not letting you leave so easily!”

So many emotions ran across her face. Most of all: confusion. I think Alphys had pictured this being a bit more romantic in her head, as did I. “I-I um?”

A spear landed dangerously close to Alphys, blocking her way towards the train’s entrance. The cement creaked and cracked under pressure. “Running away is for cowards!”

Is this what romance is like?! “UNDYNE, I’M NOT SURE-”

“I know you’re not a coward, Alphys!” Undyne growled, her wet hair blowing heroically in the rainy wind. “I know you’re stronger than this, I know you’re smarter than this!”

At that, Alphys actually grew angry, too. Her pale scales turned crimson as she gripped the glowing light spear dented into the cement beneath her. “W-what do you know!? Y-you don’t know me! I-I am a weak coward!” she shouted, tossing the spear back at Undyne with the force of a lightning bolt.

The daring detective dodged to the side, her eye lighting up as she watched the spear explode into the side of the station in a flash of lights and debris.

“Oh, but I do! I know you better than you know yourself, punk!” Another spear was sent flying towards the scruffy little lizard girl.

“I-is that a c-challenge?!” Alphys retorted, catching the spear with her bare hands easily.

“Ladies, please, ;)” Aaron whimpered, sweating bullets near the train’s entrance. “You’re terrifying me with your incredible muscles ;)” Honestly, I couldn’t tell if he was upset or having the time of his life.

The girlfriends continued their quarrel, his pleas and cries for help drowned out by their uh, romance? “I know how much you love your weird game, Tales of Kissie Cutie!”

“D-don’t bring that up!” Alphys said, either blushing with embarrassment or red with blind rage as she lobbed another dangerous electric spear back towards Undyne.

The attack proved too quick for Undyne, or maybe she didn’t care to dodge. The magical weapon exploded straight into her chest on impact, scorching her already battered coat, singing the fabric. “Ha! There’s no need to be embarrassed of what you’re passionate about! That’s why I love you! Even if it is something as lame as a video game,” Undyne yelled, eye flaring. “You give it your all!”

“B-but!” Alphys countered, glasses fogged. “I-I d-don’t give it my all t-to anything else! I-I’m running away from everything that actually matters right now! T-that’s proof!”

Undyne’s fangs shimmered under the moon’s white light with a wild grin. Alphys stepped right into her trap, it looked like. “More like proof against it, nerd!” Spears materialized all around Alphys’ body, completely surrounding her with razor sharp edges. “You’re willing to leave everyone you love, leave everything you know to stop them! And it’d work too! If that’s not passion, if that’s not strength, I don’t know what is!”

“I-I, uh!” Alphys stumbled over her words, eyes darting for something to help her berate herself. “I-I don’t know about that!” she yelled lamely, hands curled into fists.

Undyne walked forward slowly, each step smashing the cement under her power. “Well I do, punk!” Her voice was more of a menacing growl now as she loomed over Alphys, spears keeping her trapped in place. “I respect your passion, I respect your effort! But I won’t let you leave.”

The trapped scientist couldn’t meet her gaze anymore. Her words became soft, scared. “B-but what else can I do?”

Spears vanished, fangs hid themselves away. “Nothing,” Undyne breathed, snatching Alphys up and holding her in a tight, loving embrace. “You don’t need to do anything anymore,” she said sweetly. “I’ll handle it.”

A gasp, a mumble. “But!”

“No buts, nerd,” Undyne whispered, stroking her head with the softest touch. “I’m going to take care of it. I mean it. I won’t let you leave, whether you like it or not.”

“I don’t want to go,” she replied through gasping breaths. “I w-won’t go.”

And with that, Undyne dropped her girlfriend onto the cold wet concrete with an ungraceful plop. “Ha! I knew it! I win!” she gloated, laughing.

Wowie! That was so cool! If this is what relationships are like, I certainly need to get my hands on one! Who would have thought the correct way to profess your love was by throwing dangerous exploding spears at each other?! I’m glad I had you around for this, notepad, so I could write all this down just in case I need pointers.

Hmm, now that I think of it… When Undyne and I first met, we had a dramatic fight like this too. Could it have been love at first sight? Oh no, notepad! I’m not ready to face my feelings like this!! Let’s just bury this away like all good grizzled detectives do, okay?!

“Oww! U-Undyne!!” Alphys whined, rubbing her sore behind. “W-why do you always have to do things like that?”

Her face was red, practically steaming, but she continued to laugh anyway. “Romance is lame! I proved my point! That’s all that matters!”

The mousy little dino let out a sigh, unable to muster up the energy to challenge her anymore. “H-how did you find me anyway?”

“Babe, I’m a detective,” Undyne said matter-of-factly.

“W-well, not really, you don’t have a private detective license or anything…”

License? To be a detective?! How absurd! That’s like needing a license to be a lawyer!

Alphys shook her head, as if disagreeing with my inner musings. “T-that’s not the p-point though. How are you g-gonna take care of it, Undyne?”

A whistling screeched through the rainy weather, the cry of the train as it chugged away from the station. Undyne’s grin disappeared like a terrible magic trick nobody wanted to see. “I’ll figure it out.”

That didn’t satisfy her girlfriend. “T-that’s not g-good enough! I-I n-need to know w-when!” Alphys’ voice trailed off. “Or else…”

A shake of her head, Undyne frowned harder, but her eye emitted courage this time. “Tomorrow. For sure.”

Boy, I wish I knew what was going on here! I felt like quite the third wheel! I know third wheels are very practical, though!!

“H-how?” Alphys mumbled, skeptical.

Undyne crossed her arms, mulling something over in her mind. “Papyrus?”

Oh!! That’s me! “YES!?” I asked, eagerly, willing to do anything for my best friend.

“I want to take over the court case tomorrow.”

“WOWIE!” I gasped. “WHAT A TWIST! WELL, IF YOU INS-”

“By myself,” she added, sounding a little guilty.

Wowie. I, um?? Notepad, I know I said I’d do anything for her, but I really like this case! Besides, how could she go on without me?! She needs me!

“I’m sorry, I know it’s something you’re looking forward to,” Undyne sighed.

I coughed nonchalantly. “COUGH! COUGH COUGH!!! OH THAT’S A DISCREET COUGH!” I coughed, proud of my acting ability. You see, notepad, I was stalling for time, trying to think of how to change her mind!

“Pap, I know you’re upset about what I’m asking,” Undyne said, that eye staring right through my stoic manly form. “You’re very clearly sweating somehow, you’re shaking, and you’re really scribbling down on your notepad.”

Impossible! How could she see through my impenetrable façade!?

Maybe she really doesn’t need me? Maybe she’s learned from all my detective and lawyer prowess, and she’s ready to go on her own?

“I want you to watch over Alphys for me, tomorrow.”

The girlfriend in question stamped her foot on the ground, splashing a puddle roughly. “I-I d-don’t need a b-babysitter!”

“WHILE I DO LOVE SITTING NEAR BABIES,” I said, “WOULDN’T STAYING WITH YOUR FEMALE FRIEND BE MORE OF A JOB SUITED FOR YOU?”

Alphys gave my statement a bit of concern. “I d-don’t think I even w-want to know why you-,”

“BECAUSE THEY SMELL GOOD. WELL. UNTIL THEY DON’T.”

Undyne’s one-eyed gaze shifted from Alphys to me, from soft and loving, to determined. “Yeah,” she nodded. “But I can’t be sure of what will happen tomorrow. I need a big strong hero to protect my princess, you see?”

Nyeh heh! Well! I am quite big and strong! I can see why Undyne would choose me to protect her damsel from any distress! This could potentially be even more important than the trial!

“I’LL TAKE THE CASE!” I shouted heroically.

Undyne smiled at me, a look of pride shimmering in her rainy scales. “I knew I could count on you. You do know what heroes do to protect princesses right?”

That was easy! “FIGHT OFF EVIL-DOERS, OF COURSE!” I flexed, nyeh-heh-hehing. Oh, if only Aaron was still here, he’d be so impressed!

“Nah, nah, that’s totally lame now!” Undyne shook her head. “Heroes these days use cool get away cars if they’re in danger! They drive away as fast as they can, taking the princess, and doing sick tricks all the way!”

Wowie! Times sure have changed! I had no idea that’s what all the hip heroes were doing! “BUT, UNDYNE! THAT SOUNDS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE RUNNING AWAY?” And running away isn’t heroic or manly!

Brushing off my statement, Undyne replied, “Pshaw, not at all! Driving away in the Bonemobile in style is running away? No, there’s no evidence to support that at all, Pap!”

Hmm! My partner raised an intriguing point! I can see why heroes would do such daring feats of driving now! It keeps the princess safe, and it means any evil-doers don’t have to be harmed in the process! It’s brilliant really! The wonders of modern heroism never cease to amaze me!

“WOWIE! YOU’RE RIGHT!” I said with a grin. I turned to Alphys, bowing with fedora in hand. “I’LL GUARD YOU WITH MY LIFE, M’LADY!”

Alphys grimaced. “Please don’t do that.”

A hearty laughter boomed through Undyne’s fishy face as she slapped me on the back too roughly again. “I knew I could count on you, Pap!”

My spine ached at the spot of impact, but I wasn’t about to show it! “OF COURSE! AND I KNOW YOU CAN WIN THE TRIAL TOMORROW! I BELIEVE IN YOU, UNDYNE!”

Alphys held Undyne’s hand tenderly. “I b-believe in you, t-too.”

Her smile flinched, her laughter became unsteady, but just for a moment. She held strong. “Yeah. Yeah! I’ll win. I’ll fix everything.”

Nyeh-heh-heh! Now, notepad, I wish I could write more to you! We had such a great slumber party over at Alphys’ house! We rewatched Game of Bones, all night! Alphys kept yelling at how the show got it wrong, and telling us how the manga did it better. It was such a fun time! I would go over it in detail, but I’m running out of room, and you’re out of pages! Oh, darn it, and I can’t find my extra notepad anywhere!

Well, I’ll have to find myself another one sometime later. Sorry I couldn’t tell you how the case ended! Anyway, we’ve had some great times, notepad, and I’m confident things will be even better tomorrow! This is the end for you and me, but I’ll keep you close, and your new brother will join you with new stories soon enough! Write to you later, notepad!

Love,

The Great Detective Papyrus!!!!!!!

#undertale #undyne #alphys #papyrus #alphyne #mettaton #undertale noir #fanfiction #multi chapter #sky's fics

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