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sokkascroptop · 4 years

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traitor. (sokka x f!reader) pt 13

part 1 | part 12 | part 14

A/N: Here’s a cute little part. Occurs in ‘the headband’ episode, but doesn’t encompass the whole episode, just the important parts :)

Y/N sat there in silence after Aang told her what he had learned in just one day at a Fire Nation school. What did that mean for her education of five years at one? She tugged one of their blankets around her shoulders because even next to the fire she was shivering. She felt like she had been punched hard in the stomach and all the wind was knocked out of her.

“I don’t know about this,” Aang whispered. “It feels wrong to steal someone else’s clothes.”

Katara and Y/N exchanged a look. “I call the silk robe!” Katara shouted as she jumped over the rocks they had hidden behind.

“But I guess if it’s for the good of humanity… I call the suit!” Aang followed her.

The rest of them joined and ran between the lines of clothes looking for anything that might fit. Y/N was reaching for a pair of pants when Katara stopped her. “Pick something else.”

“Why?”

“People are used to seeing you wear Fire Nation clothes. You’ll be more recognizable if you pick something you always wear.”

“Fine.” Y/N wrinkled her nose and pulled a deep red skirt from the clothesline.

“This too.” She whipped a shirt at Y/N’s face. When she caught a look at it she shook her head wildly. “No way!” Y/N worked to keep her voice low so the man they were stealing from couldn’t hear her. “It’ll be hard enough to fight in a skirt, Katara. I’m not wearing it.”

---

Y/N poked at the bare skin of her midriff. “I mean seriously, Katara. I have to shrug this shirt on like it’s a robe and it ties in the back. If a bad guy gets ahold of that I’ll be half-naked.”

Katara pulled her hair out of its braids and hair loopies and didn’t spare a glance at the other girl. “You complain almost as much as Sokka.”

Y/N huffed and crossed her arms. “I don’t.” She unwound the leather tie around her braid and let her hair hang loose down her back, tying a similar top knot to Katara’s. “Let’s just go find the others.”

“How do we look?” Katara asked the other three. Y/N gave a very unenthusiastic twirl. Y/N turned back to notice how Aang’s eyes widened and he blushed as he looked at Katara. Y/N raised an eyebrow and glanced at Katara’s face, who was looking back at Aang with soft eyes. What is going on here? Y/N hummed in thought.

“You look like a girl,” Sokka said as his eyes bounced from Y/N’s skirt to her face.

“Thank you for that astute observation. I am a girl,” Y/N replied drily.

Sokka was blushing furiously. “No, I mean–”

“Oh, Katara. Your necklace,” Aang interrupted.

Katara rubbed the carved bone. “I guess it’s pretty obviously from the Water Tribe.”

“Don’t worry,” she patted Katara’s shoulder. “We’ll get you something else in town so it doesn’t feel like you lost it.”

---

Y/N slid the new bracelet she had bought around her upper arm while she listened to Aang talk. All of them bought something to make their disguises more authentic, while also being able to feel more like themselves; a new Fire Nation necklace for Katara, a flame pin to hold together Sokka’s top knot, a headband for Toph and the bracelet to help hide the burn scar on Y/N’s bicep.

“I used to visit my friend Kuzon here a hundred years ago. Just follow my lead.” Aang confidently turned the corner of the building they were behind and winked at a guy on the street. “Greetings, my good hotman!”

Toph pulled on Y/N’s elbow. “Is this really how they talk in the Fire Nation?”

“Uhh.. you know, I didn’t go into the city much but I’m almost one hundred percent positive that no they don’t,” Y/N whispered.

“Spirits, do not stop him. This is hilarious,” Toph laughed as Aang tipped his head to another man walking by, calling him ‘hotman’.

“I wouldn’t dream of it. I wish you could see the looks people are giving him.”

The five of them stopped in front of a restaurant. “Oh, I didn’t know we were going to a meat place,” Aang said a little dejectedly

“Everyone here eats meat!” Sokka exclaimed. “Even the meat!” He pointed over to a cow-hippo who was eating meat off the ground. Y/N’s stomach turned at the sight. Maybe she didn’t want to eat meat today either.

---

Aang left, promising to meet them in the same spot outside after he found something vegetarian. Ten minutes had passed and there was still no sign of him. Katara was beginning to pace with worry.

“He could have gotten lost looking for something to eat, right?” She asked the rest of them.

“We could go look around for him?” Y/N offered. When she noticed the hint of fear in Katara’s eyes, she added, “Nothing happened to him of course. He probably just got lost! Or he’s looking at some shop. How about you and Toph stay here, wait for him to see if he comes back. Sokka and I can wander the town looking for him.”

“We can?” Sokka asked.

Y/N nudged his ribs.

“We can,” he confirmed. He popped the last bit of his elk-caribou kebab in his mouth and threw the stick away. “Aang will come back and we’ll feel silly for being worried about him.”

“I hope you’re right, Sokka.” Katara said.

---

“Ooh, let’s look in this shop,” Sokka marveled, pulling Y/N along with him. It was only a shop full of little trinkets and bags but everything Sokka saw excited him.

“What do you think of this bag?” Sokka tossed the strap over his shoulder and posed.

“You have an Earth Kingdom bag back at camp that looks the same,” she retorted.

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but now that we’re here, I need a Fire Nation one.”

Y/N shrugged and Sokka took that as her statement on what she thought of the bag. He placed it back on the table and picked up a ceramic box. “What about this box?” he asked.

She took it from his outstretched hands and inspected it. It was a black box with a golden Fire Nation flame on top. “What are you going to put in the box?” she asked as she handed it back to him.

“I–um, cool rocks that I find?”

Y/N hummed, amused. “And what are you going to do with the box full of cool rocks?”

“Put it in my bag,” Sokka muttered. “Fine! I won’t get it!”

---

“You’re not very fun to shop with.” Sokka said when they left.

Y/N looked up at the sun to check the time. “We’re supposed to be looking for Aang, not shopping.”

Sokka waved his hands. “Aang is fine. He’s the Avatar, he can take care of himself.”

“I’m assuming by the way Katara reacted that he doesn’t necessarily go off by himself a lot.”

“Katara–” he paused to think of the right word, “–she mother-hens us.” He held up his hands defensively. “Not that I’m saying we don’t need it, because sometimes it’s nice, but she worries entirely too much.”

Y/N stopped a fruit stand and picked up a ripe peach. “I don’t know, it’s kind of nice.” She passed along a few coins to the merchant and handed a second one to Sokka.

“How is it nice?” Sokka asked, then bit into the flesh of the peach.

“I don’t know. The way I grew up there was never anyone worried about when I would come home, you know? I just came and went as I pleased and then when I moved to the palace it was the same way.”

“You lived at the palace?” Sokka blurted out.

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Y/N watched as Sokka cut the pit of the peach out with a small knife and tossed it into the road. He nodded at her to continue. “I moved to the capital to go to school and about a year after, I moved into the palace.” She bit into the peach and wiped the juice off her chin with the back of her hand.

“Why though? Why not live with your parents?” He asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“Do you always ask this many questions?”

“I’m just trying to figure you out,” Sokka stuttered.

“Why?” Y/N giggled. She abruptly stopped when Sokka blushed and gave her a look she couldn’t decipher.

“I just want to,” he finally said. “We don’t know anything about you.”

“Well, if you must know–it’s embarrassing–but my parents encouraged it actually. They were ecstatic that I was able to get close to the Royal Family and even though we weren’t nobility they had this absurd fantasy that I could marry Zuko.” Y/N covered her face in humiliation.

Sokka shared a look of disgust. “Fire Prince Ponytail, huh?”

She smiled at the joke, but it faded quickly; the hurt of Zuko’s betrayal still heavy on her heart. “He wasn’t always like that.” Y/N ran quickly to his defense. “I knew him when he was still good.”

Sokka collapsed on the ground and leaned up against a wall. “So tell me about it.”

Y/N sat next to him and bumped his arm with her shoulder. “About what?”

“Your palace life, Princess.”

---

The sun was setting when her and Sokka headed back to the cave. The streets were lined with paper lanterns and Y/N could hear lively music being played somewhere. It was busier than it was during the heat of the day and Sokka and Y/N were frequently bumped into from all sides, right into one another. Finally, after losing him twice in the crowd she looped her arm through his. She felt him tense up under her touch, but immediately relaxed.

“Oh, hey, what’s that?” She pointed off in the distance to a wooden board that looked like it had pictures posted all over it. She weaved them around the crowd to stand in front of it. It was a bulletin board full of advertisements, lost items, found items, and wanted posters. Her eyes ran across the assortment of them–The Blue Spirit, an Admiral named Jeong-Jeong–until her eyes landed on one in particular.

“Yeah, they put these out when we first started traveling with Aang.” Sokka poked at a yellowing poster of Aang in his airbender clothes. “Luckily they won’t be hunting for him anymore.”

“Yeah. They aren’t hunting you,” Y/N pointed at the only poster that drew her attention. The one with a similar likeness to her face. “But I think they’re hunting me now.”

Sokka peered around them to see if anyone was watching and ripped the poster down and shoved it in his pocket. “We need to tell the others.”

They only stopped running when they reached the mouth of the cave, the sun low in the sky.

“Where were you two?!” Katara scolded. “We waited for you to come back but you never did!”

“We looked around for Aang but–” Sokka started. He unfolded the poster from his pocket.

“Well did you find him?” She asked.

Sokka and Y/N shared a look. “You mean you didn’t?” Y/N fretted.

“No and Toph and I came back here when we couldn’t find anyone–”

The four of them jumped a noise outside. Y/N reached back instinctively to grab the hilt of her sword just when Aang strode in with Momo perched on his shoulder. His clothes were muddy and there was dirt on his face like he’d been chased through the woods but he was smiling. “Hey guys!”

“Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick!” Katara raced to pull him into a hug.

Aang sheepishly pulled off his headband. “I got invited to play with some kids after school.”

Sokka’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “After what?!”

“I enrolled in a Fire Nation school and I’m going back tomorrow.”

“Enrolled in what?!” Y/N thought Sokka was going to pass out.

“Let’s just sit down and talk about it,” Y/N suggested.

“I’m learning about all the propaganda they teach–”

Behind her, Y/N knew that Sokka was still talking, still flailing his arms around but she couldn’t hear the words he was saying because–

“Propaganda?”

Everyone froze, unsure of what to do next. Y/N could hear Toph behind her by the fire. “Oh no.”

“Um–”

Y/N wasn’t sure what to think. “No, don't even think about not telling me! What do you mean they teach propaganda at Fire Nation schools?”

---

What did Sokka, Katara, Aang and Toph think of her as they realized that these were the things that she grew up learning? That she had foolishly believed that the Air Nomads–known pacifists–had created an army big enough to destroy the Fire Nation so they had to be taken out first. That the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes, after hearing of the destruction of all the Air Temples and supposedly the Avatar, had joined together and invaded the Fire Nation. That she had believed in and supported the idea that the Fire Nation was doing the right thing, that cleansing the world of troublemakers and creating obedience and peace in the villages was ‘the only way’.

In the back of her mind, Y/N was trying to reason with herself, You knew the whole time. That’s why you left, that’s why you're trying to do good with the Avatar; to right the wrongs of your Nation. But it didn’t matter. She’d believed long enough for it to be harmful.

“Not to take away from the frankly alarming things we just learned but–” Sokka handed Aang the poster. “–we also found this when Y/N and I were in town.”

“What is it?” Toph asked.

“It’s a wanted poster for Y/N,” Aang muttered.

Katara jumped up to join him in reading it. Y/N didn’t need to see it again. She’d memorized it the first time she laid eyes on it.

And suddenly, her day was ruined. She couldn’t remember the taste of the peach she had eaten that afternoon or the feeling of the sun on her face. She couldn’t remember what the music sounded like as her and Sokka wandered out of town or what it felt like to spill her life story to someone who wanted to listen.

“Maybe I should go,” Y/N said numbly.

“What?” Katara said looking up from the poster.

“I’m putting you all in danger by being around you. Without me you’d be free to roam without the fear of being caught in the back of your minds all the time. It would be better for all of you like that!” Y/N was starting to get mad. Why couldn’t they see it? Why couldn’t they understand that this is the best option for everyone? That she was trying to save them?

“Why would you say something like that? How is that better?” Toph argued.

“Because you don’t need me here anyways? How could you want me around after hearing what Aang learned at school. Mind you, up until ten minutes ago, I believed every one of those things to be true!” Y/N stood up and paced around the cave, no longer able to be sitting still. Their campfire threw wild shadows of her form on the walls.

Y/N was beginning to feel like her outburst was due to more than just learning about Fire Nation propaganda but she couldn’t stop her mouth from moving. She stopped in front of them all for a second. “Tell me exactly what purpose do I serve on this mission?”

She took their silence for an answer. “Exactly,” Y/N growled.

Sokka stood up with her. “Not everything needs an exact purpose! You just fit with us!”

“But I don’t!” Y/N shouted. Her eyes and nose were stinging with unshed tears. Y/N rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands to keep the tears at bay for just a second longer. “I need a reason. I need a purpose. I have to have one! I don’t know how to describe this feeling. I’m just... lost. And–and I don’t even know how to explain it to you. How do I try and explain that my life has no meaning when I have no one to serve? I sit here with you guys and I’m wondering how you even wanted me to come when there was no reason for me to be here? I can’t even be your Fire Nation guide because I’ve never even seen most of the cities and apparently, I don’t even know my own history!”

Y/N looked at Katara. She blinked and twin tears traced down her cheeks. “I told you. I’m weak. I care about someone who wants me dead so badly she made me a wanted person. And all I want is to make her better so I can go home and I just can’t get past it all.”

Y/N put her head in her hands and sobbed. She felt two arms wrap around her waist and a head lay on her shoulder. Two more arms wrapped around the both of them. And pretty soon all five of them stood huddled in the cave in a group hug.

Y/N sniffled. “Why are you all comforting me like you’re my friends?”

“You are our friend,” Katara murmured into Y/N’s shoulder. “Don’t you want to be friends with us?”

Y/N whimpered. “I really do. I guess I just needed to hear you say it.”

“If it makes you feel better. I have no problem bossing you around.” Toph’s voice was muffled from the pile they were in.

Y/N smiled through her tears. “Thanks, Toph.”

---

A/N: listen, I don’t care if I made you cry, because I cried while writing that scene more than once and that’s all that matters.

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#atla #atla fics #sokka x reader #sokka x you #sokka x y/n #sokka #katara #aang #toph beifong #zuko #azula #ty lee #mai #avatar the last airbender #avatar: the last airbender #avatar #avatar resurgence #avatar fic #avatar renaissance

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juleswritesthis · 3 years

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Roswell NM 3x11 Thoughts (I have a lot of thoughts!!!)

Contrary to popular opinion I really liked this episode. Yes, the science was so made up it was funny, yes certain character choices are hilariously silly, yes there was a lot of scenes filled with exposition dump, yes characters disappearing for episodes not to be mentioned as if they don’t exist is jarring & annoying, and omg yes, the Wyatt arc (if you can call it that) fell flat and was a complete waste of valuable screen time. So yes, I agree with most everyone’s assessment. That said still a very enjoyable and entertaining episode setting up the final concluding 2 hours of the season. Let’s get into it.

Jones is highly entertaining, overly good looking, and sometimes hilarious villain. Nathan shines bringing charm and depth to the role. Its important to note that Jones hasn’t caused any lasting damage to the group. Sure, he has tried to kill various members, he’s responsible for putting Maria in a coma & has kidnapped half the cast basically, kept our heroes busy all season. But when it comes to killing or destruction it’s really been focused on the dregs or racist folks of the town, the poor scientist in Santa Fe (I think it was Santa Fe) & the lady at the university last week. No one of any real consequence to our heroes. Now I have no idea if Maria’s vision arc has concluded because it hasn’t been mentioned in forever, but I’m assuming that there will be a major death by season end. Noah killed Rosa and the 2 other girls, abused Isobel for 10 years and destroyed the lives of all the mains. For Jones to be a real big bad there’s got to be some long-lasting consequences to one or more of our mains. Though I’m going into the final 2 episodes with excitement there is some concern. I don’t think any of the mains will perish but I do worry about Sanders and even Heath. (I’m really worried about Sanders y’all especially after that promo!!!)

Jones negotiation with Liz was bizarre. Why negotiate at all? Wouldn’t he just threaten to kill or maim people…what the heck is Liz’s bargaining chip against an all-powerful, evil dictator? If she doesn’t do what he wants he can just start killing folks she loves. It really is that easy. I get the whole creativity inspiration thing but fear for those you love is a great motivator. I was so amused that after hours of discussion Liz pulls out the big guns… free the sheriff. Was that her wild card? Really Liz? She may be a kick-ass scientist with a boatload of courage and sass, but I wouldn’t have her negotiating any of my needs anytime soon.

Isobel and Rosa scenes continue to delight. I think it’s clear Rosa won’t be in Season 4 much. As much as I will miss her, I’m glad that she will find some peace and joy at art school, she deserves it. Unlike Wyatt who does not deserve any tranquility because his redemption (if you can call it that) was not earned. Instead, his memories were wiped along with it any true feelings of guilt and remorse. How can we believe he has truly changed? What happens if his memories return? So silly and completely wasteful screen time (no offense to the actor who is quite good and likable).

The Dallas and Max scenes were wonderful. Don’t get me wrong I prefer the show not tell method. And Dallas conveniently having the entire Oasis history in a memory from his father then regurgitating those memories to Max (and the audience) was not the best way to convey the story. However, the actor who plays Dallas is ridiculously charismatic and I could listen to him recite the phone book (do those still exist?) and be entertained. Plus, for one moment I truly believe that Dallas had gotten through to the constantly self-sacrificing, martyr that is Max Evans. But as the promo for finale proves with Max asking Michael (why Michael?) to kill him, the words didn’t stick. Oh Max…

Speaking of, I truly feel so bad for Max. He’s had it rough. In a span of couple weeks, he’s been told he is a clone of an evil dictator, he isn’t the Savior but in fact a weapon to bring down the real Savior who also isn’t really a savior but a genocidal maniac (Michael’s words not mine) who slaughtered half his planet. Not to mention the “there has to be 3” doesn’t include him, as he isn’t part of the triad. And that because he is a clone, he doesn’t actually have biological parents or siblings or anything, well Michael, by DNA sort of, maybe? Oh, and he is the only thing tethering the evil, psycho dictator to life. I mean…

My hope for Season 4 is that Max gets to process everything he has learned about his existence. He hasn’t expressed how he feels the entire season and he deserves to. I hope the writers don’t have him get over it by season’s end with one scene or worse just sweep it under the rug. Like being a clone of an evil psycho, to be used as a weapon, without any real connection to Isobel and Michael? That’s got to have some lasting effects…please writers let me see it on my screen.

Speaking of show not telling, Michael’s new powers. I not a fan of Michael telling us a story of how he used his mind control powers accidently when he was 18. Can we please see these scenes so we can feel the true emotional impact?

As for these powers, strap in, this is a doozy (and might be controversial). I, like Michael, feel that taking someone’s free will, no matter who they are is not a good power to have; it’s not fun, it’s not cool. Michael is right that’s some dark shit and a power that needs to be used very sparingly and with a ton of responsibility.

I loved the scene between Sanders and Michael, but I have a couple issues with some of the dialogue. Sanders is the only living person (other than Jones) that knew and loved Nora. Thus, he can speak about her with authority. He is also the only person who is any kind of real parent figure in Michael’s. Thus, him saying Michael has no darkness can be believed. He knows Michael and he knows Nora. However, Sanders doesn’t know what its like to have powers, especially an immense power such as mind control. Though I appreciate Sanders’ perspective (and agree with him about the purity of Michael’s soul) I wasn’t a big fan of him brushing away Michael’s fears about having mind control powers and not wanting to use them. Yes, it’s important for Michael to recognize just because he has Jones’ power doesn’t mean he is or will ever become Jones. It’s not the powers that make a person. But the line about Nora not fearing her powers was not helpful. Nora’s powers were telekinesis, engineering (if genius is a power) and possibly miraculous crop growth. None of these powers take away a person’s ability to control their actions (well telekinesis to a certain point but in nowhere near actual mind control). So of course, Nora didn’t fear her powers.

I wish someone had validated Michael’s fears instead of brushing them away with a few words of you have no darkness or in Isobel’s case you aren’t like Jones/Noah. A person does not have to be evil or bad to misuse a power like mind control & for that misuse to have dire consequences. Can you imagine being able to make people do what you want them to do at any time? Even if your intent is to do good, it doesn’t mean it’s something that should be done or won’t have major consequences. Sort of like the ends justify means conversation between Jones and Liz. What is the line, do you recognize it and what’s to stop a person from inches towards the line and what happens if you cross it?

So, my wish for next season is for Michael like Max is given time to process what he has learned about himself and his powers. My wish is for Michael is to continue to struggle with when, how and if he should use the mind control power. That way even when faced with a racist sheriff that is holding a gun to his friends, he is careful, asks for consent and never takes advantage of this tremendous power. In addition, I do think it would be very interesting to continue to explore these powers and how they maybe could change a person? Take Max’s power to give and take away life force. He killed Noah and used that life force (and his own) to bring Rosa to back to life. Seems like a good exchange but ethically and morally having a person decide who lives or dies? And how would this all fit into religion with Dallas being a priest? These could make for some great conversations and strong character development. Fingers crossed we see some of it and not just get told in passing.

The music in the episode was amazing. The beginning with Nothing Else Matters and Jones is a tux… I mean… Also, the ending with the fight sequence, building the suspense, only for the reveal to be that Jones had wanted them all to come so he could trap Liz, Dallas, and Max along with Isobel and Michael (for extra leverage) in his mind. I’m confused about why everyone was sitting but Michael was standing? Is he able to move or is he able to resist his father’s mind control? I’m really looking forward to next week and for Team Human to come to the rescue (maybe).

Favorite lines of the episode:

Sanders to Michael: “You are just a pair of sad puppy dog eyes and a cowboy hat”

Jones to Team Alien & Liz: “Well, everyone seems a little tense” (LOL I love Jones!)

Dallas (or Isobel) writing on the wall to Jones: “KNOCK, KNOCK”

#roswell new mexico #michael guerin #liz ortecho #max evans #isobel evans #Dallas #Roswell season 3 #Roswell nm #walt sanders #rosa ortecho #my thoughts

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yelena-bellova · 3 years

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Instinct: Din Djarin x Reader - Chapter Three

Chapter Three: Unexplainable

Series Masterlist

Plot: Mando and Y/n run into unexpected complications when trying to leave Arvala-7.

Warnings: violence, enemies to slightly tolerable partners, more backstory teasing, the slowest of slow burns continued 🔥

Word Count: 6.0k

A/N: I’m not used to writing slow burn and even as a writer I’m frustrated. Like I’m having to hold back and tell myself “not yet...” I’m just not built for this shit 🙈 Anyways, enjoy! I’ll be sitting in the corner in fetal position trying to recover from this week’s episode...

————

Silence seemed to be the founding principle of mine and Mando’s partnership. Not a word had been spoken between us since we’d killed the IG unit and taken the child. I hadn’t taken issue with the absence of words exchanged before our discovery, but now I had questions and wanted to know if he was asking himself the same ones.

“Do you have any idea what Imps would want with a child?” I finally asked during our walk back through the valleys.

“No,” he answered flatly, I could tell by his tone that he didn’t want there to be any further conversation. He’d ended his singular acknowledgement of my presence with a razor sharp period. Talking time was effectively over.

We continued our walk back to the ship with the only noise being the squishing of our boots in the mud. It was then that I realized even the harmless lizards that had been wandering the path with us had gone quiet. Mando and I both stopped in our tracks and looked around our general vicinity, my hands hovering my weapons just waiting…

Quicker than I could anticipate, a Trandoshan leapt out from behind a rock and swung a vibro-axe. Mando and I ducked out of the way just in time, he made a point of kicking the pod that contained the child out of harm’s way. The Trandoshan went after Mando before he did me which was his first mistake. While Mando fended him off using his own armor, I came up on our attacker from behind. Slipping my vibroblade out of my gauntlet, I reached around his neck and slit his throat. On cue, two more Trandoshans jumped down from the rocks. Mando pulled out his pulse rifle and started fighting one off while I dodged the other. As far as weapons went, I was outmatched. But skill? No one could top me.

After narrowly dodging a swing of the axe, I dropped down quickly and made a slice in the Trandoshan’s calf. He let out a pained cry just before I made an identical cut in his other leg. Popping back up to my full height, I slammed my head into his and watched him struggle to keep his balance. Reaching one of my holsters, I pulled out my blaster and shot him through the chest. I turned to see Mando aiming his pulse rifle at the attacker who was running toward the child. He fired a shot and the Trandoshan exploded before my eyes. Both of us looked around to make sure there were no more coming, a familiar beeping sound turned my attention to the ground.

A tracking fob.

“Does everyone have one of these things?” I commented, holstering my blaster and sheathing my blade.

“Guess so,” answered Mando as he crushed the device under his boot, “We’re not going to make it back to the Crest before nightfall. We’ll set up camp somewhere when the suns begin to set.” ————

Another thing I discovered quickly about the Mandalorian: he was the stubbornest being I’d ever had the displeasure of meeting.

We were sitting atop one of the hills with the suns setting in the distance. Our camp wasn’t much, it was a lantern and the three of us. I was finishing a ration bar listening to the stifled groans of my partner as he cauterized a wound he’d gotten during the fight. We were on the third minute of the self preformed medical procedure and I wasn’t sure if I could take any more of the sounds.

“I’ve got a medpack on me, bacta and stitch supplies. It’ll hurt less than the mutilation you’re doing to yourself,” I nodded towards the reddened wound site.

“I’m fine,” he gritted out, continuing the cauterizing and trying to bite back his cries of pain.

A dry chuckle tumbled from my lips, “Are you that difficult that just cause you don’t like me you’re going to inflict more pain on yourself than necessary?”

Ceasing his actions, he turned to me quickly. “I don’t need your help,” he barked, staring me down and trying to intimidate me to look away first.

I wasn’t backing down as I twisted my body to face him. “You really are an asshole, aren’t you? Offer’s revoked, buddy. Get infected and die for all I care. It’ll mean a bigger bounty for me.”

After my last sentence had ended, Mando unsheathed the vibroblade strapped to his leg and rolled towards me. Just as fast, I pulled out my own and the knifes clashed. Mando was hanging over me and had pulled my free arm up over my head before I’d known what was happening. With his beskar armor, overpowering him would be more difficult but not impossible. I kneed him hard in the groin and he let out a sharp cry, I shifted my weight to roll him on his back and straddled his waist. Mando pushed harder against my blade till my grip weakened and it flew out of my hand. I wriggled my wrist out of his grasp and took hold of both his, slamming them above his head as he’d done to me. After a few seconds of struggling against one another, he managed to get the upper hand once again. He rolled both of us so that he once again hovered over me, his helmet so close to my face that if I breathed on it the visor would fog. My legs were still locked around his waist as we grappled against each other, grunts and groans escaping both of us. Had it been anyone else, I’d have made a suggestive joke about the position we were in. But not him, not for all the credits in the galaxy…

Mando had dropped his knife at some point during the skirmish, the only weapon we had now was our respective hatred of one another. The strange thing was that neither of us were fighting to kill. It felt more like trying to assert dominance over the other. I fought against the grip he’d somehow regained around my wrists, eventually freeing one of them and landing a punch against his unprotected chest. He let out an ‘oof’ and I used the element of surprise to my advantage. I punched once more before using every ounce of energy left in me to shove him off and free my body. He landed in the sand next to me on his back, both of us lay there attempting to catch our breath. A mutual concession to one anther. He was strong, I’d give him that, and as skilled a fighter as the legends had said. If he had fought to kill me, even I could admit that my chances of survival were slim.

As I lay panting, I turned my head to see the child had gotten out of its pod. It had waddled his way in between me and Mando with its eyes focused on the latter’s wounded arm. I carefully watched as it extended its hand out towards Mando’s cauterized cut, it shut its eyes as if it was in deep concentration….

Mando covered its small green palm with his own and picked it up, he walked it back to the pod and placed it in. I wiped the thin layer of sweat from my brow and pushed myself up into a sitting position. I didn’t spare the Mandalorian any glances, I simply stretched my arm out to retrieve my knife before turning my back to him.

At the sound of the child’s trills, I turned back around to see it’d escaped the pod again. Mando picked it up once more and set it back where it belonged. I watched the two of them stare at one another before Mando pressed a button on his gauntlet that shut the pod’s doors. “I’m leaving at dawn with or without you,” Mando addressed me gruffly, walking back to his designated spot in the sand and returning to repairing his armor.

I knew that if I give an equally rude response, I’d only be starting another fight and I was too sore for round two. Swallowing every remark I wished to verbally slap him with, I removed my jacket and bunched it up into a makeshift pillow. I laid my head on top of it and turned on my side to try and get some sleep. One more day, I thought, one more day and then you’ll never have to deal with him again…

————

The next morning was tense as we made our way back to the Razor Crest. The only content member of our party was the child who babbled and cooed its way through the journey.

When we got to where Mando had parked the ship, a surprise was waiting for us. A large sandcrawler was parked next to the Razor Crest, which looked like it belonged in a junkyard rather than in the skies.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” I muttered in frustration, “Jawas.” Mando sprung into action and kneeled down, pulse rifle in hand. After scoping out the scene, he aimed the weapon and vaporized one of the Jawas. He continued firing shots, driving them deeper into their flurry of panic. They quickly scurried back into their vehicle and began to slowly crawl away.

“C’mon,” Mando grumbled and we took off after the thieves, the child’s pod in tow and programmed to follow.

Mando kneeled and took another shot with the rifle that did absolutely nothing to slow them down. I kept running and he caught up quickly with me, once we were running in tandem with the vehicle, he leapt and grabbed onto a service ladder. He began to climb it and I latched onto the bars directly below his feet. As we climbed, I felt the sandcrawler drift to the side and turned my head to see that we were about to be crushed by a rockface. There was no time for both me and Mando to climb to safety so I did the first thing that came to mind and let go.

I fell the short distance to the ground and landed harshly on my back in the narrow gap between the sandcrawler’s wheels and the rockface. I rolled to my side and coughed away the dust around me before scrambling to my feet. As the child’s pod passed me, it looked back with concern etched in its small features. I started running once again and made a point of gesturing to the child that I was okay. I could see from a distance that various object were falling onto a still moving Mando, who had climbed up half the vehicle. He was walking up the side of it aided by his grappling hook, but as soon as he’d made it to the top he promptly fell. It was a much larger distance between him and the ground than the one I’d crossed and unexpected worry flooded me. I picked up my pace and dropped to my knees when I came to his body. He’d been shot with something, probably an ion blaster, because there was electricity running through his armor. I didn’t dare touch him for fear of getting shocked.

“Mando, wake up,” I prompted, knowing it would be of no use without touching him, “C’mon, wake up.” The child cooed from nearby, the same worry in its face that it’d had for me moments ago. Its ears lowered in sadness as it looked at Mando laid out.

“He’ll be okay,” I said out of nowhere, not knowing whether or not it was true, “He’ll just be out for a while.”

I decided to let the shocks through his armor die down before shaking him awake, which took several minutes. All the while I found myself concerned for the wellbeing of the man I’d wished death on the night before. The long and short of it was that if he died, I had no chance of getting off the planet and would end up being killed by another hunter with a fob. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed the Mandalorian.

Once the electricity died down, I grabbed both of his shoulders and gently shook him. “Mando, c’mon, wake up. Wake up.” He awoke slowly, the slight tilt of his head and grunt from his modulator being the only signs. I removed my hands from his body immediately and sat down in the sand next to him.

“How long was I out?” he asked groggily.

“Twenty minutes maybe,” I answered, “They shocked you something awful, your armor was glowing blue the whole time.” “They get away?”

I rubbed my aching back as I replied, “There wasn’t much I could do to stop them. I’m good but I’m not that good.” “Can I get it in writing that you admitted that?” Mando asked, tilting his helmet in my direction. There was a dry type of humor laced in his voice that at any other moment would have made me laugh.

“Don’t make me regret not leaving you here to rust,” I pointed a finger towards his helmet as I rose to my feet. Contradicting my cruel words, I extended my hand to help him up which he surprisingly accepted. He stumbled a little as he stood, I was there to push him back up before he fell. We both looked over to the child whose worry for us had faded into observation.

“Let’s get back to the ship, see what damage they did,” Mando said, shaking off the supportive grasp I had on his arm.

————

They’d stripped the ship almost in its entirety. Every weapon was gone, the engines were busted, the ship was emitting sparks in every crevice and corner.

The decision to find our way back to Kuiil’s was an easy one. Though it was an exhausting journey that took up the entire day, we didn’t have any other choice. We needed help.

When we arrived at sunset, Kuiil didn’t need to turn around to know we were in his presence. “I thought you two were dead.” “Came close,” I responded, “Now we’re just stranded.” After he brought food and drinks out, which I was in desperate need of after our day long journey, I let the child out of the pod. I wasn’t sure what it was capable of doing so I kept a careful eye on it. It didn’t seem interested in anything other than chasing a frog.

“This is what was causing all the fuss?” Kuiil asked, staring down at it.

“We think it’s a child,” Mando said, fiddling with his screwed up armor.

“It is better to deliver it alive, then,” Kuiil said as he passed us.

“My ship has been destroyed, we’re trapped here,” Mando stated.” “Stripped, not destroyed,” Kuiil corrected as he handed Mando a tool, “The Jawas steal, they don’t destroy.

“It doesn’t matter, either way we’re stuck here,” I commented, swirling around the last bit of liquid in my glass.

“They’re protected by their crawling fortress,” Mando said, “There’s no way to recover the parts.” I smirked at the opportunity to correct him on the name of the ‘crawling fortress’ but decided to let it go. I wasn’t any happier than he was about being stranded.

“You can trade,” Kuiil suggested. “With Jawas? Are you out of your mind?” Mando asked in disbelief. “I will take you to them,” Kuiil said as he retook the tool from Mando, “I have spoken.” Mando and I shared a look as if running the plan by each other, I shrugged and downed the last of my drink. We weren’t exactly in a place where we could pick about our options.

“Hey,” Mando barked in the child’s direction, “Spit that out.” I turned to see the child swallowing a frog whole, burping afterwards in delight. This is definitely not what I signed up for, I thought

————

We journeyed through the rainy night, me, Mando and the child in a cart pulled by Kuiil on one of the blurrgs. We arrived in the morning at the sandcrawler with Kuiil taking a more diplomatic portion and giving them a friendly greeting.

“They really don’t like you two for some reason,” Kuiil commented.

“He disintegrated a couple of their friends,” I replied, glancing toward Mando who was seated at my side.

“You need to drop your rifle,” Kuiil ordered.

“I’m a Mandalorian, weapons are a part of my religion,” Mando contested.

“Then you are not getting your parts back,” Kuiil stated matter-of-factly.

I sighed in frustration, “Can they not be a part of your religion for a couple minutes? The sooner we get the parts, the sooner we get back to Nevarro and the sooner we go our separate ways.” Now that was enough to make him lay down his rifle with little hesitation. If mutual hatred was what lit a fire under him, then I was more then willing to stoke it.

Mando and I got out of the cart but before we got any further, one of the Jawas aimed their ion blaster at both of us. Kuiil looked us over and found the problem, “You both need to get rid of your blasters.”

As easy as it was for me to ask Mando to get rid of his, I hesitated in letting my own go. Of course, this earned me a tilt of his helmeted head and a snide remark. “The sooner we get the parts, the sooner-“ “Oh, can it, rust bucket,” I mumbled as we tossed our blasters into the cart.

Kuiil gestured for us to follow him so we could negotiate with the Jawas. We took our seats across from them and Kuiil began to translate. “They will trade all the parts for the beskar.”

“I’m not going to trade anything,” Mando’s voice began to rise, “These are my parts, they stole them from me.”

I didn’t speak Jawa but I could tell by their tone that whatever they said to Mando was snippy. He tried to reply in their language but it came out broken and all they did was laugh in reply.

“You understand this?” Mando raised his arm and flames shot forth out of one of his gauntlets, sending the Jawas diving for the ground.

“Whoa. Easy, easy…” Kuiil said calmly as he pulled Mando’s arm back. I had a feeling that nothing ever rattled the ugnaught. He continued translating between the parties. When the Jawas rose and eyed our cart, Mando and I both turned quickly. Two of them were closing in on the child.

“Get away from it!” we both yelled in perfect synchrony. They obeyed immediately but that didn’t stop me from eyeing them until they were back in front of us.

Kuiil conversed with the Jawas further until Mando managed to make out some words. “The egg? What egg?”

On cue, the Jawas began chanting the same two words over and over. Whatever egg was in question, I had a feeling that we were about to get up close and personal with it.

————

The task was simple, or so it sounded. Mando and I were to go and retrieve the mysterious egg and in return the Jawas would give us the parts back.

As we disembarked the sandcrawler, something told me that however easy we’d been made to believe the excursion would be was not true. It didn’t matter, we needed the parts and there was no other way to get them. My and Mando’s shared desire to return to our separate lives was fueling us both to get the job done as soon as possible.

Where the Jawas had said the egg rested wasn’t terribly far from the sandcrawler. With the child’s pod behind us, we walked up to the cave where it the coveted object supposedly lay.

“Ready?” Mando asked as he adjusted his own gauntlets.

I unholstered my blasters and nodded, “Ready.” We entered the cave with caution, it was dark and impossible to see anything. Mando turned on his flashlight mounted on the side of his helmet and illuminated our path. It didn’t take us long to figure out why my gut feeling that it would be a difficult task was right. There was a soft growl nearby that made our heads swivel around only to come face to face with a mud horn.

“Shit!” I mumbled underneath my breath and our gunfire began bouncing off the walls of the cave. No shot that hit the creature actually succeeding in hurting it, only angering it. It only took a few seconds for the mud horn to rise to its full power and headbutt us out of the cave.

Mando and I were sent flying through the air and landed in the mud outside. Having the armor had protected him somewhat, but nothing was to there to break my fall even slightly. I was almost certain that I’d heard something crack upon impact but couldn’t worry about it. With a groan, I rose to sit alongside Mando who was also trying to collect his bearings. The mud horn came out of its cave and faced us, Mando raised his pulse rifle to fire but couldn’t get it loaded quick enough. The mud horn came charging towards us, I was able to roll away in time to not be hit. Mando wasn’t as lucky, he was violently tossed a few hundred feet back. Just as I looked up, I caught the mud horn with its eyes locked on the child’s pod. It began to charge toward it and instinct took over, I launched my whipcord forward and it wrapped around the mud horn’s horn. At the exact same second, Mando programmed the pod to move away. I was now the mud horn’s target as the whipcord detached from its horn and flew back into my gauntlet. It began to charge toward me once again, except this time I had no plan. All I could do was run. I knew I was playing a losing game, trying to outrun a creature ten times my size…I could hear the mud horn’s growl fast approaching behind me just as I slipped and went face first into the mud. After all the years spent endangering my life, capturing some of the biggest criminals in the galaxy, this was how it ended. My life taken away by a slippery patch of mud.

As I awaited to be split in two by the creature’s horn, I felt a body shield mine followed by the heat of flames. Mando. He’d jumped in to…save me?

The mud horn leaned down and pressed his arm, and consequentially me, further into the mud pit. Mando held firm in his assault and continued to flame the beast. With his weight finally off of me, I rolled onto my back and wiped the mud from my eyes. His flamethrower jammed so he extended his other arm and launched his grappling hook at the mud horn. I grabbed his bicep to pull myself into a sitting position only to be met with our next problem. The mudhorn turned around and began to run in the opposite direction, pulling me and Mando along with it. We were dragged through the mud, sputtering and grunting the whole way. His hand found my arm as we held tight to one another. Flying through the mud with each other was the safest option, we didn’t run the risk of getting trampled.

Think, think, think of something…I thought. Doesn’t have to be great, just something that doesn’t result in immediate death.

Without thinking, I shot my whipcord out and it attached to the mud horn. I let go of Mando’s arm and grabbed my cord, hoping that he could put together what I was trying to do. He did. We both found our footing and dug our boots into the ground, trying to slow the creature down. To no avail, the cords snapped and the two of us went rolling through the mud. I wiped the substance from my face to see Mando had landed a few feet away from me. The mudhorn was getting ready to charge again in our direction. I scrambled to my feet, unsure of what I was planning to do. I was helpless to watch as the creature rammed its horn against Mando, sending him flying through the air.

“Mando!” I yelled, running as fast as my weary legs could carry me. Why? I couldn’t say. I couldn’t stand him, wouldn’t have cared if he’d have dropped dead in the middle of the desert earlier in the day. But in that moment, the hatred that came so easily to me left my body entirely and was replaced with the unexplainable need to save him. I dropped to my knees and slid towards him in the mud, his armor crackling blue once again.

“C’mon, get up,” I urged, gripping both of his shoulders tightly, “Get up, c’mon, we’re not done.” He didn’t verbally respond, just gave a groan as he struggled to sit up. I was so focused on helping him that I’d forgotten about my own exhaustion for a moment. I didn’t know how I was going to stand, let alone fight. Mando was able to make it onto one knee while I couldn’t find to strength to get off of both mine. He’d also had the semblance of mind to pull his vibroblade from his boot, looking to me and silently telling me to do the same. I reached for mine with a shaky hand and unsheathed it, raising it up alongside Mando’s. It was a sad last stand to take, but neither of us could go down without a fight. I scrunched my eyes shut, knowing death was imminent was enough. I didn’t need to see it charging towards me.

When the attack didn’t come, I hesitantly opened one eye. What I saw was…indescribable.

The mud horn was levitating, roaring relentlessly, and unable to harm us.

Mando rose to his feet and extended his hand down to me, pulling me up to my unsteady feet. At the first wobble, he threw his arm around my waist to keep me upright. I needed the support, much as I hated to admit it. We got closer to the mud horn to examine what exactly was happening. The thing didn’t have wings, there was no explanation for it. Through my blurry vision, I looked around us for the child realizing that it’d escaped my mind briefly. But when my eyes found the pod, it was clear that it was the one causing the unbelievable sensation. With its eyes closed in concentration and its hand extended, it was somehow causing the mud horn to float in the air.

“Wh…What?” I whispered breathlessly.

After a few seconds, the child passed out from exhaustion and fell back in its pod. As it did, the mud horn dropped back to the ground and roared in our faces. Mando and I didn’t need to communicate to form a plan of what to do. We both rammed our knives into the side of the beast’s skull, dropping to the ground in a heap afterwards. It roared once more before falling, the impact causing Mando’s weight to collapse further onto me. His body was once again shielding me. When we heard no noise coming from the mud horn, he sat up and freed me to get a look at the creature. Pulling each other up, we slowly walked over to examine the body. I knew it was dead, but I didn’t object to Mando stabbing it once more with our knives before handing mine back to me. We stood there, catching our breath before turning to assess the child. We limped to the pod to see it twitching ever so slightly in its sleep. I had never seen anything like the act it’d performed, it had saved our lives.

We silently watched it until Mando broke the silence, “You okay?” “I think so,” I breathed, turning my gaze to his muddy, battered self a once over, “You?”

“Fine,” he responded, the condition of his armor begged to differ, “C’mon, we still gotta get this egg.” ————

The journey back took longer than our departure, what with us having the combined strength of a child. And definitely not the child we had trailing behind us…

“Mando! Y/n!” Kuiil cried as he saw us coming towards him. “We’ve got it,” Mando announced, the tire in his voice was audible, “We’ve got the egg.” The Jawas all scurried to surround us and take the fuzzy egg from Mando’s hands. They cheered and sliced it opening, revealing a gooey substance that they all maniacally feasted on. Mando and I made our way to Kuiil, “I’m surprised you waited,” Mando said. “I’m surprised you two took so long,” Kuiil quipped before turning around and getting ready to load up the cart.

The Jawas held true to their word and returned all the parts they’d taken from the Razor Crest. The four of us rode back as the suns were starting to set, me and Mando sitting back to back on a crate watching the child carefully. It hadn’t moved in a while, a tiny bit of concern invading my mind.

“Is it still sleeping?” Kuiil asked from his position on the blurrg.

I reached out to shake the pod gently, the child responded with a soft inhale and movement of his lips. “Yes,” Mando answered as he watched me.

“Was it injured?” Kuiil inquired further, we’d explained to him what had happened as best we could. We didn’t even understand it which made it harder to describe to a third party.

“I don’t think so, not physically,” Mando said, his head never turning from the pod. Kuiil sighed, “Explain it to me again. I still don’t understand what happened.”

I shook my head as I replayed the surreal moment in my mind, my eyes trained on the child, “Neither do we. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

No, that seemed like an understatement. I had never seen anything even in the same realm of mysterious and odd sensations. It seemed like a moment out of a child’s storybook yet it was as real as the surefire death the kid had saved Mando and I from. The curious part of me wanted to ask Mando if he was questioning the phenomenon as much as I was. But I knew I wasn’t likely to get an answer out of him comprised of more than a disinterested syllable or two so it would be wasted effort.

When we get back to Nevarro, none of this will matter anyway, I thought.

It was dark by the time we got back to the Razor Crest. Kuiil volunteered to stay and help us with repairs and with three sets of hands, it went faster than expected. By morning, the three of us were in the cockpit conducting a successful test on the engines.

“I can’t thank you enough,” Mando said as we stood by the ramp of the ship with Kuiil, “Please allow us to give you a portion of the reward.”

This time, I was okay with Mando freely giving away our credits. “Yes, you saved our asses several times these past two days. Please take the money.” The ugnught shook his head firmly, “I cannot accept. You are my guests, and I am therefore in your service.” As Kuiil packed up, Mando paced around the exit of the ship. “I could use a crew member of your ability, and I can pay handsomely.” I leaned against the wall of the ship, watching the exchange. Mando wasn’t my cup of spotchka, but him and Kuiil seemed to have a much better repartee than the two of us. If they travelled together, it would work well.

“I am honored,” Kuiil said sincerely, “But I have worked a lifetime to finally be free of servitude.”

“I understand,” Mando nodded, “Then all I can offer is my thanks.” “And I offer mine,” Kuiil gestured outside the ship, “Thank you both for bringing peace to my valley.”

With a nod to both of us, Kuiil departed the ship. I pushed off the wall to stand next to Mando and watched the unnnaught mount his blurrg. “And good luck with the child,” Kuiil waved to us, “May it survive and bring you a handsome reward. I have spoken.” I chuckled softly to myself at his farewell greeting and gave him a nod, there wasn’t a plethora of kindness in the galaxy, but Kuiil? He was one of the good ones, a dying breed.

“Let’s get going,” Mando said, pressing the button that retracted the ramp and shut the doors.

We silently made our way up the ladder and into the cockpit with the pod following Mando’s gauntlet’s programming. I took my seat in the chair behind the pod and watched as Mando powered up the ship. Before we took off, Kuiil, who was still seated outside, gave us a final wave. With that, we were finally back on track to Nevarro.

Once the course had been set, Mando turned around and copied my posture. Hunched over and watching the child peacefully sleep. What Kuiil said had gotten into my head, may it survive…May it survive. What if what it did for us had exhausted it to the point of death? For a split second I wasn’t thinking of any bounty, only the child.

“Think it’ll wake up?” I blurted out, my mind having turned off as I watched the steady rise and fall of its chest.

Mando shook the pod gently, trying to wake it. “I don’t know,” he said quietly before facing forward in his seat and adjusting a few switches.

Add dependably non-hyperverbal to the list of qualities the Mandalorian possessed. I sat back in my seat, unsure of why our lack of communication suddenly bothered me.

Just as I settled into my chair, a coo came from the pod. Before my body knew what it was doing, I sat up straight and came face to face with the child’s big black eyes. It seemed alright on the surface, no visible signs of exhaustion or any injury.

“Hey,” I called to Mando, who only tilted his head slightly in response, “We’ve got our answer.”

He finally turned around fully to see the child, not saying a word but clearly examining it with the same attention I did. Sometimes you didn’t need to see someone’s face to know exactly what was going on in their head. Something told me that Mando was as curious as I was, just better at hiding it. He looked over to me and gave me a once over, “You should use the refresher before we get to Nevarro.”

I looked down at myself, I had forgotten for a few seconds that I was still caked in dry mud from the day before. Suddenly I felt disgusting and had no issue with following Mando’s suggestion. Silently I rose from my seat and headed out of the cockpit, but not before taking one last look at the child. Its eyes were trained on me as I prepared to leave the room, there was something about its stare that caused every thought in my head to cease. There was nothing but innocence and wonder, something so pure that no one as cruel as a bounty hunter was ever on the receiving end of. I began to squirm under its gaze, feeling emotions rise in my chest that I wasn’t used to. I hurried down the ladder and towards the sanisteamer, in sudden need to be as far away from the kid as possible.

I knew exactly why it bothered me.

Flashbacks of events prior to my life in the guild were coming, I could feel them. Over the years I’d gotten good at controlling them or at least being able to work through them, but this was different. The emotions were working their way through my body until lodging themselves firmly in my chest. Feeling the constricting, I hurried to grab my spare set of clothes out of my bag and made a sprint for the sanisteamer.

Only then, when I knew nobody was around me, did I allow the familiar panic to wash over my body.

--------

A/N: Next chapter is where things really take off so prepare yourselves...Let me know if you’d like to be tagged!

Taglist: @toribentleyvq @pan-ini @simp-for-corpse @thefandomzoneisdangerous @never-no-locomotive

(Just now realizing I didn’t add this to the other chapters 🙈) Star Wars Permanent Taglist: @paintballkid711 @katrynec @caswinchester2000 @theliterarymess @softly-sad

#din djarin imagine #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian imagine #the mandalorian x reader

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nekojitachan · 4 years

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I just read armies for the third time and every time I reread is just as fuckin amazing as the last time... Also I saw an ask once mentioning a collection about Aaron visiting Andrew in London, just wondering if you have any plans of posting again? I'm just so weak for my minyard boys. Hope you're good! Love your writing please never leave us ❤️

Ah... I went looking for the link to the story but I’ve been unable to find it yet (I know I would have used something to tag it, but that’s not working). I do have it saved, but not the link (on a side note, I found a twinyard prompt that I’ve forgotten about). So here it is again (until I either add it to Armies properly or do an Armies side stories post on AO3):

*******

Abram smiled at Ashley as he leaned gingerly against the top of one of her monitors with his chin resting on top of his folded arms. “So, I sent you the file last night, and let me tell you, it was rather difficult reining in Andrew while I corrected the few grammar mistakes – he wanted to make a couple comments on the paper.” That had surprised Abram, his husband’s interest on the topic, but Kimberly had picked an interesting book for once.

Ashley laughed as she leaned back in her chair and toyed with her long, dark brown braid. “I appreciate your efforts since I can only imagine what he’d have put in there.” She shuddered a little which made Abram smile in shared horror. “She’s doing better?”

“Yes, I imagine soon enough you’ll have to come up with something else when I ask for a favor.” Ashley smiled at that, a mixture of pride for her younger sister and delight in thinking up a new ‘price’ for Abram when he needed certain things done; he didn’t mind because Ashley was a minor miracle worker and usually asked for small, easily to do things in return such as proofing her sister’s uni papers or bringing back certain items from their travels.

“I’m sure I’m up to the challenge,” Ashley said as she tapped away on her keyboard. “As is, I’ve just sent you my part of our latest bargain. The email contains all the information you need in regards to the reservations I made for your dinners and a private appointment at Barts Pathology Museum.” She gave him a pleased smile as she once again toyed with her braid. “Anything else?”

“Don’t let the place descend into chaos while we’re away, yes?” Abram asked as he stood up and gave her a jaunty salute.

“I’ll do my best!” Ashley called out as he walked away, voice bright with laughter. Maddy and Rita (who was back in the office while she did some research before her next mission) wished him a nice ‘holiday’ as he left the office to meet up with his husband.

Andrew was standing out in the hallway with Lloyd and Kathryn Ambrose, one of the higher-ups who handled the EMEA region. Despite Lloyd’s occasional grumbling about the woman (he tended to grumble about anyone ranked above him), Abram never had a problem with Kathryn, who always treated him and Andrew with polite respect. “Hello, Abram,” she greeted him.

“Hello, Kathryn. Everything all right?”

“Yes, I was just talking to Lloyd and Andrew about how there’s a potential situation in Hungary. I know you’re about to go on holiday, but I just wanted to give you a head’s up that we may need to send the two of you there once you’re back.”

Lloyd nodded as he motioned to Andrew and then Abram. “Bit of a special request, but some people feel that you two could help out the agents already there.”

It wasn’t as if they could say ‘no’ when it was their jobs; Abram shared a look with Andrew who gave a slight nod after a moment. In a way, it might be better for them since someone else would be taking the lead on the mission and they would be providing support, would be more in the background. Though it meant that they’d have to do a bit of research before they left even though they were supposed to be on break.

“Send us all of the necessary information,” Abram said as he went to stand next to his husband.

“Though we’ll need an extra day or two to prepare,” Andrew argued as he stared down Lloyd.

“Of course. I’ll have Maddy put together the intel and send it to you by tomorrow.” Lloyd knew better than to fight with Andrew by then, especially with Kathryn right there (and when she appeared pleased by their agreement). That dealt with, they said their ‘goodbyes’ and left.

It wasn’t as if Andrew’s brother and sister-in-law would want to see them the entire time they were in London – they were visiting for a medical conference, after all, so they should have plenty of time to go over the material. If anything, the extra day or two they’d won from Lloyd would be spent by themselves to ‘recover’ from the visit.

Abram had the suspicion that they would need the days to recover, considering how Andrew was already on edge from the approaching visit, which was why he’d done everything he could to ensure that Aaron and Katelyn had an enjoyable (and busy) time once they arrived. He’d enlisted Ashley’s help on the matter, since he didn’t want the family too involved with Andrew’s brother ‘just in case’.

The Minyards were due to arrive the next day, and were staying at some hotel in central London where the conference was being held (along with a couple of ‘minders’ from the family), but had agreed to meet up with Andrew and Abram during their free time. Nicky and Erik would come to visit in a couple days for a mini-reunion, so there were dinners arranged and Abram had planned for an excursion or two for the couple to enjoy (by themselves).

Things between the brothers had improved since the wedding in South Carolina last year, had been tense phone calls at first before the two had moved on (somewhat) from the past, but Aaron and Andrew spending time together like this was a big step that Abram wasn’t certain that they were ready for just yet. Still, it was what it was, and in a few days Aaron would return to the States and soon after that Andrew would have an excuse to vent any disappointment by killing someone (more than likely).

“What idiocy are you contemplating now?” Andrew asked as he drove them home.

“Hmm, just that you’ll probably have to wait a week or so to commit therapeutic homicide, hon,” Abram confessed, and laughed when his husband heaved a weary sigh.

“Should have had the damn judge say ‘until insanity do you part’, could have gotten out of this marriage ages ago,” Andrew grumbled even as he held out his hand for Abram to entwine their fingers together.

“You like my mental instability,” Abram insisted as he smiled. “Keeps things interesting.”

Andrew did the sighing thing again but didn’t disagree.

Stuart and Davis were in the townhouse when they arrived, which drew a displeased frown from Andrew when he caught sight of Abram’s uncle standing in the kitchen with a purring King in his arms. Davis grinned while he held up his hands in a placating manner. “Just dropping off a few things and checking in on the kids.”

Abram patted his husband on the back before he went to hug his uncle, mindful of King who was handed over when they stepped apart. “You look tired, is everything all right?” Jamie had told him that Stuart was traveling a lot lately when they’d last talked; Abram had checked a few documents for the family to ensure that everything was on the up and up in the contracts.

“Too much drinking with Camillo last night,” Stuart complained. “Looking forward to being home for a bit.” He gave Abram an exhausted smile as he scratched King’s chin. “I know you’re busy the next few days, but if you’ve some time, call me and we’ll have some tea, yeah?”

Abram nodded in agreement. “That’s doable.” They should be able to meet up while Aaron and Katelyn were busy with the conference.

“Good. There’s some chocolates and jenever for you, and Ravi will show up with the cars when you need one, just call.” Stuart waved to Andrew as he left, and Davis bent over to give a meowing Sir a stroke along the back on the way out.

“Couldn’t he have brought some damn whisky?” Andrew complained as he headed straight to the boxes of chocolates out on the island while Abram shook his head and set King down on the floor.

“Your life’s so hard,” Abram remarked as he picked up the bottles of gin-like liquor and stored them away in the cabinet (he had a feeling he’d need them soon enough). “So, we eating in tonight or going out?”

“In, since we’ll be going out the next few nights,” Andrew said between bites of sweets.

That decided, Abram checked the fridge and cabinets before he settled on a spicy chicken and rice dish to make later, and worked on a few more documents for Jamie in-between calls with his cousin and Nicky while Andrew read a book. They went out to sit by the fish pond for a little while before he started on dinner, a mug of tea in his hands and a glass of whisky in Andrew’s, an enjoyable half an hour where Andrew made his usual threats over the poor fish and Abram slumped down enough to rest his head against his husband’s broad shoulder, content to sit there next to him and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Then he was given a shove to the knee and told to go cook something that wouldn’t poison the both of them.

Abram bit back a smile as he called his husband a prat for the umpteenth time, affection a warm tingle in his chest.

Andrew sat at the island and texted with Nicky while he made their dinner, and had a glass of wine waiting for him once it was done (and stole the damn naan once Abram sat down). It was nights like these which Abram treasured the most during all the years they’d been together, when they ‘bickered’ during dinner then curled up together in the living room (since it was late spring it wasn’t too warm yet for a fire) to watch a few episodes of a baking show they both enjoyed (easy to follow with their schedule) then head upstairs after a few hours.

They were tired, but not too tired. Looks were exchanged and clothes were shed before they sprawled out on opposite ends of the bed, where Abram spent a moment enjoying the sight of Andrew’s stocky yet muscular body (save for the slightest pouch of fat on his belly which he adored) before he gasped as his husband stroked his half-tumescent cock then leaned in to nuzzle it and-

He much enjoyed it when Andrew performed oral sex, but he also much enjoyed it when he could reduce Andrew to a shuddering mess with his mouth and hands, so it was the best of both worlds when they both blew each other. It didn’t take long until they both were shivering messes sprawled out on the bed, and then the bastard dragged him off to the shower to wash off before they tucked in beneath the blankets for a restful night’s sleep.

Mostly.

Andrew was up first, which was a rare occasion; Abram resisted the temptation to follow his husband out of the bed but decided to give him a bit of peace (half an hour) before he got up as well. He found Andrew working out and only put in a mile or two on the treadmill before he went to wash off then began work on a batch of chocolate chip and hazelnut hotcakes. It was right as he finished the last one that Andrew joined him, fresh from his own shower.

“I guess you won’t be fish bait just yet, babe,” the prat remarked as he rested his chin on Abram’s left shoulder and wrapped his right arm around Abram’s waist.

“If it wouldn’t be so traumatic to the cats and Nicky, I’d file for divorce,” Abram teased as he added the last hotcake to the huge stack next to the stove.

Andrew clicked his tongue before he snatched up the plate. “You’ve never had it so good and you know it.”

Yes, Abram did indeed ‘know it’, but there was no need to say it, was there? “Did you hit your head with a weight or what?” he asked instead, and rolled his eyes when Andrew made a rude gesture his way. “I’ve merely decided to wait for you to die from clogged arteries or diabetes instead, it’s much easier than dealing with solicitors and the such, hon.”

“What was that?” Andrew waited until he was seated at the island and his precious carbs set down to reach for his phone. “I’m making note of this so when we’re either divorced or you mysteriously disappear one day, there’s no problem with me taking custody of the cats and Bren – yet another cruel comment bordering on abuse.” He made a show of typing on his phone before he set it down then got up to fetch the whipped cream and syrup for his hotcakes. “How I suffer for this relationship.”

“Yeah, yeah, be sure to tell Nicky – oh, wait, I’ll do it for you.” Abram grinned when Andrew’s shoulders hunched upward at that remark. “I’m sure he’ll be ever so helpful with recommendations on how to save our marriage.”

Andrew gave him a long, level look for several seconds (which was impressive, considering the stack of hotcakes before him) before he spoke. “He’ll torment you just as much as me, you know.”

Ah, a flaw in an otherwise perfect plan. “Uhm… I’ll be off with Stuart?”

“You think the pest won’t rat you out to the family?”

Dammit, there was that – Stuart had actually calmed down on the whole ‘Andrew is bad’ front and all. “He’ll still be worse with you,” Abram argued as he set about making some scrambled eggs for himself.

“Right. Idiot.” Still, Andrew appeared smug as he finally cut into his stack of sugary carbs, so Abram felt pleased as he prepared his own breakfast. Once it was done, he sat down and rolled his eyes at how most of the hotcakes were already gone.

Andrew checked his phone while they ate and reported that Maddy had sent the intel for the Hungary mission, which they’d start parsing through later. Abram had just enough time to wash the dishes and go change before they left for the airport in the Aston Martin sedan which Navi had dropped off for them to use to pick up Aaron and Katelyn since neither of the sports cars in the garage would handle four people and luggage. Since Andrew didn’t trust anyone but the two of them or Bren (who made sure the cars didn’t sit idle too long) driving the sports cars, they didn’t want to have them out of the garage for the few days that Aaron and Katelyn were in town, so Ravi would drop off and pick up the sedans whenever Andrew needed one to drive his brother around town rather than let them sit in the driveway overnight.

Abram waited until they were past the worst of the traffic to speak up. “Aaron’s into general practice and Katelyn’s pediatrics?” He hadn’t paid much attention when Andrew spoke about his brother, other than to note that they were getting along (finally).

“Yes.” Andrew tapped his fingers against the steering wheel then sighed. “They both work at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Guess it balances out us a bit, right?” He glanced aside at Abram with a slight quirk to the corner of his mouth. “We kill people, they heal them.”

“We don’t kill everyone,” Abram argued. “There’s some missions where people live.” He smiled when Andrew snorted in dissent. “Whatever.”

“Whatever indeed.” Andrew’s eyes narrowed at the hatchback driving much too slow in front of them. “I’m about to kill someone right now.”

Someone was probably going to get multiple vehicle violations in the mail within the next few days, Abram suspected, but for once the threat wasn’t directed toward himself so he merely settled a little lower in the comfortable leather seat and used his phone to check the traffic ahead.

They reached Heathrow shortly after Aaron texted to say that he and Katelyn had cleared Customs and retrieved their luggage, and so drove to Arrivals to pick them up. For some reason the two had declared that they didn’t have to go into the airport to greet them, so Andrew drove the sedan to the general arrival area where the two should be waiting and found them by spotting Aaron’s familiar visage.

The couple appeared surprised by the Aston Martin as it pulled up to the curb and when both Andrew and Abram exited the vehicle, with Katelyn breaking into a grin while Aaron shook his head. “It’s so good to see you!” the young woman exclaimed as she made an abortive motion as if to give Andrew a hug then thought better of it. “Thank you so much for coming to pick us up.”

“Ah, yeah, you didn’t have to do that,” Aaron said in a much more subdued manner; he was dressed in worn jeans and a MUSC long-sleeved t-shirt, while Katelyn wore leggings and a brightly colored PSU sweatshirt. “We could have taken a cab or something.”

“But the hotel room won’t be ready for a few hours,” Abram said while Andrew grabbed the luggage to put into the car’s boot. “I thought that’s why-“

“Ignore him,” Katelyn insisted as she nudged her husband in the side. “He’s grumpy because of the long flight.” She gave Abram a grateful smile while Aaron huffed and went to help his brother with the luggage. “We appreciate everything you’re doing for us.”

“Uhm, it’s nothing, really.” Abram motioned toward the car and fumbled for the door handle so he could open it for her. “Let’s get going.”

“Okay.”

Katelyn smiled as he closed the door once she was inside, yet Aaron gave Abram a displeased look over the hood of the car before he slid inside. Abram frowned over the reaction then shrugged as he returned to his seat up front.

“This your car?” Aaron asked once they drove away from the airport. “Seems a bit too normal for you, a bit proper and all.”

Abram bit into his bottom lip to hold back a chuckle as Andrew revved the 560 horse power engine to easily bypass the traffic as they merged onto the highway. “It’s not bad for a loaner, but I much prefer the Vantage S Roadster or the Maclaren 720S. They’re not meant for four people,” Andrew stated in a bored tone, “unless you want to ride on the roof.” He gave a look at his brother through the rear-view mirror. “That an option?”

His brother was quiet for several seconds before he made a disgusted noise. “Like rubbing it in that you’ve got money now, don’t you?”

“Aaron,” Katelyn protested in a quiet, unhappy voice.

“I wasn’t the one to bring it up,” Andrew pointed out as his hands tightened around the steering wheel.

That seemed to deflate Aaron’s bad attitude as he slumped back in the seat and was quiet for the rest of the drive to the townhouse. After about ten minutes, Abram spoke out in Chinese. “Perhaps we can be assigned to Hungary a little early.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Andrew replied, but there was the slightest bit of humor in his deep voice and his grip relaxed.

It looked as if Aaron wanted to say something when they reached the townhouse, but Katelyn managed to step on his foot before she walked away from the car. “It’s lovely,” she said in a bright manner as they entered the building.

“Ah, thank you.” Abram was a little unnerved by how cheerful she was about everything, despite being used to Nicky’s exuberant nature; why was she with a dour person like Aaron? “Would you like something to drink? Tea or coffee?”

“Tea?” Aaron muttered as he glanced around. “Can he be any more British?” That seemed to be directed at Andrew.

Katelyn’s smile appeared a little strained at the comment, and then Sir came trotting along, probably attracted to the sound of their voices. “Aw, would look at… him?” she asked as she glanced at Abram, who nodded. “Aw, such a pretty boy,” she cooed as she bent down to pet Sir, who began to purr at the attention. “And coffee, if it’s not too much trouble. We’re trying to stay awake until tonight, we heard it’s best for jet-lag.”

Abram made a quick escape to the kitchen and left it to Andrew to show his family around the first floor of the townhouse. He heard Katelyn’s excited voice as the coffee brewed, and the three returned as he poured the hot beverage in four mugs; it didn’t come as a surprise when Andrew headed straight for the cabinet which contained the whisky.

“The place really is lovely,” Katelyn exclaimed as she leaned against the island as she looked around at everything. “I especially like the backyard. We keep talking about getting a townhouse one day, but we’re so busy with work right now that an apartment is easier to maintain.”

“It won’t be anything like this,” Aaron muttered, but he gave Andrew a slight, grateful smile when whisky was added to his mug. “We’re saving up enough money that we’ll get something nice for Charleston.”

“Just another year or two!” Katelyn gave a slight laugh as she leaned against her husband with an arm wrapped around his waist. “And by that point, we should be able to enjoy the new home! You know what they say about residents and long hours.”

Aaron grimaced at that. “I didn’t think anything could make me feel as tired as Day’s obnoxious practices when we reached the semi-finals, but a twenty-hour shift will do it.”

Abram perked up a little at the mention of Exy, at least until his husband gave him a ‘gentle’ kick in the right ankle. “So lots of long days, huh?” he asked as he got up to fetch a tin of biscuits to go along with the coffee, which he made sure to set close to Andrew. “I’m sure you have stories to tell, yes?”

He might not know how to deal with ‘normal’ people like Aaron and Katelyn after being raised by criminals and murderers, but he knew how to get people talking, especially after going to work for Lloyd. Especially after seeing the flashes of envy in Aaron’s eyes (an emotion so unfamiliar in Andrew’s) since picking the couple up from the airport.

It didn’t take much prodding for the two (especially Aaron) to reminisce about stories during their years as interns and residents, about the patients they’d treated while on the long training shifts and their fellow students. For a while it appeared that Aaron tried to disturb them by recounting the most gruesome stories that he could, but gave up when neither Abram nor Andrew were bothered (that and it seemed as if Katelyn did some kicking of her own).

If only Aaron had a clue what his brother had been up to the last few years, but all he’d been told was that Abram’s family was in ‘shipping and trading’ and that the two of them currently worked for the government.

Abram noticed that Andrew avoided looking at Katelyn directly when she talked, his gaze often cast at the mug held behind his hands, and figured that his husband still had some issues in regards to Aaron’s relationship. He also noticed that Aaron focused his attention on his brother rather than look at him, especially once it was clear that Abram wasn’t the ‘squeamish’ sort.

Andrew wasn’t the only one with his issues, it seemed.

Katelyn was in the middle of talking about some child who’d eaten too much raw pizza dough when her phone chimed. “Oh,” she said when she read the message. “We can check in now.”

Andrew stood up while Abram gathered the mugs. “It won’t take long to get to the hotel,” Andrew said as he walked away (probably for a cigarette before the drive into the city), and Aaron excused himself for a moment, which left Abram and Katelyn alone in the kitchen. He went to put the mugs in the dishwasher and was surprised when Katelyn came over with the tin of biscuits.

“Uhm, we really appreciate all of this,” she said in a quiet voice. “I know you don’t have to drive us around or have dinner with us and stuff, that it probably would have been enough for Andrew and Aaron to just meet up for coffee or something.” She gave Abram a wry smile when he held up one of the mugs. “He might not show it, but it means a lot to Aaron that Andrew’s willing to spend so much time with him after everything, and he’s… he’s trying, honest.”

Abram was beginning to see why Aaron had fought his brother so much (according to Nicky) for this woman, with her cheerful disposition, intelligence and obvious love for the man. “Well, he is a Minyard,” Abram said once the dishes were put away. “I know what to expect.”

She giggled a little and nodded. “Yes, and while they’re wonderful men, they’re stubborn as well. Very stubborn.”

“Ah….” Abram made a show of holding up his hands and shaking his head in a clear sign of not wanting to incriminate himself (at least, not when there was a chance of Andrew walking in at any moment).

Katelyn giggled some more and gave him a sympathetic look. “Right, not trying to get you in trouble, but I understand. I can’t always say that we’ve gotten along,” she rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner at that, “but I’m happy that Andrew found someone.”

“Thank you.” Figuring it was best to change the subject before his husband returned, Abram motioned to the young woman’s purse. “So, there’s a couple of dinners we arranged and a friend of ours lined up a tour we think you and Aaron might enjoy, but do you want or need to do any shopping while you’re in town? Anything to take back home?” There’d been times when some friends of Nicky’s had come for a visit and needed souvenirs and the such. “I’ve a good friend who works at Harrods who can be of assistance.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful!” Katelyn beamed at the offer and went on about a shopping list she’d been given by her coworkers and her mother, as well as a couple items she’d hoped to find before she left; both Andrew and Aaron rolled their eyes as she talked while Abram sent a text to Liliya to arrange an afternoon when the two could meet up – maybe even have Nicky join in since he’d probably enjoy the excursion and got along well with Liliya.

Tension seemed to leave Andrew’s shoulders once the couple was dropped off at their hotel, and it was a quiet ride back to the townhouse. Abram made them some spiked tea and tugged Andrew out to sit by the pond, content to be alone with his husband once again. “That wasn’t too bad, was it? Katelyn seems nice.”

For once, he didn’t think the frown directed at the pond had anything to do with Andrew’s ‘dislike’ with the fish. “She’s still annoying as ever,” Andrew proclaimed before drinking his tea.

“Really?” Abram sighed as he leaned against Andrew. “How long are you going to hold this grudge? I mean, it’s just been… what, almost ten years? Something like that?” Couldn’t he just accept the poor woman already?

“Forgiven Ally for Calais yet?” Andrew asked as he stole Abram’s tea, the bastard.

“Never mind,” Abram sighed as he slumped down on the bench. “It’s going to be a few awkward dinners, how wonderful. At least I’m not driving.” He had a feeling that there would be at least a bottle or two of wine consumed at dinner.

“I put up with your insane family all the time, you can put up with Aaron and the cheerleader tramp for a few nights,” Andrew told him in that ‘agree with me or else’ tone that always made Abram want to grit his teeth.

“I don’t mind the cheerleader ‘tramp’, I just have to put up with some weird, twisted copy of you.” Abram scoffed as he thought about Aaron. “Does he really think he’s getting anywhere with those feeble scowls and insults? After I’ve lived with you this long?”

There was a slight twitch to Andrew’s full lips before he finished Abram’s tea. “It is rather amusing to see him try, isn’t it?”

“Prat,” Abram said as he rested his head on Andrew’s shoulder. “Why do I bother with you?”

“Someone has to remind you to feed the damn fish, babe.”

“More like make sure you don’t try to fry them up one day, hon.” Abram hummed in happiness as his husband tugged on a lock of his hair then closed his eyes so he could enjoy Andrew’s presence and the sound of falling water. It was quiet for at least a few minutes before Andrew tugged on his hair again, harder that time. “Ow, what?”

“Come on, it looks like it’s going to rain and I’m not about to have you get soaked then pass out on me during a mission again.”

“One time,” Abram moaned as he stood up. “One fucking time. Are you ever going to let that go, either?” he asked, even though he suspected he knew the answer already.

“No,” Andrew said in a succinct manner as he gave him a slight push toward the townhouse. “Idiot.”

Abram wondered if he could get Katelyn alone during her visit and commiserate over living with a Minyard (former Minyard, in his case, he supposed) for a good hour or two, perhaps see if she had any advice which may come in handy (other than ‘render him unconscious for a bit of peace and quiet’).

*******

#nekojitachanfics #armies fic #andreil #aftg au #neil as abram #neil josten #andrew minyard #aaron minyard #aaron/katelyn #Anonymous

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gyakutengagotoku · 4 years

Text

GS4 vs AJ:AA - Episode 1, Part 1

Look, guys! I’m being productive again! Hooray, it feels exhausting just as I remember it did!

As done before, every post I make will contain differences between the source Japanese and localized English versions of the same game, as well as further details about them, up to the following “To be continued...” screens and eventually the ending credits. As always, there are so many ways the localization can dress up certain lines in the original script to make them into jokes or at least more colorful, so I’m not going to pick out every one. It would take us an eternity longer than my hiatuses to finish otherwise.

To think it took a freakin’ indie game that's like Mafia but with astronauts and tasks to bring me back to the Ace Attorney community and back to my blog’s roots. Is this what they mean by “Circle of Life”? All I know is that I’m constantly running around in circles, both metaphorically and literally.

> Court Lobby

<Kristoph> やれやれ。ずいぶんカタくなってるみたいだね。 You look tense, Justice. Wound up tight.

<Apollo> そ。そんなコトないです！カンゼンに大丈夫ですから、オレ！ W-Wound up, sir? No! I'm loose! I'm fine!

<Kristoph> 声がウラ返ってるよ‥‥ まあ。ムリもないかな。 That screeching noise... Is that your voice? I suppose it's to be expected...

初めての法廷が、殺人事件とは。まさしく“オドロキ”ってヤツだね。 Your first trial, and it's a homicide. I guess "Justice" doesn't start small, eh?

Enter Apollo's signature "I'm fine!" catchphrase, or as it's originally known, "Daijobu desu!"

In the third box, "ウラ返ってる" from 裏返る (uragaeru) in this context is translated fairly, though it specifically refers to a "crack in falsetto" kind of squeak or screech. (Yes, squeaky Apollo.) Now, it's interesting to note uragaeru in a different context can also mean "to double-cross". To be fair, it's also a common phrase, like being "betrayed" by your own cracking voice, but the foreshadowing power...

In the fourth box, yes, they changed the name puns to suit the localized name. Kirihito (Kristoph) is just saying what a "surprise" it is for his first trial to be a murder case.

<???> たしか、きみは‥‥ So, you're...

<Apollo> あ、ハイ！オレ、大丈夫ですッ！ Fine! I-I'm fine!

<???> ああ‥‥“大丈夫くん”か。 Ah... Mr. Fine, is it?

<Apollo> え。 Uh.

<???> 変わった名前だとは覚えていた。 I did remember you having an odd name.

<Apollo> （さっそく、ゴカイされちまった） (Well, we're off to a great start.)

I'm just putting this here to assure everyone that Nick does first call him "Daijobu-kun".

<???> そろそろ時間だ。‥‥行こうか。 It's time. Shall we?

<Apollo> は、はいッ！ Y-Yes, sir!

<Apollo> （‥‥そうさ。　今は、とにかく集中するんだ） (...OK. I need to focus.)

（オレの‥‥王泥喜　法介の、　初めての法廷に！） (First trial, here comes Justice!)

I want to comment on how catchy Apollo's other lesser-known catchphrase is. Poor Odoroki doesn't have anything as cool as this.

> Courtroom

<Kristoph> 弁護士は、依頼人の希望を最優先させなければなりません。 A defense attorney must always cede to his client's wishes.

この王泥喜くんは、依頼人のご指名なのですよ。 And my client specifically requested Mr. Justice.

<Judge> ふむう‥‥わかりませんな。 Well, of course he wants justice!

現在、最高の弁護士と言われる牙琉　霧人（がりゅうきりひと）。 But to entrust his case to this greenhorn... Why?

それをさしおいて、こんなワカモノがねえ‥‥ I do not exaggerate when I say that you're the best defense attorney in town, Mr. Gavin.

<Apollo> （だ、大丈夫。発声練習の量なら、　先生にも負けないさ！） (OK, so Gavin's got trial experience, fine. But does he have Chords of Steel!?)

I just love this line from Apollo. Perfect timing and delivery. Odoroki's line is good too, though comes off as a tad more innocent: "I-It's fine. When it comes to vocal training, even Sensei can't beat me!" Though I have to say the image of Kristoph screaming during voice training is too funny to pass up.

> Enter Defendant

<Judge> まことにザンネンです。 This is truly an unfortunate turn of events.

ひさしぶりの対面が、このようなカタチになるとは。 I'm sorry we had to meet again under these circumstances.

‥‥成歩堂　龍一（なるほどうりゅういち）くん。 Long time no see, Mr. Wright.

<Phoenix> 忘れてほしいですね、ムカシのことは。 Let's put the past behind us, shall we?

今のぼくは‥‥そう。しがないピアニスト、ですから。 These days, I'm merely Phoenix Wright, piano player.

I may have mentioned it before, but I'll make a note here that the Hobohodo meme has its own version in the JP fandom: "ピアニート" (piani-to or pia-NEET), which is portmanteau of pianist and NEET, the most famous of Japanese government welfare programs for the unemployed. It's also slang for "hobo".

<Payne> これが、被害者の命を奪った凶器。 ‥‥グレープジュースのボトルです。 This is the weapon that took the victim's life. A bottle of grape juice.

彼のお気に入りで、いつも飲んでいるようですな。 Grape juice is apparently our defendant's drink of choice.

Many of you already know, but just in case: The localizers never censored Nick's fave drink. It was the JP devs who had to work with such censors back home, but eventually they just kept it as a running gag to put non-alcoholic fruit juices in fancy wine bottles. It wasn't until SoJ when the devs could get away with featuring a bit of alcohol. Their previous game was slapped with a CERO-C (15+) due to graphic images, so Eshiro and co. were pleasantly surprised to see SoJ get the classic CERO-B (12+) again.

Not to mention, very expensive high-quality fancy fruit juices do exist in Japan and can cost way more than your usual middle-grade wines. Japan and their fancy fruit culture and all. (I forget exactly, but I recall there were plenty of group pictures of the devs on their blogs and Twitters over the years where someone had gotten them fancy bottles of fruit juice as Christmas gifts. The memes live on.)

> After 1st testimony, decline tutorial

<Apollo> 先生が出るにはおよびません！ここは、オレでじゅうぶんッ！ No need for help here, sir! I think I've got this one covered!

<Kristoph> ‥‥“手下”みたいなセリフだね。大丈夫ですか？ I think you'd better do more than think. You know it, or you do not.

<Apollo> （大丈夫！　　発声練習は積んできた！） (I'm fine! The Chords of Steel are ready for battle!)

The differences here are subtle enough that I hesitated on including this, but Kirihito straight-up calls out Odoroki: "Sensei, you won't need to step up here. I'm enough for this!" "...Sounds like something someone unreliable would say. Are you going to be fine?"

> Press 4th statement

<Judge> ふむう‥‥ Hmm...

ポーカーといえば、５枚のカードで “役”を作って勝負するゲーム。 As I recall, in poker you make five-card "hands".

たしかに、イカサマが起こりやすいのでしょう。 I can see how it would be easy to cheat.

<Phoenix> フッ‥‥ “役”を作るゲーム、ねえ‥‥ Heh... Yes. A game of "hands".

<Apollo> ‥‥？ ...?

Now that I find this dialogue again, it's even deeper than I'd ever thought. In both JP and EN, Phoenix's line works just as well as the other despite having different double entendres. In EN, he makes a pun between the poker hands and people's hands; while in JP, the term used is "yaku", which is normally used to refer to hands in a card/mahjong game, but in more general cases, it means "role" or "responsibility". Naturally, in this case, there are a lot of hands and roles being exchanged rather quickly.

This case is dang amazing and I regret forgetting so much of what made it spectacular.

> Press 5th statement

<Phoenix> 賭けていたのは、ただひとつ。おのれの“プライド”だけだよ。 The only thing at stake in our game... was pride itself.

<Judge> ほほう。なんだか、カッコイイですな！ Ho ho! Well put, Mr. Wright.

私も“ポーカー”でヒト勝負したくなってきました。 I've got a mind to play a hand of poker myself...

<Judge> あなたの“有罪”を賭けてッ！ The stakes: your fate!

<Apollo> （“ヒト勝負”感覚で　決められてたまるかッ！） (Um... Can we get back to the trial now?)

For once, I'm gonna go with Odoroki's line as the cooler one: "(As if we're going to decide this trial like a game of "life-or-death"!)"

> 1st witness, before testimony

<Olga> 逆居　雅香（さかいまさか） ‥‥と申します。 My name... is Olga Orly.

レストラン《ボルハチ》でウエイトレス‥‥していますの。 I am employed as waitress in Borscht Bowl Club restaurant.

<Judge> しかし‥‥なぜ、カメラを？ Then... why the camera?

<Olga> もちろん、《ボルハチ》ジマンのボルシチもお運びいたします。 Of course, it is my pride to serve borscht that is naming restaurant.

でも、ワタシ。他にも、いろいろサービスをいたしますのよ。 But I also perform -- how it is said? Other service.

Just making a note here on how well Olga's lines are written. They really make it obvious that she's "not a native speaker" (for now). While in EN, they just made her English a little broken, in JP, she speaks in a very stiff and formal Japanese, as she is a waitress, but also on the occasion can sound a little off to a native speaker without being broken, per se. She also has a distinct "watashi" among a few other common words that are written in katakana to show a sort of accent.

<Payne> さて、証人。事件当時は、どこに‥‥？ Now, witness. Where were you at the time of the murder?

<Olga> ワタシ、あの部屋にいたんです。 ‥‥《ナラズモの間》。 I was in room. The Hydeout, we call it.

<Apollo> “ならずものま”？ Excuse me? The Hydeout?

<Olga> 伝説のギャング“ナラズモ”がタイホされたというお部屋。 It is room where famous gangster "Badgai" was arrested.

‥‥事件があった小部屋ですの。 Is room where murder took place.

<Apollo> なんだってェェェ！ Whaaaaat!?

<Olga> ‥‥そのビックリしたカオ、ステキです。 Your look of utter surprise... It is lovely.

あとで法廷の前に張り出しておきますので‥‥ I will post by courtroom door later for you!

ほしい写真の番号を、みなさまお書きくださいね。 Dah, dah, photos will be numbered, and you will write which ones you want copy of.

Okay, everyone knows how bad/obvious/cringe the name puns can be in Khura'in or certain ones from AAI, but please, does anyone not remember "Badgai" here? (Tbf, I forgot too, so I'm not one to talk...)

Btw, his original name is "Narazumo", literally "ruffian", and it's completely in katakana, which makes me think it's a codename or alias. She also specifies that he was a "gangster", not yakuza as we'd assume. Japanese gangs are a bit closer to gangs that we know of in the West, especially that they're more known for foreign influence to their styles than the much more traditional yakuza.

Also, I'm disappointed there was no Odoroki pun here. Sure, she doesn't know him, so it wouldn't make sense, but still a missed opportunity. Also also, she actually talks to the rest of the court when she says "you", so she's selling photos of Apollo's freakout to everyone. Classy...

> 1st Witness Testimony, press 3rd statement

<Apollo> “ロケット”‥‥？ His "locket"...?

<Olga> あのお客さまにとっては大切な“お守り”のようでした。 I believe it was good-luck charm, dah?

何度か握りしめながら、勝負をされていましたから。 He gripped it many times as he played that night.

<Judge> なるほど‥‥大空へ飛び立つチカラがみなぎるのでしょう。 Yes, he must have felt as though it might carry him to the moon and the stars!

なにしろ《ロケット》ですからな。 Though if it were small enough to fit around his neck, it wouldn't have much lift...

<Apollo> ‥‥あの。ちなみに “ロケット”というのは‥‥ Um... The defense would like a clarification: this is a locket we're talking about?

写真を入れたペンダントのコト、なんですけどね。 I mean, a pendant with a picture in it, right? Not a "rocket"?

<Judge> 知ってます！ Of course! I knew that!

ロケットのカタチをしたアレでしょう。 It was probably a pendant shaped like a rocket. That's why she called it that.

<Apollo> ちがいますよ！カタチはカンケイないんです No, a locket's a locket! It doesn't matter what shape it is!

<Kristoph> ‥‥深追いしてはいけない。それが、社会のルールです。 It's considered bad form to poke fun at the hard-of- hearing in our society.

<Apollo> （モヤモヤするなあ） (Hard of hearing, or hard of understanding?)

This entire conversation is just a joke on how "locket" and "rocket" are written the same way in Japanese, and I'm surprised how well it still works in English.

To clarify, Kirihito's line at the end is a bit different: "...Refraining from pursuing a line too far is a well-known rule in our society." "(Doesn't make me feel any better.)"

> After 1st Present, just before new statement added

<Apollo> （ヤレヤレ‥‥ 　慎重すぎるんだよな、先生は） (There's such a thing as thinking too much...)

（イシバシを叩いて　コワすタイプ？） (This horse is dead, let's stop beating it!)

<Kristoph> 聞こえてますよ、オドロキくん。 There's such a thing as thinking aloud too much, too.

It's conversations like this that make me wonder if characters can actually hear what the MC is saying/whispering or if they're breaking the 4th wall to hear their thoughts. Here, it's even more ambiguous in JP than the usual between Nick and Maya in prior games. Or are they suggesting that even when Apollo is thinking, he's still loud?

> After 2nd Witness Testimony, before cross-exam

<Judge> なるほど‥‥ Ah, how many times have I heard these words:

『むしゃくしゃしてやった。　今は後悔している』‥‥ "I done it in a fit of anger, Yer Honor, and now I regret what I done".

‥‥の、パターンですな。 ...A common tale, but true.

<Apollo> （成歩堂さんは、ハッキリ言った。　『７年間、負けたことがない』） (Methinks the judge watches too many old court movies.)

（‥‥この証言には、ゼッタイ　“何か”あるはずだ！） (Mr. Wright said he hasn't lost in seven years, so this testimony must be wrong!)

I don't usually include entries for examples where the localizers dress up the text from the original, but this one here really bugs me. I'm not sure if it's a reference to some classic film or just a tip of the hat to classic American court drama movies in general.

If someone could help me pinpoint this one, please do.

> Press 2nd statement, press further

<Apollo> チップについて、くわしく話していただけますか？ Maybe you could explain a bit about these "chips"?

<Olga> そ。そう言われましても‥‥ E-Explain? What is there to be explained?

<Objection!>

<Payne> チップはチップです。 Poker chips are poker chips.

いつまで待っても‥‥ キップにはなりませんぞ！ They're not fish and chips, not a chip off the old block, not a motorcycle cop, not a...

Okay, the "motorcycle cop" bit got me. I swear this was a popculture reference (was it a song? It sounds so familiar), but I don't remember exactly where it was from! Someone plz help.

As for the original script, Auchi makes a silly pun. "[Poker] chips are [poker] chips. No matter how long you wait... they won't become tickets!" (chips = chippu, ticket = kippu)

<Apollo> ‥‥はあ。 ...Thanks.

（セッカクだ。　なにか聞かないとソンだな） (Now that I've pressed her I'd better ask something...)

たとえば‥‥そのチップ。 “円”ですか？　“ドル”ですか？ What are these chips worth? Are they in dollars? Or rubles, even?

<Olga> ‥‥あの。先ほども申しましたけれど‥‥ ...Nyet. As I have been saying before, it was game, not gambling.

ギャンブルではございませんでしたから‥‥ Hard perhaps for capitalist to understand.

<Olga> “１０００点”と “１００点”の２種類。 Two types of chip: 100 points chip and 1,000 points chip.

おカネではございませんの。 It is not money, dah.

<Kristoph> ‥‥オドロキくん。 ...Justice.

<Apollo> はいッ！ Sir!

<Kristoph> 今の証言‥‥ ちょっと、おもしろいですね。 Don't you find her comment... interesting?

<Apollo> え‥‥ In more ways than one, sir.

<Kristoph> 私ならば‥‥そう。証言に加えていただくところですが。 I'd have it added to her testimony, myself.

As funny as that capitalist line is, it's not found in the source, sorry, guys. Her text in Japanese is very formal, so it takes an extra box just to complete her sentence.

Also, worth to note that Odoroki here mentions yen and dollars, but not rubles, despite the restaurant being Russian-themed. Whether it's writer oversight or just Odoroki being uncultured will remain a mystery.

Lastly, Apollo's last line here makes him seem quite confident, but in the original, he seems just as confused as ever. This is made clearer when Apollo later presses the new statement.

> Press new statement

<Apollo> あの。小さい方が１００点、大きい方が１０００点‥‥ Um. The small ones are 100, and the big ones 1,000...

で、いいんですよね。やっぱり。 Uh? Right? Right. Of course.

<Payne> フン！　聞くまでもないでしょう。 Hah! Don't waste our time!

<Apollo> はあ‥‥ *sigh*

‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥‥ ...

<Judge> 終わりですか？　それで。 Is that all?

<Apollo> ええ、まあ。 Um... Yeah. *gulp*

（くそ。牙琉先生のせいで　ハジをかいちまったぞ‥‥） (Great. Mr. Gavin made me stop her, and now I'm the one who looks dumb.)

<Kristoph> オドロキくん。 Oh, Justice?

<Kristoph> 私にハジをかかせないでもらえますか？ Please try not to embarrass me like that.

<Apollo> え！　オレがですか！ Huh? Who? Me!?

The subtleties of this joke conversation were lost in translation. After Apollo wastes time with that question, he grumbles to himself: "(Damn. Thanks to Garyu-sensei, I've made a fool of myself.)" "Odoroki-kun. Would you please not pin this embarassment on me?" "Huh! Me!?"

> After Present, select "Number of chips"

<Apollo> おかしいのは、チップの枚数‥‥ ですよね、先生？ The odd thing here is the number of chips... Right, Mr. Gavin?

<Kristoph> ‥‥なぜ、私に？ ...Why are you asking me?

<Apollo> その。念のため、というか！ Uh... Just in case?

<Kristoph> ‥‥オドロキくん。もう少し、キチンと考えましょう。 Justice... It's your case I'm concerned about.

チップなら、写真を見ればすべて、写っています。 If you're wondering about the chips, just look at the photograph. It's all there.

老眼の裁判長さんでもカンタンに数えられますよ。 Even our judge with his failing eyesight could count them.

<Apollo> （‥‥あの裁判長なら、それでも　まちがえるような気がする‥‥） (That's not the only thing failing the judge.)

Damn, what a burn. Odoroki in the OG script simply went: "(...Knowing this judge, he could get even that wrong...)" which is a fair effort, but not a wildfire level of damage.

> 3rd Witness Testimony, press 4th

<Apollo> 口論の内容は、おぼえてますか？ Do you recall what the men were arguing about?

<Olga> そうですね。たしか‥‥ Dah, I believe so...

被害者サマが『イカサマだッ！』と叫びましたの。それに対して‥‥ The victim, he shouts, "you are cheater!" and then...

“異議がある”というようなコトを被告人さまが‥‥ ...the defendant shouts something like, "I have objection!"

<Payne> ‥‥出ましたな。おトクイの《異議あり！》が。 Shouting objection, eh? Old habits are hard to break!

まったく‥‥ハッタリづくしの人生ですからな。被告人は。 First he bluffed his way through the courtroom, now he bluffs his way through life!

<Objection!>

<Apollo> しかし！　勝負の結果は、成歩堂さんが“負けている”！ However! Mr. Wright lost the hand!

むしろ、アヤシイのは、勝った被害者・浦伏さんでしょう！ That seems to cast the shadow of doubt on Mr. Smith!

<Olga> “イカサマをやった上、　勝負にも負けた”‥‥ Humiliation from losing even when cheating...

そのクツジョクが、被告人の方のココロに、火をつけたのですの。 That is what set fire to defendant's heart!

<Judge> ‥‥そして、火のついた被告人は、どうしたのですかな？ So what did the flaming defendant do next?

Oh my God, as soon as I saw that "異議がある" (igi ga aru) my mind flashed back to those ridiculous Google Translated trailers of Gyakuten Saiban & Kenji on Nico Douga. Imagine if the devs at the time decided to play with Google Translate to see how "異議あり！" would look after switching it from Japanese to English and back. It would be one of the biggest brain plays by a game developer ever... which probably means it wasn't how it went, but it's fun to think about.

Anyway, I also like this snippet of dialogue for the judge's "flaming defendant", clearly alluding to "Phoenix" Wright. In JP, the bit about setting fire to his heart is just a common idiom in the first place, but who knows? “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney” had been selling fast in the West, so they could have been inspired.

> After Present, point out on the cards, examine victim's hand

<Apollo> 裁判長！　見てください！被害者のカードには、１枚‥‥ Your Honor! Look at this! One of the victim's cards...

ウラの色がちがうカードがまぎれこんでいますッ！ The back is a different color!

<Payne> え‥‥ええええッ！ Eh...? Ehhhhhh!?

<Olga> そ。そんなバカなッ！ Th-That's impossible!

アタシがシカケたのは、成歩堂のほうなのに‥‥ But I put that card in Wright's hand...

あッ！ Ack!

<Kristoph> ‥‥今、なんと言いましたか、証人。 ...What was that, Ms. Orly?

<Olga> い‥‥いえ‥‥その。アタシ‥‥わ、私は、ええと‥‥ No... Ny-Nyet! Er, I merely said, eh... Dah, I have, eek!

It's at this point when Olga's cover is blown, and in JP, it's more obvious because she stammers between using "atashi" vs "watashi". It's not very common to hear beginner Japanese students refer to themselves as the cutesy "atashi", though one who's a bit more well versed in the language or in anime may pick up on it.

> After Phoenix takes over the court, select when the cards were swapped, select "Olga Orly" who swapped them

<Phoenix> たしかに、あのゲームでは赤・青の２種類のカードを使っていた。 Mixing a card from the wrong deck... when the backs are different colors?

しかし‥‥逆居　雅香は、カードを配っていた張本人。 Remember that you're talking about Olga Orly... She was the dealer.

‥‥そんなミスをすると思うかい？ Do you really think she would make such a novice mistake?

<Apollo> （まあ‥‥オレでも　まちがわないだろうな） (Actually, I have trouble imagining even the judge making that mistake.)

This is another case of the localizers dressing it up. Odoroki says here: "(Well... even I wouldn't make such a mistake.)" as if implying that he's the lowest common denominator here, haha!

> Back to Court Lobby

<Phoenix> 人間の思考・感情というものは ‥‥かならず。 Try as they might to conceal it, everyone reveals their true thoughts in the end.

身体から“情報”として発信されている。 Their body language can become a valuable source of information.

<Apollo> そ。そんなバカな‥‥ You're kidding!

<Phoenix> たとえば。あの証人‥‥ 逆居　雅香を思い出してごらん。 That witness, for instance, Ms. Orly.

<Phoenix> 彼女は、ある証言をするとき‥‥ かならず“首筋をさする”。 She would touch the back of her neck during certain parts of her testimony.

‥‥気がついていたかい？ Did you notice?

<Apollo> い。いえ‥‥ （それどころじゃないよ、フツー） Uh... No. (C'mon, who'd notice that!?)

<Phoenix> “クセ”“コトバ”‥‥ それらが発する情報を読み解くこと。 Words, habits, twitches... It's all information for the reading.

それが、勝負に勝つ “鉄則”だよ、オドロキくん。 That's the secret to winning, Apollo.

まあ‥‥ぼくも“ある人物”に教わったんだけどね。 Someone taught me, and now, I pass the secret on to you.

It's this quiet moment between the two of them that really parallels with how Mia used to talk with Phoenix, and it's beautifully poetic. And I'd like to note that even Phoenix's speech pattern throughout this convo is quite reminiscent of how Mia talked, but with a bit of Phoenix's own style. Though in that last line, he could possibly have meant Mia, but more likely meant a certain someone with a similar power to Apollo. Ya'll know who I mean, (W)right?

<Phoenix> ああ。それから、もうひとつ。今回の事件だけどね。 Ah, almost forgot. One more thing. About this case...

ぼくはまだ、誰にも “本当のコト”を話してないんだよ。 You should know, I haven't told the truth to anyone yet.

<Apollo> えええええッ！（や、やっぱり‥‥） Whaaaaaaaa--!? (I knew it!)

<Phoenix> もちろん、“理由”がある。これからアキラカになるだろう。 I have my reasons, of course. All shall be revealed.

そして、ぼくの作戦には‥‥ きみが必要なんだよ。 And Apollo... I need you to be there, defending me.

きみの“能力”が、ね。 I need your power.

<Apollo> オレの、のうりょく‥‥ （声のデカさ、か‥‥？） My, um, power? (I had no idea my Chords of Steel were that special...)

The translation here is close enough, really, but Odoroki specifically describes it as the "intensity" of his voice and it's only the best answer.

Welp, I guess it’s back to the drafting board again and I may make this out as a daily or every-other-daily upload. We’ll see. I assure you, you won’t be waiting until next month, though!

#gsvsaa #gs4 #ajaa #turnabout trump #part 1

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jess-rewatches-prodigalson · 4 years

Text

Episode 11: Alone Time

Prodigal Son. Come for the plot line. Stay for the whump. Let’s dive into this episode.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

0:06 - Look at poor baby Malcolm’s black eye. :( Do you think the bullies are why he got into martial arts - because he wanted to defend himself?

0:59 - Malcolm is chained to the ground. At this point he can’t escape. Can someone please explain to me why Watkins decided to take Malcolm’s shoes and socks? I mean - no shoes makes it harder to run away but he’s chained to the ground so why bother?!? Furthermore, where is Malcolm’s tie and suit jacket? Why take those? ...he also took Malcolm’s watch but at least that one makes sense.

1:10 - This is Not Good. Malcolm looks scared and a little confused. Does he have a concussion?

1:45 - This is Gil terrified and determined to find his missing kid. My heart is breaking just looking at him.

1:50 - Why was this speech necessary 12 hours after the kidnapping and murder? Why to the whole precinct? Why does Colette get to make it instead of Gil? The precinct respects Gil. They don’t respect Colette.

2:03 - JT looks sad and scared. I don’t think we’ve ever seen him look this upset. Malcolm’s wormed his way into JT’s heart. It’s sweet.

2:08 - Dani looks concerned and scared too - but that’s not a surprise given the amount of screen time that’s been given to Dani and Malcolm’s brewing friendship.

2:10 - Gil looks pissed when he’s staring at the floor. I don’t blame him Colette is suggesting that his kid might already be dead. He’s probably blaming himself. Is he side-eying Colette - for making an insensitive speech 12 hours late? Or Dani and JT because he wants them to ignore Colette and go and find Bright?

2:24 - JT isn’t acting out of line here. I’ve watched enough Criminal Minds to know that sometimes locals PD officers/detectives get upset and take things personally when the FBI get involved. BUT Colette is acting like a real piece of work. She’s disrespecting JT on purpose. She clearly hates men. What is her deal?

2:31 - Dani is great here. She totally diffuses the fight that was about to break out at JT (rightfully) lost his mind on this woman. It makes me wonder if Dani was bullied as a kid. Colette is acting like a high school queen B. Dani doesn’t seem like the type to be a queen B so I wonder if she was tormented by one as a kid?

3:00 - Honestly, I’m pissed about this. Yes - Jessica shouldn’t have had that press conference. BUT it’s downright criminal to avoid telling a mother that her child was kidnaped. Just more proof that Colette is a controlling, b**ch. Gil looks like he’s using all of his self-control not to lose it on Colette - which is a shame because I would pay good money to watch that outburst.

3:15 - Colette clearly thinks that Gil and Jessica are in a relationship since she caught them standing so closely in Gil’s office. It’s kind of funny but also such an inappropriate thing for her to focus on right now.

4:10 - So Gil does have a history of church attendance. The past tense there makes me assume that he stopped going when he became and adult and moved out of his parent’s house.

4:15 - This is the closest to a Gil outburst we’ve gotten so far. I’m obsessed with it. Look at his face. He’s furious. He’s scared. ALSO - please tell me that Matilda gets jail time for being an accomplice.

5:40 - When Jessica is on the phone she really reminds me of Ainsley. They both have this certain inflection in their voices when their determined and having a conversation with someone.

5:46 - Oh no. Gil does not want to do this. He does not want to tell Jessica that he didn’t protect Malcolm well enough. Look at how wrecked he is. He looks close to tears.

6:24 - “It’s about Malcolm.” Jessica’s face. She immediately goes from playful and determined to serious and terrified. This woman adores her son.

6:38 - I love this whole conversation between Gil and Jessica. I love that Gil calls her Jess. It suggests that at one point in time they were good friends. Believe me - my name is Jessica. If you introduce yourself as Jessica to everyone only your close friends/family (and douchebags trying to get in your pants after knowing you for 2 minutes) will start casually start calling you Jess. Furthermore, they both look scared. I love that Gil tries to reassure Jessica that it’s not her fault - partially because he knows it isn’t - but partially because he believes it’s his fault for not keeping a better eye on Malcolm.

6:55 - It’s interesting to me that the writers keep suggesting that there’s the potential for a romantic relationship between Gil and Jessica but then they also show Gil wearing his wedding ring. I find this interesting because Gil is a dude with a iron-clad moral standard. He would never cheat on his wife. The fact that he’s still wearing that ring suggests that he would never do anything with Jessica because he still considers himself married to his deceased wife.

7:04 - I love how determined Gil is to find Malcolm. How desperate Jessica is to help.

7:24 - Oh hell yes. This is such a great exchange. Gil is going to visit Martin Whitly and Jessica pretty much gives Gil permission to murder him. Gil and Jessica are both so desperate to find Malcolm and it’s precious.

8:08 - I do not like the way Malcolm is smiling here. He looks drugged and delirious. I’m really worried about that head wound and the fact that he’s probably missed doses of his mood stabilizers. *sigh* I want to hug him.

9:18 - Ok. This is great. Watkins wants Malcolm to become his murder partner. He just thinks that Malcolm needs to “go through the trials”. Hasn’t Malcolm already “gone through the trials”? I mean, his dad is in prison, he’s been bullied his whole life, he has a nasty list of diagnoses that plague him, and he has so much trauma. We shouldn’t compare trauma but Malcolm’s probably had more severe trauma than John’s “my mommy left me with abusive grandparents who locked me in a wardrobe”. What happened to John was criminal but also he’s killing people.

9:31 - I love that Malcolm openly states that he’s not a killer. How many times do you think he’s had to say that to people throughout his life? People who judge him when they find out who his father is. How many times do you think he’s said it to himself in the middle of a panic attack? Makes me wonder at what age he changed his last name.

10:02 - Aww Dani. Girl, you’re breaking my heart. You look so worried about Malcolm. ALSO love the determined teamwork we’re getting from Dani and JT here. So sweet.

11:00 - When do you think Martin last saw Gil? Murder trial? When Malcolm was a teenager? More recently? I’m really curious.

11:20 - Look at the pure hatred in Gil’s face. Man. Gil is an absolute A+ guy but I genuinely believe he’s capable of murdering Martin Whitly without guilt.

11:30 - Can we all just take a moment to appreciate how incredible Michael Sheen is in this scene? He’s always good but this scene is just....wow. *chef’s kiss* Martin’s eyes. Martin’s panic attack. The way Martin squints due to light sensitivity. The hysterical laugh. Ugh. So. Good.

12:18 - Gil’s face when Martin is laughing hysterically. The look he’s giving Martin is fantastic. It’s a look of anger and disgust. Watch as Gil crosses his arms and avoids eye contact with Martin a few seconds later. It’s as though Gil is physically restraining himself from crossing that red line and using physical force to get the answers that he needs from Martin.

13:16 - Anyone else hate it when Martin calls Malcolm “my boy”? It really drives home the fact that Martin is a psychopath for me. A normal man who refer to Malcolm as “my son”. The fact that Martin refers to Malcolm as “my boy” implies that he views Malcolm as an object that he possesses. It makes me feel sick.

13:30 - Amazing. Check out this look that Martin and Gil share. For a split second Martin has Gil convinced that he cares about Malcolm. Martin’s eyes are conveying fear for Malcolm. So are Gil’s. I’m sure Gil wasn’t intending on telling Martin that Malcolm is missing but Gil’s desperate. His emotional walls are crumbling and Martin has succeeded at manipulating him into telling him about Malcolm.

13:50 - Martin’s panic attack is really interesting to me. First of all I’m an engineering student - not a doctor or a psychologist, BUT I’ve always thought that psychopaths can’t feel empathy or anxiety. Therefore, I thought psychopaths were literally incapable of having a panic attack (a quick google search suggests that my assumptions might be wrong). Secondly, why is Martin having a panic attack? Is it truly because he’s worried about his son? I don’t think so. I think it’s because he’s afraid of what Malcolm might find out from Watkins. I think he’s afraid that the NYPD and Malcolm might discover that Martin has done more crime than has been previously thought.

14:03 - Martin you are lucky Gil needs you conscious. If he didn’t he would’ve probably let you suffocate to death simply for traumatizing Malcolm.

15:05 - Look at the way Malcolm physically recoils when Watkins starts screaming. Huh. I never noticed that before.

15:27 - Malcolm is too good for this world. Seriously, the guy is chained up, bloody, and in pain yet he’s empathizing with his captor. It’s not even Stockholm, Malcolm does this to every serial killer. It’s almost as if he’s trying to help them because he wishes someone would’ve helped his Dad. Or that he wishes that he could help Martin - but he can’t so he uses other serial killers as a substitute for Martin. Kind of concerning behaviour actually.

16:30 - This whole stabbing scene is perfect. Malcolm looks terrified and confused when he finds out about Watkin’s old stab wound. Then Watkins stabs him and Malcolm descends into silent, painful, shock. My whump heart is beating so fast. I have so many feelings.

19:06 - Anyone else find the way that Gabrielle says “You need to stay alive kiddo.” is super creepy?!? Just me? Ok.

19:55 - You know, it’s really impressive that Malcolm is so self-aware when he’s hallucinating and/or having a nightmare.

20:11 - This is heartbreaking. Malcolm looks so lost and scared. He doesn’t care about his life anymore - just answers.

21:21 - I’m so offended that Colette is chilling at Gil’s desk like it belongs to her. This woman is on thin ice with me.

21:30 - Look how desperate/scared JT and Dani are. These. Are. The. Friends. That. Malcolm. Deserves.

22:00 - Of course. Colette isn’t coming because she’s concerned about Bright. She’s coming because 1) she doesn’t trust Dani and JT and 2) she wants credit for the arrest of John Watkins.

22:46 - “It’s over.” Is Martin referring to his son’s life or the very comfortable prison life that he’s established for himself. I genuinely think that Martin is afraid of what the NYPD will find out when they find Malcolm’s body (because Martin assumes Malcolm is dead).

22:48 - Martin and Gil fighting over being Malcolm’s Dad is everything. My heart is so full. Gil is getting soooo pissed. I’m in love. This scene might just be my absolute favourite of the whole season thus far (April 16,2020).

25:35 - More suggestions that something is going on romantically between Jessica and Gil. Check out the look in Gil’s eyes there. He’s upset. Is it because he likes Jessica and he thinks he’s not worthy of her. OR is it because Martin is wasting time and he thinks that Malcolm is dying?

25:50 - Malcolm doesn’t look surprised here. He looks confused and a little scared. Huh. Did he previously suspect that Martin had been planning on killing him?

26:40 - You know, everyone reacts to trauma and bad news differently. However, Ainsley doesn’t seem nearly upset enough about the fact that her only brother has been kidnaped by a serial killer. Even when she’s trying to comfort Jessica - she looks concerned for her mom. Not for her brother.

28:34 - Malcolm looks angry here. He’s desperately trying to convince himself that Martin loves him. That Martin would never try to kill him.

29:10 - This is the most broken I have ever seen Malcolm’s eyes. Holy crap. His lip is twitching. It’s like his brain just completely dissociated. He’s terrified and he thinks his family is in danger.

29:42 - Now Ainsley looks scared. Is it because she thinks a serial killer (other than her dad) gave her gifts as a child? Or is it a delayed reaction to Malcolm’s kidnapping. Kind of like a 5 stages of grief but for a kidnapping? She hit the disbelief and anger stages before the fear stage?

30:50 - Why does Colette feel the need to restate that she’s the primary on this case? It seems redundant and demeaning to JT and Dani. Ugh I hate this woman.

30:59 - I love that Malcolm suddenly snaps out of his dissociative state the second that Watkins tells Malcolm that he is going to kill Jessica and Ainsley. He becomes desperate and even more terrified than before. Look how fast he’s moving despite his injuries. That’s love.

31:50 - “Damn it Bright. You’re skinny ass better still be alive.” Gold. Just pure gold. JT loves Malcolm like a brother and he is so annoyed that he cares about Bright. This line is everything.

32:00 - Malcolm looks so close to tears here. He’s completely terrified. My heart is shattering. BUT my whump heart is also really happy. Because I’m a monster.

33:06 - I love how angry Dani gets on the phone with Gil. It suggests that Gil took a nasty tone of disbelief with her when she told him they didn’t find Malcolm.

33:30 - Malcolm tries to run after John despite being chained up. My heart is so full. This boy adores his mother and sister.

34:05 - They’re putting Martin back into solitary. Huh. Why didn’t they just have Gil question him in solitary? It was an emergency. Why go to the trouble of moving Martin through the hospital?

34:20 - Gil is definitely not supposed to be that close to Martin. That’s how scared Gil is - he just physically held a serial killer in a sort of comforting way to try and save Malcolm. This man deserves an award for Dad of the Year.

34:55 - So did Jessica not know about the tunnels under the house? I feel like that’s something she would’ve told the police about when Martin was arrested. Or at least something the police would’ve found when Martin was arrested. WHY DID NO ONE THINK TO CHECK THERE WHEN MALCOLM WENT MISSING?!?

35:05 - Jessica Whitly is my queen. Running for her life. Terrified to death. She still has time to make sarcastic, sassy remarks to her daughter. I stan this woman.

36:00 - Look at Malcolm. He’s completely lost the will to live. He’s given up. Until the hallucination of Martin makes him angry enough to keep living.

39:00 - “I have never counted on a man to save us and I don’t need to now.” Again. Jessica Whitly is a perfect woman.

39:20 - Watching Malcolm break his own hand is utterly heart wrenching. What a total badass. He is bleeding out from a stab wound. He probably has a concussion. He is terrified, off his meds, and in extraordinary pain. Yet, he breaks his own hand in a desperate attempt to save his family. That is love. Also...how did no one hear Malcolm screaming in pain when he broke his hand? How did no one hear Watkins screaming at Malcolm earlier?

40:04 - Jessica going at Watkins with a pair of scissors is both hilarious and just vicious. I love it. She is clearly terrified but if she’s going to die she is intending to die fighting. This woman is a treasure.

40:46 - Jessica regains a sense of power when she hears Malcolm’s voice. Her eyes look less scared and more angry.

41:20 - For continuity reasons I’m going to assume that Watkins is hallucinating that trunk and Malcolm just knocked him out onto the carpet. Also protective!Malcolm is very attractive.

42:32 - This ending scene is awesome. That family hug. The fear in Jessica’s eyes when she asks Malcolm if Watkins is dead. The relief in her eyes when she sees Malcolm. The pain in Malcolm’s eyes.

This episode is so so so good. Thanks for hanging out.

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psychosistr · 5 years

Text

Los Caballeros Malvados- Episode 2: Can’t Buy My Love

Summary: Donald and the other future-caballeros con Sheldgoose out of his home and belongings then go shopping for some new outfits. When they get home, however, they find something...strange beneath their new home.

Notes: Decided to change the episode title a bit more drastically this time because I couldn’t see them finding a way to go to the labyrinth without Xandra. So, instead, we get some light-hearted bonding via shopping and putting together the outfits they’ll be wearing later on. Also, sorry this one took a bit longer to write, but it was over forty pages by the time I was done XP

-First Chapter-

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

“Pardon me, my good man.” José said while walking up to the anxiously waiting goose still standing perfectly still on their lawn. “But, I believe we have found the book you described.”

“Finally!” The goose said, exhaling a sigh of relief as he allowed his tense body to relax. “I’ve been standing out here for over an hour! Where is it?” He looked at the smaller bird expectantly, even leaning side-to-side so he could see if the book was hidden behind the parrot somehow.

“My apologies, senhor, but before we hand it over, we have some matters to discuss.” He saw the goose visibly stiffen and chuckled with a shake of his head. “Do not worry, it is nothing of that persuasion…this time..” He said the last part quietly, but with an air of danger and warning that did not go unnoticed by the larger bird. Smirking momentarily at the shudder that went down the goose’s spine, José turned his head towards the cabana and snapped his fingers. “Amigos.”

On cue, Donald and Panchito walked out of the small building, each of them using one hand to carry the ornate book.

“Is this the one you were talking about?” Donald asked when they reached the other two men.

The goose’s eyes sparkled as he took in the gleaming gold and glittering jewels of the book’s finish. “Yes! That’s it!” He said excitedly before catching and composing himself again. “Ahem, I mean..yes, that appears to be it. Now then,” He pulled out his check book and pen. “I believe we agreed on the price of one million dollars- for the book, the cabana, and its contents?”

José held up one hand to stop the excited goose from writing on the blank check. “Um momento, senhor.” Once he was certain he had the goose’s attention, José looked back at the book. “We would like to re-negotiate the terms of our agreement.”

The goose looked stunned. “You want MORE money?!” He asked in disbelief.

“No, no, no, not at all.” José assured the man before his shock could turn into outrage. “The price you set is quite fair, seeing as most of these collectibles are not exactly in mint condition. However, I am afraid we have all had some rather unfortunate incidents regarding checks and are more than a bit..wary of accepting such a large sum on paper when it would leave us with nowhere to go and nothing else to sell to make ends meet. You understand, sim?”

The goose gasped, looking as if they’d just insulted his entire family line. “You dare to accuse ME, Baron von Sheldgoose, the PRESIDENT of the New Quackmore Institute, of writing a faulty check?! Why, I could go to the bank at this very moment and withdraw the cash, if that’s what you’d prefer! The very idea that I-!!”

José held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Calm yourself, my friend- we mean no insult to you. As I said, we are merely being cautious after a few bad experiences.”

“Yeah.” Donald joined in on the conversation. “I trusted my boss, but he bounced my paycheck at least three times!”

“That’s better than me!” Panchito added. “I’ve never gotten a check that turned out to be real!”

“Very well then.” The goose conceded, but still did not look happy about his honor and finances being insulted in such a way. “What would you like in exchange for the book?”

“We would like to barter- half of the payment in money, the other half in material goods and estate. Certainly a man of your affluence and intellect could appreciate such a deal, sim?” José said with that charming smile of his that seemed to make anyone he turned it on weak in the knees.

It seemed the goose was not immune to José’s charms either, because he tugged slightly on his collar with a very mild flush to his cheeks. “I-I suppose we could..work something out, then. What, ahem, What did you have in mind?”

José snapped his fingers again and the lawyer who left them the cabana walked out of the small building. She had a freshly printed, several pages long contract in her hands that she presented to the Baron.

“Greetings, Mr.Sheldgoose. I am the attorney representing these three and their estate.” She handed him the papers and began rapidly flipping through them as she spoke, barely giving the confused goose a chance to read over the multitude of words presented to him. “We have drawn up a contract stating that, as my employer previously described, you shall receive the book and the cabana, as well as some of the cabana’s other contents, in exchange for half a million dollars as well as material belongings and estate that are equal to no less than another fifty thousand dollars. The provisions of this agreement allow for both parties to choose which material possessions they wish to include in this agreement.” She held out a pen towards him and pointed at the dotted line on the bottom of the final page. “Simply sign here and we will be on our way.”

Sheldgoose looked at the contract with an uneasy expression. “I should really have my own lawyers read over this before I agree to anything..”

José nodded in understanding. “Of course. You are free to read it at your leisure.” He turned away, concealing the smirk on his face. “However, you should know that we already have other buyers lined up for the book and, I am afraid, it will be a first-come first-serve transaction.”

“What?!” The goose looked up from the papers in alarm. “But-But you just found the book! How can you already have other buyers?!”

“I have some reliable connections.” José said with a casual shrug. “I have made a few calls, but who knows when we will hear from-“

Not missing a beat, the trio of colorfully clad girls ran up to the others, each of them holding a phone up. “We’ve got buyers!” They said unison as they swarmed the trio.

May held her phone up first, standing beside José. “I’ve got the CEO of Waddle Tech on hold- he says he’ll give you thirty grand and a condo in Cape Suzette for the book.”

“Oh, my guy says he can beat that!” April said while holding her phone out towards Panchito. “The head of Glumgold Industries says that he can give you fifty thousand and your own mansion in Duckburg.”

“Guys, guys, guys!” June piped up excitedly while holding her phone up to Donald. “I’ve got THE Scrooge McDuck on the phone! He says he’ll pay you one million in gold coins AND give you your own PRIVATE ISLAND!!”

Donald resisted the urge to laugh at that last one, making a note to tell them of his relationship to the multi-billionaire later. “Our own island?!” He asked in fake astonishment.

“Wow!” Panchito gasped. “I’ve always wanted one of those!”

José gave a low, impressed whistle. “That is quite an impressive offer. Of course, it will take some time to draw up the contract for such a thing, but it would certainly be worthwhile-”

“Here!!” The goose suddenly shouted with a desperate edge to his voice, shoving the signed contract and the filled-out check into José’s hands. “I signed it, so that means the book is mine!”

José looked at the contract with a smug smile. “Ah, I see. Well, we will simply have to tell the other buyers the bad news.” He nodded towards the girls who all hung up at once with matching smiles on their faces. “Now then, here is your copy.” He said when the lawyer handed him a copy of the paperwork. “You have thirty minutes to gather your belongings and relocate to the cabana.”

“Yes!” The goose said with a victorious smile on his face. “The book is mi- wait, what was that last part?” He had a confused look on his face when the smaller bird’s words sunk in. “Why on earth would I move into that dirty little shack?!”

“Why, because we now own that building over there.” José said while gesturing broadly to the large building. “And you, my friend, own this one over here.” He turned the sweeping gesture of his hand into a point with his thumb at the run-down cabana. “As I said, we have bartered for estate and material possessions. It is all right there in the contract.”

“What?!” He asked while trying to find where in the contract such a thing was written. “But-But- you can’t do that!”

“Too late, sucker, we already did!” Donald said with a satisfied grin, thoroughly enjoying the look on the larger bird’s face. “Now, go move out so we can move in!”

“Or WE get to throw YOU out this time.” Panchito said while cracking his knuckles with a big grin.

The goose tried to read through the contract at a frantic pace, searching for any possible way he could back out of the agreement. “What-What if I back out? You can keep the book and everything else!”

“I am afraid that trying to forfeit or void this contract would end poorly for you, sir.” The lawyer spoke up as she pointed at a particular paragraph in the contract. “As you can see, failure to do as stated will result in the forfeiture of ALL of your assets- financial, material, estate, and otherwise.” She rolled up her sleeve to check her watch. “Now, you have twenty-seven minutes and thirty seconds remaining to comply, otherwise it will be considered a violation of the contract’s terms and conditions. You have the freedom to choose which of your possessions you bring with you to the cabana, so I suggest you have them ready at the designated time- afterwards, everything remaining in the mansion that is not expressly listed and registered as property of the Institute shall go to my clients.”

The goose looked between the lawyer, the smirking pack of birds, and the crummy cabana. “I..I..oohhhh, you will pay for this!” He exclaimed angrily before running back towards his mansion.

Donald laughed at the overweight bird’s retreating figure. “What a sucker! Hahahaha!”

Panchito joined in on the joyous laughter, patting him on the back. “You said it!”

José chuckled a bit as well. “This will certainly be a lesson he will not soon forget.” Turning to the lawyer, he pulled a check out from his jacket. “Your payment, as we agreed, senhora- just wait until we have deposited our share before cashing it. You have our thanks.”

“It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr.Carioca.” She took the check offered to her and handed him a card in return. “Do give me a call if you are in need of legal counsel again.”

“We shall keep you in mind, my dear.” He gave her hand a kiss and winked at her before taking the card.

She blushed at his suave charm and fanned herself with a quiet laugh as she walked away.

Before José could turn back to the others, he suddenly had two sets of arms wrapping around his shoulders.

“That was a great plan, José!” Donald smiled brightly at the parrot from his right side.

“Yeah, I never would have thought of tricking that gordo idiota into giving us his house like that!” Panchito congratulated from his other side.

José smiled at his companions in return and patted their arms in thanks. “Obrigado. Now, we must grab everything of value while we can- we do not wish to be late moving into our new home, sim?”

“Yeah!” The other two agreed wholeheartedly before running off to grab what they wanted from the cabana.

On his way to the door, though, Donald spotted something faintly glowing in one of the junk piles on the lawn that caught his eye. “Huh..?” He walked up to the pile and pulled a small box from it. Opening the box, his eyes widened when he saw an ornate golden ring with a rather large purple gem stone. “Woah! This looks expensive!” His eyes reflected the purple light that shimmered from the ring and he was having trouble telling if the light was simply an effect of the bright sunlight above him or something more..

“Donald? You coming, amigo?” Panchito called from within the cabana.

“Ah!” Donald was startled out of his staring and nearly dropped the ring, managing to catch it after fumbling for a second with the box. “Yeah! I’m comin’!” He called back once the box was safely in his hands again. He snapped the box closed and joined the others inside, sticking the box into one of the cardboard ones marked “keep” and muttering to himself. “Can’t believe we almost left that behind…”

Hiding behind a pile of previously tossed aside books, their little red housekeeper looked at the box in question with a troubled frown. He muttered some gibberish to himself and tried to slink closer to it, attempting to grab the small box from the top, but let out a startled scream when he realized Donald was looking at him and quickly disappeared behind the nearby couch.

As Donald took the box outside of the cabana, Ari peeked through the window and made a noise akin to a whine at seeing the little box and its contents leave the property.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thirty minutes later, the two trios of birds were waiting on the sidewalk with their boxes of gold, silver, and jewel encrusted trinkets to be sold off later. As they waited, they saw Sheldgoose and two burly bodyguards packing a limousine with as many boxes as they could fit into the long vehicle.

Donald rolled up the sleeve of his shirt to see his watch and counted down the last few seconds. “Three..two..one. Time’s up.”

José looked at Panchito. “Care to do the honors, amigo?”

Panchito grinned as he nodded excitedly. “¡Sí!” He drew one of his guns from its holster and fired it into the air to get the former tenants’ attention.

“!!!” Sheldgoose and his dog bodyguards jumped at the sound, the dogs doing their job and shielding their employer while looking towards the rooster. They growled in warning, glaring through their sunglasses.

“I am afraid your time is up, senhors.” José said as they walked up to the small group. “Kindly vacate the premises.”

“You heard the guy. Scram!” Donald added before sticking his tongue out at the bodyguards. Gosh, it felt good to get some payback.

“Fine, we will be on our way.” Sheldgoose said while the bodyguards opened the door of the limousine for him. “But mark my words: This is not the last you’ve heard from Baron von Sheldgoo-EEE!” He yelped and ducked into the limo when another shot from Panchito’s gun whizzed past his head. “Let’s get out of here!!”

His bodyguards followed suit, one getting in the driver’s seat and the other in the passenger’s seat as they quickly peeled out of the driveway and away from the probably-psychotic birds watching them.

“Hmph, good riddance.” Donald picked up one of the boxes and made his way to the front door.

With a satisfied grin, he opened the front door and stepped inside. It was just as amazing as he remembered it- and this time it was actually his!

Well, technically his and the other guys’, but he was more than happy to share it with them after their kind words and encouragement earlier.

“Woooow!” June said while looking around at the spacious foyer with wide-eyes.

“Gotta say, I wasn’t sure about tricking that guy out of his house and junk-” May began, her other sister happily finishing the sentence.

“But it was totally worth it!” April set her box of stuff down and looked around as well. “Now we each get our own room!”

The triplets shared a knowing grin before they all started racing off into the mansion. “Dibs on the master suite!” They yelled in unison, playfully shoving each other out of the way.

Panchito watched them take off and laughed. “Wow, they look excited!”

“What child wouldn’t be after being told they got to live in such a luxurious palace?” José said with a grin, taking his flask out of his jacket again and taking a celebratory shot.

Donald busied himself with picking up the boxes of stuff the girls had left and shoving them into a nearby closet. “Yeah, it’s always cool your first time.”

“First time?” José asked after putting his flask away and assisting Donald with his task. “You say that as if you have lived in one before.”

“Well, I used to stay in my uncle’s a lot when I was a kid.” He said while trying to place a box on the top shelf of the closet that he had trouble reaching.

Luckily, Panchito joined the cleanup effort and took the box from the duck so he could put it up there himself. “Your uncle has a mansion? He must be pretty rich.”

“Well he is the richest duck in the world..” Donald mused with a slight chuckle, remembering all of the times his uncle had received the title in magazines and newspapers.

“Really?” José asked with a curious look at the white bird. “I am surprised he did not simply buy you a new house when you lost yours.”

“I didn’t get a chance to ask, but he probably would have just said no.” Donald shrugged and closed the door once they had all of the boxes loaded inside. “He likes having money, but he hates spending it. Growing up, I never really went shopping unless it was just a quick trip for groceries. Then Daisy would make me take her out shopping for clothes and stuff once we started dating- I’d never even set foot in a mall until a few years ago!” He joked with a grin. However, when he turned to look at his new friends, he noticed that they were giving him concerned and intrigued looks. “What? Was it something I said?”

The two looked at each other before looking back at him again, José being the first one to speak. “Have you really never gone out shopping for yourself just for fun?”

“Or had someone take you out and buy YOU stuff?” Panchito added on.

Donald paused to think the question over, tapping a finger against his bill as he did. “Uhhh..I don’t think so. Why?”

The colorful birds grinned at each other before they each grabbed onto one of his arms. “Shopping trip!” They told him with matching grins.

“Wha..?” He was confused by their sudden shift in attitude, but allowed himself to be dragged off in the direction of the garage.

“¡Vamos chicas!” Panchito called back towards the stairway.

“We are going to the mall!” José shouted back before they took the side entrance into the garage.

A pair of excited shouts and hurried footsteps was their answer.

The two birds guided Donald into the garage, pleased to see that Sheldgoose had been forced to leave behind a rather nice looking black Cadillac convertible with the keys for it still hanging on the wall.

The older trio were soon joined by the younger one as the girls admired the sight of the expensive sports car.

“Cool!” April said while opening the back door and climbing in.

“Can any of you guys actually drive?” May asked while looking at the older birds with a raised eyebrow.

José glanced away with a slightly nervous smile. “Legally? No, not in this country…”

Panchito shrugged. “If you don’t mind crashing, sure.”

Donald took the car keys off of the hook on the wall before either of them could even think to reach for them. “I’ll drive. Get in.”

There were no arguments from the others as they all filed into the car. Donald took the driver’s seat and adjusted all of the mirrors, José joining him up front in the passenger’s seat after beating Panchito in a game of rock-paper-scissors. Panchito and the girls had a bit of a tight fit in the back seat, but it felt a lot less cramped once Donald figured out how to open up the roof.

Once everyone was settled, Donald drove off down the road, whistling at the impressive amount of horsepower the car had behind it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One trip to the bank later to deposit most of the check in Donald’s account (as he was the only one with an American bank account at the moment) and cashing out a good portion of it for immediate spending, the group arrived at the New Quackmore mall.

The ritzy, high-dollar shops were a far cry from what Donald was used to back in Duckburg. Then again, he hadn’t been to too many malls besides the cheap thrift-store laden ones that his girlfriend- ex-girlfriend, he quickly reminded himself- would drag him to.

José declared that the first thing they all needed to do was treat themselves to some new clothes. The girls happily took their share of the cash (plus a little extra that José gave them after whispering some instructions for them) and went to a nice boutique to buy some formal party dresses for themselves, leaving the boys to do their own shopping.

Panchito and Donald were both lost causes when it came to fashion, according to José, as most of what they purchased was the same sort of stuff they already wore- Panchito sticking to bolero style pants and a few new shirts while Donald, by some odd coincidence, found a shop that sold sailor suits and he picked up a few in different colors.

After the third time the pair of fashion-senseless birds picked out something they already had, José heaved an annoyed sigh and rubbed at his eyes while muttering to himself. “Kalfu give me strength..” He took in a deep breath before looking at the other two again. “You two do know that you have the money to afford something different from what you already wear, sim? Why not try something new?”

Panchito and Donald looked at each other in confusion before looking back at José with the same look and speaking in unison. “Like what?”

“Like a nice suit for a party, or something dashing you would wear on a date. Have you never been to a nice tailor and had something fitted for you?” He put his hands on his hips while waiting for an answer.

They thought it over for a minute before they both shook their heads. “Nope.”

“I’ve never needed a suit before.” Panchito admitted with a shrug.

“I wore some when I was younger, but they were always presents.” Donald admitted while rubbing at the back of his neck. “After a while, I just started wearing my uniform all the time..”

José grabbed his fashion-illiterate friends by their hands and led them towards a store that specialized in men’s formal to semi-formal fashion. “We will be fixing this NOW!” He declared as he took them through the shop and began picking out nice clothes for his friends.

They spent a good amount of time in there, trying on different outfits. José happily explained the different cuts and styles of clothing, what colors looked good with each other, and how to tell the material of something just by touch. By the time he was done with his clothing crash-course, the other members of his little trio had a much better understanding of what counted as acceptable fashion for different situations.

Panchito ended up picking out a red suit with a black button-up shirt and matching black gloves that made him look very dashing (Donald actually felt something skip in his chest when the rooster grinned at him while wearing the outfit). Donald, on the other hand, found a deep navy-blue pin-stripe suit jacket that he paired with a white button-up shirt and a black and blue bowtie that he felt comfortable in- judging by the whistles and cheers the others gave him, they approved of the outfit, too.

José, satisfied that the other two could fend for themselves properly now, was the last one to pick out an outfit from the store. He grabbed a simple light yellowish-brown suit to replace the one he currently wore, thinking that would be it.

However, on the way out, something else caught his eye: It was a dark brownish-red jacket with matching pants. He touched the fabric and gave a pleased hum. “Oh, cashmere..this is quite nice..”

“Oh, I saw a belt that would look good with that!” Panchito looked around for the accessory in question and returned with a simple light red belt, holding out his find proudly for José’s inspection.

José nodded as he took the red leather. “An excellent choice, my friend.” He gave the rooster a pat on the head, chuckling at the bright smile the other gave him.

“Maybe you could wear it with this?” Donald’s voice caught the parrot’s attention and he turned to see the duck holding up a purple button-up shirt.

José walked over to him and looked the garment over curiously. “An interesting choice, amigo- why that color?”

Donald looked at the shirt, and then at the rest of the outfit that José held in his hands. “I just thought it would look good on you.”

José smirked at the duck in that suave, charming, border-line flirtatious (or was it really only borderline?) way, one eyebrow cocked as he questioned the duck’s choice of words. “Oh really? Well then, I certainly want you to think I look good.” He gave the increasingly flustered duck a wink.

“Just go try it on!” Donald shoved the shirt into José’s arms with the rest of his clothes, stubbornly looking away from the chuckling bird as he disappeared into the fitting room.

Within a few minutes José emerged in his new outfit and, as Donald suspected, the shirt looked good on him, along with the rest of the outfit. He’d kept his gloves and hat, as well as his necklace- the latter of which now being fully and proudly displayed as he’d decided to leave the jacket open and the upper portion of the shirt unbuttoned to show off both it and his chest. The combination of colors from his clothes brought out the deep hues of his green feathers, further adding to the bird’s naturally exotic charm.

“Woooooah!” Donald and Panchito were in awe of the Brazilian’s new look.

“You look great!” Panchito gave his friend two thumbs up to show his approval.

“Yeah, you should wear it out!” Donald agreed with the rooster with a grin before something caught his attention. “Huh?” He leaned close to the parrot when he walked up to them, paying special attention to his face. “Did you put on eyeshadow?”

José chuckled and shot Donald another wink with one of his now-purpled eyelids. “Ah, you noticed?” He chuckled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small make-up kit. “I wanted to match this nice shirt you picked out for me- an excellent choice, by the way, it is actually silk and quite comfortable.” He took the tags off of each item so he could go to the counter and pay for them. “I may have just found my new favorite outfit. You both have my thanks for putting it together.”

Donald smiled more at the sight of his new friend so happy. He’d gone shopping with Daisy plenty of times before, but she’d never really let him offer any input or pick anything out for her. The knowledge that something he’d chosen for José made him genuinely happy left Donald with a warm feeling in his chest.

As he watched the parrot talk (and likely flirt) with the cashier, he was overcome with a desire to do something more in exchange for that happy feeling he was blessed with..

“That’ll be $450.99.” The female meadowlark said between giggles at whatever José had just told her.

“Ah, a fair price from a fair maiden.” He winked at the giggling girl, making her blush as he reached for his wallet. “You have my tha-”

“Here.” Donald cut him off when he suddenly walked up next to him at the register and handed the cashier the requested cash.

José stared at the duck in surprise. “Donald, you did not need to do that- I still had plenty left.”

“I know.” Donald said with a shrug, trying not to let on how good it made him feel to spend money on the other man. “But I wanted to.” He took his change and receipt from the cashier and handed the slip of paper to José with a bright smile. “If you hadn’t been there, we’d probably be stuck in that stupid cabana- you deserve this.”

José stared at the duck, looking positively awe-struck. “Donald..” His look slowly shifted into a smile that was different from the charming ones he normally presented- becoming something tender and adoring. “Obrigado, meu amigo.” He took the receipt, his fingers trailing along Donald’s hand for a moment longer than what was probably necessary.

Donald just smiled more at the contact, glad he could make his new friend so happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After getting their clothing situation settled, José said that the next thing they should buy were cell phones- a luxury that Donald had not been able to afford for a long time, if the fact that he’d only had a land-line phone back at his last house was any indication. The parrot, however, left the task- and the money he was chipping in for it- in Donald and Panchito’s hands, saying that he had to meet up with the girls for a reason he decided not to disclose at the moment.

As the pair walked to the electronics store, Donald noticed the nervous stares they were receiving from the mall’s high-class patrons. “Why does everyone keep looking at us?”

Panchito shrugged, appearing indifferent to their attention. “It’s probably me- people always stare at me.”

Donald looked up at the rooster with a quirked brow. “Really? Why?”

“Beats me.” He shrugged again, his cheerful smile not faltering in the slightest. “Maybe it’s because I’m exotic like José?”

Donald glanced around at the various people watching them, taking in the nervous and even slightly scared faces he saw. “I dunno..” The more he watched them, the easier it was to confirm that, yes, they were indeed staring at Panchito, but no, it wasn’t in the same fawning or intrigued way that people would stare at José. Following one skittish looking older dog’s gaze, he finally understood why and he momentarily froze. “Uh oh..”

Spotting one of the people nearby going to a security station, Donald quickly grabbed Panchito by the arm and dragged him off towards one of the small side-halls that led to the restrooms.

Panchito gave Donald a confused look, but allowed himself to be pulled along. “What is it? You have to go?”

“Your guns.” Donald said while peeking his head around the hall’s corner to see if anyone had followed them.

“My guns have to go?” Panchito tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Don’t be silly- they aren’t alive!” He laughed at the absurdity of the idea before a stern look from Donald silenced him. “??”

“People are staring at you because of your guns!” He clarified while gesturing to them. “At this rate, they’re gonna call the cops on us.”

Panchito’s smile turned into a daring smirk as he placed his hands on the holstered weapons. “Let them come- I can take them, no hay problema!”

Donald groaned and rubbed a hand over his face in mild irritation. “That’s not what I meant..” He looked at the source of their current predicament while trying to come up with a solution. “Maybe we should go leave them in the car..”

“No!” Panchito stated firmly, startling Donald and causing him to look up at the normally happy gunman’s suddenly serious face. “My pistols stay with me- I need them!”

“Why?” Donald was a bit confused by the conviction in the other’s statement. “We’re at a mall- nothing’s gonna happen.”

“But it could!” He gripped his precious weapons where they rested in their holsters. “Someone could come for me any moment! I need my pistols to keep me safe! Los necesito para mantenerte a salvo, también!” His serious look started to turn mildly panicked as he shook, his eyes darting around and fingers twitching over the holsters as if he was about to draw his guns and shoot at enemies that weren’t even there.

“Panchito.” Donald placed his hands on the other man’s face and tilted it so he was looking down into the duck’s worried eyes. “Look at me- breathe.” He inhaled and exhaled slowly a few times, silently encouraging the anxious gunman to do the same.

It only took a couple of seconds for Panchito to pick up on the rhythm. Within a few breaths his shaking had stopped and his grip over his guns had relaxed.

Once he had calmed down, he actually looked a little ashamed for his behavior, avoiding eye contact with his friend. “..Lo siento…”

“Está bien.” Donald gave the rooster’s face a light pat of sympathy, smiling at the surprised look the Spanish reply earned him. “I’ve dealt with that, too.” He released the rooster’s face and started to walk off down the hallway and back towards the shops. “Wait here- I’ll be right back.”

He gave no further explanation for where he was going, leaving a stunned Panchito behind in the hallway to press a hand over his surprisingly warm cheek.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Donald returned to the hallway with a new shopping bag- one that featured the logo of the same shop Panchito had gotten more bolero pants from earlier- in his hands, Panchito was sitting on the floor with a bored expression, idly flicking one of his spurs to make it spin.

His look brightened instantly when he heard the sound of the duck’s webbed feet on the ground and he looked up at the other with a big smile. “Did you bring me a present?” He was joking, of course, and was actually surprised when Donald placed the large bag in his lap.

“Yep.” Donald looked down at him with a grin. “José got something, so you should too!”

Panchito still looked surprised, but he eagerly opened the bag and rifled around inside to pull out his gifts. “??” His eyes widened with an excited gasp when he saw the interesting articles of clothing the duck had brought him. “Ah! I haven’t worn one of these in years!” He held up a dark red serape accented with pale stripes that contained a pattern of red zigzags with yellow dots. The fabric was soon draped around his shoulders, making him feel warm and cozy in the overly-air conditioned mall. Then, he spotted something else in the bag and pulled out a larger item. “You got me a sombrero, too?” He happily removed his own sombrero and placed the new one comfortably on his head while the old one went into the bag, the small pattern along the top of the new one complimenting the color of the serape quite nicely. Lastly, he spotted something black at the bottom of the bag. “Huh? Are these gloves?” He reached inside and pulled out a pair of black fingerless gloves, looking them over curiously. They felt soft, but they had a lot more weight and padding then he’d ever seen in a pair of gloves before.

“They’re gunner gloves.” Donald kneeled down so he was on the same level as Panchito. He carefully took one of the rooster’s hands in his own and grabbed one of the gloves, sliding it over the other’s white hand with ease. As he did so, he pointed to the padded areas along the palm. “Those help stop blisters- plus they’re a little magnetic, so it’s harder to drop your guns.” He smiled and slid the other one on as well, looking up at Panchito once they were both on securely. “How’s it feel?”

Panchito was awestruck, staring at the dark fabric and moving his hands around to fully take in the feeling of the new gloves. “These are amazing!” He declared with an excited smile. “They are so soft and airy- it’s like I’m not wearing anything at all!” He looked at Donald, beaming with joy before hugging him tightly. “¡Gracias amigo!”

Donald grinned, feeling that same warmth that he’d felt earlier when buying José’s outfit for him. “De nada.” He chuckled and briefly returned the hug, getting to his feet and offering Panchito a hand up as well. “Now let’s go get those phones before José comes looking for us.”

Panchito happily took the other bird’s hand and pulled himself to his feet, scooping up the bags before Donald could beat him to it. He insisted that carrying them was the least he could do after Donald bought him something so nice.

Truthfully, Panchito was even more touched by Donald’s gifts than he could express.

The sombrero and serape were certainly well-made, perhaps even hand-crafted and likely quite expensive- but what it was the thought behind them, rather than the price, that touched his heart: As they walked through the mall now, the serape cleverly hid Panchito’s pistols from the prying eyes of the public, giving him a way to walk around without drawing unwanted attention while still keeping his beloved weapons close by. That, combined with the gloves that he couldn’t wait to try out properly later, showed that Donald really did understand how important his pistols were to him, and wanted to make sure that he would feel happy and comfortable with them nearby.

When Donald walked ahead of him on the way to the electronics store, Panchito couldn’t help but smile and gaze fondly at the duck in front of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The group reconvened in the mall’s food court for a quick lunch of iced coffee, smoothies, and soft pretzels. With their main shopping done, they were free to wander around the building at their leisure as they ate. They popped into one or two other stores that caught their eye, buying inconsequential things like movies to watch later or small toys that someone (mainly Panchito) found interesting.

Donald happily followed along after the others, nothing in the shops really calling out to him- at least, not enough to make him want to spend any money on himself like that. He was quite content to just watch the others get what they wanted or to just do some window shopping.

That is, until they walked by a comic book store and he saw something in the display window that caused him to stop and stare.

“I think that is enough shopping for one day.” José announced to the rest of the group after depositing his empty coffee cup in a trashcan. “We should return to the mansion and get settled in, right Donald?” When he didn’t receive an immediate answer, the confused parrot did a quick head-count of their little group to confirm that they were indeed short one duck. “Donald?”

Panchito and the girls looked around for their missing member as well, June being the one to spot him. “There he is!” She pointed to a store they’d passed a few feet back.

Donald had his hands pressed against the glass of the shop’s window, empty smoothie cup and half-eaten pretzel lying forgotten on the ground as he stared with stars sparkling in his eyes at something the others couldn’t see from their angle. “Wooooww..” Whatever it was, it seemed to have left him completely awestruck.

More than a little curious as to what had elicited such a reaction in the duck, the others joined him in front of the comic book store to take a look as well. “????”

In the shop’s display window, they saw a duck-shaped mannequin wearing what appeared to be a black and blue super-hero outfit: The spandex suit on the body was pure black, as was the small mask on the mannequin’s head. For the hands, it had a pair of dark blue fingerless gloves accented with lighter blue lines, the color scheme and pattern being duplicated on the matching cape with the outside being dark blue and the inside being the lighter blue- creating an interesting two-tone effect. There was also a matching light blue utility belt of some sort around the mannequin’s waist, a black fedora on its head, and a pair of dark shoes on its webbed feet.

Panchito was the first to look away from the mannequin and return the attention to Donald. “Do you like cómicos, Donald?”

“Yeah..” Donald answered with a nod, his eyes never leaving the display and an excited smile spreading across his face the more he spoke. “That’s an exact replica of the outfit that the Duck Avenger wore back in issue #313- ‘Dark Venger’ when he got hypnotized by the Phantom Blot and turned evil! I’ve never seen it in real-life! It’s so cool! They even got the belt right!” Suddenly, he seemed to remember who he was with and he actually looked embarrassed for having such a dorky and excited outburst. “Sorry, I got distracted. Did you guys wanna head back?”

“……” Panchito and José looked at the embarrassed expression on Donald’s face that contrasted so much with the adorably excited smile he had a moment ago. They looked at each other and seemed to come to a silent understanding once again, giving one another a firm nod before they each grabbed onto one of the duck’s arms and dragged him into the store.

“Wha-?” Donald looked between the pair, feeling extremely confused as they took him inside.

Instead of answering him, José just looked to the teenage dog leaning against the checkout counter and snapped to get his attention off of the comic he was currently invested in. “Pardon me, my good man.” Once the dog set his issue down and looked at them, José gestured to the display in the window. “Our friend would like to try on that outfit in your window. Do you have another, or may we have that one?”

“We’ve only got the one.” The clerk said while looking them over. “And you can only try it on if you’re gonna buy it- store policy.”

“Then it looks like we are buying it.” Panchito took out his remaining cash, José doing the same to show they were both serious on the matter.

Donald looked between them with wide eyes. “You guys don’t have to-!”

José placed a finger to Donald’s beak to shush him while the clerk went to retrieve the outfit. “We know that we do not HAVE to,”

“But we WANT to!” Panchito finished with a smile, mirroring Donald’s words to José from earlier. “You bought us presents, but it is YOUR birthday- let us get you a present now!”

“Sim, you deserve it, amigo.” José agreed with a matching smile. He took the offered outfit from the clerk when he returned and gestured to a fitting room towards the back of the shop by a few racks of other superhero/supervillain themed costumes. “Now, go try it on and let us see.”

“Okay, okay, I’m goin’.” Donald begrudgingly (though it was really an act to hide his embarrassment) took the clothes that José placed in his arms and walked back to the fitting room.

While they waited for him to change, the young trio of girls showed the older birds how to use their new phones and their many basic features- namely the camera.

“So I just press this circle thing to take the picture?” Panchito asked before his thumb tapped right on the area in question, making him snap an accidental picture of April’s hands. “Oops..well, I think I’ve got it now!” He gave April and June, the main ones who had been helping him, a proud smile over his mastery of the new device.

Meanwhile, leaning against the wall nearby, the third triplet was conversing idly with José, who needed far fewer lessons on how to use his phone. “So, we’re all just gonna take pictures of him when he comes out, right?”

“Mhm.” José hummed in confirmation, pointing his phone at the changing room and adjusting the zoom appropriately. “He needs some encouragement after what happened this morning.”

“Yeah, about that..” May didn’t look up from the social media app she had open on her own phone, but, when José glanced down at the monotone-voiced girl, he noticed that she wasn’t actually reading anything on it. “We may have overheard what you guys talked about at the yard sale earlier…”

“Is that so..?” He kept his phone up as he spoke, their voices low enough not to warrant the attention of the others a few feet away.

“Yeah..” She rolled her eyes a little. “Look, for what it’s worth, we don’t exactly like what Aunt Daisy did either. She overreacts. A LOT. We came when Donald called because we figured the two of them would be back together in a few weeks, anyway..but..” She spared the parrot a sideways glance, giving him a once-over before shrugging and looking back to her phone. “Whatever. You guys seemed pretty attached to him already, so, yeah..”

José smiled slightly at the indirect permission that he and Panchito had been given by Donald’s pseudo-nieces. “It is hard not to appreciate his bravery and generosity. I may not be able to speak fully for Panchito, but I personally find it refreshing to have someone treat me with a sense of equality for a change..”

“Hmh..can’t relate- two sisters means we all get treated the same for everything, whether we want to or not.” She mused with another shrug.

“That is a shame.” José finally turned his head to look down at her properly, an understanding smile on his face. “Give us a day or two to learn your names and I promise we will treat each of you as you deserve.”

May glanced up at him, the corner of her beak quirked up in a half-smile half-smirk. “Good luck- Donald’s known us for years, and even he can’t get it right.”

Before José had a chance to rebuke her smart-mouthed comment, the duck in question pulled back the curtain for the changing room and stepped out.

They all turned their full attention on him, causing Donald to look a little less confident in the surprisingly well-fitting costume. “Uh..so..whattaya think..?” He asked with a smile that felt a little forced. He was so used to people making fun of him for his nerdy obsession- he couldn’t even begin to count the times Daisy had pretended not to know him when he eagerly talked about comics with a younger fan or had left him at a bookstore to sift through their collection because she found it boring or-

Panchito was the first to answer, letting out an excited grito and raising his phone to take several pictures. “¡Te ves muy bien!”

June giggled and took a picture too. “Wow, it looks great, Donald!”

“Yeah,” April agreed with her sister and snapped one as well. “Really suits you.”

“A little dorky..” May began before raising her phone to take a couple shots with her usual half-smile. “But kinda cool, too.”

José was the last to answer, looking the outfit over with a thoughtful expression. “Hmmm..it feels as if something is missing..” He thought the answer over before, with a snap of his fingers it came to him. “Aha! É isso aí!” He walked past Donald and stepped into the fitting room, grabbing something and returning with a triumphant smile on his face.

Donald watched the parrot curiously, wondering what such a perfectly constructed cosplay could be missing. “??”

To answer the unspoken question, José reached up and removed the black hat from atop the duck’s head and replaced it with Donald’s own blue sailor hat. “There, much better.” He said with a smile. “Now it has a touch of your own style as well!” Satisfied with the duck’s appearance now, José finally took a picture himself, proudly showing the close-up image to Donald. “This will be my new wallpaper.”

“Me too! I want one too!” Panchito rushed over with an excited smile and took a picture of the embarrassed but bright smile on Donald’s face to use for his own phone’s background. “¡Perfecto!”

An idea suddenly occurred to Donald and he grabbed his own phone out of one of the utility belt’s pockets that he’d stashed it in earlier, holding it out to May. “Take a picture of us!”

May took the phone with a roll of her eyes, but the slightly amused smile on her face contradicted the annoyed gesture and tone she used. “Gee, no need to say ‘please’ or anything.” She waited until they were all in position, lining up the shot so they were all in frame. “Say ‘cheese’.”

They gave a combined call of “Cheese!”, “Queijo!” and “Queso!” when they were ready.

The picture that May ended up taking had Donald in the middle with his hands curled into fists where they rested on his hips so that his chest was puffed out slightly in a “heroic” pose, José standing on the left (Donald’s right) with one of his arms resting on Donald’s shoulders as he winked at the camera while tipping his hat slightly with the other hand, and Panchito on the other side of Donald with his hand on the duck’s back beneath the cape. Also, right as she took the picture, somehow, a small breeze blew past them out of nowhere so that Donald’s cape and Panchito’s serape were billowing slightly in the wind, giving the image a more dynamic effect.

May handed the phone back to Donald, the happy mallard smiling eve more when he saw how good the picture had turned out. “Wow! We look so cool!”

“That mysterious breeze really helped.” Panchito pointed out while looking at the blown back fabric in the picture. “They must have just turned on the air conditioning.”

“Yeah..air conditioning..” May sounded as deadpan and sarcastic as usual, her eyes glancing at the picture on the phone- particularly at José and the symbol on his necklace that had a very faint veil of something black and shimmering around it in the picture that could easily be written off as a shadow or odd lighting, but she had a pretty good hunch that that was not the case…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They returned to their new home around the time that the sun was setting. Donald parked the car in the garage and Panchito happily carried most of their bags inside. The taller bird seemed happy to show off how strong he was by flexing his arms with the many bags hanging from his biceps- he even invited April and June to hang off of his arms as he walked, carrying them with ease.

To get her sisters back on track, May cleared her throat pointedly. “Aren’t we forgetting something?”

“Oh yeah!” June gasped, looking back at Donald. “It’s still your birthday, Donald!”

“And you still haven’t had a cake, have you?” April hopped down to the ground, her sister joining her shortly. “We need to fix that.”

“Stay out of the kitchen!” The girls called back simultaneously as they ran in the direction of said room.

“But, I don’t-”Donald watched them go before he’d even gotten a chance to say anything, chuckling and shaking his head once they were gone. “I guess a cake WOULD be nice..”

“That’s the spirit!” Panchito said while clapping his hand a little too roughly against Donald’s back, almost making the bird fall over when he forgot he still had the added weight of the shopping bags on his arm. “It’s not a birthday without something sweet!”

Thankfully, Donald was able to catch himself at the last minute. “I WAS gonna have pancakes for breakfast,” Donald recalled the big celebratory meal he’d prepared for himself, the reminiscing ending with a roll of his eyes. “But my boss called me and I didn’t get to eat any of it..”

José patted him on the back in a much more gentle manner than their other friend had a moment ago. “Well, you no longer need to worry about that, amigo- we will make sure that no one ever treats you with such disrespect again. Right, Panchito?”

“Mhm!” Panchito nodded while heading into the main parlor room to set the bags down. “No one is gonna mess with you while we’re around!” He declared proudly. As he reached his destination, though, the determined grin on his face changed into a look of confusion. “Hey, guys, did we leave the light-up statue on while we were out?”

“Light-up statue?” Donald and José repeated while giving each other a confused and perplexed look before joining Panchito in the doorway.

Peering inside of the room confirmed that, yes, the large goose statue’s eyes were currently lit up with a purple energy. On its hand, which had moved and lowered since they’d briefly seen it before, was a rather ornate ring that was glowing the same color as the statue’s eyes. The finger that the ring rested on was pointing downwards, towards a hole in the floor in front of the fireplace that Donald had sat at earlier that day. Instead of the chair that had been sitting there before, though, there was now a twisting spiral staircase leading down below the mansion.

“What in the world is this..?” José questioned as the trio entered the room, the parrot going over to the staircase to examine it more closely.

“Bad interior design?” Panchito suggested after setting down the bags and joining his friend at the top of the stairs to look down at the new hole.

Instead of joining the other two, Donald walked up to the statue to examine the ring on its finger. He squinted at it for a moment, trying to remember where he’d seen it before when- “Wha-?! This is ours!”

The pair of colorful birds looked back up from the hole in the floor at their companion.

“It is?” Panchito asked while giving the ring a curious look.

“It was in the yard sale.” Donald explained, trying to pry the ring off of the statue’s finger. “We almost left it behind, but I stuck it in..a..box..!” His words became strained as he struggled to pull the ring off, even going so far as to cling to it and pull while placing his feet on the stone figure’s body to push away horizontally- it was like the darn thing was glued to the statue or something!

José walked over to Donald and placed a hand on the duck’s shoulder, easing him off of the statue. “Um momento..”

Donald was confused, but he obeyed the softly spoken request and stepped off to the side to join their other friend. “??”

He and Panchito watched as José touched one hand to his necklace and the other to the ring while quietly saying the words “Kalfu me mostre a verdade.” repeatedly, as if it were a prayer or a mantra. Their eyes widened in surprise when a black aura began to form around the parrot’s necklace that traveled up through the hand touching it, around his arms and shoulders, and then out to his other hand that was touching the ring. The two different colored energies reacted to each other almost instantly, the purple glow around the ring shining brighter as if it was trying to repel the black energy coming from José’s hand.

It seemed to succeed, too, because not even a second later José was sent flying back as if he’d been physically shoved away by an unseen shockwave. “AH!!” The force was enough to send the parrot toppling down through the hole in the floor and tumbling down the staircase.

“José!!!” The other two cried out in alarm as they ran down the staircase to check on their friend.

The staircase was long and winding, the air growing colder the further down the pair of birds went into the depths hidden below their new home. They found José sprawled out on the floor by the final step with his head resting on what remained of the armchair that used to sit in front of the fireplace, looking disoriented as he rubbed his head but otherwise fine.

“You okay, amigo?” Panchito asked as he helped the green bird sit up, keeping a hand on his back to help steady him.

“I believe so..” The dizzy bird said quietly while opening his eyes and blinking a few times to clear his vision. “Nothing feels broken..”

“Good. Now,” Donald said with a relieved sigh, assisting Panchito with the task of pulling the other bird back up to his feet. “What the heck was that?!”

“Dark magic.” José answered simply, staring at the doorway beside them that he’d landed near with eyes narrowed as if he were preparing for another attack from the unseen force that had struck him upstairs.

Only an instant after he’d spoken the words, the darkness of the room beyond the doorway was lit up by a series of purple flames that sprung to life out of nowhere. The magical fires made a perfect trail that led to an altar of some kind, upon which a strange golden staff with a terrifying dragon-like face with purple eyes was standing straight up and staring at them.

An eerie voice filled the room, sending a chill down the trio’s spines. “So..you are the foolish mortals who have awoken me..”

With a startled squawk, Donald realized where the voice was coming from and pointed directly at it. “A talking stick!!!”

“I’ve heard of a WALKING stick before,” Panchito drew one of his guns, keeping a cautious eye on the glowing-eyed staff on the other side of the room. “But this is new..”

José flicked his wrist, a knife dropping down into his hand like before- except, this time, his necklace had that black aura around it that also vaguely reflected on the knife. “Stay behind me, both of you- that stick is a manifestation of pure evil and dark magic.”

“You are wise to fear me, mortals.” The staff’s eyes glowed brighter and its face seemed to shift into an evil grin. “For I am LORD FELLDRAKE THE TERRIBLE!” Purple energy flashed around the staff, accompanied by dark lightning bolts that flew out around it intimidatingly as it let out an evil laugh.

Donald gave the other two a confused look and a raised eyebrow, silently asking if the name was familiar to them. “??” At a one-shoulder shrug from José and brief head-shake from Panchito, Donald looked back at the staff. “Never heard of ya.”

The staff’s laughter died immediately and its face shifted into an angry glare. “What?! Never heard of me?! Have you nitwits been living under a rock?!!”

“I lived in a cave for a few months.” Panchito still had his pistol drawn, but seemed a bit less cautious now. “Does that count?”

“Well, it is made of rock..” The staff muttered before its eyes squinted, as if it was trying to see them more clearly. “You three look familiar..have we-?” It suddenly gasped as realization dawned on it. “The Three Caballeros!!”

“The three what..?” Donald was still lost and confused over the entire situation, and it clearly showed on his face.

“Don’t play dumb with me, Don Dugo!” The staff snapped at him, its eyes glowing fiercely as it fired a lightning bolt that just barely missed Donald’s head.

“!!” Donald let out an alarmed squawk and ducked his head down to avoid the attack. “Hey! Watch where you’re shootin’ those!!” He snapped back at the staff with a glare.

“Oh, I’m sorry- let me try again!” Its glowing eyes were the only warning they got before another bolt was being fired right at Donald.

This time, though, José was prepared. He stepped in front of Donald and threw his knife at the dark lightning. “Eu rejeito isso!”

The blackened knife made contact with the lightning bolt and cut it straight down the middle, ripping the energy in half as if it were paper. The magic holding the bolt together fizzled out and it vanished in the air. Then, with a snap of his fingers, the knife flipped around and flew right into José waiting hand.

That, at last, seemed to calm the staff out of its little hissy-fit and pique its interest. “Wait, was that dark magic?” It looked at the parrot in particular as it spoke, sounding suspicious yet surprised. “Since when does the ‘herói da luz, Senhor Carioca’ use dark magic?”

“I do not know who this ‘hero of light’ you speak of is,” José replied while keeping an eye on the staff, ready to block another attack if need be. “But I am José Carioca- ‘o bruxo da Bahia’.”

“And I’m not ‘Don Dugo’!” Donald stepped into the conversation, peeking out from behind the other’s shoulder to glare at the mouthy stick. “I’m Donald Duck!”

“Oh, are we introducing ourselves?” Panchito smiled brightly and waved to the staff with his free hand. “Yo soy Panchito ‘Pistoles’ Romero Miguel Junipero Francisco Quintero González III.” He pointed his thumb in the direction of his companions. “My friends call me Panchito,” His smile suddenly turned into an angry scowl and he pointed his gun back at the staff. “But you can call me sua causa de morte if you attack my friends again!” He fired a single bullet that hit the staff on its “forehead”, leaving a small dent in the metal.

“Okay, okay, I get it!” The staff’s eyes closed for a moment and it scowled from the impact. “So, if you three imbeciles aren’t the Three Caballeros, then why do you look just like them?”

“Beats me.” Donald shrugged while stepping out from behind José, feeling confident that the loud-mouthed stick wasn’t going to shoot anymore lightning at him.

Panchito lowered his gun, but didn’t holster it quite yet, looking over at the other two beside him. “Hey, didn’t that sleazy lawyer say something about us being direct descendants?”

“Ah, yes, that is right!” José looked at the rooster with a snap of his fingers as he remembered the lawyer’s words as well. “Donald’s great-grandfather said he left the cabana to him and the other descendants.”

Panchito smiled brightly at the other two. “I guess that makes us great-grand-friends?”

“I guess so.” Donald chuckled and smiled a bit as well at the excitedly happy look on the rooster’s face.

“Descendants, huh?” The staff questioned them while its eyes glanced aside in thought. “I guess I’ve been stuck down here longer than I thought..tell me, where are MY descendants? This building should still belong to the Sheldgoose bloodline.”

“Oh, we tricked that loser out of his house.” Donald answered the staff’s inquiry with a smug grin. “He traded it for some stupid book.”

“He WHAT?!!!” The enraged stick let out a frustrated yell, purple energy flaring up around it again in its aggravation. “That MORON!! First my great-great-great-great-great-great granddaughter betrays me and seals the entrance to my lair, and now her idiot of a grandson LOSES THE HOUSE?!!!!!” The purple flames around the room suddenly flared up to further show his anger before returning to normal levels when the staff gave a frustrated sigh. “So much for relying on my useless family to help enact my master plan…”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Donald was not sorry at all for the jerk after he’d been shot at. “Anyway, we’ve gotta go.”

“Indeed- we still have not properly moved in.” José agreed, finally slipping his knife back into his sleeve.

“I haven’t even picked a room yet!” Panchito said while holstering his gun.

The three turned to leave, but the staff called out to them before they could finish retreating from the stone corridor. “Wait! You just discovered an ancient hidden chamber with a magic talking scepter under your house and you’re not even a little curious about ANY of it?!”

Donald looked back over his shoulder with an indifferent shrug. “Not really. I’ve seen plenty of weird old rooms before. All I’m curious about is how much money we’ll get from selling all the stuff upstairs and what flavor birthday cake the girls are making for me.”

“Ooh, I hope it’s chocolate!” Panchito licked his beak at the thought of the sweet treat.

“You fools want money, huh?” The staff’s face shifted into a smirk. “What if I told you I could get you money than you’ve ever dreamed of?”

José cocked an eyebrow at the mystical item across the room, turning with the others to face it properly again. “We would say that you have our attention. But,” He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “We will require a proper explanation of who and what you are before we decide to trust your word: Beings of dark magic can rarely be trusted, after all.”

“You’re smarter than you look. I like that.” The purple light from the staff’s eyes grew brighter and spread out across the room, filling the large space and shifting around until it formed several swirling nebulas with stars and comets racing around the room. “I’ll start from the beginning.”

“Ooooh.” Donald and Panchito stepped further into the room, marveling at the light show with José following close behind them.

An image of the Earth appeared in the center of the room. “Across your puny planet and far beyond it are a series of mystic points-” Images of various creatures stretched out from around the hologram planet. “These are the places where your culture’s myths and legends are born.” The planet changed shape, turning into a familiar golden book encrusted with gem stones. “There exists a magic atlas that can access those points with ease, but-” An image of a beautiful woman clad in golden armor with long black hair appeared beside the book to hold it in her hands. “It could only be used by the goddess of adventure, Xandra.” He practically spat the name, his contempt for the beautiful goddess quite clear in his tone. “Centuries ago I, Lord Felldrake the Terrible, lived as a mighty and powerful dark sorcerer.” An image of a goose dressed in a dark hooded robe with glowing purple eyes appeared across from the goddess, wielding the very staff that was now speaking to them. “I was able to bind the goddess to her own precious book-” The image of Felldrake shot a beam of magic at the goddess that resulted in her being sucked into the book’s pages. “And turned her into my unwilling servant, forcing her to take me to those mystical locations!”

“Wow! Amazing!” Panchito gasped, the three of them quickly becoming wrapped up in the exciting story.

“Yes! It WAS amazing!” The staff let out an evil laugh as images of Felldrake going to different worlds and causing different disasters to unfold flashed across the area- him leading an army of possessed statues, stealing a totem statue from a pack of sphynx-like creatures as they cowered beneath him, opening the gates of Tartarus to unleash the ancient evil monsters within, and even stealing a pacifier from a giant sleeping baby. “I conquered many worlds, disrupted their pathetic attempts at harmony, and grew my army into a force of ultimate destruction!”

“No way!” Donald looked honestly impressed by the accomplishments of the powerful wizard. To think he was able to go so far was truly astonishing…and it caused an odd feeling of both jealousy and longing to form inside of the duck at the idea of doing the same..

“My victory was certain- ultimate power was within my grasp!” An image of Felldrake’s hands encircling the Earth appeared, the staff suddenly coming up from behind the planet to close its gaping maw around the blue and green sphere. “But then..THEY appeared..” His voice held the same loathing and contempt from when he said the goddess’s name earlier, a spark of golden light eclipsing the image of the staff to reveal three birds dressed in armor and wielding various weapons. “The Three Caballeros.”

“Booo!” Donald and the others shouted their displeasure at the three heroic figures showing up to thwart the powerful villain’s plans.

“Those three arrogant heroes stormed my castle.” The image of the three heroes raced towards a dark and twisted stronghold in the distance. “And, using the power of three accursed amulets,” The birds in question each held up a brightly glowing amulet. “They trapped me in my own staff!” Lights of blue, green, and red shot out from the amulets held by the heroes and hit Felldrake, the energy forcing him into the staff that now sat before them.

“Such a tragic fate..” José said with a slight frown, a note of genuine sympathy creeping into his voice.

“All seemed lost..” The staff- Felldrake, they reminded themselves now that they knew he was indeed a person- briefly closed his eyes. “However,” His eyes opened again and they saw the image of his staff being picked up by a group of hooded figures. “Even in defeat, I still had my loyal followers and family members. They spent years tracking the Caballeros’ adventures-” Images of the three heroes and their divine ally flashed by in front of them, the hooded vassals stealthily following them from the shadows as they endeavored to fix the many acts of cruelty that Felldrake himself had wrought. “Until, finally, they located the Caballeros’ hideout.” An image of a large grassy field with a hidden door built into the ground was shown, the hooded figures watching the Caballeros as they descended through the doors. “I ordered them to build my lair nearby, so that we could always keep a vigilant eye on them and await our chance to strike. But..I was betrayed!” His eyes set into a furious glare, an image of a female goose appearing in front of them. “One of my descendants decided that she was content with her family’s place in society and decided to seal me down here for good, claiming that she would get rid of the only key so that I could never be found again!” The glow from his eyes lessened until the images all faded away. “And I have been trapped down here ever since that day.”

As they were listening, José had pulled his flask out of his jacket and started sharing it with the others. Donald took a shot before handing the container to Panchito, who proceeded to tip his head back and take a few gulps before handing it back over to its owner. “Wow! This story has everything!”

“Mhm.” José took the flask and finally took a shot himself, draining the last of its contents. “Action, drama, romance!”

“Romance?” Donald gave the parrot a confused look at the last part.

“I have a crush on someone in this room.” He answered simply while stuffing the flask back into his pocket.

“Ha! Me too!” Panchito said with a grin in José’s direction.

They shared a knowing look at each other with Donald standing between them, still looking as lost and confused as ever. “???”

“I had hoped to one day use my family to regain my former power and rule over the cosmos once again..but, it would seem that fate has given me a DIFFERENT outcome.” Felldrake looked to the trio across the room from him with a devious grin on his stiff face. “The original Three Caballeros were a nearly unstoppable force of good that was capable of challenging the gods themselves- if you three were to join me, then we could rule over the entire UNIVERSE!” A dark glow surrounded the staff’s entire form. “All I require is one of you to act as my vessel so that my magic may flow through you!”

“I dunno..” Donald looked at José and Panchito on either side of him to gauge their reactions. “What do you guys think?”

José had a contemplative look on his face, idly running a finger along the symbol on his necklace. “In my experience, dark deities offering untold power and riches seldom follow through…but, the ones that do usually have good results for the ones they form contracts with.” He shrugged slightly, hands held out to his sides. “However, I am already under such a contract, and it is unwise to mix magic in such a way. I will leave the decision to you.”

Donald turned his head the other way to look at the rooster beside him. “Panchito?”

Panchito shrugged as well. “I don’t really care about the money- I’ll just do whatever you guys want to do.”

Donald huffed and folded his arms over his chest. “Great, it’s all on me…”

“Think about it.” Felldrake brought Donald’s attention back over to him. “You could be all-powerful. You could make time and space bend to your will. You would be revered as one of the most powerful beings in history! None would be able to look down on you or stand in your way!”

“……” Donald’s arms fell away from his chest and he looked down at the floor for a moment. Then, before he could lose his nerve, he walked with quick, determined steps over to Felldrake’s altar and picked up the staff. “Let’s do it.”

“YES!!” Felldrake let out a victoriously evil laugh. The glow from the staff spread down to Donald’s hand and up around his arm until it covered his entire body. “My power now flows through you!”

“Wooaaaah! I-I can feel it!” Donald trembled from the strange energy now coursing through his being.

It was strange, like having boiling liquid injected into his veins. But, as weird as it was, he LIKED it. As much as it burned, it left him feeling powerful- nearly invincible!

Donald turned to look at his friends, a confident smirk on his face and a slight glow to his eyes. He was pleased to find that they had crossed the room as well, and were now standing behind him with matching looks on their faces.

“Whatever you want, we will make it happen, meu amigo.” José placed one hand on Donald’s shoulder to show his support.

“That’s right- no matter where you go, we go!” Panchito’s hand went to the duck’s other shoulder.

“Thanks, fellas.” Donald grins, holding up the staff in his hand dramatically. “We’re the new Three Caballeros, and nothing’s gonna stop us!!”

Dark lightning flashed all around the trio of dark warriors, silhouetting their wickedly grinning faces in shadows.

<-Previous Chapter Next Chapter->

End Notes: I tried to make up for the lack of action in this chapter by putting in a few extra Ducktales/Disney Comics references x3 Hope it still came out okay, even if it ended up being pretty long ^^”

Translation Notes:

“Um momento, senhor.” - "One moment, sir."

gordo idiota - fat idiot

Obrigado. - Thank you.

“¡Vamos chicas!” - "Let's go girls!"

no hay problema! - no problem!

Los necesito para mantenerte a salvo, también! - I need them to keep you safe, too!

“..Lo siento…” - "..Sorry…"

“Está bien.” - "It's okay."

“¡Gracias amigo!” - "Thanks friend!"

“De nada.” - "You are welcome."

cómicos - comic books (though more of a short-hand for it, as the full version is el libro cómicos)

“¡Te ves muy bien!” - "You look great!"

É isso aí! - That's it!

“¡Perfecto!” - "Perfect!"

“Kalfu me mostre a verdade.” - "Kalfu show me the truth."

“Eu rejeito isso!” - "I reject that!"

‘herói da luz, Senhor Carioca’ - ‘hero of the light, Senhor Carioca’

‘o bruxo da Bahia’ - ‘the wizard/warlock of Bahia’

sua causa de morte - your cause of death

#the three gay caballeros #three gay caballeros #the three caballeros #legend of the three caballeros #donald duck #panchito pistoles #jose carioca #donald/panchito/jose #evil!au #Los Caballeros Malvados

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lilydeerwrites · 5 years

Text

A Muggle Studies Moment: 2

The Gryffindor Common Room was buzzing with quiet activity as groups of students chatted softly over notes and books. It was that time of the year when exams were imminent. Lily and Remus were surrounded by books and papers. A floating teapot steamed as both students absently sipped tea. Remus had charmed it to stay warm and refill their cups as needed. Lily filed that knowledge away for later experimentation. They had started out on a sofa, but their notes and books began to spread out to the point that it became necessary to move down to the floor. Now, Peter was sprawled out behind them, occasionally asking for help with his Charms work.

The arrival of James and Sirius was heralded by the sound of running feet and laughter. When they entered the Common Room, several pairs of eyes gazed at them reproachfully.

“Oi, Padfoot ... why is it so quiet in here?” James whispered urgently.

Sirius shrugged. “Exams, I guess?”

“Exams?” James glanced at Remus, Lily, and Peter. “Exams. Yeah. I suppose I should probably ... do that.”

Sirius let himself flop inelegantly to the ground beside Remus, causing some of his notes to flutter. His teacup rattled indignantly.

Just when he was about to be annoyed, Sirius burrowed close, hugging his knee so awkwardly he had to chuckle instead. He gave the shaggy hair a gentle pat.

James looked as though he would very much like to do the same to Lily, but fortunately for him, thought better of it and sat beside Peter on the couch.

“Shove over a bit, would you, Pete? I suppose I should do a bit of review. Accio my Charms book!”

James’ book came hurtling down from the dorm in a manner very similar to its owner.

“What were you two off doing anyway?” Peter asked

James shrugged. “A bit of research. For Muggle Studies,” he said, a little too nonchalantly.

Lily cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. “What sort of horrible Muggle-Magical hybrid did you two unleash? I haven’t forgotten when you charmed the outdated, terribly stereotypical Muggle outfits to have a walkabout.”

Sirius rolled onto his back, his proud smile at the memory so genuine it actually made Lily want to give him a pat on the head as well. Remus might be the werewolf, but sometimes, she thought privately, his boyfriend was positively canine.

“Those clothes were so stodgy. Like all of the Muggles are going about dressed like that! I know Muggle fashion and all I had to do was pay a bit of attention,” he said.

Lily nodded her agreement. Sirius could make a band t-shirt, ripped jeans, and a blazer look like he should be on a runway. Not that she would tell him that. His head was already big enough. He looked adoringly up at Remus, who blushed and let his arm rest across the other boy’s chest.

Instead, she said, “You do know that most Muggles don’t go about dressed like David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, right?”

Still grinning at the memory of stodgy old Muggle clothes having a stroll and then a waltz around the classroom, Sirius replied, “Only the cool ones.”

“Pads, your arse is on my Charms book. That can’t be comfortable,” Remus raised an eyebrow, then rolled his eyes. “Unless of course you’re actively trying to get me to reach for it. Attention hog.”

Sirius, who was once again wearing Remus’ oversized rust-colored jumper sighed happily. “I love how well you know me.”

Ever since Remus had given him the sweater when he had been hurt, Sirius found reason after reason to wear it. Remus had complained that when he wore the jumper it made him look shabby, but somehow made Sirius look artfully disheveled.

Her attention drifted to James, whose eyes flickered studiously across the pages of his Charms book. He hadn’t asked her out once since the incident around the holidays, and she was annoyed that this bothered her. Maybe he was embarrassed that she had seen him so upset? Sirius had been much worse off, and he didn’t seem awkward about it. If anything, he had started spending more time with her, gotten to know her, told her she was pretty, and thanked her a few dozen times for aiding in his rescue. Remus explained later that Sirius liked positive attention so much himself that he could go a bit overboard when he was trying to make someone feel good about themselves. She hadn’t minded.

She sighed, shut the book, and stretched her arms. “I need a moment. My brains are turning to mush.” She leaned back against the sofa, eyes closed, and felt the back of her head brush James’ knee. He tensed, but didn’t pull away.

Hmmm. Interesting. She decided to file the information away. Maybe he was over her? Embarrassed? Under orders from his friends to behave like a human being? If she asked the other Marauders, they would certainly tell James that she had asked, but maybe that wouldn’t be so bad?

She felt a wad of paper hit her face, then another. She opened her eyes to see the papery bird-creature Marlene had accidentally transfigured Lily’s essay into earlier in the year. The awful thing had been flapping about the Common Room ever since, letting out its mysteriously-appearing paper droppings at will. She had long since rewritten and turned in the essay, but the fact that she had not been able to stop the essay-bird was infuriating.

Peter had seen what happened, and he chortled gleefully. “That thing’s just had a dump on your forehead, Evans! I thought you and Marlene stopped it weeks ago.”

Lily sat up, glaring at the flappy, papery thing. “We put it in a bin, but it escaped. Marls dumped water on it yesterday, but it’s made a full recovery since. She swears she doesn’t know what went wrong to make it this way.”

Stirring his tea thoughtfully, Remus asked, “In some cultures, it’s good luck for a bird to have a poo on you.”

Lily raised an eyebrow at him and he hastily changed his direction. ”Have you asked McGonagall? I’d imagine she could stop the little pest.”

James laughed. “Can you imagine if she went after it in cat form? I’d pay to see that!”

Sirius was looking way too thoughtful, as though he was trying to engineer exactly how to have that happen. She envisioned his brain looking like a Rube Goldberg design on the inside. “Minnie could do it, that’s for sure.”

“The point is that it was my essay and I want to figure it out,” she said firmly. “It’s not hurting anyone. It’s just occasionally annoying. Rather like you lot, these days,” she said, her tone more affectionate than critical.

She stretched again, then pulled her book back into her lap. “What were you two up to earlier? What type of research were you doing?”

James turned a bit pink. “Nothing important. Not a prank, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he said.

“Sirius?” Lily asked. “Anything you wish to tell me?”

He turned as pink as James. “Ah, well, you see ...”

James crossed his arms, scowling. “Traitor.”

“Look at her eyes, James! She’s giving me those sad baby animal eyes. You know I’m powerless here,” Sirius rationalized.

James glanced up at Lily and nodded. “Fine, then.”

“So ... James and I, we got rather ... interested in that episode of Muggle tell-o-vision we watched in class.”

She frowned. “The one with the doctors? The medical soap opera?”

“That’s the one. You see, I like a good story, and so does old Prongsy. When we were first years, Moony used to read out loud sometimes, just in the dorm, you know? Hard to sleep sometimes when you’re little and off alone the first time, right?”

Peter snorted. “First years? Moony still reads him to sleep sometimes - “

“Anyway, the point is that me and James, we got really sort of invested in knowing whether or not the surgery was successful.”

“What?” Lily watched them both, confused.

“Like, did Mr. Morris die? Did he live? How did his wife take it? Did he ever find out his son wasn’t really his? Did his brother find out? You can’t just show a bloke one chapter and not ever let him see the rest of the book!”

Sirius sounded so indignant she was torn between wanting to laugh out loud and hug him.

James took over. “I hate unresolved story lines. So, we sneaked into the lab to see if the Prof had more of it on the - the tape, was it? Are they tapes? Because I thought tapes were the new records?”

Looking thoroughly scandalized, Sirius protested, “Nothing will ever replace vinyl, Prongs. It’s not right.”

She laughed and caught Remus’ eye. His smile lit up his face, she suspected as much by the admission of story time as by their insatiable desire to find out how the unfortunate Mr. Morris had fared.

Trust serialized Muggle television drama to ensnare the minds of the most ridiculously curious members of Gryffindor House.

“Did you find it?” She asked.

They exchanged glances. “No ... but we did knock over the entire tell-o-vision catalog. We tried to put it right, but Filch was on the move, and we had to bolt,” Sirius explained.

“The films - those are the round ones, right? They were rolling about, and we had to go out the window and climb up to avoid being caught,” James finished.

Surprising even herself, Lily laughed out loud at their tale. The Muggle artifacts in the lab were just that - artifacts. Most of them were so old they were from her parents’ time rather than the current decade.

“First of all, it’s absolutely adorable that you’re so interested. Especially since shows like that are mostly watched by Muggle housewives with awfully boring lives. Secondly, my mum and my sister watch that soap opera, I believe. I can inquire over the summer and send you an owl, if you like.”

The hopefulness in their eyes was so ridiculous that Peter and Remus burst into guffaws as well.

Helplessly, Remus managed, “We’ve always said James was a bit mumsy. When his Quidditch kids get hurt, when one of us needs him - aww, don’t blush, Prongs. It’s actually very sweet. I mean it.”

James shook his head, joining in the laughter. “An owl would be great, Lily. We’ll both be at my place this year, so ... two birds one stone? Er ... okay, bad taste there, Potter. No killing, then.”

Lily smiled as sweetly as she could. “There’s only one bird on my kill list, and it’s the one that was formerly my essay.” She gestured with two fingers from her eyes and pointed at the roosting paper bird. “I’ve got my eyes on you!”

Sirius squinted at it from his position on the floor. “What if - no, it couldn’t ...”

“What?” She asked. “What if what?”

Hesitantly, he continued. “What if ... when it, well ... shits, it’s actually editing your essay? Have you unwrapped any of the droppings?”

She made a face. “No, I have not unwrapped the droppings. Ugh!”

James stood, bowed before her, and went to pick up some of the little balls of paper. He gave a small cry of disgust. “Why is it ... moist? Padfoot, help!”

“Can’t. ‘m comfortable. If I get up, I’ll die.”

“Drama, much?” Remus asked, dryly.

“Drama always,” Sirius sighed happily, hugging Remus’ knee even tighter.

James pushed on, peeling back the mushy paper bits, making a face the whole time.

With a monumental effort and a long sigh, Sirius pushed himself upright. “It doesn’t eat, mate. It can’t be that bad. You’ve spat parchment loogies twice that size and somehow didn’t get poisoned,” he said, taking a little paper ball into his hand as well. “Christ, it’s mushy! That’s quite distasteful.”

At that point, Peter joined in, picking an old one off of the end table next to the sofa. “You’re right, Pads. It’s ... damp.”

Remus sighed heavily. “As I’m out of synonyms for the word wet, I suppose this is up to me.”

He pulled out his wand, levitated the paper ball, and then cast a drying charm on it. “Remember? We’re magical?” He asked, sarcastically.

Remus unwrapped the now-dry ball of paper and read aloud, “Remove third paragraph, take the fourth sentence and use it as a thesis statement. Rework.”

“Well!” Lily fumed.

Sirius did the same and read his, “Must pare down. Far too long-winded.”

Peter read, “Too wordy. Please summarize Paragraph twenty.”

“Really!” She growled.

James looked at his, looked back up at Lily, and thought better of it, stuffing the paper ball into his pocket. “Um ... Lily? Were you and Marls partnered on this essay, by chance?”

“Yes, why?” She asked, expectantly.

She was finding herself most distracted by the way he rubbed at his arm when he was nervous. When had she noticed that he did that?

“Because,” he said, a little reluctantly. “I think she may have pranked you but good. There is no way this is accidental magic or a mistake. It’s bloody brilliant!”

“If Marlene did this, we’re missing out on a potentially amazing pranking resource! Where is she, anyway? Haven’t seen her all day.” Sirius stood on a chair, trying to gently scoop the paper bird into his hand. It flapped indignantly to a higher perch.

Moments later, all four Marauders were after the bird, shouting, laughing, and levitating furniture and one another. Remus tried an Accio on it, but it didn’t work.

James let out a low whistle. “Merlin, she’s good! What did you do to piss her off, anyway?”

Lily thought, but couldn’t come up with anything. She winced at the sight of Sirius, being levitated by Peter toward the overhead lamps.

“Steady on, Pete! Don’t drop me, mate!” He called as he reached for the essay-bird. His hands were about to close around it, when the door opened to admit Minerva McGonagall.

“It’s a bit noisier than usual in here. Is anything wr - “ She stopped, taking in the sight of Sirius mid-air, James on a chair, and Remus on the floor, still guarding their notes and books, and his floating teapot. “Mr. Black! You come right down here this moment! Mr. Pettigrew, put him down. Gently!” Admonished the Gryffindor Head of House.

When Sirius was safely on the floor, she asked calmly, “Could someone explain the wild rumpus I could hear through the wall in my study?”

Sirius grinned at her. “I knew you cared, Minnie.”

McGonagall ignored him, but there was no fire in her glare.

Lily and James started at the same time, “Well, Professor,” “You see, Professor, I - “

The essay-bird took its opportunity to swoop free of Sirius’ grasp, and dump a wet little paper ball on McGonagall’s head. Without a single moment of hesitation, she transformed into a cat, leapt into the air, and caught it in her teeth, giving it a little shake for good measure.

All of the students stared, but the Marauders and Lily were momentarily speechless. Professor McGonagall transformed quickly back into herself, removed the paper bird from her mouth quite daintily, and tucked it into the pocket of her robe.

“Was that the trouble, then?” She asked.

“Yes, Professor McGonagall,” Lily answered. “It - it used to be my old Charms essay. I had to rewrite, after, well ...” She gestured to the pocket area of the professor’s robe.

“An excellent essay you turned in, Miss Evans. It will be curious to have a look at the old one, if I can get it to unspell itself without destroying it.” She glanced around the room to where James and Sirius were still a bit star-struck from her heroic feline actions. “If everything is well, I shall return to my grading?”

Satisfied that her students were safe and much quieter, she left.

“Merlin,” James breathed. “That was brilliant!”

“It was like a prophecy. I wished for it, and it happened! Did someone slip me a luck potion or what?” Sirius exclaimed. “She just ... transformed ... already in the air and took it down, like a little tabby tiger for the kill!”

It took a few minutes for the excitement to die down, but as Lily returned to studying and drinking tea with Remus, she cast another surreptitious glance at James. Huh. Not hideous, a bit mumsy, and loves a good story. Who knew?

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